Possessed Read online

  Sebastian pushed down the memory as he always did. It was so long ago. It shouldn’t affect him anymore.

  He glanced at his watch. It was nearly nine. He’d been invited over to Luke’s house for a party. Luke was his friend Mike’s cousin. Sebastian was certain that Mike had told his cousin to look out for him. Both Mike and Ken called him daily. He wasn’t sure what they thought he’d do without their supervision. While he appreciated their concern, he wasn’t a child incapable of taking care of himself.

  Yeah, giving up on Web-site design to go into flipping houses was an unexpected and sudden career change. And he didn’t know how much longer he would do it. Maybe one more house. He liked seeing the product of his hard work. It gave him a sense of accomplishment. Yeah, it was the work he liked. It wasn’t because he was the closest to Keva that he’d ever been. Cursing under his breath, he tried to banish thoughts of her and keep focused on the moment at hand.

  He needed to shower before the party. He stripped in the bathroom and stepped into the cold spray. The air wasn’t on because he had to keep a window open to ventilate the rooms he’d painted. The cold water cooled his overheated body and invigorated him. He hadn’t been sleeping much. He’d been working night and day on the house and he was finally finished. Monday morning he’d contact his realtor to list the house.

  And then he needed a new project. If he didn’t keep busy, it gave him time to think. And he didn’t want that. Invariably, his mind would turn to Keva. He tried to ban her from his thoughts. Maybe then he wouldn’t turn to her when the going got rough.

  He washed his hair and rinsed it. No time for conditioner. His hair was one of the few things that he did take care of. Whether he was firmly himself or ruled by pain, he took care of his hair. He dried off and filled his palm with a liquid leave-in conditioner. He applied it to the towel-dried waves and pulled his curls into a ponytail.

  He picked up his paint-splattered clothing off the floor and threw it into a hamper. He’d have to stay in a hotel once this place sold or he found a new dump. The bathroom floor and shower stall had been retiled in beige stone. “Not half-bad,” he murmured to himself. He rarely took more than a second to survey his progress before he was on to the next thing.

  Naked, he padded his way to the bedroom. He rummaged through the closet. There wasn’t a lot to choose from. He grabbed briefs off a shelf, a pair of jeans, and a clean T-shirt. He dumped the entire mess on the floor. A night or two in a hotel would be nice, he thought as he glanced about the empty room. He was tired of sleeping on top of a sleeping bag on the floor. There was no point in bringing in furniture. It would only have been in the way while he made renovations.

  He put on his briefs and was tugging on his jeans when a movement outside the window caught his eye. The next-door neighbor, a pretty blonde, stood before her window gawking at him. “Shit,” he muttered. Maybe he should put up curtains. He did up his pants and pulled on his shirt.

  His keys and his cell were in the kitchen. He grabbed them up and put them in his pocket. Locking the door behind himself, he pretended he didn’t hear his neighbor as she called him. That was no deterrent to her. She sashayed over in a pair of brief shorts and a shirt that could have been spray painted onto her small frame.

  “Hi! On your way out?”

  “Um, yeah.”

  She grinned. “Saw you a few minutes ago in your window.”

  Sebastian ran the heel of his hand over his chest, but stopped when her eyes followed his hand. “Um, yeah, I’m sorry about that. I guess I forgot about the lack of curtains. I’ll get some up.”

  “No need to rush on my account.” She gave him a flirtatious smile and a slow once-over.

  Sebastian ignored the blatant come-on. “Thanks for your patience.” He jingled his keys. “Well, I’ve got to go.”

  “Who’s the lucky girl?”

  “No girl. A friend is throwing a party.”

  Her eyes lit up. “Really? Can I come?”

  Sebastian debated it for a moment. He wouldn’t know anyone at the party, but then he didn’t really know her either. She’d introduced herself soon after he’d bought the house, but he couldn’t recall her name. And he didn’t want to encourage her. He wasn’t interested in a relationship and since he couldn’t keep his cock out of Keva’s pussy, he at least owed it to her to not put her at risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease. He refused to acknowledge the fact that he didn’t want anyone else. His sex drive was pretty high, but of late, with the exception of yesterday’s lapse, he’d been handling it himself. He couldn’t believe Keva hadn’t slapped him for some of the things he’d said and done to her. He’d wanted her to. He’d deserved it.

  “Maybe some other time. I don’t know these people that well.”

  “I’ll hold you to that.” She gave him a coquettish wave before turning and going back to her own yard.

  Sebastian nodded. Hell, he might have to move into a hotel faster than he thought. He got into his truck and backed out of the driveway.

  ****

  Sebastian once again tried to create some space between himself and Brittany, his gaze searching the room desperately for their host. Luke had sent her over and suggested that she introduce herself. Not that she needed much in the way of encouragement. She refused to acknowledge his subtle hints that he wasn’t interested.

  He guessed that Luke’s method of therapy was to get him a woman. When he’d arrived, Luke had given him a beer, pointed out his wife and told him that she was off-limits but that all the other women were fair game. And there were quite a few beauties here tonight. Despite his casual demeanor and his disinterested air, Brittany was determined. She’d sort of glommed onto him. He’d managed to shake two other women tonight with his lack of interest, but not Brittany. She followed him from the den to the kitchen and back again, chatting away, oblivious to his silence. He wasn’t good at small talk. In the past, before he’d given up on having a normal relationship, whenever he dated a woman, the first thing she’d complain about was his lack of social skills. It was like his looks blinded them for a while, but he couldn’t hide who he was and what he wasn’t forever. And he wasn’t normal.

  The thought pissed him off. He plunked his beer down on the nearest flat surface. It was still full because he didn’t want to know what he’d do if he got so much as a slight buzz. The crowd shifted near the television. Spotting Luke, Sebastian made a beeline for him, Brittany trailing him. “I’m leaving. Thanks for inviting me.”

  Luke glanced at Brittany behind him and chuckled. “You’re welcome.” He bumped his arm with his. “Mike told me you were a ladies’ man, but damn, you work quick.”

  “No, I’m going home alone. I appreciate what you were trying to do, but I don’t need a setup.”

  “Whoa, I didn’t set up anything. You should give Brit here a chance. If she’s been chatting you up, it’s because she likes you.”

  “I’m not interested.” He turned to Brittany. “I’m sort of seeing someone.” What he had for Keva wasn’t conventional and it couldn’t really be called a relationship. But whatever it was, he didn’t want anyone else. Just because it wouldn’t work in the end didn’t lessen his feelings for her or make him desire her less. If anything, the impossibility of it, made him yearn for Keva even more.

  “Why didn’t you say so?” Brittany glared at him and flounced off with a toss of her long, brown hair.

  “Mike said you didn’t know anybody in the area and asked me to introduce you around. I assumed that meant you were single.”

  “I wanted her to give up. The last thing I need in my life is a clingy woman.”

  Luke shrugged. “See you around.”

  Sebastian nodded and headed out. Brittany already had another guy cornered. She made a special point of ignoring him, shifting to give him her back as she expelled a loud and utterly fake laugh. Shaking his head, Sebastian fished his keys out of his pocket and exited the house. On the drive back to his project house, he couldn’t help
but wonder what Keva was doing tonight. Where was she? What was she doing? Out having fun with friends? Was she seeing someone else? The thought brought a pain to his chest and caused a churning in his belly.

  At the house again, Sebastian got a bottle of water out of the fridge. His violin was propped against the wall. He’d put the stringed instrument in a storage unit. It had popped up a week ago. He woke up one morning on the floor with it lying next to him. He’d known what it meant but hadn’t been able to stop himself from going after Keva.

  The only solution he could come up with to protect her was to encourage her to protect herself from him. He wasn’t strong enough. She’d have to have strength enough for the both of them.

  Being cruel to her was the hardest thing he’d ever done. He’d thought of her as a companion since the initial vision. For years, he wasn’t even sure if she actually existed. That she wasn’t just a dream or an imaginary friend. After the separation from his parents, he’d finally searched for her online. He’d needed someone he could hold on to. The connection with her and his friendships with Mike and Ken had kept him going when times became tough.

  It wasn’t until he met her that he realized that he’d been in love with her for years. If he wasn’t such a weak, selfish bastard, he would have turned her away, as had been his intention. He didn’t want her burdened with his problems.

  I should leave Vegas, he thought not for the first time. Leave and get as far from Keva as possible.

  ****

  Keva booted up her computer and wished that she’d taken the time to make coffee before coming down to the office. She checked her schedule and was shocked to find it empty. On a Monday, that was practically unheard of. Checking her e-mail, she found the reason why. She was being summoned to a Channel review meeting. Shit! She glanced at her watch. She had an hour to prepare. Panic threatened to overwhelm her. She had to stay calm not only for Sebastian but also for the sake of her job. Her office mates migrated in and out, both busy. They were probably shouldering some of her workload along with the other Channels. She wondered if they knew about the meeting.

  The time quickly evaporated. She soon found herself heading down white hallways. The conference room was a fraction larger than their office. An oval wood table took up the majority of the space. The back wall was floor-to-ceiling windows. Keva was directed to take a seat at the end of the table. Drs. Larsen, Garcia, and Green sat at the other end shuffling through papers or glancing at their tablets. Dr. Larsen gave her an encouraging smile as she joined them.

  She folded her hands in her lap and waited for them to begin.

  Dr. Green, the most senior staff member among the doctors, pushed thick-lensed glasses up the bridge of his nose. Sunshine glinted off his scalp through his thinning, salt-and-pepper hair. He cleared his throat. “Thank you for joining us today, Ms.…” He glanced down. “Lane. This is merely a formality. Please just answer questions to the best of your ability.” He nodded to Dr. Garcia.

  Helen Garcia gave her a wintery smile before beginning. Her emotionless, black eyes were sharp and reminded Keva of a carnivorous bird. “Miss Lane, we spoke briefly concerning your file.” She referred to her tablet and gave Keva the file number and the date in June when it was created. Since she hadn’t been able to access the file, the information was of no assistance to her. “We’d like you to recite the sequence of events to us.”

  “It was two months ago.”

  “Yet it is the only emergency case you’ve handled in the last six months,” Dr. Garcia rejoined.

  “Just do the best you can,” Dr. Larsen interjected, his voice kind. This earned him a glare from Dr. Garcia.

  Keva took a deep breath. “I received the call from—”

  Cutting her off, Dr. Garcia said, “For the sake of expediency, you may skip to the time of your arrival at the subject’s home.”

  “I was greeted by my patient’s friends.” She placed special emphasis on the word patient. Calling them subjects made her think of lab rats instead of people. “After receiving a brief history from his friends, I went up to see the patient. He was in obvious pain—”

  “What sort of history? There is none noted here.” Dr. Garcia’s fingers slid over the screen of her tablet.

  “It wasn’t the sort of thing we keep track of. It was emotional history. His parents…were not accepting of his abilities. Neither of his friends knew his exact talent or his level for that matter.”

  “You estimated him to be a B level yet in the notes from scheduling, I see that they estimated him to be an A. Any particular reason for the discrepancy?”

  Keva shook her head. “He’d never been tested. I based my estimation on what I felt during the connection.” She paused to see if there would be further questions. When she was met with silence, she continued. She hoped by keeping her details concise she would avoid raising suspicions. “We established a connection. I stayed for dinner. I came back home. Since it was late, I turned in my report the next day.”

  “Let’s go back a step,” Dr. Green said. “You had no trouble establishing a connection?”

  “No,” she lied. He seemed satisfied.

  “Any reason you didn’t get a name for your patient?” Dr. Garcia asked in a cool tone.

  “It goes back to his issues with his parents. He doesn’t give his trust easily.”

  “All the more reason for you to have mentioned his state of mind in your report, don’t you think?” Dr. Garcia asked with a raised brow. “Upon review of your other files, I noticed no such hesitancy on your part. Only on that of this patient. Why is that?”

  Keva shrugged, searching her brain for a plausible answer. She knew it was true that Sebastian’s file was very different from her norm. Her reports could often be confused with novels. She was convinced they’d instituted a word limit because of her. “It was the next day. I didn’t recall as many details since it was no longer fresh in my mind.” She knew a moment of triumph as Dr. Garcia pressed her lips together and Dr. Larsen gave her a big grin.

  “Any further questions?” Dr. Green asked after a long moment of silence.

  “Not at this time,” Dr. Garcia said.

  “Helen, we can’t keep dragging this out forever,” Dr. Larsen complained.

  She turned to him with a glare. “I reserve the right to explore this again.”

  “Fine.” Dr. Green gathered his papers. “This matter is closed. Dr. Garcia’s reservations aside, we shouldn’t have to revisit this matter.”

  Keva breathed a sigh of relief.

  Chapter Five

  Keva sipped her water and watched as Amy was swallowed up on the dance floor. From her position in their booth, she could barely see her hand over the sea of bodies as the other woman waved at her. Dean sat across from her, his thumbs busy on his cell as he sent and received text messages.

  This was Amy’s fault. She’d convinced her that she needed to celebrate her win against the wicked witch Dr. Garcia on Monday. She’d needled Keva the entire week. By this afternoon, she couldn’t take any more and had agreed to the trek into Vegas. So far, the only one celebrating was Amy. She’d ordered a buttery nipple and aside from two breaks to order more drinks, Amy had spent the evening on the dance floor.

  Keva glanced down at her watch. They’d been here for less than an hour and she was ready to go home. She wished she hadn’t given in to peer pressure. Right now she could have been finishing up Silas Marner while curled up on her comfortable couch instead of being bombarded by loud music while sitting across from an unsociable Dean.

  “Dance?”

  She began to shake her head no but then she looked up. The guy was handsome enough to be a model. His skin was the color of dark chocolate, and she thought she’d caught the hint of an accent. If she was going to forget Sebastian, she needed to get back into dating. So with a nod of her head and a sip of her water, she allowed him to lead her onto the dance floor.

  Because of the crowd, they were crushed closer together than she would have
liked. She could detect the scent of cigarette smoke on him—a real turnoff since her father had died of lung cancer. “Is that guy your boyfriend?” He had to shout in her ear to be heard over the thumping music.

  Keva shook her head in lieu of yelling. But when he grinned down at her, she realized her mistake. She should have lied. He moved even closer, his hands on her waist. “You’re beautiful,” he yelled. “My name is Nick. Do you want to get out of here? Go somewhere we can talk.”

  She began to shake her head, but he ignored her. Grabbing her wrist, he began tugging her in the general direction of the exit. Keva swung back but couldn’t gain a strong stance in the three-inch heels Amy had convinced her to wear. She tottered behind him, afraid she was going to fall.

  A strong arm wrapped around her waist, halting her forward trajectory. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  Keva’s mouth dropped open as she was pulled into Sebastian’s arms. “What are you doing here?”

  “Coincidence. Lucky for you.”

  Nick came back. “Hey, get your own girl. This one is mine.”

  “Yeah, what’s her name?”

  Momentarily stumped, Nick sputtered. “We were getting to know each other.”

  “Her name is Keva, and she’s mine.”