“I’m starving,” Lili said, as she traced her fingers through the muscular contours of Coleman’s body.
“I’m not surprised. We’ve been very busy.”
She laughed and sat up beside him. “Eggs and toast?”
“Why not.” He pulled on the only pants he had in the leather sack he had carried. He tossed Lili one of his button-down shirts. He held his hand out to her as she walked across the bed. He stood with his back to her so she could climb on. He carried her to the kitchen and slid her off his back onto the counter.
“I’m cooking for you this time.” He waved his finger looking aimlessly around the kitchen.
“Oh really? Do you know how to cook?”
“The only thing I know how to cook is scrambled eggs and toast.” He flashed his schoolboy grin as he looked for a frying pan.
“In that drawer.” She pointed behind him.
“Ah…and the refrigerator?” He laughed as he grabbed the eggs out of it.
“At least let me help. This could take all night,” she rolled her eyes, strictly as a form of jest.
“Fair enough, luv.” He kissed her firmly, holding her around the waist as she jumped off the counter.
He scrambled. She toasted. Lili couldn’t wait for him to plate it. She sat back on the counter and began eating the eggs out of the frying pan with her fingers. “Here let me help.” Coleman took his fork and fed her while she tickled his bare back with her fingers. “I love watching you eat,” he said.
“Why?” Lili giggled.
“It’s incredibly sexy. You make everything look mouth-watering.” His mouth hung open as she took another bite of egg. “I don’t know if I’m hungry for food or hungry for you.”
“Wow, I really am Gifted,” she winked.
“How ’bout some dessert?” He pulled her into his arms and carried her back into the bedroom.
Her skin was sensitive to his touch. It was difficult to focus on anything other than the intense sensations. She held her breath, swallowing quickly to recapture her composure. Could she be this vulnerable? Coleman knew she needed to be guided, to be given permission.
He stretched her arms out over her head and interlaced his fingers with hers. “I need to hear you. Taim I ngra leat go deo.” His whispers burned through her. His intoxicating green eyes pulled her deeper into his gentle commands. His Gaelic tongue sent Lili into beautiful cries and only Coleman Kavanagh could interpret her sounds.
The wood in the fire outside popped as twilight emerged across the mountains of Vermont. There was a faint golden light left behind as the sun withdrew below the horizon.
Lili and Coleman held hands as they admired Mother Nature.
“I really wanted to speak with Stella but I think we should get on the road tomorrow morning.”
“Can we spend one more day here?” Lili asked with a purring delight.
He couldn’t deny the peacefulness of this place.
“Of course,” he said, kissing her fingers one at a time.
“Liam is mad at me,” Lili confessed.
“I can’t believe that’s true.”
“Believe it.” Lili kept her eyes on the fire.
“Was he being protective of me? He tends to do that.”
“Yes, and I can’t fault him for that,” Lili said.
“I’ll sort this out, Lil.”
“Liam’s right. I waited too long to tell you the truth. All along you were trying to gain my trust.”
“We both did the best we could. I wasn’t exactly open with you, either.”
“Cole, we have so much to talk about. There is so much I want to say. I hardly know where to begin.”
“We have loads of time.”
“I know we do, but all that time I thought you were in love with Cecelia. All that time wasted. I just don’t want to wait…”
Coleman quickly stood up and then kneeled on the ground in front of her. “It’s alright now. You know the truth.”
“You’ve been suffering.”
“I’ve faced my demons just like you have, Lil.”
Her silence ran through him.
“How much did Liam tell you?”
“He told me you were a rescue pilot and that you’ve been diagnosed with PTSD.”
“Well, my brother covered everything then,” he stood up and leaned over to kiss her forehead.
“Ugh,” she sighed.
“What’s wrong?”
“Don’t ever kiss me like that again,” she whispered. Lili wrapped her arms around his neck, rubbed her cheek against his beard until she found his lips. Coleman still had a lot to learn about a kiss.
The next day Lili happily cooked a pork loin with walnut date stuffing and a port wine sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, and roasted brussel sprouts with pomegranate oil and vanilla butter. The pig was slaughtered the previous week, a well-treated pig that lived on Stella’s farm. That didn’t stop Lili from sautéing tofu for herself.
“What have I missed?” Coleman entered the farmhouse with a stack of wood in his arms. He fed the horses and the chickens as well.
“Nothing much,” she smacked her lips as she tasted a spoonful of port wine sauce.
“Nothing much? My favorite part is watching you cook.”
“I thought your favorite part was watching me eat?”
“Hmm…” he kissed her neck, “that is a dilemma.”
“Settle down, mister. You need sustenance.”
“I need you,” he whispered in her ear.
Dinner would have to wait. Coleman had other things on his mind. He made that obvious while he undressed her. Spoons and tongs crashed to the floor. She managed to save a ladle full of sauce before it hit the floor. It was the last thing she gave any concern to.
Lili sat up and wrapped herself up in a white crocheted blanket. Coleman went into the kitchen and plated their dinner. They sat in front of the fireplace and ate. Cole leaned against the couch with his jeans unbuttoned to make room for the second helping of stuffing.
Lili eventually fell asleep in his arms. Coleman carried her to bed and returned to the kitchen to clean up the dishes and pans. Lili was sound asleep when a visitor crept into her dream.
The auburn-haired girl wept as she walked through the old cemetery. The rolling fog made it difficult to see, yet she seemed to know exactly where she was going. She arrived at a large headstone, set down some flowers, and opened up a blanket. The auburn haired girl curled up on the blanket and wept. She was hiding something in her hand. Lili moved closer to see what it was, but the fog furiously hid it.
Lili turned to see the name on the headstone, but the fog was determined to conceal the name of the person that rested there. Lili reached her hand to feel the letters. Her fingers traced angles and sharp points, smooth curves, and rounded circles. Lili waved her hand in front of the headstone when finally the fog obediently dissipated, but before she could read it Lili was distracted. The auburn-haired girl lifted a dagger from under her long coat. Lili knelt down and reached for the girl’s hand but it fell through the thickening fog. There was nothing she could do but watch the blood drain from the girl’s heart.
“No!” Lili screamed, sitting up with a jolt. Coleman was at her side instantly. Lili raked the hair from her face as she mentally asked herself questions she had no answers to. Lili thought about the young girl and wondered if this was someone that needed saving or someone that was already dead.
“Do you want to tell me about it?”
Lili shook her head then rested it against his chest. The cinnamon and amber were spiraling around her senses, forming a barrier. His warmth replaced the tension. He was protecting her without even really trying.
“Give me a day with no night,” she said.
“I will hide the moon.”