Page 25 of Destined for Dreams
She pointed a finger at him. “You aren’t that perfect yourself. You’re keeping secrets about what happened with that demon, but I’m at least trying to be patient and wait for you to tell me in your own time. Do you realize how little I actually know about you? You want loyalty and commitment in this relationship, but you’re still practically a stranger to me. At least you know my worst secrets.”
Bartol couldn’t argue with her logic, though her betrayal still hurt. He might be keeping the worst part of his last demon confrontation from her, but that was something that had happened a millennia ago. What she’d done had just occurred.
Still, he would give her something for now. “What if I promise to call or text you while I’m away?”
She mulled it over. “That would help.”
“Would it keep you from leaving Alaska?”
Cori hesitated, thinking it over even harder this time. “As long as I hear from you at least once every twenty-four hours, I’ll stay here.”
“I can probably do forty-eight.”
She put a hand on her hip. “A lot can happen in that kind of time.”
“This will not be a leisure trip. At times I may be out of cell phone range or very busy. Contacting you every forty-eight hours is the best I can do, but I will try to talk to you for at least a few minutes each time—if that helps.” He actually liked the idea of this plan because it would be communication without the physical intimacy. They might be able to work out their differences and get to know each other better.
“Fine,” she conceded. “But don’t be any later than that when you call, or I’ll worry.”
“You cannot expect me to make it at the exact hour mark every time, but I will do my best.”
He turned and headed for the front door. The heat of her gaze on his back practically burned his skin. He needed to escape before he said or did something he’d regret. She might have gotten him to agree to calling her while he was gone, but he couldn’t give her anything else. Cori had conspired against him, and he wasn’t ready to forgive her for that.
She rushed behind him, following him out the door to the front porch. Bartol kept moving and ignoring her. Just a few more feet, and he’d be out of the blood barrier the sensor had set up so that no one could flash in or near the house.
“Can I at least get a hug or a kiss?” Cori asked.
He turned to look at her. “No. You lied and kept things from me.”
She strutted forward. “I’m sorry, and I regret that more than I can tell you, but if you think for one minute you’re leaving by stomping away from me, you can forget it.”
“What does that mean?”
Cori stopped before Bartol, reached up, and pulled his head down, pressing her mouth to his. Her lips were surprisingly warm, despite the cold outside. He resisted at first, but she’d caught him off guard.
The next thing he knew, his arms were going around her of their own volition. He pulled her into his embrace and lifted her off the ground. She ran her fingers through his hair and wrapped her legs around his waist. There was something about his mate when she was at her fiercest that truly turned him on. It took a full minute before their mutual touching took its toll and nightmare visions began flashing through his mind of other women torturing him in unimaginable ways. That old, helpless feeling tore through his chest like a bullet wound.
He sucked in a breath, forcing himself back to this world, and lowered Cori to her feet. “That is all I can give you for now.”
“It was a start,” she said, a weak smile on her lips.
She was well aware of what caused him to break apart from her, but the fact he’d been able to let her touch him for that long was still progress. For the briefest of moments, he’d enjoyed the feeling of her body wrapped around him. It had been Heaven—until it had become Hell.
He stared at her for a long moment. “I’ll call you soon.”
“Maybe I could see you off tomorrow…or better yet, stay with you tonight.”
Bartol shook his head. “We need the time apart to think and figure out if commitment would really work for us. You’ve said as much yourself before that we rushed our relationship.”
“It figures my own words are coming back to bite me in the ass now,” she said with a sigh.
“Take care, Cori.” He flashed away.
