Set In Sparks (Morningstars Book 2) (3 page)

She turned her lithe body to him, moving in her seat enough so she could watch him and damn if that didn’t make him tighter in his pants. He knew that movement. She wanted to tease him and he couldn’t wait for it, even though it would make driving harder; he had extraordinary reflexes that might gave him the chance to enjoy her
and
get them home in one piece.

She bit her lip and then rubbed her palm over the material of his black jeans, giving him exactly
that
smile. It was the one that always got him to do her bidding. Checking the road, he noticed that they were getting close to her mansion. Jaden should have taken a different route, a longer one, or driven slower, but then awareness slammed into him and he knew it weren’t his own feelings.

Maya’s hand on him got stiff even though she tried to hide her sudden unease. He had a dark feeling that this night he wouldn’t get any of what he was hoping for. Easing the black Impala through the gate and up the driveway, he parked off to the side. The mansion stood dark and looming even though most of the windows throughout the three stories were lit. Jaden kept his eyes on the red stones that appeared black at night, just so his focus wasn't on the agitated female next to him.

She wanted to leap out of the car, but something held her back. He felt it in her even as she leaned in and framed his face, kissing him deeply. Moving away just far enough so she could talk without constantly brushing his lips, she rubbed the tip of her nose against his. “We have a lot more time later for what we just started. Inside I at least can get you fully naked, not just the most eager part of you,” she grinned and Jaden wanted to groan in frustration. They hadn’t started anything; which was exactly what made him all the grumpier. He didn’t let it show though, getting out of the car and walking around to hold the door open for her.

“My Queen,” he smiled, but her eyes shadowed instantly.

“Don’t call me that,” she pleaded. “You're my mate, and I belong to you, body, heart and soul.” Even though he loved her words, they were missing real conviction. She was preoccupied and he knew he needed to get her inside before he’d find out what was wrong.

“You're my Queen, Cupcake. You rule my thoughts and my body,” he replied and her tension eased up a little until she faced the front door and walked up the few steps. It silently swung open under her touch and Jaden followed, his head lowered, his thoughts focused on her feelings until he heard her speak.

“Hey,” she whispered, the single word loaded with so many emotions that Jaden had the feeling his knees would give out under him. The smell hit him next, something that reeked of death and decay, hopelessness and despair. Raising his eyes, Jaden saw his twin. He looked exhausted and a lot lankier than he remembered, which was weird since he had seen him only some nights ago.

“Little star,” Kaden replied, his voice cracking. His clothes were torn and his hands covered in blood, but Maya didn’t seem to see any of that. In fact, she was in his arms in less than the amount of time it took for Jaden to utter a hello, too.

“What’s up, Maya?” his twin asked, putting her back on her feet, yet holding onto her shoulders.

“You left us hanging again, that’s what’s up,” Jaden snapped, anger sweeping over him, drowning him in a need for violence he couldn’t satisfy.

“They hate me, Kade,” Maya said at the same time and it was as if Kaden hadn’t even heard his twin.

“That’s not possible, right?” he asked, finally meeting his brother’s eyes.

“Actually,” Jaden started, trying to find the right words to say, deciding to just go for it, “they do. Every time we step over a threshold, it’s obvious they want to kick her right back out.” He had guessed that it bothered Maya, but then he had been with her to all those meetings. He had seen the way she always had to brace herself before meeting the strangers. He had felt her unease, yet it had taken his twin one damn look at her porcelain face to see that she was more than bothered by it. It broke her and she had hid those feelings well. How had Jaden not noticed?

There actually was an easy answer to that. He never had bothered with reading other people, save his brother, and with Maya he simply counted on the fact that her feelings would tell him everything. He, of all people, should have known how easy it was to hide certain emotions from your mate. He had lied to her even after she had bonded with him. Cursing mentally, he told himself to do better, to watch her closer, and to ask more questions.

“She always turns them around though. You should see; mostly we leave with them being wrapped around her little finger,” he then added, trying to ease her mind.

“They probably talk all the time. I’m weak, that’s what they think, and no one will show for the dancing class! I’ll be standing there alone and … and … they’ll be sitting at home, laughing their asses off,” she blubbered and Jaden couldn’t do anything but stare as Kaden rubbed his thumb over her cheek before glaring at him.

It was as if his twin was asking him how he couldn’t have comforted Maya and why he had let things go on as they did. She was a mess, completely insecure, and Jaden had only ever seen the picture of what she wanted him to see. It had taken Kaden one look and he had known. Dearest Creator, why did he have to be the less compassionate twin?

And how in the world had Kaden managed to turn this whole thing around? Jaden was pissed at him, not any other way. He was leaving them alone! “Well, you probably would have known if you would’ve bothered to show up,” he snapped defensively, finally finding the anger he had harbored and accessed it easily. He had maybe missed the fighting, but the way he saw it, he would still get on it with his twin down in the training rooms they had installed.

Funnily enough, suddenly Kaden didn’t look at him anymore, but apologized towards Maya. Of course he knew that she would forgive him without a doubt while Jaden wouldn’t be okay with the flimsy explanations.

“I’m gonna go and check on the food,” Jaden announced loudly before he had to listen to any of the lies his brother would dish out to Maya.

“Jaden,” she whispered, but he only gave her a smile. She wasn’t at fault here and he knew it, but he couldn’t help but be mad at both of them. Still, he kissed her cheek and then her forehead before finally leaving the two alone. It didn’t take long and guilt trickled through the bond. He could almost feel Maya staring after him and it made him want to return and just pull her along.

“Jaden.” He almost ran Cany over while being up in his own head. The little courtier had gone out as well, trying to find more people to join them for the dancing class Maya was so set on having in the mansion.

“Forgive me, little courtier,” he said with a tiny bow. She had earned his respect in the last months because no matter how she had doubted Maya in the beginning, she had always been by her side.

“Where is the Queen?” she asked and Jaden pointed his thumb over his shoulder.

“Good, I have a few things to tell her and …”

Jaden held her back as she tried to pass him and she looked at him with a questioning expression in her hazel eyes. “If something happened, I don’t think I should leave her alone. And, frankly, neither should you,” she snapped and he gave her a sad smile. Yes, he shouldn’t have left her alone, but Kaden always had been the twin she had trusted more. After all, he had been the twin to take care of her when Jaden had wanted nothing more than to run away. He owed Kaden for having kept Maya sane when Jaden couldn’t.

“She’s not alone, so please, stop worrying. How far is dinner?” The courtier still looked back at the door as if she was ready to check Jaden’s credibility. “Kaden is with her,” he added, annoyed.

It pissed him off to see the utter relief on the courtier’s face. “Thank the Creator. It was about time he moved his sulky ass over and showed his face,” she mumbled and Jaden glared at her.

“Can we all please stop pretending that he’s the damn savior of the world and remember that he left us hanging more than ten times over the last … let’s say … ten weeks?” he growled and instantly Cany sobered.

“Of course,” she admitted and then reached out to touch his arm. “But we both know that she needed to see him.” And that was probably what Jaden hated most, because it was the simple truth.

He shouldn’t have waited so long to see Maya again. As he stood in front of her, Kaden couldn’t get enough of seeing her face.

“He’s mad at you,” she mumbled, suddenly not looking at him anymore. “He expects me to be mad at you, too, but … I just can’t.” She shook her head and then walked away from him for a few steps, hugging herself. He wanted to go to her and hold her again, but he wasn’t exactly sure she would let him.

“Jaden has every right to be angry with me and we both know it,” Kaden replied instead, noticing that she had lost some weight, and that meant something since she never had been anything but slim. It worried him, but what worried him more was that Jaden didn’t even seem to see she was doing badly. The look on his face when she had admitted that the people hated her made it all so clear.

“Yes, but then, Jaden has every right to be mad at
both
of us,” she remarked and finally Kaden reached out, brushing her dark hair back over her shoulder so he could catch a look at what he most longed for: her slender neck.

“Stop, Kaden,” she pleaded and then turned back around to him. He didn’t care what she had asked of him, he gathered her up in his arms and held her tightly until he felt her tension melt away.

“I missed you, Little Star,” he whispered into her hair, knowing that he was torturing them both, not that she deserved the extra push. Kaden saw it on her face that she had missed him just as much. He needed to get his act together and be there for her, even though it nearly broke him in two to know that Jaden and her were holding hands and being all cuddly. It wasn’t that he didn’t want Jaden to be happy. It was simply that he wanted it too and sadly with the same woman, but that was something he had come to terms with after a while.

He loved her and was meant to be with her; there was no changing that. What didn’t change, either, was the fact that he’d never ask her to choose between the twins. He felt how her hands gripped his jacket, her knuckles almost turning white at the strength she used and he gently untangled them, careful not to hurt her.

“Listen, Maya, I need to talk to Jaden –”

“He’s gonna stay here tonight,” she blurted out and pain pierced through him, making him clench his jaw. Luckily, it had been too long ago and she no longer would feel what he felt. It had been difficult enough to keep everything from her the first few months. “We have more than enough rooms, so please, Kaden…” she trailed off, her eyes meeting his. He knew she wasn’t asking him to share a bed with her and that probably was what caused the wave of agony and anger to take hold of his body. Jaden surely wouldn’t have to sleep in a room separated from her.

“Don’t ask that of me knowing he’ll be in bed with you and I won’t,” he mumbled, surprising them both with his words. For whatever reason they had settled on never mentioning this thing between them again, but he didn’t want to lie about it any longer, at least not when it was only them.

“Oh, so it’ll be much better when you go home alone, realizing that the room across the hall is empty? Okay, fine, I won’t ask you to be one of the first things I’ll see at dusk. I won’t ask you to be here just a little longer so I can know that you didn’t suddenly stop hating me. Fine, I won’t try to make you feel welcome anymore. Go and talk to Jaden and then, you know where the door is. Don’t expect me to tell you bye.” She walked away from him, but then spun around another time. “I didn’t exactly sign up for this, Kaden, and believe me when I say, I hoped it would come to pass, not because I hate the fact that Jaden is not all that’s occupying my mind, but because you used to be closest to me. I always could trust you with everything, and now, when it comes to be important, you drop off the face of the earth. I hoped it would come to pass so you wouldn’t hurt anymore when thinking of me and maybe, just maybe, considered me worthy enough to grace me with your presence. If you think your twin is stupid, you obviously don’t know him as well as you think, because he isn’t. He can guess something is off, but I have the feeling he is giving me room to address it when I feel good about it. Sucks for him that this will never happen, because I can’t hurt him one bit. Everything he did for me in the last couple of months, trying to show that he deserves me, means the world to me.”

“He treated you like a fucking dick,” Kaden snapped ever so quietly, knowing she could still hear him. She was perfect now, her senses well balanced and far above average.