Eternal Breath of Darkness (12 page)

Her stomach knotted and
rolled. They were so high, the wind rushing past them. Way too high. Everything
started spinning. She could feel them tumbling out of the sky, their bodies
crashing against the hard ground. She struggled to catch her breath, her mouth
watering, her stomach twisting. Perfect—she was going to throw up all over him.
She looked up at him and smirked. It would serve him right.

He laughed aloud. Nuzzling
his chin in her hair, he took a deep breath, filling his lungs with her sweet
scent. “You’re not going to fall. You’re safe with me.” Anchoring her to him
with one arm, he lifted her chin with his other hand, forcing her to meet his
gaze. “I can hold us up with a thought.”

Eyes wide, she stared up at
him, slowly shaking her head. She didn’t know what he was talking about, but
she wasn’t going to ask for an explanation. She was certain she wasn’t going to
like it.

Still keeping her snugly
anchored against his body with one arm, he reached over his shoulder and,
despite her best effort to keep them clamped around his neck, moved her arms.
“Trust me.”

“Trust me to do something
very awful and painful to you in the very near future.”

“Why do I try?” he teased.
“That wasn’t a very nice thing to say to me.” He took her hand in his; it
wasn’t necessary, but maintaining some physical contact would lessen the shock.
He didn’t want to frighten her. He wanted to show her his power, his ability to
protect and care for her.

She knew he was planning to
let go of her. “Don’t you dare do it.” He’d better not do it. Gripping his hand
hard, she buried her nails into his flesh and glared up him. “I swear you’ll be
sorry.” And she meant it.

“Too late.” Instantly, she
realized his arm was no longer holding her, but his hand held hers. That was
it. And it wasn’t enough. The air was forced in and out of her lungs in short,
violent gasps. She closed her eyes tight, too afraid to look at the ground
rushing toward her, but she could feel herself falling. “Don’t be silly. You’re
not falling. I would never allow it to happen. Look at me, Caylee.” He
purposely, using his supernatural abilities, deepened his voice, making it a
hypnotic command.

Struggling to fight it, she
vigorously shook her head back and forth. “No way.” But she did it. She
couldn’t help it. Tears burning behind her eyes, she looked up at him. His eyes
were solid black, even the whites, except for occasional silver flame like
flickers. He filled her with the peace and the strength to accept what was
strange to her. He literally flooded her heart and soul with his love.

Everything inside her
instantly stilled; even her heart stopped racing. It didn’t matter she was so
far from the ground. She was perfectly safe. He would never allow her to be
harmed. For the first time in her life she felt completely at peace. She would
always love him. She’d always believed he valued their friendship, but that was
it. She’d never believed he would fall in love with her. Looking up at him,
seeing the hunger in his eyes, she saw everything clearly. He was fiercely in
love with her. He cherished her. Some tiny, very rational part of her brain
tried to stop her from accepting it. It couldn’t be true.

She opened her mouth to
argue with him, to set him straight, but she couldn’t speak. She looked past
him; his powerful wings moved slowly, lazily pushing against the air. She
looked down and realized they were stationary, hovering in one place. Since she
was past being scared to death, she couldn’t deny he was right. The view was
truly beautiful. Looking up at him she gave him her most fierce glare. There
was no way she was going to admit it to him.

“Come closer.” He wrapped
his powerful arms around her, solid and unwavering. He bent his head down and
slowly planted a fiery hot blaze of kisses from her ear, down her neck, back up
to her ear, and then across her jaw to her lips.

Suddenly, she froze.
Something was wrong. “Haden.” She looked up at him, her heart stuttering.
“What’s happening?” A terrible screeching sound filled her ears. Ice-cold hands
wrapped around her throat and squeezed, as something vile entered her mind and
moved in it. She knew it was the vampire. He whispered to her, threatening to
kill her, vowing to do horrific things to her. Gasping, she struggled to breathe.

“No, Caylee.” Haden splayed
his hand over her throat. “It’s not real.” She felt dark waves of power flowing
from Haden and enveloping her, filling her. “It’s a trick. A manipulation. An
illusion. He can’t touch you.”

Instantly, she was able to
breathe, and the whispering ceased. “It felt so real, Haden. I’m so afraid. He
won’t stop. He’ll never stop. He’s going to kill me. ”

“I will stop him.” Haden
moved suddenly, taking them higher.

Caylee pressed her face
against his chest.

He needed get her to Mia and
go after Paul. He moved quickly, and as he disrupted the atmosphere, lightning
erupted and thunder exploded all around. She felt a brutal gust of wind smash
against them, and then it turned and moved with them.

* * *

Hand over her mouth, Julie giggled as she pressed her ear against
the dressing room door.

Brianna sat on the couch.
“You shouldn’t be listening.”

“It’s so quiet.”

“You should give them
privacy.”

“Shh...” Julie whispered.
“They’ll hear you.”

“You’re crazy. They’re going
to catch you.”

“Not if you stop talking. I
can’t believe he went into the dressing room to get it on with her.” Julie
giggled again.

Mia walked up from behind.
“What are you doing?”

Julie whirled around. “Oh,
Mia. I was just …nothing.”

Frowning, Mia looked at the
door. “Is Caylee still in there?”

“Yes,” Julie answered.

Mia knocked on the door.
“Caylee, open the door.”

Julie shook her head. “I
don’t think she wants to.”

Mia gaze narrowed on the
door. “Why?” She grabbed Julie’s arm. “Where the hell is Haden?”

“He’s in there with her.”

“Oh, hell. Are you okay,
Caylee?” Mia pounded her fist against the door. “Open the damn door!” She
rattled the doorknob, and then turned to Julie. “Are you sure they’re in
there?”

“Yes.”

“Get me the key.”

Julie shook her head. “She
said she’s okay. I think they’re having sex. Besides, I don’t know where the
key is.”

“The key is behind the
counter! Get the damn thing!”

Julie nodded. “You don’t
need to yell at me.”

“I’m sorry. I’m not mad at
you. I’m just worried. It’s too quiet it there. Just find the key.” Mia watched
Julie walk away.

* * *

One moment they were flying, and the next they were in the
dressing room. Caylee looked up at Haden. Fury, deep, violent fury filled his
eyes, but she had no fear of it, of him. She placed her hand on his chest to
push him back. “Thank you.” She felt his heartbeat, steady and strong against
her palm. “You were right—it was a beautiful view of the forest.”

Blinking back tears, she
slowly lowered her hand to her side. She wanted to talk him out of going after
the vampire, but she knew it would do no good to try. She knew he would do what
he believed was right. And to him, killing the vampire was the only way to
protect her. Maybe he was right. She honestly didn’t know. But she did know her
life wasn’t worth his. “Please, Haden, be safe.”

He took her hand in his.
“Your life is far more valuable than mine.” He brought her hand to warmth of
his mouth. “But don’t worry about me. I will be safe.”

Looking down at her feet to
avoid his gaze, she pulled her hand free. “Goodbye.”

“No. Not goodbye. Never
goodbye. Stay merged with me at all times.” Forcing her to meet his gaze, he
lifted her face. “I’m serious—stay merged with me. I love you, Caylee.” He
paused for a long moment. “With every ounce of my heart and soul, I love you.”
He bent his head to kiss her.

* * *

Mia pressed her ear against the door. She could hear Haden and
Caylee whispering, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying. She knew
something was wrong. Caylee would’ve answered her. Julie handed Mia the key.
“Thank you, Julie.”

Nodding, Julie sat next to
Brianna on the couch. Mia unlocked and opened the door. She was more relieved
than embarrassed to catch them kissing. “Caylee, why didn’t you answer me?”

Caylee jumped out of Haden’s
arms and turned to face Mia. “I didn’t hear you.”

Taking a step back to give
them room, Mia glared at Haden as he wrapped his arm around Caylee and led her
out of the dressing room. He was smiling, looking far too pleased with himself
for her liking. “I seriously doubt it was that good.”

“Mia.” Caylee shook her
head.

“The dress is perfect,
Caylee. You look damn hot in it.”

“Absolutely wickedly hot.”
Haden pulled Caylee into his arms to kiss her
. I love you, Caylee. Keep in
mind I will come back to you immediately if you don’t stay merged with me.
He
reluctantly released her and left. He didn’t want to leave her there. In fact,
everything in him was screaming at him, demanding he take her away by force,
but he was certain it would be mistake. She needed to come to him willingly. Using
force would cause her to fear him, and he couldn’t permit her to harbor any
fear of him. He planned to destroy Paul so she was safe and he could fully
concentrate on dealing with getting rid of Phillip and Emmett.

* * *

A few hours later Caylee returned home.

“Where the hell have you
been?” Emmett shouted. Caylee slowly closed the door, taking a moment to make
sure her mind was disconnected from Haden, and then she turned to face her
uncle. “I’ve been waiting for hours.”

“I was in town.” Her voice was
barely audible. Her throat felt as if it had collapsed, so she placed her hand
over it. Her pulse raced. She couldn’t catch her breath.

“What the hell were you
doing?”

Wide-eyed and speechless,
she fought to seize the strength and courage to respond.

“Answer me!”

Shivering, she swallowed
hard. “I went to see Mia.” She took a deep breath.

“Is that right?”

“Yes.” Her heart raced
madly. Knowing Haden was close by, she kept a barricade over her mind against
his intrusion. He would rush to defend her if he realized she was in danger.
She needed to prevent it. In the past, Emmett had physically attacked her, but
it had been months since he last struck her because she carefully avoided
stumbling onto the triggers of his rage.

Lowering his brow, he was
silent for a moment as he glared at her. “Do you’ve any idea how late it is?”

“I know it’s late. I’m
sorry, Uncle Emmett.”

Nodding, he lowered his
heavily wrinkled brow even more. He leaned against the back of the chair.
“Phillip was here to see you today.” Leaning forward, he rubbed his chin. “He
doesn’t like you hanging out with Mia. She’s trouble.”

“She’s my best friend.”

“Settling for you, Phillip
has every right to expect you to honor his wishes. You won’t see her again. You
know how particular he is concerning you’re behavior.”

She thought of Haden.
Something inside her snapped. “I’ve given this marriage some thought. I don’t
want to marry Phillip. We’re complete strangers—besides, he’s a much older
man.”

Clenching his fists, Emmett
glared at her from across the table. “You don’t have a choice.” Why? She could
feel the color draining from her face. Why had she opened her mouth? She stared
into his eyes. For several seconds everything was frighteningly still and
silent. She knew it was coming. He sat there glaring at her. The depths of his
rage and hatred nearly caused her heart to stop. She wished he would scream or
even strike her. Any response, any at all, would’ve been better than none at
all.

He stood up. “You worthless
bitch!” Throwing his chair back against the wall, he lunged in her direction.
She glanced at the door. Haden would protect her. She reached for the door. Her
fingertips grazed the handle as her body was thrown to the floor. She stood up
on trembling legs. Emmett slammed his fist against the wall, narrowly missing
her head. He grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her away from the door.
Reaching up, she tried to loosen his grip.

He threw her to the ground.
With her hair still tangled in his fist, he leaned over her. “You’re a filthy,
ungrateful whore!” He jerked her head back and forth. “I’ve taken care of your
ass this last year!” He ripped his hand free. “Look at me, bitch!”

Shocked, she gasped and
then, reaching for her head, she turned and looked up at him.

“I’ve kept your secret!” He backhanded
her.

Holding her hand over her
face, she glanced, tears blurring her vision, at the door and started to stand
up.

“You’re not going anywhere.”
He grabbed her shoulder and shoved her down. “Do you want everyone to know what
you’ve done?” Forcing her to look at him, he grabbed her hair. “Do you want
everyone to know you’re nothing but a filthy whore?” He let go of her hair.