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I wasn’t followed." She cast a nervous glance behind her, a fresh set of worries washing over her. That was all she needed-to get busted for sneaking out and while she was already in enough trouble , more or less, for that very same thing. But no, she reasoned, fighting to stay calm, if anyone had trailed her she would have been ousted-and hauled back home by now.
         "Paige?"
         "Sorry." She wrung her hands, reluctant to do what she'd set her mind to only hours before.
         "Your chariot waits." He gestured to the large midnight blue motorcycle most people mistook for black in the dark that stood stationary in the gravel a few feet away.
         "You...don’t understand."
         "You're scared you'll get caught?" He shrugged. "So we'll be extra careful this time. I'll have you back by two, Scouts honor." He teased, white teeth flashing in the dark.
         "Wh en were you ever a boy scout?" She demanded, feeling laughter bubble within to chase away the tension for a few precious seconds.
         "Never." H e admitted, pushing away from the rough bark. "But you love me anyway."
         "I..." S he stalled, taking a step back, feeling a pebble dig roughly into her heel through her thin sandals.
         "Paige?"
         "I can’t do this anymore," She blurted, the words rushing together and leaving her breathless.
         "What are you talking about? What’s wrong baby ?" He stopped within inches of her, tanned hands coming up to frame her pale face.
         She closed her eyes, feeling his touch burn through her, the simple contact heating her to the core. Short bursts of pain beat a staccato rhythm deep in her chest and she leaned into him, memorizing everything she could in that instant. How he felt, his masculine scent, the thrum of his heartbeat, the scrape of his leathers against her cheek. The warmth. Tears stung her eyes, the liquid drops clinging to her lashes. It was time.
         "This can’t go on." She fought to keep her voice steady.
         "What are you saying?"
         "I'm saying that it’s over. That we're done."
         "Bullshit." H e went still, finally absorbing the full impact of her statement.
         "I can’t be with you right now." She repeated, misery wrapping around her like a heavy cloak.
         "Why?" He gripped her shoulders. "Just tell me why."
         "I-" H er eyelids fluttered down, her hands coming up to cover his own. "I just can't." She tried.
         "Paige please," H is lips brushed her mouth, "tell me what’s wrong so I can fix it."
         Why couldn’t he accept what she was trying to tell him? Why was he making her do this? "You can’t fix this." She groaned, flushed and disoriented under the hot kisses he claimed. It took every last shred of the tenuous willpower she possessed to push him away and put to words the one thing she knew would put an end to it all, would make him hate her.
         "I don’t love you...there's someone else."
    ***
    The next several days brought about little change in the routine Paige had unwittingly fallen into. Days blended into night and back again in an unending, depressing circle. Hour after hour she waited for a phone call that never came, for a hope that never quite materialized. She was marking time until she could go back to school and she couldn’t remember the last time her world had felt so positively gray. Hailey managed to summarize much of her angst in a few short, critical sentences.
         "What you need is to get out of this house. God it’s like a tomb in here. How can you stand it?" Her friend wrinkled her nose.
         "It's been this way for years. Denmari likes it dark-the more this place looks like a dungeon, the happier he is. The house looked so different when mama was alive..." She lifted one slim shoulder. "You get used to it. Eventually."
         "Well I don’t think I could ever get used to this Victorian mausoleum." Hailey declared, crossing the