Forbidden Touch (35 page)

"It won't be the same. I need you with me, Dane. I will need you always." He hugged her again, and managed to wipe the treacherous tear that fell from his eye, without her knowing.

"I told you that you were in love with him. But what surprises me the most is that he is in love with you, too. Even I couldn't manage that." Lenya huffed. "I never thought I would live to see the day that happened."

Ciera and Dane watched Lenya walk up to them, and they realized that Lenya's idea of a "small bag" was a large suitcase on wheels.

"What the hell is that?" Dane asked her, and she looked down at the piece of luggage.

"It's a small bag," she said like she actually believed that.

Ciera laughed lightly. "I would hate to see what you call a large bag. Try not to bump into anybody on the plane. We will be invisible, remember? Oh, and people will be able to hear you talk, so … don't."

"Going two hours without talking is not a problem for me," she said as she picked the suitcase up effortlessly, and carried it down the stairs.

Dane rolled his eyes. "I have never heard you go ten minutes without talking." He wanted to tack on that she had been asleep during that time, but he already knew that Ciera was a little uneasy about him having slept with Lenya before, so he didn't say it.

"May I whisper?" Lenya asked.

"Have you ever been on a plane, Lenya?" Dane asked. "The damn pilot could hear a person whisper at the other end of it."

"Maybe we need to ride where they put the luggage. There are no windows in the cargo area, so we wouldn't have to touch the whole time. And we wouldn't have to worry about being quiet. We actually do need to talk about how we are going to subdue and kill a vampire as strong as Lazarus."

"I'm not riding in the cargo area with the animals. I'm riding first class," Lenya said matter-of-factly.

"You can stay here, you know. It isn't like you are going to be of any help to us anyway," Dane said.

"Fine, I will ride in the cargo area, but we are taking a night flight back. I will be sitting in first class then."

"You will be coming back alone, Lenya," Ciera said, but didn't miss the look that Lenya gave Dane. He gave her an angry look, then looked away from both her and Lenya. "What?" She looked at Dane. "You are staying in Decatur. You promised me that you would stay."

He sighed and dropped his head. "I am going to need to get away for a little while, Ciera. I can't stay there and watch him look at you the same way that I look at you. It would only be a matter of days before either me or Mitch ended up dead."

Ciera's eyes filled with tears as she looked at him. "And you are staying here?"

He nodded, but still wouldn't look at her.

She swallowed loudly. There was a lump the size of Texas in her throat. "How long will you stay here?" she asked, and he didn't respond. "Damn it, Dane, look at me! How long are you staying here with her?" she shouted and pointed at Lenya.

He met her stare. "I'm putting in for a transfer of Families as soon as we speak with our parents."

She took a step back, and he reached for her. She jerked her arm away from him, lost her visibility, then turned and ran out the door.

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Chapter
55

Ciera thought about stealing one of the vehicles parked in the front circle drive, but she decided to steal the Lexus that Dane had borrowed from the vampires in Vegas. If she left it here, he would just cover himself to get to the car, then come after her.

She opened the door, and he shouted at her. "Ciera! No!" She looked back at the house, and he had a blanket thrown over his head, and was running toward her.

She quickly got in the vehicle and locked the doors. Through her tears, she found the wires that she needed to hotwire the car. He was beating on the window and pulling on the door handle frantically. "Just leave me alone, Dane! That is what you plan to do anyway." She went back to concentrating on her wires.

"You are going to be with Mitch, Ciera. How much torture do you think I can take? Please, let me in the car. I don't want our good-bye to be like this," he said, and Ciera could tell that he was crying through his rage. She found the wires that she needed, and the engine turned over.

She looked back to the window, to him. The blanket was covering the whole top half of his body, but she could almost see the hurt look on his face. "I'm sorry, Dane. You were right. This would have happened sooner or later. I will love you forever." She put the car in gear, and left him standing in the drive.

"Damn it!" Dane shouted, and punched at air. He swore again when the sun burned his exposed skin.

"Come back in the house, Dane." Lenya said calmly from the door. She too, had covered herself so the sun couldn't reach her.

"Leave me alone, Lenya," Dane said through a clenched jaw.

She sighed. "Okay, but I just thought that you might want to go and get her, that's all."

His head shot in her direction. "How?"

She giggled. "You aren't the only one with fancy tint on your windows. All of my vehicles are sun proof."

He began walking quickly back to her. How the hell had he not known about this tint? "Let's go. We are taking the fastest one and I am driving."

Ciera was having trouble seeing the road through her tears. How could he do that to her? He hadn't changed at all. He had charmed her and fooled her into sleeping with him, knowing that he was just going to leave her. She was a fool to have fallen for it. She hit the already broken steering wheel with the palm of her hand. She shook her head and wiped at her face. What did she expect? Dane to stay there in Illinois and live unhappily-ever-after while she was with Mitch? She couldn't blame him, but he had evidently decided this before they had slept together. Lenya had known that he was going to come back to Utah with her.

She felt the tingling in her body, and quickly pulled over on the side of the road. She didn't want to hit oncoming traffic when Mitch pulled her to him. She didn't want him to see her tear streaked face either, but she wasn't going to have a choice in the matter.

She had just thrown the car in park when Mitch took her spirit from her body.

She opened her eyes to the bedroom they had been in before. "What is it, Mitch? I am driving now, so you can't do this. I will be on a plane soon, and I will be invisible. When you pull me to you, my body becomes visible to people and the sun. I will fry and not even be aware of it if you do this when I am on the plane."

He stood up from the bed and walked to her with a look of concern on his face. "What has he done to you?"

She wiped at her eyes again, and knew that last night's mascara was probably smeared around her eyes, then again maybe not, she was after all a ghost right now. She shook her head. "Nothing. I left him at his friend's house in Utah, and I am catching the first flight to Decatur. I am on my way to the airport now."

Mitch put his hand to where her face would be if she were solid. "I'm sorry he hurt you. It is my fault."

She shook her head. "No it isn't. It is all my fault. I didn't have to trust him and I did."

"Hurry to me so I can hold you. I hate seeing you so upset when I can't do anything about it. I just wanted you to know that I love you. You may want to hide yourself on the plane. I am about to get some rest, and I can't control pulling you to me when I am unconscious."

Ciera nodded. She would ride with the luggage. It was the safest place for her, and no one would hear her sobbing. "All right. I will see you tonight."

He wanted to hold her, to kiss her. But that was not possible right now. "I will see you soon." He closed his eyes and willed her back to her body.

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Chapter
56

Being confused wouldn't even come close to explaining how Ciera felt when she opened her eyes again. She wasn't behind the wheel of the black Lexus any longer. She was just about to decide that a different spirit puller had pulled her to him or her, then she looked over to the person sitting in the back seat of a compact sports car with her.

She closed her eyes again and shook her head.

"How is Mitch?" Dane asked.

"He is fine," Ciera bit out. She looked to the seat in front of her and couldn't see anything but blond hair. Lenya was driving. She hadn't even stopped to think that Lenya might have a vehicle that had the special tint on the windows, too. Where the hell did they get this tint?

His face softened. "I'm sorry. I will stay in Decatur if it means that much to you. I'm not going to promise that Mitch and I will not be at each other's throats." He lowered his voice and looked away from her. "You told me that you would understand if I couldn't stay there and watch the two of you be all in love and shit. What changed your mind? Are you thinking about choosing me over Mitch? Because if that is the case, we can just stay here."

"I'm not staying here," Ciera said shortly.

"So I guess that is my answer?" he said.

"It appears so," she responded.

He huffed, then looked back at her. "Why is it that you can be pissed at me for not wanting to watch you be in love with someone else, but it is not all right for me to be pissed that you are?" He put his face in his hands, growled, then removed them. Ciera could tell that he was mentally exhausted. "Don't answer that. There is no winning with you, at least not where I am concerned. I only want you to be happy, Ciera. If Mitch makes you happy … then I am not going to say anything else about it. We will go to Decatur, kill Lazarus, and rescue the man of your dreams. I will stay."

It was all Ciera could do not to cry out. The pain in her chest was so fierce that it would not come even close to comparing with any other pain she had ever endured. She moved from her bucket seat, and sat on the hump in the middle. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he pulled her into his lap, and held her while she cried. She clutched his shirt in her hands and pulled him even closer still as she sobbed. She felt like something was ripping her in half. No, she felt like something was ripping her heart out. She knew that it would be impossible for her to ever be happy again. If she didn't have Mitch, she would be feeling the same way, and she couldn't keep them both; they wouldn't allow it. If it was up to her, she would have them sleeping on each side of her body every night for the rest of her life. There was no fixing this.

She pulled back from him enough to kiss his lips.

His hands dove into her hair, and he took all she was offering. He didn't know how he could go on without her. He had waited for her his whole life, and now that he had her in his arms, she still didn't belong to him. He was holding onto a dream that would never be real.

"May I speak now?" Lenya said from the driver's seat.

Dane and Ciera broke free of the kiss. "No!" They both shouted simultaneously.

Lenya huffed. "Well, I was only going to say that I think the two of you make a very cute couple." She sighed. "I am sorry, Ciera. I did not know that you were unaware of Dane's intentions to return with me, or I would have kept my mouth shut. It isn't like we will ever be together again. He will touch no other, and allow no one to touch him, after being with you. I must say that he has instantly become a hermit." She sighed again. "It is a pity that a handsome man such as him shall go to waste. I only wanted to make things clear, that's all."

Ciera closed her eyes and laid her forehead on Dane's collarbone. And from how close she was to him, she was broadcasting so loud that it was hurting his head to try and keep up with her thoughts and emotions. Mitch had done a complete one-eighty. He trusted her now, and had expressed his feelings for her the last two times her spirit had gone to him. There was a scene that she kept going back to in her thoughts. The three of them together, forever. He closed his eyes, and shook his head. It couldn't happen. He would try it for her, but he was positive that Mitch wouldn't allow it. Mitch would make her choose, and Mitch would be who she would choose.