Lover Beware

help myself. I find places I’m safe, places where I’m alone and can crawl into a hole and disappear for a while.”
    “Now you have me. I’ll be your sanctuary, Sarah. I don’t mind running interference in the times you need to regroup.” His smile was against her temple. “I’ve never had a problem bossing people. I’ve always had a difficult time communicating with people. They never understood what I was talking about and it drove me crazy. Sometimes when you have an idea and it’s so clear and you know it’s right, you just have to share it with someone. But no one has ever been there.”
    Sarah kissed his fingertips. “You can tell me any idea that comes into your head, Damon. I admire you.” Her smile was in her voice. “And I’m very good at communicating so you’ll never have to worry about that.”
    “I noticed,” he said. “Speaking of communication, I made certain the curtains couldn’t creep open. I safety-pinned them together just in case any of your sisters decided to go up on the battlements to look through the telescope.”
    Sarah laughed just as he knew she would. “They know I’m with you. They wouldn’t invade our privacy when we’re really making love. They simply love to tease me. You’ll have a lot of that come morning.”
    Damon didn’t mind at all. He tightened his arms around her and found he was looking forward to anything her sisters might want to dish out.

Chapter 10
    “OKAY, HAVE ANY of you really read this prophecy?” Kate demanded as they walked along the sidewalk toward Irene’s house. The fog was thick and heavy, lying over the sea and most of the town like a blanket. “Because I have and it isn’t good news for the rest of us.”
    “I don’t like the sound of that,” Hannah said. “Maybe we shouldn’t ask. Can ignorance keep us safe?”
    “What prophecy?” Damon asked curiously. They had spent the morning together over breakfast, teasing him unmercifully, making Sarah blush and hide her face against his chest. He had felt just as he anticipated—part of a family—and the feeling was priceless.
    Sarah laughed in wicked delight. “You all thought it was so funny when it was happening to me, but I had read the entire thing. I know what’s in store for the rest of you. One by one you’ll fall like dominoes.”
    Abbey made a face at Sarah. “Not all of us, Sarah. I don’t believe in fate.”
    The other girls roared with laughter. Sarah slipped her hand into Damon’s. “The prophecy is this horrible curse put on the seven sisters. Well, we thought it was a curse. I’m not so certain now that I’ve met you.”
    His eyebrow shot up. “Now I’m really curious. I’m involved with this prophecy in some way?”
    The four women laughed again. The sound turned heads up and down the street. “You are the prophecy, Damon,” Kate said. “The gate opened for you.”
    Sarah gave a short synopsis of the quote. “Seven sisters intertwined, controlling elements of land, sea, and air, cannot control the fate they flee. One by one, oldest to last, destiny will find them. When the locked gate swings open in welcome, the first shall find true love. There’s a lot more, but basically it goes on to say, one by one all the other sisters shall be wed.”
    Sarah’s three sisters muttered and grumbled and shook their heads. Damon burst out laughing. “You have to marry me, don’t you? I’ve been wondering how I was going to manage to keep you, but you don’t have a choice. I like that prophecy. Does it say anything about waiting on me hand and foot?”
    “Absolutely not,” Sarah replied and glared at her laughing sisters. “Keep it up—the rest of you, even you, Abbey, are going to see me laughing at you.” She tightened her fingers around Damon’s hand. “We all made a pact when we were kids to keep the gate padlocked and never really date so we could be independent and free. We’ve always liked our life together…and poor Elle—the thought of seven daughters is rather daunting.”
    “Thank heavens Elle gets all the kids,” Abbey said. “I am going to have one, and only because if I don’t the rest of you will drive me crazy.”
    “Why does Elle have to have the seven daughters?” Damon asked.
    “The seventh daughter always has seven daughters,” Kate explained. “It’s been that way for generations. I’ve been reading the history of the Drake family and I’ve found over the years, from all the entries made, we at least have a