A Grave Exchange (2 page)

Lucius smiled at me, stroking my cheek
.
“Hush
,
little
one
. S
top your fretting,
and allow
me
to
explain how I awoke and came to you.”

I found myself leaning into his touch
. He
caress
ed
my cheek so tenderly
,
every cell in my body
came
to life, awakening to Lucius
.

“Ivy
,
dear, several years ago now, I awoke from a long sleep and found my heart beating
.
I could not comprehend what had done this
—
my kind
only comes back to life
when
we
meet our chosen one,
so that we are then
able to love for all eternity
.
However,
I searched the world over
,
Ivy
,
and
I could not find my chosen one
. Had
fate
played some
cruel
joke on me, in order to
punish me for my previous sins
?
I truly believed it to be so
.
And then,
in
a
moment of sheer
frustration
and utter despair,
I heard you heartbreaking sorrow
.
I could not
bear
the pain you were going through
.
I
began searching once again, but I
could not find you, to help you
, to comfort you
. Y
ou had to call
me
forth, to release me
so that I might
come
and
find you
. F
or years
,
sweet Ivy
,
I listened to your soul
’
s agony
.
I will spend my lifetime trying to heal your hurts
;
I feel I have failed you by not being there when you needed me most.”

I
shuddered at Lucius’ revelations; surely
,
he did not know the evils that were done to me
.
No one knew
;
I refused to speak the words out loud, thinking
,
somehow
,
if I didn’t tell anyone
,
then
the events
truly never happened in the first place
.
Of course
,
a psychiatrist would have a field day if he heard my tor
tured
logic
.
Lucius’
sorrowful moan brought me crashing back to
the present.

“Darling Ivy, what happened to you is very real,
but
no longer will you
hang
your head in shame
. Y
ou survived a brutal assault
,
and yes
,
you have scars
—
both mentally and physically
—
but Ivy, you survived
. A
great many would not
.
I will help you come to terms with this
. Y
ou
must
,
you know, or we’ll never have a chance
to become one
.
But don’t be afraid;
I am here for you.”

M
y eyes smarted at
this beautiful man’s
caring
words
. Never
in my life
would
I ever
have
believe
d
someone could feel so strongly
about another person, the way
I was feeling for Lucius right then
. O
f course
,
wh
at did I know of how
relationship
s progressed? My
record was dire
,
at best
.

Lucius slid his hand around my neck and pulled me into him,
and
just when I thought my heart couldn’t beat any faster
,
my dream man
prove
d me
wrong
.
Breathing grew painful, and
I gasped
as I
stared into those beautiful
,
molten eyes framed by thick
,
curling
,
dark lashes
. Neither
blemish
n
or
scar marred
his porcelain skin,
and
I found my
self reaching out to trace a
finger
along
jaw. Such
angelic
features
and yet
, his
eyes spoke of true torment and pain
. Who or
what was this man before
me
? W
here did he come from
? He’d said something about my calling him forth. What did he mean?
Just when I believed I
’d
found my voice to question
him
,
all thoughts fled as he dipped his head and placed
a chaste kiss
on my tingling lips. O
h
,
dear heavens
,
how could something so innocent create such a volcanic reaction through
out
my entire body
?

Every hair on my body stood up, goose bumps formed everywhere,
and my
nipples
hardened
,
making me fear he’
d think I was easy prey
.
Ha! Who was
I
kidding? He had me in the palm of his hand,
and
he knew it
. H
is nostrils flared, his eyes darkened
,
and his breath came fast
.
I found my body reacting before my brain could register
.
I reached up and pulled his face toward me,
and
just
before our lips met, he flashed a smile. A
flood of moisture drowned my panties
.
Trouble . . . this man meant nothing but trouble for
me.

Lucius
’
dangerous
smile
faded as he closed
the distance between us and claimed my
lips
.
M
y brain
ceased working, allowing my body to function on its own and re
s
pond wantonly
.
The feel of h
is mouth
on mine
was the closest thing to
devine, this side of
heaven
. He drew my
upper lip
between his
, suckled it tenderly while rubbing the back of my neck
. I pressed
my body
against his, and
Lucius pulled me tight
ly
into arms
.
I heard a moan and realized
the sound came
from me
. Lucius took advantage of my parted lips
,
and
his tongue found
its way
inside my mouth
.
I gasped
,
but
he
quickly vanquished
my fears with
his
gentle
expertise
. So skilled was he, I briefly wondered h
ow many lovers
he’d had, upon which to practice and fine tune his technique. B
ut I soon
became
caught up in a duel of tongues that sent my temperature soaring
and my insides quivering
.
If I died right the
n,
I would not have cared
;
th
e
kiss had more
passion
in it than any
intimate
union I had ever had.

Lucius suddenly
pulled back
,
and
my body immediately protest
ed
the sudden distance between us
.
I moved toward him
,
but he held me back
.

“Ivy
,
no, we have much to learn about each other
.
Now is not the time for this
.
I need you to trust me completely before I claim you as my chosen.”

My mind was slowly returning to a functional level
.
God, what
he must think
of
me
, throwing myself at him like
that. M
y cheeks
burned.

“Ivy
,
dear, I would
never
think bad
ly
of you
. Y
ou reacted to me
because
I am your chosen
;
it is natural for us
. Y
our body recognizes
mine.
M
y
s
weetest heart, understand me when I say I love you
. No matter we’ve only just met, in the flesh; i
t truly is that simple.”

Chapt
e
r Two

Lucius took my hand in his
and helped me to my feet.

“Come,” he said,
and
guided me
along the cobbled path
through
the cemetery
.
We’d only gone a few feet, however, when h
e stopped
suddenly
and rubbed my tender wrist
.
“Ivy, how long have you had this marking?”

I shrugged
casually
.
“After something that happened to me as a teenager.”

Of course
,
I didn’t want to tell Lucius
about
my past
. About
how I could not defend myself from a horrific assault that ended up taking my innocence
,
in more ways than one. Th
e
small scar symbolize
d
the loss of all of life’s
joys
,
an
outward symbol of the memories lurking in
the dark recesses of my mind
.
Memories I refused to consider ever sharing with anyone.

“Ivy
,
this is very important to me, to my kind.”

I did not truly understand what Lucius was going on about
, and
I did not want to talk about my scar
or the things the tiny mark represented.
I tried to pull my hand out of his, but he held onto it effortlessly
.

“Ivy
,
we need
to talk as soon as possible
. C
ome
,
let’s go somewhere more comfortable.”

I let Lucius lead me
for a while
,
as I did not want to talk
.
I felt uncomfortable, almost naked
,
now that Lucius found my scar
.
I never liked being venerable
,
and now
,
here I was
,
feeling insecure all over again
.

“
W
hen we g
et
to my
house
,
we will sit
,
and I will listen to your entire story, and you will tell me
,
Ivy, all of it.”

I stopped walking and held up my free hand
.
“Stop
,
Lucius, I
cannot
go with you
. This is crazy.
W
hy would I want to tell you
things I’ve never told anyone? I don’t even know you.
I think I
should just go
home,
now.
I
t’s been different
,
but this is where it
ends
.”

Lucius’ eyes turned dark
,
nearly
black
,
and a red outline
formed
around his pupils
. H
is face change
d
before my eyes
,
his cheekbones
becoming more prominent
and
fangs dropp
ing
from his upper
gums
.
I gasped and jumped back from his reach
.
What the—? I blinked rapidly, closed my eyes against what I knew must be an illusion. When I opened them, Lucius looked normal again.
I released my pent-up breath on a relieved sigh.
Surely, the atmosphere—having encountered this man . . . the man of my dreams, here in a cemetery—had caused me to hallucinate. No other explanation made sense. My brain seemed to have lost the ability to think rationally. After all, w
hat was I thinking
,
talking to
a
m
an
about
whom I knew nothing
? I
n a graveyard
, of all places,
in the middle of the night
! Surely, n
o good could come
from
this.

Lucius growled a low
,
deep resonating sound
that
rumbled from some dark place in his soul
.
I shuddered to think
what such a
strong man might be capable of doing
.
His
eyes grew wide
. Had he once again guessed the direction of my thoughts? Read my mind?

“Ivy
,
please
; g
ive me a moment
. D
o not fear me, ever
.
I would never hurt you
.
I would rather kill myself than see fear or pain
reflected
in you
r beautiful gaze.
”

I stood there quietly
,
taking this in
.
I truly did not know what to think
. L
ogically
,
I should r
u
n away, as fast as my legs would carry me, but something
about Lucius
held me captive
. He’d
enthralled me
. H
is very heart spoke to mine in a language I had yet to understand
.

Lucius took a deep breath and closed his eyes
. W
hen he opened them again,
the
ir coloring, too,
appeared normal, back to their beautiful molten
hue
.
He held out his hand slowly
.
I stood there wondering what to do, but my body
apparently knew how to
react
. A moment later,
I found myself holding his hand.

I knew then my life would never be the same
.
I truly felt
as if
I
were
stepping off a cliff into an abyss
. I had no idea
where I would end up or if I would even live through this grave exchange.
No pun
intended
.

I nodded, silently indicating my temporary agreement to continue our conversation.

We walked from the cemetery to a beautiful
,
sleek
,
black
J
aguar
. E
yebrows
raised, I turned to give Lucius an inquiring look, only to finding him gazing down at me, grinning wickedly.

“Sweet Ivy, I am ancient
.
I have lived many, many li
fetimes,
and over th
e years,
I have amassed a vast amount of wealth, both physically and monetary.”

Of course he did
.
He was perfect in every way; stupid of me not to have guessed he’d also be wealthy.
But what could he mean when he said he’d lived many, many lifetimes? I shook my head. Nothing about this night made much sense.

Lucius opened the passenger door
,
but I hesitated, pausing a moment to
gaze into his eyes
.

“Trust me
,
Ivy
;
just trust me.”

Again, m
y body
reacted before my mind could reach a rational decision based on all the facts.
A second later,
I found myself
p
ulling
my seatbelt around me
and snapping it into place
.

Lucius drove us through town and onto the country roads
.
Once again,
I
questioned my sanity. N
o one knew where I was
or who I was with
, and yet, I felt at peace. At least, for the moment
.
I sat there silently staring out the
window
, taking in the
beautiful
October
night
. T
he full moon now shone brightly in the clear sky,
and fall
leav
es float
ed
on a soft breeze,
performing
their traditional autumnal dance
.
I found myself being lulled into a sense of
relaxation
watching this seasonal display of beauty
.
Lucius took my hand and gently kissed the inside of my wrist
.
A
burning sensation flared where his lips met my skin, and
I gasped
.
I
pulled from his grasp
and tried to see wh
at
had
caused my flesh to
become so overly tender
.
I could not see very well in the car
,
but I could feel
a change in
the scar
.
In addition to feeling hot beneath my fingertips, the o
nce smooth
,
flat, tiny mark now rose a bit
.

“Ivy, I can explain to you why that is happening.”

“What
,
Lucius?
How could you possibly know why my scar is so sensitive tonight?”

“I can explain many things to you tonight, all of which you will find very hard to accept, but in time
,
everything will
make sense
. A
ll you must do right now is trust me completely and believe me
;
can you do that for me?”

I sat there staring out the window
. C
ould I
? Could I
trust
a person—a man, no less . . . a stranger to me—and do as he requested? I’d gone off with him, alone,
so obviously
,
some small part of me already did
believe he wouldn’t harm me. O
h
,
what fun the psychologists would have right now,
if they knew I’d actually come to
trust someone
. A man I’d only just met,
no less
.

All too soon
,
we pulled onto a long
,
winding
,
dirt road
.
We drove along endlessly, as the country lane ran up and down and
meandered for what seemed like miles
.
Eventually
,
a house came into view, an old colonial
,
no less
.
I gasp
ed
and s
at
forward to take it all in
. A welcoming candle lit
each window
of the beautiful home
.

“Lucius
,
it’s
gorgeous
, truly
;
I’ve never seen a house so exquisite.”

Lucius gave me a
heartwarming
smile
.
He parked the car in the driveway and rushed around and opened my door
.
He reached out, and I took his hand.

“You didn’t think I lived in a coffin, did you
, little one
?”

I felt my cheeks flame and looked down at my feet
. O
f course
,
Lucius knew what I was thinking
. H
is loud chuckle made me look up
,
and the sight
that met
my
gaze stole my breath
.
Lucius ha
d
the most beautiful
,
smiling eyes
. H
is
grin
created dimples in his cheeks that took years off his
normally somber
face
.
There truly was so much more to th
e
man tha
n
what I could have imagined
.

“Come
,
Ivy, let us go inside and talk
. Time is passing all too quickly
.”