The Power (26 page)

“My mother always warned me of talking to strangers.” she ducked her head almost shyly, and Ewan grinned.

“That is good advice, my lady.” he bowed regally before her, and he prepared to walk away, knowing already that she would stop him.

“What is your name, sir?” she called after him, and he grinned, though his back was to her. Yes. Right where he wanted her!

He turned, facing her with his hands locked behind his back. “My name is Ewan. Ewan Derringer.” he told her, “And you are?”

“Nicole. Dr. Nicole Harold.” she said.

Lilly was late meeting Jack in the living room of her home by over thirty minutes, but when she stepped into the room in a long, red gown that slid smoothly over her long, lithe, luscious body, Jack could barely remember his earlier felt impatience. “I’m late.” she voiced with a smile. “I apologize.”

“Apology accepted.” Jack breathed out, not being able to tear his gaze from her. He rushed forward and took up her slender hand in surrendered awe. The feel of her cool, soft fingers brushing his palm caused his heart to take off in rapid beats.

“You look beautiful.” his amber gaze fell over her from head to toe and appreciated every inch of her stunning beauty.

“Thank you, Jack. So do you.” she countered shyly, and he didn’t know if to laugh or thank her for the compliment. Beautiful? Him?

“Are you ready to go?” he asked, and she nodded with a smile tossed over her shoulder to the three men who stood there like father, and older brothers there to send their little sister off to the prom. Jack grinned at the thought, and shook his head as Lillian looped her arm through his and walked by his side out to his Mustang. Jack helped her in and shut the door behind her.
“I’m nervous.” She confessed as Jack climbed in behind the wheel, and pulled on his seatbelt, nodding for Lilly to do the same. She smiled, and slipped the seatbelt into place.

“You shouldn’t be. Garret should be nervous about meeting you.” he countered with a smile as he started the engine and pulled out of the drive.

“Oh Jack, you didn’t tell him I come from money, did you?” she scoffed.

“No, I didn’t.” Jack met her lovely eyes to say. “Besides, Garret is somewhat of a success himself. His restaurant is A-listed. Movie stars dine there, you know?” he raised a dark brow, and Lillian smiled.

“You’re proud of your brother.” she acknowledged

“Very much so.”

“And he is proud of you?” she took his hand and squeezed when Jack didn’t answer straight away. “He is.” she said in a reassuring tone. “How could he not be?”

“I’ll feel like a peasant sitting there with the two of you tonight.” He teased, but Lilly didn’t laugh, and Jack worried that his hang-ups where money was concerned was upsetting her again. He squeezed her hand to let her know that it was all right.

It took them twenty minutes to get to the restaurant. A line was already gathered outside, but Jack pulled Lilly along through it, and was let in by Larry, the door attendant, much to the crowd’s annoyance.

Jack led Lilly up a set of black, iron stairs that curved around on themselves to the balcony floor. Garret stood and smiled in greeting, pulling Sheila along with him. Introductions were made, and Garret agreed that Lillian was just as beautiful as Ja
ck had told him she was. They sat down and ordered dinner. When the waiter spoke in French and Garret answered fluently, Jack felt out of his element. Garret turned to Lillian, and asked over her order, and that was when Lillian squeezed Jack’s hand, and ordered for herself in perfect French. Impressed and feeling more like a skunk in a house of beautiful, expensive cats Jack settled back against his comfortable seat and smiled over at Lillian.

“You speak French?” he asked knowingly.

“Oui Monsieur.” she quipped.

Garret and Sheila chuckled in amusement as the waiter went off to give their order to the kitchen.

“Anything else I should know?” Jack asked, watching her face.

“I also speak a bit of Italian.” she replied, and he swallowed, and ducked his head. “It’s for my job, Jack.” she explained as if her being multi-lingual were something to be ashamed of.

“Jack says that you’re an artist?” Garret asked loudly from across the table, and Jack could have hugged his brother for coming to his rescue.  The last thing that he wanted was to make Lilly feel bad about where she came from, or who she was!

“Yes.” Lilly’s gaze went to his brother.

“You paint?”

“Yes, mostly portraits with some landscapes thrown in here and there.”

“I’ve seen some of your work. Very impressive. I wish I held such talent, but I doubt I could draw a stick figure.” Sheila laughed. Lilly smiled, and it took Jack’s breath away. Still, it was difficult not to feel inadequate in her presence. Did she know how wonderful, how special she was?

Lillian felt Jack’s unease and she longed to comfort him. Had she overdone it by speaking French? Why had she done that? Because you want his brother to like you, she reminded herself, and she smiled over at the friendly, yet intimidating couple. She had not done this in ages, tried to join in polite conversation, to be part of a group. It was a bit unnerving. Quietly, she looked to Jack, who was nursing his glass of red wine. He gave her a reassuring smile, but she could read of his thoughts that he, too, was feeling inadequate. 

Dinner was spent with talk of the men’s childhood. Garret shared an embarrassing story from when the men were young, of a time when he had locked Jack out of their home in only a towel when the Craymire twins were cruising their street one evening. Jack had looked thoroughly embarrassed, but he had laughed, and related his own embarrassing story concerning his brother.

“We
re you nervous. I don’t think I saw you take a bite of your food all night.” Jack commented with a smile as they climbed back into his car.

“
That’s because I don’t eat human food, Jack. It would not sit well in my stomach, you see, as I am used to only blood for my nourishment,” Lillian thought to say.  She turned and looked out her window instead.

“That wasn’t so bad was it?” Jack scooped up her hand, and gently ran his long, thick fingers along the edges of her own. It felt nice. So this was what a date felt like, Lillian mused? She had never been on one officially. Her experience with the opposite sex was limited to evil immortals and now to a kind, wonderful human being. “What is it?” Jack asked as if reading her mind, and Lillian smiled at the thought. If only this could be, Jack, she thought and she ducked her head in regret.

“You didn’t have a good time tonight?” Jack guessed, and Lillian met his gaze.

“It isn’t that.” she whispered. Silently, she wished that she could tell him everything. She had once upon a time, she mused. She had told him absolutely everything about her immortal self, on a ship bound for
America over a hundred years ago! If in fact, the man sitting beside her was indeed the same man from her past. Jackson had stood beside her even after he had known the truth concerning her, she recalled warmly. 

“Tell me.” Jack encouraged as he drove toward destination unknown. Lillian looked away. How could she tell him anything? It was too soon. It wasn’t the right time! Would it ever be the right time? How did one tell someone that they were a cold blooded killer, or worse
: that they were a walking corpse?

“I had a wonderful time tonight.” she whispered instead, feeling the frustration pulse through Jack’s body.

“Something is wrong.” Jack stated knowingly and he squeezed her hand.

“No.” Lillian lied, and she forced a smile. Jack frowned back.

“I wish you would confide in me.”

“Be careful what you wish for.” Lillian bit out, and she pulled her hand from Jack’s grasp. Jack took a left, and suddenly, Lillian knew that they were headed back to her home. He was upset. She could feel it within him, the frustration, the hurt that she would not confide in him.

When they arrived in her drive, Lillian opened her door, and stepped out before Jack could even kill the engine. Jack hurried out after her, catching her by the arm as she started up the front steps.

“What is this about? What have I done?” he demanded in a pleading tone that seemed to tear at her insides. She didn’t want to hurt him, but how could she not? It wasn’t safe for him to be around her. She had taken things too far!

“Nothing.” She whispered brokenly, and he pulled her back to face him. Gently, he tucked her chin, and her eyes locked on to his. Jack moved forward. His breath was warm on her face and she knew that he meant to kiss her. Reaching up to the back of his head, she pulled him down to meet her lips and she kissed him with everything that she had felt awakening inside of her since the moment she had laid eyes on him. He was Jack Stone, but wasn’t he also Jackson as well? It was possible. It had to be! Jack’s hands tangled in the back of her hair. He stepped in closer, tilting her head back as his mouth moved expertly over hers, as his tongue dove into the depths of her moist mouth, and she surrendered to him heart, body, and soul.

“Jesus.” He breathed out against her ear, when he at last lifted his head. Lillian laid her cheek to the strength of his shoulder. She had never felt like this before. With
Jackson there hadn’t been sufficient enough time for all of these feelings to fully develop, but she had felt it. At the core of her she had felt it there beneath the surface, brewing hotter and hotter. With Jack, the heat was like an inferno, and she’d be damned if she didn’t want to burn, burn with him.

“How can it be possible to feel so strongly after only this short of time?” his hands eased down over her exposed shoulders
to slip tenderly down her arms and grasp her hands.

Lillian stared at her white hands nestled within the strength of Jack’s warm, bronzed
ones. How alien she appeared next to him, she mused. Lifting her head, she met his heated amber gaze. “Perhaps that is what frightens me.” she confessed, and he kissed her once more, a preciously tender kiss that she swore she would never forget. He was her first, she thought suddenly full of anger and pain. Ewan Derringer had never meant a thing, she swore almost violently. She had not gone willingly to Ewan. What she had felt for the vampire had been fabricated by his powers of persuasion. What she felt for Jack was real, and very much frightening, for where could they possibly go from here? A relationship was impossible! Wasn’t it?

“What are you thinking? You got all stiff on me.” Jack nudged her chin up once more.

“I’ve allowed you to get closer to me than any man ever has.” she confessed, looking past his eyes, and into the dark, depths of the night.

“That’s a good thing, right?” Jack pulled her close. His hands swept up and down her back in a slow rhythm as if he knew that she needed comforting just then. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked in concern, and she dropped her forehead to his shoulder, and stared down at his Italian loafers.

“Who was he?” the words said out loud were what did her in. Tears gathered in her eyes, surprising her because she had not felt the wetness of tears in nearly a hundred years. It was Jack, she thought suddenly. He was bringing emotions she had thought to be long dead and buried back to the surface! She looked up into his beautiful eyes, and he gently stroked her cheek. “It’s all right, Lilly.” He swore lowly, and he dropped his forehead to rest against her own. She smiled weakly, realizing that in the moment she hadn’t tuned in to his thoughts. She hadn’t felt the need to. Jack said it all with the way that he held her close with the depth of the emotion in his amber gaze.

“I should go inside. Thank you for dinner, Jack. Your brother was lovely.” she tried to move back out of his arms, but Jack smiled patiently, and he pulled her back. He kissed her, and then he encouraged again, “Tell me.”

“It was a very long time ago.” Lilly ducked her head to whisper.

“Someone hurt you?” Jack guessed, and she nodded slowly.

“How?” he kissed her temple, and she smiled through her tears.

“I was very young.” she said by way of excuse. “Naïve.”

“As most young people are.” Jack replied generously. He stroked her hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear, and then he kissed the tip of her nose. Lillian smiled awkwardly, and backed away, but Jack held onto her hands. “What is it?” he implored her to go on. Lillian shook her head. It was too difficult.

“It was a long time ago. None of that matters now, Jack. Just you and now.” she came back to him, and pulled him down to her, kissing him with emotion that had
lain dormant inside of her for over a hundred years!

“Lilly.” Jack called her name softly, and then he tucked her cheek to his shoulder, and held her close. “Whatever it is, please don’t hold back from me. I want to know everything about you.” he was saying, when she jerked back at his words. That wasn’t possible! He could never know everything! Could he? She met his gaze, and became lost within the heat, the emotion that she saw there.

“Some other time.” She replied, and she backed to her door. Jack followed. He leaned over her, kissing her lingeringly. Her arms wrapped tightly around his broad shoulders, bringing him down to her level, kissing him, wanting him, but afraid to have him all the same.

“You’re afraid.” he acknowledged, and she nodded. “Why?”

“Another time, Jack.” She repeated, and she turned the knob, and backed into the house, watching Jack’s smoldering eyes the whole while. “Goodnight.” she whispered, and did not wait for Jack to return the sentiment before she closed the door. “Too deep, much too deep, Lillian.” she scolded herself as she turned, and walked toward her room in the basement.