"You watched as I savagely killed a creature in front of you. I tell you how I wanted him to suffer more and it is you that soothes me. You have to see the absurdity in this," Stefan marveled. He gathered my shirt and ripped it up the middle, dropping the scraps of material to the bathroom floor. He made short work of removing my jeans, tossing them to join the growing pile of destroyed clothing.
He lifted me into the shower with him and the spray of the hot water ran over us, the water dripping red trails down his chest as it ran over his tangled, bloody hair.
"Sit down. Let me wash your hair." I pointed to the seat in the corner. I could wash away the blood and the gore, yet I ached to have to power to wash away his all-consuming anger and need for revenge.
He obeyed and sat on the small bench, his large frame filling the entire corner of the shower. He closed his eyes as I lathered his hair with shampoo, a purring sound grumbling in his chest as my nails scratched over his scalp. Grabbing the handheld attachment, I rinsed his hair and watched as the pink suds disappeared, revealing his shiny blond hair. Reaching for the bar of soap, I washed him, my slick, bubbly hands running over every curve and muscle of his body. When I finished, I lowered my lips to his soft mouth. My hand gripped the back of his neck, pulling him closer to me. My tongue slipped between his lips, seeking out his. When they met, he moaned into my mouth, his fingers running through my hair.
He pulled me onto his lap, our embrace never breaking. I only raised my lips from his for a moment to catch my breath and he buried his head between my breasts, leaving me to wrap my arms around him and hold him as he breathed deeply against my wet skin.
"You saw me at my darkest moment, yet somehow you still manage to love me."
I pressed my cheek against his damp hair. "I'll always love all of you. Everything was wrong until you made it right."
His shoulders shook in response to my words. All I could do was hold him to me and let him have this moment, absently stroking his hair while the shower rained down on us.
* * *
Somehow we managed to make it to Denpasar Internation Airport in time to catch our flight. Stefan had a final hushed phone conversation with Nigel during the trip to the airport. As we sped towards our plane, I noticed a black car parked near the hangar. A stocky vampire in a dark suit stood with his arms crossed in front of him, waiting for our arrival.
Stefan parked the car and unfolded himself from the car, his tall frame approaching the much shorter man and placed a key ring in his outstretched hand. The dark haired vampire inclined his head and disappeared into the black sedan, driving off into the early evening Bali night. I could only assume he was the one responsible for cleaning up the mess that we left behind at my villa.
Opening my car door, I stepped out onto the concrete, inhaling the humid air. Stefan popped the trunk and began setting luggage beside his car. Lukas carefully picked up Anna's slack body and carried her up the steps, disappearing inside of the plane.
"Get settled inside, vackra. I will need to talk to the crew and I will join you in a moment."
"Please hurry."
His blue eyes were somber as he glanced my way and nodded, turning his attention to two men that were waiting for his instructions. Climbing up into the plane, I ducked inside and looked around, my eyes stopping as they focused on Anna lying on the couch. Lukas had placed a blanket over her and if I didn't know better, I would assume she was sleeping. If only …
"I'm sorry." Lukas' soft voice beside of me pulled me out of my thoughts.
Turning to face him, I reached out and pulled him to me in a gentle hug. Obviously caught off guard by my burst of emotion, he awkwardly patted my back. I released him and looked into his blue eyes, holding each side of his face in my hands. "Don't be sorry, Lukas. You were honest."
Lukas smiled weakly and walked to stand at the edge of the couch, shifting his eyes to examine Anna for a moment. "She'll be fine with this, Josie. If she wakes up to her new life, she won't hate you if you're worried about that." His voice wavered as he moved to sit by her on the couch. He glanced at the floor before fixing his searching gaze on me. "Did he really look like me?"
Between to hearing the big ‘if' of Anna's fate and the mere thought of Derek made an icy finger of dread run down the length of my spine. "Yes. He looked exactly like you and even sounded like you. He couldn't pull off the mannerisms though."
He pursed his lips for a moment. "What do you mean?"
I wanted to roll my eyes at him. "The lip pursing and whole fists on your hip thing you do. He didn't know your mannerisms."
Lukas stood up with his hands on his hips when Stefan's presence in the place brought our conversation to a halt. He lowered himself into one of the leather upholstered seats and held out his hand for me to join him. Crossing the small plane, I went to sit in the seat beside of him. He stretched his long arm over to me and my hands automatically closed over his wrist, my thumbs running over the raised veins.
"Thank god for laptops and headphones," Lukas muttered as he moved from the couch and found his own seat, up two rows from where we were sitting.
I leaned over to peek out the window of the plane, saying goodbye to the place where my life truly began. I continued to stroke small lines across his wrist, enjoying the feeling of his satiny skin under my fingertips.
"My life began that night I saw you across the restaurant, vackra."
He'd been reading my mind again. I swiveled in the chair to face him, a small smile across my lips.
"It's not fair to cut your mind off from me and still freely pick through mine, you know?" I asked.
A ghost of a smile graced his face for the briefest of moment. He watched my fingers as they stroked his skin. "I never claimed to play fair, Josephine."
"Stefan, let me in." My mind brushed against his, missing our mental connection. His eyes snapped up to mine and he slowly let his thoughts flow, his presence a gentle hum in the back of my mind again.
Happy to have the connection back, I rested my head against the seat and simply continued stroking his wrist and admiring the vampire sitting next to me. He looked exhausted, his face drawn and heavy, the usual quirk to his lips had been replaced with a slight frown.
"I heard you, Josephine. You called for me and I heard you. All the miles between us and I heard your voice. You were like a beacon, calling me to you," Stefan softly mused. "I could only hear you say my name, over and over. It was maddening, hearing your cries and being so close, yet so far away. I knew as long as I heard you, you were still alive. That was my only consolation."
My fingers stopped moving over his wrist and I leaned out of chair to search out his downcast eyes. "You heard me? How?"
A slight smile pulled at the side of his mouth as his sea blue eyes glinting as they flickered up to meet mine. "We are one now."