by Sadie Jacks
Not even my life had been that bad, and my life sucked ass. I gritted my teeth. Soon, that life would be nothing but a memory. But Kiema’s? After this ritual, she would go back to that prison. Her entire life depended on her parents. I shuddered.
I finished putting dinner together in short order. No garnish, no pageantry, but at least it would be filling.
“Soup’s on, Kiema.”
“Coming.” Her voice sounded sleepy. I watched as she sat up from the couch. Her black hair tousled and a little crazy.
I set out the bowls and plates, added silverware, and got her a glass of water. There was nothing else in the house to drink.
She sat down, leaned over the bowl, and inhaled deeply. “It smells delicious.”
“Even with that new sniffer?”
“Yes. Thank Gaia. I was afraid it would ruin dinner.”
“Dig in.” I waved her on.
I watched from the opposite side of the island as she dug into her food. The faces and noises she made pulled at my groin. I was beginning to think I was getting addicted to this woman.
“This is wonderful, Ransom. Thank you.” She smiled up at me. A dab of tomato soup stuck to the corner of her mouth.
Without thinking, I reached out and wiped it off.
She jerked away, looking at me with huge eyes.
Fuck. I watched her, my eyes wide. She hadn’t gone still as a statue yet. Did that happen immediately last time? Fuuuck, I don’t know. Her cheeks lost some color as her pale silvery eyes widened and she looked up at me.
Words started pouring out of my mouth.
Chapter 16 – Kiema
I sat there in shock. My heart in my throat. I couldn’t blink. Afraid to even breathe.
“Fuck. Kiema, I’m so sorry. Are you okay? Are you in any pain? What can I do? Fuck, fuck, fuck!” He pulled his hand back and had it behind his back before the words tumbled out of his mouth.
I did a scan of my body.
Nothing.
No pain, no dizziness, no narrowing vision.
Nothing.
I wet my throat with a quick drink of water. “Do…” I had to swallow. “Do that again.”
“What?” He looked like he hadn’t heard me right.
A hysterical laugh threatened to close my throat. I lifted my hand, gave him the come ahead gesture.
“I’m not touching you.”
I must be going crazy because it almost sounded like he was sad about that fact.
“You didn’t hurt me.” I shook my head. “Do it again. Please.” I edged my face forward the tiniest degree.
He was shaking his head. “The last time we touched, you ended up vomiting and passing out. Call me crazy, but I’m not really in the mood to repeat that performance.”
“But you just touched me, and it didn’t hurt. Please, Ransom. Please.” I heard the waver in my own voice. Could feel the cruel hope building in my chest. My hands and feet were tingling with the idea that I could touch another living being without consequence.
He shook his head again and backed up to the far counter.
“Guess I’ll just have to touch you then.” My lower belly squeezed, a spear of heat shot straight through my body, settling in my sex. I moved from the chair and began stalking around the island.
I marveled. I could smell the heat pumping off his body that hadn’t been there even ten seconds ago. It mixed with the scent of food. But not in a bad way. I licked my lips. I wanted more of it.
Of him.
I moved forward as he backed away. My eyes trained on the pulse at his throat, the way his throat worked, and how his eyelashes twitched as he watched me. Tilting my head, I heard a fast pounding rhythm that had to be his heart.
Lifting a hand to my chest, mine was still steady, if picking up the pace just a little.
Ransom held up a hand to ward me off. “Kiema, no. You’ve got to stop this. This is insane. You’re going to hurt yourself and I don’t want to be the weapon you use to do it.”
His words washed through me like a bucket of ice water.
Jerking to a halt, I blinked and shook my head. Just like that, all of my senses went back to normal. When I looked at him again, I could see that he was frightened, turned on, and serious. But that was it.
What the hell is wrong with me?
Spinning on my heel, I shot toward my suite. “Goodnight.” I slammed the door behind me.
His voice trailed after me, but I forced myself to not listen. Running the last steps to my bedroom, I stripped as I made my way to the bathroom.
Turning the knob in the shower all the way to the hot side, I stepped in without waiting for the water to warm.
Something is wrong with me.
I shuddered under the freezing torrent, clenching my arms around myself.
Over the pounding of the water in the shower, I heard the muffled beating against the suite door.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” I tipped my head back against the back of the stall and wept.
Chapter 17 – Ransom
I needed to get my head examined. The woman had been stalking me, fucking stalking me around the kitchen, and I had scuttled back like she had the plague. The skin I’d wanted to touch and taste had been within my grasp and I turned into a fucking saint.
Banging my fists against the solid wood door, I lowered my head to the surface. “Kiema. Come on. Talk to me.”
No answer.
“Shit.” I turned and slid down to my ass, back against the door. All I could see was her convulsing body as she emptied herself into the toilet. The toilet that looked like it held a piece of her internal organs. I squeezed my eyes closed, rubbing my fingers against them.
The scene played out in my mind again. The taut body bowed back like a crescent moon. The pale skin that held none of the life I’d come to expect of her honeyed tones.
The blank eyes.
I won’t be the one to cause that again. Not in this lifetime.
But what if she was right? What if my touch doesn’t hurt her anymore?
I knocked my head back against the wood. Hard. Shit. I sucked at arguing with myself. Leaning down, I glared at my lap. “Not going to happen. We protect her from us, not help her hurt herself. End of discussion.” I adjusted my dick. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t listening to me anyway.
I didn’t know how long I sat there, but eventually the light that filtered out from under the door shut off. The silent stillness of a sleeping house engulfed me. Shifting, I drew the blanket from my shoulders, and wrapped it around my body as I settled on my side on the floor in front of her door.
She had to come out eventually.
**
I knew immediately that I’d called them.
“What the fuck, Ransom?” Taryk spoke through my mind.
“Bro.” Saint’s deep voice sounded like distant thunder.
“’Bout frigging time, man,” Asher added. “We ready to go?”
“Asher, you dickhead. He just got there. No way he’s ready,” Xander said.
“You don’t know that; you’re not there,” Asher argued with his twin.
“Shut it, both of you,” Atlas silenced them. A beat of silence. “Ransom. Why’d you call us?”
I gritted my teeth. I hadn’t meant to. I hadn’t reached out in my sleep in longer than I could remember. “There’ve been some developments.”
I gave them a rundown of the last couple days. Careful to keep Kiema’s changes to myself.
We needed the full ten days for our own plans. I was supposed to stall as long as possible. We couldn’t move on my father’s company early. It would all fall apart if I left this house too soon.
“The fuck, man,” Taryk said. The man used a limited vocabulary, but his point was always crystal clear.
“I know.” I sent them a mental image of my physical changes.
“Daaamn. When can this bitch pump me up?” Asher asked.
“Shut your fucking mouth, Ash. You don’t touch her,” I growled, actu
ally baring my teeth. As soon as I realized it, my mouth fell back into its normal lines. What the hell was wrong with me? Defending a woman against one of the guys? What was happening to me?
“Something we should know, Ransom?” Saint asked quietly, a calm breeze over the storm of emotion.
I pinched my brow. “She saved my life. Almost killed her to do it. I won’t have her disrespected. Not even by us.”
“What do you mean almost killed her to do it?” Saint asked. The man absorbed information the way others absorbed sunlight.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. “Exactly what I said. She almost died healing me.” I bit the words off angrily.
“If she’s not actually dead, why you so butthurt?”
Asher was going to get his ass beat when I caught up with him. “Just watch your mouth, Ash.”
“Geez, crawl up my ass, why dontcha?”
“Are we still on schedule?” Atlas asked. Always to the point.
“Yeah. She said the healing might not be complete. We’ll have the full ten days. Even if I have to keep her here until that time.” I purposely didn’t mention the fact that she thought I had magic. I still wasn’t sold on the whole idea.
“Good. Get some sleep. You’re going to need it.” Atlas disconnected the mental call.
One by one the rest of the guys called it a night as well.
“Shit.” I rubbed my brow. It took me forever to fall back to sleep.
Chapter 18 – Kiema
“Aaah!” I crashed to the floor as I walked out of my room the next morning.
“What the hell, Ki?” Ransom growled near my feet.
“What the hell are you doing sleeping across my doorway? There’s a perfectly good oversized bed in your room.” Adjusting my sleep tank back around my boobs, I pulled my feet free of his blankets. My boy short panties were riding up my butt now too.
Jerk.
“You didn’t come back out yesterday. I fell asleep waiting for you.” His palm was on my ankle, rubbing gently over the bone.
Warmth broke out under my skin. It felt so good to be touched.
I stilled. Not wanting to scare him away. His fingers were just a little rough as they traced my ankle over and over.
The heat built where he touched me.
Soon it became a bonfire. One that threatened to blaze out of control.
No, damn it. I almost cried out as my leg felt like it was being scorched from the inside out.
I must have made a noise because Ransom pulled his hand away as if he could feel the flames licking at my skin.
He glared at me. “I told you I wouldn’t help you hurt yourself.” He pushed up from the floor, catching his blanket at his waist.
“Wait, Ransom.” I tugged on the blanket. I held up my hands in surrender when he growled low in his throat. “Hear me out.”
He studied me.
“Please.”
A single nod.
I licked my lips. “Yes, having your skin on mine was beginning to hurt.”
He turned away, a flash of pain on his face.
“Wait. Gaia, you are so stubborn. Just listen.”
He stopped, not turning back to me.
“It was beginning to hurt, but not in a way I didn’t like.” I scooted around him so I could look up into his face. “I mean, at the end it did. I couldn’t take it anymore, but before that point, it was…it was good. That’s never happened to me. Ever.”
“Explain.” His dark blue gaze didn’t move from mine.
I wet my lips as my heart started to race. I needed to make him understand. But I still didn’t really understand it myself. I took a deep breath.
“In the past, whenever I touch someone, I’m immediately pulled to the spirit plane. I’ve never had a choice. You know that.” I looked up at him.
He nodded.
“Okay, these last two times you’ve touched me, I’ve stayed here.” I could feel the tears gathering in my eyes. “I stayed in my own body, my own mind.”
He just watched me, no emotion, no expression.
Just coldly watched me.
I was such an idiot. Dropping my head, I stood up and made my way back through my suite door. The one man I could touch, and he was appalled by the idea. That would be how my luck ran.
He grabbed my hand, pulling me to a stop.
Unable to bear his expression, I relished the contact without looking up at him. Again, warmth broke out under my skin where he touched me.
He pulled me backwards with a hard jerk.
With a yelp, I landed in his arms. My entire right arm was touching his bare abdomen. Shivers and chills pebbled my whole body. I turned in his arms, leaving as much of my skin against his as I could manage.
The blanket caught between our lower bodies prevented me from feeling his skin with my legs, but I would take what I could get at the moment.
Soft fires ignited wherever I came into contact with him. I looked up into his eyes, my head tipping all the way back.
“Can I…” my voice trailed off as a different kind of heat brushed my cheeks.
“What?”
Lowering my head, I shook it. I was brave and kick ass. I was going to escape my parents and the existence of slavery I’d been trapped in all my life. I would take what I wanted.
Taking a deep breath, I leaned forward. Pressing my lips to his chest, I almost pulled back when he groaned.
His hands came up and cradled my head against him. With a sigh, I closed my eyes and explored his chest. The shallow valley between his pecs, the hard nubs of his nipples, the pebbled skin near his collarbone.
The sounds he made had my core clenching.
Way too soon, the heat grew until it raged like a wildfire. My fingertips, my lips, my scalp felt like it was being slowly burned from the inside out.
No, no, no! Not yet!
I tried to hold on, push my way into the flames to see if I could emerge on the other side. Just as I was about to go up in a billow of smoke and ash, I thrust my hand against his chest, shoving with all my strength.
He fell back a step, his eyes and lips heavy with arousal. With a growl, he reached for me again.
Feeling like the worst kind of tease, I backed up a step. “You’ve got to let me settle down. I’m burning up.”
His face cleared. “You’re not the only one.” He gave me a raw chuckle.
A tug on my heart. “That was okay?” A spark of embarrassment blazed in my cheeks. “I mean, you liked it?”
“Come back over here and find out for yourself.” He raised a hand in welcome.
It was my turn to moan. “That was super corny, but I’m not gonna lie: I loved it.” I waved my hands in the air like I was trying to catch someone’s attention from across the room.
His eyes widened. “Wait, you meant you were burning as in literal burns and fire?” he asked as he stepped closer.
I whimpered and nodded, arms still flinging about in the air.
“Fuck, Ki.” He made sure to only touch my abs that were covered by my shirt as he pushed me back into my room.
“Where are we going?” I asked, almost in tears.
“Shower. Now.” He gave me a slight push to get me going.
I turned and raced through the room, my body aflame.
Slapping my hand against the handle, I flicked it to cold and stepped under the freezing torrent for the second time in less than twenty-four hours.
Chapter 19 – Ransom
I could’ve sworn I not only felt, but heard, the fire being extinguished in her as soon as she stood trembling under the cold water.
Looking at her soaking wet had me pushing her farther into the shower and stepping in behind her.
Might as well cool some of my own flames while we were at it.
I’d been with a lot of women. But nothing had turned me on harder or faster than having Kiema kiss my chest. Every hesitant graze of her lips shot fingers of fire to my cock. Every timid lave of her tongue had tightened my balls. I hadn’t been lying when I t
old her that she could come check out if what she’d done was okay with me.
I closed my eyes as I imagined showing her, all fucking day and night.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
I opened my eyes, shot her a wry smile “Except for my balls turning to icicles, yeah, peachy. Why?”
She giggled. “You look like you’re in pain.”
“I redirect you to my prior statement.” I traced a finger over her mouth. “Your lips are turning blue. How’re those flames and burns treating you?”
“They’re gone now.” A hungry look entered her eyes as her gaze flicked to my lips.
Even standing in freezing cold water, I felt my body react to the lust in her eyes. I reached out, grabbing her waist over her tank. The wet tank that was molded to every sexy inch of her torso.
One of the few times I would be thankful for cotton covering a body.
She squirmed in my hands. Her light gray eyes swept up and captured mine. Keeping my gaze locked with hers, she leaned forward and boldly swiped her tongue up my pec.
My fingers gripped her tank, pulling her body into mine. I smiled. This was going to be the best kind of torture.
Kiema slid one of her long silky legs up and over my hip. The band of my underwear a thin, wet barrier. I groaned as she pulled herself up my body. Bracing both hands on my shoulders, she clasped her legs around my hips.
Spinning, I pushed her against the back of the shower stall. The heat from her cunt scalded me, lighting a fire in my own body. The dick that had shrunk in the cold water came back, harder and thicker than before.
Resting my cock against the wet fabric guarding her pussy had both of us moaning. I rubbed against her, short bursts that had her opening the slightest bit. I could feel her clit pressing against my cock head.
Squinting through the water trailing down my forehead and into my eyes, I thought I saw a shine in hers. Blinking rapidly, it was gone before I could be sure.
“Please,” she asked, her voice barely louder than the spray against my back.
