Enemy through the Gates Read online

  “So Jenna actually thinks she has a shot with Evan Thompson,” I blurted out in a Hail Mary effort.

  Bryn tilted his head at me, giving me a look that said he knew I was changing the subject, but then he turned to Jenna and grinned. “What, you just gonna walk over and offer to do him?”

  “How’d you guess?” Jenna laughed.

  “Gee, I don’t know.” Bryn chuckled into his sandwich. “Because maybe that’s what you always do.”

  Jenna pretended to turn pensive, twirling a purple piece of hair around her finger again. “Huh. Well, I guess you’re right, I do always do that.”

  Whew. Crisis averted. No need to put any ideas about Bryn and I having sex into his head. I was fully confident that he didn’t think about me in that way, but he was still a guy, Jenna was right about that part. Then again, better safe than sorry. Time to bring up a new topic completely off of boys and sex. “So how’s your bad ass in training stuff coming along?” I directed my question at Bryn.

  “Fine, I guess.”

  “What about you?” Jenna interjected. “Any premonitions—” From the corner of my eye I could see Bryn furiously waving his hand in a slashing motion. “—yet?” Jenna finished up hesitantly.

  I scowled. Damn it. Just when I’d gotten my mind off of one problem I had to be reminded of another. “Nothing. I’ve got nothing. So maybe I won’t have to worry about you dipping into my shallow pool after all because maybe I can date whoever too.”

  Bryn sighed loudly. “Some Speaker you are. Do you not know what this means?” He said waving his hand in front of his neck in a slashing motion again.

  Jenna scrunched up her face at him. “Obviously not.”

  I placed my hand on top of Bryn’s. “It’s okay. I might as well face the truth. Something went wrong with me and I’m never going to actually see anything.”

  Bryn interlaced his fingers with mine and gave my hand a squeeze in an effort to comfort me. “Maybe the problem is you’re putting too much pressure on yourself. Just relax.”

  “And you know what’s a great thing for relaxation… sex.” Jenna added.

  I groaned. “Come on Jenna… seriously… enough already.”

  “Fine. Oh hey. You gonna go to Ryan’s party tonight? It’s going to be awe-some.” Jenna asked, finally changing the subject. Thank God.

  “I don’t know. Maybe. Our birthday celebration isn’t until tomorrow night, but I’m just not sure if I feel like dealing with another of Ryan’s parties.” I slumped back into my seat, withdrawing my hand from Bryn’s causing him to frown slightly. Normally I’d be all gung ho about going to one of Ryan’s parties, and scoping out the place for any eligible males who I could maybe actually date, but at the moment, the thought was just depressing. Who was I kidding anyways? I wouldn’t find anyone but the usual drunk fools interested only in sex and nothing more. “You going, Bryn?”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “I am if you are. Could be fun.”

  “Pleeeaase.” Jenna pleaded while clasping her hands in front of her. “You can get ready at my place and we can go together.”

  I sighed. “I don’t know why you always beg me to come to these things because you ditch me for some guy practically before we’re even in the door.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll be there.” Bryn chimed in.

  “Fine,” I agreed knowing I was sure to regret my decision. But at least I’d get to hang out with Bryn and have a few beers.

  Jenna gathered up her things and smiled at me. “Good. Just come over my house after dinner and we can get ready.” And with that she headed off in Evan’s direction, but not before pausing to adjust her v-neck t-shirt to better show her cleavage, which I admitted with envy, was much more impressive than mine probably ever would be.

  “So should I just meet you guys there?” Bryn asked, causing me to drag my eyes away from Jenna and her soon to be spectacle with Evan.

  “Yeah. I guess. By the way… you ever going to tell me what happened with you and Tammie?”

  Bryn’s jaw ticked with sudden tension. “Why won’t you just let it go, Peej?” I smiled to myself; despite Bryn changing so much on the outside lately, he still most of the time said my name so it sounded like one syllable, something he’d been doing since we were kids.

  “You know I can’t do that. It’s just not possible. So you might as well just get it over with and tell me now so you can save us both all the trouble.”

  Bryn stood abruptly, pushing his chair back with enough force to hit into the wall behind us. “Let. It. Go. There are just some things that I can’t talk to you about. You better get used to it now.” He then turned and stalked out of the cafeteria without finishing his lunch.

  Huh. Then again maybe I wasn’t reading too much into things… Bryn was definitely acting weird.

  CHAPTER THREE

  “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” I hissed at Jenna as I tried to pull down the hem on my much too short dress. Which, of course, when I managed to do that, then I had too much cleavage showing and I had to try and pull the dress back up… either way I had way too much skin showing. Little black dress my ass… how about too little black dress.

  “Oh hush. I would kill for your legs; instead I have to make do with these stubby little things.” She motioned briefly to her legs. “And it’s too late now; we’re almost there.”

  I gulped as Ryan’s house came into view, framed in the window of Jenna’s bright yellow Volkswagen bug. She pulled up and parked at the curb turning to me with a serious face. “So… what do you think of the new hair color? Too much?”

  She had gone from a dark purple color to a shade of red that matched most fire trucks. It would definitely turn heads; I just wasn’t sure in the way that she wanted. I tried to remain tactful though. “If attention is what you crave, then you definitely chose the right color.”

  She frowned. “You don’t like it, do you?”

  “It’s not that I don’t like it—it’s just—well I liked the purple better.” And that was very true. I liked the purple a whole lot better.

  “But now we both get to be red heads.” Her peach glossed lips turned up in a smile. She really didn’t care that much that I didn’t like her new shade of hair, besides it’d probably change by next week. It was a wonder all of her hair hadn’t fallen out yet.

  “Yeah, but only my shade of red can be found in nature,” I said dryly. Why anyone would purposely dye their hair red was beyond me. My natural color was a bright strawberry blonde, to which I had managed to darken to a nice auburn shade through the use of frequent Rainbow Henna applications. I was still stuck as a red head, but at least I liked its current darker hue.

  As we exited her car and headed up Ryan’s walkway, I began fidgeting with my borrowed dress again. I felt like an adult trying to squeeze into little kids clothes, and I suddenly wanted to go home very badly. “I don’t think I should be wearing this in public,” I grumbled more to myself than Jenna.

  She turned a very annoyed face towards me. “Okay. I’m done. You look super hot, so stop complaining. I don’t wanna hear another word about it.” She reached up and turned the knob on Ryan’s front door. We were greeted by loud music and even louder voices. Jenna smiled up at me, took my arm and pulled me over the threshold. We’d barely made it two steps before she spotted Evan. “It looks like I have a date with destiny,” she said, dropping my arm and heading towards Evan with a huge grin on her face. When he saw her approach he let his eyes travel over her from head to toe, a grin of his own spreading across his face. Guess he liked what he saw and was going to take her up on her offer from earlier. I turned away abruptly, not wanting to see anymore.

  “Hey.” I looked up to see Bryn standing nearby, his blue eyes taking in my teeny tiny dress. “Did you let Jenna dress you?”

  I laughed. “Is it that obvious?”

  A slight smile tipped up the corners of his full lips. “To me it is.” He reached forward and took my hand in his. “Let’s get you a
beer. It’ll help.”

  “What would really help is a pair of jeans because this dress is so small it could be a shirt. I really don’t know how she talks me into these things sometimes.” I grimaced self consciously as we passed by a group of guys that I didn’t know, all of them eyeing my bare flesh. Thanks Jenna.

  I stood by and attempted to adjust my dress again while Bryn filled up two plastic cups full of beer from the keg for us. He handed me one and I took a sip, crinkling my nose in distain. “Natty Lite? Ugh. At least get a decent light beer, if there is such a thing.”

  Bryn took a swig of his beer and chuckled at my still scrunched up face. “Underage beggars can’t be choosers.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” I grumbled, chugging down the rest of the cup. I had decided that I would make up for in volume what was lacking in quality with my beer option. Bryn quirked one dark eyebrow at me as he raised his cup to his lips again. I glared in response. “Don’t you give me that eyebrow Mr. O’Bannon,” I said as I began pumping the keg for a refill.

  Bryn’s blue eyes met mine over the rim of his cup. “What? I didn’t say a word.” His lips curled up, showing me his dimples.

  “You didn’t have to, your eyebrow said it all.” It was then I thought about what Jenna had said earlier about Bryn and I having our own language. Maybe I could see her point. “It’s a party. I’m just trying to have fun.” Bryn still didn’t say anything but simply looked at me with his way too expressive eyes. They currently were asking me if I thought getting completely smashed was the answer to my problems. My narrowed eyes and scrunched up nose said… yes, yes it is.

  As I polished off beer number two within five minutes Bryn then decided I was temporarily cut off. He reached over and snagged my empty cup, setting it down near the keg, taking my hand again and tugging me back into the other room. I giggled, lookout—lightweight coming through, and scanned the room for any signs of Jenna and Evan. Just as I had suspected—they were both conspicuously absent. “It looks like Evan took Jenna up on her offer.” I called to Bryn over the much too loud music.

  Ignoring me, Bryn almost pushed me down on the couch. “Sit,” he ordered. “I’m going to go get you some water. Don’t go anywhere.” Bossy much? I giggled again as he walked away, really starting to feel the effects of those two beers. But hey, at least I hadn’t thought about my dress or boyfriendless situation for a couple of minutes.

  “Hey, pretty girl. How are you doing tonight?” A guy with longish sandy blonde hair and bright crystal blue eyes sat down next to me. He was one of the guys who had been eyeing me when Bryn and I had gone in to get our beers just a few minutes ago. He was kind of cute, and I could sense some power coming off of him. I tilted my head to study him for a moment. Seer—I mean he wasn’t—obviously—but I was picking up on the dormant power in his blood. Maybe he was exactly what I’d been looking for.

  “Hey yourself.” I grinned at him feeling very relaxed. “What does it look like I’m doing?”

  “It looks like you’re wasting that dress sitting all alone on the couch.” His eyes slid down over my body, but instead of feeling self-conscious like I did before I felt empowered.

  “Well, what do you suggest?” I said with a giggle.

  “Come with me.” He grinned, pulling me up from the couch. Normally going off in a party with some strange guy would seem like a bad idea, but this guy seemed harmless. And maybe he was even future boyfriend material. So why not go with him? What would it hurt? I smiled back at him and allowed him to lead me out the back door and farther off onto the edge of Ryan’s property where there was a small patch of woods. He pulled out a small flask from his pocket, took a swig and then offered it to me. “It’s Southern Comfort mixed with some lime.”

  I took it from his hand and eyed it suspiciously, as if it would jump out and bite me. “Yeah, I don’t know, I’m already feeling kinda buzzed.”

  He gave me an easy grin. “It’s just Southern Comfort, it’s not that strong, give it a go.”

  Well, I guess I didn’t want the happy buzz I had going to wear off, so what would one little taste do to me? I brought the flask up to my nose for a quick sniff before taking a shot’s worth into my mouth. “Blak. That stuff is horrible.” I winced at the slight burn it left in its wake.

  He took the flask from my hand and drank again from it himself before screwing the top back on and replacing it in his pocket. I was still reeling from the horrible taste of the Southern Comfort when he pushed me up against a tree and shoved his tongue down my throat. Now I was already feeling buzzed from the two beers I had chugged, add in the Southern Comfort, and toss in this guy throwing me up against a tree, and my whole world started to spin. “Hey.” I said, as he started to slobber all over my neck. “Hey, wait a second. Stop.” I tried to push him off of me but he was a lot stronger than he looked. His hands were roaming all over my body, and when he reached down to hike up my dress, stark panic began to take over. “Stop,” I squeaked.

  “Awe, come on baby, it’ll be good. Just relax.”

  That’s when it hit me; I didn’t even know this guy’s name and I had wandered off into the woods with him when I was already half way toasted. How stupid could I get? “Please. Stop.” I pleaded. “I’m a virgin.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, I don’t believe that for a second.” He fumbled with the zipper on the side of my dress and I heard a rip. I was kicking and fighting the best that I could but I was no match for this guy in my current state; he had me pretty firmly pinned. I thought about screaming, but I realized that no one would probably hear me over the loud music inside the house. Why oh why had I gone off with this guy? And the price it looked like I was going to pay for my stupidity—losing my virginity to a guy I didn’t even know. I thought of Bryn at that moment for some reason, not because I was wishing he’d come to my rescue, even though I was, but because his face appeared in my mind’s eye completely unbidden.

  “Please. I don’t want this. I’m not lying. I’m a virgin.” I whimpered as his hands skimmed up and over my underwear. I didn’t want to lose my virginity this way—it just wasn’t fair.

  “Get the fuck off her.” Suddenly the guy was pulled from me and thrown to the ground. I was so happy to see Bryn I could have cried, and as soon as I was out of this mess I probably would. “I should break your face. I should break every bone in your body,” Bryn snarled. I’d never seen Bryn look so—so dangerous. His long black hair had fallen forward in his face, and his dark blue eyes raged with violence.

  “Please. I’ll leave. I’m leaving,” the wanna-be rapist stammered. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who thought Bryn looked dangerous. He scrambled up and ran off faster than I’d seen anyone run while intoxicated. Or maybe that was just me?

  Bryn watched him go, and then he turned to look at me, his face softening. “You okay Peej?”

  I blinked up at my savior—Bryn. Bryn who I’d known practically all my life and suddenly he looked like a stranger. He really was becoming a Guardian—my Guardian—and for some reason, in my current state, that upset me. I didn’t want things to change; I didn’t want to lose him. I could no longer hold back the flood of tears that had been threatening to escape my eyes. I slid down the tree sobbing hysterically.

  Bryn dropped down on one knee, tipping my face up with his long fingers to look at him. His face was contorted with some emotion I couldn’t read. “He didn’t—he didn’t—I thought I got here in time.”

  “No. He didn’t,” I croaked. “But he would have, he was going to.”

  Bryn exhaled one long breath, wrapping his arms around me at first hesitantly, but when I sank into him, his hold grew fiercer. “What were you thinking? Going off with him? I told you to stay put.” His voice was harsh, making me cry harder.

  “I don’t know. I wasn’t—thinking that is. I’m sorry Bryn—so sorry.”

  He let go of me and tipped my face up towards him again so he could look into my eyes. “Hey. Why are you apologizing to me? I was just worried is—”<
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  He stopped talking as I brought a hand up to caress the side of his face. I’d never really realized how truly beautiful Bryn was. I mean I noted on some level he was hot, but I didn’t actually take notice. I studied the face that had been one of the most important ones in my life since I was the age of five. I let my gaze roam from his dark blue eyes that were currently churning like a storm at sea, to his high sharp cheekbones, to his full perfectly shaped lips. The contrast between his strikingly blue eyes and black hair was nothing short of perfection. Bryn had the most beautiful face I had ever laid eyes on, I decided.

  “Do you think I’m pretty, Bryn?” I whispered. His brows furrowed as he looked down at me. “Because I think you have the most beautiful face I’ve ever seen.”

  “Peej—”

  I brought my index finger up to his lips. “Shhh… no really. Do you think I’m pretty?”

  He swallowed, his Adam’s apple dancing up and down in his throat nervously. “No—I think you’re beautiful.”

  I frowned at him. “You’re just saying that so I don’t feel bad, you know, because I said you’re beautiful.”

  “No. I mean it.” He tucked a piece of hair behind my ear, his hand lingering a moment too long. “So beautiful.” His lips met mine with an undercurrent of electricity. The kiss started out soft and sweet but began to gain momentum quickly. I gasped as his tongue slid in to deftly take control of my mouth. An unfamiliar feeling of liquid heat pooled in my middle, causing a moan to escape from me as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders in an attempt to pull him closer. It was like my body was on fire and Bryn was the only one who could bring me relief.

  And just as suddenly as it had begun, the kiss ended. Bryn stood quickly, leaving me on the ground to stare up at him in a daze. He swore under his breath, turning away from me to run his hands through his hair. “That shouldn’t have happened.” His voice broke an octave lower than normal, causing my stomach to do a little flip flop.