Sunny - Mona Lisa Craving

“Are you hurt?” Amber demanded, holding me at arm’s length to look me over from head to toe with a keen, razor-sharp inspection.

I was able to answer him honestly, “No, I’m not hurt. I’m fine.”

Car doors opened and shut, and Dante and Quentin came to stand beside their father; the truck separated them from my men. Hannah remained in the car per her husband’s quietly murmured command.

“This is the healer and her family that I told you about,” I said, made nervous by my men’s continued tension.

“’Tis the same scent from the forest,” Dontaine said. “The intruders .” The snarled pronouncement had my men drawing their weapons.

“Stand down,” I said sharply. “They are not armed and they offer you no violence.”

“They wear guns,” Amber rumbled dangerously.

And so they did, in harnesses hidden beneath the light jackets they wore. I’d totally forgotten about them. How stupid of me. Thankfully, Nolan and his sons were smarter than I. They made no move to draw their guns. Just stood there, a solid wall of three.

“Your Queen thinks you dead, Nolan,” Amber said, his eyes fixed on the big warrior.

“The only way I could have ever left her,” Nolan replied. “It has been long since I have seen you. You are no longer Amber, but Lord Amber now,” he said, noting the medallion chain the other man wore, and the greater feel of his power.

“Did you take Mona Lisa from us?” Amber asked.

“I did,” Nolan answered.

“Why?”

“My son Dante was afflicted with Lunara asseros .”

A ripple of reaction, felt more than seen from my men. Amber’s gaze traveled over the two young men, coming to rest on Dante without having to be told which one he was. No need to. His stronger presence, greater than that of his brother, and my scent which he still carried, identified him readily. Amber studied him carefully, and was examined with equal intensity in turn.

Abruptly Amber resheathed his sword. The tension lessened palpably as the rest of my men put away their weapons. They may not have entirely forgiven Nolan, but at least they understood his actions better now.

“You have a family, Nolan,” Amber said.

“Yes, I have been richly blessed.” At Nolan’s calling, Hannah stepped out of the car and went to her husband’s side. “This is my wife, Hannah,” Nolan said proudly. “And my two sons, Dante and Quentin.”

“Welcome.” Amber inclined his head formally to them all, then his eyes returned to Nolan. “Welcome back into the fold, brother.” The two big men stepped around the truck and embraced each other in that rough, back-slapping way of powerful men.

You couldn’t help comparing the two of them. Nolan stood around six two, but Amber topped him by at least a good four inches. Nolan was big, but Amber was even bigger.

As if a silent signal had been given, the others rushed down to me, and I was wrapped in teary embraces. I returned hugs, spoke reassuringly to Rosemary, Tersa, Jamie, and Thaddeus. Even apologized to Tomas for hanging up on him the way I had.

Daylight streamed softly over us, and while I enjoyed the feel of the sun’s warmth upon my skin, I knew that it had to be uncomfortable for the rest of them.

“Grab what you need,” I instructed Nolan and his family. “You’ll sleep here tonight until we can settle you into a place of your own.”

Hannah grabbed a satchel smelling of medicinal herbs, and a second light tote. Nolan and the boys each took two bags from the car. The heavier, longer one contained their weapons. The second, smaller bag was filled, no doubt, with lesser necessities like clothing. I mentally rolled my eyes and shooed everyone into the house.

If a house could give a sigh, Belle Vista did as we walked through her grand doors—of happiness, of contentment, of joy. I was back where I belonged with my people. And like a good Queen, I had brought back even more people to fill her hallways with.

I SLEPT INAmber’s arms that day. No scolding, no questions. Just sweet, blessed sleep. As soon as he wrapped me in the comfort of his big embrace, with his slow-beating heart thudding gently beneath my ear blocking out all other sounds in the house, I drifted off to sleep.

My eyes fluttered open as dusk began to fall. Wide awake and refreshed, I left Amber still sleeping, drifted silently down the stairs, and slipped out the front door. A few last, lingering rays of sunlight still defiantly painted the remnants of the day, as if to say, Do not hasten me on my way . I walked across green grass so lush that it cushioned each footfall, drinking in the magnificent hues of sunset, the vibrant splashes of color thrown upon the rich canvas of the sky.

It wasn’t until he spoke that I became aware that another watched the ebbing day as I did. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” His voice came from the trees lining the eastern edge of the lawn.

“Dontaine,” I said with surprise and pleasure, and walked across the carpet of grass to where my master of arms sat against a tree, half-hidden in its shadows. Sunset’s last faint light fell across the leaves to dapple his skin with purple-pink hues.

“You can walk in daylight?” I asked.

“Like any other Monère,” Dontaine replied in a voice carefully devoid of emotion, his eyes lifted to the setting sun. “Not like you, without any pain, any burning. It stings my skin still.”

I sat on the ground beside him and said softly, “I’m sorry.”

“For what? That I did not receive your gift, your immunity from the sunlight through our mating? Or for walking so carelessly out of the house like this, without any guards? Without anyone aware of where you go. Or are you apologizing for doing that very same thing yesterday, twenty-four hours ago, allowing yourself to be snatched from us, leaving the entire household in a state of frenzied panic?”

His voice was deceptively calm. But his eyes…his eyes, when he turned them to me, were far from calm. He was furious in a way that was even more frightening than if he had screamed and yelled. Contained fury.

I flushed with shame, with guilt, with knowing that I was wrong. “Dontaine, I’m very sorry for that.”

“Sorry doesn’t cut it, as you humans say!” He lashed out at me with the biting edge of his emotions unleashed, and I flinched, wisely shut up as he pressed his lips tightly together, holding back the hot torrent of words just waiting to spill out. Somehow he managed to swallow them down. His next words came out in a hoarse, strained whisper. “I promised him that I would guard you with my life.”

“Who?”

“Halcyon, your Demon Prince. Remember?”

His caustic tone made me wince. “Dontaine, please. Stop.”

“I can’t ! It eats at me so. He entrusted you to me, to watch over you when he could not. And hours later, not even a day later, you are gone. Stolen from us while we slept.” He looked at me with tormented eyes, a painful mix of guilt and anguish filling them. “And I was not here. I do not live in this house. How can I watch over you if I do not even live here?”

“Dontaine…” My voice trailed away. What could I say after all?

“I am your master of arms by your decree. And your lover by the generosity of your heart. Let me stay here with you, Mona Lisa.”

The open vulnerability in that proud face hurt me more than any scalding anger ever could. I gave beneath the gentle force of it with a yielding sigh. “All right. Yes. You can stay here at the house.”

“In Gryphon’s room, next to yours,” he said. “I’ve spoken to Amber and have his agreement. He wishes it, too.”

Ah, so that was why Amber had held back on the tongue lashing. He knew Dontaine would deliver it to me with far more effective results. And that, loaded down with guilt, it would be hard for me to deny Dontaine this request.