CHAPTER TWENTY
WAKING AT THE touch of Calind’s hand on the small of my back, I smiled and mashed my face into my pillow. His fingertips crawled up my back as he leaned forward, placing a kiss on my spine that made me shiver.
I rolled over, my grin deepening. “Good morning.”
“Afternoon,” he corrected me, kissing me with a gentle tease of his tongue.
I sat upright, wrapping my arms and legs around him. His hands slipped around to lift and cradle my ass.
When he separated from our kiss, I fully awakened. “Wait. Afternoon?” I clutched his wrist, observing the time on his watch. It was four o’clock, a day after our tryst. Realizing I’d slept through a whole day, I gasped and panicked. “Did I—”
He shook his head. “A hot bath is waiting.”
I nodded, finding it hard to tear away from his lips.
He grinned inside my kiss. “Someone’s a happy woman.”
“As long as you keep spoiling me like this.” I slipped out from underneath him and started for the bathroom.
A warm bubble bath topped with rose petals filled the marble tub.
Before I could enjoy the inviting water, a sudden series of sharp pains at the base of my skull attacked my senses. Weeping, I fell to my knees. I crawled to the bathroom door, locking it. I didn’t want him to see…
Back in the bed and feeling drugged and clean, I tried to regain control of my faculties again.
The bathroom door hinges and the door were missing.
I closed my eyes, waiting until the light above me no longer stabbed my skull.
After I came back around, I finished what Calind didn’t. I refreshed my curls with a good finger comb and a custom moisture blend. After piling my hair into a high bun, I threw on a pair of high-waisted, navy, sailor shorts and a flowy red and white striped, spaghetti strapped drape top, and my nude stilettos.
In the dining room, my place was set with homemade waffles doused in strawberry preserves, pink grapefruit, and bacon waiting for my arrival. Black curtains blocked out a view of the tinted windows. A chandelier over the brand new dining table offered very little light.
From across the table, Calind had his we need to talk expression firmly in place. I should’ve known my perfect day was at an end when I had a seizure.
“Anything you want to share, Calind?” I crossed my legs underneath the table, but then thought better of it.
“It’s time to speak about what you’ve avoided.”
“I’m okay,” I tried to assure him. “Honest.”
He shook his head, his expression grim. “I’m considering your sickness more than I can…” He paused for a moment, dropping my eye contact. “On my concerns, I had my private doctor administer a medical exam.”
“You had me looked over? I don’t remember that happening.” I was losing track of time too much lately. Not a good thing. “You can’t stop me from dying. Wasn’t this about making the time I had left enjoyable?” Pain darkened my words.
“Circumstances have changed.”
I dropped my fork, my appetite no longer present. I placed my hands on my lap and fiddled with the gold buttons on my shorts. I hoped if I didn’t let him see the look I was sure was in my eyes, he wouldn’t know what was stirring inside my reaction. “I can’t sulk about it all the damn time and ruin whatever little time I have left.” I let my curiosity get the best of me. “Did your doctor give an estimate on how much time I have?”
“He was vague. Even with the injections, you have a month. Maybe two.”
“But you said...” I couldn’t finish. The emotion could no longer stay hidden. I covered my face with both of my hands and wept.
Calind was at my side, pulling me to stand, and wrapped me in his arms.
“I-I wasn’t expecting it to be so soon. It went by too fucking fast.” If only this was real and I could have eternal life, would I want it?
“There are options that can extend your life.”
“W-what?” I shook my head, annoyed over the fact that I was getting used to him reading my mind.
Calind’s eyes flickered with a blatant silent statement.
Removing myself from his hold, I stomped my foot and threw my arms across my chest. “Un-fucking-believable. What? Are you going to turn me into a vampire?” I looked to Calind for a glint of confirmation or denial. I threw a Hail Mary pass, only to have him look at the ball as it fell to the ground. “This isn’t real, Calind. As much as I want it to be. It’s smoke, mirrors, and makeup. Please don’t fuck with me and get my hopes up. It isn’t right.”
“All that you’ve seen, and you’re still in denial? Do I have to turn you to make you believe?”
I rubbed my temples with my jittery hands to calm myself. “Can we talk about something else?”
“We can go into the details of what Emile wants from you.”
I sunk back into the chair and folded my arms. Emile told me too much of nothing in the car. “You can read my mind, right? Read your answer.”
“Answer me, because I fucking asked you. Is that clear enough for you?”
I shrugged. “It would be pointless.”
“I can’t read everything. Someone is blocking pieces of your mind.”
It didn’t matter what Calind claimed he could see of my thoughts. He couldn’t prevent what would happen. If he could, he would have helped my father, in theory. “Could you have prevented what happened to my father?”
“It was too late for him.”
“What does that mean? How was it too late?”
He remained silent.
I tried to end the discussion by leaving.
He grabbed my hands, pulling me back to him. “What are you lacking that I am not providing for you?”
“Nothing. You gave me everything I wanted in my erotic fantasy and more. Honesty, I did everything I wanted to do.”
“And the reason you constantly show interest in Jake?”
“Are you spying on me?”
He furrowed his brow, pressing for an answer.
“Let’s talk about Switch and the woman you sent to spy on me, seduce me, and bring me back home like a good little bitch.”
“I have associates at Switch, not spies.”
“Right. You probably own that place, too, don’t you?”
“I do.”
“Since they are your employees, can you tell me what happened to Kay?” I asked.
“She moved on. Answer my fucking question.”
“What am I planning with the guy who looks like he got hit with a spiked bat?” My question was rhetorical in reference to Jake. “Absolutely nothing.”
He held up his left hand, showing off his platinum wedding band. “I’m not hiding anything from anyone, and I’m not seeking the company of anyone else. You’re enough for me. What are you doing to affirm my trust in you?”
“Screaming ‘this pussy is yours’ at the top of my lungs didn’t do it for you?”
He tried to stifle a smile, but those telltale dimples gave him away. “I know what’s at the heart of you making excuses for Emile. You don’t trust me, and it speaks volumes about how you feel. As does—” he glanced at my naked left hand.
Shocked that he’d question my loyalty, I couldn’t remain in the room. I headed out to have a cigarette on the patio.
Calind was in the doorway, blocking me. The pack of cigarettes I thought I had in my hand were dangling in his, held above my reach. He’d also put on his shades in that short time. I searched behind me, expecting to see a prop to explain how he moved so fast.
I took a silent minute to find the brass lips between my legs again. “What do you want? Proof I belong to you? I’m in very deep with you. I married you. Well, not in that order, but does it matter? I am now. I have nothing else to prove.”
He faltered. I think it was the ‘I’m in deep with you’ bit that got to him the most. It was the first time I had expressed my feelings to him.
“What happened to the man who used to play the game with me?”
“You want to frequent gentlemen’s clubs, have wild threesomes, and experience sexual torture daily?”
“I want you like you were before you realized I don’t have much time left.”
“Suppose I should cancel the tickets to a private screening of your favorite movie and take you to Switch instead? Maybe look up Kay, since you’re concerned.”
“Wait, did you say a private screening? Of… The Piano Teacher?” My excitement bubbled over, seeping into every word.
He gave me a boyish grin, signaling he was up to no good. “Give to receive.” He eyed my lips and pressed his thumb against them, making them part.
“Or else?”
“I’ll force it out of you, and we might miss the showing.”
Wearing a wide grin, I placed my palms on his chest. “Hello, Calind. Nice to see you again.” I pushed away from him and went back inside the house, marching straight toward the bedroom.
I shifted the mirror and punched a code into the security safe holding a black box with my eight-carat wedding ring.
Upon opening it, I expected one thing and received another. “Oh my fucking God!”
Calind stood in the doorway of the bedroom, without his shades. “I had an inkling you would pull this stunt as your white flag. I thought this time it should be blinding.”
“Sixteen carats is pretty fucking blinding.”
“Eighteen.”
I’d never seen a clearer diamond in my life. It had to rated an F in color quality.
“D.” He walked toward me and slid the ring on the fourth finger of my left hand—it was a perfect fit.
“And this time, it never comes off.” Stuck in awe, I stared at the brilliant center stone surrounded by smaller diamonds.
“It better not.”
I finally came back to the planet Earth. “I don’t need to say it to validate it. I made a vow to never leave you, and to trust you. Vow kept, correct?”
The crease in his brow showed he might’ve known I’d fuck up again. “We leave in an hour and a half.”