Unbound (56 page)

“You are twisting my words, Sam. I still don’t see your damn point! Why did you drag me up here? Dani is going to start missing me any minute.” He was growling through his teeth.

“You’re such a fool. She isn’t missing you. I’ll bet you my sizeable trust fund that the two of them were dancing like lovers as soon as we walked away.”

“Danielle doesn’t even pay any attention to him anymore. I have done my part in your so-called deal. I love Dani and she cares for me. I plan to ask her to be my mate. Chase is your problem,” he returned.

“Ha! You can’t even say she loves you. What a joke. She is in love with Chase and you know it. If we don’t keep them apart we will both lose.”

Dani’s face flushed. Chase was over the moon. He realized it wasn’t just his imagination or wishful thinking that made him believe she wanted him. Others could see it as well.

“I promise you now that if I can’t have Chase, you will not have that freak of nature you call a girlfriend! If you don’t keep her out of my way and away from Chase, I will tell her about our little deal. She will hate you. And from the looks of all the men just dying to crawl up her skirt, she will not be alone for long! You’d better lie, cheat and steal. Do whatever it takes, Cayden.” She paused and let out a little chuckle. “I do have to tell you, I was impressed when you joined the warrior class just for her. I wonder if she will appreciate the fact that you changed your entire life around just keep her away from Chase?” Sam was just about snarling.

“I joined the warriors because I didn’t trust anyone else to protect her. Yes, I used my father to get assigned to her detail. That was because I care for her and her safety. I didn’t make the first move on her. I was only keeping her safe. She came to me first,” he snapped.

Chase was a little hurt to know that Cayden hadn’t been making that part up just to hurt him, but h
e remembered what his father
told him about the extent people will go to in order to ease their pain.

Cayden continued, “Unlike you, who will never see a day that Chase willingly kisses you until he is bonded to you by blood and his free will is t
aken from him,
I will not deceive her. I love her. I’ll tell her myself the things I’ve done, before I ever dishonor our relationship with the kind of games you play.”

The sound of skin hitting skin echoed in the bathroom. Sam had slapped Cayden. Chase was so angry he couldn’t take it anymore. He was ready to rip the damn door off and kill both Sam and Cayden for playing games. He couldn’t imagine how this was hurting Danielle. As much as he hated to admit it, Danielle had genuine feelings for Cayden and this had the smack of another b
etrayal. First Chase himself
lied to her by omission and
now she learned Cayden was
scheming with Sam this whole time.

“I’m going to go tell her you did all this to please me. You’ve always wanted me and I tricked you into distracting her so I could get closer to Chase. But I can’t tolerate your sexual appetite any longer and you won’t let me go,” she said, in a voice tinged with fear and regret, as if she were saying it to Dani. She was acting out her part. Then in her usual bitch tone she said, “I bet she’ll believe we’re lovers given your reputation. I have sources that say you haven’t even screwed the girl yet. You have to be getting it somewhere if not from her.” She started for the door.

“You won’t tell that lie. She’ll tell Chase and that will ruin your chance at love with him,” he scoffed.

“She won’t tell him, Cayden. She loves him too much. She knows he has no choice but to be my mate and she won’t tell him something that will cause him pain. She is way too good and selfless for that. Especially if there is nothing he can do about it but suffer the humiliation of believing that both the women in his life were with you.” She opened the door to the hall. “I guess it’s back to slumming with humans for you, my friend.”

Chase pushed the bathroom door open to reveal their hiding place. He was seeing red and couldn’t hear another word out of her deceitful mouth. The look on her face was one of shear disbelief and trepidation. Chase had never seen her look afraid in all the years he’d known her, but now s
he was trembling with it. She’
d been caught red-handed. Chase crossed the room toward her but just before he grabbed her, to do what he didn’t know, Mason and Griffin stepped into the door way.

Brandi was a crafty little thing. She had the two of them listening a
t the door in the hall. They
heard the whole thing
. All this time Brandi
waited until the time was right to expose her twin sister’s vile ways. This wasn’t for Danielle or Chase’s benefit. If was for her own. Brandi believed that Chase would change his mind and make her his mate instead of Samantha when he realized how malignant she was.

“I think it’s time for us to sit down and rethink the bonding arrangement we’ve made, Mason,” Griffin cursed as he grabbed his daughter by the arm. “Samantha is not yet mature enough to handle a real relationship.”

“Oh please, Daddy! What are you going to do? Force him to mate with the mouse that Brandi is?” She was incredulous.

“Why not,
I was
forcing him to mate with you, r
emember? I’m sure he would rather have an honest mate,” he came back at her.

Brandi’s triumphant laughter echoed down the hallway. Chase looked over his shoulder at Danielle. She was beautiful and shattered. She leaned against the bathroom door, her face toward the floor, tears hit
ting the marble tiles. All he’
d ever done was hurt her and she was hurting again.

“I’m going home.” That was all he could say without breaking down himself. He couldn’t comfort her or himself. He was trapped. The more he tried to break free, the more damage he did. Now Cayden and Sam were doing their part to add t
o her misery. Maybe she was right
. She could be happy someplace else, someplace far away from him and the rest of the people who did nothing but hurt her. She deserved far better than his people could offer.

TWENTY-EIGHT~

She couldn’t believe what was happening around her. How could Cayden be so deceptive? Dani thought he really cared for her. He said he loved her, but he lied to her. He purposely pursued her to leave Sam an opening with Chase. Was there anyone in this world beside her mom that would ever really be able to love her? She didn’t think so. Her own father won’t even recognize her as his daughter for the world to see. It said a lot about how everyone would react to what she is when her own father was too embarrassed to claim her.

On the other hand, she had
lied to all of them. How could she be angry with Cayden for his behavior when she allowed him to fall for her knowing he had no idea what or who she really was? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. He would not profess his love so readily once he found out the truth.

As far as Griffin went
, it hadn’t escaped her attention that she could be bonded to Chase as one of Griffin’s daughters. But he didn’t see her the same way he saw his other children. Dani was a disgrace to his house and to his kind. Chase would have to know who she was before they were bonded and she was sure in the cold light of the truth Chase would also turn away from her. She now realized she would never have true love. No vamp or human was ever going to want a half-breed mutant bride. Who could blame them? Imagine the stigma a child of hers would have to live
with. The sting of rejection
touched her every
day since she’
d learned her true heritage. How could she ever do that to her children? It was time for her to leave this place and these people behind.

Everyone left Cayden and Sam’s meeting place except for Cayden, who was watching her cry all over the very expensive looking marble floor. If he had
nothing to say, she didn’t either
. She would leave now and all this would be over. They could return to life as it should be and she would learn to deal with this pain until it faded.

She made it to the hall before Cayden caught her and forced her against the wall. The fierce look on his face was a frightening sight. Was she projecting again? Had he heard her thoughts? She worked hard to control that, but when she got upset, her control slipped away.

“I am in love with you, Danielle,” he snarled. “Do you hear me? Of all the things you heard in there, remember that. I love you and I gave in to a career I wanted no part of in order to protect you and keep you close to me. I am not afraid to tell the world the way I feel. I was not willing to let even my own happiness get in the way of being with you. Chase would not move to upset his precious family and public image to claim you as his own. He says he loves you but he watches you suffer for him.”

Cayden lowered his head and claimed her lips. His honeyed tongue, seeking hers, tasted of lust and fear. He held her face in his warm hands and tilted her head to just the right angle for his exploration. He released her suddenly and went down on one knee, right there in the hall. He looked up at her with fear in his shining, tear filled eyes. He pulled a box from his jacket pocket and opened it
to reveal an engagement ring. It was t
he perfect sparkling, one carat, human expression of love that all girls expected when a man proposed. Her mouth fell open. He hadn’t lied about asking her to be his mate.

   “Danielle, I love you. I want you to be my mate. I understand that you are not yet in love with me, but I have enough love for both of us. I will wait for you to be ready, as you’re much loved human custom requires, if that is what will make you trust me again. I will do whatever it takes.”

The sincerity and overwhelming emotion in his cracking voice clawed at her heart. This is what she wanted from Chase. Cayden was willing to do whatever it took because he loved her that much. But wasn’t fair to him that she didn’t feel the same.

“Cayden you have no idea what you’re asking for. You have no idea the secrets I hold in my heart. It suffocates me. I’m not what you think I am.” She pulled him to his feet.

He pulled her to his chest forcing her to look at him. “You told me that once before. I didn’t care then and I don’t care now. I know exactly what you are. You are beautiful, smart, and strong. You put the needs of others before your own. You suffer in silence to protect others from the same suffering. I don’t know what’s going on with you and I don’t care. Dani please, bond with me right now. I will make the pain stop. I will love and protect you always and you will love me. We can end this here and now. Will you be my mate?” His voiced was hoarse and his body trembled against her.

“I can’t do that if you don’t know the truth.” Dani was about to spill the truth when he cut her off with a hot kiss.

“I don’t care,” he said against her lips. “I will love you no matter what your big secret is. Tell me later, after I make you mine forever.” He was waiting for an answer and didn’t want to hear her excuses for why he shouldn’t want her.

The pain in her chest was so intense. She was so afraid, but she believed him. She believed he loved her and he was begging her to let him love her while the source of her pain slunk off into the night without even a second look in her direction.

“Alright, I will be your mate, Cayden,” she heard herself say from a distance.

He drew in a deep ragged breath and picked her up to bury his face in her neck. “You will not regret this. I will make you happy, I swear it.”

“Do you have a blade on you? Or would you like to bite me?” Dani wanted it done. She was done second-guessing. He pulled back a little surprised.

“Now? You will be my mate, right now?” His eyes shone with joy.

“If you’re willing to trust me without knowing everything about me, then I will trust you to mend my broken pieces,” she explained. With happiness and adoration overflowing from his very being, Cayden led her back into the bedroom.

“I will give myself to you and then I will go tell the world! Nothing will ever separate us again. I’ve been in agony since you went away.” He was rushing around the room searching for something and babbling. He came to the bed with two braided lengths of fabric used to tie back the curtains.

“Take off your shoes and climb up on the bed. Sit on your knees, angel,” he beamed at her and went to lock the bedroom door.

She could do this. She could and she would. In a few moments, it would be over and she would start a real relationship with a man she would love who would love her back. Chase’s face would no longer haunt her. His touch would no longer burn her. She wouldn’t need her father’s acceptance. Her husband, her mate would love and accept her proudly for the whole world to see. She could do this. Her shoes discarded, she climbed onto the bed and watched Cayden remove his shoes, suit jacket, tie and holster. He pulled a blade from a pocket on the holster and went to the bathroom. He came back with a couple of towels and some alcohol swabs. Cleaning his very sharp looking blade, he watched her.

“Don’t be afraid. I would love to bite your sweet neck but I will wait until you’re ready to make love with me for that honor.” He climbed up onto the huge four-post bed. On his knees, he smiled down on her and pulled the pins out of her hair so it fell around her shoulders. “I’m so damn happy. I can’t believe you are my one true mate.” He kissed her deeply, then took her left hand and placed the stunning ring on her left ring finger. “I wanted to honor the human tradition of a ring. I hope you like it. I will of course wear one also, to show the world I am yours.”