Arielle Immortal Resolve (The Immortal Rapture Series Book 8) (17 page)

He bit his lower lip and remained silent for a moment. Arielle bit back the impulse to say something that might anger him further so, lifting her arms, she ran her hands through her hair, trying to think of something smart to say.

“Well there you are,” she finally murmured. “My worst nightmare answered your question so you don’t have to wonder anymore.”

She dropped her hands and took a few steps towards the shops, trying to regain her contentment level. Gaston bolted forward and grabbed her wrist, holding her back. Arielle tensed and her heart was pounding in her chest, creating enormous pain.

“No she didn’t clear my concern.” His voice was icy cold. “I was more confused by that time than before I spoke with her.”

Arielle turned and looked at him uncomfortably.

“Why, I know that immortals have the power to turn a human. Isn’t that true? So, why are you so confused about Sebastian?” she asked.

“No…no…no,” he shook his head. “Sebastian wasn't the one who confused me. You were my biggest challenge.”

“What do you mean?”

“Arielle, when we first met you were a mortal, and 500 years plus later I see you in photograph with Sebastian. My thoughts were that you and Sebastian were now immortals. How? I had no idea, however that was the only logical assumption. When I spoke to Annabel, she told me all about you and Sebastian. She didn’t believe that you were the same girl I met back in Calais. She assured me that the girl with Sebastian now is a mortal. Can you see how confusing that can be to someone like me who doesn’t know anything about time travel?” Arielle remained silent.

“My troublesome puzzle has been solved by you, so now, all I want, is you and me— together—,” his lips curved up to an exultant smile.

“Gaston, I’m not going to be with you now or ever. If you’re going to kill me, then go ahead and get it over with,” she said.

“Kill you? Why would I ever want to do that?” he muttered totally shocked.

“I’m tired of being afraid each and every day that one of you is going to show up and torment me.” She struggled to keep her voice steady.

Gaston’s eyes narrowed to slits.

“What do you mean by saying ‘one of you’? Who else is after you?”

“Oh…my…God…Gaston, are you kidding me?” Arielle yelled, voice quivering, hands clenched to fists.

“I don’t understand,” he stammered in shock.

“Annabel…Annabel…” she exclaimed, frustrated. “She wants to kill me. She's tried five times, Gaston, and she's come pretty close. I’m sure one of these days she'll succeed. I’m really tired. I’m not sure how long I can go on like this.” She pressed her lips together and tears welled, blinding her.

“Annabel has tried to kill you five times?” he said, eyes wide in shock. “She never told me that,” he added.

“Well it’s true,” she said furiously.

Gaston watched her intently, shock spread across his face.

“She said she was after Sebastian, she never said anything about you.”

“Oh—My—God!” Arielle exhaled deeply. “She's made my life a living hell. Maybe if she does kill me it’ll stop, all this hatred between you, Annabel, and Sebastian.” She was now in tears and sobbing hard. His face softened and she saw apprehension taking over him.

“Arielle, I don’t want to hurt you! I don’t want to kill you! I love you. I want to be with you. I would never hurt you, Please don’t sob,” he said, overwhelmed with anxiety.

“Gaston, you’re going to hurt me if you prevent me from being with Sebastian. Might as well kill me, because I can’t live without him. I fell in love with him way before I ever met you,” she said in sheer desperation.

“I love you, Arielle,” he said passionately.

“Gaston, if you really search deep in your soul, you’ll find that I’m just a challenge for you. I’m someone Sebastian has, and you now want. It’s really the old game for you. Please… if your feelings are real then you must understand I can’t change the way I feel toward Sebastian. How could you destroy years of precious friendship over me, over a girl? That's something I'll never understand. There’s not a guy on this planet who would make me sever my friendship with Eva and Gabrielle. I just can’t fathom what you’ve done.”

Gaston stood completely still, lost somewhere in a tidal wave of thoughts.

Suddenly Arielle’s mobile went off. She pulled it out of her purse with a quick movement and answered.

“Hello.”

“Arielle, where in bloody hell are you?” Gabrielle’s voice came out loud through the mobile and full of concern.

“I’m on my way, Gabby,” she said, looking at Gaston’s face. She shut the mobile off.

“If we'd met another time and another place, things might've been different, but not now. Please try and understand, Gaston. I’m in love with Sebastian. I’ll never go with you.”

Gaston looked lost in his thoughts, unable to say a word. It seemed that this time travel issue had him totally confused. Arielle used that moment, and without getting any resistance from Gaston she pulled away and started to walk toward the stores. Her head was spinning and she couldn’t believe she got out of the situation that easy. She looked back and he was still standing there watching her with that stunned look. She turned and, looking away, accelerated her pace to a sprint and reached the first shops of the mall. She exhaled deeply and suddenly his voice filled her ears as if he was standing right next to her.

“This conversation isn't over Arielle, not by a long shot!” She looked back and gasped. He'd disappeared into thin air. She gulped a huge amount of air to fill her suffocating lungs and it wasn’t long before she saw Gabby and Loren come into sight. She breathed in relief and practically ran toward them.

“Where've you been?” Gabby asked. “We’ve been waiting here for over an hour. Why didn’t you call?” Arielle stopped running when she got closer. She took several deep breaths and stood still trying to calm herself down.

“What’s wrong?” Both Loren and Gabrielle asked moving closer.

“You’ll never believe it, in a million years,” she gasped.

“Come out with it,” Gabby said shaking Arielle eagerly. “We’re dying here,” she added. “Just a metaphor,” Gabby chuckled, looking at Loren.

Arielle hauled a deep breath and spilled the details about her encounter with Gaston. Loren looked alarmed and Gabrielle gasped as a worried look spread across her face.

“Where is he?” Loren asked.

“I don’t know; he was there a moment ago,” she said and pointed toward the end of the parking lot, “And now he's gone.”

“Are you all right?” Loren asked with extreme concern.

“Yes, I’m fine, just a bit shaken up.” She took a deep breath and tried to relax. She paused for a moment, pondering a thought that made her shiver, and winced.

“What is it?” Loren asked.

“Loren, I’m at a bit of a loss and worried,” she murmured.

“What about?” Gabrielle chimed in.

“I’m very worried because my necklace didn’t prevent Gaston from coming near me,” she said.

“Arielle, the necklace didn’t work because Gaston didn’t try to hurt you. He told you he loved you, right?” Arielle nodded in agreement. “The necklace has incredible powers that sense the deep emotions of people around you and it responds severely only to those who are looking to harm you.”

Arielle met Loren’s gaze, eyes narrowed, lips tightly pressed. Silence stretched between them as their thoughts plunged into deeper alertness.

“I’m worried about you and my brother,” Loren said suddenly.

“I don’t want to say anything to Sebastian,” Arielle said stubbornly. “I think I can handle Gaston. I’m sure he’ll never hurt me, maybe I can talk some sense into him.”

“You’re planning on seeing him again!” Loren cried out.

“No…no…I’m not planning anything like that, but I’ve a feeling that Gaston may have other plans. For once I want to deal with this my own way. Remember that you even told me, I have your mother’s necklace on, so I’m protected.” Arielle didn’t believe that, not for a moment. She knew that Gaston’s compelling made her want him even if it was for a short moment. She fell in his arms as if it was the most natural thing she'd ever done. She wanted Gaston to hold her, she desired his hot kiss and she wanted to stay there for the rest of her life until the fog cleared out of her head. That was something she didn’t tell Loren or Gabrielle. She didn’t want to make this a huge issue. She tried to suppress tears from welling up. “How do I explain that to Sebastian?” she asked.

“You must tell Sebastian,” she heard Loren’s firm voice. “He has the right to know.”

Arielle nodded, trying to calm Loren.

“Okay, I will,” she said. Twenty minutes later the three of them were lost in the world of shopping, moving from one store to another and having a great time. Arielle had almost forgotten about Gaston until they sat down to have lunch. Gabrielle and Arielle were starving, so they ordered sandwiches and cokes while Loren ordered water. The girls teased Loren about her order, but she just smiled, pleased to be out shopping with them. When their order arrived, they sank their teeth into the bread and moaned simultaneously with pleasure, making Loren burst into laughter.

“Hungry are you?” Loren chuckled.

“Uh huh,” Gabrielle muttered with a mouth full of food. Arielle laughed with Gabrielle’s expression and so did Loren.

“But all fun aside,” Loren said again. “You must tell Sebastian.”

“Oh, Loren, please don’t make this such a big deal.”

“Arielle, I think you don’t quite understand the depth of the immortal mind. Gaston will attempt whatever he can to persuade you and that includes either breaking the immortal code or set up a trap to have Sebastian killed,” the tone of her voice was elevated. A lengthy silence lingered between the three of them. Arielle glanced between her two friends and saw the determination in their eyes.

“All right…all right…I’ll tell him all about it,” she promised.

“Great!” Loren exclaimed. “I have an appointment in 30 minutes,” she added. “I’d like to see you safe in the car if you don’t mind.” Her expression was determined as she pushed her chair away from the table and stood. “I’ll feel a lot better about that, if you don’t mind.”

“No, I don’t mind,” she said and smiled at Loren lovingly. “We're done shopping anyway and I’d like to get home.”

Gabrielle agreed. They paid their bill and, picking up their bags, stood to join Loren. They walked to the parking lot and Arielle took a deep breath, trying to remain calm. If he was watching her she couldn’t tell and didn’t want to know. They stopped at Gabrielle’s car first. She hugged Loren and Arielle warmly.

“I had a great time. Let’s do this again soon.” She slipped into her car and took off smiling and waving. Loren and Arielle turned and took the long walk to the end of the parking lot where Arielle’s car was parked.

“Why in the world did you park way out here?” Loren asked. Arielle looked around and there were hardly any cars left in the lot. She laughed and shook her head.

“When I arrived there wasn’t a single parking spot left. I think I got the last spot at the time.” They were now standing in front of the car. They hugged and promised to call each other soon.

“Thank you, Loren, I love you,” Arielle said.

“I love you too, don’t forget to tell Sebastian,” she said, and gave her a meaningful look.

Arielle nodded and smiled. She pressed the unlock button on her key fob and pulled the door open. She threw the packages in the back and slipped in the driver’s seat.

“Lock you doors,” Loren called out just before Arielle shut the door. She looked at Loren again, smiled and pressed the lock button down. She chuckled at Loren’s intense concern about her safety. She backed up from her parking space and drove off waving at Loren one last time. She looked back at her rear view mirror and Loren had disappeared. Arielle laughed aloud; she’d never get used to the immortal speed. While driving out of the parking lot she took another careful look around but there was no sign of Gaston. She felt pressure behind her eyes and knew it was anxiety.

At the first red light she let go of the wheel and pressed her eyes with the back of her hands. She took a moment to recall all that took place and exhaled deeply. The anger and fear were all mixed up and burst out in the form of tears. She wiped her eyes and pressed her lips together in frustration. Someone blew a horn and, looking up at the light, she realized that it'd turned green and she was blocking traffic. She waved to the car behind her politely and drove off, her thoughts turning to Gaston once again.

She wondered if he really understood how she felt and if maybe he'd go away without incident. That was a lot to hope for, but she didn’t know what else to do. She pressed on the gas and turned the radio on. Music always soothed her nerves. When she reached the house she was glad to see Sebastian’s car in the garage. Against Loren’s advice and Gabrielle’s insistence she decided to keep the incident with Gaston to herself for the night and maybe until after Gabrielle’s wedding. She grimaced at the thought, but wanted to believe that Gaston would leave her alone. She thought she saw a bothersome look in his eyes, when she told him that she'd extremely unhappy if he hurt Sebastian. She believed that he loved her because he could've done something worst but he didn’t. So she resigned herself to trusting her intuition this one time.

She pulled in the garage and before she even opened the door Sebastian was standing next to her car waiting for her. He reached down, pulled her into his arms and bending down, took her mouth in his, and she was lost in his intoxicating immortal scent.

“Hey, baby,” he murmured against her lips. “Did you have a good time with Loren and Gabrielle?”

“Yes,” she whispered, nestling closer to his muscular body. They walked into the house wrapped in each other’s arms.

“Did you miss me at all?” He nuzzled her hair with a soft chuckle. She exhaled quietly.

“I spent my entire day wondering where you were and what you were doing,” she said mockingly, soft laughter escaping her.

Her remark made him wince and look down at her regretfully. He remained silent for a moment. He paused inside the bedroom and turned her to face him.

“Did you think that my question was ridiculous?” he asked, sulkily. Arielle moved closer, cupped his beautiful face between her hands, and covered his lips with hers.