Broken (The Captive #5.5)(38)

She couldn't wait here for him, not today, she had to go to the human village in order to steal some money for Felix and even more for herself and Camille. Trying not to let her disappointment get the best of her, she hurried through the woods to the human settlement. She moved rapidly amongst the crowd, deftly plucking the purses of three men before stopping by Matilda's stand.

The older woman smiled at her as Genny slipped a small purse into her hand. "How are things Genny?" she inquired.

"They're very well, Matilda," she lied with ease. "I'll see you again soon."

She moved away from Matilda's stand and slid her hand into the cloak of a man passing by. Plucking his purse from where it was tied inside of his cloak, she surreptitiously slipped it into her pocket and continued down the crowded thoroughfare. Her heart felt exceptionally heavy today and it had nothing to do with the lingering effects of Felix's attack. She couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right as she disappeared into the woods again.

She slid soundlessly through the trees and over the moss covered rocks back toward the clearing. The knowledge that he was there filled her when she was still a few hundred feet away. He turned toward her as she climbed to the top of a boulder and looked down at him. Even if she hadn't been feeling as if her soul had been sucked from her body all day, the look on his face was enough to confirm that something wasn't right. Then he broke into a smile and true joy lit his eyes as his gaze ran over her. Her heart soared at the sight of that smile, it took everything she had not to leap off the boulder and fling herself into his arms despite the resigned set of his shoulders and seemingly sad demeanor.

She could have chalked up her dreary mood to the fact that she was going to tell him about Felix but she knew there was more to it as his smile slipped away and his mouth compressed. Genny resigned herself to the fact that whatever had transpired last night wasn't something that she was going to like.

"What is it?" she inquired. He shook his head as he strode purposely toward her. "Atticus…"

Before she could question him further he grabbed hold of her arms and pulled her against him. "Genny." He breathed her name with such reverence that her heart melted as his mouth descended upon hers. There was a wildness to him that she'd never encountered before, a desperation that touched something in her soul, something that told her that only she could ease what was wrong with him.

His hand encircled the back of her head, his fingers slid through her hair. The brush of his tongue over her lips caused energy to sizzle through her body as everything in her reacted to him. The hair on her arms stood on end, her toes curled and her mouth willingly parted to the questing exploration of his tongue. Her fingers curled into his back, his desperation became hers as she pulled at him, trying to get even closer.

The cumbersome layers of clothes that she'd always resented felt as trapping now as being buried alive. All she craved was to feel his skin. Instinctively she knew that she could calm this savagery within him if they could just be skin-to-skin, body to body. She hadn't even realized they were moving until she felt a tree pressing against her back and he braced his knee between her thighs.

Bark pressed into her back but she barely felt it as one of his hands bunched in the skirt of her tunic. Genny's mind spun from the overwhelming sensations crashing through her. They were entering waters she'd never even waded into before but she welcomed the sensation of drowning in this man.

Over the years she, Marie and Camille had moved too often for her to have developed more than a passing crush on a few boys, but Atticus was most certainly no boy, and he was far more than just a crush. No, he was an extremely powerful vampire that wanted her, that needed her, and she would do anything to ease that need.

He broke away from her. His body shuddered, his forehead fell to hers and his hand slowly untangled from her skirts. Her mind spun from the abrupt end of the kiss, her lips were still wet and tingling from the sensation of him. His hands clasped her face and his fingers stroked over her cheeks.

"I can't," he groaned against her mouth. "We can't. There's something I must tell you Genny."

"Atticus, what is wrong?"

"There is nothing in this world I want more than you," he murmured. "Nothing."

Her desire fizzled as rapidly as a fire doused in water. There was a reason he was so desperate today, a reason he seemed so unrestrained when he was always in control of himself. Her hands encircled his forearms; dread crept through her as she clung to him. "What happened last night?" she whispered.

His fingers slid over her cheeks again, he cradled her face as he kissed her tenderly. "I would do anything not to hurt you. It's the last thing in the world I want."

"Atticus, you're frightening me. Please tell me what is going on."

He took hold of her hand, stepped back from her and walked with her over to a rock. Stepping away, he waited for her to get settled on the rock before sitting beside her. His fingers slid comfortingly over the back of her hand as he enfolded it within both of his. She was convinced he was going to tell her that he would have to leave for another couple of weeks, maybe even months. It would break her heart but she would get through it, she'd gotten through worse things in her life.

"I'm to be married," he said flatly.

A non-existent hand shoved its way into her chest and ripped out her non-beating heart. Everything within her seemed to deflate; she would rather have endured a hundred of Felix's beatings than to ever hear those words come out of his mouth.