Arielle Immortal Struggle (The Immortal Rapture Series Book 7) (5 page)

Sebastian raised his brows, all pretend innocence and shock. “Why, Arielle, I do trust you. This has to do with both of us. It is our company in danger and, therefore, we are in danger.” He didn’t like arguing with her. He pushed away from the dresser--his eyes warm, loving--and slowly closed the distance between them. His shirt was still unbuttoned, exposing his beautiful muscled chest. He was stunningly handsome and she swallowed past the lump that lodged in her throat. Her eyes roamed over him, desire settling, drinking him in. He was now towering over her, and her mouth went dry, utterly transfixed by his nearness. Placing a finger under her chin, he lifted her face up to his, his lids half-mast. Lowering his head, he brushed her lips with his gently. “I do trust you, my love. Please put your clothes on; we’ll be late for class.” He lifted his eyes from her lips and the corners of his mouth kicked up.

She fixed him with a firm expression on her face. “You are not going to tell me, are you?”

“No,” he replied, a smile playing on his lips. “I have said all that I am going to say. And you have to accept it.”

She scoffed at his reply. She opened her mouth to argue, but he cut her off by lifting his index finger and pressing it against her lips. “Go—get—ready.” His voice was gentle, not annoyed. The composed gaze in his emerald eyes resigned her to the fact that this conversation was over. After several seconds of silence, he released her reluctantly. She frowned and, shaking her head in exasperation, she turned and stormed into the bathroom.

“This conversation is far from over,” she mumbled, shutting the door behind her. She heard his soft chuckle.

As they drove on, heading for campus, the silence in the car fell thick and intense. Arielle was pouting. Reaching out, he clasped her hand and pressed it softly. “I wish that you’d stop being mad.”

She sighed and kept her eyes on the road. “I’m not mad.”

“Funny way to show it.”

“Sebastian, stop.”

“I will when you stop acting like you are right now.”

“And I will stop when you start including me in your troubles, which apparently you’re not doing right now,” she snapped.

“Arielle, you shouldn’t be so quick to judge me. I’m trying to keep you safe and happy. That’s all I’m trying to do.” He pulled her hand to his mouth and pressed feather kisses against her knuckles.

“Fine,” she said petulantly, unable to prevent mockery from touching the tone of her voice.

Sebastian’s jaw tensed. A sinking sensation gripped him.
What the devil is she thinking? I absolutely cannot, and will not, divulge all the grim details about the danger that is about to be thrust upon us.
He was sure that he would be able to take care of all the problems that came along and avoid putting additional anxiety and discomfort on Arielle. He was going to keep her safe, but in the meantime, he hated to see her troubled and worried. He shook his head and muttered his exasperation in that immortal way that she was never able to follow.

Silence stretched. She felt the weight of his gaze on her, but she turned away, resting her head against the headrest.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” She fell silent again, her thoughts churning wildly.
Oh, how I
wish that I could read his thoughts
. She knew it was an outlandish thought that would go unsatisfied, but she could dream. She released a soft sigh and closed her eyes.

Sebastian’s mobile ringing broke the silence. He let go of her hand and hit the accept button on the screen.

“Hello,” he answered blankly.

“Sebastian, it’s Nathan. I have the report that you asked for.”

“Hi, Nathan, I’m in the car with Arielle, going to class. I was planning on coming to the office later this afternoon. Is it urgent?”

“No, it’ll keep.”

“Fine. Thanks, Nathan.”

He pressed the disconnect button, set the mobile back down on the hand rest, and clasped her hand gently once again. He didn’t miss that the tightness in her lips increased.

“What?”

She glanced at him, eyes narrowed to slits. “I’m bloody sick and tired of being kept in the dark.”
There, I told him.

His eyes widened. “What the devil are you talking about?” he asked. She could hear the surprise in his voice.

“Um,” she started to say, but she stopped. She just stared at him.

“What?” he pressed on.

“What did Nathan want?”

He didn’t answer right away. The question clearly surprised him. He shook his head in exasperation. “Is this really about Nathan’s call or is there something else that’s bothering you?”

“Um…well, it is that, and Dylan’s calls, and all the other calls with Troy in that weird immortal language of yours. I want to know what’s going on.”

Keeping his eyes on the road, he started to laugh. “You think that I’m weird?”

His laughter was contagious, and she tried to suppress hers. It was impossible to remain angry with him. “You have to stop making me laugh. I’m really mad at you.”

“Are you now?”

“Yes.” she said petulantly.

“So…you don’t really trust me.”

“Don’t you try and turn this on me. It has nothing to do with me trusting you. It has everything to do with you keeping secrets from me.”

He kept quiet for a short moment and, when he spoke, his voice was measured. “Arielle, I have no secrets from you. Nathan wanted to brief me on the report he obtained this morning about the security systems we purchased. The vendors are flying in and I needed to know all the details before our tomorrow afternoon’s meeting. Dylan’s calls were about the people who are trying to destroy our company and my calls with Troy are mostly about the plans we are putting in place to handle the jerks who are planning to infiltrate our company. That is
our
company
.” He emphasized the last two words. He pulled her hand to lips and pressed a soft warm kiss on her knuckles. “Why can’t you just trust me?”

Arielle felt terrible.
Why do I keep doing this?
“I… I’m really sorry about that.” She ran her fingers over her amulet and tried desperately to understand why everything was so intricate when it came to Sebastian.

“Are you ready to go to class or do you want to go home?”

Arielle blinked in surprise. “What?”

“We are here. Do you still want to go to class?” he asked again.

She didn’t even realize that they had arrived on campus and he had already pulled into a parking space.

He flashed one of his amazing smiles and hopped out of the car. She watched him walk around with that mesmerizing, seamless walk and shook her head in wonder.

“Why are you smiling?” she asked when he held her door open.

“Because you’re a funny girl,” he said and reached in to help her out of the car. Arielle struggled to pull herself together, shoving her mobile, a book that was laying on the floor, and her jacket into her book bag. In the process, she spilled most of the contents out. She groaned in disgust and she heard his faded chuckle. She ignored him and gave one of her pitiful efforts to play it cool, but she failed miserably.

“Why don’t you put all that stuff back in your book bag?” he asked, a smile still playing on his lips.

Arielle snorted in frustration. “Um…what in the world do you think that I’m doing? It’s not that easy.” Frustration coated her voice.

Sebastian grinned. “Yeah, I can see that.” He kept his amused eyes on her, and when she was finished, he reached for her book bag with one hand and held out the other for her to take. His fingers closed tightly around her wrist, and he pulled her right out of the car and into his arms. He bent his head and pressed a chaste kiss on her lips.

“Are you ready now, my love?”

She didn’t answer; she just followed alongside him as he turned and headed toward the buildings. With every step, she felt her anxiety--along with her anger--wash away.

“Do you still love me?” he asked, leaning closer and brushing his lips against her ear. She nodded, and he tightened his hold on her. “Can I have a kiss?”

She reached up and pressed a soft kiss on his lips.

“That was a peck, not a kiss,” he murmured.

“Oh!” she slanted a glance over at him. “Do you want to make out right here in the parking lot?” she said mockingly.

“I don’t mind if you don’t.”

The hint of a smile touched her lips, and she continued walking. “Come on. I see Troy and Gabrielle waiting,” she said softly.

“Am I forgiven for whatever I did or didn’t do wrong?”

“Yes…yes…yes, let’s go.”

They crossed the parking lot and walked across the grounds with Troy and Gabby where they met Eva, Ian, Loren, and Paul. They had a few minutes before classes began and it was a perfect time to make plans for the weekend. They decided to go out to dinner, see a film, and spend all day Sunday at the Polo club, horseback riding.

In the calculus auditorium, they took a seat together with Eva, Paul, and Loren. Troy, Ian, and Gabrielle had general biology this morning. It was in the middle of the lecture that Sebastian’s mobile vibrated. He reached into his jean pocket, fished it out, and pressed the unlock button. Glancing at the screen, his jaw tensed. It was a text from Madeline, his private secretary. “Dylan wants to see you. Very important.” He bit back a curse and his fingers curled tightly around the mobile.

Arielle glanced over and noticed the intensity on his face. She raised an eyebrow, her expression momentarily unclear. He forced a smile, trying to appear unruffled. “Work,” he murmured, leaning close to her. She seemed to accept his explanation as she turned and wrote down the last of the professor’s instructions. When outside the auditorium, he called Madeline.

“Hi, Madeline, did Dylan say what he wanted?”

“No, sir, he didn’t, but he did say that it was quite important. He would like to see you this morning if possible.”

“Did he give you a time?”

“He said eleven o’clock would be his preference. Can you make it?”

“Yes, I’ll call him back. Make sure you tell Nathan to meet me at Dylan’s office at eleven.”

“Yes, sir, I will.”

“Thank you,” Sebastian said and ended the call.

Chapter 4

MADELINE PUT THE PHONE
down and sighed deeply. She had fallen in love with Sebastian from the very first day she accepted the job as his private secretary. His voice had become the air that she needed to breathe each day. She knew it was hopeless. He was madly in love and engaged to be married to a beautiful girl. She placed her arms on her desk and intertwined her fingers restlessly. She bent her elbows and rested her chin on her hands, closing her eyes. Oh, how she wished that she could be Arielle. Jealousy struck like a scorching stream, right through every nerve in her body.

Every time she thought of him, she felt steel clamps squeezing her chest. Unfortunately, she thought of him every single moment of every day, and there was nothing she could do about it. She felt pressure behind her eyelids. Her breathing became difficult and tears burned the back of her eyes. She stood up and walked to stand in front of the large window, afraid that someone would come through the door and catch her crying.

The image of his remarkable green eyes pushed to the forefront of her thoughts and her breath hitched. She wondered what it would be like to be loved by a man like him. He was absolutely perfect. She stood in front of that window utterly unmoved, transfixed by the vision of his flawless face. Maybe it would be better if she resigned and put a stop to this torture, but her heart was not going to allow that. She gave an involuntary shiver and returned to her desk. She wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand. She would never allow her feelings to be exposed. She would just have to endure the pain in order to be able to see him and be near him whenever possible. She would hang on to this job and enjoy the sight of him, for as long as was allowed.

Troy regarded Sebastian with curious eyes. “What’s up?”

His green eyes swept over Arielle’s face before he replied. “Dylan wants us at his office at eleven o’clock this morning.”

“Hold it,” Arielle snapped.

His eyes narrowed at her outburst. They glared at each other for a short moment. He leaned closer and whispered, “Didn’t I just explain about Dylan and his calls in the car?”

She gave a curt nod. “Yes, you did.”

Sebastian averted his gaze to Troy. “He has received important information from his surveillance team in Brussels and he would like to chat in person.”

“I’ll drive,” said Troy. “The girls can use your car to go home.” Sebastian nodded in agreement.

 He wrapped his arms around Arielle and, placing his fingers under her chin, he tipped her head back and pressed his lips to hers tenderly. “Please don’t go anywhere alone and set your mobile on vibrate,” he murmured against her lips. “I’ll call you as soon as I’m finished with Dylan.” Dropping his keys in her hand, he winked and strolled away, following Troy. Troy looked back and sent Gabrielle a sweltering glance full of promise. Gabrielle gasped at his silent message and, hugging herself tightly, she giggled gleefully.