Fateful (31 page)

She slid the chemise out from under the
corset and moved to the screen. Danielle folded her clothes and set
them on the chair behind the divider. When she emerged, they both
had their chemises on and were now lacing up each other’s corsets.
The two—already beautiful—vampires looked lovely in just their
under-things. Danielle lifted the pretty contraption off the bed
and tried to figure out how to get it on. She may have been girly,
but she’d never worn anything like this before.

“
You’ll need help with that, Danielle,”
Sophia said while Nadia tied off her corset for her.

After Nadia’s corset was laced up as well,
they helped Danielle into hers and carefully tightened the laces,
taking great care to not underestimate their vampire strength for
fear of crushing her ribs. Even during daylight, Danielle knew
firsthand how secretly powerful they still were.

“Is that too tight?” Nadia asked.

Danielle felt her bruised ribs twinge for a
moment, then settle. “No, it’s fine, thank you.” She wondered if
she looked as pretty as they did so she moved to the mirror and
gasped when she saw herself. She had an hourglass figure before,
but the corset exaggerated it to an alarming degree. “Yikes, that’s
almost indecent,” she said twisting to see how the back looked.

“No, I don’t think you look naughty, but I
know Ethan’s going to love it,” Nadia said.

“We’d better get started on our hair. That’s
what takes the longest,” said Sophia.

They moved to Sophia’s spacious bathroom. An
ornately framed mirror hung over a vanity with a chintz
slip-covered chair in front of it. The table was cluttered with all
kinds of hair products, face creams, makeup, a silver comb and
brush, hairpins and perfumes. There were also hot rollers and
curling irons plugged in and ready.

“Who is going to be first?” Sophia asked.

“You,” Nadia replied as she held out the
chair. “Let’s do lots of curls on top.” Nadia then grabbed a gold
bottle with French wording on it. It appeared to be a fragranced
styling mousse. She held it upside-down over her hand and squirted
a beehive-shaped pile of creamy foam into her palm. She then
smashed it between her hands and massaged it through Sophia’s
hair.

It took at least an hour and a half to do
Sophia’s hair with both Danielle and Nadia working a curling iron
on each side of her head. Then they did Nadia’s, which took another
hour and a half. Just as they set Danielle down into the chair to
begin her hair, they heard a knock at the bedroom door—right before
it opened.

“Ladies, are you decent? I have Danielle’s
lunch.” It was Ethan.

“Yes, we’re decent. Bring her food into the
bathroom,” Nadia called.

Danielle’s eyes dropped to her chest with
panic, she felt like she was practically busting out and Nadia
thought they were decent? She couldn’t say she agreed, but she knew
it was too late as she heard his footsteps drawing closer. Danielle
watched with round eyes as Ethan entered and stopped cold. His eyes
nearly popped out of his head. “Uh … er … I thought you ladies said
you were decent?”

“We are, Ethan. We’re not standing here
naked, and these chemise things cover everything,” Nadia replied
casually.

Danielle knew Ethan could see more of her
than he ever had before. She never wore things this low cut, and
the chemise was cut lower than the dress since it wasn’t supposed
to show. But to top it all off, the chemise and corset were both
white. That may have been what stunned him so completely.

He goggled at her like she was actually nude.
Luckily, it seemed to dawn on Sophia and she took the tray of food
from him before he dropped it. “Thank you, dear, you may leave
now.”

Ethan backed away bashfully and left the
room. She then heard the door click closed again.

“We may actually have to supervise you two as
your uncle had requested, I’ve never seen Ethan behave like that,”
Sophia said with an amused twinkle in her clear blue eyes. A smirk
touched the corner of her full lips while she combed mousse through
a section of Danielle’s hair before twisting it around a curling
iron.

Nadia erupted into fervent giggles.
“Danielle, you have him completely wrapped around your little
finger.”

She wasn’t sure what to say, she’d never seen
him act like that either. Not even when she walked down in a white
dress. She looked at herself in the mirror trying to see what it
was that he saw. It was true, she supposed, because even in that
white dress, she didn’t look anything like this.

Sophia had set the tray down on the vanity in
front of her. He’d made a nice lunch for her, with more of those
little “tasty tarts” she’d enjoyed at their picnic. Ethan was
easily a better cook than Sophia, but she didn’t tell her that. She
ate the gourmet lunch as they worked on her hair.

It took them longer to do Danielle’s hair and
about two hours after Ethan had brought lunch in, there was another
knock at the door. He opened the door and asked hopefully, “Is she
ready yet?” Impatience could be heard in his tone.

“Sorry, Ethan, you’ll need to hang in there a
little while longer,” Nadia informed him.

He sighed and closed the door again.

Danielle giggled that time. “Is he
impatient?”

“Yes, the ever patient Ethan is impatient.
What have you done to him, Danielle?” Sophia asked.

“I have no idea.”

They finally got all of her hair pinned
beautifully on top of her head, leaving a few tendrils out. “Now we
put the dresses on, then makeup. What time is it, Nadia?” Sophia
asked.

Nadia checked the clock in the bedroom. “Oh
my! No wonder Ethan’s impatient it’s almost five!” she exclaimed
with shock. “We need to hurry, Danielle needs to eat dinner before
the ball starts, and I know Ethan had other plans of his own.”

“What does he have planned?” Danielle asked
curiously.

“I can’t spoil that for you, Ethan would kill
me.”

They stepped into their dresses, fastened
each other up and then did makeup.

Nadia looked lovely in her dress, which was a
pretty shade of sage green. It was breathtaking with her black
hair, fair skin, pink lips and emerald green eyes.

Sophia looked like a princess from a
fairytale in her deep gold dress.

They both agreed that Danielle needed red
lips with the silvery blue dress. They were right. When they stood
her in front of the mirror, she almost didn’t recognize herself.
Even for prom, she’d never gone to this extent before. She felt
beautiful and she absolutely loved the dress. It fit exactly right,
and she couldn’t fathom how Ethan had managed to guess her size so
flawlessly. The fitted bodice tapered down to just above her hips.
The long silky fabric of the skirt draped gracefully over her hips
to the floor. The neckline came higher than the chemise, but it was
still somewhat revealing without being risqué. She realized as she
twisted that the crystals on her hairpins matched the ones adorning
her dress. And the color he’d chosen complemented her complexion
and hair color perfectly. Ethan had wonderful taste.

She fought the tears that threatened to mess
up her face when she realized this vintage fantasy of hers was
becoming a dream-like reality....

Ethan suddenly burst into the room without
knocking this time. “Please tell me she’s—” He became speechless
when he saw her and she nearly fainted when she saw him, because,
there stood a perfect replacement for Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. Ethan
looked like he belonged in eighteen or nineteen-whatever with his
black, early twentieth-century style tux. His hair was immaculate
and the smile that spread across his face was enough to make her
heart squeeze.

With an air of reverence he took her hand,
slipped it formally around his arm and led her from the room.

“Ethan! Don’t you dare mess her up!”
threatened Nadia.

“Thank you, ladies,” he said as he left
without glancing back.

“Thank you,” Danielle said, gliding a hand
over the embroidered silk, feeling like she imagined Lizzy Bennet
must have felt. “For the gown. For everything.”

“You’re welcome, love. You look absolutely
ethereal.”

“This is nice too,” she said, touching his
vintage-looking tie, or the correct word would probably be
cravat.

He guided her to the sofa in the drawing
room. Danielle soon realized the corset forced her to sit up tall
and straight. She never knew how likely she was to slouch until
then.

“We need pictures,” Ethan announced. He
lifted a digital camera from the bookshelf and began snapping
pictures of her from different angles.

Danielle giggled. “Now that’s enough of me, I
want some of you too and some of us together, please.” She scooted
over, making room for him to sit next to her.

“Of course.” Ethan sat down, snaked an arm
around her waist and took a few of them together with his hand held
out as far as he could stretch it. He took some with his cheek
pressed next to hers, some while he placed soft kisses on her
cheek, and some while he playfully nuzzled her neck. Giggles pealed
out of her then, but she managed to sober when he handed the camera
to her and then posed for her. After they’d taken several shots,
Ethan set the camera back on the bookshelf.

She then noticed the jewelry box still
sitting where it had been, which reminded her of the painting and
she began looking around for it, it had been on the sofa where she
was now sitting.

“Looking for this?” Ethan held up the still
wrapped package.

“Yes, you didn’t peek did you?”

“Of course not!”

“Well, I’d like you to see it now, so please
open it,” she urged as she tried to lean back into the couch with a
stiff torso.

Ethan accepted the invitation and tore into
the paper eagerly. He froze while he studied the painting of his
childhood home that was now ruins. His brows pinched together and
he looked distraught. Thinking it might bother him to see the ruins
as a painting, her heart sank to her knees. “I’m sorry…. Did I do a
bad thing? You don’t like it, do you?” She looked away as she
wrestled with the tears tormenting her emotions again.

“No, Danielle!” He seated himself next to her
again, and took her hand into his. “No, I mean yes, I love it! No,
you didn’t do a bad thing. I had no idea you did this. It’s
wonderful! I know exactly where I want to hang it.” He lifted her
hand to his lips and brushed a kiss across her fingers.

She gasped when a tear dripped from the
corner of his eye. “Oh! So you like it?”

“No, I love it! That was incredibly
thoughtful of you, Danielle. Thank you.” He stroked her cheek
gently with the back of his fingers.

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply at his
touch. “Really? You really love it?”

“Yes.” He leaned forward to kiss her, but
halted at the red lips. He went for her cheek instead.

“Now for your gift.” He lifted the velvet box
from the table. It was long, most likely a necklace or a bracelet.
Danielle sat up readily.

“Remember how I said you were a rarity in
this world, and that I cherished rare things?”

“Yes.” Oh no, this
is
expensive.

“I decided this belongs around your neck.” He
opened the box revealing a pearl “Y” necklace with a large white
pearl hanging from the center drop. “This is a White South Sea
natural pearl, it’s the largest and the rarest pearl in the world.
These pearls do come in different colors, but yours had to be
white.” He removed the necklace from the box then fastened it
around her neck. “And, you need matching earrings.” He pulled
another velvet box from his pocket, and pulled out a pair of
earrings with pearl dangles. “These aren’t South Sea Pearls because
those would be far too big hanging from your lovely lobes.”

Her brows twisted up. She had no idea how
much this all cost, but she was quite certain the necklace was the
most expensive thing ever placed around her neck, and she was
convinced the earrings had to be close behind. Not to mention the
fact that she was probably wearing the most expensive piece of
clothing she’d ever worn in her life.

Danielle was deeply moved, and couldn’t stop
the tears this time. He had given her so much more than she’d given
him. “But, this cost too much, I’m sure of it … Ethan I–”

She cut herself off because she didn’t know
what to say anyway. He placed his hands on either side of her face
and leaned in for another kiss but paused again, looking tortured.
She knew he wanted to kiss her on the mouth, but couldn’t because
of that darn red lipstick. She sympathized with his pain; she
wanted the ambrosial kiss as much as he desired to give it. Ethan
groaned in complaint and went for her neck this time. Danielle
lifted her chin to give him more room. He kissed her tenderly on
the hollow at the base of her throat, and she tried not to
giggle.

But that kiss didn’t satisfy her, she wanted
more, perhaps something more ... potent. Like— “Breathe on me.” she
said.

He blinked at that. “What?”

If she couldn’t taste, then she wanted....
She grasped his shoulders and leaned closer. “Your breath, Ethan,
if I can’t have a kiss then I want your breath.”

Understanding rounded his eyes, but it seemed
he liked the idea because with his gaze fixed on her parted painted
lips, he drew close enough to almost touch her, and then he blew.
Closing her eyes, she inhaled as his breath filled her lungs with
his heady magic.

He could draw her into his essence so easily
she’d actually forgotten about the necklace for a moment. Her eyes
dropped to it as she fingered the pearl. “Ethan, this is worth much
more than my silly painting,” she said shamefully. She’d been
outdone.

“Absolutely not!” Danielle jumped and
leaned back reflexively at his volume, even though she knew he
wasn’t angry with her. “That painting
is
priceless! The necklace had a price on it, and it was minimal
compared to how I value you or the painting. To me you
are
the rarest pearl in the world.
Danielle, you cannot be replaced for any price.”