Chapter 450: Clumsy Princess.
Leilani.
I couldn’t sleep.
For a long time, I couldn’t shake out the image in my head, one of Caelum as I watched him walk away from me, leaving streaks of red behind in his wake.
My heart still raced at the memory and like a high schooler, I couldn’t help the stupid blush staining my cheeks or the way my heart kept palpitating in my chest like it was some wild animal.
For the nth time tonight, I closed my eyes and tried to force myself to sleep but as soon as my eyelids fluttered close, several memories rushed in.
One was of Zevran telling me that he wouldn’t let me go.
The other was of Kael when he brushed a stray strand of hair away from my face. I could still remember the tenderness in his touch when he did that...
Then there was Caelum literally hurting himself just to save me— and this is not the first time.
"How much longer do I have to pretend like I do not see them?" I hissed, "how much longer will I act like I am not affected by their gestures?"
When no answers to these questions would come, I lowered my head and bit down on my lower lip, my hands balling into little fists as I hissed; "Why does everything have to be so difficult?"
That got the attention of my wolf and I know this because the sassy girl instantly flipped within our bond. I felt the stir before I heard her cocky voice. She seethed;
"The only one making things difficult is you."
I froze
"What do you mean? Are you on my side or not?"
"Unfortunately, I am always on your side as I have no other side to be on... so I’ll tell you this once and for all, you’re stalling. You’re trying too hard not to pursue what you want because you’ve been holding onto guilt for far too long."
"But..."
"Do you know what you should do instead of wallowing yourself in guilt and pushing away people that are doing all they can to reach you and see you?" She asked indignantly and in response, I shook my head quickly, gulping as I muttered;
"No."
"You should get back at the person who hurt Jarek. Stop pushing it off and make Keisha pay. And by the time you’re done with that, your fuzzy mind would feel clearer." She snapped, but I, of all people, knew that it wasn’t that easy.
I, of all people, know how deep my bond with Jarek had run. I knew exactly what we should have been before the triplets waltzed into my life like thieves in the night... and how hurt he would’ve been if he were here to see that I now frolicked with the men who once hurt me—
"The same men who would drop their lives in a heartbeat to save yours." My wolf chirped in, and this time, I didn’t know whether to shut her up for real or continue to listen to her blabber.
I rolled my eyes as I got off the bed and slipped my legs into my flip flops. I was slightly cold so I wrapped my robe tightly around my body, slipped out of the room and headed down the stairs.
However, I had just begun to ascend the stairs when familiar voices in the distance suddenly floated into my ears, making me halt in my tracks. I stopped to listen in curiosity just as—
"How did this happen?" Kael suddenly hissed, sounding so aggressive that I could never imagine that he was the same man I had talked to right before I retired into my room a couple of minutes ago.
My eyebrows shot into my hairline as I tried to guess whatever it is that he must be talking about that has had him so worked up, and the thought that it might have something to do with me didn’t really settle well with me so my heart began to race.
"I always knew that Micah was up to no good... and for the fact that we were suddenly so relaxed because he hasn’t struck in months... Do you know what that makes us?"
"Fools." Zevran supplied,
"Not just fools but cowards," Caelum cut in, only to be hushed by Kael who snapped;
"We were not cowards. We have never been one because we never tried to run from him."
"But we underestimated him." Caelum argued,
"Well that doesn’t make us cowards. However, do you know what we have to do about it? We will have to cut this holiday short, especially now that it has begun to rain fire and brimstones back at the company..."
"But what about Leilani?" Someone cut in, I was sure it was Caelum.
"What about her?" Kael snapped indignantly, and I could imagine him rolling his eyes as he asked that.
"We can not just cut the holiday short, especially because of her. We came here for her... because we wanted her to be far from all the drama happening back in NYC. We wanted her to take some time off and heal..."
"And you think she’s healing with us hovering over her like flies around a piece of shit?" Kael growled, and for some reason, something about his voice this time, made me flinch.
I stumbled on the stairs and nearly lost my footing. However before I could crash like one of those pathetic characters in some soap operas, large bulky arms circled around my waist, pulling me flush against a wall of muscle.
A gasp left my lips mainly because of the shock, but it soon died somewhere deep in my throat when I realized the predicament that I was in...
The predicament...
The one involving Caelum’s arms being wrapped around my waist and my face pressed firmly into his chest.
From here, I could hear the very unsteady beating of his heart, and even though I was the one who had nearly had a bad fall, I could swear that he was trembling far more than I was.
His arms wrapped around my waist were literally shaking and his chest rose and fell with a rhythm so fast, it was very impossible to follow.
"Are you okay?" He asked me, sounding worried.
I nodded. "I am. Thank you."
But how many more times do I have to tell him thank you?
Since when did I become so clumsy that now it was beginning to look like a normal occurrence for him to repeatedly save me?
At the thought, I looked down at his feet and bit down on my lips when I noticed that they were still wrapped in loose bandages— courtesy of the cut he had sustained from his earlier injury while saving me..
I sighed. "I don’t know why this keeps happening."
At that, he let me go, tilted his head to the side and frowned. "What?"
"I don’t know why I keep making mistakes and you keep coming to my rescue."
A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips as soon as I said that, and with a shrug, he let his eyes rove down my body suggestively before he said;
"Well, I like it."
"You like what?"
"I like saving you. It gives me countless opportunities to get close to you."
His bluntness made my blush return to my face, and in sheer embarrassment, I slapped at his arm playfully, ignoring his exaggerated yelp and hissed;
"You are a prude."
"I don’t care." He smiled back, and then with a serious expression, added; "What are you doing here by the way?"
I shrugged. "I couldn’t sleep. So please, could you tell me why you guys are planning to return to NYC without me?"
Comments