Bonded (The Raegan Mason Trilogy) (16 page)

“I’ve got to shower and change.  I look awful.  He can’t see me like this.” I scrambled for the bathroom again only to realize I didn’t have any other clothes except the ones I came in.  “Julie, I need some clothes.” I called to her as I turned on the water.  She came in with some of her clothes and laid them on the counter.  “If he shows up soon, just stall for a bit.  Don’t let him leave.” 

Julie laughed sarcastically. “I don’t think he’s going anywhere.”  She pulled the door shut and left me to clean up.  I showered quickly and dressed in the borrowed clothes.  Julie always had great clothes.  I had a pair of her white jean shorts and a deep blue fitted shirt.  I ran a brush through the tangles and used her blow dryer to straighten my waves as best I could.  I also borrowed her make up because as much as the thought of seeing Kyler again gave me a boost of energy, I still looked ragged. I did my best to cover the black eye that was forming.

Julie’s room was empty so I figured he must have shown up while I was in the shower.  I still couldn’t feel him, or hear his music, so I couldn’t be sure.  Julie’s parents had left for work so I didn’t have to face them today.  I walked down the hall to the living room and there they were.  Julie was facing him and his back was to me.  His broad shoulders turned as soon as I walked in and his tense features relaxed with relief.  He didn’t rush to me but turned and held out his hand for me to grab.  I felt the magnetizing draw of him to my soul.  I reached for his hand and almost instantly, the headache lifted and I was filled with his energy.

“Hey.” Was all I could manage to say.  My heart was beating fast again and I wanted nothing more than to hug him and never let go.

“Hey.” He smiled that crooked smile at me, but I could tell there was something hidden behind the smile.

“What’s wrong?” I asked him and looked at Julie.  She had a guilty look in her eyes.

“Nothing’s wrong, now.” He squeezed my hand.  “How’s your headache?” He looked at my head then back to my eyes.

“Better.” I glared at Julie knowing she’d told all the gory details of my bathroom trip.  She just shrugged her shoulders and walked to the kitchen.

“Are you hungry, Rae?” Julie called from the kitchen.

“No, not really.” I replied as Kyler walked toward the kitchen towing me behind.  Julie already had some sandwiches made and glasses of tea set up on the breakfast table.  I really wasn’t hungry but I knew better than to protest.  I certainly didn’t want the command to eat that Kyler used on me last night.  That would suck in front of Julie.  She’d never let me live that one down.

“You should really eat something, Rae.” Julie offered a sandwich to me and I took one to appease her.

We all sat down and ate lunch in Julie’s kitchen.  I could feel her staring at me then she’d look at Kyler like we were going to do something fantastic right in front of her.

Kyler broke the silence by going on the offense.  “So Julie, when do you leave for California?”  A change of subject was nice.

“I’m flying out Sunday.  School won’t start for another week or so, but my parents wanted to make sure I was all settled before classes start.” Her dark eyes sparkled with his attention.  “What about you, Valedictorian? What did you finally decide upon?  I know at graduation you received several offers for full scholarships.  I can’t believe you were undecided.”  Julie quickly turned the conversation back to him.

“I’m fairly certain my plans to stay local are still in effect.  I’ve been working with my mom at the University helping her with her research and I’m sure they could use the free labor in the lab.”  He finished his sandwich and lifted his glass to drink.  Every move he made was beautiful.  Even the way he drank tea had me hypnotized.  How could someone so perfect be interested in me?  He put his glass down and tensed and then stared in disbelief at me as if he could hear my thoughts.  Then he smiled my favorite smile.  “Finished?” He glanced at my plate and half eaten sandwich.

“Um, yes, I am.” I blinked and looked away from his gaze.  I pushed my chair back to stand up and realized I was still holding his hand.  He released me so I could get up and he followed with his own dishes.

Julie told us to leave them in the sink and she’d take care of them later. “So are you going home first, Rae?  Your Aunt Sarah was looking for you, checking up on you actually.  She had a string of questions about how you were feeling and all.”

“I guess we should get that over with first before we go down to the police station.  Aunt Sarah is going to freak out.”  I felt the pressure of hurting her weigh on my shoulders.  How much could a person take in a year?  I know nothing actually happened, but she’s not going to let me go far out of her sight after this.  Kyler put his hands on my shoulders and I could feel the heat again, but it was not the same as last night.  It was there, but subdued.

“She’ll be okay.  She loves you and you don’t have anything to worry about.” He whispered near my ear.  I felt electric shivers run down my body and I knew he felt them too because he rubbed my arms up and down and patted them to reassure me.

“Well then let’s get this over with.” I turned and headed to the door.

I expected his motorcycle again, but was shocked to see a Jeep sitting in Julie’s driveway.  The top was on but the doors were off.  It was black and the tires were huge.  He laughed at my open mouth.

“It’s just a Jeep, Rae.  He walked me to the passenger’s side and helped me up to the side steps.  I climbed in and put on the seatbelt.  He jumped in the other side and the engine roared to life.  Julie wasn’t surprised.  I’m sure she had seen him in it all year.  She waved from the front porch and signaled for me to call her.  She would want even more details than I would welcome.

We drove down the road to my house.  At first I wondered how he knew where I lived but figured he knew a lot more that he was letting on.  He knew where Julie lived too.  That didn’t register until we pulled up in my driveway.  He must have sensed my uneasiness.  “Julie told me where you lived.  She had a graduation party and you were the topic of conversation then too.”  He smiled warmly and jumped out of the Jeep.  He walked over to my side, but I was already climbing down.  “Ready?” He asked.

“No, but there’s no turning back now.  Aunt Sarah’s already waiting.”  He smiled at me and grabbed my hand.  The jolt of energy was exciting.  I took a deep breath and felt full of courage as I walked toward my Aunt Sarah.  She looked at me with that motherly “where have you been” look, then looked at Kyler and emotion left her face.  I didn’t understand her reaction but she quickly controlled her response and smiled at him.

“Aunt Sarah, this is Kyler Stone.  Kyler this is my Aunt Sarah, Sarah Mason.”

Kyler reached to shake her hand and she blubbered her greeting of “Nice to meet you.”  She kept looking at us like she’d seen a ghost.

“Aunt Sarah, are you okay?”  Kyler released her hands and smiled at her.  She looked back at me and collected herself.  “Yes, dear.  I’m fine.  I’m so glad to see you.  I called Julie’s and she said you were still sleeping.  Were you out late last night?”  She glanced at Kyler as if she knew.

“Actually, Aunt Sarah, something happened last night and I need to tell you about it.  Let’s go inside and sit down.”  Aunt Sarah looked at Kyler again and her eyebrows furrowed to a frown.  Aunt Sarah was looking irritated and angry at Kyler.  I had to figure out a way to make her understand that he was not the one to be angry with.  When we got inside, Aunt Sarah walked to the living room, but wouldn’t sit down.  I sat down and Kyler sat next to me on the love seat.  Aunt Sarah crossed her arms and stared at us.  “Aunt Sarah, please sit down.  Please don’t look at me like that.  We didn’t do anything but I need to tell you what happened before we go to the police.”  Aunt Sarah slid to her chair as her hand went to her mouth.

“Raegan, what’s going on?” She managed to get out through her hand.

“Ms. Mason,” Kyler intervened, “Raegan was assaulted last night at the bonfire by someone.  From what I heard later, Jaxon Owen tried to stop him but ended up with a broken nose.  He hauled her away from the bonfire in attempts to violate her but before he could, I found him and stopped him.” He looked away from Aunt Sarah temporarily to make sure I was not falling apart at his report.  “Julie and I have convinced Raegan to go to the police today before he can do anymore harm.”

“Who was this monster?” Aunt Sarah asked.

“I only know they were calling him Nate.  I don’t know any more than that.” I interjected.

“His name is Nate Stein.  He’s not a local, but he’s been here all summer.  He’s staying at the Windy Palms with some friends.  I expect they’ll be leaving soon, so we need to get to the police station before he has time to skip town.” Kyler filled in the details I lacked.  I looked at him questioningly.  “He’s built up a reputation for this type of thing over the summer.  This was the farthest he’s gone, though.”  He looked at me, his jaw tense and his eyes fierce.

Aunt Sarah looked shocked but composed.  “Well it looks like I owe you an apology and my gratitude for being there for Raegan.  I’m very protective of her and well, you can only guess what went through my mind seeing you two holding hands and dropping a bomb like ‘something happened last night’.  I may be an old lady, but I’m not naïve. I apologize for the insinuation that it was anything but innocent.”  She smiled apologetically at Kyler and then me.  I felt guilty about leaving out our night together, but squashed that emotion as quickly as I could.  She stood up and we followed her lead.  “Let me get my purse and we’ll go down to the station.”

Aunt Sarah walked to the bedroom to get her things and I just felt relief wash over me.  “That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Kyler smiled at me, took both hands and squeezed them in his.  His hands were warm and I could feel the tingles of electricity running through me.

“I think she likes you very much.”  I smiled back at him.

“She’s not the one I’m worried about liking me.” He cocked an eyebrow at me.

“I don’t know why you’d worry about that.” I said matter of factly as I pulled my hands gently away.  The heated blush exposed my embarrassment again.  He laughed quietly as my Aunt Sarah came back in the room.  I did my best to control my embarrassment before she could ask any more questions.

We walked to the door and Aunt Sarah stopped short.  “I don’t believe we’ll be taking your dune buggy today.  I’m too old to be climbing in one of those.”  She smiled at him and walked to her sedan.  Kyler grabbed a bag from the back seat of the Jeep and I climbed in the back while Aunt Sarah adjusted her mirrors and backed out of the garage. 

She wasn’t really old, but she always called herself an old maid since she was the oldest out of her and my dad and she had never married.  She loved to play the old card when she met new people.  Then she always had room to impress them with all she could still do at her age.  Kyler showed no stress over her driving us to the police station.  He sat at a respectable distance and didn’t attempt to hold my hand in the back seat.  He kept his eyes forward and would occasionally catch me staring at him and smile mischievously back.  It didn’t take long to reach the police station.  Aunt Sarah had to go in with me because I was still seventeen.  My birthday was coming up at the end of the month and technically I was still a minor.

We all went in and told the deputy on duty everything that happened on the beach.  They took more photos of my bruised ribs and black eye.  They suggested a trip to my family doctor for x-rays and other tests to make sure all the bases were covered.  Kyler introduced himself as my boyfriend, which took me by surprise, and provided the deputy with the details on Nate that I couldn’t provide. He explained that he did use force to incapacitate him.  He even brought my ruined clothes for the officer.  Aunt Sarah was horrified at the sight of my bruises and clothes.  She didn’t break down crying like I thought she would.  She was putting on the brave face today.  I was feeling a bit numb with the replay going on and couldn’t believe I’d actually lived that out less than a day ago.  Being in the station and actually reporting it wasn’t as bad as I imagined.

When we finished our statements and signed the report, they issued an arrest warrant and a restraining order and told us that they would be contacting us again should a trial be needed.  We left and drove back home to leave Aunt Sarah.  I still wanted to stop by the hospital to check on Jaxon.  Kyler offered to join me and drive.  I didn’t complain.

Aunt Sarah invited Kyler to eat dinner with us later that evening, but he politely declined and said he had some things to take care of before his mother returned.  Aunt Sarah was obviously disappointed but welcomed him to eat with us another time.

Kyler drove us to the hospital and we rode silently in the elevator to the third floor.  I didn’t realize how uncomfortable this would be bringing Kyler. He had declared himself my boyfriend and now we were going to flaunt this in front of Jaxon.  Jaxon – the one I keep hurting over and over.  I can only imagine the pain this might inflict.

Jaxon was in room 315.  I paused outside the door for a moment trying to gather my thoughts and composure before barging into Jaxon’s room.  Kyler gently turned my chin towards him.  “Raegan, this is not your fault.  I can see the torment on your face.”  His eyes looked pained.

“I keep hurting him somehow.  He’s one of my best friends and he won’t understand…us.  Do you mind waiting out here for a few minutes while I talk to him?”  I searched his eyes for understanding.

Kyler’s eyebrows furrowed.  “Us?  Why would he not understand us?”  He paused a moment thinking.  “OH, the un-brotherly like dance.  Was there more to it that I missed?  Is there something between you two that I should know about?”  His jaw flexed as he tried to restrain some emotion.  I still couldn’t feel his emotions like before, but anyone with a brain could see the jealousy rising.

“Kyler, nothing is going on between me and Jaxon, but he is having a hard time understanding that.  I do care about him and he is one of my best friends.  Friends have arguments and disagreements and that’s where we left off a couple of days ago when I last talked to him.  I just don’t want this time to be any more difficult than it has to be.”  I pleaded with him to understand.  His eyes narrowed a bit before relaxing.