I clutched Chris’ waist, pulling myself as close to him as possible.
What? I didn’t want to fall off . . . Don’t tell me you wouldn’t hold on for dear life, too . . .
Well, anyway, Chris made a clicking noise with his tongue and the board began to move. It felt like surfing, but there was no water there to surf on.
I was still smiling in awe and wonder when Chris clicked his tongue again and the board slowly lowered itself to the ground. He touched it with his foot and the board snapped up under his arm, allowing Chris to carry it as we walked on toward the house.
I walked across the beautiful lawn, letting the sunlight caress my face. It felt amazing—the light and its warmth—almost like it was a part of me.
Chris was saying something, but I was too preoccupied with the large marble fountain in the courtyard before the front staircase. The central woman’s eyes were glowing beautiful gold, and the man’s at her side radiant blue. A sudden surge of warmth filled me as I saw the connection between the people on the fountain and the people in my life, when I suddenly wondered how Ricky was doing.
Ten dollars said he was with Pa and I felt myself smile at that thought. They belonged together . . . They were meant to be. Skylar couldn’t compete with Ricky, no matter how much money or how many sports cars he had. He didn’t love Pa . . . he couldn’t. If he did, Pa wouldn’t come to my house every two days bawling her eyes out.
I sighed in frustration as I entered the foyer of Chris’ home.
“So what do you want to do now?” he asked. “There’s a lake out back. Do you want to go swimming?”
I smiled. “You have a lake, too? Is there anything you don’t have at this place?”
He laughed. “We don’t have a Starbucks in here,” he answered.
“Awe, man,” I said playfully, but then my brows furrowed. “But, Chris . . . I didn’t bring my . . .”
I trailed off, watching the innocent smile disappear from his lips to be replaced by one full of smugness.
“You are so bad,” I muttered. “Won’t everybody see us, though?” I asked.
“Do you know who you’re talking to?” he asked back. “I can freeze everything, remember?”
I nodded. “Scratch that second to last thing I said. You are very bad.”
He laughed. “No; on the contrary, I just like to have some fun.”
“You call it fun,” I said. “I call it mischief.”
“Same difference, really,” he said with a shrug, taking off his t-shirt and throwing it onto a nearby chair. I inhaled in pleasure when I saw him.
His hair was in beautiful spiky black disarray, his blue eyes glowing in the perfect set of his face. His jaw curved seductively to connect with his neck, his lips so full of moisture that I wanted to taste. His perfect chest made him look like Poseidon as he stood before me, the sculpted muscles flawless in every way.
I wanted to touch him. I wanted to kiss him . . .
I exhaled slowly with quite a bit of effort. “You work out?” I asked nonchalantly.
He chuckled. “If that’s what you want to call it,” he returned in the same tone. “Come to the lake with me,” he said, taking my hand.
I smiled and followed him out one of the thousands of back doors—yeah there were thousands of front doors, too—and walked into the backyard.
I swear I walked into the Garden of Eden the moment I stepped onto the grass. The trees were perfect; every leaf bursting with jade brilliance, every flower bloomed in full despite the harsh autumn winds whipping around them.
In the center of the space was a beautiful lake, the waters the same iridescent shade as Chris’ eyes. A few cattail flowers were sprouting on the banks, and a little baby frog was “ribbitting” on a lily pad.
Chris stepped aside and motioned to the pool with his arm.
“I’ll meet you in the water,” he said calmly, walking behind a bush. I swear I saw a pair of Nike shorts fly the other direction from the lake, and I felt my heart jump.
Did I really want to do this?
I laughed to myself. Yes.
Should I really do this?
I laughed again. Hell, no.
With a sigh of resignation, I walked over to the bushes and took my shirt off, hanging it delicately on the branches of a nearby tree. My jeans came off next, followed by whatever the heck else I had decided to wear. I walked slowly toward the lake, letting the sun caress me again. The wind blew in my hair, soft and encouraging, and the earth beneath my feet seemed to be helping my feet move forward toward the water.
The water was so warm when my toe touched it that I had to resist the urge to just jump right in. I looked around, but saw Chris nowhere above the surface of the water. I waded in slowly, letting the water carry me where it wanted me to go.
I was in the middle of the lake when Chris slowly ascended from beneath the water, his eyes glowing like sapphires.
I stood there motionless before him, my breasts just below the surface of the water. The muscles of his chest seemed to glow healthily from under the water, his entire flawless body sending passions through me I had never felt before.
I exhaled slowly, trying to control my breathing, when he smiled, reaching for me.
I hesitated, but he remained unperturbed.
“If you’d rather not do this, I understand,” he answered.
“No, I’m fine,” I said, taking a stride toward him. His hand found my waist under the water and pulled my body against his gently, letting my body rest against his. I was so comfortable I could have stayed there for hours with my head against his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat as it pulsed evenly with my own.
“You’re still as graceful as a—”
“Water buffalo?” I interjected as I looked up into his eyes. “Yeah, thanks,” I muttered sarcastically.
He smiled as he looked down at me, and something in his eyes conveyed an even deeper joy at the words I had said.
“If you’ll excuse me for a moment,” he said, taking one of his arms away from my body. He began to chant and the haze started to fall down upon us, freezing everything except the water and our bodies.
I sighed when his arm wrapped itself around me.
“This is nice,” I breathed, turning so that my back was against his chest.
I heard him chuckle, his lips at my ear. “Just wait until we go underwater,” he said in a beautifully seductive tone that forced me to inhale in pleasure.
“Let’s go,” I said calmly.
He smiled. “All right. Follow me.”
I obeyed, breathing in before we plunged into the waters of the lake. I opened my eyes to see Chris floating beside me, looking like Poseidon again as he extended his other hand to clutch mine.
It took me a few seconds to realize I wasn’t breathing . . .
I panicked, pointing to my mouth and tugging at Chris’ arm. He looked at me in surprise that quickly transformed into understanding, and some form of amusement, and pulled me up to the surface.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, and I could hear the laugh he was trying to hide. “You know you can breathe when you’re underwater, don’t you?”
“Um . . . no?” I retorted. “How can I breathe underwater, exactly?”
“I wouldn’t let you die while submerged in my own element, would I? Jeez, what kind of loser do you think I am?” he asked with a laugh. “Seriously, you have nothing to worry about. Just breathe normally like you would above water. Your lungs will adjust after a few seconds.” His words made no sense at all, but at the same time made perfect sense to me.
“Cool . . .” I murmured. “Okay.”
He heard the tone of my voice and smiled, holding me to his chest once again as we submerged ourselves into the water.
We floated there for hours upon hours, and yet, no time passed at all. As we were floating there in a heaven of ocean and sun, Chris leaned in toward me.
I knew what I wanted, what he wanted . . . what we wanted. I couldn’t explain t
hese feelings to myself. It was kind of strange how all of a sudden I felt this yearning to be with him. I didn’t fight the feelings, because despite everything that was going on, I had an even stronger feeling that this needed to happen. It was almost like the weird conundrum of time stopped flowing in a line and started circling on itself, reminding me of things I knew I had never done, yet somehow felt I had already experienced.
Don’t try to ask me where the feeling came from. I honestly couldn’t tell you . . .
His lips found mine gently, slowly breathing life into me while I simultaneously returned it to him. My passion deepened and I leaned into him, letting my body merge with his in a beautiful, yet painful way.
My mouth opened in pain, but no scream escaped my lungs. The muscles in my body felt the pleasure, but also the pain. Chris’ strong arms grabbed me closer, holding me in a warm embrace of security. My lips touched his again, and he instinctively obeyed, letting his tongue twist with mine.
I felt the pressure again, forcing my muscles to work in a way they never had before, and the pain erupted sharply, but was quickly replaced with a pleasure beyond my wildest imagination.
He took his mouth from mine and kissed my wrist, my shoulder, my collar bone, then put his mouth right below my ear and whispered to me.
The pain was unbelievable, but I forced myself to hold on. I clutched at Chris with all my strength, knowing he would help me make the pain go away.
I took a deep breath, and kissed him again, silently believing this was what it felt like to live in heaven.
Date Night
I woke up the next morning and every muscle in my body felt sore, but weirdly energized at the same time. I stood up slowly, holding on to the bed post of Chris’ bed.
Oh, crap . . . I was still with Chris. Ha . . . oops . . .
I was going to spend the evening with Ricky, and I’d totally forgotten.
“Oh, man . . .” I muttered, scrambling around like a complete idiot trying to find my clothes. I found my pants and slid them on, surprised when they smelled clean and washed. I walked around in my bra, looking for my stupid shirt.
“I think you lost this.”
His voice was mocking, but soft and gentle, when he spoke the words. I turned around, hands on my hips, and saw Chris standing before me with my shirt draped over his arm.
“Nice,” I muttered caustically, but I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my face.
“I thought so, too,” he murmured softly, gazing into my eyes. I closed the space between us in a few strides and he took me in his arms, letting his lips brush my hairline.
He kissed my forehead, and I again remembered Ricky and . . .
“Ricky,” I said. “I can’t believe I ditched him like that.”
“I called him last night,” Chris explained calmly. “He knows you’re here. He took advantage of your being here almost as much as you did.”
“Ha. Funny,” I muttered, but once again a smile crept through.
“He invited Pa over last night, so he was fine. Trust me.” Chris slipped my clean shirt over my head and pulled it over me, holding my waist. “Ready for school?”
I groaned. “Ugh, no.”
He laughed. “I’ll try to fix that problem. I still haven’t showed you everything I can do yet.”
“Oh, God,” I said in mock horror. “There’s more?”
He chuckled. “You have no idea,” he said, twisting his voice in a way that made shivers crawl up my spine. “You have no comprehension of the things I’m capable of.”
I swallowed and nodded. I could’ve sworn I saw that same devilish look in his eyes, the whites of his eyes temporarily swallowed by blackness. But as quickly as it happened, I blinked and he was smiling again.
The day seemed to fly by in a kind of weird blur. I didn’t pay much attention to anything. I walked mechanically from class to class beside Chris, wishing the day could just end. I had a dinner date with Skylar and Pa, and I was getting really nervous about what would happen.
Anyway, we made it to the lunchroom in record time. Or record frozen-time . . . I don’t know . . .
Chris sat down, on edge just like he had been the day before. I had my hand sitting palm up on the booth’s table, resting there, when he suddenly grabbed it.
“Is something wrong?” I asked warily. He shook his head, relaxing a little.
“No, I just want to show you something,” he explained. “I can freeze time; I’ve already shown you that. But I can also freeze certain people, certain things. And I want you to feel what it’s like.”
I extended my other hand out toward him slowly, calmly, while he let go of the hand he was holding. His eyes closed and he breathed out in a gasp. With the exhalation of his breath, I felt a sudden jolt in my hand. My breath came out in a panicked gasp and I followed my instincts to jerk my hand back.
But it wouldn’t move . . .
Chris smiled evilly and touched my hand. The searing pain that radiated through my hand began to travel up my arm, paralyzing my body from the inside, travelling slowly, burning yet freezing me. He lifted my hand with no trouble at all, but my hand wouldn’t respond to my commands. My body was his, under his control, paralyzed . . .
His smile began to fade; the pain began to slowly subside from my arms and trickle down to just encompass my hands. Chris took a deep breath, removed his hands from mine, and I was free.
“Whoa,” I mumbled, rubbing my hands like they had just been submerged in boiling water and ice cubes both at once.
“Scary, isn’t it?” he asked. “I barely ever use that,” he added, his eyes darkening. “It’s not right to harm people with the gifts I’ve been given.”
“Of course,” I agreed, touching his hand without hesitation. “I understand. I wouldn’t want you to.”
He smiled weakly. “I just needed you to feel that. So you know what kind of a monster I can be—”
“Stop,” I told him sternly, looking into his shining ice blue eyes. He looked away, his smile fading. “You aren’t a monster. I . . . I . . .” I swallowed, silently willing for the words to come to me. “I know you would never hurt anyone . . .” Wrong words. Damn it.
He smiled weakly again, his eyes still dark. “I pray I never have to use that.”
“Hopefully you won’t have to,” I said comfortingly, stroking his hand with my thumb. He nodded and stood up just as the bell rang.
For the rest of the day, neither of us really spoke. We would gaze into each other’s eyes, but the connection we made was so painful that I had to look away.
For the first time in my life, I actually just wanted to be alone. I needed to think—to understand what the hell was going on with my life—and I just needed to breathe. Being with Chris, surprisingly, didn’t help at all. Usually his beautiful, calming eyes could instill a security in me that would always hold true, no matter the circumstances.
But not this time . . .
Band rushed by, too. I sat in the chair, keeping my eyes locked on the clock. Chris directed the class again and Ms. Altera left us in the large room with the band to practice. I watched him, but looking at him brought an uneasy feeling to my stomach.
I had no idea why I was so uneasy. But then, I knew deep inside me why I was so on edge: someone was watching me . . .
Someone was following me, studying me, watching my every move. I could feel the presence of this person like an irking itch, almost as if she was under my skin.
Chris stepped down from the podium and walked over to me, his eyes gazing around the room like a paranoid cheetah. He put his arm protectively on my shoulder, but I made no sound or motion to acknowledge him. I was staring at the wall of mirrors opposite us on the other wall of the band room.
I can’t even begin to explain to you what I saw. It lasted for only a fraction of a second, but the moment seemed to elongate itself in my mind, stretching violently toward eternity.
As I gazed in the mirror, I saw myself sitting in the same chair, wi
th Chris standing beside me, his hand upon my shoulder. A perfectly normal reflection if you didn’t look at the eyes . . .
Chris was smiling, but his eyes . . . Oh, God, his eyes . . .
The whites of his eyes were tainted black again, the irises of his eyes brighter than I’d ever seen them. But it wasn’t Chris’ face that bothered me. It was mine.
I felt my face shift from surprise to horror, and then altogether toward a frenzied sense of power as I gazed at the eyes staring back at me through my reflection. Her eyes were beautiful, glowing iridescent gold, like the sun during an eclipse. The whites of her eyes were gone, swallowed with the darkness of her smile, and her teeth gleamed whiter than snow as she smiled devilishly back at me.
Her mouth began to move slowly, and the muscles in my own jaw began to move in accordance with her own, sending fear shooting through me at an alarming rate.
“From the light comes the dark . . .”
I grimaced as her voice projected itself through my mouth, twisting my voice with hatred and pain, a weirdly more powerful, vengeful version of myself.
“What?”
Chris’ voice pulled me away, his arm tightening on my shoulder as my eyes regained their focus on his beautiful face.
“Dessa?” he asked, holding my head in his hands now.
I opened my eyes slightly and tilted my head up at him. I breathed a sigh of relief that quickly turned to an outburst of tears. He was okay . . . his eyes were white again . . .
“Dessa? Oh no,” he said, seeing all the tears streaming from my eyes. He swooped me up in his arms before I even felt the first tear roll off my chin, and took me out into the school’s courtyard just by his locker.
I was on the ground seconds after he picked me up. I felt my stomach roll nauseatingly and I leaned away from him and puked. He held my hair while I wretched and writhed on the pavement, rubbing his hand on my back the entire time.
“Oh, God . . .” I heard him murmur as I gagged again, leaning over with my one hand on my head, the other on my stomach. “Damn . . . I’m sorry . . .”
Poison Page 10
