West (A Roam Series Novella) (10 page)

“Don’t you dare hurt her-…
,”

“Logan, shut the fuck up and
listen to me.
” I cut him off before he could begin his adolescent tirade. “I will tell her. I was not myself, and I regret what I did, but I’d never hurt her. Not Roam.”

“Oh, not
Roam? What the fu-…,” he was furious. “She’s not yours. She’s
my
girlfriend. She’s my
best
friend. If you’ve touched her in any way, I’ll end your entire career-…,”

What, teaching?
This is what he was threatening me with? “Roam makes her own decisions. Did you see Troy?”

“No I didn’t see Troy. I didn’t fucking see anything but you
choking some blonde girl to death.
”

Fuck
. “Stay there. Don’t travel again- you make the numbers come when you pass through the fountain, and it hurts her.
Badly
. I’ll get details from you tomorrow. Text only between now and then.”

I disconnected.

Roam

She stood before the wet mirror in a thin, yellow sundress. I watched her working through her long hair with a comb.

Her eyes met mine as I moved behind her. When my arms encircled her, she dropped the comb and leaned back against me.

Into me.

I sighed. “I’m sorry that I was so angry. If Logan had been killed, you’d be devastated, and I don’t want your love by default.”

I’d said it. I wanted her to love me, and I needed her to know that.

She turned in my arms, and I kissed her, the kind of kiss that was meant to comfort and promise. Pressing her forehead to my chest, she took a deep breath before lifting her sparkling eyes to mine. “As much as I will always love Logan, I just don’t… I don’t trust him,” she cringed at her own words. “He has it within him- deep in his soul- to hurt me. It may surface someday. Not knowing if it will… is frightening.”

“And you trust me,” I added to her words, lulling. She nodded, her cheek pressed to my chest.

“Yes.”

My god, I wanted her again. Right there and then, on the bathroom sink. I fought back the overwhelming urge to lift her to the counter, knowing she had to be tender from our marathon lovemaking. “
Then listen to me, Roam.
Whatever Logan tells you, whatever he does to try to make you trust him-
don’t
. He may tell you terrible things, things that will hurt you and scare you, just to manipulate you. He has already been exposed to the dreams; he already has formed ideas about you and me and what we are.”

Don’t listen to him. Don’t let him convince you that I’m a monster.

“I need you to tell me now… about 1977. I need to know what I’m walking in to.”

I focused on her eyes.
She deserves to know.
Separate my love for her from the prophecy.

Protect her.

“Okay,” I nodded. “First, we eat. We’re leaving tomorrow morning.”

We went to a restaurant at the Plantation, settling
into a quiet booth. I told her about Julie as we ordered, enjoying her comments and opinions.

Even as I recalled my life with Julie, she watched me from across the table,
her eyes heavy-lidded and wanting. I could feel her need, watching her shift uncomfortably as we talked. I considered asking them to box our food up and taking her back to the cottage.

Back to my bed.

I stopped short, knowing if I continued with how Julie died, she wouldn’t eat. Changing the mood, I asked her what her favorite movie was. She was amused, but indulged me anyway. We bantered over silly first date questions, and I listened to her talk shyly about herself. By the time we returned to the car, I wanted to devour her.

“Will you tell me the rest now?” She asked, referring to Julie’s story.

“At the cottage. After I do what I’ve been thinking about for the past two hours.”

She smiled, melting into my kiss.

We made it as far as the kitchen. I lifted her to the table, tugging her thin panties aside and sliding into her slowly. She clung to me, really letting go, and I reveled in every pleasured expression on her face.

Memorizing.

We tried to get through the cottage to the back door, but ended up on the couch next, her straddling me.

Somehow, sometime later, we sat on the shore together, sated.

And I told her about Julie.

At the end, I told her that I blacked out- which was true- and that I assumed it had been either Troy or the Alter who killed her.

Which was a lie.

The silence that follows a lie that you tell the one you love is terrifying. It’s a sale, and as I waited for purchase, I gripped her fingers in mine.

“That is so awful. And then you ran,” she finally said.

She believed me.
Why wouldn’t she?
Relief poured over me with each wave that crashed to the shore.

I needed her to know.

Now.

“In all of the lifetimes we’ve spent together, Roam, I’ve never felt this way about you. Or anyone,” I urged. “I have loved you, but never thought it was possible to love you
this
much.”

The smile that swept across her face filled my heart, lighting all the darkened corners and clearing the shadows of the past.

“That’s a really beautiful… and dramatic… I love you,” she responded, so serious, and I grinned back at her, tightening my hold on her waist. “
West, I love you, too,
” she admitted.

Soft.
Resolved.

She spoke, and I listened, and for hours we lay in the cottage together. I talke
d, she talked, and I made love to her with my entire soul.

She asked me what my favorite song was.
One cold night in January, 1962, I’d listened to Elvis’s voice on the radio…

And I thought of
her
.

I thought of the
life Annie had spoken of,
the one
, the girl who would save the world with me…

Who would save
me
.

I was destin
ed to play the fool, rushing into her every single time. I played the song and pulled her into my arms. We danced in the moonlight, naked, the sand beneath our feet allowing us to slide without too much effort.

I wanted to dance with her, like this, forever. She lifted her eyes to mine. “No matter what happens,
West… I just want to remember this. This moment. I want to dream about this,” she pleaded, and I caught a tear that slid from her eyes with my kiss.

“
You will,
” I promised her.

Praying.

She was on edge throughout the plane ride the next day. I tried every way to distract her, even having stayed up after she slept the night before and filling her iPod with playlists. By the time we reached Rome, we both were filled with anxiety…

And need.

I must have tried the card key five times in the hotel room door. We had four hours for the layover, and as I kissed her hungrily, I knew how I was going to spend every second of our time.

The door slammed, and time disappeared.

I teased her with my touch, my mouth, until she was struggling, twisting beneath me and begging me. She held my face in her hands, staring into my eyes as I thrust, inviting me to search her soul as we made love.

She wanted me to live inside of her, and there was nowhere else I’d rather be. Her pleading drove me insane;
please, please, West, please,
over and over, until I was coming just from her words.

Her voice.

We both knew. We knew this might be the last time we’d ever hold each other this way, and it was devastating.

“
I love you,
” she cried, breaking apart in my arms and simultaneously succumbing to tears. “I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want Logan,
I want you,
” she sobbed.

I was still inside of her as she said his name. Cursing, I rolled over, taking her with me so that she lay in my arms, against my chest. “Baby, don’t. Don’t think about him.
Not right now.
”

“How can you just let me go back to him?”

“I won’t,” I answered, incredulous. “You think that this is the end? That I’m going to just walk away?”

“
I… didn’t…,”

“We need him as our ally right now, Roam. We’re not telling him. Not yet.
It will kill me
if you kiss him, I know that. But your safety means more to me than a couple of kisses.”

“I love him, but not like I love you,
West. I could never love him the way this feels,” she covered her heart with her hands, and I softened, turning into her hair.

“I love
you
, Roam Camden.
And I have for my entire life.
”

When we arrived in Russia, and Logan had his arms around her, I fought the fire burning in my gut. His dark eyes bored into mine with worlds of suspicion and accusation, and I tried to ignore him as we hurried to a taxi.

We settled into a café, and Logan explained that we simply had to lower our arms- our numbers- into the fountain and we’d travel. We’d be in our past lives, but keep our minds when we moved through the door.

Roam would be Julie.

“You need to eat, Cam,” Logan was touching her hair, and I fought the urge to break his fingers. “We don’t know what we’re walking into. Troy may have traveled there already.”

“Logan, I’m not hungry.”

“Eat, Roam,” I ordered.

She picked up her fork, and Logan’s dark brown gaze turned almost black. “What did the two of you do while you were gone?” He fired, looking between Roam and me.

Condemning
. This kid, this
fucking soulless kid
who’d killed
my Annie
- and
my unborn child-
stared at me like
I
was a fucking criminal.

I snapped.

“I filled her in on the past, and helped her through nightmares about you
raping
and
killing
her.”

His self-indulgent temper flared, and he shot to his feet, nearly knocking the table over.

“Stop! Please don’t make a scene. Logan, please,” Roam begged. “
Please
,” she repeated, whispering as she looked around the restaurant at the disturbed patrons.

 
The kid’s fists clenched like he was going to go for me. I stared at him coolly. “I’m not going to fight you, Logan. I’m just stating the facts. You’ve had the nightmares, and you know what she’s dealing with.”

“Let’s just get out of here and make a plan,” she looked to me, and I nodded. “Are we going to where Logan is staying, or…
,”

“
Look at the way you trust him
,” Logan growled, and Roam’s face whipped to him, shocked. “I’ve known you all of your life, and now you don’t trust me because of some dreams?” He turned and stormed out, and Roam chased after him.

“
Shit
.” I dropped the cash to the table, gathering our bags. By the time I found them, near the entrance of a hotel, I could see his words on her face before I could hear him speaking them.

“…watched it happen.
I didn’t know it was you until you were… gone. You were blonde, and looked older… he was so angry, and punched you…,”

“
Enough!
” I raged, turning to Logan.

When I looked back at Roam, I could see the color draining from her face. Before Logan could reach for her, I swept her into my arms.

When she still hadn’t come to by the time we reached Logan’s hotel room, I felt for her pulse.

“She’s still not breathing- she never stops this long!”
Logan shouted.

“No… she is… she’s coming around,” I urged, smoothing her hair away from her face with my hands.

Her eyes blinked, and then she was screaming.

“No!
No…,
”

“
Shh
,” I tried to comfort her, my heart breaking at her condemning, fearful gaze. “
Roam…,
”

“No! I remember,” she cried.

I winced as she balled her hand into a fist, punching me in the eye. Suddenly, she was holding her hand, crying.

“
Stop it!
” I gripped her hands, pinning them. “Logan, get some ice…,”

“I can’t believe you lied to me!
I trusted you!
” She looked around, confused, taking in the hotel room as Logan ran to the mini fridge.

“I blamed myself, I suspected I’d done it, but I was never sure,” I managed, forcing her into my arms.
“I’m so sorry Roam,” I whispered, against her ear, every part of me needing her forgiveness.