Page 75 of Crossed By the Stars
Dax and I had spent the eveningtauntingand teasing each other with signs and signals. Stop. Go. Harder. Slower. It had been a new, tantalizing experience. Some of the motions had been real, but most of them were ridiculous touches meant only for a moment of pleasure.
The entire time we’d bantered back and forth, his words from downstairs had stayed with me, writing themselves harder and deeper into my heart.You’re not alone,mon bijou. I’m here. I’ll be here for as long as you let me.God…what would that be like? To wake up every single day to someone being there at my side?
I’d fallen into the deep slumber I’d somehow found in the last few days only when Dax’s naked body was twined around mine, so I wasn’t sure what woke me in the dark of night. Our limbs were tangled in a way that looked like an abstract piece of art. Tan blending into white. Black blending into brown. I wished on all the stars in the sky that our lives could be as beautiful as this moment.
Gently and slowly, I unwound myself from him. His breathing changed, as if he’d woken, but then steadied again. I stared down at him with love flowing out of me so big and wide it could cover an ocean or two. I’d almost said the words earlier. They’d almost slipped out, but I’d caught them, holding them in for a little while longer. I wasn’t sure why, other than I wasn’t as brave as Dax thought I was. The risk of saying them seemed enormous.
In some ways, I was more terrified of telling Dax I wanted to give us a try past this time at Vanya’s than I was of the threatening notes he’d shown me. Giving him a chance to break my heart again wasn’t something I could recover from with the same ease of curing broken bones. I knew this for a fact because I’d already lived through it multiple times.
I picked up the silk robe which I’d spent most of the last five days in and headed for the restroom with painful memories following me. Memories of his protection…and his desertion.
My vision was blurry as I took in the marble and stone balcony at Benita’s chateau. The tranquilizer I’d taken was kicking in sooner than I’d expected, probably because of the amount of alcohol I’d consumed. The two men at my side had kept refilling my glass. I’d nicknamed them Bill and Ted in my head because they felt that way. Goofy but trying to be cool. I hadn’t seen them at Benita’s before. New blood. Or blood invited by one of the others. Who knew? I didn’t care. They were dance-worthy at least, if nothing else.
I shook my body into theirs, one on either side of me. Our bodies blending in with the sea of them that filled the space while Benita’s laughter echoed through the night. The deep bass boomed through the floor and up through my veins. I was surprised I was able to stand. Ted leaned in and kissed me, soft and wet and not at all appealing. He spun me around, and Bill caught me with a laugh. He kissed me too. The opposite of his friend, firm and dry. But his hand clutching my side was almost painful. It brought me back to the world.
A third man joined us, someone they knew because they greeted him with a smile, letting him into our little circle. This man was dark and muscled, reminding me of someone I didn’t want to remember. The one I’d had a fleeting sighting of earlier in the evening before he’d headed in the opposite direction of me. I swallowed the rest of the drink in my hand and tossed the glass in the direction of the table, but it missed, shattering.
The new man put his hand on my neck, tugging me close.
“Ready for some fun, Jada?” he asked.
He knew my name. While it wasn’t necessarily a surprise, it sparked some fight-or-flight warning in the back of my brain. He dragged the strap of my top down, and I flicked his hand away. He frowned.
Ted laughed. “I guess Jada needs to warm up a little more before she’s ready to play.”
Ted kissed me again, and I pushed at his chest, ready to knee him in the balls and walk away. I lifted my leg, but Bill caught it, laughing.
I was done. I was ready to call Kaida and have her haul me away. Where was my phone?
“Let her go.” The voice was deep and gravelly. Full of quiet fury. My head spun in the direction of the man I was never prepared to see, the man who made my pulse beat faster than any other human being. I could barely make out Dax’s features, but even in my haze, they looked grim in a way he never was.
“Jada doesn’t want to go. Do you, baby?” Bill teased, pulling my waist.
I hated the nickname. Hated it with a passion. I tried to pull away, but his arm tightened on me.
“I won’t repeat myself,” Dax said, and he reached for my arm. The new guy pushed Dax’s chest, and Dax responded with a right hook that sent the guy reeling toward the edge of the balcony. Dax turned toward Bill and Ted. “Walk away.”
Bill tried to push me behind him, but Dax was faster than any of us had expected. He grabbed the guy’s wrist, flipped him around, and sent him toward his friend at the railing. Then, he landed a punch on Ted’s chin.
He didn’t even hesitate before he swept me into his arms and stormed back into the chateau.
I tried to say something. I tried to complain or demand he put me down, but all that came out was a garble of slurred words.
“Mon Dieu, chérie.Why do you do this to yourself? To me?” he muttered, anger dripping from his tone.
I wanted to respond. To tell him that just seeing him wherever I went as we traveled the globe with Benita and the others was like cutting open my veins. Like I was bleeding out. That everything I did was simply to hide the pain. Instead, I lost myself to the release of the drugs and the alcohol and arms that felt safe. I let the darkness take over.
I woke the next morning with my mouth full of cotton and my head pounding. My eyes adjusted to the room. I was obviously still at Benita’s. The expensive, seventeenth-century furniture was a dead giveaway. When I turned over, I was stunned to find a naked male body lying next to me. Tan skin sprinkled with dark hair. Dax’s beautifully lined eyes were closed, the black lashes thick against his sharp cheekbones that were delightfully stubbled. He looked peaceful.
He looked like sin and temptation.
I vaguely recalled the men from the night before. Dax saving me. I hated it. And I loved it. What surprised me more than the fact that he’d interceded was that he’d brought me to his bed—a place I’d never thought I’d be. Nothing had happened between us. I knew this because Dax liked his women sober but also because I was fully clothed. As fully clothed as I could be in a sparkly dress that barely covered my ass and was cut down the front and back as low as I could get it to go without becoming a bikini. Only my stilettos had disappeared from my body.
My gaze took in every piece of the man next to me. The way his muscles were cut, showcasing his quiet strength. The delightful V of his abdomen. The semi hard-on he was sporting in his sleep. Gloriously delightful. My eyes landed on his long fingers laying on the sheet between us. His knuckles were cut and bruised.
He’d lost his temper defending me—a rarity in Dax’s world that was controlled, charming, and calm.
It brought tears to my eyes that I held back by closing my lids. God, what I wouldn’t have given for him to save me at fifteen…when he’d promised to call and hadn’t. I’d never known for sure why he’d vanished, but I’d suspected it had to do with me being a Mori. It was mere weeks after he’d disappeared on me that I’d realized why no one would want to stick around and be tangled with the darkness of my life.
