Coffin Girls (Elegantly Undead: Book 1 of the Coffin Girls Witch Vampire Series) (33 page)

She met Conall’s mother and was charmed, she laughed and
cajoled with Conall’s sisters and was warmly and openly engaged by a number of
witches who were invited to the ball held in her honor. She’d done this while
avoiding Conall as he avoided her, fighting the urge to rip the necks of the
female witches who continuously swarmed around him. Things became tricky though
when she was ushered onto the dance floor by an honest-to-goodness footman to
dance the opening waltz with Conall.

The polite conversation they made killed her while they
danced but Anais fought against her irritation at the situation, her anger at
his disregard and hurt at their foolishness. She put on a picture perfect face
and unwittingly looked like a queen.

Anais replayed the night’s events in her mind as she slipped
off her clothes and sank into the deep, warm slipper bath. She willed herself
to soak up the warmth, smell the fragrance of the water and closed her eyes.

She shrieked when she felt masculine hands on her.

“Damn it, Conall,” Anais shouted at him, still handsome and
debonair in his tux, his bow-tie and top shirt button enticingly undone. “What
the hell are you doing? Come to think of it, what the hell are you doing here?”

“I haven’t seen you in a week, what the hell do you think
I’m doing?” he shouted back.

“Oh, no luck with the other women downstairs, huh?” Anais
bit out.

“What other women?” Conall’s was still shouting, his eyes
narrowed at her. “I told you that you’re the only one for me. I told you that there
are no other women. Did you not hear me?”

“Are you nuts?” Anais forgot the carefully laid out plan she
and Sylvain had come up with and just felt. For the first time in her life, she
felt and it was pissed off. “You don’t frikkin’ speak to me in days, you ignore
me when I get here, treat me like a fucking acquaintance when we dance – the
one time we danced. You’ve flirted with scores of other women and then you
stand there and tell me you’re faithful. Do I look like a moron?” Anais was
screaming, not caring if the whole darn Enchanted Island heard her.

“I’m nuts?” Conall shouted back. “You go all business-like
on me when I say I have to leave for Ireland and then act like a cold fish when
you get here.”

“What do you expect?” Anais screeched. “I hadn’t heard from
you for a week!”

“I didn’t call because I was protecting you! I thought I’d
explained that but you obviously weren’t listening! I even masked our blood
bond so that Yves wouldn’t see. Until we put up wards at the plantation, we
can’t risk that Yves and Ayden aren’t connected and that they won’t pick up on
what’s really going on with you and I!”

“Oh,” Anais responded, winded by how stupid she’d been.
“God, I’m an idiot! I thought you’d broken up with me.”

“You’re not an idiot,” Conall explained, “I should’ve found
a way to make sure you knew.”

“Yes,” Anais acknowledged, “that was pretty idiotic too.”

“I guess I’m a fool in love,” Conall grinned. “Goddess, if
this is what being away from each other for a week does, I don’t want to know
what a longer separation will do.”

Anais returned the grin, “I don’t think I want to find out
too.”

“I must admit though,” Conall said, “it’s refreshing to see
you jealous for a change.”

Anais huffed at that and he laughed, climbing into the bath
with her, his clothes having magickally disappeared.

“Goddess,” Conall stated earnestly, “I’ve missed you.” He
pulled her back into his arms so that her back rested against his chest. He let
the shield down and allowed their blood bond to surface. Both of them gasped at
that.

“My God, Conall,” Anais stated in wonder, “you do love me.”

“I guess I’m not the only fool in love then,” he responded.
“I think I’ve both told and shown you often enough that you didn’t need to
doubt my love.”

“I guess I wasn’t ready yet to accept it,” she responded.
“Being without you this week, not knowing if I was part of your life still, was
the most painful, heart-breaking experience of my long life. I realized that I
can’t bear to be without you, Conall. You’ve become part of me. Even before the
blood bond, I realized that I loved you but I was scared to give into it; to
take the risk.”

“I’m sorry for causing you pain, love,” Conall said, kissing
her head. Anais wiggled up, offering her neck for the ministrations of his
lips. “No,” Conall smiled, “if you do that, we won’t have this conversation and
it’s needed.”

In the next instant, Anais found herself in a white,
luxurious night-gown, in front of Conall, who wore a sinfully snug black pants
and kneeling in front of her. The room was blazing with candles, exuding the
scent of the many roses placed on every available space but Anais didn’t notice
it. She only saw the man in front of her, looking up at her with complete
adoration. She let their connection flood her senses and staggered back onto
the bed with the force of his love. It was time to let go, she thought, and
allowed him to feel the love she returned in equal measure.

The impact of her love had Conall stumbling on the bed next
to her. “If anything,” Conall stated, “the past week has taught me not to take
things for granted. Not to assume that the love I feel for you and from you
through the blood bond means that we’re vowed to each other.”

Conall cleared his throat as he sat next to her on the bed,
taking her hand in his. “Anais, I love you with all my heart. My very being, my
existence, is dependent on our love to thrive. The path in front of us is a
hard one, filled with the challenges that the Goddess spoke of. With you, I
know we can overcome any obstacles. Without you, I’ll try but there’ll be no
true victory. My hope is that when we finish this mission, that we can rule the
witch community together – from here and from Papillion. That we’ll have a
family –the one we both already have in our friends and your sisters. My hope is
that we’ll live, laugh and love together for as long as we both live.”

Conall wiped the pink-stained tears that slid down her
cheeks. “My hope is that I go to sleep and wake up every morning to my favorite
color – the red of your eyes. Anais, will you marry me? Will you be my wife, my
partner?”

Anais was sobbing into his arms and despite the love for him
he felt emanating from her through their blood bond, he worried that what he
said had not been enough to dispel her fear. “Anais,” he pleaded, “please put
me out of my misery.”

“Yes,” Anais got out in between sobs. “Yes, Conall, you have
me love, for now and forever.”

Neither of them could speak a further word and none were
needed. Despite the battles that lay before them and their friends, they gave themselves
to the moment and to their love, unbarred for the first time, and made love to
seal the deal.

###

THE END…of this part
of the Coffin Girls’ tale

About
the author:

Aneesa Price lives in South Africa with her husband and two daughters.
Her romance with her husband is a special tale on its own, colored by the
challenges they faced early in their relationship in a newly democratic South
Africa. They now live out their own romantic fairy-tale with their daughters
and a menagerie of pets. Aneesa has worked as a therapist and currently holds
the position of a Senior Change Consultant in the financial industry. She hopes
to make another career change to that of a full-time writer, with the help of
happy readers that enjoy her books.

Connect
with Me Online:

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/aneesa.price

Twitter: @aneesaprice

The author’s website is coming soon. Friend her on Facebook
for regular updates.