Shift (The Neturu Chronicles)

by Sarah Kay Carter

  “Calm down! Calm down! What are you talking about?”

  Kayla starts to cry. “I thought I fell asleep, but I went to Shima. William was there!”

  “Are you sure you weren’t sleeping?”

  “Yes, I’m positive,” Kayla cries. “He forced himself on me. He kissed me and I couldn’t stop him. I didn’t want to do it, but it felt so good because of the stupid specie hormone thing. I couldn’t control myself.”

  “HE WHAT!” Jackson yells.

  Nodding, Kayla whimpers. “He was saying that I should be with him, and I said something cocky, and he said he was going to shut me up. He kissed me, but the worst part is that it felt good. I pushed him away, but my body wanted it.” The realization of her admittance hit full force. “I think I’m going to throw up.” She darts to the bathroom and vomits into the toilet.

  Jackson kneels down next to her and rubs her back. “It’s all right, get it out.” Kayla cries while her stomach continues to empty itself. She finally stops and falls over to the side. Jackson grabs a washcloth and wipes her mouth. “Hey, okay, calm down. You’re having a reaction to him forcing his energy into you.”

  “It was horrible, Jackson, completely horrible. I couldn’t do anything! Why did it feel good? I didn’t want it!”

  He pulls her into his arms and says, “He forced his energy into you. It’s against the law for our people. We need to find out who he is, so he can be taken care of.”

  “I’m afraid to fall asleep now,” Kayla whispers. “What if he’s waiting again?”

  “I’ll sit with you and make sure you’re actually asleep. Do you want me to go wake up Damien so he can sit with you?”

  Kayla shakes her head. “No, he would just be upset.”

  “Well, I’m furious, so I think we would be in the same boat.”

  “I just want you,” she whispers, putting her head on his chest. “You make me feel safe.”

  Jackson kisses the top of her head. “Okay, let’s get you back to bed.”

  “No, I don’t want to be back in there, not right now.”

  Jackson is quiet for a moment before inquiring, “Are you suggesting staying in here?”

  She shrugs. “I don’t know.”

  “Maybe I should get Damien.”

  “No, I wouldn’t trust myself or him to sleep in the same bed.”

  Jackson softly chuckles. “But there’s nothing to worry about with me. I don’t know if I should take that as a compliment or an indication that we have no chemistry.”

  Scoffing, Kayla says, “You know that’s not the problem.”

  “I know. Damien will flip out, though. He’s seriously going to kick my ass.”

  “He doesn’t need to know. You and I aren’t doing anything wrong. If it comes up, I’ll be honest, but I need a friend right now, not a boyfriend.”

  Jackson rubs his hand on her back. “Most girls would run to their boyfriend.”

  “He isn’t my boyfriend yet, so I don’t think I should go running and jumping into bed with him. I think my parents would flip more about that, than me being with you.”

  “That’s because you’re going to have my baby, Macon Blakely.” Jackson laughs.

  With a giggle, Kayla agrees, “Yes, our little Macon. He will, of course, be raised as a vegetarian bred to hate bacon.”

  “Yes, bacon is the food of the devil.”

  They both burst into laughter. Kayla sighs. “Let’s go to sleep.”

  “All right,” Jackson says. “Come on.” He lifts her off the ground, and she follows him. They stare at the bed, neither of them taking initiative to make the first move toward it. Jackson looks at her. “We need to actually get into the bed.”

  “You go in first. I don’t know which side you sleep on.”

  Jackson smiles. “The right, I always have to sleep on the right.”

  Kayla nods. “Okay.” She walks over to the left side and pulls the blanket back. “Here goes nothing.”

  “I’m not going to attack you. Relax. I’ll wait for you to fall asleep.”

  Kayla exhales as she climbs into bed. Taking the pillow, she fluffs it up and then lies down. Jackson gets into the bed next to her. He pulls the blanket over them and then flops down. Kayla rolls over and looks at him. “Who would have thought you would have me in bed so soon?”

  Jackson laughs. “I’m just talented.”

  Kayla smirks. “I’m tired.”

  “Then go to sleep. I’ll stay awake until I know you’re really not in Shima.”

  She closes her eyes. “Thank you, Jackson.”

  “No problem, now go to sleep.”

  Pulling the blanket up to her chin, Kayla snuggles into the covers. After a while, sleep finally finds her. When she wakes up, Kayla finds herself in Jackson’s arms. She looks up and he’s looking down at her. “What’s going on?” she whispers.

  “Obviously, we can’t control ourselves,” Jackson murmurs. “I know I can’t.” He lifts her up and brings his lips to hers. The kiss is soft. Kayla wants to protest, but no words come out. They kiss each other softly, but as time goes by the energy between them intensifies. Their kisses turn desperate. Kayla shoves Jackson’s shirt up and pulls it off him.

  He rolls them over, so that he’s on top. She inhales sharply. His hands run up her legs and grip her hips. “I want you,” he whispers into her ear.

  Kayla exhales. “I want you too.”

  His hands start to pull at the top of her pants. “Tell me to stop,” he says in a strained voice.

  “No.”

  Jackson leans down and kisses her again. Kayla hesitates for a minute and then gives in. She lets herself and everything else go. Her hands grip the sheets the whole time. Being with Jackson is everything she ever imagined and more.

  Everything changes when she hears, “Kayla, hey, wake up.” She opens her eyes to find herself on top of Jackson. “Hey,” he whispers, “wake up. I think you’re having a nightmare. You’re going to rip the sheets with how hard you’re tearing at them.”

  “Holy crap!” she exclaims sitting up. “I can’t believe I just did that.”

  “Did what? Drool on me? Yes, you did, which is kind of gross, but I guess if it was going to be anyone, it may as well be you.” He laughs.

  “No, not that; everything else. I can’t believe we just did that!”

  With a confused look, Jackson says, “What are you talking about? What did we just do?”

  “What do you mean, what did we do? You can’t tell me you forgot already!”

  He looks at her, perplexed. “What are you talking about? We slept all night.”

  “What?” Kayla gasps.

  Jackson tugs on his shirt. “We slept and you drooled all over me.”

  “We didn’t…you mean…it was a dream?”

  “What was a dream?” Jackson asks.

  Exhaling loudly, Kayla clenches her chest. “Holy hell, I thought we…”

  “We what?”

  “Nothing, I’m sorry I drooled on you.”

  Jackson gets up on his elbows. “What did you think happened?”

  “Nothing. Don’t worry about it. I just had a weird dream.”

  Narrowing his eyes, Jackson stares at her and then laughs when he realizes what Kayla was dreaming about. “Damn, you thought we had sex.”

  “No, I didn’t!”

  “You were making soft noises in your sleep and gripping me and the sheets like you wouldn’t believe. I thought you were having a nightmare. Wow, was I wrong.”

  “Shut up! This is not funny.”

  He laughs. “Yes, it is. You need to tell me about it, play by play.”

  “Hell no!” Kayla screams. “I can’t believe this is happening. I’m going to die.”

  “You have to tell me something,” Jackson begs. “Come on, one juicy detail. Was the sex good?”

  Kayla covers her face in mortification. “SHUT UP!”

  “Come on, tell me something. You drooled all over me, I should at least get one detail.”


  “Shut up, Jackson,” Kayla whimpers.

  He gets on his knees and sits in front of her. “Come on, tell me, Kayla, or I’m going to make your dream come true.”

  “No you won’t, stop it!”

  Jackson pushes her over and gets on top of her. “Yes, I will. Tell me, Kayla. Did I rock your world?”

  “Get off of me.” She giggles. “I’m not going to tell you anything.”

  He bends down and starts kissing her neck. “Tell me, Kayla.” She closes her eyes and the dream comes rushing back. Her heart rate speeds up. “Tell me, Kayla.”

  “Yes,” she whispers.

  He laughs against her neck. “Awesome, well I’m glad you enjoyed your sex dream. Now, I have to tell you mine.”

  “What?” Kayla exclaims, pushing against him. “If you had one too, how do you know that we didn’t do it?”

  “Because it wasn’t last night.” Jackson sighs, holding himself over her. “This is too fantastic.”

  She shoves him over. “Get off me!”

  Jackson grabs her and pulls her on top as he rolls. “Why fight it? We can give into indulgences.”

  “No, we can’t!” Kayla giggles. “Shut up.”

  His shoulders shake with laughter. “You are so red right now.”

  “Stop it! You are awful.”

  “Or incredible from what you say,” Jackson teases.

  “It was all right, don’t boost your ego too much.”

  Jackson holds his hand to his ear. “What? I can’t quite hear you over my awesomeness.”

  Kayla bursts out laughing.

  A knock on the door causes both of them to freeze. “Jackson, do you know where Kayla is?”

  In shock, Kayla quickly scrambles off of Jackson, but in doing so, falls off the edge of the bed. She slams against the floor. “Ow,” she yells.

  The door flies open and Damien walks in. He looks at Kayla and then Jackson. “What in the hell is going on?”

  “I think I just broke my hip,” Kayla moans, rolling over. “Ow.”

  “Are you okay?” Jackson chuckles as he leans over the edge of the bed. “You fell pretty hard.”

  “What was she doing in bed with you?” Damien yells.

  Jackson puts his hands up. “We didn’t kiss. We didn’t do anything, I swear. Trust me, she had a rough night. There isn’t anything you need to worry about, other than she may have just hurt herself.”

  Damien walks over and kneels next to Kayla. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes.” She rubs her hip. “I think I’m going to have a huge bruise, though.”

  “Sorry to hear that, but would someone like to explain what’s going on?”

  Kayla frowns. “Instead of going to sleep last night, I went to Shima. William was there.”

  “What! What happened?”

  She sits up. “He tried to tell me I should be with him and then he…forced himself on me. He kissed me and I couldn’t stop it. I also couldn’t leave; he was holding me there.”

  “Damn it,” Damien groans, flopping down. “I could have helped you. I should have been helping you. Wait, why didn’t one of you wake me up?”

  “Because, honestly, I just wanted to go to sleep. It was too much. I wasn’t sure it was appropriate for you and I to sleep in the same bed, and I didn’t want to be alone and risk going to Shima with William again.” Kayla sighs.

  Jackson snorts. Damien turns to him. “What?”

  “Nothing,” Jackson replies. “Nothing happened between us last night, but I don’t know if I could have said the same if she had slept in your bed.”

  “I would not take advantage of her in that way!” Damien snaps. He takes a deep breath and exhales loudly. “All right, I’m sorry. You can do whatever you want, Kayla. I swear I’m not controlling. If you needed to sleep in Jackson’s bed, then that’s fine. Just next time, please let me know so I don’t come and find you like this again.”

  “Technically, I wasn’t in his bed, I was on the floor,” Kayla quips.

  Damien gives her a look. “Really?”

  “We weren’t naked!”

  Jackson starts to laugh. “I have to go to the bathroom.” He hops off the bed and walks away, still laughing.

  Damien looks at Kayla. “Are you okay?”

  “In what way?”

  “Every way. Someone forcing their energy into you is not an easy thing to take.”

  Kayla grimaces. “Yeah, I got sick.”

  Damien throws his hands up. “And no one thought to tell me? Do you not trust me?”

  She scoots over to him and puts her arms around his neck. “No, I trust you, and I’m sorry for not waking you up. I didn’t want you to freak out.”

  “I’m freaking out right now! It wouldn’t have mattered if it was last night or this morning.”

  “Again, I’m sorry. If anything else happens, I promise to wake you up.”

  Giving her a kind look, Damien says, “You could have stayed in my bed. I would never have touched you inappropriately.”

  Kayla giggles. “Even if I asked you to?”

  “Okay,” Damien admits, looking to the side. “Yes, if you started something, I would have finished it.”

  “See, that’s exactly why I slept with Jackson. He won’t touch me because he doesn’t want you to kick his ass.”

  Sighing, Damien says, “I would only kick his ass if you were my girlfriend and he made a move on you. You’re free to do whatever you want.”

  “I know. When Jackson is finished, I have to use the bathroom. Then I want to eat breakfast, and then you’re going to teach me about what I can do in Shima to better protect myself.”

  “Sounds like a plan. We need to figure out who William is.”

  “Your guess is as good as mine.” Kayla sighs. “I need to use another bathroom, before I pee in my pants. Come on.”

  Chapter 15

  “I’m off to school,” Jackson says. “You two behave yourselves.”

  “Yes, daddy.” Kayla giggles. “I promise to keep my clothes on.”

  “Damn straight.”

  Damien rolls his eyes. “I was voting for the clothes coming off.”

  Kayla looks at him. “I bet you were.”

  Jackson groans. “I’m leaving now, bye.” He grabs his backpack and heads out the door.

  “All right,” Damien exclaims, rubbing his hands together. “We’re alone now, you know what that means?”

  “You’re going to try and seduce me?” Kayla replies, playfully sounding exasperated.

  With a shocked expression, Damien says, “No, I’m going to teach you how to control your mind. Seducing is later.”

  “Got it.”

  “Come on, let’s go sit in the living room.” Damien grabs her hand and leads her down the hallway. When they walk into the living room, Damien points to the couch. “We really don’t have to sit on the floor; the couch will do just fine.”

  With a nod, Kayla walks over and sits down. “Now what?”

  “Go to Shima. I’ll meet you there.”

  Kayla closes her eyes and enters Shima. She quickly turns around looking for William but doesn’t see him. When Damien appears, Kayla shrugs her shoulders. “He isn’t here.”

  “Oh,” Damien replies sharply. “I wish that he was.”

  “You can’t hurt him in here, right?”

  A smirk spreads over Damien’s face. “Who says?”

  “Really?”

  “It wouldn’t cause him bodily harm, but oh yeah, it would hurt.”

  She nods her head. “Good to know. Don’t get into a fist fight in here.”

  “You feel any sensation that you act out in here,” Damien states, looking at her.

  Kayla gulps. “So if we did anything, would that count?”

  “Yes.” Damien chuckles. “It would.”

  “But you can’t get pregnant like this, right?”

  He shakes his head. “No, but if someone with a stronger mental ability comes along, they can walk right in on you, li
ke an open door.”

  “Ooh, awkward.”

  “Just a little, unless you have exhibitionist impulses, then I guess it’s all right. I won’t have sex anywhere I know I’m likely to get caught.”

  Walking up to him, Kayla starts to fiddle with his shirt button. “So you’re saying, if I wanted to right now, you wouldn’t do it?”

  Damien laughs. “I don’t know. I’m pretty powerful mentally. We could probably get away with it.”

  “Good to know,” Kayla teases as she releases his shirt.

  “Why don’t we just concentrate on your blocking capabilities? That sounds like a better idea.”

  Kayla nods. “All right, how do I do this?”

  “First, you have to be able to sense someone else’s energy. I want you to close your eyes.” Kayla gives him a look and then shuts her eyes. “Okay,” Damien starts. “Can you sense where I am?”

  “Yeah, you’re right where I last saw you.”

  “I’m going to move and you tell me where I am. Okay, in five seconds, tell me where I am.”

  She counts to five in her head and then concentrates to try and pinpoint Damien’s location. “I have no idea.”

  “Then we really need to work on this,” Damien responds from behind her. “We can sense each other, it’s like feeling me with only your energy. It will feel like a presence is standing near you. Try to feel me with your mind, not your other senses.”

  “Okay, I’ll count to five again.” She takes a deep breath and counts, “One…two…three…four…five…” She tries to feel Damien’s presence, but detects nothing. She shakes her head. “I just can’t do it.”

  Damien huffs. “Let’s try it this way.” Kayla feels him put his hand on her face. “I am going to release a little bit of my energy and then walk away from you. See if you can follow it.” His energy is like a touch of a feather on her nerves; Kayla takes a quick breath in. “Now, follow me,” Damien whispers as he lets go.

  It’s then that Kayla finally gets it. She can feel him, almost like a press on her aura. She points her finger to her right. “There.”

  “Good, now do it again,” Damien replies. “Count to five.”

  She can feel his energy move over her like a wind. After five seconds she points somewhat to the left. “You’re there.”