Dreamlike State (The Magic of Black Forest Book 1) (25 page)

“There’s nothing to forgive you didn’t hurt me. We were both lost in the moment.” Frustrated by his response I pleaded, “Please don’t do this, Bradley.” My eyes filled with tears knowing that he would never let me pleasure him again.

Wiping the tears from my cheeks, he made promises I don’t want to hear. “I promise I will always take care of you my sweet, Natalia, but we can never do anything else.”

“No! Don’t say that.” I sobbed. As he attempted to stroke my cheek again, I slapped his hand away, “Forget it! It’ll always be your way. If I can’t pleasure you then you can’t touch me either.” I reached down, grabbed the blanket and wrapped it tightly around my body and slid to the far end of the bed with my back to him. “I enjoyed every minute of it and I won’t have you ruin it for me. Good night, Bradley.” He attempted to roll me over but I pulled my shoulder from his grip. When that didn’t work he attempted to defend his final decision, but I cut him off saying I didn’t care what
he
decided.

As I feared, I was alone when I woke up. My body sore, I got dressed to see if he left. He did. There was a note on the fridge that read only two words… I’m sorry.

I ran and grabbed my phone to call him but I had no reception. Running to the bathroom, I cleaned myself up to go and find him.

“Come on, Seager. We have to go find Bradley.”

“Why? He just ran out to quench his thirst. He said he’d be back in an hour and left you a note just in case you woke up before he returned.”
I just stared at him puzzled by his calmness. He must not know how bad it really is.

“I’m not sure what happened last night but he was grinning wickedly when he came out this morning. He looked relaxed and couldn’t stop smiling. It was so funny, he literally tripped over the table. I’ve never seen him be clumsy.”

“What?” Now I was really confused. I had no idea what was going on.

Totally lost, I went into the kitchen and made myself something to eat. Over breakfast, I asked Seager how long ago he left. He said a little over an hour ago. Darn. I should have gone after him.

Chapter 16

Desperately needing to clear my head, I decided to take a walk. This time I wanted to go towards the West side to see how far my property line went. Before leaving, Seager suggested that I leave Bradley a note telling him where we went. I did. Since I didn’t know which way was West, I went in the direction I assumed to be West.

I really felt bummed. Last night I asked Bradley to move in with me. I thought it would be nice to start the New Year off on a good note by moving in together. Pleased with my request he didn’t even hesitate, saying he would move in today. He’d been living with Jesse and Colleen because Dave made it difficult for him to stay there. Dave always brought a strange vamp home and Bradley has been getting tired of hearing them go at it every night. None of that mattered at the time because he said he’d move in with me. It really stinks how things can go wrong so quickly.

“Why didn’t I just take Colleen’s advice? Why did I have to push him away?”

“Are you talking to me, Nat?”

“No. To myself but aloud.”

“Nat, don’t be alarmed but…”
I don’t like it when he says that. It usually means that someone is stalking us.
“…I smell a vampire and it’s not Brad.”

“Darn it. Let’s just turn and head back to the house. Maybe with you here they won’t do anything.”

We were about a half hour in. I hoped we would make it back to the house without incident like we did when we were quadding. To my disappointment, that wasn’t the case. I could feel the danger and it wasn’t even upon us yet, but it would be. Actually, I knew who was watching us, Jessica, Bradley’s ex, and she’s not in a pleasant mood. She confirmed my feelings by landing quietly in front of us, positioned to attack. Before I could stop him, Seager lunged at her. She slapped him away like a mere fly, throwing him against a tree and knocking him out cold. A whimper is all I heard when his body smashed into the tree. I cried out, screaming his name and attempted to run to his aid when she grabbed my arm and spun me around.

“Not so fast, Natalia. I thought I told you to let Brad go, that he was mine.” Anger and hatred poured from her eyes.

Putting my shield down, I gathered some information to prepare for the battle of my life. While I returned the same attitude, “No he’s mine and he doesn’t want you, bitch.” The words were unintelligent. No matter how angry I was, there is no excuse for using that kind of language.

Peeking into her mind, I saw her and Bradley together, making love. Unlike with me, he could totally be himself with her. I could see now how much self-control he needed just to kiss me, just to be in the same room as me. Next, I saw her tasting the air, grabbing hold of my scent when I walked into the bar that night for dinner. She thirsted for it now. She only drank the blood of animals for him. Before that, she killed humans and wouldn’t hesitate to take my life. Taking advantage of the fact that I mentally stepped away for the moment, she kicked me in the chest so hard that I flew through the air and landed into the creek a few feet away. The pain had been unlike anything I’d ever felt before. Holding my ribs, wheezing, I stood and looked up to find her charging at me.

Before I even thought about what I should do, I did it. I thought shield and BAM… she slammed face first into the invisible shield I put in front of me. An image of my punching her in the face with my fist and throwing her through the forest appeared in my mind, so I made it happen. Every time she came at me, I blocked or threw her away from me. Under the circumstances, I did really well. Well, that was up until the point when I lost sight of her: turned out that she ran just as fast as Bradley. I could feel her fury and hatred all around me.

Suddenly, she came out of nowhere and grabbed me by the hair. With a fist full, she yanked my head back. “He’s mine, you stupid human.” I struggled to escape. She retaliated by punching me in the ribs. I screamed out in pain. “I’ve killed several humans so I know how to cover my tracks. When they find your lifeless body, no one will know who ended your pathetic life. Not even Brad. I promise he won’t grieve long. I’ll be there to comfort him and to pick up the pieces of his broken heart. Unlike with you, we’ll have fierce, hard, uncontrollable sex and he’ll love every minute of it.” I turned and spat in her face. Tightening her grip in my hair, she pulled forcefully and hit me again in my ribs. I tried not to give her the satisfaction of hearing me scream but the pain was too much. “That wasn’t very nice. No matter, once I’m done with you I’m going to lick every inch of Brad’s sexy body while in your bed.” Her wicked evil laughter echoed through the forest.

There were so many things I wanted to say and couldn’t. I could barely breathe let alone talk. But I could still think clearly and that is exactly what I did. Using my magic, I again threw her. Unfortunately, she kept a firm grip on my hair. We both landed with a thud. My brutally beaten ribs restricted my breathing, causing me to feel light headed, unable to focus.

“You’re a witch,” she gasped. Moving at the speed of light, she jabs me in the ribs again. If they weren’t broken before, they definitely were now. Now sobbing from the pain, she lifted me off my feet with one hand and smiled, pleased by my tears. “Poor little human can’t handle the pain. No worries, I’m going to end your suffering now. Good riddance, Bitch!” She punched me on the right side of my face. The pain, like my ribs, rocked through me. Actually, it was worse than being kicked in the chest. Before she knocked me out cold with another blow, I heard someone scream my name.

While I drifted in and out of consciousness, I heard a lot of growling, snarling, and a terrifying ripping sound in the distance. Then, as if it had been right next to me, I heard a blood-curdling scream. Their pain, no doubt, had been far greater than mine had.

When I came to, I was in a dark room. It took me a minute to realize I was in my own bed. I could hear voices in the other room. They were muffled, but sounded concerned. I heard them say Seager’s name and that’s when my memory of her hitting him came rushing back to me. Instinctively, I jumped out of bed yelling for him. An excruciating pain shot through my entire rib cage, turning my yelling into screaming. I dropped to my knees wheezing and gasping for air. I felt the arms of the man I love pick me up and place me back on the bed. I wanted to scream out again but the tortured look in his eyes stopped me. My being in pain caused him pain.

Terrified she had killed Seager, I pulled myself up to Bradley, begging him to take me to him. Sobbing uncontrollably, I remembered his lifeless body lying on the ground and pleaded, “Is he okay? Please tell me he’s okay.”

“Natalia, Seager is fine. He’s resting in the living room. He had a pretty bad wound so Jesse stitched him up.”

That’s when I felt Jesse’s warm hand touch the right side of my face. The pain from his touch brought back the rest of the brutal assault. I reached up and felt my swollen face.

Unlike when I needed it most, anger and rage filled me. I told them everything. My words came rushing out as I tried to explain how she came out of nowhere, slapped Seager. How she took advantage and kicked me while I scanned all her memories. I held my own for a while but, she got the better of me. Feeling like the weak human I am, I mumbled, “She was too fast for me.”

Looking at Colleen I swore, “Next time she won’t get off so easy. I’ll be ready for her.”

Bradley sat down next to me. He looked terrified by my reaction or maybe it was because of what he knows I saw in her mind. Although I knew he wouldn’t want me to confront her, I didn’t know why. I saw them having sex and he clearly enjoyed it. I’m not sure whom he’s more concerned about, her or me. Neither matters now. She was not getting away with this. I would practice my magic more to learn how to defend myself. I promised that to myself and Seager.

“When Seager wakes please bring him to me.” I told Jesse. I couldn’t look at Bradley anymore, not without seeing them two together. I rolled over, turning my back to him. He rubbed his cold hands on my back. It felt good and actually took some of the pain away.

Bending gently onto the bed, he kissed my ear and whispered, “I love you. I’ll be in the other room.”

I felt someone plop down next to me causing the bed to shake and my pain to return. I rolled over and saw Colleen staring at the ceiling with disappointment written all over her face.

“Tell me, Nat, why is it you never listen to any of us? Don’t you know how much we love you… how much Brad loves you?” She waved her hands in the air. “Don’t bother answering because you obviously don’t, otherwise you would have told us which way you really went.”

“I thought I went West and I didn’t know you were coming over, Coll. As for Bradley, I didn’t know where he was or if he was coming back. So don’t try pulling the guilt trip on me.”

“What do you mean you didn’t know if he was coming back, didn’t you just ask him to move in?”

“Yes, but last night I accidently,” no that’s not true. It was intentional, “last night I crossed over that thin fragile line we talked about. So I thought he wasn’t coming back.”

“Oh, well that explains why he was so happy this morning when he was packing up his stuff. It was quite disgusting. At first Jess and I thought it was because he was moving in with you but then we couldn’t explain why he was glowing. Therefore, you pleased him and you’re still alive. You go girl.” She reached her hand up and waited for me to give her a high five. I just rolled my eyes at her. Before she continued, she turned on my radio and lowered her voice to a whisper. She spoke into my ear not wanting the guys to hear what she was telling me.

“That’s also why he reacted as he did when he saw her on top of you, beating you unmercifully. He just lost it. After he threw her off you, he dropped to his knees, along side of you screaming, ‘No, not her. Please take me, but not her.’ Jesse and I took care of the vampire bitch, rest assured she won’t be bothering you anymore.

“Then Jesse pushed Brad out of the way to make sure you were alright. You have a couple broken ribs and a huge bruise on the entire right side of your face. Jess doesn’t think that she broke or fractured any facial bones. Although, by the look of her punches, I thought for sure she broke your cheekbone and jaw.” She paused again as if trying to figure out what to say next.

“You know, Nat. I’ve never seen Brad like that before. He actually thought you were dead. If he could cry, he would have been. I’ve known him for a long time, losing you would have killed him or he would have had someone do the job for him.

“Listen, I’m not sure what you saw when you took a peek into her mind, but he never loved her. No matter what you think you saw, he never loved her. He loves you.”

“He could be free with her, Colleen. He’ll never be that way with me. And after last night, he said I’d never be allowed to please him again. I can’t be in a one-sided relationship, especially now, seeing it firsthand. It caused him pain just to be in the same room as I am. I love him too much to let him live like that. He deserves to be happy in every part of his life. With me he has to be too careful, always worried. Besides, I’m always disappointing him with my reactions. No, Coll, I think it would be worse if I asked him to stay.” My words were mumbled. The room hadn’t stopped spinning yet, making me dizzy, exhausted and unable to focus on what I was trying to say. It was like I’m here but not.

“Well, I hope you don’t think you’re going to ask him to leave now.” She sighed and continued, “Promise me this, Nat, promise you’ll take a week to think about it. It sounds to me like you are pretty traumatized. If in one week you want him to leave then I’ll help you with that. Will you promise me?”

“I promise. Coll?” I needed her to shut up and go away. “I’m really tired, would you mind leaving me now. I’d like to get some sleep.” Upon my request, she left and I was out shortly thereafter.

I dreamt about Bradley and I getting married at the same time as Jesse and Colleen. I wore a beautiful lace and satin white gown. It was bowless and didn’t have too many buttons. I don’t like wedding dresses that have all those flashy bows on them and the buttons make it too hard to get out of the dress. Bradley wore a white tuxedo. He looked beautiful. We say our ‘I do’s’ and kiss passionately before they manage to say ‘you may kiss the bride’. Everybody laughed. The dream quickly turned into a nightmare when the vamp girl showed up uninvited. She jumped on Bradley’s back and sank her teeth into his neck. He winced in pain. I woke up screaming his name.

Sitting up and sweating profusely, I panicked trying to figure out where I was. The sound of his angelic voice coming from the opposite side of the room calmed me instantly. “It’s okay, love. Please lay back down.” He came over to place his hand on my forehead cooling me. “Would you like anything, maybe something to drink?”

I moved over to the middle of the bed. Misunderstanding my request, I heard him sigh sadly. Crying I started blurting out my bottled up guilt, “Please stay with me, don’t go. I’m so sorry I pushed you. Please forgive me. When I saw you with her… Please stay with me.” He was next to me before I even finished, reassuring me that he wasn’t going anywhere. That he already moved in and wasn’t leaving.

“Natalia, when you’re up to it we’ll try again. I promise you, we’ll try again.” He gently kissed my shoulder.

“Bradley, I’m really hot.” Overheated, my clothes clung to my sweaty body. Everything from my waist and up hurt too much for me to undress myself. Carefully he removed my clothing. He disappeared for a minute, I heard him asking Colleen to put the clothes in the wash. When he returned, I told him I would take care of the laundry tomorrow, not to worry.