Page 3 of Brax (Voodoo Guardians #36)

Her head was pounding. She must have hit it when she had her seizure. Her pills ran out three days ago, and she couldn’t break into the pharmacy again. She just couldn’t. Opening her eyes, she realized she was in a room with lights on and a bed with sheets. A moment of panic set in, then someone reached for her hand.

“You’re okay, sweetie,” said Kelsey. “You’re safe here. Do you remember what happened?”

“Men. Those men…”

“That’s right. They’re our friends, and they work and live here. They brought you in. You had a pretty nasty seizure. Do you have those often?” asked Kelsey.

“About twice a month,” she whispered. “I take pills, but I don’t have any more. How am I clean? Where are my things?”

“Ajei, the other nurse, and I bathed you. No woman wants to wake up dirty,” she smiled. “We had some clothes in our store that fit you. It’s not fancy, but it will do.”

She looked down and saw the leggings and long sweatshirt. That man. Those men, they would have seen her body.

“Stephanie? That is your name, right?” asked Kelsey. She nodded. “Stephanie, how old are you, honey?”

“I-I think I’m twenty-eight,” she said.

“Do you not remember? Do you remember your birthdate?” A knock on the door interrupted them, and Mav, Saint, Pax, and Brax walked in.

“Well, you look a lot better than last time I saw you,” smiled Brax. “You scared the hell out of me.”

“Sorry,” she said softly.

“I was just trying to convince Stephanie to tell me her birthdate,” smiled Kelsey. “We’re pretty big on celebrating around here and wouldn’t want to miss yours.”

“I don’t have one.”

“Everyone has a birthday,” said Mav, trying to make her feel better.

“I don’t.” She looked at the men, then targeted Brax. “Are you really going to help me?”

“I swear to God, I am going to help you. All of us will,” he said, swallowing as he stared at her strange blue eyes. “It’s just a birthday. Won’t you share it with us?”

“I don’t have one. I’m not real.” Brax frowned and took the seat next to the bed. He reached out for her hand, noticing the clean nails, now clipped neatly.

“You feel real to me,” said Brax. “Soft skin, warm hand. You told them you were twenty-eight. That means you have a birthday.”

“No. That means I had a creation date. I was created in a lab. I am the clone of someone’s dead daughter.” Katelyn and the other girls pushed through the door, staring at the young girl.

“It’s really you,” said Katelyn. “I remember you.”

“Katelyn,” she whispered.

“You’re real, Stephanie. You’re as real as I am.”

“No. You were born from a mother’s womb. I wasn’t.”

Stephanie remembered everything about her arrival at Belle Fleur. Everything then, now, before, and in between. She forgot nothing. She wasn’t allowed to forget.

Slowly, she was discovering that she could have a relatively normal life. She had friends, connecting with the others who were at the school. She made new friends, and she had fallen in love. Unfortunately, her crush didn’t feel the same.

“It’s not a crush, you stupid woman,” she whispered to herself, sipping the coffee on her front porch. When she’d first arrived, terrified and confused, she was sharing a cottage with Braxton Pechkin, the man who was causing her more pain than she imagined possible.

For some reason, he seemed confused by her and by his own reactions to her. Stephanie knew that he liked her. The way he looked at her when she was dressed in jeans, or a dress, or anything really, was very telling. His cheeks became flushed, his veins pulsed in his neck, and he started sweating.

She knew enough to know those were physiological reactions to her being close to him. But then things changed. He started leaving before she woke in the morning and didn’t return until she was gone.

She would head over to the cafeteria for breakfast before going to work, and he’d already be in there eating. When she arrived, he would leave and head to the cottage. She would go to the other island to work, and when she returned, he had already gone to dinner or he was out working a case.

It was all too much for her. She spoke with Claudette and Mama Irene and requested a cottage of her own. When he found out, he seemed angry.

“Where were you this morning?” he asked.

“Having coffee in my own cottage,” she said.

He opened his mouth to speak, but Luke called the meeting to order. She could feel Brax’s eyes boring into the back of her head.

He’d just have to get over it. She didn’t have time for his games, and she wasn’t about to stick around heartsick because he couldn’t see her for what she truly was. Then he showed up at her cottage.

A few days later, Stephanie poured herself a glass of iced tea and sat on her front porch, rocking as she looked out at the bayou slowly moving past her. She loved being near the water.

Mav and Katelyn were just two cottages over with a water view as well. She would go and have dinner in a little while, but for now, she needed the quiet.

“Why did you leave?” She turned to see Brax’s face and swallowed, shaking her head.

“You know why.”

“No. I don’t. I wouldn’t be asking if I knew why.”

“Are you kidding me? You were so uncomfortable with me in your space you couldn’t even look at me,” she said, standing on the porch. Brax swallowed, looking at her beautiful, tanned legs and swinging bob haircut. “You made sure that you were gone before I got up in the morning. You made sure that you came home after I was asleep at night. You avoided me every moment of every day, Brax. Do you have any fucking idea how that made me feel?”

“I-I didn’t mean to make you feel any sort of way,” he whispered.

“Yes, you did. And you succeeded. I wasn’t welcome in your cottage at all. You did it as a favor for someone, and you regretted it almost immediately. I get it. I was cramping your style.” She set the iced tea down and started down her steps. “Well, good news, Brax. You have your house back. All to yourself. I’m in my own space, and I’m just fine.”

“They said you were interviewing for other jobs, away from Belle Fleur, or thinking about it.” She looked at him as she stopped on the stairs leading to her home.

“It’s none of your business. If I leave or if I stay doesn’t matter to you. You’ve made that painfully clear. Just leave me alone, Brax. You’ve done enough damage.”

She tried to walk past him and head toward the grove, but he gripped her arm so hard she winced from the pain.

“I didn’t mean to cause you any harm or damage. I was trying to protect you,” he said, lessening his hold on her.

“Protect me? Or protect you?” she said, staring up at him.

Brax looked into her big eyes, seeing the tears threatening to spill, and it was gutting him. He didn’t want to hurt her. He wanted her to understand why he couldn’t hold her back.

“I’m not good for you, Stephanie.” She laughed at him, shaking her head.

“That’s your response? After everything we’ve been through, everything that’s happened, your response is, ‘I’m not good for you’? Fine. You’re not good for me. I get it. Then stay away from me until I can find another job, Brax. I’m tired of you making me feel inferior. I’m tired of you ignoring me, avoiding me as if I had some sickness or disease. Just leave me alone.”

He pulled her arm again, forcing her body against his own.

“I can’t do that either.”

Bending down, he slammed his mouth against hers, gripping her waist and a fistful of the skirt of her dress, feeling it rise up. His fingertips touched her bare legs, his mouth exploring her delectable lips and tongue.

Finally pulling back, he stared down at her shocked face, tears filling her eyes.

“Why did you do that?” she whispered.

“I shouldn’t have to explain that.” He walked off toward the grove and the others, leaving Stephanie behind him.

Touching her lips, she was breathing so heavily she could hardly stand upright. She’d been kissed a few times, but nothing like that. Nothing that made her feel as though her world was turned upside down.

He was the most frustrating, confusing, obstinate man she’d ever met. She couldn’t continue this way. She just couldn’t. When all this was over with, she would transfer to another company or simply go out on her own as a contractor.

No matter what, she couldn’t remain here with Brax.

Brax was looking down at his feet as he walked into the grove. Saint and Pax looked up at him, both men frowning, knowing that he’d gone to speak to Stephanie.

“What happened?” asked his twin.

“I kissed her.”

“And?”

“And what? I kissed her, and hopefully, that will make her stay,” he said, filling his plate.

“Jesus, you really are stupid,” said Saint. “You think because you kissed her, she’s going to stay? Did you tell her how you feel?”

“No!” Everyone turned to stare at the three men. “No. I didn’t. I kissed her, and that should tell her how I feel.” Saint just shook his head in disbelief.

“She’s going to leave. Just by kissing someone doesn’t mean that they’ll stay or leave. You have to tell them how you feel, what you feel, and what you want from them. She’s not a mind reader, Brax. I’m telling you that she’s going to leave this place, and it’s going to be your fault when she does.” Pax just shook his head in disbelief and left his brother standing there.

He watched as his twin and best friend walked away from him, then turned to see if Stephanie was coming toward the grove. When he didn’t see her, he dropped his plate and walked toward his own cottage as others stared at him. At this point, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich would be better than this torture.

“That boy is really struggling,” said Irene.

“He is. But he’ll get right soon enough. I just hope it’s not too late,” said Ruby.

“Me too, Ruby. Me too.”