Everlasting Embrace (Embrace Series) (26 page)

Opening the shower door, I step in fully clothed
,
and try not to disrespect her by looking at her beautiful, creamy smooth skin. Looking up at only her face, I take the shampoo and wash her hair, sliding the golden
-
yellow, silky locks through my fingers. I know this is a mistake; I
’
m not going to be able to hold this together. She tilts her head back into the running water and rinses the lathered wash from her hair. Turning her back to me
,
she rests her body against mine
.
T
he wet clothing I
’
m covered in is uncomfortable enough, but when nature takes over
,
I become even more aware of it. Siobhan tilts her head forward
,
and I run the cream rinse through her hair. She turns again
,
allowing the water to fall over her as we both stand in silence, eyes locked on one another.
She hands
me the scrubbing loofa
,
and
I begin to lather it up and run the soapy tulle over her perfectly fit body. She leans towards me again
,
and I to her, until our lips meet. Dropping the loofa
,
I wrap my arms around her
,
pulling her into me. The moment our lips meet
,
I know it
’
s true
; we
are meant for each other. Reaching behind me, she grabs a hold of my wet shirt and pulls it off with her one good arm. With a tender touch
,
her hands caress down my chest to the edge of my pants. Realizing where this is heading
,
I pull my lips from hers.

“
My dear, now is not the time. As much as I want this, you are not well.
”

“
I
’
m well enough to know I want you
,
and you want me.
”

“
Yes
,
that
’
s true
;
but let
’
s wait until you
’
re feeling better
,
and we can both bask in the pleasure of the moment.
”
I reach behind her perfect body and turn the water off.

Stepping out of the shower
,
I grab the supersized bath towel and wrap her in it. With a smaller towel
,
I wrap her hair.
“
Here
,
let
’
s get this robe on you
and get you back to bed.
”

“
Thank you
,
Caspian
. Y
ou are too much of a gentleman.
”

I get the robe on her
,
and she sits on the bench again. I take the other towel, removing the remainder of my wet clothing
,
and tie the towel around my waist. Lifting her into my arms and carrying her back to my bed for the night, I ask,
“
W
ould you like a t-shirt
,
or can I go get your
pajamas
?
”

“
Don
’
t go fussing over me
…a
shirt will do just fine. I
’
m sorry about the way I acted in there.
”

“
No need to be sorry, unless you regret it now.
”

“
No
,
not at all, but I sure could have timed that better.
”

“
Well I think we both are to blame. Look Siobhan, I
’
m really interested in you
,
and I want to explore that. Call me old fashion
ed
, but I would like to get to know you better before we get that far again.
”

“
Well
,
we can
’
t take it back, but we can just make sure we don
’
t take it further.
”

“
Sounds like a plan to me.
”
I hand her a black
,
cotton tee and a pair of boxer shorts
, then
go in to the walk-in closet to throw on a pair of flannel bottoms and a shirt.

She smiles as I walk back out
.
“
N
ever pictured you as a PJ kind of guy.
”

“
Normally I
’
m not, but I
’
ve got company tonight.
”
We both chuckle.

“
Well
,
I can
’
t kick you out of your bed, and it
’
s big enough for two. So why don
’
t you come cuddle me
,
and we can get to know more about each other.
”

“
I think that sounds like a great plan.
”
I crawl into the bed next to her
,
and she snuggles in
,
resting her head on my chest. Everything just feels right, like this is how we belong. I have a feeling we
’
ll spend the whole night talking.

Power Trip

Nathanial and I sit together in our room, mourning the loss of Carlina. His large muscular arm wraps around me in a protective embrace. With a slight turn of my head that
is
resting on his shoulder
,
I catch a loving look. I can tell he
’
s just as grateful that it wasn
’
t me
,
as I am that it wasn
’
t him.

“
Do you think we could
’
ve done anything different
ly
?
”
I ask, while going over every move we made.

“
I don
’
t think so
,
sweetie
. W
e only had
an
hour
’
s notice that they were coming
,
and frankly
,
I think we faired pretty well considering.
”
His soft
,
full lips meet the top of my head.

“
I have to say
,
I
’
m pretty proud of you though. You fought like you
’
ve been training for years.
”

“
I have been, just not how you would expect it.
”
His crooked smile forms as the right corner curls just a little higher than the left.

“
I don
’
t get it.
”

“
I
’
ve been playing football and tackling scum since I could walk. Not to mention
,
I
’
ve wanted to rip into those vamps since the first time your family fought them here
;
I just wasn
’
t allowed. Then
,
when they took my parents, I vowed to destroy them
;
and that I did.
”

“
Nate,
hunny
, I
’
m so sorry
.
I never even thought of that.
”

“
No worries
.
I
t felt damn good. Wanna know the best part?
”

“
The best part?
”

“
Yeah
.
I realize
d
when I was fighting at the end, I got a new power.
”

“
A new power
—
I didn
’
t even know you knew what your power was.
”

“
OMG
!
I didn
’
t tell you
?
There
’
s been so much going on, I totally forgot.
”
He jumps off the bed and smiles at me.
“
Do you remember what we did tonight?
”

“
What do you mean? We
’
ve been sitting here chatting.
”

“
Before that?
”

“
We...we...we
—
I do
n
’
t remember.
”

“
What about
now?
”

“
Umm, yeah, we fought the Cerberus. Oh my
G
od
! W
hat did
—
how
did
—
what
the hell?
”
I look at him in complete shock and disbelief
,
f
eeling my eyes bugging out of my head
,
and my mouth hung so far open I begin drooling.

He gives a huge roar, laughing so hard he can
’
t stop long enough to speak.
“
I...I...I can
’
t talk
…
”
He falls to the bed
he
’
s
laughing so hard.

Alexander, Matilda, Danika and Ebony come racing down the hall
and
throw the door open to see what all the commotion
’
s about.
Nathanial starts to collect himself enough to explain
.
“
I have the ability to extract memories
,
and put back what I want.
”

“
No way dude
!
T
hat
’
s so cool
!
”
Alexander cheers.

“
Let me tell you one thing
,
mister
.
I...I don
’
t remember what I wanted to say.
”
Everyone starts laughing.
“
Wait a minute
,
mister! You better not do this just for fun
,
o
r to get out of a fight. I will...will...will
—
you cut that out
!
My memories are not a tennis ball that you can just keep bouncing back and forth to me.
”
I throw my arms over my chest, royally pissed at everyone
’
s
getting a giggle at my expense.

“
Aw, sweetie, I
’
m sorry. I just wanted to show you what I could do. I promise never to use it on you. I did manage to use it on some of the Cerberus tonight.
”
His pride beams through the cockiness of his smile.

“
How did that help you? Did you learn anything?
”
Matilda questions.

“
Well
,
I was able to remove their memory to fight
. I
t made it very easy to defeat them wh
ile
they just
stood
there all dumb founded. Some were a little harder than others
,
and I could only do one at a time. Nearing the end of the fight, I tried to get it out of Cyrus and Drake, but they are mentally to
o
strong for me. I don
’
t know if it
’
s their age
or their powers, but I can
’
t affect them.
”

“
I was wondering how you were kicking more ass than I was,
”
Alexander jokes.

I
’
m excited for Nathanial
’
s power; it
’
s a good
and helpful power.
“
So you said you gained a new power, what is it?
”