Breathe
The heated kiss was interrupted by a loud scream from down stairs. Lacey jumped from Danny's lap. She followed him as he ran downstairs. They both looked shocked at the scene.
"Oh my gawd!" Lacey stated in a shaky utterance.
Danny stooped down beside his mother. "Who did this?"
"I don't know. There were five of them in brown cloaks." Karen ran her hand over Vikram's face. He was breathing despite the gaping hole in his chest. "He's been stabbed, Danny. I found him like this. There is a dagger laying over there."
Danny glanced at Lacey. "You both stay here." He raked his hand through his hair. "Lace, call an ambulance. There is nothing you can do for him now."
Karen buried her head in the crook of Vikram's shoulder. "Why?"
"I'm sure it was an immortal after me. They stabbed him not wanting to make him immortal or feast from him. It was an insult. But I know that dagger." Danny closed his eyes trying not to feel the pain of his adopted father's predicament. The dagger was an old antique that hung in the Immortal's secret meeting place. The same place that Danny went to when first becoming an immortal."Turn on every light in this house. Lights make the other immortals weak. Open every shade and drape when morning comes. Stay in the light at all times."
Lacey grabbed Danny by the arm. "Where are you going?"
"To kill the immortals that did this." Danny answered honestly.
"But they may kill you first." Lacey held tightly to Danny's arm. "Whoever did this is trying to lure you to them, Danny. I don't want to lose you."
"You won't." Danny raked his finger over Lacey's cheek. "But I have to do this. He is my father."
With those words, Danny left to seek revenge for Vikram's assault.
The police showed up shortly. The scene of the crime was labeled. Vikram didn't make it to the hospital before he took his last breath of life. The buzz around town was that the homicide of Vikram Desai was due to a burglary gone wrong. Danny was thought to be still on the brink of death due to his sickness.
Once Vikram's body was hauled away to the morgue for autopsy, Karen and Lacey went back to the Desai house. They sat around the table shrouded in silence. Neither speaking as they worried about where Danny was.
Cole and Tyler came by during Danny's departure. They told Karen of Danny's vengeance on the immortals. They told that he would surely die if he continued his killing spree. There were many immortals after him now. He was a threat to them. Vikram's death had been to bring Danny to them for his own death. He instead killed the immortals responsible. They warned Karen that Danny would probably not come back alive.
Five days passed as Lacey stayed with Karen keeping vigil for Danny's return. Judy Porter allowed Lacey to stay thinking she was being there for Karen during Vikram's death. The funeral came and went. Nights turned to days. Hours passed with no sign of Danny.
Then as if he had never left, Danny stood in the foyer. His clothes changed into black jeans, black shirt, and a black cloak. Blood soaked clothing clung to him. His clothes looked torn in places like he had been in the losing end of many fights. However, Lacey and Karen could tell by the glean in Danny's eyes, he had killed many immortal in his wrath.
Karen forced a smile as she walked away to leave her son alone with the woman he loved. Lacey bit her lip before running to Danny. She threw herself into his arms. Her legs wrapped around his waist as he lifted her up.
Lacey couldn't breathe. Her breath was literally knocked from her body. She felt numb and warm…and alive all in one amalgamation of emotion. Lacey held on tightly. Her forehead pressed against his with no gap at all. She wanted to melt into him. To feel him with her…to be as close as two beings could possibly be. She cried..she gulped…she lived.
They stood there. Danny holding her in a tight embrace. He was afraid to let her go. She feared his release of her. Was it a dream? Was Danny alive? Holding her?
Finally, Danny lowered her from dangling above the ground. He stared with moist eyes. Love consumed their inner cores. Lacey took his hand and led Danny up the stairs. What was so flirtatious and frivolous earlier in their relationship, was now serious.
Lacey wanted to ask how he survived? But she didn't care. Danny was alive. That was enough. She didn't need more. Silence was sought for.
Lacey pushed Danny down backwards against the bed. The bend of his knees hit making him sit. Lacey walked out of the room only to return quickly with a basin of water and a soft wash cloth. She pushed off Danny's blood soaked and tattered cloak. She tossed it backwards under the window. She then pulled off his shirt slowly. Danny grabbed his side. Lacey understood. He didn't want her to see a scar that had not healed yet.
Lacey took a deep breath. She then turned to him touching his cheek with the stroke of her gentle finger. He was alive. Lacey swallowed as tears began to cascade down her face. Her Danny was alive.
Lacey dipped the cloth in the water. She then pressed it gently against Danny's face. Washing away the dirt and the blood, she stroked gently afraid she'd hurt him. He had to feel battered and beaten inside.
Danny swallowed as Lacey gently cleansed his face. Removing the remnants of his killing spree. She had no idea that along with those remnants slowly Danny's security was being washed away as well. He was beginning to doubt himself once again.
Lacey first cried tears almost silently. Then she shuddered as she washed down his neck then to his chest. Desire…doubt….hit them both for different reasons.
Lacey's tears grew stronger when she scraped her nails over Danny's bloody chest. There was some deep scratch wounds there. Danny winced. Lacey thought of pain of her touch due to the scratches. However, Danny knew it was of the healing of his broken skin being touched making the pain.
Danny's happiness was fading away as he thought of Vikram's death and Lacey not accepting him . Lacey thought hers was just beginning. She smiled through her stream of tears. She then pulled Danny up to follow her. Too much dirt and blood remained on him. Washing him like this wasn't working.
Lacey didn't care that Karen was down stairs. All she cared about was taking care of the man she loved.
Karen glanced up stairs when he heard the shower start. Karen's eyes moistened with tears wondering what was next for her son.
Karen closed her eyes at seeing her husband in her own thoughts. She knew Danny wouldn't chance hurting Lacey. She knew he tried so many times to be human. Thus, experience human needs.
Lacey pushed Danny's hair from his forehead. She undid her blouse.
"Lacey" Danny whispered.
"Shhh." Lacey lay the tip of her finger on Danny's lips. "Trust me." She just wanted the silence. The sound of the moment to wash over her.
That is all she really wanted from him was trust. Danny did trust her. He trusted her more than any one he knew. It was himself he didn't trust. Himself and others…if they knew how much he loved her. He also had doubts in himself. How could someone so perfect accept him, when he didn't even accept himself?
The spray of the water hit Danny's skin. Lacey stepped in behind him. Danny's eyes clinched shut. He knew her beauty would be too intense. If he had saw that beauty, touched and tasted her skin, he would lose all sense of what it was to be in control.
"I can't. I don't want to. You drive me crazy." Danny nuzzled into Lacey's neck then pulled her close again. "Plllllleeeeassse." He begged as he nibbled at her earlobe.
"Mmmmm." Lacey felt her knees buckle.
Danny's hands were now exploring her body. Danny was adamant about getting Lacey in his bed. It had been a fantasy for so long. He wanted to just ravish her.
Danny captured her lips crushing her against the tile wall of the shower. Their nude bodies pressed against one another. Lacey's legs squeezed tightly around him. His arousal pressed against her thigh. Lacey couldn't help but to breathe heavily.
Lacey couldn't help but to swallow at his body. It was perfect. He had little nicks and scrapes from the fighting of the past few days. It only added to his manliness knowing he sought revenge for his Vikram's death.
"I will lose control with you." Danny grunted in Lacey's ear.
He closed his eyes as he felt Lacey lather up his hair. He could feel her hands lathering soap down his back. He was afraid. The fear causing him not to react as he wanted. Lacey turned him. She saw his eyes continued to clamp shut. She just continued to wash his body.
Tears fell down both their cheeks. Hers because of joy he was alive. His because he was alive…but not joy.
Lacey leaned up as she pulled Danny down. She kissed each of his eyelids.
Danny grabbed her and held her body to his. Wet naked bodies clinging together in desperation. Danny buried his head in Lacey's hair. He cried. She cried.
Lacey felt his body change. His desire growing. She kissed his neck. She tasted his lips. The kiss lasted long. It was hot and filled with passion, need, and desire.
Once again, Danny pushed Lacey against the tile walls. He forced his eyes open to see her…all of her.
His heart beat quickened. His body quivered with craving. He pressed her against the wall more vivaciously . He pushed his body against hers. Lacey instinctively wrapped her legs tighter around his waist.
Danny repeated his earlier warning. "I can't control my craving for you, Lacey."
Pushing back the wet her from Danny's face, Lacey seductively whispered. "Then don't."
Danny opened his mouth over Lacey's neck. He bit down slowly allowing his fangs to sink into her delicate skin. Lacey rolled her neck back as Danny took of her blood. It wasn't painful at all. It was seductive and salacious. Lacey moaned out in pleasure of Danny's bite. She could feel things so vividly. Every sense in her peaked as Danny sucked her blood.
Danny had never felt a quenching being satisfied as he did when partaking of Lacey's blood. He felt a cleansing cascade over his body in heated waves of pleasure. He couldn't get enough of her yet she satisfied him completely. Never would he want to taste another female after the sweet taste of Lacey.
When he finally stopped his taking of her blood, he swallowed then grunted in her ear. "Taste me, Lace."
"I don't know how." Lacey whispered back feeling overwhelmed by the raw emotions coursing through her.
"Just try." Danny begged as he pushed her tighter against the tile of the shower wall. "Please. I beg of you, Lacey. Be mine for an eternity. I need you to partake of me. Please."
Lacey moved her mouth to Danny's neck. She opened her mouth taking in his skin first with a sucking motion. Then she felt her fangs begin to grow inside her mouth. Then Lacey bit down into Danny passing his skin to his artery. The action jolted them both unexpectedly. Their worlds intermingled as the memories of the past bombarded their minds.
Lacey was there each time Laura, Kayleigh, and the others she thought were ancestors were with Danny. However, those were her memories. They were each her. Each female was building a past with Danny because Lacey was who was destined for him. She was Danny's beloved immortal.
Danny picked Lacey up and carried her to his bed. He lay her down before climbing on top of her. They kissed as emotions hit them so strongly that both shivered. He readied himself and melted slowly into her. He started to thrust against her. A satisfied moan escaped Lacey's throat.
He had taken Lacey after enjoying touching and tasting every part of her body. Lacey buried her head in the crook of Danny's neck and shoulder to muffle her moaning. Danny, on the other hand, practically growled with uncontrolled abandon. The headboard hit the wall with every move.
Danny stopped suddenly confusing Lacey. Lacey laid there. She stared up at him. She watched perplexed.
Danny shook his head again and again. "I'm so sorry. I should not have..."
Lacey leaned up to him. "It is who I am destined to be, Danny."
Danny looked up. He saw. He knew. She loved him. Lacey loved him. They continued their lovemaking until both were satiated. Then Lacey placed on Danny's shirt that hung on the doorknob. His shirt that always offered her warmth. She pulled back the covers and pushed Danny to lay.
Lacey caressed his cheek. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know why he waited more than one lifetime to make her his beloved. So she remained silent.
Lacey needed to hold him. They needed to sleep in each other's arms.
They did. They slept in each other's arms. Lacey lay her cheek against his chest. A smile crept across her face. Danny glanced down. He pushed the wet tendrils of her hair from her face. He wanted to stare at the face of the woman he loved.
Through the thickness of silence Lacey could hear his heartbeat. She sighed contentedly as her heart raced with the fact that she was Danny's for an eternity.