"Why was she here?" Aurora's hand pressed to my shuddering back, and I let out a harsh breath at her touch. "Jesus, Jentry, why are you shaking?"

I turned and looked at her confused and worried face, and wanted nothing more than to take her into my arms and a.s.sure her that everything would be fine. But I couldn't. Not after what had just happened, and not after Aurora had told me just an hour before that being close to me was too difficult.

I ran my hands over my face as I groaned, and tried to calm myself. "She was already here when we got back. She was here when you got back. I don't know how she got in, but she has a knack for sneaking into places."

Aurora looked horrified, but there was no point in lying to her about Jessica.

"This is what she does. She sneaks into where I live and waits so she can talk to me. That's how she'd always done it until I went into the Marine Corps, then she started stealing my number from Declan's phone."

My explanation seemed to remind her of something. Her blue eyes searched my face and her mouth opened and shut twice before she hesitantly asked, "What did she mean . . . what did she mean about-just, what did she mean?"

My head shook slowly. "She said a lot, Aurora. You have to give me more than that."

"She is your twin," she stated, as though she was confirming. When I nodded, she blew out a harsh breath. "Then I'm going to a.s.sume that whole part after she said she 'wanted to meet me' had to do with Declan, unless she just said it because she thought it would upset me."

I watched her expression closely as I confirmed, "They have a past."

Instead of looking hurt, Aurora's face showed disgust. "I might actually prefer Madeline for once."

If I hadn't still been shaking from the aftermath of my sister, I might have laughed. "Declan didn't know who Jessica was at the time. He hadn't seen her in about ten years because if Jess came looking for me before then, she made sure none of the Veils were around. I-" I quickly cut off from telling her too much at that time, then said, "It didn't go over well when I found out. He's avoided her ever since, but that doesn't mean she's stopped searching him out."

Aurora nodded, but she didn't seem to realize she was doing it. "Is she dangerous?"

"No. She wants money, but she won't just take it. She'll wait until you give it to her, because she knows that we know she'll just keep showing up until we do give her money. What she really wants is attention, but she won't hurt anyone or steal anything. But the way her mind works, Aurora, there's no talking to her like a normal person. It's like trying to reason with someone with multiple personalities, even though they are completely sane."

She looked at me blankly. "I don't-I don't understand."

I hesitated for a second, then said, "I can't explain it all right now. Just know there's no way to keep her out of here, but if you see her, stay away from her. She'll get into your head and I can't let that happen. But, Aurora, she was here tonight, so she knows about what led to Dec's accident, she knows about us, and she will do anything if it will make me mad."

Her face slowly fell as she backed up a step, and then another. When her eyes met mine again, she breathed one simple word that seemed to fit this situation so well. "s.h.i.t."

"Yeah."

Part V.

That Night . . .

He released his hold on my hair, and let his hand trail down as I leaned forward to place my hands flat on the wall. The touch was soft and caressing, and my body came alive as I waited for the hardness that I knew would soon follow. Because it had to follow.

"Not a sound," he reminded me.

I looked over my shoulder at him, and nodded. I kept my eyes locked with his as I waited. I'd known he was trouble the second I'd seen him downstairs-his body screamed it. But his handsome face, which had hinted at the bad boy underneath, had transformed here in the bedroom. Control made him intoxicating to look at.

He pushed slowly into me, and I bit back a whimper. I'd thought before was incredible, but feeling him in this position was all new and too much. Too deep, too full. It was taking my breath away in the most erotic way. His hands moved over my hips, and his fingers tightened against the skin there before releasing. With that wicked grin, he pulled out just as slowly, and I cried out when he slammed into me again and again.

I dropped my head between my arms and clawed uselessly at the wall as I tried to hang on. I felt it building deep inside me, and stopped clawing at the wall to push against it, and closer to him. Each stroke felt deeper than the last; each felt like it was taking me to a place higher and higher-and soon I was going to fall.

"Oh G.o.d!" I hissed when he grabbed my hair and arched me back. My body trembled violently as he pushed inside me, and my mouth popped open with a soundless moan when I shattered against him.

This was too much. I was arched so far back that I wasn't even touching the wall anymore. My head was resting on his shoulder, and he was moving so perfectly inside me that one o.r.g.a.s.m faded into another. The arm holding me up tightened around me for a split second before both hands released me, and I just barely caught myself against the wall as his pace quickened until his ragged breaths and movements stopped when he came with a low curse.

He leaned over so his body was resting above me, and his chest moved roughly against mine for those few seconds before he placed soft kisses on my back and moved off the bed.

A husky laugh came from him when I shakily fell to the mattress, but I didn't try to comment on it. My body was still trembling, I was still out of breath, and even though all I wanted to do was fall asleep . . . I wanted all of it all over again.

This overwhelming, body-numbing experience . . . I wanted it again and again. As long as it was with him.

I rolled to my side and smiled against his kiss when he climbed back onto the bed, and easily curled against his body when he lay down and pulled me close.

"What, you're not going to give me a chance to leave?" I teased.

His dark eyes were smiling, and his fingers were gently pulling through my long hair. The tenderness after the rough pleasure just before made me smile and stupidly crave more time with him. Time that stretched into days and weeks and months-time we couldn't have.

With a shake of his head, he said, "You decided to stay; there's no way I'm letting you leave until tonight's over."

"And when this night is over . . ." I trailed off and met his knowing stare. "What can I remember you by?"

One dark eyebrow rose, and as his hand completed another pa.s.s down my back, he pressed our lower bodies closer together in a silent answer.

I held back a smile as goose b.u.mps covered my skin. There was no question that I would never forget the incredible heights of pleasure this man had already brought me to, but that wasn't what I had meant, and from the way he seemed to be contemplating something, he was fully aware of the fact.

"Just tonight." His tone held a hint of uncertainty for the first time since we'd entered the room, making his words sound like a question.

I nodded slowly. "Just tonight."

He let out a long breath and his eyes drifted to the side. "Jay." After a moment's hesitation, those dark pools of obsidian found me again. "Just remember me as Jay." His hand moved slowly up my body until it was cupping my cheek. He leaned close, but stopped just a breath from my lips. "And you?"

"Aurora."

22.

Present Day.

Aurora.

"You need anything?"

I turned around and glanced up, bringing myself back into my cla.s.sroom, and focused on the other kindergarten teacher, who was popping her head into my doorway. "What? No. No, I'm gonna be heading out of here in just a minute."

She c.o.c.ked her head to the side and squinted her eyes at me. "You sure? You look a little . . . overwhelmed."

I let out a soft laugh that hinted at some of the stress I'd had resting on my shoulders over the last month or so. My head shook slowly as the words begged to be released to this woman I barely knew. To vent to someone who had no emotional connection to anyone involved in what was happening in my life.

The princ.i.p.al of the school had been aware of the situation with Declan in case anything happened once the school year began, but I hadn't felt it was necessary to tell anyone else. And since we'd started getting our cla.s.srooms ready after Declan's accident, and my mind had been on dozens of other things, I hadn't made the time to get to know the other teachers much.

I sent her what I hoped was a rea.s.suring smile and said, "I'm fine, must have just zoned out for a second there."

"Kids can be exhausting, but it gets easier." She smiled warmly and stepped away. "See you on Monday!"

"Bye," I called out a second too late, and looked slowly around my cla.s.sroom. What I had been counting down the days until, what I had once been so excited for, now felt like nothing more than a place where I was hiding from all of my problems.

In the five days since Declan had woken up, there hadn't been time for anything more than working and worrying. When I had been able to get over to the hospital, either there had been a nurse or therapist in the room working with Declan, he'd been sleeping, or visiting hours had ended. The nurses hadn't cared to enforce visiting hours while Declan was in a coma but had decided they needed to now that he'd pulled through.

For the first time since Declan's accident, I had gone more than two days without seeing or hearing from Linda, not that I was about to complain. But I also hardly saw Jentry.

Jentry had decided to continue to work for Kurt until he went through the academy, and with our new schedules, we only saw each other in the evenings for maybe an hour before I started falling asleep. But even that time was strained, and we hardly spoke. Something was bothering Jentry, and I couldn't figure out what it was.

I finished getting my room ready for the next week then grabbed my things. With one last look around the room, I shut off the lights and left. Not really paying attention to where I was going as I walked to my car or drove to the hospital, just thinking, worrying, stressing, and wondering . . .

Wondering how I had gotten here. How I'd gotten myself into this mess, and thinking of what I could have done differently.

I walked the familiar path in the hospital until I was at Declan's door, and was prepared to be asked to come back at another time, but instead opened the door to find the room much as I would have a week ago: Declan alone in his bed, the rest of the room empty.

Only now, Declan was awake. And instead of lying flat on the bed with tubes and wires running everywhere, he was sitting up, and free of anything connecting him to a machine.

I faltered for a second at the door, and had to steady myself with the handle when the sight of his green eyes threw me off balance. For some ridiculous reason, I wanted to cry.

"Hey!" I said with a pained whisper, and finished walking into the room. "It's gonna take a while to get used to walking in here and find you looking at me," I said as I hugged him gently, then took one of the seats near his bed. "How are you feeling?"

For a long time, Declan didn't say anything; he just sat there watching me. If I hadn't heard him speak that first day, I would have worried that he couldn't remember how.

"I'm sorry I haven't seen you since Sunday. I've tried to come but every time-"

"I know," he whispered, cutting me off. He smirked for a brief second. "They don't let you see me, doesn't mean I don't hear you."

"Yeah, I guess I didn't think about that. I still would have tried to come more often if it weren't for school."

Declan looked at me blankly for a second, then blinked a few times. "School? Wow. I, uh, they said how long . . ." He ran a hand through his hair and exhaled uneasily. "Still weird. To me, you start school in a couple of weeks, you know? But I guess . . ."

When a minute had pa.s.sed without him continuing, I urged him to tell me everything that I had missed in the last five days. "What are the doctors saying? Therapists?"

"I'm weak, but I can walk across the room before I have to sit down. I broke a couple of ribs. I guess you would know that."

I smiled, but didn't interrupt.

"I don't know, they just keep saying I'm lucky, Rorie."

A startled laugh escaped me. "Yes. That is such an understatement, Dec. You went straight into a huge tree. No one could believe you'd survived the way you'd hit. With your coma, they told us to expect you not to know how to speak, or walk or write or eat. You're so lucky, we're all so lucky that you're okay."

He just nodded absentmindedly for a few moments, his eyes never leaving mine as he did.

"What is it, Dec?"

"You're still not wearing your ring."

I froze at his sad, confused statement. Seconds ticked by as I tried to figure out the best thing to say, the best way to handle this. Because there was still Jessica, and I didn't know what she would say, if she would say anything; but I knew that I wanted to be the one to tell Declan and his family. But at that moment the last thing I wanted was to hurt Declan all over again, and I didn't want to stress him out when he was already so confused.

But then I remembered the drive here, and how I had wondered what I could have done differently to keep myself from getting in this mess. And I wondered if tomorrow, when I looked back on today, I would wish I had done things differently in this conversation.

Keeping that in mind, I took in a slow, deep breath and steeled myself.

"Declan, what do you remember from the night of your accident? Between us, I mean."

"We got engaged," he said immediately, robotically. "Then next thing I know, I was in this bed and looking up at you and Jentry."

My stomach churned and heart clenched painfully. "You remember getting engaged, or remember asking me to marry you?"

His eyes never wavered from mine. "Asking, I guess. Why?"

The door to the room opened, and I turned to follow Declan's line of sight when his face went blank.

My heart took off when a pair of obsidian eyes met mine, and it took all of my strength to stay in my seat and maintain my expression when I was actually yearning to find strength and take comfort in his arms.

"Hey," Jentry's husky voice rumbled. "Mom and Dad will be here in a bit. Do you want me to wait and come back with them?"

I opened my mouth, unsure of what would come out, but Declan's voice filled the room instead. "No, man. Come on in."

Jentry took slow steps into the room as his eyes darted between Declan and me, staying on me longer and longer each time. "How you feeling, Dec?" he finally asked as he got closer to the bed.

"Be better if I could figure out why my girl doesn't wear her engagement ring," Declan joked as he reached forward to take my hand in his, but his voice fell flat.

When I looked back at Declan, he was watching Jentry the same way he'd been watching me earlier. I risked a quick glance at Jentry's still form, and wished I hadn't.

It was Sunday all over again. Jentry had the same look in his eyes that he'd had that day, the one that had worried me. His body was rigid, as if he was waiting for something, but for some reason, I had a feeling he wasn't waiting for me to tell Declan the truth. It felt like Jentry was waiting for me to tell him something he didn't want to hear.

I shook my head slowly, trying to push away the confusion that Jentry's presence had brought, and cleared my throat. "Um, Dec . . . a lot happened between you asking me and your accident. I didn't-"

A quick knock sounded on the door before it opened, revealing a smiling nurse with a cheerful voice. "Okay, time for your exercises!" She walked around the room, moving certain things, oblivious to what she'd just walked in on. Without looking at Jentry and me, she said, "I'm sorry, but you'll have to come back later. However, I'm not sure if Declan here will be up for visitors once we're done."

I looked at her back blankly, and without realizing I was speaking, asked, "Could we just have a few more minutes?"

She turned and squished up her face with fake sympathy. "No can do. I already gave ya an extra five minutes because I knew you were in here. You can come back tomorrow!"