AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“There you are.” He pushes damp hairs from my cheek and cradles my head in his hands.
“Here I am.” I have no idea why I feel shy, but I still can’t look away.
“I love you. You should know that.”
Pure joy and terror merge inside me. “We just met.” I push on his chest lightly.
He rolls away, and I feel empty and alone. “I know, but I also know how I feel.” Kissing my back, he pulls me tight to him and sighs. “Sleep, love. We’ll talk in the morning.”
ChapterTwelve
Oliver
Idon’t sleep much, but when I do it’s because I’m thoroughly exhausted, as I was after the greatest sexual experience of my life. Waking up to an empty bed is the other side of that coin.
My heart sinks, but I’m not entirely surprised. Britta thinks our lives are mutually exclusive. The people who are closest to her have disappointed her or wanted her to conform to their life. If I’m honest, I can’t see how I could live in a city with so many warm-blooded people and nowhere to run free and hunt. Still, I’d hoped she would have cared enough to try.
I stalk into the house and flop on the couch in the library.
Silas pokes his head around the loveseat. He sniffs. “Where’s Britta?”
I shrug. “Off to write a story that will probably destroy us, I guess.”
“You let her go?” He sits up and rubs the sleep from his eyes.
“She didn’t give me an option.” My heart is not something I think about much, but I swear it’s about to tear in two and leave me dead on the Persian rug. “Why did you sleep down here?”
He points to the desk. “I was making lists for the gardens and designing a project for a new client. It got late, so I took a nap.”
Finn walks in with a steaming cup of coffee, looks at me, and sits. “I heard her Jeep pull away about four o’clock. I thought you’d gone with her until I scented you returning from the woods. What happened?”
“Nothing happened. She ran away. I don’t know. I guess whatever fucking terrible story she’s going to write was more important than loving a monster.” I pound my fist on the end table and it shatters. I manage to catch the Venetian lamp before it crashes to the floor.
Morris rushes in and frowns at the broken furniture. He places a tray with cups and coffee on the table, then takes the lamp from my hand, unplugs it, and carries it across the room to another table. “Can I get you anything?”
I shake my head. No one can help with what’s wrong with me.
Silas pours a cup and sips. “Maybe you can catch her before she leaves town. At least you’d get a chance to talk to her. I could go and scare her out of writing whatever story she has in mind.”
The idea of Silas threatening Britta pushes a growl from me.
“Or not,” Silas says.
“Let her write her story. We’ll deal with the consequences.”
I pretend not to notice the looks of pity shared by my brothers. Getting up, I head for the door and move with vampire speed until I reach town. I don’t smell her, but I go to the Havendoor Inn and ask.
Wayne Brown is a thin middle-aged man. He and his wife own the inn. He shakes his head. “Came down real early and said she had to get back to the city. Been gone a couple of hours now.”
“Thanks.” I walk over to Mable’s. “Did you see Miss Daniels before she left?”
Sympathy shines in Mable’s eyes. “I filled her travel cup and told her to come back soon.”
“Okay.” Hands buried in my pockets, I head for the door.
“Oliver?”
I look back.
