Wind Goddess
Page 15
A tear slid down her cheek and landed on her right hand clenched on her light blue bed sheet. Would the waterworks ever stop?
She wasn’t enough for the two relationships she tried to have in college. Both men dumped her after only six months of dating. Sylvia sighed. Maybe those who couldn’t do, planned. The reason why she was so damned good at her job. It wasn’t meant for her to be the one walking down the aisle.
“I hate this,” she whispered.
And there it was. The truth and the pain and the heart of it. Somewhere deep inside she still wanted that fucking fairy tale. The majestic music swelling while the happy couple rode off happily-ever-after into the sunset.
The ice cream nothing but a sweet and empty substitute.
But what if she was incapable of having that? Of reaching that pinnacle of happiness? What legacy did she leave behind?
A moneymaking business and little else.
Sylvia pushed back the covers and wiped the tears from her eyes. “I am a strong and capable woman. I don’t have to settle for this.” She quickly stood and pulled a suitcase from her closet. Clothes landed haphazardly inside it while Sylvia hummed. She quickly packed and then took a shower.
The jeans and ivory sweater suited her. Sylvia pulled on a heavy wool coat and put her suitcase in the car. It was warm somewhere. There were beaches and tropical drinks. Swimming pools and sunshine. And damn it all, she wanted that right now.
Sylvia walked back into her house and made a quick phone call. She explained the situation to Tempest and asked her to watch over the office while she was away. After several quick assurances, she hung up the phone and grabbed her purse.
The phone rang, and Sylvia glanced toward it.
“Not anymore,” she muttered as she walked to her car and her future.
Chapter 9
“Where the hell is she?”
Tempest looked up and smiled at the bear of the man in front of her. “Tristan. Always a pleasure.” She took satisfaction in seeing the powerful man harried and agitated. Her blue eyes glowed in pleasure.
“My ass,” he growled and raked his hands through his hair. “Where is Sylvia?”
“Vacation.”
The short word stopped him in his tracks. His eyes widened. “Pardon me?”
“She’s on vacation, Tristan. On a tropical paradise filled with cabana boys and drinks with fruit sticking out of them.”
“Where?” he demanded.
Tempest arched an eyebrow. “I’m not sure I should tell you that.” She tilted her head to the side. “Why didn’t you pursue this after the wedding? Before she left? It’s been three weeks.”
“That’s something I plan on taking up with Sylvia,” he said stiffly. Tristan narrowed his eyes. “You can just zap me over to where she’s at.”
“I could.” Tempest nodded thoughtfully. “But you’re not my assignment. And I’m not about to blindside a woman I’m very fond of for your ego.”
“My ego? My fucking ego?” Tristan slapped both hands on Tempest’s desk. “My ego has nothing to do with it. It’s my heart that feels as though it’s been ripped from my chest. And I’ll be damned if I stand aside while some smooth-talking island asshole makes a move on Sylvia.”
Tempest blinked and smiled softly. “Why Tristan Calhoun. You may be just what the doctor ordered. But you realize that Sylvia may not want to see you?”
“Just tell me where she’s at. Please,” Tristan added.
Tempest wrote down the name of the island and slid the paper across to him. “Give her everything you are, Tristan. She won’t settle for less.”
He nodded once and left the room.
* * * *
Sun was heavenly. Sylvia reclined in her white chaise lounge with a large straw hat and dark sunglasses. The rays caressed her body and warmed her very insides. Decadent and wonderful. She closed her eyes and let the sun move over her. The small black bikini accented the nice tan she acquired.
The white sand felt like powder beneath her feet when she took her nightly walks. The moon shone down on the blue water and lit the gentle waves.
But the days were her favorites. Palm trees hovered behind her and moved softly in the light breeze. She had paid a bit extra to have a spot of beach to herself. There was splashing and laughter all around, but it didn’t detract from her own thoughts.
Work seemed so very far away. Tristan only a thought away, she fought with those thoughts several times a day. But the pain didn’t cut as deep. And it wasn’t likely she would run into him anywhere. She didn’t get out of the house much. And Tristan would never need her services again.
Sylvia sighed.
“Such a lonely sound for such a beautiful place.”
It was a fantasy. A trick of her own sadistic mind. She would keep her eyes shut. The voice would go away. It always did.
“Shouldn’t you be off with Vivica or the flavor of the month?”
“Vivica is Keira’s friend. They’ve known each other since kindergarten. I’ve never dated her. Nor will I. She actually goes to weddings to try and find a couple of lonely bridesmaids. She only approached you because she was hoping for more than a bit of chitchat.”
Sylvia frowned. This wasn’t how the conversation usually went. She kept her eyes closed. “That’s nice, Tristan. But don’t you have someone else’s thoughts to torture?”
“Am I such torture?”
Sylvia sighed again. “You can be. I came here to relax. But thoughts of you intrude constantly. It hardly seems fair.”
A low chuckle.
And that’s what brought Sylvia’s eyes open with a snap.
For the love of God.
Tristan hovered over her chair with the sun behind him. He wore only a pair of khaki walking shorts that hung low on his hips and a pair of brown sandals.
“You’re here.” Sylvia blinked several times, but he didn’t move. Air clogged in her throat while her heart raced. “You can’t be here.”
“But I am.” Tristan bent down and looked her in the eye. “I’ve come for you, Sylvia. Across the continents. Just for you.” He cupped her cheek.
Sylvia scrambled to a sitting position and frowned. “I have heat stroke. I’m hallucinating.”
“Is it so easy for you to think me an illusion rather than a man who’s come for you?” Tristan frowned. “That’s hardly flattering.”
“Oh, go away.” She shooed his hand from her and glared at him. “This is my vacation.” She stressed the last word. “Isn’t that what you constantly threw at me? Well. I took your advice. And that vacation did not include you popping up and talking nonsense.”
Tristan stood and looked at her from head to toe. “It suits you,” he murmured huskily. ‘The vacation. And that scrap of fabric they call a bikini.”
Sylvia flushed, and her nipples peaked against the black fabric. She wanted him. An easy enough fact to admit. Memories of their time together moved through her. But what number was she? Fifty? Five hundred? There was so much more than physical satisfaction. And she wanted it all.
“How’s Keira?”
Tristan’s lips twitched. “Happy beyond happy. That’s what she tells me. Jon dotes on her. And she on him. It’s a good match.”
“It is,” Sylvia agreed. She reached for her drink and took a sip to have something to do with her hands. “Why are you really here?”
Tristan sat on the end of her chaise and rubbed her ankle. “I’ve come for you, Sylvia.”
She studied him. “Why now? Why me?”
He looked away. “The wedding was not the right time. And I thought if I gave you time afterward, we could start again. But then you were gone. And you didn’t come back.”
“I’m taking two months.” Sylvia set her drink back down and tucked her hair behind her ears. “I need it. To get myself straight. To find myself.”
“And what have you found, Sylvia Masters?”
Her blue eyes pinned him. “I’ve found I’ve barely lived these past thirty-something yea
rs. I’ve found I lost myself in the numbers and the job. I became so focused on others’ happiness that I neglected my own. It’s something I plan to make sure won’t ever happen again.”
“Good.”
The single word startled her. Tristan’s wolf eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “I see many things when I look at you. The least of which is your bank account.”
“What do you see?” Sylvia whispered.
Tristan’s hands continued slow circles on her skin. “I see an overachiever. A woman who excels at everything in her world. A bit of a control freak.”
Sylvia chuckled.
“A free spirit stuffed in an adult who made her own way,” he continued. “A woman who knows what she wants but is unsure of how to attain it.”
“And what do I want, Tristan?” Sylvia asked. “Because sometimes I don’t think I know myself.”
“You want me, of course.”
Sylvia arched an eyebrow. “Good thing you’ve foregone the straw hat. It couldn’t hold that big head if it tried.” She tried to laugh.
“And I want you.” Tristan bent and kissed her calf. “All of you. Not for a night. Not for a month. For the rest of my life.”
“No.” The denial came first to her lips. “You can’t.”
“Do you know why I want you, Sylvia?” Tristan moved farther up the chaise. “I don’t need anything. I have more money that one man should have. I can get a date in two seconds. I can travel anywhere in the world.”
“Braggart.”
Tristan shrugged. “It’s the truth, and you know it. But it means little.” He looked at the ocean. “I wanted women who wanted little from me. A piece of jewelry. A new silk blouse. A new pair of shoes. They were easy to handle. Almost like a business transaction.”
Sylvia frowned. “That’s rather cold.”
“Tell me about it.” Tristan sighed. “And then one day I come upon a woman who reminded me so much of myself. Bent over ledgers. Excelling at business. Controlling her life. And I became hooked.” He paused. “I don’t want a shadow of a woman when I can have an intelligent female with a mind as sharp as my own. A woman who gives as good as she gets.” He paused. “And I rather think Keira had quite a bit to do with this.”
“What?” Sylvia frowned. “What do you mean?”
Tristan smiled. “Not only did Keira want you because you are the best, she confided in me after her honeymoon that she was doing a bit of matchmaking.”
Sylvia’s mouth formed a surprised O. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Not about a bit of it.” Tristan rubbed Sylvia’s leg slowly up and down. “She thought she was clever throwing us together. A couple of people so much alike and yet so alone.” His brandy-colored eyes met hers. “She was right.”
Sylvia’s heart stuttered in her chest. “I can’t grasp this,” she murmured.
“What can’t you grasp?”
“I don’t think I’m what you need.” Sylvia frowned. “I’ll drive you crazy. We’ll argue constantly.”
“Do you love me?” Tristan watched her carefully. “Do you love me as you’ve never loved another?”
“I don’t know if I even know what love is,” Sylvia murmured. “There wasn’t an abundance of it in my childhood with my parents. I don’t want to screw things up.”
“Are you scared?” Tristan arched an eyebrow and waited for a response.
“Yes. Damn you.” Sylvia’s blue eyes searched the horizon for answers. “What if you have me and then decide I’m not really what you want? What if I give so much of myself to you that there’s nothing left for me?”
“Sylvia.” Tristan cupped her chin and turned her head so their eyes could meet. “Listen to me.” He paused and took a breath. “I will never take all of you. I would never destroy your spirit or your hope. I will always let you be exactly who you were meant to be.” He chuckled. “Argumentative and headstrong. Intelligent and beautiful.” Tristan leaned in closer until they were a mere inch apart.
“I love you,” he whispered against her mouth.
Sylvia sobbed and threw herself against him. “I love you, too, Tristan.”
His strong arms came around her and banded her body closer to his. “Say it again.”
“I love you!” she shouted and then pulled his mouth to hers.
Time seemed to stop as the couple wound themselves around each other.
“Marry me,” Tristan murmured.
Sylvia pulled back and looked at Tristan in shock. “Marriage?”
“Yeah.” He smiled. “You know. That little ritual that says I can leave the cap off the toothpaste, and you won’t kill me. Or when I use your best doily to wipe the grease off my hands after I work on the car.”
She laughed. “I don’t have doilies. You don’t work on cars.”
Tristan took her hand and put it on his heart. “Same sentiment.” He brushed his lips across hers. “Marry me. Yell at me. Hold me at night. Challenge me. Be there for the rest of my life.”
Tears clogged Sylvia’s throat at his words. “Oh, Tristan.” She brushed a tear from his cheek. “You are my happily-ever-after, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” Tristan murmured as he pulled her back to him. “I am.”
* * * *
Sylvia married Tristan on an island in the Caribbean wearing her fairytale dress with Keira and Jon as witnesses. The goddesses watched and cried when the couple said their vows.
Tempest held her arm out as a jade green bracelet appeared on her wrist. She cooed and traced the symbols branded into the metal.
“And aren’t you the prettiest piece of jewelry I’ve ever worn?”
Wilda snickered. “You two need a moment?”
Tempest’s head snapped back up. She glanced at her sisters. All of whom were trying desperately not to laugh. She held her head high and smoothed her dress. “I worked very hard for this.”
“We know, sister.” Kendra smiled and then looked at Eden. “You are the last.”
“I am.” Eden brushed her thick chestnut hair back from her face.
Wilda walked over to Eden and put her arm around her shoulders. “The wisest of us all.”
Eden snickered. “Well. The oldest. I have a feeling ‘the wisest’ is about to be put to the test.” She took a deep breath. “I have a confession.”
Kendra’s light blue eyes widened. “A confession?”
Wilda arched an eyebrow. “Well. This ought to be good.”
Eden bit her lip. “Oh yes. It’s absolutely great.” She moved away from Wilda and faced her three sisters.
Wilda wore a filmy ruby dress that left her arms bare. She let her hair fall in long waves down her back. Her green eyes fixed on Eden.
Kendra wore a light blue pant suit that clung to her slender curves. Her hair pulled back into a long ponytail tied with a blue ribbon. Her light blue eyes were troubled as she looked at Eden.
Tempest wore a jade sari with her hair unbound. She played with her bracelet and watched Eden carefully.
It was almost too much.
Eden smoothed down her own copper gown and turned from them. She pulled her thick hair back into a simple chignon and gathered her thoughts.
They were bound to be furious. As would their father be, if he ever found out. What she had done was forbidden. But it had been necessary. Hadn’t she gone over her actions again and again until a headache formed?
Eden turned back to her sisters. “I helped a mortal.”
Wilda blinked. “That’s what we do.”
Eden shrugged her shoulders. “This wasn’t exactly along the line of what we do.”
“What exactly did you do?” Tempest looked scared but desperately tried to hide it.
Of all the sisters, Eden bore the most responsibility. Always levelheaded. The peacemaker. She was the glue that held the sisters together.
She met each of her sisters’ eyes in turn. “I saved one.”
Kendra clapped her hand over her mouth. Tempest looked to be in shock. Only Wilda spoke.
“I thought she needed to live.” Eden’s brown eyes snapped in fury. “I thought it was a damn shame an eleven-year-old girl needed to give up her young life.”
“Hold up.” Tempest paced. “So you stepped in and helped her.” She glanced up at Eden. “So what?”
“She would have died.”
The sisters gasped. Eden was right. It was forbidden. They could guide. But they couldn’t completely alter a mortal’s life. And Eden had done just that.
“Oh. Shit.” Wilda sank into a seat that appeared under her. She rubbed her temple. “This is bad. This is extremely damn bad.”
“I bear full responsibility.” Eden held her head high. “I would do it again.”
Tempest growled. “Well, that’s damn peachy.” She walked over to Eden. “Was she worth it, Eden? To break the rules? To almost certainly be punished by Father?”
“Every damn second.”
Kendra spoke. “Tell us what you did.”
Eden clasped her hands in front of her. “We always watch them. You know that.”
The sisters nodded in unison.
“It was many years ago. I was planting irises. I remember it so well.” Her brown eyes softened in memory. “I was down in my knees in the garden when I heard a small cry.”
She looked at her sisters. “It tore at my heart. That sound.” She gestured helplessly. “It sounded like a soul dying.”
Kendra shivered.
Wilda nodded. “Continue.”
“I dropped my trowel and willed myself to the clouds. When I looked for the mortal, I was frantic.” Eden shook her head. “I don’t know how to explain it. I had to find her. I had to do anything and everything in my power to help.”
“And you did.” Tempest put her hands on her hips.
“She was broken,” Eden whispered. “A slip of a girl lying on the ground. She lost consciousness as soon as she fell.” She looked at her sisters, her eyes filled with anguish. “Her soul cried out to me. I couldn’t turn from her.”