Love's Challenge (Pearl Vampire Chronicles #5) (24 page)

“Excuse me?”

“Kiss me, please?  And not a peck on the lips either.  I mean really
friggin’ kiss me.”

Matt’s smile lit up his face as he leaned in and planted one of those
kisses on me.  I was gasping when he stopped.  Then I turned to Carlos.  “Now
you.  Please, kiss me.”

“Sarah, I’m not sure that’s such a good…” he stopped when I grabbed his
checks and locked my mouth on his and I gave
him
one of those kisses. 

“Jesus, Sarah,” he gasped when I finally pulled away.  My shaking hand
picked up the remote and pressed play.  It only took a moment before Scotty’s
beautiful face lit up the screen and I pressed pause, freezing it there. 

“Link with me and I’ll show you the memory of when I saw the baby’s face
in the cave,” I said, and they did.  We all opened our eyes at the same time
and stared at the screen in silence.  I relaxed and took a deep breath because
they understood now.  Now they knew.  And now we could all start healing.

Chapter
Eighteen

Juan squealed as I grabbed him from behind and flew him down the stairs
and out the front door.  We flew a few hundred yards off shore and I pointed to
the dolphins jumping through the water below us.  Carlos called out from our
left, “I’ve got some sharks over here.”  I flew over to where he was and handed
Juan to him, then I moved to hover directly behind Carlos.  I kissed the back
of his neck and he shivered.  We flew back to shore and landed where Matt was
waiting for us. Carlos started to move away, but I held tight to his hand and
pulled him toward me, giving him a quick, yet tender and loving kiss. 

“See.  I told you, you should be married to both of them, Auntie Sarah,”
Juan said. 

Matt leaned down to Juan.  “You told Aunt Sarah that she should be
married to both of us?”

Juan nodded.  “When they were visiting last Christmas.  I told her it
felt to me like she already was.”

“And you said this to them before they left to come home?”

Juan nodded.  Matt watched both of us.  “Kids see everything, don’t they? 
Even the things we don’t,” he said as we both nodded.  Matt pulled out his cell
phone.  “You guys go on inside.  I have to make a quick phone call.”  I gave
Matt a kiss, completely unaware of what he was about to do, and headed inside
with Carlos and Juan.  Matt joined us a few minutes later and he was strangely
calm and quiet.  

Matt, Carlos and I had spent two weeks alone on the island, and, yes, my
sexual appetite had returned, with a vengeance.  But Carlos and I had fought
the urge for it to be us.  We both felt like that was the right thing to do. 
So he had slept in the guest house while Matt and I rediscovered ourselves. 
But we all spent our days together.  And Carlos and I found ourselves beginning
to enjoy the buildup of sexual tension between us.  Probably because we knew
how explosive it would be when we finally gave in to it again. 

Matt had suggested having Cindy and the kids join us for a week before we
went home; something that I soon discovered that I really needed.  It was the
first time I had really laughed again.  It was interesting this time, because
Cindy brought her new boyfriend Kevin with her.  She had already explained to
him what we were, but actually meeting us was a little nerve-wracking for him. 
But he soon got over it and had a blast.  And I couldn’t help teasing Cindy
about how much Kevin looked like Carlos. 

“Jeez, Cindy.  He could be Carlos’ twin brother,” I said as she blushed. 

“Yeah, but at least Kevin can eat my cooking,” she joked, “and he adores
the kids, Sarah.  That was the clincher with him.”

“I can see why.  He’s awesome, Cindy.”

I walked up the stairs to pack my things.  The plane was going to be here
tomorrow morning to fly us to Corpus Christi to drop off Cindy, Kevin and the
kids, and then home.  I started folding my things and tucking them into my open
suitcase and I didn’t even hear Matt come in and sit on the bed behind me. 
“Sarah?  Would you come sit down for a second?” he whispered.  I stared at him
in the mirror.  Something about his tone scared me.  I sat next to him and he
clasped my hand in his.  “You’re not coming on the plane with us tomorrow,
honey,” he said.

My head whipped around to stare at him.  “What? What do you mean?  Are
you leaving me?” I gasped.

He smiled and kissed my forehead.  “Honey, you really need to stop doing
that.  I am not leaving you.  I will never leave you, ever.  I just wish I
could convince you of that.  I want Carlos to bring the boat to Corpus Christi
so Cindy, Kevin and the kids can enjoy it.  If we need it at the island, we can
just fly in to Corpus Christi and drive it from there.  It’s only a little
farther boat ride from there than it is from Miami.”

“So you want Carlos to drive the boat to Corpus Christi, but what does
that have to do with me not being on the plane with you?”

“Because I don’t want him to make that trip alone.  So I’m going to fly
to Corpus Christi with everyone else.  I want you to make the boat trip with
Carlos.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Matt.  I’m going on the plane with you.”

“No, you’re not, Sarah,” he said then we both heard the knock on the door
downstairs.  “Ah, he’s here,” Matt said.

“What?  Who’s here?”

“Aduviri.”

“Why is Aduviri here?”

Matt reached over and grabbed my unscarred hand.  Part of the process to create
a vampire involved a ceremony performed by an Aztecan medicine man that creates
identical scars – something called a ‘linking ceremony.’  One of the nice
benefits of these scars is that they allow us to feel everything that the other
person is feeling when they touch.  

“Because you have two hands and two loves, Sarah.  And I think little
Juan is right.”

I stared at my hand for the few seconds it took me to realize what he was
saying.  I gasped.  “Matt, I, Matt, you don’t have to do this,” I whispered.

He nodded.  “Yes, I do, Sarah.  He needs this.  He needs you.  What you
two share doesn’t take anything away from you and me.  I see that now.  I can
live with that.  Aduviri’s going to marry you two tonight, with all of us
here.  Then tomorrow, after we’re gone, he’ll perform the linking ceremony. 
You two can use the travel time on the boat as your honeymoon.  Then it’s back
to you and me for a while.”

“But, but, will you be waiting for me in Corpus Christi when I get
there?”

He smiled his amazing smile.  “I will be.  Unless there’s some huge
emergency that forces me to go home early.  But if that happens, I will be
waiting for you at home, Sarah.  I’ll be waiting for you and I’ll still love
you.  I will always love you.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.  Now, I think you might need to go talk to Carlos for a
minute.  He’s never been married to anyone before, ever.  Not even Maria.  They
did the linking ceremony but they never actually got married.  Even though it’s
you, I think he might be freaking out a little,” he said, smiling.  I got up
and walked toward the door, but stopped when I reached it.  I put my hand on
the doorknob and slowly closed the door and locked it.

“He’s just going to have to wait a few minutes,” I said as I turned and
flew into Matt’s arms, locking him in my arms and drinking in his love for me.

A while later.  “Jesus, Sarah.  That was a-maz-ing with a capital A,”
Matt said as he lay back and tried to catch his breath. 

“I thought so too.  Now, can you please get dressed and come watch me
marry my second husband?” I said, smiling.

“You’re sure he’s gonna go through with it?” he grinned.

“Do you really think he has a choice?” I said as I crossed my arms over
my chest.  Matt smiled and shook his head. 

“Just get everybody gathered downstairs.  We’ll be there in a minute,” I
said as I pulled a white sundress out of the closet and pulled it on, it would
have to do as a wedding dress.  I ran down the stairs and out the back door,
taking the path to the guest house.  I didn’t bother knocking.  I ran through
the front door and found him pacing in the living room.  I had to bite my
tongue to keep from laughing.  He hadn’t noticed me yet. 

“Hi, honey,” I said, making him jump. 

“Jesus, Sarah.  I don’t know if I can do this.  Is he insane?  This
really isn’t necessary, right?  The m,m,m,mar, you know, that part of it.  It
really isn’t necessary, right?”

I chuckled and shook my head as I walked up to him.  I grabbed his face
between my hands and locked my eyes on his.  “You should be thrilled it’s like
this, Carlos.  This is a part-time gig.  Whenever you and I are apart, you’re
free to do whatever you want to do.  Do you understand what I just said? 
You’re free to do whatever you want to do.”

“But, it’s the part-time part that scares me.  What if I want more,
Sarah?  What if I need more?”

I shook my head.  “I don’t think that’ll happen, Carlos.  You and I,
we’re all about the buildup.  We love the buildup.  We thrive on the buildup. 
We can’t have that buildup if this were more than a part-time thing.  If we
were together all the time, you’d get bored.  That’s what you do.  This way,
that won’t happen.  This way you’ll always have this,” I said as I brought my
mouth to his.  We still hadn’t been together since that time on the train
before Aquila had taken me, and his body responded instantly.  He groaned and
pulled me to him.  Suddenly I pulled back and looked at him.  “Hey, I just
realized that I’m marrying you and I don’t even know your last name.”

“Jesus, Sarah.  Now?  You have to ask that now?  Can’t you ask that
after?” he groaned.

I smiled at him.  “Honey, we’re waiting until after the marriage AND the
linking ceremony.”

He groaned and kissed my neck.  “But the linking ceremony isn’t until
tomorrow morning.  You’re going to make me wait until then?  Can’t you at least
give me a little taste so I can make it till then, please?  It’s been months,
Sarah.  You’re killing me here.  And it’s Delgado.  My last name is Delgado.”

“Hmmmm, Sarah Jensen Pearl-Delgado, or Sarah Jensen Delgado-Pearl.  Which
one do you think sounds better?”

“I think they both sound great as long as you’re naked and sitting on my…”
he stopped when there was a knock at the screen door.  I smiled when I saw it
was Juan. 

“Buildup, sweetheart,” I said as I kissed his cheek and went to answer
the door. 

“I don’t think it could build up any more than it already is,” he mumbled
softly enough for me to hear, but not Juan.  Carlos walked up behind me, poking
his head over my shoulder and pressing his “buildup” into my backside. 

“Hi Juan,” he said.  I squeezed my eyes shut for a second, then smiled at
Juan. 

“Well?” Juan said, clearly frustrated.

“Well, what?” Carlos said.

Juan exhaled and rolled his eyes.  “Are you coming or not?” he said.

I pursed my lips to keep from laughing and Carlos pressed his forehead
into the back of my neck to do the same.  “Buildup, huh?” Carlos whispered. 

He looked back at Juan.  “Yes, Juan.  We’re coming right now,” he said as
he squeezed his arms tighter around my stomach.  Juan reached up, grabbed my
hand and pulled us out the door and down the stairs.  “Whoa, slow down there
buddy.  You don’t want us to go running through the door out of breath, right?”
he said, then he mumbled to me, “And you also don’t want everyone seeing my
hard on.  Jeez, Sarah, I think it’s stuck.  It won’t go down.”

“Juan, I’ll tell you what,” I said.  “You go in the door and close it. 
Then count to ten and open it for us to come in, okay?  That’s what the best
man at a wedding is supposed to do.”

“Me?  I’m the best man?  Sweet!  I have to tell Mom,” Juan said as he ran
up the stairs and slammed the door.  I heard him telling Cindy then I heard him
start to count.

“Seriously, Sarah.  It won’t go down,” he said with panic beginning to
show in his eyes.

“Carlos, look at me,” I said and watched his eyes meet mine.  “You’re
about to go in there and get married.  Married, Carlos.  Married with a capital
M.”

“Okay, Sarah.  You can stop now.  That scared it away.  Shit, now I’m
hyper-ventilating.”

I laughed and clasped his hand in mine as Juan pulled the door open.  We
walked in to a room full of beaming faces.  Even Matt was beaming.  I clasped
his hand in mine and brought next to me.  “Ummm, Sarah.  I’m pretty sure it’s
just supposed to be you and Carlos up here,” he said.

I shook my head.  “Nope.  You’re my maid of honor, so you belong up here
next to me,” I said, which got everyone laughing. 

Aduviri cleared his throat. “Well.  I’m going to have to wing it here a
bit because they don’t write a ceremony for a second marriage, at least not one
like this.  But I’ll just say that everyone in this room was changed when they
met Sarah.  She doesn’t follow along just because that’s what the rules say she
should do.  She does what feels right to her, and if that means changing the
rules, then that’s what she does.  Even if it’s something that we ourselves
never in a million years thought we’d be doing, she still somehow makes it feel
right
to us.  She follows her heart and we can all learn from that and
be better for it.  So, with that being said, Sarah Marie Pearl, do you take
Carlos Hector Delgado to be your second lawfully wedded husband?  To have and
to hold, so long as it doesn’t interfere with your time with Matthew.  In
sickness and in health.  To be there for each other as best friends and
confidants.  And to love each other as long as you both shall live?”