by Tara Brown
Page 40
He tilted her head back into the water and let it remove the shampoo.
The feel of his strong hands running along her scalp was relaxing. She started to see him in a new light.
He pulled her out of the water again.
She smiled up at him and squeezed the lavender shampoo onto her hand. She poured as much as she would use for her own long thick hair.
He looked skeptically at her, "Is that for me?"
She nodded lifting it up to his head.
She started to laugh as she coated his head in thick shampoo.
"Overkill Hanna. " He spoke nonchalantly as she pulled him under the stream of water and rinsed his head. "It's going to take all night to get that off my hair. "
She scrubbed feeling her arms fatigue from the effort. She was weak from the fight.
His hair rinsed clean making a puddle of suds under their feet.
He looked down and smiled shaking his head.
He grabbed the conditioner and poured out a small amount. She reached out and squeezed the bottle a lot more.
His eyes grew wide, "That’s a lot. "
"Yeah did you notice how much hair I have?"
He smirked, "I did. " He put his hands up into her hair again massaging her scalp.
"This feels nice. " She closed her eyes letting him pick her knots out and stroke her strands with the silky conditioner.
He tilted her face up into his, she thought he meant to kiss her but he put her back into the water to rinse her head off. Her face got covered in warm water making her sputter slightly.
She opened her eyes under the steady stream. He was grinning hard.
As he finished rinsing her hair she leaned in again to kiss him.
"No Hanna. "
She pulled back, "Why?"
He smirked, "I want you to see me not feel me. "
"You thought getting semi naked in the shower and doing gentle sweet sensual things to each other was a great way for me to see you?" She had to admit it was working. The sick feeling had prevented her from feeling sexually charged so all she saw was him. Dark hair pasted against his face from the water, eyes so dark she could see herself in them, a devastatingly handsome face and a genuine smile. His eyes truly showed care and concern for her. She wondered how he was able to stay calm and enjoy being around her? He didn’t seem affected by her charms.
He raised an eyebrow looking like the epitome of boy next door, "Yes. I thought we could be girlfriends. You know wash each other's hair, maybe have a pillow fight. Later I will braid your hair and you can tell me all your darkest secrets. "
She laughed, "You're a dork. " She liked that he made her laugh. He never tried anything.
The warmth from his body started to emanate toward her. She caught his scent in the air. She felt her body begin to react.
"Shall we towel off?"
She pushed him against the wall of the shower hearing a tile break behind him. "Lets. " She smiled up at him through her lashes.
"Easy Hanna. Take a deep breath. Don’t let it rule you. "
She looked at him and nodded, "Thanks. "
He turned the shower off. She climbed out feeling much better. She grabbed a fluffy towel and passed him the other one.
"Why are you doing this? You could have just taken advantage of that lapse in self control. "
He laughed looking back at the broken tiles, "That's going to be a tough one to explain. I fell maybe or you slipped. No it's much too high and large for you. I guess it'll have to be me slipping on the excess amount of conditioner you use. Not like that couldn’t happen. "
She sneered at him.
He leaned in and kissed her forehead but backed away again quickly, "I'm doing it because I want you. I want you too much in fact. More than I've ever wanted anything. That’s not healthy. "
"So you're redefining our relationship to make it healthy?"
He nodded, "Clever huh? You and I will be friends before we are anything else. "
She grinned, "Are we friends yet?"
"No. "
"Well goodnight, friend. " She needed to get away from him, before she embarrassed herself.
She walked into her vomit-scented room and closed the door. It brought her back to reality quickly. She looked down at the puke bucket and sighed. She opened the window feeling the rain and cold of the night air and tossed the bucket out the window.
She looked down at her cell phone realizing it had been days since she'd spoken to Marcus. She wanted to call but even her fingers felt her betrayal of him and left the phone where it was. He had taken the cure and still loved her. Being away from him had proven she didn’t love him, not even a little.
She looked around realizing she needed to end it all. She would deal with Marcus when she saw him but Sam, Ben, Dorian and Don she could deal with right away.
She picked the phone up and dialed a different number.
"I need you to get him to make something for me and have it at the house. I will send Aimee. " She spoke softly, feeling her heart bursting with regret.
"How many?"
"At least four. Thanks. " She put the phone down and tried not to cry.
Chapter Forty-Nine: I like my Viking glossy and humble
Aleksander
Giselle sat on his bed looking at the pictures with him.
"That one. "
He beamed at her, "You're getting really good at this. "
She smiled.
He was amazed at how quickly she had picked up the fine art of recognizing supernatural creatures and beings in photos. It wasn’t hard but not everyone could spot the halo they gave off.
He looked down at her lips and smiled, she was wearing the berry gloss he'd grown to adore the scent of.
He leaned in imagining the feel of her lips against his.
She pulled back, "Uh no thanks. Dude you never gave me the time of day when you thought I was dumb. Now suddenly I'm doing pretty good at something you want to get all up in my grill. "
He laughed at the expression on her face, "Giselle it wasn’t that I thought you were stupid. "
"You must be missing the hell no on my face. I know what you thought of me. I heard you telling Hanna how I always talk too much. "
He felt ashamed, he could never live with hurting her, "Giselle, I didn’t mean any of it. I was trying to be nonchalant about my feelings for you. "
"Huh?" She pulled back from him further.
He took her tiny hand in his, "Giselle I was trying to be, uhm cool. I didn’t want anyone to know how I was feeling about you. "
She waited a moment, "Cause of Aimee?"
He nodded, "But not for the reason you think. I just don’t know how Aimee will feel about it and I wanted to make sure it was real. I didn’t want to get hurt. "
She looked confused, "You think I'd bite you?"
He laughed, "No honey, my heart. I thought you wouldn't like me back the right way. "
She looked completely puzzled, "I already told you I liked you. "
He got lost in her eyes, "I just didn’t think it would work out. "
"You know I'm not that smart, not the smartest anyway. But I also know that but I'm not so stupid to miss someone just wanting in my pants. Here in the privacy of your room you want me but in front of everyone else you don’t. You can't have Aimee so you're looking for a second best. Screw you Aleks. Dick. " She stormed out of his room.
He got up from the bed chasing after her. He grabbed her arm and dragged her back into his room. He closed the door pinning her up against it.
"I'll scream. " She whispered.
He smiled, "I'd like that very much. " He bent down kissing her lips. The berry gloss made them slide against his. He pulled back smiling, "Giselle when Aimee chose Shane I was heart broken. I never thought I could or would care for another person that way. I closed myself off so much I never even noticed how I was feeling about
you. I thought I was protecting you and helping you but it was more than that. "
She wiped the lip-gloss off his face, "It's hard to take you serious like that. "
He wiped his mouth on his sleeve, "When I love someone it's with my whole heart. I've loved two women in my entire life. "
Giselle looked pained, "One was my best friend. I'm not sure I can just pretend it never happened Aleks and I'm not willing to risk my friendship with Aimee over it. I think I will always wonder if you could be with her would you?"
He kissed her again but her lips stayed stiff against his.
"Give me a chance. " He asked softly.
She shook her head and pushed him off of her. She opened the door and was gone again.
He dropped to his knees in his room feeling the blank emptiness fill him again.
He stood and opened the window to his room. He dove out of it.
Chapter Fifty: Mine
Hanna
She waited at the front door for Aimee to return.
She looked down the hall to see her waving to her. Hanna looked confused and walked across the room to her, "When did you get back?" She asked quickly taking the purple sack Aimee had fetched for her.
Aimee rolled her eyes, "I wink in and out, I don’t use the front door. How does no one get that?"
She turned and walked away.
Hanna took the sack to the kitchen. She poured a cup of coffee for herself, "Anyone want coffee?"
Ben smirked at her nodding. He'd been extra close lately. She made his coffee dumping a vial in.
"What do you want in it?"
Ben winked, "Black. You're all the sugar I need. "
She smiled, praying the friggen cure worked on him. The cheesy lines were killing her.
Don never spoke, he had his ear buds in. She made him a coffee and poured a vial in for him as well. She put a bit of sugar in it and some cream. She carried them both their coffees.
Ben moved the pillow beside him, "Come sit by me. " She bat her eyelashes at him, "I will, let me just get my coffee. "
She passed Don the other cup. He looked up and smiled, "Thanks babe. "
Ben growled.
