Qhuinn woke from his slumber and was not surprised at all to find himself alone in the bed.
She'd disappeared again.
Wiping a hand over his face, Qhuinn sat up. Dammitt, he'd let himself be used again. Not that he exactly minded being used in that way by a drop-dead gorgeous female, but for some reason it felt empty.
Getting to his feet, he padded naked across the room and into the bathroom. Catching his reflection, he winced at the puncture wounds on his neck where Lilith had sunk her fangs into his throat. His back also stung a bit from where her nails had raked over his flesh.
As he ran the water in the shower and stepped inside, Qhuinn thought about the female that was turning his life upside down. He really needed to sit her down and talk to her without jumping her bones.
He wanted to know exactly who she was and how she'd came to be in that alleyway. Last but not least, he wanted to ask her if she'd consider sticking around. After all, they were spectacular in bed together.
Yup, he decided as he washed his hair. He was going to get answers out of Lilith when he saw her again.
"I thought I sensed somebody snooping."
Lilith didn't jump at the cool voice behind her, "What do you want, Ro?"
The Black Rose Sisterhood's medic stood only a few paces behind her, her arms folded.
As the only Sister that didn't fight against the lessers, Rowena was actually the second female to join the Sisterhood. With her gorgeous peaches and cream complexion and her long burgundy locks that she usually kept in a bun, she was a catch for any male. It wasn't a surprise to Lilith when she had chosen a male named Drhake as her hellren a few years ago. Since then, the two of them have lived happily here in the mansion.
Right now, her brows were furrowed over her glasses; and she looked annoyingly professional in that white lab coat of hers.
"I want to know why you're raiding my cabinets."
Lilith continued to rummage through the contents of the cabinets despite the annoyed glare aimed at her back, "I'm looking for something. I thought that would be obvious."
She rolled her eyes when she heard the clack of Rowena's heels across the tile floor as she crossed the room, "You wouldn't be looking for the bruise reducing balm would you?"
Looking over her shoulder, Lilith saw the balm she'd been looking for in her medic's hands, "That would be it."
As she went to retrieve it, Rowena moved it out of her reach, "You didn't fight last night. So why do you need this, Lil?" The answer dawned in the female's blue eyes, "You didn't."
"Don't judge me right now, Ro. I'm not in the mood for it," Lilith growled.
This time when she reached for the balm, Rowena let her have it. As she applied the balm to the bruises on her arms, she could feel her medic's eyes on her, "What?!"
"What happened to never seeing him again?"
Lilith removed her shirt with an angry tug and applied some more of the balm to her breasts and shoulders, "I didn't mean for it to happen. It seems that Fate had other plans for Qhuinn and I."
Finished applying the balm, Lilith pulled her shirt back on and turned to hand Rowena the remainder of the medicine, "I'm just going with the flow."
Rose took the tube but didn't take her eyes away, "I just don't want you to be hurt again."
Lilith knew that she hadn't meant physically. Turning away she replied as she headed towards the door, "That won't happen, Ro. Qhuinn is just a plaything, nothing more."
After she was gone, Rose still stared at the empty doorway with a look of sympathy and sadness, "You're a liar, My Lady. And you know it."
Lilith entered her chambers and shut the door quietly behind her.
She wished she felt as cold inside as she made Rowena and the others believe. It would make letting go so much easier.
She was destined to not have a mate. Hadn't the incident with James taught her that? No male could understand what she was and she didn't blame them.
Lilith kicked off her jeans but kept the oversized t-shirt on. She'd taken it out of Qhuinn's drawer before she'd fled the Brotherhood's mansion; she liked smelling his scent on it.
Making her way to her dresser, she sat down before the mirror and watched her reflection as she brushed out the tangles in her long hair.
There was no way she could have Qhuinn, she thought. She had to let him go somehow. It wasn't going to be easy. If Wrath accepted her offer, and she knew he would, then it wouldn't be easy at all to avoid him.
Sighing, she set down her brush and got to her feet, she would sleep on the predicament. Maybe something would come to her in her dreams.
She didn't need a male, Lilith thought as she crossed the room. She had a family; Gabe and Nathaniel and the Sisters. Lilith's eyes lit with tenderness as she came to the antique crib.
She also had her own little miracle, who was now awake and looking up at her with icy blue eyes so much like her own. The hint of green in the left eye and the silky black hair were the mark of her daughter's sire.
Lilith reached into the crib and lifted Hope into her arms.
The chubby little face spread into a smile and a laugh as she wrapped her arms around Lilith's neck, burying her face into her shoulder.
For a moment, she wished for Hope to inhale the scent of the shirt; to inhale the scent of her father who she had yet to meet and may soon enough.
