Confession

Did she really have feelings for him that she did not know about? Talon could not feel anything from Wren; she had become good at controlling her emotions, just as he had.

“Ummm…”

Talon leaned in close, sneaking a quick peek at her luscious breasts as they bounced in the water.

“Careful,” he whispered in her ear, caressing it for just an instant with his mouth, feeling her slight shudder in response. “They are listening.”

Wren swallowed, looking straight ahead at his broad chest.

Talon pressed a quick kiss on her cheek as he drew back and gave her a saucy smile.

“You wanna?” he waggled his eyebrows at her.

“Wanna what?” Wren asked, a bit breathless. She was scared and excited, and her body was reacting to Talon’s smell and closeness too much.

“Wanna give them something to talk about?” he let out a laugh as she registered his comment.

“That is not funny,” Wren snapped back.

“No, it is not.” Talon turned serious.

“Wren…” He turned his back and looked up at the darkening sky.

Wren stared at his back, suddenly feeling the urge to run her fingers across it as she had when she had healed it before. She could make out a faint scar from the wound he had taken for her, and she wondered if he would always have it.

“Wren?”

“Yes?”

“Wren… I…” He shook his head. Now was not the time for that.

“You did well today.”

He needed to prepare her to accept his love. But how did he do that?

“Thank you.”

Talon turned around and stared at Wren until she started to squirm under his gaze.

“Ummm… Is there something else?”

Talon took a deep breath. He had always been blunt and straightforward.

To change the way he did things now would mean that he would not be true to himself, so even though he wanted to give her time, he knew he could not. He was already driving himself crazy.

The past week had been proof of that.

He stepped in close and placed his hand on her cheek, pulling her eyes to his.

This week had been hell for him, and he wanted to make sure she knew he was serious. He could not afford to let her think he was toying with her now.

“I love you,” he whispered, watching her eyes widen at the statement.

When she did not move, he took the next step and pulled her up against his body, taking her mouth with his own, feeling her body press against his through the towel she had worn into the pool.

His member started to stiffen as her curves pressed against him. His lips ran over the seam of her mouth as his hand plundered under the seam of the towel and snaked around her waist, pulling her even tighter against him.

His fingers left burning trails where they touched the smooth skin of her waist. His member pushed against the junction of her thighs, and Wren felt her knees buckle as a small moan came from the back of her throat.

He felt and tasted even better than in her dreams.

Talon pulled his mouth away from her, breathing hard. He had not felt this randy since his first time in middle school.

“I wanted you to know how I felt, no strings attached,” he said, stepping back and caressing her cheek for a moment.

“Do not feel obligated to return the feeling, but I would live to regret it if something happened to you before I could tell you, and there were too many close calls today.”

He could still see the battle and feel the fear he had felt watching her fight the Being on her own. He turned and stepped out of the water, leaving Wren in shock behind him.

Wren sat back in the water, a bit dazed and confused. Soon, anger overtook those feelings.

He had just dropped a bombshell on her and walked away. The nerve of the man.

She ought to…

Her eyes narrowed as she climbed out and went to get dressed. After supper, she was going to give him a piece of her mind.

You did not just tell someone you loved them, kiss the hell out of them, and then walk away nonchalantly. If he was messing with her, she was going to murder him in his sleep.

No, not in his sleep. She would murder him while he was awake and writhing in pain.

***

Talon stole a peek at Wren. She had not said a word since entering the kitchen, but she was radiating anger, and she was not trying to hide it like she usually did.

He thought he had prepared himself for this, but it still hurt to know she was rejecting his feelings. He could only hope she would wait until Emerald and Evan left the room before letting loose on him.

It seemed the others had misjudged her feelings after all. He turned back to the conversation at hand.

He would just have to accept her rejection like a man and do what he could to change it over time. After a bit, he took another look at her.

“Seems she was a bit worn out,” Evan commented as they looked at Wren, asleep with her head next to her plate.

“I will take her to bed,” Talon said, standing.

“I will take care of everything here. Make sure you get some sleep yourself,” Emerald said. She stood and took their plates to the sink.

Talon picked Wren up and headed for her bedroom, laying her down and sitting next to her, watching her sleep for a while.

He brushed her hair from her face, sitting like that for a long time, content to see her face soften and her body relax. He finally stood and headed to his room.

***

~She felt the panic rise as he came closer. She fought against the embrace, trying to break his hold, but it was useless. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound would come out.~

“Wren…Wren!”

Wren opened her eyes to see Talon above her. He had her by her arms and was trying to get her to wake up.

Talon let out a sigh of relief. He had just headed to bed when he felt the panic rolling from her and hurried back to her room.

“What happened? Are you all right?” Talon asked gently, not sure if Wren could even register what was going on at the moment.

Her eyes were unfocused, and she was shaking. Wren blinked at him, not sure what was going on herself.

She was still in the nightmare. Without thought, she wrapped her arms around him and held tight, shaking from the fear.

Talon held her awkwardly, stroking her hair, not saying anything. He felt Wren’s body slowly relax and her breathing return to normal.

“Better?” he asked.

Wren was so tired. The dreams had become regular events over the past week, and they would not let her sleep.

Being held in Talon’s arms, though, made her feel like she could sleep. She nodded sleepily at Talon’s question, not knowing if her voice would work.

Talon started to lower her onto the bed, but the panic flared back up, and she refused to let him go. She was so tired of the dreams, and she wondered if, with Talon here, she might actually get some sleep.

It was worth a try.

“Please… Not yet. I do not want it to come back,” she mumbled.

“What?”

“Dreams… No more…,” she mumbled as she fell back to sleep.

Talon was leaning over her as she lay on the bed with her arms around his neck, fast asleep. He let out a sigh.

What to do now? He supposed he could lie next to her for a bit until she let go of him and then head to his room.

With a little prayer sent upward that she would not wake up and murder him for doing this, he gently lay down next to her, and she immediately curled into the warmth of his body.

He lay there and held her, feeling her body’s warmth and softness, and was pretty sure this was as close to heaven and hell as he was going to get.

He knew, come morning, they would go back to the coldness, but for now, he could enjoy her without the walls.

Those were his last thoughts as he too fell into a deep sleep.

***

Wren groaned and rolled over. Someone was shaking her, and she was not happy.

“Come on, honey, wake up… You are going to be late,” a voice said.

Wren pulled open her eyes and looked at the clock, realizing the voice was right. She was going to be late if she did not get up.

What had happened to her alarm?

“Sorry. I shut off the alarm when I got up. Now get up, please,” Talon said.

Wren sat up in bed and looked over to see Talon standing there in a robe. She stared at him blankly as he turned and left the room.

Memories of the tub, the nightmare, Talon’s warmth—all came flooding back, and she turned bright red.

She jumped out of bed and hurried to the bath. She had to get ready for school; she would have to deal with him later.

Ten minutes later, she was sitting at the kitchen table, pointedly ignoring Talon as she ate. Two could play the cold game.

He had put the barriers back up, and she had a hard time believing last night’s confession was real. How could the man confess he loved her and yet, other than when they were alone, be as cold as ice and even go so far as to avoid her at all costs?

Still, she could not help but wonder if he had meant what he had said. There was no way he meant it.

He had rejected her once he had learned about her past, ignored her for a week, then suddenly confessed love. The man was just toying with her.

If he could do that, then so could she. She snuck a peek at him, wondering what he was thinking.

Like her, he had put a wall around his emotions, and she could not tell what he was feeling. It had to have been all for show—after all, he had said they were being watched.

She went back to her breakfast, quickly finishing her meal and heading for the door.

“I will see everyone later. Bye.” The man could go rot in hell.