A Shade Of Blood(76)

I had no idea what she meant, but if her touch wasn’t already healing balm in itself, her seeming acceptance of me – in spite of the monster I believed I was – caused me to hope again.
She shut the book and gently tossed it back to its place at the coffee table. “I’m horrified,” she admitted. “I can’t fully understand how you could have been capable of making those choices…”
My lips twitched at the words. I felt like shrinking under the weight of her stare, knowing that her admonitions were gentle compared to what I deserved to hear from her.
“…but I’ve seen firsthand that you are better than the choices you sometimes make. I don’t think that the man portrayed in those pages is the same man who woke up in my time.”
I looked into her eyes and saw sincerity and hope… hope on my behalf that I could still have some good in me. At that moment, I adored her more than I ever did any other woman in my lifetime. I doubt she had any idea what her words did to me when she said,
“You can be better than this.”
When she leaned closer and her lips touched mine, I couldn’t bring myself to believe it. After recovering from the initial shock, however, I responded with gratefulness and passion. I held her waist and drew her closer, practically carrying her so I could plant her on my lap as I once again partook of the pleasures those sweet lips of hers provided.
That night, at the lighthouse, everything else faded away in the background and my entire world became Sofia Claremont.

Chapter 39: Ben     
 
I sat rigid over the circular couch, staring at the charismatic, confident gait of the man calling himself Reuben Lincoln. Zinnia was sitting on the same couch I was, a bright curious look in her eyes as she shifted glances between the two men she was with. Reuben, on the other hand, was sitting across me on a leather recliner, his posture relaxed as he leaned against the seat’s backrest, his elbows propped up on the recliner’s armrests.#p#分页标题#e#
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Mr. Hudson,” he noted.
“That’s because I think I just have.” Bitterness was in my voice. That I could still be hurt on her behalf as I stared at the father who abandoned her for eight years was a cold reminder that Sofia still meant more to me than I was comfortable to admit. “You’re Aiden Claremont.”
I was expecting him to deny it, so I was surprised when a smirk showed on his face and he said, “I figured you would recognize me. You were old enough to remember.”
“Remember what? That you abandoned your own daughter?”
Zinnia shifted uncomfortably on her seat. I wondered if she even knew that their revered leader was actually Sofia’s father.
“I really don’t have to answer to you, Ben.” He responded without even batting an eyelid. He retrieved a cigar from the back pocket of his suit and took out a lighter. He was about to light it when he looked at me. “Do you mind?”
“Yes. I mind.”
He scoffed. “Good thing I don’t really give a rat’s ass.” He lit the cigar and took a puff. “I was only asking out of courtesy.”
“How courteous of you…” I responded through gritted teeth, irritated by his entire demeanor. “So you’re Reuben Lincoln now?”
“To the hunters, yes. That’s how I’m known. To the rest of the world, I’m still Aiden Claremont.”
“Which of the two identities is really you?”
“Both” came his immediate response. He gave it a moment’s thought. “Neither.” He shrugged. “Does it matter?”
“Sofia needed you.”
His lips tightened as he placed his cigar on a nearby ash tray. He then glared at me with intensity that I never before saw in Sofia’s green eyes. “As I said, I don’t need to answer to you, boy. Let’s cut to the chase. Why do you want to become a hunter? Why are you here, Mr. Hudson? How did you come to know Eliza? And how was she able to tell you about me?”
At the mention of the name, Zinnia gasped. Her brown eyes began to burn through me with anticipation. She was obviously hanging on my every word.
Distracted, I asked them the first thing that came to mind. “Could you tell me more about Eliza? I’m curious.”
“We really don’t have time for this.” Reuben was obviously growing impatient.
“She was my older sister,” Zinnia admitted.
I looked at her in surprise. “I’m sorry...”
Tears blurred her hazelnut irises. “She’s gone?”
I nodded solemnly. “I barely knew her, but she felt like a kindred soul. She could’ve tried to escape without me, but she risked helping me out. I truly am sorry, Zinnia.”