A deep crimson snaked its way past Donnie’s collar, up his neck, to his face. “You don’t have to lie to me, Maddie. I deserve better than that.”
Her eyes widened. “I’m not lying though. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I don’t feel right. Kal helped me.”
A warmth spiraled over her skin as she remembered just how Kal had helped her.
Maddie couldn’t figure out the look that passed over Donnie’s face.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
He pointed to her. “What are those? Are those new tattoos? What, you dump me and find some, some moron on steroids and suddenly you're a whole new Maddie?”
She stepped back, stopped by the Kal-wall.
“What? No.” Looking down, she saw the tattoos again.
“No. These. I don’t know what they are. They just appeared today, in fact.”
Kal huffed. God, she hoped he’d just shut up.
“She’s mine. Those marks are for me.”
Maddie squeezed her eyes closed. So much for him just shutting up.
“You just met him today? Really, Maddie? I thought when Ellen called and told me you were back, it was a sign. She didn’t mention that you were here with someone.”
Deep breaths.
“I did just meet him. I swear. Kal, tell him.”
Kal’s grip tightened. “We just met, but her soul knows me. Time is merely a detail humans invented, a revolution around the sun. It means nothing to fate.”
Oh, God. That wasn’t what Donnie needed to hear.
Opening her eyes, she focused on her ex.
A vein in his forehead was popping out. Donnie wasn’t bad looking, but really, compared to Kal he lacked something. Poor guy didn’t deserve this.
“That sounds like a load of crap from a man who is relying on his looks to get someone like Maddie. In time, she’ll see the truth and -” he broke off.
This time it was her turn to look at him bug-eyed. Oh, he didn’t just go there.
“And what, Donnie? Please, finish that statement.”
His mouth opened and closed. “Look, Maddie.” He took a step closer and Kal’s arm found its way around her chest, hugging her close. Protective, almost.
“Maddie. We’re meant to be. I know we are. I’ve waited this long, I can wait a little longer. You’re back here. That’s got to be a sign.”
Tilting her head, she glared. “Please, Donnie. Stop. I never wrote you. I never called. I told you that you deserve someone better. Someone who would love you as much as you love them. Stop waiting for me. There’s no reason to. Even if this Kal thing isn’t forever -”
She hiccuped on her last word. The heat within her burned hotter at the mention of his name.
“It is forever, Maddie,” Kal whispered into her ear. Those words traveled down through her, straight to her core. Oh, Lord. Forever? Right now she’d settle for a quick minute. Crossing her legs, Maddie tried to control the pulsing need.
Blowing out a breath, she focused on Donnie, the person in front of her that kept her from scratching an itch he’d never inspired.
Nope. She didn’t love Donnie, not like a girlfriend should. She didn’t love the pain behind his eyes either. Maddie would do what she needed to look out for herself, and Donnie was a casualty. She didn’t want to be the reason anyone hurt. She didn’t want to be in charge of someone else’s well-being, or their happiness.
No one could make you happy except yourself. Wasn’t that what she’d learned about everything in her life? Her mother? And right now her happiness could hinge on the crazy alien guy behind her. Or, at least soul-bending ache to have him sweating on top of her.
There was the heat again.
Breathe.
His grip didn’t release, his arm still over her chest, holding her close.
Running a finger over the skin on his hand, the only part of him not covered by his jacket, she sighed at the relief. Why? Maybe fate had it right. The heat seemed to jump between them.
Kal’s next words reached through her haze.
“Maddie is no longer available, human.”
Kal pulled her back as he stepped around her. “You will wait an eternity for her, and even then her heart will remain mine and I will forever be hers. You can’t win this.”
“No. No, Kal.”
Why was he provoking Donnie?
The air grew heavy as she breathed in. Too much. It was too much. Gasps of air, all she got in as she tried to wrap her head around reality.
It was okay. She was in control. She would remain in control. She’d be fine. But no. No. She couldn’t rely on someone else. She broke hearts. She didn’t save her mom. She couldn’t love Donnie. She couldn’t keep her show afloat and ensure all her cast had jobs.
The familiar darkness that followed her everywhere flowed over her, thick and heavy. A blanket of anxiety folded itself around her, choking out rational thought.
Maybe you are in control of your own happiness, but what if others relied on you? No. She couldn’t.
Gasping in a breath, Kal’s words were deadly serious. But how could he say any of that? What if he was wrong? She wouldn’t be his - because, what if she couldn’t? What if she wasn’t capable of being anyone's?
Anxiety swooped in like a vulture stealing the last of her calm. Pushing off Kal’s hand and ignoring the pleas of Donnie, she ran.
4
His dragon snarled within him. Kal let out a growl. This human male would pay.
They could still smell her scent in the air, hear her footfalls traveling farther away. His mate was leaving him, and it was all this little pest’s fault.
Kal and his dragon turned their attention to Donnie. Kal fought to remain in control for the moment. He rolled his head side to side. The tension of keeping his dragon penned was enough to test even his strength right now.
They would go after Maddie as soon as he fixed the Donnie issue. Neutralize the enemy. The sun was no longer above them; the sky darkening. Good. Fewer people to see
