Two massive, snarling beasts circled Bella on either side. One was black, the other a light gleaming gray. They looked like opposing knights on a chessboard, and she was the pawn in a game she had never asked to play. Their glistening white fangs were bared as they made such awful sounds they seemed almost demonic, and their eyes glowed as they inched closer to her. She stood frozen, incapable of moving. Whichever way she ran, she would be running away from the one only to run straight into the jaws of the other. Both sets of gnashing teeth would soon know the taste of her flesh no matter what she did. Standing still would only prolong her fate by a few seconds, a minute at the most. The gray wolf crouched and sprang into the air, followed by the black wolf an instant later. Her scream echoed through the trees and scattered the jet black crows into the sky of the red harvest moon. She would’ve sworn she could feel teeth caressing her arms as she ros
Bella found herself in a rather large tiled room that looked more like a spa than a bath. There was a door leading into a sauna on the far end, along with a locker room and a row of showers that were completely open, lacking walls or partitions. She hoped that no one else would be using the room. The door swung open, and to her relief, it was just Darian. He had a towel and what appeared to be a robe draped over his shoulder. In his hands, he held a black T-shirt identical to the one Bella was wearing. “Here’s a clean shirt, too,” he said, handing her the pile. “I really appreciate it,” Bella told him. “Uh, about the shirt you gave me last night. Was it the one you were wearing before?” Darian grinned. “Well, you were sleeping in Victor’s bed. I had to give you something of mine, too.” Bella couldn’t help but laugh. “Is that some sort of Dom thing? Marking your territory?” “Nah,” he replied. “Not really. Need anything else?”
Bella followed him out to the parking lot that looked like a small car dealership. He took his keys out of his pocket and pressed a button. The headlights of a huge blue Silverado roared to life. It seemed to be in good condition, if a little worn and muddy on the outside. “He keeps the nice stuff in the garage,” he explained, pulling open the passenger door and offering his hand in a surprising display of chivalry. She couldn’t help but smile as she took his hand. The cab was so high off the ground she was more than grateful for the hoist up into it. “I like it,” she told him. “I’ve always kind of had a thing for trucks.” Darian grinned at her before closing the door. A moment later, he climbed inside with ease and the engine roared to life. The radio came on, blaring some rock song she didn’t recognize with a crunchy-sounding guitar and a deep-voiced lead singer. He turned the volume down to a more bearable level. “Nothin’ like a good ol’ Chevy,” he
Bella took the elevator, too exhausted to keep her usual habit of taking the stairs whenever possible. Sleeping twice as long as she did most nights had done nothing but make her even sleepier. To her relief, Arthur was nowhere to be found when she entered the room. She slipped out of the robe and T-shirt as well as her pants and dropped everything on the bed. She fished her cards and Darian’s cash out of the pocket and separated them, putting the unsolicited gift in a box on her dresser. She put a sticky note on top and wrote a reminder to give it back when she saw him. Now she had to call him. Sneaky bastard. Satisfied, she went over to her closet and put on the nicest pair of jeans she owned along with a turtleneck sweater before she set to work on her hair. Even though it was still damp from the shower, it was already growing frizzy. She squirted a bit of macadamia oil serum into her hands and worked it through her frazzled tresses. Male or
After her shift was over, Bella stayed in the library until long after it was dark, telling herself it was just to make sure she really was prepared for class on Monday. When she finally made it home, Sandra was nowhere to be found. Truth be told, she wasn’t in the mood to talk to her yet. She had a lot on her mind and didn’t want to risk unloading it on her before she could process. She also didn’t want to accuse her again without getting the facts first. She already felt guilty enough. As she got ready for bed, she couldn’t find any clean pajamas in her drawer. Friday night was typically when she did her laundry. She reluctantly slipped into Darian’s T-shirt since she had to wash it anyway before she gave it back and climbed into bed. It was already getting late, so she slipped under the covers, secretly relieved that she had made it to bed before Sandra got back. The door opened carefully, and she shut her eyes tight and held her breath. She remembered th
Bella awoke back in Victor’s room, wearing only a thin white linen shirt that was far too big. To her amazement, his door was completely repaired. It was almost as much of a shock as the fact that she was there at all. She glanced over at the nightstand, but the sketchbook was missing from the top of the stack of books. “Looking for this?” asked Victor, stepping in from the balcony. The curtains billowed behind him as he approached, holding the sketchbook in his hand. Bella cast a wary glance at the door, then back at him. He was in front of her in an instant, which shouldn’t have been possible. “It was careless of me to leave it lying around,” he said, flipping through the pages until he landed on the one he wanted. She could guess which one it was. He glanced between her and the pages with a critical eye. “I can see that my rendering does you no justice now that I’ve met you in person. The proportions are all off. You’re far more enchanting in
Bella’s assumption that Darian was the one with the temper vanished as she watched in horror as Victor grabbed the end table, books and all, and hurled it through the balcony door like it weighed nothing. “Victor—” she began, terrified. “No!” he roared as he continued to rip his room apart from one end to the other. Whether his rage was directed at her or some other target, she didn’t care to stick around and find out. The trust that had only begun to form between them evaporated entirely as she put every ounce of energy she had into reaching the door. To her amazement, he let her go. Maybe he was just too distracted by his rampage to bother pursuing her, but she wasn’t going to give him the chance to change his mind. Her breaths came In fearful gasps as she searched the hallway for Darian’s door. It wasn’t where it should have been. In fact, when she looked back, Victor’s door was the only one in an otherwise empty hallway that s
Bella felt her cheeks grow warm. He knew. Somehow she had truly called out to him in her dreams, and he had responded. Guilt and shame threatened to resurface, but she pushed them down, reminding herself that she was free to kiss whomever she wanted, dream or not. “It was just a nightmare,” she said, relieved that it wasn’t a lie. “I have no idea how you heard me, though. How did you know it wasn’t just a dream?” “I didn’t,” he replied with a shrug. “But I wasn’t going to take that chance.” Bella didn’t know how to respond. The library was becoming busy again, and she needed time to think. “Can we talk about this later? I’m the only one working today, and I don’t want to get into trouble.” He stepped away from the desk and scanned the area. “Sure. I’ll just wait at one of those tables and look at books or something,” he said, his expression grim. She arched an eyebrow. “You mean read?” “Whatever.”