Blood Haze (21 page)

She
laid her head against her knees. Whispering, she asked, “Is this my fault…
because I wasn’t careful?”

He
rose up, sat on the edge of the bed and wrapped an arm around her slight frame.
“God, no!”

Her
chest was heaving. “I… I was upset that night… both nights. I don’t remember if
I locked the door at my house the first time… I went out the back door of the
club into the alley… and I knew he was coming back for me… I’d seen it,” she
sobbed, nearly incoherently.

She
felt him tense next to her. Quietly, he asked, “What do you mean, you saw it?”

She
tensed at his question, then did what she’d been doing for most of her life in
regard to her glimpsings… she lied. “I meant I should have seen it, the
potential danger.”

He
pulled back to look down in her face, her words not ringing true for some
reasons

~X~

While
Lynx might have felt a little guilty for having to ‘gaze’ the doctor to ensure
he signed off on Arabella’s release before she was actually ready, having her
sound asleep in his bed more than made up for it. He heaved a sigh of relief as
he wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him. She was finally safe.
Now if he could only keep her that way. His mind went back to the plastic
hospital admittance scan-card. He needed to talk to Arabella about it, but he
hated to bring up the attack. She was still so very weak and fragile from the
blood loss and the attack itself.

He
inhaled her and her blood’s scent was so faint. The bastard could have killed
her. Probably would have had he’d not been interrupted. Not that he didn’t
understand it. He’d tasted her blood, knew there was none like it. Clearing his
mind of everything but the feel of her body pressed tight to his, he drifted
off to sleep.

She
woke with a jerk. She strained to see into the darkness, but there wasn’t a
shred of light to help her. Her heart began to pound. Wherever she was, it was
unfamiliar to her. She struggled to catch her breath as feelings of
claustrophobia crashed in on her. She reached out her hand to see if she could
tell where she was in that way. Panic rushed over her like a tidal-wave.

Frantically,
with both hands she felt around. It appeared she was in some type of metal box…
like a coffin. Her heart began to beat so hard and so fast she became
light-headed. She whimpered and began hammering against the metal. It clanked
loudly. She yelled as loud as she could, but received no answer.

The
metal box was held together by screws which bit into her flesh as she pounded
against the walls of her cell. Blood was beginning to run down her arms from
the cuts on her hands. No, she whimpered. Not now. She’d just found her
happiness. The air was getting heavy and thick and she struggled to breathe.
Oh, God! She was going to die. How’d she get here? She didn’t know. As her
chest rose and fell in rapid succession, she renewed her efforts and slammed
her fists against the walls and screamed.

Ice
cold hands wrapping around her face forced her to open her eyes. She struggled
to catch her breath. “Lynx?” she whimpered, panic still pouring off her in
waves.

“Arabella,
wake up. You’re safe. You’re here, with me, at Night Shade. Do you remember?”

As
the dream began to slip away, she wrapped her arms around his neck, her body
trembling. What did this mean? Was it something that was going to happen or
just a dream? Fear gnawed at her insides. It was then, in that moment, when
fear settled firmly over her; that was the moment she felt the blood running
from her nose. It hadn’t been a dream. She heard Lynx inhale sharply, then
tense beneath her and she clung all the harder. After only a second, he began
to rock her gently.

“Oh,
Arabella,” he murmured over and over.

“Hold
me. Please hold me,” she begged.

“I
won’t let go,” he promised.

Once
the panic subsided, he forced her to lie back down. He couldn’t control the
slight flinch at the sight and smell of the blood coming from her nose.
Quickly, he jumped from the bed, went into the adjoining bathroom, and wet a
washcloth. Taking a deep breath to calm his inherent need to feed, he moved
back to the bed and wiped the small trickled from her face. He frowned.
How much more blood could she afford to lose
?
He climbed back up next to her and propped himself up on his elbow and brushed
her hair from her face. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked softly.

Slowly
she shook her head. “No,” she whispered.

“What
causes the nose bleeds?”

She
tensed then shrugged her shoulders, but wouldn’t meet his eyes. “Stress, I
guess.”

He
studied her closely.
She was lying, but
why
? What would cause nose bleeds that she’d feel the need to hide? A
thought struck him like a lightning bolt. “Are you sick?”

She
blinked at him, confused. “Sick?”

“Is
that what’s causing the nose bleeds?”

Again,
she looked away from him. “It’s nothing like that. I told you, its stress.”

He
stared at her for a long moment before reaching out a hand to cup her flushed
face. “Hey, look at me,” he said softly.

She
shifted her eyes back to him.

“We’re
a couple now, right?”

She
swallowed hard.
He wanted her to tell him
about the glimpsings, she
thought. She hesitated and began to shake. She
couldn’t do it. She didn’t want him to know. “Yes, we’re a couple,” she finally
answered.

Again,
he contemplated her solemnly. “I know it’s been a while since I’ve ‘been a
couple’,” he air-quoted. “But I seem to remember the very definition of that
being two people who are sharing their lives together. Is that right?”

Tears
sprang into her eyes and her lips trembled. He brushed his thumb over them.

“I
care about you, Arabella. I’m worried about you,” he said with a tender smile.

Her
already scattered emotions broke at his tender touch and soft words. A ragged
sob erupted from her throat and she turned and buried herself against him. “I…
don’t… want… to tell you,” she sobbed.

His
chest tightened as he wrapped one arm around her and cupped the back of her
head with his other hand. “Don’t you know you can tell me anything? I’m
duty-bound by the laws of couple-dom to stand by you no matter what,” he said
with a smile in his voice.

Her
chest still shuddering, she whispered, “I see… things.”

He
stilled as he took in her words. “Things?”

“Like
my mother.”

“Visions?”
he asked.

She
took in a shuddering breath and shook her head. “Not exactly. Not as clear as
that. I see pieces of things. And when I do, it causes my nose to bleed.”

He
rubbed his hand over the back of her head and exhaled. He wasn’t sure why this
was such a big deal for her, but apparently she liked to keep this a secret. He
was just thankful she didn’t have cancer or some other human weakness. To
lighten the moment, he said with a smile, “Did you see me coming?”

She
tensed and jerked away from him. That
he
would mock her, hurt more than any of the others who’d done so in her past. She
attempted to sit up but the movement made her head swim and it took her a
second to gain her equilibrium.

“Whoa,”
he said sternly, holding her down firmly when she attempted to get up again.
“Hey, easy there,” he admonished.

She
batted his hands away and once again tried to sit up. This time, despite her
unsteadiness, she managed to swing her legs over the edge of the bed. She
wanted to wrap herself in furious anger, but all she felt was weak and
defenseless. More than anything, and as she had since the first time she’d
become aware of her ‘gift’, she wished she didn’t have it. Wished her mother
could have been like all the other normal soccer moms, who’d driven their kids
to practice and participated in the PTA. Instead, they were labeled freaks. She
was a freak. And she’d never felt more like one than now.

She
felt his hands at her waist dragging her back. She struggled weakly against his
hands. “Let me go, you jerk!” she said with as much anger as she could muster.

He
forced her back down and held her easily. “Hey, hey. What’s going on here?”

Her
heart was pounding and its beats were so erratic, she thought she’d pass out.
She swallowed. “I don’t feel so well,” she murmured as she closed her eyes.

“Of
course not, you big dummy! You just got out of the hospital. You are supposed
to stay in the bed. “Now, what the hell is going on,” he said sternly.

She
clamped her lips together when they started to tremble again. She was just so
weak, which was undoubtedly why she was so emotional - although it seemed she’d
done nothing but cry for weeks. “I want to go home,” she finally said.

He
arched his eyebrow. “That’s not going to happen. What just happened here?”

“I
don’t want to stay here.”

He
gave a shake of his head. “What am I missing?”

Her
chest rose and fell rapidly. “I’ve dealt with people like you all my life,” she
said as firmly as she could.

His
lips twisted wryly. “Oh, I doubt that.”

Since
she really didn’t have the strength to get up, she turned away from him and
lifted her arm to cover her face. “I’m not a freak,” she muttered.

“What?
I don’t think you’re a freak. Where did you ever get such an idea?”

“People
mock what they don’t understand,” she whispered.

He
gently pulled her onto her back and cupped her face within his hands. “I wasn’t
mocking you. I would never do that,” he said, as he leaned forward to kiss her
brow.

She
stared at him intently looking for any signs of deception, but no matter how
she tried, she couldn’t find any.

“You
don’t think I’m a freak?”

His
face broke into a grin. “Only in the best possible way.”

She
blinked up at him for several moments. Raising a shaky hand, she traced the
square edge of his jaw hidden by his thin beard. “Kiss me,” she said with a
catch in her throat.

He
smiled. “With pleasure.” He leaned down and pressed his lips lightly against
hers before pulling back.

She
licked her suddenly dry lips and his eyes followed the motion of her tongue.
Threading her fingers into his hair, she whispered, “Now, kiss me like I’m
not
your grandmother.”

He
stilled for an instant, then burst out with a laugh. “Okay.” He crawled up a
little bit so he could rise up over her. He angled her face to where he wanted
it before lowering his lips once more. He placed soft kisses against her lips
before nipping gently at her lower lip. He licked against the seam of her lips
until she parted them to allow him entrance. He licked into her mouth and
stroked silkily against her tongue. He sucked gently against her tongue.

Her
breathing was becoming more shallow and she tugged against his hair, drawing
him closer to her. He growled into her mouth and gathered her closer to his
body. She whimpered when he ran a hand down the side of her body.

He
pulled back abruptly. “We can’t do this,” he panted.

“I
want you,” she whispered, tugging him back down to her.

“But
you just got out of the hospital,” he reminded her.

“So,
I guess you’ll have to do all the work.”

He
remained still in indecision.

“Please,”
she begged. “I promise I’ll be good.”

He
smiled. “Of that I have no doubt.”

Without
taking his eyes away from hers, he unfastened the tie to her robe and parted
it. He slid his cool hand over the flat planes of her stomach and she shivered.
He allowed it to drift up over her breast and she gasped.

Sitting
up, he shoved his boxers aside and crawled over her. He rose up on his forearms
and kissed her until she began to sway her hips against him seeking oneness
with him. He looked down at her with such tenderness, her eyes stung. “I think
your gift is very special,” he said as he tucked her hair behind her ear.
Meeting her eyes once more, he continued, “How could I not when it’s made you
who you are today. You are truly magnificent,” he murmured as he pressed soft
kisses over her jaw.

Gently,
he eased himself inside her. “Truly magnificent,” he murmured again.

Her
heart caught in her chest and she shuddered at the intensity of her emotion for
this man. She’d not been with him a tenth of the time she’d been with Drew, but
the feelings were a hundredfold more intense.

~X~

The
water lapped gently against Arabella as she lay reclined against Lynx’s chest
in the large tub. Idly, he traced his fingers in some unknown pattern up and
down her arm. Her eyes were closed and her body seemed to melt into his. She
lay across his lap, with her legs draped over the sides of his legs. She was
drowsy and calm. She felt safe and secured within the confines of his body. Her
lips lifted slightly at the touch of his lips against her temple.