Gypsy Designs

Sorry it has taken me so long on the rewrite of this chapter... time is no longer my friend!

This is much more what I had intended for this chapter to be like.... I did intend for there to be an interaction between Gypsy and Lucien even though some might not understand why.... it is foreshadowing to their relationship.

I hope you enjoy.

~Shadow~

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"Why didn't anyone tell me how annoying this would be?" she said stomping her foot, she was furious. "Do you realize I almost stabbed Mrs. Shipley in the ass with a pin, when you decided to play your games?" She said, spinning around to glare at Caydn walking into the kitchen. She and Megan had just returned to the house after finishing a late evening fitting with one of her newest clients.

"Someone should write a damn manual that has to be read and signed before you're allowed near some one else." She said raising her voice so there was no doubt he'd hear her when he'd walked out of the room, having poured himself a cup of coffee, going back to the study where the other men waited.

Megan laughed when Gypsy stalked to the counter, staring at the large steak on the sizzling plate. "Beets again?" She groaned looking at Sophie, who shrugged innocently. "I was told to feed you food high in iron. Your choice tonight was beets or liver, so you tell me," she laughed sitting next to Vince, who smartly kept his head down, his expression blank.

"Beets and a whole side of near raw cow," she muttered, walking around the counter flopping onto the tall stool.

The men walked into the kitchen, laughing when they saw her stabbing her dinner as if she were killing it herself. "Would it make you feel any better if I tell you, if you eat like a good girl tonight and tomorrow, Friday evening you'll be allowed to go out?" Caydn asked meeting her eyes when she looked up quickly, smiling.

She thought for a minute before looking back at her plate, "That depends where I get to go and why," she grumbled taking a bite, chewing viciously.

"Gypsy you should be ashamed of your self," Sophie heaved a heavy sigh. "All you've done for the past week since you've been out of bed is whine and complain. You haven't gone anywhere, and now Caydn offers you an evening out all you can do is ask doing what," she huffed turning back to Vince who couldn't help but laugh.

"Gypsy I think for my sanity you better go. You and Sophie have spent so much time together; you're both becoming a pain in the ass quickly." Vince said raising his coffee cup to her in a toast when she turned around to look at him.

She blushed dropping her head, "I'm sorry, Sophie you're right," she said snapping her head up to meet Caydn's eyes. "Would you stop that?" she growled at him, before he stalked around the counter, grabbing her around the waist.

"If you'd excuse us," he said before unceremoniously tossing her over his shoulder. "She needs some rest and I intend to see she stays in bed until she gets it," he laughed, swatting her ass sharply when she bit him in the back.

Christian laughed, glancing at Megan. "I'm glad you weren't quite that hard to tame," he chuckled when she crossed her arms, leaning back staring at him.

"You might want to rethink that," she said rolling her eyes, turning back to Sophie to finish their conversation about the beading on a gown.

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"Okay would you please tell me if that was to intentionally embarrass me, or do you have another motive for that little scene?" She snarled when he stood her up in his bedroom, leaning back against the door watching her stomp around the room.

"You use your hands when you talk, especially when you're mad," he observed quietly, making her stop in her tracks.

"I realize this," she said, throwing herself on the foot of the bed refusing to meet his eyes. Twisting her hands in her lap she fought the urge to cover her ears, as if that would stop the constant seductive suggestions and images he flashed across her mind.

"You don't play fair," she sighed, throwing herself back on the bed covering her eyes with her arm.

Caydn walked over, looking down at her, "And you've got entirely too many clothes on, for what I intend to spent the rest of the night doing with you," he chuckled. His voice dropped almost to the seductive honeyed tones that seemed to drive her crazy, his eyes moved over her body as she lay there pretending to ignore him.

He smiled seeing the tiny flash of amber from the delicate beaded jewelry at her navel, the color almost an exact match to the golden amber of her eyes. The flat planes of her stomach looked so inviting he found his hands clenching, fighting the urge to touch her already.

"Gypsy I've waited, given you time to get stronger, and what've you done?" he asked, waiting for her cheeks to blush a rosy red again. "Oh yes you've done everything you could while you knew I was sleeping to wake me. My body raging, almost begging for your touch, knowing I'd explode with just one caress. Then you step away from me when I'm awake," he chuckled when she peeked out from under her arm to look at him.

"Do you have any idea how delicious and inviting you look right now?" he asked, chuckling when he saw the blush rush to her cheeks. "I'd like nothing better than to slide that thick creamy sweater up over your body and watch your nipples harden. Then watch your eyes as I suck each marble hard peak into my mouth," he said softly, the suggestion creating a erotic scene in both of their minds.

"You're still not playing fair," she laughed. "I was just playing the same game you've been playing. I just plan my timing a little different," she stuck her tongue out at him, squealing when he wrapped his hands around her waist lifting her to him.

She wrapped her legs around his waist when he threatened to drop her. His hands slid under her shirt, disposing of the clasp of her bra before pushing the sweater over her head.

Shaking her hair out of her face, she groaned when he lifted her slightly, lowering his head capturing her nipple between his teeth.

"Where are we going Friday?" she growled when he swirled his tongue around her engorged nipple, her fingers threading themselves deep into his hair holding him against her breasts.

He buried his face between her breasts. "There's a dinner party being given by some business associates. I thought it'd be a good ice breaker before the whirlwind of holiday parties," he whispered against the flushed skin of her tempting breasts, his hands burying themselves in the thick waves of hair cascading down her back.

"How is it that your hair is so rich, almost alive with color when Elliot and Vince have such dark hair and coloring?" he asked as he lifted the thick shimmering strands of auburn and blonde.

Gypsy wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning back slightly to watch his hand playing with her hair. "The auburn is all mine, but I have to admit during the winter not all the blonde is," she laughed when he rolled his eyes. "When I was little my hair was as dark as dad's and Uncle Vince's is, but as I got older it lightened to this auburn. When ever I had the chance to run and play outside the sun would create the blonde streaks," she explained.

She closed her eyes taking a deep breath, her mind flashing some unpleasant memories before she had a chance to stop it. Meeting his eyes she leaned her forehead against his with a silent sigh.

"My mother and grandfather seemed to enjoy themselves by telling me how I always looked as though I was 'dirty' when I was a child. My olive skin tanned quickly, and I hated shoes then more than I do now," she giggled. "They use to call me, 'the waif child', or 'the orphan we felt sorry for and brought home to raise'. After I got older and left home for school I started letting one of the girls from school practice her highlights for cosmetology class on me," she admitted with a smirk. "It made me feel like a little kid who'd been allowed to run and play again like my dad had allowed," she told him.

"Gypsy let me assure you there's nothing 'orphan' like or even 'waif like about you that I can see," he laughed, squeezing her to him. "My question now is, have you taken any time to create some of your own designs for yourself or are you spending all your time working for everyone else again?"

Her head fell back, her eyes closed when she laughed, "Is this your way of making sure I'm not going to embarrass you in public by wearing sweet pants or jeans?" she giggled, stopping suddenly, feeling a chill brush over her exposed skin.

Caydn froze, his senses scanning the house and surrounding area for the source, having also felt the chill rush over her body.

"Gypsy I want you to join Sophie and Vince in the kitchen," he said, standing her up reaching for her sweater, handing it to her just as the bedroom door opened.

"Christian and Megan were on their way home but they should be back any second," Lucien said walking in the room, stopping behind Gypsy, who was struggling to pull her sweater over her head. Phillip leaned against the door frame smiling.

"Have you ever thought of knocking," she said with a huff, brushing her hair from her face, turning to glare at Lucien.

He flashed her a wicked smile before looking at Caydn, "It was subtle, but it was coming from more than one direction this time," he said quietly. "I think we're about to be visited by both this time."

Caydn nodded, dropping his arm around Gypsy's waist, turning her toward the door. Christian and Megan both walked into his private office as they stepped from the bedroom.

She looked at all of them, shaking her head, "Would someone tell me what the hell's going on?" she demanded, "One small little breeze and everyone seems to think we're being invaded by the creeps again."

Taking a step toward the door she brushed against Lucien. She gasped loudly feeling the swirling cold creeping over her skin suddenly.

Lifting her hands to her cheeks it felt as if she'd been brushed by a glacial blast, she shivered. "Why didn't I feel it this time, I have every other time?" She asked, her voice shaking. "It's never snuck up on me before," she turned to look at Caydn whose expression was furious. He saw the blue tinted paleness beginning to crystallize, covering the soft skin of her face.

"They're attacking her again," he growled, pulling her against his side, his hand coming up to cover hers over her stinging cheek.

"Frostbite," Lucien laughed. "Is that all the two of you can come up with without physically being present?" He said, his voice ringing loudly in the large room. "Even I could do better than that when I was only a few hundred years old," he said, nodding his head for Caydn to remove their hands from her face.

"This might sting, but only for a minute," he said lifting his hands, placing them on either side of her face.

The warmth that rushed through her frozen skin brought tears to her eyes. Meeting Lucien's eyes, holding them, she refused to make a sound admitting it hurt as he brought her skin back to a safe temperature, erasing the frostbitten effect completely.

"At least now we know for certain we're dealing with cowards," Christian said, stepping to Gypsy's side observing her to make sure there'd be no lingering damage. He reached for Megan when she stepped up, trying to put her arm around Gypsy. Silently he explained the danger of alerting their foes to the deep bond she and Gypsy had with one another.

"Caydn I think you'll want to see this," Sophie said, her voice strained when she stopped at the door.

Gypsy walked beside Caydn since he refused to release her hand, even when she pinched him in an effort to break free. Looking around the formidable frame of Lucien once they reached the kitchen and he'd thrown his head back laughing. She felt an uncontrollable surge of rage shoot through her.

All of them looked out the large bay window into the pool area. It looked as though a holograph image was being projected directly over the swirling waters of the pool. Another ghostly figure off to the side, both figures staring at them.

"I've had enough of this bullshit," she snapped, yanking her hand from Caydn's, pushing Lucien out of the way. Caydn reached for her but she shrugged her shoulder from his grasp and stormed to the back door throwing it open, stepping outside.

"Okay I think I finally got the clue that it's me the two of you've developed some insane fetish about," she snapped meeting the eyes of both ghostly figures, who smiled, seeing she was coming to them, as opposed to their having to ferret her out and away from her squadron of protectors.

"Gabrielle all we want to do is save you. Rescue you from the less than savory situation your young innocent mind has found itself entrenched it," the projection of Barton said, Damone nodded in agreement, stepping forward toward the pool silently.

Stopping to lean casually against the brick wall surrounding the sitting area, Caydn watched both the projections and Gypsy closely. Knowing instinctively she'd be enraged if he stepped in to fight what she felt was her battle. The annoyance he felt, he hid beneath the slight smile on his face.

Gypsy snapped her head around to look at everyone who'd followed her from the house. Sophie and Vince stood near the door while Christian consciously kept himself in front of Megan and the older couple. Caydn was leaning off to her left, while Lucien stood firmly planted along her right, Phillip a few feet behind her, in the shadows.

"So you seem to think," she said waving her arms around her, "this is the 'unsavory situation'?" She laughed bitterly. "What in the hell would make you think this is any more detrimental to my 'innocent mind' than my life was growing up with Evelyn and you, both doing your best to pull me apart?"

"Since I wasn't the male heir you wanted, neither one of you gave me a second thought except when you thought you could use me to put the thumb screws to my father," she sneered. "Have you forgotten how you and Evelyn use to make it a joke to tell people I was an orphan child you found on one of your many trips abroad, and that you'd brought me back to try and give me a chance at a life I would've never known?" she said through clenched teeth, the pain and embarrassment she'd felt boiling to the surface.

Caydn's eyes locked on to the shadowy figure of Damone while she was talking, he'd felt the waves of suggestive thought being poured toward her, she was too furious to even notice. He pushed away from the wall when the sorcerer walked his projection closer.

"Child what your grandfather's trying to tell you, you don't have any idea how dangerous it is for you to be here, in the very den of the devil himself," Damone said his voice very melodic, glancing toward Caydn and Lucien briefly.

"I know what these devils are like. I can still smell the burning flesh of that one," he laughed, pointing toward Phillip, who'd stepped forward hearing the black thoughts flooding from the mind of the ghostly shape. "I once had a chance to kill that one, unfortunately he managed to get away from me, but as you obviously noticed I always reappear and this time I'll be the victor. He'll be nothing more than a pile of ash the wind will scatter," he laughed.

"Yes Gypsy, you must be very careful of a man who seems to think he can turn others to ash using static electricity," Phillip laughed, stepping up dropping his arm over Gypsy's shoulders. He smiled at Caydn's involuntarily growl at his action.

Damone's eyes snapped to Caydn at the sound. "You've given yourself to that one," he snarled, pointing directly at Caydn. "I can tell by the devils possessive movements and sound."

"You bitch, you've become their whore," Barton roared, his ghostly face turning a dangerous shade of red, as though his blood pressure was going through the roof.

"She hasn't become 'their' anything," Caydn said, the growl deep within the tone of his voice, moving along side her, never taking his eyes from the two figures.

"She's most definitely no one's 'whore' as you so nicely put it," he said, slipping his hand under her hair, pulling her toward him until she rested against his chest, his intimate caress and her acceptance both dangerously obvious to the pair.

Gypsy could hear the words as they passed among the men around her. Emotion was Barton's weakness, and in their appearance through projection, there was little he could do to them. But the power of Damone was still unknown.

"Gabrielle since you've spread yourself beneath them, opening your legs, allowing these ungodly creatures to have you to satisfy their lust. You're no different than they are, and need to be exterminated just as they will be," Barton snarled his hand clenched in fists at his side. "You shame me and make me wish my darling Evelyn had never dirtied herself giving birth to such a spawn of darkness," he roared.

She was aware of the hum of power that began radiating from the three men standing at her sides. She noticed Damone and Barton's ghostly shapes beginning to brighten and glow slowly. The cold again slammed into her making her shiver as she fought to keep her teeth from chattering so loudly everyone could hear.

Furious she moved away from Caydn, stepping forward just before she felt as if a shield was beginning to surround her. In an instant a thin but bright bolt of light shot from Damone's hands shot toward her. Her skin felt as if it were alive with tiny jolts of electricity, burning along with the bitter cold being projected from Barton.

"You seem to be proud of the role of whore you've assumed. It would only be fitting you suffer and die from that same lust. Withering and screaming from what you think of as ecstasy, overwhelming to all senses," Damone said loudly. His voice fading into a scream as the shield surrounding her was complete, pushing back what ever magic he thought to send her way.

Gypsy took a deep breath, the electrical pulses dying as quickly as they'd begun. Nodding to Caydn that she was fine, she glanced at the two projections. Barton was becoming emotionally unstable. She chuckled, before stepping toward Caydn.

"It seems they've discovered our game," she laughed, hearing his chuckle slide through her mind before looking down meeting her eyes. "There's no need to hide it anymore," she smiled up at him. Moving her hand to his chest she stopped, frozen as the electrical charge shot between the two of them. She heard the confusion in his mind reflecting her own when it felt as if her body was on fire.

Gritting her teeth she refused to let them know Damone had been able to accomplish anything with his magic. Closing her eyes when Caydn slid his hand around her neck pulling her against him, his hand tightening around the back of her neck knowing the dangerous game she'd decided to play. "I've always heard the devil created pleasure that could tempt the gods themselves," she said seductively trying not to laugh when the roar of laughter from Lucien filled her mind.

Lifting her arms pulling him down to her, her head fell back, exposing her throat to him. Stifling a groan she met his eyes, biting her lip she saw the same raw desire in his eyes that was coursing through her body.

Damone lifted his hands slowly, palms glowing, as he stared at her. "You flaunt yourself as the slut you are, in front of your own grandfather?" He roared, seconds before he flung his hands at her, the glowing bolts of lightening shattering against the barrier put up to shield her.

Glancing over her shoulder at Damone, she smiled, "Why would I want anything to do with that miserable excuse of a man when I could have this?" she said before turning back, her mouth meeting Caydn's in a passionate kiss.

"Gypsy," Sophie gasped at her boldness, glaring at Lucien, who turned and winked at her.