The smell of the cabin filled her senses. She wasn't even sure exactly what contributed to the scent, but whatever it was, it offered some calming effects. And then she realized it smelled like the people she loved. Miranda, Della. And there was the woodsy scent that she registered. A smell that belonged to ...

No!

It just smelled like home, she told herself.

Della's bedroom door stood open-like a flashing neon sign that she wasn't here. The vamp, a very private person, always kept her door closed.

Kylie's gaze shifted to Miranda's door.

"Rebound time," she whispered to herself. If she was going to fall apart, she wanted to do it alone. She started to her bedroom, had barely opened the door when she heard the slight creaking of the wood floor.

She wasn't alone. Her gaze shot up to the corner of the room and she saw the figure standing there.

Saw and recognized the figure.

Maybe she wasn't going to get that rebound time after all.

Chapter Nine

Kylie twirled around on her Reeboks, probably leaving skid marks on the wood floor, and started out of her room.

"Don't go," Lucas said. "Please! You're going to have to talk to me sooner or later."

Later would be really nice. Then anger made her clutch her hands. It wasn't right. She stared at the wall, still not wanting to face him. "Why? Why do I have to talk to you? I don't owe you anything. Not an explanation, not an apology. I'm not the one who..." Her throat tightened and she just shut up. She heard him shift behind her.

"I know ... I screwed up. I admit that. I ... should have told you. No, that's wrong, I should have never let it go that far. I should have told my father to go screw himself in the beginning. I'm at fault here, but I didn't do anything ... else. I didn't sleep with her. I kissed her twice. You saw one of those times. And both times I was put on the spot. I only did it to try to convince my dad that I would go through with the marriage. But I never, not for one damn minute, planned on marrying her."

That knot in her throat tightened. Her eyes stung right along with her heart. She shook her head, and managed one word. "No." She wasn't even sure what she was saying no to. Then she turned and faced him.

It didn't matter what she said, because he wasn't listening to her. He stood there staring at her in his own world of hurt and pain.

"You love me," he said. "I know that."

Now was when she should be saying no, but she couldn't get the word out. Oh, it sat on the tip of her tongue, but it felt super-glued in place. Sure it would have been a lie, but wasn't it okay to lie at times like this? When the truth was just too painful. When the truth felt like it could tear you apart.

"I also know you're punishing me. And it's working, because I'm hurting like hell. Not that I don't deserve it." He reached up and ran his hand over the back of his neck.

Kylie blinked away a wash of tears. Even in the darkness she could see the bruises around his neck.

Bruises she'd put on him. She gripped her hands at the memory of just how close she'd come to crushing his windpipe.

"I didn't mean to choke you," she spit out. "It was a trick on ... Mario's part. I don't know how he did it but-"

"I know that. I don't mean ... punishing me with this." He ran his hand over the bruises. "This isn't anything compared to what I feel inside. I'm talking about you not wanting to talk to me, not wanting me close to you. You have no idea how much it hurts to stand right here, this close ... Can you even imagine how hard it is to stand here and know you don't want me to touch you?" He moved in a step as if testing her.

While it was only a few inches, his scent came with him. She remembered inhaling his particular smellwhen she walked in. She should have known. Should have known that part of the scent of home that had welcomed her, was his essence. He was home to her. Or he had been.

Now she felt homeless.

He must have gathered a bit more courage because he took another step closer.

She inched back. And that little inch said so much.

"See," he said, and his intake of air sounded painful. "But I know you still care because ... because you saved my life. You could have stepped out of the way and just let Mario kill me. You didn't. You caught the fireballs that were meant for me."

His emotion echoed in the room, and she'd give anything if she didn't have to feel this. How much more emotion could she take in? Wasn't there a limit? Surely she'd reached hers.

"Yeah, I saved your life, but don't make me regret it." She waved toward the door. "Leave. I don't want you here." And it was the truth. She didn't want Lucas, the guy who'd betrayed her, here. She wanted the guy she'd trusted, the guy she'd thought would go to the end of the world to protect her. And yet they were one and the same.

He took one more step. She saw his Adam's apple go up and down. It looked painful to swallow.

"I hurt you," he said. "I know that, and I'm willing to take whatever it is you want to dish out at me. I deserve it. That's what I came here to say. That I accept what I did was wrong. But I didn't do other things that you might think I did. And when you're over being mad, I'll still be here. I don't care how long it takes."

She glanced away, remembering him standing up in front of his family and friends. He'd worn a fancy tux and looked so handsome, so much like a man and not a boy. The image of him reaching for Monique's hands played across her mind and she heard the promises he made. The kind of promises you didn't break.