Death Knows My Name (Memory Keepers) Page 4

  I flung open the door, surprised to see Eric. “You used the door.”

  “It’s called manners. Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

  “Didn’t know you needed an invitation.”

  “I don’t. I’m not a vampire. It’s that manners thing again,” he said curtly, stepping around me.

  I stood there with the door open.

  “Aren’t you going to close the door?”

  When I made no move to, he reached past me and shut it.

  “I had hoped I’d never be seeing you again.” I lied. “Besides, I figured you’d be mad at me.”

  “I am beyond mad. Try pissed off.”

  “Okay, pissed off or not, I really had no choice. I’m—”

  “Do you even know what you did today? I asked one thing from you and you wouldn’t do it. You had a choice. There is always a choice and you made it.”

  I sighed. “The point is, I’m sorry!”

  “I deal in bottom lines. And the bottom line is—”

  “The bottom line is I screwed you. Don’t you understand that I cannot just let you kill people in front of me? Don’t you understand how much that hurts? This guy today was a stranger but those people before—Eric, I believed it was my fault because of you. Every guy I slept with—”

  “You weren’t supposed to sleep with every guy you met in a bar! That is on you.”

  “Fuck you!”

  He lifted his brow. “Isn’t that your problem?”

  “Woah! Woah, woah, woah. Don’t you come in here and judge me. You don’t have the right. How I deal with my pain is my business. Is that what this is about? The creepy stalker Angel of Death got jealous?”

  “Who I call is never my pick. It is your lot in life to keep memories and mine to call souls.”

  “I cannot believe you called me a slut?” It was off subject but I was still pissed off about it.

  “Did not!”

  “Bullshit. You did a damn good job of implying it.”

  “You are right.” He rubbed his hand through his hair, and I saw remorse in his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  I sighed, relenting. “And I am sorry for screwing up your job today at lunch.”

  “I don’t blame you. In all my existence, never once have I not done the Will of God. When others were falling, I stood strong and tall on the line of good and evil. When I let that soul go because I couldn’t stand to see the look on your face if that man were to die in your arms, I found myself compromising everything with you.”

  I finally looked up at him. His eyes were back to the warm honey that I loved. Wait, no. I loved nothing about this guy.

  “I don’t want you to choose between not hurting me and loyalty because you have some sort of unhealthy crush on me. I will always lose. I know that.”

  His eyes locked on mine. “Are you sure the two are not the same now? Because I’m not.”

  Fire burned through me, and I wanted him. Every part of him. If there was an option that he could be mine, I wanted that option. I wanted him to belong to me, to have him with me forever. Day in, day out, mine. But I knew when it came down to it we’d always have something between us. Today’s events would be a daily occurrence. But for tonight there was only him, staring me in my eyes with his liquid light ones that threatened to drown me, saying these perfect, perfect things.

  I pushed those reckless thoughts aside. “Why are you here, Eric?”

  “I wanted to see if you were okay. I didn’t come to fight with you.”

  “Then maybe you should leave because that’s all I have for you. It’s all I have left.”

  “You have a lot more in you. A lot more.”

  His arms slipped around my waist and pulled me into him.

  I put my hand on his cheek and leaned up to meet his tender kiss. It deepened. His body arced warm and solid against me, and I was a puddle.

  He drew back from our kiss. I used the time to catch my breath. I should slap him and tell him to get the hell out of my apartment, no get the hell out of my life. Then he looked at me and the fire that was already burning blazed. An out of control inferno raged under my skin. I just wanted him, every inch, all over me.

  “Eric, kiss me,” I whispered to him.

  A slow smile formed on his wickedly handsome face. Our lips were only a breath apart. He held them there. His hands made their way to my head and into my black curls. He gently tilted my head up until my face was turned up to his.

  What the hell are you doing? my mind screamed at me, but my body wasn’t listening.

  “Tell me to kiss you again.”

  “Kiss me, Eric.”

  He closed the distance between our lips. The passion behind his kiss hit me. It flowed through him and became mine. Eric led us toward the table. The edge bumped against the back of my thigh. Eric lifted me up with ease and no hesitation.

  Holy shit, did he really picked me up?

  I sighed softly into his mouth as he stepped smoothly into place between my thighs. He leaned me back slightly, holding me up with his arm as he blazed a trail of hot kisses down my throat. His tongue swirled in small, seductive circles in the hollow beneath my earlobe. I let my head fall back in complete pleasure. His free hand found its way into my hair. His fingers massaged my scalp in erotic pulses. My hands were behind me holding me up and my arms trembled. I opened my legs wider and tried to scoot to the edge to get what I wanted from him.

  He shifted back, untangling himself from me. His hands went to the bottom of his shirt and he slipped it over his head. His chest and stomach made my body ache with need. His abs were flat and I wanted to lick things off of it, yummy, naughty things. While I may have been deliciously distracted, he was not. He moved to my shirt, and the thin fabric was over my head before I realized it.

  He stepped into me again and continued his kisses, his amazing, intoxicating kisses. He slowly kissed and licked down my neck and chest until he reached the top of my breast. His hand slid around my back to my bra. He had the hook in his hand and was about to snap it open. I was already imagining all the things his wonderful mouth had in store for me.

  Spiiissss Spiiissssss!

  I glanced over toward the kitchen where the noise was coming from. I groaned my frustration. I rested my head forward on his shoulder.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I mumbled.

  Eric’s body trembled with laughter. He stepped back.

  Spiiissssss!

  “What is that?” he asked.

  I lifted my head up. “The water for the rice. I’m cooking dinner. Normally I love cooking, but right now, not so much.”

  Eric took me by the waist and brought me closer to the edge of the table. This had me right up against a very stiff part of him. He leaned forward and whispered in my ear.

  “At the moment, I am more interested in dessert. Especially when chocolate’s on the menu.” His voice was heavier than normal. Lifting me from the table, he placed my feet on the floor. He held my waist a bit longer then kissed me deeply and when he released me, I gulped in air trying to catch my breath.

  Recovered enough, I went to the kitchen to see if dinner was still an option. One peek into the pan showed it was savable. I brought the water to boil again to fluff up the rice. The food in the wok was surprisingly unharmed.

  Eric came into the kitchen, T-shirt re-adorned. When he handed me mine, I grumbled my thanks. He seemed to have cooled down, and he leaned against the sink counter, watching me with his arms crossed.

  “Do we need to talk about this?”

  I shook my head. “No. At least not right now. Nothing happened. So let’s just be thankful,” I lied.

  “Thankful is the last thing I am. I want to taste every inch of you. I won’t be happy until I sink into you”—he paused
and I whimpered, imagining the pleasure—“to the hilt every night, all night, and again when you wake each morning. That’s when I will be thankful and only then.”

  I hadn’t realized I had closed the distance between us until his arms wrapped around me possessively. My lips found his and my tongue touched his lips, begging for entrance. His lips parted and our tongues met.

  “Oh God, Eric,” I moaned into his mouth.

  He only kissed me for a little while longer, then he lifted his mouth from mine. I whined. He buried his face in my neck. He inhaled deeply. He made a soft mmm sound.

  “But, until you no longer feel thankful we were interrupted, it will go no further.” The desire in his voice awakened every inch of my skin.

  He stepped around me, grabbing plates and silverware to set the table. “I’m staying for dinner.” He walked out of the kitchen.

  “Uh, I am already no longer thankful.” I pouted. Damn it. Can girls get blue balls? I think Ectain Edeck was giving me a serious case. I stalked after him, very frustrated. What pissed me off even more was he was sitting there with my dog on his lap and Big Jim was all happy like Eric was his owner. I grabbed the glasses from the bar and set them down hard on the table. I didn’t slam them, but the description was not too far off. I’m guessing a symptom of female blue balls is anger.

  Eric smirked.

  I hate him.

  Chapter 4

  We ate in silence. Honestly, I wasn’t pouting. I could not fall for Eric. I did not even like him. Even as I told myself this I knew I lied. Something about Eric rang too familiar to not be drawn to him.

  “This is good. Why do you eat so much junk food if you love to cook?”

  “I hate cooking for only myself. It reminds me of how alone I am.”

  He nodded. “It’s good.” He continued chewing.

  “I have to ask. Did that guy make it? I never even got his name, what was it?”

  “Do you really want me to say his name?” He raised a defined brow.

  I leaned forward. “Is that how it works?”

  He nodded. “Yes. I never say names in regular conversation. I only speak them—”

  “Your eyes change colors,” I blurted.

  Confused, he narrowed his gaze at me. “What do you mean?”

  “At the restaurant, your eyes did this thing before the guy had his attack. They went from honey to dark amber, as smooth as whiskey.”

  He laughed softly. “Honey? You mentioned that earlier.”

  My face burned with embarrassment. “Anyway, so you say a name and splat, the person dies?”

  “Not splat usually. But I get the idea, and yes.”

  “What if more than one person has the same name?”

  “You have no idea how often that’s happened. How many people have ‘near death’ experiences? I call a name and there are hundreds of souls when I look up. I have to send the wrong ones back and they have an ‘I’ve seen the light’ story. What light exactly, I have no idea. There is no damn light. I don’t get it.” He appeared truly perplexed.

  “How do you figure out who is the right one?”

  He shrugged. “Sometimes I can’t. Usually they are helpful and truly want to figure it out as well.”

  “And if they aren’t and you can’t figure it out? Do they get to live, all of them?”

  “Of course not.” He paused. “Those who don’t help and, therefore, try and cheat death out of a soul— they all die. I deliver all their souls to . . . wherever the original soul was going.”

  I gulped. “Hell.”

  “Sheol. But yes, usually the people who try to hide their identity from me and those who try to add to the confusion are slated for Sheol.”

  “Call it what you like, but it’s still Hell,” I snapped.

  “I call it what it is called. Hell is a human concept,” he scolded.

  “Helloooo.” I pointed to myself dramatically. “I am human.”

  “That is obvious. And I am not.”

  “Which is just as obvious, Eric.”

  He nodded. “So it is.”

  “What’s the most common name you have a problem with?” I asked, changing the subject.

  “You’ll have to guess, unless you want people dropping dead all over the place.”

  I smiled. “Not John Smith?”

  “Yes! Why do people still name their kids that? It’s beyond me.”

  I grinned. “I’m sure if they knew this, they’d stop. What about people who change their names?”

  He shrugged. “It is impossible to change one’s name. Legally, maybe, but what you get from your parents can’t be changed. Even with middle names there are still so many duplicates. I appreciate creative parents a lot.”

  “What of the parentless?”

  “We all have those we get our name from, Mayne.” Our eyes met and my heart did this silly, stupid little flip. He smiled, pleased. Damn. I cannot, CANNOT be falling for him. No way.

  “Wait, do vampires exist?” I asked suddenly, remembering his earlier comment.

  He choked on his laughter. “What?”

  “You said you didn’t need an invitation to enter because you aren’t a vampire. So please tell me they do NOT exist.”

  He was very amused. “Rest easy. They are fictional, but they are based on something real. But you have nothing to worry about when it comes to those things. They are long since bound.”

  “Based on something real?” Holy crap.

  “They are not a danger. It’s just silly little, early century mythoi.” He was laughing.

  I guess if you’re death, what have you to fear?

  My eyes opened to the angry ring of the phone. Okay, maybe it was me who was angry and not the phone. Grumbling, I rolled over to grab my cell phone off the nightstand, still upset from not waking up next to a certain male body sharing my bed.

  Was I going crazy? Eric and I just met now I wanted to get my rocks off by him? Maybe I was a slut. Though it had been awhile since I had sex so maybe it’s more my rocks dusted off?

  When the phone continued to ring, I answered.

  “Yes?”

  “You’re late.” Devon’s annoyed voice.

  “I don’t feel well, can I call in?”

  He sighed. “Is this a real sick or the ‘I am still so tired that I feel bad’ sick?”

  “Does it matter?” I inquired. He remained silent. “Fine, the second one, but I had a late night.”

  He laughed. “What, When Harry Met Sally got intense?”

  “I will have you know that movie is a classic. A classic, do you hear me? I will not have you take that tone with it.”

  “Get to work.” He was still laughing as he hung up. What the hell does he know? It’s a good movie, damn it!

  Again, I found myself hauling butt down 5th Avenue. This time it took longer than the forty-five minutes it took last time. The main reason was because I used the time to straighten my hair.

  I’m not entirely sure what happened next, but I ended up on my butt.

  “Oomph.” I groaned.

  My guess is a small woman had plowed into me from around the corner because she was now sprawled next to me on the ground.

  “I’m so sorry! I didn’t— I wasn’t paying attention,” the pixie-sized woman with a red bob and startling green eyes said in one breath.

  She was already scrambling to collect her things that were strewn all over the sidewalk. People rudely stepped around us, not even bothering to help.

  “It’s all right. You sure pack a wallop for such a tiny thing,” I stated, helping her gather her things.

  She grinned. “Yeah, size is deceptive.”

  I righted myself as I picked up the last item. Handing her the things I had
collected in my arms, I peeked at my watch. “Oh, I’ve got to go or my boss is really going to fire me.”

  She nodded. “Same here. Let me buy you a drink later to apologize for knocking you on your ass.”

  I shook my head. “Totally not necessary. See you around.” I started to turn from her.

  “But I insist. I am going to be racked with guilt otherwise.” She was a persistent little thing and her southern drawl marked every word she spoke but tinged some heavier than others.

  “I’m not a lesbian or anything. I’m just new to town and I’m tired of drinking alone,” she continued.

  “That’s good, because you aren’t my type.”

  She laughed at that and stuck out her hand. “Tammy.”

  Reluctantly, I shook her hand. “I’m Mayne.”

  “Like the state? Awesome!”

  I nodded. “Just like the state . . . only with a Y.” I sighed. “I get off work at 7:00.”

  “Okay, I work at Lenny’s on 5th and Diamond. Meet me there we can walk to the bar around the corner called My State of Mine. It’s a weird name, but it’s a nice place. You know it?” she asked as my heart almost stopped.

  “Yeah, I know it.” I hoped I didn’t sound as gloomy as I felt. I knew it all right. It was named after me. Maine, just like the state.

  Devon took a moment from handing the strawberry blonde, who was desperately flirting with him, her cup just to glare at me as I walked in the door.

  Hiding a smile, I made my way behind the counter.

  “Sorry I’m late.” I leaned in, and Devon gave me his cheek to kiss out of habit. “Babe.” I swatted his behind and grinned as the other woman’s eyes widened.

  Devon protested. “No! What? Wait!” he called after her. “It’s not like that.” He glared at me once again.

  I shrugged. “What did I do?” I asked innocently. He just glared. “Come on Devon, don’t you think you have enough poon?”

  He looked appalled. “There is no such thing.” He bumped our hips together. “Now get to work.”