Exposed: A British Bad Boy Romance (23 page)

Chapter 14

SLOAN

T
he work day crawled to an end, clawing and fighting every inch of the way. Sloan couldn’t lock up the place quickly enough and as he raced home, all he could think of was the upcoming date with Sarah. He hopped into the shower and caught himself humming a catchy tune from the radio while he shaved.

              For a moment he was horrified. Singing in the shower? Who was this person? Then he laughed. Long and hard until his stomach hurt. He didn’t know what came over him. He felt positively giddy.

              Of course he knew what had come over him: Sarah. She came out of nowhere and wormed her way under his skin in the best possible way. Everything reminded him of her and they hadn’t even had an official date yet. There was no doubt about it, he was smitten.

              That thought gave him pause. None of this was supposed to happen. He never expected a complication like Sarah. He never expected his tiger to claim a mate so forcefully and he definitely never expected for the interests of the clan to clash so terribly with his own.

              It was all for the clan. He needed to remember that. Sloan wouldn’t be in this position if it weren’t for his clan and the Elder — he owed his loyalty to them first, even if he didn’t always agree with the Elder. Even when the Elder’s decisions sometimes hurt people. People he cared about. People like Dana.

              For the good of the Tigris. It was all for the good of the Tigris Clan, and for the good of the clan, Sloan was going to get through this. He could go out with her, make her fall for him without falling himself. He just had to maintain a healthy distance. And remind himself it was for the clan. Not for his tiger that itched to claim her every time she was near.

              He reached for the keys to his beamer and reconsidered. Sarah’s voice played in his mind, her eyes blue fire as she muttered drunkenly about his sexy motorcycle. The bike it was, then.

              Sarah already waited for him at the curb as he pulled up, her hair falling in an auburn waterfall down her back, her curves comfortably contained in a pair of jeans and a purple t-shirt that said ‘Don’t judge a book by its movie’. Sloan gave her a big smile. For the clan.

              “I heard you coming from a mile away,” she joked over the steady rumble of the bike’s engine.

              He shrugged, “I could have brought the beamer, but then you wouldn’t get to wrap your arms around me and what’s the fun in that?”

              “Charming. Let’s go before my mother wants to meet you,” she said, swinging her leg over the motorcycle as he handed her the spare helmet he’d brought. Energy crackled between them as she settled in behind him.

              Her mother? He’d assumed that Sarah was alone in life — why else would her magic be such a closely guarded secret?

              The further they ventured from Palm Haven — and the Kerris — the more relaxed Sarah seemed. Sloan loved the feel of her arms wrapped around him in a tight embrace, the steady beat of her heart that transferred through the thin layers of fabric that separated them. When he went too fast or too a turn too hard for her liking, she’d pinch him and he laughed.

              Laughter came easily with Sarah. It seemed like the natural order of things, them together. Sloan was hard-pressed to remember a time when he’d felt so at ease and so free. Free of obligations and regrets. Free of guilt.

              It was with Dana — the last time he’d felt this open. He had tried his hardest not to think about her for the past decade, but now twice in one day she’d sprung up into his mind. He couldn’t let himself dwell on the past. He had Sarah, now, and wanted to think about the future, instead.  

              He turned off to a hidden road that led a winding narrow path through a thicket of pines to the edge of a small pond. When his tiger wanted to be free, he’d often come there and swim, fish, or lounge in the sun as cats were wont to do. Now he wanted to share this spot with Sarah. She was as much a part of him as his tiger, whether he wanted to admit it to himself or not.

              “Where are we?” she asked too loudly as he cut the engine off. Sarah pulled her helmet off and combed through her long tresses with her fingers to smooth the tangles from the wind.

              “Nowhere,” he answered, “just a place I like to go to think, sometimes. To be myself.” He took her hand and nothing cracked, snapped or popped. Sarah stared at their joined hands in a mixture of surprise and confusion. Sloan wasn’t confused. This only confirmed his suspicions. Without the ley lines overwhelming her system, Sarah was in control of her magic. There was no doubt: she was the Guardian.

              “Oh,” she said a step behind him.

              Sloan frowned and turned to look at her, “What?”

              She held up her arms in an exaggerated shrug, “I guess I didn’t know what to expect from you and this seems really low-key and…” she hesitated searching for the right word, “...intimate.” He could barely make out the flush in her cheeks in the early twilight.

              “Would you prefer something more showy? Five star dining? Private helicopter rides with champagne and caviar? I could give you that.”

              Her eyes widened behind her glasses and she shook her head quickly and emphatically, “No! I mean, no, that’s alright. This is great, we can just… talk,” she said with a quiver of uncertainty in her voice.

              He led her to a flat rock that hung over the water’s edge, tangled and gnarled cypress roots anchoring it in place. The perfect rock for drying in the sun after a leisurely swim as a tiger.

              She looked out over the still pond where a rising waxing moon illuminated the surface and a chorus of frogs serenaded them. He let her hand drop from his. Sarah stared into the distance, silent, observing.

              Maybe he shouldn’t have brought her here. He felt vulnerable, like he was baring a part of his very soul to her by bringing her to this secret place. Then she released a heavy sigh and turned to him, looking lighter than ever.

              “I love it,” she finally said. Sloan felt the vice of anxiety loosen its grip on his chest. He didn’t know why he wanted her to approve so badly.

              “I brought us a little snack if you’re hungry.”

              They spent the next twenty minutes mostly silent save for the crunching of his trail mix or pointing out an animal or constellation to each other. He didn’t mind the silence. Sarah didn’t seem to either.

              “Oh, and there’s Sirius,” she motioned in the sky, seemingly a walking star map.

              “What’s that one?” Sloan asked, pointing to his half of the sky so that she’d have to lean into him.

His plan worked and he had his arm around her before she could say “That’s a satellite,” with a giggle.

“Well, it’s my favorite,” he teased, his heart light so full that he expected it to erupt any moment.

She pointed at something else, but Sloan didn’t hear what she named it. Moonlight twinkled off her charm bracelet and he spoke before he could second guess himself. It had been a lovely date, but he’d made no progress in the grand scheme of things.

“What’s the bee for?”

“What?” she asked, confusion lining her forehead.

Sloan took her hand in his and twirled the bracelet around her wrist, his fingertips barely skirting over her skin, giving her goosebumps. He fingered the bumblebee charm and asked again, “The bee.”

“Oh!” She laughed, “It’s just a name my mom has for me.”

“What about this one?” He asked, finding an apple.

“Christmas shopping in New York.”

“Did you visit the tree?”

“Of course. It’s prettier on TV, I think.”

Sloan smiled, “And this palm?”

“Because I’m a Floridian, obviously,” she laughed.

“
Obviously
,” he answered, moving to the next. He felt her stiffen and she tried to pull away, but his arm held her in place.

“What about this?” The all-seeing eye. The symbol of the Coven that marked her as a witch whether she liked it or not.

She faltered, starting and stopping a few times, trying to come up with some kind of explanation. Finally, he stopped her.

“It’s okay, Sarah. I know what you are.”

A sharp intake of breath and she suddenly looked queasy, “You do? How?”

Sloan chuckled softly. As if it wasn’t obvious. Like she weren’t a beacon of magic drawing him to her.

“I’ve always known. Why do you fight your nature?” His thumb stroked the inside of her wrist, trying to soothe the rapid pace of her pulse. He only hoped he hadn’t sprung this on her too suddenly. She kept it a secret for a reason…

Chapter 15

SARAH

“Y
ou don’t understand,” Sarah protested. He couldn’t understand. Why did he have to go and ruin everything? They were having a perfectly nice time and then…

How did he know? He said he’d always known, but the general populace didn’t know witches existed, much less how to spot one in the wild. He knew about the Coven. Who was he?
What
was he?

“What don’t I understand?” He tucked a flyaway strand of hair behind her ear and Sarah resisted the natural pull to lean into his hand, to soak up his warmth.

“My...magic,” it felt odd to say the word out loud to someone other than her mother. “It’s bad. Dangerous.”

His hand cupped her face and she nuzzled into his palm against her better judgement.

“So am I,” he whispered, his voice low and husky.

Yes he was. So very dangerous. His thumb traced her lower lip and Sarah felt something stir deep within her, bringing her magic to the surface with it.

“It hurts people. It’s out of control…” She searched his eyes for understanding, trying her best to keep from breaking down, “I’m out of control.”

“I can help with that, Sarah. I can teach you control,” his other hand slid over her hip, pulling her closer to him, “give me a chance.”

Sarah closed her eyes, warding off fresh tears as they sprang up. She wanted to. It would be so easy to give in. Resisting Sloan was torture.
Exhausting
torture.

“You’d be better off staying far away from me. I don’t want to hurt you.”

He chuckled and tilted her chin so that she had to look him in the eyes, “You’re not going to hurt me, Sarah. I promise.”

She shook her head, “You don’t know that. I could bring this whole tree crashing down and crush us both. I can’t help it.”

Sloan sighed and dropped his hand from her face. She’d convinced him, but the gnawing ache in her stomach was full of regret.

“You’re not the only one who’s hurt someone they cared about. I hurt someone once. They died because of me… indirectly. I could have stopped it, but I did nothing. I left instead of fighting. I…” his voice cracked and it was Sarah’s turn to trace the line of his jaw with her palm.

“What was her name?” She assumed it was a lover, a wife even. She didn’t know why the thought made her jealous, her magic simmering at the thought of Sloan devoted to another.

“Dana. She was like a little sister to me, if that’s what you’re thinking. A sister that I let down in the worst way possible.”

The raw anguish in his eyes, the softness of his voice…

“You’ve never told anyone about this, have you?” she asked, astonished that he’d share something so deeply personal with her.

He took her hand in his and squeezed, “You’ve seen more of me today than anyone has since… Well, since her death.”

Her magic thrummed and surged to their joined hands, urging her forward, encouraging what they both already wanted. His head bent toward her and Sarah started to close the distance between them.

“Why?” she asked, stopping just before their lips touched, “Why me?”

He made her head swim. She was drunk on her own arousal and the chemistry between them only fed her magic’s hunger more. Sloan’s hand slid around the back of her neck, burying his fingers in her hair as he pulled her closer. She winced, expecting something to explode or catch on fire. She relaxed a little.

“It could never be anyone else,” he said, kissing her finally.

It was everything she could have dreamed of for a first kiss. Sloan was gentle yet persistent. Soft, but passionate. For a long moment, the whole world fell away. All of Sarah’s worries, her fears and hang-ups disappeared.

Her hands circled his neck and deepened the kiss, a symphony of rustling leaves the only evidence of her usually destructive powers.

Sloan’s tongue teased the corners of Sarah’s mouth and she granted him entrance, moaning in eagerness. She never knew how intense this need could be. It was more than just her magic egging her on. It was him. Everything about him was intoxicating and addictive.

“See?” He broke the kiss leaving her dizzy and breathless with need. So much need. “Nothing happened. No chaos,” he joked with a grin, showing off that dimple she’d come to love.

He wasn’t entirely right. Something had certainly happened. Sarah couldn’t deny that something happened between them and she wasn’t sure she’d ever be the same.

She wouldn’t dwell on that, though.

Sarah smiled and kissed him again. Could this really happen? Could this amount to something? Sloan knew her biggest secret and seemed accepting, but was he trustworthy? She wanted to believe it. Needed to.

For the first time, Sarah realized what she’d been missing out on all of those years alone. She’s always thought she didn’t mind being alone, resigned to a life of celibacy. Sloan made her question it all. He made her want to explore the things she missed. Made her crave the love and acceptance she’ shied away from for so long.

It seemed too good to be true. So it probably was. But she wouldn’t let that dampen her mood.

She wanted him and her magic refused to wait any longer. She pulled him in for another kiss and they were interrupted by the buzzing of his cell phone.