Arianna Rose: The Gathering (Part 3) (23 page)

“Arianna,” he breathed and she dove into his arms.

It did not matter that his hands were stained with blood, that he had just killed
two of their kind.  All she wanted was to feel him, touch his solid form as proof that he was not a figment of her imagination. 

When
she felt his sturdy arms envelop her, his warmth surrounded her.  Relief swept through her and carried her on a current.

“Desmond, you’re really here,” she whispered and buried her face in his neck.  The spicy, masculine smell of his neck,
his
smell, filled her and the floodgates that had held her emotions at bay faltered.  She wept unabashedly. 

“Where else would I be if I weren’t with you?” he said into her hair and she clutched him tighter.

“I love you, Desmond,” Arianna said.  “Please don’t leave me ever again.”

She had never put herself at the mercy of a man, but no longer cared about pride or self-preservation.  She loved him and loving another meant being vulnerable, completely vulnerable, whether she liked it or not. 
Arianna loved Desmond.  He was indelibly etched into her soul. 

She felt his lips press to her cheek and she turned her face toward him, toward his mouth.  Wrapping both arms around his neck and clinging to him like a lifeline, she pressed her body close to his and savored his heat.
  His lips brushed hers and sent a tingle of electricity through her body.  His mouth felt blissful against hers, and she wanted more.  She immediately swept her tongue hungrily over his lips, parting them.  His tongue teased at hers, meeting it thrust for thrust seductively, until need twisted achingly, low in her belly.

When he pulled away from her, Arianna felt as if she’d been slapped. 

“We must take care of them,” he nodded toward Jess and Josh, “before we leave.”

She heard his words and knew what he meant, but was drunk with euphoria.  Desmond was alive and with her.
  Her heart felt full, blissfully full.  She did not want to let go of him, not even for a moment, but they needed to clear the school of evidence.  They needed to incinerate Jess and Josh’s bodies, as well as the car they’d come in.

Desmond stepped back
, away from her, and the distance between them grew by just a few feet.  Even that small degree of separation caused a sharp pang in her chest.  But she knew what they must do.

Unwillingly, she tore her eyes from him
as he retrieved his daggers and tried to focus on Jess.  She channeled any energy that remained after the enervating scene that had unfolded before Desmond’s appearance.  She did not have much left.  Much of her force had been sapped when Josh restrained her and Jess began attacking her.  Now, Jess lay in a pool of her own blood, a fact that should have pleased her, especially since Jess and Josh had been plotting death and destruction at their high school.  But she did not feel pleased, not about that at least.  The joy she felt over Desmond’s safety usurped any other emotion she could possibly feel.  The time would come to celebrate Jess and Josh’s fall, but that time was not now. 

A sudden tingling at her fingertips signaled the readiness of her power.  Her reserves had replenished themselves, and faster than ever.  She was growing stronger.  She could feel it. 

Effortlessly, an arc of fire blazed from each hand and met with Jess’ body, white-hot and precise.  Within seconds, Jess was reduced to a heap of ashes.  From the corner of her eye, she glimpsed Desmond watching her.  She turned to face him and saw pride touch his lovely features.  She offered him only a half-smile and blinked to keep her tears at bay. 

“Your powers have grown, haven’t they,” he said softly as branches of blue fire danced between his hands.  “Just in the last few days, you’ve grown stronger.”

She nodded and he smiled.  Then he slowly turned from her and cremated Josh’s body.  When Josh’s hulking body was turned to ash, Arianna felt Desmond at her side.  He leaned in and lowered his mouth to her ear.  His lips grazed her earlobe and his breath was hot when he spoke.

“Let’s
take care of the car they came in and get out of here,” he whispered, the rough stubble of his chin sending a shiver up her spine.

They moved to the rear parking lot of the school and, together, they destroyed
Jess’ car.  When no trace of it existed, Desmond pulled her close to him.  She felt the steady beat of his heart thrumming in time with hers and suddenly, Hallowed Hills High School, along with and the ashes of Josh and Jess’ bodies and car, vanished from sight.  Light burst into her mind; brilliant white light, warm and inviting, and she was carried on a roaring wave.  The warmth she felt, Desmond’s warmth, filled her fully.  She was light, free from pain and fear, from grief and loss.  Every worry she’d ever felt dissipated like grains of sand in the wind.  She felt herself fall away.

Chapter 15

The light and peace Arianna felt while sifting with Desmond did not leave her when she arrived at her h
ouse.  He was still by her side.  He had not left her, and that alone made her insides quiver with delight.

They stood with their arms wrapped around each other.  She refused to release him and he
did not move release her.  Rather, he remained as he was, holding her in the center of her bedroom.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” Arianna said
with her cheek pressed to his chest.

“I am so sorry for how I left you,” he began
, his voice a deep rumble echoing comfortingly through her mind.  “I was wrong, so wrong.”

Wrong?
She wondered. 
Wrong for what, for surviving a murder attempt orchestrated by your own father?
The question spun in her head. 

Arianna
’s grip slackened and she stepped back, confused.  “Wait, what?”

“You know, what happened the last time we were here,” he fumbled and color touched his cheeks.  “And then I just left like an idiot, left you here.  I don’t expect you to forgive me for how I behaved,” he started
, but she interrupted him.

“None of that matters now.  I am just so glad you’
re alive,” she assured him.

“Alive?” he asked and looked at her warily.

“Yes, after Agnon, I mean your father, told me he’d had you killed, I just, I felt my whole world collapse.”

“My father?” Desmond growled
and dropped his arms.  He took a step back and watched her, shock and horror etched in his features.  “He came to see you?”

His mood shifted from passionate to furious in a matter of seconds.  With his jaw set in stone, the muscles around them twitching anxiously, his fair brows gathered and his eyes narrowed, he looked as if he were ready to pounce, and not in the way she would have liked.

“Yes, he showed up at the house of those two back at the school,” she said referring to Jess and Josh.  “A group of witches and warlocks are students at the high school I started two days ago.  They all live in the same house.  They invited me over and he was there.”

Desmond raked a hand through his golden waves and began pacing.

“There is a coven here in Hallowed Hills?” he asked.

“Yes.
  I assumed that was why I was drawn here,” she answered honestly.

“And they know who you are, right?”

“No, they have no idea.  They were screwing with me, actually.  They have this guy, George.  He can block my powers and the powers of others like us,” she said and the mere thought of George made ire bubble within her.

“
They screwed with you?” Desmond said through his teeth.  His fists were balled at his sides and for the first time, she realized how dangerous he looked when he was angry.  “And this George, he blocked your powers?”

“Yes,” she admitted and her fingertips tingled involuntarily.

“Did my father know what was happening, what they were doing to you?”

“He didn’t say if he knew about that specifically, but he knew they were
going to parties and killing people for fun.”

“
What?
” Desmond asked heatedly.

“Look, none of that matters now, Desmond.  You are alive and that’s all I care about.  We can deal with everything else tomorrow.  The others, your father, we will take care of them
, all of them.  Trust me, we will.”

His face smoothed and a slow smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

“I just need to take everything in now, to, I don’t know, enjoy the fact that you’re alive.”

“I am alive because of you.  I live for you, Arianna Rose,” he said and looked
at her for a long moment before closing the distance between them.

Without hesitation, he scooped her into his arms, clamping his
substantial arms around her waist.  He drew her close, hugging her so tightly, their forms molded to one another.  Her head rested over his heart and its steady rhythm made her nearly weep with joy.  He was alive and safely in her arms.  His beating heart was proof. 

With her head on his chest, she breathed in his scent and was suddenly desperate to feel him as close to her as he could possibly be.  She rose on to her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. 
Soft and inviting, they tasted of night air, salty and sensual.  He kissed her gently at first, almost timidly.  She nibbled at his lower lip playfully then traced them both with her tongue.  A low growl rumbled deep in his chest and his kisses ceased being gentle and timid.  He began kissing her with ferocity, as if he’d abandoned tender need and replaced it with animal lust.  He kissed her with intense desire that shouted he would take what was his.  And she was his, body and soul. 

Her heart pounded and her mind spun as emotions
inundated her, overwhelming her.  Each of her senses was heightened, begging for more of him.  His tongue swept against hers, deeper and deeper.  Need pooled low in her belly and her hands went to the hem of his shirt, lifting it over his chiseled midsection.  Her hands grazed the valleys and mountains of muscle along the way as she slowly slid his shirt up.  She knew he’d have to pull away from her for her to fully remove it, but she was reluctant to separate from him, terrified of losing him again. 

As if intuiting her reluctance, Desmond pulled away from her quickly and just f
ar enough for her arms to snap his shirt over his head then returned to her.  She allowed her eyes to drop and see what her fingers had felt seconds earlier.  His pale skin, stretched tightly over powerful muscles, looked like marble.  He was perfection, golden, glorious perfection.  She allowed her fingertips to trace the swollen peaks of his chest, her legs growing weak as she did.  The need to memorize every magnificent inch of his form became unexpectedly urgent.  She had lost him once before, at least she’d thought she had.  She would not waste a moment taking him for granted, not ever again. 

She watched as her touch made him shudder.  His breath caught in his chest more than once and she found herself giddy with delight.  He, a powerful warlock,
nearly a hundred years old, was quivering at her touch.  She stole a glance at his face and was startled to find his brilliant blue eyes trained on her.  But he did not watch her with primal lust as she’d expected, the lust he’d kissed her with a moment ago.  Lust was there, but it was not alone.  Softness was there as well, a softness that made her belly flutter.  She was no longer hurting.  She was no longer scared.  She and Desmond existed as if suspended in time, just the two of them.

He leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers.

“Arianna,” he sighed, his breath hot against her lips.  “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she breathed and she saw tears well in his crystal-blue eyes.

Her heart hammered.  He loved her.  And she loved him.  No doubt existed in her mind.  For the first time in her life, she was absolutely certain of her feelings.  She was completely and irrevocably in love with Desmond. 

He slipped his arm around her waist and lifted her
, cradling her against him.  As he did, she felt the heat of his body melt her, his heart pounding in time with hers.  He carried her to her bed and laid her there, planting soft kisses at the corners of her mouth, and rested his weight beside her instead of atop her as she wanted.  He lifted his head and gazed deeply into her eyes and she swore he saw her soul, naked, vulnerable.  Her throat grew thick and she fought the tears that threatened as she reached her hand to his cheek.

“You’re really here,” she murmured as a tear slid from her eye.

“I will never leave you again,” he promised and cupped her face in his hands. 

His mouth made a slow, torturous descent before it found hers.  He kissed her tenderly for a long while and every part of her craved his touch.  She tugged at him, urging him to slide over
, on top of her.  When finally he did, he lowered himself on her so carefully, her body cried out.  She wanted to feel him, all of him, surround her.  She wanted to tear her shirt and bra from her body and feel his warm skin pressed to hers, but Desmond remained unhurried.  He teased and tempted his way down her chin to her neck, stopping and lingering at the sensitive spot behind her ear, before making his way down.  He nibbled and tantalized the tender skin of her neck to her collarbone then began unbuttoning her shirt.