Fallen Dreams - Elaine Brown (free romance novels txt) 📗

on its silver chain, blue-grey opal gleaming, was the half-twelve-pointed star. The pricking is back, but this time I cannot suppress the tears. I hadn’t seen the partner necklace to my own in three years. I hadn’t even thought he’d kept it; why had I even kept mine? Suddenly, the half that I carry around my neck becomes heavy against my skin; I long to pull it out but my hands are still pinned.
His cold hands loosen their grips on my wrists just too absently weave his fingers through mine. Somehow, I don’t mind; not that I had a choice anyway. My legs go weak and the small weight he’s leaving on my shoulder is at this point too much. I begin to slide down the wall and onto my knees, and he comes with me. Our hands fall from the wall as well, now my knuckles are against the floorboards; it doesn’t hurt. Something warm presses against my skin at the base of my neck and I jump, turning my face to look at him. He’d turned so that his cheek was resting on my shoulder. His eyes are closed, but when he feels me turn to look at him, they open and watch me with a strange expression.
Unhurriedly, I pull my left hand free of his and his eyes narrow slightly; he must see that I’m not trying to escape because he makes no move to restrain me. Blushing a bit, I pull the silver chain from under my shirt and squeeze the sliver half-star in my hand. I can see his eyes drift away from mine to see what I’m doing; his free hand comes up to cup his own necklace. I reach out and pull it from his fingers, twisting the two chains together once and letting the now complete star hang, as if locked together. The silver points gleam, the center looking like a blue and black yin-yang sign. Shawn pulls off of my shoulder to look from the necklaces to me and back. Gently, he pushes my half and makes it swing away from his, before watching it settle back into a perfect star.
He smirks, not unkindly. Gradually his eyes come back to my own; neither of us bothers to untangle the necklaces. I’d forgotten how alluring his dark eyes could be; I can’t look away. The fingers of his free hand come up to touch my cheek. The cool touch is familiar, but it still hurts a bit when I think of how different it used to be. He drags his fingertips down my cheek and gently caresses my jaw. A loose fist forms under my chin from his index to pinky finger, his thumb draws small circles along the front of my chin. It’s hard to breath, and he seems a little unsettled as well. His eyes are half open and I feel mine drift farther closed as well, the soothing circles relaxing my frayed nerves. My heart beats hard against my ribs, picking up speed as he leans closer and closer. Absentmindedly it seems, he tilts his face; I surprise myself by not pulling back. The last time he’d almost kissed me had been a year ago, but this is different; this time he doesn’t seem to be changing his mind at the last second.
A banging coming from the back kitchen door announces the arrival of Riel, along with him calling out, “Orin! Are you back yet?” I flinch and Shawn jumps back abruptly, startled; the only thing that kept him in front of me was the fact that his hand was still tangled in mine and our necklaces were still twisted.
“Hellooooo?” Riel’s voice chimes again; I wonder why he’s no closer?
Indecision and the boarder line of panic cloud Shawn’s expression, he seems very unsure; his hand tightens on mine and he reaches up absently to touch the necklaces. Hadn’t he earlier been planning to slit Riel’s throat? Somehow, I don’t think the conflict is finding the nerve to kill, though it would have been at one point in his life, but what to do beforehand. I don’t even plan on trying to fathom what runs through his head anymore.
A soft step on hard flooring calls attention to the fact that Riel is no longer in the kitchen doorway. I can make out a thud as he drops something heavy on the marble countertop. But my attention is soon drawn back to Shawn as I feel his cool fingers on my chin, turning my face. Earlier emotions evaporate from his expression without a trace as he searches my face; I can see clearly in his eyes that he’s made a decision.
As the footsteps grow louder an expression of annoyance and determination take over his features. With no warning and no clue as to what is happening, I am suddenly pressed against the wall once more, head hitting wood with a dull “thwack”; my eyesight goes blurry for a fraction of a second. In that fraction I feel a hard, warm pressure against my lips. My eyes widen and out of the corners I can make out the shape of Riel entering the room.
But soon, all but Shawn is blocked from my senses. Instead of the hard forceful kiss from only moments before, he has softened; his muscles have relaxed, his mouth opened slightly. His lips are soft and warm, inviting; I’m surprised to find that my eyes have closed, my lips slightly parted, and my whole self unresisting. All there is is Shawn; all I can feel, taste, smell, breathe. It’s all intoxicating, alluring, exhilarating. His sweet taste, the hard lines of his arms and back, the familiar scent of home. Though I know somewhere in the recesses of my mind that I should get away, I cannot act upon the thought. Even the ache in the back of my head where it hit the wall seems distant, unimportant.
I don’t want the moment to end. “Orin? Where a—“ The footsteps halt and I can feel Riel’s wide-eyed stare.
Shawn tears away from me with such force that I’m nearly thrown to the ground; the pain in my head becomes awful. I open my eyes just in time to see Shawn glare; “So you’ve decided to show up after all.”
I turn my head to look at Riel, cheeks burning, my hand coming up to gingerly touch my lips. Riel’s eyes shift from me to Shawn and back again; anger begins to cloud his expression. Without warning, and against all I’d thought of Riel, he jerks into action, delivering a powerful blow to Shawn’s jaw. Our necklaces still tangled together, choke me as he is thrown across the room; the pressure is released, however, as the chains of both shatter. Tears cloud my vision, and I gasp as my hand comes to cover my entire mouth. I shake my head slowly as Riel pulls me to my feet by my arm, a furious expression in his eyes; my dark hair falls into my eyes and I bite back the emotions that are trying to break through.
Cursing, Shawn throws himself back onto his feet; “Let go of her.” His eyes flash, and Riel smirks maliciously, pulling away from me and throwing himself at Shawn once more. Shawn, ready this time, grabs Riel’s fist, twisting it behind his back, and flipping him with his face to the floor. Riel gives a slight cough, but somehow rolls and throws Shawn off, who then slams against the wall again. Riel loses no time and advances once more, pressing his forearm into Shawn’s throat; Shawn glares at him with a snarl on his face. “I’ll kill you.”
Riel’s eyes don’t widen, his expression never wavers; “I’d like to see you try, wretch.” Riel doesn’t even flinch as Shawn spits in his face, he just easily draws his hand back and smashes his fist into Shawn’s jaw once more with great force, bone shattering force. Blood dribbles out of the corner of Shawn’s mouth, but he smirks defiantly, eyes giving away nothing except for hatred. Shawn meets my eyes for a few seconds, but turns away sadly and punches Riel hard in the gut. I gasp again as Riel doubles over and Shawn knees him in the face. Suddenly my mind flies into action, and I run across the room, placing myself between the two, arms stretched to protect one from the other. Who I was protecting from whom, I’m not sure. Shawn’s arm had already been cocked for another blow; his eyes widen before narrowing with hurt.
“Get out of the way, Orin.”
I shake my head and lower my face.
His voice hardens, and I know that I’ve lost him again. “Get. Out. Of my. Way.”
Taking a trembling breath, I shake my head again, feeling Riel rise to his knees and staring at me.
A growl escapes Shawn’s throat as he seizes my jaw and forces my face up. The expression in his eyes was far beyond furious. His eyes narrow and he throws my face aside, striding away and looking over his shoulder only once; “You’ve made a mistake. Any more will cost you dearly.”
And just like that he was gone; when he was gone, I guided Riel up the stairs and left him to rest in the guest room. When I returned to the living room, something crunched gently under my boot. Taking a startled step back, I crouched to search the floorboards. There, laden with the shattered chains, was the completed twelve pointed star, each stone cracked and falling from the center.
Imprint

Text: The events and characters are works of fiction of the authors imagination. All rights reserved.
Publication Date: 12-14-2010

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
To my best friends, who helped me think of the positives of the story :)