[40] Home

Massie knew returning to Dark Falls would involve her imminent reunion with the Cult. No doubt they would hound her with questions regarding her abrupt disappearance and why she didn't tell them. She did leave without warning and there was no contact the days she spent away. The missed phone calls in conjunction to the numerous text messages was enough to let her know they had done more than their part in seeking her out.

She just didn't expect the reunion to be this soon.

Standing at the edge of the terminal intermixed with awaiting families and expectant couples were the Cult in all their tall, golden glory. They were quite a bunch. Despite their regular clothes and off-set dispositions, they didn't fail to garner attention from curious onlookers.

They sensed her before she even stepped foot on the sloping runway, and by the time she made it half way they were all over her, grabbing her bags and softly chiding her for not letting them know.

"How could you abandon me so, princess!" Noah whined. He pulled her into one of his back-breaking hugs.

"Was something wrong with your phone?" Jayden took hold of her electronic device and assessed it, checking for any glitches.

"Look, you have a turtle-neck on but no jacket." Jordan fussed, disapproving of her clothes. He made move to remove his own jacket but before he did a large coat descended on her.

Sebastian quietly zipped it to her chin. Massie noticed his expression seemed troubled, but she didn't think to question him about it. She wasn't too surprised to see him there; his name was in the heap of missed phone calls along with the others. The familiar smell of woods and his masculine musk made her heart ache.

Several days away in a tropical vacation felt like it helped some. Seeing him again made all the progress seem imaginary. She still wanted him. The truth was disappointing; she never saw herself as the type to stay hung up on a man who didn't want her. Massie bit her lip. As long as she kept her distance the pain of her heart should dull eventually.

"I missed you guys too!" Massie purposely faced away from Sebastian and engaged the rest of the guys.

As they chatted to the parked car, Sebastian remained steadily behind her like a bodyguard. She would catch girls staring at him as they moved. She could tell because they wouldn't look at her, but somewhere directly above with appreciative eyes. Then they would whisper behind their hands and point at their group.

Perks of walking with obnoxiously tall men. Handsome ones at that.

The ride to her home was filled with chatter. When they parked outside her home there seemed to be a silent agreement that Sebastian would be the one to walk her to the door and carry her things. Massie pretended to not notice, she went to her home without a glance back.

The door of her house opened easily, and Sebastian placed the luggage on her hardwood floor.

"Do you want me to bring them to your room?" He offered. His hair fell slightly above his eyes, making him look more mysterious. She would have told him it was time to get a haircut again but he was not her man to be suggesting things like that.

"No thank you."

She was about to say goodbye when he pulled her into a hug. The first one he gave her since her return. The first one he's given her for weeks now, since he had ignored her before the trip. His arms felt warm and reassuring. Even so, she forced herself to remain still. There was no way she'd return the gesture.

He pulled away slightly, but kept his arms in place. "What's wrong?"

Massie shrugged. "Nothing is wrong."

His hold loosened. His hands then trailed from her shoulders to the end of her fingertips, his way of saying he noticed how she didn't hug him back, perhaps a way of question? But she wouldn't gift him with an answer.

Silence hovered over them. It wasn't like the silence between them before she left. This one felt different. It was sadder with a touch of nostalgia. When he realized she wouldn't grant him more conversation, Sebastian sighed. His fingers latched to her neck and brought her close.

Massie tensed when she felt his lips meet her forehead. He kissed her. "I'm glad you're safe." He mumbled. His words pulsed through her skin, soft and comforting.

Before she allowed herself to indulge this pleasure, she pulled away from him. "Goodbye Sebastian."

Sebastian respectfully stayed in place as she reached for the door. His golden eyes didn't waver from her face, he kept staring at her, as though imprinting her image in his mind. It was at the sound of her lock that she finally heard his retreating footsteps. It didn't make any sense. He ignored her and didn't talk to her for over a week. Now he shows himself at the airport and drops her off home? Massie felt her anger spike.

Why did he even bother?

In the comforts of her room Massie put her clothes away. It was relatively easy, seeing as the things in the suitcase were mostly summer clothes that would go in a separate bag until May. The used ones in her hamper. While she folded Lydia had joined her and asked about the ride home.

"Sorry I couldn't hold them back. Micah told them you left for a cruise and after that it was pointless to keep it a secret."

Massie waved away her apology. "I don't mind. It's not like they could reach me when they found out. Seeing them at the airport was nice."

And truly, it was. She didn't realize how much she missed them. As she placed her suitcase in its proper spot, Massie noticed a particular black book at the edge of her dresser. The gold bindings solidified what she thought it was.

"I thought I lost this," she said out loud.

Lydia eyed the book. "Oh, that? I borrowed it for a bit. I finished reading it, didn't think you'd notice." She snorted, probably thinking of how her older sister barely read books.

Massie felt her eyes narrowing. This book would have saved her a chockful of struggle if she had only read it prior to going to Everglades. The book had disappeared, and she hadn't read it before going. Knowing its contents beforehand could have potentially prevented the huge quarrel she had with Sebastian.

Deciding to dispel all frustration, she placed the book back down. Lydia had not done it on purpose. In the end, it was probably good things happened the way they did. It only hastened the inevitable.

"I hope it was more useful to you than it ever was for me." Massie said bitterly. She would have to return it now that she had no use for it. What was the point in learning about werewolves if she wouldn't marry one anyway? A useless waste of time.

Massie grabbed her last two articles of clothing and hung them in her closet. It was the nice dresses Theo bought for her. It's a shame she would have to wait some time before she wore them. The hot sun made her forget about the true weather at home.

"Those look new. You bought summer dresses in winter?" Lydia inquired. She raised a disparaging brow to show her disapproval.

"It's not like I would find pretty coats and jackets in Puerto Rico." Massie countered. "Besides, I didn't pay for it. Theo did."

The new name raised her interest. "Theo? Who is that?"

Massie smiled. "A friend I met in vacation. He's a vampire." She added smoothly, feeling rather cool when her sister's mouth dropped. There's no way her sister met one before.

"What's he like?!"

Massie went into detail about all she learned. Vampires were an interesting kind of their own. She sincerely hoped Theo found himself a good partner in the nearby future. By the end of their discussion, the purple-eyed beauty was in front of her mirror in only a bra with her awed sister eyeing the bite mark.

"That looks painful." She made move to touch it. Then, she seemed to think better of it and let her finger retreat. "If the goal was to show Sebastian you didn't care, why wear a turtleneck on the way back?"

Massie eased into one of her short shirts, discarding the turtle-neck in her hamper. While it was cool outside, inside her home was warm. "It sounded like a good idea at the moment. By the time I was in the plane I changed my mind. If I'm getting over him I'm not suppose to care about what he thinks," she rationalized.

"How long does it take to heal? It's not like you have an endless supply of turtlenecks." Lydia motioned to her dresser.

Her sister was right. Massie was more the type to wear off-the-shoulder sweaters and typical long sleeves. She had only packed this turtleneck because she knew she needed warm clothes on her returning plane ride. That top was the best to offer warmth without taking much space in her suitcase.

"I don't really care." Massie played with her hair and placed the thick strands in front of her shoulders. "Besides, I can cover it like this. No big deal."

A skeptical, throaty laugh escaped her sister's lips. "Yeah, no big deal until you forget."

A sour mood descended over her at the thought of Sebastian. She forced her features into a look of indifference. "Even if he did find out, it shouldn't make a difference. The things I do shouldn't concern him."

Lydia winced. "Yeah...about that. I wouldn't think so negatively of his affections for you. He also came to see if you were here in the beginning of the vacation. He also—"

"I don't care to hear it." Massie interrupted. The least she needed was stories that would get her hopes up. She already felt vulnerable, listening to that would only make her weaker. "How about you tell me about you and Micah."

It was the best she could think of to change the subject. Not to mention, she was genuinely curious about the status of their relationship. Lydia fell for her bait like any girl in the honeymoon stage of the relationship. Massie patiently listened, inserting her comments every now and then. They ate dinner and retreated to their respective rooms.

Massie was brushing her hair when she felt her phone vibrate. At the view of his name, she calmly placed it back down and continued brushing. What business did he have calling her at this time? The number on her clock showed it was still relatively early, but she still refused to answer him.

She was streaming videos on her tablet for the next hour when she felt it vibrate again. Massie huffed. Him again. It felt nice to ignore him the way he had to her. At the same time...

Her eyes wavered to the green button. She kind of wanted to answer it. Just to see what he would say. Should she? After a few seconds the phone sent him to voicemail, having rang too many times.

Well, there's her decision then.

She returned to the video, only this time it was more difficult to concentrate. The preppy makeup artist didn't hold her attention as much anymore, and the video she had previously seen with rapt interest was now dull.

Why did he make things difficult? He was suppose to leave her alone like her had before, not reach out to her.

Rather than watch a tutorial, Massie switched to a TV series. Perhaps getting into someone else's life would make her forget about her own. She was mid-way through an interesting pilot when an unmistakable howl reached her ears.

Disbelieving, Massie went to her window. His thick brown fur and powerful hinds were impossible to negate. Cinnamon was here. Even though he was a few meters away, she knew he could see her from there. It was clear what he wanted. To talk.

Massie mouthed a 'no' before bringing down her blinds. She was just beginning to get comfortable in her bed when she heard her window slide open.

Massie groaned. How could she forget to lock the thing? She hadn't thought he would go as far as this. Fed up, she pulled her blinds up and was met with a scowling Sebastian. Then, she smiled, because at least he was grumpy and that was a good thing in her eyes.

"What do you want?" She snapped, crossing her arms.

She had quickly positioned her hair to one side to purposely hide the bite mark. Ha, take that Lydia. She didn't forget!

Sebastian clenched his jaw, making her notice the slight shadow of stubble. It looked good on him, made her want to run her hands through it and pull him into a ki—

New thoughts, new thoughts, new thoughts!

She mentally chanted the two words, willing the images to go away. He was perched on the thick branches of the tree beside her room. Never has this tree been so inconvenient. Thankfully, Sebastian looked heavy enough that maybe the branches would snap. That would be extremely helpful.

"I came to talk to you. You're not answering your phone." His gaze darted to the referred device. It was on her bed connected to a charger, no excuse for her to not have picked it up.

"Obviously I didn't want to. Can you leave now?"

His eyes narrowed. "You have two options. Either I go into your room, or you come outside. You decide."

Massie scoffed. "I'm staying right here. You can't even fit through it, so don't bother trying." There was no way his massive form would fit through that window of hers.

Sebastian remained undisturbed. "I guess I have to break it."

"You'll wake my family up!"

"How concerning." He said sarcastically, reaching for the hinges.

At this Massie panicked. "Okay, fine! Just let me change my shirt." Her sweatpants were appropriate, it was only the shirt she needed to change to not feel so self-conscious about the bite mark.

Sebastian seemed amused she would say this. Nevertheless, he stayed in place. Massie gave him the eye. "Do you mind? I'm about to change."

He grunted. "It's nothing I haven't seen before."

"Turn around." She demanded, refusing to let him have his way. In actuality, she could careless if he saw her in a bra. He was right, he's seen her wearing much less, but that was back when she foolishly saw him as hers.

He rolled his eyes and maneuvered on the branch. She heard a slight crack. Unfortunately, he was still in place, levelled with her window. Massie grabbed a turtle neck from her dresser, one of the remaining two she had.

While the inside of her room was toasty, the open window allowed a burst of cold air to enter. Massie shivered when she took her shirt off. She was just reaching for the turtleneck when his voice arrested her.

"What is that." He hissed. His deadly tone made goosebumps rise.

She finished putting the sweater on. "You said you weren't watching."

"I didn't say I wouldn't watch. I just agreed to turn around."

Massie glared. His response was a glare of his own. "Come." He growled. He hopped off the tree and waited for her with open arms. He seriously thought to catch her?

She momentarily looked down before lifting her chin. "I'll use the stairs."

Sebastian waited for her at the back exit. His expression was vexed as she stepped out, but she refused to acknowledge it. Instead, she calmly closed her house door and went ahead of him to the spot they went to last time.

Unlike before, she didn't bother making herself comfortable by sitting. This shouldn't last too long.

Sebastian returned to the previous topic. "I asked you what that was." The waves of danger he emitted made her feel misplaced, but she forced the unease away.

"I don't need to explain what it is. I'm sure you know yourself."

He closed the distance between them. "A vampire. Did he bite you?"

Massie smiled coyly. "I don't know. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. Maybe in more than one place." She shrugged, as though disinterested by his questioning.

Sebastian unzipped his jacket and placed it around her, holding it in place. "Take off your shirt."

Massie lifted his jacket with her finger before letting it drop to a heap on the ground. "I don't want to. It's cold outside. And no, I won't use your jacket."

Seeing her noncompliance, he grabbed the fabric. "I'll rip it," he warned.

"Why don't you just force me out of it." She taunted, purposely feeding his ire.

The jab worked, for his eyes flashed with restrained anger. "You are the one who allowed me to have so much dominion over you, why are you spitting it back at my face."

"Because you're the one who didn't think I was ready! You almost refused having me under you!"

He passed an aggravated hand through his hair. "Fine.Take off your shirt."

Massie watched as her arms did his bidding. Even though he had done it more than twice before, it still amazed her when it happened. Sebastian inspected her carefully. His fingers left warm imprints wherever they touched. It seemed he was suspicious of the vampire biting her in other places, such as her back and certain parts of her stomach. When he saw that only her neck was bitten his eyes fell to her jeans.

"Be honest. Did he see anything of your lower part?" He asked seriously. A hand of his slid between her thighs, his thumb above her femoral artery.

Massie felt her breath hitch. This felt very personal.

When she didn't answer the grip on her thigh got tighter and his free hand grabbed the edges of her sweatpants. She wouldn't put it past him to make her take it off so he could check.

"No."

His hand retreated and she was able to breath again. "You can put the shirt back on."

"Wonderful," she muttered sarcastically, ready to leave. "Now that we've had our little chat, I guess I can go now."

She turned to leave but his voice stopped her. "Why did you let him bite you?"

"Because he wanted to try my blood and I figured why not."

His nostrils flared. "That is something very intimate."

"What does it matter? It's not like anyone's claiming me. I'm single with no ties to anyone. I can do anything with anyone I wa—"

"Stop." He moved closer and closer until she had to keep stepping back to maintain distance. The moment her back hit a trunk she knew she was done for. "Don't say that." He murmured, his nose pressing into her face.

Massie clenched her fists. "Get away from me! You ignored me for a whole week and refused to talk. Now you want to talk to me? Demand all these things when I'm not even yours? You can forget it!"

She pushed against his chest to move him away, but against his strength her efforts made no difference. His hands went over hers, caressing them. His golden eyes fell to hers. They were full of regret and great sorrow. "I'm sorry...I was wrong. I shouldn't have treated you like that. I wanted to protect you and wound up hurting you."

Massie frowned, her heart crashing. No. This was bad. This was dangerous. She didn't want to hear it anymore. "I forgive you. Can you let me go now?" She whispered, avoiding his eyes. They were too potent, they did things to her heart.