Colton moved to the kitchen counter and rocked back. “We were doing other things. But it was a little bit like we all held our breath waiting for her.”
“I get that.” He took a sip of his beer. “Which one of you is going to tell me what you’re going to do next to work out what happened today?”
Raising his hand, Oliver got Rick’s attention. “Guess that’s me. We were just discussing hypnotism.”
“And I was wondering if we could speak to the husband of your client?” I watched Rick for a sign he was about to tell me this was all too nuts and I was off my rocker.
But he just nodded. “I’ll ask her. She’ll probably be amenable. All right, let’s get to the hypnotism.”
“There’s a little more to it than that. But we can give it a try.” Oliver glanced around the kitchen as if looking for something. When he didn’t find it, he leaned toward me.
“So?” I asked. “How does it work?”
He took my hands in his. “The thing about hypnotism is that it is really self-hypnosis. The hypnotist guides you as you essentially hypnotize yourself. You have to want to be hypnotized.”
I supposed that made a certain amount of sense. “What will we do?”
“Close your eyes for me.”
It was weird knowing that all eyes in the room were on me. “Okay.”
He squeezed my hands in his. “We’re going to try to get you into a waking sleep.”
“Where are you most relaxed?” Colton asked.
This was my house, and it was pretty much my favorite place in the world. Pick a spot. But I actually did have a place where I went whenever I was stressed. “Living room. In front of the fire.”
“Then let’s go.” I opened my eyes and took his outstretched hand. We went into the living room and sat on my comfy sofa. The fire was low, sparks of flames eating at the logs as tendrils of smoke curled toward the chimney.
We got settled, and I leaned back on the sofa. “I don’t suppose you have a pocket watch?” I asked. Wasn’t that how this went?
“Nope. I have something better.” He tilted his head toward the fire. “Look into the flames.”
I did. His voice went quiet and low, and distractingly sexy. “Focus on your breath. In and out. In and out.”
I focused on the flames and on my breath. One finger of flame caught my attention. It grew and shrunk, the very top of the flame bright orange while the bottom was a pale yellow. Outside, the wind was blowing louder and seemed to sync up with my breath. My eyelids got heavy, the warmth making me boneless and relaxed. I wanted to help Oliver. I wanted to help everyone by remembering what had happened in that doctor’s office.
“You want to remember what happened.” He spoke the same words I’d just thought. “You’re going to go back in your mind and remember, step by step, what happened in the doctor’s office. But you’re going to do it from a distance. No one will see you, because you’re here with me. Totally safe. Now, keep watching the flame and breathe. In and out.”
I did just as he asked. Breathing would get me answers. All I had to do was watch that flickering flame.
“When I count to five, you’re going to close your eyes and you’re going to see yourself, getting out of the car with Aaron.” He went on slowly, “One, two, three, four, five.”
Aaron and I stood outside the doctor’s office, but I was an observer to it all. I stood behind the two of us. I watched us walk inside, Aaron holding the door for me, and I trailed after them, my feet silent on the stairs.
Nothing about the appointment seemed weird until the nurse wrapped the blood pressure cuff around my arm. I stood by the door, watching her as she squeezed the bulb to tighten the cuff, and her gaze flickered toward me.
Oliver’s voice returned to me, a reminder. Totally safe. The nurse told me a number, one that seemed to concern the self I observed. She walked toward me.
And stopped.
She glanced down at the folder in her arms and then toward me. A smile grew on her face as she turned fully to face me. “What are you doing here, little sneak?”
I blinked. “What?”
“You heard me.” She stepped toward me, her image altering slightly. The color in her cheeks faded until she was as pale as the coat she wore over her black scrubs. “What are you doing here? You don’t belong here right now.”
“Lacey.” Oliver’s voice intruded on the moment. “Stay with me here. You’re in the room. And the nurse has just taken your blood pressure.”
The nurse seemed to fade out of focus as I processed his question. “It was high. But then it wasn’t when Aaron took it,” I spoke aloud. I could remember that. My gaze went from me and Aaron back to the nurse. “Oliver, the nurse just talked to me. Real me.”
There was a long pause. “What is she saying to you?”
“That I don’t belong here. This… I mean, I don’t know how to describe it, this isn’t right.”
Thorn said, “There have been instances of intrusion. I’ve never personally seen it but—hold on.”
“What?” I asked as in my vision, the nurse walked toward me. She kissed my cheek. I stood there frozen while she did.
I hated the sensation and wanted to wrench away. Yet warmth filled my body, flowing from her lips into my skin, infesting my cells with that kiss. “You don’t belong here. You don’t get to have this memory.”
I blinked, back in the living room. I stared at the men around me. Rick. Thorn. Colton. Oliver. “I don’t get to have those memories.”
Oliver snapped his fingers in front of my eyes. “Lacey?” He rose fast. “You with me?”
“Where else would I be?” I blinked. Numbness took over my body. It was as though I couldn’t feel anything at all. Just a bunch of…nothingness.
A bang sounded behind me, and everyone jumped except me. I turned slightly, only mildly interested in seeing who was there. Aaron stumbled forward.
“Who let it in?” he shouted. “Who let that thing into the house?”
His brother motioned toward me. “I’m hypnotizing Lacey, but something is wrong.”
Aaron grabbed onto his knees. “Yes, fuck. Something is wrong. Colton, can’t you feel that?”
He shook his head. “I don’t… I’m not getting anything.”
“Someone start explaining.” Rick’s voice rose. “What is wrong with Lacey?”
“There’s nothing wrong with me.” I stood. Why would someone think there was? It was time to go out. I walked to the door, grabbing my snow boots. I put them on.
Thorn was at my side fast. “Lacey? What are you doing?”
“Going.” Didn’t he know that? Was no one paying attention to what was happening? It was obviously time to leave.
“No.” Thorn shook his head as he laced his fingers into mine. “It’s much too dark, much too cold. There’s nowhere to go right now. You’re going to stay right here.”
Colton muttered some words I couldn’t make out. Pain hit me fast, and my knees gave out. I would have hit the floor if Thorn hadn’t been right there.
“Demon, then.” Thorn nodded to Colton. “Reacting for sure. They go after her like it’s their job. When we get the thing off her, I want to start exploring why that is. It’s like they covet her.”
“What the hell did you do?” Rick boomed. “Fix her!”
The world spun as Thorn lifted me into his arms and brought me back to the couch. As the pain faded, a new sensation took its place. My skin itched. I rubbed my arm, nails digging into my skin. But scratching didn’t touch it.
“Bring her into the bathroom.” Aaron looked like shit. He gripped the wall between my living room and the hall. He closed his eyes. “It’s still here. Can you feel it?”
“Is there something crawling on me?” I asked. I scratched the back of my neck, chasing the sensation. My fingers dug deeper into my skin.
Thorn grabbed my hand. “You’re going to make yourself bleed.”
Maybe that would stop the itch.
Aaron swall
owed hard. “Hurry up. It’s all over her.”
Colton went to his friend, pulling him so Aaron’s arm draped over his shoulder. “You shouldn’t be up.”
“And you shouldn’t be messing with things you don’t understand. This is why we don’t work apart. We make a plan.” His skin was looking green.
“Aaron needs to lie down.” I ripped the shirt I had off, uncaring that I was revealing my sports bra to Rick and the guys. I glanced down at my body, expecting to see raised bumps or bright red skin. There was nothing. Just smooth, pale expanses of flesh that rarely saw the sun.
“Burn the sage, set up the crystals I brought. Rick, I need you to grab the bag of salt on Lacey’s bureau and pour it around the perimeter of the house. Colt, go with him. Make sure you have amethyst. Thorn, fucking move before that thing finds a toehold again.”
I couldn’t stop myself. I dug deep and dragged my nails over my flesh. Thorn lifted me, hurrying to the bathroom. He pulled off my clothes as Oliver hurried in and out. He lit incense, the scent of it heady and overwhelming. “Is that patchouli or weed?”
“She’s going to go out hard,” Oliver said. I could barely see through the smoke. “Make sure you’re ready to catch her.”
In response, Thorn sat with me on the ground and dragged me between his legs. He held my hands in his, stopping me from scratching. I writhed, moving my body to rub against his. This was the worst. The absolute worst. A demon tries to go after me, and I get demon-pox.
Oliver turned on the water, dumping the contents of a plastic container into it. “Lacey, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s done!” Rick’s voice came from down the hall. He appeared a second later, his cheeks rosy from the cold. “Is she fixed yet?” He couldn’t hide the worry from his voice.
Thorn lifted me and placed me into the water. Whatever the incense was, it was in the water too. I went under, submerging myself.
As soon as I did, the itching stopped and I was hit by a wave of exhaustion. I closed my eyes, letting myself float beneath the surface. Someone pulled me out of the water. “She’s going to be out for a while,” Oliver said.
“Bring her upstairs and put her next to Aaron,” Colton replied, “and let’s figure out what the hell just happened.”
I stared up at the ceiling, but the world was blurring out in front of my eyes.
“Lacey.” Voices called to me. I could hear them, even as the darkness pulled me under. “Lacey, come to us. We’re here with you. In sleep.”
“Colton,” I whispered as I was dragged down. “Can’t you hear that?”
I woke up with a start. My body was tangled with something warm. There was a pressure over my stomach, pinning me to the bed.
Déjà vu struck me. Wrenching my eyes open, I found Aaron awake and watching me.
When he spoke, it was with a low, scratchy voice. “Morning, Lacey. You had a rough night. I’m sorry that happened. Oliver never would have hypnotized you if he’d had any idea that could happen.”
I stroked my hand down the side of his face. “I asked him to.”
“There is a demon out there with a hard-on for you.” He shifted slightly. “Of course, I have a hard on for you, too. But of a different nature.”
I cracked up. “I can feel that.”
“Good.” He kissed me, gently and then harder. All of my questions, thoughts, and concerns fled right then. I was wrapped up in Aaron. He was, as he’d said, hard for me, and fuck, I wanted him. I didn’t know what had happened, and I didn’t care.
He was shirtless, and I tugged him closer. Right then, all I wanted in the universe was Aaron inside of me.
I kissed him all over his face, and he gripped my hips. Aaron squirmed lower until he was able to kiss my stomach and then the tops of my thighs. I realized where he was heading. He lifted his head and met my gaze. “You’re so fucking gorgeous, Lacey. All this time in this bed with you, I behaved. I swear I did. I don’t want to behave now.”
I sucked in my breath, anticipation making me pant. “Don’t behave.”
His gaze was wicked, but as he lowered his head, his eyes closed. He pressed a kiss to my stomach, breathing in deeply. “You smell good.”
After all of the herbs I’d been basted in last night, I probably smelled like a spice rack. But I swallowed back the comment as he ran his fingers along the crease of my leg.
One of Aaron’s hands went to my knee, forcing me to bend it. I knew what he was trying to do, and I wanted that, too, but more, I wanted to kiss him.
“Aaron, come here.”
He shook his head, his silky hair tickling my thighs.
“Please.”
He sighed, and that gust of air made goosebumps erupt over my skin. He slid up my body, all warmth and lean hard muscle. “I had a plan,” he whispered.
His plan was really good, and I could fully get on board with it. “I haven’t gotten to really kiss you,” I said. “And I’ve been waiting ten years for that.”
Aaron’s smile was slow and sweet. “You liked me ten years ago?”
“Aaron.” I threaded my fingers through his hair. “I loved you. You tried to protect me from my grandmother. You did protect me, time and again, from Erdirg.”
He kissed me then, and it was like his smile. He traced my lips with his tongue until I opened for him, and then he dipped inside my mouth.
I opened my legs wider, and his hand went between us. He traced my folds with his finger. I gasped as he pushed inside me, back bowing, hips canting to keep him in me and move him deeper.
“I knew you’d feel so good,” he said against my lips.
I trailed my hands along his back. His muscles flexed and contracted as he shifted. He had on boxer briefs, but I didn’t want anything between us. Snaking my hands past the elastic waistband, I grabbed his ass, jerking him against me.
And still, we kissed.
It was the most perfect kiss I could ever imagine having with him. He was sweet but firm. There was no rush, no uncertainty, just an exploration.
He was hard between my legs, and I wanted to feel him. “Aaron.”
“I thought you wanted to kiss.”
I pushed my head against the pillow so I could see into his eyes. “We can do both.”
God. His smile could undo me. He hid nothing. Aaron let it all out for me to see. I hoped he could see the same thing when he looked at me. But if he couldn’t? “I fucking love you, Aaron.”
Something came over him when I said those words—a fierceness. It reminded me of his voice when he’d dragged himself into the kitchen last night. He stared at me like he’d go to war for me.
Slay dragons—or demons.
Rolling, he slipped off his boxers. He reached for me, but I was already moving, positioning myself over him.
“Protection,” he said, as I had him at my entrance.
I opened my mouth to tell him I was on the pill, but he seemed to change his mind.
“No.” He shook his head. “First I get to taste you. We’ll figure out the protection later.”
I’d stopped him earlier, but I wasn’t going to now. He positioned himself where he’d been earlier, this time kissing both of my thighs. One then the other. He scooted down slightly, and with the smallest moan as he did, kissed my clit. I practically reared off the bed.
Yes, this was what I wanted, what I needed more than anything. I gripped the sheets. He stroked the small bundle of hooded nerves, licking like he was starved for me.
I hadn’t had that much experience with this, and hadn’t loved what I did have. But right then as he scrunched forward, digging his cock into the bed, it occurred to me that he really liked this.
No, it was almost like Aaron was getting off doing this.
And that was so fucking hot.
I closed my eyes, letting the pleasure, the sheer bliss of having him between my legs, licking and sucking on me like he never wanted to do anything else, flood through my body.
My orgasm hit me all at once. One second, I wasn
’t going to come, and the next, it exploded through me like an eruption I couldn’t control. I cried out. Fuck, the neighbors down the block could probably hear me.
Aaron didn’t stop. He swirled his tongue over my most sensitive area, not stopping until he wrung every second of pleasure from my body. He left me a mess, gasping for air, and hardly able to think at all.
He moved fast, lifting his head to kiss me on my mouth. He slipped his tongue between my lips, and seconds later, I could feel him grinding into me the way he had the bed. I wanted more. So much more. “Aaron. I’m on the pill.”
With his long hair falling over his shoulders, Aaron was sex personified, and I hoped my birth control was up to the job.
“Lacey, I had so many dreams about you. I used to have to lock myself in the bathroom when you’d be wandering about my house and just think about being inside of you. I’d come so hard in my hand, I could hardly breathe from it.”
I gasped. “Really?”
“Yes. God. Yes.” He pressed himself against my entrance then slid up, rubbing his cock against my clit. “And I want to make you come, again and again.”
I arched my back, opening my legs wider to make room for his hips. He slid into me like he belonged there.
And he did.
I’d been waiting ten years for him.
Aaron held himself in place, eyes closed, arms shaking as he braced himself above me. “Is this real?”
I smiled, reached for his face, and pulled him down to me. I kissed him as he withdrew and stroked into me. I’d already come once, and that was usually it for me, even when I was by myself. But with Aaron, my body was alight. He pulled everything from me—my feelings, my fears, my dreams. And all of that combined brought me closer and closer to release.
Aaron groaned into my mouth. Unable to hold himself up any longer, he let his weight fall more fully on top of me. I loved it. Aaron surrounded me. His taste. His heat.
Voices in the Darkness Page 12
