NEW POST! FINALLY!!!! *collapses* This is for Beast ladies and gents and it is what would be the end of the first book. :) Heeheehee. Nothing is really that spoiled so no worries and I'm sorry I couldn't get myself to produce anything in between. Deal with it. :P Let me know what you think!!
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I waited.
I paced the house until my legs shook. I stared at the door, silently screaming at it to open. I nearly puked as the clock chimed twelve, one, two.
Axel's car rumbled to a stop outside and I crashed out the door nearly running into him at the steps. His arms immediately went around me and he lifted me inside. I clung to his neck as hot tears filled my eyes. He was here. He was okay.
His eyes were looking away, distant, and filled with a cold resolve. Then it hit home. I knew what he had done. The choice he'd had to make and I wish I could have stopped him, but again, there wasn't anything I could have done and nothing I can do to fix it.
I must have started crying because Axel was suddenly holding me tighter and hushing me. "I'm fine. It's okay." He kept repeating over and over.
I wanted to say I was sorry, that it was all my fault, that he wasn't alone. But it wouldn't mean a thing. I couldn't save him from this. No one could.
I felt his cheek on mine as he continued to try and comfort me, but I wasn't the one that needed comforting. He was taking care of me when I should have been taking care of him.
That thought stopped the tears almost abruptly and a few deep breaths set me right. I wiped my face then put my forehead on his. He was wary. He still hadn't gotten used to my crying.
"You okay?" I asked.
"I'm fine." He said again, but his eyes didn't convince me.
"You're not hurt?" I whispered, my lips grazing his.
His breath caught, then came out slowly as he sedated my fears. "No."
"You were worried." He stated, testing the words at the same time.
I started to answer, but his mouth on mine stopped the sound in my throat. He'd intended it to be short, a gesture of gratefulness, but before he could pull away my fingers found his hair and I was holding him to me. Then I kissed him back, making each kiss longer, deeper.
I could feel his hesitation, but I didn't stop. Then I felt his heat. His kisses became stronger instead of rougher. His fingers pressed against my flesh like he was trying to feel me there instead of pierce me. When his hands rested on my hips he pulled his mouth away.
"Fayre?" He was scared, his wide eyes told me as much. I put my hand over his heart and felt it racing just as hard as mine was, but that was the only change. The air wasn't shimmering around him, he wasn't tensing from pain, no fur or claws or fangs just skin, hands, lips and heat.
I gave him a reassuring smile while putting my hands on his face and I kissed him again, more tenderly than I had a moment before.
"It's okay." I whispered, then I pressed my body against him.
Axel made a noise then that was somewhere between a groan and a whimper. Faster than I could have expected, he lifted me and wrapped my legs around him. He kissed me again with less hesitation.
I felt the room shift around us and I opened my eyes to see Axel lower us onto the bed. His hands moved from my legs to my hips as his lips moved to my neck. Then he pulled my shirt to my waist and kissed the lines of my stomach. With each second I could feel his smile widen and his joy increase. It radiated from him just as much as his desire was. When his fingers traced from the skin of my waist to my hips again, I couldn't take it anymore and fumbled for his shirt, pulling it over his head and throwing it aside. I ran my fingers over the muscles on his back and shoulders then a shiver ran through both of us. He looked up with a smile so wide it almost seemed unnatural on his face, his eyes so full of light and hope, I couldn't help but smile back. Then I pulled his face back to mine.
I lay across his chest listening to his heart as he stroked my hair absently. Axel pulled the covers over my shoulders a little more as the slight chill settled in now that we'd cooled off. I snuggled a little more into his neck feeling sleep grope at me.
Axel kissed my head and left his lips by my ear.
"I love you." He whispered.
And I fell asleep before I could answer him.
Axel opened his eyes slowly as gray light swept the room and he immediately noted the difference. He'd just had the best night of his life—for many reasons—but significantly, he'd had an uninterrupted sleep. No nightmare had plagued him or shook him awake. There was no sense of despair and he wasn't alone. Fayre breathed softly next to him. Her shoulder rose and fell with each breath, a ray of soft light resting on it making it glow more than it already seemed to.
He wanted nothing more than to gently wake her to more fully have her company and to occupy her time again, but he'd made this decision before he'd come home last night. Even with what happened between them, it didn't change what he had to do.
Within the next hour Axel had really short platinum blonde hair, green contacts, a cut off leather jacket and black jeans. He got into his car with a backpack full of essentials, but mostly cash. He forced himself not to look into the rearview mirror as he drove away before the sun rose over the top of the house and called him back.
I noticed the red rose on his pillow before I noticed how cold the half of the bed where he'd been was. There was no question as to what it meant and I swallowed the tears before they came. The note next to the sweet smelling flower was on a small note card like the ones next to the phone in the kitchen. I turned over onto my back before I read it.
I'll send you a rose when I can to let you know that I am safe…
Special Agent Connor Mason waited with stiff breath as a crew and a truck pulled Axel Bane's red Corvette out of the canal. It had about as many miles as speeding tickets, but wouldn't be going anywhere else now. The more of the car that came out of the water, the more it was evident that it wouldn't be on the road again. The vehicle must have been going as fast as it could—a good 200 miles an hour—when it hit that water and the impact had left the front completely crushed. Any one inside would definitely be dead.
Connor couldn't help but hope at least a little that the owner was inside.
He'd just finished looking over the body of the college's theatre professor Derek Ashman's corpse. The body had been just like the girls, except a little less sloppy. The bastard had gotten more skilled. He'd just called out a bolo on Bane when he got the radio about the car.
He tried not to run over to wreck when it was safely on land. Pacing, Connor stood back as they pried the door open. One of the workers shot him a worried gaze, but didn't wave over the EMT on site.
Connor stomped forward, his feet crunching the gravel like eggshells as he yanked on his gloves. He peered in the inside of the car and there was no body inside. The windows where mostly intact and the door had definitely been shut when they pulled it out of the water, so no one could have escaped. Still, it had ended up going that fast somehow. Connor's eyes rested on the underside of the seat where a large rock with a bungee cord twisted around it was embedded in the metal and fabric.
He took a step back from the car, lips tight, using all of his will power not to yank the rock out of its new casing and tossing it back in the water.
Taking his radio out of its holster, he put it to his mouth. "The vehicle was rigged to hit the canal. He wasn't inside."
"Ten-four." One of his team answered.
"DAMNIT!" Connor hollered once he'd returned the radio to his belt so he wouldn't be tempted to throw it. The crew ignored him as they continued their work and he rushed back to his SUV.
I slunk out of bed and put on the royal blue nightgown that was hanging in the closet then took both the rose and note with me to the kitchen smelling the rose as I went.
If you don't get one for a whole month then I've probably been caught. The FBI will let you know of that before then, I'm sure.
A vase full of water was already sitting on the counter when I got into the kitchen and I delicately set the rose inside it. I mumbled my thanks.
I'm not running. I just have some things to take care of, but I have to not get caught before I finish, so don't try to find me or help me. All you can do is stay safe and don't lose faith in me. The house will take care of you and when I come back everything will be taken care of.
I found the stove lighter and held the note over the sink as the flames started curling around the corner.
"Whatever you're doing Axel…it sure as hell looks like you're running and that just makes you look guilty."
I ran water over the ashes watching the water catch and take them away like logs on a river heading towards a waterfall.
"Dumb ass."
A car only blew past every thirty minutes or so on the dusty back road surrounded by more dirt with an occasional yellow weed even in this murky weather. None of them paid Axel any mind which suited him just fine. He wasn't trying to hitch-hike anyway. He walked with his backpack over one should and one hand in his pocket. The sun had just gotten high enough to get out of his eyes. He'd already gained a decent amount of ground over any law enforcement to not rush, but he still had a long road to tread.
