Imperial (Insight #8)(47)
“How can I help you?” the girl said with a pronounced shake in her voice.
Vade glanced down at me as his grin widened for no reason. “We will take two of everything on your menu…to go. And the largest piece of red velvet cake you have here.”
“Everything?” the girl questioned, glancing at the girl next to her to make sure she heard that right.
Vade slid several green papers closer to her. “Everything. And is it possible that you can deliver those delicacies for me?”
I tried not to smile, not to feel the rush of the past, but I turned crimson anyway as my soul pulsed. In the past I couldn’t choose, so Vade ordered it all. I wanted so bad to consume each piece, but I couldn’t even find room for a single bite of everything. That made me feel horrible, and I didn’t want to waste it simply because I knew what it felt like never to have tasted anything so divine. Like always, Vade had a perfect solution.
“Sur-sure...yes, sir. Where to?” the girl asked.
“The children’s home, two blocks over,” he answered, still smiling at me.
I thought those girls were going to faint with his request; they both blushed and began to tally up the order. The girl tried to hand Vade back some of the green paper, but he waved it off.
“Wait right here,” Vade whispered to me as he walked away. I assumed he was going to find a table for us in the other room, even though I was sure we could have our pick of them.
The girls kept glancing up to me and grinning. The other bakers were doing the same as they began to pack up two of each desert.
Vade walked back in a moment later. Just before he reached me, the cashier had finally gathered her nerve to speak to me. “I swear I have never seen a couple so in love. You are one lucky girl. The air is electric with the two of you—and the way he looks at you...wow...just wow.”
I gripped the counter so hard that I thought it would break off. What was it today with that word? Maybe if I stopped thinking about my death, it would stop surfacing. Yeah, I’ll do that.
Vade’s hands came from around me and gently clenched mine, taking the tension from body.
“Thank you,” he said to the girl in that deep, sensual voice of his. “We are in no hurry. You can take care of the to-go order before you bring our cake to us. We’ll be in there.”
Everyone gave him a quick nod and went about their duties as if they knew he was a king and they wanted to honor him.
“Are you okay?” he asked softly, glancing to the cashiers, then to me as we walked away.
“Yeah…just trying not to think of my death.” His eyes questioned me with a deep pain. “What?” I asked shyly.
“Nothing,” he said as he pulled me to him.
In the next room, there was only one other couple and they were in the back booth. The stage was dim, only highlighting a young girl and a pianist.
As we entered, the piano began. By the time we reached the subtle dance floor, the girl began to sing. Her voice was soulful, full of vast emotions that her youth could not have possibly have witnessed. An old soul with a divine gift, that was what she was.
Vade pulled me against him and swayed with me to her angelic voice. At first his hands gently hung on my waist as his forehead leaned against mine, but with each powerful word that girl sang his hands began to move. They reached to caress the outline of my face, traveled down to my collarbone. I couldn’t look into his waiting eyes...I had to keep mine closed...I had to hold in the sighs that wanted out with each movement of his fingers. I felt his hand on the back of my head. He kissed my forehead before he pulled my head to his chest, my body against his, and slowly moved his hands across my back.
The room filled with the scent of roses, so much so that I had no doubt that very soon the others in this place would sense that there were supernatural beings in their presence.
One song ended and another began. I wanted to hear the words so badly, but I had to block them out when they shaped words that we were not allowed to feel.
Each time I tensed, he would hold me tighter, send more of his calming energy through my soul.
“One more song for the generous lovers that have given us all something to hope for,” the singer said into the mic as I heard a subtle clapping. I opened my eyes to see that every worker in this place was leaning against the wall, watching us dance in this near dark room. Our cake was sitting on a table in the corner with one candle and two forks; someone had placed rose petals around the plate.
The song that began was just as sweet as each one before it. Her powerful voice shaped each word with a command that only a gifted soul could feel. These words were easier to hear; they spoke of a couple that was completely addicted to each other, a couple that lived on the edge of fear that they would lose each other.
As it ended, Vade pulled my chin up just as his lips framed mine. I heard howls and cheers from the staff and blushed as I kissed him through the smile that was threatening to take his kiss away from me.
I couldn’t figure out how we had captured their attention so easily, what they found so resoundingly refreshing within us. Maybe it was because it was a slow night and they had nothing better to do.
Vade led me to our own private booth as everyone else left the room.
I pulled one of the rose petals to my nose and breathed in. “Maybe we should take this to go, too.”
My words brought a sinful blush to his image as he reached for the fork and offered me a subtle bite. “I think I would have fainted if the girl I brought here long ago had said that to me.”