Chapter Four

Xander was doing CPR. He had learned it because of what sage had gone through.

“I’m giving her a shot of adrenaline,” Cait told him as she pushed him to the side. She plunged the needle directly into her heart.

Saffron’s body convulsed.

“Hold her down.”

Xander placed his hands on her arms then leaned over her upper body keeping her in place. Cait was monitoring her heart rate.

“It’s slowing down.”

Xander tried to take a deep breath since that was good news. His heart was beating faster than Saffron’s. He turned his head slightly so he could look into the corner. Caden was standing there by himself. Sage was sitting on a chair far away from both of them.

He gave his first real sigh of relief. Caden looked casual and non-threatening, but he knew different. If he made one wrong move, his twin would be on him. That’s one of the things he loved about Caden. He liked to act first and ask questions later.

“She has a normal rhythm.”

Now the worst part was about to happen. They waited. Would she maintain her normal heartbeat or would it slow down again or even stop? He ran his hand over her arm. It was to help her, but really, he needed the contact. As long as he could feel her skin soft and warm, he knew he could keep it together. He counted down the time as he held her. Her breathing was soft against the side of his face. The feel of it gave him comfort.

“Xander back up, she’s been stable for five minutes.”

He nodded and slowly let her go already missing the comfort of the heat of her body.

“Saffron?” He called her name hoping to get a response.

“Xander? What happened?” She opened her eyes to take in more than one person standing over her.

“You stopped breathing. We were talking about the name of the person who tried to kill you. It must have triggered an implanted command in your brain.”

“That was hellish. I remember something dark and repulsive.”

“Was it called Koyzal?” Sage asked kneeling to join her on the floor.

“It was a shadow.”

“One and the same. It must have touched you.”

“It did.” She could still feel it wrapped around her ankle.

“I know who you are?” Sage was staring at her.

“You do?”

She nodded. “You’re the woman who used to stand in front of the barrier looking in.”

“Barrier?”

“You don’t remember?” Sage asked her.

“I’ll bet you will remember Mia,” Cole spoke, he was holding her.

He brought her over to Jessie and watched Saffron making sure she wouldn’t hurt his daughter.

“Hi.” Mia slipped out of her mom’s arms and ran toward Saffron.

Xander scooped her up to lots of giggling.

“Saffron is sick. You can’t jump on her.”

“Okay.” She patted the side of his cheek before giving him a kiss. Xander and Caden let out a sigh.

Saffron had to smile. That little girl owned the twins.

“Why are you sick?” She wiggled down and was standing next to Saffron.

“A mean man tried to hurt me.”

“That happened to me too, but my daddy and my mommy stopped the bad people.” She gave a beautiful smile. “I remember waving at you.”

“I remember that. You always made me feel happy.”

“Yeah.” She wrapped her arms around Saffron’s neck and hugged her tight. “We’re going to be friends, and we can play in the yard. It’s like a thousand miles long, with chairs and swings, and if I’m good, we might get a swimming pool.”

Saffron laughed, she couldn’t help herself the joy of one little girl was the best medicine she ever had. She placed her hand on her heart because it still hurt, but it was beating. That made her happy.

“Saffron I want you to get some rest. Everyone else clear out of here.” She looked up and caught Xander’s face, which showed no expression.

“I wasn’t talking to you.” He gave a brief incline to his head to let her know he heard her.

He helped Saffron get up and sit on the couch as everyone else left.

“I need a shower.”

“There’s a tub you can get in but no shower.”

She would have argued, but then she remembered this was her second time dying in two weeks. Standing up on a wet floor didn’t make a lot of sense.

“You stayed.” She didn’t know if she heard wonder or awe in her voice, but he continued to surprise her.

“I won’t leave unless you order me to.”

“That’s nice to know.” He stood a little closer to her. She could smell his scent. She would wonder later how being close to him seemed to make her calmer. “Let me show you around.”

He helped her up before walking her over to the second bedroom. The door swung open to reveal the empty room.

“This was Ven’s room, and it was filled with his things not that long ago.”

“Are you worried?” The sound of his voice changed. She wasn’t sure how she picked up on it, maybe because his loud notes were the same but the undertones were flat, and that worried her.

“I am.” He looked at her in surprise. “How did you know?”

“Your voice changed.”

He stared at her for a minute then let it go. The only one who ever realized his voice had layers was his brother.

“Over here is the bathroom.” He opened the door for her to look inside.

It was a nice size for an apartment. Then he showed her the main bedroom that was much larger than the first one she saw.

“Nothing you had on was salvageable.”

That didn’t surprise her. The cami had two bullet holes in it. The sweater and the pants suffered from being dragged across the ground.

“I appreciate that some of the women donated to the clothe Saffron fund.”

“It was nice of them.”

His voice was strange. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow. Well, look at her being cocky with a man she didn’t know after she died for the second time.

“You have to admit the keep Saffron naked fund would have been nice too.”

Did he? He did! Oh my, he just hit on me. Her eyes went to the mirror to see her short hair was standing up in the air while her face was splotchy and looking like she was just on this side of the grave. Close your mouth.

“You’re a charmer.”

“No, I'm not. I just say what I think. That was inappropriate, please excuse me. I’ll be in the living room.”

He left, and she felt lonely. She didn’t remember her past, but she remembered this feeling. It was with her most days. There wasn’t anyone who wanted to see her naked. A voice tried to invade her head saying she wouldn’t share his bed. She shut it down quickly. There was no way she was going down that path again.

Xander was her idea of the type of male she wanted. He was tall, and that was nice, with beautiful green eyes and dark hair. His body was beyond handsome, but he was kind, caring, and made her feel safe. When you combined those things together, you had a male you never wanted to let go.

Backup, you’ve had several trauma’s back to back. Just because he stayed with you and then fed you, doesn’t mean he’s your knight in shining armor.

Don’t forget he carried you here.

She closed her eyes. The voice in her head was back. It had taken everything she had to defeat it the first time, and now it had risen from the grave.

You can really be melodramatic.

Ignoring the voice, she looked for something to put on after her bath. Gathering everything together she went into the living room where Xander was standing on his hands in the middle of the room.

That’s when she was sure life wasn’t fair. His shirt was off, and the muscles in his arms and chest were on display. She was too sick to be affected. This shouldn’t move her, but it did. And it woke up her libido.

I want to lick those abs. Think what we could do if his pants were off.

You’re dirty.

Well, yeah.

She agreed with her libido, and that scared her. She was sure she lost interest in sex at least with people. Her face turned red as she tried not to think of the toy she kept. Oh! She kept a toy that was another memory. One she wouldn’t be sharing with anyone.

“Are you going to get in the tub?”

She jumped startled by his voice.

“Yes. I umm, stopped because you see. There was this, you know. I think I should get in the tub.” She turned to flee, but he was standing in front of her. How did he do that?

“Can you get in the tub by yourself?”

Of course, she could. Okay, maybe she couldn’t. That would mean she would need help. Then he would see her bare. Could he take a bath, and she could see him naked?

“I should go to the bathroom.” What the hell was wrong with her? She was a grown woman. The sight of a good-looking male shouldn’t make her crazy. Obviously, it did. Somehow, she was sure that it had been way too long for her.

“Why don’t we take a shower. Nothing you don’t want will happen.”

Did he just say that? Was she considering it? Which one of them was crazy?

“I don’t usually do this, or at least, I don’t think I do. Not that it’s wrong I just like to get to know a guy first. All I know about you is that your name is Xander.” She knew a lot more, but none of it was concrete.

“I could tell you more, but it will make you doubt your sanity and mine. I’d like for you to get to know me better first.”

“If you’re serious take off all your clothes.”

You hussy! Her libido called her. I approve.

Oh hell, he was doing it. His strong hand went to the button on his jeans and unsnapped it. He took the tab of his zipper in his hand and pulled it down. Her heart was racing. Could this be the thing that actually kills me, and I don’t come back from? There was moisture between her legs, and her nipples were hard. She could lose her memory forever, but she would always remember this moment.

He pushed his jeans down and stepped out of them. His boxers followed. Now she was looking at nothing but interested male flesh. It rose to greet her and waved hello.

She licked her lips because every naughty dream she ever had was playing through her head.

We could die tomorrow.

What are you saying?

Let’s play hide the extremely long and thick beef sausage.

Damn, she’d like to taste that.

“You’re just going to help me. Keep me standing.”

“That’s all.”

Great his voice was as needy as hers. She pulled the cami over her head before she turned to look for camera’s in case she was being punked.

“What are you searching for?”

“Cameras in case this is a joke.”

“It’s no joke all we will do is shower.”

“But I’ll be wet and slippery.”

“Don’t tease.” He leaned over and breathed her scent in.

That was hot. Everything he did made the flames in her belly go higher. He got into the tub and turned on the water while she quickly took off her clothes. Her head turned to fast that she went crashing to the floor. He caught her, holding her very naked body against his chest.

“Dizzy.” She was trying to keep from throwing up while the room swirled around her head. “I don’t think I can get in the shower.”

“There’s no rush.” He walked out the bathroom and took her to the bedroom never stopping to put his clothes back on. He placed her in the bed making sure the covers were around her keeping her warm.

She closed her eyes and sighed. The bed dipped, and she rolled toward the middle. Her eyes opened wide. Was he getting into the bed with her?