Saving Grace (9 page)

Hard
,
steely
,
gunmetal blu
e eyes coldly stared down at me.
T
hrough me
.
They shined dangerously against the soft light that spilled itself across the hallway from the bathroom.

So fiercely breathtaking, with the swirl of the mist from the shower and his beauty, I would have said he looked like an angel. But I knew better.

"What. The. Hell?" The heat of his voice took my whirling thoughts to places that they had no right to go,
but damn did I want to
.
Scrumdillifuckingemious
.
I just want
ed
to wrap my legs around his face.
"Did you just
come out
of
Ethan's fucking bedroom
?" His voice was thick with venom and the air in the hallway became so much denser I struggled to catch my breath.

Oh crap
.

Sickening
warmth spread across my cheeks and bolted down my spine. "Yeah, but
nothing..."

"Save it. It doesn't matter." Cold. Callus. Completely indifferent, he walked past me. "Don't worry about locking the door behind you,
we have easy ass like you coming in and out of here all the time.
"

Oh crap
. My world shifted off its axis and spun out of control, it left me leaning up against the wall fighting against gravity. I was still too drunk to talk straight. "We were talking..."

A deep laughter rumbled in his chest, "Right, was that before or after you fucked him? Save it, why the hell would I care? I don't want to listen to the blow by blow of your night."

I tried to take a steady breath
,
but the rage boiled in my chest spiraling up my throat and my fists clenched against the hardness of the wall that helped to support me. "Fuck you
,
Shane!"

Before I could take my next breath
,
Shane's body slammed painfully into mine. He leveled his right shoulder into my stomach hard, swung me up in his arms and over his shoulder. He grabbed the back of my thighs and carried me through the hallway toward the
Bone Room
. I didn't have enough air in my lungs to scream.

He opened the door to their communal
poke-a-skank
room and dropped me right in front of it. I dropped straight to the floor. "Fuck me?
Fuck me?
You want to go in the Bone Room with me?" He stood over me screaming with those intense ruthless eyes. He crouched down to my level and slammed both his palms against the wall on either side of my face. "Because I could really get off on some head right now, since I've been in
fucking jail
for over a month." He slid his hands down the wall slowly, never breaking his icy stare. "I usually don't like my girls still wet from Ethan, but hey, if you
'
r
e
game...but if not, get the
fuck
out of my hallway."

I was too stunned to speak. So I slapped him. Hard enough to turn his whole face away from me, I slapped him. "Don't you ever lay your hands on me again Shane." I slid myself up along the wall never leaving his steely gaze. "Get the hell out of my way," I whispered.

He stood up slowly, eyes still locked on mine.

Slamming my shoulder against his, I walked past him and down the hallway. I picked up my shoes and headed for the front door to his apartment without looking back. "
Sweet
fucking pants, I bet Ethan really enjoyed that hot little ass of yours. Sure you don't want to change your mind about the Bone Room?" I flipped him the bird without turning my head.

I heard his door slam as I quietly opened the front door and let myself
out.

I walked into the front lobby on trembling legs. I opened the lobby doors to the icy cold March winds and the sounds of an early New York City. I stood in front of his building looking at the street that lay before me. My breath faltered and came out shallow and uneven.

Barefoot, I walked down the street toward my apartment. I eyed my Jeep parked on the corner of my block and walked towards it, the filthy concrete of the streets scraping against the tender soles of my bare feet.

I searched through my jacket, found my car keys and beeped the unlock button. Yanking the door
open,
I climbed in.
I should leave. Leave and start over. Lea would need to understand
. I jammed the key into the ignition and turned on the engine. The heater blasted on and my audio system erupted into
Exit Wounds
by
The Script
. I could picture the angels laughing down at me all dressed in their Sunday best.

Assholes.
Motherangelfucking
assholes. Pieces of Higher than Thou good for nothing, life sucking, s
even deadly sinning shit stains!
I gripped my steering wheel so tight my fingers ached and was disgusted with myself when the tears pooled in my eyes. I pressed the heels of my trembling hands to my eyes to stop the tears from falling. I was not going to allow myself any more grief. I had lost myself somewhere along the way
and then I lost my way
. I waited forever to find my heart and start my life. Forever is over. I'm not spending one more minute on it.

When the song ended, I turned off my ignition and yanked out my keys. On the passenger seat next to me was my cell phone with the drained battery that had been left in my Jeep since who knows when. I grabbed
it, jumped out of my truck,
and found my way home.
It wasn't in my nature to drive this drunk anyway.

The apartment was silent when I walked through to my bedroom. I locked my door behind me when I got inside, plugged my phone in and fell asleep somewhere between the phone charger and the bed.

Something was buzzing and it wouldn't stop. I begged it too, in my head at least I did. I didn't want to open my eyes and find out what it was. But, it wouldn't stop taunting me.

It took me at least twenty minutes to pull myself up and fully open my eyes. The sun blasted through my window, assaulting me with
all its
head splitting brightness. I looked around my room to find the source of the ear bleeding noise.
Ugh.
My cell phone
.
Shitfuckphone
.

I crawled across the mattress,
and across the floor
, because I could barely stand to move. I grabbed the phone and crawled back to my pathetic excuse for a bed. I poked the phone repeatedly until it stopped its screeching and promptly feel back asleep.

The next time my eyes opened, night had settled outside my window. I vaguely wondered if it was the same
day,
at least my headache was gone. And I kind of felt
better
.

Still in my hand
,
sat my cell phone and I poked the side button to turn on its screen. I slid the lock off to see three voice messages. Hmm. I pressed the icon and cradled the phone to my ear.

"Monday, February 13th. First new message," the recording announced.
Two days after
the angel pretending to be
Blake attacked me
.

"Grace, it's me
,
Shane. You'
v
e just got out of surgery," his voice was shaking. "It's been eighteen hours and we don't know if you're going to make it. I just, I um
,
just, damn it. Grace, if you get to hear this, fuck I hope you do, I'm going to do everything I can to save you. Lea told me
everything;
I can't believe you've been here the whole time. I never knew. I'll find Gabriel, or Michael, or any of them. I'm going to do anything to help you. I love you Grace."

"Monday, February 13th. Second new message," the recording announced again.

"I can't leave your room. Nobody is coming, Gabriel, Michael,
Samuel
, none of them. I promise you, I swear. I swear
Grace
,
I will do anything to end your punishment. God,
bab
y,
I never knew. I never imagined I would ever see you again," his breath faltered and a small moan escaped through the speaker. He sputtered and disconnected. He sounded broken.

"Monday, February 13th. Third new message," the recording announced.

"Grace. Whatever happens
,
remember I love you. I will always love you.
I think I have a plan. I'm going to try my best to get you to live the rest of your life as Grace
.
No matter what I have to do. Just...just, if I can do it, just go on and live your life.
"

I stood up and threw my phone against the wall, it bounced to the floor and the battery flew back at me. "WHAT THE
HELL
! What the
hell
else are you going to
crap
on me with? ENOUGH ALREADY!"

Flinging my door
open,
I stomped through the hallway and into the bathroom. I ran the water in the shower on the hottest setting and jumped in the scalding water. I scrubbed myself almost raw.
Go on and live my life? What the
hell
does that mean? Haven't I been stuck doing that crap for tw
o freaking thousand years? Fine! My life! My rules! Last life!
Make it count.

Wrapped in only a towel, I closed myself in my bedroom when I heard loud voices coming in through the front door. Lea was screaming at someone.
Crap, I hope her and Conner aren't fighting
.

I rummaged through my drawers for clean clothes until I heard something slam loudly against my door. I froze. Another something smashed at my door. I watched it vibrate under the pressure.

"Open the
doo
r,
Grace!" Shane's voice slid through my veins like acid. He pounded on it again.

Oh really? Really
? My rules. My life. Last one. I'm going to m
ake every moment count
. I flung my towel on the floor and slid up a pair of black lacy
G-string
panties. I tugged on the matching bra, because
yes I do have matching sets
(Lea
is
my best friend). I shook my head, making my hair fly all over and yanked open the door.
Holy Dripping Wet Panties! That man should come with a warning label
.

All my time on this hell on earth was worth the look on that boy's face when he saw me. "Ah," was all that came out of that perfect set of lips of his.

I placed my hands on my hips. "So, you're banging and kicking at my door so you can just tell me...ah?"

Dressed in a delicious pair of old faded jeans,
scruffed
up motorcycle
boots and a tight white tee-shirt that showed the shadows and curves of every single one of his muscles, his arms stretched out
,
leaning against both sides of my door frame. One hand let go of the door and ran itself through his hair, in that sexy way only Shane could.

I watched those blue eyes travel slowly over my legs, sending tingly goose
bumps all along my skin. His gaze moved along the length of my inner thighs and gradually rose, then
lingered on the tiny V-shaped black lace of my panties. And when they did
,
I moved my hips slightly and his eyes moved with them. His gaze continued sweeping across my bare stomach and I watched his body stiffen and his knuckles turn white when they followed along the curves of my breasts. When his eyes finally found mine, his breath was heavy and his eyes wide. I could have had an orgasm from the mind fuck he was giving me right there.

I could see a thousand thoughts cross his mind. He leaned in slightly and then stopped himself. "Band meeting tomorrow...at eleven...at the studio," he whispered hoarsely. He said no more
words;
he just stared into my eyes. He slid his hand through his hair again and held it there. His jaw tensed.