Haunted by Time

Chapter 6

I hardly had a moment to catch my breath before he pushed me up against the wall. He pinned my hands above my head and pressed his body against mine. The shirt rode up to expose my black underwear, but he didn’t even pause before his lips were on mine. It felt like kissing a hurricane and a gentle stream all at once. He kissed me like we would never be kissing again. He was right though. His hand gently slid down my arm, making its way down my ribs and rested on my hip where his grip tightened. A soft moan slipped out of my mouth and he swallowed it down. His hips grinded against mine and the lift felt too hot.

The lift doors binged open and he leaned back from me. His hand didn’t move from my hip as if he was afraid I might fall if he let go. I leaned heavily on the wall, catching my breath before pushing away from it and placing my hand on his chest, keeping him at arm’s length.

“Don’t do that again.” I said and took a tentative step around him.

My legs still felt a bit weak, but I was not about to show weakness to this demon. The presence in my mind protested and flooded my brain with s****l images of Nicolas and I tangled together. My cheeks flushed darker than they already were and I pushed against it once more.

We made it to the parking lot with no further occurrences and he pulled a key out of his jacket pocket. A black SUV beeped and he started walking to the driver’s side. He paused and changed course to open the passenger door for me. I muttered a thank you and slid onto the leather seat. He closed my door and jogged around to his side and I felt a warmth spreading through my chest at how comfortable it felt. I could picture us doing this for the rest of my life. I shook my head and repeated Logan’s name like a mantra at this point. The presence huffed in annoyance before retracting to the far corners of my mind.

Once Nicolas was settled behind the wheel with directions to my house, I thought about how to ask him about the presence without giving him too much information about me. I guess it’s too late now. I gave him clear instructions to my house for goodness sake. I couldn’t help but trust him and as soon as Josh or Cynthia learned about this, they would kill the both of us. I opened my mouth to ask him about it, but he beat me to it.

“So, there is probably something you should know.” He paused and glanced at me before looking at the road again.

He looked both nervous and uncomfortable with the topic. I felt my heartrate pick up again and the thought crossed my mind that he had too much of an impact on my heart. I considered the fact that he could control it and thought that he might have been using his power, but why would he do it? He didn’t gain anything from playing with my heart.

“Okay, how do I say this? Back there, the vampire, he bit you and activated your demon. It turned out that fate was twisted and that our demons are soulmates. I had to bite you to cover the fact that a vampire bit you. I told them it was an animal so I unintentionally marked you. Our demons now have a mate bond and you’ll feel the increasing need to mark me too. It would complete the bond between us. There is also the s****l matter, but I won’t get into that right now.” He glanced at me to make sure I was listening.

I felt like fainting and screaming and running and straight up jumping out of the moving car. All I could manage to do was breathe and blink while my mind processed what he said. The presence, the demon, within my mind came forward at the mention of mates and I flinched away from it. At least as far from it as I could get within my own mind. I glanced at him to check if he was cracking some stupid joke. He kept his face straight and kept his eyes on the road.

I looked out the window at the passing trees to ground myself. He probably thought that I was mentally unstable for not responding, but I was scared of what might come out of my mouth. The car was speeding and before I had time to properly process what he said, the familiar road parted the trees to our left. He slowed down and flipped his indicator on even though we were the only people on the road. I hated the fact that I liked his driving etiquette and couldn’t wait to see Logan again. As soon as I saw him, I would be reminded of all the years we’ve been in love and this mate bond would disappear. The demon in my mind sighed in frustration.

As soon as the house came into view, another worry settled on my shoulder. Apart from bringing a high-class demon home with me, I now have a mark on my neck. I don’t think Josh would kill me for it, but Logan would not be able to keep it from his father for long. I turned to Nicolas and found him patiently watching me.

“This needs to go as smooth as possible. My uncle is a trained Hunter. Please don’t mention being a demon or do anything freaky.” I pleaded and he raised a brow when the word ‘freaky’ left my lips.

He opened his mouth to reply, but I put my hand up and he closed his mouth obediently. It was refreshing having a male follow my instructions without an argument first.

“Is there anything you can do about this?” I asked and pointed to the bite on my neck that was barely hidden under the shirt and covered with white gauze.

He frowned a bit before he concentrated on my neck and I felt something stroke over it like silk. I pulled the gauze off and dropped the sun visor and opened the mirror to inspect my neck. It was smooth and I turned to him for an explanation.

“It’s a trick I’ve picked up over the years. Your mark is still there and I’ll need to keep you within sight for it to stay hidden.” He said and opened his door.

He walked around to my side and opened the door for me before extending his hand to help me out of the seat. He needed to stop this behaviour. I was starting to not completely hate him. The smell of rain still hung heavy in the air as we walked up the steps towards my front door. I didn’t want Josh seeing me inviting Nicolas in so I took the spare key out from under the doormat. Very safe, I know. I silently unlocked the door and stepped inside, turning to Nicolas.

“Please come on in.” I said and he tentatively took a step inside.

Once he was in, I turned down the corridor that led to Josh’s room. He better be asleep in there or I was going to bust his balls along with Logan’s. I softly opened his door with Nicolas peering in over my shoulder. I didn’t want to wake him up if he was indeed sleeping. If I was holding something right now, it would have dropped to the ground. Instead, my knees buckled and I fell back against Nicolas’s chest. He steadied me while keeping his eyes on the scene in front of us. Logan was balls deep in Josh, pounding away.

I could practically hear my own heart breaking. The betrayal ran deep enough to cut off my air supply. Nicolas turned me towards him and wrapped his arms around me. The pressure helped to ground me as the first tears started to fall. My sadness turned into blind rage within seconds and I looked up at Nicolas. He must have seen it, because he released me and nodded reassuringly. I turned around and stormed further into the room. Logan saw me first and paused his movements, making Josh look back at him. The slap across Logan’s face stung my hand and the sound of it reverberated throughout the room.

Logan had shock and regret written all over his face. He pulled a sheet off the bed and wrapped it around his waist. Josh turned and sat down, pulling his comforter over his mid-section. The second slap didn’t meet its target because Josh stopped me with rage burning in his eyes. He didn’t show an ounce of regret or even shame. The only living family I had was cheating with my boyfriend. Well now ex-boyfriend.

“It’s over.” Was all that I managed to get out before turning around and heading towards the door where Nicolas waited. He moved out of my way and gave them each a murderous look before he followed me to my room. He closed the door behind him and stood there in silence for a moment. I could hear footsteps approaching down the hall. I reached behind Nicolas and locked the door. I couldn’t face them now, my heart was shattered into a million pieces and I would rather die than speak to them right now.

I grabbed a bag from my closet and filled it with a few changes of clothes, some personal items that were valuable to me and a few toiletries. After my furious packing, I turned to Nicolas who was still standing guard by the door. He was just watching me silently. He said nothing about the tears streaming uncontrollably down my cheeks. He kept his face a blank slate as he took a step towards me and hugged me to his chest once more. I let the dam crack a bit more and cried into his chest. He stroked my hair until I calmed down enough to understand what he was saying.

“Let’s get out of here.” He said reaching for my bag and pillow that I left in a small pile by the bed.

I looked around one last time before nodding at him. The irony of his words was not lost on me and the thought of Kale sent a cold shiver down my spine. Nicolas went to unlock the door, but I wasn’t ready to face them just yet. I grabbed his hand just as his fingers folded around the key. He looked down at me then and he must have seen it in my eyes because he nodded his head and looked back at my room. A look of concentration passed over his face before he nodded to the sliding door next to my vanity. I walked out and slid the door closed behind Nicolas.

He put my bag in the trunk of the car and handed me my pillow. He opened the door for me and softly closed it. I propped my pillow up on the door and rested my head against it. I looked at the house again and saw Josh frozen on the porch. Nicolas got in and started the car. He peeled out of the driveway with screeching tires and started speeding towards the main road. I saw Josh’s sagging form on the porch and realized that Nicolas froze them so we could leave without confrontation. I looked over to Nicolas and watched his jaw clench.

“Thank you.” I whispered and he spared me a look before turning his gaze back to the road.

“You should get some more sleep. You aren’t fully healed yet.” He brushed my gratitude off and focused on the road.

I gave him a sad smile before turning into my pillow and letting the dam burst. My tears were silent and I have never felt more pathetic in my entire life. I heard my phone pling and looked at the screen.

Logan: Who was that guy? Can we please talk?

Logan: Please answer the phone.

Josh: Where are you going? Who was that man?

Logan: Kara, please talk to me.

I put my phone on silent and threw it onto the back seat. I’ll deal with them tomorrow or never. Yeah, I like the second option better right now. A deep sigh left my lips and I vowed to myself that I would never let a guy have this much power over me again. I would never let anyone this close to my heart again. Nicolas sighed and put some music on the radio. He turned the volume down and it eventually soothed me to sleep.