Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
Latham
Her screams and thrashing have woken me, and I try to wake her when she dives straight across me, her knee hitting me in the stomach.
She moves quicker than I could grab her.
She knocks everything off the bedside table as she fumbles in the dark for the lamp, and I watch as the light comes on, and it is like she is seeing something other than what I can see.
She is perfectly safe. Xavier moves, and I shake my head. She isn't lucid and looks like she is about attack anything that touches her. Moving off the bed, Bella rambles, her hands shaking, and I know she is still somewhat stuck in her nightmare.
Blaine moves off his side, crawling to the end of the bed. Bella's hands are shaking, and she stares up at the ceiling with wide eyes. I have never seen her like this. I know it is because we took her back there. I should have known to make her wait in the car.
I’ve been afraid of this; however, something that made no sense to me was where he’d gone. For years, she has not been plagued by him, and demons aren't ones to let go of an obsession, which is what she is to him.
He's tainted her, the taint so dark it marks her soul so he can always find her. I figured it must have been because of her crimes, but the thought of her being someone else's had never crossed my mind.
I know he feeds off her fear, which means we need to get her to calm down.
"We need to taint her, Latham. She can't be like this," Blaine mutters as he tries to box her in.
Bella stares at him, and I have no idea what she is seeing when she screams and lunges at him, attacking him blindly. I force my aura out, and she halts instantly, allowing him to grab her hands.
She is shaking like a leaf as I wrap my arms around her waist, tugging her against me. Blaine stares at her fearfully, not because he fears her but fears seeing her like this. Bella is always so reserved. She always holds herself together; now, she is beginning to unravel as she is facing her past.
I’ve wanted to mark her soul once we get back home, but she isn't giving us much choice; it is still undecided when we will be leaving.
We could mark her soul, taint her to us, but no doubt it would anger her marker.
"Latham?" Xavier asks, picking up on my energy.
"Just keep her calm. She fears me, I will kill her," I tell them.
I trust them. I always have; I just don't trust myself.
"Promise me," I growl at them.
"We won't let you hurt her," Blaine says while still clutching her hands.
Everything in me wants her fear, wants her, but I know I have to remove it, keep her emotions calm to power through the urges. I feel myself relax, reminding myself she is safe with Blaine and Xavier.
"You’re safe. I got you," I whisper to her, letting my energy roll over her, and her body falls slack in my arms.
"It's just Blaine," I tell her, kissing the side of her face, willing her to calm down further, and I feel the moment recognition is beginning to come back to her.
Her fear lingers, but eventually abates. She is no longer trapped in the nightmarish prison her mind has conjured up. No longer with him. I feel the warmth of her body as it heats, no longer cold in my arms, and her muscles relax as she leans back against me.
"That's it, Arabella. You're with us. Stay with us," Blaine tells her, letting her hands go, but she moves them to his chest as if feeling his skin beneath her palms would somehow make him more real.
I can't see her face clearly but know she is crying by the shake of her shoulders, her tears dripping on my arms when she lets out a shaky breath.
"You won't hurt me," she breathes, letting go of her fear completely.
"Never," Xavier purrs as he steps closer.
She turns her head to look at him before looking up at me. Her tears stain her cheeks, and I use my hand to cup her face.
"Never," I tell her before dipping my face down to hers.
My lips press lightly to hers, and I feel hers quiver against mine before I run my tongue across her lips, wanting access. Her lips part, and I almost groan at the taste of her.
She is mine, they are mine, and I won't let her be taken from us. Whoever it is that haunts her would feel it; no doubt, he would feel it. She is his obsession, and it is about time he knows we are hers. We would be hers; her thoughts would never be consumed with fear again.
No, they would be consumed with the love we give her. I growl when I feel her turn in my arms, her little hands going to my shoulders as she stands on her tippy toes, and I run my hands down to her plump ass, lifting her. I feel Xavier's lips press to my shoulder as her legs wrap around my waist.