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| IMPOSTER BY MARIQUA |
CHAPTER 73 |
Pinpricks of heat passed with rapid-fire over her skin, and an invisible glow of some supernatural transmission shot out from his body to hers. A blast of energy flowed up against her -- infusing her with something so familiar...or someone. Todd...querido...it must be you!
Roaring sounds pierced the eardrums of the man holding on to her -- nearly deafening him -- and his limbs suddenly seemed to float away from his own body. Toddy! Get back...NO!!!
Nick's mind blurred in confusion as he felt another presence hammering its way into his own, and in seconds his psyche was thurst into a dark, purgatorial state. NO! You're not coming out...you're not!
The gentle stroke of his fingers on her arm made Tea eyes stare at him wild-eyed, and she saw his hazel pupils deepen and draw her in as they had done that night in the isolated countryside.
"Tea"...
He didn't know what he was doing. All the stops had been pulled out, and the only thing Slider could think of was that she was there in his arms -- her small body closer to his than it had ever been. He knew he was behaving like a lunatic, but he didn't care and he had no use for anything that would interfere with his mission. With the impact of something that had spun out of control and landed dead-on with a shattering crash, it suddenly dawned on him that his mission had changed.
You're not my friend anymore...
Sherry only had time to see his blue eyes flashing brilliantly at her, while the arms that had whirled her around slid behind her and groped along her back until his hands locked against her spine. Arching her body in surprise, all her senses were sending blaring warning signals to her brain.
"Sherry"...
That little...she tricked me! She knew exactly what she was doing...she was calling you back, Toddy! Well, I'm not going back like a good little boy...I'm through hiding in this hellhole forever...I'm coming back, Toddy...for Sherry...and you can't stop me!
"Touch me, Todd!" Tea whispered frantically -- her eyes now rapidly filling with tears as she waited for confirmation that she had succeeded in bringing him out of his mental cocoon.
As if she were in a dreamlike fairytale and waiting for a magic kiss that would awaken her, Tea closed her eyes and trembled violently as long, tingling fingers swept down her neck and wrapped around her throat possesively. The same mouth that had kissed her before brushed up against her lips, but this time, his full lips took possession of hers and parted them with a knowing intimacy -- finally edging over to the corner of her mouth in a way that was achingly familiar to her. Gasping out loud, her eyes shot open and she beheld her husband's strained, distorted face inching away from hers.
"Damn you, Todd Manning! Don't you dare leave me again!" Tea shrieked as she saw the twisted alteration of his face.
"I need...I need..." the hoarse sound coming out of him struggled to continue. "...all...all of..."
"All...what? What do you mean...all?" she cried out in confusion. "I'm here...I'm here, querido!"
"He won't let me...I need...help...he's coming...help from all...of you..."
Suddenly his hand touched her face -- his knuckles lightly gliding down the liquid trail of tears. With a somber, haunted smile, he spoke to her again.
"You always...did...cry too much...Delgado..."
"Listen to me!" she choked -- grabbing his hand and holding it against her face. "If we're going to get you out of this, you have to tell me what to do! I...I think he's on to me, and..."
"I know...his weakness...but you can't do it... alone..." he interrupted her -- faltering again as his hand gradually slipped through her fingers.
"What? Tell me now...hurry, Todd...what is his weakness?"
As she bent backward against the strong grasp of his arms, Sherry gaped at the pure, stark desire in his eyes -- eyes that had looked into hers over four years time with a rich blend of sincerity, kindness and laughter, but never passion.
Here were his arms wound around her so tightly that she couldn't utter a sound, and his face was so close that she thought she would suffocate. I can't breathe! Her limbs were numb, and she swayed unsteadily as if there was nothing solid beneath her. This moment had played over and over in her fantasies, but it was nothing like the vivid reality of his heated breath on her skin...or the urgent grip of his hands pressing into her...or his mouth so close to hers that her lips vibrated with intense longing.
Sherry...Sherry...there's no way I'm going to let him take you from me! Why didn't I see it? You're...the one...I won't let you go!
Sherry didn't consciously hear the sound that she made, but her subconscious mind knew it was there the second that his lips made contact with hers. From some hidden corner in her psyche, a closed gate was swung open wide allowing her free will to escape. A fiery blast of excitement channeled through her at the moment of his touch. Slider...this is you!
The longer he's out there...the worse it will be... he's plotting...I know him...I know him better than anyone...
Him and his wife...together...united against me...I'll silence that forever if I have to...
"Todd, please! Tell me! I need to know! I can't fight this...this thing inside of you... without it!"
The face of her husband froze, and his eyes began to roll back into his head.
"TODD!!
"...He...he gets his strength... from someone...who can also...bring him down."
I'm going to get back there now...before he can get too comfortable...get ready, Toddy...you're going back in now, buddy...and this time...I'm locking that door for good!
Viki laid her head back on the seat of the car and wrapped her fingers tightly around the fingers of the man sitting next to her. This is heaven...being with you...going off together to find the answer to Todd's mysterious death.
What will we find? I'm going on a feeling...a feeling so strong that I can't deny it...something is wrong...I never felt like we had a chance to say good-bye...and I know that you would never do that to the people you love...
...and you do love people...you love them so much that it hurts you to do it...you risked everything when you took another wife...God only knows what doing that stirred up in you...
The thing is...I forgive you, Todd...I always have...because I knew that you had something good within you that was fighting like a lion to get out...
I'll see this through to the end...even if it's the bitter kind. You can always depend on me, Todd...even in death...you and I are bound together...we are Lords!
The revelation that Sherry was what he wanted sent Slider careening back into his past, and everything that he had done to disinvolve himself from any relationships after Michelle. His mind had blocked out any closeness or feelings of real intimacy for so long that a forced, conditioned denial of what he needed had taken root within him. He had pursued a career to understand the minds of others, but his own problems had been left unattended -- to dry out in some barren place.
Now the waters were pouring in -- flooding these vacant, parched areas of his soul. He couldn't seem to stem the tide of all the emotions unleashed -- emotions that for so long were directed to the outer world and never inward.
His hands were traveling over her body as if he were just discovering an illicit temptation that had been foreign to him, and yet it wasn't just lust. There was more...more that he wanted to know besides just the feel of her body. He wanted to get to her mind...and her soul.
"Who? Who, Todd?" Tea tugged desperately at his arms as she saw the essence of the man she loved ebbing away.
A frightening thought made her shake him almost violently. If you don't tell me...in time...I may lose you...forever!
"A name, Todd!! All I need is one name!"
Still without thinking of anything but what he was feeling, Slider's mouth worked down to her slim, delicate neck -- his hands moving feverishly over her arms and rapidly closing in on the buttons on her blouse. Everything within her responded to what he was doing, and as his warm hands roamed over her body more intimately, a peaceful aura encompassed her. This is what I've been waiting for!
Immediately the word slapped down hard in her mind, and suddenly her entire body seemed to catch fire...with an emotion she never expected.
What I was waiting for?
"Todd!" Tea commanded -- calling on her instincts for what she had to do. "Todd, it's me...your mother...sweetie, tell me the name!"
"Mama?" his voice spoke out tentatively, and Tea saw a small window of hope materialize in his eyes. Responding obediently, the name he said out loud floated out into the room just at the same moment that Tea saw his eyes shift and another presence settle in.
"Sherry..."
