Reclaimed(48)
Author: Diane Alberts

Mmm, she’d love to run her fingers over those arms, to kiss his chest….

“Here, give me the knife before you cut off your finger,” he joked as he pulled it from her fingers, effectively ending her delightful fantasy.

She jabbed his shoulder with her finger, scowled, and asked, “Why are you always taking my knives away?”

“Why are you always carrying them, and not paying attention?”

“Hey, I’m distracted, what can I say? It’s not often I have a half-naked immortal cooking in my kitchen.” Expecting him to laugh, she got surprised instead to see him turn somber. Oh boy, here comes the talk.

Crap, take a sip of wine, girl.

“I’m sorry for how I acted. I have no excuse, except to say I love you so much. Sometimes my thoughts are nowhere near rational when it comes to you.”

“It’s okay. I’m sure I would have been upset if I walked in on you kissing someone else, too.”

“Yeah, but for me to have left you like I did. I didn’t even stop to see if you got inside. It’s unforgivable,” he whispered.

“Really, it’s okay. I didn’t stay out for long.” She flushed when he arched an eyebrow. “Or, it didn’t seem long. I honestly don’t remember.”

“I got told two hours.”

“Oh.” She inhaled.

“But when I came across the two of you, I have never been so angry in my life. I felt ready to kill him with my bare hands. Even when I found him and Amelia naked together, I didn’t get so livid.”

“You were angrier over me? Is it wrong of me to say it pleases me to hear that?”

He laughed. “No, I think it’s fine. Natural, even.”

“Good, because it does.” She kissed him and trailed a hand down his chest to rest upon his heart. His heartbeat accelerated at her touch, and she smiled.

“How about we make a pact?” he drawled.

“A pact?”

“Yes. How about from now on, we only kiss each other. At least, until one of us decides otherwise.”

“Oh, I’m not gonna change my mind,” she whispered. “You’re stuck with me.”

“Is that a promise, lass?”

“Aye, it is.” She mimicked his soft accent.

He chuckled and replied, “Music to my ears.”

Chapter Fifteen

Later that night, Sabrina jerked awake and gasped for air. Isaac’s pale face hovered over hers, and she groaned as she covered her eyes. She tried to jump to her feet, but collapsed on the floor. Pain coursed throughout her body, and she felt paralyzed.

Isaac rushed to her side and pulled her into his arms. “What’s wrong? What did you dream this time? Is it Elijah again? Louisa?”

She clung to Isaac, needing the feel of his arms around her to assure herself he hadn’t been hurt. Last time she’d seen him had been in her dream, and he’d been on the ground, dead for all intents and purposes. She never wanted to see anything even remotely like it ever again.

“I saw it,” she whispered against his chest. “I saw Amelia die. I don’t know why, or how, but I saw it.”

His muscles tightened beneath her cheek at her words. “How could that be?” he breathed.

She relaxed against his body and sighed in relief. The pain faded rapidly from her body, and she moved her fingers in careful consideration. Yup, definitely better. Now, if only the horrors she had been forced to witness would leave so easily as well.

“I don’t know. I got trapped in Amelia’s body. I saw it all—felt it all. The pain. Oh my God, the pain. It felt horrible.”

“What did you see?” he whispered. She had the distinct impression he didn’t really want to hear what she had to say, but felt he should. “I can tell you how accurate it sounds.”

“The sun shined down on me, and in the dream, I actually became Amelia. So everything Louisa did to Amelia, she did to me, too. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah,” he said in a broken voice.

He ran his hands down her back as he listened to her, and she felt her body relax into his even more. His fingers were pure heaven. Pulling her thoughts away from his tender ministrations, she resolved to get the story told as fast as possible, and hopefully she could begin to forget it as well. “My nose hurt—turned out it was bloody. Louisa came over. It surprised me to see her. I remember worrying about whether you were there, too.” She paused and looked at him. “She worried about how you were doing, if you had found out already.”

“You or her? You keep switching back and forth.” Isaac pursed his lips and studied her.

“It doesn’t matter.” She waved her hand in front of her face. “In my dream, we are interchangeable. I became her.” At his tight nod, she continued. “Louisa grabbed me by the hair and threw me. I landed at Elijah’s feet. When I looked past him, I saw you. You looked dead. Your neck had been twisted to the side, and it looked broken.” She covered her eyes and moaned. “It hurts to see you there, Isaac. I can’t stand having the picture in my head.”

He squeezed her. “It’s okay. Try not to focus on it.” He smoothed back her hair and kissed her forehead. “I’m here.”

She took a calming breath. “I asked if you were dead, and Louisa laughed. She said she had other plans for you, but by the end of her fun I’d be dead. Elijah tried to keep her from me, but she grabbed him and shoved him against a tree. She broke another smaller tree, and slammed it through his shoulder so he’d be stuck there. Forced to watch.”

“Jesus,” he whispered as his face paled.

“First, she broke one arm, followed by the other, before I passed out. I could still feel the pain, and hear everything going on. Even unconsciousness didn’t give me any relief.

“I heard Louisa go to Elijah and bite him. I think she worried whether he bled too heavily and would die,” she said in an afterthought.

“Probably. It wouldn’t be any fun for her…if he died when she didn’t pay attention, he wouldn’t get to live through eternity with her.” Bitterness laced through his tone, reminding her of all the evil woman had put him through.

“Yeah, it makes sense. Anyway, she broke both my legs and I looked at Elijah. She tried to focus on him as she died. Elijah screamed, and my chest hurt. I looked down and saw a dagger sticking out of it.”

Isaac paled before asking, “Do you remember what it looked like?”