Enchant Me (11 page)

“What?” I asked, perplexed by the expression
on his face.

His dark eyes almost looked hurt. “I just
wondered why your mom didn’t seem to know anything about me.”

I felt bad that he had taken it that way and
hoped that he could see in my eyes all that I felt for him. “God,
Christian it isn’t you. My mom and I…we aren’t close.”

“Why?”

Taking a deep breath in, I tried to think of
the best way to explain. “Ever since I was young, especially after
my parents’ divorce, I learned quickly to rely on myself. My mom is
slightly… self-involved. I never feel that I come first with her.
So I guess in a way I don’t trust her. So no I don’t tell her much.
And likewise she doesn’t tell me much.”

He now looked at me in such a pitying way
that it really bothered me. “Don’t worry I talk endlessly about you
to Tina and Becca. I have actually had to start paying them to
listen.”

My ploy to change both our moods worked. He
smiled and laughed, dropping my hand and wrapping his arm around my
waist. He bent down as we walked over the trestle and brushed a
warm kiss against my brow. His friends were at the little
stone and wooden structure that housed the barbeque pit and by the
smell in the air the food was cooking already, loud rock music
blaring away, but I noticed I seemed to still be the only girl
here.

I looked up at Christian
questioningly. “Christian, how come there aren’t any other
girlfriends here?”

He looked down at me, his smile gentle, like
I was something precious. “I am the only one that actually wanted
to hang out with his girlfriend. All the rest, look at this as
their excuse to escape.” 

I smiled, feeling a little bashful. “Oh. You
know you never told me where you knew these guys from.”

His glance considered me for a moment before
he replied, “I know them from rehab.”

I glanced up at him, traveling his face with
my eyes. “Did you think I would have a problem with that?”

“No,” he smiled gently, “I just don’t want
you to feel uncomfortable.”

As we walked up to the shelter I hugged his
side tighter to me, “I’m with you so why would I be uncomfortable?”
I murmured before we were in earshot of anyone else. 

Once under the shelter, the guys all ranging
in age and nationality came up to greet us. They were just regular
guys. Passing them on the street you would never think that they
had a drug or alcohol problem. Even though I was the lone
female intruding on their all male bonding party, their friendly
faces said I was more than welcome and I smiled in response. I
noticed Christian still kept a tight arm around my waist, his head
tilted toward me as he introduced me to everyone. After most
everyone had been introduced he brought me over to a tall, gawky
boy. He seemed shy and was probably no older than
fourteen. 

“Alexis, this is Alex. You could say he’s
like a younger brother from another mother to me,” he said, a smile
in his voice. 

I grinned at the sandy haired boy and shook
his hand. I was kind of amused by our similar names. “Nice to meet
you Alex, do people ever call you Lex?”

Alex glanced up at Christian a small smile on
his face, “no, that is Christian’s nickname for you.”

I turned to look at Christian just as he
leaned closer. “See, I talk about you to my friends too.”

I leaned against him, watching his lips curl
up at the corners, mesmerized as he leaned down and brushed a
fleeting kiss across my lips. “I am going to get some food for us,
I will be right back.”

Smiling, I turned back to Alex who had been
trying to observe us unobtrusively. His pale face flushed when he
realized I had caught him. I tried to think of a way to put him at
ease, movies were usually a good topic with guys. “What’s your
favorite movie, Alex?

“Star Wars,” he murmured quietly. 

“Really, that means you have really good
taste because it’s my favorite too.” I said, smiling at
him. 

He seemed to relax as we discussed our
favorite scenes and characters until loud laughing interrupted us.
We both looked over to find Christian practically doubled over with
laughter at the other end of the shelter, some of the other guys
surrounding him. They all seemed to be joking about god knows what.
But what caught me, was Christian’s throaty laughter and the
happiness on his face.

 “I’ve never seen him so happy-- and
relaxed,” Alex whispered next to me. 

I didn’t look away from Christian as I asked
softly, “never?”

“No, he was actually kind of scary when I
first met him at rehab.” He ducked his head and looked almost
embarrassed now, like he was revealing secrets. 

Finally turning to Alex, I looked at him
questioningly. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know how to explain it; he was
really intense, sad… and angry too. Once he got cleaned up it was
better and now he has you.” He smiled sweetly at me and looked back
over to Christian. “I’m glad he’s happy, he’s been like a big
brother to me, watching out for me and helping me through some
rough times.”

I looked back over at Christian and realized
he was watching Alex and me. I felt that electricity spark between
us. He smiled and lifted his brows as if to ask what we were
talking about. There was no chance in hell of either of us telling
him, so I smiled and shrugged my shoulders. This got him to return
pretty quickly with our plates and drinks. Reaching us, he
handed me a plate that I wasn’t sure could handle the weight of
food he put on it. I looked at it skeptically but dug in; it was a
little smoky from the grill but still fantastic. Christian looked
amused and suspicious at the same time as he glanced back and forth
between Alex and me. 

“What were you two talking about while I was
gone?”

Without missing a beat or having to lie I
told him. “Star Wars.”

“Good choice that is Alex’s favorite
movie.”

“So I heard, it’s mine too.”

The barbeque was loud and a little crazy but
I loved it. I had forgotten what it was like hanging out with a
bunch of guys. They begged for duplicates of the pictures I had
taken throughout the day on my digital camera and I promised to
pass them on through Christian soon. All too quickly it was over
and Christian and I waved everyone off promising to do something
else soon. The sun had already set and I gave myself a mental
pat on the back for being smart enough for changing clothes
earlier, it was getting a little chilly. We walked down the beach
and luckily the full moon provided enough light to see by. I leaned
against his side as we walked arm in arm. I took a couple quick
glances up at him as I considered how to broach the subject of his
parents. I wanted to solve the mystery of why I was having this
vision, if a vision it really was. 

“Christian, could I ask you a question?”

He peered down at me, his smile easy. “Sure,
what do you want to know?”

I looked down and away. “What happened to
your parents?”

He was staring at me--hard, and he pulled his
arm away from my waist. I could feel him withdraw mentally just as
much as the physical and it actually hurt. He was vibrating with an
odd intensity that I couldn’t figure out.

When he finally spoke I shivered. “Why
are you asking that?” He asked, his voice gravelly and dangerous
sounding.

I drew my jacket tighter around myself now
that I had lost his body heat. I had always sensed there was
darkness to him but I never thought that it would be directed at
me. It didn’t make sense. Why was he so defensive? I stopped next
to an outcropping of boulders that blocked some of the light from
the street lights on the hill above. Part of me wasn’t surprised
when he whirled around and placed himself barely a foot in front of
me. He was being deliberately intimidating. I tried to gauge the
emotions in his eyes but his face was completely in shadow and I
had to remind myself that I truly did trust him. 

“You’ve never said what happened,” I
whispered.

“Maybe because I don’t like to talk about
it,” he growled. 

Fighting the urge to step back, I bit my lip
in dismay. How to fix this? My heart squeezed painfully even though
we were mere inches away. Emotionally it felt like worlds apart. It
was definite now, that there was something about his parents’
deaths that needed to be brought out or dealt with, but it was also
obvious he wasn’t going to let me in to help. I dropped my head and
tried to ignore my pained thudding heart. 

“I’m sorry,” I breathed and started to turn
and step away.

 Only to be hauled back and pressed
against the large boulder behind me, his arms a cage around me. As
he leaned over me I could feel his warm breath against my face and
his delicious cologne writhed about me. I looked up to meet his
eyes, and even in shadow I could tell they were
smoldering. 

He brushed the side of his face along mine,
his lips grazing my cheeks, my chin. I almost didn’t catch his
whisper. “Why are you asking, Alexis?”

I shivered with desire instead of fear. What
did he want to know? I tried to think of a response that didn’t
include--I’m a psychic and I have been having visions of you and
your parents. But it was getting really hard to think, he was
making me dizzy with lust.

 “Lex?” he murmured, still apparently
expecting a response. 

Placing my hands gently on his chest I tried
to gently nudge him back but he wasn’t moving. I shook my head; I
needed to tell him something…

“I was just curious,” I breathed. 

He pressed his hard body against mine while
his lips started to cruise down my neck and I couldn’t stop from
wrapping my arms around his shoulders. I tilted my head to give him
better access and suddenly felt his hands skim down my body, grip
my thighs and lift me up and press me against the rock. While one
hand still gripped my thigh supporting me, his other hand clasped
my chin and I felt his teeth slightly graze my neck before he
suddenly nipped at me, slightly sucking at the spot, marking
me. I gasped, “Christian.”

He pulled a couple inches away, pinned me
with his dark eyes. “I don’t ever want to talk about this again,
ok?”

I thought I nodded my head but I couldn’t be
sure. Then his lips crashed down upon mine, hungry and intense. I
could feel the darkness that cloaked him, and I embraced I,
returning every angry, desperate kiss he gave me. Running my hands
through his hair, I lightly grasped the strands and pulled his head
away from mine. I breathed deeply of the scent at his neck just
before I nipped him, and left a little mark of my own at the spot
between his neck and shoulder. Even with his hard body
shuddering he gently let my legs ease down until I was standing of
my own volition. Our breathing was loud and harsh. If we didn’t
leave now we wouldn’t be leaving at all. He took a small step back
and by unspoken agreement we kept a safe distance between us as we
walked back up the beach and to my house, the crunching of gravel
the only sound in the night.

CHAPTER 6

Monday was almost a relief after the
intensity of the weekend. Christian had seemed to relax, the
darkness receded. He still insisted on walking me to all my classes
and had lunch with me and the girls, which had lived up to the
complete embarrassment I had anticipated. Tina was able to be
somewhat circumspect but Becca, awed by Christian’s good looks, had
a fit of giggles the entire time. I gave her a couple hard glares
hinting for her to pull it together but that only made it worse. He
actually ended up leaving early, probably so I wouldn’t have to
strangle one of my best friends. I really wanted to talk to
Tina alone, so after school I had to reluctantly turn Christian
down for having dinner tonight. He assured me he would be fine; his
grandparents were back and he wanted to spend some time with
them. Tina met me at my house, excited to show off the little
used Honda her mom had just bought for her in reward for her
disgustingly amazing grades.

“No more bus for me,” she said
ecstatically. 

I smiled and tried to sniff in disdain as I
circled the car. “I still think you should’ve gotten a motorcycle.
Think of all the fun we could have.” Which reminded me… “Speaking
of fun…”

She looked at me suspiciously. “Yes?”

“I was wondering what you thought of Jim
Johnson.” She arched a brow at me, her expression clearly
perplexed by where I was going with this. “You mean that senior
that has had a crush on you all year long?”

“Yes, but that isn’t an answer to my
question.”

I watched as she looked away, her eyes
trained on the ground. Was she blushing under that dark skin of
hers? Maybe this was going to work out better than I thought. I
just knew they would make a good couple. I just had to convince
them of it. 

“Of course, he’s gorgeous. Why do you want to
know?”

“Well you know, I have a pretty good record
of romantic match-ups and…I have a feeling about you and Jim. It
just needs a chance.”

She shook her head sadly as we entered my
house and sat down on the couch, Cody immediately leapt between us
and curled up to go to sleep. Apparently I had missed one of his
active hours and he was back in sleep mode again. 

“I don’t know Alexis. I mean he has had a
crush on you for a long time. That would be kind of awkward for
me.”

I playfully punched her shoulder and she
mockingly rubbed the spot. “Trust me, I have a feeling as soon as
he sees and meets you for the first time, he’ll never have a second
thought about me.”

She still looked skeptical but she knew even
at this moment there were three couples at school that were still
blissfully together thanks to me.

“What did you have in mind?”

I leaned forward, eager to plot our approach
now that she had agreed. “I have a race this weekend. I am going to
invite a bunch of my friends from yearbook class to go. If that
doesn’t get him to go, I will tell him I have a friend that doesn’t
know anyone and would feel more comfortable with a guy she could
trust as an escort.”