What the Heart Takes

  A high-pitched squeak shot through the air as the screen door opened. His eyes darted in the same direction, taking in the form sweeping across the deck. As if thinking about her hadn’t been hard enough, seeing her made every muscle tense. He couldn’t move or speak or disappear before she found him. All he could do was stare.

  Despite the ache seeing her caused, he was curious as to why she came outside, alone. She should be sleeping. Then again, so should he. She was the reason he couldn’t, but why couldn’t she?

  What he wouldn’t give to have transporting abilities. He’d be gone in a flash. She’d never know he’d been a few feet away, watching her every move. God, he loved the way she moved—so delicate and graceful. She put thought into everything she said and did but said things that didn’t make sense, like how she cared about him, wanted to be close to him, wanted to know the deeper part of him…

  He had to remind himself not to misconstrue her words. She said them because of their friendship. Friends cared about each other. That level of compassion could be confused for passion. The pull between them didn’t help, and while he knew she cared for him, she didn’t love him. Not the way she loved Dylan.

  And Layne didn’t love her. Nope. He felt nothing for her. Nothing at all. Not a damn thing.

  She came to a stop at the rail near the steps, resting her weight on one foot. If she turned around, he’d startle her the second she noticed him. Hopefully, she wouldn’t scream. Then Dylan would be out there and they’d start the whole war and peace process again.

  “Have you been out here very long?”

  Damn their connection.

  She always knew when he was near. He could never sneak up on her, even if he wanted. She talked about sensing his heat and his energy, as well as his soul. Did she feel the pull too, the same pull that drew him to her?

  “I came out here about ten minutes ago.” He waited to see if she’d turn around, but she didn’t. She leaned her head back and faced the umbrella of trees above. “I answered your question, now you answer mine. Why are you out here, alone?”

  “I’m not alone,” she chuckled, still facing the trees that spread for miles. “You’re out here.”

  He beat his thumbs against the chair, creating a rhythm that matched his heart. Keeping her at a distance would not be easy. The sound of her laughter reminded him how hard it would be, but if it kept the peace between the three of them, he’d make the sacrifice.

  “You didn’t know I’d be out here, Heaven.”

  She turned to face him, pressing her back against the rail. “As a matter of fact, I did. Something woke me from a dream. I don’t know what it was, but I laid in silence for the longest time, trying to go back to sleep. I couldn’t. Your energy spun around me.”

  “Is that the reason you came out here? Were you looking for me?”

  “No,” she scoffed as her eyes fell away to the opposite side of the deck. “I didn’t need to look for you. I sensed you.” He gained her attention again as she pushed off the rail and strolled his way. “I believe it’s my turn to ask the next question. Why are you out here? What’s wrong?”

  The sweet scent of her skin hit his nose when she stopped at the edge of the patio table. His eyes trailed over her body, slowly taking in every inch of her. A snug t-shirt accentuated the fullness of her breasts. He didn’t stare too long before he continued down to the hem. It overlapped a pair of form-fitting black pants. Both defined the roundness of her belly, reminding him of the tiny life growing inside of her, the tiny life she created with his friend.

  “Layne?”

  Leaning his elbows on his knees, he held his face in his hands, massaging his forehead. He didn’t want to have this conversation with her. Not after the one they had along the interstate.

  “I came out here to decompress. From the moment we woke from the dream, we’ve been on the go, rushing to get here. Now that we are, I need a couple hours to wrap my head around everything that’s happened.”

  “Does that include what we discussed before? About your role as my Keeper, about our friendship?”

  He stilled his fingers, feeling the heat of his breath in his palms. She wasted no time in getting to the point, that’s for sure. Maybe if he were just as direct, this conversation would be over before it started.

  “I’ve already told you, I can’t get close to you, Heaven.”

  “So you keep saying, but I don’t understand why? We’re friends, or at least we were until a few hours ago. What is so bad about deepening our friendship?”

  He bit the inside of his cheek, wincing as the skin broke and released a metallic taste inside his mouth. “It’s not that easy.”

  “Is this because of Dylan? Are you afraid of what he’s going to think—”

  ‘No, Heaven.” He jerked his head from his hands and faced her again, contorting his face to reveal his frustration. “This isn’t just about Dylan. I’m still dealing with the fucking mess your sister made. No woman has ever screwed with my head the way she did.”

  “I see.” Sadness resonated in her voice. She wrapped her hands around her stomach, as if she were trying to hide it from him. “You don’t want to be around me because I’m a constant reminder of what you lost.”

  “Yes…I mean no. No, you’re not a—” He couldn’t finish the thought when she looked away and took a couple steps back. Coming to his feet, he left the corner seat, moving around the empty chair beside him. “Okay, yes. It’s a little reminder. I didn’t want to have kids, not at this point in my life, but when I saw the pregnancy test…” He stopped a few feet from the rail where she’d retreated, unsure how to explain what he felt. “It’s like something ripped inside my chest. For a split second, I had all these images and ideas running through my head. Good images. Then your sister opened up her lying whore of a mouth and shattered everything.”

  “I’m sorry for what my sister did to you. You know that, Layne, but don’t punish me for her mistakes. The pain she caused you is more of a reason why we need to build our friendship.” She stepped away from the rail and placed her hand on his shoulder. “You need a friend. Someone who will listen to you vent.”

  “No, I don’t. I just need everyone to get out of my face.” Shrugging off her hand he stepped around her and gazed into the woods. “I’m a big boy. I can take care of myself.”

  “Everyone needs a friend. We all need someone we can trust, someone we can open up to, someone who will listen and care without judging us.”

  Trust was a big word for someone who’d never cared about giving or gaining it. Dylan trusted him. He had for years, but what had it gained him? Betrayals. Lies. Regrets. Layne didn’t want the same, didn’t want to take a chance with his heart and offer it to someone who would crush it.

  The weight of Heaven’s gaze had him squirming, at least on the inside. He kept his attention locked on a nearby maple tree, doing his best to ignore how close she stood behind him.

  “I’m afraid, Heaven. I’ve never let myself open up to a woman the way you want me to open up to you. My role in your life is confusing enough. Don’t make it more complicated.”

  “I’m not trying to complicate anything. This is just as confusing for me.”

  “I doubt it. Our connection doesn’t seem to affect you the way it does me. I want to be close to you, Heaven. Probably more than I should.”

  Her presence was like a truth serum. Once again she’d forced him to say something he never would have otherwise. He was a fool for her, a fool who would get his heart burned if he continued to play with fire.

  “It’s the connection, Layne. You haven’t adjusted to it. Maybe if we were closer, you’d find you didn’t feel the same. It’s kind of like thinking you want to date someone, and once you do, you realize it isn’t what you thought.”

  He spun away from the rail, narrowing his eyes on her. “And what if you’re wrong? What if it makes it worse? It did for Nate. He fell for his Seeker and spiraled out of control. Look where he is now.”

&nb
sp; “You are not Nate.” She moved closer and pressed her hand to his chest “ Your heart is pure. It’s full of love. It’s the reason people care about you. It’s the reason I care about you.”

  Her voice sounded steady, yet he noticed her shoulders trembling. He didn’t know if it was from emotion or from the cool air blowing around them. He wanted to comfort her, to provide her with the warmth and security he sensed she needed, but he couldn’t. She needed peace between him and Dylan more, which only left one option. It was time for his performance.

  “Stop this,” he demanded, jerking her hand away from his chest. The hurt in her eyes burned through him as he turned his back and faced the sliding glass door. “I’ve already told you, we can’t be friends. We can’t be close. I’m here to be your Keeper.”

  Sweet Jesus, she was killing him. He took two steps away before her footsteps echoed in his ears. She cut him off a second later. “Being my Keeper requires we be in sync. How can we be in sync if you don’t want to be around me?”

  “Damn it, Heaven. Why do you keep doing this? Why can’t you just leave it be?”

  “Because I can’t.”

  He gripped her shoulders, jerking her to his chest. “This isn’t your choice. It’s mine.” The words came out in a growl as he leaned closer, just like he had a few hours ago. “I don’t want to be your friend. Do you hear me?”

  His voice grew gruffer with each word. It made her eyes water and lips pucker. “You don’t mean that. You’ll do and say anything to hide the way you feel.”

  He dropped his face so close that her breath tickled his nose. “You wanna know how I feel?”

  Golden eyes held his, anticipating his next word, but he had none. The pull of her energy left him speechless, as much as it left him motionless. The curtain had dropped on the master performance he’d planned. He couldn’t back away, could only stare into the soul of the woman who’d captured his—the one woman he couldn’t resist.

  Unable to fight the urge, he made a soft, slow sweep with his lips, lightly brushing hers. She gasped, releasing her breath just as quick as she inhaled it. He made another pass, hesitating at the center. He wanted to press harder but her breath continued to increase.

  The heat of her lips faded as he pulled back, surprised to see that she’d closed her eyes. They opened a second later, already locked onto his.

  “Do you feel that, Layne?” She sounded breathless. Knowing he was the reason for the breathlessness stirred his soul, leaving him anxious for her next word. “Do you feel the fire in your soul? Can you feel it burning through your energy?”

  “Yes.” He could barely form the word. It came out in more of a slur, but she understood him.

  “Focus on the fire, Layne. Focus on that raw power stoking the flame within you.” It didn’t matter that he wanted to ignore her. He couldn’t. She had some type of spell over him, something that made him want to do anything she said. “What is the source of that power? What is feeding the fire in your soul?”

  “I…I don’t know. Please, Heaven. Please don’t do this.”

  “I need to know the source of your power. That’s what you have to concentrate on to release your other abilities.

  He unclenched her arms, trailing his fingers down the sides. Then he laced them with hers and urged her to raise her hand. Once they were chest high, he pulled his slightly away. “You want to know the source feeding my fire?” When she nodded, he dipped his head toward their hands. Her eyes widened when she noticed the flame flickering between their palms. “It’s you, Heaven. You’re the source that feeds my fire.”

  CHAPTER 13

  The kitchen light reflected off the diamond in Heaven’s engagement ring, drawing her eyes to her finger. She pulled her hand closer, using her other finger to smooth over her wedding band. It had taken some time to get used to the new ring, but now that she had, she couldn’t imagine not having it.

  Her heart squeezed at the memories both rings contained. The sweet words Dylan spoke under the willow tree. The way he gazed up at her on one knee, asking her to be his wife. The look of love in his eyes when they’d stood in the same spot, not even two months later, saying their vows.

  Now they were in Brightsville, inside her parents’ house, on the verge of hearing more about the secret society they’d been born into. She bit at her lip, wondering what this new information would mean for their future, for their child’s future.

  Trailing her eyes across the kitchen, she found her husband chatting with her father at the table near the window. Delia sat beside him as all three gazed at an old, dusty book.

  He’d been unusually quiet since they’d made it to the main house. In fact, he’d been quiet at the cottage too. She hadn’t sensed any negative vibes in their connection, but something about him was different.

  Maybe it was her guilt screwing with her. She traced her lips with her finger, remembering the way Layne brushed his against hers. He did it so lightly she wasn’t sure if he’d kissed her at first. Then he made the second sweep, the one that made her head dizzy, the one that increased the fire blazing in his soul. Had he meant to harm her, she would have been dead in seconds.

  She’d managed to leave with a set of scorching lips, lips that began aching with heat when he begged her to go back to bed. The ache kept her awake, staring at the ceiling for who knew how long. Even now, hours later, they still burned from his touch.

  So did her hand.

  Pulling it away from her face, she gazed at her palm, as if she expected to see a burn. There wasn’t. Deep down, she knew there wouldn’t be. The flame that flickered between their hands should have burned her, would have burned her, had it not been for…

  It had to be her connection with Layne, though she wasn’t sure how. Granted, their Seeker-Keeper bond was the driving force behind his need to protect her. He was born to keep her safe, but there was more to it. Just because he was her Keeper didn’t guarantee that he’d always put her safety first. He could still harm her. What happened between her mother and Nate proved that. Was it because Nate chose a different path, or was there more to the connection she shared with Layne?

  Her eyes moved toward the archway and into the empty dining room. He should have made it inside by now. He promised he would be right in when she and Dylan passed him on their way to the main house. But even then, she’d sensed something wrong with him. He wouldn’t meet her eyes. What few words he spoke were directed toward Dylan. The fire inside him smoldered just beneath the surface, nothing like when they’d stood on the back deck, face-to-face.

  After the intense moment they shared, she thought things would change, thought he would stop fighting her on everything she said. She wished he would realize he needed to be close to her. If what he told her was true, that she was the source of his fire, it proved what she’d been saying all along. They needed to be in sync. He needed it as much as she did.

  Footsteps drew her eyes back into the kitchen. Her mother approached the counter, coming to a stop beside her. Her mom grabbed the coffeepot from its warming plate. She tried to cover her yawn as she poured the dark liquid into her cup, but Heaven noticed anyway.

  “You look tired, Mom. Did you not sleep well?”

  “Honey, I haven’t slept well since the day you and your sisters were born. You’d be amazed at how little sleep you can survive on. Just wait until this little one gets here,” her mother chuckled, eyeing her tiny but well-rounded abdomen.

  Heaven gazed at the clock on the coffee maker. Black digital numbers revealed the time. Eight-thirty a.m. It was hard to believe she’d slept for twenty hours. That didn’t include the two hours she’d snuck in before she’d awakened to Layne’s energy pulsing around her.

  “I can’t believe I slept so long.”

  “You were tired, sweetheart. You and the baby needed the rest. The trip home was hard on you. Thank God you left when you did.”

  The words barely made it past her mother’s lips when Heaven noticed her eyes widen.

  ??
?What do you mean? Is something wrong?”

  “No,” her mother chuckled again, waving off her comment as she stirred cream into her coffee. “I just meant that you’d still be traveling if you’d waited until the next day.”

  Heaven forced herself to nod before taking a sip of her orange juice. Either she was turning into a paranoid person or her mother was hiding something. Given the fact that so many secrets had recently come to light, she assumed it was the latter.

  She wanted to ask her mom more questions, but a swift surge of energy blazed through her, drawing her attention to the archway again. Layne stood underneath. His eyes landed on her before moving toward Dylan. Her husband was looking at him too, as was everyone else.

  “It took you long enough,” Dylan said, moving his eyes back to the book.

  “Yeah. Sorry about that.” Layne continued through the room. He ignored her when he passed, offering a smile to her mother instead. “The shower was a little…cold.”

  “Oh, no,” her mom whispered, touching her hand to her head. “We forgot to turn on the hot water tank in the other bathroom. I’m sorry, Layne. Nicholas will get it fixed.”

  Her father nodded, but Layne shook his head. “It’s okay. I think it helped wake me up.”

  “Good,” Delia said as she stood from the table, motioning for Layne to join her. “You need to be alert. We have a lot to discuss.”

  Layne walked toward her with cautious steps. The thump of his energy said he was just as anxious as Heaven to hear what she had to say. Yet he worried too. His responsibilities to her weighed on him. If he found out more, would he stick around and protect her? He didn’t want to be there. She knew that, knew the reason behind it was more than Faith’s presence. It was her presence too.

  Once he reached the table, Delia motioned for her and her mother to join them. Her mother took slow steps across the floor until she sat beside Heaven’s father. He wrapped his arm around her, giving her a kiss on the cheek.