Charade (Heven and Hell #2)(2)
Author: Cambria Hebert

“I’m safe with Sam. Trust me.” I was alive because of Sam.

He regarded me seriously for a moment, then hooked his hand around the back of my head and drew me forward. His palm pressed my cheek against his chest and he wrapped his arms around me for a hard hug.

“What’s the matter, Cole?” I mumbled against his chest.

I felt his deep breath and he squeezed me tighter before releasing me. “I don’t know.” He sighed heavily and the color of uncertainty burst around his head. “I just feel like something is going on; I don’t understand it. I can’t help but feel like I need to protect you.”

I didn’t say anything; I didn’t know what to say. Concern marred his features and I could sense he truly was puzzled. The uncertainty nagged at him. I could see the toll that it was beginning to take. Maybe Sam and I weren’t concealing everything that was happening as well as we thought. “Everything is okay with me. I promise.” My stomach cramped at the lie.

He only wanted to protect me. He was sweet. But it was also a tiny bit frustrating because everyone wanted to protect me. No one thought I was capable of protecting myself. Except maybe Kimber. The thought of my best friend had me pulling away from her boyfriend.

“I have to go.”

He nodded and opened the door for me. When I was buckled in and ready to go, he was still standing next to the car. I rolled the window down, he put his forearms on the door and leaned in. “Be careful.”

“I’ll be fine.” Even as I said it, I checked the rearview mirror, making sure there was no one there. Cole’s eyes followed mine, then snapped back to me. Did he somehow know that I was in danger? The magenta around his head suddenly deepened and spread outward. The color was stunning and mysterious, and strangely, it made me want to comfort him. I put a hand up onto his forearm and squeezed. “Really, I’m going to be fine.”

He nodded and handed my sunglasses back to me. I forgot he even had them. “Thanks,” I murmured, slipping them on.

“Are you working later?”

“No. Tomorrow afternoon.”

“Free ice cream?” he asked, grinning.

I laughed. “Sure. Come by.”

“See you later.” He looked like he might say something else, but then he stepped back and motioned for me to drive.

He watched me until I was out of sight.

Where are you?

I smiled. On my way to see you.

Are you all right? Any problems?

No. I looked in the rearview once again, just to make sure. Looks like for today I was safe.

How long? I could feel his agitation, his worry. I hated it. I had been out in town all morning and his nerves were stretched thin. Sam didn’t like the thought of me going around alone, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. He had to work and I needed to have a life.

Five minutes tops. My response seemed to take the edge off his nerves and I sighed. Having a Mindbond with Sam was amazing. We could talk whenever we wanted, no matter the distance between us. Even in a room full of people, we could have a private conversation. I thought back to just last week when we were at yet another one of Kimber’s legendary lake parties and I needed to be rescued from a seriously lame conversation. I thought it was cool I didn’t have to invent any kind of eye roll or code word so that he would know I needed saving. I just yelled “Help!” really loud in my head. Then I realized that was NOT the thing to yell when demons from Hell were attacking me at random. The minute I yelled the word, extreme adrenaline and anxiety rushed through my body. I would have stumbled had I not already been used to being overcome by Sam’s emotions.

Sam and I are so closely linked with the Mindbond that when we are in the same space, our strong emotions “bleed” through to each other. He had come barreling through the people and practically knocked everyone in my group down. It had definitely gotten me out of a lame conversation, but it had also gotten us some weird looks. I grinned to myself. We have a code word now for rescuing each other from lame conversations.

I pulled onto the narrow dirt road that led to the boat rental shack where Sam was working this afternoon. My stomach fluttered a bit in anticipation of seeing him. Even though I had just seen him this morning and spent all night in his arms, I was still excited for that first moment that my eyes would meet his. There was no other feeling like it; there were no words to describe it. I smiled at the thought of inventing such a word.

I parked the car on a patch of grass shaded by a large tree and hurried to turn off the engine and shove the keys into my bag. I shut the door behind me and turned to face the little shack, my eyes already seeking Sam’s smile. He was down by the water watching a couple in a boat paddling out of sight. He turned slowly, drawing out my anticipation and making my heart thump unevenly.

We were staring at each other from across the soft expanse of bright green grass. My heart stopped altogether and a delicious warmth curled my toes and spread up, restarting my heart when it reached my chest. I raced forward, desperately wanting to close the distance between us. He was faster of course, reaching me in seconds, picking me up and swinging me around before catching me in a huge bear hug. I laughed. He squeezed harder and I squealed. He chuckled, planted me on my feet, and looked down.

I was nervous that he might not like my new style, but then I realized that I did and my nerves fell away. I smiled confidently as he slid his fingers through my locks and tugged at the corner of the side-swept bang. “I didn’t think you could get any prettier.” His voice was deep and raspy and it raised tiny goose flesh along my skin. “But you did.”

I grabbed his wrists and kissed him, standing up on tiptoe to press myself as close as humanly possible. I missed you this morning.

Me too, Hev. Me too.

Suddenly, he pulled back, breaking off our kiss. I pressed my lips together, trying to make it last just seconds longer. “You were with Cole?”

My eyes shot up to his at his accusatory tone. “Yes… no.” I shook my head trying to banish the haze of fog his lips left in my head.

He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at me. I glanced just beyond his shoulder, my eyes landing on a fish jumping in the lake. “I wasn’t with him. I just ran into him in the parking lot of the hair salon.”

His whiskey-colored eyes narrowed and I felt his anger.

“How did you even know?” I mumbled. I didn’t like when he got mad at me and I looked away again. The water was still rippling with the force of the fish’s jump. Must have been a big one… yet, it hadn’t really looked like a fish, in fact, it looked like…