Eden's Charms (29 page)

“What?” Ethan’s ears perked up.

“Joking. The game’s on. Hope you’re into stripes coz it’s the only thing we watch from April through November. If you’re a Boston fan, there’s a telly in the stables.”

“Funny.”

With a deadpan stare Payton replied, “That time I wasn’t joking.”

“What are you making?”

“Dinner.”

“Are you always this chatty?”

“Only with people I don’t trust yet and, Ethan, there’s a few of us that don’t trust you here. Just because Jovan scryed into the future and saw you with our baby, it doesn’t mean you’ve got free reign here. You have to earn the trust. It’s not just handed over as easily as the front door key. You come with more baggage than any of us did. Even Jonah and he had enough to put Samsonite out of business.”

“Ya know…” Ethan picked up an apple, shined it on his shirt and bit a huge chunk off. With a mouth full he finished, “Just because your love life is on the brink of extinction and mine’s on front burner heating up, don’t blame me for Vonnie showing up. He would have sooner or later.” He swallowed one huge gulp.

“Ethan, if you think for one minute I need you in my face talking to me about something you have no clue over, or right to discuss you’re dead wrong. Stay out of my business. Stay out of my love life…”

“What’s left of it…”

“And my kitchen, for that matter. You came here with the intentions of stealing a baby. What perverse person would do that?”

Ethan tossed his hands in the air. “For the last time, I was under Xier’s stronghold—compulsion—whatever you want to call it. The vamp made me believe I was doing the right thing. That’s the last time I’m telling that tale to anyone.” Ethan spun on his heels and headed toward the theatre. Hand on the knob to the room, Lucian, André, Julian, Duncan and Jonah’s voices bounced off the walls. Ethan opened the door and stepped back in time. In the corner of the room sat an old popcorn machine overflowing with steaming buttery kernels. Next to it was a light blue Formica countertop. Deep sapphire vinyl covered stools lined the length of the counter. A soda fountain and old Coke glasses took up part of the surface. At the other end sat a stainless steel beer lever, the handle a deep red ceramic glaze. Steins hung from pegs on the wall behind. Red, plastic baskets of popped corn waited to be eaten. Ethan helped himself.

“Keep it down. You’ll wake the baby,” Lucian yelled to Duncan who was shaking an accusatory finger at the umpire in a loud boisterous tone.

“What? And you’re not yelling you giant buffoon?” Duncan whispered. “Give her to me. She needs her uncle.” Duncan walked to Lucian and took the little girl from her father’s arms. With a gentle sway and rocking motion he calmed the infant down. A few minutes later Duncan and Elyza sat in one of the leather recliners and settled in for the game.

Lucian pointed to a seat once he noticed Ethan. “You a Yankees fan?”

“I’m told my television is in the stables. Boston.”

“We should have killed him the first night we met him.” André grinned, giving Julian—the nod.

Ethan laughed it off, but the thought bit at him like an annoying little sand flea stuck in his shorts. “Any of you meet the Yankees?”

“I did. Elyza was born on the field behind home plate,” Lucian bragged. “Ethan, I don’t want to rain on this parade, but how did you meet Sinclair and are you willing to stop him? Our family, which you will soon become a part of, cannot have that carnivorous cannibal or his brethren breathing down our necks or worse.”

“My furry tale of woe began when I ended up on life support after being turned. My parents and family disowned me and the X-man showed up and rescued an abandoned wolf at the eleventh hour from lethal injection. The rest is bad karma I ’spose, although I don’t know why. I’ve never hurt anyone. I told Savage I am going to finish my business with him.”

Jonah shot in, “He won’t let you just cut your apron strings and waltz off. He’ll kill you. Been there, with an old associate of his, actually.”

“Not if I get him first.” This was the part of the conversation Ethan prayed one of them would kick in and say, “We’ll help you, Eth.” Instead everyone silently bit the bullet. “Savanah wants to help me, but that’s a no-brainer. She’s not getting within a continent of that man.”

“I’m in.” Lucian.

“Me too.” Julian.

André added, “We were coming with you one way or the other, Ethan. We just wanted to see your reaction. You didn’t whine, which is what Grimmy would have done.” André never turned to see his brother-in-law’s reaction.

Ethan saw Julian though, and fought not to laugh as the two men went down on the floor wrestling. The camaraderie, love and respect in this home stymied Ethan. They each had a defined personality, no one more demanding than the next, and they each truly put the other person first, no matter what the cost to themselves. And the fact these fine people opened their home to him blew his mind. He needed to show them he’d never get them in a tight spot or let Savanah or any of them down, again.

After eight innings of listening to pitch-by-pitch plays of his least favorite team, Ethan gave in to his eyelids. Gravity would close this inning, not the Sand man. Fine by him.

****

“Hey, ladies, who owns this joint? And who’s the handsome man on his way over to us?” Raven purred better than a cat.

Noting the bedroom eyes Raven shot the man, Savanah waited for her aunt to start licking her paws or other personal parts as a little foreplay, if she was nimble enough to crouch and curl into that position. Seeing the returned gaze from the new gent, possibly he’d get her hard to reach spaces for her. A sexual awareness oozed from him better than a bottle of two-dollar cologne.

Blinding white teeth grinned at each woman. Thick, lush lashes encased his almond-shape black, lifeless, eyes. His black, tailored, Italian suit screamed obscene money, and the body hidden beneath it, hinted the man spent some time in the gym or with a plastic surgeon.

Savanah’s aunts smiled as a very distinguished gentleman with dark olive skin, salt-n-pepper hair and a matching goatee, approached, a bottle of wine in hand.

“Good afternoon and welcome to Sinsations. My name is Seamus. I see I may have been hasty in bringing only wine. I’ll return with drinks for the two mothers to be.” Once the bottle was down, he excused himself.

“Who else here is pregnant?” Jovan looked directly at Savanah.

“Ah—no—not me,” she choked out.

Molly waved her white napkin in the air. “Guess with everything that’s happened it slipped me mind to tell you. Do I look pregnant? I’m only two months. What’s going to happen at nine months?” Molly’s face turned into one giant moue.

Serina grabbed Molly’s hand and gave her a squeeze. “Who’s busy having sex all the time?” Serina teased. “Congrats, Molly.”

Seamus returned with a carafe of lemonade, fresh, with thin yellow slices of lemons floating like lily pads in the pitcher. “Ladies, this is on me. Enjoy. And Madame, when you reach nine months your radiance will be everyone’s envy. I see you’re new here, as am I, and I’m trying to get to know all my patrons.”

“Thank you, Seamus,” Jovan replied. “Your restaurant is wonderful.”

Seamus bowed before them and then retreated to the bar.

Raven watched as the tall man walked away, then went on her rant. “Gone are the days of chivalry and romance. Today’s world is more dog-eat-dog, an unpleasant mixture of reality television, court television, rap music dissing everyone and little actresses and heiress with too much publicity and money and no brains to brag of.”

Serina glanced at Jovan, Savanah and Molly. “She’s been reading the tabloids again.”

“Haven’t seen gallantry like that since the dark ages,” Raven boasted. “He’ll do well here. He’s a flirt. He reminds me of that sexy actor, the one who played a Godfather in some shoot ‘em up flick.”

“Yeah, he does, and Ray, it was you he was flirting with if you didn’t notice.” Molly added.

“No, it was Savanah.”

“Oh
puh-leeze
,” Savanah bat her eyelashes playful. “It was Mum. Or her boobs.”

A hand came out of nowhere and ticked the back of Savanah’s head. From a sideways glance, she gave her daughter the evil eye. Jovan sputtered, “Serina, it was all you.”

Serina nudged Molly. “Hell no! Did you see the way he eyed Red? Her radiance will be everyone’s envy?”

“Me?” Molly asked. “Are you blind? He probably thought I’m the over ripe tomato. He’s just waiting for the precise moment to pop me into his sauce.”

“Or give you some of his special sauce.”

“Ewh, Savanah,” circulated the table.

“Yeah, he’s a player all right. He worked our table in under a minute. He’s good.” Raven smiled. “Older men can do that.”

“We have some older men at home that can do more than that. Lest not forget that.” Jovan jabbed her finger in Raven’s arm, driving home her point. “Ray, you’re the flirt still, after all these years.”

“Doesn’t hurt to look. It’s when you bite them that you seem to get in trouble.” Raven threw her hands in the air, gesturing, “Who knew?”

“Oh, Raven!” Serina cajoled. “What are you going to do with all your men?”

“Serrie, if I knew I’d be one happy camper. Right now, Murphy’s ringing out his dingy, black cloud over my little tent, and I’m drowning in it all alone. I inflated my air mattress and it’s now flat. Jonah and I attempted to make up this morning. After an hour of exhausting all other avenues other than talking, Jonah left upset with both of us. I suppose mad make-up sex is better than no sex! Payton and I tried to make up last night. The sex was hot. The conversation afterwards had an artic chill to it. And then Donovan disappeared the same day André had his rebirth.”

Savanah added, “If he comes back he’ll be sorry. I don’t see what the big deal is with him, Aunt Ray. He’s creepy.”

Raven chugged a second glass of wine. “Peanut, he’s my problem, not yours.” Raven grabbed her niece’s hand. “I’ll take care of what’s left of my love life. Will you excuse me? My eyeballs are floating. It’s four seventeen. If I’m not back in five send a search party.”

Molly asked, “Savanah, go see that she’s ok. Raven could go the wrong way on a merry-go-round. She’s no sense of direction.”

“She’s no sense, period.”

“Funny.” Molly high-fived Savanah as she passed by.

Savanah didn’t want her aunt thinking she was incapable of going to the lady’s room alone so she stayed back and watched from a distance. She watched as her aunt stopped, looked left and then right for the restroom. A maze of hallways led her to a back spiral stairway. Savanah tiptoed behind being as stealthy as possible. Raven’s hand turned white as she gripped the banister, and she took her time going down the steps. After descending two flights Savanah played catch-up and found a door with a picture of lamb on the front. She peeked inside and found the room coed. A man wearing a nice suit had his back to her next to a sink. Savanah jerked her body back to hide behind the retaining wall.

I’ve descended to level of a snoop. Fabulous!

“I’m so sorry,” Raven said, “I must have walked in the wrong room.”

“No, Ray, you’re in the right room.”

The man’s voice sent a chill down Savanah’s spine. She compared it to being blasted with liquid nitrogen. She rubbed her hands up and down the length of her arms when she realized whose grating voice it was. Nausea clawed its way through her gut.

“I wondered how long it would take for your drink to go through you.”

Raven asked, “Would you mind turning around so I know who I’m talking to?”

Seriously, Aunt Raven
, Savanah wondered,
how can you not know who this is?

“Come on, Beauty. Gone one week and forgotten. And here I thought abstinence made the heart grow fonder.”

“Donovan? What are you doing here and in the ladies room no less? Perv!”

Yeah, perv works and I feel like one eavesdropping.

“You never were a rocket scientist,” Donovan answered. His tone, condescending.

Raven’s no better. “Screw you.”

“I plan to. You that is.”

Savanah froze; her knees went weak as she heard Donovan’s footsteps clinking on the marble floor headed toward her aunt. Did she intervene? Did she let her aunt take care of herself like she said she could? She held out in hopes her aunt would stop whatever repulsive consanguinity they had between them. It would make her day if her aunt released the man of the blood bound ties between them. Fists clenched, Savanah prayed,
Please, Aunt Ray, tell him how to intercept the next stake to hell.

Donovan grabbed Raven’s hand and pulled her to the front of his pants where the linen stretched taut.

With a little gasp, she tried to pull away. “Let go of me. I’ll give you two seconds before I scream for help.”

Do it and I’m all over the leech
. Savanah waited, her breath caught in her throat.

Donovan pressed her hand in a slow circular motion over his pants, into his erection. Low-and-behold, her fingers wrapped around his bulge like kid gloves. “One-one-hundred, two-one-hundred,” he counted, sarcasm most evident.

If Savanah ever had doubts about the man prior to today, listening to him here and now convinced her to trust in her instincts. He probably had a grin smeared across his lips identical to the one that made Charles Manson famous.

Pure evil.

“Cat got your tongue? I want you to look at me, Raven, as I screw you. Right here, Right now.”

“You can’t vamp me, Donovan. It is impossible. I made you.”

“You gave me the after-life, Raven. From that point on I made my own eternal Hell. A challenge then? And, Beauty, if I do vamp you, I don’t want to hear you go cry rape, because you know what you’re getting yourself into.”

“There’s no need for a challenge. I’m tired of hiding my feelings and living one giant lie. I have such passion in my heart for you it leaves me breathless. For so many years I worried over you and wondered what your life had become.”

“Hell without you beside me, Beauty. My heart too refused to let go of you.”

How did that happen? Everything got turned around. Damn Aunt Raven!
Savanah rolled her eyes and headed back to the table, absolutely disgusted and enraged by her aunt’s behavior. Midway up the spiral staircase she stopped, stewed over the situation before she turned back around, not about to let this slide. Raven had to come clean. Hearts were at stake. Literally.