Masquerade (44 page)

We have to
stop.

Lips left mine, and I was
bereft. The delicious weight started to pull back.
Don’t leave.

I pulled him back down and my lips
found his shoulder; the taunt muscle was straining against his
skin, and I scraped my teeth over the firmness. I heard him groan,
and then he was gone.

“
Sam?” I sat up, opening my
eyes. He was across the room beside the window, pacing. It took a
minute for a full thought to form in my head because it was fuzzy,
and the tantalizing dream I’d just had wanted to hold on. As he
paced I watched him; he was beautiful, and he was shirtless.
Abruptly he paused in his pacing to turn and look at me. There was
a red mark on his shoulder…
oh boy, it
wasn’t a dream
. Sam and I just got majorly
hot and heavy, and if I he hadn’t pulled away…

You thought
that
was a dream?
He seemed exasperated and let down at the same
time.

I just know that it felt
really good, and I didn’t want it to stop.

He groaned again and resumed his
pacing. I felt a little rejected.

Did I do something
wrong?

He swung toward me.
God, no. But your grandmother is right down the
hall!

I guess it wasn’t the best time to get
busy.

I want to take my time
with you. Things right now aren’t really…

I know.
I scrubbed my hand over my face, my eyes felt like they had
sand in them.
We should wait. I’m
sorry.

The bed dipped with his weight when he
sat next to me. “Don’t ever be sorry, not for that.”

I nodded. “What time is
it?”

“
Late.”

I looked at the clock and
gaped. Half the day was
gone!
So much for going to school.
I went
to the window, pulled back
the curtains and lifted up the blinds, releasing the cord, and
looked out at the sunny day. I gasped and stumbled backward, my
hands coming up to shield my eyes.

“
What’s the matter?” Sam
asked, coming to stand at my side.

Close the blinds, the
blinds!

He ran to the window and pulled them
down, yanking the curtains closed as well. “They’re
closed.”

Tentatively, I opened my eyes and
blinked. They were watering and stinging, but I could see fine.
Even worried, Sam’s face was beautiful to me, which was good
because it was super close to mine.

“
What’s up?” he
asked.

I shook my head. “It’s so bright out.
My eyes hurt.”

“
The sunshine hurts your
eyes?”

“
Yeah.” I blew out a
breath. “Tell me, do they look bad?”

He came even closer and took my head
in his hands and tilted it this way and that. I waited through his
scrutiny, preparing myself for news of some new disfigurement.
“They look fine,” he declared.

“
I want to see.” I looked
in the mirror above my dresser. He was right, everything looked
normal. I turned back to Sam and shrugged. “I guess I just wasn’t
fully awake yet.”

“
Are you awake
now?”

I nodded.

He went over to the window and lifted
the shade. My eyes burned and watered when the light bounced around
the room, but it wasn’t as bad as before. “It still
burns.”

He closed the blinds again, frowning.
“Are you feeling okay?”

I took a moment to take inventory of
my body; everything seemed fine. “My muscles are sore, but the
accident and then whatever happened with Airis…”

He nodded.

“
But otherwise I feel
okay.” Then I remembered something. “Except for those tremors I was
getting last night.”

“
Had one yet this
morning?”

“
No.”

“
You should take it easy
today.”

“
Yeah. I’m starving though,
want to eat?” I went over to the bedroom door.

He appeared beside me and placed his
hand over mine as I reached for the doorknob. “I can’t just waltz
downstairs with you.”

“
Oh. Right.”

He smiled. It was crooked and playful
and my heart turned over.

His smile faded and he skimmed his
knuckles down my cheek.

“
Maybe you could come visit
me? You know
–
to
see how I am feeling after the accident.”

He nodded. “I’m going to run home and
shower first, change my clothes.”

I didn’t like the idea of
him going to the home he shared with China and the other
hellhounds.
Will she be there?

Nah, she’s probably
hiding.

He said this just to make
me feel better. I could feel
that he hoped
she was there so that he would get a chance at her.
Anticipation
coiled inside me and my body
was ready to jump into a fight. I frowned. I was scared of China; I
did not want to see her.

It’s the Mindbond. It’s
called bleeding. The mental state of one can ‘bleed’ to the other
and
affect their mood.

All emotion, all the
time?
I asked and frowned. While I loved
having this Mindbond with Sam, I didn’t exactly like the idea of
him hearing and feeling every thought I had. Some things were just
meant to be private.

No, honey. The bleeding
would only occur when we are standing this close to each other.
Unless it is very intense emotion, like if you were hurt or
something bad was happening to you, then I would feel it. It’s the
same for you and feeling my emotions.

I nodded, warming to the
idea of bleeding.

The Mindbond means we can
talk like this, through our thoughts, no matter the distance
between us. We can only hear the thoughts we project out to the
other, and again, unless of course you were thinking very loudly or
forcefully, then I might be able to pick up on them.

I understand.
But then I had a thought.
Sam? If China thought this was all a myth, then she must have
never experienced this or known anyone who has either…who’s to say
the stuff she told you is true?

Sam took my hand and
brought it to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to the tips of my
fingers.
I guess I can’t be sure. But so
far everything else she told me has been true. I guess this
Mindbond/bleeding thing will be something that we figure out
together.

I liked that.

He smiled then turned away, but I
pulled him back.

You feel that much
anticipation at seeing China?

Anticipation to remove the
threat she poses to you.

Stay.

I’ll be back.

I’ll miss you.

He tapped my forehead with
his finger and smiled.
We can still
talk.

I’m the only one that you
can do this with?

His grin was quick and
devastating.
The one and
only
.

I could get use to this
Mindbond stuff.

If you need me…

You’ll know.

“
Yeah,” he whispered and
pulled me close for a quick kiss. Then he disappeared out my
window.

You forgot your
shirt!
I told him, wanting to see if it
really worked when he wasn’t in the same room.

Keep it.

I picked it up from where it lay on
the floor and raised it to my nose. It smelled just like him, spicy
and masculine. After hugging the cotton to my chest I tucked it
beneath my pillow. With any luck the scent of him would still be
there later when I wore his shirt to bed.

Sunlight filtered in from
every window downstairs. As I walked through the living room my
eyes stung more and more until they watered. I hurried over to my
book bag and found my sunglasses. Thankfully the dark lenses gave
me a semblance of relief. Grandma was in the kitchen, moving
around. I could smell fresh coffee and muffins. The big windows
next to the table were uncovered with sun streaming through them,
and I had to squint when I entered the kitchen. I bolted for the
coffee pot, turning my back on the sun to pour the brew into a
giant white mug
.

“
Good morning!” Grandma
called. “Did you sleep well?”

Taking a breath I turned around,
leaning against the counter.

“
What’s the matter?” she
gasped, looking at my glasses.

“
I have a headache,” I
murmured, taking a sip of coffee. Which really wasn’t a lie, the
sun was so bright it was starting to hurt my head.

She hurried over to a cabinet and
pulled out a bottle to shake two pills out into her hand. “Here,
this will help.”

I took the pills and swallowed them
with my coffee. “Thank you.” On my way to the table, I snagged a
banana muffin and then sat with my back to the window. I blinked a
couple of times trying to clear my vision, which was slightly
blurry.

You doing okay?
Sam’s raspy voice floated through my
head.

I’m fine. The light still
hurts, though.

I’ll be there
soon.

Okay.
I really wanted to tell him to hurry and that I missed him
terribly but he already felt an extreme obligation to protect me,
why make it worse? Besides shouldn’t I deal with my own problems
myself?

“
I spoke to the insurance
company; the car
was destroyed completely
from the fire but is completely covered. I should receive a check
very soon to
buy a new one.”

“
That’s great. I’m so sorry
about the accident.”

“
Hush, I know it was an
accident. I’m glad you weren’t hurt.”

If only she knew.

I concentrated on my muffin. It was
good, and I found myself wishing that it was somehow magical and
healed whatever was wrong with my eyes. Grandma ‘tsked’ at my
silence and walked over to the window above the sink. “I’ll lower
the blinds, maybe it will help your headache.”

“
Thank you.” The room
darkened just slightly when the shade was down because the windows
at my back were the biggest. Still the little change in light
seemed to make my eyes
worse. It seemed
like my eyes were trying awfully hard to adjust to their
surroundings, and the slightest bit of variation in light made them
work even harder. I stared hard at Grandma as she refilled
her coffee mug; she was so blurry I could hardly
make her out. I squeezed my eyes shut hard and took a deep breath.
When I looked up she was watching me, frowning.

“
Here let me get the other
shades.” She jolted forward, and her burst of movement caused
something in my brain to snap.

Intense, bright color exploded around
me.

I have to get
out.

I have to get
out.

The mantra pounded through me.
Something was so wrong with me. My head pounded and even though my
eyes were closed, blindingly bright color swam in front of me. I
worked really hard not to show my alarm. After several long seconds
during which I only tried to breathe, I managed to thank her for
lowering the shades. She didn’t seem to notice that I was suddenly
overwhelmed, and for that I was thankful.

“
You should take it easy
today. Yesterday took a lot out of you.”

“
I plan on it,” I answered.
Should I open my eyes? Would everything be normal, or worse? My
stomach twisted in panic as I fretted about what to do. What if I
opened my eyes and I couldn’t see anything? What if I could see,
but everything was so blurry I couldn’t make my way out of the
kitchen without bumping into everything?

There was a knock on the door, and I
heard Grandma open it. “Sam,” she said.

“
I thought I would come and
see how Heven was feeling after the accident.”

I fought not to slump with
relief.
Something’s wrong.

I know.
Breathe.

“
Well come on in. Let me
get you a muffin and some coffee.”

“
Thank you.”

I felt him drawing closer. His scent
reached me, and I wanted to cry. From right before me he spoke,
“Hey, Hev. How are you feeling today?”

“
Except for this headache,
I’m good.”
Bright colors are
everywhere.

Close your
eyes.

They are
closed!

“
I like those glasses.” I
knew he was smiling for the benefit of Gran. Except I felt robbed
of his smile. I wanted to see it too. Oh God, what if I couldn’t
see his beautiful face?

Open your eyes; focus on
me.

I opened my eyes. For a few seconds
bright blotches of color obscured my vision, and I panicked,
reaching out to grasp Sam’s hand. But then, slowly the blotches
faded away and my vision became clear. Sam was squatting before me,
staring hard, worry on his face.