TITLE: New-Age Bride
AUTHOR: DesertDragon
A/N: Welcome to the last chapter, where we begin with another short little Edward 3rd person POV…
 

Chapter Five: Just Desserts

o….o
 

Jesus. That dress. The scars. It all equaled the complete juxtaposition that was Anita. It hurt him just to look at her.

It felt even better to touch her. The last time Edward had gotten this close to her she’d been saving his life. In fact, if there was any reasoning behind this unfounded attraction, it was that he had let her get too damn close to him on her last visit; had let too much of his guard down under intense circumstances.

Or so he told himself. Her body reacted to his touch as they danced. He let his fingers glide over the scars on her back. He had probably been by her side when she had acquired most of them. So many shared experiences. He’d seen them all before. Yet now they were eliciting quite a response from him. Was the attraction real? Or was it simply an excuse to maneuver himself out of a bad situation?

It would take some time before he knew the answer to that – wedding or no wedding.

He pulled her closer to him, scanning the dancing guests in the tent with a careful eye. If nothing else, at least she as here where he could cover her back, instead of home where her “boys” most likely didn’t give a shit. Richard certainly seemed to be clueless.

He had seen little this evening that lead him to believe that Anita’s would-be-stalker had arrived in Santa Fe. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t possible.

If Sergeant Storr was right, and the lunatic was after attention, there was no more probable place for him to make an appearance than here and now.

A flutter and a breeze drew his eye out through the opening of the tent and into the night. Only shadows.

He felt Anita lean in closer as they continued to sway, removing her hand from his and placing it carefully on his chest. She had a question poised in her eyes and on her lips…

A look that intensified as her hand moved down his body underneath his jacket until she found something hard.

She went completely still in his arms.
 

o.…o
 

We continued dancing in a silence that wasn’t quite comfortable. His body was tense and watchful despite his soothing touch.

I guess there wasn’t any other questions we could ask each other that would do any good. There’d be no answers.

Except for maybe one. I knew what the hell I should probably do – take Richard and just leave. I placed my hand on his chest and moved closer, trying for his undivided attention.

The words “should I just go?” were on the tip of my tongue…until I felt a hard bulge under my fingertips.

He was armed??

He let me slip a hand beneath his jacket and find the butt of his Beretta. It shouldn’t have been a surprise that he was packing heat. He always was. But tonight? What the hell??

Then that useful survival instinct clicked on inside me like a switch being thrown, his paranoid behavior suddenly clear.

The moment I opened my mouth to ask what exactly he was planning to use the gun for, his body coiled and his strong arms shoved me behind him.

“Anita, get back!”

He didn’t go for the Beretta yet, but if looks could kill, he may not need it.

People around us stepped back, confused at Ted’s sudden movements. But I immediately saw the man he had in his sights. A questionable looking fellow in jeans and a black wife-beater slouched in a defensive stance next to the punch bowl. He was staring back at Edward, hard, one hand hidden behind his back.

“Anita Blake,” the man growled, hungrily.

Oh. He was staring at me. This was bad. What was worse was that Edward seemed to have been expecting this.

“Who the fuck are you?” I asked from over Edward’s shoulder.

“Don’t you know?”

He had greasy black hair that hung in one long layer around his face. Tribal tattoos adorned his arms. I really had no clue.

“Nope. Sorry, “ I said, even though I wasn’t in the least.

“I’ve been looking for you.” With that he lunged forward, brandishing a rather sharp looking ice pick he’d grabbed off of the refreshment table.

Pity he had no idea what the blonde pillar of ice known as Edward was capable of. He was about to be rudely awakened.

As were Donna’s party guests.

The Beretta appeared in a flash of Armani silk and gunfire, and a moment later the guy was laying face up on the makeshift dance floor choking up a lung full of blood.

I’m quite sure that someone had called the cops already. But no ambulance would make it fast enough to save this waste of a human being.

People had scattered and there was much commotion, during which I was relived to see Peter and Becca being escorted out of the tent by Asuka. I wondered briefly were Donna was, but I was more intrigued by the statue of a man in front of me. Edward still hadn’t turned to give me any explanation. I knew he wouldn’t take his eyes off the future-corpse until it drew its last breath.

I nonchalantly walked in front of him instead and stood there with my arms crossed. I suppose I should’ve had the grace to seem grateful. But, we were beyond that point in our relationship. Such as it was.

The Beretta hung limp at his side, but his body language said that the kill was still coursing through him. He was also struggling to make sure his Ted-Mask didn’t slip.

“Ted,” I began for the benefit of innocent bystanders. “Would you like to tell me what the hell that was all about?”

He didn’t look at me. Just kept staring ahead. Then finally, “I told you. I was doing a friend a favor. I was watching your back.”

“Which friend? I take it you don’t just mean me.”

He looked at me briefly. “Your Sergeant friend. Storr. He called me last night. We had a little chat about some weirdo leaving your pretty picture at crime scenes back in St. Louis.”

I stepped closer to him so he could see the heat radiating off the top of my head. I was too short to block his stony gaze, but I tried anyway. “And you didn’t tell me, why??” My voice was a low growl.

It amazed me that he had the nerve to seem slightly amused in a moment like this. He was doing it on purpose. “Me? Keep secrets from you?”

“You bastard.”

Behind us, I heard my stalker cough up his last bit of blood and go silent. I saw a calmness spread through Edward’s whole body. He turned to me and smiled.

“Anita. When do you NOT have guys after you?”

I raised my finger angrily in protest, but he went on, “ What difference would it have made? It would’ve just had you looking behind every tumbleweed in Santa Fe, and you know it.”

I stared a long while at him. “You didn’t WANT me to know, so you could draw him out into the open if he came around!” I accused. “What if it had been Olaf, for Christ’s Sake!?”

He laughed loud and hard, startling nearby guests. If he’d had his Ted cowboy hat on, he would’ve pushed it back on his crown in amusement. “If it had been Olaf after you, I would’ve known! Hell, HE would’ve let us know!”

I pouted at the floor. Okay, so that was true.

Edward stepped into my space, so close that I could feel his body heat. I heard him whisper. “And I would’ve told you if it had been Olaf.”

I looked up into his face. He was serious despite the smile I could still see showing in the crows feet around his eyes. The dialogue we were sharing now was so much more characteristic of Edward and I than what had transpired out on the dance floor. It’s what I knew; it’s what I was comfortable with.

But I still wished I could have it both ways.

I returned the smile and shook my head at him. I could hear sirens approaching in the distance. “How does Donna put up with it all?” I whispered back.

“What?”

“The games.”

He shrugged and put on his Ted face as he turned away from me to deal with the leftover crowd. His retort was coated in a thick drawl. “The same way you mostly likely put up with the games your boys play, darlin’.”

I grabbed his arm, suddenly aware again of my surroundings. “By the way, where are our better halves??” I found it curious that Donna hadn’t come running at the sound of gunshots, not to mention Richard.

A slice of serious concern swept over his features as he scanned the pavilion, and I’m fairly sure he was thinking the same as I was; that this maniac could have left a trail of bodies around the town square before he even came looking for me. Here Edward had been watching out for my ass, and the kids might now be motherless.

We both headed out into the night air to hunt through the rest of the guests. Behind us someone called out:

“Hey! Aren’t you going to wait for the police??”
 

o….o
 
 

I heard Edward ask some of Donna’s friends if they’d seen her and eventually one told us they thought they’d seen her go back to the house for something.

He took off in that general direction without waiting to see if I’d follow, which, of course, I did anyway.

Away from the park and the rest of the hubbub, Turtle Run was dark and quiet. Once again I cursed not having my own gun, not that I’d need it; the bad guy was pretty much toast.

“You got another one of those?” I asked him.

“Sorry.”

The house looked dark at first glance, but a soft amber light spilled from a window at the back of the house.

The front door was open. Not a good sign. Following his lead, we entered the house with the walls at our backs and edged down the hallway. Who knew if that freak had an accomplice or not.

The family portraits were leering and ominous in the shadows of the hall and they filled me with uncomfortable thoughts. Bloody images of Donna and Richard were chief among them.

Well, at least then some of our mutual problems would be solved. Yep, put me in a straight jacket – that delirious thought actually crossed my mind.

As we crept up on a back bedroom, we heard a woman’s soft moan. Edward rushed forward, leaving me lurching after him.

I hadn’t expected him to stop right in the doorway were I’d run smack into him.

And, oh, it was a sight to behold. Donna and Richard were a tangled mess, alright. In each other’s arms with their tongues down each other’s throats!

Ooookaaay. So maybe our problems were being solved in a different manner.

I pushed roughly passed Edward, who just stood there in silent shock. I was about to interrupt the lovely scene before us with a pack of wild obscenities when Edward pulled me back into him and clamped a hand over my mouth!

For some reason we stood there like that forever, probably trying to wrap our minds around the gruesome enactment. They were really going at it. It was no wonder they hadn’t noticed us. By the looks of it, they’d fallen victim to the same aphrodisiac that had claim Becca’s hamster.

Just thinking that made me want to giggle in hysterical madness. I think Edward could feel my body start to shake with it, and he gently removed us from the doorway and out into the open air as quickly and quietly as possible.
 
 

o….o
 
 

The local law enforcement really liked Ted Forrester. I’d seen it all before, but I was still amazed at his powers of persuasion. They’d packed up the body, and their red tape, and split in no time at all.

In fact, Donna and Richard hadn’t even made an appearance. For the time being, they were still lost to the world.

The pavilion and the park were now devoid of Donna’s new-age friends, and I was thankful for it. The sound system had been on auto pilot all evening and it was now stuck on a haunting piece of classical music called Te deum – thanks to Jean Claude for that piece of knowledge. It was giving me the chills.

Of course, it didn’t help that I was standing at the scene of the crime, staring down at bloodstains and discarded medical supplies.

My attention snapped up as Edward hit the off button on the stereo and there was sudden silence. He shrugged his shoulders. “I think this evening’s had its share of melodrama without that crap.”

I smiled and followed him out into the night air. It was warm and fragrant. We wandered aimlessly together, not speaking. I’m not sure we knew what the hell to say to each other after the night’s festivities.

We found ourselves a little white wooden bench on a grassy knoll and sat quietly for awhile.

I knew it was a matter of time before our significant others got a clue and came looking for us. But for the time being, I was happy enough to spend this time alone with Edward.

He leaned back comfortably, watching the night sky. His tie was gone; his nice white shirt unbuttoned slightly. He had a nice profile. I wanted to sit and stare at it until we ran out of time.

A gorgeous vista of craggy Santa Fe mountains were transparent on the horizon, but after awhile, I couldn’t keep from fidgeting.

“So….” I said, breaking the silence.

“So,” he echoed me. Then added, “Richard and Donna….”

“Yep,” I confirmed, as if he were asking me to.

“Quite a pair.”

“Hey, at least they seem to share all the same old-fashion values.” I pointed out, trying to find the humor so I could keep the insanity at bay.

“True.” I saw him smile slightly. “And at least there’s not a full moon tonight.”

I looked up into the night sky and saw only a sharp sliver of moon. A laugh burst out of me and I think it relieved the tension. “Yeah…That’s quite a kink they’ll have to work out.”

I felt him turn an intent eye to me, but I continued to watch the sky.

“What about you? This must throw your life for a loop.” He was asking the question sincerely, without prejudice to my love life for once, so I had to stop and think before I answered him. It took me awhile.

I tried to keep my answer light. “You know, I never thought that a little thing like Donna could throw such a monkey wrench into the plans of the Master of the City.” I smiled, and turned towards him. “But I think that’s exactly what’s she’s about to do.”

He chuckled and it was a nice, sexy sound. This idea pleased him to no end. “Takes the heat off you, a bit…So to speak.”

I laughed. “Yeah. Maybe. Although…I don’t think I have to concentrate so hard on my choices anymore.” I looked at my hands on my knees and wondered if he would understand my implications…about him and me. I sucked at expressing my feelings.

“What’s that suppose to mean?” he leaned toward me and asked. I took a good look at his eyes as they sparkled back at me. He knew damn well I was talking about him. But he wanted me to spell it out. Bastard.

I sighed. “It means I’ll be busy thinking about someone else now.”

“Jesus, Anita. That’s all you need. Another man!” He was teasing me now, and I reached out and punched his shoulder.

When the amusement passed, I was able to look back in his eyes and say something that I knew deep down was the honest truth:

“As long as he’s got ‘human’ in him this time, then yes. I could handle a new man in my life.”

His gaze turned serious on me. I saw his jaw clench and relax as if he’d come to the same conclusion. Staring at me like that was causing all sorts of bizarre tingling throughout my body, and I wished he would just put me out of my misery.

But, of course, he didn’t. He leaned back on the bench, content as a cat, his arm stretched out behind me. That was about the closest to open acceptance he would admit to tonight, I think.

After we’d come back to a comfortable pause, I said, “So….”

“So,” he echoed again, a smug smile hidden on his lips.

I looked at him sidelong, trying to play innocent. “So…You still going to Rio?”

He kept a straight face as he reached into his jacket and pulled out two plane tickets and slapped them down wordlessly on the bench between us.

He kept his gaze on the mountains. And, I was pleased to see, a smile in his eyes and an offer on the table. When he finally answered me, his voice was soft and low. “How about you tell me?”
 

o….o
 
 
 

~~