Save My Soul (18 page)

I shook my head.

"Tell me, Kendra, or I'm walking out
that door and you will never see me again!" he shouted as he
pointed at the open door.

I started crying again. "Because I'm
your soulmate!" I shouted back.

He stared at me, clearly astounded. "I
don't know what to believe, but it isn't going to be this. I turned
everything off on the stove. Enjoy your dinner, Kendra, and leave
me alone." He turned away from me and walked out of the house,
leaving the door open. I heard his car start and then heard it
quickly leaving my drive.

I leaned against the wall and slid to
the floor as I cried. I sat in that same spot and cried for what
seemed like an eternity, but was probably only about twenty minutes
or so.

"I'm sorry, Rhyan. I have
failed, and all is lost."

I heard the pop, and I quickly raised
my head thinking that it was Mason, or rather Murry, coming back to
kill me. It was Rhyan and he was wearing a sad look on his
face.

"It isn't over yet. We won't give up
until your soul is lost."

I had a thought. "If Murry kills me
before my time is up, does he still get to keep my
soul?"

He shook his head. "No, your soul will
go to Heaven if he kills you before your time is up. I know it may
sound selfish, but if we can't win, then I would prefer it happen
that way."

I nodded as I stared at the wall in
front of me. "Are there many good souls in Hell?"

He shook his head. "There aren't many
guardian angels that would have made a deal like that. Coen was an
exception, and he has been given the maximum punishment for it. His
soul has fallen into Hell. He can never return."

Good, it served him right. "Where is
Murry now?" I had to catch myself, I almost said Mason. That was
what I knew him by. Then again, I really didn't know Mason either,
did I?

Rhyan shrugged and slid down the wall
to sit beside me. "I don't know. He got away from me. I came
straight here so I could protect you if he came back." He inhaled
deeply, and then let it all out at once through puffed out cheeks.
"I can't protect Adam though, and I'm sure Mason will dig his claws
into him even deeper if you're not around. There wasn't any other
way you could have handled that, Kendra. It isn't your fault that
Adam chooses not to believe."

I started crying again, and he looked
at me with a helpless expression. I knew he wanted to put his arms
around me and comfort me, but he'd promised to never touch me
again. "Will you stay with me tonight, Rhyan? I don't think I can
be alone."

He nodded. "You're never alone. I'm
always with you, but I'll stay here with you like this if it will
make you feel better. He won't hurt you if I can help
it."

I took his hand in mine and laced my
fingers with his. He stiffened. I didn't care if my emotions got
taken over by his. I needed to feel the love that I had felt when
we'd kissed earlier. I felt like I was slipping away from myself
and he was the only thing that could keep me together. I loved him.
I had to admit that I was starting to have feelings for Adam as
well. I even believed he was my soulmate, but Rhyan made me feel
safe, secure, and in control. I needed him like I needed air. Was
it possible to love more than one man at the same time?

"They aren't your feelings,
Kendra."

I met his eyes. "Yes, they
are."

He looked at me, and his breathing
shuttered. "They can't be. You've met your soulmate
now."

"Is it possible that a soul can be
split into three pieces instead of only two?"

He shook his head. "No. Adam is here
and I am not. You can't be in two places at once."

"Then I choose to be with you, Rhyan.
I've never been in love before, but I feel like my heart would
explode if I couldn't see you and talk to you now. I want to touch
you, and I want you to touch me. I want to kiss you, and I want you
to kiss me back. I feel like if I am denied this that my heart will
burst and I will die."

He held up our joined hands. "This is
why you feel this way. You are experiencing my feelings, not
yours."

I jumped to my feet and let go of him.
I backed away from him all the way to the door. I closed and locked
it while I was still looking at him. "You aren't touching me now,
and I still love you. I still need you to touch me. If I'm not your
soulmate, then who is? You should feel this way about someone other
than me." I pointed to my chest.

He averted his eyes from mine. "I
never met my soulmate. She was lost to her guardian demon over
three centuries ago. I only felt true love for the first time when
you were born and they assigned me to you. I thought that was the
happiest day of my life, but every day since then has gotten
better. When we kissed earlier," He ran his fingers through his
hair, and a look of pure joy covered his face. "That was the best
moment of my existence." then his smile faltered, and was replaced
with a frown. "We cannot be together, Kendra, unless Murry kills
you before Friday. I would never be able to forgive myself if I
stood by and let him slay you, when I know you are meant to be with
Adam." His voice trailed off in a kind of sad anguish.

I stared at him for a moment then
realized that I was walking back to him. I didn't stop, and he
didn't back up any. He stood his ground and let me come to him. His
eyes were nervous, because he could see in my head what I was
planning to do. I didn't try to block my thoughts from him. If he
didn't want it to happen, he could pop out of my house and leave me
there to face Murry on my own. He had an ultimatum on his hands.
Either he could leave me alone, and Murry would kill me, sending my
soul to be with him in heaven, or he could stay here with me now
and get the fantasy he had always dreamed of.

I put my hand on the back of his neck.
He closed his eyes and his breathing shuttered nervously again. I
rose up on my toes and pulled his mouth down to mine. He didn't pop
anywhere.

Rhyan backed me up to the wall in my
hall. The pictures shook on their nails as my back slammed against
the sheetrock. He grabbed my butt with both his hands, pulling me
up further until I could wrap my legs around his waist. The kiss
was even more intense than it had been earlier. I wanted to breathe
him in. I wanted him to touch me as he had always wanted to. I
wanted him inside me, and I wanted to be with him
forever.

Our tongues tangled together in a wild
dance, and I knew for a fact that I loved him. I had to let Murry
win in order for me to also win. I wouldn't be saving Adam, but he
didn't want to be saved anyway. You couldn't save someone who just
clearly didn't want it to happen. Rhyan loved me and I loved him.
It was the best feeling I had ever experienced.

My body tingled all over with desire.
I had to have him soon. "Bedroom," I said when I pulled my lips
away enough to catch a breath.

"Good idea." He breathed back before
he crushed his lips to mine again and carried me to my room. He
shut the bedroom door with his foot. Light from the quarter moon
illuminated my bedroom furniture. I could see his silhouette as the
dim light fell on his back. I wanted to see his face. I wanted to
see who I was making love to.

As if he picked the thought right out
of my mind, my bedside lamp came on all by itself. He broke the
kiss long enough to smile down at me. I smiled back then found his
lips again. They were so soft, so perfect for kissing and
whispering promises to me that he would never break.

I tugged on his knit polo shirt, and
he stopped kissing me long enough to yank it free of his khaki
shorts, then over his head. I ran my fingers along the well defined
muscles of his abdomen then looked up to meet his eyes. There was
so much love for me there; those baby blues were so serious. This
wasn't a friends-with-benefits sort of experience. I had never felt
this way with Aven or anyone I had ever had sex with. This was
tender, and he was so attentive to my needs. This was
real.

He unbuttoned the top two buttons of
my shirt, then bent and kissed my neck softly. He ran a trail with
his tongue from my collarbone up my neck. He captured my earlobe
between his teeth and sucked gently. He exhaled slowly in my ear,
bringing a soft moan out of me.

I moved my hands to his back and
pulled him closer to me. I needed to hold him closer still, but his
body was already formed to mine, so he couldn't possibly get any
closer without shedding the rest of the material we were wearing.
Suddenly, that seemed like a brilliant idea. I pushed him gently
enough so I could devour his mouth again while I finished the job
he had started in unbuttoning my shirt.

His kissing slowed, and he pushed
firmly against my core with his sex. My mind was screaming for more
as my body flushed hot. He pressed firmly against me again; it sent
me over the edge, and I fell onto a cloud of bliss as I screamed
his name. It felt right, everything about this felt right. I
swiftly unbuttoned my shirt. He lowered his mouth to my left breast
and tugged my white lace bra down with his teeth, only pausing
briefly before consuming my hardened nipple between his lips. A
series of mini climaxes had me gasping for air. He was doing
incredible things with his tongue that I never would have thought
possible. He massaged my other breast softly with his hand as he
began to unbutton his shorts with his other.

I was in the middle of a moan when his
head shot up. "What?" he said in a panicked voice, but he looked
like he was talking to someone other than me.

"What, Rhyan. What's wrong?" I said
frantically.

"No, you can't do this. It was her
decision; she chose me." His eyes filled with rage, but I didn't
know why. He wouldn't talk to me.

I grabbed his face in my palms and
made him look at me, but it wasn't me he was seeing. "What is it?
Talk to me."

"I will not leave her alone! She needs
me to protect her from Murry." He waited a moment then he
reluctantly moved off me, then leaped from the bed to the floor. He
was pacing and running his hands through his hair. I wasn't aware
angels could have panic attacks, but I thought I was witnessing
one.

"Rhyan, talk to me. Please. You're
scaring me," I pleaded. He stopped pacing and looked over at me.
His eyes were wild and filled with unshed tears.

"I'm not allowed to touch you anymore.
They will not allow it until you have done everything you can to
save Adam. If I touch you again, they will take me away from you
and assign you to someone else. I can't let that happen, Kendra.
I'm sorry. I had no idea they would do this or I would've never let
you touch me."

I pulled the duvet up to my shoulders
and just looked at him.

"I can stay here to protect you as
long as I don't touch you. You can't touch me either, or they will
force me to leave you here alone."

"But I choose you, Rhyan," I
said.

He shook his head and laughed, but it
wasn't a good laugh. "It doesn't matter to them what either of us
want. I'm not allowed to mess with your free will. The way they see
it, I messed with it the first time we met. We aren't supposed to
show ourselves to humans. They've turned a blind eye and a deaf ear
to me helping you, because they want you to save Adam's soul, as
well as your own. If you can't do it, they are willing to risk both
of you."

I was furious. "How does that make any
damn sense?"

He shook his head. "I never said it
made any sense."

I sighed then patted the spot beside
me. "I won't touch you. Come and lay down until I fall asleep. We
can come up with a solution in the morning."

He nodded, then put his shirt back on
and stretched out beside me. I lay facing him on the Queen sized
bed. We didn't say anything more; we just stared into each other's
eyes until I couldn't hold mine open any longer.

I opened my eyes in a dream, and not a
good one from the looks of things. Murry was standing in front of
me, his face filled with rage. This was so not going to be a good
dream.

"I hope you're happy, Kendra. I had to
confine your precious Adam. You won't be seeing him again. I went
to his place and tried to convince him that you were crazy, but for
some reason, he believed you. While he didn't believe everything
you said, the marks on your neck were difficult to
explain."

"What have you done with him?" I
shouted at him.

He moved his finger back and forth.
"Uh-uh, I looked in on you after I got away from your angel. Seems
he isn't much of an angel with all the sexual fantasies he has of
you in his pretty little head. You've been a busy girl this week,
Kendra. Adam wasn't very happy when I told him that you were in
love with your guardian angel. He didn't want to believe any of it,
but I convinced him in my own way. You, and even your precious
Rhyan, couldn't sense us; you were so hot and heavy with each
other. I should have fucked you. You seem to have a lot of
experience. It makes me hot just thinking about it."