Coveted

by Stephanie Nelson

Page 40

 

  “Dorian?” I said with hesitance. He tilted his head to the side, a motion for me to continue. “I want to see your real form. The person beneath the man-suit. ”

  “Man-suit?” There was no humor found on his face or words. While hunting Eddie in Massachusetts, he had explained that he could change identities, though he’d remained with the same disguise since I met him. After he told me I thought about it and eventually let it go until tonight.

  “I saw…wings?” I hadn’t meant for it to come out as a question. When he told me he was an angel I just didn’t associate that with the run of the mill angel.

  “I’m supposed to be teaching you,” he said, ignoring my question. “Or did you change your mind about tracking down the musical old fart?” He rubbed his chin, his body tensing up. I found it very ironic that he kept telling me to embrace who I was, yet he seemed uncomfortable to show me what he is.

  “I do want to find him,” I replied. “It’s just…in the alley…”

  He looked down at me, his jaw flinching. “I lost control. ”

  And he had. Dorian used his ability to vacuum souls when faced with confrontation, but tonight he had enjoyed beating the rogues, relished in taking his time with their punishment. And it was all because of me. The entire time he’d pursued me, I held him at as much of a distance as I could stand. The realization that this beautiful man had fought so fiercely to protect me struck me to my core. Perhaps I had been a little too self-occupied to notice before, but I noticed now. Or I should say, I was finally acknowledging it.

  “I never said thank you,” I said.

  “No, you did not,” he agreed. “You were too busy telling me to stay away from you. ”

  “I’m sorry. I have been a little overwhelmed by everything, but I am thankful. And not just for tonight—for everything. ” I looked away. “I’m not always the best at putting my thoughts into words. They get jumbled and come out sounding mean. ” I laughed nervously. “I’ll work on it. ”

  “You and I both,” Dorian said. “Now let’s take a trip to Ghostville. ”

  “Uh-huh, wings—explain. ”

  He released an annoyed breath. “Gwen. ”

  “You don’t have to show me tonight if you don’t want,” I told him. “But…I did see them right? It wasn’t just my eyes playing tricks on me?”

  He didn’t respond right away. The room grew so quiet I was starting to regret ever asking. Maybe I’d touched on subject he would rather avoid?

  “Okay, so if I don’t have to concentrate on jumping to the realm, then what do I do?” I was hoping steering the conversation back to work would cut through the awkwardness.

  “Your eyes were seeing the truth,” he answered. “Yes, I have wings, but not the kind you’re thinking of. No frilly white cloud plumage. ”

  I nodded. “Okay. ”

  “Okay?”

  “We don’t have to discuss it anymore, but thank you for confirming what I saw. ”

  Dorian grinned. “You’re really taking this ‘I’ll work on it’ stuff seriously, huh? Two ‘thank-you’s’ in less than ten minutes? That’s got to be some kind of record. ”

  I laughed, reaching my hand out to slap his arm. He clasped my wrist in his hand and tugged me off balance so that I fell toward him. Those strong arms enclosed around my body, holding me prisoner.

  “Someday I’ll share all my secrets with you. ”

  Our faces were so close I could feel his breath fan across my face. He dipped his head lower still, placing his mouth directly in front of mine.

  “I’m going to kiss you now. ”

  “I told you not to,” I breathed, my voice trembling right along with my body.

  “You did and I told you I don’t believe you. ”

  My eyes fell on his full lips when he spoke, such a tantalizing seduction. I knew just how those lips felt against my own. The eruption of warmth they could cause. And they were just right there, waiting for me.

  “No means no,” I smiled.

  “Then tell me no. ”

  I choked, hesitating too long. Dorian smiled victoriously and then his mouth was on mine, touching, tasting and spreading delightful tingles dancing up my legs. When his tongue slipped between my lips, I moaned. My arms went around his back, my fingers raking against his t-shirt. He released one arm from my waist and cradled the back of my head. He had been right, my soul did want this. My brain got in the way too many times, confusing everything. But when he kissed me like this, when our bodies connected, everything made sense. He was a platter full of food to my starving body, feeding and filling the ache I’d been dismissing.

  We stumbled back, hands and lips unwilling to part from one another, and fell onto the sofa. Dorian situated me on top of his lap so that I was straddling him, only breaking away to lift my shirt over my head. As soon as it was off, his mouth was back on mine. He trailed his lips down the side of my cheek, to my neck and lower still. I arched back to give him better access. Soft lips trailed a delicious path down my collarbone to the swell of my breasts. The scruff of his stubble brushed against my skin, such an enticing contrast to the softness of his mouth. He dragged his nose up the valley of my cleavage, looking up at me. We stared at each other, our breathing heavy and our bodies still hungry for more.

  And that’s when the phone rang. My eyes flicked to the nuisance. I so desperately wanted to ignore the insistent ringing, but there were only a few people who called Dorian’s house.

  “I have to answer it. ” I hopped off his lap.

  Dorian grumbled. “You’re killing me, woman. ”

  I snatched the phone off of the counter and said, “Hello?”

  “Gwen?” Fiona asked. “Why are you out of breath?”

  Awkward silence.

  “Oh my gosh! Were you and Dorian…And you answered the phone? I mean, I’m happy you did. I have major news, but damn. ”

  “What’d you need, Fiona?”

  “Right, did you get the stuff to make the charm?”

  I looked down at the two necklaces hanging around my neck. “No, the voodoo shop didn’t stock things for witches spells. The man there sold me a necklace that is charmed to do the same thing though. ”

  “Let’s hope it works because…”

  “Because?” I could tell she was hesitating and it only caused my worry to amplify. There was only reason why she would comment about the necklace though.

  “Penny called the castle. She had no clue how to get a hold of you. She said she called your cell but kept getting voicemail. ”

  I closed my eyes and shook my head. I had forgotten to even call her after Dorian swooped in and whisked me to safety. And in our mad dash to leave my apartment and flee to New Orleans I hadn’t grabbed my cell phone.

  “Fiona, what is going on? Did something happen to Penny?”

  “She went to your apartment. The door was open so she went inside. She said the place was ransacked and a message was written on the wall, in what looked like blood. ”

  My veins turned to ice, my breath catching over the lump in my throat. Lauren had taken care of the rogues after Dorian and I fled, so who would have been in my apartment afterwards?

  “What did it say?”

  Dorian was in front of me in an instant, having sensed my distress. I held up a finger in the universal sign to give me a minute. I couldn’t replay the conversation until I had all the facts, and I was hoping what Fiona was about to tell me wasn’t as bad as what my imagination had cooked up.

  “It said you have twenty-four hours to save her, to follow the music,” Fiona took a ragged breath. “Gwen, the picture of you and Rebekah was nailed on the wall against it by one of our kitchen knives. ”

  All of the blood drained from my face. I stared ahead in a daze, her words bombarding my mind. Tears blurred my vision, splashing against my cheeks.

  “Gwen?” Dorian’s hands were on my shoulders.
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  “Gwen?” Fiona called from the phone.

  Slowly, my eyes lifted to meet Dorian’s. Talking to Fiona, I said, “When did Penny see this? How much time do I have left?”

  Oh god, was Rebekah already dead? Had they placed a clock in front of her so she could watch her time slipping away? Did she expect me to save her, only to be crushed to learn I hadn’t?

  “Penny called me this morning around ten,” Fiona said. “I haven’t been able to get a hold of her since. ”

  My eyes widened, anger mixing with fear. “Why are you just now calling and telling me then? My sister could be dead because you’re just now getting around to telling me!”

  “I tried, Gwen. I swear I did. No one answered all day. I was hoping you found out and was already on your way to her. ”

  “I have to go, I’ll call you later. ” I hung up, my mind too chaotic to think straight. I set the phone down and ran to retrieve my shirt and slipped it over my head.

  “Gwen, calm down and tell me what’s going on. ”

  I stood up, headed over to the bookshelf where the dagger was resting and snatched it up.

  “Gwen!” Dorian’s voice boomed, demanding attention. His hands shot out and grabbed my shoulders to stop me. “What the hell is happening?”

  I looked up at him with teary eyes. “They have my sister. ” I clicked away how many hours I had left to find her. “And in roughly twelve hours they’re going to kill her. ”

  My mind was reeling. Every possible question slammed into me: Who has her? How am I supposed to find her? Will they stick to their word and give me a full twenty-four hours to find her? Have they hurt her already? She must be terrified.

  “What else did Fiona say?”

  I blinked, focusing on Dorian. The key piece of information clicked into place. “We have to go to the realm of the dead. It said to follow the music. The old man is connected somehow. ”

  “Then let’s go. ”