Forgotten (33 page)

In no time the sandwiches were toasty and
the cheese was melted. Kate dished them onto plates with a blue
flower pattern just like the ones she and Mimi used back in their
Tampa apartment and sliced each one on the diagonal.

Though she’d lost her appetite earlier, the
warm scent of the buttered bread and melted cheese made Kate’s
mouth water. She was about to lift one diagonal of sandwich to her
mouth when she remembered Madam Shadows words about not being able
to eat unless she was fed by her lover’s hand. Had that been it?
Something like that, anyway. She didn’t want to try to take a bite
and have the sandwich jump out of her hand and land on the
floor.

Sighing, she put the sandwich down and went
to knock on the bathroom door. But just as she was lifting her
hand, the door swung open to reveal Rone standing there with a
slightly calmer look on his face.

“
Oh!” Kate put a hand to
her heart. “You startled me popping out like that! Would you like
to come eat something?”

He shook his head. “I’m honestly not very
hungry. Sorry.”

“
Well, you’re coming
anyway.” Kate grabbed him by the hand and towed him towards the
kitchen. “Because
I’m
hungry and I can’t eat unless you feed me.”

“
Oh, that’s right. Forgive
me.” He came with her willingly enough and Kate led him to the
counter and showed him the sandwiches. His eyes lit up—which was
saying something since they were already glowing. “Oh—you made
grilled cheese sandwiches! My favorite!”

“
It is?” Kate asked. “I,
uh, didn’t know.”

“
You made it for me the
first time I came back to your domicile.” Rone’s eyes went misty
with memory. “We were caught out in a rain storm and we were both
soaking wet. It was only our third date, I think. When we got back
inside your place, we were soaked to the skin. You changed clothes
but you didn’t have anything big enough for me to wear. So you
wrapped me in your grandmother’s quilt—the pink and gold and green
one she made for you—and fixed me this.” He gestured at the plate.
“You called it ‘comfort food.’ Told me your mother used to make it
for you on rainy days when you were little.”

“
Wow…that’s so sweet.”
Despite herself, Kate was charmed by the story. She could just see
it in her mind’s eye—the big Kindred wrapped in her favorite quilt
and munching on the gooey, crunchy sandwich, trying grilled cheese
for the first time and loving it.

“
It was then that I knew,”
Rone said quietly, picking up a slice of the sandwich.

“
Knew what?” Kate asked,
opening her mouth as he held it to her lips.

“
Knew that I was falling
in love with you.” His voice was soft but his eyes blazed. “I’d
been trying not to, you see. You were so small, baby—so delicate. I
was afraid I’d hurt you—afraid we wouldn’t be right for each other.
But at that moment I knew I was falling and I couldn’t help it.
Didn’t
want
to
help it anymore.”

“
Oh, Rone…” Kate pushed
the sandwich gently away and looked at him. “What’s going on?” she
asked softly. “What just happened back on the couch? Why…why did
you stop?”

He shook his head and looked away. “Please
don’t ask. I can’t tell you…not now.”

“
It’s just…” She looked
down at her hands. “I thought you
wanted
me close.”

“
I do, baby. The problem
is, I want you a lot closer than you want to get right now.” There
was a soft growl in his voice that sent a shiver through
her.

“
So what…if I won’t give
myself completely and go back to the way…the way you remember us
being before, then you don’t want me?” Kate asked, challenging
him.

“
No—it’s not like that.
It’s…” He shook his head. “I can’t explain it. But I
do
want you. Kate.
Please, look at me.” He lifted her chin gently when she wouldn’t
and Kate looked unwillingly into his eyes. “I don’t just want
you—I
need
you,”
he breathed, holding her gaze with his. “And that’s all I can say
right now. So please, can we just eat? Before your delicious
sandwiches get cold?”

Kate sighed. There was sincerity in his
piercing blue eyes. Clearly something was going on with him but he
didn’t feel comfortable discussing it yet. Well, she supposed she
could wait. After all, he wasn’t the only one sending mixed
messages. She felt like she’d never been so mixed up and confused
about a man in her life and yet she still felt drawn to the big
Kindred. Drawn in a way she couldn’t remember being drawn to anyone
else.

“
Okay,” she said lightly,
picking up half of a sandwich. “Open wide.”

Rone opened his mouth obligingly and ate
half the sandwich in a single bite.

“
Mmm…” His eyes rolled up
in his head as he chewed and swallowed. “Just as good as I
remembered. Gods, I’ve missed your cooking.”

“
And you said you weren’t
hungry.” Kate eyed the decimated sandwich skeptically. “Also, I
thought you said we shared the cooking.”

“
We do. But there are some
things you make I just can’t seem to get right. This is one of
them.” He took another bite from the sandwich she held. “I always
burn them for some reason.”

“
You have to watch them,”
Kate said, taking a dainty nibble from the half he was holding out
to her. “The second side gets done way faster—”

“
Than the first side. I
know.” He grinned. “You’ve told me that again and again but I
somehow always forget and end up with a half burned
sandwich.”

“
No burning the sandwiches
on my watch.” Kate popped the rest of the first half into his
mouth. “This is my specialty.”

“
I know. I’ve missed it so
much. Missed
you
so much, baby.”

His gaze was so intense, Kate had to drop
her eyes. Forgetting herself, she picked up the second half of her
sandwich and tried to take a bite without having him feed it to
her. Her teeth clicked together hard and she gasped as she bit her
tongue.

“
Ouch!”

“
Are you okay?” Rone
looked down at her anxiously.

“
Fine.” Kate put a hand to
her mouth for a moment but she wasn’t bleeding. “Just bit myself
when I tried to take a bite.” She shrugged ruefully. “I forgot I
couldn’t manage without you.”

“
I never forgot I couldn’t
manage without
you,”
Rone said softly and she knew he was talking about more than
just the meal they were sharing.

“
Well…” Kate gave him a
shy smile. More and more she was feeling drawn to him, despite
their weird circumstances and the warning her Knowing had given
her. Now that the fear toxins were gone, she could understand what
her past self must have seen in the big Kindred.

“
Here.” Rone held out the
sandwich to her. “No need to go biting yourself when you made such
delicious sandwiches for us to eat.”

Kate smiled at him and took a cautious bite.
This time her teeth bit into the crisp bread and melted cheese with
no problem. As she chewed, words suddenly rose to her mind.

“
All that I have, I take
from your hands. All that you take, I give from my heart,” she
murmured.

“
What?” Rone looked at
her, his eyes widening. “What did you say?”

“
I don’t know.” Kate shook
her head. “Just something that came to me. Why—do you know
it?”

“
Do I
know
it?” He put down the sandwich
and looked away for a moment, blinking his eyes
fiercely.

“
Rone…?” Kate looked at
him anxiously. “Are you okay? Do those words mean something to
you?”

“
They’re from our
vows—they’re what you said to me at our Joining ceremony.” His deep
voice was slightly choked but then he took a deep breath and looked
at her. “Do you remember any more?”

“
Sorry but no.” Kate shook
her head. “I’m really sorry I said them if it upset you so
much.”

“
No—don’t you see? It
proves that your memories are still down there
somewhere,”
he said earnestly. “Just
waiting to be brought back.”

“
But brought back how?”
she asked.

“
I don’t know,” he said in
a low voice. “Maybe just like this…doing things together that we
used to do. Sharing a meal…me telling you about our
past.”

“
Maybe.” Kate gave him a
shy smile. “I do enjoy it. I mean—this is nice, you
know?”

“
I love spending time with
you too,” Rone murmured. “There’s no place I’d rather be than here
with you now,
Lalli.”

Kate opened her mouth to
ask once and for all what “
Lalli”
meant but just then a bored sounding voice echoed
through the little apartment bubble.

“
Attention: this is your
pre-sleep warning. You have two solar minutes to attend to your
night time rituals. After that, Lights Out will be in effect. Thank
you.”

“
Oh!” Kate looked around,
as though she could find the source of the voice just by listening.
“Lights out?”

“
Apparently it’s almost
bedtime here.” Rone yawned. “Actually, it
has
been one long damn
day.”

“
It certainly has,” Kate
agreed. “But, um, what about sleeping arrangements?”

“
Well…” He frowned. “I
guess we’re meant to share the bed. But if you’re uncomfortable
with that…”

“
No,” Kate said
thoughtfully. “No, it’s okay with me.” Even a day ago she would
have been made uncomfortable with the idea—horribly so. But she was
beginning to know Rone now and she found she didn’t mind touching
him—in fact, she liked it. As long as he felt the same way. Which
made her wonder exactly how much touching was going to be involved
in sleeping together on the bed. “But…um…” She cleared her
throat.

“
Yeah, baby? What is it?”
Rone raised an eyebrow at her.

“
I’m just
thinking…wondering…” Kate could feel her cheeks getting hot. “I
mean, how much do you think we’ll have to be, you know,
touching
, for the bed to
support us?”

“
I don’t know.” Rone
frowned. Just then the lights flickered and went out, plunging them
into complete blackness. “But I have a feeling we’re going to find
out,” he finished dryly.

“
Oh!” Kate looked around
uncertainly. “I can’t believe this! They barely gave us any time to
get ready for bed and now I can’t see a
thing.”

“
Well,
I
can. Here.” Rone picked her up
again and she gave a little gasp of surprise and clung to
him.

“
Don’t do that without
warning me!” she exclaimed.

“
Sorry. Didn’t mean to
scare you.” He sounded contrite and in the darkness, Kate could see
that his eyes were glowing a faint blue.

“
You just startled
me—that’s all. I’m not used to being picked up and carried all
around,” Kate said.

“
Yes you are—you just
don’t remember it.” He moved confidently in the utter blackness,
not bumping into anything though Kate was sure if she’d tried to go
anywhere herself she would have been running into
everything.

“
My, uh, friend, Emily
said something like that. She said you were always helping me down
from high places and carrying me all around.” She shrugged. “I
didn’t think it sounded like me but maybe I got used to
it.”

“
You didn’t just get used
to it,” he murmured, his deep voice rumbling in the darkness. “You
enjoyed it. Enjoyed being my
Lalli.
”

“
I’ve been meaning to ask
you,” Kate said. “What exactly does that word
mean—‘
lalli’?
Is
it some kind of pet name you had for me?”

“
Well…” He shifted a
little and she had the feeling he might be uncomfortable or
uncertain as to how she’d react to his answer.

“
Go on,” she urged him. “I
won’t get mad—just tell me.”

“
Lalli
means little girl—little sweetheart—in my native language.
It’s an ancient term of affection, so old even the translation
bacteria has trouble translating it.”

“
Little girl?” Kate
frowned. “How in the world did you start calling me
that?
I’m a grown
woman.”

He shifted again. “That’s
exactly what you said the first time I called you
lalli
. But remember, you
promised you wouldn’t get angry if I told you about
this.”

Kate sighed. “Yes, I remember. Okay,
sorry—go on.”

“
I started calling you
that because you’re so tiny—you reminded me of a little girl when I
first met you. It just kind of…slipped out. And by the time I
finally told you what it meant, it had already stuck.”

Kate frowned. “Was I angry with you for
calling me that when you explained what it meant the first
time?”

“
At first,” he admitted
cautiously. “You’ve always been fiercely independent—it’s one of
the things I love about you. You don’t let your petite stature keep
you from doing what you want.”