Chapter Twelve
Keegan turned in the bed and faced Echo. “I thought Smith would keel over when the doyen made a move on him.”
She shared his laughter. “For a moment, I believed they were serious myself.”
“They certainly were convincing, that’s a fact,” he said, remembering the look of hunger in their eyes. He shook his head. “Vampires. Did you have any idea?”
“None. I was just as surprised as anyone.”
“Good thing they were on our side.”
She poked him with her foot. “I would have sensed if they weren’t.”
“That’s good to know.” He nuzzled her neck.
She pled for him to stop.
He denied her requests.
“Have you forgotten your house guests?” she asked in time with the creak of the bed.
“How could I?” He found her shyness delightful.
Smith’s voice sounded without depth-loss from the living room. “Are Dixie Logan’s boobs real?”
“What is he doing?” Smith could always make him frown.
“He’s playing with the Ouija board.”
“The man is an overgrown child.”
A round of applause and whistles rang in his ears. He had a sudden and disturbing thought. “You don’t suppose they accidentally conjured up a ghost.”
“No way. Those things don’t work.”
He wasn’t sure he heard right. “Ouija boards?”
“Uh-huh.”
Echo could make him frown, too. “I’m sure I heard the pointer move around the board during the séance.”
“I’m sorry. I should have said they don’t work for anyone not ESP-inclined. How are you feeling now that you’re all together?”
“All together describes it perfectly. Only now I know how restless I was. My skin would itch on the underside.” Things he had never allowed himself to dwell on. “It’s good to be back to myself. It was a humbling experience, and I’ll never take anything for granted again. There were times I became so antsy it took all of my control not to throw a tantrum. I felt at odds with myself and everyone around me and became annoyed at the least little thing.”
“Sounds like PMS.”
“Is that what women go through every month?” He had no idea.
“Women are affected differently, but the effects are similar.”
And the men suffered in kind, but he wouldn’t mention that. His thoughts turned to when Echo would leave, and he saddened. His life would be empty without her. No one other woman would ever measure up. Demons were about the premises and he’d sell his soul for a lifetime with Echo.
But she was here with him now. He shouldn’t waste these precious moments. “Will you miss me?” He needed to know.
“Of course I will.”
He wanted to believe her, but she could be telling him what he wanted to hear. She’d never avowed her love for him. Neither had he, though. But couldn’t she tell that he loved her? She wasn’t blind. Women were attuned to that type of thing.
Smith had picked up on Keegan’s feelings for Echo.
No, she knew. She pretended otherwise, but she knew, all right.
He brought his crooked arm behind his head and settled back against the headboard.
Maybe she needed to hear the words. He should tell her.
What if she didn’t share his feelings?
He’d really be putting himself on the edge. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d seen him naked, though. He wasn’t afraid of risks.
Tell her.
With Smith and the bikers in the next room?
Right. Good thinking.
What happened to the romance in him?
He fought the desire to touch her. If he did, he wouldn’t stop, then that would lead to something else, and that something he couldn’t fall asleep without. He resolved himself to a sleepless night.
This was torture; plain, unmitigated torture.
Smith was as likely as not to burst into the room when they were sharing a special moment, which Smith would add to Keegan’s most embarrassing moments file.
She moved beside him, their legs touching. Her skin was soft like a rose petal.
He inhaled her fragrance. She smelled divine. He brought himself around and looked into her eyes and swore he saw eternity. He’d make a pact with the devil for an eternity of moments like these.
How cruel life was that he should find love only to forsake it.
Strange that when he was soulless he considered himself invincible, that anything was possible, even that he could share his life with a heavenly being.
Hell’s bells, but that was arrogant.
Nothing like a good measure of soul to set a man straight. He wasn’t ready to give up yet. “Is it possible for you to do your job and have a life with me?”
She lifted her head and looked at him.
When she continued to stare at him without saying anything, he said, “Women have careers today. They work outside the home. Why can’t that be the case with you?”
“You have to admit I’m not your ordinary woman, and my job can hardly be called a career.”
True. He inhaled deeply, thinking to the future, to the time when he might ask the Almighty for her hand in marriage. That would give new meaning to an old tradition. He let the breath out slowly. Theirs would be a different relationship, probably unique, but different was good. He couldn’t see a downside.
“If you could, would you?”
Her hesitation answered his question. She loved him, but not enough to make changes in her life. Wasn’t the same-old dangerously close to monotonous? She might wither away from boredom.
Maybe she needed more time to see that.
There was still time for him to convince her that her heart belonged to him. The toran needed closing and her old pal Bartholomew was something she needed to deal with. She couldn't return without buttoning up all loose ends. He still had time to work on her, to make her see things his way.
She rested her chin on his shoulder and looked at him. “You’re awfully quiet.”
“Just thinking.”
“Care to share?”
“It’s nothing important.” He kissed the top of her head. The lie hung innocently in the air a moment.
“I’m a good listener.”
“I know. I should go into the office in the morning, rearrange my schedule for the week.”
“That’s not necessary, you know. What’s left to do, doesn’t pertain to you. I can handle it on my own.”
Echo’s thoughts centered on Keegan as she nestled against him. He thought he was in love with her. If she stayed…if she could stay, he would learn that what he felt for her was gratitude. She’d come into his life when he was the most vulnerable and needed someone’s help the most.
Abductees fell in love with their abductors. The same could be said for heralds and their pledges.
Not to mention that Keegan could be another Bartholomew. Who was to say?
She couldn’t risk her heart to another man. Love was dangerous. It robbed the mind of good sense and rendered its victims insipid.
“Echo?”
“Yes.”
“Not all men are like Bartholomew.”
She recognized what Keegan was attempting to do and debating her point would give him reason to further the argument that he was the man for her. “I know.” Keegan was a good man, one who would give his life for those he loved. She couldn't let him sacrifice himself for her.
“I could have been cast to Hell for betraying Him. But for the grace of God, I wasn't. Bartholomew was so sneaky, clever, and manipulative and I was so in love it’s a wonder I realized his hidden agenda at all.”
“Someone was looking out for you.” He smiled. “If that had happened, we would not have met.”
True. She couldn’t put a voice to her thoughts, though. She must not encourage him. Did he really believe in karma? She should really leave now. Her mind should be clear when she dealt with B
artholomew, if it came to that. No attachments; no entanglements; nothing for Bartholomew to use against her.
Keegan brushed her hair off her forehead and hugged her. “He got what he deserved, Echo.”
“Uh-huh.” She wished Bartholomew would see the matter that way.