Forgiven (Book 3, The Watchers Trilogy; Young Adult Paranormal Romance) (9 page)

I nodded and went to get my phone to call Malcolm.

He answered on the first ring.

“
Dearest
, is anything wrong?”

“No.  Brand needs to spend the day waiting to speak with Samyaza.  He thought it might be a good
time
for me to keep my promise to you.”

“I’ll be right there.”

Before I knew it, Malcolm was standing in the living room too.

He was wearing a white shirt unbuttoned to
reveal his
chest and a pair of
white twill
pants
.  His long black hair hung loosely around his face
giving him the appearance of an
untamed
god of romance novel covers
.

“Malcolm,” Isaiah said looking at my friend like he was a curiosity.  “I heard you’ve sworn off the blood of humans.”

Malcolm’s lips
twitched into a
smile but the twinkle in his eye
s
never appeared.  “Dearest won’t let me if I want to keep her as
my
friend.  So it’s either
abstain
from making
any more human
sacrifices or not have her in my life.  I can’t live without her.”

The way Isaiah looked
at
Malcolm I knew he
was surprised to hear those type
s
of words come from
my friend.

Brand took me in his arms and gave me a kiss which literally took my breath away.  It was so unexpected I had to grab onto his arms and felt his hands
fold in behind me to
support my back so I wouldn’t fall.  Usually in front of company
,
Brand was reserved in his
physical
affections, never wanting to make people uncomfortable around us.

I knew instantly what was going on.

Brand wanted to make sure Malcolm understood who I truly belonged with and that Malcolm might try to sweep me off my feet that day
,
but the love of my life knew without a shadow of a doubt I would return to him steadfast in my resolve to become his wife.

When Brand finally let me come up for air, I felt lightheaded and slightly euphoric.

“Have fun today,” he said before he and Isaiah phased to wait for Samyaza.

“I will try my best to wipe that image from my mind,” Malcolm said, taking hold of one of my hands.

Before I knew it we were standing in Malcolm’s house in
Hawaii
.  The glass wall in front of me
faced
out framing
the scenic view of the ocean. 
The wall had been slid open
to catch the cool, gentle breeze gliding off the blue water bring
ing
with it the smell of salt and sand.

“Have you had breakfast?” Malcolm asked me.

“Yes,” I told him, keeping my eyes on the undulating currents of the wa
v
e
s
beyond the black sand Malcolm’s house was built next to.

“Dearest, look at me.”

I took a deep breath and forced myself to look up at Malcolm.  He smiled down at me not trying to hide his joy
at having me all to himself for one day
.

“Thank you for this.  I know I might not deserve it because of how I’ve been acting lately.  You had every right to refuse to be alone with me again
,
and I promise to be on my best behavior
while we’re together
today.”

“You promise?” I asked, just to verify.

Malcolm held up his right hand and
solemnly
pledged, “I promise to not do anything you don’t want me to do today.  You have my word as your friend.”

I felt my defenses go down knowing Malcolm would never
make a promise to me he didn’t intend to keep
.

“So
,
what’s on the agenda?” I asked.

“Do you like the beach?  I know you said you didn’t like water but surely you like to
go to
the beach.”

“I don’t like water that’s taller than me,” I said.  “As long as I can stand up in it, I’m fine.”

Malcolm grinned from ear to ear.  “Perfect.  Why don’t you go up to my room and look on the bed.  I bought some swimsuits for you to choose from. 
At least one of them
should fit,” he said eyeing my body up and down
as if taking a mental measurement
.

When I went to Malcolm’s bedroom, I found an array of ten bathing suits positioned carefully on his circular, white satin sheeted bed.  It was almost as if Malcolm had expect
ed
me to choose this day to spend with him.

Half of the suits I immediately discarded because they were two piece bikinis.  Some of them were skimpier than the babydoll negligee
Tara
and my mom had
bought me for my
wedding night
.  I surveyed the remaining suits and picked out the one which would cover
the most flesh
.  It was a simple strapless
,
dark blue suit.  A white robe cover-up, matching sun hat and flip flops completed the ensemble.

When I went back downstair
s
, I found Malcolm had changed into a pair of red hot swim trunks.  He stood with his arms akimbo
staring out at the ocean view.
  I noticed a brown wicker picnic basket sitting
by
his feet.

“I’m ready,” I said, breaking his concentration.

He turned to me and smiled.  “Which one did you pick?  Please tell me it was the itsy bitsy tiny yellow bikini.”

“You wish,” I laughed.  “The blue one piece.”

Malcolm rolled his eyes and groaned.  “I knew you would pick that one.  It barely shows anything, dearest.  At least give a
heartbroken
man a break and flash a small bit of flesh.”

“Do I have to remind you about seeing me naked in the shower?  Don’t try to act all deprived.  You’ve still seen more of me than Brand has
yet
.”

“That is a day which is scorched into my memory forever, dearest.  If
I were human and allowed to die one day
, it w
ould
be the last
image in my mind to
carry me on to the next world
with a smile on my lips
.”

I just shook my head at Malcolm which made him chuckle.

“How do we get down to the beach?”

“Oh
,
we’re not going out there.  The black sand makes it too hot to have any fun.”  Malcolm held out
one of his hands
to me while picking up the picnic basket with the other.  “I’m going to take you somewhere else.”

Malcolm phased us to a secluded beach
within
a rocky cove.  The sand was pinkish in color and the water an emerald green. 
A tall rocky cliff
at our back
shielded us from unwanted company.  In fact, I wasn’t sure how
a regular human
would reach the area we were in without a boat or rock climbing gear.

“Where are we?” I asked
looking out at the clearest water I’d ever seen. 
It
w
as so clear you could
see the
white sandy bottom
of the
ocean floor
far
in the distance
.

Malcolm walked over to a solitary
oversized
blue
umbrella with two lounge chairs shaded underneath.

“The
Bahamas
.”

I joined him under the umbrella
and took off my robe and hat.  I felt more than saw Malcolm’s eyes on me but chose to ignore
his oogling
.

“You probably shouldn’t go out until you put some sunscreen on,” he said to me, pulling out a bottle of it from the basket he brought.

I held out my hand for the bottle and Malcolm pulled it back.  “Why not let me put i
t
on you
,
dearest?  You might miss a spot.”

“I think I can put it on myself,” I said, seeing through his obvious ploy.  “But I’ll let you put some on my back.  I don’t want to get burnt right before the wedding.”

Malcolm sighed in disappointment but handed me the bottle.  After spreading it on everywhere I could reach, I gave the bottle to Malcolm and pulled my hair to the front so he could spread it on my back.

His warm hands glided smoothly against my skin massaging the lotion into my back and shoulders.

“You have the fairest skin I’ve ever seen,” he said, “silky smooth to the touch.”

I stood up abruptly and tossed my hair back.

I looked up at Malcolm and squinted.

“Last one in is a rotten egg,” I said and took off running towards the water.

Malcolm phased into the water up to his navel.

“
You cheated
!” I yelled, causing him to laugh.

“If you’re going to play a game with me, dearest, you had best set the rules in place first.  Otherwise
,
I’ll always find a way to win.”

I phased in next to him which caught him off guard
.  I then unceremoniously
pushed him into the water.  He came up sputtering.  His long air completely
matted to his face
.

“And that’s what you get for cheating,” I told him.

He
slung his hair back away from his face and
slapped the water in front of me causing it to spray in my
direction
.  Not to be out done, I did the same which set off another contest on who could make the largest splash.  Malcolm won of course when he phased into mid
-
air and did a belly flop into the water completely drenching me.

For over two hours we played in the
surf
, looked for sea s
h
ell
s
along the shoreline
and then finally lounged underneath the
blue
umbrella to eat the food Malcolm had brought in the picnic basket.  After the meal, I laid down on the lounge chair letting the gentle ocean breeze and the sound of the water rushing in
over the shore
lull me into a sound sleep.

Sometime later as I began to wake up, I felt someone gently trace the outline of my face with the tips of their fingers.  As I cleared away the fog of sleep, I knew that someone had to be Malcolm.  His fingers languidly traveled
over
my forehead circling around
t
o
lightly
brush one cheek
then continued
down to my chin and up the other cheek to end up back where they started.  He slid his fingers
across
the bridge of my nose
then
lightly
pass
ed
them
over one lip and then the next.  He let his hand slide down the slope of my neck
stopping
at
a point just above my breast.
  I felt his hand tremble slightly against my skin.

My eyelids fluttered
open. 
I saw that he was leaned over me with one arm propped above m
y
head
staring at his hand as if he were trying to decide what my reaction would be if he explored my body further
.  He must have felt me watching him because his
gaze
soon found mine.  I knew what he was about to do as he leaned down into me but couldn’t seem to muster the will to make him stop.

When his lips touched mine, I heard him release an excited whimper of pleasure.  He plunged his hands into my hair
on either side of my head
tenderly holding me as he gently tasted my lips.  I felt his silky tongue part my lips intent on deepening the kiss
and felt the first of my tears fall from the corners of my eyes.  Malcolm pulled away
having felt the hot wetnes
s
of my cries against his hand.  He bent down
and
tenderly
kissed the tears
away
.

“Lilly, why are you crying?”

“This isn’t right, Malcolm,” I said, shaking my head.

“Of course it is,” he murmured, planting small kisses all over my face.  “You love me.”

“But I love Brand more.”

Malcolm looked down at me.  I wanted to wipe away the hurt
and disappointment
I saw in his eyes but didn’t know how to.