Into the Night

This is a little piece from the upcoming ending to Project Prometheus’ Atlantis Silver subseries.  As always, please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

 ”Confession” - Excerpted from Project Prometheus: BETWEEN WORLDS

copyright 2008 by Esther Mitchell

             She had no reason to be here.  He said he didn’t want to see her.  She shouldn’t be here.  Delila glanced nervously over her shoulder at the sensation of eyes on her back, even as she inched closer to the hanger door.  Hell, she wasn’t supposed to have even been behind the wheel of the jeep.  But she couldn’t let Jim leave.  Not like this.  Not with their argument hanging between them.

            The sense of eyes on her grew stronger, and her heart beat like a hummingbird trapped in her throat.  Who was out there?  She shifted her shoulders uneasily, and nearly screamed when large, hard hands closed over her arms from behind.  She nearly wilted at the voice that growled against her ear.

            “How the hell did you get here?”

            She opened her mouth to tell him, but he cut her off with a gruff, “Scratch that.  I don’t care how you got here.”

            He spun her around to face him, and Delila swallowed hard as she stared up into Jim Walker’s scowling face and angry green eyes.  “What do you want, Delila?”

            She stiffened at his snarled demand.  This wasn’t the gentle man she knew.  This man was beyond angry.  But that anger only stiffened her spine more, and she glared back at him. 

            “I came to apologize.”

            The thunderstruck expression on his face nearly made her smile.  The anger faded from his eyes, replaced with surprise.  “Apologize?”

            She nodded, and dropped her eyes from his face.  She had to do this.  She knew their argument was more her fault than his.  But her pride took a beating beneath that knowledge, and his suddenly kind eyes.  She cleared her throat.

            “I didn’t mean to lead you on.  I know you thought I was…offering…”

            “Shh.”  The gentle touch of Jim’s fingertips to her lips startled Delila, and jerked her head up to him.  And the soft light in his green eyes twisted her chest and yanked seldom-loosed tears from her eyes.  “You have nothing to apologize for, sweetheart.”

            “But I… I…”

            “You said no.”

            She nodded miserably.

            He sighed, and his hands dropped to her shoulders, rubbing gently.  “Delila.  Look at me.”

            She glanced up, met his eyes.  The serious light in his eyes grabbed hold of her heart and wouldn’t let go.

            “You said no.”

            “I… I’m sorry.”

            “Damn it!”  He exploded, releasing her to stalk away.  She cringed as he whirled around, his expression intense.  “You have the right to say no, Delila.  Never apologize for it.”

            She hunched her shoulders and mumbled to herself.  It hadn’t mattered to John if she said no.

            He froze, and the air between them crackled with tension.  “What did you say?”

            She flinched.  She didn’t want to tell him.  “Nothing.”

            “Delila.”  His voice was so gentle as he approached her again that Delila blinked away her tears.  “Talk to me, sweetheart.”

            She winced, but met his gaze again.  “I said, it never mattered before.”

            He sucked in a breath, and she watched a new anger kindle in his eyes, but this time, she knew he wasn’t angry at her.

            “Who?”  He gripped her shoulders again, giving her a tiny shake.  “Who hurt you?” 

 

 

 

This entry was posted on Friday, September 5th, 2008 at 1:45 pm and is filed under Free Reads, Flash Friday. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.