“You’re still here,” I bump my shoulder with hers, hoping to give her a little comfort. The shadows are in her eyes. No one truly outruns their past; it may be left behind, but the memories and the scars remain.
“So are you,” she remains facing the water, and we stay for another twenty minutes or so, Rosie gathering as many flowers as she can. She packs them into her satchel but keeps a small yellow bundle in herhand before she skips to where we are sitting and hands them to me. I’m about to tell her how beautiful they are when Darcy abruptly stands, heading back for the horses.
“We should head back.” She says, “Sun will go down soon.”
Rosie mimics my frown, pointed in her direction.
“Thank you,” I whisper to the little girl, holding the flowers in one hand while I guide her back to Mars with the other and help her back into the saddle. Darcy leads the way back while I hang back with Rosie, smiling at the flower heads sticking out of the top of the bag.
“We need to put them in a vase,” I tell her. “Lots of water.”
She nods eagerly, “Can they go on the table? I think they’ll be pretty there.”
“I think that can be arranged,” I wink.
We break out of the border of the trees; the ranch stretching out before us, and Darcy heads left without a goodbye, disappearing behind the stables and out of view. I let her go. We’re friends, but I’m not sure we’re close enough for me to be able to help with some of that weight on her shoulders. I’ll offer, of course, and if she wants my ear, she can have it.
I lead Rosie to the stables where I help her off and then get the horses away and fed before I take her hand and start back toward the house. The closerwe get to Silas’s cabin, the easier it becomes to hear the music playing. The notes travel through the open windows, the upbeat country song joining the sounds of the ranch around us. We step inside and move into the kitchen where I find Silas and he’s singing. It’s low, barely above a whisper, but he matches the lyrics, utterly lost in his task.
“Look what I got, Dad!” Rosie hollers loudly, startling him. His head snaps toward us, and Rosie presents the bouquet of wildflowers to him.
Leaving them to it, I head through to wash up for dinner, listening to them in the kitchen. Caleb has since joined them and is telling his sister the name of each flower she has picked. When I return, the flowers are sitting proudly in a vase on the table.
“Did you know Daddy is a vampire?” Rosie says to me matter of fact.
“A vampire, you say?” I widen my eyes to add a dramatic flare, pulling the ingredients we had bought from the fridge. “I did not know that.”
“Yep,” she pops the P. “Have you seen his teeth!?”
She stares at me so seriously and points to her canines.
“These ones. They’re sharp. Only vampires have sharp teeth. You’re a vampire, aren’t you, Dad?”
“Sure am,” Silas slowly closes the gap toward me, his moves sure, his smile purposely showing those teeth Rosie was just telling me about. My wholebody reacts to his presence, skin prickling in anticipation, heart notching up in speed. “Go wash up. We have dinner to make.” He tells his children, but his eyes never leave me.
The sound of their feet running joins the music, but I’m lost in the amber of his eyes.
“A vampire,” His tongue runs along his bottom lip, and he comes to a stop in front of me, “perfect to do this.”
He leans down and my lips part, anticipating his kiss, but he doesn’t find my mouth. Instead, he goes for my neck, and I feel the sharp point of one of his teeth scrape over my pulse point.
A breathy kind of moan leaves me when his tongue licks over the sting.
“Did you have a good ride?” He asks, voice vibrating against my throat as one hand slips to my waist and he tugs me closer, until my chest is touching his.
“Yes,” I tilt my head to the side, allowing him further access to my neck.
“Did you miss me, Honeybee?” He trails his lips to my collarbone, the point scraping over my skin there.
“Terribly,” I press my thighs together in hopes of stifling the ache blooming between them.
I feel him grin against me, “Tell me how badly.”
“Fuck,” my voice shakes from me, my knees turning to jelly, and I reach out to grasp the counter.
“Later, baby,” he chuckles.
My cheeks heat, my need for him turning desperate. I reach for his cock, palming the length of him above the material of his jeans, and he stumbles slightly, his breath catching in his throat.
