Ever Tempted (8 page)

I gathered her into my arms, knocking over a bowl in the process.

She giggled and righted the dish, but fell back against me. With her beautiful, hope-filled gaze, she stared up at me.

I kissed her forehead, leaving my lips there a little longer than usual. God her skin was soft and fragrant. “I love you, and whatever it takes to keep you safe is what I have to do. If you don’t inform yourself about our past, then you won’t understand why I’m so fixated on putting up this wall of safety around you.”

“I’ll read it. I just need a few days to get my head together. And for the record, I want more than your wall of safety wrapped around me. I want to be in your arms as much as possible.” She cuddled as close as she could to me, her dark hair contrasting with the white of my shirt.

“When I stayed at the motel, I did a lot of soul searching and worked for hours on end to fight the change. One day, when I was especially exhausted and mentally spent, I changed to go eat. When I came back, the door to my room was opened slightly. I thought you’d found me and had gotten a key to the room or something.” I paused. I’d never wanted to kick my own ass as much as I had right then, but I had to keep going.

“Someone broke in?” Her voice was soft and innocent.

“Cole! Don’t tell her yet. Have you listened to this chick’s thoughts? I don’t think you have a new crazy stalker.”
Shelby’s thoughts were frantic.
“She’s the same old one, but somehow she’s inside another person’s body.”

“What did you do?” Allie turned to look up at me.

“I found some girl in my room. I sent her out.” It was the truth, but the rest would have to wait. For now, I needed to focus on Allie’s safety. I might be able to give her that luxury along with making her the happiest woman in the world.
“Allie Knowles, will you marry me?”

Her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open as if she were about to speak.

“No. Don’t answer aloud. There’s a very good reason I’m not using words. Please don’t ask why, just trust me. Yes? Or no? A simple thought will do.”
A wide grin spread across my face, but my chest squeezed with pain. I hated lying any longer, but I had to do right by her even if it meant doing wrong by her for a few more days.

“You just said you didn’t want to get married.”
Allie sat up and faced me.

I took her hand.
“I didn’t. I mean, I did. I do, but I just want you to be safe, but I’ve come up with a plan. I know you had your heart set on a big wedding, but we can’t do that and keep you safe. Not right now. So we’re going to leave. I’ll give you the big wedding you want later. I promise.”

The shocked look on Allie’s face transformed when her eyes lit up. She sat straighter.
“You’re serious?”

“Dead serious. I want you to have the time with me you’ve hoped for without interruption. We just go. Then Grace won’t know where we are for at least a few days. It always took her some time to search for me.”

She looked past me toward the house, then back at me.
“Where?”

I brushed her cheek.
“Leave the details up to me. The less you know, the safer you’ll be.”

“Yes.”
She jumped into my lap.
“The answer is yes.”

My heart swelling with happiness I hadn’t felt in a long while, I gripped her tight in return. When we were done with the wedding and the stay at my secret getaway, I’d leave Allie there, come back here, find a way to kill Grace for good, then return for my bride. I’d spend the rest of my life trying to make her happy.

Allie went almost limp in my arms as she stared meaningfully into my eyes.
“The honeymoon part isn’t that important to me. I don’t want you to suffer trying to make me happy.”

“I’d break the moon in half and give it to you in pieces to make you happy. You deserve the night we missed a hundred years ago.”
I regarded her with more intensity.
“Leave in the limo, call your mother, and tell her to stay home. I know you wanted her to visit, wedding or not, but she could be in danger. If she’s halfway here, I don’t care. Tell her I’ve come down with Malaria or something. I’ll get Shelby and Kaitlyn on the rest of the preparations.”

Allie nodded, though a cloud of disappointment dampened the glow of happiness in her eyes. She wanted the whole big white wedding thing. She hadn’t had only thoughts of my happiness in mind. But we’d get it one day. I’d find a way. It just couldn’t be this time around.

Allie and I scooped up the remnants of the picnic and found the twins in a huddle in the library at the house.

“What are you looking at?” Allie asked the girls.

An open book spanned the width of their laps.

“Just a book on possession.” Shelby glanced at me.

“We’re brushing up on our skills.” Kaitlyn didn’t look at us, and she shifted in her seat.

“Get her out of here. We need to talk.”
Kaitlyn’s thoughts were more anxious than they’d ever been.

“Where did Sage say she was going this morning?”
Shelby said.

“To shop.”

“Nice clothes won’t cover up that stench. Oh, it’s her all right. Test her. I doubt you’ll have much trouble pulling the truth out of her.”
Kaitlyn glanced at Allie. “We’re so happy for you both. I’m glad you could come to alternate arrangements.”

“And use protection. We don’t need little shapeshifting rug rats running all over the place until we have the house a little more ghost proof.” Shelby grinned as she looked back to the side of the book on her lap.

“I don’t know what to say to that.”
I turned to Allie. “I need to make some plans I’d like to keep a surprise until we get where we’re going. Could you go on up and pack?”

She gave the three of us a suspicious look but sighed. “As you wish.”

“I’m not your master yet.” I kissed her hand.

Allie shoved me. “I don’t think you’ll ever be my master. I might let you help me make decisions, but master? Nope.”

“I like it when you’re feisty.” I popped her on the backside.

“Watch it, buddy.” Allie wagged a finger at me and left us.

As soon as her footsteps hit the staircase, which the girls couldn’t hear because they didn’t have near the heightened sense of hearing I had, I let it fly. “How in the hell did she get inside another body?” I paced the floor. “I thought she could only possess Allie?”

“We were just as stumped as you until we did a little research. As long as the human asks the spirit to enter him or her, the possession can take place.” Kaitlyn wound a lock of blond hair into a tight knot.

“What happens to the body’s original soul?” Why couldn’t we have a few minutes of peace? A string of expletives flew through my mind so fast they jumbled together.

“We haven’t gotten that far yet, but we’re still searching.” Kaitlyn’s eyes widened as she looked past me.

“Good afternoon, darlings. I’m so glad I have all of you in the same room. Maybe you can tell me which dress will cover up the signs of decay.” Sage or Grace or whoever she wanted us to call her plopped bags down on the library floor.

Slowly, I turned.

“Don’t do it.”
Shelby must’ve had a little precognition at that very moment, if she hadn’t already had some. I was about to strangle the bitch.

Grace wore a white formfitting dress. The sleeves stopped at her elbows and she wore white gloves to match. Her heels were so steep I thought she might get a nose bleed or break an ankle. On her tight up-do, she wore an extra broad hat a model might wear on the runway. And she glistened with diamonds.

“Holy Coco Chanel,” Shelby said.

“Thank you. I pride myself in looking better than anyone around me.” Grace considered her gloved hand.

“And being bitchier.” I stepped closer to her. “Grace. How long do you plan on staying where you’re not welcome?”

“I’m welcome. In fact, after you rejected Sage, she was so down on life that she went back to her hotel and tried to commit suicide. I caught her just before the final slit and asked to borrow her body.” Grace took a box of shoes from her bag. “Aren’t these the most darling thing you’ve ever laid eyes on?”

“I’m sure Sage didn’t try to kill herself because of me.” I shifted a few steps away from her.

“It spiced up the story a bit, though. Don’t you think?” Grace said. “And why wouldn’t that be a fitting story? You’ve got girls dying all over the place to be with you.”

I lunged at her, but Kaitlyn jumped up and held me back.

“Choose your moves wisely.” Kaitlyn turned to face her.

“You have to want something more than your normal perverse demands. What is it this time?”

“A hundred years hasn’t dulled your senses, I see. You’re right actually. This poor waif’s body will wear out in a week or less, so you have a quick decision to make. Either I torture, maim, and kill every person around Allie, including her mother as I drive her completely insane with acts of cruelty beyond your wildest imaginings or you take your own life and join me in the In-between. You choose. Now do I get my way around here or do I have to go notify Allie of our motel room escapades, of which I’m sure you’ve been too much of a scaredy cat to tell her about? I love my little cat jokes, don’t you?”

Though she wasn’t in her original form, I couldn’t miss the evil staring out of the poor girl’s eyes. Grace Rollins had once again surprised me.

“Did you miss me?” She eyed her finely manicured fingernails. “Didn’t think so, but no matter. At the moment, I couldn’t care less about your feelings. You didn’t care when you locked me at the bottom of that horrid pond. So, now it’s time to pay.”

Shelby and Kaitlyn exchanged frightened glances.

“Don’t worry. I never ask for more than a person can handle. Cole is used to sacrificing for that poor little stray. He’ll do what it takes to keep her safe, won’t you?” Grace shifted her gaze from the twins to me. Vile and evil maliciousness had never been so alive in her eyes.

I gently pushed Kaitlyn from arm’s reach and stepped nose to nose with Grace. “I have a proposition for you.”

“Ooh. I like propositions.” Grace’s smile was acid. “You’re even sexier when you’re backed into a corner.

Shelby jumped up. “No. Don’t you dare make a deal with her without discussing it with us first.”

Grace turned her burning glare toward Shelby.

I held up my hand and regarded Grace. “She’s not part of this. It’s you and me. Let me have what I want, and you get what you want.”

Kaitlyn held Shelby back. “No! You can’t do this.”

“It’s his decision.” Kaitlyn pulled her sister into her arms.

“I can tell by that I’m-going-to-be-a-martyr-for-everyone’s-sake look in his eyes that he’s going to do something I’m going to hate. I’ll never speak to you again, Cole Kinsley. You had better think your plan through before you open your stinking mouth.” Shelby pushed against her sister’s stronghold, but Kaitlyn held her firmly. “You’re the irritating but awesome big brother I never had. If you so much as do one thing to sacrifice yourself…”

“I want a week with her; then I will stay with you for the rest of this lifetime. Until Allie dies and the cycle begins all over. That’s my final offer.” A part of me wilted as I spoke the words, but I’d go to endless depths to ensure Allie and her loved ones’ safety. I turned a sorrowful gaze to Shelby. “This is for you too, sis.”

“Well, well, well. You’re just making friends everywhere you go. I guess I can handle that as long as you are right under my nose and don’t pull any tricky stuff.” With her eyes shining, she put her shoes back in the bag. “This gives me one week to wear out this body. I’ve done some testing on other bodies, and they lasted just over a week before the rotting skin fell off and the internal organs shut down.”

Shuddering, I said, “No. I want a week away from this place with her. I’ll come back. You can find me. You’ve always proven that. Let me have this one thing, and then you can have me.”

“Colby Kendall Kinsley,” Shelby cried. “Damn you!”

Insolence flashed from Grace’s eyes as she jerked up her bags. “That’s exactly what he’s doing.” Grace smiled back to me. “How do I know I can trust you?”

“You know me. I’d never allow another human to be put in harm’s way, even if I had to sacrifice myself to prevent it. I have no problem with that. I just need this one time. What more can I promise to make you agree?” I hated begging, but it had come to that.

“This is outrageous. Allie is going to be so pissed.” Shelby finally jerked free from Kaitlyn.

“That’s why you won’t tell her. She deserves one week of a normal life. She didn’t ask for any of this. I created her turmoil.”

“By existing? Is your destructive tunnel vision so blinding that you can’t see Allie’s just as much a part of it as you? She would never agree to this.” Shelby was in my face now.

My heart hammered at the thought of losing her any other way than by me leaving her. That would be least painful.

Grace stood back and watched with a triumphant grin.

“Vow that when you see her in the next life, you’ll run just as you always have. You’re a good man, and your word is as good as you are.” Grace took three steps closer.

Shelby shook her head. Shaking, she stepped away from the three of us. She burned a hole through the window with her incensed glare.

My chest tightened. “I vow.”

Grace didn’t know me as well as she thought she did.

In my first life, I may have been the most honorable man she’d ever known, but she didn’t know how deep my love for Annabeth ran. When it came to Allie, I would break any law, any bond, any neck. And Grace could only thank herself for compromising my decency.

“Agreed. But we must shake on it.” She closed the gap between us.

Kaitlyn stepped back from us, a single tear trickling down her face. She crossed her arms and turned.

Grace took my hand for what I thought was a gesture to seal the deal, but when I placed my hand in her cold grip, a searing scorch bore through my skin.

“Now you’re marked. If after a week, you don’t return, I’ll find you and torture you beyond your most dreadful imaginings.” Grace took her hand back and spun on her heel toward the door. “Now, I think I might go shower or eat or do bodily injury to some poor unsuspecting victim. But I’ll probably just shower.”