The Awakening: Aidan (17 page)

Unnerved by her thoughts, she concentrated on the water lapping over her toes. “It’s gorgeous here. How did you find it?”

“I’ve rented it a few times in the past.”

A wave of jealousy even more violent than the one she’d felt during his story swept through her. Had he brought another woman here? Treated her the same? She looked up at him.

The smug, satisfied expression on his face made her wish she hadn’t been so transparent.

“You’re the only woman I’ve ever brought here, Jaylin. You’ll always be the only woman I bring here.”

Her breath caught at his words. “Why?”

He shrugged. “This is my own little piece of paradise. I’ve never had the urge to share it with anyone else. But you’re my mate, and if we can’t have a future together, I want memories of you on this island, so when I do come back, I can feel like I’m with you again.”

Tears pricked her eyes. So he still knew that when they returned home they’d go their separate ways, had accepted it. It should have made her feel relief, but an ugly lump had formed in her stomach.

Why did this have to be so hard? Why did he have to be everything she was terrified of?

All she could get out past the thickness in her throat was, “Thank you for bringing me here, then.”

The smile he gave her was tender, as were the eyes that looked down on her. “Thank you for being here
with
me.”

He glanced off to the horizon, his throat working as he swallowed. Was he thinking about the helicopter that would return and bring an end to the bubble they had created here? The end of them?

She closed her eyes. It was all there again. The feelings. The wanting. The wishing. It was time for a different distraction, and if he wanted memories of her, she wanted to give him some that didn’t revolve around the bedroom, wanted to give him memories that when he stood on this beach, would make a small smile play at his mouth. And she’d lock those memories away inside herself as well, so when she thought of her time here with him, she’d also have that same smile on her face.

Slapping his ass, she tore off down the beach. “Tag, you’re it.”

She looked behind her to see a bewildered expression on his face that made her laugh before he shook his head and took off after her. She squealed, splashing through the waves as the distance between them closed. Seconds later, Aidan grabbed her up in his arms, a bright smile on his face. The smile she wanted him to have when he thought back to this moment.

“Got you,” he said.

That he did. In more ways than one.

As he waded deeper into the ocean, a mischievous twinkle entered his eyes, sending her thoughts away. She wrapped her arms tighter around his neck. “Uh-uh. Don’t even think about it.”

“What?” he asked innocently.

“Aidan, I swear— Oh!”

Warm water enveloped her body. Her feet made contact with the sandy floor and she popped back up, gasping. Wiping the salty water from her eyes, she surveyed the area. Aidan had moved to deeper water, treading on top, laughing. She pushed off the floor and with strong overhand strokes swam toward him.

“I’ll show you,” she said as she reached him.

She popped up, placed both hands on top of his head, and pushed down. He went under.

Easily. Too easily, actually. The ass.

If he wanted to placate her, then so be it, she’d dunk his butt.

She swam for the shore. As soon as the water came to her waist, she started running for the beach. Loud splashes came from behind her. Shrieking, she ran even faster.

A sharp stinging radiated up her leg and shocked the glee from her. She screamed and stumbled away from the source. Losing her balance, she landed on her butt in shallow water and cradled her shin, moaning.

“Jaylin!” Within seconds, Aidan had her swept up in his arms and was jogging toward the chairs.

Tears blinded her vision at the burning sensation. It felt as though someone had poured acid on her leg. “Jesus, Aidan, it hurts.”

“Shh, baby.” He placed her on the chair and lifted her leg in his hands. Three long red lines marred her skin, wrapping around the bottom half of her calf and ankle. “Shit. Jellyfish.”

Gathering her back in his arms, he hurried up the staircase leading to the house. He shoved open the door with his shoulder before entering their bedroom and placing her on a chair outside on the private deck. Without a word, he turned and left. His shoulders rigid, body shaking with barely restrained emotion.

Grimacing against the radiating throb, she didn’t have the energy to worry about his sudden change in behavior. She knew what had brought it on, and there really wasn’t anything she could do to stop it.

A few seconds later, Aidan came back and pulled a seat directly in front of her. Even though his face was drawn in harsh, angry lines, he gently cupped the back of her knee and propped her leg on his thigh. After unscrewing a bottle of vinegar, he poured a liberal amount on the wound. The sting didn’t disappear, but it did lessen some.

“I wish I could take it away, Jaylin,” he whispered in a tormented voice. He was so tense. On edge.

She had no idea what to say to make him relax, so she went with, “You
are
helping.”

“You know what I mean.”

Yeah, she did. He wanted to help by healing her, but the type of wound prevented that. Maybe she needed to make light of the situation. “Hey, it’s just a sting. If I ever get bitten by a shark, you’ll really come in handy.”

He scowled at her. “That’s not funny.”

She pursed her lips. So much for using humor to get him to chill.

As he used a pair of tweezers to remove the remaining tentacles attached to her skin, she touched his hand to get his attention, and he looked up at her.

“Aidan, without you here I would have been writhing around in pain. Just because you can’t lick the skin to mend it doesn’t mean you’re worthless. I had no idea vinegar helped take the sting out.”

He lowered his head. “I don’t like seeing you in pain.”

“I don’t like being in it, but that isn’t your fault.”

He didn’t say anything, just went to work tweezing. When he was finished, he placed her foot on the ground, then stood, walked into the bedroom, and disappeared into the bathroom. Moments later, the sounds of running water filled the air. When he returned, he asked, “You’re feeling okay, right? No nausea, light-headedness?”

“I’m fine. Stop worrying.”

Another scowl, a flash of blue, and Jaylin knew they were treading into uh-oh territory. She limped toward him, wanting to see the blue fade from his eyes. “I’m
fine
. Seriously. A hot bath and I’ll be good as new.”

“I never should’ve chased you.”

Oh, for God’s sake. She cupped his face between her hands. “I wanted you to chase me or I wouldn’t have run. So if we’re going to play the blame game, it’s my fault for starting it in the first place.”

The blue slowly faded from his eyes. “Let’s get you in that bath. It’s going to be hot. It has to be.”

Hot was an understatement. Just south of scalding was more like it, but surprisingly enough it did ease the throb in her leg. Aidan sat at the lip of the tub behind her and rubbed her shoulders. She leaned her head back. “You could join me.”

He shook his head. “I’ll stay here.”

She’d see about that. He needed to be distracted. More so than she did. She sat up and untied the back of her bikini and dropped it on the floor with a splat.

“What are you doing?’

Ignoring him, she slipped deeper into the water, until her nipples bobbed on top. They were tight, waiting. A growl vibrated from behind her. She bit back a smile. In an instant, he was at the edge of the tub by her side, eyes latched on the stiff peaks. She arched her back just a fraction to bring them farther above surface, before relaxing them back under.

She was shocked when he let out a string of curses, and stormed from the room.

Chapter Nine

Aidan grabbed two fistfuls of his hair and tugged, sucking a noisy breath between clenched teeth as he stalked back and forth across the living room. His beast also paced in sharp, short strides, with its head low and a growl constantly vibrating inside Aidan’s chest. A warning of how close he was to losing it. Being near her right now was not an option.

A rational mind would know he was overreacting, that her wound was insignificant, but he was anything but rational at the moment, and hadn’t been since Jaylin had screamed in pain.

He could still feel the way her piercing shriek had cleaved right through him, making the cougar charge forward, tense, ears flat, ready to protect.

How the fear had almost consumed him.

Over a jellyfish sting.

If he felt like this over something so small, what would happen if she had a serious injury?

Something life-threatening.

He cringed away from even thinking about it. He didn’t want to remember how human she really was. How easily she could be taken from him.

What he needed was someone to ground him back in reality. Help him see the forest for the trees, because if he didn’t, he was at risk of doing something stupid.

His cell phone had lost signal somewhere over the Caribbean, but he always kept a satellite phone nearby just in case of an emergency, and right now felt like a pretty good time to use it.

He grabbed the phone he kept in the drawer of the end table and then stepped outside onto the deck.

He quickly dialed Britton’s cell phone number. Two rings later, his friend answered with a very Brit-like, “Yo!”

Just hearing his friend helped some of the tension ease. “It’s Aidan.”

“Hey, man! What’s up?”

“I wanted to check in on Liam.” Such a lie, and he felt like a failure for needing to reach out to his friends to keep him from letting his beast control him.

A snort came through the line. “What’s he got to complain about? He’s waited on hand and foot by that old woman and is back at your cabin.”

“I thought he was staying at your place.”

“Yeah, that lasted about an hour, then he forced me to come here and camp out in your room. What’s Liam’s deal with my humble abode anyway?”

“Other than being small?”

“It’s not small. It’s quaint. And perfect for me.”

A small smile came to Aidan’s lips. Maybe calling was the best thing he could’ve done. The pressure in his chest had lessened, and he could finally breathe without feeling like it was through a wet paper sack. “How’s he been though?”

“Talking to that therapist everyday on Skype. But you didn’t really call from the gorgeous tropics with that gorgeous mate of yours to ask about Liam. What’s wrong?”

“Jaylin got hurt.”

“Bad?”

“No. Stung by a jellyfish.”

“The risks of going to the tropics, I guess. But why the call? Sure a sting is a bitch to deal with, but I don’t see why it’s got your panties in a wad. She’s fine, right?”

“It’s the
Drall
, Brit. I’m all jacked up now.”

“Hmm.” Brit gave a deep sigh. “Yeah, well, I can’t help you there, buddy. All I know is I’m glad I don’t have to worry with this shit. Watching you and Liam has made me thankful for my sentence.” There was a slight pause, then a yelled “Liam! Phone!”

Aidan rolled his eyes. Brit would gladly pass the buck to the one person Aidan really shouldn’t be baring his soul to.

A second later, Liam came on the line. “Yeah?”

“Hey.”

There was another pause before Liam said, “Didn’t think I’d hear your voice until you returned.”

“I just wanted to check in on you.”

“Bullshit. I told you not to do it.”

Aidan scowled. “You know what? Never mind. I shouldn’t have called.”

He should’ve hung up as soon as Brit had called Liam’s name. The man lived to say “I told you so” nowadays, and that was the last thing Aidan needed to hear right now. What he needed was a friend.

He went to disconnect when he heard Liam ask, “What’s got you freaked out?”

Inhaling deeply, he brought the phone back to his ear. “You actually going to listen and keep your judgmental assholiness out of it?”

“Yeah. Yeah. What’s going on?”

“She got hurt, Liam.”

Silence stretched on the other line. “You okay?”

Liam got it. Aidan breathed a sigh of relief. Someone understood what he was going through.

“I’ve never felt so helpless. It scared me. Made me realize how easily I can lose her for good, and how much I want to be
Fewsed
to her, and her to me.” He realized what he was saying, and exhaled a harsh breath. “Damn, Liam. I shouldn’t be talking to you about this. I’m sorry.”

“I’m better than Brit though, that’s for sure. He’s so detached from the shifter ways that he’s more human than shifter now. Listen, death is something I’ve been thinking a lot about since that meeting with the doc. We both know what will happen to me when Ava dies.”

Aidan was surprised by how easily Liam was sharing his thoughts. Normally, he went into a cruel, snarling monster when conversations like this arose. “That therapist is helping, isn’t he?”

“Trevor is teaching me to talk instead of keeping it all bottled up inside. He’s also teaching me to accept my future and live day to day. It isn’t easy, but I’m working on it. Ava will not be a part of my future. We won’t be in Anavrin together. When she dies, a part of me will also. That is what I have to look forward to.” Liam paused then cleared his throat. “I can’t tell you what to do, but before you let something like the doc getting a boo-boo push you into something you can’t take back, remember that right now you are free of her. Once you mark her, your destiny is sealed.”

“Do you regret bonding to Ava?”

“Every day of my life, Aidan, and you know how much I love her, so that’s really saying something. If I’d known what I had to look forward to, I would have fought like hell, like you are doing. Keep fighting, man. Save yourself.”

“Aidan, who are you talking to?”

He spun around to find Jaylin stepping out onto the deck, tying the sash to her robe. When her eyes landed on the phone, they rounded. “Are you kidding me? There’s a phone here?”

“Um. Liam. I’ve got to go.”