by Amy Henwood
“Now!” he yelled.
“No,” I bellowed back.
“That wasn’t a question, Scarlett.”
“I’m aware.” I rolled my eyes and walked away.
He got out of the car and placed himself in front of me to block my path. I managed to dance around him to continue my long, painful walk home. A split second later he was back in front of me, his face filled with the utmost fury. I tried to get past him, but he was quicker than my slow pace.
“This is not a choice,” he said, and my feet left the solitude of the earth, the only reminder that it was not a dream. I lay hunched over his shoulder captive.
“Put me down!” I screamed.
A quick no out of him gave me all the insight I needed to stop wasting my breath and give in. I could scream again, but the low, almost non-existent traffic on the road had no pedestrians or oncoming vehicles that could aid me.
I was thrown in the front and he was in the driver's seat faster than I could process. Tires squealed and left black treads on the faded asphalt as he ripped down the road in the same fashion as he had in coming toward me.
“What the hell are you trying to prove?” I said lividly. “You almost killed me with that insane stunt driving.”
“I’m insane? Let me remind you, I am not the one walking with a torn knee ten kilometres from home.”
I fluffed off the comment. “Where are you unwillingly taking me?” I asked when he didn’t turn the direction of my home.
“My house,” he responded.
“And if I don’t want to go there?”
“Again, I did not ask you a question.”
“And I did not consent to the kidnapping. You really are a dick.” I felt like I was drowning in the recent information I had received.
“If I’m the dick, I would hate to hear what you call Jackson.”
“A real gentleman compared to your assholyness.”
“You pose an incredibly screwed-up definition of a gentleman versus a dick. I would never have let you walk out on me without running after you. You have been walking for fifteen minutes and he never came after you.”
“How do you know what happened?”
“Good to know he has not exposed all our secrets.”
Of course there was more to this. What sort of fucked up situation did I land myself in? “You didn’t answer my question,” I said, interrupting myself from my racing, never-ending thoughts.
“What I know, and how I know, is none of your concern.”
“It sure is when it involves me. My definition of dick is you lying to me our entire relationship. A relationship that was built on nothing but fabricated tales. My definition of a gentleman is someone who protects me and tells me everything the dickhead neglected to, and that person happens to be your brother.”
The speed of the car increased and took a jolting dive around the corner and into Chase’s driveway.
I stayed stationary as he opened my door, refusing to go inside.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way. It’s the only choice you will have today,” he said.
I didn’t bear a fighting hope at not going with him, no matter what I did or said.
“You are such an asshole,” I said, him now at eye level with me.
He pulled me from the car, and with his hands placed on my hips, he pulled me in tightly. His fingers weaved thought my wind-tangled hair and rested on my cheekbone. His lips covered mine in an opposite manner of his previous actions, soft and gentle. My blood vessels pounded like rushing rapids. My arms pegged around him and brought him snug against me. I kissed him back with a firm vengeance and he pushed me against the car door. The cold metal against a small piece of my exposed back shot chills through me. I kissed into him deeper, our tongues battling. I challenged to keep him close when he broke the suction between us, as his built muscles easily won.
“Don’t stop,” I panted.
He covered my mouth with his fingers and I took the opportunity to wrap my lips around them. “We can carry this on inside,” he said, sliding his arm down and around my waist, tucking me in beside him as we walked into the house.
“Hi, Scarlett,” Sadie said, coming out of the bathroom carrying a caddy filled with cleaning supplies. Her hair was pulled into a sloppy ponytail and her sleeves were rolled up.
“Hi,” I said.
“I’m finishing up some housework and then Dominic and I will be out of your way.”
Everything inside was in their proper location. Blankets were neatly placed over the couch back and armchair. Spring-themed centrepieces vacant of dust took centre stage on the coffee table and fireplace mantel.
Dominic emerged from his room and Sadie washed the lingering cleaning chemicals off her hands at the kitchen sink. She giggled at Dominic as they left, a scene all too familiar to the one with Ryan and Mia.
“What does she know?” I separated from him.
“She knows as much as a female roommate would know,” he said.
“I live with one of those and they tend to know everything, plus some.” I left the couch and put the distance of the room between us. “I know what you are and where you come from. Is Sadie one too?”
“You’re curious.” He stood on the area rug in the centre of the room. “You know who we are and where we come from, but I guarantee you don't know the entire story of what happened that night.”
Taking after his brother, he was the master of avoiding answers to my questions. I had a growing urge to smash my head through the wall. I didn’t think I was capable of handling any side tales to an already impossible-to-believe story.
He took two steps toward me and said, “You have to trust me.”
Taking several uncoordinated strides back, I attempted to reclaim the distance from him but failed miserably with a chair in my way. My legs collapsed, folding into the seat. Chase hovered over me.
“I can’t trust anyone anymore,” I said.
“Including me?”
“Especially you.”
My vision was encased with a view of only him. He ran his palm down my body and rested it on my legs. My spine shot vertically, my mind blanked and I kissed him briskly without flinching at my diminishing anger.
With a quick manoeuvre, he was in my place on the chair and I was sitting on his lap, cuddled like a small child.
“You have to,” he said, fixing the fabric of my snagged shirt.
I glared at him. “Why?”
“He failed to include several details about that night,” he said, avoiding saying Jackson’s name.
I wanted to wiggle out of his embrace, but his touch kept me locked on his lap. Not by force, but because I was incapable of resisting him while he physically touched me. I was powerless to the energy of attraction he possessed. I knew I should not be here with him, but I couldn't extract myself, rendering myself helpless in resisting him.
“I’m all ears,” I said because his powers told me to listen.
“Did he mention that when he was driving home that deadly night, he was full of rage?”
I shook my head.
“Did he mention that when he finally noticed the truck he thought it would be okay if he died that night?”
I shook no again.
“Did he mention that he witnessed something at the arena between you and me?”
I had to forcefully think to breathe before mouthing out a no.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” He was smug.
I was as stiff as hung-to-dry jeans, digging my memory of what happened, but of course I came up vacant-minded. I had no memory of my prior life—why would I ever think I could pose a recollection of that?
I got up alone and clueless. He followed suit, staying a short arm's length away.
“Tell me, please,” I struggled to get my vocal cords to vibrate.
“You and I have shared a close connection from the day we met, but unfortunately for me, you fell for the good-boy older brother, even though if it wasn't for me, y
ou two would have never met. You wanted me; we had gone to school together since grade school, but you stupid, fresh-into-high-school girls always go for the oldest one that will say anything more than a hi. My short-lived fortune was changed that night at the hockey game. You offered to purchase snacks between periods. Now let me point out this part very clearly: gentleman-me went with you to help carry the items from the concession stand back to our seats.”
I could have interrupted on the gentleman part, but strangely I wanted to hear what he had to say.
“Our flirtatious comments began as soon as we reached the top of the stairs.”
I had to jump in this time. “I don’t flirt. I can’t, even if I tried.”
“In this life, you may think that, but it was the norm between you and me in the past.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I can stop here if you would like,” he threatened.
“No, don’t. I need to hear the rest.” I came closer to him, showing that I was hanging onto every word.
“Remember to trust me.”
I nodded.
“Our flirting was tame and innocent at first, but the more you got involved with him, the more you kicked it up with me.”
“What about Marianne?” I said, referencing his girlfriend at the time.
He ignored me. “I commented on your nice ass that I had the pleasure of staring at the entire way up the stairs, and boy, I’m sure glad it didn't change in this life,” he said, winking.
I shot my best stare-down to get him back on track.
“As I was saying,” he continued, “yours was remarkable in your tight, low-cut jeans. You made a statement I will never forget—” he stopped.
“You are going to have to tell me since I have zero memory of this,” I said.
“‘If you like looking at it so much, then why don't you try feeling it.’ It was an opportunity that I couldn’t turn down, so I jumped at the offer.”
“That would be a first and only,” I said under my breath.
“Am I stopping?”
“No, go on.” He definitely didn't like being interrupted during story time.
“Once my hand left your sweet, tight ass, you grabbed it and led me to a corner with little human traffic. Your arms whipped around my neck and pulled me to your lips, giggling between breaths, unable to wipe a smile off your face.”
“This is all a lie. I would never cheat on anyone.”
He let out a large laugh from the gut. “Do you need reminding that you have just done it again, but to a much greater extent?”
“How would you know what I have or haven’t done?”
“After a while of you kissing me,” he carried on, neglecting to answer yet another question, “you looked over my shoulder and froze. I turned and saw him staring at us. I don't know how long he was watching us, but no one would have had to witness much of it to understand the message.”
“He didn't abandon us at the arena, forcing us to find our own way home? Did he give you a free nose job?” I asked, reminding him of the forceful punch he had received from Jackson.
“He was a kind person. Much more than you deserved. He never wanted to cause harm to anyone.”
My heart was weighed down by an anchor, as heavy amounts of guilt drowned me. I didn't want to believe that I was such a heartless person that had not changed twenty-seven years later.
“What happened next?” I asked.
“He approached us and said, ‘If he is who you truly desire, then have him,’ and he walked away. That’s why he didn’t swerve for the oncoming truck.”
I stood silently, absorbing the unexpected twist in my final days.
Chase put his arms around me. “You have to believe me on this. You and I were meant for each other back then and we are meant for each other now.” He looked passionately at me, the way we might have been looking at each other the night of the accident.
“You’re lying,” I belted out. “Your only intent is to kill me.”
“What kind of shit stories has he been brainwashing you with?”
I shrugged at the thought.
“What have I ever done to hurt you?”
“You pinned me against the wall and wouldn’t let me go.”
“But did I hurt you?”
“No,” I said. “But you are a dark angel. Your kind is notorious in causing hell in people's lives. You made yourself a dark angel just so you could get revenge.”
“The lies you are being fed are ridiculous. Yes, I broke the rules of a spirit, but for good reason. When I saw that you had been reincarnated, I needed to do anything it took to come back to be with you, and the only way I could do that was to become a fallen dark angel. I broke the rules for you, Scarlett. I needed to be with you. I couldn't bear to be without you.”
“But—” I said.
“But nothing,” he interrupted, cupping my face.
I weakened at his touch. What if Chase was telling me the truth, and Jackson was the one serving me all the lies? After all, if I wanted Chase in my former life, it would be natural for me to lust him again. Maybe Jackson is portraying Chase with a bad image to keep us apart.
The only thing I was sure of was that I wanted Chase—right now.
“Shall we locate to someplace more suiting for the situation?” he suggested.
I didn’t hesitate at the proposal. As long as I was close to Chase, I didn't want anything else, no matter how morally wrong anything was. It didn't matter anymore.
I was led to his bedroom, my legs flowing like feathers, but I halted in my tracks when his door opened. The sheets had been turned down with speckles of rose petals, light music played softly in the background, and rounding off the effect were two dozen warm flickering candles.
“Sadie,” I said under my breath.
“I can’t take any credit. This is one hundred percent her doing,” he said, holding me close.
“I don’t know if I should be flattered by the sentimental gesture or angry at the assumption.”
“She’s only trying to help.”
I backed away, but never losing physical touch. “Help?” My face reddened.
“Bad choice of words?” he asked.
“Got that right. Helping you get laid is not okay.”
“What I meant is, if anything was to happen, she wanted to make sure it turned out perfect and that you would never forget.”
Either she knew about my sexual encounter with Jackson and wanted me to forget it, or she thought this was my first time and had presented us with a romantic backdrop.
I was hugged from behind as Chase surrounded me and brushed his lips against my bare neck. I struggled to stay upright as I gave into his passion.
“It’s only about you and me, sweetheart. The way it would have been—should have been,” he whispered into my ear.
I wondered if he could hear thoughts, too, so I took down my barrier and waited if I could hear a response. A voice did fill my head, but it wasn’t Chase’s.
Run.
16
Run now, Scarlett.
The deep voice was familiar but not immediately recognizable, and it continued to take over my thoughts.
Listen to me, Scarlett. You need to leave this house now.
The voice was incredibly clear, like it was coming from someone in the same room as us, or in the same house.
Brandon?
Yes, it’s me. Please listen to me. You need to leave.
Wait. What are you? Good or bad? Dark or guardian angel?
Neither.
I don’t want games, Brandon, just tell me.
I’m an archangel.
Overwhelming sentiment hit me. Does Chase know?
Being what I am is the only reason why Chase doesn't suspect anything other than me being a typical human, as a pawn in his game.
Why are you here?
To protect you.
But isn't that Jackson's job?
“Is everything alright, Scarlett?” said Chase
, breaking me out of the mind game with Brandon.
I stumbled for words, unable to resist him, not wanting or caring for an answer from Brandon. “Yeah, fine.” I quickly placed my barrier back up. “Now, where were we?” I turned to him.
“I think right about here.” He pressed his lips to mine.
I moaned at the gesture. “That seems about right.” I was pleased with his actions, taking in each luscious second of his warm skin running over mine.
“I have been waiting to do this for a long time,” he said, softly kissing my newly exposed shoulder.
My clothing was stripped away and fell to the floor, one article at a time, until I was completely naked.
“Mmm,” he murmured. “Absolutely perfect.”
He tilted himself back, taking in the full view of me standing before him.
Pulling his shirt over his head, he walked backwards, taking me with him. I landed above him on the bed, and he rolled me over onto my back and hovered, kissing down my chest to my navel before breaking physical contact.
The moment we were no longer connected, I had a minimal awareness of my actions and that I should not be here with him, but never enough remorse to instruct him to stop.
Reconnecting us, he kissed my navel, circling it with his wet tongue. He removed the remainder of his clothes and fell back on top of me, our bodies pressed together.
I let out an uncontrollable moan as he hardened into me. The sensation was still new but ever increasing with intense pleasure. Sliding himself in and out with our motions in sync, he positioned me on top, placing me in control. I maintained a smooth rhythm until he interrupted it by sitting upright. I wrapped my legs around him and we rocked together.
His hands explored me, his silk fingers running over my breasts. Flipping his hands over, he ran the tips of his short fingernails slowly down my sides to the tops of my legs, redirecting them to my butt, pulling me in for deeper thrusts. My body filled with pleasure on multiple levels. Thrilling passion surged me, intensifying every moment, every touch, every breath.
He lifted me with little effort and placed me against the wall. The cold painted drywall shocked me, as my heated figure rested against it. The sticky sweat inflicted difficulty in smoothly running up and down the wall with the consistent flow we had created, wrinkling my skin with every pulse.
