Dark Illusions: The Beginning

by Ariana Browning

  Cara hurt for Julian, listening to the pain in his words. “Julian, let her have fun. I’m sure it’s been a long time since she found the ability to relax. Trust her not to make the wrong mistake. She is merely trying to live her life, as much as it hurts her to be away from you, she is trying. You can’t expect her to shut everyone out. She is doing the best she can. She comes here because she feels safe here. With her here, we can watch over her, but you have to calm yourself. The more you tell her to stay away from him, the harder you will push her toward him. Be careful, Julian.”

  “Kiss me.”

  Kat raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

  “Well, I’ve thought about it since I sat down, and I’m curious if you have the courage to do it in this club.” Cameron leaned across the table.

  “Not a question about if I want to kiss, but rather about having the courage?”

  Cameron smiled. “I already know you want to. I don’t have to ask.”

  Kat’s laugh busted out of her. “You’re so full of yourself.”

  “You call it full of myself, I call it confidence.”

  “They’re the same thing.” Kat leaned forward on the table.

  “Not really. Kiss me.”

  “No.”

  “So why laugh? Yes.” Cameron teased, “You scared?”

  “Scared of what? You? Not.”

  “You’re too scared of kissing me. That’s fine. Never mind.”

  “Ooo, he’s challenging me.” Kat teased. “Or, trying to act dominating.”

  “Trying? I don’t have to try. You like it.”

  Kat looked around the club before returning her attention to him. “Maybe.”

  “Kiss me.”

  Kat smiled and leaned across the table, giving Cameron the kiss he kept bugging her for. Cameron wrapped his arm around the back of her head, entangling his fingers in her hair and forced her into a deeper kiss. He pulled away and she smiled.

  Kat lowered back down to the seat and looked beside her as she did. Her entire world froze, then went topsy-turvy.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Julian asked with a deep snarl. He stood beside the table, watching them with eyes full of rage and glowing with the beast within.

  Cameron grinned. “Julian—”

  Julian ripped Cameron from his seat before he could finish, and hurled him across the room, crashing into some tables at the back of the club. When Cameron hit the floor Kat, jumped out of her seat and grabbed Julian’s arm.

  “Julian, what are you doing?” she asked, but regretted it when he turned on her. The beast within still glowed in his eyes. Her stomach turned to liquid and her legs turned to jelly.

  “You need to leave. Now!” Julian commanded, leaving no room for argument. His presence seemed three times larger than normal. His anger petrified Kat to the point of tears, and the entire room throbbed with his power.

  Tears poured down Kat’s cheek. She was terrified of the beast she saw, fearing he would hit her. Now she’d seen the real Julian, and worse, he demanded her to leave. She shoved past everyone and ran out of the club into the street, not knowing where to go. The one thought being that she had to get as far away from there, and Julian, as possible.

  She turned toward the back of the club, and a hand grabbed her arm from behind. She spun around and went to scream, until she saw it was Sean.

  “Let me take you home,” he said. “You’re in no condition to drive. I’ll have Max drive your car home.”

  She wanted to protest, but instead let them take care of her like they wanted to. Kat handed over her keys, and Sean threw them over his shoulder to Max standing on the sidewalk behind them. Max caught them like it was second nature.

  Sean led her to his car and took her home with no problems, not bothering to strike up a conversation with her, even leading her up to her condo along with Max. True gentlemen.

  As Max left her condo, he told her, “Here, take my card. If you need anything, you call me Kat. Anytime. I’ll be there. Okay?”

  She managed a smile, telling him, “Thank you. I appreciate it.” She shut the door behind him before he could say anything else.

  Kat lay in her bed, unable to sleep. She thought about Cameron and Julian. How could Julian treat her that way? What was he thinking? She stared at the ceiling and another tear fell down her cheek. She wiped it away and reached for the phone.

  “Are you okay?” Cameron asked when he answered.

  Kat was flabbergasted. “You’re asking if I’m okay when you were the one thrown across the club. Here I called to see if you were okay.”

  “It was nothing. I wasn’t the one who ran out of the club in tears. Question still stands.”

  “I’m okay, thank you. I’d like to see you. I want to talk to you.”

  “We are talking, Kat. I don’t think it would be a good idea for you to be near me.”

  “Don’t tell me what to do. You know what I meant. Never mind.” She hung up on him before he could reply and dialed Max.

  “Yeah?” His voice came on the other end.

  Kat hesitated before asking, “Max can you do me a favor?”

  “What do you need?”

  “Will you take me to Cameron’s?”

  “Of course.” He hesitated a moment before questioning, “You sure?”

  Kat paused to think it over again. “Yes. Will you?”

  “I’ll be there in a bit,” Max told her as he hung up.

  Max pointed out Cameron’s penthouse when he opened the door for Kat. “I’ve already told the guards you’re coming so you won’t have any problems getting through. Cameron doesn’t know you’re coming.”

  Kat smiled and touched his arm. “Thank you. He would’ve just told you not to bring me here.”

  Max winked at her and shut the door. “Be seeing you.”

  Cameron opened the door and looked at Kat for a few moments before he stepped out of the way and let her in. “You shouldn’t be here, Kat.” His voice thickened, warning her. Seeing her when he opened that door, hearing her come up, his entire body was stiff. One thing he wanted from her and he could smell how much she wanted it as well. It took everything he had not to grab her that second.

  “I’m where I want to be. I can go if you want me to,” she answered on her way in.

  Before she could finish, Cameron grabbed her arm and pulled her to him, kissing her with desire he’d controlled for a long time. Kat clung to his arms. He pulled away to make sure she was where she wanted to be. She smiled up at him, and he knew this was what he’d worked so hard to achieve. Her compliance.

  Thirty Nine

  Kat woke up feeling strange, like something was wrong. She opened her eyes and remembered she wasn’t in her own bed. The events of the night before washed over her, and she smiled and stretched under the covers, looking over at a sleeping Cameron. Looking around for the time, the clock on the nightstand said it was seven in the morning. With the thick drapes over the window, rendering the room into darkness, you couldn’t tell.

  She maneuvered away from his body and his grip, and his hand grabbed her wrist. “Where are you going?” he growled, half-awake.

  Kat rolled over to her side and smiled. “I was trying to sneak out. We have different sleeping patterns, if you hadn’t noticed.”

  Cameron opened his eyes, grinning at her. “Stay. You need your sleep.”

  “Well yes, technically, I’ve only had a tiny bit of sleep now haven’t I?” She looked down at his mouth, feeling the hunger stir within.

  Cameron released her wrist and skimmed her cheek with his fingers, moving to her lips. “Stay,” he commanded.

  “Once again with that whole dominating act, huh?” She smiled. “You’re forgetting I can’t be control—”

  Cameron snatched her and dragged her body beneath his, making her squeak. “Stay,” he commanded again. “I won’t let you leave.”

  Kat smiled, “You can’t make me. Correction. You can make me, but you won’t. Because . . . you can’t.
” She dropped her gaze to his mouth before bringing her attention back up to his eyes, which grew darker with her disobedience.

  Cameron narrowed his eyes. “You know I can.”

  Kat laughed. “Of course you can. But that is why you won’t. You do? You might as well chain me to the bed, because I would never stay with you after that.” Fear boiled in her stomach and she tried remaining calm. “All you know is how to act dominating and possessive. Now that you got me in bed, you think you’ve won, big boy? Hardly. Try asking me to stay. Try telling me the truth, which is that you want me to stay.”

  Cameron smiled, easing the tension he held. “I want you to stay, Kat. Please don’t leave.”

  Kat giggled. “Wow, sounds like you had to choke that one out. Why?”

  “Kat. . . .” He growled.

  Kat grinned. “Give me a good reason.”

  “As I said, a hard woman for any man to control.” Cameron grabbed both her wrists and pinned them behind her head, leaning down to kiss her, making her forget all about leaving.

  Forty

  Julian paced the floor in Kat’s condo, waiting for her to return, beginning to wear a pattern in the plush fibers. He stopped and kicked them back in place with his foot, shaking his head.

  After the fight, he came back to Kat’s condo to talk with her, smooth things over, but she never came home. Waiting a few hours, he came again, but still, she wasn’t back. Her scent was faint in the living room and fainter in her bedroom, which told him she’d come back, but soon left and hadn’t returned since. The scent of Sean and Max were there as well.

  Going back to pacing, his anger grew with every passing minute, knowing it was more than twenty-four hours since she’d been home. If they’d kidnapped her again, he would destroy the Raaka and anyone who got in his way—

  Keys rattled in her lock and he froze. Being so lost in his anger, he hadn’t noticed Kat walk up, but he could smell her outside the door, hear that familiar soft heartbeat, so distinct to her. He stood there and waited for her to come in. The longer she took, the more his frustration grew. He couldn’t believe she would trust him, go against his word. Maybe Cara was right, he should just imprison her, then he could have her to him—

  Kat walked into her condo and slammed to a halt when she saw him.

  Julian’s eyes were glowing. “What do you think you were doing with him?” A low growl made its way out.

  Kat’s defenses shot up. How’d he know where she was? “Excuse me?”

  Julian glared at her. “You are playing a dangerous game. I told you to stay away from him.”

  Kat’s hands shook with fear and anger. “And you have no right to tell me what to do.”

  “I have every right when I’m trying to protect you. Do you know what he wants to do to you?” Julian’s voice rose against his wishes. The last inch of calm he held slipped.

  “Stop yelling at me,” Kat stormed past Julian, trying to put distance between them. She headed toward the kitchen to put her bag away.

  As she passed, Julian picked up on Cameron’s scent all over her, and his fury grew, thinking about Cameron’s hands on her. Now he knew for sure where she’d been and what they’d done. She was his and her body belonged to him, not Cameron. She was his Kat, not Cameron’s Kat. He clenched his palms, the nails lengthening into skin. The animal took over.

  His voice lowered to a dangerous level, and he spoke as slow as he could. “I can smell him. All. Over. You.” It took everything to hold back from attacking her.

  Kat dropped her bag on the table and spun around. Her heart stopped. “What?” she whispered.

  “You heard me.”

  Kat’s legs turned to jelly and her heart fell. She walked over to the cabinet, grabbed a cup and filled it with water from the sink. Her hands shook so hard the water sloshed about. Mustering all her courage, she whispered, “You need to leave. As you said at the club. Leave. Now.”

  Julian walked into the kitchen and stood behind her, causing her to almost drop her cup. The presence of him behind her was that of a nightmare. “Why would you, Kat?”

  She turned around, trying to find strength. “Why do you care? You say you want to protect me from you and from what you are and yet? You are the one I need protection from.”

  Kat flinched when Julian raised a hand, making it clear what she thought of him. He could see the fear, fearing he’d hit her. He skimmed his finger along her cheek, and his gaze traveled from her eyes, down to her lips, back up. He sighed, seeing what he was doing and calmed the wolf within. His eyes returned to normal and he whispered, “I would never hurt you on purpose, Kat.”

  “Yet you already have,” she whispered, moving away from his touch.

  Julian’s anger surfaced again as she sided with Cameron. “Would you like him to make you a Raaka? Is that it? You want to become one of us? You’d like to be his little fucking toy?” He growled, seizing her arms so hard she cried out.

  “You’re hurting me. Stop.” Tears welled up in her eyes.

  “You go to him when you are hurting and you side with him, thinking what Kat? That he is the good guy in all of this? He is telling you what you want to hear. All he wants to do is control you and make you his!” He shook her and tears fell down her cheeks. “That is what you want?” He snarled, squeezing her arm harder.

  “Why are you doing this? You said you wanted to protect me, and now you’re hurting me. Julian. . . . Please . . . stop.” More tears fell down Kat’s cheeks as she crumbled beneath his anger. Julian released her and stumbled back as fast as he could.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered. The gentle Julian resurfaced, and his anger disappeared at her pain. “I am so sorry. Please stay away from them, Kat.”

  All Kat’s strength left her, and she sunk to the floor. “Leave. Just . . . go. . . .” She whispered, burying her face in her hands, unable to bear looking at him anymore.

  Forty One

  Kat chose to stay away from the club for fear of running into either Julian or Cameron. She needed time to think and couldn’t do it if they were around.

  Cameron tried calling her the day after she left, but she made it clear, she needed some time. He pushed to see her until she told him to either understand, or he didn’t need to see her again. Agreeing, he told her to call him when she was ready and he’d make the time, then left her alone.

  Julian hurt her to the core when he attacked her. She couldn’t believe he’d turn on her. She knew it was because she’d spent the night with Cameron more than anything else. But why allow it to affect him so much, when he was the one who told her he couldn’t be with her? He’d made her furious, but it also hurt a lot. She felt like she was being ripped apart in several ways. One moment she felt like he wanted to be in a relationship with her and the next, not. What was his plan?

  It was time to sort everything out with Cameron, so she called him before she went to bed.

  “Cameron.”

  Kat smiled. “How is everything?”

  “Doing quite well. Is everything sorted out in that little head of yours? You should come over.”

  Kat laughed. “Never one for beating around the bush, huh?”

  “Not likely. Come over,” he said.

  “And here I haven’t said whether I want to, or not.”

  “We both know how I feel about those games, Kat. Don’t play around. You want to, so come over here.” Kat heard him talking to Sean in the background. “I’ll have Sean pick you up.”

  “Now I have a choice? Well, at least you did give me all last week to myself. Shocking!” She laughed. “Fine enough. I planned on turning in early, but I guess I could come over there and hang with you boys for a little bit.”

  “You don’t think I’m alone?” Cameron asked her, surprised.

  “Not so much. Gut tells me you’re at the office, not at home. Not to mention you just said Sean would pick me up.”

  Cameron laughed. “Your gut would be correct. See you soon.” He hung up before she could protest.r />
  Rather than drop her off, Sean walked with her to Cameron’s office. Kat’s gut told her something was up, and she didn’t understand why, nor did she like it. She glanced at Sean next to her, wondering why his presence made her feel off. Sean wasn’t doing anything unusual. He didn’t say anything different, and she didn’t have any reason to feel so hesitant.

  Sean opened the door and Kat walked in to see Cameron sitting at his desk. Cyrus stood in the back of the room, and Jake and Max stood on either side of the room. She walked in and Cameron walked over to greet her while Sean shut the door, standing in front of it and crossing his arms. Her gaze flicked momentarily to his face, becoming even more uneasy.

  “You know how good it is to see your face, instead of all these ugly men? I’ve dealt with them for far too long.” He walked up to her and kissed her like nobody was in the room with them, causing her to feel self-conscious.

  Kat smiled when he pulled away, but couldn’t shake the feeling inside which grew, trying to tell her something was up, though nothing looked out of the ordinary. There was something about the entire situation that she was missing, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

  “You could’ve told me you were busy. I wouldn’t have come,” she told him.

  “You have every right to be here, Kat. You’re one of us.” He stroked her cheek.

  Kat’s stomach fell and fear enveloped her at the admission. She took a shaky breath and told him, “No I’m not. Get that look out of your eyes.”

  Cameron grinned. “What look is that?”

  “The one that says I belong to you. I’m not yours. You know, on second thought, I don’t think it was a good idea to come. You’re busy. I’ll go.” She turned to leave, but Cameron grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back.

  “Not so fast, young lady. First, you do belong to me. You are mine. Second, you’re not leaving. Not yet.” His grin faded when the beast within him surfaced.