Blood Debt (Touched Series Book 1) (20 page)

One year. 
I thought a
year would be a piece of cake.  When I escorted her to the wedding
,
I knew that the most beautiful woman at the wedding wasn’t wearing white, she was holding my
bicep
, walking in lock
step with me.  We were milling around making small talk when she said, “I’m anxious to meet Camille
Strayer
.  I hear she’s new to our kind.  Tonight will be her first introduction to the Centaur
s
ociety.”

I wanted to appear interested, but I couldn’t have cared less. 
“Who
’
s she?”

“Apparently Will
Strayer
had a Centaur
m
istress
. 
Camille is his daughter.  I hope
we get to meet her.
”

My interest was piqued.  “A Centaur mistress?  Really?”

“Everyone’s talking about it.  She just arrived this week and
,
from what I heard, knew nothing about us.”

No sooner had Bianca’s words escaped
than
I saw Will escorting
Camille
from the house.  She looked nervous, pre-occupied
,
as they stood on the porch and looked out into the crowd.  My eyes locked on her
, her blood called to me,
scream
ed
to me. 
She took her first step down the stairs and something in the distance caught her attention. 
I saw her take her second step
and something wasn’t right, her footing looked wrong.  I
knew she would tumble if no one did anything.  Will wasn’t paying attention
. 
I could see Brent and Beau
were
much closer than
I was
,
but neither was watching.  I let Bianca’s hand go and sprinted to her
,
stretching both my hands out to catch her before she could miss the last step.  She landed squarely in my arms
,
and I froze. 
   

She would have gone face first onto the ground had I not caught her in mid-air.  Her body was light
. 
I
seized
her with my right hand on her face and my left on her stomach. 
Time felt as if
it
had slowed down
. 
I placed
her
carefully
on her feet.  In that single second it seemed as though we were the only two in the universe.  As she stood upright an
d
looked at me
,
I saw the most beautiful, milk-chocolate eyes staring at me.  When she thanked me
,
it was hard to breath
. 
I muttered something in reply
,
and she held her hand out to thank me.  I was horrified
. 
I knew our customs didn’t allow for the two of us to touch
,
and in that second I knew why.  Bianca had chosen me
. 
I was betrothed
, p
romised
,
and
I
felt an irrational desire for
Camille.  I
couldn’t explain
it
. 
I wanted to
grab her in my arms and never let her go.
  Somehow my mind found the strength to override my heart’s urges.

When I returned to Bianca, I expected her to be furious with me.  Not only had I touched another woman, I had touched her in front of two hundred others.  Bianca surprised me with a sweet smile and  a gentle caress on my cheek
. 
“Thanks so much for catching her
.  T
hat was such a
kind
thing to do.”  I was floored
-
she wasn’t upset in the least.  Bianca caught me watching Camille several times
through the ceremony
.  Never once did she show the slightest concern that I was so
obviously
captivated with the newcomer. 

After the ceremony, Bianca prodded me to
pay attention to a conversation between Will
iam
Strayer
and Kyle
Richardson. 
The conversation
had been strained initially
,
then Camille said something hateful to Gage’s dad.  Without thinking it through
,
I sprinted to her, gathered her in my arms, and ran as fast as my legs would take us. 
I stopped a mile away, set Camille on her feet, but didn’t back away from her.  As I stood looking in those milk-chocolate eyes
,
I felt my world starting to unravel.  I
tried to tell myself that I would have done the same thing for any woman about to be attacked by a Centaur.

Seconds later, Brent arrived and reminded me of Bianca waiting at the reception.  I knew I had screwed up
;
there would be repercussions.  I had touched a woman Centaur,
twice, in front of my fiancé.  Without another word
,
I ran back the way I
had come
, trying to think of a plausible excuse for my actions. 
Any other
Centauride
in the world would have
threatened our engagement,
or at the very least
chastised me
,
but Bianca seemed both thrilled and approving of
my
stepping in to help Camille
. 

Yesterday it had been
easier to hide my eye’s interest in Camille where there were so many others.  But today
,
on the boat
,
with Bianca, Camille,
and
Brent
,
it would be impossible to
conceal
.
  I needed to find a reason not
to
go, to keep away from Camille, to keep from losing Bianca.

I heard the doorbell ring and knew I was out of time.  I’d just let Brent know something had come up.  I e
ased my front door open, fully prepared to tell Brent I couldn’t go when I looked down into
those same captivating,
milk-chocolate eyes. 

She wore a wide smile,
“Hi, Drake. 
Brent’s on the phone
,
so I thought I’d let you know we’re here. 
I’m so glad you’re going with us today.”

My heart leapt
trying to escape
from my chest
,
and all excuses I’d found to stay at my apartment evaporated in front of me.
She stood in a swimsuit covered by a see-through wrap that left nothing to the imagination.  S
h
e seemed oblivious to the way she looked
,
standing an arm’s length away
.  In that moment I didn’t care about my
blood line
,
my engagement to
Bianca, my parents
,
or anything I valued as a Centaur – I was filled with blind lust.
  My arms ached to pull her to me.  I froze
,
unwilling to say or do anything – I didn’t trust myself.

Camille waved her hand in front of my face with an enormous smile.  “Hello?  Are you
feeling
okay?”

I could feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead
. 
I was sure my heart had forgotten how to beat.  When I hadn’t responded quickly enough for her, she placed her palm on my cheek, and whispered, “Drake, do you need to lie down?”

Explosions went off in my head
,
and electric pulses raced through my body.  I stepped away from her
,
nearly tripping over a pair of shoes patiently waiting by the door.  I wasn’t at all in control of my motor functions but knew I couldn’t possibly trust myself to be near her. 

“You know, I think you guys might need to go without me today.”  I could feel my face flushing bright red.

“Are you sick?  Do you need to go to the doctor?”

“I’m sure it’s nothing.  You have fun today.”  I closed the door gently while she still stood there.  I backed up against the wall and slid to the floor, trying to get a handle on myself.  After just a few seconds
,
I realized I could breathe again, my pulse was slowing
,
and I squatted there with my back to the wall for
support while my body came under control again
.
  What in the hell just
happened? 

“Drake, we aren’t leaving you,” Brent’s voice called through the closed door.  “I’m giving you to the count of three
,
and I’m coming in.”

I shook my head, knowing I could create a decent explanation for my absence to Brent.  I opened the door and was fully in control.  “Sorry, man, I can’t go today.”

“Camille said you looked sick
.  Y
ou don’t look sick to me.”  Brent furrowed his brows
,
his instincts telling him there was more going on than what his eyes saw.

I made an effort to sound normal,
“I’m fine
. 
I just have a lot to do today.”

“Hello-o-o-o, Bianca’s coming.  Tell me you don’t want to see
her
on a deck chair!  Grab your shorts
;
let’s go.”
 

I should have punched him for his comment about my fiancé, but she wasn’t the one my eyes were interested in seeing
,
and I couldn’t bear for him to know that I didn’t trust myself around Camille. 
“Yeah, I don’t know how her father would feel about us out to sea without an escort.”

“What are you, dense?  Camille and I will be there.  You have an escort.
  Let’s go
.”

“I’ve got a ton of work to do around here today
.  M
aybe next time.”

Brent knew something was up
.  H
e turned his head to the side
,
considering possibilities
. 
“Drake, is there something you aren’t telling me?”

“No, I’m just not a
Strayer
. 
I can’t go for a sail whenever the mood strikes me.”

“Look, you know the rules as well as I do.  I can’t take your fiancé out on the boat without you.  Camille doesn’t have any friends
,
and Bianca was nice to her last night.  Do this for me.  None of us want Camille to go back to California
.  I
f she and Bianca hit it off, she’ll be less likely to leave.  I promise you can hang out in one of the state rooms and do whatever work you need to
.  J
ust come
along
.”

I wasn’t accustomed to deceit, but when Brent said it was possible Camille m
ight
go back to the west coast
,
I felt my heart lurch again.  Even if she w
ere
never to be mine, I knew I would go through withdrawals with her so far away.
  That was all the coaxing I needed.  “Give me two minutes.”

Within an hour we had picked up Bianca, made it to the
Y
acht
C
lub
,
and were out on blue water.  Brent wasn’t kidding
;
Camille and Bianca were fast friends. 
Although
Brent and I
had never been
extremely tight, he was fun to be around
,
and it was great to hang
out
with another guy since I’d lost my closest friend following the news of my engagement to his
covert
girlfriend
.  The ladies were tanning on the deck while we talked about the upcoming Clemson / Game Co
cks
seasons. 

“Hey
,
Drake,” Bianca called, “why don’t you two come and join us?”

We were on the upper deck
,
and
I
waved down my acknowledgement,
then said to Brent,
“I guess duty calls.”

“Maybe for you.”  Brent said with a smirk.

“You’re going down there with me
.
”

“Who’s going to drive the boat, Dumb
A
ss.”

I looked in all directions.  We were easily five miles from shore
with
not another boat of any kind within sight.
  There was no way I was going down there by myself.
  “Just anchor it
and
c
ome
o
n.
”
  Brent cut the engines and turned up the music a
s
the waves rocked the boat gently in the breeze.