Arielle Immortal Fury (The Immortal Rapture Series Book 6) (29 page)

“Complete success,” Sebastian whispered to himself. He felt satisfied. This had been the easiest part of their plan. They shook
hands with Nathan and thanked him for his help before he left for London. Troy and Sebastian walked toward the hotel, chatting away about the next day.

“Nathan will be home in a few minutes, and I guess we could have done the same thing,” Sebastian said in a low voice.

“The girls will be fine, Sebastian; we are doing the right thing.” Troy smiled though he was sulking inside, knowing he didn’t like sleeping without Gabrielle.

“I agree with your last thought,” said Sebastian, chuckling as he read Troy’s mind. They laughed and picked up the pace to get into the hotel quickly.

“How about waiting for Nathan to get here in the morning, and
then we can start early with the address on top of the list?” Troy
asked.
“These guys seem to live very close, so it should be easy to locate
them.”

Sebastian nodded. “These scum seem to be collecting real cons off the streets and using them for whatever dirty assignment they have. Our company and our friends are their targets now,” Sebastian said through clenched teeth.

“Just give me a call when Nathan gets in, and I’ll be ready to go.
Right now, all I want to do is get into the room and call my girl. I
know
it’s one-thirty in the morning, but she better pick up.” A small
chuckle escaped him.

Sebastian smiled and patted him on the back. “I’ll see you later.”

Troy walked down the hall and disappeared around the corner. Sebastian slid the key card into the electronic card reader and fished
his mobile out of his pocket. He pressed Arielle’s number the
moment
the door closed behind him. On the second ring she picked up, and
her soft voice sent a warm sensation throughout his body.

“Hey! Did you miss me?” The sound of her voice tore at his
passion. He shut his eyes, unable to stop his mind from the flood of memories
from their last encounter. “My arms ache for you.” His voice came
out a soft whisper filled with desire.

“Mmm…I can better that statement.” Humor tainted her voice.

“Oh! How so?”

“My body aches for you, baby,” she purred and then laughed
softly, making him miss her even more. He loved her laughter and the way her eyes lit up every time she looked at him.

“Mmm.” He pressed his lips together as ripples of desire made his skin quiver. He knew he would have to get off the phone soon if
he was going to be able to make it through the night without her.
“One more day and I’ll be home.” He struggled for control of his
emotions. “How was the film?”

“The film was great. I think you’d have enjoyed it.”

“What did you see?”

“
Hereafter
. It was absolutely amazing.”

“Maybe we can go and see the film together when I get back.”

“I wouldn’t mind seeing it again!”

He smiled at her enthusiasm. “When did you get home?”

“We actually just walked in, and both our phones went off at the same time. Gabby is chatting with Troy.”

“But its late; the film couldn’t have taken this long,” he said,
voice filled with curiosity.

“We met Paul and Loren, and we went out for a drink.”

“Oh…did you have a good time?”

“We had a great time. The band was awesome, and you
wouldn’t
believe it but Christian and Isabella were there, pretending to
completely
ignore me.” She laughed. He felt relieved that Christian was
watching her.

“Did anything happen?”

“Funny that you ask. A couple of real good looking guys with an Italian accent tried to pick up Gabby and me,” she said.

Sebastian’s smile faded away and was replaced by a deep frown.
The two guys with an Italian accent could have been sent by the
Russian goons to get close to Arielle. He ran a hand through his hair, irritation palpable in his tense jaw muscles. The silence lingered until he heard Arielle’s voice.

“Sebastian, are you there?”

Completely distracted by his runaway thoughts, he stammered
into the phone. “Yes, baby. Sorry. I thought I heard someone
knocking at the door, but no one was there. So what did they say?”

“Who?”

“The two guys that were trying to pick you up.”

“Oh, they just made small talk. They were really nice.”

“What did you talk about?”

“Well, nothing much really; we chatted about school and things we like to do for fun. They seemed to be quite interested.”

Sebastian cursed inwardly. He was not happy about this at all.

 “They did ask us to dance,” Arielle went on, a soft giggle escaping her. 

Sebastian flinched, and it took every bid of energy to rein in the anger that was overwhelming him. His mind was fixated on
difficulties of far greater consequences if these men got closer to Arielle.

“Did you dance with them?” he shouted, losing the struggle to remain calm.

There was a long silence, and then her soft voice cut through the haze that was filling his mind. “Why are you yelling at me?”

Sulking over this would solve anything. “I’m sorry, Arielle, I got carried away with my jealousy,” he said, trying to cover up the real reason he was so upset.

“But Sebastian, we didn’t dance with them. And in any case,
Loren, Christian, and Isabella kept a watchful eye on us like three faithful watch dogs,” she said and humphed.

Sebastian heard the tone of her voice, and despite his thoughts,
he chuckled. “Arielle, they were only doing what I asked them to do. Please understand that I’m worried about you when I’m not around.”

“Christian scrutinized them as if they were bloodcurdling monsters.”

Sebastian tried to suppress laughter. He was glad to hear that she was safe.

“They were nice,” she reiterated.

He sighed as irritability now edged his voice. “Arielle, some of
the nicest and best looking men have turned out to be the scum of the earth.” He was pretty sure that they were not talking about two nice
guys but two goons who were there to learn all they could about
Arielle and Gabrielle. His hands were clenching and unclenching as crazy
thoughts kept swirling in his head. This was taking top priority,
more so than Annabel’s wrath.

“Well, they were awfully nice,” Arielle said again.

Sebastian ignored the statement. “Are you in bed?” he asked.

“No, not just yet. As I said, I just walked in, and I didn’t have a
chance to get ready for bed. I’m going to jump into the shower as
soon as I hang up.”

“Mmm…the thought of you in the shower alone is a crime.”

She giggled in response. The sound washed over him like a
warm blanket on a cold night. Arielle swallowed hard. “I know that if you use your immortal abilities, you can be here before I even get into the shower.” Her voice quivered.

“Easy, love. You are wounding me. Do you really think that I
don’t want to come home?”

“I love you, Sebastian. I just wish you were here. I’m actually
looking
at your picture right now. I brought it with me to Gabrielle’s,
because I can’t sleep without you.”

Eyebrows furrowed. “What picture?”

“I have several from our last vacation. I chose the sexiest one and
framed it.” Her giggling once again sent warm waves of desire
through him. Arielle sighed. “Oh God, I need you,” she murmured.

“I need you, too, baby.”

“Do you know that every time you aren’t with me, I put your
photo
under my pillow and pretend that you are there. It helps me fall
sleep,” she said cheerfully.

Sebastian was stunned. “Are you serious? And here I thought
that I knew everything about you.”

“Well there you go. You just never know what you might find out about me.”

“You’ve never told me that before.”

“It never came up until now,” she huffed in response.

“It's an interesting concept. If that works, I should have a picture of you with me.”

“Don’t you?” Arielle sounded shocked, but he could hear that she was smiling.

“Well…” Sebastian started to say, but he was lost for words.

“I guess you don’t need me as much as I need you,” Arielle said with mock disappointment.

Sebastian’s jaw tightened. For a long moment, he didn’t speak. He pondered her words, trying to find the right thing to say.
Suddenly, the sound of her delightful laughter caught him and plunged him into her alluring web of pleasure. “I’m joking, my love; lighten up.”

“Arielle, don’t do that to me. I worry.”

“Check your suitcase; you may find yourself blissfully
surprised.”

“What?”

Arielle chuckled. “I have to take a shower. If you want to take a
shower with me, you can be here in the next few minutes.”

“I could and I would, but I need to stay here. I don’t seem to have
any control over my thoughts and responsibilities when I get close to
you.”

“Do you remember how much I love you?” she asked.

“How could I forget when all I do is think about you?” She
giggled
blissfully. “Miss me,” he said softly and hung up. He stood still for a short moment, trying to sort out his thoughts. He took in a long
breath
and then exhaled deeply. He picked up his mobile one more time
and rung Troy. It went directly to voicemail, so he was sure that he was still on the phone with Gabby.

Sebastian put the phone down and stood lost in thought for a
long moment. He then walked swiftly to the bed and opened his
suitcase. He pulled a clean T-shirt out, and he smiled wide. There it was. He
picked up the picture frame, and a huge grin parted his lips. Her
lovely blue eyes stared right back at him, making him anxious for her. “For eternity. Arielle,” she had inscribed across the bottom of the frame.
She was his life, the reason for his existence, and her name was
carved
into his very soul. He was still beaming blissfully when his phone
rang.

Troy’s name appeared on the screen.

 “Hey, did you talk to Gabrielle?” he asked.

“Yes, I just got off the phone with her. What’s up?”

“Did Gabrielle tell you about the two guys at the pub?”

“Yes, she did, and I know what you’re thinking.”

“Troy, I find it noteworthy that two guys with Italian accents
happened to be interested in their school activities and personal
hobbies,” Sebastian said. He felt filled with frustration.

“Um…let’s not jump to any conclusions right now. You have
Christian watching them while we are here. From what Gabrielle
said, Christian, Isabella, and Loren did an awesome job in keeping them under their radar.”

“Yes, that’s what I heard from Arielle. That’s the only thing
keeping me here tonight.”

Troy chuckled. “I can tell. Try to relax, and I’ll see you in the morning.”

The conversation ended, and Sebastian put the phone down. He was still holding Arielle’s picture frame in his hand. He stared at her striking face and found himself lost in the blue ocean of her eyes. He
let out a deep-throated groan. Setting the frame down on the
nightstand, he walked into the shower, unable to wipe the passion off of his face.

Chapter 18

A STEADY RINGING NOISE
woke Sebastian from a deep sleep. He snapped his eyes open and blinked. He tried to get his bearings, but his attention was drifting helplessly toward the annoying sound. Filled with anxiety about Arielle’s safety, he didn’t get to sleep until
the early morning hours.
Ugh! That bloody ringing noise again!
Pressing
his palms against his ears, he looked around the room. As he
adjusted,
he realized that the ringing sound was coming from the connecting room.

A weak beam of light slipped through the window curtains.
Lifting
his hand, he stared at the screen of his watch. The time was five-
thirty
in the morning. He lay silently staring at the ceiling, trying to put some order to the thoughts that were whirling in his brain.
Nathan
should be
arriving shortly.
They would have to venture out to pursue their
plans. His gaze drifted slowly from the ceiling to the picture frame on the nightstand and locked onto the pair of bright sapphire eyes staring right back at him. Arielle’s picture was so real that his pulse picked up speed and a warm sensation swept through his body. The mere sight of her took Sebastian’s breath away.