Burning

by Carrillo, K. D.

  I straightened up and gave Leah a smile. “I’m Anita,” I greeted and extended my hand. “It’s, uh…nice to meet you,” I finished lamely. I liked Leah, mostly because she wasn’t checking out my man. She just seemed uncomfortable and a little sad.

  “I think I heard someone say that you are refugees. What are you fleeing from?” Chloë asked.

  “The Inquisition,” Leah responded seriously.

  “Really? Like witch hunts and burning at the stake?” I asked skeptically.

  Cooper, Leah and Jo nodded in response.

  Cooper looked at each of us, studying our faces. “Didn’t the Council call and talk to you about any of this?” Our blank faces answered that question for him. He tugged at his thick, brown hair. “The Watchers are collecting young supes that aren’t protected by a coven and placing them all over where they can be protected. Grey should be here sometime this afternoon with another straggler. I was supposed to bring you the Broken Feather triplets, but the Auto-da-fé arrived in Oregon before I did.”

  I glanced at the twins and saw the anguished expression that crossed their faces.

  “They caught our brother and burned him alive,” Jo said in a grief stricken voice.

  I softened toward her a bit. She may very well be a bitch, but I would forgive her this once. After all, it seemed she had been through hell.

  “You probably want to unpack and rest. I’m sorry to hear about your brother. We have a guest apartment over our shop behind the house. It is three bedrooms, which should work out for the two of you and whoever Grey is bringing,” Chloë said, handing Cooper a set of keys.

  “Okay, twinkies. I’ll show you to your new digs,” Cooper said, grabbing their bags.

  Dean astutely made no move to help him get them settled. Without missing a beat, Finn stepped forward and helped Cooper move the twins into the apartment. I could forgive, but I wasn’t going to leave Jo alone with my guy. I was understanding, not a pushover.

  Finn

  Cooper said that Grey was bringing another “refugee” with him. I really wasn’t looking forward to seeing that guy. I at least hoped he would be away until I had managed to make Chloë fall for me again. Plus, I had a bad feeling about the girl he was bringing with him. I knew she was going to be an elf, because how else could Grey screw with me? I wasn't looking forward to this upcoming confrontation, especially after the near catfight between Anita and the shifter.

  I had to plan a romantic night out for us, maybe make it an all-day thing. If I only had a few hours left before he returned, I planned to make them count.

  “Chloë, let’s go spend some time together before things get super crazy around here with whatever shitstorm your mom sent to us.” I braced myself, partly expecting her to refuse me.

  Instead, she smiled at me and whispered in a husky voice, “You want me all to yourself, huh?”

  I groaned. It was really cruel that her voice had to be as sexy as the rest of her. Sexy actually seemed like a weak word to use for Chloë. She was ethereal, inspirational, a living goddess. She made a man dream of sin while hoping to be good enough to deserve her.

  “You, me, and a deserted island would be heaven on Earth,” I growled.

  Her eyes narrowed, and just like that, she saw right through me. “What's bothering you? We have been doing so well, taking things slow, but you seem really tense. Spill it, Finn,” she demanded.

  I exhaled forcefully and scrubbed my hands across my face. “You did hear that your ex is on his way back, didn't you?”

  “Finn, I don’t want to be with Grey. I’m happy seeing where this thing between us is going. Please don’t freak out about this,” she begged.

  “This thing between us? Chloë, I don’t think you understand what ‘this thing’ is for me. I love you. I know I was a tool, and I screwed up a lot. I want you forever. I’m not freaking out about commitment anymore. I need to know if you are ready for something like that.”

  She allowed her eyes to search my body. I felt her gaze on my skin like she was lightly touching me. It was hot.

  “Forever with you?” She smirked seductively. “I can get on board with that. My only hang-up here is our past. I’m scared to step out there again. Taking it slow gives me time to trust you again.”

  “I understand that. I do. Let’s spend some more time together today,” I urged.

  She licked her lips unconsciously. “What did you have in mind?”

  I groaned again. “Chlo, you have to rein your sexy ass in a bit. You're killing me."

  She gave me a wicked smile. "Mmm, but what a way to go."

  I pulled the collar of my shirt away from my neck, trying to release the heat her throaty voice created. "I don’t want to pull a Dean move on you, but we can’t go there until you're ready to commit to forever. If we let ourselves get carried away, our magical biology would make the decision for you.”

  “Go there, as in hot and sweaty?" Chloë leaned in close and kissed me underneath my right ear. "We would be bonded? Wait, does that mean you haven’t…” she trailed off.

  “Yes, we would be bonded, and no I haven’t,” I answered quietly.

  Her eyebrows scrunched together. “I thought you hooked up with that cheerleader. You know, the one whose name ends in an E sound.”

  I chuckled. “All of their names end that way. I think your BFF Cyndi forces them to change their names. Anyway, no. We messed around, but I just couldn’t. I mean I could, but I…I don’t know. I guess I knew I shouldn’t.”

  Chloë looked down at her feet.

  I tipped her chin back up with my finger and forced her to look at me. "Hey, what's wrong?" She shrugged, trying to look away from me. "Chloë."

  She exhaled forcefully. "Does it bother you that I've, you know? That Grey and I…?" she fumbled out.

  I grimaced. "I wish I could tell you that it doesn't bother me. I'm possessive, especially when it comes to you. I managed to control myself before. Well, for the most part. You should know that I'm jealous, possessive, and probably a dozen other negative things. But I love you. It isn't my place to judge your past. I royally screwed up with you before. I don't have a right to have a problem with your relationship with Grey."

  Her face softened, but her eyes were still tense. "Do you know why I stopped being angry with you last winter?"

  "No. I thought you just stopped fighting your feelings for me," I answered, confused.

  "That's partly true. But I stopped being mad because I wouldn't do anything different. I know you don't want to hear this, but I loved him. I'm glad for my time with him. I don't regret any of it. Not the beginning, the middle, or the end."

  "You don't regret his leaving you without a word for almost ten months? You don't regret the end of the relationship with your first love?" I asked.

  "Well, when you put it that way… I would regret ending a relationship with my first love if I hadn't found a way back to him," she said cryptically.

  "What the hell? Am I wasting my time here?" I demanded.

  "Finn. Grey isn't my first love," she added.

  The fire in my skin spread to my heart. "Chloë, are you saying what I think you're saying?"

  "Finn, I'm in love with you. I still want to take our relationship slow."

  I picked her up and kissed her. I meant it to be a quick brush of my lips against hers, but the simmering fire under my skin became an inferno.

  I flicked my tongue against the seam of her lips, begging entrance. Chloë responded immediately. I fisted my hand into her hair, locking her lips to mine. She clung tightly to me, but all too soon, she pushed away.

  "That isn't taking things slow, Finn."

  I pressed my forehead against hers. "Sorry. I can't seem to help myself with you anymore."

  "I don't really want you to. At least not completely," she admitted.

  I took a step away from her. My body protested the action. The heat that coursed through my body when she was near suddenly turned into liquid fire. I took a step closer and the b
urning pain eased. I wrapped my arms around her and the pain disappeared. I took a deep breath.

  "I can't seem to let you go right now." My voice came out strangled.

  Chloë placed her small hand on my face. "Hey, are you okay?"

  I swallowed hard. "Not really. I'm in pain actually. I don't mean that in the way guys say it to get in a girl's pants."

  "Why?" she asked softly.

  I slipped my hand under her shirt and lightly stroked the skin just above her shorts. "My parents said it was the bond. I feel sick when you aren't right next to me. When I was in Europe, it felt like I had a cold that wouldn't go away. My dad noticed and explained the bond to me."

  "But we haven't... I thought that we had to, you know...before the bond happened," she stumbled out.

  With my free hand, I pushed a long lock of hair behind her ear. "For you, Chloë. Not for me. I'm afraid you've had me since the first kiss. Remember the one that scared the hell out of me? It wasn't because I didn't want to be with you. It was because I never wanted to be without you."

  "Keep saying things like that and you never will be," she said.

  "I'll remember that. As much as I would love to kiss you right now, I don't think I can handle the pain. Instead, let's go eat at the café, walk around down town, and check out some of the stores," I suggested.

  "Sounds like fun. I'm going to change real quick and I'll meet you back down here in thirty minutes."

  Chloë

  Taking extra time to get ready was worth it when I saw Finn's eyes darken as I walked down the stairs. "Ready?" I asked.

  His jaw snapped closed and he nodded without taking his eyes off me. I loved when he looked at me like I was the sunrise, bright and full of possibilities. I bit my lip and slipped my hand into his.

  He opened the door of his silver Lexus hybrid SUV.

  "I meant to ask you the other day. What happened to the sports car?" I asked.

  He shrugged. "Every time we all need to travel together, we need to either use Dean's truck or get a car from the corpse. I wanted something we could all use that wouldn't destroy the planet."

  "I liked most of what you said, but can you not call him 'the corpse'?" I asked.

  "I'll try. It's hard though. I told you I'm jealous and possessive. I try to fight it, but I don't always win," Finn admitted.

  "I appreciate the effort," I said.

  I wanted us to have a day alone together before Grey came back. Things always seemed to screw up for Finn and me when Grey was around. I hoped to have some time, talk, laugh, and maybe kiss some more before the looming darkness descended. I felt the threads of magic pulling on me. There was a disturbance, and my intuition told me that I was going to have to handle it. I wanted one day with Finn before I did though.

  Finn and I ventured into a couple of independent jewelry shops and a Western art gallery. We didn’t buy anything, but we were having a blast finding these quirky little stores tucked away everywhere. It was a perfect day. Absolutely wonderful, and neither of us wanted it to end.

  "How about a movie?" Finn suggested.

  "What movie?" I asked.

  "I have no idea what is even playing, I just don't want to go home. Once we are home, we have to deal with whatever is going on. Your ex will be showing up. I'm not ready to share you yet," he admitted.

  "Okay," I agreed.

  "Okay?"

  "Yeah, but pick something I don't have to pay attention to, because I want to make out," I answered.

  Finn's eyes flashed a brighter blue. He lowered his gaze, but I could still see the glowing blue through his ink-black lashes. "You're going to be the death of me," he whispered in a desire-roughened voice.

  "No, baby. What use would you be to me dead?" I teased.

  Finn's sexy half smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth. "Have you always been this big of a flirt?"

  "Nah. It's a new development. You aren't the only possessive one, you know?" I teased.

  He narrowed his eyes, studying me. "You feel possessive of me? Do you feel anything else?"

  "Like what? I feel desire, love, and complete with you. What else?" I asked, confused.

  He gently brushed my arm with his fingers. "What do you feel when I touch you?" he whispered.

  "Hot," I answered without thinking.

  "And when I kiss you?" Finn spoke against my lips, lightly brushing them against mine.

  "Burning," I murmured back.

  He took a step back and looked deep in my eyes. "And when I'm not touching you?"

  I gasped. My skin prickled. I felt anxiety flood my body, and I wanted to grab him. The familiar sting of my eyes told me that they had changed to green.

  "Finn, what's wrong with me?" I asked, trying not to panic.

  He rushed back to my side. "I'm here, Chlo. I think we are bonding anyway, without the fun part. Only it is happening very slowly. Actually, I don't think it—I know. This is what my dad explained was happening to me, but he never mentioned that you would experience it too. I assumed you wouldn't because you're a witch, not an elf."

  "What do we do about it?" My body was still full of anxiety.

  Finn touched his hands to my face, and the tension seeped away. "Do you want to stop it?" he asked quietly.

  "Not really. I'm scared though. If it hurts this much and we aren't fully bonded yet, what would I do if you changed your mind after we..." I couldn't believe I was saying this to him. I wanted to slap myself to stop the verbal flood pouring out of my mouth.

  "You don't understand. I love you. I don't want to be away from you—ever. Not only that, but I can't walk away from you. The fact that you are starting to bond to me proves that I'm yours. I'll never be able to be with anyone other than you," he promised.

  "You mean you emotionally can't or physically?" I asked.

  "I mean I physically can't. Before, with the girls I tried to distract myself with, I could get turned on. Thank God I stopped myself, but I could have tried to have meaningless sex with them," he said.

  I raised my eyebrow. "Tried?"

  "Who knows? What if I’d bonded to a one-night stand?" he pondered.

  "I get it. But you said before. What about now?" I asked.

  "During the fight with Simone and Angeline, when I told you how I felt about you, something locked into place inside me. I don't see other women. It's only you for me now," Finn told me.

  "I believe you. I'm still not completely ready yet," I admitted.

  "I can wait, Chloë. We need to cool off on making out a bit because it seriously makes me feel like I'm catching on fire. I told you I can wait forever for you, and I will if you need me to."

  "Not forever. Only a little while longer," I told him.

  No way could I wait forever. Finn was over six feet tall, probably about six foot two. His eyes were Caribbean blue and as deep as the sea. He was lean with rippling muscles. His dark-brown, nearly black hair made his eyes even brighter. He was the definition of male beauty. If that were all there was, I could resist. But considering I was madly in love with him, I didn’t stand a chance.

  The movie wasn't as much fun as I’d thought it would be. Don't get me wrong. It was hilarious. That was actually the problem. Finn had found a movie playing that we’d both really wanted to see. I’d wanted to see the latest generic action movie, but Finn had been serious about this not-making-out thing. What a waste of a dark room.

  We walked out of the old two-room theater and held hands while we headed back to his car. It was dark out now, but I didn't think anything of it. I’d stopped anticipating the night after Grey had been gone a few weeks. I was aware of something happening when Finn tensed next to me.

  I was hyper focused on the buzzing in my skin where Finn held my hand, and I hadn't been watching my surroundings. Finn stopped suddenly and pulled on my hand. I looked up and saw Grey heading toward us with a pretty blonde.

  Finn was studying me, examining to see if I was going to get jealous. It wasn't that I didn't have feelings for Grey. They
were still there, but because of his absence, the feelings didn't feel as strong as I’d thought they were. Absence was supposed to make the heart grow fonder, but my heart had quickly healed. It wasn’t to say that I was looking forward to seeing Grey with another woman.

  Honestly, I thought I would feel some jealousy or at least rejection. I mean, he’d left me, and here he was with her. I didn't feel any of that though. I smiled at him because I was happy he wasn't alone.

  Finn cocked his eyebrow speculatively. "This doesn't bother you?" he whispered.

  I didn’t know why he’d bothered whispering because Grey could hear him anyway. I shook my head. "I'm happy for him. She's pretty. I hope she's super nice and they are madly in love."

  Finn smiled and shook his head, amused.

  "Hello, Grey," I greeted as he moved nearer to us.

  "Hi, Chloë. I'd like to introduce you to Bridgett O'Connell. Bridgett, this is Chloë Du Lac and Finn Christiansen."

  Bridgett's face lit up, and I suddenly hated her. I moved closer to Finn. He smiled at me and dropped his arm around my shoulders.

  Bridgett glared at his arm around me for a split second, and then she schooled her appearance to erase her reaction. "Christiansen, like the Council representatives for elves Hans and Eliana?"

  Finn nodded. "They are my parents."

  "Do they know about this?" Bridgett gestured between Finn and me.

  Finn chuckled. "Couldn't be happier actually. You'd think they planned it themselves the way they go on about how great Chloë is."

  Grey choked. That was an odd reaction.

  "Are you okay?" I asked him.

  He smiled sadly at me. Obviously he wasn't with Bridgett the bitch since she was drooling over Finn, but he’d left me. I wasn't going to feel guilty. Okay, so I was going to feel a little guilty, but I shouldn't.

  What was he even doing with this girl if she was so easily swayed by Finn? Not that I could really blame her. I shook my head. There might be something to this bonding thing after all, because just looking at him set me on fire. Right—I was figuring out why Grey was with super brat. Then it hit me. Dammit, she was another refugee.