Tall Dark & Heartless, Page 76
R. L. Mathewson
Page 76
Right.
She'd still been a kid when he shoved her away and there was no way she would have been able to handle him. If he wanted to kill her, he would have been able to and nothing and no one would have been able to stop him. Well, that wasn't entirely true. Someone could have shot him in the head or heart, but she would have probably been dead by the time they managed to get off a few rounds.
"Why didn't the Council punish me?" she asked, needing a change of topic before she completely lost it.
"It doesn't matter," he whispered as he pulled her against him, but she wasn't having it. There was something else that he wasn't telling her and she wanted to know what that something was.
She released her hold on the sheet so that she could reach up and cup his face. "Tell me, Caine. "
For a moment he just stared into her eyes and she was afraid that she was going to have to kick his ass to get her answer when he looked away, clenching his jaw tightly before he sighed heavily and looked back at her.
"I took care of it. "
"Took care of it. . . . . ," she repeated back slowly, wondering how exactly he took care of an order for execution.
"I took a punishment and a warning," he admitted with a shrug like it was no big deal, but she wasn't buying it. The council rarely changed their minds about something as serious as executing a human.
"What did they do to you?" she asked him.
When he didn't answer her, she leaned forward and brushed her lips against his. "Please tell me what they did, Caine. "
"There's no point, Danni. Just let it go," he said against her lips.
"No," she said stubbornly as she pulled back. "I want to know what happened, Caine, and I want to know about this warning they gave you and why no one approached me. "
"It's cold out here and they'll be returning soon. We should go inside," he said, moving to shift her off his lap so that he could stand up, but she wasn't having it. He was going to answer her damn questions or freeze his balls off, it was his choice.
She wrapped her legs around his waist and held on tightly knowing that it would be impossible for him to get up with her like this. "You're not-hey!"
Damn floating Pytes!
With another one of those embarrassingly high squeaks that had him chuckling he allowed his legs to drop to the ground and simply walked her back towards the garage while she held on to him for dear life, not really sure what he was going to do next and admittedly a little nervous. She really needed him to teach her all these cool tricks, and soon.
"Tell me what happened!"
"No," the aggravating man said as he walked up the long driveway.
"I'm not kidding, Caine," she snapped even as her mind raced to figure out a way to get him to open his mouth and spill his guts. She'd never had much luck in intimidating him and she doubted that much had changed since he turned her into a Pyte.
"I never thought that you were," he said in a patronizing tone as he pressed a quick kiss to the tip of her nose as she glared at the man.
"I hate you," she simply said.
He slowed down as he frowned down at her, actually looking a little hurt and making her feel kind of bad that she said that. "You hate me?"
Before she could answer him he sighed heavily. "Then I guess I shouldn't be carrying you," he said as he pulled her off of him and quickly placed her on her feet. Before she could get her bearings or figure out what the hell he was doing, he reached out and grabbed a handful of her sheet.
He wouldn't. . . . . .
He did!
With a chuckle he yanked her sheet away and flashed away from her just as the sounds of engines running reached her ears. She looked over her shoulder and was a little surprised when she didn't see any sign of them. Then she remembered her damn Pyte abilities, the ones that she couldn't quite control yet. Seconds later the sounds of the engines became painfully loud, but she couldn't see any cars yet.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow," she mumbled in a rush as she cupped her ears, hoping that would block out the sounds, but it only managed to get worse by the second.
She heard Caine mutter, "Fucking hell," somewhere close by and could have happily kicked him in the balls when the words shot through her head with the power of a sledgehammer and dropped her to her knees.
"Looks like you need to eat," she guessed he said softly, but it sounded like he was screaming it in her ear.
"Stop yelling!" she snapped and then of course immediately cringed into herself. "I just ate a bag of blood a little while ago," she reminded him with a whisper since she really didn't want to experience that little culinary feat again for a while.
"Are you hungry, Danni?" he asked with another damn shout as he picked her up in his arms.
Instead of answering him or even looking at him since her damn eyes were starting to hurt from the light, she settled for nodding her head. She was a little hungry, but she wasn't ravenous like yesterday.
"Are you close, Danni?" he asked and thankfully she didn't need any clarification to figure out what he meant.
She shook her head, because this didn't feel anything like when she was about to lose control and go into bloodlust. This felt like when she first woke up after the change, but magnified by a hundred with the added bonus of the pain she used to suffer from, thanks to the cancer. She turned to bury her face against his chest to block out the sounds of the engines, their breathing, the wind and damn near everything. Every sound intensified and fought for her attention and the sunlight felt like a bright light, burning her eyes even with her lids closed. Seconds later, her sense of smell decided to join the party.
Her stomach rumbled violently as his scent was practically shoved down her throat. Unfortunately for her, or rather fortunately for him, the scent of the dirt, grass, trees, smoke, oil and about a hundred different scents made themselves known. The combination quickly took care of any hunger she might have felt a minute ago and decided to make a contribution of its own to her headache.
"Alright, looks like it's another bag of delicious cold blood for you," he screamed, well, he probably didn't scream it, but it sure as hell felt like he did.
This sucked, she thought just before the sounds of car doors opening and slamming shut sent her into oblivion.
Chapter 37
Boston Compound
"Dad, calm down!" she pleaded as he moved past her with another armful of her clothes and shoved them into one of the bags he'd thrown onto her bed.
"There's nothing to calm down about, Jill. You're going home to your grandmother," Ephraim said as he stormed past her to grab the rest of her clothes.
"You're being ridiculous, Dad. Madison will be having the babies soon and not too long after that Izzy's going to have her baby. Sending me home when everyone finally is about to need me is pointless," she said as she walked past her father and grabbed a disheveled pile of shirts to return them to the bureau.
She wasn't about to be sent home, not now, not after being forced to stay here every single day for the last several months. She'd given up her job, her apartment, her life to be there for her family and she wasn't about to have all that be for nothing. She was staying and seeing this out. She was not about to let one moment of stupidity wreck that.
Right.
She'd still been a kid when he shoved her away and there was no way she would have been able to handle him. If he wanted to kill her, he would have been able to and nothing and no one would have been able to stop him. Well, that wasn't entirely true. Someone could have shot him in the head or heart, but she would have probably been dead by the time they managed to get off a few rounds.
"Why didn't the Council punish me?" she asked, needing a change of topic before she completely lost it.
"It doesn't matter," he whispered as he pulled her against him, but she wasn't having it. There was something else that he wasn't telling her and she wanted to know what that something was.
She released her hold on the sheet so that she could reach up and cup his face. "Tell me, Caine. "
For a moment he just stared into her eyes and she was afraid that she was going to have to kick his ass to get her answer when he looked away, clenching his jaw tightly before he sighed heavily and looked back at her.
"I took care of it. "
"Took care of it. . . . . ," she repeated back slowly, wondering how exactly he took care of an order for execution.
"I took a punishment and a warning," he admitted with a shrug like it was no big deal, but she wasn't buying it. The council rarely changed their minds about something as serious as executing a human.
"What did they do to you?" she asked him.
When he didn't answer her, she leaned forward and brushed her lips against his. "Please tell me what they did, Caine. "
"There's no point, Danni. Just let it go," he said against her lips.
"No," she said stubbornly as she pulled back. "I want to know what happened, Caine, and I want to know about this warning they gave you and why no one approached me. "
"It's cold out here and they'll be returning soon. We should go inside," he said, moving to shift her off his lap so that he could stand up, but she wasn't having it. He was going to answer her damn questions or freeze his balls off, it was his choice.
She wrapped her legs around his waist and held on tightly knowing that it would be impossible for him to get up with her like this. "You're not-hey!"
Damn floating Pytes!
With another one of those embarrassingly high squeaks that had him chuckling he allowed his legs to drop to the ground and simply walked her back towards the garage while she held on to him for dear life, not really sure what he was going to do next and admittedly a little nervous. She really needed him to teach her all these cool tricks, and soon.
"Tell me what happened!"
"No," the aggravating man said as he walked up the long driveway.
"I'm not kidding, Caine," she snapped even as her mind raced to figure out a way to get him to open his mouth and spill his guts. She'd never had much luck in intimidating him and she doubted that much had changed since he turned her into a Pyte.
"I never thought that you were," he said in a patronizing tone as he pressed a quick kiss to the tip of her nose as she glared at the man.
"I hate you," she simply said.
He slowed down as he frowned down at her, actually looking a little hurt and making her feel kind of bad that she said that. "You hate me?"
Before she could answer him he sighed heavily. "Then I guess I shouldn't be carrying you," he said as he pulled her off of him and quickly placed her on her feet. Before she could get her bearings or figure out what the hell he was doing, he reached out and grabbed a handful of her sheet.
He wouldn't. . . . . .
He did!
With a chuckle he yanked her sheet away and flashed away from her just as the sounds of engines running reached her ears. She looked over her shoulder and was a little surprised when she didn't see any sign of them. Then she remembered her damn Pyte abilities, the ones that she couldn't quite control yet. Seconds later the sounds of the engines became painfully loud, but she couldn't see any cars yet.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow," she mumbled in a rush as she cupped her ears, hoping that would block out the sounds, but it only managed to get worse by the second.
She heard Caine mutter, "Fucking hell," somewhere close by and could have happily kicked him in the balls when the words shot through her head with the power of a sledgehammer and dropped her to her knees.
"Looks like you need to eat," she guessed he said softly, but it sounded like he was screaming it in her ear.
"Stop yelling!" she snapped and then of course immediately cringed into herself. "I just ate a bag of blood a little while ago," she reminded him with a whisper since she really didn't want to experience that little culinary feat again for a while.
"Are you hungry, Danni?" he asked with another damn shout as he picked her up in his arms.
Instead of answering him or even looking at him since her damn eyes were starting to hurt from the light, she settled for nodding her head. She was a little hungry, but she wasn't ravenous like yesterday.
"Are you close, Danni?" he asked and thankfully she didn't need any clarification to figure out what he meant.
She shook her head, because this didn't feel anything like when she was about to lose control and go into bloodlust. This felt like when she first woke up after the change, but magnified by a hundred with the added bonus of the pain she used to suffer from, thanks to the cancer. She turned to bury her face against his chest to block out the sounds of the engines, their breathing, the wind and damn near everything. Every sound intensified and fought for her attention and the sunlight felt like a bright light, burning her eyes even with her lids closed. Seconds later, her sense of smell decided to join the party.
Her stomach rumbled violently as his scent was practically shoved down her throat. Unfortunately for her, or rather fortunately for him, the scent of the dirt, grass, trees, smoke, oil and about a hundred different scents made themselves known. The combination quickly took care of any hunger she might have felt a minute ago and decided to make a contribution of its own to her headache.
"Alright, looks like it's another bag of delicious cold blood for you," he screamed, well, he probably didn't scream it, but it sure as hell felt like he did.
This sucked, she thought just before the sounds of car doors opening and slamming shut sent her into oblivion.
Chapter 37
Boston Compound
"Dad, calm down!" she pleaded as he moved past her with another armful of her clothes and shoved them into one of the bags he'd thrown onto her bed.
"There's nothing to calm down about, Jill. You're going home to your grandmother," Ephraim said as he stormed past her to grab the rest of her clothes.
"You're being ridiculous, Dad. Madison will be having the babies soon and not too long after that Izzy's going to have her baby. Sending me home when everyone finally is about to need me is pointless," she said as she walked past her father and grabbed a disheveled pile of shirts to return them to the bureau.
She wasn't about to be sent home, not now, not after being forced to stay here every single day for the last several months. She'd given up her job, her apartment, her life to be there for her family and she wasn't about to have all that be for nothing. She was staying and seeing this out. She was not about to let one moment of stupidity wreck that.
