by June Stevens
A sharp pain jabbed into Jarrett’s chest. How awful for her, to feel so unwanted as a child. His own childhood perhaps hadn’t been ideal, but for the short time that he had his father, Jarrett had known the man loved and wanted him. He lifted a hand up to caress her cheek, but she brushed it away.
“Let me finish. If you’re too sweet I won’t be able to finish the story, and now that I’ve started, I need to tell you all of it,” she said, her eyes down, her voice tremulous.
He pulled his hand back. “Okay, I’m listening.”
“I was beaten for every tiny infraction. Since I couldn’t seem to do anything fast enough or right, that meant I was beaten for everything I did. A day never went by, from the time I was around four or five, that I wasn’t beaten for something. Most days, the only time I wasn’t dodging slaps or even getting spit on by the other clan members was when I was hiding out in whatever woods we were camped in or asleep on my pallet under my family’s wagon.”
Pain thumped in Jarrett’s chest, and rage stormed through him. How could anyone treat any child like that, much less their own? He wanted nothing more than to find her parents and rip their heads from their bodies. But he did his best to keep his breath steady and not show his emotions to Anya. Her voice was quiet and shaky, but she wasn’t crying. He had a feeling that any show of anger or negative emotion from him would change that.
After pausing a moment, Anya took a deep breath and kept going.
“In the eyes of my clan, I was completely worthless, and they took pride in telling me so. The other children made a game out of teasing, taunting, and hitting me. If I hit back, they would gang up on me and hold me down. I had no friends, no allies, no one that cared an inch about me. But that all changed the day I met Pinky, Fiona, and River.” She looked up at him with watery eyes, a small, tremulous smile trying to take hold on her lips.
He smiled back at her. “Tell me about that.”
“I don’t know exactly how old I was, since after it was discovered I had no magic, my birthdays weren’t celebrated anymore. But I tried to guess when it was time for it to come around, so I was around seven and a half. We were in Nash for market week. I was carrying a pot of stew from the fire to the table for lunch. It was hot and heavy, and I stumbled on a rock and fell. I dropped the stew and it spilled all over the ground.”
Her voice was far away, as if she were back in that moment. Jarrett stayed silent and listened.
“My mother was furious. She grabbed a horsewhip that was hanging on one of the wagons and started whipping me. She only landed one blow. I was braced for the next, but it never came. I looked up and this tall, thin man in a dark, billowing cloak had the whip wrapped around his hand and my mother was kneeling on the ground next to me.”
“Pinky,” Jarrett whispered, but he didn’t know why.
“Yes. His blue eyes were glowing, but I wasn’t scared. He held my mother in a trance, and asked her questions, forcing her to answer truthfully. Then he asked me my name, my age, and other questions. He asked me if I was happy living there and if I got whipped often. I told him the truth. He told my mother that the city guard knew of their illegal activities and would be there soon. Then he told her that they should leave Appalachia on the next barge out of port and never return or they would be arrested, and that she had turned me over to an orphanage and was well rid of me.”
“Wow, that’s some power,” Jarrett said, more than a little impressed.
Anya nodded. “It was impressive to behold, a little scary, too. Though I was never actually scared of him. My mother started screaming to everyone else to start packing up and Pinky told me to get my things. I didn’t have anything to get, so he took my hand and led me out. On the way out of the market, he stopped and had me tell a city guard what I knew of my clan’s illegal activities, and then he took me home. There was never even a suggestion of taking me to an orphanage. Just like that, I had a home and a family. A father and sisters.”
Jarrett lifted his hand and brushed a tear off her cheek with his thumb. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that. I’m glad Pinky saved you. Remind me to thank him the next time I see him.”
She turned her head to kiss the palm of his hand. “You’ll have to thank River, too. She was only around four. She’d had a vision, and though she was too young to be able to articulate why it was important, she threw a temper tantrum until Pinky agreed to go to the market that day, in the middle of the morning when the sun was high.”
“No wonder you and Fiona dote on her.”
“Yeah, she’s a treasure,” Anya said, her smile brightening before a thoughtful look slid into place. “To answer your original question, I guess I fight because it makes me feel in control. It helps me assure myself I’ll never be a victim again.”
“You are an amazing fighter. I’ve always admired Fiona’s fighting moves, but you surpass her. You move with precision and grace.”
“So you aren’t going to lecture me about taking on a guy four times my size and getting seriously injured?”
After seeing her bruised and bloodied, Jarrett wanted to forbid her from ever stepping into a ring again, but he had no control over what she did. Nor did he have any right to want to control her, as if she ever could be controlled by him or anyone. “I’m pretty sure he was closer to five times your size. And no, it wasn’t very smart to get in the ring with him after you’d already fought two opponents.” He grinned at her. “But even with your injury, you did put him down. That was pretty awesome.”
A light shined in her eyes at his praise. “Thanks. How about I make you a deal. You don’t tell my family about me getting hurt tonight, and I’ll promise to be smarter in taking fights.”
Jarrett rolled his eyes. “I think you’ll keep doing whatever you want to do, no matter what I say. But I won’t tell your family. Unless they ask straight out, because they haven’t yet found the body of the last person who lied to Fiona.”
She laughed. “Fair enough. I just don’t want them to worry more than they already do.”
“They love you.”
“Yeah, they really do. I was lucky they found me.”
He put a finger under her chin and lifted her face to his so their eyes met. “And they are lucky to have found you.”
She flashed him a quick, toothy smile. “Of course they are. I’m fabulous.” She was quiet a moment before continuing, “You know, I’ve never told anyone about my childhood before. My family knows, of course, but after I got settled in, we never talked about it again. You know, I thought it would be much more painful to talk about than it was.”
“I didn’t want to hurt you by asking,” he told her.
“You didn’t. I think I hadn’t talked about it before because no one ever asked. I’m actually glad you did. Now I know I can talk about it, think about it, without crumbling into a hysterical wreck. I actually feel good after telling you.”
“I’m glad.”
“I know what will make me feel even better,” she said.
“What?”
She leaned up and pressed her mouth to his in a long, hot kiss. She was smiling seductively when she leaned back. “Make love to me.”
His whole body went hot and hard. “Oh, I can definitely do that.”
And he did, slowly and tenderly, until they fell asleep in each other’s arms.
It was mid-afternoon the next day before I could drag myself out of bed. Not because I was still hurt, Luca and the other healer had done an excellent job. There were no signs of any cuts or bruises, and my ankle felt good as new. My weariness had nothing to do with my injuries and everything to do with the fact that Jarrett and I had made love all night, finally drifting off to sleep just after dawn.
After the talk we’d had, I’d been emotionally raw and needed his touch in a way I had never before needed anyone’s touch. Luckily, after I assured him again that Luca’s healing had taken away my physical pain, he’d been more than happy to oblige.
It had been an impassioned nig
ht. I stood in the head—it felt weird to call the bathroom that—brushing my hair, and I looked through the doorway to where he sat on the edge of his bed pulling on his boots. He was shirtless and the way his muscles flexed as he moved made me want to crawl back in the bed with him. But I couldn’t. I’d promised River I’d pick up meat and blood from the butcher on my way home to help her with tonight’s family dinner.
I groaned silently. Well, that thought took all the lingering sensual feelings right out of me. I’d almost forgotten about tonight’s family dinner and the fact that Pinky had invited Jarrett the night before last.
“Are you sure you want to come tonight?”
Jarrett looked up at me, his expression blank. “Anya, that is the third time you’ve asked me that since Pinky invited me. Are you sure you want me to come?”
I sighed. “I do, I just don’t want you to feel pressured or obligated.”
“I don’t. Pinky asked me to dinner, I said yes. No pressure.”
I laughed at his naivety. “Of course there was no pressure during the invitation. That will come later, during dinner. Pinky has never invited someone I was dating to dinner before. I want to think he invited you because you are now a friend of the family. But I can’t promise things won’t get weird.”
It was Jarrett’s turn to laugh. “Do you think he’s going to ask what my intentions are towards his precious daughter?”
“He won’t if he knows what’s good for him,” I quipped. “But I never know what the heck Pinky might do. I just don’t want you to feel like you’re being inspected by the family or that you have to go just to be nice or something.”
“Anya, who are you afraid will think there is more to our relationship than there is? Your family, me, or you?” he asked, coming up behind me, slipping his arms around me, and dropping a kiss on my neck.
I turned in his arms and leaned back so that I could look up into his face. I had no idea how to answer his question, so I avoided it. “I just don’t want you to think I am expecting more of you than what this thing between us actually is.”
“And what is this thing between us?” He cocked his head to the side in a curious manner, but his eyes were unreadable.
“Hell if I know. It just is what it is, until your leave is up and it isn’t anymore. I don’t want you to think because I invited you to a family dinner I expect anything more than that.”
He laughed. The damned man actually laughed at me. “Well, you didn’t invite me to dinner. Pinky did. Besides, I’ve had dinner with your family before.”
“Yeah, but they didn’t see you as my ‘date’ then. They may be a little nuttier than usual.”
“It’s not a problem. I actually like spending time with your family. I’ve never really spent time in a real family setting before.”
“You mean other than your own,” I said, curious.
“I didn’t exactly have a traditional family.” He chuckled.
I couldn’t help the peel of laughter I let out.
“Couldn’t be more untraditional than mine. My sisters and I all come from different backgrounds and were adopted by a vampire who was changed so young that he now looks like he could be our younger brother.”
“Yeah, well, my mother was from a tribe of natives who’d never seen a white man before. My father was a sailor on a ship that got damaged during a storm. They took refuge on my mother’s island. She died in childbirth and I grew up on sailing ships. The only family I ever had were sailors. Well, to be completely truthful, pirates. My family was a bunch of foul-mouthed, plundering, and pillaging pirates,” he said, grinning down at me.
“Okay, you win,” I laughed. “Your family was definitely more untraditional than mine. On the plus side, though, since you grew up with pirates and cutthroats, a dinner with my family will be a piece of cake.”
“So, you aren’t worried anymore?”
“No,” I said, looking away so he couldn’t see my lie.
“Good, so I’ll see you this evening around seven,” he said, pulling away and leaving me to finish putting my hair up on my head in a loose bun.
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
I gathered my things, gave him another long kiss that promised sexy and sensual things later, and left the boat. The walk home gave me more time than I wanted to think about our conversation and my feelings in general.
The truth was, I’d never been worried about how he would deal with my family. They liked him already, and over the past few nights he’d been around all of them quite a bit. Added to that, Fiona was his best friend. No worries. What had my stomach all in knots had nothing to do with my family.
I wasn’t even that worried about what he thought about my intentions towards him. He would think what he would think. I couldn’t control that. Any more than, it seemed, I could control my own feelings.
Having Jarrett come to our weekly family dinner was disconcerting me because of how much I wanted him there. In the past, I’d never wanted anyone I dated to spend time with me around my family. I wanted it now, and that had me more than a little freaked out.
I was getting way too attached to Jarrett. His leave would end next week and he’d sail off to parts unknown. Who knew when he’d return to Nash City, if at all in my lifetime. And that was fine, or it should be. I knew from the start that was how it would be. But I found myself missing him at night while I was working, and I got a little thrill every morning when he walked into the bar to have a drink before walking me back to his boat for a morning of lovemaking. I fell for him a little more each day. And then last night happened. I’d never opened myself up to anyone like that before.
Until now, I’d never experienced heartache because of a lover. With every passing day with Jarrett, no, every passing minute, I knew I was hurtling towards just that. But somehow, I couldn’t give up the giddy happiness being around him gave me, even though I had a feeling it was going to hurt like hell when he left.
Of all the men in the world that could have been the one I’d get feelings for, why did it have to be a vampire? And not just any vampire. I had to form an attachment with a globe-trotting, ladies’ man, assassin vampire who never stayed in one place longer than two weeks and probably had a woman in every port. Even if he did have feelings for me, it would never work out. He was a vampire, I was a norm. He traveled for his job, and mine kept me stuck in Nash.
There was no way around the facts. There was no way there could be any future for us. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy the present. Once he left, I’d deal with whatever consequences there were, but there wasn’t any reason why I couldn’t enjoy this new experience while it lasted. With my mind made up to stop worrying about where things were going and just let them take their own course, I felt better and looked forward to dinner with my family and Jarrett.
When we were young, we had dinner together as a family every night. As we grew up, went to school, and found our own jobs, instead of having family dinner every night or on weekends when Fiona and I were home from school, they came more and more sporadically, but never completely died out. Since Fiona had moved out, they were even rarer. Tonight was a special treat.
I stopped at the butcher shop as I’d promised River. Then, on a whim, I went in the bakery and bought some fresh baked bread and a cake for dessert. Back at home, I changed clothes, and then helped River and Farrah pull two tables together in the pub. We finished setting the table, and Fiona and Ian arrived just in time to help us bring the food down from our apartment where River had prepared it. With the addition of Farrah and Ian to our family, along with the inclusion of Jarrett, we had more people and food at our dinner table than ever before. River served up roasted lamb with potatoes, carrots, spinach, and fresh sliced tomatoes. Along with the bread I’d purchased from the bakery, side dishes of blood for Pinky and Jarrett, and mugs of mead for all, it was a veritable feast.
Everyone chatted and joked as we ate. Even Farrah, who was often quiet and introverted, joined in the laughter and convers
ation. Everything was fine until River was serving the cake and a buzzing sounded.
“Fiona, is that your porta-scry? You know it’s not allowed at the table during family night,” Pinky said, disapprovingly.
“I know, sorry. I’m working a case. I’ll be right back,” she said hastily, pulling out the scry-crystal and going into kitchen for privacy.
She came out a few minutes later, tucking the porta-scry back into her pocket.
Pinky let out a much-put-upon sigh. “Are you going to have to rush out even before dessert?”
She stopped at his chair and kissed him on the cheek before going back to her own seat. “No, cranky pants, I don’t have to leave. Not yet, anyway. I’ve got some time to kill, but I will have to leave after cake.”
No one said anything else about Fiona’s call and the meal resumed. Once the carrot cake had been decimated and nothing remained but crumbs, Fiona said, “That was delicious, Rivs. Pinky, I really am sorry, but I’ve got to run. I may not get another chance like the one that just fell in my lap.”
Pinky sighed. “No problem, you go catch your bad guys. Be careful,” he said, kissing her on the cheek before retreating into the kitchen with a stack of dirty dishes.
Ian said his goodbyes and left, after first kissing Fiona and giving her the same “Be careful” message as Pinky.
Jarrett and I were leaning against the bar when she came over to us. “So, you have any plans for the next couple of hours besides warming a barstool and watching my sister serve drinks?” she asked Jarrett.
He laughed. “I’m guessing I do now. You need some back up?”
“Nothing major, just some surveillance, but a little company never hurt. You don’t mind, do you, An?”
I shook my head. “Nah. You two go have fun.”
“It’s not fun, An, it’s work,” Fiona protested.
