Wonder: A Soul Savers Collection of Holiday Short Stories & Recipes (23 page)

DESIRE

For our final story, we come back to Alexis and Tristan. On Christmas Eve, they promised each other midnight on New Year’s. But can they keep that promise? As with all of the stories in this holiday collection, this one doesn’t belong anywhere in the main series. It’s just a fun escape from your world and from theirs, as rife with war as it is. So read it with no other purpose but the pure enjoyment of it.

Chapter 1

Every inhabitant of the Amadis Island must have been out in the village tonight to ring in the New Year. A crowd of vampires, mages, and various were-creatures mingled together along the main business avenue and leaked onto the side streets, as well. A festive atmosphere surrounded the area with many laughs and cheers ringing through the air. Christmas decorations still adorned the quaint shops and cafes lining the road, and the village tree was brightly lit in front of the council hall at the top end of the cobblestone street.

This was where I stood, near the ginormous tree about halfway up the hill, my gaze sweeping the crowd for the sandy-brown head that usually rose above most others.

“Still can’t find him?” Blossom, the blond witch and one of my closest friends, asked from right next to me.

“Nope. Where could he possibly be?”

“You didn’t set a place to meet?”

“I didn’t expect to lose track of him!” I looked up at the bald man standing next to Blossom. “You’re sure you didn’t see where he went, Jax?”

The four of us had been walking along the main street together, drinking cider and chatting, when Blossom saw a shop of magical baubles and brews she wanted to check out. The guys stayed outside while we ducked in, and when we emerged, they were nowhere to be seen. We found Jax down the street at the pub, but no Tristan.

“Sorry, Princess,” the were-croc said. “Had to take a leak. He said somethin’ about needin’ to go soon when the clock rang eleven, but we chaps don’t need to hold each other’s hand like you lasses do. Maybe he meant go as in leave, though, because when I came out, he was gone. He’s probably lookin’ for you, Princess.”

I glanced at the clock on the council hall: 11:19.
That’s plenty of time to find him
. But when I reached out mentally to search for his mind signature, I couldn’t even find that.
Where the hell could he be?
I blew out a frustrated breath and at the same time, my eyes fell on a blond head, hair the color of straw, about twenty yards away.

Owen, have you seen Tristan?
I asked him telepathically.

The warlock cocked his head to the side, then slowly turned until his eyes landed on me. “
He’s not with you?
”

He was, but now he’s gone.

He shrugged. “
I know he had something crazy planned for the two of you, so I don’t know why he’d take off without you.
”

I flashed down to him and put my fists on my hips.

“What do you mean?” I demanded out loud. I knew of no special plans for us, especially crazy ones. “What kinds of plans?”

Owen made an
oops
face. “Was it supposed to be a surprise? He didn’t sound like it. Said you two made plans last week. You’re sure you’re not forgetting something?”

I wracked my brain but came up blank. “Did he say where?”

“Not really. He just said I didn’t need to worry about protecting you tonight. He’d take care of it. Which, of course, makes me worry.”

I frowned. “Why would I need protection? We’re on the Amadis Island.”

“Exactly.”

My brows pushed together as I tried to mentally find Tristan again while also trying to figure out what he could possibly have planned. Obviously, whatever it was would not be here in the village because he was nowhere to be found.

“I’m going back to the mansion. Maybe there’s a note ... or he’s cloaked or something.” I flashed away, appearing in the foyer of the matriarch’s mansion on the other side of the small island in the middle of the Aegean Sea.

The large, stone house was unusually quiet, everyone back at the village participating in the New Year’s celebration. Flames danced in wall sconces, throwing shadows on the walls and grand stairs. Following my nose, I climbed the stairs and hurried down the hall of our wing to the end. Tristan’s mouth-watering scent lingered faintly in the air right outside our suite’s door. Maybe he’d had it cloaked and muffled so we could spend some alone time without anyone “hearing” me when my orgasms caused my thoughts to broadcast to anyone in telepathic reach. That was the only explanation for why I couldn’t detect his mind signature, although it meant the cloak would have to be awfully strong magic. And that meant Owen would have had to put it up. So he was in on this all along?

I threw open the suite door and inhaled. Then frowned. Tristan wasn’t here. His tangy-sweet scent of mangos, papayas, lime, sage, and a hint of man remained just as faint as it had been in the hallway. My gaze slid across the dark front room of the suite—empty—and then I moved into the bedroom and bathroom. Empty as well.

“What the hell, Tristan?” I asked out loud. My hand settled on my waist, and my fingers tapped out an impatient rhythm on my hipbone as I once again tried to think if I’d forgotten something. The sheer curtain in the doorway to the balcony blew inward, letting the moonlight shimmer in. The dim light fell on a small, white rectangle on the bed that I hadn’t noticed before but now couldn’t miss. It practically glowed with the moon’s illumination.

An envelope.

I jumped to the bed and snatched it up. My heart leapt with excitement when I saw my name in Tristan’s elegant scrawl on the front. A wax seal covered the tip of the flap on the back with a fancy, Old-English-like K pressed into it. My big, bad warrior could be so mushy and romantic. What had he done now?

My finger slid under the flap, and I very carefully broke the seal. Did he create some kind of fancy invitation? Or maybe he drew me something, a beautiful sketch of where he was? I pulled the card out, stared at the writing and frowned.

A single card. Flat. Four words, blood red on the shining white paper.

“Meet me at midnight.”

“Well, duh,” I muttered. “Of course we’d meet—OH!”

The realization smacked me upside the head. “Meet me at midnight.” Those had been his words last week, when we’d had some alone time on a private little island Christmas Eve. We had to come back to the Amadis Island much sooner than either of us wanted to, so we promised we’d meet tonight.

“I’m so stupid!” I shrieked at myself. How had I forgotten so quickly? Of course, the Daemoni attacks hadn’t stopped for the holidays—in fact, they’d increased seeing that Christmas was the time of year they hated most. We’d taken a short break to celebrate ourselves, but in the days since, we’d been crazy-busy with reports, debriefings, and strategizing.

Without further thought—midnight was fast approaching—I flashed to the edge of the shield over the Island, appearing in the middle of the sea. Then I flashed again toward Athens, to the tiny private island I’d found for our Christmas celebration. I appeared on the beach, and the island was completely dark. No candles floating in the water or lighting the beach. No light in the house either. Shit. Had I been wrong?

“
I began to worry you’d stand me up
.”

Chapter 2

Tristan’s voice filled my head as soon as I touched on his mind signature. I spun around, and my beautiful husband stepped out of the foliage near the French doors that led from the beach to the bedroom. Wearing khaki pants and a light-colored button-down shirt, he looked as sexy as ever. And then his mouth stretched into a smile, a sublime grin that made my heart flip and my knees melt just as much now as the first time he flashed it at me so many years ago.

I rushed to him and threw my arms around his neck. One of his hands clasped my waist while he held up a finger against my lips.

“I couldn’t get anyone out here to cloak or shield this island,” he whispered. “That’s why it’s so dark. I don’t want to draw the wrong kind of attention to this place.”

I nodded. He meant Daemoni attention.

“Yeah, well, as soon as you make my mental wall fall, everyone in a ten-mile radius will know we’re here,” I teased.

He gave me a sexy smile. “I hope we can get that far. We’ll just have to pay attention as long as we can and hope for the best. For now ...” He leaned in closer and pressed his forehead against mine. The gold in his eyes sparkled brightly, mesmerizing me, as our breaths mingled in the small space between us. His tongue swept over his lips, and my own couldn’t help but imitate. “For now, I’d be happy with a kiss at midnight.”

I leaned up on my tiptoes and arched myself into his strong body, moving my lips closer to his. His hand tangled in my hair and pulled my head back. Instead of planting his mouth on mine, though, he ducked his head and pressed his lips to my throat.

“It’s not midnight yet, my love,” he murmured against my skin. A web of electricity spread across my flesh.

I grinned, though, because I saw a spark in the distant sky. Midnight had to be here ... or at least very close. I didn’t hear the church bells in the distance yet. They’d carried over the water on Christmas, so I should be able to hear them tonight. But my eye had caught what would be the first of many fireworks.

Tristan’s lips slowly made their way up my neck, along my jawbone, to my ear. He nipped at my lobe before moving closer to my mouth. My body trembled with anticipation just for a kiss. You’d think after being together as long as we’d been, this would get old. Thankfully, it never did.

I heard a church bell in the distance.

I felt Tristan’s velvety lips on the corner of my mouth.

I sensed a swarm of Daemoni headed our way.

“Shit!” Tristan muttered as we both jumped to attention.

That hadn’t been a firework I’d seen out of the corner of my eye. It must have been a spell, because several evil mages suddenly circled the little island, the colorful lights of their magic zooming through the air.

Tristan and I both ducked and rolled, avoiding any hits. Daemoni witches and wizards surrounded us. Although they were the weakest of the mages—sorcerers being the most powerful and warlocks in between—we still had a difficult time fighting them. They didn’t charge in like tanks, engaging in hand-to-hand physical combat. No, they fought from a distance, shooting their magic at us. And we didn’t have a mage to back us up, to shield us from their spells. But we did have our own powers, and we had speed.

“
Divide and conquer
,” Tristan said.

I rushed for the closest witch while shooting electricity at a nearby wizard with my left hand and reaching for the dagger hidden at my hip—never leave home without it—with my right. I thumbed the amethyst on the hilt and the blade appeared just as I swiped it at the witch. Pink, yellow, blue, and green lights shot through the air, some coming a little too close for comfort, making my skin zing. The sand where I’d just been standing shot into the air like a geyser.

My dagger connected with the witch’s torso, and she screamed, then disappeared, flashing away to safety. One down, three to go. I didn’t have time to physically check on Tristan, but through my mind I knew he was fine taking down the six mages on his side. I twisted and turned, dodging spells while slashing my blade across flesh and shooting electricity at my enemies. Another one down and gone with a
pop
. Only two more now. The church bells continued ringing in the distance.

I kicked at the wizard who was closest to me and swung my dagger, pushing Amadis power through it before plunging it into his side. He screamed even louder than the witches before, but didn’t flash away like a coward. Instead, he magically dislodged my blade, spun in place, and then threw a blast of orange light at me. At the same time, I blasted an electric current, connecting it with his heart. His mouth formed a surprised O, and finally he disappeared.

I tried to turn toward the remaining witch, my final target, but my legs suddenly felt like overcooked noodles. Soft and limp and gummy. As I went down, I pushed a current at her, but my fall made it miss. She cackled a stereotypical witch sound, but she laughed too soon. My body may have been flopping around on the ground like a fish out of water, but she didn’t realize Tristan stood behind her. I returned her smile. Or tried to. I couldn’t really feel my face anymore, so I wasn’t sure what my expression really looked like. What kind of spell had that guy hit me with? Right as she lunged at me, Tristan blasted her away. She landed in the water with a splash, which was followed by a faint
pop
as she flashed away.

Tristan sprang to my side and fell to his knees. He gathered me in his arms, but I could only lay limply. I tried to speak, but my mouth didn’t move. My tongue felt like a snake was attached to it.

I got hit
, I said silently, the only way I could communicate.

Tristan’s mouth twitched as though he fought a smile. “
Yeah. You did.
”

He shook his head, but he looked amused. Needing to know what he saw, I looked at myself through his eyes. If I could have, I would have gasped. My face looked like a basketball—same size, shape, and color. Parts of my body were swollen just as much, but others not at all. As I took this in, however, the scariest part of all began: my tongue really was the size of an anaconda and now my throat closed around it.

Tristan! Can’t. Breathe!

His eyes widened with alarm, then his mouth clamped over mine. A kiss? He was going to kiss me now? I was about to die! Although ... if I was going to go, this would be my chosen way, kissing Mr. Beautiful. We’d missed our midnight kiss—the bells had stopped ringing long ago—but he pushed his tongue into my mouth and made the most of it. I thought that’s what he was doing anyway. I could barely feel any of it, and that really sucked. My lungs burned with the need for air. My throat felt like a vice gripped it. My vision was beginning to tunnel. And I couldn’t even feel this last damn kiss I would ever get!

Goodbye, my sweet Tristan
.

“
No,
ma lykita.
You’re not going yet.
” His tongue continued exploring my mouth, reaching deep within. And then I realized I could feel it. Just barely at first. A light tickle. The wetness against my dry tonsils. I gagged. I choked. I gasped for air.

Air! Oh, my god, air! He pulled away as he felt me gulping for glorious air. It burned through my throat and filled my lungs. My chest squeezed, and I coughed. My limbs began to twitch, and feeling slowly returned to my face. Tristan bent over and kissed me again, delivering his healing qualities. When he backed off, I was able to raise my hand to my face. I could feel my chin and cheekbones again.

“Damn wizard,” I muttered.

“Are you okay now?” His eyes swept over me from head to toe to check for himself.

“Well, I’m kind of pissed off. We missed our midnight kiss.”

His hazel eyes came back to me, and his lips turned up in a slight smile. “That wasn’t enough?”

“I couldn’t really feel most of it.” I frowned. “But it was the midnight part. I’ve always wanted a kiss right at midnight.”

Tristan tilted his head. “I have an idea.”