Ceaseless (17 page)

              
Her hands shoved me 
back 
and 
her legs wrapped around my waist. I moved back pulling her with me and she maneuvered her body until she was in my lap straddling me. I buried my hands in her hair as she squeezed the sides of my waist then slowly pulled back. The triumphant grin on her face was adorable.

              
“Who
’s
 on top now? Don’t underestimate me.” She said in a husky voice.

              
If I 
weren’t 
already completely owned by this female
,
 I would be now. This was my Pagan.

CHAPTER 16 

Pagan

            
  
The first thing I saw through the t
i
nted windows of the limo 
was 
twinkling 
white lights
. There were thousands of them. I scooted over to look closer and see where it was the driver had taken us. I’d just spent over ten minutes in 
Dank’s
 lap
,
 kissing and being kissed senseless.

              
The large area looked like a field 
with 
a gazebo
 covered in white lights
 sat in the middle of it. Strands of lights were strung from the 
gazebo
 to the trees surrounding it giving a canopy of lights feeling. What was this place?
              
The limo came to a stop and I looked back at Dank who was watching me instead of looking out the window.  “Where are we?” I asked.

              
Dank smirked the sexy way only Dank could and the driver opened 
my 
door. I slid out and Dank followed me
. Dank thanked
 the tall dark man 
who then got back into
 the car
 and 
dro
ve away.

              
I looked around at the secluded 
site
 that Dank had obviously taken great pains to make appear so stunning.

              
“It’s not the Garden of 
Hesperides
,
 but then who wants to eat golden apples and dodge a dragon. This garden is a much better option.”

              
Had the rocker just compared this place to Hara’s garden? Impressive. But then again
, 
he 
frequently 
managed to surprise me.

              
“It’s gorgeous. 
How did you do all this?” I asked as he took my 
elbow
 and led me toward the gazebo.

              
“I have my 
ways
.”

              
He was always so guarded.  I shouldn’t have expected him to actually tell me how he’d managed to get a large elaborate gazebo in
to
 the middle of a deserted field and 
then 
cover the place 
with
lights
.

              
The three steps on the gazebo were lined 
with
 white lights.  A small round table sat in the center of the 
covered area. A silver 
tablecloth
 
draped the table 
and 
there were 
two chairs
 placed around it
.  A bouquet of some 
kind of 
exotic flowers I’d never seen sat in the middle of the tabl
e. T
he glass vase even had lights inside. He had really put a lot of work into this. I was suddenly very thankful that I hadn’t worn jeans.

              
“What are you thinking?” He asked close to my ear. I shivered from the warmth of his breath against my skin.

              
“I’m thinking you must really want to impress me or either this is something you’ve invested in to 
bring
 all your first dates on.” I was teasing of course and I smiled at him as I said it so he’d know I wasn’t being serious.

              
“Never realized how sexy a smart 
mouth
 could be,” he replied.

              
Soft music began playing from speakers 
hidden 
in the corners of the gazebo. Dank held out his hand, “Dance with me?”

              
I slid my hand into his and he pulled me against his chest. This was different than our first dance at the club. It was sweeter
, m
ore sincere. 
Less about attraction and more about connection.

              
“Pagan?”  Dank asked softly against my ear.

              
“Yes,” I replied resting my chin on his shoulder thanks to the height from my heels.

              
“Will you promise me something?”

              
That was an odd request. I thought about it a minute then nodded. “Yes.”

              
He let out another heavy sigh. Something was bothering him tonight. “One day you’ll need to remember this. Remember how this felt. I need you to tuck this memory close inside and hold onto it.”

              
That was by far the oddest thing anyone had ever said or asked of me. He almost sounded like he was dying. “Um, okay,” I replied hesitantly.

              
He let out a soft chuckle, “I’m sorry. Sometimes I get a little too serious.”

              
No kidding. He took my hand and lifted it in the air and twirled me around. I decided I’d forget his ominous request for now and enjoy the most romantic date I’d ever been on.

              
After the song ended Dank walked over and pulled out a chair for me.  “I know it looks like we’re out here all alone but I don’t intend to starve you.”

              
I looked around and sure enough a man in a tuxedo came walking out 
of 
the woods carrying a silver tray and two 
glass bottle
s
 of Coke.

              
Smiling back at Dank I said, “I can’t believe you set all this up.”

              
He winked at me. “I wanted to make a good impression being as this is our first 
official
 date.”

              
“Well, you blew any other first dates I’ve ever had out of the water already so sit back and relax.”

              
Dank laughed as the waiter placed the 
C
okes in front of us 
and 
opened 
them
. He lifted the lid on the silver tray and then took the two glasses of ice and put them beside or bottles.

              
“I don’t know how you could even think I’d ever be able to forget this,” I said in awe as 
the server set 
chocolate covered strawberries
 in front of us.

              
“Good. That’s the idea,” he replied.

              
              
              
              
   ***

              
It had almost been a whole day since I’d seen or heard fro
m
 Dank. 
He had brought me home after our date last night and I’d half expected him to be waiting on me outside the dorm this morning when I walked out. Then I’d been expecting him to be waiting on me outside the building of 
our
 
first class
. 
But he hadn’t shown up for literature again. 
After lunch when he still hadn’t called or shown up I began to wonder if I’d done something wrong last night. Since the first day we’d met he had managed to show up at least two times a day. I’d thought after the evening we’d had he would be around even more. I had looked forward to seeing him. 
I’d almost texted him several times but I’d refrained. He had my number.

              
Now that the sun was setting and he hadn’t bothered to even text I decided last night might have meant more to me than it had 
to 
him. Maybe that really was a set up 
for 
first dates. Maybe it hadn’t meant 
anything 
more to him.

              
I stacked up my books and stuck them into my 
book bag
. I’d spent the last two hours in the library studying. Miranda was getting ready for another date with Nathan and she was too chatty to allow me to get anything done. This hadn’t been much better. My thoughts had kept going back to last night and what I could have done wrong.

              
The night breeze was abnormally cool tonight. I pulled my books higher on my shoulder and made my way toward the dorm. It was almost a mile but I figured the walk was good exercise. I didn’t like trying to park Miranda’s SUV. I could see myself scratching it up.

              
“Dank, stop,” a giggling female voice came from the darkness
. My blood froze. Stopping in my t
r
acks I waited to listen for more. Surely I’d heard that wrong.

              
“I want a taste,” a familiar deep voice replied. My stomach felt sick.

              
“I can’t get naked out here. Someone may come by,” the girl whispered and then let out a small moan.

              
“Open your legs,” he replied.

              
I wanted to move my legs. I wanted to move away from the voices. But I couldn’t. My legs weren’t cooperating.

              
“Right here?” the girl asked breathlessly.

              
“Yeah,” he said a small groan came from him. Yeah, I was going to be sick.

              
“Ah, Dank, 
Mmmmm
 that feels so good.”

              
I took off running. I didn’t look back.

Dank

              
I’d 
worked
 all day 
to make up
 for my late night with Pagan.  
Tonight, however, I intended to spend it with her again.  I walked into the empty park just outside of Pagan’s dorm before appearing.  Leif sat on the bench facing 
the
 dorm with 
one 
leg cross
ed
 over his knee and his arms folded across his chest. What was he still doing here? She didn’t know him nor did she want him. Now that her soul was free of his claim she couldn’t even remember him from one week to the next. A week from now she’d forget about the strange guy who’d ordered her coffee correctly and questioned her. She had a soul. He didn’t. There could never be a lasting connection. A spirit born of Voodoo could never connect with a soul born of the Creator. It was that simple. He knew it too.

              
“Why are you here?” I didn’t bother to announce my arrival.

              
“Because I owed you one,” was his only reply.

              
What the hell did that mean? I glared down at him, “Explain that.”

              
Leif shrugged. “Not much to explain 
Dankmar
. You took Pagan from me. She’ll never remember me. I lost all I’d ever known and loved. So, I thought you deserved the same thing in return.”

              
He still made no sense. I knew Pagan was safe. He could no longer touch her soul. I held the life of her soul in my hands. “She never chose you. She chose me. You have no power here.”

              
Leif stood up and took a step back away from me. 
He
 nor his father liked to 
get 
too close to me. They knew their place in the scheme of things. My power was never
-
ending
; t
heirs was conjured by the beliefs of humans. The weight of power 
lay
 heavily in my court.

              
“Let’s just say, we’re even now. If you’re lucky you’ll figure it out
,
 but the damage is done. Goodbye
,
 
Dankmar
,” Leif glanced at Pagan’s dorm one more time before he vanished.

              
His solemn tone was the only thing that concerned me.  He seemed worried about something. Unsure. He only had feelings for one person. No one else weighed on his conscious. Pagan.