Page 74 of Air Of Mystery
I’d had more than enough excitement for a while, and for the next few weeks I stayed home, allowing myself to fully recuperate. I did my best to focus on the positive, andnotto dwell on my encounter with Don.
Which wasn’t easy in the run-up to Halloween. I couldn’t turn around without seeing something about vampires...hence my choice of sticking close to home. It was triggering for me, and the worst part was I couldn’t share the reason for my anxiety with anyone else. Everyone assumed I was struggling after being beaten up by Mary’s ‘boyfriend.’
Charlie was quietly supportive and stayed with me at my attic apartment most nights, which also helped. Nothing like having a warrior holding you in his arms all night. I couldn’t think of anywhere better to possibly be.
Larry and George came to see me and told me they shared my relief that the problematic house on Henry Street was no more. They were also under the impression that Mary’s boyfriend was the cause of my injuries. To keep them safe, I let them believe it.
I managed to edit and load up the Marquette Mansion episode to my YouTube with some help from Larry. He came over one morning, and we spent hours working on it. With his help it went very smoothly…considering I was down to one arm. We launched the episode a week before Halloween, and the views and ‘likes’ were off the chart.
Brynn, Kenna, Cordelia and their guys all went to the annual Halloween Masquerade Ball at the Marquette Mansion, but this year I decided to skip it. Instead, I volunteered to babysit Robbie. Since Charlie had to work the masquerade, the kiddo and I hung out at home with Sunny and Luna for company. We made ourselves a ton of snacks and watched classic Halloween kids’ movies for hours. It was fun and very relaxing. Which was exactly what I needed.
On Halloween night, Charlie came to the hill, and we sat together on our family’s lavishly decorated front porch and passed out candy to the Trick-or-Treaters. There were enough orange twinkle lights hanging from the porch that it turned the front of our yellow brick house to orange. As was our tradition, my sisters and I decorated the porch with a dozen jack-o’-lanterns, spider webs, and garlands of festive fall leaves. It was the one night a year the neighborhood kids weren’t nervous about coming to the Witches’ house, and so we kept the decorations pretty tame.
I’m not sure who enjoyed that night more: me, Charlie or the neighborhood kids.
November arrived and my parents came back to town for Brynn and Austin’s wedding. By my sister’s wedding weekend, the bruises had mostly faded, and I was pretty much back to normal—except for the cast on my right arm.
I caught a ride with Kenna and Tyler, and we all met up the night before at the Marquette Mansion Hotel for the rehearsaldinner. The family had decided to rent rooms again before the wedding, but I had scored better accommodations. I would be staying with Charlie at the carriage house.
When Kenna and Tyler dropped me off in front of Charlie’s place, he was already waiting for me at the bottom of the steps. He looked fabulous in dark slacks, a button-down shirt and his blazer over that.
Tyler passed him my suitcase and garment bag, while I climbed out of the back seat with my makeup case and purse slung over my left shoulder.
We waved to Kenna and Tyler as they backed out of the space and headed for the opposite side of the mansion to go and park. I didn’t take a single step before Charlie was taking the makeup case from me.
“Go on up,” he said. “I’ve got this.”
With a nod I started up the stairs, but halfway up I stopped and waited until he was one step below me. Then I leaned in and gave him a kiss while his hands were full. I lingered over it and was pleased to note his reaction to the kiss.
“I’ve missed you,” I said.
He smiled. “We’ve been together almost every night for the past few weeks.”
“No,” I said and ran my left hand through his hair. “I miss you. I miss us, and I miss making love.”
He sighed, turning his face to follow my hand as it stroked through his hair. “I wanted to give you time to heal.”
“And you did.” Touched at his thoughtfulness, and encouraged by his reaction to my touch, I cupped the back of his head and pulled his mouth up to mine. “I’m perfectly fine now.”
“You were covered in bruises.”
“Well, they’re pretty much gone now. Wanna see?”
“Yes, I do. But you are still in a cast,” he pointed out.
I slid my hand down slowly over his chest, pausing at the waist of his jeans. “You think a cast on my arm would stop me, sailor?” To prove my point, I let my hand wander lower.
He groaned at that. “No, I don’t think it would even slow you down. However, if you don’t stop petting me, I’m liable to chuck this stuff over the side and take you right here on the steps where anyone could see us.”
His words made me shiver. “Sounds tempting.” I nipped at his lower lip, and he went completely still. “I suppose we should go inside instead where we can have some privacy.”
“Skye, you’re killing me,” he said in a low rumbling voice. “Don’t tease.”
“Oh, I’m not,” I whispered. Letting go of him, I went straight up the steps into the carriage house.
I thought that we would go directly to his bed after that. But instead, Charlie hung my garment bag up for me, rolled my suitcase out of the way, and acted the perfect gentleman. He also offered me a drink before he checked his watch. “We’ve got less than twenty minutes before we’re supposed to meet your family in the garden for the rehearsal.”
“Well damn.” I blew out a breath in frustration. “There goes all my hopes of being quickly ravished across the kitchen table.”
