Save My Soul (24 page)

Had he driven all the way here to
complain to me about Rhyan. Didn't he have my phone number? "I
didn't know that, I'm sorry. I'll talk to Rhyan and tell him to
stay away from you," I said then turned to go inside.

"No, wait," he said in a panicked
tone. He started to grab my arm, but I turned back around to face
him and he froze. "He didn't wake me up or anything. After you
left, I made Sherri leave. I told her to leave me alone, that I
didn't love her and that I never would. I told her…that I was in
love with you. She left without much of a fight. I couldn't stop
replaying the scene in my living room, and the more I played it,
the more I hated myself for hurting you. I was scared, Kendra." He
looked away from me. "I am still scared. Everyone I've ever loved
has been ripped away from me." He turned back to me. "I don't think
loving you or not is a choice I have. I've tried not to, but I love
you anyway." He turned and looked out across the yard. "I was
struggling with what to do, then Rhyan stopped by." he laughed
lightly. "Well I guess I should say that he popped into my
bedroom."

I chuckled at the thought; Hercules
lay on the porch at my feet and whined. "He's good at
that."

"He told me I was a fool, and that he
would give anything to be your soulmate. He told me that he had
always loved you, and that it was his fault you had feelings for
him. I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry, and to thank you for
saving my life."

"Was…so you aren't a fool anymore?" I
asked. My heart was pounding in my chest; I was surprised he
couldn't hear it beating against my ribcage.

"I don't want to be." He bowed his
head. "Look, this may sound selfish of me, but if I only have a day
left with my soulmate, I'd like to savor every minute of it. I'm
not making you any promises, but I want to be with you now, next
Saturday, and fifty years from now. It may not happen, but I need
every second you can give me."

I went to him and took his hand in
mine. He let out a great shuttering breath of relief, like he had
when I we'd touched at his house. If a day was all I could have, I
was going to take it.

I let go of his hand and nodded toward
the door. "Would you like to come in? I canceled all of my
appointments for the week when we started looking for you Tuesday
morning."

He nodded like he really hadn't
expected me to let him in. He must have thought I might reject him
the way he'd been rejecting me since the day we met. He looked beat
and dead on his feet.

"Come on, Hercules," I said. I thought
I heard Adam snicker, but it may have been the wind.

"Have you slept at all?" I asked. He
simply shook his head, then he bent and picked up my dog. I shook
my head. He was really turning into quiet the little traitor.
"Well, you can sleep now. You look like you're about to pass out.
Aven left a pair of pajama bottoms you can wear, and I'll go to
your house and get you some of your clothes to wear while you're
asleep if you want."

His eyes became frantic; he set
Hercules down and grabbed my shoulders, shaking his head. "I don't
want you going anywhere without me. Something is going to try and
end your life, and I'm going to be with you when it happens so I
can bring you back."

He still thought he could save my life
by sewing me up, but if it comforted him to think that, I was
willing to suffer in silence. I nodded. "All right, I won't go
anywhere without you. Kobhye is in the guest bedroom; I'll send her
when she wakes up, or we can go together when you wake up. Will
that work?"

He grabbed me and held me tight. I
could tell he was struggling with his emotions, and he overcame
them enough to pull me back so he could look at my face. "Do you
mind if I take a shower?"

Hell yes, he should take a shower. I
wanted him to scrub off any remnants of having sex with Sherri last
night, but what I said was, "You know where the bathroom is. I'll
get you something clean to wear."

I went to the kitchen and started
coffee. He may not need it, but I did. I heard the shower turn on,
and a hunger rose inside of me. He was naked in my shower. I shook
my head to clear the mental picture and went to my bedroom to get
Aven's pajama bottoms out of my dresser. He'd left the door open a
crack, so I opened it far enough to lay them on the table that was
right inside, then I pulled the door shut.

I went back to the kitchen to start
breakfast. He probably hadn't eaten since yesterday, and I was
starving. He'd need something in his stomach to help him rest, so I
got out bacon and eggs from the fridge and a loaf of bread from the
bread box for toast.

My mother always told me, "The way to
a man's heart is through his stomach." That had to be true because
my dad was a big man, and he loved my mother unconditionally. I
smiled as I set the bacon to fry. I didn't really believe that was
why he loved her, but she was a hell of a cook.

I folded a load of towels then went
back to turn my bacon. I preferred my eggs over easy, but I didn't
have a clue how he liked his, or even if he liked eggs and bacon at
all. It seems totally un-American to not like eggs and bacon, but
who am I to judge?

I heard footsteps coming from my
bedroom, and could hear Adam and Hercules sniffing their way to the
kitchen. I smiled as he rounded the corner, but when he came into
view, my heart began to beat faster and I almost lost every thread
of composure I had in me. The spatula slipped from my hand and fell
to the floor.

He hurried over to help me pick it up,
and he was too close to me. I couldn't think clearly. He wore
Aven's pajamas a lot better than Aven ever had. Who knew flannel
could look so good on a guy, and he wasn't wearing a shirt. Dear
God, help me, I wanted to touch him so bad my hands were
shaking.

He handed me the spatula with a smile
on his face, and I quickly took it to the sink to wash it. I was
trying to put some distance between us so I could think straight
again, but he followed me. Damn. "You like eggs and bacon
right?"

"Wouldn't it be un-American if I
didn't? You need any help?" he asked.

Was he reading my mind?

I shook my head as I got the bacon out
of the pan. I knew our souls were mated, but our brains seemed to
be on the same wavelength as well. "No, I got it. How do you like
your eggs? I don't eat mine scrambled, but Kobhye does. I was going
to scramble some for her, so she'll have something to eat when she
wakes up."

"Over easy," he said as he got two
coffee mugs down from the cabinet.

I ignored the fact that we like our
eggs the same, and focused on the two cups of coffee he was adding
cream and sugar to. "You're going to drink coffee, and then try to
sleep?"

He nodded with a grin then handed me
mine. I took a sip. He'd put just the right amount of cream and
sugar in it. "I do it all the time." Then he looked at my cup and
gave me an "oh shit" face. "I'm sorry; I didn't even ask how you
like your coffee."

I sipped it again then laughed. "No,
it's fine. It's just the way I like it." I wondered if Rhyan was
directing him again the way he had the other night.

"No, he's all on his own,
I'm just watching until the clothes start coming off."

I blushed and Adam saw it. "What?" he
said.

I shook my head. "Nothing." I set my
coffee down and put four slices of bread in the toaster then put
the eggs in the skillet to fry. He watched me work without pressing
for any more details.

"If he doesn't stop
playing that kissing scene in his head, I'm going to have to find
something to distract myself."
I laughed
out loud. I hadn't meant to, but it happened and I couldn't take it
back.

"What?" Adam asked me with a confused
look on his face. "Tell me."

"Rhyan is a little distracted by your
thoughts," I said, but I couldn't look up at him, my face was
already red enough.

I felt him move closer. He softly
touched the small of my back with his fingers, then slowly guided
them up until he could move my hair away from my neck. He leaned in
closer to me and I froze. I could feel his sweet breath on my skin
as he whispered, "Maybe Rhyan should stick with your thoughts if
he's getting distracted. I can't control what I think when I'm
around you." He didn't know it, but Rhyan wouldn't be any more
comfortable in my head. The eggs were not going to be over easy if
he kept touching me; they'd end up more like chewy egg-flavored
plastic, and I didn't even want to think about what my house would
smell like. He seemed to sense it, and took his hand away just
before I dropped the spatula again. I took a deep breath then
flipped the eggs. I got three plates down from the cabinet and
divided the eggs between two plates.

I never thought I would have to
concentrate so hard on cooking breakfast, but I could feel him
looking at me, and I was almost positive what he was
thinking.

"Uh-huh,"
Rhyan said.

"I think I can take it from
here, Rhyan. You can go find something else to do. I'm not dying
until tomorrow, remember?"

"All right. Yell if you
need me."

"Will do,"
I said as I fixed Kobhye's scrambled eggs then
put them on another plate. I put three slices of bacon beside her
eggs, and put the plate in the microwave so she could heat it when
she got up, which would probably be noon.

Adam and I ate at the bar. I hardly
ever used the dining table unless there were more than three people
eating. I had three barstools, and that was where I usually sat to
eat. I watched Adam as he prepared his food. He used the flat side
of the fork and smashed his eggs until they were nothing but
jumbled bits on his plate, then he sprinkled salt and pepper
lightly over them, more pepper than salt. Then he mixed the
seasonings together throughout his eggs. He looked up like he knew
I was watching him.

"What?" he said, and I shook my
head.

"I was only wondering how many other
things we do the exact same way." Then I began smashing and
seasoning my eggs.

When we finished eating, Adam helped
me clean up, even though I told him three times to go get in bed.
He didn't say no, he just didn't go. I put the last dish in the
dishwasher; I even had to dump the food Adam had cooked on Monday
night that was still on the stove. The three-day-old spaghetti that
had sat out didn't smell so good. It didn't look so good
either.

I set the dishwasher to wash then Adam
took my hand in his. I looked at him questioningly when he began to
lead me to the bedroom. He gave me a nervous little smile. "I would
like it very much if you would lie down with me until I fall
asleep. I promise I won't try anything."

I could do that, but I wasn't really
worried about him "trying anything." I was more worried about me
trying something on him. If I only had one more day to live, sex
was at the top of my "Top 10 things to do before I die" list. I
wasn't sure what the other nine were, I couldn't stop thinking
about getting my hands on him long enough to think of anything
else. Maybe sex ten times would be the top ten things to do. I
smiled to myself then pulled the comforter back so I could crawl in
between the sheets. He got in on the other side. I turned my back
to him, because he really needed sleep, and I'd never been able to
sleep if I knew someone was watching me.

I felt him turn away from me. Then, a
few moments later, he turned back toward me. He remained that way
for a few minutes then turned over again. No more than ten seconds
passed before he turned back to face me again. I heard him huff,
and I stifled a laugh. I knew the bed was comfortable, so that
wouldn't be why he couldn't get to sleep.

I felt him move closer to me, then he
put his arm around my waist. I let out a shriek when he pulled me
close to his body. He didn't try to do anymore than that. He
relaxed with me in his arms then sighed and fell fast
asleep.

I didn't know if he was a light
sleeper or not. I didn't want to move and wake him up, but I didn't
want to lay here awake for the next five to eight hours while he
snored lightly in my ear. It was a comforting sound, and soon I was
drifting off to my own dreamland.

I opened my eyes to Murry, and boy was
he mad. I was so not looking forward to this
conversation.

"You're more clever than I gave you
credit for, but just because you got him to love you, doesn't mean
you've won."

"Do you think I don't know that?" I
said.

He was shaking with rage. I wasn't
afraid he would kill me, but I was afraid he would hit me. "He will
try to save your life when I kill you tomorrow, but he won't be
able to."

I squared my shoulders. "I'm aware of
that also."

"So, why are you torturing yourself by
keeping him near you?" His anger had calmed, and he was really
curious about my motives. Maybe he thought I had something up my
sleeve that he didn't know about, even though I didn't.

"I don't see it as torture. He loves
me, and I love him. If I'm going to die tomorrow, I want to spend
my few remaining hours with my soulmate. Is that so hard for you to
understand?"