by Sara Mack
Dane walks toward me. “I think it went well,” he says. “She has no reason not to believe us. Everything we said was the truth.”
I look at him. “You quit your job because your fiancées father threatened you?”
“Yes.”
“You called me to talk about it?”
“Yes.”
“I told you I was overwhelmed here?”
“No.” He stops in front of me. “You said that to your mother when you gave her the Ireland excuse.”
Oh. Well, that makes sense. “We really dodged a bullet today.” I look him in the eye. “Can you imagine if James had walked in instead of you? What would we have done?”
He takes another step closer. “You’re right. We need a better system.”
“How about knocking first?” I say sarcastically and cross my arms. “You don’t own the joint, you know.”
“I’m sorry,” he says. “I forgot about your mom’s visit.”
“Obviously.”
“Hey, even if I had knocked you would’ve asked who it was. I would have said my name and we still would have been caught.”
I bite my lip. “You’re right. Maybe you guys should call before coming over. You never know who might be here.”
Dane frowns. “Who else are you expecting?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. Maybe one day I’ll have a hot date and won’t want to be interrupted.”
Dane raises an eyebrow and gives me half a smile. “Would you like to have a hot date?”
Here we go. “Shut up. You know what I mean.”
“Do I?” he asks.
It’s just now that I realize how close he’s standing. “Why are you in my space?” I ask. “Back up.” I pull myself away from the door which only brings us closer.
“Now you’re in my space.” He smiles. “You back up.”
“Please.” I stand my ground. I try to change the subject from the topic of our proximity. “Who’s on guard tonight?” I casually ask.
“Yours truly.”
Ooookay. Is it getting warm in here or is it just me? “Well, bodyguard, can you move?”
He tilts his head. “Why? Does this bother you?”
“No. You’re in my way.”
“Then go around.”
How impossible is he being? I huff and take two steps to the side.
Suddenly, he grabs me around the waist and lifts me off the ground. “AH!” I yelp and lock my hands around his forearms. “What are you doing?”
“Guarding your body,” he laughs.
“Put me down!” I kick.
He sets my feet on the floor, but doesn’t let go. He slides his hands to my rib cage and starts to tickle me mercilessly.
“Stop!” My knees buckle as I burst into a fit of laughter. I try to free myself by writhing beneath his hands, but it doesn’t work. As I shrink to the floor to get out of his grip, I grab his leg just above his knee and press down hard.
“Hey!” He reflexively steps back. His hold loosens enough for me to slip away and I take off, putting the coffee table between us.
“Serves you right!” I laugh and try to catch my breath.
His eyes light up as he stalks me around the table. “I’m going to catch you.” He grins.
“I’m so scared.”
He darts to his left, and I jump to my right. He calculates the distance and decides to step over the table. I leap onto the couch and throw one leg over the back, trying to get away. Just as I’m about to swing the other leg over, he grabs my ankle.
“No!” I laugh and shake him loose. I fling myself off the back of the furniture and the force sends my body flying.
“There’s a wall there,” he snickers as I bounce off it.
I glare at him as I rub my shoulder.
“Where are you going to go?” he challenges me.
“Away,” I say as my eyes roam the room. Where can I go? I make a split second decision and sprint for the bedroom. If I can get there before him I can shut the door.
He leaps off the couch and is behind me in two strides. He’s so close that I let out an “Eeep!” as we cross through the doorway. LB takes one look at us, immediately jumps off the bed, and hightails it out of there. I run to the opposite side of the room, and Dane stops with the bed between us.
“Do you give up?” I smile. “You haven’t caught me yet.”
He grins back. “Never.”
He steps up on the bed to come across it and at me. I take off the way I came and he switches direction mid-mattress, leaping off and blocking my path. Damn it! We stare each other down.
“Looks like you’re trapped.” He smirks. “Any last words?”
“Before what?” I make a face. “I’m so winning this.”
He looks confused, but then starts to advance. “What are you going to do?”
I raise my eyebrows and barrel straight for his mid-section, wrapping my hands around his waist and tickling him as hard as I can.
He laughs and twitches under my fingers, but that doesn’t stop him from finding my sides and torturing me again. Pretty soon I’m reaching for whatever I think might be ticklish – under his chin, his armpits, his sides, even his knees. We’re a hysterical tangle of arms and legs, both of us trying to gain an advantage over the other. At some point he gets a hold of my leg and takes me out, causing me to fall on my backside with an “Ooof!”
He laughs as he stands over me. “I think I win,” he pants.
“Not so fast!” I wrap myself around his leg and pull. He topples to the side with a “Whoa!” landing next to me on the floor.
Side by side we lay there laughing, both of us bitten by some sort of tickle fight bug. I wipe the tears from my cheeks. “That was fun,” I tell him even though my shoulder hurts from hitting the wall.
“Yeah,” he says and props himself on his elbow. “I still claim victory though.”
“What? How?”
He smiles. “You fell first.”
“Whatever,” I say sarcastically. “I thought it was the first one caught not the first one to fall.”
“In that case,” he says and swings his body up and over mine, so he’s straddling my waist. He does it so fast that I don’t have time to react before he scoops up my wrists and pins them next to my head. “I win.”
Oh no, he doesn’t. My expression twists. “You’re a terrible cheater.”
“How am I a cheater?” He leans forward to get in my face. “I. Win.”
His cocky attitude challenges me and my heart begins to pound. The fact that he’s sitting over me doesn’t help either. How can I flip this? Ah ha! “Let go of my hands,” I say in a deadly serious tone.
I think he feels I’m offended, so he does as I ask. I reach for his waist and slowly slide my hands over his chest, then push against his shoulders to move out from underneath him. As I bring myself to kneel, he sits back on his heels and gives me a curious look. I methodically wrap one hand around his neck and press the other against his chest. I can feel his heartbeat pick up through his shirt as I move forward and hold my lips centimeters from his. He closes his eyes.
“What!”
I throw myself at him with all my might, causing him to fall backward and to the side. I quickly scramble up his body, throw my leg over his waist, and gather his wrists like he did mine. He stares at me wide-eyed as I grin. “Now that’s how you cheat. I win.”
“You’re rotten.” He narrows his eyes at me. “You know I can get out of this and make you pay.”
My bravado gets the best of me. “Please do.”
In one easy motion his lips are on mine. I release his wrists and try to sit up, but he uses his freedom not to claim victory, but to wrap one hand around my waist and run the other into my hair. His palm cradles my head and presses my mouth down on his. Instinctively, my hands turn into fists, clutching his shirt beneath them.
I swear time stops. His mouth invades mine and my mind races. My first kiss with him was just a few days ago! Yes, it was nice, but t
his is way more intense. How will I know what to do? Suddenly, I’m nervous and it shows. My lips still and he pulls away.
“I thought you wanted me to make you pay,” he breathes.
I do. I don’t want him to stop, but I don’t want to look like an idiot either. “I didn’t know what you were charging. This is new for me.”
His eyes grow dark and lock on mine. “Do you trust me?”
Why do I nod yes? It’s an involuntary motion. I mean, he’s never given me a reason not to trust him and I have done this before, right?
He slowly catches my mouth with his and kisses me softly. This I can handle. After a minute or two an unfamiliar – yet welcome – feeling starts to build in my belly. I like this. I can’t explain why, I just do. My pulse accelerates and one hand travels to wind my fingers in his hair while the other stays pressed against his chest. When I feel his hands trace my spine, my body tells me he’s ready to up the ante.
He holds me tighter, and I press myself against him. The intense kiss from earlier returns and this time I’m ready for it. I allow him to mold my mouth with his as my confidence grows. My insides continue to knot telling me we’re doing something right. My body remembers things my mind cannot, and I find myself pulling my mouth from his and following his jaw until I reach his ear. My teeth graze it – where did that come from? – and he makes a sound low in his throat. The realization that I caused his response makes me smile. I decide to work my way along his neck, leaving a trail of kisses to his shirt collar. Suddenly, my skin feels electric as one of his hands slides across my waist under my clothes while the other moves to my behind. My nerves completely evaporate. Even though I don’t quite understand where this is coming from, I know I don’t want it to stop. But how far am I willing to go? How far will he let it?
My question is soon answered. He lifts the bottom of my shirt with both hands, pulling it up and clearly wanting it off. Immediately, I feel overheated and want that too. I push myself to sit and help him remove it by pulling one arm out and lifting it over my head. I lean back over him as he slides it down my other arm, but it gets hung up on my bracelet. He gives it a good yank, pulling it off and taking the bracelet with it.
Blinding light scorches my eyes.
I slam them shut and press my forehead into his shoulder, screaming as I do.
“Emma? Shit! What’s wrong?” he panics.
Images flash before me. Teagan dressed as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Dane tossing me into a swimming pool. A crazed woman calling me a whore. James kissing my forehead with Meg by his side. Dane holding my hand as we sit in a golf cart.
“Emma?” I feel my body shake and then move. I pry open one eye to find him sitting and holding me against his chest. “What’s going on?”
My fingers clutch at his shoulder as the pain and the images keep coming. James telling me he loves me for the first time. My finger swirling a pattern in the dirt. Patrick leering above me. Dane lifting his shirt to expose stitches. James lying beside me and playing with my hair.
“Damn it! Talk to me!”
A man telling me his name is Lucas. Patrick licking my neck. James telling me that he is my Guardian. Dane helping me out of a flowerbed.
“Emma!”
I peel my eyes open again and attempt to speak. “Brr….” is all I can get out. My eyes sting and my thoughts are scattered; I can’t fill my lungs with enough air to form words.
“What?” Dane asks. “B what?”
More pictures. Angry James slamming a door. Dane kissing me while he carries me up stairs. James rolling into a wall as I kiss him. My fingers sliding off a casket as I’m pulled away.
I lift my wrist in an attempt to explain. It feels heavy, as if it’s tied with weights. “Brr…..”
He understands. Still holding me with one arm, he leans over and grabs my shirt, ripping the bracelet from the sleeve. He grabs my arm and roughly slides the jewelry over my hand.
Instantly, the pain is gone. My eyes clear and there is no bright light. The images disappear.
Dane takes my face in both of his hands. “Are you okay?” he asks, his eyes crazed. He kisses me again to get some sort of response.
I sag against his chest and he wraps his arms around me tight. “What just happened?”
A tear finds its way out of the corner of my eye and trails down my face. My breathing is erratic and my throat feels swollen, but I can speak.
“I found my memories,” I whisper.
Chapter 7
From across the kitchen table, three sets of eyes stare at me. I feel like I’m being interrogated in an old black and white detective film.
“Tell me again what you saw,” Garrett says.
I cross my arms in annoyance. “Maybe you should take notes.”
This will be my third time rehashing what happened, and I really don’t care to. I want to go back to my place and process my memories alone. The physical and emotional pain I felt recalling them has left me raw.
“We need to be clear when Madeleine and Ash arrive.” Garrett sits back in his chair. “Maybe they can explain this.”
“Where is the all-knowing duo?” I ask sarcastically. Man, I’m in a mood.
James notices. “Em, we’re just trying to help.”
“I don’t need your help.” I point to the bracelet. “As long as I’m wearing this, I’m fine.”
Garrett tips his head. “How did it come off again?”
My eyes dart to Dane, and he clears his throat. He’s been fairly silent through this whole ordeal. “I took it off,” I sigh for a third time.
“Why would you do that?”
I give Garrett a stale look. “In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t wear jewelry. No earrings, no necklaces, no bracelets, no rings.” I wave my fingers at him. “I’ve been wearing it for days; I wanted it off.”
He frowns at me.
“What?” I ask, exasperated.
“Nothing compelled you, did it? I mean, you didn’t get a sudden urge or hear a voice or anything like that?”
What kind of urge is he referring to? “N-no,” I stutter. “Why?”
“I wonder if Kellan isn’t using some sort of trick.” Garrett strokes his chin. “He didn’t want you to have the bracelet; he knows it’s important. What if he’s trying to get to you subliminally?”
James steps forward. “You might be right.”
Leave it to them to jump to that conclusion! The bracelet came off by accident. If Garrett and James think Kellan is making a move they’ll step up patrol. This is the last thing I need. What can I say without revealing what happened with Dane?
I shake my head adamantly. “I didn’t feel or hear anything. There’s no danger.”
“Yes, but…” Garrett grimaces, unsure.
“We should take extra precautions just in case,” James says. “These two can spend the days with you and attend your classes. I can handle the nights.”
Oh no. This is so not happening! “Stop. I’m safe. Really.”
Garrett looks at me with concern. “Emma, I think its best…”
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Dane interrupts and taps Garrett’s shoulder. “In private?”
Garrett gives Dane a puzzled look, but stands to follow him anyway. They walk past me and out of sight.
James frowns. “What’s that all about?”
I shrug. “Beats me.”
He walks around the table and leans against the edge, his face filling with concern. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“You remembered my mother calling you a whore. You saw my funeral again.” He looks into my eyes. “Are you sure?”
“Honestly?” I ask. “I haven’t had a minute to think about anything. I’ve been here since it happened.”
He looks at my wrist then runs his finger over the amulet. “I hate that this hurts you. I thought it kept you safe.”
I follow his finger with my eyes. “I still think it does.”
“By blocking you
r memory?”
I grumble. “If Madeline and Ash get here this century I’ll ask. What’s taking them so long?”
“They’re in mourning,” James says. “Claire was Madeline’s mother.”
“Claire?” I think back to prior conversations. She was the Larvatus that died in St. Thomas; the one who gave me the bracelet. Now I feel bad. Here I am acting all moody about their lack of presence when they have every right to take care of themselves first. “That’s really sad,” I say. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“How could you?” he says and leans closer. “We’ll get this straightened out. I don’t want you in danger – from anyone or anything.” He wraps his hand around my wrist and the leather band. “You’re too important.”
I’m not. At least not in my mind. I’m just a normal girl who’s been thrown into abnormal circumstances.
“So,” Garrett and Dane return to the kitchen. “Dane seems to think you’re not in any immediate danger.” He raises an eyebrow at me.
I glance between the two of them cautiously. “I agree.”
James stands. “Why? What makes him the expert?”
“I explained what I saw when Emma took off the charm.” Dane crosses his arms. “She wasn’t coerced.”
“We don’t have to take any extra precautions just yet.” Garrett moves toward the refrigerator. He opens the door and pulls out a two liter. “You guys thirsty?”
James looks at me and back to Garrett again, irritated. “No. Why are you changing the subject? What did you two talk about?”
“We discussed backing off and giving Emma some space,” Dane interjects. “I know it’s something she wants.” He hesitates. “And something you don’t.”
I can see James’ body tense. “You pulled him aside to gang up on me?”
“Kinda.”
James stares at Dane, his eyes boring into him.
“Is there something you want to say?” Dane asks.
“Yeah.” James steps forward. “I really don’t like you.”
Dane is not intimidated. “The feeling is mutual.”
James clenches his hands into fists. “So we’re clear?”
Dane stares him down. “Crystal.”
The tension in the room is palpable. My heart wants to beat out of my chest. Are they going to fight right here?
