"Now that I have your attention. Where was I?" He still had one lock of her hair twisted around his fingers. He continued to play with it as he talked. "Like I said before, leaving you wasn't my idea. It certainly wasn't my choice. I was waiting around for you to grow up so I could marry you."
That half grin flashed into being again and Sam swallowed hard. This was ridiculous! You'd think she was still that 17 year old kid who melted every time he looked at her. She was damn near twenty seven for Goddess sake.
Get a grip girl! Before he wraps you around his little finger and then disappears again. Remembering the pain that caused last time was enough to bring her back to reality. And she held onto it like a life line with both hands.
"Then what happened?" She hoped her voice sounded a bit more steady to him than it did to her own ears. "One minute we were having a ball. The time of our lives, then, poof! You were gone and that tyrant of a cousin of yours was giving me the "Dear Jane" routine."
Even now she could remember the arrogant look on her face as she'd delivered the "bad news" that Riley was gone. "Family concerns" that had nothing to do with her and could she please not try and call. It would be better off for everybody if Sam just forgot she’d ever met Riley. Thank you and have a nice day as the door closed quietly in her face.
"I'm sorry kitten. It wasn't my fault. I was 19. I went where they told me too. That's the way my Family works." The way he put such emphasis on the word family seemed like it should be capitalized.
Riley stopped playing with her hair long enough to stroke her cheek. "I didn't even find out what they'd done until it was too late. I was on a plane to half a world away when my aunt told me that I wouldn't be allowed to see you when I came home."
So he hadn't left because he wanted to? Fine. But that didn't absolve him of not doing something about it afterwards. "But it's been ten years Riley. And as you pointed out, we aren't kids anymore. So why didn't you try to find me? And how did you know where I was now? None of this makes any sense."
"I know. And I promise, I'll explain everything. But not tonight. All I can say is that my family is very strict. And there are certain, traditions, that have to be followed. One of which is returning to our family home. I didn't know that I had to go until it was too late."
The absolutely dejected look on his face was more than any woman could take. She reached out and tucked a stray strand of jet black hair behind his ear, and smiled. That same stray lock had been her favorite toy back when. Well, that and kissing him. But she didn't think that would be wise right now.
Instead she settled for returning to his lap. If she was gonna let him get under her skin like this again, she might as well enjoy it. He didn't resist. He simply wrapped his good arm around her and sighed.
He rested his chin on her head for a minute before breaking the silence. "As much as I'm enjoying this, I really have to go. It will be morning soon."
What did that have to do with anything? She sat up and looked him in the eye. "So let me guess. You're about to disappear again aren't you?" The tears started to well up again as she saw the guilt in his eyes. She growled and pushed away from him. It wasn't fair dammit!
He tried to reach for her with his wounded arm but only succeeded in groaning as pain shot through it. Samantha used her own momentum to leave the couch and put as much space between them as she could. How could he!
She rounded on him, murder in her eyes. "You should have let him kill me. At least that way I wouldn't have to watch you go again." She wanted to scream at him, she wanted to cut his heart out. She wanted to drop to her knees and beg him not to go. But she couldn't do any of those things. So she just stood there, her fists clenched so hard she could feel her nails drawing blood on her palms.
Riley hauled himself up off the couch with his good arm and took the three steps across the room to stand in front of her, his boots crunching the broken glass back into sand. He tried to reach for her, but was left hanging as she spun and headed into the kitchen. Putting the solid depth of the breakfast counter between them.
"Sam, I'm not going to disappear again. I couldn't now even if I wanted to. Which I don't." He saw the look in her eyes. He knew that look. He'd seen it many times since leaving her. It was the look of a cornered animal. Half fear, half fight. Either one could win. He hated to be the reason for it. But he couldn't stay here with her. Not tonight. Maybe not ever. His heart broke at thinking that he might very well have to leave her again. For her own safety. But telling her that right now would probably push her over the edge. And he couldn't do it.
Samantha leaned against the refrigerator behind her and tried very hard not to cry. She wished she could start this night over. She'd have taken that extra shift when Steven had offered it if it meant she didn't have to do this. Stand here and pretend she wasn't going to completely fall apart when he walked out that door.
Instead she sighed and looked him in the eye. "So what happens now?"
"Now, you are going to get in that monster tub I saw in there while I clean up this mess, since you seem so adamant about it." He smiled halfheartedly at her. "And then I'm going to put you in bed." A light flared in his eyes as he said it but Sam was trying hard to pretend she wasn't seeing it or the images that skirted her own vision.
He held up his hand as she started to protest. "Sweetheart, don't fight me. You are exhausted. Just do this for me." Now she could hear how weary his own voice sounded.
She decided to take his advice. She did need to wash the dirt and broken glass off. And try to process everything that had happened. “Fine. But don't think this lets you off the hook. At some point we will finish this conversation." She yawned and took the three steps to the bathroom door. "And don't get any ideas, Mr. Kacey. I'm locking the door."
He smiled and watched her go. She had no idea that he could splinter that door to dust if he wanted to. But if it made her feel better to put something solid between them, so be it.
Maybe it was for the best anyway. It would be dawn soon. And if he wasn't back at the compound by the time his brother awoke, there would be hell to pay. As it was he was going to have a time convincing his brother that Ellington was just sleeping one off somewhere. Until they found his decapitated body. But hopefully by then he would have Sam as far away from here as he could get her. Then he would come back and take whatever punishment his brother and the council wanted to deal him.
He set about righting furniture and sweeping the glass out what was left of the door and off the balcony. Somehow this wasn't exactly what he'd expected her life to be like. He expected someone as giving and beautiful as her to have been married with a couple of kids by now.
But he'd be lying to himself if he said he wasn't glad she wasn't. The thought of anybody else touching her did things to his vision that weren't healthy right now. He took a deep breath and tried to calm the red storm that he could feel in the pit of his stomach.
How in the nine gates of hell was he going to tell her the truth? “Hi sweetheart, I'm sorry I walked out all those years ago, but I had to go back to my families’ compound in Mexico and learn how to control the animal inside me. Oh yeah, and by the way, I'm half jaguar." Somehow he didn't think that would go over well.
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