Fated Deception (Book 2)

Chapter 10

"The most confused you will
ever get is when you try
to convince your heart
and spirit of something
your mind knows is a lie."

~~Shannon L. Alder

****************

~Nova~

I was freaking out. There was no other way to describe the panicked feeling roiling in my gut. I wanted to scream or throw up or get drunk and then throw up. What the hell was I thinking, offering myself to him on a silver platter with the promise of no consequences? I was such an idiot.

The whole way through the house, I did everything I could think of to calm my frayed nerves and terrified thoughts. The problem was that it was like pulling teeth from a brick wall, completely impossible. And I couldn't blame anyone but myself and my moronic impulses! My lack of self control was going to get me in trouble one day, if it hadn't already done it.

When I got to the top of the stairs that led down to the main part of the house, I paused. There were voices and trickles of laughter drifting up to me from the living room that let me know the others were there. The idea of some family time was both inviting and slightly revolting. I wasn't sure I was in the mood to work on my fragile... truce? bond?... whatever the hell I was supposed to call things with Dominic. But I did miss hanging out with Nevada like we used to.

I looked toward my room at the end of the hall, the door still closed as it had been earlier. My mother would no doubt be curled in the bed as if hoping it would swallow her. After we had returned to August's, she wouldn't talk to me about what had happened last night and I knew she wouldn't talk to anyone else. I was still reeling from the shit storm she had brought upon us all and pissed about her behavior in general. There was so much she needed to explain but she refused to unlock her mouth to do so.

Sighing, I rubbed a hand over my face and grimaced at the light growth of stubble. With all of the constant bullshit, I couldn't even groom myself properly. Shaving could wait, I needed sleep more than that but I couldn't bring myself to go into that room with my mother's intolerable silence.

After a few more minutes of standing in the hallway like an idiot, I made up my mind and slipped into one of August's other guest rooms. He had plenty to go around in this ridiculously large house and could kiss my ass if he didn't like it. I was not in the mood to deal with such petty things and I didn't think I could handle being surrounded by everyone else either.

I flopped face first onto the bed and let out a frustrated groan into the pillow. My body was sore from the running we did the night before and my dick ached from being ignored too frequently as of late. A few weeks ago, one phone call and everything would have felt better in no time. Now, though, it seemed like all I did was get all worked up and there was nothing I could do about it. At least nothing that would satiate the issue.

I tossed and turned for a while in the unfamiliar bed, trying to forget about basically throwing myself at Hatter and every other problem that bounced around my head. It seemed pointless at first but I eventually managed to get comfortable and my mind finally gave in. As I drifted off, a nagging feeling that something needed my attention tugged at my mind but I was too far gone to care.

●●●●

I woke sometime later, moonlight filtering through the curtains on the window and the rest of the house seemed quiet as if everyone had gone to bed. My restless sleep had been filled with dreams I couldn't remember other than flashes of naked flesh and chiseled muscle. I clenched my jaw in irritation when I realised that even my erotic dreams were untouchable and ended unsatified.