Blood Debt (Touched Series Book 1)

by Straight, Nancy

  Drake lay me gently on the bed and slid in behind me. His hand stroked my arm, from the top of my shoulder to the tip of my fingers, up and down, countless times. His touch generated goose bumps all over my body while he kissed the back of my neck just under my hairline all the way to my shoulders. His caresses were tender, and without words I could feel the turmoil in his touch. I could hear his breathing was heavy, and I felt like he had poured an accelerant on me - I was on fire. When I thought I could take no more, he exhaled a warm breath by my ear, “Remember that day at Andolini’s? - I told you I would combust? That was me being sweet.” I did remember his words just before I drove away, and his admission made me smile. Drake added, “I’m not being sweet. I seriously feel like I’m going to combust.”

  “Oh sure, you’re going to combust?”

  His breath was haggard, his voice strained, “I had intended to be a perfect gentleman, but intentions sometimes go by the wayside.”

  “You will be a perfect gentleman. I’ll go switch this getup for some sweatpants if I have to. We both know my fiancé is across the hall.” I tried to be funny, but missed my mark by a long shot.

  His lips froze in position on my shoulder. I knew my words struck a nerve. “We need to figure out how to get that damn necklace off you. I want to disappear with you, Camille.”

  “I’m all ears if you have an idea.”

  “If you could, would you run away with me?”

  I didn’t have to think of my response. “Faster than an Olympic sprinter.”

  Drake hugged me hard from behind. It felt like his arms were a vice, and I was so tight against him, I could feel his muscles flex behind me. I had found my heaven right here on earth in Drake’s arms. I was surprised when he blurted out, “Break your engagement with Gage.”

  “You know I can’t. I’m not the one who set it up to begin with.”

  “It’s still your choice. Choose me.”

  “Drake, you hardly know me.”

  “What do I need to know that I don’t already know?”

  “Lots of things.” I struggled, before my mouth started spewing random things about me. “I like to sleep in the middle of the afternoon. I like to snow ski on the bunny slope, and I’m terrified I’m going to fall off the lift chairs. I hate baseball, not dislike - hate. I miss Starbucks White Mocha Latte. I can’t ride a bicycle. You don’t know anything about me.”

  “You think because I didn’t know that, I don’t know you well enough to marry you?”

  “I think if life were fair, I could choose to go back to my old life: no mind reading, no knowledge of the future, no magical powers. I’d be free to go to the movies, lay on the beach, laugh at Youtube videos, and do everything I used to love.”

  His voice was pleading, “We can do that, Camille.”

  “That’s the thing, Drake. Why does it have to be all or nothing? I’m being forced to marry a guy I hardly know, who is in love with someone else. You’re asking me to break the engagement I never wanted, so I can choose to marry you. I’m twenty-two. There are too many things I haven’t done yet.”

  “So we’ll do those things together.”

  “What if I want to do them myself?” I could see my words stung him. I tried to lessen the hurt by explaining, “Maybe it would be different if I had grown up knowing what I was or at least what was expected of me. But I didn’t. I grew up my way. I couldn’t care less if my family’s blood line doesn’t go on. I don’t need someone else to be happy; I just need not to be a prisoner.”

  Drake eased himself away from me. He didn’t look at me when he answered, “But you couldn’t be happy with me?”

  I shook my head. “Maybe you. Or maybe a high school history teacher, or maybe a commercial fisherman. Life can’t be scripted, Drake.” It felt good to say to Drake what had been boiling under my skin since I found out about all these crazy traditions. “I’m willing to make a deal with you.”

  I knew I’d hurt him, but it was only fair he know the real me. “If we get out of this mess, we’ll date. . . my way. No escorts, no supervision, none of the crap everyone’s been trying to shove on me. We’ll go to the movies. If we have a good time and we both want to, we’ll go on a second date, then a third. If – and that’s a big if – years later we both get to the point that we can’t live without each other, then we talk about forever. Deal?”

  “I don’t need years to know you’re the one I want, Camille.”

  “That sucks, Drake, because I do. I want time. I want to. . .” I squeezed his arms that had gone slack around me, “savor you. Get to know you. I want something more than just a physical attraction. I don’t want you to miss me while we’re apart. I want your whole body to ache, to go through withdrawals for me. When we get to that, if we ever get there, that’s when we’ll know we’re right for each other.”

  “If that’s your measure, my body aches right now, and it has since the first day I saw you at Bruce’s wedding.”

  “Have you heard anything I’ve said? I don’t know anything about you. I’m all for running off with you and disappearing for a while, but I’m not ready to marry anyone. Unless I’m forced into it with Gage, it’s not going to happen.”

  “Camille, we’ll find a way to get you out of this betrothal.” He waited a long minute before he continued, “I’ll go along with you. We’ll do things your way. But I don’t need years, or months, or weeks – if I could get you to see through my eyes, to feel through my heart, you’d understand why I think the process you just laid out is ludicrous. I know my heart. When you decide that I really am the one, trust me, I’ll never let you regret it. We’ll stay like this forever, fused as one.”

  His words were like a drug, and I, an addict, desperately in need of a fix. I rolled over so that we faced each other; my hand swept his face. I studied him, worried that he, like everyone else in my life I cared about, would soon be taken away from me. I traced his lips with my finger, touched his face with my palm, and ran my fingers into his hair. Drake was beyond attractive: his ice blue eyes held me in a trance. I said nothing. I wanted to take him in, memorize everything about him. I didn’t want to end our moment, but the self-preservation side of me took over. I knew if we kept this up, he was right: I would fall in love with him. It wouldn’t be a crush or blind lust, it would be the rip-out-your-heart, falling-off-a-cliff love that comes once in a lifetime. I would be devastated on my wedding night to Gage, a hollow shell of a person losing someone forever whom I could never have. “What are we doing?” My question caught him off guard.

  Drake smiled at me as he whispered, “We’re acquainting ourselves with each other, Love.” His voice was happy, content, but it turned amused when he added, “Unless you have a better activity in mind for this evening.”

  I could feel the hopelessness of the situation seeping in. Making plans to date was ridiculous when any hope for a future other than the one forced on us wasn’t possible. “I’m marrying Gage in a few weeks, and you’re marrying Bianca. There’s nothing either of us can do to stop it.”

  “Break your engagement with Gage.”

  “This stupid necklace would take my head completely off if I said that out loud.”

  Quietly, he said, “Camille, we need help. There has to be some way to get it off.”

  “How? We’re out of options, Drake. All we’re doing now is making the heartbreak worse - putting off our own goodbye.”

  He turned my face to him so I was forced to look in his eyes, “I can’t give you up. Even if it’s just a few nights together, I want them.” I looked away, knowing his words cut clear through to my soul. “It’s better than a lifetime of regret for ignoring what little time together we were afforded. I’ll take what I can get, Camille.”

  “So, this is it? I lie here with you, praying that we’ll have one more night tomorrow, and the next after that. We’re going to run out of tomorrows. We can’t wish th
e dawn away.”

  “For now, live in the moment, Love.” This time his voice was heavy with the same desperation I was feeling. He tried to comfort me by pulling me closer, and I tried to be comforted by drawing him in. The feeling wouldn’t go away. Our nights were numbered, and our time together nearly over after it had just begun.

  I wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince me or himself. “Gage is one of the most cunning men I know. He may have a plan he hasn’t shared with me yet. Don’t give up on us; we’ll find a way.” Drake drifted off to sleep before I did; he spoke to me while he was sleeping. I don’t know how many times I heard it before I drifted off with him, but I fell asleep to the sound of Drake’s whispers, their own soft lullaby: “Choose me, Love, choose me.”

  The next morning was much the same as our first, with Gage knocking on my door. He didn’t come in, nor did he allow the guard entry to my room. I hid Drake in the closet, although I could hardly tear myself away from him. I would have welcomed an eternity in Zandra’s prison if it meant that I could spend every night with Drake. I stole one final kiss as I closed the closet door.

  Gage and I were already seated for breakfast when Zandra joined us. I didn’t wait to be spoken to. My night with Drake gave me strength for another day with my captor, “Good morning, Grandmother. I hope you slept well.”

  “I did, Camille. Thank you for asking.” She turned her attention to Gage, “Is there something you’d like to tell me, Gage?” It was such a strange sensation. She was warm to me, but when she spoke to Gage, her voice had turned to ice.

  Gage realized something was wrong. His charm began to waiver as he shakily responded, “I can’t think of anything pressing to tell you. I spoke to father last night. He sends his best.”

  “Hmmph,” was her reply. She was frustrated with something and announced, “I think we all need to go to the garden this morning.” She motioned for us to stand up; Gage and I did without hesitation. I desperately wanted to read his thoughts to find out what caused the change in Zandra, but I didn’t want to do it in front of her. I had only successfully done it once before, and I hadn’t seen Phineas since. I worried I had done it wrong, and maybe our conversation had been discovered by Zandra.

  We took a seat on the bench together as Zandra pulled up a chair. “Have either of you heard the teaching of Aphrodite and her gift to Unice?”

  I shook my head that I hadn’t and sat up straighter. I hadn’t taken a shock from the stupid necklace in a day and a half and wasn’t about to start today with one. I had a strange feeling that unlike the other stories she had told me, I needed to pay close attention to this one.

  Chapter 32

  “Unice was a Centauride. She was exquisite: long flowing blonde hair, bright blue eyes, a kind smile and a soft heart. She roamed the pastures of Thessaly with the other Centaurs. Unice had the voice of an angel and often sang as she galloped along the countryside. Her voice would entice strangers, beckoning them forward in search of the angel on earth who sang to the heavens. One day a human, a man, happened upon her pasture. Her body was obscured by a large boulder, so he only saw the human half of her beauty and heard the magic of her voice. The man’s name was Winfield. He was so taken with her that he sat perfectly still, content to listen to the beautiful songs she sang.”

  “Winfield came to the meadow for weeks. Anytime he tried to come closer than his perch, she would disappear behind the rocks. When the weeks turned into months, Winfield confessed that he was deeply in love with Unice. Unice was sure when he found out what she was, the lust he felt for her would disappear. She stepped out from behind the rocks she had hidden behind and showed her whole body to Winfield.”

  Winfield cried out to her, begged her not to leave, and professed his love for her. The two spent their days and nights together, deeply in love but unable to be together. Unice wept one evening and Aphrodite saw her tears and felt her heartbreak. Aphrodite took pity on the couple that was so deeply in love and changed Unice to a human. Unice was the first Centaur to be changed from a Centauride to a human, years before Zeus gave his gift to the Centaurs.”

  Zandra looked squarely at Gage, “Has your father ever shared that story with you?”

  He nodded, “Yes, he has, many times.”

  “Do you know why the story of Unice and Winfield is so important to your family?”

  “It’s just a legend, Miss Zandra. It is a fable for lovers who think their challenges are insurmountable, that love can conquer all.”

  “No!!” Zandra screamed. “It is not a fable. It is your heritage, Gage.”

  Gage said nothing. Zandra was furious with him when she continued, “Imagine my elation when I find out my granddaughter, one of the few living Centaurides in Chiron’s blood line is going to marry a Centaur in the Winfield blood line?”

  “That’s right, Miss Zandra. I believe my father is pleased with our betrothal for the same reason.”

  I was interested in the story, partly because the story tied to a living breathing person. I directed my question to Zandra, rather than Gage, “So is Gage a pure-blooded Centaur?”

  Gage looked embarrassed by my question. I’d meant no offense, but after all her lessons over the last six weeks, I didn’t know what to make of the story. Zandra answered, “Winfield was human. Aphrodite’s magic transformed Unice to a woman, but the blood line remains Centaur, and it retains Aphrodite’s magic.”

  I smiled at Gage, who I worried might have been offended with my question on his ancestors, and ribbed him good naturedly, “So you have love magic. Am I under your spell?”

  Through clenched teeth, Gage answered, “As much as I am under yours, Darling.” He wasn’t offended. He was trying to maintain his composure, hiding the humor behind a stoic expression.

  Zandra interrupted our private joke, “So, tell me, Gage. Why is it that this morning I saw a woman, other than my granddaughter, slip from your room when she believed no one was near?”

  Alarm spread on Gage’s face; he stayed silent. Zandra turned her attention on me, “Did you know that Bianca spent the night with Gage?”

  I should have denied it. I should have played dumb waiting for Gage to think of a reasonable excuse. I knew I needed to choose my words wisely, as I was acutely aware that the necklace was unforgiving. I kept my voice even and strong, “Grandmother, I was aware. They spent the night together with my blessing.” Gage’s expression moved from alarm to shock. I think he believed my honesty would enrage the necklace.

  Zandra screeched, “What?! You allowed this?” I could feel the necklace pulsing with energy. It had to have reacted to her fury, but I didn’t receive a shock. I strained the muscles in my neck in anticipation of the electric charge, but nothing happened.

  In a gentle tone, careful to be absent of any hostility, I answered, “Bianca is my dear friend. She tried to choose Gage, but her mother wouldn’t permit it. Gage has accepted your invitation to be my husband, but until we are bound by marriage, he has my blessing to see Bianca.”

  She turned her rage on Gage, “It is you! You are the one who interferes with Camille’s destiny. I have put the necklace of obedience around my granddaughter’s neck, and it was you whose fate was fallible. It is your unwillingness to commit that leaves her destiny undecided!”

  “Miss Zandra, I will honor my commitment to Camille. I am ashamed that you so easily read my desires for Bianca and misinterpreted them as intentions by Camille. Camille will make a good wife, and she does not deserve to wear this necklace of obedience you have put on her.”

  Zandra eyed him suspiciously. “You mean to tell me, you have hoped for another woman while staying at my estate, then brought that woman here? That is why I keep seeing a man other than you in Camille’s future?” Gage was definitely braver than I was. I checked my mind’s brickwall – it was intact. There was nothing to contradict Gage’s confession or augment it with one of my own.

 
Zandra glared at both of us. She stomped out of the garden and slammed the door to the house. I asked tentatively, “Now what?”

  “Now, we wait. Why would you tell her it was with your blessing?”

  “It was the truth. The necklace didn’t zap me.”

  “You knew we were getting together?”

  “I assumed you and Bianca had the same arrangement as Drake and I did. You choreographed the perfect arrangement for both of us. Thanks, by the way.”

  Gage chuckled at me, “Well, our midnight rendezvous may be over for a while.”

  “Did you mean what you said to Zandra?”

  “What part?”

  “That you’ll honor your commitment to me. You’re still going through with it?”

  “We don’t have a recourse, do we?”

  “Ten minutes ago I would have said that we didn’t, but given her reaction, I wonder if there isn’t a shred of decency in her.”

  Gage looked surprised by my statement, “How do you mean?”

  “She didn’t seem pleased about her decision to put this stupid necklace on me. If we can get her to take it off, I’ll leave. Not just the estate, I’ll leave the country if I have to.”

  “Zandra would find you.”

  “She never found my mother.” I wondered if Gage knew our parents had once been betrothed. “My mom ran away on her wedding night and was never found.”

  “I knew that much, but I think that had more to do with my dad protecting your mom than anything else. He really loved her. He’s told me about Angela my whole life. Even my mom doesn’t mind him telling the stories.”