Chapter Twenty-One
“Catherine, come back to me,” the agonized voice in her head pleaded. Catherine was in a deep sleep. Her mind was active while her body felt like lead. She tried to move but her limbs wouldn’t budge. “I’m so sorry.” The voice echoed around her head. “I’ll never hurt you again, just open your eyes for me, Baby,” it cooed against her ear. The voice grew softer as it continued to speak, “Don’t leave me. I just got you. Wake up, Baby, wake up.”
Catherine opened her eyes against a tremendous force. She blinked, trying to make sense of her surroundings. Her limbs still felt heavy, as if she’d been sleeping in the same position for too long. She finally got hold of her muscles and stretched. Mid afternoon light streamed through the window in Graham’s guest bedroom. She sat up on her elbows and tried to remember the last thing that happened. She put a hand to her head and gasped as the memories came flooding back.
She ripped the blanket away from her body and gazed down at the sight that was her thigh. The wound was still healing. The edges of the bite mark were still red and sensitive to the touch but that wasn’t why tears were streaming down her face. The old mark, the one put there against her will was completely gone. What lay there now was more rough, larger, even a bit savage, but it belonged to her mate, not a monster. There was no bruising, it didn’t even hurt. She gripped her heart as she felt a swell of emotions. Everything seemed to be… more.
She could smell everything. In fact, she figured if she closed her eyes, she could create an exact layout of her surroundings by just scent. With her eyes open though, she could make out every minute detail of the room, down to the smallest petals on the bouquet sitting on the windowsill across the room. She even felt stronger and glanced down at her arms expecting to see a new growth of muscle. More than anything though, she felt lighter.
Catherine swung her legs over the bed and padded out to the hallway. She listened intently and heard Graham’s voice coming from down the hall. She noticed a door opened near the end that she hadn’t noticed until now. She took a few steps closer and saw a pair of stairs leading to a room on the second level. She heard the soft timber of her mate’s voice again.
“Just keep your head down and let me know when you get there,” Graham said. There was a pause. “Remember, you’re not there on vacation. Get me the information I need and come home.” Another pause. “Well I suppose you’ll have to be persuasive then.”
Catherine realized he must be working and could tell the call would last a while. Not wanting to interrupt him, she decided to take a shower. The hot water felt good against her sore muscles. Again she couldn’t help but notice how the hot water felt more heavenly against her bare skin than usual. She moaned as she put her head under the shower head and let water glide down her hair. Her heightened senses picked up on the sweet scent of cloves. She quickly rinsed the soap from her face and peaked her head out of the shower door. On the counter there was now a silk robe, an even fluffier towel than the one she’d picked out, a hair brush and a toothbrush. She smiled to herself and hurried through the rest of her shower.
Once she felt she’d gotten all the tangles from her wet hair, she set out to find Graham again. She walked barefoot down the hall toward the open door. She listened for a moment at the bottom but couldn’t make anything out.
“Come on up, Catherine,” Graham called softly from the top of the stairs.
Catherine took a deep breath and climbed the narrow stairway. The room was small. It had probably once been attic space but Graham had turned it into an office. There was the same selection of wood flooring up here with stone on the walls and the back, facing the woods, featured floor to ceiling windows. Catherine turned to face Graham who sat behind his desk with his hands folded together in his lap. He studied her carefully, taking in her wet hair and how the robe fit her curves. His expression was guarded, uncertain.
“How are you feeling?” he asked carefully.
Catherine shrugged. “Different but…” She smiled. “Better.”
He nodded once. “Good.” He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. “Come sit with me so we can talk.”
Catherine nodded and walked around the side of the desk. His brow drew down as she got closer. She automatically straddled his lap and sat down facing him. His hands stayed awkwardly out to the side and his expression had turned to something resembling pure bafflement. She rested her hands on his shoulders.
“Oh my Goddess.” Her cheeks flamed. “You meant, in the other chair.”
He swallowed. “I did.”
“I can’t believe I would be such an…”
When Catherine tried to stand, his hands suddenly latched on to her waist and held her down. “No, stay,” he commanded. Catherine nodded, pleased with herself. “Catherine, look, we need to talk about what happened.”
“How long was 1 out?” she asked, tentatively.
1/2
Chapter Twenty-One
A shadow passed over his face and he glanced down at the watch on his right wrist. “Thirty six hours.”
Catherine gasped. “That long?”
He nodded. “It shouldn’t have happened.”
“I know, Graham, I wish things had gone differently and I’d been stronger when…”
His grip on her tightened and one hand gripped her chin, forcing her eyes to his. “I was not referring to what happened to you, Catherine. Never should I have blamed you without knowing the facts. What I meant was I should have never tried to remove the mark without looking into the repercussions. I was relying on information I had read in one book many years ago. I’ll never forget the way you screamed… When you wouldn’t wake up…” Graham let go of her chin to grip the tops of her thighs as if to keep her from fleeing. “My instincts have been all over the place since I first saw you. I haven’t experienced a haze of my own since I was a hormonal teenager and that night, if I hadn’t left I would have shifted in my kitchen. When I bit you, I don’t even remember doing it. Catherine, I vow to you I will never lose control like that ever again.”
Catherine was confused. “You seemed perfectly in control when you took the mark away.”
Graham nodded. “That’s why a haze can be so dangerous.” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “I just need to apologize. I’m not making it about myself. I just need you to know how sorry I am. I hope you can forgive me for how I reacted.”
Graham gazed at her earnestly. She brushed some hair away from his face. She noticed the skin along his hairline seemed red. Had he been pulling at his hair? “I should have told you and I’m sorry. What you did has made me realize how toxic that mark had really been. It was not only a dark reminder but perhaps it did more mental damage than I thought. You taking it away… it’s what I wanted. Even if you weren’t in control, I was. I wanted it. I’m glad it happened.”
Graham nodded and leaned forward so that his forehead was pressed against her chest. He took a deep breath. “I don’t expect you to tell me anything about it. Not until you’re ready. I just have two questions and I will drop the subject.”
Catherine’s hand stilled in his hair. “Yes?”
He pulled back and took her hands. He skimmed his lips over the back of one before his dark brown eyes latched on to hers. “The man who gave you that mark, he did so without your consent… he did other things without your consent?”
Catherine heard the unspoken question there. She pushed back the suffocating memory and blinked away the tears. No, she was not going to let him ruin another moment of her life. “Yes, everything he did was without my consent.”
Graham looked away toward the floor to ceiling windows. His jaw ticked and his eyes flashed black. She felt all of his muscles pressed against her body flex and shiver with the urge to shift. Catherine placed her hands on his chest and focused her soothing energy into them. A moment later he closed his eyes and inhaled a deep breath. Slowly the muscles relaxed, but not all the way.
“I want a name.”
Catherine gulped. She’d been expecting this. She couldn’t though. Saying his name would bring it all back. It would all crash down around her. The betrayal, the fear, the hopelessness, the pain. She shook her head and cursed to herself as tears fell down her cheeks.
Graham heaved a sigh and pulled her into his chest. He rubbed a hand down her back and whispered sweet nothings. After the tears had stopped, she felt his mouth against her ear. “You don’t have to tell me now, today, tomorrow… but someday you will tell me. The day after he will be dead.”
Surrendering to Destiny
