Lost Souls - Book 2 "Convergence"

Chapter 2

To say the past month had Marcus as confused as fuck, was an understatement of epic proportions. No matter how many times he went over it in his head, he still couldn't understand how such a tiny slip of a girl had so completely and utterly yanked the rug out from under his world with just a flash of her beautiful, emerald green eyes. Yet, that's exactly what Tabitha had done. They'd had a connection. A real, grab-you-by-the-balls-and-rip-your-heart-out connection. It had been instantaneous and so absolute, that it had shaken him up and spit him out as if he'd done ten rounds in a paint mixer.

The thing that was fucking him up, was the fact that he was pretty damned sure he hadn't been the only one affected by the insanely powerful attraction. Tabitha had felt it too and it had seemed that she had wanted to act on it. But in spite of the sizzling, off the charts chemistry, she had blindsided him by pushing him away. Not once, but twice.

Marcus could understand why she'd done it the second time. After his impulsive, misguided attack on her friend, Nick, she had just cause to be upset with him. But the first? That was the one that had him dumbfounded. She had wanted to be in his arms. Had asked for him to hold her. And the way her sweet body had molded into his? Fucking hell, no woman in his life had ever felt that intoxicatingly good in his arms. He had felt like the king of the world, holding her against his chest like she was always meant to be there. They'd talked, sharing their private pain and then had fallen into the best sleep either one had ever had.

And for a few, brief hours, everything had been perfect.

Everything had been right with his world.

It had all turned to shit when she'd woken up in the middle of a nightmare. Somewhere in the midst of her fear and confusion, she had lost her way. Without warning or explanation, she had done an about-face and distanced herself from him as if she'd woken up with a stranger in her bed. Marcus had spent the next four weeks, missing her more than he ever thought he could miss anything in the world and twisting himself into knots, trying to figure out what the hell had happened.

His inner beast had a sarcastic answer ready for him. Uh duh...she'd just been assaulted and almost raped, you moron. Did you expect her to jump your bones and party on as if nothing had happened?

I know. I know! But that's not it...part of it, yes, but not the whole story. I'm sure of it. She wanted me as much as I wanted her...and then...she didn't. It made no fucking sense then and it still makes no fucking sense now!

Barred from contacting Tabitha directly, Petra became his lifeline. He relied on the regular updates she'd give him, bridging the void separating him from Tabitha and giving him the illusion of still being a part of his angel's life. He hung off every detail, hungry for more. One minute he silently cheered for Tabitha's strength and courage to persevere and the next, he'd beat himself up for not being there to support her when she struggled. Through it all, the only thing that kept him sane was the hope that Petra would discover some clue, some hint, as to why Tabitha's feelings had shifted so drastically. Something he could work with. But, four weeks on, he was still as much in the dark as he was the day she'd kicked him out of her apartment.

How could he fix whatever it was that he'd broken, if he had no fucking idea what it was?  Marcus was stuck uselessly gunning his engine like a car whose wheels had fallen off. He had all the power and no way to get into the race.

Petra was a smart cookie and Marcus hadn't exactly been subtle with his snooping. She'd known how desperate he'd been for information and took pity on him. It didn't take a genius to see the devastating effect the separation from Tabitha was having on him. He'd lost weight, had become reclusive, moody and irritable and it broke her heart the way he'd light up whenever she told him how Tabby was doing – the hopeful smile he'd give her was like a ray of sunlight shining through a thunderstorm. If there was anything she could do to help, she was determined to do it, even if it meant spying on her best friend – for her own good.