by JP Vasha
I didn't have all the answers. I was a newbie at this whole magic juju stuff. I was walking on thin ice with every tidbit I got, scanning it through, thinking before acting. I needed my time to do so, especially today. I couldn't talk about it at the moment, and when I didn't want to talk about something and I was being pushed, I would stubbornly stand my ground. It was time to make them realize that, had I been a werewolf, I would've never been a pure submissive.
Mike's jaw locked as he finally understood that Khloe wouldn't be available today. "I'm going to take a shower," he said flatly and went into to the bathroom.
I turned to Zack. "I need you out of my neck, too. You think you can do that while I go to sleep?"
His eyes suddenly locked on me, cool and calculative. I hadn't seen that look ever since we were in Houston, and wasn't sure if I missed it. "Every time you speak or do something, I realize just how much I don't know about you," he said, voice calm yet with an undertone of anticipation that made me shiver. He sounded as though he couldn't wait to find out what I would do next.
When Zack turned all masculine like that on me, I found it hard to maintaining an eye contact. As I said, he hadn't done that since Houston; our entire time in Lumen he'd been brooding, sulking in self-despair, and since our arrival to Amarillo, after what I told him in the airplane, he'd been partially angry partially wallowing in self-pity. Now, however, the old Zack was back, and I realized that when he acted like that, more calm and self-possessed, he felt more distant than when he dropped his guard around me, which I was used to after our fights up until now.
But the way he was now, all supple muscles flexing as he dropped his arms to his sides and stepped forward, his emerald eyes illuminated, his dark chocolate hair all messy tousles, he was hotter, sexier than before. He seemed like a predator who'd set his mind on his prey. And the prey was me.
Crawling backward on the sheets, I gave him a warning gaze. "Stop right there, Zack," I said, unable to keep the wariness out of my voice, which made heat flare in his eyes that made my stomach drop in a way that was almost pleasurable. "We're not doing this, not after all the crap we still have to deal with." I left out the part where I thought he was not ready for love, least of all a mate, and the fact the our relationship was still far from perfect when the main issue remained that I didn't have my own body just yet.
But apparently, Zack was in an alpha-male mode. He began crawling on the bed towards me and I kept backing away until my back hit the wall. I gasped when he was suddenly pushing my legs wide and accommodating himself in between. Sparks flew where our skin touched and I felt my most intimate part grow taut with heat as he pressed closer.
It was a reminded that this body was not my own, that this body's true owner had a mate of herself who was showering only a few feet away. "Zack," I said, grasping his hair in my hands. "We can't do this. Mike is her, and Khloe... this is Khloe's body."
His forehead leaned against mine. "We've done this before," he murmured huskily, his low voice sending uncontrollable shivers down my spin, arising goosebumps all over my skin in their departure. "Back in Houston."
I fought myself to grab any thread of coherence I could find beyond the sudden lust that hit me hard. "In Houston," I sighed when I felt his head drop and his lip graze the skin between my neck and shoulder, the marking place. I gasped, but forced myself to keep on talking. "In Houston," I repeated, voice quivering, "you didn't know about the s-state of a-affairs..." I couldn't stifle the moan that escaped my throat when he licked my skin, his hands on my hips, and when that sneaky tongue reach the top of my neck, he raised his head and stared me down.
"Just one taste," he murmured, eyes dark with hunger.
Tasting him... I wanted to taste him, wanted to be reminded of what he tasted like. And I knew that if I let him give me this, give in to this absurd fantasy, there would be nothing but heat and lust. I could do heat and lust. Heck, I was in need to do just that.
It would help me forget about all the other problems for the time being.
With the decision made, a bolt of hunger cut through my body. I was not longer just hungry. I was starving. My toes curled at the thought of my meal, and, deciding not to waste any more time, I grabbed his face in my hands and, not giving myself time to regret it, planted my lips on his.
That simple graze, that barely-there touch, shot our heat level to the stratosphere.
His mouth was suddenly smashing mine, ravishing every part of my lips, forcing me to gain him entry, which I did with utter delight. His tongue ruthlessly slithered in and embraced mine, making my heartbeat escalate and my breathing hitch. His arms now around me, lifting me to straddle him, and just as I did, I felt him poking between my thighs, his raging hard-on meant just for me.
Mate... a voice, the voice from when I'd resurrected the bunny and felt Zack returning, whispered in my mind, more vivid than before. This is my mate...
A rippling sensation gratefully cut that voice out when Zack's hands cupped my butt and his lips left mind, descending to my jaw, then neck, where he licked and nipped until I felt myself wetting my panties a pool, and felt so empty, I knew he needed to fill me in every way that mattered...
When I suddenly realized that the shower wasn't running anymore, my eyes flew open and I jumped away from him, putting a distance between us. "Get out of this bed," I hissed at him, looking at the bathroom in worry. "He's about to come out." And the last thing I wanted was to hurt Mike, who was holding himself in an iron grip as it was, by seeing the body of his mate being devoured by another male, friend or not.
Zack growled, his human side not entirely with me. "Out!" I hissed-yelled at him, and with a glower and a curse, he rolled out of bed, finally realizing what I was getting to.
Feeling utterly spent now and sexually frustrated, I forced myself to get underneath the blanket and cool myself off the excitement and tension. Until I had my own body, I wouldn't kiss Zack again. Because next time I kissed him, I would sleep with him. And doing that in Khloe's body, when Mike was involved in this... No thanks.
Shutting my eyes, I curled into myself and wished for Khloe to take charge while I was asleep. I couldn't believe it myself, but I needed some time to myself now, alone in the darkness of Khloe's head, to fully process everything, and to choose how to move forward from there.
My wish had been answered over the night, when I woke up and found myself in the darkness, not in control of the body anymore. Khloe was in charge, and she was currently eating breakfast with Mike and Zack at some roadside coffee shop. Zack was in a fool mood the entire morning (so what else's new) and Mike seemed to be on cloud nine, with Khloe now by his side.
At least, Mike had been on cloud nine. Now he was angry. Because Khloe wasn't talking. Khloe, in fact, was keeping radio silent even now that she was in control. Her thoughts were blocked from me in a titanium grip on her side, and I was afraid she was trying to shut herself out of the world entirely.
Meaningless to say, breakfast so far had been an awkward affair.
When Zack got a phone call midway through breakfast and excused himself to take it, Mike turned fully to face Khloe. "What's going on with you today?"
Khloe stared at him blankly. "Nothing," she responded in a voice rough with misuse.
Mike growled deep in his throat, his eyes going neon-blue that made me want to cower deeper into Khloe's psyche. She, however, simply blinked back. "Answer me truly this time," Mike snarled, his hand suddenly in Khloe's hair, gripping it tightly, "or you won't like the consequences."
A spark of emotion – thank God – made Khloe bite out acridly, "Get your paws of me or your words would bite you in the bottom."
His eyes widened and a sudden grin slipped into his face, the amusement erasing his anger almost completely. "Bite me in the bottom?" he repeated, disbelief and mirth in his voice.
And just like that, Khloe closed off again and returned to her meal. She didn't speak again, and Mike's slight distraction melted away under a new wave of fury e
ven I felt, and I didn't have a current body right now. "Khloe," he said, voice low, "what's going on?"
Khloe kept her mouth shut.
I knew Mike would've pushed for her to express herself vocally, but then Zack returned from his mysterious phone-call. "It was Kim," he said, eyes chillingly serious. "His brother was back earlier than usual, claiming that a Cleromancer – whatever that shit is – has told him that he needed to move his meeting with Kim to an earlier date."
"It works for our favor, so it's not that much of a problem," Mike shrugged, glancing at Khloe. "The sooner Carla has her body back, the better."
Zack nodded, glancing at Khloe as well. "Kim said to meet them at Budapest in two days time."
"Budapest?" Mike frowned. "As in Hungary?"
My mate nodded. "They want us to book a flight as soon as possible."
"Can't they just teleport us there, like that female Deity had done to Ralph and Eve a couple of months ago?" Mike inquired, looking a little annoyed at the premonition of flying across the ocean to Europe.
"I asked him that, too," Zack sighed. "He said that Kalypso is one of the few Deities who can teleport people with her, which means we're on our own."
Having no idea who Kalypso was and frankly not really caring, I tried to tell Khloe to ask them why Budapest. Thankfully, Khloe was in a rare cooperative mood as she spoke flatly, saying, "Carla asks why Budapest."
Both Mike and Zack looked at each other before Zack said, "That's where the portal to Logia currently is."
Chapter Nineteen
If I didn't see an airport, it would be too soon. We spent the next two days simply flying from one airport to another; from Amarillo to Dallas, from Dallas to London Hearthrow, then finally to Ferihegy in Budapest, Hungary. The wait hours were so long, and the flights seemed endless, and I wanted nothing more than sleep, but it was hard when I didn't have my own body.
Once we landed in Budapest, however, Khloe gave me back the reins without saying a thing. I tried to ask her what was going on, but she refused to talk to me. The entire flights she also shut out both Mike and Zack, simply wallowing in thoughts I barely managed to catch glimpses of. I was beginning to be extremely uneasy with her silence. This wasn't the Khloe I knew and learned to tolerate.
Budapest was cloaked in night. Lights turned the city almost hypnotically illuminating, and I found myself staring out of the rental car's window in fascination. I'd never been out of the States, and so I soaked it all in, the feeling of being abroad, in a different continent, and the beauty of the historical place.
Zack and Mike were talking to each other in soft murmurs, probably gossiping about me or Khloe or something. They were coping with everything better than ever, especially given everything we all found out in the past few days. In fact, I was pretty sure they were becoming excited at the idea of me finally having my body back. I, on the other hand, found myself reluctant to be happy.
My power hissed at me that something bad was going to go down once we get into Logia. I didn't know how long we were going to be there, or what would happen, exactly, but I was becoming antsy the closer we got to WestEnd City Center, where Zack said Kimberly told us to meet him and his brother.
When Zack parked the rental in the parking lot, all three of us got out silently. "They should be here any moment," Zack murmured, looking at his wristwatch for confirmation.
Mike leaned against the car. "Who would've thought we were going to some sort parallel fantasy land," he said, shaking his head in bemusement. "If you told me a few weeks ago that's what I'll be doing now, I would've laughed in your faces."
Zack's lips twitched. "Likewise."
The two shared a meaningful glance just then, and I frowned. The two were getting along a lot better than before, when they'd simply been somewhat cool to one another. Now, however, they were acting like the old friends they probably were.
Minutes dragged by as we waited, and just when I was about to vocalize my irritation, a voice said grimly, "Zack, Mike."
The three of us turned around and I found myself looking at the most beautiful man I'd ever seen. He had odd green eyes, like dark clouds or deep sea, and his hair, a strange Shell between brown and blonde, was longish, its tips only inches away from his shoulders and brushed back behind his ears. His face was in prefect proportions, as though he'd been carved by a skilled artist, with Roman-straight nose, lush lips, and high cheekbones, like that of an aristocrat in the nineteenth century or something. But while his face were captivating in their utter gorgeousness, his body inquired even more attention, since he was tall and muscular in an athletic, profession swimmer kind of way, with broad shoulders, strong, arms, and narrow waist, his legs long and obvious strong beneath his jeans. Then there was his skin, which seemed naturally tanned with a golden undertone.
Seriously. This man seemed to be as ethereal as the Deities, if not more so.
Zack and Mike seemed stunned to this man standing there. Then Zack spoke, disbelief evident in his voice. "Shell? What the fuck are you doing here?"
Shell. A mysterious name for a mysterious man, I guess.
The man gave Zack a superior look, somehow, even though the two seemed to be in the same age, maybe the man a little younger. "Ralph decided it would be wise to send me with you to Logia."
Mike growled a split second before Zack did. "Khloe and Carla are our responsibility," Mike barked out, "we don't need you to babysit us."
"The Alpha's orders are absolute," Shell's voice left no room to discussion. Then his eyes suddenly moved to look at me. "You must be Carla."
I blinked in surprise. "How do you know I'm not Khloe?"
The man gave me a suddenly piercing look I felt down to my very soul. "You seem to be too meek to be named Khloe."
That made me blush, and Zack growled louder. "Shell," he sniped, "don't flirt with my mate."
Shell gave the Beta of the Biwole such a condescending look, I was surprised Zack didn't lunge at him yet. "I'm merely stating a fact," he said flatly, then glanced sideways. "They're coming."
And they did. Kimberly appeared out of thin air a few meters away, looking the same as I last saw him, and a moment later another man teleported into the parking lot. This one was so bizarre and out of place, I found myself shamelessly staring. The most prominent feature he had was his hair; it was smooth and silky, reaching to his waist, and its color was that of the moon; silvery-white, almost glowingly so. Despite his hair, however, he was handsome and slender and seemed to be in his early thirties. His eyes were a reflection of Kimberly's, utterly golden, only his had almost yellow sparks in them. His skin was alabaster, but its light color dulled in contrast to his brilliant hair. Then there were the clothes he wore; black pants, black leather shoes, and rumpled white buttoned shirt that two of the top bottoms were loose. In his hands he held shopping bags.
Kimberly greeted the fours of us, taking Shell's presence as a given, with a smile. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," he said and motioned to the white-haired man, "this is Ambery, my younger brother. Ambery, these are Zack, the Biwole's Beta; Shell, the Biwole's Gamma; Mike, the West Coast Pack's alpha's adviser; and Khloe, or rather Carla, since she's currently in control of Khloe's body."
Ambery's freaky eyes landed on me with unbidden interest and curiosity. "Nice to meet you all," he said in a heavily accented English, although I couldn't pinpoint what accent he had exactly. It sounded similar to German. "I assume you're the group I am to take to Logia in order to find young Miss Mill's body."
"You assume right," Zack said, his eyes assessing as he gazed at Ambery. "Is there anything particular we need to go before coming into Logia?"
The Deity raised his shopping bags pointedly. "I searched this City Center for suitable clothes," he said, and I realized that, unlike Kimberly, this Deity didn't emit soothing aura. "I took the liberty of deducing your sizes."
"Why do we need to change?" I asked, and when his eyes returned to me, I forced myself not to fidget.
"Because
," he said quietly, "in Logia, the fashion is different."
Mike groaned. "Don't tell me," he said dryly, "Logia is like how Earth used to be in the eighteenth century, with kingdoms and shit, and women need to wear dressed while men wear stupid stuff like odd hats and tight as hell pants."
"You're not that off the mark," Ambery cracked a small smile in Mike's direction. It wasn't a nice smile; it was a warning one. "But while Logia doesn't have electricity, it has magic in gallons. Who needs something as archaic and disastrous as electricity when you can use magic in every way possible?"
"Indeed," Kimberly cut into the conversation, and gave Mike an almost scolding look. "Now, why don't you get dressed so you can get to Logia before dawn?"
The car was given to me as a dressing room, for which I was grateful, since not only I didn't want to get changed in front of all those guys, but it was freakishly cold out there, since it was only the beginning of March, still winter here in Hungary. So as I slid out of my jeans and tee and pulled on a simple gray dress with thin straps and a dark cloak that covered me from head to toe, attached by a hoodie to mask my face.
I was about to get out of the car when I was paused by the sight out of the window. Zack, Mike and Shell were shirtless, wearing black pants similar to those of Ambery with dark shoes. Shell's torso was sculpted, like a Greek god or something, and he was absolutely beautiful in the best masculine way. Then there was Mike, whose abs were more than impressive.
At the sight of the adviser, Khloe came back to life. He looks good, she murmured into my head, Fate has a good taste, giving me him.
She sounded almost upset, but that was ludicrous. Fate has also given you to him.
I know, Khloe said and fell silent once again.
