Chilled grass pressed against her skin; warm fingers stroked her temple. The river’s water surged somewhere behind her, growing louder as the seconds ticked by. Jo opened her eyes to blades of grass and trunks of trees standing sideways. She rolled her head. Galen’s silvery eyes were narrowed with worry. Above his head the sky was the color of smoky blue glass.
“What happened?” Her voice came out frail and hoarse. She cleared her throat.
“You fainted.”
She strengthened her tone. “No way.” She didn’t want him thinking she was some helpless, faint-y girl. She tried to sit up, but he held her down with his hands on her shoulders.
“You should rest for a minute.”
Jo bent her knees and folded her hands together on top of her stomach. She gazed up at the sky, almost starless now, and kept him in her peripheral vision. “I feel stupid,” she said, twiddling her thumbs. Having him kneeling beside her, looking down on her with pity, scorched her cheeks.
“Don’t. You’ve had a pretty traumatic night.”
“We all have.”
“Especially you.” He reached over and swept the hair off her shoulder, smoothing it against the grass with the back of his hand. His gleaming grey eyes lit on hers, just for a second, and darted away. He sighed and his hand left her hair.
“I want to sit up.”
He helped her, but withdrew his hands quickly. She curled her legs to one side, her back to the river. He sat in front of her, facing the river, bending his knees and resting his forearms on top of them. She was comforted having him close, and sitting, instead of kneeling, as if he was going to jump up and run off. But he still wouldn’t look in her eyes.
The distance between them was growing. He was pushing her away. Why? She acknowledged to herself how foolish she had been. She had let herself be captured—twice. That creature had touched her and tried to…she was sullied. She was weak. She hadn’t fought hard enough, hadn’t screamed loud enough. In the light of Galen’s eyes, she saw herself diminished. Her head tilted downward. Her mouth opened slightly and her tongue pressed against her teeth. A tingling sensation rolled across her nose. She wasn’t so brave after all.
“Hey.”
She swallowed back the onset of tears and lifted her head. “Hey,” she uttered, changing her pout into a feeble smile.
“Feel better?”
“Yeah.”
Galen looked towards the river. He bit down on the corner of his bottom lip. “I’m sorry, Jo,” he spoke solemnly.
“For what?”
“For everything that’s happened to you.”
“Well, that’s not your fault. You saved my life. I’d either be drowned or a vampire, if you hadn’t gotten there.”
He looked skyward.
She contemplated his posture. “Are you mad at me?”
“Why would I be mad at you?”
“Because…because I didn’t fight the vampire hard enough. I let myself get captured, not just once. I—”
His head turned; his eyes shot to her face. “Are you kidding me?”
“I know I wasn’t putting up much of a fight when you—”
“Those things are ten times stronger than you. They’re seductive too. It’s part of their abilities.”
Jo glanced away. Her cheeks warmed.
“But you didn’t let those things capture you—I did. I’m the failure here, not you.”
Jo blinked with confusion. “Galen, you’re no more to blame than Mike, or Dove, or anyone else.”
“Yeah, I am.”
“Why?”
He was silent, staring at the water again, unblinking, his jaw set.
“What…what did I do wrong?”
“Nothing.” His voice was cold.
“I must have done something.”
“You didn’t do anything. Why do think that?”
“Because you can’t look me in the eye.”
He shook his head and dark waves of hair lapped against the sides of his face. “I don’t deserve to look at you.” But he did. “Jo, I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at myself. I screwed up—again.”
“Why are you so hard on yourself? You rescued April—you risked your life for me. In fact, we’d all be dead if you hadn’t been here.”
“I’m supposed to keep you safe—not just barely make it in time.” He lowered his head.
“Supposed to?”
He sighed, but offered no explanation for his choice of words. His black hair swung over his cheeks and brushed the edges of his jawline.
She leaned over and placed two fingers under his chin, like he had done to her at the hunter’s cabin. She lifted his head. His silver eyes met hers. “Galen, I am safe.” She could no longer resist and raised her hand to his temple. She ran the tips of her fingers down the incredibly soft skin of his handsome face. “I’ve never felt safer.”
He glanced at her mouth. Like glimmering, moonlit water, his gaze drenched her. He covered her hand at his cheek with his, enclosing it inside his warmth and strength. He brought their hands down to his chest and pressed her palm against his heart. His mouth hung slightly open and, as they stood like this, a sort of agony squinted his eyes.
Jo’s lips parted. Captivated by his glistening eyes, her fingers began to quake under his. His heart was beating fast and hard, pulsing against her wounded hand.
He drew his lips together. Emotions clashed on his face, changing his expression, darkening his eyes. He released her hand and severed their gaze. He jumped up and headed towards the river.
“Galen, wait.” She placed her hands on the ground to push herself up, but the pine needles stabbed them like straight pins. “Ow!” She sat back on her heels and shook them.
Galen walked back to her. He dropped to his knees and grasped her hands. He turned them over. Deep furrows cut into his brow. He shook his head, his voice despondent. “I’m sorry, Jo. I should’ve helped you up. I can’t seem to get anything right.” He looked up, his eyes divulging his distress.
“I’m Ok, Galen. It’s no big deal.”
“It is to me.” He stared hard at her, lips clenched, eyes glowering darkly.
She started to say something. Galen’s tense features crumbled. He breathed out slowly as his eyes closed and his shoulders drooped. He fell forward, easily, gently, letting go of her hands and sending his arms around her waist. His forehead landed in the crook of her neck. He pushed a frayed breath out, heating her skin beneath his lips. Stunned, unsure of what to do, Jo slid her trembling hands across the back of his shoulders. She cradled the back of his head, her fingers stroking his silky hair. He laid quietly in her arms.
She couldn’t believe that he was allowing himself to be so vulnerable, especially to her, to show her the only frailty she had ever seen in him. The confusion on his face the moment he had fallen against her was burned in her mind. Maybe he was as hungry and worn out as she was. Maybe he had reached the end of his strength, inside and out. Maybe it was that thing April and Dove, and even he, had mentioned—the issue he was struggling with, the reason he was resentful and sullen. Maybe…
The look in his silver eyes and the way he’d held her hand to his chest altered Jo’s heart. This fearless, cocky guy, able to frighten demons, was seeking sanctuary in her arms. Her misgivings about him evanesced in this moment—all but one. She hugged him a little tighter and stroked his hair, looking up at the bluing sky. What is this, Lord?
She pressed her cheek down on his head. “Galen,” she whispered, “it’s Ok. We’ll get through this.”
He lifted his head. There was a melancholy in his eyes. He swallowed and sat back, his hands resting on her hips. “Sorry. I don’t know why I did that. Tired, I guess.” His cheeks were red. He grinned with a sheepish expression she had never seen on his face before.
“That’s what happens when you don’t sleep.” She smiled, trying to make light of it, trying to pretend that something wasn’t happening between them, that his hands weren’t searing the flesh on her hips.
He c
huckled under his breath. His lips came together, full and soft.
Jo’s brow crinkled. She pushed his hair back, her hand traveling the masculine curves of his face. “Are you afraid?” She asked him.
His glass-grey eyes narrowed a bit. “Why do ask that?”
“Because you’re shaking—and I know you’re not cold.”
He looked thoughtfully at her. “I’ve never been afraid of anything in my whole existence…until now.”
“What is it? What are you afraid of?”
“Losing you.” He said it without a trace of mischief or guile in his eyes, in his usual manner of directness.
Jo swallowed.
His hands pressed on her body. His wistful gaze took her breath away. Now she was shaking, quivering uncontrollably. He must have felt it because he withdrew his hands and glanced away from her eyes.
Her hand drifted down from his face. “Can I ask you something?”
“Can I stop you?” He smirked, jovially.
Jo smirked in kind, then her expression turned serious. “Did someone send you to keep an eye on me?”
He tensed.
Jo’s eyes narrowed. “Is that why you’re afraid of—? Because it’s your job?”
In a second, he was on his feet, pulling her up by her arms. He gripped her shoulders. She was startled by his quick movement and alarmed by the power in his grip and the fierceness in his eyes. “No,” he said adamantly. “I want to protect you because I—I mean…it has nothing to do with my…I mean, it does, but…” He squished his lips together. “I…I have to tell you something, Jo. You need to know that I…” His forehead creased. “I…” He moved his mouth, but nothing came out. No witty comeback, no smug comments, no confident swaggering. The frustration blocking his words and twisting his face was so vigorous that it suddenly became comical.
Jo relaxed in his fast grip and finished his sentence. “Was in prison?”
He blinked rapidly and shook his head.
“Killed someone—human?”
“No.” He grinned, loosening his grip on her.
“You’re married?”
He shook his head faster.
“You’re not here to murder anyone, are you?” She peered at him with faked suspicion, her head askew, her eyes squinted with mischief.
His smile unfolded, exposing his dimples. “No.”
“Then I don’t care,” she told him, as wholeheartedly as she could, her lips pursed gently, her eyes on his.
His smile melted. His eyes smoldered like hot ash.
A flash of fear gripped Jo, as his hands pressed against her back, pulling her to him. Both anticipation and terror seized her.
He lowered his head towards hers. Jo's heart throbbed. Passion battled with reason. But she was defenseless, caught in a spell more powerful than the one the vampire had tried to cast. She almost forgot to breathe.
His long, black lashes began to eclipse the shimmering silver behind them. His lips moved towards hers; his breaths were audible; her back burned underneath his hands.
Jo closed her eyes…and waited.
Nothing happened.
Her eyes popped opened. He was pulling his head back from hers.
A hot wave of embarrassment washed over her. She tried to step away from him, but he held her firmly. She turned her head away as if that would hide her from the humiliation of the moment.
“Jo.”
Chagrinned, she looked back at his crystalline gaze. The flawless skin on his cheeks glowed pink. “I’d like to kiss, you, Jo” he told her. His voice was low and hushed. “It’s taking everything I have not to.” He closed his eyes, wincing, as if he was in pain. He opened them. “But, I can’t.”
She slid her hands down his shoulders to his chest. This unexpected event terrified her more than anything that had happened tonight. She swallowed and moistened her bottom lip. “Galen, I don’t know what you’re fighting. I wish you’d tell me. But…you don’t grant wishes, right?” She smiled.
He grinned and pushed a breath through his nose in acknowledgement.
“That’s sad. Because I wish you would kiss me.” She couldn’t believe she’d said it. But she wanted his lips on hers. She wanted that confirmation, to know that the feeling beginning to grow in her heart was real, that what she saw in his eyes and felt in his trembling arms was true.
His warm chest inflated under her hands, lifting them with firmness and strength. He sighed as his hands came up and formed around the edges of her face. Emotion behind his glimmering grey eyes poured into her. “What am I gonna do now?” He asked. The soft, raspy tone of his voice aroused her, though she wondered about his question. It was quickly forgotten as his arms circled her. She embraced him too. He pressed his head against her tangled hair. His heart raced and pounded against her breasts. “Jo, there’s still something—”
The trees limbs rustled. He stepped away from her as if he was afraid to be caught so close to her. Jo frowned. But he sought her with his eyes. Even in the dim light, she could see he was blushing. Her heart fluttered and she smiled at him.
Apart from his warm body, cool air refreshed her fevered skin. Her heart was still thumping and her insides tingling as her friends approached.
“Found ‘em.” Mike tromped out of the trees, followed by Dove and Lary.
Dove ran to Jo and hugged her. “Jo! Oh, my gosh! Are you Ok?” She surveyed her friend, eyeballing the torn section of Jo’s shirt. “What happened?”
“I’m fine—thanks to Galen.” She looked at him and blushed. She mashed her lips together to keep from grinning like a love-struck school girl. Her euphoria cooled when she noticed Mike standing in the background. She had only glimpsed him, but had seen the shadow on his face.
“Jo! Wow! That must have been quite a trip. What the heck happened?” Lary asked.
“Nothing happened. My rescuer got there just in time.” She smiled and swung her gaze back to Galen.
“What’s going on?” Dove whispered, looking from Jo’s flushed expression to Galen’s.
“Nothin’.” Jo swiped the pine needles off the back of her shorts. She couldn’t stop glancing at Galen. He was trying to be cool and aloof again, but Jo knew better now.
Dove leaned in and whispered in her ear, “You look like the cat that swallowed the canary.”
A nervous giggle escaped her. “I’ll tell you later,” she promised her friend.
“I can’t wait,” Dove replied.
Chapter 36