Free Mayan Lover by Wendy S. Hales Page A

bugged out of her head. Her scratching at his
forearms weakened. Her fear-filled eyes stared into his. Oh, yeah,
he had her attention now. He laughed with the satisfied,
invincible euphoria that flushed into him. Sirens in the distance
barely registered. Too late , as soon as her eyes dimmed he’d
take the knife to himself and be with her in the next life …
after he diced Maggie to pieces.
    Suddenly the knife was knocked from his hand as
an arm wrapped around his neck from behind, pulling him away from
Gwen. No. His mind screamed. She’s mine. He
watched her crumble to the ground with Maggie kneeling next to her.
Realization of what he’d done pushed the bad side of him back
into its cage, leaving regret and shame. He opened his mouth to say
how sorry he was. To explain to her that she drove him to this, but
no sound came out. There was a burning in his neck, a loud popping
sound, then nothing.
    ****
    The pressure at her throat lifted, but still
Gwen couldn’t get air into her lungs. She needed to cough but
couldn’t. She heard a sickening snapping sound, and then she
felt Arka’s strong hands roll her to her back making it even
harder to breathe. His lips touched hers, filling her lungs with a
single warm hard breath. He rolled her to her side and the coughing
began.
    Her head pounded, her ears rang, and the black
dots in her vision swirled, making her sick. Retching, she struggled
to her hands and knees with Arka’s help. Loafers ran toward
her. The muffled voice of a man apologizing over and over was drowned
out by the scream of sirens. Her only center was Arka’s warm
hand on her back, holding her hair from her face while she vomited,
Maggie saying everything was going to be okay, and the agony of
drawing the next burning breath.
    She closed her eyes against the dizziness as she
was scooped into arms and held against Arka’s familiar chest.
He sat with her on his lap and Gwen felt a mask cover her face. She
opened her eyes and made out the fuzzy details of an ambulance door.
Arka’s face came into focus. One side of his lips lifted in the
grin she loved so much and everything that happened rushed back into
her mind. Lifting her arms to encircle his neck, she buried her face
in his shoulder and wept.
    He held the back of her head as every horrible
memory seared through her mind and ran unchecked down her cheeks. It
felt like she could cry forever. “I love you, Goddess,”
Arka whispered in her ear, spurring her tears to a new frenzy. She
didn’t deserve to be loved. John would kill her and anyone who
mattered to her … including Arka.
    “He’ll never give up, Arka. You
should have let him kill me tonight. He’s going to eventually.
You need to stay away from me, not love me.” Contrary to her
“stay away” words she cleaved to him tighter.
    Arka attempted to loosen her arms around his
neck but Gwen squeezed tighter. “Gwen.” His chin rubbed
her hair above her ear. “Look at me.” He loosened her
arms gently and she let him. Gazes connected, he touched his forehead
to hers. “Your husband is dead.” “ I killed him,
Goddess,” he added through their mind connection.
    Oh, God. Horror filled her. Arka had killed John
because of her. He’d spend the rest of his life with blood on
his hands … because of her. He could go to prison …
because of her. I’m toxic.
    “ I was born to protect you, Gwen. I was
put on this earth for you. I will never regret what I did, my love. I
would do it a thousand times over and never have a single regret. It
is my duty … my honor to be your champion. His death was
humane out of consideration of you. He deserved far worse.” The truth behind his words reflected in his eyes, though the full
declaration didn’t make sense. Gwen focused on the “dead”
part.
    “Are you sure he’s … dead?”
The flicker of relief she felt needed to hear him say it out loud.
    Arka cupped her cheeks in his hands between the
edge of the mask feeding her oxygen and her ears.