Celtic Rose (6 page)

They sat there quietly, in a state of bliss. William had reclaimed Kallisto’s burned hand, nursing it with the wet paper towel. Talus put his arm around her again, holding her free hand on his leg. Ramina and Kalan were cuddled comfortably together. They only released to eat.

When they left, Ramina and Kalan held hands, smiling and talking with the others. Talus was the one who held Kallisto close while William held her hand that time. They went and bought some ointment and spent the rest of the afternoon checking out the sights.

The sun was low on the horizon, filling the sky with beautiful shades of red, orange, purple and pink. Kallisto stared at the sky with reverence. It was the end of the perfect day, with what seemed like many more to come. Kalan and Ramina were finally together. Kallisto had two wonderfully caring men competing for her attention. They were playful and ungrudging toward each other, friends even with the rivalry. It seemed as though no matter whom she chose, the other would still be around as a friend. Kallisto had a strange sense of familiarity with the situation, even though she had never been in a situation like that before.

Talus came up behind her and put his hand on the back of her neck. She leaned her head back on it, still looking at the sky. “Beautiful,” he whispered.

“Yeah, I love the sky when it looks like this.”

“I meant you,” he said touching her nose. Kallisto flushed.

“You must need glasses Talus. I might be pretty but I’m nowhere near beautiful.” She smiled sarcastically at him. Talus turned her to him and put his hands on her sides. He bent down and looked her in the eyes.

“You are beautiful,” he said, smiling.

“A lifetime of being told otherwise by peers is hard to contend with. It’d take more than that to convince me of it.” Kallisto’s heart was pounding hard with him so close. All she’d need to do was raise up on her toes slightly to close the distance between their lips. She chickened out, unable to bring herself to close those last few centimeters. She was too afraid of rejection, even though he had shown his interest more than once, but from her previous experiences she had come to the realization that all men were confusing. They would show interest one minute and then reject her the next, as soon as they were sure they had her. She figured they liked the chase, but they didn’t actually want her.

Kallisto and Talus stared into each other’s eyes just a moment longer as Kallisto thought, and then she pulled away. He didn’t seem to know what to do; he seemed to want to hold on. His hands gripped and released as he tried to decide, and his eyes flickered back and forth. There was a look of confusion and possibly shock on his face, but finally he let her go with a look of defeat. She turned away from him and took a few steps, staring at the sky again, cursing herself quietly. She thought maybe he really did want her, but he was frantic. She assumed he was probably just trying to let her go without actually hurting her feelings. He was too good of a guy for that
.

“I’ll convince you of it,” Talus said, right behind Kallisto. She hadn’t realized he’d closed the distance between them. He wrapped his arms around her waist and bent his head to her neck, brushing his lips across it slowly up and down. He did that twice before finally turning her around. Pulling her closer and bending his face slowly to hers, Kallisto’s heart raced as their lips touched ever so slightly before he kissed her harder. Her lips parted in response and she wrapped her arms around his neck. They kissed for what seemed like only a few seconds before they heard Kalan calling for them. They leaned away from each other slowly, smiling.

“There you are!” William sighed in relief as he ran up beside Kallisto, grabbing her hand. “I see Talus found you.” He glared at Talus.

Talus just smiled, without a hint of jealousy or arrogance. He was comfortable in the knowledge that he had kissed Kallisto and she liked it, but he wasn’t going to tell William that.

“I just went across to the park. It had a better view of the setting sun.” Kallisto smiled internally, remembering the other advantage of the park.

“Oh…why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve gone with you.” He squeezed her fingers, inclining his head for a better view of her face.

“You were busy with Kalan and Talus fighting with the fire to get it started. I didn’t know how long you would be, and I didn’t want to miss it.”

“You could’ve taken Ramina. I just didn’t want you to be alone. I was worried you might’ve gotten lost.” He looked down, his cheeks flushing a little in embarrassment. Kallisto thought it was sweet that he worried about her; he really was showing how good he could be if she chose him. It would break her heart to have to tell him she didn’t want him that way.

“I didn’t go far, but thank you for caring. Don’t worry, though, I wasn’t alone for long. Talus was with me.” She inclined her head to see his eyes. He looked up, his brows bunched together in deep thought.

“Talus left like thirty minutes ago. Was he with you the whole time?” William asked suspiciously.

Kallisto looked at him and found jealous suspicion in his eyes. She hadn’t realized they were gone that long. They seemed to have kissed longer than she’d thought.

“He just watched the sun set with me for a little bit before we headed back.” Kallisto smiled innocently. They reached the fire, where Kalan and Ramina sat on the log whispering quietly, looking into each other’s eyes. Kallisto loved seeing them like that.

“So…what are we gonna do? Tell spooky stories in the moonlight, or maybe sing camp fire songs?” Kallisto joked as they sat down. Once again she was sandwiched between Talus and William. It was great for her and Talus, but William was in serious danger of falling off the too small log. Kallisto was surprised by the fact that he balanced himself well.

“You’re partly right, Kallisto, there will be singing involved, but not for us. Luckily, I brought my guitar, and I thought that Talus might do us the honor of singing one of his songs,” Kalan said, smiling excitedly at Talus.

“I’m going to hurt you Kalan,” Talus said, flushing.

“You sing?” Kallisto asked, her eyes wide with surprise and excitement. “I’d love to hear you sing.”

Talus grimaced, but still held that smile with one side quirked up; the half-smile that made Kallisto’s heart stutter, and the wrinkled nose that added to the effect. “I’m afraid you won’t like it.”

“I won’t know until I’ve heard it though, now will I? I’m sure it sounds great. Please?” Kallisto pleaded.

“Oh, all right, if you put it that way.” His grin grew wider as he grabbed the guitar Kalan held out to him. He took a moment to adjust the strings to get just the right tone. His face turned serious as he started to play; it was a slow song, like a ballad of sorts. When he began to sing, Kallisto didn’t hear or see anything else. He kept his beautiful blue-green eyes on her as he sang. The melody sent shivers down her spine. He had an unbelievable voice; it was deep, but soft. He saw Kallisto’s shocked expression and smiled around the words, never missing a beat. Kallisto propped her leg up, laying her chin on it as she listened intently to the sound of his voice, never really understanding the words. She knew he was singing about love, though, and she remembered thinking how wonderful it would feel if he were to tell her he loved her. It seemed crazy. Here they’d only known each other for a day, and she was thinking about loving him. She had heard of love at first sight, but never dreamed that it might happen to her.

He finished his song and smiled expectantly. “So what do you think?”

“Wow!” was all she could say at first. She paused, muddling through the memory trying to remember more than how he looked and sounded. She wanted something specific to comment on, but her brain wouldn’t allow her that. She said the only thing she could think of. “Did you write that?”

“Yeah, it’s kind of sad though. I was going through a rough patch when I wrote it.” Talus frowned, undoubtedly thinking about the rough patch.

“I’m sorry you had to go through a rough patch, but at least you got a really good song out of it. I really loved it Talus, you sing wonderfully,” Kallisto said in an effort to comfort him.

“Thank you,” Talus said, the frown changing to a small smile.

They spent the rest of the time getting to know each other better. By the time they were ready to go they had all told several stories about their childhoods. Some were good and some were not. They laughed at the good times, and comforted each other as they spoke of the bad times. The ride back to the hotel was more of the same. They ventured slightly into memories of their teenage years. By the time they reached their destination they were talking about their different experiences at age sixteen.

The guys walked the girls up to their room, in very much the same fashion that they had done everything that day. They were all connected in one way or another. When they got to their door, it was time to say goodnight. Ramina grabbed Kalan and kissed him. The rest turned their backs to give them some privacy. Kallisto grinned inconspicuously at Talus. It was quick enough that William didn’t see. Talus looked away as William glanced at them, but Kallisto could still see a hint of a smile. When Ramina finally released Kalan and started in, Kallisto gave him a tight hug and a kiss.

“Night Bro,” she said lovingly.

“Night Sis,” he said as they pulled away.

He grabbed Kallisto’s shoulders and put his forehead to hers. “You be good. Don’t make me come back here.” He kissed her nose and she wrinkled it in response.

“Me! You’re the troublemaker. Besides you don’t need to use me as an excuse to see your girlfriend anymore,” she smirked.

He shoved her arm playfully and started down the hall. “See you tomorrow,” he called over his shoulder.

Kallisto turned toward William first and gave him a hug. “Goodnight William, I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said, squeezing tightly. He squeezed her gently then pulled away. He glanced to the side at Talus, then grabbed her hand and kissed it tenderly. Kallisto imagined it felt like butterflies alighting on delicate flowers.

“Goodnight, Kalli,” William said as he straightened up. Impressed by the gentlemanly gesture, Kallisto smiled at him brightly. He smiled also, and then hurried to catch up with Kalan. He threw a jealous glance at Talus on the way. Kallisto wondered if he knew that she had already made her decision and could only ever possibly want the man standing in front of her at that very moment.

When the others were out of sight, Talus grabbed Kallisto’s sides and pulled her closer. He bent down and kissed her. He gently nudged her back, making her take two steps until her back was firmly against the wall. He lifted her up so he could straighten and pressed his body against hers, pinning her to the wall. She tangled her fingers in his hair and pulled him closer, never once desiring to break her lips from his. The heated kiss burned a fire through her soul, and for a second, she found herself wishing it would never stop. After a few minutes that felt like seconds, he stepped back and let her feet land on the floor. They were both out of breath. Talus pulled Kallisto to him again, this time in an embrace. They held each other, not wanting to let go. Chuckling, he pressed his lips against the top of her head.

“What?” Kallisto said, giggling.

“I bet William is wondering what’s taking so long. He’s probably giving Kalan an earful right now,” Talus said, still chuckling, and then he sighed.

“Class can wait a day or two. How can I think about class when I can’t stop thinking about you?” He gently rubbed his knuckles down her cheek. She giggled.

“No, go to class silly.” She paused. “Is it bad that I already miss you?” Kallisto asked guiltily. She’d never felt that way before. She was raised to try dating for two years before committing, but she felt totally committed to him at that moment, and she didn’t think two years would change that. He just chuckled.

“No, I’d say that was a good thing, because I already miss you too.” He closed the distance between them, although there wasn’t much, and kissed her gently once more. He stepped back a couple of steps, still holding her sides.

“I
will
be back after class, of that you can be certain.” Talus released Kallisto’s sides and backed away. She blew him one last kiss and saw him pretend to catch it and hold it over his heart before disappearing around the corner. When Kallisto walked in the door, still a little dazed, she got smacked hard in the face with a pillow. She immediately snapped out of it and ducked just in time for the other pillow to fly over her head.

“Hey!” Kallisto said as she looked in the direction it came from. Ramina was glaring at her but there was no threat in it; she was smiling. Kallisto blushed. “You’re happy now, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I’m happy now, but I can’t believe you did that! I’m never telling you anything ever again.” Ramina turned her nose up at Kallisto with a determined look, but she was still smiling.

“Threats don’t work when you smile as you say them.” Kallisto waved her off on her way to get her night clothes. Ramina followed.

“It still doesn’t feel real though. I keep thinking I must be dreaming, and then I’m afraid that I’m going to wake up.” Ramina looked up and sighed, still smiling.

“I know how you feel,” Kallisto said quietly, thinking about Talus. Ramina heard though.

“So, you and your two beaus seem to be getting comfortable together,” she stated mischievously.

“I wouldn’t call it comfortable, but it definitely has some familiarity about it.” Kallisto shook her head, trying to clear it, and sat down on the bed. “Ramina?”