****
Delilah exited the bathroom of the hotel suite. Boone was dressed and ready in his charcoal gray suit. Delilah’s dress was black. It reminded Boone of the gowns he had seen in movies worn by ancient, mythical goddesses. The belt of the dress was gold and looked much like the rope Delilah carried with her and used instead of handcuffs or flex cuffs. The knot of the belt was covered with a three-inch round gold medallion. Boone gazed at the design, three interlocking triangles. He tried to remember where he had seen the design before, the meaning behind the design, but nothing would come to him so he quickly dismissed it.
Then Boone noticed Delilah’s ring. It looked primitive. He had never seen her wear it before. It was made of gold and hammered by hand. It wrapped around her finger with an extension which looked like an elongated triangle extending to the first joint of her finger. At the tip, there was something else, but Boone could not discern what it was. It almost looked like a tiny head with eyes. There were no stones just brightly, polished gold.
“I am a bit underdressed,” Boone sighed looking at how beautiful Delilah was. Normally she wore little to no makeup but tonight she had gone all out; her eyes smoky and sexy.
“I have something for you.” Delilah held out a garment bag. “It is a tuxedo.”
Boone shook his head in disbelief but decided not to disappoint Delilah. On the surface, he could not believe she had the audacity to buy him a tuxedo. But deep down, he found it very plausible. And this was her night; a night for Delilah to dance and to forget about their trip to New Orleans. “How do you know it will fit?”
“Oh, it will fit as if the gods made it for you,” she chuckled smugly.
Boone took the garment bag from Delilah’s outreached hand and walked into the bathroom. A few minutes later, Boone returned to the bedroom wearing the tux. Boone did look good; damn good.
“So where is this place?” Boone asked. He was already feeling a bit out of his element; out of his comfort zone. It was his first time wearing a tuxedo. And he did not dance. He had never danced.
“It is a private club up in the mountains.”
As Delilah drove Boone's SUV, Boone kept looking upward waiting for the “club” to come into sight. It never did. But as Delilah pulled into an empty asphalt paved parking lot, it was as if the building materialized before his eyes. “Wow. How did I miss this?”
Delilah laughed silently. The parking lot was completely empty. But as soon as Delilah stopped the vehicle, a black vested valet materialized from out of nowhere to park the SUV.
Delilah and Boone entered the building, and at least two dozen beautiful women were already there. All were wearing dresses similar to Delilah’s, but in white. Each wore a belt similar to Delilah’s, however their medallion was adorned with a raven. Boone was confused.
“I am the black swan of the family,” Delilah giggled as if it was a private joke.
“This is your family?”
“Just the women. They are my half sisters,” Delilah explained. “I told you, sisters, first.”
“So this is a family reunion?” Boone asked again while looking at the luxurious room and two dozen gorgeous women, an assortment of blondes and redheads.
“Not really. We like to get together occasionally and see one other. We live all over the world.”
“And the men?” Boone asked seeing an equal number of men in attendance.
“They are just some male friends, dates. None of the girls here are married. We are far too busy to settle down. Our careers keep us on the road traveling.”
Delilah noticed one of her sisters staring at her. “I better go say hello. Grab some wine for the both of us.” Delilah pointed to a large fountain containing two large ice-sculptured swans with red wine following through them. Boone instantly knew it was the sweet red wine Delilah received from her father. As Boone walked away, Delilah’s oldest half sister approached.
“Hello, Hildy.”
“You know I hate that name,” Hildr sneered.
“And that is why I call you it,” Delilah chuckled. She loved yanking Hildr’s chain.
“He’s not human!” Hildr exclaimed motioning towards Boone.
“Half human.”
“Less than half,” Hildr corrected Delilah. Hildr knew Boone’s great-grandfather was a powerful shaman. “What is he doing here?”
“He is Daddy’s latest mission,” Delilah replied as an explanation.
“So you brought your work to the party?”
“Sure. I like this one,” Delilah smiled and looked over towards Boone.
“Does he know?” Hildr asked Delilah about Boone. She wanted to know if Delilah had shared the family secrets with Boone.
“No, of course, not.”
“But he suspects,” Hildr stated taking a deep breath to show her disapproval.
“He suspects something, but I am sure he has not figured it out yet.”
“Be careful baby sister. Remember what happened the last time you got involved with a human,” Hildr warned.
“It was a long time ago. I was young. I am not going to make the same mistake twice,” Delilah sneered momentarily before looking back at Boone again and smiling sweetly.
“So you say. I will believe it when I see it. Don’t make Daddy angry. He will not forgive you too many times.”
Boone could see Delilah was agitated by the conversation she was having with her sister. He walked over and handed Delilah a glass of wine. Looking around, Boone swore he knew some of the men who were in attendance. They looked a lot like a few celebrities or politicians he had seen in photos. Each one of them was very well known and quite good looking.
Then Boone noticed each of the men was becoming quite amorous with their female companion. For a moment, Boone’s telepathic barrier fell. Damn, it is about to become a Roman orgy in here, Boone quipped to himself.
Delilah and her sister glared at one another. And the Romans always did throw a good orgy, Hildr confessed to Delilah telepathically. Both laughed.
Delilah took Boone by the hand and led him away. “We will not stay long. But I am obligated to attend. We will have another glass of wine, and maybe a dance or two and we will leave,” Delilah explained.
“Remember, I can’t dance,” Boone reminded Delilah.
“Hooxei, all you have to do is take me into your arms and move to the music,” Delilah cooed. “I do not think anyone is going to notice. They all seem preoccupied.”
Boone looked around and saw no one was paying one iota of attention to him or Delilah. And Boone melted every time Delilah called him Hooxei. Usually he hated being called wolf, but the way it rolled off Delilah’s tongue, it sounded like a song, a poem, a psalm. And the worse thing was she knew it and used it to her advantage.
Boone held out his arms and Delilah moved gracefully towards him and nestled in his strong arms. “Just relax, Hooxei. Let me in and I will make you the best dancer in the room.”
Boone was startled, but he slowly lowered the barrier which kept others from reading his mind. As the music ultimately entered his head, he could hear Delilah hum softly in his ear. The sound coming from her throat was alluring and comforting. Boone relaxed and pulled Delilah closer to him. Within seconds, he was dancing as if he had been dancing all his life.
“This is nice,” Boone whispered taking in Delilah’s scent and the softness of her warm skin against his hands. “I could do this all night.”
And they did.