Betrayal's Gift

Chapter Eight

She had a boyfriend? A snarl was forming on his face as he followed her in her bolt to the locker room. He hung back outside the door to hear what was going on and to control his growing temper. Friends this long and he wasn't entitled to know she had a boyfriend?

Especially after that one night they'd spent together.

He'd detected no guilt and he was sure she would feel guilty about cheating on someone. So logically there had to be another explanation for her not telling him. He curbed his temper and listened, eavesdropping shamelessly.

"Justin, how are you? Why did you tell them you're my boyfriend? We've been over this remember?" she said with just the right amount of teasing in her voice.

Varagon relaxed some and kept listening. If he hadn't known better, he would have suspected nothing of the tension that had crept into her body and mind. Even though he could sense the tension, he still had no idea why it was there. Her thoughts weren't any help at all. They sounded more like prayers than thoughts anyway.

"Give me the strength to talk to him, to have the courage to hold out. I know what he wants and I can't do it. I can't give Varagon up. I just can't. It would kill me."

Since Varagon had no intention of letting her give him up (although he was touched that the thought of it was abhorrent to her), he focused on the meaning inherent in her thoughts. Why would her friend object so strongly to her being with him?

In thinking, to a mortal mind, he was rich, looked good some might say exceptionally so (Delilah certainly did on a regular basis), ruthless, and head over heels for Delilah. On second thought, he could see why a guy might feel a tad bit insecure. He grinned. The man would just have to get over it. Delilah was his and needed nothing from a clingy jealous ex-boyfriend.

"Delilah, darling it was just to get your attention. Are you crazy!? A guy like that is just using you..." his tone was patient and held just a hint of condescending irritation at her naivety.

"For what, Justin? Money, sex, what?" she asked, already defensive.

Butterflies were swiftly turning into diving birds of prey in her stomach as it clenched. She'd heard this before and had usually listened to him. She couldn't this time. She would not abandon Varagon. He sent her a tender smile. She couldn't abandon him if she tried.

"How should I know? He's manipulating you. Why would he want someone like you when he has so many others? You know I love you, but he has the world's most gorgeous women fawning over him. What do you have to offer a man like him, besides a very brief diversion?"

As Delilah closed her eyes when the perceived truth hit hard and low, a low growl sounded in Varagon's throat. He masked the sound hastily as she looked around uneasily. His eyes snapped with anger as he continued to listen.

That clingy idiotic human, did he know what he was provoking? It would be an easy thing to show him in a number of ways. None of them pleasant or painless. His fangs extended and curved over his bottom lip, unsheathing themselves in anticipation of a kill. A slow one.

"Why can't you take anything at face value? He said he loved me. Is that so unbelievable? Am I really that unlovable to everybody else?" Varagon silently applauded her stand although her voice did crack. She was actually afraid to hear the answer to her question.

Taking a deep breath to calm the rage, he closed his eyes and reached out to her. The need to kill quite easily took second place to his need to comfort her. He bolstered her resolve mentally and slid the comforting feeling of warm loving arms around her with a strength that wouldn't ever fail her.