“They’re vegan, not anti-animal.” She laughed, scrunching her nose. “Actually, they love dogs. The fact he’s a rescue dog will thrill them. I might even get approval points for doing something with meaning.”
“But you eat meat?” Jareth crunched a chip between his teeth, trying to make sense of the puzzle sitting beside him. She hid who she was from her parents. He had a feeling she had no one she was one-hundred-percent herself with.
“Oh yes, big fan of meat. Bacon is my favorite.” She ate another chip.
“Bacon’s mine, too. Wow, I can’t imagine hiding something like that.” Jareth paused his eating and watched her. She hid a lot from her parents. What was she hiding from him? “Is that why you have a fake tattoo, too?”
“What?” She glanced sharply at his face. “When did you—”
“At Nate’s. You had a temp on your shoulder of a wolf’s print.” He shook his head. “I wasn’t trying to look at your or…” He grinned. “Okay, I couldn’t help it. You were just standing there in a towel. What was I supposed to do?”
Cyan chuckled. “Oh, wow. Okay, I get it. At least the tattoo was all you got an eyeful of, right?” She frowned. “No, it’s fake, but my parents got me a tattoo for my eighteenth birthday. I didn’t want one. I still don’t. I don’t like the idea of it. Plus, I’m not fond of needles. I bought all the fake paw prints I could find and fooled them with them.”
“Cyan, I don’t think your parents are stupid. It’s obviously fake.” He crunched another chip in his teeth.
She swallowed her next bite, the silence comfortable as she considered his comment. “I hope not. I don’t want them to think I’m someone other than what they want in a daughter, you know? I’m nothing like them and I think they hate it.”
“I think you need to give them a chance to get to know you.” Jareth set his sandwich down to give her his full attention.
Cyan looked at him from the side. “When Maria lived here, she always helped me impress them. They weren’t around a lot. Mom… I think she wanted to stay with me, but Dad was always interested in new investments and new… things. He makes money easier than anything.” She laughed bitterly. “Too bad he’s in so much pain, though.”
“What’s wrong with him?” Jareth didn’t ever want her to hurt again. Something in the way she spoke about her parents left him doubting she thought much of herself. The fact that her parents let her feel that way triggered anger toward them.
She took another bite, chewing slowly. Finally, she swallowed, picking up another chip. “He has fibromyalgia. It’s super hard to treat, so he uses marijuana. He just recently started growing his own because his suppliers are so unreliable. The plants aren’t ready yet though and when he doesn’t have enough or any at all, the pain makes him very angry.”
Marijuana? Cyan bared her family secrets to him as if she had nothing to hide. He didn’t deserve her complete honesty. She couldn’t be more open.
He felt like a fraud. She couldn’t do anything wrong in his eyes, not now. She may hide things from her parents, but look what Jareth hid from her.
“We live in pretty different worlds, huh?” He muttered, his food suddenly tasteless, like wet clay.
She kicked a foot close to his leg, swinging her socked toes closer and closer to his calf. “Not really. We both love bacon, right?”
“And animals. Don’t forget that.” Jareth picked at his sandwich, tossing a pickle into his mouth.
Cyan frowned, pausing as she lifted her sandwich. “But you shoot them.”
“Yeah, but not for fun.” He pointed a chip at her to emphasize his words.
She lowered her sandwich. “Then for what? Revenge?”
Jareth considered the options she gave him. “Yeah, I guess, maybe partly? At least a little bit on the wolves, but it’s not like I blame them all for one wolf’s actions. I mostly hunt for money or food.” He motioned to the gold gilt salt and pepper shakers on the end of the counter. “I’m not set up like you. My parents rely on me and my brother to pay for things. My dad isn’t in constant pain like yours but he has his problems and trust me, they’re more than you’d think.”
She watched him, her eyes large. After a drawn out moment filled with consideration and unanswered questions, Cyan tapped him on the shoulder. “I like you, Jareth.”
Her bluntness startled a laugh from him. “You can’t like me.” The truth of his statement bludgeoned him with sadness, deep in his chest.
Cyan’s blue eyes sparkled as she narrowed her gaze. “Why not?” A tinge of anger hardened her tone. “Just so we’re clear, I’m not used to be told I can’t do something.”
Jareth sobered. All the amusement vanished from the room. He turned to face her, and then looked around the large recreational room. “I’ll never be able to give you this.” Reality stole the joy being with her brought. “I don’t even commit, Cyan. I never have.”
She slid from the barstool, pacing back and forth behind him. “So, what? You’re forbidden? Is that it? Or are you saying I am?”
Jareth turned, watching her pace, worried about her shoulder and rising anger.
After ten laps, she stopped in front of him, her cheeks pink and her uninjured hand tapping her leg. “Jeesh, I didn’t ask for a commitment, Jareth. I’m not asking you to marry me.” Her chest rose and fell with frustration. “I just said I like you.”
Jareth reached out, gripping her biceps carefully with both hands. “Shh. It’s okay. I didn’t mean that. I just don’t want to lie to you.” Any more than I have to. Jareth’s gaze dropped to her lips, then shot up to her eyes.
She froze, confusion locking her anger in. “So, what? What I think doesn’t matter? Are you saying you don’t like me?”
“Of course, your opinion matters. Are you kidding? And I’d be half-dead not to be attracted to you. But we need to accept the reality of where we are.” Why was he pushing her away? Why did he care?
They didn’t have any chance at long term. He should pull her in, get what he wanted, and then get out.
No attachment, no pain. Easy.
He didn’t want to hurt her, though. Every time he turned around, that’s exactly what he did. Even now, her cheeks were flushed and she looked like she might cry.
The door to the laundry room closed, but Jareth didn’t release her. He held her gaze, unable to break the connection sizzling between them. Her friends were just going to have to wait.
Cyan’s father burst between them. “What are you doing? Let her go!” He shoved against Cyan’s chest to get her away from Jareth, making her cry out. She dropped her sandwich on the counter, grabbing for the wall to stabilize herself.
Gulliver glanced at his daughter then turned bloodshot eyes on Jareth. His lips drew back in pain. “Look what you did. When are you going to stop hurting her?”
The thick skunky smell of pot blanketed around them. Cyan covered her mouth, her cheeks red with embarrassment. She cast her eyes downward as a small spot of blood began to spread across her shirt over her shoulder.
Ignoring Gulliver, Jareth stepped around him and softly touched her good arm. “Cyan, are you alright?” He couldn’t leave her with a man that didn’t care what happened to his daughter – at least in the state he was in. Jareth had never seen a pot-smoker be so aggressive.
Normally, their relaxed attitudes even contained an angry outburst. The only thing he could figure was maybe Gulliver wasn’t only using marijuana. Something was making him unreasonable and Jareth couldn’t leave Cyan unprotected.
Gulliver puffed up his chest, his shoulder-length hair swinging in front of his face. “Get out, right now!” His eyes bulged and he spun toward his wife who emerged from the same direction he’d catapulted from. “He’s here again. Bugging her.”
Cyan caught Jareth’s eyes and flicked her gaze toward their food.
Jareth stepped back to their spots. In one swoop he gathered their lunch into his arms, successfully hiding the evidence she wanted to keep secret. Why wasn’t she s
aying anything about him not hurting her? Why didn’t she say she wanted him there?
More she was hiding from her parents? What did he expect? She couldn’t be herself around anyone, maybe even him.
“I’m gone.” Jareth held the crinkling bags close to his chest and stomped from the rec room through the laundry. He ignored the newly constructed kennel and made a whip-straight line for the truck. He tossed the mangled food in the front seat. Pulling on his overcoat from where Cyan had laid it on the back of his seat, he dug through his pockets for his keys.
“Jareth, wait!” A panicked edge curled Cyan’s voice.
He stopped, his hands falling to his sides. He couldn’t be angry at her. Not for her parents being protective. Not for anything. He’d done too much to her to deserve forgiveness as it was. He planned on betraying her, manipulating her. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t angry.
And frustrated.
She approached him slowly, holding her injured arm with the other hand. Colorless, her normally gleeful expression was pinched with pain.
Jareth sighed, closing the distance between them.
Tears brightened the blue in her eyes and she sniffed. Her breath puffed out white in front of her in the cold afternoon air. Sunlight sparkled on her hair and Jareth struggled against reaching out to touch her. He had to keep his hands to himself, but the temptation could prove to be too much, if he stayed here, staring.
Trying to chuckle off the intensity of the moment, she let go of her arm and grabbed at the lapel of his leather duster. She pulled him closer to her, tucking her legs against his. Beseechingly, she stared into his eyes. “I’m sorry. Don’t listen to them. My dad…” She glanced at Jareth’s neck, and almost imperceptibly shook her head. “I told you. He has some problems. Mom just said the marijuana isn’t working. He’s… in a lot of pain. I’m not sure why they’re home early. You’d think I was twelve with the way he acted. I’m so sorry.” Pink flushed her cheeks.
Jareth lifted his hands and cupped her jaw in his palms. He pressed a thumb to her lips with little pressure. “I don’t care about them. You have nothing to apologize for. And you ramble when you’re upset.” He winked at her, lowering his voice. “I’m not a fan of being told I can’t have something. No doesn’t sit well with me either.”
He rubbed his thumb down her chin and onto her upper neck, transfixed by her smooth skin and barely parted pink lips. Suddenly, he understood the fixation everyone had with forbidden fruit. Being with her wouldn’t bring either of them anything but heartache, but dang, she couldn’t be more tempting.
Her husky whisper sent shivers down his legs. “Me neither.”
Pulling her tighter against him, his eyes closed to half-mast. He murmured, “Let’s do what no one wants us to.”
Their breath mingled as their lips pushed together, searching for some secret, some answer their hearts longed for. Her heat transferred to him and he softened his hold, moving his hands to rub the nape of her neck and down her back.
Breaking apart, breath coming in shallow gasps, Jareth stared at Cyan.
He didn’t know how, but somehow his mission had just become a whole lot more complicated.
Chapter 14
Cyan
Over a week later, at an agreed upon time, Cyan called out to her parents up the stairs. “I’m taking Samson for a walk. Be back later.” She shut the downstairs door behind her and whistled softly to Samson. The dog’s black tail swung back and forth, moving the whole rear-end of his body. “Are you ready for a walk, boy? Let’s go.”
Long strides propelled her to the edge of the clearing, just over the rise where the crest in the hill started to drop. She settled into the trail heading down into the slight valley, Samson moving ahead of her.
Afternoon light filtered through snow-laden trees. Her down-alternative snow jacket whispered as she moved.
At the bottom, the ground evened out. Cyan and Samson fell into a comfortable lope, heading toward Kettleson land. A soft whistle up ahead spurned Cyan further, faster. Samson took off at a run with a quick bark.
Jareth’s cowboy hat gave away his position first, the silhouette stark against the snowy backdrop. He raised his hand and Cyan walked faster to reach him.
They fell into each other’s arms, their lips touching, linking, connecting them in the cold wintery air. Samson stood beside them, on the lookout.
Cyan broke away, looking down. “Hi.” Why was she shy all of a sudden? She just kissed him, pretty much threw herself into his arms.
“Hey.” He touched her chin, gently turning her face back up to face him. “How are things at home?”
She shrugged, unwilling to tell him how much she missed him. She couldn’t explain something she didn’t understand. “My parents need to go back to Hawaii. They’re driving me nuts. Especially with Sherri and Rachiah gone.”
“When did they leave?” He took her hand and pulled her into his side so they could walk together. “I can’t believe I haven’t seen you in a week. I feel like it’s been forever.” His warm gloved fingers stroked her wrist.
Smiling, she agreed, grateful he was able to voice what she was thinking. “They left two days ago. Rachiah couldn’t handle the meatless lifestyle much longer. Sherri’s family refused to watch her bugs any longer, so they left together. I’ll see Sherri at school in a few weeks.” She didn’t broach the topic of returning to school much. The thought of not being close to him hurt and she couldn’t figure out why.
“With the girls gone, I’ll make sure to see you more. We can do this every day until I get a full day off, and then we can go to town again or something?” His gaze dropped to her shoulder. “You have the sling off, is it feeling better?”
“Yeah, it hurts more in the sling than without. I’m just still careful with it.” She didn’t mention her daily trips in to see Maria. She’d missed her old nanny so much. She couldn’t fully explain the scope of their connection to anyone, even herself. She didn’t want to own her bitterness over missing out over the last couple years.
Regret shadowed his eyes at the topic of her wound. “I’m so sorry, again, Cyan. I didn’t—”
“Sh, stop.” Cyan slowed and faced him. “You don’t have —”
A low growl from Samson cut her off. He crouched down twenty feet ahead of them on the game trail, the hair on the back of his neck and upper back bristled and. His growl adjusted, deepened, rose, and then deepened again in warning.
Jareth shoved Cyan behind him, his hand shot to his waist and then back out with a gun in his palm.
Startled by the sudden appearance of the weapon, Cyan pressed her fingers to her lips. Whatever Samson was growling at, wasn’t peaceful.
The shaggy brownish-gray pelt of a male wolf hunkered into view. His own crouched position and bared teeth did little to make his shrunken size appear bulkier, more intimidating. Shadows between his ribs as he breathed lent a more pitiful cast to his appearance than challenge.
Samson would take down the lone wolf by himself, if he tried.
Cyan didn’t make a sound.
To distract either of them would be unsafe. She glanced at the dark hair peeking from under Jareth’s hat. What would he do? Hopefully he wouldn’t shoot the poor creature. She tensed, ready to throw herself against him in case he decided to do something reckless.
Instead of aiming the gun at either animal, Jareth pointed the muzzle to his right, off into the woods and pulled off a shot.
The loud reverberation jerked both canines from their frozen stance. The wolf skittered off. Samson padded a couple feet after him, stopping to stare in the escapee’s direction.
Cyan hugged her waist, allowing a shiver to run over her. “Well, that was intense.”
“He looked really hungry, didn’t he?” Jareth spoke in muted tones, watching the direction the wolf went. He grabbed Cyan’s hand and pierced her with his gaze. “Promise me you won’t walk too far from your place alone, Cyan.”
She met his eyes and nodded slowly. “I
won’t.” Did Samson’s presence qualify to keep her from being “alone?” She smiled to dispel some of the tension and pushed lightly at Jareth’s shoulder. “You’re so sweet to worry about me.”
Could he feel something for her? If he did, it would definitely help her figure out all the confusion tangling up inside her. He didn’t fit into the vision she pictured her parents had of where she was going in her life, but some things didn’t have to be perfect. Did they?
~~~
Scooping dog food into Samson’s bowl and giving him one last ear scratch, Cyan sighed. She had to go back inside and wait for something to snap. If it weren’t for Maria in town and the chance to see Jareth more, Cyan would head back to campus and work on her thesis at the library.
Her suite was at the back of the house upstairs. She’d have to pass through the living room to get there. If she had any luck, her parents wouldn’t be around and she could get through without having to passively ignore them.
She made her way upstairs, pausing at the top at the sound of her parents talking. Tilting back her head, she ground her teeth together. Great. Lovely. Just get through there, fast.
They didn’t see her until she was almost clear. But once they did, they called her back.
Cyan turned and pasted a tight smile on her face. “Yes?”
Her mom rounded the semi-circular island, her blue and green sari floating around her as she moved. “We haven’t seen you in a couple days. How are you?”
“We aren’t stupid, you know?” Her dad grimaced, not moving from the overstuffed easy chair in the living room.
“Okay?” Cyan didn’t say anything else. She wasn’t sure which question to answer first or even if there were an order.
Exasperated, her mother glanced at her father then back at Cyan. “Honey, can’t you rebel some other way? Get another tattoo? Experiment with drugs? Why him?”
“I don’t understand, why not him.” She didn’t even pretend not to know who they were talking about. Cyan crossed her arms. She didn’t know how they knew, but she didn’t care. Get it all out.
Forbidden Trails: A Clearwater County Romance (The Montana Trails Series Book 2) Page 10