by Kiersten Fay
Deliriously, he engulfed her, exploring her sex till he found the spot that made her shutter uncontrollably. He lingered there until her trembling became gasping, gasping to panting, panting to moaning. Her body moved in sync with his touch, thrusting as each swipe pulled another cry from her.
Yet she still held back.
Wicked female!
He had her and he knew it. It was only a matter of time before Kyra could no longer stifle the ecstasy that was ready to explode out of her. She battled to hold back the pleasure that bordered the sweetest agony. Fought to contain herself with each devious caress of his tongue. But in the end, she lost.
As her release tore through her—consuming her heart and soul—she screamed.
When her sight came back, Cale beamed triumphantly. There was only one way to wipe that smug expression off his face. She sank out of the chair, joining him on the floor. He feigned mild interest as she pulled at his waistband, loosening his pants.
He hissed when she wrapped her hand around his engorged shaft, running her palm along his length.
Moving like a predator, he gripped her ass and shoved her front against his, dipping his head to the valley of her neck—licking, sucking, nipping. She moaned again, nearly ready to give him control once more, but she pushed against his chest, determined. He gave a sound of protest, but allowed her to maneuver him against the counter as she knelt before him.
The intensity with which he watched her made her shiver.
She gripped his shaft again, and the edges of his jaw tightened. She grinned mischievously, capturing his gaze as she inched her lips closer. His shaft jerked in her hand, and he swallowed loudly, almost looking as though he were in pain.
Taking pity, she closed her lips around him, sucking to the hilt.
“Fuck!” he cried, and then delved into a stream of incoherent curses.
She pulled out slowly, twirling her tongue around the tip and then sucked him back in, reveling in his rumbling masculine groans. As if he couldn’t help it, his hips began to thrust gently. She wrapped her fist around his base, working him as she stroked him with her mouth.
“Gods of mercy, Kyra, you’re going to make me come.”
She would have too, but he took control once more, lifting her to her feet and bending her over the counter.
She glanced up at him in the mirror. He had become fierce, daunting, and her heart thundered at the change.
He rasped, “I’m winning this one.” Then he gripped her hips, pushing her legs apart with his knee. She felt his shaft rub against her entrance with surprising gentleness, coating himself with her essence. She swished her hips in invitation, and he growled, pressing into her.
When her eyes closed on a gasp, he demanded, “Look at me.” She did, also seeing how lustful her own gaze had become. She was like some strange wanton creature.
He pushed into her again, and they groaned in unison. Eyes locked, he began to thrust. She gripped the overhang and mirror for a bit of stability as he moved to a delicious rhythm.
Still they watched each other, breaths ragged, the passion surging as his tempo became savage. Their cries mingled as flesh pounded against flesh and luscious pleasure raked through her. For the second time, she screamed as the bliss took her.
With a guttural sound, he stilled, giving one more deep thrust as his seed burst forth. Then he hunched over her with one arm on the counter, propping him up. His breath fluttered coolly over her sweat-dampened skin.
He stood then, turning away and buckling his pants. She hadn’t even gotten him fully naked. Meanwhile her clothes littered the floor, and a red mark from the edge of the counter top ran along her belly. She might endeavor to be embarrassed if she had the energy. However, when he headed straight for the door, she did plow headlong into anger.
“Where the fuck are you going?” She scooped up her panties and stepped into them.
He gave her his profile. “What? I’m headed back to the pub.”
She stabbed her feet into her jeans. “You’re just going to leave me here? Without a word? A second glance?”
“I’m looking at you now. What do you want me to say? That was great, thanks?”
“Fuck you, Cale.” She slipped on her shirt and brushed passed him, muttering to herself, “I’m such an Idiot. What did I expect?”
Cale fell in step behind her. “I told you what to expect from me, and that’s exactly what you got.”
“You’re right, Cale. Not only am I an idiot, I’m a bad listener to boot.” Once in the hall, he continued to follow her. “Go on to the pub and leave me alone!”
He gripped her upper arm, halting her mid-step. She frowned at him.
“What do you want from me?”
What did she want? Everything! But a much more honest part of her conscience concluded that, at the moment, she was so pathetic as to want almost anything she could get.
“Nothing,” she decided.
The sound of footsteps echoed down the hall. Kyra turned to see Anya rushing toward them, her face panicked.
“Cale, Kyra!” she called. “Come quick. Something’s wrong with Nadua.”
Kyra ripped her arm away from Cale and followed her sister.
As they went, Anya spoke rapidly. “We were practicing together, trying to explore our gifts. I told her how I can reach out with my mind and touch everybody’s energy, and she’s been trying to do it too.”
“How long have you been doing this?” Cale asked, surprising Kyra that he’d come along.
“Almost since she came aboard,” Anya replied. “She’d been doing well, I could tell, but today she…I can’t even describe it. I could hardly take it myself. Her energy just…flared out of control.”
Cale heard the screaming before they entered the training room. Nadua was writhing on the floor, eyes shut tight, arms cradling her head.
Anya waited by the door, obviously having trouble blocking whatever it was that was happening.
Kyra rushed to her side. “Nadua! Can you talk to me? Nadua!”
The screaming continued. “Too much! Stop! Stop it!”
Kyra placed her hand on Nadua’s arm. Nadua responded violently, thrashing. He lunged forward to hold the girl down as Kyra ducked flailing limbs.
“Anya! Make it stop!” Nadua screeched.
“I can’t! I can’t!” Anya chanted, sinking to her knees and bringing her palms to the sides of her face.
“What the hell is going on?” Cale demanded.
His outburst went ignored.
Kyra reached for Nadua again. “Open your eyes,” she cooed. “Look at me. Nadua?”
“Kyra?” Nadua whimpered. “I can’t make it stop.”
“What’s happening?”
“It’s everything! It’s too much.” Nadua opened her eyes, and Cale cursed. There were no whites, no irises. In their place were two pools of black, dotted with specs of color.
Kyra sucked in a breath, whispering, “Father’s eyes.” Then she placed her hands on Nadua’s face, forcing the girl to look her way. “Listen to my voice. I’m here, okay? I’m what’s real.”
“Okay,” Nadua huffed. “Okay.”
“What are you seeing?”
“Everything. I can’t make any sense of it. It’s past, present, future. All at once.”
Suddenly, Nadua let out a harrowing wail. Anya followed suit, curling into herself. When Kyra crumbled as well with an equally pained cry, Cale considered knocking Nadua unconscious, but his vision faltered.
It felt like he was still in the training room, but it looked as though he were somewhere else completely. To be more accurate, several somewhere elses. He was in the pub, some random room on the ship, the surface of a planet he’d never seen before, back home…His mother sat with a young Velicia…Then he was on another unfamiliar planet. So many people’s memories gnashed together.
“Kyra!” he called, hoping she could hear him. “I’m seeing some pretty weird shit!” As the pictures flew by, people appeared and disappeared
mid-action, like apparitions. His brain started to pound with the overflow of information, and he couldn’t imagine what the others were going through.
“You see it too?” Kyra replied. “Anya? How about you?”
No response.
“Anya!”
Still no response.
“Kyra,” Cale hollered in a warning tone. “I’m going to knock your sister out.”
“Don’t you dare!”
“Damn it. Then what do we do?”
Nadua continued to struggle under him, probably getting the brute force of her own personal mind-fuck.
Kyra’s voice sounded. “Nadua, listen to me! Remember what Father said. Focus on your anchor. Let the magic flow through you like water. Your anchor keeps you still.”
Cale felt Nadua attempt to relax, yet the images continued to block his sight. Her harsh breathing slowly became more rhythmic, controlled. He began to notice some reoccurring visions. Marik appeared more and more. His face, his smile.
Blech.
It was strange to see him through Nadua’s eyes. Instinctively, Cale assumed that Marik was this “anchor.”
Thankfully, like a fog blowing away, the visions faded. Though Nadua’s eyes were still black, both he and Kyra seemed to be free of…whatever the hell that was.
Anya was out cold.
When Nadua fully calmed, he released her and stepped back to check on Anya. Kyra clasped Nadua’s hand, offering more encouraging words.
Once Cale determined Anya was breathing, he stepped to the transmitter to call for Sebastian. As it was, he’d get his head ripped off for not contacting him sooner.
Kyra sighed. “Cale, I think we’re fine now. You can go. Thank you.”
Dismissed?
“I’ll stay.” He surveyed her with a glance. She didn’t look hurt. Tired, maybe.
He scrubbed a hand down his face, processing everything that had just occurred. He knew he’d upset her earlier. Unintentionally, but still. Being with her this time had been so overwhelming, so significant. The power of it had pushed him far past the Edge and then back again. Never had he experienced lovemaking like that…with anyone.
No. Surely he had with Velicia.
Hadn’t he?
Seeing Kyra watch him in the mirror, her eyes aflame, burning for him…something in him responded with a staggering ferocity. He felt scorched inside and out, balls to bone. It had thrilled him just as it had terrified him. But then it had been as if acid flowed through his veins. He had expected the pain, but not to the degree with which it manifested. It lingered still.
At the time, his mind had become so convoluted he had to get away. To clear his head. But the hurt in her tone had deemed it impossible for him to leave her.
What was happening to him?
Sebastian burst into the room, and Cale backed away from Anya, knowing to steer clear of a demon and his mate—especially if she were in trouble.
Sebastian scooped her limp body into his arms and bellowed, “What happened here?”
Marik appeared next, heading straight for Nadua. Cale noticed that the girl’s eyes had returned to normal. She reached for Marik as he bent to lift her off the ground, ensuring him, “I’m fine.”
“All of you come with me, now,” Sebastian ordered in a dark tone, before disappearing out the door. No doubt headed for sickbay.
On the way, Kyra described the whole episode. Her account wasn’t much different than Cale’s. She’d seen the visions and made about as much sense out of them as he had. Anya roused just before they reached sickbay, insisting that she didn’t need the doctor, but Sebastian pressed.
“I hadn’t seen any visions,” Anya said, after hearing what the others had experienced, “but when both of you touched Nadua, the energy tripled. It was overwhelming. I don’t remember much else. I guess I just blacked out.”
Nadua displayed interest in the fact that Cale and Kyra had seen everything she had, and she had somehow transferred the visions to them. “Normally, I receive a vision of someone only after I’ve physically touched them. But this was different. There were visions of every person on the ship, even those I’d never touched.”
Anya explained that they’d been working on expanding their powers, pushing past the boundaries. Now that everyone had calmed down, she was rather excited.
When Sebastian began to protest the continuation of this training, both Anya and Nadua insisted that they needed to find out how far they could take it. Kyra nodded in agreement. Sebastian made one more attempt to dissuade them, but Cale knew his brother was fighting a losing battle. Anya got that familiar determined gleam in her eye and there was nothing else Sebastian could say.
Cale actually approved of their practice, as haphazard as it had turned out to be. He was all for testing boundaries and was impressed with Anya’s dedication. From what he’d heard, she had become quite talented with her magic. It gave him hope that Kyra might someday master her own gift.
Kyra had become quiet, a contemplative frown on her face. Cale thought of how things would have turned out had she been the one to lose control.
Instead of a headache and a little peek into another person’s existence, she could destroy everyone on board.
Chapter 21
Kyra stayed out of the way as Marik and Sebastian fussed over her sisters, their features raked with concern. Cale remained on the opposite side of sickbay from her, his arms folded, cold and uncaring. The contradiction was blaring.
She was tempted to describe herself as one of those pathetic ex-girlfriends, only she had never even been considered a girlfriend. She reminded herself that it was the worst possible time in her life to be jonesing for some jerkoff. A drop dead sexy jerkoff who gave her mind-bending, soul-shattering orgasms—and was already mated!
Weariness blanketed her, and she suddenly felt desperate to get away.
Luckily, Sebastian gave her an out. “I need to get back to the control room. Anya, I had better find you in our bed resting when I get up there. No more training tonight.”
Kyra slipped through the door after saying a quick goodnight to her sisters. The hall seemed to go on forever as she made her way to her room. Then she remembered she’d left Zoey in the pub with Rex.
“Damn,” she muttered.
“Damn what?” Cale’s close proximity startled her.
“Damn none of your business, Cale.” She sneered, not slowing her pace.
“Fair enough,” he replied, unconcerned by her sharp tone.
After a moment of silence, she asked, “Are you just going to follow me?”
“I want to make sure you’re alright.”
“That’s sweet of you,” she said with heavy sarcasm. “But really not your concern.”
“Of course it’s my concern.”
She rounded on him. “Why is that, Cale?”
“Because…” He struggled for words. “Because it is.”
She rolled her eyes and then continued on her way.
“Are you heading back to the pub?”
She sighed, realizing he had no intention of letting her be. “Yes.”
“Good, I’ll join you.”
“I’m not going there for a drink, but you have a blast.”
“You’re prickly.”
She bit back a retort, resolving not to fight with him. By the time the pub came into view, she’d had to hold her tongue three more times. For some reason, his attitude had done a one-eighty. Before, he’d been ready to cut and run; now he was acting all fuzzy bunny.
Why the change?
At the entrance, she scanned for Zoey, but she and Rex were gone. A lead weight dropped into the pit of her stomach as a very unladylike curse left her lips.
She rushed to ask Sonya, “Where are Zoey and Rex?”
Sonya raised her brow at the urgent tone. “They left a little bit ago.”
“Where?”
“I don’t make it a habit of asking people where they’re going.” She paused. “But by their affectionate display
, I suggest you check his room.”
“Great.” Kyra let her head drop.
“And you let them go?” Cale growled.
Kyra faced him, bemused.
Sonya too looked taken aback. “No one informed me I was supposed to be babysitting.”
Exasperated, he started toward the exit. This time Kyra followed. She had to hurry to keep up with his long strides. “You going to find them?”
“Yup.”
“No offense, but why do you care what Rex does with Zoey? You have your sights set on her next?”
Through gritted teeth, Cale muttered, “Why does the term ‘no offense’ always precede something offensive? Better yet, did you really intend not to offend me, or was that your goal?”
She frowned, not answering.
They rounded a corner, and he halted so suddenly she ran into him, nearly losing her balance.
“A little warning, please.”
He grabbed her by the wrist, both righting her and acting as a warning of its own. “Well?” he demanded.
She met his gaze with icy coolness. “Yeah, I was hoping you’d take offense.”
“Why?”
Because you hurt me, she wanted to scream. Instead, she ground out, “Let—Go—Of—Me.”
Releasing her, he strolled to a nearby door, raised a fist, and pounded against the metal. They waited in awkward silence till the hatch slid open and a shirtless Rex appeared.
“Is Zoey in there?” Cale’s voice was full of malice. Whether it was because of their spat or a true concern for Zoey, Kyra was unsure.
“Cale?” Zo questioned from inside. She was dressed in a long shirt and nothing else.
“You alright?” Cale ground out.
“Uh, yeah. What are you guys doing?”
Focusing on Rex, Cale morphed into pure aggression. Rex lifted his chin in response. Kyra was about to step between them when Cale finally spoke, his words dripping with hostility. “You harm her, and I will feed you your own intestine after I’ve ripped it from your gut.”
Rex’s lips thinned, but he was otherwise undaunted. “Noted.”
