Lacybourne Manor (Ghosts and Reincarnation #3)(117)
Author: Kristen Ashley

They walked to the library and as they went she kept talking, “Even if you don’t believe me, if you think it’s over, will you promise to still be careful, still –”

“I’ll always be careful when it comes Sibyl, nothing’s going to harm her,” Colin assured the older woman. “Not even the messes she gets herself into.”

This, finally, made Mrs. Byrne laugh and they entered the library.

* * * * *

Colin was quietly furious and trying very hard not to show it.

He had spent thousands of pounds on a small army of investigators and security experts, as well as a bodyguard, only to have Tamara felled by Sibyl’s Pensioner Posse.

And this was after Tamara had shot a tranquilliser dart at Sibyl. One that, reportedly, magically glanced of Sibyl and fell to the ground.

What Sibyl, their mothers and Mrs. Byrne did not know was that the police had informed Colin that the dart was loaded with enough tranquilliser that, if it had penetrated, for Sibyl’s height and weight, it could have killed her with an overdose.

This fact, fortunately, would mean Tamara was facing a prison sentence. She wouldn’t merely get a slap on the wrist for vandalism or stalking.

This fact also meant that today, if things had gone any differently, he would not have been watching Sibyl struggling with mirth at the dining room table. Instead, he would have been dealing with her grieving mother, his grieving mother and the certainty of a life yawning before him without Sibyl in it.

No, Colin didn’t feel that anything about that day’s events was the least bit humorous.

Much later, after several whiskies had soothed his nerves if not his temper, he lay on top of the coverlet on the bed, propped up on his elbow and watched as Sibyl brushed her hair. Mallory had long since collapsed with the effort of sleeping all day and was sprawled out on the floor by Colin’s side of the bed. The cat was somewhere in the house, probably stalking mice or shadows or whatever cats did when their humans weren’t around. Sibyl stood in the centre of the room wearing one of his t-shirts and babbling.

“I cannot believe it’s all over. You would not believe how relieved I am.” She tossed her brush on a dresser and whirled toward him then walked to the bed. “Mags is going home. She’s responsible for refreshments at her next coven meeting and she’s in a bit of a finger-food-feud with one of the other members. She’s got the whole menu planned. It’s going to take her days! Not to mention, she simply cannot wait to tell them about what’s happened here. She’ll be the belle of the coven.”

Sibyl threw herself on the bed and he watched as she bounced then came up on both her elbows and awarded him with a dazzling smile as she settled on her belly.

“I’ll move back to Brightrose at the weekend after she’s gone,” she told him, clearly (and inaccurately) having it all planned out.

“No,” he stated firmly.

She blinked in adorable confusion and her smile faded before she asked, “What?”

“You’re not moving back to Brightrose.”

Her relaxed and happy body froze and then she pushed herself up to her knees, resting her bottom on her calves and stared down at him.

“It’s safe now, she’s been caught. I can go home and you and I can, well… do things normally, like normal couples do. Like go out on normal dates and –”

She stopped because finally, after all the events of the day, that he found hilarious and he threw back his head and let out a sharp bark of laughter.

“What’s funny?” she asked over his hilarity, her brow furrowed and her eyes beginning to move from hazel to green.

“You want to date?” His voice was dripping with amused incredulity.

She pulled in both of her lip. Then said quietly, “Don’t you?”

He thought about pushing himself up to be eye-to-eye with her but decided against it and his hand snaked out and grasped her wrist, giving it a gentle yank and pulling her down. He rolled on his back and positioned her on top of him.

“I think we’re beyond dating,” he noted.

“What’s ‘beyond dating’?” She looked confused and very wary.

He gathered her hair away from her face and held it in a tumbled bunch behind her head in one hand while his other went to rest on her lovely, rounded bottom.

“You’re moving into Lacybourne, permanently.” He, too, had it all planned out. However his plan was the only plan.

Her head shifted slightly to the side and she watched him out of the corners of her eyes as her lips puckered. Then she whispered, “I don’t think so.”

“I don’t think you have a choice,” Colin returned.

Her body started and her eyes definitely switched, blazing an emerald green. “You can’t just order me to move in with you!”

“I just did.”

She put her hands on either side of his chest on the bed and pressed herself upwards but he came up with her and flipped her on her back, resting his weight on her.

“You’re… I don’t even know what you are!” Sibyl snapped, her temper hitting altitude.

“Sibyl, can you please tell me why everything has to be a struggle with you?” Colin asked, what he thought was patiently.

Her eyes rounded. “I have a home, a business, a life. I… you… you and I –”

“Yes?”

She clamped her mouth shut, unable to find any feasible reason why she shouldn’t move in with him.

“I didn’t think so,” he drawled knowingly and he couldn’t help but grin when she made a grumpy, frustrated noise in the back of her throat.

His knee pressed between her legs and they parted (even her legs moved mutinously, but they still moved) and he slid his hands slowly down the backs of her thighs to pull them up at the knees.

“Give me one good reason to move in with you,” she demanded and, if his chest wasn’t pressed against hers, he had no doubt she would have crossed her arms.

“I like you in my house.”

“That’s –” she began to interrupt him.

“I like you in my bed,” he continued and she closed her mouth and glared at him. “I like the way your laboratory makes the house smell like fruit and flowers. I like walking your damned dog. I like seeing your clothes in the wardrobe. I like you wearing my t-shirts to bed. I like coming home to you.”

As he spoke, her face shifted and relaxed, the emerald melted and the sherry took its place.

She regarded him a moment with her face soft, her eyes warm then she whispered, “Okay, Colin.”