Beautiful Beings (12 page)

“I’ve know from the very start I wanted you,” he murmured, his lips following the line of my jaw and brushing along my ear.  “I saw you, that day as you drove by.”

My eyes popped open and pulled away just enough to look at him.

“Yes,” he said with a smile.  “I saw you.  I saw you and I knew in that instant you were meant to be mine.”

“But, you’ve never said…”

“It’s a pretty freaky thing to have happen; see a girl once, and fleeting at that, and feel such a strong, undeniable attraction, to know that she’s the girl I’ve longed for all my life…  But I didn’t want to freak you out.  I didn’t want to scare you away. I don’t believe in love at first sight, but then I can’t explain why I feel this way about you.”

His gaze dipped to our joined hands, our fingers continually playing with the hand of the other.  “When I saw you in Mrs. Bright’s office… I would have done anything to make sure I get to spend plenty of time with you, and had every opportunity to get to know you.”

I smiled, but looked him directly in his eyes. “You're probably right.  I might have freaked out a bit if you’d told me.”  Even as he told me, despite the weeks that had passed, I should have thought it odd, should have questioned the strength of the vision he had. Instead it just felt so immensely right and the connection that had already grown strong and secure now felt more solid than ever. I’ve been around too many unexplainable things to hold a skeptic mind. To me, fighting demons, seeing angels, and being in the spiritual realm was normal…but love, especially the love so strong and passionate as the one I’ve been feeling was still new to me.

“And now?”

“I’ve spent so much time with you these last few weeks, learning about who you are, and getting close to you, Brax, of course I feel something for you. I wouldn’t be with you at this dance if I didn’t.”

His grin was broad and sweet.  “I was beginning to think I was going nuts.”

I leaned into him, feeling secure against his tall muscular body, my heart heavy with longing and my hands eager to roam beneath the confines of his jacket.  “If you are, then I’m going nuts right along with you.”

With a chuckle, he wrapped his arms around me and held me tight, his lips just inches from mine.  “Then we’ll make the best damn-looking couple in the insane asylum.”  He kissed me then, his embrace strong and confident encouraged by the affection I had for him.

But as delicious as the kiss was, as abandoned as I was to his touch, the sudden image of Moore flashed before my eyes sending a myriad of confusing messages across my mind.  I could feel the soft kiss Braxton laid on my lips, but my mind reverted to the heat and passion of Moore’s heavy kiss.

Panicked, I kissed Braxton more ardently, willing the image of Moore to disappear, but it intensified, crushing Braxton’s sweet kiss into oblivion.

“What’s the matter?” Braxton said.  His eyes filled with concern, he put his palm to my forehead.  “You're burning up all of a sudden.”

“Am I?”  With the sudden wave of intense heat came inexplicable fatigue.

He grinned.  “I’d like to think I’d had that effect on you, but I really think something could be wrong.  You're red and flushed.”

My lids were suddenly impossible to hold up.

“Lux.” Alarm filled his voice.  “Lux, stay with me.”

“Braxton,” I murmured, grasping at the thin line of consciousness.

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know. I wanted to kiss you, but Moore was suddenly there, his kiss…”

“Moore?”

Despite my closed eyes, I could detect his grimace.

“Is something going on between you and Moore?  Did you kiss him?”

“No,” I said, my lips blubbering my feeble defense.  “He kissed me.  I didn’t start anything.”

“Lux.”

“He’s the one who kissed me,” I repeated as the world faded away.  “I don’t feel good.”

And then I felt nothing.

Chapter 12

I
slowly came to, the pounding in my head matching the sound of the song we’d danced to.  The sound of the music, the voices of everyone around me, the clatter of glasses, the buzz of chuckles and laughter… the party I was missing.  Brax was there waiting for me and I was ruining his night, his big formal night. He had dressed so dapper, looked so handsome and had been the perfect gentleman and I was letting him down.

I tried to peel my eyes open, forcing them to bring me back to the light of consciousness.  Dry, just like my tongue that clung painfully to the roof of my mouth, my eyes refused to cooperate and the lure of sleep battled with my desire to get back to the party.

When my lids finally parted, it wasn’t the darkness of the night that met me, nor Braxton’s concerned smile.

Sitting up, I found myself in my bed, in my room.  The drapes were pulled tightly shut, almost succeeding in blocking out the intense sunshine of the brilliant day outside.

“Mom?” My voice, weak and dry, barely made it off the bed.  “Mom.”  Hardly better, I looked around and saw the tall glass of water on my bedside table, but before I could reach for it, Mom was at the door.

“You called, sweetie?”

Through my grogginess, I smiled, amazed at my mother’s innate ability to always hear me when I truly needed her.  “I feel awful, Mom.”

She sat beside me, her hand instantly coming to test my forehead.  “You’ve certainly had us worried these past days.”

“Days?”

“When Braxton brought you home Thursday night, he thought perhaps you’d been slipped some spiked punch.  We wanted to just let you sleep it off, but when you didn’t wake up the next day, we called the doctor.”  She reached for my hand and held it gently in hers.

“How many days, Mom?  What day are we?”

“It’s Sunday, honey.”

“Sunday.  I’ve missed two whole days.”

“Lux, the doctor couldn’t find anything wrong with you.  He thought you might simply be exhausted.”

I shook my head in disbelief.  How could I have slept through two whole days?  “I’m not exhausted, Mom.”

“You said you’d have a lot of work here.  Maybe this is all proving to be too much for you.”

“No.” Again I shook my head.  “Things have been relatively quiet lately.  Everything is going smoothly at school.  And Brax…”

“Oh, honey, before I forget, he’s been calling every other hour asking about you.  He feels awful about what happened and is anxious to hear you’re doing well.”

“Really?” I was pleased to hear of his concern for me. “I’ll call him.  Maybe he can tell me more about what happened Thursday night.”

Mom patted my knee and rose as I reached for my phone. “Let me know if you need anything. Lunch, breakfast, juice?”

“A bowl of soup would be nice.”

She smiled.  “Coming right up.”

I leaned back and slowly punched Braxton’s number in.  My lethargy refused to leave me making each movement difficult.

“Braxton?” I said on hearing his soothing voice.

“Lux?”

I could hear the excitement and relief in his voice.

“Lux, I just have a little thing to take care of and I’ll be right over to see you. I’ve been going crazy with worry.”

“I’m fine, Brax.”

“I’ll be right over.” He hesitated a moment. “Hmm, that is, if it’s okay with you.”

I chuckled softly, loving his concern and his unending caring. “As it so happens, that’s exactly why I was calling you, Brax.  I’d like to see you, too.”

When Mom brought up my soup I settled at my desk by the front window.  At first I opened the drapes just a slip, letting my eyes and my head adjust to the brightness.  By the time I’d finished my soup, I’d pulled the drapes completely open, reveling in the warmth of the sun and eager to see Brax drive up to the house.

Then I realized I was barely dressed, wearing only the boxer shorts and tank top I’d slept in for the past two days. I rushed, if one could call my struggled shuffle rushing, to my closet and reached for something more suitable – a comfy pair of jeans and a warm sweater.

“Hey.”

Clasping my bundle of jeans and sweater to my chest, I turned to face Braxton.

“Braxton, I thought you said you had…”

“Never mind that. I had to rush over here as quickly as I could.”

In seconds I found myself in his arms, my bundled clothes forgotten and left to pile on the floor. He hugged me tight, his tender kisses sweeping across my temple and coming to hush in my ear as he whispered his happiness at seeing me again.

“I’m really sorry about ruining your night,” I said as I gently pulled away. Suddenly dizzy I felt the need to sit down. “How awful it must have been for you.”

He led me to the armchair by the window and knelt before me.

“You’d been waiting for that evening for so long… only to have to cut it short because of me.”

“You’re overestimating the importance of the formal. The only thing important about that evening was being with you… and whether that was holding you in my arms as we danced or escorting you home when you didn’t feel well, that’s where I wanted to be.”

He held my hand in his and brought each fingertip to his lips. “What happened that night?  One minute you were kissing me like you never wanted to stop, and the next you were completely out.”

“That’s what I was going to ask you. What happened?”

He paused a long moment, a wave of pain sweeping across his eyes for a second before he brought a concerned smile to wipe it away.  “You went limp… all of a sudden… for no apparent reason.  I thought you would come to after a moment or two, but when you didn’t I knew I had to bring you home. I thought maybe you’d been slipped something… a drug, or something in your drink.”

“I’ve never had anything like that happen to me before; to be so totally knocked out. I think it was something bigger than just a drug.”

“What do you think could have caused you to go out so quickly? You must have some idea.”

I turned to look out the window and watched the birds fluttering around, skittering from one tree branch to another. Suddenly envious, I wanted a moment of knowing what it could be to have a life so easy and carefree; to not have to worry what people might think… to wonder what a boy would say if he learned I was a demon fighter.

Braxton’s squeeze of my hand brought my gaze back to him.  I looked him straight in the eye, gauging his ability to understand what was truly going on in my life.

“Even if I told you, you’d never believe me,” I finally said.

“I’m a lot more open-minded then I might let on.”  He smiled that gentle and understanding smile that I’ve gotten to love. “I’ve seen a lot more in my life than you might imagine. I lost my parents not so long ago, and for what reason, but a freak accident, and I’ve seen quite a bit of strange things before then. It takes quite a bit to leave me shocked or in disbelief.”

“I’m sorry Brax, you never told me about your parents. What happened?” I reached out my hand to touch his shoulder.

Brax cleared his throat. “They disappeared, just vanished. Couldn’t even find a trace of them, after months of searching…”

I lifted my eyebrow and squeezed his hand.

“Finally they gave up, and I was told to move on. That’s when my uncle appeared and moved me here.”

“That’s very harsh. I’m sorry. I’ve always had my parents with me, and I can’t imagine losing any of them.” I leaned in to kiss his cheek.

Brax went on. “You know the most bizarre thing is…it didn’t surprise me as much as it should.”

My eyes widened, as I asked, “Why?”

“Because Lux, my parents had always been involved in similar incidents like theirs – they were investigators, paranormal ones.”

“Oh,” I said.

“Trust me, Lux.  Just give it a try and trust me. Growing up with parents like mine could make anyone believe there was something beyond what everyone sees every day.” He rose to his knees and pulled me closer.  His fingers raked through my sleep-tousled hair and he pulled me closer still, bringing our lips just a whisper away. “I’m here for you.”

His lips covered mine, bringing with them sensuality wrapped up in such love and security.  In my heart I knew I could trust him, knew he’d always be strong for me.  I wanted to open up to him, to let him in on my secret.  I was so tired of keeping it to myself.

My lips parted, welcoming him, hungering for more of his touch. He kissed me more passionately and my head reeled, at first from the monumental sense of pleasure he brought me, but it was quickly dashed by a vision of Moore.

I concentrated and pushed the vision from my mind, but it was persistent, insistent in its quest to ruin this precious moment with Brax.

“No,” I finally said, panting from the disturbance.  “I can’t.”

His eyes wide with surprise and dismay, Brax sat back on his heels. “What’s going on?”

I struggled to my feet and walked away from his questioning gaze.

“Lux,” he called after me, his voice soft and confused.  He got to his feet.