Blood Haze (27 page)

She
felt Lynx tense beside her as Nicolas’s face tightened in anger. Talon snorted
in laughter.

“I
prefer Nicolas, if you don’t mind,” he said to her. He turned his gaze to Lynx.
“You should teach her some manners. She is a guest in our home and should
behave accordingly,” he said icily.

“Nicolas,”
Lynx growled once more. “Watch yourself.”

Arabella
smirked behind her glass of orange juice. She really did not like Nicolas
Rogan. But she really liked the fact she’d goaded him so easily. Bullies! She’d
dealt with them all her life. All talk… no action. She was done holding her
tongue.

“Lynx,
I thought you were going to take me on a tour of this big ole’ estate,” she
said, knowing Nicolas thought she was some type of gold-digger.

Lynx’s
brows furrowed at her words and tone. “I have a few things I need to do in the
office, then I’ll take you around,” he said.

Running
her hand up his, she pouted, “What am I supposed to do until then?” She almost
burst out laughing at Nicolas’s expression.

Before
Lynx could answer, Talon said, “I’ll show you around. I know several spots I
think you’ll find fascinating.”

Immediately,
Lynx said, “No!”

She
blinked at his tone. “Why not? I think it’s a marvelous idea. You go work, and
your brother can show me around. It’ll give me a chance to get to know him.”

He
studied her for a long moment, trying to figure out her game, before shifting
his gaze to his brother’s. “Fine. Talon, I swear if you lay one finger on her…”

Talon
grinned. “Who? Me? I would never. Are you ready now, lovely Arabella?”

She
grinned. “Yes!”

Arabella
found Lynx’s brother to be funny and charming. While he lacked Lynx’s depth of
character, he really was fun. He’d given her the grand tour of the house, which
was huge by any standards. Now, he was giving her a tour of the grounds, which
included the paddock which held the horses she’d admired so many times from
Lynx’s balcony.

She
cried in delight at the beautiful creatures and immediately went up to a horse
with a coat the color of midnight. “He’s beautiful!”

“Ahh,
that is Nefarious. He can be quite the monster,” Talon said.

“No
way! He’s magnificent,” she said as she brushed his soft nose.

“Like
you, he’s magnificent if handled correctly,” he said with a smirk.

Arabella
rolled her eyes at him. “You are quite the womanizer, aren’t you, Talon?”

“If
by womanizer, you mean a lover of all women? Then yes.”

She
laughed. “Come on - oh, lover of all women – and show me the stables.

“With
pleasure,” he replied as he held out his arm for her to take.

She
grinned at his chivalry. “Why, thank you, kind sir,” she said with her best
Southern drawl.

She
wrapped her hand around the bend of his elbow and was glad she was holding onto
him when suddenly the familiar huge black spots began to appear before her
eyes. She tried to blink the glimpsing away, but it was too strong. She felt
Talon begin to walk forward and she followed his lead.

She
saw a car with a man and a woman inside. At first, she thought it was the same
glimpsing as the one she’d had about Drew, but then she noticed the differences.
The car was different and the woman was different. She had light-brown hair.
She was moaning and shifting in her seat as a man leaned over her. When she saw
the man, she assumed it was Talon, but then her stomach fell. It wasn’t Talon’s
blonde head she saw… it was Lynx’s black head. He was kissing the woman’s neck
as he’d kissed hers numerous times.

She
was struggling to break free from the glimpsing when something about it caught
her attention. He was wearing a bright yellow shirt. She remembered that shirt.
He’d been wearing it yesterday! He’d had an errand to run, he’d said. She now
knew what that errand had been. He’d practically left her bed to go to
another’s.

Not
able to take it anymore, she broke away from the glimpsing and pitched forward
as blood began to run from her nose. Not able to catch herself, she stumbled to
her knees. Firm hands grasped her shoulders, trying to keep her upright.
“Arabella!” Talon cried.

He
pulled her upright and turned her to face him. He inhaled deeply when he saw
the blood and caught its intoxicating scent. “Ahh, Arabella,” he whispered
huskily. With her heart hammering in her chest at what she’d just seen, she
stared blankly back at him, too stunned to notice the change in his demeanor.
He pushed her back a little and she bumped against the wall of the stable. She
caught her breath when he cupped her face in his hands and licked his lips.

He
stared down into her eyes for several long moments and slowly she began to
become numb to everything. She stared blindly back at him. In a whisper he
asked, “Do you know what the name Arabella means?”

“Answered
prayer,” she whispered back automatically.

“In
Italian, yes. But in Latin, it means ‘human altar’. What men have been laid at
your feet, lovely Arabella?” he whispered, in a frantic, near frenzied tone.

He
ran his thumb into the blood on her lip before sticking it in his mouth. “God,
you taste even better than you smell. I can see why Lynx is so taken with you.”

She
stared at him impassively. Slowly, he leaned forward and pressed his lips
against her neck. She blinked and the first shimmering of fear assailed her.
Suddenly, she heard Lynx roar, “Talon! No!” right before, Talon was lifted and
thrown aside. She watched as Talon rose to his feet quickly, crouching, a weird
expression of animalistic territorialism crossing his features.

“Talon,
leave now. Do you understand?” Lynx said harshly. Slowly, Talon’s features
calmed and he seemed to shake off whatever strange trance he’d been under.

“Lynx…
I… I don’t know what came over me. I’m sorry. Nothing happened, I swear!” he
said as he began to step backwards, away from them.

Lynx
turned back to her. “Are you hurt? Are you okay?”

Her
heart twisted in her chest at his betrayal. She never would have thought Lynx
capable of hurting her in this way. He’d known how much it’d hurt when Drew had
done it. She needed time to think. She couldn’t do it while under his
influence. Slowly, she shook her head. “No. I just fell. He helped me up. I’m
okay. But I’d really like to go back to the room, if that’s okay,” she said
staring just over his shoulder. She didn’t want to look at him right then.

Lynx
pursed his lips before snatching his shirt off. The sight of his beautiful
chest made her chest ache worse. The thought of all she stood to lose flooded
her. This hurt so much! She clamped down lips that wanted to tremble. No! She
was not going to be a party to this. Was this the way all men were?

When
he pressed his shirt against her nose, she flinched and took the shirt from his
hands. “I’ve got it, thanks,” she mumbled, stepping around him to make her way
back to the house.

He
caught up to her easily. “Did Talon say something to upset you?”

“No.”

“Do
you want talk about your vision?” he asked.

She
stumbled at the picture of him kissing the other woman’s neck. “No!” she said
adamantly.

He
grabbed her shoulders from behind and brought her up next to his body. “Tell me
what you saw. It obviously has you upset.”

She
jerked away from him and quickly began to move forward again. “You promised I
could keep them to myself,” she mumbled into his shirt grasped in her hands.

Catching
her again and swinging her around, he said, “I said if they didn’t cause you
harm or come between us. This is coming between us.”

She
twisted away from him. “I don’t… I can’t talk about it right now. I need to
think. I… I want to go home.”

He
stilled and dropped his hands. She expected him to roar and demand her to stay.
Her heart twisted violently in her chest, when he said quietly, “That’s probably
for the best.”

She
nodded jerkily before turning around and heading toward the massive house.

She
made her way quickly up the marble staircase, thankful she hadn’t run into
anyone. Lynx followed more slowly behind her. He sat on the bed and watched her
as she repacked her suitcase. When she snapped it closed, he said, “Will you be
alright?”

Pain
slashed at her and she struggled to breath. This man… this man that she loved,
who she’d thought might be falling in love with her, had placed his lips… lips that
made her burn… against someone else’s skin. She looked at his beautiful, rakish
features and her heart hammered in her burning chest. She’d been right, this
hurt way more than anything Drew could have done to her. Unable to resist, she
asked, “Who were you with yesterday?”

He
blinked at her rapidly, before answering, “I don’t know what you mean.”

“The
woman, Lynx. The brown- haired woman. You were in the car with her. I saw it,
Lynx… I saw you with her,” she cried.

His
face became an impassive mask. “What did you see exactly?” he asked softly.

The
threatening tears won their victory over her control and began to streak down
her face. “You were in the car with her and you… you were kissing her.” She
dropped her suitcase from her uncoordinated fingers. “Tell me it’s not true,”
she begged as she slumped to her knees on the carpeted floor.

His
chest burned with the need to relieve her mind of what she thought. He knew how
much this hurt her, could see it with his own eyes. But this was better for her
to believe, than knowing the truth would be. He’d known his way of life, and
those involved in his world, would end up destroying her. When he’d walked up
on Talon with his lips on her neck, he’d nearly lost it. He didn’t want this
for her. This wasn’t her world. She needed to get back to her life, while she
still could.

He
swallowed and cleared his throat before looking away from her. “I’m sorry, I
can’t do that. I was with her yesterday,” he said softly.

“Oh,
my God. Oh, my God,” she whimpered as she pressed her fist to her lips. She
struggled to her feet and launched herself at him. “You, bastard! You, damned
bastard. Why? Why would you do that? You promised me! You promised me it would
be only you and me, exclusively.” She pummeled him with her fist and he didn’t
put up a fight. Slipping back to the floor, she buried her face in her hands as
she wept. “I don’t understand why. I don’t understand how you could do this to
me,” she sobbed.

With
his heart twisting painfully in his chest, he rose from the bed. “I never meant
to hurt you, Arabella. Go back to your own life. You’ll never fit into mine. I
think that’s what’s best for everyone. Please see yourself out,” he replied
emotionlessly, as he walked quietly from the room, leaving her in a puddle on
the floor. She finally struggled to her feet and as quickly as she could, she
made her way to her car.

She
didn’t remember the drive to her house. She only remembered blinking back into
consciousness and sitting in front of the garage. She hadn’t known how long
she’d been sitting there. How would she survive this? The pain was just too
much. Just that morning, she’d been happy… she’d been in love… her body had
been worshipped by his. Why? She asked herself again. Why would he do this? Was
there some failing on her part? Were all his words a lie?

Shutting
the car off, she crawled out of the car and shuffled toward her home. It felt
cold and desolate to her now. She missed him already. How was she supposed to
live without a heart in her chest? She’d left her heart back in Lynx’s hands at
Night Shade.

Later
that night as she lay in bed staring up at the ceiling, pain lashing at her
insides, his words cut into her over and over…
go back to your own life, you’ll never fit into mine.

Chapter 12

It’d
been a long two weeks. Two weeks of limitless nothingness. She’d cried herself
out during the first week. From there she’d moved into the blessed land of
sheer numbness. She was glad her body had shut-down. She couldn’t stand the
pain any longer. Sometimes, she wished for the scotching heat anger would
bring, but she couldn’t find it. Instead, she seemed to wander through her
days, not eating, not sleeping, not doing anything. She knew she needed to
work, but just couldn’t make herself answer or return the calls.

Drew
called several times throughout the first week, but she didn’t answer when he
called. Of the Rogans, she not heard one word. Not from Karmyl, and certainly
not from Lynx. She’d picked up the phone a thousand times, had even dialed his
number, but each time, she stopped herself. Sadly, the reason wasn’t because of
the betrayal; it was because she couldn’t handle the rejection…
go back to your own life, you’ll never fit
into mine.

It
was now Saturday morning and she was standing in front of the bathroom sink
brushing her teeth. She glanced up in the mirror and her reflection horrified
her. Her hair was flat and lifeless. There were dark circles under her eyes. It
was apparent she’d lost weight. She was dying inside. She let her toothbrush
fall to the sink. She gripped the sink’s edge with both hands. She had to pull
herself together. She had to try and build a new life for herself… or she had
to end it. The latter appealed more to her than the struggle of having to live
again. The black hole that held her threatened to suck her down so far she’d
never find her way back. Her losses of late outweighed her gains.