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The door slammed with a finality she should have welcomed, but didn't. She glanced out the window to see the clouds opening up and pelting the city below in a fierce rainstorm. Thunder boomed all around her, and lightning arced across the skies.
Collapsing into a nearby chair, she hugged herself to calm the tremors wracking her body, then finally let the tears fall as hard as the rain outside.
Chapter Sixteen
Aidan threw his fishing line over the dock, the lure hitting with a plop in the water before sinking.
Sinking. Man, he knew that feeling. The blistering skies overhead shined brightly, the glint off the water nearly blinding. Of course, he'd left his sunglasses at his house.
"You'll get wrinkles if you keep squinting like that."
He turned at the sound of his mother's voice and smiled. "So I've heard."
She slipped down next to him and dangled her tennis-shoed feet over the side of the dock. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
Angling her head to the side, she asked again. "Tell me what happened with Lissa."
"She's gone."
Her eyes widened. "What? What do you mean, she's gone?"
"Just what I said. It wouldn't have worked anyway." He stared out at the line. Nothing. No bite, no action. The lake was dead this morning. He felt the same way inside.
"You want to tell me what happened?"
"Not really."
"Did you tell her how you felt?"
"Yep."
"And she's still leaving?"
He nearly laughed at the shock in his mother's voice. "She's still leaving."
"Why?"
"Because she thinks her feelings were manipulated by my powers."
"What?"
He glanced over and smiled at his mother's shocked look. "She overheard us that morning on the boat, or at least a portion of it, and misconstrued everything. She thinks we were talking about how I manipulated her into feeling something for me. That our powers extend to controlling people's emotions."
"Well, that's ridiculous. We don't have that kind of magic. Did you explain to her?"
He shrugged, not wanting to remember the slice of pain that cut away at him when she'd accused him of masterminding some kind of seduction plot at her expense. "I tried. She wasn't into listening."
"You didn't do anything to her with your magic, did you?"
"No! Well, maybe."
"Aidan..."
"Just a couple little things to heat her up a bit and that was only the first couple days she was here. But you know as well as I do that I can't control her emotions."
She sighed. "Yes, I know." She hugged him to her. "Melissa's confused right now."
"That's an understatement." He pulled his line out of the water, resigned to the fact that the fish weren't biting today.
"You need to convince her."
"No way. I'm finished with Melissa Cross."
"No, you're not. Do you love her?"
"I thought I did. But how could I love someone who has so little trust in me?"
She held out her hand and he hauled her to her feet. "Aidan, not everyone adjusts to our magic easily. You need to give her time to work it out in her own mind. But letting her run away from you isn't the answer."
"I can't force her to stay, Mom. She'll just think I'm using my powers on her."
"Then make her realize you're not. Deep down she already knows this, but she's afraid. Go, tell her again that you love her."
"It may be too late already." He couldn't believe he was actually considering it. After everything she'd said to him. Even now the adrenaline rush of anger seared through him.
But his mother's gentle chuckle calmed him. "It's never too late. Go find her, and keep telling her you love her until she realizes it's the truth."
His mother pushed him in the general direction of his car until he decided she was right. He had to give it another try, had to find her.
He pulled out of the driveway and grabbed his cell phone, dialing the hotel. She'd already checked out. Probably already flown out. Problem was, he had no idea where she was right now. On the way to the airport, at the airport, or already airborne?
But, he could find her. He pulled over to the side of the road and shut off the engine, then closed his eyes, imagining her. The light behind his eyes darkened as the clouds gathered. The ground shook from the force of the thunder. Closer, he was getting closer to her. Rain pelted the windshield, the drops hard and furious as the clouds burst forth their fury. It swirled around him, the force and the power mixing at his command. He held his eyes tightly closed as lightning seared his body in a white heat.
Then, just as quickly as it started, it was over. He slowly opened his eyes, saw it and smiled.
The rainbow.
He started the car and followed it, knowing it would lead to Melissa.
*
Melissa paced the luggage check-in area of the airport, watching the skies darken to black, listening to the roaring thunder that sounded like the jet engines taking off and landing nearby. Then it rained. Fast, hard and furious, lightning brightening the sky with its raw electrical power.
She felt it surging through her and the force nearly knocked her to her knees. She watched it, felt it, and could do nothing to stop it.
It was Aidan. She knew it without hesitation. He was angry, or hurt, or some indefinable emotion that made him unleash his powers like this. Then it hit her and her breath stopped. Anguish so intense it brought tears to her eyes.
It would always be like this. From today on. Every time a drop of rain fell, every time a gust of summer wind blew, every strike of lightning or rumble of thunder would remind her of Aidan.
Because he was a part of the storms that surrounded her, he was the heat that drenched her, the cooling mist of summer rain that relieved her, the awesome power of thunder and lightning that shook her to the core. All of these and more was Aidan.
And he had no more control over her emotions than the person sitting next to her.
Idiot. Stupid, moronic imbecile.
It wasn't until the older woman next to her stared in shock that she realized she'd said it out loud.
"Sorry," she said. "I'm having a duh moment."
The woman cracked a well-worn smile. "We all have those, dear."
"I've made a serious mistake with the man I love." Why she was telling the old woman this she had no idea, but it was better than talking to herself.
"And what are you going to do about it?"
"Do about it? Nothing, probably." Because she'd burned her bridges with Aidan, accused him of unspeakable things, and stomped all over the heart he'd bared for her when he told her he loved her.
"Why not?"
"Because what I did to him was unforgivable."
The woman laid her hand on Melissa's arm. She looked down at the wrinkled knuckles and nearly see-through skin. Then she met the woman's warm eyes. "We all make mistakes, dear. What we do to atone for them is what counts. If you love this man, then tell him, and keep telling him until he believes you."
She was right, of course, but Melissa didn't know how she'd ever convince Aidan how sorry she was. How could she think he'd manipulate her like that? He'd never harmed her in any way, never led her on, never led her to believe he was anything other than what and who he was on the surface.
And when he finally took the step and admitted he loved her, she'd thrown it in his face.
"I hurt him," she murmured.
"Then work hard at taking away that hurt. Don't let him go, because you may not get another chance at love like that."
Melissa smiled at the woman. "How did you get to be so wise?"
The woman laughed heartily. "Years of mistakes, dear. Years of mistakes. Now go see if you can undo the one you've made, before you lose something that I believe you think is worth holding on to."
Her heart swelling with hope, she kissed the old woman on the cheek, grabbed her bags and all but ran down the aisles to the front door, intent on grabbing a taxi and going back to talk to Aidan.
She stepped outside, immediately hit by the humid blast of August air and sucked in a breath. Hefting her bags into her arms she started to hail a taxi.
"Melissa!"
The familiar voice nagged at her, and she shook her head, knowing she'd imagined it.
"Lissa!"
But there it was again, louder and closer. She stopped and turned, searching the crowds milling about, until she saw him.
Aidan. Running toward her, his hand over his head waving.
She dropped her bags, unable to believe he was actually there. But why? And more importantly, why would he even be interested in finding her after the things she'd said to him?
Girding her courage, she held fast and watched his approach, knowing this was the time to swallow her pride and beg for his forgiveness. It was a start, anyway. She didn't expect him to absolve her quickly. But given enough time, if she was lucky, he might let her back into his life.
She should have known nothing was predictable about Aidan. He met her and pulled her into his arms, covering her lips in a passionate kiss that took her breath away. His tongue swept inside and heatedly searched the recesses of her mouth. She grabbed onto his shirt and clung to him, grateful beyond words at his greeting, unable to fathom how he could be so incredibly forgiving.
"I love you," she managed between panting breaths.
"I know. I love you, too." Then he kissed her again and her heart swelled, nearly bursting from her chest. He rained kisses over her cheeks, her eyes, her neck, all the while pulling at her clothes, yanking her harder against him, making a public display of affection that had people stopping dead in their tracks.
She loved it. Pulling away, she searched his face and found only tenderness. And passion. "I love you, Aidan. I'm so sorry I hurt you."
"It's okay." His dark eyes burned into her soul, but she found no recriminations in his loving glance.
