“I hear the magic of consummation trumps anything we’ve ever felt. Why don’t we make our marriage completely formal?” He winked.
I didn’t need to see his face to sense the naughty smile on it. I turned away shyly, trying to suppress my yearning for his explosive touch.
“I don’t know.”
“You know I can read your thoughts, right?” He grinned.
“Get out of my head.” I laughed.
“How can I?” He faked a shocked expression. “I love your thoughts.”
“...and I love you, Ryan Soille.”
The words had barely left my lips when he swept me off my feet. He placed me on the soft surface of the round bed in the corner of the tent before spreading his lips into the most perfect closed lipped smile I had ever seen.
“I love you with all of me, Selena Soille.”
I drew in a sharp breath in a futile attempt to stop my body from exploding into bursts of sparkles. It was so easy to see why I fell in love with him in the first place. I pulled him close once more and was about to lock my lips with his when my eyelids fluttered open and Ryan’s grinning face came into view.
“You’re so mean. Why did you stop there?” I asked in protest.
“Isn’t it obvious your naughty self was dying to see more? I think that part was censored PG 13.”
“I’m not thirteen!” I yelled.
“No you’re not. You’re a traitor!”
His smile disappeared faster than a speeding bullet and the intense hate in his eyes completely shocked me.
“What... do...”
I hadn’t completed my question when his hand grabbed my neck. He squeezed it with fatal intent, ignoring the painful tears rolling out of my eyes. I wanted to plead for mercy but he had taken away my ability to speak. My hands flailed in every direction, trying to grasp on to anything and I felt like my lungs were exploding within my chest. Just as my body laid motionless on the bed, my eyelids flung open and my body jolted awake.
“What’s wrong?” A clearly concerned Ryan asked.
Everything in both dreams felt so real and if I didn’t know better, I would have believed it.
“I saw you... and you tried to kill me.” I whispered.
“That’s impossible. I’d never hurt a strand of hair on your precious head.” He replied.
“I know. That’s why I was so confused.”
“It’s okay, my Selena. It was just a dream.” He consoled me, running his fingers through my hair.
I realized I had just had a dream within a dream. My body was cradled lovingly in Ryan’s arms. No one was strangling me. I closed my eyes and snuggled closer to him.
“I think it’s the stress of the past few months finally weighing down on your mind. You know what?” He asked.
“What?”
“Let me take you somewhere far away from all this. Just for a while.”
“Like on a vacation?” I asked.
“Yeah. You need it... We both need it. Things have been crazy around here lately.”
“Okay.” I smiled. “I think it’ll be good.”
“You bet it will. Don’t ask where. It’s a surprise.” He grinned. “Now go back to sleep. I’ll be waiting to slay any monster that comes anywhere near my sleeping beauty.”
I felt his arms wrap around me tighter.
“You’re my hero.” I whispered, closing my eyes and falling back asleep.
Chapter Two
Selena’s POV
I woke up to the fantastic smell of coffee. The precious liquid was steaming in a mug right beside two pieces of warm toast on the side stool. A happy smile plastered itself across my face as I took in Ryan’s cheerful features.
“Hey, Beautiful.” He placed a kiss on my forehead.
“Hey you.” I cheesed.
“I thought the breakfast would do you good.”
“Thanks for being so sweet to me.” I smiled. “No one has ever brought me breakfast in bed.”
“Any time, my Selena.” He smiled back.
I munched on the well-made toast and savored the accompanying dark liquid with joy.
“Hmm. I had no idea toast could taste so delicious.” I complimented. “What did you put in it?”
“A century’s worth of practice and all my love, of course.” He grinned.
“Now that’s the most amazing toast recipe I’ve ever heard.” I laughed.
“Do you feel better now?” He asked. “You were a bit shaken up when you woke up before.”
I nodded.
“I had a really scary dream. It started in the woods right after our 1889 wedding, I think. We were just about to do what all married people do on their wedding night when I woke up. I thought you were projecting the memory into my mind so I asked why you stopped. You teased me about wanting to see PG 13 stuff and before I could say ‘Jack’, you were squeezing my neck.” I replied.
“That’s strange. First, you’re not supposed to have any memory of our wedding night. I compelled you to forget everything when Sophia cast the reincarnation spell in 1889. I never uncompelled that part of your memory.” He replied.
“Do you think I went back in time?”
“Well, it’s either that or your sorceress nature is fading my compulsion away. I’ll lean towards the latter because I never tried to hurt you at any time.” He replied.
“You just might be right, you know? I remember one time in the alternate city when Trina tried to compel me not to feel pain. It didn’t work. I thought it failed because she was a new vampire and didn’t know how to compel yet but when we came back, Ros asked me to help him find you instead of compelling me to do it. I always wondered why he did that. It’s very unlike him.”
“Compulsion comes naturally to vampires and knowing Ros, he probably tried to compel you. Let’s try it. I’ll compel you and see if it works.” He replied.
“Okay.”
“Take your clothes off and flaunt that sexy body of yours.” He said, looking deep into my eyes.
“Stop teasing! This is serious.” I laughed.
“I wasn’t teasing.” He made a naughty face.
“Wait a minute. That’s what you would have said if you could really compel me? Have you ever compelled me to take my clothes off?” I glared.
“Easy there. Never heard of ‘job satisfaction?’”
“You’re so silly! That’s not what they meant.” I laughed.
“Sure that’s what they meant.” He countered.
“No, it’s not!”
“Definitely is.”
I tried to tackle him on the bed but he moved away with his enhanced speed. I fell to my side with my nightie lifting up above my stomach in the process.
“Turns out I didn’t need to compel you after all.” He teased.
Before I could push my nightie back down, he activated his enhanced speed and swept me into his arms. He placed several kisses on my stomach, working his way up and pushing my nightie out of the way with his face. I was instantly turned on, closing my eyes and letting him do as he pleased.
“Isn’t it too early to be frolicking in the sheets?”
I jumped in surprise at the voice that came from within the room. It sounded very familiar and when I turned to look at the person, I was completely embarrassed.
“Ever heard of knocking?” Ryan yelled.
“Like you knocked when you barged into my study.” Ros rolled his eyes.
“How’s that even the same? This is my bedroom!” Ryan threw his arms into the air in irritation.
“Ever heard the words private space?” Ros asked.
“I should be asking you that!” Ryan yelled.
“Whatever makes you happy, brother. Bedroom. Study. What’s the difference? You were in my private property without knocking so don’t you dare give me a lecture now.”
“What do you want?” Ryan asked.
“Trina’s going home to see her family for the first time since she turned. She’s pretty nervous about it and I th
ought you guys could come along to give her some support. If you’re preoccupied at the moment, I’ll just leave.” Ros replied.
“Wait. We’re coming.” I yelled after him.
“Okay. I’ll be in the living room.” He smiled, before turning around and walking off.
Chapter Three
Ros’s POV
I walked into Ry’s bedroom, not bothering to knock because all the doors were open. I ignored the excited giggles I heard from inside which was probably not the best idea because to my torment, my baby brother was face deep underneath Selena’s clothes. I knew they were together and all, which meant that they had intimate moments from time to time – okay, maybe a lot of intimate moments – but still. It didn’t make it any easier for me to watch him with her like that. I should probably have taken some responsibility for walking in unannounced, but they left the door open and what does an open door say? I stood there for a few minutes, watching how happy they were. Knowing she was mine and I lost her was bad enough but not getting a chance at redemption cut deeper than the sharpest knife. I didn’t get why Ry was so upset to see me. If he really wanted privacy, he should have locked the damn door. It was common sense.
I tried so hard not to look at Selena’s distracting features – and failed miserably. Her lips were full and inviting, having just the perfect pout to drive any man crazy. It was a herculean task trying to rein my imagination in after looking at them and I didn’t even want to get started with how perky her twins looked in the thin fabric of her nightie. There was something about Selena that was deeper than her physical appearance. Surely looks weren’t enough to have me spellbound. The lengths Ry went for her was confirmation that I wasn’t insane. Selena had the ability to trap a man within her web and I had no idea how she did it. I exited the room before it became too obvious I was staring a little more intensely than I should.
Since it was going to take a while for them to shower and throw some clothes on, I went into Ry’s living room in hopes of finding something to entertain myself. Barely ten minutes passed before Ry’s scream echoed off the walls. I rushed back to the bedroom and for a few seconds I was stunned. Selena had her hands outstretched, with tears streaming down her face. Her eyeballs shone brightly golden and she mumbled whatever witchy jargon her words were. Ry was standing in front of her with his arms pulled apart by an invisible force threatening to rip them off his body. Hearing his screams made me momentarily lose my mind. I didn’t know or care about whatever argument sprang up between them in the short time I spent in the living room. She had no right to torture him like that.
“What the hell?” I yelled, running towards Selena.
My enraged run was brought to an abrupt halt by a painful slap that felt like my body had been slammed against the surface of water. I looked ahead and saw nothing. No physical object hit me. All I saw was Selena’s outstretched hand and fiery eyes.
“What are you...”
My question was interrupted by a sharp pain in my arm. It twisted at an uncomfortable angle, forcing me to groan in agony while Selena continued to mumble her gibberish. My second hand followed suit and before long, I looked just like Ry in a classic crucifixion pose, screaming at the top of my lungs. Whatever she was doing had us hanging on to our lives by a thin thread and time was running out.
“Selena... I don’t... know... stop!!!” I managed to yell between screams of pain.
My words only seemed to intensify her anger and things got worse pretty quickly. I felt a tear in my chest which got deeper and wider with each passing moment. The accompanying pain was nothing compared to the shock and helplessness of the situation. Selena Ryder was about to rip our hearts out and there was nothing we could do to stop her. I struggled against whatever magical restraints she had on us, refusing to die like that. I was infuriated and helpless at the same time. This was surely not the way I’d expected to die and for the first time since Selena helped save Ry from the Council vampires, I wished I had killed her before she became this all powerful sorceress.
“Selena!!!”
I heard a high-pitched scream from a familiar feminine voice and was relieved to feel the restraints on my hands weaken. My relief was quickly replaced by anger and I wanted to give Selena a piece of it, even if it would result in my painful demise. Unfortunately, my pain was stronger than my wishes. I crumbled to the ground and clutched my chest beside Ry, impatiently waiting for my enhanced healing to kick in. I knew the person who stopped Selena was Trina before I even turned in her direction, and was so grateful she showed up at the time she did.
“What were you doing?” Trina half-screamed, rushing to Selena and pulling her into a hug.
I had no idea why Selena wasn’t getting the scolding of a lifetime. The witchy immortal almost ripped my heart out - martyr style - and she got a hug?
Selena looked around, as if in complete surprise. Her eyes had returned to their regular aqua blue color now, which was a lot less creepy than the bright gold orbs that burned in her face a couple of minutes ago. I shook my head and sank into my thoughts. I needed to know the reason for her behavior and how the hell we were going to stop her the next time she decided to go all witchy ballistic on us.
Chapter Four
Ryan’s POV
“I’m a monster.” Selena whispered, with tears streaming down her face.
My heart went out to her, completely ignoring the fact that she almost killed me a few moments ago. Even while the torture was on, I knew there had to be a different explanation for her actions. Selena loved me with all her heart. She couldn’t hurt me deliberately. I just needed to find a way to reach her and help her out of whatever troubled her so much as to elicit such behavior. Unfortunately, I was unable to reach her. Her defenses were reinforced with impenetrable steel - at least that was how it seemed to me. I was completely shut out but refused to give up. Thankfully, Trina showed up and snapped her out of it. I took the opportunity to step in and help her.
“Damn right, you are.” I heard Ros mutter under his breath.
“You’re not a monster.” I assured her, pulling her into my arms.
My enhanced healing kicked in, completely wiping off all traces of the gaping hole in my chest. Selena reluctantly melted into my arms, eventually allowing me to cradle her.
“What’s wrong with me?” She asked, teary-eyed.
My heart broke. I couldn’t stand seeing her like that. Her hurt reached deep within my soul and forced painful blood drops out of my eyes.
“I don’t know, babe but we’ll figure it out. I promise.”
It was as honest an answer as I could give. I didn’t know how we were going to figure it out or where to even start but I knew we could do it. We just needed to believe it. We had dealt with several tough situations in the past. This one was sure to blow over too.
“You make sure you figure it out before she turns us all into chopped beef for her witchy pleasure.” Ros snapped.
“Ros!” Trina scolded.
“Don’t be insensitive.” I added.
“You’re unbelievable, Ry! Both of you. If Trina had showed up just five minutes later than she did, guess what? I would have been dead!” He retorted.
“Yeah, and maybe you deserve it! Selena wasn’t this insensitive towards you after you actually killed her, lifetime after lifetime!” Trina snapped back.
“Come on. She was on the reincarnation spell. She wasn’t really going to die.” Ros said in his defense. “I, on the other hand, have no witchy voodoo to keep me alive. If I die, that’s it.”
“She’s going through a lot right now, Ros. The least you can do is be supportive.” I added, hoping to end the banter of words.
“Well forgive me for not offering myself as a sacrificial lamb.” Ros rolled his eyes.
“Little wonder she chose Ryan over you!” Trina snapped.
It was a low blow and had I not stepped between them as fast as I did, Ros would have snapped her neck for it. The moment I saw his eyes turn red, I knew he was
going to attack her and I made sure to stop him.
“Guys, this is all my fault.” Selena whispered. “I’m seeing things. I saw you attack me...”
“Wait a minute.” I cut in. “Was it like you saw me attacking you in your dream last night?”
Selena nodded.
“I think I know what it is.” I stated. “Your sorceress nature makes you naturally antagonistic to vampires. I believe what you’re experiencing is heightened antagonism towards us because your powers are different from regular sorceresses.”
Selena looked at me without speaking.
“Don’t worry about it. You’ll learn how to control it in no time.” I added.
I hoped I was right. It was the only plausible explanation I could think of and it seemed to calm her down.
“I’m sorry I called you a monster. I was pretty upset at the time.” Ros apologized to Selena, completely shocking everyone.
While I never expected him to apologize, it felt great to hear him say the words. I certainly wasn’t the only surprised person in the room as I briefly caught Trina’s eyes widening.
“It’s okay.” Selena replied.
“But I still agree with you.” Ros pursed his lips.
Selena laughed for the first time since the encounter. I knew it was supposed to be a good thing but I couldn’t help the pang of jealousy that clawed at my heart. I wanted to be the one making her laugh. I wanted to be everything to her. It was like a weakness I couldn’t get rid of.
“I think I can postpone meeting my family for now. It was nerve wracking anyway. We should all take a break and unwind. It’ll be good for us.” Trina suggested.
I smiled at her and mouthed the words “thank you”. It was amazing to see just how selfless she was.
“Ryan and I just discussed a vacation this morning.” Selena replied.
“And you guys were going to leave without me?” Trina placed both hands on her hips dramatically.
“Of course not.” Selena replied, forcing a smile from Trina.
“You’re such a drama queen.” I teased her.
“I’ll love to argue that point but unfortunately, I can’t. I have a vacation to plan.” She grinned.