Paramount

by Nadia Scrieva

  But this is working. You can’t touch a woman’s upper-upper thighs and send warm energy waves through her body without making her head spin a little. Para could not help it as her imagination created visuals of the men sliding their hands a little higher. She imagined how exquisite it would feel to have both of them touching her at the same time. The thought made her stomach roll over and her arousal intensified. She stretched back and wiggled in her seat a little, imitating discomfort, and they both removed their hands. She hoped that her movement would send the subtle scent of her own arousal to both of them, so that they could be as affected as she was.

  What if I choose both of you?

  “I’m so sorry. I have to go,” she said, looking at her watch nervously, even though there was plenty of time. She acted like she was uncomfortable, and tried to move out of the booth in the direction of Thornton, but he wouldn’t budge. “Please, excuse me,” she said, pushing her body against his, letting her breasts brush against him, but he still didn’t move. He only fixed her with a strange expression. Boner-face, Thorn? I never knew you liked to put your fingers under the skirts of strange women in bars.

  She then moved to the other side, trying to make Asher scoot over, but she had a similar problem with him. He wouldn’t move, so she pressed herself against him in a fake attempt to make him scoot over. She ‘accidentally’ allowed her hand to brush his groin, and pretended she didn’t notice.

  “Gentlemen, please. I really need to go to work.”

  "Stay, Medea," begged Asher, in his innocent childlike way. He reached out and placed a hand on her lower abdomen. Heat spread through her feminine organs, and she felt her body shuddering involuntarily. How many women have they done this to? She wondered as her eyes closed of their own accord. Probably dozens. The women probably thought they were in love, that it was the heat of emotion or a divine sign. Why did they never do this to me? I guess they knew that I understood energy and would figure them out. So they want a clueless woman they can easily control. Well, I’ll pretend to be that.

  “I really do want to stay,” she said, in a breathless voice. “But I have my career to think of.”

  “What if we keep you trapped?” asked Thornton, leaning in with a playful tone.

  Casting a magick spell on me, boys? One second you're working against each other as rivals, the next moment together, as allies. Kind of like me, thought Para, like Amara and Pax working together to get what we want. Her watch beeped, snapping her out of the train of thought. Now time really was running out.

  “I can’t afford to be trapped,” she said, grabbing her purse. She promptly began to climb over Thornton, sitting in his lap for a second to feel his erection pressed fully against her bottom, before sliding off and leaving the booth. She all but ran from the lounge.

  “Wait!” called Asher frantically. When she didn’t comply, Asher dematerialized and appeared in front of her. While she easily could have dodged him, stopped herself, or dematerialized to appear on the other side of him, she allowed herself to ‘accidentally’ run into his body as a human girl would have. He caught her before she could execute a fake fall.

  She gasped and pressed a hand to her chest in mock surprise and exclaimed, “My goodness, you’re fast!” She said this while mentally commenting. Pretty slow, Ash. Not using your powers much these days, huh?

  He smiled as he held her. “I couldn’t let you leave again without knowing your phone number.”

  “Sorry,” she said, pulling away from him. For a fleeting instant she considered stopping this whole ploy altogether—being around the guys evoked too many painful emotions. Maybe she should surrender her quest for revenge and move on. “I’ll tell you another time.”

  As she backed away from Asher, she ran right into Thornton who grasped both her arms to steady her, his fingers grazing the sides of her breasts. Even this tiny touch was too tantalizing to bear. She wanted to just lean back against him and let him touch her however he wanted. He leaned down and whispered into her ear, “We might never see you again. Please, Medea. Your phone number.”

  She turned her head, letting her cheek graze his and her giant mass of indigo hair tickle his neck. “Alright, Thorn. Here it is.”

  Asher grabbed a napkin and pen and jotted the numbers down. Para’s watch began to beep frantically. She would be joined together for only five more minutes before the spell wore off.

  “I hope we meet again,” she said, making eye contact with each of them and smiling her best Burnson smile before leaving. When she was out of the club, she dug into her purse and popped a pill in her mouth quickly. It was a heavy sedative which would lower her energy to almost untraceable amounts. That way, the men wouldn’t be able to follow her. She moved quickly through the streets to the secluded spot where she had parked her car.

  “That was insane,” she said to herself when she was sitting safely behind the wheel and driving away. When the timer on the watch indicated one minute, she pulled over to the side of the road again to separate. Amara's head went crashing into the passenger side window again, while Pax bounced off the driver door and fell right into the seat where she preferred to be.

  “It’s kind of nice to be myself again, this time,” said Amara, rubbing her head. She buckled up her seatbelt. The sedative had made her a bit drowsy and she curled her feet up under herself in the seat.

  “I know. It’s nice that we can talk to each other about what just happened instead of Para just speaking to herself.”

  “So, she chose the name Medea?” said Amara with a chuckle. “Epic. I like to think I might have influenced that.”

  “We both did,” said Pax with a wink at her friend. She sighed, and leaned back against the seat of the car. “Sweet Sakra. I can’t believe they’re trying so hard to seduce random women almost instantly after breaking up with us.”

  “Para’s not a random woman. She is us,” Amara reminded her. Then the blonde woman shook her head. “The way they work together! They must have been doing that since we were toddlers.”

  Pax shrugged, feeling a bit miserable about the whole situation. “Yeah. Thorn’s fourteen years older than I am, and I knew he was a manwhore and a playboy long before I hit puberty. I just thought that after being together for so many years…”

  “You guys started dating before you even started college, right?” Amara asked. “I know he took you to your prom. I was kind of hanging out with my own crowd by then, I guess.”

  Glancing over at the blonde woman, Pax shrugged. “It doesn’t matter now, does it?”

  “Five years? Six years?” Amara asked.

  “Who-cares-years,” Pax answered. She released the steering wheel so that it would not melt due to her growing anger. “It was basically a quarter of my life that I can’t get back.”

  “I’m sorry, Paxie.”

  What Pax was too ashamed to tell Amara was that she had been seeing her brother for far longer than anyone knew. It actually amounted to well over half of her life. “Even if I live longer due to magick, even if I manage to live double or triple the lifespan of a normal person… I’ll never get those years back, and I’ll never get over this.”

  “It wasn’t all bad though, right?”

  “That’s what makes it all bad now.”

  Amara sighed and stared at the streetlights in the distance as the women drove in silence for several minutes. She turned to her friend suddenly. “Everything changes now that we have Para. She’s our secret weapon. We’ve got some unfinished business that we can’t deal with on our own—but she’s going to take care of it for us. Right?”

  “I just hope it works out the way we want it to,” Pax answered. “Lies and deception usually end badly.”

  “They were lying and deceiving us the whole time,” Amara said fiercely. “I thought Asher loved me! I saw no signs whatsoever of anything being wrong between us.”

  Pax glanced over at her friend and sighed, choosing to speak to Amara with her mind instead of her voice. I know. I can feel the
way you feel about him when we’re merged. He doesn’t deserve that much love, Amara. Not after what he did to you.

  Amara glared at her friend. By Sakra, Pax! I could say the exact same to you. The exact same. Thorn doesn’t deserve your adoration! You should end these feelings. I felt your love and your desire for him as though it were my own. I’ve never felt so much passion and need for my brother. For heaven’s sake! I just sat on his goddamned erection for you!

  Pax burst out laughing at the ridiculous image. Amara joined in. The two girls laughed for a moment without being able to stop. Well, Mara, we’re even. I just practically grabbed my uncle’s penis for you.

  Amara squealed and let out something between a giggle and a gasp, and they both launched into a fit of laughter again. Pax doubled over, her body shaking so much that her chin hit the horn on the steering wheel and honked it rather loudly, which made her sit straight up with a start. Of course, they both knew that technically neither of them had done those things, and it was the unique combination of both of their bodies and minds which had chosen to initiate those suggestive sexual acts, but it sure was fun to take responsibility for Para’s wickedness.

  "I guess we should get out of here," said Pax with a smile, beginning to drive them home again.

  They had covered a few more miles in a pleasant silence. “Pax,” Amara said softly. “I want you to know that even if we don’t achieve what we initially intended to do by merging into Para, I’ve already learned so much from practicing magick with you and doing this whole thing.”

  “Don’t get sentimental on me, Mara. I know.”

  “No, listen. Sometimes it’s rough, and sometimes it’s fun—but overall, I have really learned a lot about myself. I didn’t know I could ever feel as strong as I do when I’m Para. And if part of her is me—then that’s not all your power, is it? Some of it must be mine.”

  “Of course it is.”

  “Paxie, what I’m trying to say is that I feel like this experience is healing me a little bit. Maybe I lost Ash, but you’ve been there for me, and I know that when things get rough you’ll always be there for me. I’ve got my best friend back. And you’re helping to make me so much smarter and stronger that I know I will never allow myself to be hurt this way again.”

  Pax glanced at her friend out of the corner of her eye. She swallowed back a lump of emotion in her throat. For the first time in the months since Thornton trampled on her heart, she felt truly happy. She knew that she had done something right. She helped her friend feel better.

  She smiled, looking back at the road and thinking, We're so screwed up, Mara!

  I know, right? Amara grinned, feeling the cheerfulness in the thought. Whatever happens, at least we're in this together. Let them deal with the monster they created!

  Chapter 7: Welding Things Together

  The sound of power tools buzzing caused Pax to groan and pull a pillow over her head. Her fitful sleep had seamlessly bled into an equally nightmarish reality. I almost prefer the demon, she thought to herself. At least he wasn’t noisy. She stretched her legs out slowly as she willed herself awake. Why do I feel like I've been hit by a truck? Oh yes, the sedatives to make Para weaker. Amara’s guestroom bed was extremely comfortable, especially when slightly sedated. Pax removed the pillow from her face so that she could release a giant yawn. She squinted one eye open before turning her head slightly so that she could look at her surroundings. A panoramic view of the ocean was visible through a giant pane of glass. It was several minutes before she realized she was staring. So this is why Amara lives on the waterfront. What a spectacular scene.

  Pax pulled herself up onto her knees to better appreciate the view as she stretched out her arms. Except for the incessant roar of what was possibly a chainsaw or a power drill, it was a lovely morning—or afternoon. Realizing how high the sun was in the sky, Pax figured that the sedatives must have knocked her out and caused her to sleep well past noon. Pressing the palms of her gloved hands against her ears, Pax began to move off the bed before she noticed something strange.

  There was a drop of blood on her pillow. Pax frowned, reaching up to check if her nose was bleeding. She ran her fingers over her lips to check if she had bitten herself. She glanced down at her pajama pants to see if it was her time of month. Finding no trace of blood anywhere on her body, she grew puzzled. On a hunch, she checked her chest again to see if there were claw marks. The memory of the creepy dream still lingered in her mind. Finding nothing, she shrugged. It was just one drop of blood—it wasn’t important.

  She levitated herself off the bed and materialized downstairs directly beside Amara. The blonde woman jumped a little, and turned off the power tool she was holding. She pulled her safety goggles off her head and gave her friend a big smile.

  “Don’t you love the smell of Kalgren technology in the morning?”

  “I’d like the smell better if a Kalgren was frying me up some bacon instead of welding metal.”

  “I’m not that kind of Kalgren,” Amara said unapologetically. She pointed one of her tools at Pax jokingly. “If you want to be woken up with breakfast in bed, you should go back to living with the other sibling.”

  Pax smiled. “That’s not how he used to wake me up.”

  “Ew! Too much information. Too early to hear that kind of thing. Especially after yesterday.” Amara shuddered theatrically. “Anyway, don’t you want to know what my genius mind has generated?”

  “What is it?”

  “Well… this thing isn’t finished yet; it’s a surprise. But I’ve been productive this morning! Here.” Amara reached into her pink lab coat and pulled out a phone before tossing it to Pax. “I took your phone and programmed it to emulate Para’s voice in addition to your voice. So if one of the boys calls you, and we’re not welded together at the moment—see what I did there? Then you can still take the call and just talk normally—it will sound like they’re speaking to Para. And if we are welded together, we can still sound like our individual selves! I did my phone too. Tell me I’m brilliant.”

  “You’re brilliant. But since when do we refer to two guys who are over a decade older than us as ‘the boys?’” Pax asked as she began to play with the phone.

  “Since they started acting like children,” Amara answered instantly. She pulled her goggles back down over her eyes and returned to welding things together.

  Pax smiled, and continued toying with the phone as she walked out to Amara’s patio. She slid the doors open and headed past the deck into the grass which was still moist from the morning dew. She shoved the phone into the pocket of her pajama top as she stared out at the scenic water below the cliff. Walking to the edge, Pax could not resist jumping off just to feel the sensation of falling.

  As she fell, the wind whipped her short black hair around violently. She was enjoying her own all-natural rollercoaster when her new phone began to ring. She paused in midair, levitating halfway down the cliff. Her hand reached into her pocket, and the vibration against her hand sent tingles of excitement through her.

  She wondered whether it was Asher or Thornton calling. They had both called her countless times before, and she had never felt this excited. Whoever it was, he wasn’t calling her; he was calling part of her, part of her that existed in a dreamlike state. Yes, she might as well be dreaming when she was Para. That was exactly the way it felt. She was still herself, but not totally in control.

  Para was a dream of falling. Even though Pax knew fully well in both her conscious and subconscious mind that she could control her energy to create an air-cushion beneath her to keep her from falling, for some reason she simply couldn’t fly in some dreams. As much as she tried, she was robbed of her powers. The most terrifying dreams were the ones where she was completely human, and completely vulnerable. However, Para wasn’t that type of dream; not the kind that robbed you of your abilities and ridiculed your insecurities mockingly.

  Para gave pure power. She was the dream where you could fly endlessly through the
open skies without a trace of fear or pessimism. Fly without needing a spaceship through the galaxies to distant planets. She was the dream where you tried to grasp the rainbow and it burst into a kaleidoscope of even more rich and stunning color which you could hold and twist in your hands. She was the dream of being born again, with all the wisdom and joy you ever possessed, multiplied to astronomical proportions.

  Para was all of Pax’s fondest fantasies rolled up into one ball. The dream that her mother and grandfather were alive and well, that they had not been taken from her over a decade ago, and that their uplifting smiles and warm hugs were something accessible. She was the dream where the Asura gathered in a swarming army, and they were all attacking her family, but Pax somehow had the power to defeat them all—all by herself. Well, not by herself. With her best friend.

  Para was mostly made of goddess. Literally. It was so challenging to suppress the energy which radiated from her skin that Pax had raided the hospitals where she volunteered for drugs to accomplish the feat. If not for this, Para would not have been able to hold a martini glass without it bending to her touch as though it were rubber. Pax could only imagine what it would feel like to test Para’s powers without restraint. If both girls could let loose and exercise their true strength when their bodies were joined… they would probably be the most powerful female demigoddess who currently existed! It would be incredible.

  It was almost a shame that such great potential was being wasted on two foolish boys. On playing a game. But we deserve this revenge. They played games with our hearts. Why shouldn’t we play too? Pax felt a moment of guilt. When this is finished, I promise to use Para to achieve something good. She smiled, and allowed herself to continue falling to the rocks below. She still hadn’t withdrawn the phone from her pocket. She almost did not want to know who was calling.

  Everything was new. Having always been Asher’s little niece, she had never seen him from this twisted, hateful, sexual perspective. She would never think the same of him again. After half a lifetime of belonging to Thornton as his woman, as his girlfriend; it was new once more. He looked at Para with an excitement that wasn’t in his eyes anymore when he looked at Pax. He had become too comfortable in knowing that she belonged to him, and always would.