Angel Blackwood (25 page)

“Heat, Angel. It’s a full
moon tonight. We need to get you out of here.”

I look
back
to see the twins still
scrabbling around on the muddy ground with a few pack
members.

Talon looks up
and screams, “Fucking move it
,
Angel. Get out of here!”

I wince and run to
Nixon’s car, quickly jumping into the passenger seat.

****

After being on
the road for two hours, we
finally reach an old small cabin. It’s hidden up amongst
the trees and there’s a ladder you have to climb to reach the
entrance at the top. The air conditioner in the car didn’t do shit,
I’m soaking wet from rain and sweat. I’m so thankful we’ve reached
our destination, I struggled to sit still for the whole journey and
Nixon hasn’t said one word to me. He seems tense and a little
angry, holding the steering wheel with clenched hands and scowling
face the entire way.

He motions for me to
climb the stairs and I do, but just as I’m about to lift myself up
he grabs my ankle.

He shakes his
head. “Okay, bad idea. You go
after
me.” He climbs
up the ladder and I follow.

He helps
me
and after I’m up he pulls
the ladder and closes the hatch on the floor where the ladder came
through; no one can climb up and get in without the hatch being
opened.

I look over the
balcony and I’m at a loss for words
. It’s absolutely beautiful. We are high enough to be
hidden amongst the trees but we have a beautiful view of the
surrounding wooded area.

“What is this place?” I say in
awe.

“My Grandparents were
birdwatchers, foragers too. When the real word became too much for
them, they built this tree-house so they could be amongst the
things they loved in their own secluded sanctuary. They’re long
gone now, but it’s the one thing that my family left me,” Nixon
says, and I turn to see him unlocking the door and opening
it.

I follow him inside. The
cabin seems to be a two bedroom. We walk directly into the lounge
and dining area that has a small open plan kitchen. There’s a
little hallway and on either side is a bedroom with a big double
bed taking up most of the space. At the end of the hall is a shower
and toilet.

The rain is still beating down
hard on the roof of the little cabin.

“You need to change into
dry clothes, don’t need you getting pneumonia on top of everything
else. Have a shower and take this shirt. There’s a dryer for your
clothes.” He throws me a shirt from his bag and I take his advice
and head for a cold shower.

The heat is pulsing
through me and although the shower helps, I’m still hot as hell. I
slip on Nixon’s black shirt and thank the Fates that it’s long
enough to cover everything that needs to be covered. I’m a bit
uneasy with the fact that I won’t be wearing underwear or a bra
until my clothes are dry, but the less clothes the better, it’s way
too hot.

I walk out of the
bathroom with my clothes in hand, heading for the dryer. I bend
down and shove them inside. Looking at the buttons, I try to figure
out which button to press, but Nixon’s hand goes past mine and he
presses the right button for me.

I feel him behind me as I stand
there.

I stand up full
and he closes in on me. One hand goes under my shirt and rests on
my hip, chills
form down my
spine as he uses his chin to move the hair away from my shoulder.
He rests his other hand on the dryer then leans into me.

I’m not attracted to
Nixon this way, but the only way I feel cooler is when my body is
close to another’s.

I don’t
want
him this way, so why the
hell am I leaning into his touch and shoving my body against
his?

“You need to
push me away,
” he whispers
against my ear.

“I know that’s what I
need to do, but I can’t. My body is on fire when I’m not being
touched,” I say breathlessly.

He growls in my
ear, spins me around then picks me up. I stare into his lust filled
eyes as he carries me to one of the rooms. He drops me onto the bed
with him still on
top of me.
He takes my hands, holds them above my head on the pillows, and
closes his eyes as he pushes his body against mine making us both
moan out loud.

Bringing his face down to
my neck, he runs his extended canines from my collar bone to
beneath my ear. I’m trying hard to resist him, but my body has
other ideas, the coolness he brings with his touch is too allaying.
My legs wrap securely around his waist, forcing him tightly against
my body. I feel his one hand leave mine, but his other hand quickly
takes its place holding both of my hands in his one.

I hear
something
jingling.

Then the clank of
metal.

But
it’s too late.

He’s handcuffed
me to the head
board.

Memories roll
in and flashbacks cloud my vision as
I thrash about on the bed.

Nixon moves off
the bed.
“I only have so much
self-control, Angel. This is the only way. I need to be away from
you. I’ll bring you something to eat a little later.” He doesn’t
give me a chance to speak, just walks out of the room shutting the
door. Leaving me alone with a little lamp on in the now darkened
room.

I
stretch my neck to look up at my
wrists where the handcuffs are. They’re not as tight as the belt
Drake used when he tied me to the bed that day, but the pink scars
around my wrist are enough to freak me out and bring back all those
terrible memories. I thrash and move about until I’m out of breath
and have tears seeping out the corner of my eyes. I close my eyes
exhausted, my temperature rising again.

I wake up sweating, my
body is on fire and my throat is dry. My hands are no longer bound
and there’s a sandwich sitting on the night stand. I scoff down the
food and down the water. I walk to the door and pull. Nothing. I
try again but the door won’t budge.

I pound my flat
hands against the door
making
it rattle.

“
I swear to
God
, Nixon. If you don’t
unlock this door right now, I’ll bring all my inner fury down on
this place. No more tree-house for you! I swear it!” I quickly hear
the door being unlocked from the other side. He opens the door and
looks almost as bad as I feel. I shove past him, slam the bathroom
door closed and jump under another cold shower.

I find my clothes neatly
folded on the sink when I get out of the shower. After dressing, I
open the bathroom door to find Nixon standing there with his arms
folded across his chest. I storm up to him and push him
hard.

“Don’t
ever
cuff me to a bed again.” I push him once more, but before i
can do it again he grabs my wrists. I try to wriggle away from him,
but he holds me firmly whilst staring down at the scars Drake left
around my wrists.

His apologetic eyes find
mine. “Shit, Angel. I didn’t think. I’m so sorry,” he says,
loosening his grip. I pull my hand free and shove his shoulder as I
walk past.

“Just don’t do it again.”

I head out to
stand
in the cool air on the
balcony watching the rain. I can already feel the sweat dripping
down my back, so I place my hair in a bun on the top of my
head.

“I thought I was helping
you. We don’t have that kind of relationship. I knew if we’d gone
there, given into our desires because of the heat, we would ruin a
friendship that has become important to us both. You’re my best
friend, Angel. I don’t want to lose you,” Nixon says softly, as he
leans on his elbows on the railing of the balcony next to
me.

I let out a
deep breath.
“I know, Nix. I’m
sorry too.” I turn and look at him, lift my hand and place it on
the top of his head, running my fingers through his hair
gently.

“I don’t know what came
over me. I’ve never felt that way before, but no matter what
happens... I’ll always be here Nix. You know all my secrets, you
couldn’t get rid of me even if you tried.”

****

The days fly by
and I’m in and out of consciousness. My body is constantly on fire
and
I’m getting weaker by the
day. Nixon helps to feed me, lifting my head to give me water. I
can feel Faith writhing in pain too as she calls out for our mates.
Nixon tells me five days have gone by, if we’re lucky I’ll only
have to go through this for another two days. My parents keep
trying to get through to us. I’m afraid that in my weak state I
might not be able to hold up the barrier inside my head. My entire
pack could get in there and find out all the secrets and memories
I’ve kept hidden so well. Nixon told them where we were staying,
but he told them that we’d invited a couple friends to join us and
didn’t know how long we’d be staying for. Surprisingly they were
cool with it as long as I was responsible; meaning, keeping my
drinking to a minimum. I would rather them think that I was
partying like a regular eighteen year old then know what was
actually going on.

“I can’t do it
Nixon, you need to make it stop!” I yell from
where I lay on the bed.

“You know what
I have to do to make it stop. I’m not
having sex with you, Angel. I’m sorry,” he says, wiping his
face with his hands. The past few days has been really tough on
him, he looks exhausted.

“I don’t care anymore,
Nixon! Just do what you have to do. My body is on fire, just make
it stop!” I start crying.

“Dude, if I had a girl
begging me to bed her, I’d jump her.” I hear Axel’s voice. I turn
to see him through tear-filled eyes leaning against the bedroom
door.

“What the hell are you
doing here? How did you get up?” Nixon stands quickly and looks
back and forth between Axel and me. He looks a little worried that
Axel may take me up on the offer.

“I’m good at
climbing,
” he shrugs, walking
past as Nixon keeps his eyes firmly on Axel.

“Chill, bro. I’m not
gonna jump her. I was joking. I have more control then you think,
dude.” Axel calmly sits down on the side of my bed near
me.

He looks down at me,
giving me a little smile. He reaches into the bowl full of ice and
wets the face cloth.

“How you doing, sugar?”
He says, using the gentlest voice I’ve ever heard him use. He
places the ice cold cloth on my forehead and I let out a sigh of
bliss. The fact that I’m lying in one of Nixon’s shirts and nothing
else doesn’t even faze me at this point.

I close my
eyes.
“I don’t know how much
longer I can do this, Ax. We’re hurting.” I speak for myself and
Faith.

He brings another ice
cold, wet cloth down my arms, then goes towards my legs.

“You need to
eat
more, Angel. You’ve lost
weight,” he says, sounding concerned.

He looks up to Nixon.“You
too, dude. Go shower and have a rest. You look like shit. I’ve got
this.” Nixon rolls his eyes, but reluctantly leaves the room, too
exhausted to argue with him.

After Axel feeds me, he
helps me to the shower and stands outside the shower curtain until
I’m done. He gives me privacy when we enter the bedroom so I can
place my underwear and bra on. I don’t even bother putting on a
shirt, my body can’t take the material sticking to my wet
skin.

I lie on the bed and curl
in a ball of pain. Axel opens the door and clicks his
tongue.

“You’re determined to
make this harder on me, aren’t you, Angel?” He chuckles to himself
as he looks down at my half naked body.

“I can’t wear
clothes,
they keep sticking to
me,” I say, as I roll over onto my other side and fall
asleep.

I hear Axel’s
angry voice speaking over the phone. “Either one of you get
your
asses over here and help
her or I’ll ease her pain, and you know what I mean when I say
that. She’s in so much agony right now, man and I’m struggling to
not do what I really want to. If you don’t get here in the next
three hours I’m going to take her and believe me, when I’m done
with her…you two won’t even be a blip on her fucking
radar.”

I hear him huff
and throw the phone on the bedside table.
I don’t even have the energy to open my eyes or mouth
to say thank you as he places an ice cold face cloth on my
forehead.

I fall asleep soon after.

Chapter
1
4

I wake up
feeling better. M
y body isn’t
dripping wet with perspiration, but my temperature is still very
high. There’s banging and shouting coming from outside my room. I’m
guessing the person responsible for this change in my heat has
arrived.

I run for
the
bedroom door and swing it
open. Talon sits on top of Axel with his hands wrapped around his
throat. Nixon’s attempt to get Talon to stop is failing miserably.
Talon won’t budge.

“Tal
on stop! Get off
him!” I scream.