So please, go forth and rip through this chapter. I hope you guys like
Recap from last chapter:
Ben had shown Crystal how to "sense" things all around her. Later that evening, Crys gets an unexpected visitor; Aaron, whom she thought was a guy friend of Tony's. Turns out she's a total bitch and Tony's fiancé....
Chapter 18
I stilled, stunned by what Aaron had just said. "Fiancé?"
She turned to face me and walked in the same direction, swaying her hips with each step. "Didn't you know?" her tone was mocking. She knew I was unaware.
I looked past her to Tony. He looked pained, whether it was because I'd found out or because Aaron was there, I wasn't sure. "Crys, I-"
"You don't need to explain yourself to her," Aaron snapped, coming up in my face. "I can't blame you for wanting sex when I’m not there,” she said to Tony, “but you should learn not to jump on every bitch in heat." She smiled, pleased with herself for delivering the insult.
I saw red, and then black as my fist connected with her nose. Caught off guard, she fell to the floor, blood gushing from her nostrils. Despite it giving me an awful lot of satisfaction, I still had an urge to yank her short hair off...perhaps even use her as a punching bag. Luckily, I was able to reign in the compulsions.
"Bitch!" she hissed, covering her nose.
"Next time, remember that this bitch is Alpha, and Alphas don't take shit from no one." I glanced at Tony. "Not even from males."
Having been watching Aaron scrambling to stop the bleeding, he understood my meaning and looked up to me. We stared at each other, no words needed. His eyes seemed to plead mine; plead them to understand.
Yeah, I understood. Understood that he was engaged and playing me on the side. It made me angry to think how gullible, how easy, I’d been for him. He must have seen my thoughts in my eyes – I let the show clearly - because he started to talk.
Not wanting to hear him, I stormed out the door behind me...
...and straight into the pouring rain. “Shit!” I rushed into the house, grabbed my jacket out off the closet, pulled it on, pushed Tony away from me when he approached and was back out; this time for good.
***********************************
He used me, I thought pathetically, he freaking used me! As much as I didn't want to believe it, as much as I wanted to think Aaron had just been yanking my chain, I knew it was true. If she'd been lying, Tony would have said something. But he hadn't.
So what was I to him, then? Was I really just a passing...flirtation? A toy or...or..whatever people called them!?
My throat felt dry. How could he do this to me? I loved him! At least, I thought I did. Now I wasn’t so sure anymore. I mean, I'd never even had a boyfriend before, so how could I know if it was really love? Maybe it was just a crush; maybe I only liked him because he was hot....
Am I really that shallow?
I thought of all the guys at my school. A lot of them were good looking, yet I’d never wanted to date any of them. Guys who are hot are usually jerks, and the nice ones are always nerds... Is having a bit of both too much to ask? I imagined a mix between David Beckham and Einstein and laughed at myself. Perhaps.
Maybe I liked him because he was interested in me. I'd seen that a lot; people that became attracted to someone else after they found out that that person liked them. Well, he was the first one to talk to me. Did that count?
Blowing upwards, I tried moving the hair in my eyes, but it stuck to my head. I recalled everything we’d been through. Who was I kidding? He was the one person who really understood me. The one who always watched out for me. How could I not come to care for him?
But do I love him? I shoved back the wet strands of hair in my face. We got along well, we were always together, kissed a couple of times. I felt my cheeks warm. Yeah, we’ve done that a lot, I thought.
"Why are you smiling?" someone asked.
I jumped, a small yelp escaping my lips. I hadn’t heard anyone climbing the tree. I'd been too lost in thought, I guessed. I looked to my right to find Tony holding on to the last wooden plank that was used to climb my big oak. I could see no lower than his shoulders as he still stood on the lower planks, hidden from me by the large board I rested on. I had a sudden urge to smile. That is, until reality came crashing down.
He was engaged.
And he'd never told me.
"I'm thinking of all the ways I could kick your ass," I said with a smile.
"Don't do that!" he hissed, "Don't get angry at me when you don't know the circumstances... you haven't even let me explain!"
"What else is there to say? You're engaged and you didn't tell me! You let me think that..that..." I couldn't say it. I’d never told a guy that I wanted to be with him, nor that I had strong feelings for him. I wasn’t prepared for that yet.
Despite being in a tree and dozens of feet off the ground, I suddenly felt trapped. I needed to get away from here. Problem was, the only way down was currently occupied and by the expression on his face, Tony wasn't going to let me go.
Breathing hard, I twisted my neck away from Tony to look down. I couldn't possibly jump all that way; I’d break something for sure!
At least, in this state, I would.
Grinning to myself, and ignoring what Tony was saying, I Shifted. I sighed at the feel of leather, its dryness much more comfortable than my wet jeans and jacket. Only then did I take in how cold I’d been the entire time.
With a slight hesitation, I stood up. The board creaked, protesting the full extent of my weight on it. I looked down again, doubting if I really should do this. I’d never jumped from this high before; maybe I could still get hurt.
"Don't even think about it!" Tony yelled, attempting to grab me. As he was holding on to the planks on the other side, however, it restricted his reach, preventing his arm from seizing me.
I glanced back to glare at him. “Don’t tell me what to do!” I turned and jumped. Cold wind and rain slapped at my body, causing a freezing chill the entire way down. A few heartbeats and my feet landed roughly in a puddle of mud. There was discomfort at first as the impact reverberated throughout my body, but not long later I found no pain. Obviously nothing had been broken.
I guess we are tougher when Shifted. I smiled inwardly. Maybe it’s time to head home though. Despite the fact that Miss I-have-a-fiancé might still there, I’d been gone for a really long time. Plus, a hot bath was sounding like a really good idea.
I headed towards the mansion. No more than five steps later, I stopped. Regardless of the rain that was pounding to the ground, I could hear the swoosh of wings. Tony, who must’ve shifted, was approaching from above, quickly coming to halt before me. Even with everything that was happening, I still marvelled at the beauty of him. He looked like a warrior, yet his wings appeared soft, their slight greenish glow like a beacon in the rainy night.
“Let me explain,” he cut into my reverie. “At least give me that.”
“And if I don’t want to?”
He clenched his hands into fists. “Then I’ll make you.” He shifted into a tight stance, ready to spring at a moment’s notice.
I was taken aback by his actions. “You would intentionally hurt me?”
“I’d never do that, and you know it.”
“Then move out of my way!” I moved to pass him, but he followed my steps, blocking my path once more.
Now we were practically face to face, but I stopped my attempts to bypass him. He wasn’t going to let go, and I wasn’t going to listen to him; that was for sure. He couldn’t force me to do what he wanted; I could also be stubborn when I wanted.
I backed away from him, just in time to miss his reaching arm. “You really want to do it this way?” I smiled. “I can oblige.” I drew my sword quickly, slashing at him. He thwarted the blow, jamming our blades together.
“Just fucking listen to me!” Tony snarled, thrusting his weight with his sword. Although I was a good fighter, he had the advantage of strength. I was thrust back a little. It gave an opening for Tony, who rushed me. I blocked just in time, but it was done without force. With another two strikes, he’d successfully forced me to my knees. Another one and he disengaged my clutch on my hilt. The sword clattered to the ground. He smiled down tightly at me.
Overlooking the loss of my weapon, I arose long enough to jump and kick him in the legs, just below his knees. With a yelp of pain, he fell to the ground, as did I. My butt connected with the ground, and immediately I was back up again.
I watched Tony, his body sprawled in a mixture of mud and wet grass. A part of me felt bad at what I’d done, but the rest was delighted that he hurt as badly as I did on the inside. “Now leave me alone!” I could stress the word enough.
Moving away, I retrieved my sword before making my way home. I peeked at Tony, only meaning a quick look, when I noticed he wasn’t lying still anymore. Twirling completely around, I saw that he was now on his back, his wings gone, one arm outstretched towards the heavens. What is he...?
It’s only when I noticed what was floating over his palm that I ran for it. Too late. He’d produced an enormous protective bubble over us. I continued my sprint anyways to run at it full force. I was thrown back as soon as I made contact.
Damn it. I couldn’t get through by force and was pretty certain my sword would have no effect either. The good news was I knew how to make and destroy these things; Ben had showed me both some time ago. All I had to do was break Tony’s concentration long enough for me to pierce the blue bubble.
With a frustrated sigh, I returned to Tony. First thing I did when I reached him was kick his foot. Nothing happened. He remained on his back, staring at the sky, concentrating.
“You can’t keep me here forever,” I stated. He didn’t reply. So I went for his stomach, pressing my high heeled boot on it so I could shake it around. It wasn’t meant to hurt him, only shake him and annoy him. This time it worked, but not how I had anticipated.
Rapidly he broke out of concentration and yanked my leg. I fell forward, landing half on the ground and half on Tony. I scrambled to get up but couldn’t as Tony was squirming under me. In a matter of seconds he was able to struggle out from beneath me and pin me down. I fought, flailing my arms and legs behind in an attempt to hit any body parts. It didn’t work; not with him pressing down on me.
Finally, I let my head rest on the wet grass. I should’ve known he was going to lure me to him. Geez I’m stupid.
Slowly, I was turned around, Tony pinning me back down as soon as I was facing him. With his weight pressing on me like that, there was no way I was going to be able to move. “Don’t touch me! Let me go!”
Tony smiled. “Guess you got no choice to listen, do you?”
Arrogant prick. I wasn’t going to give him all the satisfaction he wanted; I closed my eyes.
“Look at me!” he ordered. When I didn’t, he proceeded to bark it at my face. Still, I didn’t look. If he wanted them open, he’d have to do it himself; and let go of my arms in the process.
“Obstinate little thing, aren’t you?” he said, a hint of humour in his voice.
Any minute now, he’s gonna-
I felt the hard press of his lips against mine. Part of me knew I should try and push him away, but the other part longed for this, for him. I met his rough demand with my own. Then I felt the press of his tongue on mine, the sudden blending sending a jolt through me. I wriggled, trying to get even closer to his warmth, his taste. I felt him smile against my lips before he broke the kiss.
“Now don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy that?” He laughed. He freaking laughed!
My eyes flared open. Jack ass! “Only because I was imagining you were Jimmy,” I retorted with a tight smile.
My response had the desired effect. His face contorted into a mask of fury. “Bullshit! We both know he has nothing to do with this! Don’t make up stuff because you’re pissed!”
“You have no right to tell me what I’m allowed to do!”
“In this position? Like hell I can’t! You’re gonna listen and listen good. I don’t have a relationship with Aaron. She’s-“
“You’re so full of shit!”
“-not my real fiancé!”
“Oh so sorry, where's the other one?!”
“That’s not what I meant!”
“I don’t care what you meant!” I screeched, struggling to get out from under him.
He put more weight on me. “Shifters have always had arranged marriages! How do you think Jason and Gigi know each other?!” He forced my lifted arms back down. “It’s only if the Council sees fit the woman of the Shifter that they can dissolve the arranged marriage!” He drew a shaky breath. “I didn’t tell you because I knew I would never marry her!”
I shook my head, not believing him. It was too easy of an answer what he was telling me.
“It’s true! She’s just an aggravating girl to me; I don’t care about her!”
I stopped shaking my head as I was busy blinking repeatedly to stop the tears that wished to be released. “Stop lying to me,” I demanded, my voice cracking.
“Aw Crys, don’t do this to me.” He released his hold on my arms to gather me against him. He wrapped me in his arms. “Please don’t cry. I’m sorry; I just couldn’t tell you yet. I mean, I... Ah fuck! I didn’t know for sure, okay?!”
I pushed my head away from his chest. “Know what?” He wasn’t making sense.
“If I wanted to marry you.”
My jaw went slack. “You want to marry me?” I asked incredulously.
“No!... I mean yeah, but... Ah!” He let out a frustrated breath and took in a shallow one. “Look if I’m to marry one day, I want it to be to you.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. “So you’d marry me just to get out of it with her?” I frowned.
“What? No! Don’t you get it? I...I..adore you!” he burst out.
My mouth fell open. You've got to be kidding me! A guy who has extraordinary powers, who spends his time killing otherworldly creatures, and he's afraid of saying “I love you”!? "You're such a guy!" I exclaimed. "You can't even say the L word!"
He looked offended. "Hey! It's not that I can't, I just don't...you know."
"Oh." He won't say something he doesn't feel. I let my head hang so he couldn’t see the hurt in my eyes.
Instead, he lifted my head to look at me. "What I meant is that I like you...a lot...but I don't love you yet," he said it carefully, checking my reaction. “All I know is that I’m always thinking of you.”
“That could be desire.”
“Desire comes in different ways; physical and emotional. But does it seem physical to you when all I want is you, your personality? To laugh as well as fight alongside you? To see your smile when I wake up in the morning?”
“Look who’s turning into a poet,” I joked.
He laughed. “Not likely, but I do mean what I said.” He stopped, searching my eyes. “Say it.”
“Say what?”
“You know what.”
“No idea”
“Come on!”
“Can’t help you.”
He pulled back from me. “Look who’s being such a guy now!”
“Am not!”
“Are too!” He smirked but it fell rapidly from his face. Instead, his blue eyes held a deep sorrow. “Please?” he whispered.
I stilled. He looked so...defeated. I’d never seen him like that. Just a minute ago he wanted to rip my head off and now, he looked as though it would rip him apart if I didn’t reassure him. I guess everyone gets unsure at times. But for his sake, I was willing to put myself out there. “I adore you,” I said with a soft smile.
His eyes blazed with humour. “I thought so.”
“But if you ever lie or hide something from me again, I will hurt you.”
He smiled, the first genuine one all night, showing his dimple. “I don’t doubt that.” He touched my cheek, drawing me to him for a quick kiss. “Don’t ever leave me,” he murmured as I was enfolded in his arms once more.
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