“You know this isn’t due for an oil change for another five-thousand miles, right? Did you miss me?” Jay Dee teased and closed the hood of my car.
“I like to watch me woman work,” I offered with a shrug, but we both knew I was lying.
“Damn liar,” she mumbled as she washed up in the sink. “You hate the fact that I work, and that I refuse your money, and that I’m a dirty girl...in the literal sense, not the sexual sense. Doesn’t life get boring when all you do is throw money at problems and hope they go away?” she asked, looking genuinely curious.
Sadly, all the money in the world wouldn’t save her from what was coming.
After talking to Rayland, I debated for days over telling Jay Dee the truth or not. Every time I got lost in my head while I struggled to weigh the pros and cons, she would ask what was troubling me, and I nearly told her every time. But the love and concern in her large, onyx eyes prompted me to lie. I couldn’t fathom seeing those eyes flooded with fear and possible needless concern. Jay Dee wasn’t daft by any means, and she knew that something was going on, especially since her parents requested that she stay with the vampires for a few days until they could resolve the issue regarding the missing Spottedhorses.
A war between the packs was just on the horizon, that was what Jay Dee was worried about at the moment, and it was upsetting her greatly.
“After centuries of working for me brass, I would immensely enjoy simply throwing it at all of the problems you find on your doorstep so we may enjoy life to its fullest without having to worry of…it does not matter, Duckie. Truth be told, I rather enjoy the exceptional view when you duck under the hood. Can you fault a man for that?” I asked with a smirk.
She blushed and looked away from me. “You are ridiculous, old man.”
“Sometimes,” I agreed. “Will you do me the honor of escorting you to dinner this evening?”
“Sure,” she mumbled.
Buggers. She said yes, however, the look on her face hints that an argument is fast approaching.
“Is something troubling you, Duckie?” I reluctantly asked.
Jay Dee pulled her hair tie out and ran her hand through her hair, pushing it back from her face. “They’re having another council meeting. The packs from the entire state are gathering...even Grandpa threatened to bring his pack up here if it went to war. This has gotten ridiculous, and the potential bloodshed... They act like it’s the end of the world. Some a*sholes got killed, big deal. They totally started it! Attacking Jarvis was completely inexcusable considering who are parents are. I’m more of a gray area since I’m not biologically related but that isn’t stopping my parents from arguing the point.”
I offered her my arm and escorted her around to the passenger side. “My apologies, Duckie. I should have spoken up in regards to the potential aftermath of such rash decisions. Though it was yours to make,” I quickly added when she opened her mouth to argue with me, “however, as your partner, one whom is much older and more experienced in the mythical world, I should have offered you advice instead of pouting and arguing with you. My apologies, it shall not happen again.”
Jay Dee cocked an eyebrow. “I’m getting that vibe which says you deserve an ass beating for some reason. What aren’t you telling me?” she demanded.
I closed her door and reluctantly joined her in the driver’s seat. “Nothing of proven consequence,” I assured her and pulled out of the garage.
Jay Dee waved to Joe and he smiled and nodded, then started closing up shop for the day.
I looked to the tree across the street and Abigail and Steffen both nodded their understanding: they would head home once we were out of sight.
Since the altercation at the county fair, those who accompanied us to Lummi have been taking turns keeping an eye on Jay Dee when she’s in public. Mum keeps watch at night as I struggle to get some rest while the woman I love softly purrs in my arms. Reign and Sky, along with most of their pack, accompany Jay Dee hunting; she acted as if she hadn’t noticed that they were maintaining a perimeter, but I was confident she was well aware of it.
“I’m about to ask you something. But I don’t want you to freak out or drive off of the road, or get all crazy and read into it more than what it is, okay?” Jay Dee said softly once Lummi was behind us.
I looked over at her from the corner of my eye; she was wringing her hands in her lap, nervously chewed on her bottom lip, and both knees bounced wildly.
Bollocks! She knows.
“What is it, Duckie?” I asked; my voice cracked and was thick with emotion.
“Well,” she started and closed her eyes tight, then her words spilled from her lips so fast that I don’t think that I heard her correctly, “this isn’t the nicest outfit for dinner, and I know that you aren’t going to take us to a fast food place, so can we stop someplace so I can get a new outfit, something nicer, maybe a dress or something?”
I pulled onto the shoulder and put the car in park. I was laughing so hard that I couldn’t breathe.
Jay Dee huffed, and crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. “You don’t have to be a dick about it. You’ve been super mentally preoccupied lately and I thought it might cheer you up to play dress up with your life-sized Barbie doll, that’s all.”
I shook my head in aspiration; she was spot on, and playing dress up, and undressing, with her was exactly what I needed to help organize my thoughts, but most importantly, put into perspective of just how much I needed her in my life.
“It is not that,” I assured her, wiping the tears from my eyes. “You scared the hell out of me! I thought you were going to break up with me or something far worse. Bloody hell, Duckie! You cannot do that to me…remember, I am as old as dirt, thus I could have had a heart attack.”
“Shut up,” she groaned. “I told you not to read into it.”
“Me Duckie, I am going to make a whole damn novel out of it, and there is not a bloody thing you can do to about it. I see a new wardrobe in your future!”
“No!” she argued as I pulled back onto the main road.
“Already done,” I smugly informed her; that was exactly what I needed without knowing it. “Duckie, I do not know why you think that shopping is a death sentence. Good God, Woman, you have an arse backwards way of thinking. Did you actually think that I would say no? I have given you me platinum card many, many times, and you have yet to use it for something other than cleaning the axel grease from under your nails.”
“Shut up,” she groaned.
Of course I wasn’t about to shut up, I needed to feel the familiarity of our bantering, of our difference which made me feel complete since she was everything I wasn’t and I was exactly what she refused to be, and it made me realize that our two polar opposite sides made one perfect person, a complete soul, and that our love was worth fighting to protect.
“Duckie, I would slip money into your billfold or purse yet you do not have either…that shall be resolved soon.”
“Oh god,” she groaned and bashed her head against the headrest. “Forget I said anything, please. Just take me home.”
I shook my head. “Duckie, as ridiculous as it sounds, I am even more excited to go shopping simply because you asked. That means something to me, Duckie. I want you to need me, just as I need you, even if it is just in a monetary sense.”
Jay Dee gave me a look. “You want me to be like that soul sucking bitch you married?”
“God no!” I snapped at her and she cocked an eyebrow. “My apologies. You and Sam are nothing alike, and for that I am eternally grateful. You do not realize, Duckie, how much I need you, and sadly, you do not apparently need me. You are a strong, self-sufficient werewolf and woman who could rule the world if it tickled her fancy, instead, you merely want what is best for everyone else. I love that about you, I truly do, yet I hate that about you as well. So, in a very roundabout way, even if you merely need me in a monetary means, that is more than I deserve thus I will embrace it.”
Jay Dee groaned and, once again, bashed the back of her head into the headrest. “You are ridiculous. I need you for more than just money…obviously since I won’t take your goddamn money. Tanis, is it so hard for you to believe that I love you for you, and not for what you can buy me?”
I smirked, looking over at her. “Duckie, it floods me heart with warmth and love that you love me despite me few flaws and many indiscretions. Believe it or not, I have not questioned how you could not love someone as brilliant as the man, the myth, the legend you find yourself in the presence of,” I said.
She gave me a look. “You know what, correction, I merely love you for your overabundance of humility. You truly are the embodiment of it.”
I smiled wide. “I hear that often.”
Dramatically she sighed. “Some people’s vampires.”
“No, not some people’s vampires, I am your vampire and only yours,” I smugly reminded her.
Abigail told me where to go when I text messaged her for an update, and she called ahead to have some items pulled for Jay Dee, that way she wouldn’t get a chance to change her mind.
I sat in one of the leather chairs reading the email Rayland sent on my phone while the clerk helped Jay Dee find something to wear. Of course Jay Dee complained endlessly under her breath, hysterically laughed a few times, and either punched the wall of the dressing room or fell into it a couple of times; with her it was impossible to tell which.
‘I was able to confirm that Toran left Washington by means of a schooner. Sadly, you know as well as I what that means. I am sorry, Tanis. It looks as if a war is on the horizon since he is keeping to the rules of engagement. When I know more, you will know more. Please, I beg of you, keep the crown safe until Toran returns.- Rayland’
“Bollocks,” I hissed, fighting the urge to throw the phone across the boutique. This was getting even more complicated than I had ever imagined.
“If you laugh you are never getting laid again,” Jay Dee warned, effectively pulling my attention.
“I would never,” I assured her, deleting the email before pocking my mobile.
“Remember, I’ve never walked in heels before so if I break my ankle or neck, I’m kicking your ass,” she sternly warned. “Dude, I’m dishing out threats of violence and you haven’t even seen me yet. I think you’re right,” she said with a chuckle, “I have issues.”
“Duckie, I never said you had issues-” I started to assure her, but every coherent thought I had was lost when she stepped out from the dressing room.
Calling Jay Dee beautiful would have been a crime, sexy an insult, stunning was close but not nearly enough. She was breathtaking. The short, black silk cocktail dress sinuously hugged each of her curves, and the black lace top had a nude underlay which made it appear sheer, and the neckline cut down far enough that her breasts were presented like beautifully wrapped Christmas presents.
“Hmmm,” I mumbled as my eyes worked up and down her beautiful figure; her long, toned legs look even longer in the black satin stilettos she was nervously shifting her weight from foot to foot in. “Huh,” I was finally able to articulate and her face dropped.
I dismissively waved the clerk away.
“Duckie, I regrettably must inform you that we shall not make it to dinner this evening. A night in would be an absolutely brilliant way to spend the evening with a demonic angel who has bewitched me.”
Jay Dee blushed and looked away from me. “You are ridiculous.”
I stepped up to her and coaxed her by the chin so I could look at her. “I merely speak the truth. Duckie, you honestly render me breathless and speechless more often than I care to admit. Each time I look at you is like the first time all over again, and it puts me in awe that you have chosen me, have marked me as yours for all eternity, and I only pray that one day you will permit me to do the same,” I said before I could stop the words from leaving my lips.
She smiled, her cheeks flushing a delicious shade of rose. “You can help me out of it tonight,” she whispered, looking up at me, and then yawned. “Sorry,” she instantly apologized. “I haven’t been sleeping well.”
My face dropped.
“Don’t get me wrong,” she assured me as I blindly signed the sales slip, “sleeping in your arms is beyond words, but I’ve been having more of those weird dreams.”
And Jay Dee effectively ripped me from Heaven and the perfection of the world where there was just the two of us, to Hell where demons were trying to take her from me.
“Would you like to talk about them?” I whispered, motioning towards the exit.
“Sure, why not? Are we going to eat or what?” she asked, walking cautiously; for someone who was unbelievably graceful, she was ridiculously cautious.
“Of course,” I assured her. “Whatever you would like.”
“I could totally eat the ass end of a horse,” she informed me, slipping her arm through mine.
I sighed, shaking my head. “I am in love with the epitome of class,” I informed her and she smiled wide before grabbing my ass.