Authors: Christin Lovell
It became more and more difficult to breathe the closer I got to the front door. Distress pitted in my stomach, barring my body from working right. I closed my eyes and pressed my forehead against the door. As angry and hurt as I was, I couldn’t walk away from him. This wasn’t the way to get
my
point across. I would feel awful if something did happen to him while he was away, wherever he was going,
with whomever he would be with.
It would destroy me if my last words to him were that I might not be waiting for him when he returned
-
if he returned
-
implying that I could
,
and would
,
walk away from him. Two wrongs didn’t make a right, and sometimes you had to think ahead rather than
remain stagnant
in the moment.
I turned back around and met him at the corner. We stared long and hard into each other’s eyes. So many emotions passed through me, undulating over me in heavy waves. It was like I was being buried beneath them, unable to escape their powerful hold.
“You’ll come back to me?” I asked, lost in the depths of his emerald eyes.
“Of course.” He
held
my face. “I’ll always come back to you.”
Tears
stung
my eyes again. I blinked them away.
He ran his thumbs across my cheeks. He smiled wistfully. “I love you.”
He
lips
captured
mine,
and our souls instantly
inter
twined. His lips were soft, telling me all he didn’t say. They were things I knew but irrationally dismissed. His caress was gentle; sweet yet potent.
In his arms, my lungs worked
evenly,
in
his arms, I felt safe
and
protected. His arms would
always
be my home.
I slid my tongue along
the inside of his
lips, tasting him. I tried to memorize the feel of him so I could easily recall it when
ever
I missed him, when
ever
I longed for him
while he was away.
After a
last brush of his lips against mine, he pulled back. He pressed a kiss to my forehead, my temples, my cheeks and
then
the tip of my nose. He smiled wide at me. “Take care.” He kissed my lips again, a quick, fleeting touch. “I’ll be back soon.”
“I hope so.”
Kellan squatted down in front of me. “And you.” He lifted Kai’s shirt
that I was wearing
, exposing my belly. “Behave and stay safe.” He pressed a kiss to my belly for the first time.
The baby rumbled inside me. It pressed outwards, like it was trying to get closer to him, but it simultaneously pushed on my organs, sending a tinge of pain shooting through me.
I scrunched my face
;
breathing through the sharp blow of what I was sure was a leg to my
ribs.
Absent
minded
ly
,
I rubbed my belly, as if
it would
soothe where
I was
hurt inside.
Kellan chuckled, rising to his full height. “Figures. I told it to behave and it does the exact opposite.”
“Well, it
is
yours.” I smirked.
He rolled his eyes sarcastically. “Have fun.” He yanked me into a tight hug, squishing me
against
him.
“Please be careful,” I pleaded
,
as I wrapped my arms around him. “I love you.”
“I’ll be back in no time.” He kissed my head as he retreated. He faced Kai. “Thanks for coming. Don’t make me regret it though.” He extended a hand to the vamp.
Kai shook his hand. “I’
d
do anything for
her
.” He looked towards me.
Drexel came out of his room. “You ready?” he asked Kellan.
“Almost.” He strolled to the bedroom.
“You going out?” Drex looked at me and Kai.
“Yeah. Need anything?”
“Nothing
you
can give me.” He winked.
“And on that note, we’re leaving.” I grabbed Kai’s arm
, tugging
him towards the door.
Drex laughed. “Have fun.”
Chapter 16
The mall was crowded for a Sunday afternoon. Kai kept a protective arm around me as we weaved through the throngs of people. The voices echoed off the tiled floor, their cadences blending into a single, voluminous hum. Scents overwhelmed my
nose,
occasionally sending my stomach whirling. On the flip side, the food court was completely intoxicating.
“Kai?” I bit my lower lip as we neared the
source of the
appetizing aroma
.
My stomach chose that moment to growl
, and the
baby’s
movement
seemed to echo demand.
His eyes
twinkled, knowingly.
“Come on.”
I ordered from
a
popular fast food chain specializing in chicken. I took the time to mix two packets of blood Kai had
brought
into the ketchup
,
before I dug in.
I ate with gusto, the meal satisfying me in every way. As I looked up from my nearly empty tray, I stopped short. There was something in the depths of Kai’s eyes,
a seemingly
untouchable emotion that I couldn’t identify. It sent a chill down my spine, spearing my chest and
halting
my stomach.
I swallowed hard, unable to stop staring, unable to control my desire to unveil that emotion. There was so much power in it; it’d grabbed hold of me, and
wouldn’t
let go.
“Holy shit! Look who it is,”
a
male cried.
I was instantly snapped back to reality
-
a reality I suddenly wanted to run from. I clasped my hands in my lap as I turned to face Jason.
He came up short, his eyes widening a bit as he
looked me up and down.
“I see you’re packing on the pounds again.”
Kai shoved out of his seat, his face
drawn
tight. His hands fisted at his side as he glared down at our intruder.
Jason, ignorant to what he didn’t want to see, gave Kai a once-over. “What happened to the other dude? Did he run when you started putting on the L-Bs?”
I stood up,
suddenly losing my appetite.
I just wanted to get away. I didn’t want to look at him, I didn’t want to speak to him
…
I wanted him gone. Since I couldn’t physically remove him without hurting him, I had to be the one to walk away.
I picked up the tray, strolled to the trash and dumped it, placing the tray
in its place
when I was done.
“What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue, Lexi?” Jason called
out
.
I closed my eyes, wrapping my arms around myself. I took a deep breath, trying to keep my thoughts and emotions from getting the best of me.
Inadvertently, Jason had just confirmed what I was afraid of earlier. I
was
gaining too much weight. I didn’t know what to do about it though. I didn’t know how to stop it. My body didn’t respond to diet and exercise like a human’s.
“Hey, dude, back off,” Jason fussed.
I looked back over my shoulder. Kai had Jason’s collar in his fist as he hovered mere inches from his face. Jason squirmed in Kai’s grasp, pushing on his chest. Kai waited until Jason
eyes
locked with hi
s.
“You didn’t see us today. You never approached us; you never spoke to Lexi. You’re going to turn around, be confused as to why you were in this part of the mall, and then you’re going to walk away and not look back.” Kai spoke clearly
and
concisely as he
zoned in on
Jason’s eyes.
I couldn’t take anymore though. I focused ahead of me. I strolled out into the crowd, wanting to be lost among the people for once. I didn’t want to be seen or found. I
just
wanted to be
…
to
merely
exist.
***
Kai
I released the twerp, watching to make sure he followed through with my command, before I
went after
Leka. I followed her scent through the busy walkway
s
of the mall.
Anger coursed through me every time I thought about th
at
asshole. I could tell she was having problems adjusting to her expanding waistline. As vamps, we were accustomed to our bodies being one specific way, one specific size and measurement. Any change in those dimensions was certain to mess with
the
psyche. Fear had to be a player
, too
; fear that your body would
not snap back,
that it would never be the same
again
.
Kellan
wasn’t any
help
either.
I could tell he loved her, but he didn’t have the maturity yet. He was too busy trying to get a handle on himself to recognize what Leka needed. She needed reassurance; she needed a boost to her confidence. She didn’t need him running off; she didn’t need him keeping secrets at her most vulnerable time,
when her
insecurity would certainly twist his destination.
My heart splintered when I caught up to her. She stood outside a maternity store,
staring blankly
at the clothes inside. Her hands were firmly resting over her burgeoning belly. Fear and anger knotted her brows.
I approached her cautiously, mindful of her lack of mental presence lately. She’d been distant, not as cognizant of what was happening around her
.
I slid my arms around her, cradling her back into my
chest.
I bent down into her. “You don’t have to buy maternity clothes. You’re small enough to buy one size up in a regular store.”
She stood
,
quietly
,
in my embrace,
but continued
to stare
vacantly
into the store. I knew she’d heard me. I knew she was
just thinking deeply,
trying to deal with
all
the emotions
and
mental trip ups.
After several minutes, she finally turned away from the shop. “I want a new pair of sweats,” she stated.
I smiled down at her. She really didn’t know how pretty she was. I think that was one of the things I loved about her. So often, vamps were conceited. We’d had too much time to accept and fall in love with ourselves; we had too many years to build up our confidence, to raise our egos
by taunting our
power
over humans. Leka
was
a
breath of fresh air
-
beautiful air
– she was so exhilarating
.
She’d blushed profusely one day when she showed me an old picture of herself. I knew she thought it would turn me off to her, the way her hips were nearly double the size and her
face
was
quite a bit rounder back then. She thought it would change the way I looked at her now.
Instead,
I found myself
even more
drawn to her.
She had
so many layers
.
While I wouldn’t have traditionally been attracted
to
her larger size, had I given her a chance and gotten to know her, I didn’t doubt my view would have
been turned upside down.
“Let’s go get you a new pair of sweats then.” I pushed a
loose
strand of hair away from her face, caressing her silky skin along the way.
She gave me a shy grin. I could tell she was slightly embarrassed by her request
because
her cheeks
became rosy,
but she was feeling too brazen to take it back
now
. She slipped her hand into mine and led us towards Victoria’s Secret.
***
Kellan
I scanned the crowd in the hotel’s restaurant. It’d been a long flight to British Columbia. I’d barely had time to drop my bag in my hotel room before
jetting
downstairs to meet my informant.
He’d been a steady contact for the past six months. I’d yet to see him
in person
though. Essentially, I was meeting a ghost, following a ghost’s whispers.