PS02 - Without Regret (24 page)

“You’re kidding right?” Joshua asked, giving her a funny look that she was too exhausted to even hazard a guess at.

“No, I’m not. The asshole, as I am now referring to him as, threw me in a car, didn’t tell me a damn thing and then surprised me

by taking me to a clearing with naked men, which wouldn’t have been bad except for the fact that they all shifted into huge

vicious beasts and tried to eat me,” she explained, biting back a yawn as she wondered if she’d ever be able to sleep with the

lights off again.

“Shit,” he muttered, ramming his fingers through his hair, “no wonder mom’s pissed at him.”

She eyed him warily. “And by mom you mean Madison, right?” she asked, wondering exactly how old Madison really was to

have a grown man for a son. She would have guessed mid-twenties, but apparently life spans were different in this household.

“Yes,” he said with a fond smile as he crossed his legs and leaning back against the wall, “she’s my mother.

Jill is my sister and you’ve already met my brother Chris,” he said with a wink. “I also have a little brother named Marc,

who’s already in bed, but I’m sure you’ll meet him later.”

Isabella nodded slowly as she took that all in. “And Ephraim is your father?”

“Yes,” he said proudly.

“Okay……,” she said slowly, drawing out the word. “I don’t know what Ephraim is, but I’ve already figured out that whatever

he is, Madison is. Chris claims to be a Sentinel, whatever that is. What are you and your sister and little brother then?”

“My parents are Pytes, which I’ll get to in a minute.

Chris is a Sentinel as you are,” he said, holding up his hand in a stopping motion when she opened her mouth to question him,

“again I’ll get to that. I’m human and so is Jill.”

“And your little brother?”

His expression hardened as he considered her question, making her feel a little uncomfortable. After an intense moment of

awkwardness, at least on her part, he shrugged. “Cheats at video games.”

Okay…..

Clearly the little brother was a subject to stay away from, she realized, which was fine with her, because there was plenty of

other things that they needed to go over.

“How old are your parents?” she asked, deciding that maybe it was better if she eased herself into this new world of hers.

“Dad’s into his second century and mom’s in her mid thirties,” he answered with that good natured smile back on his face.

“Okay,” she said as she quickly calculated Joshua’s age with Madison’s and Ephraim’s and when she was done she couldn’t

help but feel disgusted. Madison had to have been a child when Joshua was born.

Ew.

“Wait, before you get all grossed out here, you should probably know that Madison and Ephraim are our adopted parents,” he

said with a sheepish grin.

“Oh,” she said, feeling more than just slightly relieved.

She didn’t know Ephraim at all, but she was thankful for saving her life and hated to think the man was capable of something as

that.

“Madison and Jill are my biological half sisters,” he went on to explain and she swore she felt her brows inch past her hairline

at that little announcement. “Our biological mother wasn’t there for us and Madison raised us, so when Ephraim adopted us she

did as well.

She’s always been my mother so it just made sense,”

Joshua added with a shrug.

She nodded absently as she digested the information.

“What about Chris?”

Pursing his lips up in thought Joshua appeared to be thinking it over. “Chris’ mother was, no,” he said, shaking his head, “I’m

sorry, is a world class bitch. He grew up in a trailer park about ten miles from here. He was in and out of foster homes until he

was about ten.

Then he’d just hideout when his mother got arrested.”

“What did she do?” Isabella found herself asking.

“Everything,” he said with a shrug. “Theft, drugs, and prostitution. No one knows who Chris’ father is. I don’t even think

Diane, his biological mother, knows. I thought I had it tough, but Chris,” he said, blowing out a slow breath, “he had a really

fucked up life. He won’t talk to us about anything and I never understood how bad Chris had it until a month after Chris came

home from the hospital and Dad took Chris and me into town for ice cream and to pick up a new wheelchair for Chris.

I-“

Isabella held her hand up and waved it. “Whoa, wait a minute there, buddy. What do you mean wheelchair?”

“Wow, there is just so much you don’t know,” Joshua muttered, sounding exhausted. “Okay, long story short.

We were invaded by a Master, a vampire leader. She tried to get Dad to change her into a Pyte so that she could have true

immortality and could walk in the daylight, but Dad and Chris turned the tables on her.

There was a little shoot out, Chris got shot a few times and landed his ass in a wheelchair, but thanks to his Sentinel blood,

operations and a donation of blood or two from another Sentinel Chris was able to walk again.

He was paralyzed for less than a year. There’s more to it, but I’m sure Chris can tell you if he wants to.”

“Okay,” Isabella said numbly.

“Anyway, we were in town and I was sitting on Chris’

lap,” he said, pausing when her eyebrows once again headed north, “um, I was just a kid then,” he explained quickly.

“All right then,” she mumbled.

“He was spinning around on two wheels when his mother walked in the pharmacy. She wouldn’t even look at him,” Joshua

said through clenched teeth. “He acted like he didn’t care, but I could tell he was pissed. The thing that really pissed me off

was when he tried to wheel himself out of the pharmacy and his wheelchair got caught on one of those racks they kept by the

door and blocked the exit. That bitch tried to shove his chair out of the way so that she could leave as she muttered ‘fucking

cripple’,” Joshua bit out acidly, his hands clenched into fists.

“Oh my god,” Isabella whispered, shocked that any parent could be that cold. Okay, granted before she heard that she thought

her parents were pretty damn cold. “What did Chris do?” she found herself asking.

Joshua shrugged. “He was too busy restraining me to do anything.”

“Restraining you?”

“I may have kicked her a few times,” he said, smiling sheepishly.

“Good,” she said, wishing she could kick the woman a few times. “Did she ever apologize?”

“No,” came the hard answer from the doorway, “but at least she’s gone back to calling me a fucking bastard.”

Chapter 19

“I’m sorry, Chris. I didn’t mean to-” Joshua started to say, but Chris waved the apology off.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, knowing his brother had only been trying to help. He didn’t really care if she knew that his

mother was a bitch or not. The whole town knew and she would have known within a day if she stuck around, but that didn’t

mean he liked the look of pity on her face as she looked up at him.

He hated pity.

“Did you clean her up?” he asked, switching the subject.

“Yeah, they’re shallow and should be healed in a day or two,” Joshua said, collecting his first aid kit as he stood up. “You’ll

probably be a little sore, but that’s nothing a hot soak won’t fix,” Joshua said, giving Izzy a warm smile that she easily returned.

“Thank you, Joshua,” she said, getting up. As soon as Joshua was out of the room the smile was replaced with a glare in his

direction.

“Not happy to see me I take it?” he said, closing the bedroom door in case she started to read him the riot act. The last thing he

needed was for his mate to wake up his grandmother and little brother and draw their attention.

“No, I’m not, but I guess I don’t have much choice in the matter, now do I?” she asked as she sat on the edge of the bed, glaring

at him.

“Nope,” he said, making the word pop as he casually strolled around the guest room, checking to make sure that none of the

previous guests left anything behind that could be used as a weapon. Not that she’d know how to use one if they had, he thought

with an inward groan.

Christ, even his sister Jill would have been at least put up a fight. She would have made sure at least one of them was singing

soprano before she allowed herself to be captured, but not his little mate. She hadn’t put much of a fight up about anything.

Hell, the first time Joshua had been strung upside down in the foyer he’d at least tried to bitch slap everyone.

Granted, most of his hits missed, but that probably had something to do with the fact that his seventeen year old brother had

been too drunk to walk at that moment.

If he hadn’t been drunk out of his mind he probably would have remembered to stay away for two weeks to give his body a

chance to get rid of every trace of alcohol so that their father and Madison wouldn’t kill him.

“Are you going to answer my questions now?” she demanded.

“Ask away,” he said, looking out the second floor window and immediately dismissing it as an escape route. If she had a

problem with the ten foot drop from the first floor then there was no way she was going to chance a fall at this distance.

“What is a Sentinel? Why do you think I’m one? And why do keep acting like I’m yours?” she asked in a rush and he was

actually relieved that she hadn’t brought up that little kiss in the foyer.

It was one more fuck up he could add to the last twentyfour hours. If he’d had his choice in mates it wouldn’t have been her, but

that didn’t change the fact that his body craved her. Giving into it the way he had a little while ago had been a colossal fuck up

on his part.

Touching her, tasting her had only made his body crave her more. He’d known at the time that he was fucking up, but hadn’t

been able to stop himself. She had him hard and aching for her in a way that he’d been helpless to fight against. Stopping

himself from running his hands over her breasts and between her legs to see how wet she was for him had been one of the

hardest things he’d ever done, but the knowledge that she allowed another man to touch her was like getting his ass dropped in

a pool of ice water.

Before he found out who and what he was he’d tried to save face by messing with a few girls. He’d done everything but fuck

them and although he hadn’t enjoyed it he made damn sure that he was good at it.

Although it scared him that he couldn’t get hard for any of them even when they stroked or licked him he’d been secretly

relieved that he couldn’t do more than get them off.

He didn’t want to be like his mother who fucked anything and damn well didn’t want to be like any of the men that came

sniffing around her and allowed themselves to be led around by their dicks. Finding out that he had a mate out there who

wouldn’t feel sexual attraction for anyone else, someone that was going through what he went through made it easier to deal

with that little problem. As soon as he found out about his mate he felt as though he belonged to someone and had been more

than happy to give up dating the local girls to save face. He didn’t care that people in town gossiped about his lack of a love

life. He was a married man, something he never thought he’d ever achieve given his less than humble beginnings.

Unfortunately the wife he got was weak and a slut, something he would never allow himself to have. He knew damn well that

she hadn’t been excited for any man, but she’d fucked them anyway. It made him wonder what exactly she gained by doing it.

He couldn’t help but wonder why she did it. Did she use the men?

Need something? Or just enjoyed toying with a man?

None of it should matter to him since she was leaving in a matter of hours, but it did. He wanted to know why his mate had

given herself to another man even though she hadn’t wanted him. It would probably send him into a killing rage when he heard

the truth, but maybe that would be for the best. It would help him hate her so that when she was gone he’d be able to shove

away the affect she had on his body that much quicker and focus back on his work.

“I’ll answer your questions, but then you’ll answer a few of mine,” he said as he came back to the bedroom door and leaned

back against it.

“Yeah, I don’t think so, buddy. Seems to me that you got all the answers you’re going to get out of me with little stunt with the

rope,” she said, glaring at him as she crossed her arms over her rather large chest and drawing his attention. When he felt his

body harden he forced himself to look back at her face.

The morning erections he’d gotten since he was a kid never felt like this. He’d barely noticed them and if he touched it or if

something rubbed against it, it didn’t register in his mind. But he noticed it now. It was both heaven and hell.

He felt his balls tighten as his dick filled and hardened in his pants as it craved a touch. Since the moment he met her he fought

against the urge to pull it out and run his hand over it. Not even twenty minutes ago when he stripped to take a quick shower

he’d almost lost that battle, several times. Only the knowledge that it would make it worse since Sentinels could not bring

themselves to release stopped him. When the battle became more than he could take he’d taken his first cold shower in years.

She really needed to go before he started acting like his brother had when he hit puberty. If he found himself stealing their