Fateful 2-Fractured (9 page)

Danielle took it. “Thank you, sir.”

Seth was followed by Max, who said, “Lovely
roses for a lovely lady.”

She laughed. “Thanks, Max.”

Max handed four roses to her rather than
just one. He then slid his hand flirtatiously along hers as he
released the flowers. She knew Max only did it to taunt Ethan,
mainly because it always worked so well.

And she checked Ethan’s expression to see if
he’d fallen for it. He did. “I saw that, Max. Watch it,” Ethan
growled, his eyes narrowed.

Never daunted by Ethan’s warnings, even when
he’d been a vampire, Max gave Ethan a swift slug in the arm as he
passed him.

“Ow!” Ethan grimaced as he fought to keep
his chair from tipping over from the force of the punch. “I’ll get
you for that,” Ethan grumbled while rubbing his now dead arm.

Danielle laughed, but stopped short and
blinked when something soft bounced off the end of her nose. She
looked into her lap and saw that it was a white rose petal.

Ethan snorted, the sound was followed by a
stream of chuckling.

Suddenly after that, she was showered with
many more petals as well as roses now.

Bewildered, she looked up to see where this
attack was coming from. “Oh!” she gasped. A swarm of little fairies
hovered over her head, showering her with fragrant flowers and
petals.

Danielle recognized Alora as she swooped
down and stopped so close in front of her face she almost had to go
cross-eyed to see her.

“Hello, Danielle,” the sprite greeted and
then snuck a look in Ethan’s direction. It seemed the tiny fairy
planned to say more and wondered if Ethan would approve.

Which he didn’t. “Alora! Don’t you dare!”
Ethan admonished sternly.

Alora pouted, gave Danielle a kiss on her
nose and darted away like an insect.

“I’ll take those,” Beon said, reaching his
hand out for the remaining roses to add to his arrangement.

“Oh … yes, sir.” Danielle quickly gathered
them from her lap and passed them over.

He then began arranging the flowers in the
vase as precisely as a florist would. But his brows furrowed when
he apparently didn’t like how it was going. He left with the
bouquet, looking a little exasperated—then returned to place the
finished design in the center of the table. He’d added some tiny
white flowers that dripped beautifully from the lip of the vase,
complementing the roses nicely. Pressing his fists on his hips, he
admired his work. The corner of his lips twitched into a smile and
he turned on his heal to leave again.

Danielle snickered; Beon was funny when he
behaved like this.

Emotions swelled within her. Ethan had
planned all of this for her? Lifting her gaze to his, she said,
“Thank you, I can honestly say I’ve never received flowers like
that before.”

“Did you enjoy that?”

“Yes, though it was almost tiring.”
Danielle slid her hand across the table to reach his. He followed
her lead, matched his fingertips with hers and then interlocked
their fingers. She sighed, she was here with Ethan, yet she hadn’t
really had a chance to enjoy
just
his company. And realized that this was the best they were
going to get as she again noticed the many guards lurking within
the woods.

Ethan frowned. “You can’t be sad. Not at a
time like this.”

“I’m not sad. It’s just ... well, we’re
never really alone.”

“Salad is ready.” Beon’s voice cut into
their “moment” abruptly, proving her point.

They both sat upright, forced to release
their hands in the process. Ethan eyed her, looking concerned and
lipped the words “I’m sorry” to her.

She nodded as Beon left them to their
salads. “Will they leave us alone longer when we’re done eating?”
she asked.

“That’s the plan,” Ethan said.

“Really?” He nodded, and she continued,
“Please tell me this isn’t a six course meal.”

“No. It’s a light lunch.”

“Oh, good. Eat your salad quickly,” Danielle
advised spearing some lettuce and a cherry tomato onto her fork.
“The sooner we’re done, the sooner these interruptions end, right?”
Again he nodded with a mouthful of salad on his fork, and her eyes
drifted to the trees again. “Though the forest will still be full
of watching eyes, won’t it?”

“I’m afraid so.” Ethan sighed. “I know this
is massively awkward, but we can’t change it. Especially now that
it seems you are being followed nonstop by immortals wishing to do
you harm.”

Even knowing he was right, Danielle rolled
her eyes. They couldn’t change it—she just had to learn to live
with it.

When they finished their meal, Ethan’s
expression rearranged again and he appeared to be quite distracted
by his thoughts.

“Are you all right? Did you eat too fast?”
she asked.

“No, love, I’m fine. Please come with me.”
He stood, stepped around the table, lifted her hand into his, and
then led her to an upholstered chaise lounge; another piece of
furniture not usually seen in an outdoor setting.

Once Danielle was seated, Ethan dropped to
his knee in front of her. She gasped, completely knowing what he
meant to do.

He reached into his pocked, removed a small
velvet box, and opened it to reveal a beautiful diamond ring set in
white gold. The design was intricate and vintage inspired. The band
was thick with rectangle diamonds leading up to the main setting.
Fancy scrolls ran along the edges of the gold. The main setting was
surrounded with a square of white gold, and tiny diamonds marched
around the design. In the center sparkled a large, round
diamond.

“Danielle my love, will you marry me? Will
you be my wife?”

Her heart was pounding. Many girls fantasize
about a moment like this, and here it was, a magical reality. She
couldn’t have dreamed up a better man to marry in her wildest
fantasies. Her emotions rushed to the surface and spilled over in
the form of tears. “Yes, Ethan! Of course yes!” She flung her arms
around his neck and hugged him tightly.

With her arms still slung around his neck,
Ethan managed to rise from his kneeling position to seat himself
next to her on the chaise.

Pulling away, Ethan gifted her with an
emotion drenched expression of love and devotion. “Thank you. I
promise to keep you safe and make you happy
beyond the
end,
Danielle,
forever, for an
eternity
.” He reached back to disengage her left arm
from around his neck, removed the ring from the box and slipped it
onto her finger. “I designed it myself,” he whispered, his lips
smiling as he ran his finger over the ring. “Are you
pleased?”

“It’s beautiful. I love it.”

His eyes left the ring and met with hers.
They gazed at each other, soul to soul. It was far more intense
than just staring into the eyes of any another person, and it was
something only they had with each other.

“It’s not too late to say no to the weak
mortal and marry me instead!” was shouted from within the woods to
their left. It was Max, the tease.

“Hey! Why did you hit me?” again bellowed
the knight. Nadia had probably smacked him for the comment.

Danielle couldn’t decide if she wanted to
cry or laugh at that.

“Ignore him,” Ethan said in a low tone as he
gently took her face in his hands, and then enticed her with sweet
kisses placed everywhere on her face—except for her lips. He kissed
her on the eyelids, on the cheeks, along her jawbone, and just
under her chin. Danielle shuddered thinking Ethan was a master at
distraction, because he was driving her crazy by never touching her
lips!

Her fingers interlocked behind his neck.
“Kiss me. Now,” she demanded.

Ethan chuckled. When he finally did press
his mouth to hers the kiss was sweeter, even more divine, and more
delicious, and she realized that’s how he’d planned it.

She tugged him closer with his name on her
tongue and smiled against his lips when he did the same. At that
moment, Danielle didn’t care they weren’t really alone, and that
they most likely had an audience.

The kissing continued until they were forced
to gasp for air.

Ethan then leaned back into the chaise,
spread his legs and tugged her to his chest. She fanned her fingers
across his shirt to admire the exquisite ring, then dropped her
head onto his chest.

They snuggled as the music continued to
sweeten the air, and Danielle watched the edge of the trees as the
fairies danced like colorful fireflies amongst them. Their glow was
bright enough to see during the day, although they did keep to the
darkness of the shadows.

“I love you,” she whispered softly.

“I love you too. More than anything,” Ethan
replied.

They lingered until the sky transformed into
sunset hues, and she knew it would soon be time to go. Danielle
realized the time had come when she could see vampires emerging
from the dense wood. They didn’t converge on them immediately,
still giving them some time alone together, it seemed.

“Will they ever leave us to ourselves?”
Danielle asked.

“Once we’re married they’ll have to give us
more privacy.”

She sat upright, alarmed. “Please tell me
that’s not the only reason you proposed to me.”

“No! Of course not! I want to spend this
life and the next with you. I would have proposed to you even if we
didn’t have bodyguards tailing us constantly. I’ve been thinking
about doing this for a long time now. Since before I was even
cured.”

Sighing in relief, Danielle could feel the
soft smile on her face as she returned her head to her toned
pillow.

Her mind was just now beginning to
comprehend the clues ... he’d said he felt their situation could
improve, he’d said he was working on a better plan than running
away together, and he’d left on that trip…. But— “Ethan?”

“Yes.”

“Where did you go for two days?” she asked
as she rubbed his tie between her fingers, experiencing the petal
softness of the silk.

“Glenwood Springs. That’s a very nice little
town, by the way.”

“Oh...” Her parents might not be too
thrilled about this arrangement, mainly because it would keep her
from returning to Colorado.

“Why do you think I went to Glenwood,
Danielle?”

“What?”

He sighed, and she wondered if he we was
ever frustrated with how slow she could be. “Danielle, I went to
ask your parents for your hand in marriage.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

“I didn’t think people did that
anymore.”

“Well, I do.”

Of course he did. He was old-fashioned like
that. She should have known.

“And they approved?” she asked in
disbelief.

“Yes. I can be very convincing when I need
to be.”

“Wow, I’m amazed. You’re amazing! They
really did not want me to marry a Londoner.”

“They’ve accepted it, you have nothing to
worry about,” he whispered with his lips against the top of her
head, and his fingers tangled in her brown curls.

Danielle noticed the sun was sinking lower
in the sky, and could see the vampires moving closer. However, she
was still startled when she heard one speak into her ear.
“Danielle! I’m so happy for you!” Nadia sang, as she gave her a
hug.

“Thank you, Nadia.”

The others chimed in, embracing and
congratulating them as well.

Max threatened to punch Ethan’s arm again,
but it wasn’t really fair for Max to roughhouse with Ethan now that
he was mortal, and Danielle covered his arms with hers so Max
couldn’t do it.

The knight boomed with thick laughter.
“Okay, I could never hurt Danielle, so I guess you have her to
protect you.”

Ethan laughed and kissed her on the top of
the forehead to thank her for rescuing him from his dangerous
friend.

“How’s your arm from the last time?” she
asked Ethan.

“There’s a nice bruise there, I can feel it.
I realize now how much you were suffering when Celeste attacked
you.” His golden brows turned up and he moaned.

She giggled.

Interrupting, Beon said, “I’m sorry,
Ethan, Danielle, but it
is
time to go.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, Beon,” Ethan said.

“Thank you for everything,” Danielle
added.

Beon nodded, smiling kindly.

Danielle closed her eyes as they neared her
uncle’s home. She was very happy even though their circumstances
remained unsafe. Ethan was right, it could improve.

“Danielle, do you still trust me?” Ethan
asked.

“Of course. Why do you ask?”

“You’ll see.”

His comment made her slightly nervous. It
seemed there was more to his plans that she didn’t know about.

Ethan then pulled up to her uncle’s house,
parked, and jogged around the car to open the door for her.

Beon and Sophia joined them as they
approached the front steps. Danielle looked at them curiously, but
they said nothing, though Sophia was smiling. She knew they didn’t
need to be cautious with their eyes yet, as it would be a few more
minutes before the sun set completely. However, the look on
Sophia’s face made her suspicious again.

When they stepped inside, she knew what the
secret was when they were greeted by more than just her aunt, uncle
and Brianna. Her parents were there, and her mouth dropped open as
she gaped at Ethan.

He chuckled and pressed her lips together
with two gentle fingers placed under her chin. “Surprise,” he
said.

“Danielle! You were right! Ethan is a very
nice young man!” her mother said, drawing her into a hug.

She realized then how much she’d missed
them, as she sank willingly into her mom’s comforting embrace. “Oh,
Mom, it’s so nice to see you. Thank you for coming all this
way.”

The moment her mother released her, her
father beamed happily as he too gathered her into his arms.