© Copyright 2011
All work is property of Leah Crichton, any duplication or reproduction of all or part of the work without explicit permission by the author is illegal.

Impetuous: (im-pech-u-ous)

characterized by sudden or forceful energy or emotion

impulsive or passionate

When we were out of sight of Damien, Orion set me on my feet. My knees wobbled and almost gave out. He steadied me, wrapping one arm around my waist and reaching behind my back with the other to untie the rope. My skin was raw from the friction of the cord and the fresh air bit at the wound.  I winced. My lips were fused shut, keeping words trapped inside them.

His eyes kept pain hidden behind them that I couldn’t even begin to understand. “Look what he’s done to you.” He held my face in his hands, taking me in like he hadn’t seen me before. Even in the darkness, his lips found the spot on my forehead where Damien had slammed it into the dashboard. He kissed it and spoke softly: “We have to get out of here, but I’m going to fix it, okay? Promise.”

Once we were in the car, silence enveloped us until I couldn’t stand it any longer.  I choked on the words that burned my tongue like hot flame on the way out. “Damien’s your brother.” 

Orion’s gentle eyes looked my way and flashed.  I watched them turn callous, uncaring. “I don’t have a brother. He’s dead.”

“So are you. Sort of.”

“No, I’m not.” Defensively, he reached over and took my hand to place it on his chest. His heart beat in a steady thrumming underneath my palm. “Do you feel that?” he asked bitterly. “Don’t ever forget that feeling because as long as it is there, as long as my heart is beating, I’m not dead.” 

“He told me everything,” I said to him. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry all of that happened to you.”

“Don’t feel sorry for me.”

“I am. I am sorry for you.” 

His dark features pinched together. "I just told you not to be. Don’t. Don’t cry for something not worth crying over.”

“You’re worth crying over. I’d shed every tear I have for you. Orion, it wasn’t your fault.”

“Listen, don’t you think for one second you know about any of it.” His words were cold and final.

“I just. . .” My eyes welled again. “I just want you to know I’m sorry.”

“Yeah,” he stated flatly. “You’ve said. You should get over it. I have.” I couldn’t believe how unkindly he was treating me. He wasn’t the person I knew. I wanted that person back.

Trying to calm him down, I switched the focus of our conversation. “Where are we going?”

“To my house. Can’t really go to yours right now.”

“You actually have a house?” I hadn’t thought of this before, but did he actually live here?

“That’s a stupid question,” he scolded. “Yes, I actually have a house. I did sleep somewhere before your bed. Look, I know this may be hard for you to understand, but I am a living and breathing person. I may live far longer than anyone else, I may be different, but I am living. Like you are. For now.”

His mood was stoic. I decided not to push anything any further than I already had and closed my eyes. The horrible events had taken their toll. I dozed off, waking only when we pulled up to a driveway.

“You’re tired,” he said, coming round and scooping me up. The bitterness in his voice had subsided. He carried me in his arms and kicked the door open. Once we were inside he sat me down on one of the couches, knelt in front of me, and examined the damage done to my hands by the rope. Moving his hands to my face, he brushed his fingertips lightly over my nose. “I bet that hurts.”

“A distraction from you being mad at me,” I said.

Remorse flashed in his eyes as he brought my wrists to touch his lips. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be cruel. I was angry and taking it out on you.”

“Where did he go?”

“I don’t know.” He shook his head. “Wherever it was, he won’t get very far. I’m going to find him and take care of him for good.”

I was tired of this game of cat and mouse. “He’s gone, Orion. You can just take me, tonight. We can go together and you won’t have to worry about it anymore.” I tried to be soothing; more than that, I tried to be convincing. 

He shook his head again. “It’s not that simple.”

“Yes it is,” I retorted. “It is that simple. Just do it, right here, right now. I know you can.”

“No. You don’t know him like I do. He’s got it in his head that this is it and he won’t give up until he finds some way to hurt me, Ireland. If he can’t have you, I can’t even begin to imagine the revenge he’ll plan. Things will get very ugly, and I can’t go to the other side knowing that is a possibility.”

“Yes, you can. We can leave together; it will all be okay.”

He grabbed my face. “Please try to understand. I can’t go until he’s done. I should have killed him a long time ago…I should have done a lot of things.”

“He’s going to try to take me again. What if he succeeds next time?”

“Nothing is going to happen to you. I swear on any life I have.” He wasn’t budging. This topic was not open for discussion. His attention returned to my injuries. “Come into the bathroom. I need to clean it before I close it, otherwise it might seal in an infection.” He helped me up again and led me to a large bathroom. It was dull and grey.

I thought about his logic. An infection. Truly, did it matter? My whole existence was on the thin line between the living world and the dead one. “Does it really matter, Orion, if I got an infection?”

A sideways smile crossed his face, indicating the irony was something he hadn’t thought of himself. “What can I say? I’m a man of principle.” He ran warm water from the tap and soaked a soft washcloth. Bringing it to my face, he took great care around my forehead and nose. I held out my arms to him. Gingerly he dabbed away at the raw fresh skin, trying to get it as clean as possible. I gritted my teeth. “I’m sorry,” he said. “This is such a mess.”

“I know. You’ve said that.”

Facing me, he wrapped both of his hands around my wrists. The familiar sensation of intensely warm pins and needles swept over them. When he unwrapped his fingers, the skin beneath them was smooth and soft. It was as if nothing had happened. I knew it was something he could do, but it didn’t make it any less amazing. “Sorry if that hurt.”

“It’s okay. It didn’t hurt. Even if it did, it’s better than an infection,” I replied.

He looked at me again. “We need to get you cleaned up. Look.” He placed his hands on my shoulders and turned my body around so I could see my reflection. 

I knew Damien had made me bleed, but it was unsightly. There was a large gash on my forehead, similar to the one that was now a scar on my face. Blood wasn’t caked to it anymore, but my flesh was raw and exposed. The right side of my head looked the same, but he hadn’t cleaned it yet, so the blood was dried and my hair stuck to it like Velcro.

I made a face in the mirror. “Oh, Orion! I look so gross.”

He stood behind me, looking in the mirror too. “You don’t look gross. Just not as...” he paused, putting his words together thoughtfully, “beautiful as you normally do. I’m going to fix that.” He picked up the washcloth again and brought it to the side of my head. I could see him behind me as he placed his hands lightly over the wounds. The same tingling followed by the flash of heat was reminiscent of the day at the beach. Again when he moved his hands the skin beneath was without flaw. He had just eliminated Damien’s physical mark on my body.

“Hey, could you get rid of my scar?”

“I could. But I won’t,” he said.

“What? Why not?” Surely he could take it away and make my face exactly like it used to be, before he ever met me.

“Because it’s part of you now. It’s who you are, and I love it. I refuse to take any part of you away, especially that part.”

I stuck my lip out in a pout. “What if I said please?”

“What if you did? It wouldn’t change anything.”

“Please?”

“You could say please a thousand times over, I still won’t do it. I’ll do just about anything for you, with one exception: I won’t change the way you look. Not one freckle, not one scar, especially when that scar reminds me of the first time I saw you. Scars add character. Now will you please do something for me?”

“Stop being irritating?”

“No. That wasn’t what I had in mind,” he said. I could still see him in the mirror, standing behind me. As much as I had denied that our two worlds were supposed to be, we did look like we fit together. Two pieces in a very intricate puzzle.

“What, then?”

“Turn around,” he ordered in his melt-me voice.

I was more than happy to oblige.

I don’t know if it was the threat of having almost been Damien’s victim or if it was the fact that Orion saved me, but everything was different. Everything had changed. The desire to be as close as possible to him was totally consuming. I wrapped my fingers through his hair and pulled him forward.  I was going to kiss him. I decided he wasn’t going to get a choice.  I pulled harder, bringing his face only millimeters from mine. He wrapped one large hand over my neck, stopping me from bringing him any closer.  “Don’t,” he warned.

“Please,” I whispered. I wanted everything to be over. He was the only one that could make that happen. 

“No,” he said. “You know I can’t.”

“You can. I’m ready.” My lips found a perfect spot on his neck and settled there for a moment. I wrapped my legs around his waist.  “Please.  It kills me that you won’t kiss me.”

He pulled back and looked at me with dark eyes. “It kills you if I do. You are playing a very dangerous game.” 

“Please. I don’t understand why it has to be on your time. Stop being so stubborn.” 

My fingers found their way under his shirt.  I ran my nails up his abdomen and across his chest.  He sighed deeply and rested his forehead against mine, his waist pushing against me, making me want him even more.  “You seem to think I have limitless restraint, and I happen to know that’s a very flawed assumption.”

“You seem to think I care,” I told him. “I want you to kiss me.  I can be as charming as you can. I can convince you.”

“You think so, do you?” Finally, the smallest hint of a smile was visible. Maybe I was going to get my way after all.

“I know so. I want you to kiss me.”

“You like to play with fire, then?” 

“If you’re fire, I’ll take it. I was never a real stickler for playing safe.”

“You’re a silly girl,” he said, his voice softening a little bit. “You have no idea what you are asking me for, no idea at all.”

“I’m ready. I told you I’m ready.”

“No. Not like this.”

“But I want you.” 

“You can have me.” He grabbed me harshly around my waist and hoisted me up onto the counter. His body quickly invaded my personal space. My fingers slid through his hair a second time and I pulled him even closer.  His fingers traveled to my hair, and he twisted the strands around them.  He pulled my head back and started placing kisses on my throat, across my shoulders. I tightened my legs around him and he carried me into his bedroom, laying me softly on the bed. He was on top of me, his hands traveling along my body frantically, like they were searching for something.

He knelt, hovering over me. I had never had anyone look at me the way he did. It put goose bumps all over my body. It made me even surer of what I was doing. Slowly and tenderly, his hands found my skin, and the trail left behind by his fingers was full of heat. His fingertips felt like silk against me. He bit my bottom lip softly, indicating that was as close as he was willing to get, and moved his mouth to my ear. “Is this really what you want?”

I shook my head yes. “Yes.”

“You’re the only thing I want.”

It was the last thing I heard him say.

Afterward, lying in his arms, he seemed troubled. No doubt he was. I was far from it. I was blissfully ignorant of anything else that was going on. I just knew that if I had chosen life over death, Orion would never cease to exist to me, like Damien had said he would. I would never forget him. “Are you okay? Was it bad?” I asked. From what I just experienced, I only knew Orion must have had to have gotten his skill from somewhere. I didn’t have anything to compare it to, but I was pretty sure that was about as good as it got. He was staring up at the ceiling.

He smiled. “How could you even ask me that?”

“I don’t know; you seem unhappy. I wondered if it was me.”

“Don’t ever say that again. You are the only thing that makes me happy. You’d better never forget it.”

“But I just manipulated you. Are you mad at me?” Truly, I didn’t really care if he was mad or not. He’d get over it, and I had just had one of the most incredible experiences of my life.

Or my existence.

Whichever one it was.

“I’m not mad at you, and don’t kid yourself; you can’t manipulate me as much as you think.”

“Hey, Orion?”

“Yeah.” He looked down at my face.

“I’m more like you than you think I am.”

“Why’s that?” His lips turned up into a grin.

“I always get what I want.”

“Yeah, I guess you do.” He smiled thoughtfully. “Hey, Tiger?”

“Yeah?”

“So do I.”