Page 53 of A Touch of Crimson
She exhaled in a rush. “My self-preservation warning light appears to be on the fritz.”
“So I noticed the other day.”
“Are you hungry?”
“I could eat.”
“Let’s go pig out, then ride a roller coaster until we vomit.” An adrenaline high or two was the only thing that might save her from bolting. She was strung too tight. If she didn’t loosen up, she was going to snap.
Elijah sighed. “You saved my ass for this?”
“It’s either that or run away. Your choice.”
“Fine.” He swept his arm toward the double-door entrance to the suite. “But I’ll warn you now—you really don’t want to puke on me.”
She started walking, eager to escape the place that had too many dangerous memories. “Why not?”
“I’ll puke back,” he said, pulling the door open. “I guarantee I eat more than you.”
“Eww.” Lindsay was about to step out to the hallway when a dapper Black man filled the threshold.
She stumbled to a halt, arrested by his megawatt smile. He was instantly recognizable. He was also her boss. “Hello, Mr. Gadara.”
“Good afternoon, Ms. Gibson. You are just the person I wanted to see.”
Adrian entered the Hard Rock Café and asked for Helena Bardon. The hostess offered him a bright smile and tried to engage him with small talk, but he offered only monosyllabic answers, his thoughts firmly on Lindsay. The pretty brunette continued to flirt with him as she led him to Helena’s booth, but her warmth quickly faded when she spotted the blonde sliding from the bench seat to greet him. He knew what the hostess saw—a stunning, statuesque, radiantly beautiful woman with waist-length blond hair and seraph blue eyes.
“Adrian.” Helena pulled him into a warm embrace. “When I heard about Phineas, I was so worried about you.”
“I’m managing.”
Her delicate nostrils flared as she studied him. “Your Shadoe has returned to console you.”
He gestured for her to sit.
“You know I don’t judge you,” she said softly, returning to her seat.
“I know.” After all this time, Helena remained pure of heart and soul. Her piety was so unassailable; she seemed untouched by the world they lived in. He envied her that serenity.
“Does she truly bring you solace?”
“Solace and torment, pleasure and pain. All of it in the extreme. It is sublime, and it is hell, and I need it to exist. I need her.” There were few Sentinels he could speak so freely to. Helena’s unwavering faith gave her an impartiality few could claim.
A waiter intruded, and they ordered. They would push the food around for appearance’s sake, then box it up for their lycans.
When they were alone again, Helena leaned back in her seat and suddenly looked very weary.
“How can I help you?” he asked. He didn’t show how her unrest affected him, but it did. Deeply. She’d always been one of the immutable things in his existence. But then, so had Phineas.
“By commiserating.” Her delicate hand rested on the table. “Have I told you that one of my lycans, Mark, claims to be in love with me?”
Adrian stilled. “No.”
“Yes. Well, that’s what he believes.”
Recovering, he said, “I’m not overly surprised by the possibility. You’re a beautiful woman with a gentle soul.”
“You know where the praise for such things should be directed, but thank you.” Her fingertips drummed lightly on the tabletop, a revealing action she seemed to be unaware of. “I made every attempt to be respectful of his feelings, however inconvenient they are. He’s done his job very well because of them. Mark has risked himself in ways and situations no other lycan would have.”
