Brandon stood and tilted his head at her. “Evelyn, do you know why you can’t get over Stephen?”
The bluntness of his question caught her off guard, making her somewhat defensive. “Great, I rub your hair and you think you have liberty to say whatever. No, Brandon, I do not know why. Enlighten me, please.”
He laughed. “You’re bonded. Just do me a favor. The next time you see him, ask him why he marked you if he was never planning on making you his mate. That’s all I will say for now. I’ll leave it up to him to tell you. If he doesn’t explain, come back and I’ll take you to Ayden. He’d love to know what’s going on.”
Evelyn watched in horror as Brandon walked out her door. What in the hell was he talking about? His words made absolutely no sense. Well, she’d ask Stephen and see what he had to say. He’d probably run for the hills again, thinking she had lost her damn mind. Great, this was just fucking great.
Running for her phone, she grabbed it and called dispatch to get Stephen’s number. Even after all this time, Cynthia remembered her. That was just luck on her part. She doubted that they would have given her his personal number if she were a stranger.
The shaking of her hands increased as the phone began to ring. Stephen answered it almost immediately.
“Hello,” he said, short of breath.
“Stephen, this is Evelyn. I need to ask you a question. It might sound crazy, but I need to know.”
“Ask anything, Evelyn.”
The words Brandon had spoken repeated in her head. This was downright ridiculous. Oh well, here went nothing. What was the worst that could happen?
“Stephen, why did you mark me if you weren’t going to keep me as your mate?”
The silence had her skin crawling. Did he know what she was asking? It sure as hell didn’t make any sense to her. What did this mean?
“Evelyn, I did expect for you to be my mate. I still do. You don’t understand. I had orders. I never meant… Damn, there’s so much for me to explain.
“Wait… How did you know what I was, Evelyn? Who told you? It was that vampire, wasn’t it? Fucking bloodsuckers, I swear.” He growled into the phone. “I knew I should have torn him apart when I had the chance, sinking his teeth into you like that. He should have seen the mark and backed off!”
The floor felt like it had fallen out from under Evelyn’s feet. She couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. Vampire? Vampire! And what did that make him? The pressure increased in her head as she tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Mark, mate…vampire….werewolf? Vertigo washing over her briefly made her lean her hand against the wall.
Evelyn’s mind screamed. No way was this possible. Words were jumbling around her head a million miles a minute. She wanted to believe both of these men were playing a trick on her, but they hadn’t talked to each other in the last few minutes. How could this happen? How was this possible in today’s world and no one knew about it?
“Stephen, it doesn’t matter who told me,” Evelyn said, trying to get control of her voice. “It just matters that you confirmed it.” Again, her thoughts searched for some logical sentence for her to say. If it was true and something he had done to her was making her unable to let him go, it was beyond cruel. “Release the bond. I can’t believe you would make it impossible for me to move on after all this time. That’s what it’s there for, isn’t it? To keep us bonded to each other. You’re a werewolf, yes?”
“Yes, I am.” Silence filled Evelyn’s ear. How would she know if he released whatever bond they were talking about? Would she feel something upon it happening? Looking for something that might indicate what she was missing, she jerked the robe open. Creamy ivory skin was perfectly flawless. The only “mark” she had was…the bite Stephen had given her when they first started dating. It was barely noticeable, and just looked like a scar of teeth marks.
“Release the bond, Stephen! No more fucking with my life. It’s not fair to me. You’ve hurt me enough. I can’t do this anymore!”
“I will not release the bond. Not until you give me another chance,” he breathed out heavily. “I didn’t put you through all of this just to let you go. My love for you never wavered in the last two years. Can’t you see why I had to lie to you? I’m not letting you go, now or ever.”
Evelyn screamed and slammed the phone shut. This was not how things were supposed to happen. Yes, she loved Stephen, but how much of it was her and how much was the bond that was holding them together? Brandon had mentioned a guy named Ayden. Maybe he would know what was happening. It was about time she found out for herself.
Maybe once the damn thing was gone, she could leave town. Running away from reality seemed pretty good about now. Werewolves and vampires! She still couldn’t believe it. Damn, if she wasn’t about to go into a full-blown anxiety attack.
Could she possibly ignore the thoughts while she dropped off Bill’s key? There’d only been one way she’d known to block out the pain. The answer was one she was starting to dislike.
Chapter 10
Evelyn squeezed the red tag tightly in her palm. The metal door loomed before her. She couldn’t decide whether to knock or just go in. Well, shit. She had to make up her mind before someone she knew came driving by. True, she was close to the ferry. As long as no one came this way, she’d be safe, unless of course whoever came driving by was heading for Aransas Pass.
She could always leave the key at the front desk, but that was chickenshit, no way. Comfort was something she needed after finding out the news from Stephen, and Bill could take her mind off things. Why had it come to this? Why was it that she used other men to numb the pain?
The key slid in the lock, and Evelyn eased her way inside and shut the door quietly behind her. The shower was running, a soft splashing of water on porcelain. She dropped her purse on the bedside table and, resting against the headboard, crossed her feet at her ankles. Thoughts of what she’d just learned made her breathing almost stop. No, she wouldn’t think about it!
Here, she would forget and take charge, like her old self. Unlike with Brandon, she would do as she pleased and dominate. She needed to be back in control. Nothing else was an option. Her sanity pleaded for normal, and unfortunately, to her, this was it.
Looking down, she took in her appearance. Today, she wasn’t dressed like she was the previous day. No business clothes, just a pair of tight-fitting jeans and a long-sleeved University of Texas T-shirt. If one was from Texas, it was a rule—you had to have at least one Longhorn shirt in your closet or you were officially not a Texan. Evelyn had about eight.
The water shut off, and it took everything in her to suppress a smile. Damn it, if she wasn’t having fun trying to forget. Breaking and entering was so much more exciting than she would have thought.
Like a golden god, Bill walked out wearing just a towel low around his slim waist. The muscles in his chest rippled with each step. Evelyn traced her lips with her tongue while she watched the tiny beads of water run down his body. Hell, if she didn’t want to go and lick them off.
Bill stopped, two feet out the door when he noticed her. The look of shock lighting his face couldn’t have been more amusing.
“I didn’t really think you would come back,” he said, staring at her in awe.
Evelyn raised an eyebrow but, other than that, kept her emotions off her face. “Are you expecting company? I could just leave.” She cleared her throat, trying her best to sound at least a little seductive.
“No, no company. Please don’t leave,” Bill pleaded.
Well, that was a little panicky. What was the matter with him? He couldn’t be too lonely. Shit, he’d already fucked all her friends.
“I think you left something in my purse.” Evelyn held up the key by the red tag and let it dangle from her fingertips.
Bill looked at it and then back to her. “You can’t blame a guy for hoping.”
A smile lit her face. It was about to get fun. She was a truthful person—was Bill? “So how was your night? Did you do anything interesting?”
He fidgeted under her penetrating stare.
“I went out.”
“That’s all. Did you meet anyone… appealing?”
He smiled. He actually fucking smiled. That only told her one thing. He wasn’t going to lie. Good boy.
“Yeah, I met someone. She was very cute. Fucked real good, but she wasn’t you.”
Evelyn let her lips twist before she could stop them. “I’ll be sure to tell her you thought she fucked real well.”
His smile disappeared instantly. “You mean you know her?”
A wicked smile crossed Evelyn’s face. “Oh, Julie? Yeah, she’s one of my best friends, along with Melissa and Sarah. I think you might remember them, too.”
“What the hell has been going on? You and your friends used me?” Bill asked, shocked.
She could tell that he was hurt. Evelyn hadn’t meant to hurt him. Maybe she was more twisted than she had thought. “For pleasure, of course. You don’t mind, do you? I’m really sorry if I just hurt your feelings. You have to know, I’m not good with emotions.”
He slowly shrugged, lying at the end of the bed, looking at her. “I guess I don’t mind, although it’s kind of weird for best friends to be sharing a man. Don’t you think?”
“Not really, my friends and I don’t mind.” The more she looked at his body, the more she wanted to take off his towel. Yet, she wanted it to be Brandon wearing the towel or maybe Stephen. Oh shit, that thought had to go. She needed to be running away from them, not toward them.
“When are you leaving, Bill?”
His head fell to the bed, blond curls resting on his bicep. Evelyn threw a pillow at him. He smiled, caught it, folded it in half, and continued staring at her.
“I leave tonight, back to Houston.”
Her head nodded as if somehow she already knew this. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Bill.”
Faster than she could blink, he bound across the bed and was hovering above her, He pulled her beneath his now fully nude body. Tightness made her nipples tingle at the thought of his chest pressed up against hers.
“Let me have you again before I leave, please.” His lips were hovering so close to hers. All she would have to do was lean forward the tiniest fraction of an inch and their lips would touch.
“One more question.”
She looked into his eyes. Now, as they were filled with emotion, it was hard not to get lost in them.
“Ask anything, just let me have you.” Bill breathed into her face. Mint wasn’t anywhere near invigorating as peppermint.
“Do you act this way with all women? What is it about me that you like?”
He looked away from her eyes. Something that looked like raw pain filled his features. She knew that expression all too well. Her heart went out to him. “Tell me,” she whispered, using her fingertips to make him face her again.
“Grace, she was my wife. You look so much like her. I can’t help it, I’m sorry. I just miss her. I understand if you want to leave now.”
“What happened to her?” Evelyn prayed that she hadn’t passed away. That would make her feel like the biggest monster in the world. Yes, it was wrong to pity people, but she could see the amount of pain he held inside. She knew that pain, and she wanted to take it away.
“Grace divorced me. Said I worked too much and she needed someone who was there more. I travel a lot. She’s already remarried…”
Evelyn’s heart broke for him. The softness of her lips brushed against his. “I’ll give you this because I know how it feels for your heart to break, but remember one thing. I’m doing this for your desire, your companionship. I’m not your wife. I want your eyes open and on me as much as possible.”
It made no sense what she was doing. He wanted to fuck her because she reminded him of his wife, yet Evelyn wanted him to know it was her.
Great going, Evelyn, you make great fucking sense
.