Crescent Bound (32 page)

I know Marc is great
and I know he has a big heart.
I
’
m generally not the jealous type and I definitely don
’
t want to feel this way when I know someone has lost a loved one.

I smile at her re
assuringly and tell her
,
“
I know
it will work out.
”

As she drops me off I say with as much enthusiasm I can muster
,
“
Be ready in the next few hours, a limo will come to get you.
”
  We w
ave our goodbyes and I walk inside
my house.

I call Marc and literally within a few minutes he is stand
ing at my front door.  I open the
door and see the most gorgeous
, breathtaking
guy I have ever seen
in my life
.  He walks right up to me, like
he is a man on a mission.
“
Hey, you,
”
h
e
says as he closes the door. He takes one more enticing step closer
to me I can feel his sweet breath against my lips.  Suddenly, he kisses me with such intenseness I can barely stand upright, sensing his hunger growing.  It feels like we have been apart for centuries and we did nothing
,
but
think of our reuniting.

I wrap my hands tightly around his neck, as he leans me against the wall.  Feeling his lips on mine reminds me just how good we are together.  I savor his lips, his taste and how I have
missed his
body next to mine.  I run my hands through his
soft
hair;
I can
’
t believe just how much we
’
ve missed each other as our
kiss deepens
. Standing in the foyer, locked into each other with as much passion that I have ever felt from him.

The world vanishes away once he touches me and I no longer care about anything else except Marc.  Then, sadly he pulls back and
whispers
breathlessly,
“
I th
ink your parents just pulled in.
”

I peek up at him in utter confusion,
“
P
arents
?
”

He laughs and replies,
“
Yeah
, your mother and father, I think that
’
s what the
y are
called, but I
’
m not sure how
you would say it in Australian.
”
He
giv
es
me a quick wink.

“
Dag, mate, I
’
ll have to ask my oldies about that
one
.
”
I
turn around to open the door and greet
my father and mother.

Mom and
Dad
greet Marc in the
Worthington
coven way.  My mother smiles a brilliant smile towards me and I begin to wonder what her and my
father has
up their sleeves as she says,
“
Come follow me to the living room.
”

I take Marc
’
s hand
instantly and follow them. Marc and I settle ourselves
on the couch together.  Mom sits across from me and a few moments later my dad shifts right before me.  He hand
s me a small black velvet box.
“
This is the first of two gifts
you
’
re
going to receive as a
gradu
a
tion
present,
”
he tells me grinning proudly.  I slowly open the small box and find inside the most mag
nificent blue diamond ring
. 

My father moves away and sits beside my mother,
as they
both
glance
at each other as if they have unveiled a secret to each other without speaking a word.  My dad turns back to me and smiles,
“
I saw you
looking when we were at Tiffany
’
s.  It was then that I decided it is time for you to own this piece.  The ring holds the rare stone of blue that has been in our family for many, many years.
”
  He clears his throat and continues,
“
Maybe when we
have a
little more time, I will have a chance
to
tell Marc how this blue gemstone came to be a
Worthington
family heirloom.
”
  My mother discreetly nudges my dad. 

“
Well, we don
’
t have time right now to bo
re him with old bedtime stories
, do we Alyss?
”
  I just shake my head
numbly
in shock of what I hold in my hands
,
I
quickly stand hugging my father and lean over to my mother,
and embrace
her too. 

“
I...don
’
t know what to say, I
’
m absolutely speechless.  Thank you and I love you both so very much.
”

Dad grins approvingly, as he watches me slide the ring on and stand there still in disbelief.  
“
You k
now your limo will be here soon,
”
Dad
politely mentions.
Taking his subtle hint I walk with Marc out to the driveway.

“
I need to get ready, Marc, I will see you at the prom, okay?
”
 

Standing next to his car, he picks up my hand that I have the ring on. 
“
Your eyes are more radiant than this blue diamond could ever be.
You
’
re
absolutely gorgeous.
”
H
e kisses my ha
nd never taking his eyes off me,
“
Gardenias, right?
”
he asks. 

I nod and he begins pulling me to him as he leans against his car
.  He
wrap
s
his arms around my waist
and
kisse
s me tenderly on the lips
and
whispers,
“
I missed you so much…don
’
t ever leave me like that again.
”
 

I kiss his s
oft, succulent lips and promise,
“
I will never leave you like that again.
”
I trace his lips and savor his essence surrounding me, remorse fills me and I don
’
t want to tell him
,
but
I know I need to.
“
We better get ready,
”
I finally
force myself to
say.  Kissing him again, I step back as he gets into his car. 
“
I
’
ll see you there
.
”
I watch him drive off.

I shower and slip into my dress.
Mom
,
of course
,
peeks in to see if I need her help with the final touches.  She fixes my hair, which is up
,
but
several long strands still dangle around my face.  I slide on my cry
stal clear heels and spin
around.
Is this what Cinderella felt like?  Poor girl definitely needs to get out more
.  For the last essential touch I place on my diamond
choker and matching earrings.

I
’
m ready so I walk d
ownstairs and meet my father
’
s gaze as he stands at the bottom of the staircase, smiling the entire time at me.

“
You look abso
lutely impeccable, Alyssa.
”
H
e takes my hand and twirls me around.
“
You were
so right to go with this dress Dad,
I feel like I just walked into a Christian Lacroix fashion show with this dress on.
”

The limo pulls into the drive and my father opens the door for me.  I
’
m sitting there while my mom takes a few pictures and then
it
’
s
on to Lisa
’
s and Megan
’
s house.  

Lisa looks amazing.  She is wearing a darker pink Tulle sweetheart strapless gown which flows to the ground.  She gets in the limo smiling her famous perfect smile.  I know
she
and Megan thoroughly enjoy every moment of events such as this and I suppose what girl doesn
’
t. 

I smile back and say,
“
Now,
let
’
s
go get Megan.
”

As we p
ull
up to Megan
’
s house,
Megan comes sauntering out.  She
’
s irresistibly stunning as always.  She twirls elegantly around in a black sexy satin beaded strapless gown with a slit that opens all the way down the side of her tan leg.  She stands and does this sexy pose for us. 

We
’
re a
pplauding her as she gets into the limo.
“
Hey,
”
Megan says,
“
since I am going to the prom with Cinderella and Rapunzel, I
should go
as Esmeralda, you know the naughty brunette from the
Hunchback of Notre Dame
.
”
 

We laugh and Lisa grins
and
playfully
nudges Megan
,
“
Well, you definitely fit the part.
”

“
Now off to the festival of fo
ols,
”
Megan adds and gives an eerie witch
y
laugh.  Rolling my eyes I think,
how am I going to make it through the night with these two?

We drive to a
local u
niversity instead of the high school.  It is much larger for the event.  Our limo pulls up to the double glass door entrance. 
We have never been here before
, I ponder to myself
as we step out of our classy ride and glance up at the four story structure.  We walk inside and see the signs leading us to the ballroom floor. 

Inside, the music pumps so loudly that the floor is vibrating beneath our feet.  Megan grabs us and leads us directly to the dance floor in the center of the massive ballroom. There is a light haze of smoke like mist filling the room and an array of colors dance across us.  It reminds me of the clubs back in
California
, but much more toned down. 

Soon the music takes over my body and I fall into the trance and start dancing.  I move around to the beat allowing the rhythm to consume me.  When I start to twirl around I see Marc leaning with his back against the wall watching me.  As soon as our eye
s meet he starts walking toward
me.  Once I am in his arms he smiles that sublime smile of his,
“
I swear you could be in a group of a thousand people and I still will know you anywhere.
”
 

I didn
’
t care what
the beat is from the music any
more.  I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss his beckoning, lustful lips.  Moving closer into his body he looks breathtaking, in a black tuxedo with a light silver vest
,
and tie
,
which matches my dress perfectly.  Once the music changes he takes my hand
leading me off the dance floor he states,
“
I have something for you.
”
  He walks us over to a table and picks up a clear plastic box, and
removes the delicate gardenia corsage piece and places it around my wrist.  Slowly,
he
kisses my hand
pausing before he looks up to me and in that rough sexy voice of his he compliments me,
“
You are so gorgeous, you know that don
’
t you?
”
  I slide a chair out of my way and ease my body
higher, tiptoeing
closer to him, even in my heels
I’
m shorter than him. Reaching my goal my lips touch his
.