Witching Tree (Alice Gray Book 1)

33

                 

"What are you saying, Thomas? That my consent is irrelevant? You realise what that sounds like, right?"

Slowly, I edged along the length of the bed. All the time Thomas was gaining ground. When I felt that my legs were free of the bedframe, I twisted my body and took a step back. My back was to the wall now, but at least I was clear of the bed. There was a gap between Thomas and the door.

Darting forward, I was almost clear when my momentum halted. I flew back, hitting Thomas square in the chest. He didn't even flinch. The bastard had snagged my sleeve on the way past.

"Don't run from me Alice."

"This is hardly the way to convince me to stay. I've already told you that I won't respond to bullying, Thomas. Whatever you want from me, you're not going to get it this way."

"Calm down. I just want to talk to you." 

Pain shot through my arm as I struggled to free myself. Thomas's grip held firm. A low growl erupted in frustration at my resistance.

My eyes flickered to his. The sharpening planes of his face told me that his control was holding by the thinnest of threads. His olive complexion was sallow, making the dark circles under his eyes stand out. When our eyes locked his face softened, but his grip on my arm didn't loosen.

"Why can't you accept my feelings for you? You belong with me, surely that's obvious," Thomas said, his voice low and smooth.

The manuscript was still pressed to my chest, but our bodies almost touched. I was hardly aware that we were moving until my back hit the wall. His arms came up, either side of my head, caging me in.

Heat coursed through me as my body reacted to his proximity despite my intention. It was like Anne's kitchen all over again. There was no way that I was getting drawn into that. There was no one here to zap us out of it.

However much his beauty called to me, and my body urged me to listen, I couldn't submit to a man like Thomas. He didn't respect me as an equal, and that was never going to work for me. I wasn't wired that way.

"Whatever you think is going on between us, you're wrong. I hardly know you, Thomas, and I don't appreciate all this pressure. Back off. Now."

My icy glare didn't reflect the way that my blood boiled. The energy was intense in the tiny gap that separated our bodies. Even the air molecules were pinging faster and faster, drawing us together, urging me to close the space and let our bodies connect.

I didn't care if he could sense my desire to do just that. If I said back off, he damn well better do it.

I held his gaze, willing him to obey my words, all the while my body desperate for him to close the distance. Finally, he dropped his eyes, a tiny flash of silver swirling through the deep brown.

"You don't understand," he said, low and intense.

"I don't need to understand you to know what I want. Step back Thomas," I ground out through clenched teeth.

"You heard her," Stephen said from the doorway, "Let. Her. Go. NOW."

A flicker of anxiety crossed Stephen's face, before he smoothed out his expression. His body tensed into a threatening stance as he realised this might be a fight. Even he wasn't arrogant enough to think he could win against a vampire. The fact that he was going to try made my stomach flutter, though I knew it shouldn't.

Thomas twisted his head around, a guttural snarl erupted from his throat.

"She doesn't want you vampire, and there's witnesses." Stephen said.

Without turning away from us he hit speed-dial on his cell. Emily's voice answered on speaker.

"Stephen? What's going on? Where's Alice?"

Stephen held the phone up, all the time holding eye-contact with Thomas. My estimation of him racked up another notch. That took guts; Thomas's eyes shone crimson. He was scary as hell.

"Stephen, report. Now," Emily said, her voice hard.

Thomas let out a low rumble of a growl, as the room spun with the intensity of his fury. It smouldered around us consuming all the oxygen in the room. My head spun. Gulping, I tried to draw enough air into my lungs.

Stephen held his ground at the doorway, his eyes widening at my struggle to breathe.

Thomas tried to yank the manuscript from my grasp, so that he could close the gap between us. I held on tight, realising that it was the only thing that gave my body relief from the painful desire coursing through me.

I couldn't hold out much longer, and Thomas knew it.

White noise buzzed in my ears, morphing into metal crashing against metal. Unbearable heat flared from the manuscript. Bright light blinded me, but I didn't need sight to know that Thomas had moved.

I could breath, and I could feel sensations other than fear and need.

"I'm coming up," Emily's voice blared from the phone lying on the floor.

Thomas cringed away from me into the corner of the room, spirals of smoke twisting in tendrils from his blistering skin.

"What's happened? Did you do that?" Stephen asked, having landed on his ass halfway into the living room.

I shrugged, looking down at the manuscript. Silver light still shone out brightly from the pulsing tree design that covered it.

Thomas cowered further into the corner, bundling himself into the closet. I moved into the living room and closed the door. However much Thomas had just pissed me off, I wasn't into torture.

I offered Stephen a hand up. Instead of releasing me when he was on his feet, he tightened his hold.

"Is there any chance for us?" he asked, not daring to raise his eyes from our joined hands.

"What we had was destroyed when you walked out without a word of explanation. Even if I could forgive you for that, I can't ever think of you in the same way now. I can't trust you Stephen, surely you can see that."

My voice was not as strong as I would have liked. The emotional turmoil of the last few days was getting to me. I needed to get away from all these men. Their attention was sucking the life out of me.

"You will trust me again, Alice. Just give me a chance. I never wanted to leave you. It was the client's instruction. Emily insisted that it was carried out."

"That's the point. If you had really cared for me, you never would have considered me your assignment at the end. You wouldn't have followed those instructions because our relationship would have taken precedence over your career."

Stephen dropped my hand and looked away, resignation written all over his features. He couldn't argue because he knew I was right.

There was no joy in the victory.

Emily skidded into the room, eyes travelling over me first and then Stephen looking for signs of damage. She moved over to the bedroom door and cracked it.

Thomas crouched, one hand covering his face, and the other stretched out to me, entreating me not to come any closer. Emily closed the door and looked to Stephen for a report. She didn't even look surprised. Stephen's eyes darted to me, and then he walked to his partner to fill her in.

It might seem callous, but I took the opportunity to leave.

I didn't look back.