Afterlife Saga: Afterlife Part 40

His brother was witness to this but he remained silent until Vincent let go of my arms. Taking a step back he nodded to me in what looked like great respect and I was stunned into numb silence. Only the escape of a single tear displayed my true emotions on what had just pa.s.sed. It didn't go unnoticed....... just unspoken.

"Dom, it seems that our past is also going to pay us a visit along with Keira's. You are right, he is using the human's connection to her to find her whereabouts, but she is strong and has blocked him out. He has already tried to conquer her mind again but has been denied access." At this Vincent affectionately smoothed the back of one finger down my cheek, as if I had done well. Draven walked closer looking as if he might explode with even more rage than what already consumed him. So I decided to be braver than ever before...

I moved away from the desk, accepting that all my body wanted was to feel safe in the arms of my dark prince. So with a beating heart and a silent prayer that I wouldn't get rejected, I marched right up to him and put my arms around his neck pulling his face closer to mine until I could feel his breath on my face. I could feel his muscles soften their indestructible stance and he weakened to my control.

"Please don't be mad," I said trying to use my own take on his very effective smouldering voice. His arms wrapped around my waist picking me up, so he could kiss me more freely.

"I am sorry if I frightened you," He said with eyes burning with pa.s.sion once more.

"She certainly has an effect on you brother. I haven't seen you come down from one of your trademark rages since the same blood ran through both our veins!" Vincent said full of humour and it took me a while to decipher what he meant. He had never seen anyone affect his brother like this in all the time they had been brothers.

"I will make the arrangements and she needs you..... She has been through enough, to cope alone any longer." He said before leaving us to continue where we left off. Draven lifted me up into his arms and carried me back to the bed, making the room dark once more with only the light of the night sky.

"My brother was gentle with you?" He asked keeping his voice to a low whisper.

"Yes, but I think he was taken back with what else he saw," I said shamefully.

"My brother and I have seen much brutality over the years but self-sacrifice is a rarity that our kind doesn't come in contact with often. It is one of the most powerful and intense acts a soul can possess. Your soul is pure and therefore when my brother became a part of that for a short while, it no doubt affected him greatly." He seemed to say this with such pride, but I couldn't help feeling embarra.s.sed with the way they had both looked at me. They made it sound as if I was some kind of saint, when I knew full well I wasn't. Especially not after all the unclean fantasies I had had about Draven since I first laid eyes on him. And well since then, acting them out was more explicit than I could ever have imagined.

"Keira, will you do something for me?" He asked pulling me closer towards his soft skin and I knew I could never refuse him.

"Anything," I whispered, resting my head on his chest and nestled under his shoulder.

"Will you allow me access inside your mind?" This made me look up at him in surprise.

"Why?"

"Please trust me and let your mind give in to what I ask it to do." I nodded knowing that he was learning quickly how my mind worked and this was the proof. I nodded and he kissed me, filling my mind with his control and there was only one thing he was telling me to do...

"Sleep peacefully..."

Chapter 44 Ava.

I woke to Draven's touch as his fingers ran up and down my arm making them tingle. I opened my eyes to find him propped up on his elbow staring down at me. I was wondering how long he had been looking at me and I just prayed to G.o.d that I hadn't been drooling!

"Good morning Angel...how do you feel?" He asked kissing my shoulder softly.

"Surprisingly good but I can imagine that's because I am waking up next to you, no doubt." I said smiling back at him. Meanwhile he seemed to be studying every inch of my body making me nervous again. It was such a roller-coaster of emotions being around him. One minute I would feel completely at ease and then the next I would change back into the shy waitress I was.

"Have you been awake long?" I asked hoping he hadn't.

"A while," he said coolly as he continued to make my skin hot under his constant touch. He was exploring down my back and lifting my vest to get a better view but this made me giggle as his fingertips tickled my side.

"Ticklish are we?" He asked with a mischievous grin.

"NO, no I'm really not..." I said trying to control my laughter as he continued to move along that same spot to provoke the same response out of me.

"Keira, we are getting a little defensive aren't we?" He said teasing me again and his hand slid down and gripped my vest pulling me closer to him. I loved it when he was so demanding as it felt as if I had some shred of control over him and I was understanding ways to use it to my advantage.

"You know you have some adorable little freckles on your back, one in fact that resembled the star constellation of Ca.s.siopeia."

"No there's not!" I said feeling that he was making fun of me but when I looked at his face he was being serious.

"Well, I have been staring at you for hours now so I think I would know." He said as a matter of fact. I couldn't help but cringe at the thought.

"No you haven't!" Surely not...well I hoped not.

"Haven't I? I find you fascinating and it has been so long that I have had to admire your body from a distance, now that you are here I am taking full advantage of the time to study you." At this I hid my head under the covers.

"Oh, please don't say that!" I said full of pure embarra.s.sment! But he just laughed at my response.

"And what is wrong with what I just said, exactly?" He said pulling the covers from me, but I still couldn't look at him. Why was he doing this to me?

"It's embarra.s.sing!" I mumbled hiding in my face in my hands, as now I didn't have the covers any more.

"So you don't take compliments well...I find this astonis.h.i.+ng, all things considered." He said making me look at him. What did he mean by that?

"All things considered?" I asked and he smiled as though he had accomplished something.

"Well, you don't have confidence to believe it when I tell you how amazing I find your body, yet you have enough confidence to give me a private striptease, twice may I add."

"Once! The second time didn't count...your rules remember." I said not being able to keep the grin from my face.

"What are you saying.... that you were forced?" He said teasing me and doing a very good job of it.

"More like intimidated!" I whispered as there was a knock at the door and I didn't want this conversation to be overheard. Once again he let out a roaring laugh before saying, "Come in." Candra walked in holding a tray full of m.u.f.fins, sweet pastries, bagels, and baguettes. In fact she looked as if she had just robbed a bakery! But most importantly she had a pot of tea on her tray and my heart melted at the sight. Once she nodded at us both a good morning, she left us alone with the mountain of food.

"How many are joining us for breakfast?" I asked getting up and picking the biggest chocolate m.u.f.fin which I started to pick to bits. I also poured myself a steaming hot mug of tea and couldn't help but smile at the idea.

"Well I realised that I haven't been feeding you properly and today you are going to eat more than just a few pieces of fruit!"

"You know you worry about me too much," I said munching away in chocolate heaven, which he couldn't help smiling at.

"Actually, when it comes to you, I don't think I worry enough," He said getting up and positioning himself opposite to get a better view of me eating.

I started playing with my hands after I had finished with my sweet delight and was thinking about how to ask all the questions that I still had floating around my mind.

"You want to ask me something?" Draven said, amused. I just looked up at him in surprise.

"What made you say that?" He nodded down to my hands and I dropped them.

"You always seem to play nervously with your hands or bite your lip when you are nervous or want to ask something." He said like this was common knowledge and I couldn't believe how much he must have watched me in this short time to know all these little traits I had.

"Well...I was kind of wondering about some other things I still don't know," I asked sheepishly knowing there was one question that, since last night, had been burned to my brain and it was one thing that I was scared to ask.

"Like?"

"You're not going to like it," I warned and he now looked intrigued.

"Well I was curious about Celina, what happened with her and Jack?" I asked thinking I would start off lightly with the interrogation.

"Why would I not tell you that?"

"Because that's just the start," I warned and he frowned at me but it didn't last long, replacing it with a half-smile.

"Celina is a Demon, one that fell in love with that boy." Now I frowned at him.

"Sorry...I mean Jack and well it's forbidden as you know."

"She's a Demon...really? Poor Jack!" I said but considering my past with Jack, Draven didn't look happy with my sympathy.

"Well it seems he got over it!" He said cruelly.

"Don't say that! Jack told me how devastated he was. I mean one day he had the girl of his dreams and the next thing is, she sees you and then poof...gone. He thinks you killed her you know!" I said, but Draven couldn't control the raucous laughter that erupted from him. I had never heard him laugh so much and although I was trying to be angry at his reaction, I couldn't help but love the sound.

"DRAVEN!" I shouted.

"I'm sorry, but you have to see the humour in it, see I was the one that saved her." He said calming down from his outburst.

"Saved her?"

"She broke the one of our laws. She was going to be punished, when she appealed to my better nature and well since then she has been an a.s.set, proving her worth on my council."

"OH I bet!" I said being jealous again.

"She makes a good a.s.sistant Keira, that's all I meant. It is better for her to be here than cast down to deal with his wrath!" He said pointing to the floor and I shuddered at the thought.

"So you and her..." I said still with my arms folded.

"You know I do find this jealous thing strange...on one hand it is utterly ridiculous and on the other it is also adorable...still completely irrational but adorable all the same."

"I'm glad you're so entertained by the whole thing but I am not the only one who gets jealous remember...anyway you didn't answer my question!" I was now going red from that last comment.

"No, I thought I already made that clear."

"Well she could have been lying, she is after all a Demon."

"Yes and so am I," he said getting defensive.

"Yes and look how much lying you did!" I said feeling that maybe I had finally won a round as he gave up with that one.

"Well the answer is still no....next." Thankfully he was still in good humour but I knew my next question would change that.

"And Aurora?" As soon as I said the name I knew the answer and my heart sank.

"Keira, this is getting out of hand!" He said getting up and throwing his hands up in a dramatic fas.h.i.+on.

"That's not an answer," I whispered.

"Well that's the only one you're going to get on the matter!" He said in such a way I knew he would never back down. I had my answer already, I was just minus the details. However I couldn't help the sinking of my heart. I mean how could I ever compete with such beauty?

"Fine! But why didn't Jack get chance to say goodbye to Celina?"

"Why, do you think it would have made it easier?" He said without leaving the sarcasm out of his tone.

"Yes of course. At least then he could have moved on," I said feeling bad for Jack, first Celina then me, all at the hands of the same man...well sort of man.

"Does that mean you will break the boy's heart by telling him the truth?" He said, thinking he had got me with this, but I already knew that when I got the first opportunity I would explain it to him.

"Yes to a certain extent I will tell him, so then he can find closure and move on without thinking that one day she might come back...or worse think of you as her murderer!"

"You make it very hard to be mad at you when you think of others before yourself." He said coming over to me and kneeling at my feet. I was about to say something derogatory but he started kissing me gently on my jawline once again, making me forget what we had been talking about.

"Ok, one other thing, what happened to Layla?" As soon as I asked I wished I hadn't as his grip on my chin tightened, his face turned hard and his eyes switched to flaming purple.

"That is not your concern...she was dealt with and this is all I will say on the matter!" I decided not to push it any further but I did look up at him with wide eyes making his features soften.

"Those amazing stormy eyes of yours could control the heart of any man." At this I blushed.

"There is however, one female that I have wanted to introduce you to and she would very much like to meet you.... properly this time." He said pulling me up off the seat which I reluctantly vacated. I didn't know if I could cope with any more beauty queen Demon/Angels! He held my hand in his and I pulled back thinking there was no way I was meeting anyone in my sweat pants and scruffy vest!

"Can I at least change first...and why are you pulling me towards the balcony?" But again he found this highly amusing.

"I doubt she will care what you are wearing...plus I find you cute like this," he said poking me playfully in the stomach, which again tickled.

"Oh yeah right, pull the other one!" I said with my English northern accent coming out thicker than intended, making him raise an eyebrow.

"Don't!" I warned, knowing he was going to pick up on it.

"Ok, so you said that I need to meet her properly....so I have met her before?" But he just winked at me as he pulled me through the gla.s.s door to the clearest day I had seen yet. The view was breath-taking in this light. The sky was clear and the sun cast the scenery into a lush green utopia making me look blessed at the sight. But I noticed we were out here alone so I automatically went towards the steps I knew led to the roof as I had once used them under much different circ.u.mstances.

"Not up there. Just wait, she won't be long," he said and then let out the strangest noise...but wait it was one I had heard before, back when I first moved here and when I got a welcoming of another kind...

He stood behind me with his arms draped over my shoulders and looking easily over my head due to the ma.s.sive difference in height. Then I saw what he was waiting for as a black figure in the vast blue sky came into view and in this light it looked more majestic than terrifying as it usually did. The bird was getting closer and I glanced up at Draven who looked delighted at the sight of its graceful body swooping down, catching the wind as though it owned all of the sky. Until finally it angled its body ready for landing on the railings and so close up it looked double its size with its wingspan close to two meters wide. The railing shook with its body weight and I couldn't help but stand back at the sight.

"Rara Avis, Quieta non movere...Ssshh"( Means "Rare bird, don't move, settled things" in Latin) He said as it shook and repositioned it huge feathers as if trying to get comfortable. I was hiding behind Draven at this point, as it was extremely intimidating. It looked as though it could rip my face off with one swipe! Wolverine had nothing on this one, as its claws were black razor curls of death.

"Keira come here...there is nothing to fear!" He said as he pulled me back round placing his large hands on either side of my shoulders so I couldn't move. My heart was doing overtime trying to keep me calm at the sight of this mighty beast.

"She will not hurt you, she is merely curious." At this the bird tipped its head at me as if trying to figure me out.

"She?" I asked in surprise...this was who he wanted me to meet...his terrifying pet!