Starbright (The Starbright Series) (45 page)

             
He stepped forward, but let his weapon drop to his side. He hovered over me, his golden eyes blazing and his neck glistening in s
weat from the effort it took
to pin me against th
e
tree. We were both breathing so heavily that with every intake of breath his muscular
, sweat soaked
chest brushed mine.

             
I forced myself to look into his eyes, trying desperately not to be a sore loser. His jaw was still ticking and it did nothing but enhance the masculine lines of his jaw. I was no closer to catching my breath but it wasn’t because of the battle anymore.

             
“It will be the last time another man is in your bed,” Seth warned, tilting his head down to stare into my eyes, bringing his mouth inches from mine. “I’m trying to be understanding about your relationship with him, Stella, but I cannot and will not tolerate him in your
bed
.”

             
I wanted to snap back with something angry and full of twenty-first wom
e
n’s rights liberalism, but the words died on my tongue with his warmth
completely
enveloping
me
and his eyes looking at me like I was a prize he was sworn to protect with his life.

             
Which was kind of true.

             
He stayed close to me, his b
ody pressing against me now.

             
I started having thoughts that had nothing to do with Tristan or training and more to do with the perfection of Seth’s lips and what they would feel like if he wasn’t being so gentle with me.

             
Not that he was being gentle now…. which was kind of the point….

             
“Stella, you lost again?” Jupiter
snarled
, catching up with us in the tree cover.

             
Seth broke away, still breathing heavily. He gave me a sideways glance and from the heat of his eyes I wondered if he was having
some of
the same thoughts I was.

             
Which was crazy. We barely knew each other.

             
And I had seven years before I had to get serious with Seth.

             
“Again!”  Jupiter called out. “And Stella if you lose this time I will call Aliah myself and specifically ask him to take you away so I don’t have to deal you anymore!”

             
I grunted a jumble of curse words that I
was well aware were
not proper Star-behavior and pushed off the tree with my elbow. I shook out my hair, pulling it back into a new ponytail and deciding I had to forget about Tristan, Seth and Aliah and figure out how to win this damn training so I could be done for the day
and get back to bed
.

----

             
I walked into the house hours later sweaty, exhausted, disheveled and with my sweatshirt ripped to shreds. It hung awkwardly off of
me;
since the
collar was still fully intact but
every other part of it
donned jagged, saber shaped gashes.

             
Note to self: Don’t wear sweatshirts to train in.

             
Way too much fabric.

             
Especially when you have a pissed off
A
ngel trying to teach you an annoying lesson.

             
I bristled again at Seth’s words. I couldn’t deny the attraction between us, and I certainly wasn’t going to ignore the role we played in each other’s
lives
both now and in the future. But it was still obnoxious to have to deal with it all now.

             
If thing
s
had gone according to plan, I wouldn’t have to worry about Tristan sleeping over or the feelings I had for him that used to feel so normal and suddenly felt forbidden and dangerous.

             
I sat down heavily at the kitchen table and then cursed when I realized I forgot to get a bottle of water first. I was too tired now. I would just live with being thirsty.

             
Seth came in a few minu
tes later, looking sweaty and
unnervingly wild
, but in that guy way that made you still want to lick him, even though he would taste like salt. Ugh.

             
He walked over to the refrigerator, making himself completely at home which irritated me. And then he pulled out two bottles of water before joining me at the table and sliding a bottle to me.

             
Which irritated me
more
.

             
I glared at the bottle, hating that I was so thirsty. Taking a drink somehow felt like a crime against women everywhere. Even though I technically couldn’t even bond myself with women across the world
since I was
an alien and what not…. still…. It was the principle of the matter.

             
“I know you’re thirsty,” Seth laughed and his voice rumbled through
the room, softening my resolve. He stretched his long arm across the table to nudge the bottle
further
toward
s
me, the muscles in his bare
forearm tensed and pulled in the effort. I was mesmerized.

             
Grudgingly mesmerized.

             
“Don’t be a sore loser,” he teased.

             
“I didn’t lose,” I reminded him. “That’s why we got to quit. I won.”

             
“You’re right,” he relented and for a second I thought he was sincere. “It took seven hours…. but you did win.”

             
I gave him another dirty look and he burst into laughter. Well at least he
had
found his sense of humor again.

             
“Glad to see you worked out all your frustration,” I growled bitterly. And even though I silenced him, I still couldn’t look him in the eye.

             
“Stella, I’m sorry.” My eyes flew to his when his voice turned from teasing to hauntingly serious.
“You’re right, I was frustrated. But I was also hurt…. I felt like we had this big moment, I mean…. you mean everything to me and last night you were almost taken from- I went through hell last night, for those few moments you were gone that was utter
hell
. And then you came back to me and it was exactly the opposite of hell and it was great between us. We took this step forward and I actually felt like we were on the same page.” Seth paused for a long moment and I think he was waiting for me to say something, but I couldn’t even wrap my head around everything he had just said
, or the raw emotion with which he said it
. Finally, he sighed and continued. “Anyway, when
he
walked downstairs this morning and I realized where he came from…. I think I lost my mind for a little bit.” He smirked apologetically and my heart melted.

             
I couldn’t help it.

             
My heart was one, big, buttery puddle.

             
Still I was an independent woman after all.

             
Hear me roar….

             
“I get that we have this future together, Seth,” I started, smiling a little bit to ease his fears. I took a breath, knowing I had to stand my ground, even if the way his golden eyes watched me carefully, revealing how vulnerable he could be sometimes, made my chest constrict and my lungs completely forget to do their job. “But you can’t just spend a few weeks in my life and tell me what
I’m allowed or not allowed to do
. Granted, Tristan should never have slept over. I get that. And not just because of this thing between me and you…. He shouldn’t have slept in my bed because it was disrespectful to my parents and it’s not the kind of girl I am. And if I’m going to be honest, it won’t happen again.
And only partly
because my daddy would
kill
him. Seriously…. he would kill Tristan….” I thought about that for a moment and shuddered from the thought of what that would be like before continuing, “But you and me, we decided to let things happen naturally and slowly and even if there is kind of an expiration date on that mentality, I am still treating our relationship as if we have a choice. I need
that;
I need to have an actual choice in the matter. So you can be jealous or whatever, but I don’t want to hear about it. And I really don’t want to be told what I can and cannot do. At least until you are officially my boyfriend.”

             
“Or your fiancé,” Seth smiled that charming, disarming smile of his and I hoped he took me seriously.

             
“Whichever one comes first,” I mumbled, knowing that would get under his skin.

             
But he just laughed. “You’re right, Stella. It won’t happen again. Like I said, I’m sorry.”
             
“I forgive you,” I replied sincerely. “Now go home. You stink.”

             
“You don’t smell so good yourself,” he tussled my hair on his way out, and then I broke into a huge grin.

             
It died when he left though and my parents moved into the room like hawks waiting
to prey on their next meal
.

             
Shoot.

             
“Stella, you know Tristan is not allowed in your room anymore, right?” my mother asked and I could tell she was the calmer one of the two, even though both of them looked decidedly less angry than I expected them to look.

             
“Yes, I know,” I dipped my head, ashamed.

             
“You’re grounded this whole week, young lady,” my father continued, and I couldn’t bring myself to meet his eyes that I knew were boring into me. “And the weekend.”

             
“I figured.”

             
“Alright then,” my father announced stiffly and both of my parents made a move to leave the room.

             
“Wait, what?” I demanded. My head perked straight up and I met their eyes easily this time. “That’s it? That’s all I get? One week of being grounded?”

             
“Do you want more?” My mom laughed, it was outright and genuine and I loved the sound of it. I had been so afraid my parents were going to be
completely
and irrevocably disappointed in
my behavior or at the very least extremely, incredibly, so scary I might pee my pants angry.

             
“No!” I gushed, trying to keep from smiling too. “I just thought there might be more….”

             
“We heard your conversation with Seth, honey,” my father explained and my cheeks brightened with
an instant
blush. “You’re more responsible and dedicated th
an your actions demonstrated
last night. Don’t let it happen again.”

             
“Yes sir,” I replied respectfully.

             
My mother
left the room, hiding her smile, but my father pulled her back against him before she could get too far
. “Seriously Stella, don’t let that happen again,” my father warned, lifting one of his hands and pointing a long, strong
finger
at me. “Don’t make me have to talk to you like you’re an irresponsible child
ever
again, Stella-bean. You’re not
one
and I want you acting with all the manners and etiquette classes I paid for over the summer!”

             
I cra
cked a huge smile, my father had been threatening me with etiquette classes my whole life
.
He thought they would help us blend into humanity. He smiled back and then dipped his head to kiss my mother lovingly on the neck before leading her into the living room. I watched
my parents retreating backs and couldn’t help but wonder if Seth and I would ever be that close…. if we would ever fall that much in love.

             
It was definitely hard at this point, especially when I had to keep trying to convince myself that Seth could actually like me for me and not because of some career obligation made by his dead parents.
Or a Council of Elders that had never met either of us and paired us together before we were even born.

             
Yikes. Aliah was hardly the
beginning
of my problems….