Chapter 102

 

Time away from Troy turned out to be a more difficult thing to do than I had anticipated. It had only been two hours and I was pacing around my room worrying about him, this was new. It wasn’t that I’d never been anxious about anyone before, but to actually not be able to focus on anything but that person was something I’d never had happen.

Quinton had texted me to say Troy was tense but behaving as they planned and rallied the troops. I didn’t worry any less, just focused on how many troops would give us the best shot for a few minutes.

Glancing at the markings on my arm, I had to wonder how they could take what was a mutual attraction scenario and make him into a domineering ape and me a worry-wart. The next question was did I like it? Feeling vulnerable and slightly lost, no I didn’t like that at all.

My mind kept lingering over the bits and pieces Mitz had mentioned during our talks, how fate wouldn’t put me with someone I didn’t like. My question, well, more of a wondering … were Troy and I compatible enough to be together forever? In this case it was literally forever. Did I even want to live that long? How was that managed, I wondered.

Shaking my head, I decided the details could be asked later. Mitz had said Troy would never want another woman—I looked at the swirls down my arm. How many women on my side would kill for a fidelity insurance policy like that?

I continued pacing, trying to tell myself that I had all the time in the world to figure out what I wanted. Did I want Troy? That was just silly, any woman with a pulse would want him. Whether I could live with him, especially this new territorial version was another thing all together.

Could I live without him though, began to worry my every thought. My chest started to tighten, making me pause in the middle of the room and place my hand on it. Drawing in a deep breath I tried to override the panic that was starting to fill me.

What was wrong? Something wasn’t right.

My arm began to feel hot, I stared at it like the answer to why would appear. This made the tightening in my chest increase. Rubbing my hand up and down my arm, I tried to think of what would cause it to do this without warning. I hadn’t tried to scrub it off since that one time, realizing it was now a permanent part of me. Waves of panic were feeding this whole lost feeling, my heart was beating an entirely different rhythm causing me to lose my breath for a few moments.

Did they have a doctor here? Surely not everyone could just magically heal themselves with one vice or another, someone with medical knowledge had to exist on this side. I knew I couldn’t go to anyone on my side, where would I even begin to explain what was going on.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and forced myself to exhale slowly. It didn’t help, something was really wrong. Opening them, I rushed over to the table to get my phone, I needed Quinton here now.

Before I could even scroll to his number, the door flew open and Troy’s large form filled it.

The burning of my arm intensified as I stood there looking at him. When my heart started to settle down, the tightness in my chest eased. Whether the emotions I had been feeling were his, or caused by being away from him I didn’t know but the lost feeling was fading and I felt like I could think again.

As if synced with each other we both started walking at the same moment. His eyes moved over every inch of me in those few steps, as if he needed to see with his own eyes that I was alright.

The phone I forgot I was holding buzzed, startling me out of the almost trance like state I was in, glancing at it I saw a text from Quinton. Troy on route – quickly! Grinning, I tucked the phone into my pocket and looked up at the man now towering over me.

With a gentle touch, he ran his hand down my arm and the burning lessened.

“I sensed you were upset,” he said in a whisper.

My next words should have been how, but instead they were, “I can’t explain it.”

He gave me a lopsided grin, “I don’t think you need to.” Palming the back of my head, he pulled me closer and began kissing me in a slow, hungry way.

All the panic inside me left and something clicked into place. A new sense of completeness filled me. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I kissed him back almost desperately, not wanting these feelings to leave.

That’s all we did, kiss, drinking each other in, quenching a thirst that was never ending. In that moment, I didn’t care about prophecies or fate, all I wanted was this man I was wrapped around to continue to fill my every pore with only him.

Breaking the kiss, he looked down at me, his red eyes filled with hunger. My breath was ragged and legs were weak but in that moment I would have given him anything he asked. As I pulled his head back down, he nestled me tight into his hard body.

Someone cleared their throat from the door. Troy straightened but didn’t turn to see who it was.

“I really hate to break this up, but Victor just got word that we better get our asses to the compound within the hour.”

Both of us looked over at Rafael standing there.

With his hand against my back, Troy pulled me closer to his side and turned us so we faced him. “What’s going on?”

Raf shrugged. “That’s all I was told. Everyone is meeting at the weaponry in fifteen minutes.”

Troy nodded. “We’ll be there.”

Rafael spun on his heel and left.

Serious eyes met mine. There was so much to say to each other, and somehow we silently acknowledged it. Smirking, he took my hand. “We have some ass to kick.” Pulling me toward the door, he sent me a heated look. “Let’s get this done so we can focus on more enjoyable things.”

Ignoring the way my body responded, I shrugged. “I enjoy beating on those deserving.”

His eyes flared, but he didn’t comment.