Amelia walked into the house and shut the door. Darian’s kiss had changed something in her. In her mind, she had always known he was her mate, but after his kiss, she suddenly felt empty without him. She keenly felt the separation from him, and it scared her. Desperately needing a distraction to take her mind off her still tingling body, she headed toward the kitchen.
When she entered, Ryuu looked up from the stove. ‘Is there something I can do for you, itoko-sama?’ he asked.
She frowned. ‘What does that mean anyway?’
He gave a noncommittal shrug. ‘It is a mode of address in my language. I find that the English language lacks proper terms to covey certain meanings,’ he said, not explaining anything at all.
‘It sounds pretty.’
Ryuu smiled and gave a half bow.
‘Could you show me where Aiden’s office is? Keelan brought my makeup case down last night so I could do makeovers for Beth and Meryn.’
‘Of course, one moment.’ Ryuu untied the starched, white apron and set it to one side. He walked her out of the kitchen to the foyer and down a second hallway on the other side of the staircase. He paused at a closed door before knocking.
‘Come in!’ she heard Meryn yell.
Smiling, Ryuu opened the door for her, and she walked in.
‘Thank you, Ryuu.’
‘You’re very welcome.’ He bowed again and left.
‘Are you here to do makeovers?’ Meryn squealed.
‘Yup, my case should be around here somewhere.’ She looked around.
‘If you mean the silver, toolbox-looking thing, it’s against the wall,’ Jaxon said, pointing it out.
‘That would be it.’ She wheeled the case to the small seating area where Beth and Meryn now sat.
‘Is it okay if I join in, too?’ Noah asked shyly.
‘Of course!’ Amelia pointed to the empty seat next to Meryn on the small love seat.
Meryn turned to Noah. ‘I’m going to get sexy.’
Noah blushed furiously. ‘I want to look pretty.’
Beth laughed. ‘Noah, you are pretty.’
‘I wish I had your eyelashes,’ Amelia sighed. ‘Women pay a lot money for false mink lashes to look half as good.’
Meryn’s eyes lit up. ‘I want to try those.’
Amelia started pulling different palettes and brushes from her case. ‘So, will the order be Beth, then Meryn, then Noah?’ she asked.
Meryn and Noah looked at each other. ‘Can we try it ourselves?’ Meryn asked.
Amelia looked between the two of them. ‘You know what? Let’s use my laptop. I’ll fire up a makeup tutorial on YouTube, and you two can try it out. How’s that?’
‘Perfect! I can’t wait to shock Aiden.’ Meryn grinned evilly.
Amelia pulled out her laptop from the back of the case and logged in. ‘What type of look did you want?’
Meryn pulled the laptop between her and Noah. ‘We got this, you do Beth.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Absolutely.’ Meryn started typing. ‘We just have to find a video we want.’
‘Okay, if you have any questions or need help, let me know.’ Amelia slid a tray of assorted makeup and beauty supplies over to them and turned to Beth. ‘So what’s your normal look?’
‘Pretty natural, I tend to go for neutral colors like cream, pink, and light brown.’
She assessed Beth’s gorgeous blonde hair and blue eyes. ‘How do you feel about bold colors?’
Beth flinched. ‘How bold?’
‘Trust me.’ Amelia grinned and started pulling out the makeup she knew she wanted for Beth’s new look.
‘So, Amelia, do you know The Doctor?’ Meryn asked, her eyes still glued to the laptop. Noah pointed to one video and she nodded.
‘Doctor Who?’ Amelia winked at Beth.
Meryn laughed. ‘Exactly!’ Then she paused. ‘Wait, did you actually mean to ask doctor who, as in the question?’
Amelia just raised an eyebrow at her, and Meryn rolled her eyes.
‘What are the odds that most of the mates watch Doctor Who?’ Beth asked, lining up the pencils by length.
Amelia shrugged. ‘Maybe the Doctor is gathering all of his supporters into one place so that, when the time comes, we can help him save the Earth?’
Meryn looked up, her eyes wide and her face filled with wonder.
Beth groaned. ‘Don’t encourage her nutty conspiracy theories.’
Meryn glared at Beth. ‘Some of my theories are true, thank you very much.’
Beth shook her head. ‘It worries me that you even think of those crazy ideas to begin with.’
Meryn shrugged. ‘Aiden snores; it’s what I think of when I’m trying to get to sleep.’
‘Ahh, sleep deprivation. I knew there had to be an explanation.’
Amelia pulled out her pack of makeup remover wipes. ‘Before we get started, is anyone wearing makeup?’ All three shook their heads. ‘Ideally, I would have you exfoliate and moisturize before we get started, but I think we can skip it today. Remind me to establish skin care programs for you later.’ She put the wipes on the table.
‘This one?’ Meryn pointed to the screen. Noah nodded. Meryn started their video as Amelia picked up a tube of primer. As she was smoothing it over Beth’s skin, she heard a masculine voice from her laptop. ‘And you if don’t like it, don’t fucking watch it; you know the drill.’
Amelia and Beth turned to Meryn and Noah at the same time. ‘What are you watching?’ Beth asked.
‘Manny Mua. So far, he rocks!’ Meryn’s eyes were glued to the monitor.
‘Mua?’ Amelia laughed. ‘Meryn, that’s Manny M-U-A, as in makeup artist, not his last name.’
‘That makes more sense,’ Meryn said.
‘He’s gorgeous,’ Noah sighed, watching the video with a dreamy expression on his face.
‘He must be pretty,’ Jaxon quipped, without looking up from his work.
‘He is,’ Meryn and Noah replied in unison.
Amelia turned back to Beth. ‘I’ll have to check him out later.’ She held up one bottle of foundation then another. Beth was so fair she knew she would probably have to mix foundations to get the correct shade. She chose two of the lightest shades she had and ran test strips down her neck. While they were drying, she lightly filled in her brows with a brow pencil. Since she was blonde, she didn’t want to go too dark.
‘No, he said a two-twenty-four brush, where is that one?’ Meryn asked.
‘Found it.’ Noah held up the black handled brush.
Amelia lucked out in that Beth was a match with a foundation she had. With a flat-topped brush, she buffed the foundation into Beth’s skin. She used her favorite concealer not only to highlight under her eyes but to prime her eyelids as well. Next, she set the foundation and concealer with a translucent powder.
‘My fucking eye is twitching,’ Manny complained from her laptop. Meryn giggled at the video. ‘I love him!’
Beth chuckled at Meryn’s giggles. ‘She would find a kindred spirit via YouTube somehow.’
‘Meryn, I don’t think that’s right,’ Noah commented nervously.
Amelia dug through her case, looking for her palest pink blush. She wanted just a hint of color in Beth’s cheeks. ‘Found it!’ She opened the compact and picked up her fluffiest brush.
Beth leaned back, looking skeptical. ‘I don’t usually use blush.’
‘Trust me, I know what I want to do with your eyes.’ Amelia ignored Beth’s nervous expression and added a flush of color. She finished Beth’s face by adding a shimmery highlight to emphasize her high cheekbones.
‘Why do they say, ‘I’m going in with’? Going in where? It sounds like it’s going in your eyeball.’ Meryn asked.
‘Meryn, I think that may be too much,’ Noah said, his voice sounding strange.
Amelia shrugged and closed the highlighter compact. ‘It’s just what they say.’ She beamed at Beth. ‘Now my favorite part, the eyes.’ Amelia went straight to her custom palette and began layering and blending colors.
‘You really like this don’t you?’ Beth asked.
‘I do. I love colors and bright, sparkly things. I like fun music and cute stuffed animals. I don’t like when people are upset, so I always try to make things fun and lively.’
‘It’s why I call her Bubbles,’ Meryn added.
Beth giggled. ‘You are bubbly.’
Amelia laughed. ‘I like that nickname. I just hope my brothers never hear it; I’ll never hear my own name again.’
Beth rolled her eyes. ‘Tell me about it! My uncle, to my knowledge, has never called me Elizabeth. I always get Bethy.’
‘The guys call me Menace. I don’t think that’s entirely accurate,’ Meryn protested. Behind them, they heard Jaxon laugh and cover it quickly with a cough. Beth winked at Amelia. Something told her that Menace fit Meryn to a T.
Amelia tilted her head and stared at Beth. She was mostly done, having chosen bronzes and browns for her lids. She was debating how Beth would handle a pop of color. She decided, to throw caution to the wind, and added a gorgeous teal color to her lower lash line. Between the bronze and the teal, Beth’s eyes popped. The result was exactly what she was going for.
‘Well, what do we have here?’ a male voice asked from behind them.
Amelia turned and saw the men and Rheia standing just inside the doorway looking in with smiles on their faces–except Aiden.
‘What’s wrong with Meryn?’ he asked, frowning.
Amelia and Beth turned to Meryn and Noah, and Amelia’s mouth dropped. How had things gotten so bad, so fast?
Meryn blinked one eye repeatedly. ‘It’s my sexy, smokey eye.’
The men shook their heads in unison. Aiden broke the silence. ‘No baby. You look like a sad little panda.’
‘A drunk, psychotic, panda,’ Colton added.
Rheia swatted at his shoulder, a fierce frown on her face. Colton instantly looked contrite.
‘What about Noah?’ Meryn asked, pointing to the blond who ducked his face in embarrassment.
Colton nodded. ‘Looks good.’ He gave Noah a thumbs up.
Noah flushed with the praise. Amelia knew he must have been nervous facing a group of warriors with makeup on.
Meryn looked at Noah with one eye, and her bottom lip started to tremble. ‘But we both watched Manny. Why does he look good and I don’t?’
Aiden walked across the room and scooped her up. ‘Come on sexy, let’s go take a shower.’
Meryn looked up into her mate’s face her one eye wide. ‘I’m sexy?’
Aiden nuzzled her neck. ‘I can barely contain myself.’
Meryn smiled and kissed him all over the face. ‘I did it for you.’
‘I know.’
As he walked past the men to head upstairs, Keelan tilted his head. ‘Why do you keep winking at us?’ he asked.
Meryn sighed. ‘I’m not winking. I think I glued my fucking eye shut with the lash glue.’
Aiden turned to Amelia a panicked look on his face.
‘Olive oil,’ she said, answering his unasked question.
He nodded. ‘We’ll get some from Ryuu. Thanks Amelia.’ He carried Meryn out, telling her again how sexy she was.
Rheia and Beth sighed. ‘He’s so sweet,’ Beth said, smiling softly.
Rheia looked over at Beth. ‘You look like a model. Standing next to you, I look like a pumpkin.’
Colton quickly pulled Rheia into his arms and dipped her back low. ‘You’ll always be a goddess to me.’
Rheia laughed. ‘Do we have time for a shower?’
Colton growled low and righted her. ‘Challenge accepted.’ Rheia squealed as he chased her out of the room, grabbing at her butt.
‘Pup.’ Gavriel shook his head at Colton’s antics before he walked up to Beth’s chair and lifted her hand in his. He bowed over it before kissing it gently. ‘You have taken my breath away. I desire your company upstairs where I can look my fill a bit longer.’ When he gave her a heated look from beneath his dark brows, even Amelia almost swooned. Beth’s hand in his began to tremble, and she nodded shyly. Gavriel helped her to stand and laid her hand on his forearm before escorting her out of the room.
‘Wow,’ Noah breathed, fanning himself.
‘No kidding. I’ll be in the shower, too, though it’s not as much fun when you do it alone,’ Keelan grumbled and left.
Noah blinked. ‘Did he say what I think he just said?’
Jaxon laughed. ‘Probably. Come on Noah, I bet if we look pitiful enough, Ryuu will serve us dinner early, then we can log in to beat Lennox’s ass in Call of Duty,’ he said, wheeling toward the door.
Noah jumped up excitedly. ‘Good idea, I’m starved.’ He turned to Amelia. ‘Thank you for letting me use your makeup.’
‘Any time and I mean that. Colton was right; you nailed that smokey eye.’ Amelia could clearly see that Noah had an interest in cosmetics.
‘Thanks, maybe you can show me different styles later?’
‘Sure,’ Amelia said sincerely. Not many people shared her passion for creating new looks.
Once they had left, she noticed that Darian alone stood by the door.
‘Aren’t you going to shower, too?’ She started cleaning her brushes and putting her stuff away.
He pushed away from the wall. ‘In a moment.’ He walked into the room and sat down on the love seat. He didn’t say anything, just watched her as she lovingly put things back where they belonged.
‘This comforts you, doesn’t it?’ he asked when she was done.
‘Yes. The ritual of it, the bright colors and soft fragrances, it makes me happy. I like making things beautiful.’ She snapped her case closed.
He stood and walked over to her, his face unreadable. ‘I’d like to see you do your own makeup, your ritual.’
She swallowed hard, her throat suddenly dry. ‘Come to my room after your shower, I’ll let you watch.’
She watched as his eyes darkened.
‘I’ll be there.’ He easily lifted her heavy case and walked out of the room.
Amelia took a deep breath. She would seduce him with the sultriest look she knew. Feeling her confidence rising with her excitement, she hurried up the stairs.
*****
When she got to her room, she immediately grabbed the case Darian had left in the hallway and hurried to get everything set up. She set up her case in the middle of the room, using it as her portable vanity. She dragged the heavy wingback chair over to create a place for Darian. Satisfied with her room set-up, she ran into the bathroom to clean and moisturize her skin. Using bobby pins, she carefully arranged her hair away from her face, giving her a pin-up look. She ripped her suitcase apart looking for her favorite dusty rose silk robe she’d bought on a whim at Victoria’s Secret years ago. Knowing that she had a mate out in the world somewhere made dating impossible, so the sexy robe was more for her than anyone else; now she was grateful she had it.
She looked down and almost screamed in panic. It looked like her suitcase had exploded. She had just finished throwing everything back in when there was a knock at the door. Without bothering to zip it, she shoved it under the bench at the foot of the bed.
‘Come in,’ she said, trying to slow her breathing. Nothing said sexy like puffing for breath because you were so out of shape you couldn’t dig through your own suitcase.
When Darian walked in, she couldn’t catch her breath for another reason. Instead of his normal elegant slacks and sweater, he was wearing the traditional long fae robes that were so well known throughout their world. Unlike her dream, this robe wasn’t golden with jewel-tone leaf embroidery. Instead, it was a deep black; the cuffs of his sleeves and collar were accented in sharp, ruby-red geometric designs. It had a high collar that gave the robe a formal look and the dark hues only emphasized his fair skin and blond hair. The contrast was almost ethereal. He held two glasses of red wine.
He smiled at her, and she was shocked at her reaction to it. At first, she was filled with a gleeful joy, and for a moment, her fears for the future faded, until she saw his eyes. They were no longer their normal lavender; instead, they were a dark amethyst, almost black. She was losing him.
He glided across the room and sat down in the chair she had set up for him. Nervously, she sat down at her impromptu vanity, and he handed her the glass of wine. She took a sip to calm her nerves. As she expected, it was a very good wine. She carefully set the glass down in the top open compartment of her case.
‘Did you change your mind about claiming me?’ she asked playfully, indicating his attire and the wine.
He shook his head. ‘I stopped fighting. The idea of seeing you like this, this intimacy, I couldn’t stay away. Like a moth to a flame, except I want to be burned. If these are to be my final days, I want your touch to act as the brand that will set me on fire. I don’t mind bathing myself in your blazing light, knowing that my cremation will set you free.’
She turned her head away to hide her tears. He had given up completely, and she didn’t know how to save him. How did you give someone the will to live? She slowly reached for her wine and took another sip. If he was so ready to set her free, then she would have to show him something worth living for.
She tossed the idea of her sultry look; he was bathed in enough darkness. She picked up her rose-scented powder and lightly dusted her chest and neck sending its soothing fragrance throughout the room. ‘I think you’re being terribly unfair; I think I should have a say considering this is my mating, too.’
He lifted the glass to his mouth, a slight smirk on his lips. ‘You’re too young to appreciate the unfairness in life.’
She shrugged and pulled out the bottom drawer where she kept her oils. She never used them on clients, but found that, even if the spelled oils weren’t directly applied to whomever she was working on, the aromas alone helped. She reached for her two most powerful oils. One was a present from her brothers, the other one she had made herself. Brotherly Love was a mixture of frankincense, myrrh, sandalwood, and lilac, essences associated with protection. All three of her brothers had poured their love and energy into this oil, so much so, that simply touching the bottle made her long for home. Midsummer’s Night was a mixture of gardenia, jasmine, rose, geranium, and vanilla, it had been inspired by her dream of Darian as a child, when they walked together in the fae gardens. She hoped that the properties of love and fertility with the protection properties of Brotherly Love would help guide and protect her mating.
She dabbed a few drops of each oil on the inside of her wrists and brought them up to rub lightly behind her ear and down her neck. She peeked over and was satisfied to see that Darian had visibly relaxed and was smiling softly. She turned back to her task at hand.
‘I like using a light powder in the evenings, something with a bit of luminosity. This one is called, Hope of Light.’ She used a brush to powder her face. ‘A lot of people think you have to go with a darker look when you go out at night, the smokey eye that Meryn was attempting for example, but that’s not true. Lighter colors have their place when the sun goes down.’ She picked up an eye shadow palette. ‘This color is called Heart’s Desire; it has a gorgeous champagne gold color.’ She used a small, fluffy brush to apply the color all over her lid. ‘This one is called, Shimmering Love.’ A pearlescent cream color, she used it to highlight her brow bone, her inner eye, and the center of her lip. One by one, she chose bright colors named for hope, love, and light. When she was done, she turned to him. His empty wine glass sat on the floor beside his chair, forgotten. He no longer smiled but desperately gripped both arms of the chair, as if he was fighting an unseen enemy to stay seated.
‘You don’t like it?’ She turned and looked in the mirror. She looked fresh-faced and golden. She had worn the look many times in the past when she wanted to feel closer to him.
She reached up and slowly removed the bobby pins, letting her curls fall where they would, and his hands on the chair arms cracked the wood. She put the bobby pins aside and folded her hands in her lap. ‘You do like it.’
He took a ragged breath. ‘You look like an innocent angel. Everything you did was pure magic.’ He released the chair arms and stood.
‘You keep using terms like young, innocent, and angel to describe me, but that’s not right. I have seen so much darkness, I feel like my soul is stained with it. If there is anyone on this earth that can help you fight back your demons, it’s me, yet you won’t even let me try to help you.’ She stood to face him.
His features became a hard mask; gone was his easy smile. ‘Who has shown you darkness? Why didn’t your brothers protect you?’
‘Don’t blame them. It was my choice; every single time, it was my choice.’ She hugged herself tightly. If he knew, would she still be his innocent angel? Would he give up completely? She turned her back to him.
‘Tell me,’ he demanded.
She shook her head. ‘You haven’t earned the right to ask that of me. You deny me at every turn and expect the privilege of my trust. It doesn’t work like that, Darian.’
‘If someone has hurt you…’ His voice was sharp and ice cold.
She turned and slowly made her way over to him. When she stood directly in front of him, she reached up and laid her hand over his heart. ‘What would you do, my prince? What if I told you that, without your love, I would spend the rest of my life trapped in a hell of my own making? That not even losing my soul could compare to the nightmare I would endure every day without you, lost in an inescapable cycle of torment and abuse? If you’re not willing to live for me, are you willing to fight for me?’
He swallowed hard, repeatedly. ‘You ask too much.’
‘I only ask for what I was promised so long ago.’
He reached up and removed her hand from his chest. ‘There is nothing left in me that could save you.’ He walked past her and out of the room.
She stood there, unable to move. She kept her breathing even. She wouldn’t cry. How many times had the thought of ruining her makeup acted as a suit of armor? Her mate thought he had nothing left to give her, but she knew that wasn’t true. If he couldn’t see the light of his own soul, then she would become a mirror and reflect his own light back to him. If his light was too dim, then she would ignite the flames of his heart. She would never give up, not until he was safe.
Goddess, help me.
