Dark Awakening Read Free Page B

Their eyes caught, and for a moment, the world stilled except for them. They both remembered the kiss from last night.               Electric heat flowed between them. Alison heard a strange noise and realized it was her own quick breathing. He was so close. If she just lifted onto her toes, she could reach his mouth.
    That thought shattered her passion better than ice water. She could never lose herself with him, would never kiss him, never be with him.
    "Please don't touch me." She took a step back and looked away from his piercing eyes , from the dark arousal that ebbed there.
    "Why do you hate me?"
    His blunt words cut through her. She backed away to a chair and sat heavily in it. What could she tell him really? She couldn’t tell him about her past, it was too humiliating, too awful to relive.
    She decided to settle with a half-truth . "I don't hate you. I just don't like you." He started to answer, but was interrupted with a soft knock at the door. Alison rushed to answer it, relieved to see her friend's face.
    They hugged fiercely as if they hadn't just seen each other the night before. But their bond was strong, one made of years of dedication, secret keeping, and most of all helping each other at the worst of times. Sarina had helped her after her incident with Conlin, a time so horrible her family no longer even invited her to holidays .
    "Vane is visiting with the Justicars today. They will need to speak with you of course. I know you wanted to wait but Vane talked to me about it last night…and well, he’s very persuasive. I hope you won’t be mad. " Sarina took a seat, giving Rome a pointed look that had him shrugging.
    Alison sighed. She couldn’t be mad at her friend when she was only doing the right thing. However she was afraid that ‘right thing’ might end up hurting her worse.
    “ Like I said last night, I don't have any proof that it's him."
    "There's where you're wrong! At Rome's request this morning, we've sent some men to collect the DNA from Conlin's... err , from the bed sheets . If it's a match for Conlin then that's perfect evidence that he was the one that did it."
    Alison massaged the tense muscles at her neck, the tight pain pinching at her. " Oh, I honestly hadn’t thought of that. Yesterday everything was just a blur to me. What good is that going to do me really? I suppose I can get an order to keep him away from me, but he's the famous Prince Conlin, I hardly think he cares much for legalities. Most likely he has friends in the judicial system too. "
    "I know, but at least it's something for now and it's a record for the Justicars. Those letters would be nice evidence, but then again it's not like he signed them. How did you sleep, Ali?" Sarina’s quick change of subject made her smile, albeit a strained smile.
    Alison peeked at Rome, as if she could miss him. The man took up entirely too much space in the small cabin. The way he was looking at her was very disconcerting, like he was trying to read her every thought and expression . A blush stole across her face before she could try to stop it. She tried to hide the blush , but Sarina already saw it . Sarina glanced over at Rome and wink ed .
    Alison wanted to tell her friend that the nightmare was back. The same one she'd spend months battling before. The night Conlin almost killed her. She hated that time of her life. She had been weak, scared, humiliated , and even after the ordeal she had spent countless nights waking up in a cold sweat, shaking.
    "I slept fine. How's everything been going with you?"
    Sarina sighed and relaxed in her chair. "Father disinherited me and disowned me. I received the legal papers a few weeks ago. Surprisingly it didn't hurt at all, well not much."
    Sarina's father was one of the last pure bloodlines of lykaens in the Midwest . He'd spent his own life training his daughter to bear the right kind of sons with the right man. However, when Sarina went against his wishes and chose love, the