Just as she started changing the door opened and James walked in, he hesitated for a moment with a look of surprise. “Oh you’re up,” he said, sounding just as surprised. “We all thought you might be out of it for a few more hours.”
“We don’t have time for me to lay in bed. We lost the morning thanks to those damn traps, not to mention the loss of life. Which by the way, how bad did we fare?” She asked.
“We lost two, the beta with you and a tracker from Chris’ team and, uh, Lily,” James replied but Lily cut him off.
“They seemed like good people, but it could’ve been worse. We’ve got to get something ready for tomorrow night. That leech, Vincent. He’s a real bastard! I never thought I’d meet anyone who’d make Silvano look like a boy scout,’ she said and finished dressing in a t-shirt and jeans. She frowned as she saw James in the mirror of the dresser, his arms crossed over his large chest with an amused half-smile on his face. “What?”
“I was going to say before you railroaded me,” he started, the half smile growing a little more. “The full moon is tonight, not tomorrow. You’ve been out for about thirty hours now. Lord Etienne said it would be expected for you to go to ground as he called it after major injuries like you suffered, but don’t worry. We’ve not been sitting on our hands while you’ve been catching up on your beauty sleep.”
She narrowed her gaze as she glared at him, but Lily couldn’t bring herself to be irritated with James. Relief was still thrumming through her that he wasn’t hurt. An icy chill ran down her spine at how bad the situation could’ve been. Old panic swam up from some dark place inside her. Lily closed her eyes and tried to dispel it. There was no reason for the panic now. James set his hands on her shoulders, causing her to jump slightly.
“Are you alright?” He asked, the concern shining brightly in his eyes.
“Yeah,” she said the let out a breath as if she could expel the unwanted emotions that way. “It’s just… it’s just yesterday could’ve gotten very ugly,” she said. The right words, the words to accurately express how she was feeling, seemed beyond her grasp. “We’ve been through kidnappings, unwanted bonds, and more, but none of that was like this… none it made me feel so…”
“I know,” he said and his hands slid down her back to wrap around her waist. He pulled her back against him until her back rested against his chest. “It scared me too.”
Lily stiffened, the old need to keep her distances rearing its ugly head. Memories of the pain, the isolation of her injuries, and fear of losing him helped silence that old demon. She rested her head against his chest. “It wasn’t just that,” she said then swallowed. Please don’t let this bite me in the ass, she prayed silently. “It was the very real possibility that… you could be… that I could’ve lost you.”
Lily turned to face him so she could wrap her arms around him. “James, I know I’m not a easy person to be around. Hell, I know I’m not even a nice person to be around…”
“I keep telling you, Lily. I know,” he said, interrupting her.
A hot rush of irritated flooded her as she glared at him. “Good! So shut up and let me say it, damn it! I need to say it! I should say it,” she snapped at him, earning a dry laugh from him. “As I was saying I know I’m not easy or nice to be around, but thank you for being here. Thank you for giving me all those chances that I totally didn’t deserve. I want you to know that I appreciate it,” she said then took a deep breath, trying to pump herself up.
Lily tried to think of the last time she’d said those powerful little words to someone that wasn’t A. J. Determination filled her when she couldn’t think of a single moment. She wasn’t sure she’d ever said them to Andrew, Sandy, or Tony. She didn’t tell them to Lacy and that might have changed what happened between her best friend/sister and her.
Resting her cheek against his chest with a downcast gaze, Lily took a long, slow breath before speaking. “Jame, I…” she paused and took another breath. “I… love you.”
James cupped her other cheek in his hand, guiding her face up towards his. “I know and I love you too, Lily,” he replied with a tone, that left her with no doubt that he meant every word of it. A smile slide across his face as he looked down at her. “Of course, you know what this means?” He asked, but before she could reply he reached down and lifted her up to sit on the dresser.
The smile turned mischievous as he answered for her, “We’re not leaving this room for at least a couple of hours, possibly more depending on how creative we can get.” Then gave her one of those amazing kisses, only he seemed capable of giving.
James and Lily were, of course, late to the meeting. They had managed to get very creative after Lily’s announcement. Just remembering her tell him she loved him had him wanting to puff out his chest with pride and a smug grin plastered over his face. As they walked to the conference room, holding hands like to teens in the throws in puppy love, he really hoped that this change in Lily was lasting.
James didn’t realize how much he really wanted her acceptance until she finally had. If she changed back it would really suck for him. When they walked in, more than a little fashionably late, and Lily didn’t try to rip her hand away from his or yell at him, or something very Lily-ish, he took it as a good sign.
“About time you two made it,” Nick complained, grumpily.
“We were busy,” Lily shot back.
Donovan made a rude snort. “I bet! I want details later,” he said, giving Lily a wink.
“Not going to happen,” James warned him.
Nick threw up his hand in frustration. “Can we please focus on what matters here people… the vampire attack that’s coming for the girl! You know, that half sister of yours,” he complained, shooting Lily a glare.
“Not my fault you can’t get any,” Lily grumbled, earning a snicker from the fairy.
“Do you really want to go there?” Nick demanded at her with a glare.
Lily slumped and shook her head. “No. Not really. That would totally cross the TMI lines.”
“Exactly,” Nick said with a brisk nod. “Now if you all are done let’s get started. Thanks to Xin Qian, all of the outer guards have those anti-persuasion charms. Those I’ve deemed uninvested wolves, but I believe will take some direction I’ve placed about ten feet in as a second defence. Sanders, Evangeline, and Mitchell are still out and they’ll probably will be for rest of this ordeal.”