Possession Read Online Free PDF Page B

ever
met. You refuse to come near me. And you don’t want me working for you. Why
else would that be?” Ridiculously, I felt a lump in my throat, simply by
speaking of his rejection.
    A
muscle tensed in Dax’s jaw, as if he was physically biting back what he wanted
to say. His fists tensed into balls, thick veins standing up on his arms. “Ms.
Beaumont,” he finally said. His quiet voice held a hint of a tremor. “Believe
me when I tell you I am not in the least... offended by you.” He took a
deep breath. “It pains me that you think so.”
    “Then...then
what is it?” I asked, still gazing into his eyes.
    But
he shook his head.
    “Another
secret,” I muttered. “You seem to have so many.”
    He
smirked, his gorgeous face transforming into something hard and bitter as he
looked away, toward the windows and the woods outside. “Yes. And none of them
are good. It’d be in your best interests to stay away.”
    The
fire crackled. I realized that sometime during our conversation, Oscar had
slipped away. I looked down at my hands, fisted in the blanket. “What if...what
if I don’t want to stay away?”
    I
couldn’t believe I was saying the words out loud. I had just met this man. But
somehow I knew that he felt exactly the way I felt. I was beginning to suspect
it was the reason he was so...strange around me. There was something between us
that eschewed the traditional hesitant, “play it cool” attitude normal guys and
girls our age displayed before they got to know each other.
    I
expected him to become furious or stalk away. It surprised me when he sighed
deeply instead. “Then we’re in trouble,” he said, his voice barely a rumble. “Because
I don’t want you to stay away either.”
    I
jerked my gaze back up to his eyes. My breath caught when I saw they were
practically smoldering, the copper turning to molten liquid. As my heart began
to pump furiously in my chest, I asked, “Then it’s settled? I’m working for
you?”
    He
kept his distance, but the heat wafted off him again. Sweat beaded along my
hairline. The room seemed to get much, much warmer, as if the fire were
encroaching into it. “Yes,” he muttered, still staring at me. “If that is what
you wish.”
    I
smiled, the warm, fuzzy feeling seeping back into my body. “It is,” I said, and
I felt my eyelids begin to slip shut.

11. RIDE
    W hen
I woke up again, I was disoriented. All I remembered was Dax. My eyes swept the
room, searching for his face with a voracity I didn’t understand. They settled
on Oscar’s instead.
    His
pale silver-blue eyes crinkled at the corners. “Do you feel a little better,
Ms. Beaumont?”
    “Cara.”
My voice was hoarse, my throat dry.
    “Of
course,” Oscar said, handing me a glass of water. “Here you are. I imagine the
medicine must’ve rather dehydrated you.”
    After
I’d gulped down the entire drink, I nodded. “What did you give me, anyway?”
    Something
in Oscar’s face closed up and I knew he wouldn’t tell me the truth before he
even opened his mouth. “I’m not sure of the exact name,” he said, putting the
glass away and refusing to meet my eye. “But then, I’m not a doctor, of course.
If you’d like, I can find out for you and call you with the information later.”
He smiled kindly.
    “Right.”
Another secret. “No, that’s not necessary. I feel much better.” My hands felt
for my injured waist, but found a heavy bandage covering it instead. There were
no holes in my shirt, and I glanced down, surprised.
    Well,
that explained it. I was wearing a t-shirt that was much too large and came
down to my knees...and nothing else. Blushing, I looked at Oscar. I didn’t know
which was harder to think about; Oscar stripping me down, or Dax. “My clothes...”
    He
seemed to understand. “Victorine—my daughter—was the one to change you. Your
clothes were ruined, I’m afraid.”
    Oscar
had a daughter? Why hadn’t I seen her yet? “Oh. Please thank her for