Stone Lover Read online

  “Do you the relationship will last that long?”

  “I think it will last forever.” Vaughn gave a rueful smile, “At least it will on my side.”

  Rhys stood up and clapped him on the back. “I’d wish you luck but if you had any more luck I think I would have to take a chisel to you.”

  Vaughn smiled as his brother made his way to the door where he paused, “I hope she’s worth it.”

  After the door closed, Vaughn whispered, “So do I, Rhys; so do I.”

  Ten

  “What are your plans for this evening?” Jenna asked from the other end of the phone.

  “Same thing that I have been doing every other evening for the past week,” Melanie said, examining her reflection in the bathroom mirror, tilting her head to the side as she looked at the pendant she wore all the time now. Her fingers touched it, feeling the familiar warmth and still being faintly surprised by it; she should have grown used to it but she hadn’t. “Vaughn and I are going out.”

  “When are you going to bring him home to meet the family?”

  “Soon. I’m dying for you guys to meet him; you’re going to adore him.” Melanie grinned at her image as she thought about Vaughn and her family. “And he’s going to love you guys; especially Ferris.”

  “I would hope so, she’s your favorite niece,” Jenna teased, though it wasn’t enough to erase the concern from her voice as she continued her interrogation. “You haven’t even told mom and dad about him, yet; I keep expecting mom to ask me what I know about your new boyfriend after she talks with you but so far she hasn’t. What are you hiding from us, Lenni?”

  “There’s nothing to worry about,” Melanie assured her sister, even though that wasn’t exactly true. After her date with Vaughn, she was even more convinced that she knew what they were but it just wasn’t making it to her brain. It was on the very edge of her consciousness and she was growing increasingly frustrated by the obstruction. She was also starting to see things out of the corner of her eye, though whatever it was she was seeing wouldn’t be there when she turned her head to look. It was weird and a little disconcerting. She took comfort in the knowledge that it was fate’s way of preparing her for the truth. At least, that is what she told herself to comfort her frazzled nerves.

  No wonder so many people would rather close their eyes and go back to sleep; there was a lot out there and only some of it was starting to bleed into her reality.

  “Honey, you’ve spent every evening with this guy since New Year’s and none of us know anything about him.” Jenna let out a long sigh before she continued, “We just miss you; I hadn’t realized how much I enjoyed your company meant until you moved out so abruptly. And now we never see you.”

  “I know it was unexpected; I’m sorry,” Melanie apologized, knowing it wasn’t much and feeling guilt gnaw at her gut as she realized how negligent she had become in regards to her family. She promised herself that she was going to make it up this summer. Especially to Ferris. Even though the candy store filled her days and Vaughn covered her nights, she realized how much she missed her family, her niece.

  “Maybe you should move back home,” Jenna suggested. She laughed at that, “Though why you would want to live here in the madhouse when you live so close to your boyfriend in that cool castle I don’t know. It must be nice living on the same floor.”

  “You could say that,” Melanie mumbled, a blush stealing across her cheeks even though there was no one there to see. Though she hadn’t spent any time in Vaughn’s apartment, they had spent plenty of time in hers, christening every square inch of space, in some rather creative ways. She hadn’t even known she could bend into some of those positions. Yet it wasn’t just the sex; it was everything; he could make her laugh with a look, make her squirm with a touch. He was… incredible.

  “When are you going to bring him home to meet the family?” Jenna asked abruptly. “I’m eager to meet this man that has you so tied up.”

  “I don’t know, soon?” Melanie wasn’t sure when it would happen since Vaughn was noticeably absent when the sun was up. It didn’t bother her too much because as soon as the sun went down, he was knocking on her door. It did make arranging an introduction to her family difficult, though. “I’m not sure what Vaughn’s schedule is.”

  Jenna was silent for a long time and Melanie could hear the wheels turning in her sister’s head. Finally, she asked, “Mel, are you losing yourself in this guy?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t know.” Melanie could hear the frustration in her sister’s voice. “Are you losing yourself?”

  Melanie laughed, “Not at all. I just don’t know what his schedule is and if you want to meet Vaughn, don’t you think it would be best if he was, you know, there?”

  “Of course,” Jenna said, not sounding terribly convinced.

  Melanie looked at the small clock on the ledge and saw that there was still almost a half hour left before the sun was to set. Perhaps she was spending too much time with him or thinking about him since she could hardly wait for dusk so she could see him but, in truth, she wasn’t changing anything to please him. It was a new relationship and he was an exciting man and he wasn’t human; it was to be expected that she would want to spend as much time as possible with him.

  It wasn’t just the hot, primal lion sex either; she just loved being with him, listening to his voice as they talked about everyday things. As he whispered words of sweet nothings while they ate dinner or strolled along the city sidewalks.

  As he kept her warm by wrapping his arms around her and pulling her against his body when it got too cold. And later when they returned to her apartment and he warmed her up with drugging kisses and hot, primal lion sex.

  “We’re still in the honeymoon phase, Jen,” Melanie offered. “In a few months, when we’ve gotten to know each other better and the sex isn’t brand, spanking new, I promise I’ll no longer neglect my family.”

  “I’m holding you to that,” Jenna growled, though Melanie could hear the laughter. “Maybe Ferris and I will stop by this weekend; she’s been bugging me to see your apartment, especially since I told her it was like a castle.”

  “I’d like that,” Melanie smiled. “We could also go to the candy store; I know how much she loves doing that.”

  “Then it’s a date. Oh wait,” Jenna interrupted herself. “We’re having the family dinner this weekend; Jensen is even coming home; you’ll be there, won’t you?”

  She had forgotten about the dinner but she smiled at the reminder, “Of course I will be; this will be my first family dinner since moving out.”

  “You should bring Vaughn.” Melanie heard the determination in her sister’s voice and understood the worry. But she also understood that Vaughn’s time wasn’t his own.

  “I’ll extend the invite but I can’t make any promises,” Melanie fudged, not sure how she was going to be introducing her boyfriend to her family. If they got snowed in, it would be awkward trying to explain his transformation into a… a what? when the sun came up. “Hey, here’s a random question; have you seen Peter? He’s been leaving some strange voice messages and I’m concerned.”

  “Didn’t you guys break up months ago?” Jenna sounded annoyed.

  “Well, yeah, but that’s the strange thing,” Melanie frowned as she thought about the last couple of voice messages he had left, the increasingly desperate sound of his voice. “It was an amicable split but now he’s leaving messages as if we were still together; did something happen to him?”

  “Not that I’m aware. Why not call him back and tell him to back off?”

  “I haven’t really had a free moment and to be honest, he’s in the past, I don’t want to call.”

  “Ah, Lenni, just call; he probably has one of your dresses he wants to return or something.” Her sister let out a short chuckle, obviously distracted by the sound of her daughter trying to get her attention. “I gotta go; Ferris and grandma are making cookies and I promised I would be the
official taste tester.”

  “Didn’t they make a ton of cookies just before Christmas?” Melanie asked in disbelief. Her parents seemed to be greatly enjoying their semi-retirement, traveling a bit more, joining book clubs, and baking cookies instead of candy. Not that they actually made the candy anymore, but still…. “Never mind; just save me some of those sugar cookies with the frosting.”

  “Ugh, those hurt my teeth,” Jenna complained good-naturedly. “Too much sugar.”

  “Just the right amount,” Melanie grinned. They said their goodbyes and Melanie returned to the bedroom area and hung up her phone, already forgetting her concerns about Peter.

  She was already dressed in a long-sleeved, black cotton shirt with a peasant skirt. She was going to throw on a pair of tights before they left; it was winter in Minnesota, after all, then she and Vaughn were going to one of the bars to see a local band play. She wasn’t going to worry about her hair too much because it was going to get flattened by her hat and then wilted by the heat in the bar.

  When someone knocked on her door, her face almost broke split apart from her smile; he was early. He was never early; maybe she had been mistaken about the sundown thing. She quickly crossed the short distance to the door and opened it, the smile falling from her face as she saw who was on the other side, “Peter.”

  “Sweetie,” he grinned, stepping past her into the room before she could give permission. Or tell him she had other plans and she’d call when she had a chance.

  “Um, now’s not really a good time,” she said as she closed the door and turned around to face him as he examined her apartment. “I’m going out in a few minutes.”

  “I know,” he said with a vacuous grin. “I just want to see you; I had to talk to you about something very important. And then we can go out and celebrate.”

  “I don’t think you understand; I have a date,” she said, crossing her arms beneath her breasts and glaring at her former boyfriend. He was attractive, in a metro-sexual, bland sort of way, at least compared to Vaughn’s dazzling golden looks. She still considered Peter a friend, but what was he doing at her apartment? “What are you even doing here, Peter? We broke up.”

  He let out a low whistle, giving no indication that he heard her, “Wow, you’re really slumming it, aren’t you, Mel?”

  “What are you talking about?” she asked, crossing to her kitchen counter and getting a glass of water. She purposefully didn’t offer Peter anything; she didn’t want to encourage him to stay.

  “When I first saw your apartment building, I was willing to give it, give you, the benefit of the doubt,” he said, his voice doubtful. “But I’ve got to tell you, Lenni, this place really creeps me out.”

  “Good, then leave,” she bit out. Instead of taking her hint, he chuckled, moving closer to where she stood. Taking a drink of her water, she forced herself to remain calm. After all she had six years with this man,; at one point she had considered marrying him, but in the end they both realized they weren’t right for one another. What was Peter thinking?

  “I like your new look, Lenni,” he murmured, running his hand along the length of her spine and sending a rush of unease to the pit of her soul. Moving closer, he pressed his chest against her back and she shrugged him off. Lowering his voice, he spoke into her ear, “I know about your… indiscretion on New Year’s Eve; how you fucked a stranger in the bathroom. I want you to know I’m not mad.”

  Her eyes widened in shock, wondering who had told him and surprised by how much she didn’t care. They were no longer together; it didn’t matter what he thought. “You need to leave, Peter.”

  “The type of man who’d fuck a girl he just met in a bar full of strangers isn’t the type to settle down and be content raising a family,” he continued. He didn’t sound quite like the Peter she had known for so long; something about his voice, his words were wrong. He wasn’t the Peter she had known, even if he wore Peter’s face and spoke in Peter’s voice. His breath was sour against her neck, “He’ll fuck you then leave you with a disease and a brat.”

  “You don’t know anything about it, Peter,” she countered, wishing he’d leave. He was making her uncomfortable, something she had never before felt around him. Maybe he was a skin-walker wearing a Peter suit. That thought was terrifying. Maybe he was just drunk, though he had never been cruel even at his drunkest. “Besides, we’re no longer together.”

  “Of course not,” Peter said smugly, running a finger along her neck and making her flinch. “A quickie in the bathroom isn’t going to lead to a long-term relationship.”

  “Peter,” Melanie sighed in annoyance, stepping away from him. “I was talking about us, about you and me. We are no longer together, Peter; you and I are no longer together.”

  “Our break up was a phase you were going through before you took the next step,” he growled as his voice lowered even more. “To be honest, I only let you go because I was feeling guilty for sleeping with Vanessa but I’m over that guilt now and I’m ready to forgive you and move past that.”

  “What?” she felt her eyes nearly pop out of her head as he so casually mentioned sleeping with Vanessa, a woman he frequently criticized. “You slept with… Vanessa?”

  “Don’t act like you’re the victim here,” he scolded. “You’ve been fucking strangers in public bathrooms but I’m willing to overlook that, after all, I’ve been screwing your friend. My God, that woman is a wild cat in the sack, Lenni; the things she lets me do to her….”

  Who was this stranger wearing Peter’s face? The Peter she knew was kind, considerate; sane. He wasn’t this cruel, delusional beast who looked at her with a blank expression as he sliced her with his words. “You need to leave, Peter; we’re not going to discuss this.”

  He turned his head slightly and glared at her, his vacant blue eyes containing none of the heat of Vaughn’s golden gaze. Peter fished something out of his pocket and held up a black box, and dread pressed down on her. “I had hoped to wait until Valentine’s Day to ask you this, but it’s become apparent that you want it now.”

  “Don’t do this, Peter,” she gasped, turning away from him. A flash of movement from the balcony caught her eye and as she turned her head and looked. She could have sworn that she saw a strange, grayish-green creature hanging from the balcony rail; it had large, pointy ears and gigantic black eyes in its small face. It smiled at her, its mouth full of sharp, wicked looking teeth. “What is that?”

  “Don’t distract me, Melanie,” Peter growled, wrapping his fingers around her arm and forcing her attention back to him. Taking a deep breath, he relaxed his grip on her arm and smiled down at her. “Now, as I was saying, I was hoping to wait, but….”

  Glancing back at her balcony, the creature was gone and she figured it must have been her imagination. She had more important concerns at the moment, like what kind of creature was pretending to be Peter. It couldn’t be the man she had spent six years with and if it was, he had to be on drugs or something. Shaking her head, she held out her hands to stop him. “I don’t want it; you know I don’t want it.”

  Again, he ignored her, going down on one knee in front of her and opening the black jewelry box to reveal a single carat, flawless diamond solitaire ring. “Melanie Annette Jacobs, will you do me the very great honor of becoming Mrs. Peter Kingston?”

  She almost got whiplash from the force of her head shaking. “No, absolutely not.”

  “Of course, I plan on keeping Vanessa to take care of my more… primal urges,” he continued, ignoring her refusal. “And knowing how adventurous you can be, maybe you could join us?”

  “No.”

  “Then maybe we can invite another man?” his expression was almost hopeful.

  She was shaking her head fervently. “No.”

  Disbelief rippled across his face as he stared up at her, her refusal finally sinking in. “What?”

  “No, Peter,” she repeated firmly. Did he honestly think she would? “I will not marry you; we were never going
to get married to one another.”

  “You were upset that I cheated on you with one of your best friends,” he cajoled, standing up, still holding the box in his hands. “I get that, I do; but I also forgave you for cheating on me. We weren’t faithful but that doesn’t mean we don’t belong together. Marry me, Lenni.”

  “I never cheated on you, Peter,” she said, turning her back on him and flattening her palms against the counter top, wondering what bug crawled up into his brain and laid its rotten eggs; he was delusional. If it was truly Peter; she had to keep remembering that there were other things out there in the world and it might not be Peter. God, she hoped it wasn’t Peter. “We broke up because we didn’t belong together; I don’t think we ever belonged together.”

  “But you are going to marry me,” he bullied, irritating her even further.

  “No, I’m not,” she insisted. Walking away and then turning around to face him once more, she held up her hands, “Peter, you’re not acting like yourself. Please, just go and… sober up.”

  “I’ve never been more sober,” he returned. “We’ll get married, have a couple of kids, get a dog….”

  There was suddenly not enough oxygen in her small apartment and she stumbled over to the balcony doors. Pushing them opened, she welcomed the blast of cold wind that stung her face. She took a couple of deep breaths, welcoming the icy air into her lungs.

  “That’s what I like about you, Lenni,” he said, leaning against the doorjamb, crossing his arms over his chest and watching her. “You’re so expressive; everything you feel is written on your face.”

  “Then why won’t you accept my answer and leave me be?” she spat out, taking huge gulping breaths of the frigid evening air and swallowing the bile that threatened to choke her.

  “Because you’re eyes tell me you still want me,” he said softly, reaching out to touch her. When she flinched he let his hand fall to his side. “Now, come inside before you catch your death.”