Her head came up sharply, pulse already pumping excitedly at the sound of his voice. But in the next breath, her pulse returned to a dull hammer in her vein. Her initial excitement was an involuntary response to seeing him again and hearing his voice but when reason set in all she wanted was for him to go away. She didn’t want to hear what he had to say.
“What are you doing here, Nate?” She asked, the weight of his name heavy on her tongue. It felt too familiar…too good. Now many times did she call out his name in the heat of passion during their brief time together?
He caught her eyes through the mirror and she was transported back to that day…the day before his ultimate betrayal. The weight of his betrayal made the air heavy and tense.
His eyes never left hers but he took a single step forward. She turned around sharply to glare at him. Behind her the tap was running, abandoned.
“You have always looked beautiful…you look,” his eyes strayed from her eyes to her body, a look of longing in them. “Gorgeous.”
“I know that, Nate.” She was wearing the red silk dress because Jacob thought she looked hot in it and would catch his attention that way but to see him actually lust for her, staring at her body like that, she almost felt sorry. He was such an easy prey.
Nate’s eyes returned to hers and he closed the distance between them in a few short strides. His mouth was just a few short inches from hers. “I have missed you,” his voice broke.
“Gray,” she said, her voice dropping to a whisper as chills spread through her body.
He stopped, his head bent to nuzzle her cheek. “What?”
“Gray, Nate." She pressed further back into the sink away from him. “Our contract ended months ago. You are going beyond your limits.”
He didn’t want to stop even when he realized she was referring to the terms of their contract. He wanted to fill his head with her scent, he wanted to drown in her essence. He hadn’t realized how much he missed her until he saw her, he hadn’t realized how much he wanted to hold her in his arms again until he saw Jacob’s hand around her. He wanted to hold her yet his hands trembled at the thought of touching her.
Eventually, he lifted his head and looked into her eyes. He didn’t like what he saw. She hated him and it was all his fault.
“You look like hell,” she said, her voice still soft as she noted that his hair was longer, his clothes hung a bit and his chin was dusted with stubble.
His face was a mask of pain as he regarded her. “Turns out revenge eats you up and guilt deals a heavy blow, leaving you a hollow shell.”
She took a deep breath and inhaled his cologne. He was too close for her comfort. His heat enveloped her, warmed her, and tempted her to take him back. But she was way past that, she couldn’t fall for his tricks again. His deceit hurt so bad and seeing him again, being this close to him, it was too much to bear. Tears stung her eyes.
“I can’t say I feel sorry for you…” she murmured.
“I deserve that after what I did to you…”
“You tried to hurt me. You succeeded. You tried to own me, to possess me and then you…”
“You own me!” the vehemence of his heated reply made her jump. He pushed himself from her and jammed his fingers into his hair as he paced the floor in front of her. He looked at her and jammed a finger in her direction. “You possessed me! You possess me! I still smell you, I taste you! You’ve possessed every pore of my body!” his voice broke and he looked like he was going to shed a tear. His voice dropped to a whisper, “I can’t stop thinking about you!”
Rachel’s throat convulsed as he spoke, choked up with her emotions she held the edge of the ceramic sink for support. She opened her mouth to speak but when no sound would come out without the promise of tears she swallowed and tried again.
“You hurt me,” her voice was small.
He stopped pacing to stare at her with mournful eyes. “You hurt me first.”
“We are not taking turns hurting each other, Nate. What I did I did out of ignorance, I accepted my faults and apologized. You chose not to forgive, you trick me into thinking you were way past everything I did before the contract because it was convenient for you, and when it pleased you you pulled the rug out from under me.” She sniffed but it was useless the tears were running down her cheeks and she hated herself for crying, hated him more for doing this to her.
Nate watched her holding back tears of his own. He felt miserable and watching her cry, watching her red-rimmed eyes as they glared at him with hate ate him up from the inside. He wanted to hold her. He wanted to comfort her. He wanted to be the one she ran to for warmth and assurance and comfort yet he was the one she was running from because, at her lowest moment, he had dealt a heavy blow.
He was a coward. Why did he do that?
Revenge.
It had seemed a satisfying prospect at the beginning but now it felt meaningless. It wasn’t as rewarding as he had thought it would be. He had envisioned pleasure watching her downfall, envisioned satisfaction knowing that he would be the reason for her total ruin. In all his plans what he hadn’t seen coming was the hurt, the pain, the torment. Yet all of these emotions raged inside him. He hadn’t felt this way after everything that happened with Vera. Sure he had been hurt but letting her walk off with his wealth had been more bearable than dragging her in the court trying to appease her and keep her with him.
Yet if Rachel asked for all his wealth in exchange for his disappearance from her life he would refuse. He wanted to keep her. He wanted her to himself forever.
He jammed his fingers into his hair again in frustration.
Rachel watched him as much in conflict with her emotions as he was with his. On one hand, she wished the betrayal hadn’t happened, she wished he had indeed swept her off her feet as a knight would to a damsel in distress. But on the other hand, she wanted to kill him herself, choke him until the life faded from his eyes.
He was no knight and she was no damsel.
“Do you know why it hurts?” Nate asked dropping his hand from his head to look at her again. “Because you love me.”
She tried to mock his words with a laugh but only more tears came out. “You are a bastard.”
“I know I am,” he agreed. “I am that and every vile name you can ever think of.”
Their eyes met and held and all unspoken emotions passed between them. The space between them was so wide yet too close for the tension in the bathroom. Rachel was the first to look away.
Wiping the tears from her eyes she squared her shoulders. “I hate you. But there’s a bounty on you.” When his eyes widened in surprise she stared straight into his eyes. “Jacob wants to kill you. You may be a bastard, the devil himself but I am not a bitch. I will not have your blood on my hands. You might want to leave before Jacob finds you and kills you.”
When he wouldn’t respond she got desperate. Closing the distance between them she pushed on his shoulder.
“Jacob brought me here as a bait to lure you to the perfect location for your murder. You need to leave!”
“Why?” he asked. “Why do you care whether or not I die.”
“Because unlike you I have real human feelings and I do not want to be involved in your murder!”
She hadn’t finished talking when the bathroom door was suddenly thrown open and the nozzle of a gun flashed in the bright lights, aimed directly at Nate.
In a flash, Nate whipped Rachel behind him as the gun silently went off. In the sudden heated moment, Nate threw himself forward aiming for the gunman. He took hold of the nozzle and turned it away from his direction.
The man was caught off guard by Nate’s quick attack but he was quick to take control of the situation as he nudged Nate aside roughly, pushing him into the door so hard it bounced on its hinges, and pulled the trigger a second time. The dull recoil of the gun echoed.
Rachel screamed watching helplessly as they struggled. Suddenly Nate got hold of the gun, snatched it, and threw it in her direction. It went off but the bullet missed.
He hit the man hard across the face with his left fist effectively knocking him out.
Rachel was trembling when he sat back and groaned. It was only then she realized that the first 2 bullets had pierced his suit and lodged inside his right shoulder.
Terror filled her as she screamed a second time. She ran forward and threw herself down on him as he tried to lift his right hand.
“Nate!” she shrieked.
He looked up at her, his eyes clouded in pain. He still couldn’t process what just happened. All he knew was he had acted out of pure instincts to protect her…or was it himself?
“D-do you know him?” he asked weakly.
She glanced once at the man who lay motionless on the ground, not a single sign of blood on him but his jaw was bruising from when Nate had punched him.
She nodded shakily. “He’s one of Jacob’s men. Don’t die on me, Nate. Don’t you dare die on me!”