Broken (Book 1, The Watcher Chronicles, Paranormal Romance) (33 page)

“I’m sure she will.  I c
an probably get you guys backstage passes if you want.”

Joshua
’s eyes grow so large with excitement he grabs me by the shoulders and kisses me on the cheek.

“You’re the best!” he says excitedly.  “
And Jess, could you please come back to work here?  Mason’s been unbearable since you’ve been gone.”

“Joshua…” Mason says, a warning
for Joshua to be careful with what he says.

“Come back to work,” Joshua mouths to me silent
ly.  “Please,” he begs holding his hands in front of him as if in prayer.

Joshua turns around
avoiding direct eye contact with Mason and quickly heads out of the room.

“So,” I say,
“are you going to let me come back to work here or are you going to keep me in Tunica doing busy work?”

“Right now
the most important thing you can do is help Chandler figure out what power he has and try to work together to find the next vessel.  If what Michael said to you is correct, then you should be able to find the third person more easily with his help,” Mason says.  “I’ll have Isaiah take you to Chandler each day until the two of you can work something out.”

“Why Isaiah?” I ask.  “Why not you?”

Mason stares at me and I can’t read his expression, but the intensity of his gaze is almost stifling. 

“Mason,” I say, taking a step towards him, but he takes a step back like it
’s vital for him to keep a certain amount of distance between us.  “Talk to me,” I implore because I know unless he opens up there’s no hope for us.

“I can’t,” he finally says, breaking
off our eye contact and averting his gaze to the floor.

I suddenly feel like this might be my last chance to make Mason
face his feelings for me.  The longer I let him hide behind his ancient guilt the harder it will become for him to let me in.  Desperation claws at the box my heart is in, tearing it asunder until all I have left is a raw need to let him know how I feel.

“I’m falling in love with you,” I tell him, proud and amazed with myself for finally saying it out loud and daring to take a chance with my
heart.

Mason’s head jerks up
at my words and he looks at me like he’s in shock, mouth slightly open and eyes wide.

“You don’t have to look
that
surprised,” I say, feeling awkward all of a sudden.  “And before you even try to deny it, I know you feel something for me too.  That’s the only reason you’ve been avoiding me.”

“I haven’t been avoiding you…directly.”

“Then what would you call having Malcolm take me home the night of the ball and not contacting me for almost seven days?  Do you know how worried I was about you?  Do you even care?”

“I care
about you more than I have a right to,” he says so quietly I have to strain to hear him.

“Talk to me,” I tell him
again, knowing this is the only way we’re going to have a chance.  If he can’t talk to me about what he’s feeling and thinking, we’ll always have his silence keeping us apart.

“I don’t know if I can,” he finally admits.

I take heart in the fact he didn’t completely shut me out and tell me he would never be able to share his thoughts with me.  I’m given hope.

The look of indecision on his face prompts me to walk to him before he has a chance
to hide again. As I stand in front of him, I notice he’s staring at the tips of my Louis Vuitton black high heels.

“Nice shoes,” he comments,
purposely trying to avoid lifting his eyes to look at me.

“Mason,” I say, “look at
me
, not my shoes.”

I watch as his eyes slowly travel up my body and seem to stop at my chest but he doesn’t seem to be focusing on my breast intentionally just avoiding direct eye contact
with me.

“Uh, my eyes are a little bit higher than that,” I gently remind him.

Mason suddenly looks up.  “That wasn’t on purpose,” he says, completely chagrined.

“Stop before you say anymore or you might unintentionally insult me,” I tease.

“No, I don’t mean it that way either.  Your breasts are beautiful,” his face grimaces and he tilts his head back to look at the ceiling.  “Anything I say will come out wrong in this situation, won’t it?”

I laugh.  “Yes, it will.”  I put my hands on either side of his head and gently make him look down at me.  When our eyes meet, I say, “
Talk to me.  Please.”

“
I haven’t led a charmed life like Chandler.  My story is much darker, too dark for most people.  Are you sure you want to hear it?”

“Yes.”

“Then I need to take you somewhere so you can fully understand.”

Mason reaches up and pulls my hands from his face to hold them both in his.  Before I know it we’re standing in a deep cavernous space within a mountain.  There is a solitary opening high over head at the apex of the mountain.  There isn’t much in the cave except for a few broken and rotted wood items which seem to have been chairs, cots and a table at one time.

Faint light streams down from the mountain opening
letting me know it’s daytime wherever we are.  The hole appears to be the only way light and air can enter the cave.

“Jonathan and I used to live here,” Mason tells me
, his voice far away as he remembers his days in this dank, cold space with his son.  “I couldn’t let him harm anyone and this was the only place he couldn’t escape from at night when he was a child.  It was good for me too because no human could reach us.  When we needed food, I would phase out and get it.  We stayed hidden here for a hundred years.”  Mason pauses and I can see the weight of so much time on his shoulders as he remembers his self-imposed prison sentence.  “By that time, I had my hunger for human blood under control and Jonathan was just entering puberty.  I saw the toll this type of life was having on him and made a vow to myself to provide him with a better existence because he deserved it.  I’m not sure you can understand the toll it takes on a parent to be the cause of so much pain to their child.  Every night I watched him transform into the cursed creature he had to endure because of me.  I felt I owed him that much for being the cause of his suffering.”

I grasp Mason’s hands even tighter, urging him to continue.

“When we left this place, we lived in a small village because I didn’t think either one of us was ready to deal with having a lot of people around.  I’m not sure if it was fate or just another part of my punishment but the first village we picked to settle down in was already occupied by a Watcher and his child.  The child was female and Jonathan instantly fell in love with her when they met.  Our children bond for life just like real wolves do so there wasn’t any way for me to prevent them from being together.  He had made his decision and wouldn’t back out of it no matter how much I begged him to.”

“Why?” I ask.  “Why didn’t you want him to be with her?”

“Because she and her father preyed on humans.  He drank their blood while she ate what was left over.  They were both damned and I didn’t want that fate for Jonathan.  I had kept him in this place,” Mason says, looking around at the cave, “for a reason, to protect his soul.  Charlotte urged Jonathan to go on hunts with her and her father.  I think the only reason he refused was because he knew it would rip my heart apart.  One night, the Watcher came back home from a hunt but Charlotte wasn’t with him.  When we asked what happened, he said she was dead, killed by a group of hunters who had set a trap for them.  I thought I lost Jonathan that night.  He told me he hated me.  I could take the scorn of the other Watcher but not Jonathan’s hatred.  It was too much for me to bear.

I have a lot
more to repent for, Jess.  More than just this one story.  Why would you want to settle for someone like me?  You deserve better than what I have to offer you.”     

“
I deserve to finally be happy and so do you.” I tell him.  “Are you happy when you’re with me?”

Mason draws me in closer to him.  “The happiest I’ve been in a very long time.”

“Then stop pushing me away,” I beg. 

“You scare me,” he
admits.

“Why do I scare you?”

“Because if I let you inside my heart, I’ll never want to let you go.”

“Is that so bad?”
  I ask, mirroring the question he asked me once.

“No, it
’s not bad,” Mason says, closing his eyes and resting his forehead against mine.  He’s so close his nose tickles mine and I smile contentedly.

He pulls away slightly to look down at me
.  Even in the dim light I can see his desire for me in his eyes and instantly know his intention.

I step back from him letting his hands go.

He looks at me in confusion.

“Not here,” I say
, shaking my head slightly.  “I don’t want my first kiss to be here in a place you hate,” I tell him, looking around at the cave, Mason’s own personal prison.

Mason looks
at me even more confused.  “You’re first kiss?  Is that what it would be for you?  Are you telling me you’ve never kissed a man?”

“Not willingly,” I say, not having to go into any further detail.

Mason holds a hand out to me.

“No, you’re first kiss shouldn’t be here
,” he agrees.  “Plus it’s late.  I should get you back home.”

I
walk back up to Mason and take his hand.  Before I know it we’re standing in my bedroom.

“I’ll leave you now
to get some rest for tomorrow,” he says, bending to kiss the back of the hand he still holds.

“Will
you
take me to see Chandler tomorrow?” I ask.

Mason smiles.  “Yes, I’ll take you.  I won’t try to hide from you anymore.  I don’t think you would let
now me even if I tried.”

“Damn straight,” I say.

Mason laughs.  “Good night, Jess.”

“Good night, Mason.”

Mason phases and I sit down on my bed.  After I kick off my shoes, I lay down promising myself I will get back up and take a shower.  I just need to close my eyes for a few seconds to gather the strength to do it.

The next thing I know I’m being woken by my phone buzzing.  Bleary eyed, I look over on the
other side of my bed and see it laying there.  I raise myself up on an elbow and find everything I left at Chandler’s penthouse lying on the other side of the bed from me.  I reach for my phone and look at the text message.  It’s from Mason.

Thought you might need your stuff back.  I don’t think a Watcher Agent is supposed to leave their plasma pistol in a rock star’s apartment.

Why didn’t you wake me up when you dropped my stuff off?

You looked too beautiful to disturb…

Flattery will get you anything…

Anything?

I stare at the text not quite sure I’m ready to commit to the word.  I wasn’t sure how far ‘anything’ would mean in Mason’s world.  So I chicken out and ignore it.

What time will you be picking me up to take me to Chandler?

Is an hour long enough? 

Ok I will be ready

I wait to see if he replies and pushes me on the ‘anything’ but he doesn’t.  I feel a bit disappointed and figure his old fashioned gentleman gene has kicked in preventing him from continuing the sub-sexual banter.  So, as a woman of the modern age I text back:

And yes…anything…

I toss the phone on the bed and go take a shower.  I dress casually and comfortably because I want to try meditating with Chandler during the time we’re together that day to start searching for our third member.  I put on the clothes I wore when I met Lilly.

The door bell rings and my heart races.  I take a deep breath and walk to the door with my coat in my arms.  When I open the door, Mason is standing there with one perfect red rose in one of his hands.

“Good morning,” he says, handing me the rose.

“Good morning,” I say back, taking the rose
and bringing its soft petals to my nose to breath in its heady aroma.

“Would you be interested,” he says, “in coming to my villa tonight for supper?”

I smile.  “Yes, I would.  I like it there.”

“Perhaps while we’re there we
can discuss what all this ‘anything’ entails.”

“Perhaps…”

Mason holds out his hand for me to take.  I instantly find myself standing outside the door to Chandler’s penthouse.

“He’s waiting for you,” Mason
tells me, still holding my hand.  “I’ll let you two get to work.”