Page 15 of Tainted Gifts
At least he’s honest about being dishonest, and he didn’t let me fall in love with him while pretending to be someone else.
The engine purrs as I rev it up, and then I squeal the tires while racing out of the garage area and into the tunnel, staying straight through the first separation.
I’ll have to keep my mystery man’s lair a secret from my mind reading ex. I’ll just have to work hard not to think about where I’ve been… or what I’ve been doing. As much as I hate Jase for playing me like a fool, I wouldn’t want to subject him to viewing the memories I made with… who-the-hell-ever this masked crusader is.
Ace. What a bullshit name.
I’m almost ashamed at the earth-shattering night we shared, since I have no fucking clue what he even really looks like.
What if he’s actually ugly under that mask? What if he’s hiding some heinous scars or deformities?
That’s not possible. I didn’t see his face, but I felt it. He’s going to be hot, and whenever he does reveal himself, I’m going to be in trouble.
I’m still not over Jase, and I honestly don’t know if I ever will be. I shouldn’t have fallen so hard so quickly, but I was drawn to him the second I saw him, and even now.
That asshole crushed me with his deceit, and I’m still reeling over him.
The city comes into view, and my stomach knots. Simone was freaking the hell out when I called her, and Rex wasn’t exactly thrilled with the several hours I haven’t yet accounted for.
I pull up to the gates, shine my credentials, and drive down the streets, which are littered with United officials - more officials than I’ve seen in most compounds.
Damn. This must be their new central location.
With Seminole demolished, I suppose they had to find a strong location to make base in for the duration of the war. I’ve still never seen this damn many officials in one place though.
“Aria!” Rex yells as he rushes down to the curb where I’ve parked my new car.
How will I get his car back to him?
Rex’s strong arms jerk me to his trembling body as relief floods from his touch. I feel the anxiety he’s suffered through as it materializes and rolls off of him, and I nestle into the brotherly embrace.
“I’m okay, bro,” I chuckle out with a mock strained breath to poke fun of him for his overzealously tight embrace.
He snickers lightly before withdrawing, but then I see the tears wavering on his lids. He has been more worried than he should of been, considering he can see me. With his visions mostly targeted toward me and Mom, he should have seen me safe.
“You didn’t see me?”
He shakes his head, and then he wipes away a stray tear once it sneaks through the clutches of his lashes.
“No. I couldn’t see anything at all besides a blur. The last vision I could force was of you bleeding to death in the arms of a man. After that, it all goes blank. I thought it was because you were… I thought-”
His emotional break forces him to stop talking before he loses it completely. I soothe him by pulling him back to me, and then I feel more arms wrapping around my waist.
Simone is crying wildly against my back as she squeezes me with the same fervor as Rex did. I turn around to hug her back, and her fear-ridden tears seep through my newly acquired ensemble that I have to replace before the entire compound has a chance to gauge my blood fuck walk of shame.
“You smell like… him,” she murmurs hesitantly while sniffing the soft fabric covering my almost bare body. “And you’re not wearing any pants,” she adds with a menacing smirk.
I laugh lightly, but Rex casts his worried eyes on us to break up the light moment.
“Who’s him?”
I sigh out loudly, and then I start walking away with Simone’s arm looped through mine.
“The guy who keeps saving me… all of us, actually. He gave me a panic button to press if I needed him, which I did, and he showed up to free me from the group of people about to carry me off to who knows where. Then, well… I had to heal. He didn’t exactly have loads of packaged blood on hand.”
“Aria, who is he?” Rex almost demands, but I don’t have a chance to answer when I see the commander of the United standing in the foyer of the gallant hotel.
His body visibly relaxes as his pale eyes connect with mine, and before I can look away, he has zipped across the room to me. Soft lips collide with mine, his tongue invades through my parted lips, and sex and candy floods my mouth with his delicious taste.
