Page 76 of Outcast Fae
I pondered how much to tell him. Should he know that they wanted my aunt? I had no idea what Kiana had to do with everything else. The two things didn’t seem related at all, and yet they had to be. I also didn’t know how Vaughn would react to that piece of news, if he would blame everything that was happening here on my kind. Humans had a way of turning all the blame our way, it seemed.
Vaughn watched me expectantly, waiting for an answer. I wanted to lie, but I couldn’t. My best option was to not say anything, not to Vaughn, anyway. I needed to talk to Sinasre and find out what he knew.
I turned away from Vaughn. “We should get back to the others.”
He grabbed my arm. “What else did you learn, Tally?” It was his turn to look at me with suspicion. It seemed that no matter how hard we tried to trust each other, it was impossible.
“I… I’ll explain everything when we get back to our camp.”
Maybe on our way there, I would think of something.
“Yes, let’s get back.” Daniella’s eyes were huge behind her glasses. She seemed really scared, even more than when the werewolves had been after her. She turned and led the way.
After Daniella was a fair distance away, Vaughn let go of my arm, and I started to walk away.
“Tally,” he said my name gently, almost pleadingly. “Are you... are you okay? Did they hurt you?”
I bit my lower lip. It sounded like he really cared.
“Um, they questioned me, tied me up,” I said, staring at a lonely tuft of grass poking from the sand. “Then they left me out here in the heat, but I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?”
I nodded and took a step forward, intent on following Daniella and ending this conversation. Vaughn grabbed my arm again, though more gently this time.
He inhaled, seemed to consider what he was about to say carefully while I watched.
“I… I’m sorry I didn’t help,” he said. “It all happened so fast. I hesitated, and then it was too late.”
I turned my head and peered up at his face. His eyes were half-lidded, downcast. Slowly, they rose and met mine. A thrill went through my body as our gazes connected, and I could tell he was sincere in his apology.
“I wish it were easier to trust each other,” he said, his eyes falling to my lips and lingering there for a long moment.
Something in my chest stirred. I couldn’t deny it. There was an attraction between us. My body responded to his the way a flower responds to the sunlight.
“I wish the same,” I said, my voice barely a whisper.
He took a step closer, lifting a hand slowly to my face, giving me plenty of time to step away. Yet, I didn’t.
His thumb caressed my cheek, the smooth whisper of skin against skin. He swallowed audibly. His lips parted as he wet them with his tongue. I could smell the sweetness of his breath, his lips still flavored by Adaline Habermann’s wine. His hand slid behind my hair to cradle the back of my neck. He pulled me closer, lowered his head, bringing his moist lips closer.
I waited, barely breathing, wanting more than anything for Vaughn to fit his lips over mine, for him to draw my body up and press it against his large expanse of muscles. I wanted to run my hands over his skin and marvel at every line. I wanted to forget everything that stood between us.
“You… you enthrall me,” he whispered, a rumble in his chest. “And it scares me because… because...”
He trailed off, shook his head, and stepped away, breaking the tension between us. I felt as if all the air had been sucked out of my lungs, and I almost lurched forward as if I’d lost my balance.
“Forgive me,” Vaughn said. “It’s not the time. It’s…”
“It’s what? What are you so afraid to say? Why do I scare you?” My heart pounded in my chest while it took everything in my power not to grab him and draw him to me.
Vaughn cleared his throat and straightened his spine. “Please, Tally. Forget I said anything.”
Something unfamiliar unfurled inside of me. It was a desperate feeling that seemed to take shape out of my frustration and impotence. Everything in thisgòrakisland, this prison, was out of my control, and I hated the feeling.
Wishing to take something and bend it tomywill, I stepped forward, pulled Vaughn toward me, and kissed him.
The moment our lips met the world around us seemed to melt away, leaving nothing behind butus.
