He had wheeled his chair into the
light and --
God, he was worse than she had
thought. Her stomach almost spilled right then. She wasn’t doing
anything fast enough, wasn’t saving him.
“
Yes?” she asked, aware
that her voice was thin in the dank room.
He smiled with a pale, cracked
face.
“
You make me proud,
daughter.”
She swallowed down her tears and
smiled back, holding her hand over her heart. “And you, I,
father.”
Chapter 15
“
Jamie?” he asked, grabbing
her shoulders. She tried to pull away from him, covering her face
with her hands and sobbing even louder. “I hurt you -- oh god,
Jamie, I hurt you. I’m so sorry --”
His arms started to come around her
shoulders, pulling her to his chest. Jamie shook her head and wiped
at the tears in her eyes. “I’m not...hurt,” she cried, looking up
at him.
The site that he saw almost killed
him. Her eyes were red, puffy, no longer filled with passion but
with tears. His heart broke in his chest at the utter despair in
her eyes. Her neck was bruising, the pinprick dots visible because
of the blood surrounding them.
He stared at her, feeling his chest
tighten at the emotions in her eyes. “Tell me what I did -- was it
because I bit you like that? Jamie, I’m so sorry I swear I’ll never
do it again -- I don’t know what came over me. I just
--”
“
Talon,” she whispered
brokenly, wrapping her arms around herself. Her body was trembling
so much that it was shaking the bed. He grabbed for a blanket and
wrapped it around her, trying not to be hurt by her rejection of
him.
“
Yes,” he said, getting off
of the bed to put jeans on. Obviously, the mood was ruined and she
didn’t want anything to do with him now --
“
Don’t leave?” Her thin,
weak voice had him turning to look at her. She looked so small, so
fragile. Talon felt as if he had taken her like an animal, bitten
her like some sort of monster. Taken her and claimed her as his
mate, without even getting her consent.
Talon sighed and put the jeans down,
sitting on the edge of the bed and oblivious to his nakedness. He
was so disgusted with himself. Never in his life had a woman cried
because of having sex with him, and now his mate was? He scrubbed a
hand over his face and watched as she struggled to stop crying, and
also stared at his chest with longing eyes.
He knew what she wanted. When he
opened his arms for her, she crawled her merry way into them and
pressed her face to his chest. Her tears were hot on his skin, but
that didn’t stop the possessiveness that flowed through him as his
woman curled her way into his body.
“
Don’t cry, love... Tell me
what I did,” he commanded as gently as he could. His arms came
around her body tightly, holding her to him as he picked her up and
swung her into his arms bridal style. She let out a gasp and
wrapped her arms around his neck, holding on for dear
life.
His scent came off of her in waves,
making it known to everyone who ever dared to touch her that she
was taken. He forced himself not to worry about the fangs coming
out while he’d been close to orgasming -- there was still a lot
that he didn’t know, and Lucian would have answers.
But later. His mate needed to be
cleaned, and she had some talking to do.
When he realized she hadn’t answered
him, he gave her a little pat on the butt to get her attention. She
took a shaking breath, then pressed her forehead against his neck.
“I’ve never felt so...amazing, before that. It was... I thought --
it was just too much for me.”
His chest puffed up as pride filled
him. Then her tears had been for happiness, not disgust or pain. He
gave her a look of complete dominance and said, “You will never cry
like that again.”
Jamie let out a little
sound, and her hand collided with his chest. Despite himself, he
found himself laughing at her outrage. “You can’t tell me whether
to cry or not, Talon. Just because you own the world, that doesn’t
mean you own
me,
”
she huffed, giving him another good slap to the chest.
He walked into the bathroom, flipping
on the lights. A jaccuzzi was set up in the corner, large enough to
hold the both of them. Lucian had given them the only room with a
bathroom of their own, and going by all the shampoos and salts on
the ledge of the tub, she had been using that to her
advantage.
She made him set her down. An adorable
blush came over her face when she stood there naked. Talon stared
at her, running his eyes over her body. Jamie quickly covered her
private areas and ducked her head, thinking of all the times that
Chris had stared at her like that -- but because he had been proud
of her bruises.
Talon growled and moved her
hands, palming her breast and leaning down to her ear. “Don’t hide
yourself from me. Ever.” A flush came over her body -- this time
because of the tone of his voice and how close he was....and naked.
With her head still down, she had a clear view of his body and the
more
harder
part
of him.
Her breath rushed out of
her lungs and it took everything inside of her
not
to reach out and grab him. He
must have known, too, because he stepped back and the smile he gave
her spoke of pure male pride. And then he swung her into his arms
and set her in the bathtub.
Water settled around her and quickly
filled the tub. She shivered, staring up at him, wondering if he
was going to join her.
He did.
“
You know, now that you are
mine, you aren’t allowed to do anything without me right next to
you,” he said arrogantly while wrapping his arms around her waist.
Jamie froze, eyes widening. Not just because his...third leg was
poking at her hip, but because of what he had said.
“
No. I can’t live like
that,” she said sternly, stabbing him in the chest with her finger.
He caught her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing her knuckles
slowly.
“
You will, and you’ll enjoy
it.”
She shook her head, deciding not to
argue on it. He would learn sooner or later that she wasn’t going
to be held down any longer, by anyone. Chris had been a turning
point in her life, and she was just now getting back on
track...even though she still had to deal with the new world she
was being brought into. Being her own woman was her new goal, one
that she planned on reaching.
Her eyes narrowed. “Who said I’m
yours?”
Talon put her hand on his chest, over
his heart. The arrogance left him in a second, replaced with a
quiet solemnity that almost made her back away from him. Water
sluiced around them while he adjusted her against his chest, to a
more firm position that she couldn’t get out of.
“
Me. You. Anything with a
mind should know that you are mine,” he growled softly, tightening
his arms around her. She was pressed closely to his chest, low
enough that her head reached under his chin. His legs were bent
around her, enclosing her in a warm blanket of male heat and
water.
She shivered. “I think you got that
wrong. I haven’t agreed to anything concerning ‘ownership’, thank
you very much.”
His hand, which had been tracing slow
circles around her waist, came up and settled on her neck. Right
over the place that had had a soft ache since he had made love to
her. It hadn’t hurt enough for her to notice it, but now that she
was more clear minded...
Jamie gasped. He spoke in her ear.
“Feel this?” His hand pressed against her neck, and the place
irradiated with heat. Jamie held down a whimper and bit her lip,
feeling tingles run along her body. If she had been wearing
panties, they would have been drenched.
“
Yes...” she whispered,
hoping that it prevented any sources of arousal from escaping
through her voice. Of course, her body was a whole other thing. She
had to cover her breasts so he didn’t see her peaked nipples, and
it didn’t help the blush that was getting worse by the
second.
“
Is it making you hot?” he
growled, his hot breath washing over her ear. Jamie couldn’t stop
the shudder that wracked her body, or the nod that she gave
him.
He pulled his hand away from her neck
and put it on her stomach, right under her breast. Jamie let her
head fall back against his chest as his thumb rubbed slow circles
on her skin, pressing and massaging, stealing her very
breath.
“
That is how I know you are
mine,” he murmured. She felt his lips at her temple, kissing her
softly. Jamie almost glared at him, but found that she didn’t have
enough strength. He was just so...calming. “And if anyone ever
touches what’s mine? They die.”
“
Like Chris,” she said
softly, the image of Talon beating the living daylights out of him
flashing through her mind.
“
Not like Chris. He was
lucky you were there, or he would be dead.” He paused. “Next time,
I won’t be so merciful. One wrong look, or touch, or even thought,
towards you, and the fucker will be dead within a second. I won’t
go through the preliminaries of using my fists, either.”
Jamie knew he was telling
the truth. Knew he was being completely serious. Knew that she
could be the reason he could end up in jail. And what did that do
to her? It made her pant. Honestly, seriously, pant. Unlike Chris,
he was possessive over
her
-- not what she looked like. Not the money she
had.
She should hate that he was possessive
of her at all, but how could she when it made her feel wanted? She
stared down at her hands, hating herself.
Later on, Talon tucked her in and
left. He had needed to talk to Lucian, and ever since they had
gotten out of the tub, he had been distracted to the point where
she couldn’t say a word to him.
Head hurting, eyes aching, and her
mind turning, it wasn’t long before she was asleep...and dreaming
of things that she had buried long ago.
~*~
“
Jamie, you’re an adult
now. And this means you need... time away from the
house.”
She stared at her mother
as if she were crazy. What was she talking about? Jamie was barely
sixteen, still drooling over boys, and going to school. Her parents
were adults, but she wasn’t. Didn’t want to be, in fact. Too many
people came to visit you, talked about boring things, and then left
with a cool difference that had always left Jamie angry.
“
But Alexis was coming
over soon,” she said, hoping it would be a good enough reason. She
really had no clue what her mother was talking about. Time away
from the house? As in leaving?
“
I called her mother, and
she understands that you will be gone for some time. Your father
and I agree that it is time for you to... mature. Away from
us.”
Jamie felt as her heart
thundered in her chest. They wouldn’t send her away -- what would
they do without her? What would her teachers think? And....where
would she stay? Her other family had never really talked to her at
all, and there was no one willing to take...care of her. Besides
her parents and her friends, Jamie had no one. And she didn’t want
anyone else.
So why were they sending
her away?
“
Away from you?” she
repeated dumbly, ears ringing. Away. Gone. Not with her
mother.
She stared into her
mother’s cool blue eyes, feeling like this was all too much like
last time. Except now, her father knew, and he hated her. He didn’t
care about her. Was he the one sending her away from her mother?
Hurt shone in her pale eyes as she backed away from her mother like
she was a monster.
“
Yes. You will be taken
out to Colorado, where.... a friend of mine has agreed to take care
of you.
“
A friend of yours? Mom,
why can’t you just take care of me. I mean... I’m your daughter.
Don’t send me away,” she whispered, falling against her bed. She
had just gotten home, and it was only noon. Carry and her had gone
to the mall with a couple of their friends, checking out the latest
selection of tapes that they had gotten in at the music
shop.
She had rushed upstairs,
excited to show Alexis the new cassette she had gotten, only to
find her mother sitting on her plush bed, hands folded in her lap
and her eyes staring at the pale pink walls of Jamie’s quaint
room.
Now, with her mother
rising calmly to her feet and gesturing to a suitcase Jamie hadn’t
noticed, she really couldn’t believe that this was happening. “Is
this because I got a B on my AP calculus test?” she blurted out,
praying that this was just a joke, an event to scare her into doing
better at school.
Her mother’s coiled hair
stayed in place as her head shook, elegant eyes cooly regarding
Jamie. “No. Take your suitcase down stairs. There is a car waiting
outside for you.”
And then she left, her
soft perfume permeating the air as if she were a bad stink leaving
behind a bad mark. Wasn’t that too true, though. Her throat closed
up, and she reached for the suitcase blindly. Her mother wasn’t
joking around. Her father was behind this, she was sure of
it.