Promise (26 page)

He pressed his hand against the small of my
back and pulled me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist and he
turned and sat in the chair. I traced my hands over his chest, down
his torso and back up and over his shoulders and then pressed
myself against him, electricity jolting through my body. My lower
abdomen and groin tightened with excitement and anticipation. He
unclipped my twist and let my hair fall, then pulled back on it,
forcing my neck and chest up. His hand slid over and around my
breast, squeezing it gently and then holding it as he kissed and
licked and sucked, pulling my nipple tight, making it erect. He did
the same with its twin. I ground my pelvis against him and I felt
him hard underneath me.

"Ah, Lexi," he groaned. He looked into my
eyes and the fire burned in his. But I felt safe.

I started working frantically on his belt,
getting it undone, then his jeans button, while I ran my mouth
around his jaw. "Make love to me, Tristan," I breathed.

He slid his hands down my sides, over my hips
and under me, his fingers so close to that one area throbbing the
most for his touch.

"Argh! No!"

His hands suddenly grasped my waist and he
lifted me up and tried to set me on my feet. But my knees buckled
and I fell to the floor. Tears pooled again as I looked up at
him.

"You really don't want me?" I whispered, a
tear slipping down my cheek as that fear of rejection started to
wrap itself around me like a black cloak.

He stared at me for a long, painful moment
and then slid off the chair, down to his knees in front of me. I
watched his eyes as the flames dimmed and the gold started to
sparkle. He smiled as he put his hand under my chin and rubbed his
thumb across my lower lip.

"Oh, I want you, my Lexi,
ma lykita
. I
want you more than life itself."

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm ready. I'm ready to give myself to you.
I
trust
you."

"You don't know how happy that makes me." He
bent over and kissed me, long and gentle. "But…I don't know that
I'm ready and I'm not taking any chances with you."

I stared at him as my heart settled down. I
knew he could control himself. After what just happened, when the
monster had been closer to the surface than I'd ever seen before, I
knew he'd be fine. It was our love and my trust in him that would
bring him through. That's what he'd needed all along.

He looked into my eyes, his full of love. "We
had a deal."

"What?"
Why did that matter now?

"We're waiting until we're married."

I shook my head. "That wasn't our deal. Our
deal is we'll get married when we're ready. But if we're ready, why
wait?"

He smiled. "Because we're going to do this
right."

"Then let's get married."

He sighed. "You have another deal…with
Sophia."

"It's done. The novel's over there." I
flicked my hand toward the table where the manuscript lay.

"You won't submit it without anyone reading
it."

I searched his face. "Why are you making this
difficult?"

"Because
I
need more time." He pulled
me onto his lap, wrapped his arms around me and kissed me
again.

"How can you just cut things off like that?"
I asked, still feeling the warmth and pulsing throughout my
body.

"Hundreds of years of practice. I've mastered
control over
that
part. It's…the monster…I have to worry
about."

A chill ran up my spine, cooling the heat
that remained. We sat there for a few more minutes.

"Are you…okay?"

He nodded. "Yes, now that you're here."

More silence. Then he said, "I'm glad you're
ready. That you trust me completely. Why did you change your
mind?"

I swallowed. "I didn't exactly change my
mind. I just realized the truth that was there all along. When I
thought I would lose you forever, I realized I would do
anything
to keep you. You are more important to me than any
part of myself."

He frowned. "I don't deserve that."

"It's not a matter of what you deserve or
what I deserve. It just is. I can't live without you. I
need
you."

He narrowed his eyes and cocked his head. "It
is
I
who needs you. Without your love, without you in my
life, I am nothing but darkness."

"We need each other, then." I caressed his
face. "You and me together."

He leaned his forehead against mine.
"Forever."

He reached over to the table, picked off my
ring and slid it over my finger.

"Think you can stand yet?" He smiled.

I sighed and wrapped my arms around his neck.
"If I have to. But I really like it here."

His fingers trailed lightly up and down my
spine and I shuddered. He nibbled at my ear and murmured, "You
really need to put your clothes on. Before I lose control."

"You won't, though. I'm sitting in your lap
naked and you're fine."

"No, I'm not
fine
. You have no idea
how hard it is for me," he said.

I lifted an eyebrow, knowing exactly
what
was hard. A small smile played on his delicious lips,
but I could see in his eyes he fought something inside—and not, I
knew, just normal human desire. I didn't want to do that to him. I
reluctantly stood up, picked up my clothes and headed for the
stairs.

"Where are you going?" he asked, bemused.

"To bed, if you still have one," I said over
my shoulder.

He grabbed the manuscript and followed me.
"You're putting some clothes on."

"Yes, sir, I am."

His mattress and box springs leaned against
the wall in his bedroom. Everything was in boxes. I looked at him
sadly, realizing how close I'd come to losing him.

"It's an easy fix, my love." He started
putting the bed back together, lifting the pieces with ease, making
me shudder again as his muscles rippled. I turned away before
I
lost control and found what I wanted—his suitcase. I dug
around for one of his shirts, put it to my face and inhaled deeply.
I slipped on my panties and pulled his shirt on. He raised an
eyebrow and smiled. "I like it."

We found all the bedding and the big bed was
quickly back together and quite inviting. I started to crawl in
when I remembered Mom. I called to let her know everything was
okay, he was staying, and everyone could relax. Then I finally
crawled into bed and snuggled next to Tristan, who sat up against
the headboard, already several pages into the manuscript. He put
his arm around me. I stroked his chest and kissed his jaw.

"I'm trying to read this really good book
here," he said, his eyes not leaving the page.

Not knowing whether he meant it or not—and
not wanting to know yet—I ignored him. "Thank you for not leaving
me."

He pulled his eyes away from the manuscript,
looked into mine and smiled. "Thank you for coming back to me…and
for saving me from myself."

He kissed me gently. After nearly two weeks
of hardly any sleep, and now finally content again, I was out as
soon as his lips left mine.

Chapter 1
8

Sweet breath, wet kisses and a gentle tug on
my lower lip awoke me.

"Rise and shine, sweet love of mine," Tristan
murmured in my ear.

I smiled and stretched and peeked through my
eyelids. He'd opened the window shutters and light flooded the
bedroom. I squeezed my eyes shut. "Mmm…do I have to?"

I felt him crawl onto the bed next to me and
lay behind me. He snuggled tightly against my back. "I've been
waiting too long for you to waste the day sleeping."

I slowly opened my eyes and let them adjust
to the light. When I could finally focus, I saw blue sky and the
Gulf of Mexico spread out forever before me. "Wow. I could wake up
to this every morning."

"That could be arranged…."

I turned onto my back and Tristan propped
himself on his elbow, gazing down at me, the gold in his eyes
sparkling brightly, the green shining like emeralds. I reached up
and caressed his face.

"I missed you," I whispered.

"I missed you, too,
ma lykita
." He
gave me a long, loving kiss, then he scooped his arm under me and
the next thing I knew, I was on top of him. He pushed me up into a
sitting position, straddling his waist. "That's why I'm tired of
watching you sleep."

"What time is it anyway?"

"Almost noon. You've slept over fourteen
hours."

"Yeah, well…" I decided not to mention the
last two weeks of hell. "How long have you been up?"

"A couple hours. I slept in, too. It's been a
while since I've slept at all and then I was up most of the night
reading." He grinned and winked. I stared at him stupidly, not even
realizing I traced random shapes on his bare stomach until I felt
his muscles flex.

"
That
feels incredible…and
distracting," he said, grabbing my hand and entwining his fingers
with mine.

"I'll remember that," I said with a smile.
"So, what's on the agenda?"

"Whatever you want."

That was easy. "Can we ride to
Gasparilla?"

He frowned. "Except that. It's rainy season
and the storms will come in before we get back. It won't be much
fun."

"Well, if we need to stay indoors, then we
should get you unpacked." I glanced around at the boxes.

"We should probably leave that for now. Could
be a waste of time."

I stiffened. "
Why?
"

"Don't worry. I'm not going
anywhere
without you." He brushed my lips with his fingertips. I immediately
relaxed and narrowed my eyes.

"Don't
do
that to me." I swung my leg
off him and crawled to the side of the bed.

"Don't leave
.
I'm sorry!" He sounded
nearly as panicked as I'd felt a moment ago. I smiled.

"I'm just going to the bathroom."

When I came out, the wall of windows had
disappeared and the room opened to the outside. The air was already
muggy, but a breeze blew off the water, cooling the dampness.
Tristan stood at the balcony railing, still wearing nothing but tan
cargo shorts, his bronzed, muscular back to me. Seeing him without
a shirt on made me shudder, for more than one reason. Of course,
his body was absolutely delightful to look at…and touch…and
kiss…and…
Yeah, it's quite distracting
. But the muscular
build also reminded me what he was made for. He might not have
looked exactly like you'd imagine the ultimate soldier to look
like—bulky and brawny beyond attraction—but the strength and power
were obvious.

When I joined him, I saw a cup of coffee, my
manuscript in its folder and a rose on the little table. He handed
me the cup and the rose. I took a sip of coffee then stuck my nose
into the flower.

"Nice," I said. "Thank you. But you do know
you're spoiling me."

"I intend to. Every day. Forever."

We stood against the railing in silence, arm
in arm. I sipped my coffee while watching the waves crash on the
beach.
I could do this forever.

"So," I finally said, "why would unpacking be
a waste of time?"

"I don't know that it is yet. We'll find out
tonight. We need to discuss some things, figure out some
plans."

"Like getting married?" I asked excitedly. He
smiled down at me.

"Yes, that may be part of it, but we have
more pressing issues to worry about." His brows furrowed and he
frowned. "Just because you and I are good—"

"Perfect," I corrected.

"—doesn't mean everything else is," he
finished, ignoring my correction.

"What's going on?" His concern was contagious
and he must have seen it on my face. He changed his expression,
smiling again.

"We'll get there soon enough. Let's not ruin
our time together right now, okay?" He picked up the folder with my
manuscript in it and handed it to me. I flipped through it. Notes
marked the margins on many of the pages. "You're very
talented."

"So you liked it?" I asked. He nodded.
"Really? Wait. You
finished
it already?"

He nodded again. The notes went through to
the last page.

"Oh, no. No, no, no. That's not
good
,"
I cried.

His brows knitted with confusion. "I thought
that meant it's a page-turner."

"A page-turner is good, but if you breeze
right through it, it's usually because it's just crappy writing."
My heart plummeted to my feet.

"Alexis, you're being absurd. How old is your
target reader?"

"Teens, I guess. Young Adult."

"I think I have a few more years of reading
experience than they do. It's just right for them." He looked at me
earnestly. I let out a deep breath and nodded. "My only problem…a
witch
and a
werewolf
? Puh-lease."

I'd expected him to tease me about that, so I
just laughed as I put the manuscript back on the table.

"There's no way a witch and a werewolf would
fall in
love
…unless she put a spell on him or
something."

I shrugged. "It could happen. It's
my
world. I'm making it up and that's their story."

"Hmph. Still…" He rolled his eyes mockingly.
"I admit you did very well at making it believable. Your characters
felt real, even with all the good qualities that don't quite go
along with canon."

I grinned, ecstatic that even Tristan liked
my characters. "Mom gave me some fantastic ideas for them in the
beginning. It's almost like she knew them before I did."

He gave me a significant look, his eyebrows
raised, that I couldn't understand. It cleared almost immediately.
"So, what's next? A normal human story, I hope."

I braced myself for the teasing I knew was
about to come. "Well…I've kind of been thinking of something a
little different than this one…like a human falling in love with a
vampire."