“Oh.” I press my lips together. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, I wouldn’t even know if you did. Plus, I know I fuck up a lot of things with my lack of knowing what I’m doing.”
“You don’t fuck up anything.” He wets his lips with his tongue, uncertainty written all over his face, which puzzles the hell out of me. “Can I be honest with you right now?”
While I want honesty, I’m a little afraid of it right now. What if he says that my inexperience is becoming too much of a pain in the ass for him? Or for all of them? I can’t help thinking about what I overheard him and Arrow talking about in the hallway, how they seemed undecided about something. But, not wanting to force him to lie to me, I nod. “Yeah, of course.”
He sinks his teeth into his bottom lip, deliberating. “The truth is, I kind of like that you’re inexperienced. It gives me the chance to show you all sorts of new experiences.” He travels his hand along my side and up to my breast. “Like, just a few hours ago, when I touched you here and made you come undone.”
I bite down on my lip to stifle a groan.
“Don’t fight it,” he whispers. “I love hearing those little noises you make.” Then he slips his hand into the top of my corset and brushes his fingers across my nipple.
The groan escapes me then, and I grab on to him, feeling like I’m about to buckle.
“It doesn’t make me nervous in a bad way,” he continues. “It’s just new to me. You … How much I want you in ways I never knew were possible.”
I have no damn clue what to say to that, and truthfully, I probably couldn’t even get any words to leave my mouth as he lightly pinches my nipple and I bite down on my lip so hard I probably draw blood.
“I’m not going to fuck this up,” he mutters, but I think it’s more to himself. “If at any time I become too much, promise you’ll tell me?”
I shakily bob my head up and down. “I promise.”
The corners of his lips quirk. “That’s a good pet.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “How many times do I have to tell you that I’m not your pet?”
Amusement sparkles in his eyes, but then he surprises me when he says, “Maybe you’re right. You’re definitely more.” Then he kisses me deeply but, to my disappointment, quickly.
I try not to pout when he pulls back, but apparently, I miss the mark since he says, “Don’t pout, little mouse. We’ll play later. Right now, we need to get going.”
“Right.” I’m suddenly reminded of all the other stuff I’m supposed to be doing instead of being in this room and fooling around with him.
I turn toward my closet to get a coat, and he follows me.
He remains silent for a few footsteps before he asks, “So, about this going to Midnight thing. We all talked about it and decided that, if you don’t want to, one of us can stay here with you, and you don’t have to go.”
I promptly shake my head. “No way. I already told Asher this, and now I’m telling you.” I cross my arms, trying to look as tough as possible. “If you guys want me in this group, I want to be part of this group. I’m not a damsel in distress. I want to help.”
He smiles at that. “If that’s what you want.”
“It is,” I assure him, surprised at how easily he’s giving me what I want. Then again, he’s not Asher. East isn’t as bossy and, when I really think about it, has always tried to give me whatever I want. Well, except for when I told him to leave me alone right after I sliced open my arm. But it was probably a good thing he didn’t listen to me then.
“Okay then.” He threads his fingers through mine and tugs me into the closet. “Let’s find you a coat that’ll keep you warm but still be fashionable.”
“Is being fashionable really that important?” I ask.
“Abso-fucking-lutely,” he assures me as he sifts through the clothes hanging up. “Style is always important, no matter what mission we’re doing.”
“Because you have to keep up appearances?”
“That and because I love being stylish. In fact, our band’s outfits are part of what we’re known for.”
“Oh.” Something occurs to me then. “Are you guys going to get bombarded by fans while we’re here?”
His gaze flits to me. “No. Midnight’s a little different than other planets.”
“How so?”
“It’s just … filled with more dangerous creatures that don’t really give a shit about who we are.”
“So, you’ve never been here before?”
“No, we have. It’s been a while, though. And that last time we were here, things got”—he gives a short pause—“complicated.”
My lips part with more questions, but he places a finger to my lips.
“As much as I’d love to spend the rest of the day with you asking questions instead of endeavoring into Midnight, we really do need to get going. However, we can circle back to your questions later, okay?” When I nod, he lowers his finger and his smile returns. “Now, unfortunately, none of these coats will do. So, I guess I’ll have to just create one for you.” Then he lifts his fingers and draws a circle in the air. Sparks of silver hiss from his fingertips and circle around me.
It’s the first time I’ve actually seen magic coming out of him, and I’ll admit, it’s really fucking weird, but in a totally awesome way. And it only gets more awesome as a coat appears on my body. Black with buttons and a hood, it sits tight at the waist and poofs out, longer in the front than in the back.
East reaches around and draws the hood up over my head, then he assesses me with his glittering eyes. “Sometimes, I amaze myself.”
“Yeah, me, too,” I say truthfully.
He grins, kisses me, then he takes ahold of my hand and spins me around, causing me to giggle.
“So damn gorgeous,” he murmurs as he stops spinning me.
“I take it you like the coat, then?” I ask, smoothing my hand along the front of the coat.
“Not just the coat.” He kisses me again. “I like everything in front of me.”
I start to smile, but it fizzles as he threads his fingers through mine and pulls me toward the door.
Pulls me toward a dangerous planet.
A dangerous planet that might hold secrets about me.
Harlynn
“I don’t … What is this?” I ask as I stand outside, the freezing air glazing over me. Weird little fluffy pieces of what looks like cotton are fluttering down on me and are covering the land. I stick out my hand to grab one, and it melts against my skin. “Okay, seriously, what is this?” I glance at Asher, who’s standing beside me, the little pieces of white stuff covering his hair.
The edges of Asher’s lips quirk. “That, little thief, is what we call snow.” A cloud of smoke puffs from his lips. I know that’s from the cold temperature, since that happened in my world whenever an ice-storm blew through.
“Oh.” I stare down at my hands, watching the snowflakes melt against my skin.
This shit is weird. Like, one second, it’s there, and the next, it’s just dewy water.
“Where are your gloves?” Asher reaches out and slips his fingers through mine. “You’re going to freeze with your hands exposed to the air like this.”
“I forgot to put some on,” I admit. “Should I go back in and grab some?”
He shakes his head then raises my hand to his mouth. He whispers something underneath his breath and, suddenly, my fingers are covered with soft black fabric. He lets go of my hand and takes the other, repeating the same thing. I watch in awe as, once again, my hand becomes gloved.
“Watching you guys use magic is awesome,” I divulge. “How do you do it, though? Is it like a spell?”
“East uses spells,” he clarifies. “I use wishes.”
“Is that what you were saying under your breath?” I ask, wiggling my fingers and admiring the magic-created gloves.
“Yep.” He snags ahold of my hand and pulls me closer to his side as he starts hiking through the snow-covered land.
<
br /> Through the snow flurries coming down on us, I can make out East, Arrow, and Maxton up ahead. But barely. The planet is too dark and cloudy, hardly any light coming from anywhere and making it nearly impossible to see anything else besides snow.
“Is there a sun here?” I wonder as I blink around, trying to make out something—anything else besides snow.
“There is, but it’s very small and grey and is rarely out, hence the reason why it’s so dark. And why it’s called Midnight.”
“That makes sense, I guess.” I shield my eyes with my hand as the wind picks up and blows bits of snow into my face. “Is there anything else here besides snow? Are there cities? You said there were dangerous creatures here, so I’m sure there has to be one. Or at least a town.”
“There are towns,” he informs me as the snow builds up around us and complicates walking. “This world is kind of old-fashion, so no big, flashy cities, and it’s not very high tech. In fact, the one time we played here, it was a completely acoustic set because most of our instruments wouldn’t work here.”
“East said you guys haven’t been here in a long time, and you hardly ever come here.” The snow is up to my knees now, and man, does it make walking a pain in the ass. “So, I’m guessing you hardly know anyone here, which makes me wonder how we’re supposed to find someone who can help us learn more about what I am.”
“Well, we’re not just looking for someone to help us. We’re looking for an energy reader, and a lot reside in this world,” he explains. “The problem is that, when we find one, we’ll have to make sure we can trust them before we start asking them questions about you.”
“How would you do that?” I ask dubiously. “Because earning trust takes a lot of time and not everyone is trustworthy.”
“I know,” he assures me. “And maybe trust is the wrong word.”
I squint against the snowfall, eyeing him over. “What’re you going to do?”
He lifts a shoulder, casting a glance at me, his eyes darkening for a snowdrop of a second. “What I have to do.”
As his meaning sinks in, I frown. “You’re not going to hurt anyone, are you?” When he shrugs again, my frown deepens. “Ash, I don’t want anyone getting hurt. At least anyone innocent.”
“No creature on this planet is innocent. And we’ll do what we need to do to get the information we need.”
“Ash …” I start to say with a warning in my tone, but he talks over me.
“I know you don’t like it when creatures get hurt. I’m not a huge fan of it, either.” He slows to a stop as I struggle to keep walking; the snow so deep it reaches the tops of my legs now. “But sometimes, in situations like this, to protect more creatures from getting hurt, you have to sacrifice a few.”
I smash my frozen lips together. “You mean, getting hurt from me?”
He promptly shakes his head. “No. That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what did you mean?” I challenge, because I’m pretty sure he’s lying to me.
He holds my gaze. “I meant protect creatures from getting hurt by my father.” He brushes a few snowflakes from my cheeks with his fingertips. “He’s the one who wants to hurt creatures, not you.”
I know he’s right. Deep down, I know that. But I still can’t release all the guilt of carrying around this tremendously dangerous power inside me.
“I know you mean that. I do. I just …” I release a quiet sigh, fog lacing from my lips. “It’s just hard to separate the two—that I’m not my power.”
His expression fills with empathy. “I know. And it’ll take time, but you’re strong enough that you’ll get there.” He offers me a small smile, his lips extra blue at the moment, probably because of the cold. “Now, do you want me to carry you through the snow? Or do you want to keep waddling around like a newborn unicorn?”
“Hey, I’m not waddling around.” Then, to prove my point, I march forward very diligently. Of course, the weight of the snow on my feet is too much, and I end up just kind of toppling forward.
Right before I faceplant it, Asher wraps his arms around me. He stands me back upright, biting back a laugh while dusting some snow off the top of my hood. “So fucking stubborn,” he mumbles.
I blast him with a dirty look. “In my defense, I’m not used to walking in snow. And for something that’s so light to touch, it sure does make my feet feel heavy.”
He rubs his hand across his mouth, I think to conceal a smile. “You are by far the most adorable creature I’ve ever met.”
I arch a brow. “You know, the way you guys keep saying I’m adorable every time I say something stupid is making me start to wonder if adorable means something else in paranormal language.”
A laugh slips through. “Adorable is a universal word, little thief. And we don’t use it when you say something stupid. We use it when you say something innocently cute.”
I give him the dirtiest look ever. “Hey, I’m not innocent.”
“Mmm …” His eyes cloud over like the sky. “Maybe not as much as when we first met you, but you definitely still are.” He traces the pad of his thumb along my bottom lip. “There’s still a lot of places these lips haven’t touched yet. And there’s still a lot of places on you that my lips haven’t touched.”
Thank gods it’s as cold as a gods damn ice queen out here, or else I would be blushing. I guess that’s one good thing about freezing weather—it makes me too cold to grow warm. Not that I like the cold. I don’t. At all. But, apparently, my expression gives me away since Ash gives me that look, the one he gives me whenever I blush and he’s totally getting off on it. Instead of teasing me, however, he seals his lips to mine.
“Now that we’ve got that out of the way,” he murmurs, slanting back, “how about you let me carry you so it doesn’t take us a week to get to town?”
I scowl at him, but then I sigh when I realize he’s probably right. I am moving ridiculously slow.
“Oh, fine. But I’m only doing this because it’s cold, and I hate being cold. I’m not doing it because I’m some needy girl who can’t walk through the damn snow.”
“Got it,” he says, but I can tell he’s on the verge of smiling.
“Don’t smile,” I warn. “I’m totally being serious.”
“Oh, I know you are,” he assures. “But it doesn’t make it any less … innocently cute.” He gives me an innocent look as he says it.
Shaking my head, I mutter, “Whatever. You’re innocently cute.”
His brows shoot upward, and then he busts up laughing.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen him laugh like this before, and while I’m pretty positive he’s laughing at me, I can’t help smiling a bit.
I brush snow from my cheeks. “That wasn’t supposed to be funny.”
“Oh, I know it wasn’t, but it was hilarious.”
My brow meticulously arches. “What? You being innocently cute?”
He continues to laugh. “Yep. And the absurdity in the statement.”
“I don’t know.” I decide to mess with him. “You seem sort of innocent to me, in a really cute way.”
His laughter fades and is replaced by an amused grin. “You know what’s innocently cute? You trying to get a rise out of me.”
“Aw, it’s cute you think I’m trying to do that and not just telling the truth.” I pat his cheek. “How very innocent of you.”
His eyes smolder as he leans in. “You know what I think?” he whispers lowly. “I think, in a way, you might get off watching me get all riled up.”
He’s right; I do. And I don’t even know why.
“Don’t worry. I get off on it, too.” He skims his fingers along the bottom of my chin. “And one of these days, you and I are going to lock ourselves in a room and play this whole thing out.”
Somehow, and I don’t even know how, my face heats, even in the frigid temperature.
“And there’s that innocent cuteness again.” His lips spread into a cocky grin. “I think I won this round.”
I glare at him, and he smirks. Shaking my head, I playfully shove him. He stumbles, but barely, then laughs. I move to shove him again, but he captures my arm and yanks me toward him until our bodies are flushed. Then he kisses me, a husky moan reverberating from his chest as he does. He keeps the kiss brief, pulling away quickly, but somehow, my pulse is soaring wildly from the brief connection.
Connected. I already feel so connected to all of them.
My thoughts travel to the curse and how no one has yet to explain to me how it’s supposed to be broken, and yet they all keep kissing me.
Are they worried it’s not broken yet?
“Hop on,” he changes the subject and yanks me from my thoughts, “before we freeze our assess off.” Then he turns his back toward me.
“You want me to climb onto your back?” I question, brushing the snow off the back of his coat.
“It’ll be better if I carry you on my back,” he explains, glancing over his shoulder at me. “That way, if I fall, you’ll land on me instead of falling into the snow. Plus, if I need to use my powers for anything, I’ll have my hands free.”
“Oh. Right. Good idea.” I reach forward to grab his shoulders.
“Wait,” he says, and I pause. “Before you get on, I want you to do something.”
“Okay … What?”
“I need you to reach into my pocket, take out the knife that’s in there, and put it in your pocket.”
“You want me to carry a weapon?” I ask, surprised.
“It’s just a precautionary measure,” he explains. “I’m sure you won’t have to use it, but I need to know that if something happens, you’ll have a way to protect yourself if you can’t channel your powers.”
“Oh. Yeah. Okay.” I try not to sound as clueless as I am about using a knife to … To what? Cut someone?
“Have you ever carried a weapon before?” he asks as I stick my hand into his pocket.
Chasing Secrets (Capturing Magic Series Book 4) Page 4
