“You are so gullible sometimes,” Dorian laughed. “You’re already picturing me as a father? The sex was that good, huh?”
I released the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding and smacked his stomach. “You are such an ass sometimes. So, you cannot get me pregnant, right?” I needed to hear him say it.
“I cannot.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “Now, enough talk about babies. Your ten minutes are up and the next session takes place right over there.” He pointed toward the shower and I laughed to myself.
“For once, we agree on something.”
It was late, or early, by the time Dorian and I made it to the bed to sleep. The morning sun was beginning to peak through the windows. My body was sated and spent. A tremble still ran through my legs and my skin was sticky with sweat. Dorian stretched out beside me, his arm bent above his head. Turning, I laid on my side and watched the rise and fall of his chest. With my pointer finger, I trailed a path down his chest. When I reached his stomach, I used all of my fingers to feel the ripple of muscles beneath my hand.
“How are you feeling?” Dorian asked, turning to look at me.
I smiled without thought. “Wiped out,” I laughed.
Dorian caught my hand in his and brought it to his mouth, placing a kiss to my palm. “That’s not what I meant,” he said. “No regrets?”
I propped myself up on my elbow. “None.”
“Good, because I’d like to try my hand at this thing called wooing.”
“Wooing?” I said with amusement. “Please don’t tell me you’re going all mushy on me?”
Dorian snorted. “I’d do no such thing. But I would like to take you out on a date, see how that goes. I want to experience a night with you by my side as my…not friend.”
I couldn’t help it, I burst out laughing. It not only made me relieved that he hadn’t said girlfriend, but also happy that he wanted to try something out of his comfort zone. I could probably count on one hand the amount of actual dates Dorian had had.
“As your ‘not friend’ what would we do?”
“What do people normally do on dates?”
I shook my head. “Uh-huh, I’m not helping you out. I’m too curious to see what you come up with on your own.”
Dorian pulled me close and I laid my head on his chest as his arm encircled my back. He brushed his fingers against my skin. “Okay, but you cannot bitch about my choice of activity then.”
“I promise.”
Silence fell over the room. Dorian was either thinking about our date, or on the verge of falling asleep. My own eyelids were growing heavy. I listened to the calming thump of his heart and absorbed the warmth of our bodies pressed together. A million thoughts filled my head, all mundane compared to my previous worries. Holly and Ian were finally out of my life. I’d met my sister after ten years and I was curled up beside Death. All in all, life was good…for now.
Epilogue
Two days later….
I smiled to myself as Fiona laid down two of a kind. She surprised me by coming home last night with her boyfriend in tow. We were sitting at my small kitchen table playing poker.
I could feel Dorian’s eyes on me and I smiled for a whole other reason. We had spent the past couple days more in the nude than clothed—and he claimed there was still more he wanted to do to me. The man was relentless, and I loved it.
“Where do you want to go for dinner?” Fiona asked, lying down her cards.
“Didn’t we just eat lunch?” I glanced at the clock.
“Yeah, five hours ago,” Fiona said. “I vote for Chow.”
“Sounds good to me,” I told her. “What about you guys?” I turned and asked Ethan and Dorian. Ethan still didn’t care for me, but he was trying to for Fiona’s sake. Maybe after spending some time with me without the threat of vampires and Holly he would change his mind.
“I’m okay with anything,” Ethan responded.
“Fine with me,” Dorian replied.
After dinner, Dorian and I stopped by Broomsticks. I called a contractor to fix my broken door, but it still had the plywood covering it. Dorian offered to pay since he demolished it.
“How do you make your money?” I asked him, thoroughly curious.
“Not everyone has someone to leave their fortunes to. When that happens my name magically appears on their wills.”
“You rob dead people?”
“It’s not theft if there is no living family to claim their money. It would just go to the state.”
I shook my head, a smile on my face. After checking on my shop, we headed down the sidewalk.
“New bakery?” Dorian nodded towards a brightly lit shop with a pink and brown glowing sign that had a picture of a cupcake with a glittering swirl rising from the top.
“Must be,” I said, eyeing the sign that read: Twisted Treats. “That went up fast. I don’t remember seeing it before.”
Dorian wove his fingers through mine, “Dessert for later?” His voice was sinfully suggestive.
“You know, eventually I will need to get some sleep,” I teased.
“Eventually, yes, but not tonight.” He tugged me across the street and toward the new bakery. Wire display shelves sat in front of the wall of windows. Each treat was decorated to perfection. When we stepped inside the tingle of magic prickled against my skin. A petite woman with sandy brown hair smiled at our entrance.
“Welcome to Twisted Treats,” she beamed. Her dress resembled something out of the fifties, with a high waistline, flowing skirt and v-neck bodice. The cherry print added to the retro look. She wiped down a glass case at the back of the store even though the entire place was pristine.
“Have a look around, everything is half-off for the grand opening.” Her smile was wide, a little too cheery for my liking.
“Thank you,” I told her.
As we browsed, I wandered over to a wooden case with glass doors featuring various cupcakes. The frosting on each glittered with an unnatural glow. My eyes fell on the titles of the desserts: Forever Love, Karma, Still my Heart and many other bizarre names.
“What are these?” I asked as the woman stopped next to me. She tilted her head to the side. Her wide brown eyes held a glint of mischief.
“Those are special order. Perhaps you would like to try the Forever Love?” She signaled to Dorian with a sweep of her eyes and a knowing smiling.
“Forgive me for being blunt,” I said, “but are you selling bewitched cupcakes?”
A musical laugh flitted through her lips and she clasped her hands behind her back. “Everybody needs a little help sometimes and what sort of witch would I be if I did not offer my services to ease their woes?”
“These particular spells are illegal though.”
Her shoulders rose and fell as she took a deep breath, her lips puckering in a pout.
“Oh, poo! I do so hate troublemakers,” she said, bringing her fisted hand up and holding it out towards my face. Her fingers uncurled and revealed a white powder in her palm. Leaning forward, she sucked in a deep breath and blew the dust into my face. I choked, blinking and rubbing away the powder from my eyes.
When the burn receded, I opened my eyes and was standing in the middle of a street. Houses and frost-covered trees dotted either side of the road. Small snowflakes fell gracefully with the wind, fluttering their way to the ground. I circled around, taking in my surroundings. Nothing looked familiar.
“Where am I?” I mumbled to myself. I scrubbed a hand over my face; running my fingers through my hair as I tried to remember how I ended up standing in the middle of the street. Headlights shone behind me, a honk pierced through the silent night. I jumped out of the way just before the driver reached me.
I began walking, though I didn’t know where I was going. I couldn’t seem to remember where home was, or if I even had a home. Each time I tried to think of what I was doing before I ended up in the middle of the road, my mind hit a brick wall.
Heavy footfalls beat against the pavement behind me. I peeked over my shoulder to see a large man running towards me. Fear raced through my veins and urged my feet to run. I took off, holding my purse to my chest as the man continued to chase me.
“Gwen!” He called, but I did not stop.
I sprinted to the nearest house, panic causing my breaths to grow shallow. My fist pounded against the front door of the home while I watched the man getting closer over my shoulder.
“Help, please,” I called to the people behind the door. “A man is chasing me.”
Right when the door opened, the man caught up with me. I shrieked, whirling around and stumbling into the homeowner.
“What the heck is going on?” The woman snapped.
“This man…is trying to kill me,” I cried.
Instantly the dead roses lining the home came alive, their thorny branches reaching towards the menacing man and wrapping around his legs and stopping him. His lips peeled back in a snarl as the thorns cut through his clothes.
“Holy shit,” I yelled, backing away from the homeowner. “You’re a…a…witch!”
“Actually I am an elf,” she said, eyeing me with worried interest.
“Gwen,” the man said, “what the hell is wrong with you?”
“You know this man?” The lady asked.
“Of course she knows me,” the man snapped. “My name is Dorian Hade and I’m her, for lack of a better word, boyfriend.”
My mouth dropped open and I shook my head in disagreement. “I’ve never seen you in my entire life.” He said boyfriend like it tasted bad on his tongue. A sure sign he was lying.
The roses circled up the man’s legs. “Hey, watch the package,” he said, his hands going to cover his crotch.
“I’m calling the police,” the lady said. “They will be able to sort this all out.”
“Gwen, tell her you know me,” Dorian urged.
I backed away from the both of them. “You have me confused with someone else…I don’t know who Gwen is. My name is…” I frowned, coming to another brick wall.