Divide (22 page)

Holland

Mick trailed his hand down my side, pulling me from slumber. I stretched my legs, my body waking up to his touch, hungry for more. I smiled as he caressed my hip, then slowly made his way to my thigh. I sighed happily, and he took the opportunity to bring his lips down over mine. As he deepened the kiss, his stubble rubbed against my skin. His grip on my leg tightened, and I scooted closer to him as his fingers kneaded my thigh—

Wait.
Stubble?

My eyes flew open.

“Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty.”

I pulled the covers up around me, disgusted and disturbed by the lingering sensation of his lips on mine. I’d kissed him!

Donovan leaned down, his palms flattened against the bed on either side of me, pinning me beneath the covers.

“What are you doing in here?” My voice trembled as I gripped the blankets tighter.

His eyes were heavily lidded, and he licked his lips. “I think we should probably discuss something, don’t you?”

I looked away from him, unable to hold his gaze after how intimate we’d just been. My stomach roiled, churning round and round. I’d kissed him. I’d betrayed Mick. Donovan’s dark eyes seemed to look right through me, as if he knew all of my deepest secrets. And he’d just caused me to sigh with pleasure as he touched me, caused me to open my mouth to him. I could only imagine what he was thinking now, or what he wanted to talk about.

“Don’t be shy, love. I think we both know there’s a connection here.” He ran his hand over the covers, up my leg, pausing momentarily near my groin—his thumb resting dangerously close to an area he was the last person I wanted touching.

“I know it feels good when I touch you, Holland.” He continued moving his hand up the length of my body, and I released the breath I’d been holding since he’d paused between my thighs. As he stopped just below my right breast, my eyes widened and my pulse accelerated.

“Don’t be so prudish,” he said with a cruel smirk, removing his hand from my body. “I don’t mean
sexually
. Your skin calls to me. It’s our connection.”

He was right. I didn’t want to admit it, but maybe he was the one meant to break the curse. Maybe it wasn’t Mick. I mean, I couldn’t ignore the fact that Donovan’s touch did funny things to my body, my senses.

But I didn’t have
feelings
for Donovan. And I didn’t want to. “No. There’s no connection between us.”

“Oh, Holland.” He ran his hands through his dark hair and smiled a wicked smile, then cracked his knuckles. “Please do try to ignore this.”

He straddled me, and I sucked in a breath. He reached toward me again and I froze, pinned beneath his dark gaze and advancing hands, the weight of his body locking me in place. He pulled the covers down, folding them back at my waist.

Mick! Where is he?

Why was I alone with Donovan? Again. Was Mick hurt? And where was my brother? Rosemarie? Anyone?

I opened my mouth to yell for them—

Donovan placed his right hand high on my chest, his thumb resting on my collarbone, and his fingers stretching around my neck lightly. My breath caught in my throat. Every nerve in my body reacted to his touch, racing to the places where his skin met mine.

Exhilaration surged within me.

Words were lost.

Thoughts were distant, murky.

I felt alive…and safe.
Whole.
I wanted to melt into his hand.

My mouth opened and closed a few times, words refusing to form into coherent sentences. My body sang with life, as if Donovan’s touch somehow roused cells that had long been dormant. My mind screeched warnings, telling me this was all wrong, but my body didn’t care. I had trouble catching my breath. The feeling was unlike anything I’d ever experienced in my life.

I didn’t want to feel this way about Donovan, but I couldn’t ignore the way my body hummed with anticipation of where his fingers would travel next.

No. This is wrong.

I wanted Mick’s hands on my body; I wanted Mick’s touch to light me up like a sparkler. I didn’t even
like
Donovan. I barely tolerated him, and even then, I sure didn’t want to have to.

And yet, here I sat, pinned beneath the covers by a man I couldn’t stand, my body aching with need. I wanted to be consumed by him.

What the hell?

Hunger. Thirst. I needed Donovan to live, to survive. No wonder he’d been the one to bring me back from the edge both times—it was a phenomenon I’d lived so long without him.

Wrong. So wrong. Move. Go. Run.

My chest rose and fell heavily with each breath, as the focus of every nerve in my body rushed to meet Donovan’s fingers. All at once I felt like I was frozen, and yet, unable to sit still. My body throbbed, begging for more connection to Donovan.

Did he feel it? Did he know what he was doing to me?

What
is
he doing to you? Run!

He smiled again and licked his lips, then lightly trailed his fingers down my chest, leisurely making his way to trace the curve of my left breast.

No.

I sucked in a breath, not wanting him to touch me anymore, especially not in a way that mimicked private moments I’d had with Mick…and yet…wanting nothing more than his hands and body to surround me, cocoon me, cradle me.

Where moments ago I’d been kissing him, my body reacting to a man I’d thought was Mick, this feeling wasn’t sexual, wasn’t romantic…more like, I’d never been complete before this moment. Never experienced true safety, real contentment.

This was all wrong, and yet…

I couldn’t ignore the way my skin lit up beneath his fingertips. My mind may have been logical enough to know that this went against what I truly wanted, but my body…

As his fingers moved over my skin, I responded to his touch like the desert responds to rain, drinking in every second of connection to Donovan Gregory. I’d die without him.

What? No, that’s not right. Move!

My eyelids fluttered between opened and closed as his fingers played with the top hem of my shirt. I inhaled deeply, trying to force myself to tell him off. But the words wouldn’t come. His woodsy, musky scent filled my nose, teasing my senses. His hair tickled my forehead as he leaned down, bringing his face to mine once more.

My lips parted on an intake of breath.

“Hmm,” he said, and heat rushed through my body as the sound of his voice caressed my ears.

What the hell is wrong with me?

“Just as I suspected. Maybe a good shagging is in order, after all. What do you say we have ourselves a quick roll in the hay before your boyfriend realizes I’m gone?”

“Holland!”

Donovan’s repulsive words followed by Mick’s voice roaring through the house, doused me with an ice cold reality check. This wasn’t right, this moment, these impossible feelings…I opened my eyes—hadn’t even known they were closed—and tried to push Donovan off of me.

“We’ll have to delay our shag, then, eh?” He winked as his grin split his face further, appearing almost comical, cartoonish. Maniacal.

“Over my dead body,” I snarled through clenched teeth. I’d finally found my words, and they hadn’t come out nearly as breathless as I felt.

Donovan threw his head back and laughed, the harsh sound no longer velvet to my senses, but grating and strange. It pulled me back to the moment, to the utter
wrongness
of everything, and my heart sped up as I grasped how abnormal
he
seemed.

What did he just do to me? Who is he?
What
is he?

I tried to ignore that last question while he still sat atop my legs.

“‘Over my dead body,’” he chirped, mimicking the higher pitch of my voice. He brought his head back down over mine, a curl to his lip. “Oh, Princess, careful what you wish for.”

He covered my mouth, then brought his face down to my ear.

“Don’t scream.”

Mick

“Holland!” I shouted again as my foot thumped against the second level landing. I propelled myself forward, not able to get to her fast enough.

Cam and Ro barreled in behind me, obviously aware of the dire mistake we’d all made in leaving Holland unprotected.

When I reached the room, the door was open. I sucked in a breath.
If he’s done anything to her…

I slammed to a stop just inside the room, my eyes barely able to register what they saw. Nothing.

The room was empty.

“Holland!” I shouted again, running into the bathroom—only to find it as empty as the rest of the room. I spun on my heels and saw Ro taking the small spiral staircase up to the reading nook our moms used to love.

“They’re gone.”

“No!” Cam shouted. “Where the hell is my sister?”

“He took her.” My heart caved in on itself. I couldn’t think straight, but I knew I had to come up with a plan. I knew I had to keep moving. I had to find Holland. I sank down onto the bed, running a hand over my head. What would I do now? Where could they have gone? What was he doing with her? Who was he?

“You can’t just sit there, Mick! Do something!”

I flew off the bed and stepped in front of my sister. “What do you want me to
do
? I told her I’d protect her! I told her I’d break the curse! I told her I’d save her! And now? Now what will I do? Where is she?”

Ro cowered under my harsh glare, but, lowering her voice, she tried to talk sense into me. “Okay. Calm down. We’ll figure this out, all right? You’re not alone, Mick. We’ll find Holland.”

“Holy crap, man,” Cam said. “You really do love her, don’t you?”

With his words, the weight of letting down not just Holland, but her brother as well, crashed onto my shoulders. I’d failed all of us.

Searching the room for any indication of where Donovan could have taken her, I spotted something painfully familiar tucked into the bedding in the very place I’d last seen Holland sleeping. The very place I’d left her alone. Anger kicked my adrenaline into full force once more as I snatched the black and white digital image from the sheets.

A disturbing memento from Donovan, reminding me of what Holland’s future held if I failed.

“What’s that?” Ro asked as she approached me.

“Nothing.” I folded the print into quarters, then shoved it into my pocket. “It’s nothing. Let’s figure out what we’re going to do.”

“Okay. Let’s think,” Cam said. “Where could they have gone? Did either of you see a car? Or any luggage? Did he have anything with him?”

“No.”

“Me either,” Ro said, staring off into the distance. Then she looked back at us with her eyebrows pulling down over her blue-violet eyes. “Wait a minute, you guys. What kind of person travels in the snow, without luggage or a vehicle?”

“I have no idea,” I said. “But he couldn’t have gone far.” With that spark of hope, I jumped from the bed and grabbed my warmest jacket from the closet. As I pulled it on, I felt the resolve I’d lost momentarily.

“Go get dressed, you guys. Layers. Lots of layers. It’s going to be freezing cold out there, and we’re not coming back until we find her.”

They both nodded and left the room.

I meant what I said. I’d die out there in the snow before I ever returned to my father’s home without her.

Holland

I awoke freezing cold, but not the kind of cold that makes you get out of bed to find a sweatshirt and socks. Not even the kind of cold that forces you to walk all the way to your thermostat through dark, chilly hallways.

No, this cold lodged itself deep into my bones.

I ached. My teeth chattered. I hurt
everywhere
.

Stretching my arm to search the bed beside me, I wondered where Mick had disappeared to. Was I even still in his bed? What time was it?

My hand connected with dirt. Or, rock was more like it. When I reached further, something tightened against my wrist, scratchy and thick. I opened my eyes, my heart racing as realization settled in.

Darkness and the residuals of a remarkably deep sleep—couldn’t even remember dreaming or moving—blinded me to anything past my initial surroundings, but as I focused, I realized I lay tucked into a blue sleeping bag on the cold, hard ground, my arms each tied separately to metal rings protruding from the rock walls. I sat up quickly as panic replaced confusion, fear rippling through my body.
Where am I?
My breathing hitched, coming in short gasps. My legs were tied together at the ankles, tucked well into the sleeping bag.

“She wakes.”

The same words he’d murmured the first time I’d awoken to his unexpected presence, the morning he watched me sleep in the false security of Mick’s bedroom. Donovan watched me again now—though this time he sat near a bonfire, instead of leaning on Mick’s fireplace mantle.

“Where am I?”

“In a cave.” His words were bland.

“Why did you bring me here?” My voice cracked and wavered on each word. The voice of a scared little girl. I cleared my throat, calling forth any ounce of courage I could muster.

“Well, Holland,” he began, slowly enunciating each word. “I brought you here to prevent you from breaking the spell. The whole lot of you are truly dense.”

“Wait…” I didn’t know what to say, but I wanted to keep him talking—that seemed like the best thing to do. I could survey my surroundings as long as Donovan was distracted. And maybe I’d find a way out.

That was the plan anyway.

“Are you saying that you brought me here so
you
could break the spell?”

“Oh, Holland. Of course you would come to that conclusion—so naïve and so trusting. Even after you’ve been betrayed by those you loved most, you still trust so openly, don’t you?”

Was he referring to Rod and Leslie? How did he—?

“Yes, I know all about you, Holland Briggs. Your pathetic life—the dances, the popularity, the mundane social climbing. Your heartless little world and all its glory. But that all came crashing down on you, didn’t it? That all crashed down when Roderick broke your heart.”

“What do you…how—?”

“How? How do I know all this?”

Donovan paused to laugh, a loud, head-thrown back laugh that reverberated off the walls of the cave, triggering the memory of his hand on my chest. He’d been in the bedroom, touching me, making my body react to him, hungry for his touch. He’d kissed me. I’d kissed him back.

Then he’d laughed and…

Then he’d told me not to scream.

Oh my God.

“How, indeed. It was easy, really. Did you ever wonder why Roderick never even looked your way again? Because I’d love to know what your thoughts are on that. Oh yes, I definitely would.”

With each word, Donovan’s British accent became sharper, his tone filling with anger. Fear trickled through my veins, leaving me icy and covered in goose bumps. I tried to stay calm. This was no time to lose control, risking the change and causing another rage episode. Wait. Could I use the change to escape? Could I let go and let it…take me over?

I imagined going mad, losing myself to the beast and never coming back.

I couldn’t risk it.

I had to focus on this strange person in front of me and figure out what the
hell
was going on, as well as put together an escape plan.

“Cat got your tongue?” Donovan’s grin spreads, his dark eyes sparkling in the firelight. “Rod didn’t look at you because you no longer existed. In his eyes, there never was a Holland Briggs. He’d been in love with Leslie his entire life. You. Didn’t. Exist.”

I shook my head; it didn’t make sense. Of course I still existed.

“You still don’t get it do you? He didn’t ignore you; he didn’t
see
you. You weren’t there. Are you so self-centered that you couldn’t even see that he looked right through you?”

I gasped at the realization that his words rang true. Rod hadn’t just ignored me these past few months, he’d acted as if I wasn’t even there. Because somehow, I wasn’t. How could that have happened? How could he not know me? Not see me?

“God, you’re daft. No wonder she cursed you.”

What?
I snapped my head up, locking my gaze on his. “What did you just say?”

“No matter. Let’s get back to you, shall we? Poor little Holland Briggs. Popular. Beautiful. Loved. But not by him. Not by Rod. Not when he’d never laid eyes on you.”

I took a few deep breaths, trying to ignore the gaping hole that had just reopened in my heart. Tears knocked on the back of my eyes, but I had to push them away. I had to focus.

“Why? Why did he think I didn’t exist?”

Donovan rolled his eyes, a muscle working in his square jaw. “Because to him, you didn’t. It’s that simple. I planted one little seed in his mind, and there it was. The end of Holland Briggs. We knew that with a little push, you’d grow into your destiny in no time.”

We?
“My destiny? What do you mean, the curse?”

“The curse?” he mocked. “Yes, stupid girl, the curse. As soon as the curse was awakened, you needed no further pushing. First the fire, then the poisoning. I’m sure you could have done many more marvelous things if you hadn’t been swept off to this Winter Wonderland with your boyfriend. But, no matter. Everything happens for a reason, and look at us now. Just you and me…and beasty makes three.”

I didn’t want to focus on that last part, so I changed the subject, reverting back a bit. I tilted my head. What had he meant when he’d said ‘we’? “You said you planted a seed in Rod’s mind. But what about Leslie? What did you do to her?”

Donovan barked a short laugh. “Just between us girls—” he mimicked me in that high-pitched voice again, leaning forward as if we were girlfriends gossiping around the fire at a camp out, “—I didn’t have to
do
anything to Leslie. That was all her. She’d likely been jealous of you forever, and replacing you was a dream come true. Honestly, I’m not sure she’s been the best friend to you,
Hollandaise
.”

I sucked in a breath. “What did you just call me?”