Sun Kissed (The Guardian Angel Series Book 2) (6 page)

“Hunter, we need to talk. Today—”

“Wait, at least until after dinner,” he suggested.

I wasn't happy about it. I just wanted to
put everything out in the open.

Dinner conversation was quiet. I was having
a hard time deciphering what he was thinking. His face didn't betray his
emotions, it stayed hard and calculating. The silence was killing me, I
couldn't hold it in.

“Did you file a report against Eli?” I
asked abruptly, unable to keep the anger out of my tone.

I didn’t realize how desperately I wanted
it to not be true.

“Where did you hear that?”

“It doesn't matter.”

There was a long pause, Hunter thought
about his next choice of words carefully before calling the waiter for a glass
of wine.

“Well?”

“Yes. I did.”

Well, that wasn’t what I was expecting. I pushed
my chair out from under myself and stood up slowly, my arms trembling. Rage
boiled inside my heart, and I clenched my hands into tight fists at my side,
nails digging into my skin. Hunter rose from his chair and took a step towards
me. I could feel my blood pounding in my ears.

“But I didn't send it. I withdrew it. Ruby,
I wouldn't do anything to hurt you, I couldn't.” He stroked my arm and I
recoiled away from him.

“You must have, he was sent away! I lost my
guardian angel, someone who has saved my life numerous times, all because of
your jealousy. He was right — I shouldn't have trusted you.” I pushed past Hunter
and stormed out the front door. I didn't go to the car; there was no way I was
going to breathe the same air as that snake.

I thundered off down the footpath. My heels
made fast clicks as they echoed through the quite town center.

“Ruby, wait! Please, I didn't do it.”

I kept walking ignoring his plea, his lie.

“Take the car,” I heard Eli order Hunter.

“I'm not leaving her.”

“There’s a SS garage two blocks east, get a
guardian to take you back to Sage.”

I didn't turn around to see if he did what
he was told.

“Ruby, stop,” Eli called after me.

I slowed, giving him time to catch up.  I leaned
against the inner wall of an alleyway.

“What happened?” he asked, coming to a stop
in front of me.

“I get the feeling you already know.”

“You found out …”

“Why didn't you tell me?”

“I planned to tell you about Hunter. I was
so mad at him, but when I saw you again … I just couldn't bring myself to break
your heart.”

I scoffed. Hunter couldn't break my heart.
He never had a piece of my heart to begin with.

“It doesn’t matter, it's over now. I'm
back.”

It was over and Eli was back, but I didn’t
feel as forgiving about this as he was. As far as I was concerned, Hunter was dead
to me.

The small alleyway forced Eli and I to be
close to each other. The atmosphere between us changed, charging with a
voltaic, exciting anticipation. His scent alone was enough to jumble my train
of thought. I dropped my eyes to my hands and fiddled with my fingers. I hate
feeling nervous.

“When you were gone … Did you miss me?” I
uttered, taking the conversation in a completely different direction. I didn’t
mean to say it, it just came out. Still, it was a question that had been eating
at me since Eli's return. His long index finger slid smoothly across my chin,
tilting my face to look up at him.

“Immensely.”

My breathing altered as my heart raced. His
words unleashed butterflies in my stomach. He tucked a long, dark lock of hair
behind my ear. In movies, the hair tucking is so cliché and you cringe, because
it looks cheesy, but when it happens in real life, it's perfect. We stared into
each other’s eyes lustfully as he put his hand on my waist, pulling me closer.

Is this really happening?  

His smell was intoxicating. His crisp ocean
breeze cologne mixed with clean sweat filled my nostrils and I inhaled,
appreciating it.

“I missed you,” I whispered.

The corners of his mouth twitched as he bit
his bottom lip in an attempt to hide his smile. My knees grew weak and he
noticed. A small laugh escaped him and he slowly bent toward me, his lips
grazing mine softly, like he was testing my boundaries. With him, I didn't have
any.

“Are you sure?” I asked him.

Eli had a habit of immediately regretting
our kiss when it was over, so I gave him an opportunity to get out of this one
before it happened.

His hand met the side of my cheek, urging
my lips harder against his. An electrical feeling rolled over my skin as his
hands traced the contour of my body. I pulled away ever so slightly to breathe,
trying not to show just how vulnerable I was.

My gaze moved from his eyes to his lips and
once more his mouth was against mine. Instinctually, I wrapped my hands around
his neck and entwined my fingers in his short hair. Each intake of breath was
another reminder of what was really happening, his cologne, the way his hands entangled
in my hair, the press of his lips against mine in an urgent pace.

I knew this was wrong, but I couldn't bring
myself to stop. My thoughts didn't last as I was consumed in our forbidden passion.

The kiss slowed and then came to a stop,
much to my disappointment.

“We should go,” he said, our foreheads
resting against each other’s.

I nodded.

As we stepped out from the alleyway, I
dared to peek at him. His face had assumed its usual serious expression but his
eyes were different. His eyes reflected the joy he felt deep down, something I’d
never seen before. My face reflected my own joy, the grin that was spread across
it was impossible to hide.

“The long road between the school and the
town is unprotected by charms; it’s too dangerous to walk at night. We're going
to have to walk the two blocks to the SS garage and get a car.”

“Oh god, in these heels?”

Eli laughed and I swooned at the sound. “At
least they aren't as tall as your other ones, but if they're that
uncomfortable, I can carry you.”

I pictured Eli's strong arms wrapped around
me, my face close to his. I would take him up on his offer, but only to feel
him touch me again, not because I couldn't physically walk.

“Nah, I'll tough it out.”

We began walking east. There weren’t many
other people on the streets. There was the occasional old lady walking her dog
and a drunken guy who wolf whistled at me, after that, nothing.

“Ruby, I —”

“Is this the part where you tell me the
kiss was a mistake and that it won’t happen again?” I interrupted.

“What? No. What we did was wrong, yes, but
I refuse to regret something that has made me the happiest I’ve been in a long
time, even if it is against our laws. The thing is, we can never be together …”

“I’m sure we can figure something out.”

“There are no loop holes for us; being your
guardian angel is the closest I’ll be able to get. That’s the next best thing.”

“You become my guardian angel and then what?
That makes matters more complicated. Let’s just be together. Who cares if you
get banished? I’ll come with you. We can be together amongst the humans.”

Eli’s face grew dark, his eyes became
speculative and his mouth straightened into an impassive line.

“No, you’d still have your magic and I’d
have nothing. I wouldn’t be able to protect you.” He took my hand in his and I
ignored the current pulsing up my arm.

“And what about my father?” he continued. “Or
my grandfather, or my great-grandfather? They were all great angels. I couldn’t
bring shame to my family by breaking faith and running away with the one thing
I have sworn to protect.”

I sighed. Living in this world was
complicated. The higher power was very particular in his rules and was known
for doing everything he could to enforce them. A goddess can only marry a god
or no one at all. If a guardian angel and a god/goddess have intimate relations
and/or fall in love, he banishes the angel to live amongst the humans, binding
their strength and speed with magic, rendering them weak. Most guardian angels
seek out vampires and become immortal to get a sense of power again. Eli
dropped my hand as we walked side by side up Calamdale Street. I assumed this was
the street the garage was on.

We reached the garage before I had a chance
to think up another idea that involved us running away together without the
consequences. Damn, two blocks wasn’t very far at all.

My happiness was sucked out and replaced
with the anger I’d felt earlier as I saw Hunter leaning against the gate,
smoking.

“I’ll go inside and get the car. Talk to
him.”

“I have nothing to say,” I grunted.

Eli entered the gate, leaving Hunter and me
alone. The bright white skate shoe that Hunter was wearing stomped out the
cigarette as he threw it on the ground. Slowly he stepped towards me, scuffing
his shoes against the rocks.

“You left this,” he said, handing my clutch
to me.

“Thanks.”

I really was thankful he brought it back;
Mila would have killed me if I lost it. As I was getting dressed for dinner,
Mila went on and on about how hard it was for her to find it, blah, blah, blah.

I felt sick just talking to him. I snatched
my bag from his hands and started to walk past him.

“Ruby, I know how you’re feeling —”

“You know how I’m feeling? Ha!” I
interrupted, turning to face him; the car Eli had got to take us back to the
school pulled up behind me. “For months, I felt depressed and alone. The one
person who didn’t judge me when I was a vampire, who saved my life countless
times, who knew everything about me —” I paused to take a breath.

I didn’t want to cry. I dropped my eyes
down to the gravel beneath my feet and scuffed my heels against the small
rocks. “My guardian angel was gone, and you may or may not be the reason why. It
destroyed me, and I couldn’t say anything to anyone in fear of malicious
rumours, or worse, Eli’s death. You know nothing of how I’m feeling; you’re
selfish, you’re a liar, and you’re cruel. I want nothing to do with you.” My
voice was shaky and tears threatened my eyes.

“Just hear me out, please?” he begged.

“You have ten seconds and then I’m getting
in the car.”

“Raina was in my ear about you and Eli and
I got jealous. I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry. I was blinded by my selfishness,
but I didn’t send that report. You have to believe me.”

Hunter’s expression was desperate and
pained. I wanted to believe him. Hunter was the only light I had when I was
surrounded by the darkness of Eli’s disappearance, even if it had only been for
a few weeks. My heart wanted to believe him but my brain wanted to castigate
him, the evidence was too damning. Tears spilt over the brim of my eyes and
rolled gently down my face.

“I’m sorry, I don’t.” I climbed into the
back seat of the car. Eli shot me a sympathetic glance through the rear-view as
I wiped tears from my eyes. Hunter got into the front seat and didn’t spare a
glance in my direction, thankfully.

After getting clearance from the guardian
angel at the gate, the car rolled into the car park. Before it came to a
complete stop, Hunter was already out of the car and heading towards the
student campus. The tears I’d shed at the garage were now dried up, leaving
only trails of slightly smeared mascara.

“Was it really that bad for you?” His eyes
watched me through the rear view mirror.

“Hmm?”

“When I left… was it really that bad?”

I opened the car door and paused, thinking
about my life three months ago, a month ago, last week. Not having Eli around
was horrible. I had no one to vent to, no one to make me smile a genuine smile,
or give me butterflies.

“Bad? No … it was horrible. Not knowing if
you were alive or dead was the worst part.”

Eli climbed out of the driver’s seat and
came around to my door, his face filled with sorrow and regret.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to put you
through that.”

“It wasn’t your fault. As far as I know, it
was Hunter’s or Raina’s fault, and they’ll pay for it.”

“Ruby, I’m back, I’m here with you.” The
back of his hand softly stroked my cheek. “Getting back at them will accomplish
nothing. There’s no need for revenge.”

“Would you do it for me? If someone hurt
me, would you want revenge?”

“No, because I wouldn’t give them a chance
to hurt you.”

“But if they did?”

“If they did?” He paused in thought. “I
wouldn’t stop until I had hurt them ten times the amount they had hurt you.”

Eli extended his hand to me and I took it,
sliding out of the car. He didn’t step back and it forced our bodies to press
together. I gasped involuntarily; it felt like I had touched an exposed wire as
tingles shot through my body. I glanced up at his face, his gaze was intense.
All the forbidden, unfamiliar feelings I had earlier in the alleyway were trying
to resurface. I swallowed hard in hopes the feelings would go down with the
saliva.