Arianna Rose: The Arrival (Part 4) (23 page)

“What is it?” he asked as if reading the text of her thoughts in closed captions.  “What’s got your wheels spinning?”

She allowed her backside to sink to the bed, still holding fast to Darius’ cigarette. 
“I don’t know,” she said cheerlessly.

He crossed his arms across his broad chest
and looked at her pensively.  “Truthfully?”

She hesitated a split-second, regretting that she was about to lie to him.  “Yep,” she said.  “Truthfully.” 

“Hm,” he rumbled disbelievingly.  Arianna fidgeted, waiting for him to speak.  “So are you gonna share or should I light my own?” he asked and eyed his cigarette still perched between her fingers. 

She smiled sweetly and said, “Unless you plan to take it by force, you’re not getting it back.”

A devilish look swept across his face.  “Huh, tempting, but I’ll get my own,” he said and reached for another from his pack.  Once it was lit, he crossed the small room and sat in the wicker chair.  After taking a long drag, he spoke.  “So tell me more,” he said and angled his head against the back of the chair.  He lifted his chin and blew out a thin stream of smoke.  “Tell me more about you, about life before this,” he said and opened his arms.

“I don’t even know where to begin,” she
said.  She dropped her spent cigarette into the brown liquid that remained in her mug, the glowing head extinguished with a hiss.  Arianna began telling him about her mother’s many escapades, leading off with one that was still fresh in her mind.  She told him about Artie Sellers, the portly man her mother had brought home their first night in Herald Falls and Darius doubled over laughing when she reached the part when she’d essentially dumped the man off the couch by lifting the cushion until he fell to the floor to wake him.  She also spoke about Luke for the first time since his death.  She hadn’t ever been able to talk to Desmond about him. 

Arianna and D
arius talked for hours, though the time raced at warp speed.  A glance at the window revealed breadths of lilac that deepened to violent and indigo.  Evening had arrived without warning.  Darius followed her gaze to the window. 

“Oh wow, I didn’t realize how late it was,” he said and
stretched.  “I guess it’s true what they say; time does fly when you’re having fun,” he added sheepishly.

“I enjoyed talking to you,” she heard herself say, the words rushing ahead of her mind. 

Obviously pleased by what she’d said, Darius ran his hands down the length of his thighs before placing them on his knees.  “I enjoyed getting to know more about you,” he said soulfully.  “But it is getting late and I’m sure you want me out of your hair.  I guess I should go man my post.” He pointed to her front door. 

Her belly quaked before bottoming out at the thought of him leaving.  “Don’t you want to shower?” she suggested.  “And eat maybe?  I don’t have anything fancy, but I have c
ereal and oatmeal.  I have junk food, too.”

She didn’t know why
she was suddenly so hell-bent on keeping him there when all she’d wanted to do in the beginning was be rid of him.  Her mind swam several laps in the logic lake and kept slamming her headlong into the same dock. 

“I would love both,” he said and locked eyes with her.

A tiny sigh of relief escaped her lips and she feared he’d seen it.  “I figured you’d worked up a sweat hiking today and that a stint in my fabulous shower, complete with a showerhead that powerfully dribbles a mighty trickle of water over you, would do the trick,” she said with cool derision.

“I don’t care if I’m standing beneath a camel spitting water over my head, as long as I’m near you,” he said then turned and walked into the bathroom.

Her heart rocketed to her throat and throbbed there for several minutes as she stood, dumbfounded and looking at the now-closed door to her bathroom.  The events of the day from start to present had left her in a tailspin, completely flabbergasted.  Until now, their relationship had been tenuous.  At times, they worked around each other, endured each other even.  But his gesture in the forest, when he’d brushed her arms with his hands then slid his fingers between hers, had been unmistakable.  An attraction was afoot.  And she was starting to believe it was mutual. 

Heat swirled in her body and her throat was suddenly dry.  She uprooted her feet from where they’d taken hold in her bedroom an
d hurried to the kitchenette.  She filled a plastic cup with tap water and guzzled it.  When she’d finished, she wet a paper towel and pressed it to her forehead then scoured her body after she realized she hadn’t showered yet either.  The weather had not been overly warm, but the hike had been strenuous, nevertheless.  The need to feel fresher and cleaner pressed.  Dish soap and the paper towel would have to suffice for the moment.  She scrubbed quickly, thankful that she’d picked a pricier brand with a lavender scent, and when the water ceased in the bathroom, she was mildly refreshed.  She took a deep breath and walked into her bedroom.

Steam seeped from the bathroom as the door opened and framed Darius in ghostly fronds. 
A towel was slung around his neck and he patted water from the innumerable spikes of short hair on his scalp.  She drank in the well-defined angles of his cheekbones and jaw, the flawless proportions of his muscles and limbs and his still-damp golden-brown skin flecked with beads of water from his shower.  He wore only jeans that hung low on his lips.  Her gaze wandered from the hard planes of his bare chest upward to his face and once again to his eyes.  His stunning eyes fairly glowed like fire-lit jewels, hypnotizing her, drawing her in like seductive gravity.  She swallowed hard, her mouth parched again.  “How was your shower?” she asked and immediately scolded herself for asking such an asinine question. 

“Great,” he said casually. 

“I’m sure you had to brace yourself against the surge of water that gushed,” she tried to joke, but he did not smile.  He watched her with the countenance of a ravenous hunter, keen and primed.  Her heart thrashed in her chest, lashing against her ribcage with such force she swore it was visible.   He held the edges of his towel, forcing his biceps to flex and bulge.  He closed the small distance between them and stopped inches from her. 

Her chest heaved and brushed against his.  He reached out a hand and traced h
is finger along her jaw.  Arianna had to remind herself to blink, to breathe even, as her mind struggled to form a cohesive connection between thoughts.  “Arianna,” he whispered.  His voice was mesmerizing.  She tried to ignore the sensuality embedded in his timbre and flashed a polite smile.  Still staring, silent, watchful, with his ethereal green eyes dressed in a thick row of the blackest lashes she’d ever seen, her shattered heart continued to begrudgingly thunder in her chest.  “You are beautiful,” he said in his rich, deep voice that wrapped her mind in ribbons of warm, dark caramel.  He cupped her cheek and swept his thumb along her cheekbone.

She wanted to say something, anything, but her brain had disconnected from her mouth
.  His hand dropped from her face and two powerful arms embraced her like twin hoops of steel.  A wave of carnal warmth upped her pulse rate. His flesh was hot to the touch and heated her body beneath her clothes.  He dipped his head so that his lips were poised just a whisper from hers, detaining them with their erotic curves and fullness.  His hot, sweet breath feathered her lips, each pant laced with raw, insatiable hunger unlike any she’d ever been on the receiving end of.  She slid her hands between them, placed them squarely on the swell of his pectoral muscles and envisioned herself pushing him away.  But the disconnection between her mind and body persisted.  Instead, her fingertips tingled atop his skin, burning with sweltering need. 

Before she
had another second to debate or doubt, their lips pulled together as if unable to resist the expanse between them any longer and his velvety, soft lips were pressed to hers.  Sweet and warm and first, he brushed his mouth against hers tenderly, carefully.  But soon, an all-consuming fire began to blaze and he abandoned his slow, leisurely exploration of her mouth.  His tongue slipped between her lips, coaxing them open, begging for more.  She accepted him and their kiss deepened immediately.  His hand dropped to her waist and scooped her up, pressing her against him hard, so that not even a hair could fit between them.  Her hands gripped the back of his head, clinging for dear life as they unleashed weeks of pent-up passion and longing.  His body trembled and hers did too, the sensation so potent, she did not know where his shutters began and hers ended.  He nibbled and sucked her lower lip, moaning as his kiss became frenzied, urgent, as if he were dependent on her for sustenance.  The heat between them was rapturous as it sweltered. Her senses were invaded, her soul consumed.  His lips on hers, though new and foreign, felt intimately familiar.  His strong sturdy body and his tongue dancing with hers sent shockwaves of desire firing through her body. 

A knock at the door caused him
to jerk away, an involuntary groan escaping first.  He wrenched away from her, looking more like a fierce creature than the glistening man she’d seen moments ago.  He stole across the room and prowled by the curtain.  “It’s Beth,” he said.  “I should go.”  He walked past her and grabbed a T-shirt from the drawer. 

“No,” Arianna gasped.  “Stay her
e tonight.”

Apparently, he was as shocked as she was to hear those words befall her lips.  His eyes grew wide.

“You can guard me just as well from the couch as you can the doorstep,” she qualified her invitation by saying.

“The closer I am
to you, the better,” he breathed.  “I will step outside and get some air and give you a minute with Beth,” he said and tugged his shirt over his head.  He took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze before he strode past her and opened the door.  He greeted Beth then disappeared. 

She touched her lips and drew a shaky breath
before she turned and faced Beth.  She walked on unsteady legs to greet her friend. 

Uneasiness twisted and tangled in her gut like barbs of wire, scratching and clawing at everything in its wake. 
The kiss had been passionate, reckless even.  The heat between them was akin to speeding a Maserati down a dead-end street. 

“Hey Beth,” she did her best to sound normal when her insides were a complete mess.  “What’s up?”

“Where’s Mister Creepy headed?” she thumbed over her shoulder after Darius. 

“Mister Creepy?  That’s not nice,” Arianna said playfully. 

“Whatever, I call it like I see it.  The dude is freaking creepy,” Beth stood her ground.

Arianna squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.  When she opened them she said, “For your information
, he went outside to get some fresh air then he’s coming back here to crash.”

“You guys are sleeping together?” Beth
asked.  Her voice was filled with equal parts astonishment and revulsion. 

“No!” Arianna replied instantly. 
“I just feel bad, that’s all.  He’s been standing outside my door for weeks now.” 

“So?  Who cares?  Let him keep standing out there,” Beth snipped.

“Beth, come on,” Arianna protested.  “I know you two got off to a bumpy start, but let it go already. 

“Let it go?  The dude appears from nowhere.  No one knows if he is who he says yet they hang on his every word like he’s some knight in shining armor.  He could be anybody, anything.  And you have invited him for a sleepover!” Beth blustered then threw her hands in the air.  They landed with a slap against her thighs. 

“Hey, I don’t owe you an explanation for anything.  He can sleep on my couch if I want him to!”

“He could kill you in your sleep!” Beth argued. 

“He isn’t going to hurt me!  Shit Beth, don’t you think he would have already if he wanted to?  I mean, we were alone in the forest all day today, then here most of the night.  Wouldn’t either of those times have been the perfect opportunity to murder me?  Why would he need me to be asleep?” Arianna felt her temper glide through her fingers like grains of sand.  She pinched the bridge of her nose.  “He’s here to protect me. 

“No, no he’s not,” Beth retorted.  “I don’t know what he’s here for but he doesn’t give a shit about your safety, I promise you that.”

A slow throb pulsated at her temples and forehead and a soft knock at the door meant that Darius had returned.  “Listen, that’s him.  Can we talk about this in the morning, please?”

“Yeah whatever, tomorrow morning, first thing,” Beth answered and frowned.

“Please Beth, you gotta trust me.”

“Don’t you get it, Arianna?  It’s not you I don’t trust.  It’s him.”

Arianna looked past Beth and out the small window of her cabin.  Framed by the pane of glass, Darius stood, bathed in moonlight with his otherworldly jade eyes glowing like starlight.  Something in her friend’s word resonated deep in her bones, but she was hesitant to share her misgivings yet. 

“I’ll be fine,” she said and smiled tightly.  “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Goodnight,” Beth said grudgingly.

“Goodnight, Beth,” Arianna replied.

She watched as Beth, just inside the entrance, turned on her heels, opened the front door and breezed past Darius with a halfhearted “hello.”

When he stepped back inside, h
e examined her face and asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, just tired.  That hike of ours did me in.”

“Me too,” he agreed. 

“I am going to hit the hay, if you don’t mind,” she said and felt as if a greasy ball were rolling around in her belly. 

“Not at all,” he said with a smile. 

She went to her room and yanked the blanket from the foot of her bed.  She handed it to him and walked him to the short, lumpy couch.  It was a close second to spending the night on his feet, but was the best she had to offer for the time being.  He sunk into the cushions and gripped her wrist.  He lowered his lips to her pulse and kissed it softly.  “Goodnight, Arianna,” he said.

“Goodnight, Darius,” she replied and walked away on legs that felt as if they were made of gelatin to her room. 

Arianna slipped ben
eath her covers and turned out the lights. Though she was exhausted in every sense of the word and Darius, her protector, slept in the next room, sleep did not find her right away.  She tossed and turned, Beth’s words tumbling, as well.  She was confident they were without merit, that he would not slit her throat while she slept.  The wild accusations were insane.   Still, every creak of the cabin as it settled made her stir and Beth’s wild accusations wreaked havoc on her mind.  Beth had succeeded at fostering the seed of doubt Arianna’s mind had already planted. 

Chapter 16

Darius’ skin felt too tight, too hot, as he lay awake on the uneven cushions of what Arianna liberally called a couch. It felt more like a bed of rocks covered with fabric.  But the torturous furniture was where he’d been forced to sleep, a lateral move, really, from sleeping on his feet in front of her cabin.  The only perk was that at least now he had a clear view of Arianna.  She writhed in her sleep from time to time, whimpering sexily.  He wondered whether she was dreaming of him, of straddling him and taking his full length inside her.  He drew in a sharp breath.  Need burned below his waist.  Weeks had passed since he’d bedded a woman, long, frustrating weeks.  And Arianna had yet to invite him to her bed.  Though the long, toned leg that stretched from beneath her comforter seemed like invitation enough.  Her bare skin – a leg, an arm, a shoulder and her delicious, slender neck – all in an olive complexion, tempted him, beckoned him to taste them.  Perhaps he would tiptoe close to her and do just that.

He did not know how
she managed to resist him, yet she had so far.  He’d never dreamed it possible, especially since he’d made every sappy gesture – the looks of longing, the tender acts of kindness, the chivalry and protection, and so much more.  Typically, just one would’ve been effective enough to have a woman throw herself at him.  But all of them at once should have resulted in passion-filled nights of animal pleasure during which he was treated like a king, not relegated to a lumpy sofa that smelled of mold. 

Another moan slipped from
Arianna’s lips, moans he wished were being made naked and from beneath him.  If she were any other woman that is exactly what would be happening.  But she was not an ordinary woman.  She was Arianna Rose, the Sola.  Nothing he’d done seemed to shift the walls around her, until just a while ago. 

Earlier, he’d made the most progress he’d made sin
ce he’d arrived.  And even that had been minimal.  She’d kissed him, just one kiss.  But the heat between them had been a towering inferno of erotic tension, one that took both of them by surprise.  All that was needed was release.  She, of course, had denied him that right. 

He contemplated
waking her and seizing her mouth again.  He wanted to bruise her plump lips with a punishing kiss, to take her against her will if she refused to yield.  And when he took her, it would not be a gentle, soft-as-rose-petals experience.  They would connect skin to skin, soul to soul, stripped bare and untamed as their bodies melded.  To the outsider, what they would share would seem wild, violent even.  Maybe it was.  He liked it that way.  And she would come to like it too.  He longed for her teeth on him, nipping his chest and shoulders, gripping him hard as her tiny nails clawed his flesh.  Just imagining their encounter made blood rush to his head, as well as other areas south of his navel, and made it hard for him to hear as his ears buzzed with the hot rush.  Only the hot rush was not fueled by lust alone.  Fury powered it as well. 

A memory flashed in his mind, muddling his desire and thoughts of conquering his mate
, and agitating him.  He recalled Beth speaking to Arianna, warning her not to trust him.  He’d heard them talk through the door.  They hadn’t realized he had hearing that transcended insignificant obstacles such as distance or walls.  Everyone continued to underestimate him, and disparage him, as well.  He’d heard Beth voice a low, suspicious opinion of him.  She’d spoken ill of him.  He had gone out of his way to be nice to her, and she repaid him by badmouthing him.  She’d cautioned that he might kill Arianna in her sleep, and that he did not care for her safety. 

Arianna’s
safety in the traditional sense of the word did not matter, that much was true.  He did not worry for her as an individual he cared for and wished to see out of harm's way.  She was his property, and he did not like his belongings touched or taken from him. So in that regard, he concerned himself greatly with her security, much like human beings secured assets such as jewelry and expensive electronics.  Arianna was a necessary possession he would use to his advantage and needed to guard. Beyond that, he couldn’t care less.  As for slitting her throat while she slept, Beth was way off.  Supernatural beings needed to be awake when sapped of their powers, and he certainly wouldn’t kill her without draining her first.  No, Beth had been wrong on both counts.  She’d slandered him, sullied his name for no good reason, the stupid little bitch.  And she intended to return in the morning and vilify him further. 

Fuming, he propped hi
mself up on his elbow and huffed.  Beth’s heart-shaped face floated in his mind’s eyes, her pixie haircut framing it in dark wisps.  He wanted nothing more than to launch his massive fist squarely into it. 

His body shuddered and he bolted upright, panting angrily.  He glanced at Arianna who stirred then turned and
glowered out the window.  He’d pretended not to hear her disparaging remarks, had opted not to confront her in the moment.  He’d allowed her a small victory, not out of generosity or weakness, but out of necessity.  He’d known another moment would present itself to address the issue.  And that moment had come. 

Darius leaped from the misshapen couch and stole across the room, as swift and silent as a shadow.  He hovered over Arianna and watched the even rise and fall of her chest.  She slept deeply.  He could feel her energy emanating in a slow, constant hum. 

He brushed an errant lock from her forehead and took a last look at her serene face before he felt his body disintegrate into the atmosphere. 

He sifted to a thatch of bramble alongside Beth’s cabin. 
His insides trilled with excitement.  Time spent simmering about her blatant attempt to poison his wife against him allowed his ire to brim.  As he stood so close to her he could fairly hear the relaxed patter of her pulse, he noticed others had gathered outside her front door. 
Perfect
, he thought.  An audience was just what he needed. 

Young trainees huddled and talked not far from her doorstep.  A sinister smile
spread his lips.  He closed his eyes and envisioned himself inside Beth’s cabin.

When Darius reappeared
he stood in Beth’s kitchenette.  The room was untidy.  Dishes filled the small sink and littered the countertop along with opened jars of peanut butter, jelly and various chips.  The sight turned his stomach so he left the empty room and padded into the next, a narrow sitting area with a single couch.  He quickly realized the layout of her cabin was identical to Arianna’s.  He felt as if he was there, in fact.  The only difference was the sweet, fruity notes of plum and lily that infused the air.  He inhaled deeply, filling his nostrils with the aromatic fragrance then peered through the archway that led to a bedroom and saw that steam swirled out from the thin slit beneath a closed door, the bathroom door he presumed.  The faint tapping of water drumming against a hard surface echoed through the small space.  Beth was in the shower. 

He crept to her room and seated himself in the worn chair in the corner beside her nightstand.  Though not made of
wicker as Arianna’s was, the one he sat in was an atrocity, nonetheless, and wobbled precariously, barely holding his weight.  He waited until the doorknob rattled, silent and stealthy.

When Beth stepped out of the bathroom holding a bundle of clothes, hair wet and clad in pajamas,
she caught sight of him in her periphery and spun.  Owl-like eyes, wide and shrewd, zeroed in on him. 

“Hello, Beth,” he greeted her.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Beth did not waste time with pleasantries and asked, frozen in place and still clutching her clothes. 

“I guess we’re going to skip the pleasantries and get right to the point,” he said with casual disinterest, a playful smirk teasing across his lips. 
Her harsh gaze intensified.  “Why did you say those things to Arianna?” he asked her.  She did not react to his words, not facially, at least.  In fact, everything about her posture and expression was composed and in control as she turned her attention to dropping her clothes into a basket near her dresser. 

“What things?”
she asked coolly. 

Her hands were steady and her voice was even, but the fitful pounding at the base of her throat betrayed her.

“Oh come now, Beth, why lie to me?  Surely you know that as the Sola’s intended husband, I possess powers that exceed hers.”

“Is that right?
” she said impassively. 

“Yes, yes it is,” he hissed and felt his energy tighten and coil like a snake readying to strike. 

She scoffed; the sound sharp and brittle, dripping with scorn. 

“So I’ll ask you again, why did you tell Arianna she couldn’t trust me?  Why did you try to taint her thoughts with your vile
beliefs?”

“Because I don’t trust you,” she said and enunciated each word as
if she were hurling curse words at him.  “When you speak, it feels like spiders are covering me.  You make my skin crawl.” She narrowed her eyes and squared her shoulders, bold and fearless.  She had nerve.  A wisp of a girl that a stiff breeze could blow away, but she had the heart of a far fiercer creature.  He would have enjoyed watching her strut and try to intimidate him, but she had committed a serious offense, an unforgivable one.  She had attempted to contaminate Arianna’s opinion of him.