by Kailin Gow
He nonetheless picked up the empty bowls of chips and popcorn and the empty glasses and followed her into the kitchen.
“It’s nice having you home, Lux,” he said as he set the dishes on the counter.
“It’s nice being home.” She opened the dishwasher and found room to put in two of the three snack bowls, then slipped her plate into a vacant slot.
“I’ll wash that one by hand,” Lucas offered as he took the third snack bowl.
“Thanks,” she said, handing him the bowl.
“Did your first day back really go as well as you said? I thought you might have a hard time.”
“So did I, but, yes, it really did go well. I mean, of course I still have a lot of catching up to do, and I’m going to have to really work hard in the coming weeks, but I’m happy with how things went.”
“Do you miss Romeo?”
She looked pointedly at him and frowned at the unexpected question.
“Sorry,” he quickly said. “I shouldn’t have brought him up. Besides, it’s none of my business.”
“No,” she said, closing the dishwasher and starting it. “Considering how I’ve been acting around here lately, I’d say you have a right to ask. But the answer is no. I didn’t miss him.” She looked down for a moment as she grabbed the dishtowel and wiped her hands. “I’ll admit I was a bit nervous about heading back to Latin class.”
“To the scene of the crime, as it were?” Lucas said with a reserved smile.
Looking up at him from under her brow, she smiled. “I guess you could put it that way. I thought maybe his essence would still be there and that it might influence me.”
“And…?”
“Nothing. I felt absolutely nothing. I love the new professor and we really hit it off.”
“I’m happy to hear that.”
She leaned back against the counter. “I’ll admit, though, that I sometimes wonder if I’ll ever be able to catch up.”
“Need any help.”
She smiled. “I was hoping you’d say that. I had a fighting/combat class today and I felt like I was lost. It seemed everything the teacher said went over my head. Think you could give me a hand with that?”
“Sure thing. How about tomorrow morning before classes start?”
“Sounds good.”
Chapter 6
Curled up in her warm blankets, Lux turned over onto her side when she heard a thud. She could still feel the effects of an odd dream that seemed to want to drag her back to sleep and her eyelids weighed a ton.
The thud, now clearly a knock at the door, sounded again. Pulling the covers over her head, she squeezed her eyes tight and tried to recapture the strange dream.
After another knock, the room fell silent, but only for a moment. The mattress sagged as a weight settled on the bed behind her.
“You’re late,” Lucas said matter-of-factly.
“Ugh,” Lux groaned shifting away from him in the bed.
With his warm hand on her shoulder, he shook her. “Come on, sleepy head.”
“It’s too dark,” she said. “Come back later.”
“The sun is just over the horizon and you’ll be late for class if we don’t get started right away.”
“It’s too cold,” she argued. “Come back in just ten minutes.”
“Now, Lux.”
“Five minutes?”
“Now.” He whipped the covers off her, leaving her curled up on the bare bed.
“Oh, Lucas!” she whined. She tugged on her pajama to try to cover her bare legs. “It’s too cold.”
“It’s the perfect temperature for training. Believe me. You don’t want to train in the afternoon when the sun is high and the temperatures are edging towards one hundred.”
“Yeah, but can we at least wait until their edging towards the fifties?”
“Nope.” He poked his finger into the fleshy part of her back, just under her arm.
“Stop it!” she called out, squirming out of his way.
“What? This?” And he poked her again, his finger finding its way to her underarm.
“Lucas,” she cried. “Stop it. That tickles.”
“Oh, it does, does it?” He squeezed the tender part of her underarm a moment before bringing his hand to her belly and deliberately tickling her.
She jumped around, facing him as she tried to open her eyes to focus on him. “I’m too tired to deal with you now.”
“Fine,” he said. “Then I’ll just keep…” And he tickled her again.
Giggling, she tried to move away from his touch, but he crawled onto the bed and persisted to tickle her. With all her squirming and jiggling around, Lucas soon had his hand traveling up her pajama top.
Lux tried to ignore the erotic spark his warm hand caused despite the childish tickling. But when his hand traveled higher and lightly brushed along her breast, she suddenly stopped giggling. She looked at him, into his eyes, searching for signs of an innocent tickle or a deliberate attempt to fondle her.
His eyes grew wide with lustful surprise, his hand stopped moving. His breathing became louder and he seemed unsure of his next move.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered hoarsely after a long tense moment.
“Don’t be,” she whispered back.
He stared at her, his eyes imploring her. She shifted slightly, just enough to place her breast in his hand. His eyes widened with surprise, then narrowed with intense hunger. He greedily squeezed the firm yet tender flesh then brought his thumb over her nipple, awakening it and bringing it to full erection.
Lux closed her eyes under the intensely pleasant sensation of his hand. Her lips parted, hungering for something more.
“Are you sure you want this?” he said, licking his lips in anticipation.
Her response came by way of arching her back and pressing her breast deeper into his hand. He squeezed and tweaked her nipple, then lifted her pajama top up and over her head, exposing her breasts to his hungry eyes as he tossed the unwanted garment aside.
Looking at him, she was aroused simply by the primal hunger she saw in his eyes. He licked his lips again as his eyes took in the perfect roundness of her firm breasts.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said with raspy difficulty.
She arched her back more, urging him to find another occupation for his lips. He obliged, bowing his head into her bosom and delicately taking one nipple into his mouth for a moment before tending to the other one.
Lux let out a pleased gasp as the play of his tongue blocked out everything else in the world. All that mattered in that moment was the way his tongue swirled around her nipple, the way his lips clamped on tight and pulled back, and the way his breath felt on her skin.
While his lips stayed busy, his hands traveled over other undiscovered parts of her body. They traveled back to find her ass, then back around to explore her thighs and finally coming back up to delve into the crux of her thighs and find what he’d really been looking for.
She pressed her crotch into his hand, making her desire for him clear. His hand found its way into her panties and briefly dove into the wet folds of skin.
“Yes,” Lux whispered into his hot ear.
But instead of going for it, he suddenly stopped and sat up. She sat up to face him, her nude torso obviously pleasing him, but his eyes telling her of his uncertainty.
For a moment she wanted to insist, to persuade him to continue, but instead, she got out of bed and headed to her closet to get dressed. In passing, she caught a glimpse of him in the mirror, his eyes devouring her, hungering for her.
Then why didn’t he just go for it?
She didn’t want to start the day thinking about it. If he wanted to keep their relationship professional and distant, so be it.
Reaching into her closet, she pulled out a dark long-sleeved cotton knit sweater, but suddenly felt Lucas’s warm hands on her waist.
“It’s like I don’t know what I want anymore when I’m around you,” he said, pulling her into his
arms, his chest instantly warming her back. “I know I should be mature and responsible; that I should be professional and regard you as a student of the Academy my family has built. But I can’t help it. I’m drawn to you. I want you, even if I don’t want to want you.”
She turned in his arms to face him, her breasts brushing lightly against his strong chest. “I guess that I don’t want to want you either. After everything I’ve been through, I’m not sure I should want anyone at all. But I do want you. You’re cold and aloof and standoffish, but every time I get close to you… I don’t know what happens.”
“Me neither. Sometimes I think it’s just one of those things… you know. Like destiny or something. Like we’re meant to be together even if we don’t understand why.”
She smiled. “Could be.”
“I’ve wanted desperately to kiss you again since that last kiss. I can still taste your lips. I can still feel the warmth of your tongue. It drives me crazy.”
“Then kiss me,” she whispered. “Help us both find our sanity again by kissing me.”
He kissed her, gently and carefully at first, but the heat between them quickly took over and soon he was pulling her tightly against him as he groaned his pleasure.
Lux leaned into the kiss, wanting more of him, wanting more from him. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him tighter to her, pressing her breasts to his chest.
But again, just as they were heating up, he pulled back, but instead of uncertainty in his eyes, she saw warmth and amusement.
He picked up the sweater she’d let fall to her dresser drawer and pulled it over her head, tucked her arms in, then gently pulled the shirt over her breasts and down over her belly. He then rummaged through her closet and pulled out a pair of rugged looking cargo pants.
He stooped down and had her put one foot then the other in, then pulled the pants up and fastened the low, hip hugging pants, kissing her belly as he did.
“I’ve often been undressed by a man,” she said with a gentle chuckle. “But I never thought it could be just as thrilling to be dressed by a man.”
He smiled. “As much as I want to continue kissing you and getting to know you intimately, we have to train now or we won’t have time for it. Get your shoes on and meet me out back.”
He left her and she quickly slipped on a thick pair of socks and her lightweight boots and headed out to the back yard.
“So, where do we start?” she said when she came up to him.
“I wanted to go over a few things I learned from the Shaolin monks of China.”
“The kung fu masters?”
“That’s right.”
Lux looked down at her warm boots then to his bare feet. “Should I take these off?”
He let out a light laugh and shook his head. “That won’t be necessary for now.”
“But you’re barefoot. The ground must be cold.”
“I like the feel of the ground. It’s something you might acquire as you go on.”
Lux nodded. “Does that mean we’re not going to fight?”
“Not unless you really want to.”
“Then what are we doing out here?”
“Part of being a good fighter is more than just being able to move like the wind.” He quickly spun around, swinging his foot high in the air with his toe just barely touching her forehead as it brushed a stray strand of hair off her face.
She let out a nervous laugh. “Now, that could have ended very badly.”
“Never,” he said. “If I wanted to knock your head off, I’d knock your head off. If all I want to do is brush a lock of hair off your face, then that is all that I will do.”
“I’m relieved to hear that.”
“What I want to touch on today is the need to be constantly aware of your surroundings.”
“I think I’m the kind of person who is pretty much in tune with the things that go on around me.”
“We’ll see about that.” He grasped her shoulders and turned her around, then pulled a blindfold from his back pocket and covered her eyes.
“What are you doing?” Lux said.
“Testing how well-tuned you really are.”
In the darkness of the blindfold, Lux felt momentarily lost.
“Now, tell me, what do you hear?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“Well…” Even with the blindfold over her eyes, she closed them to better concentrate. “I hear a few birds.”
“How many of them?”
“I don’t know.”
“Count.”
She listened intently. “Three, no four.”
“How far away are they?
Though she silently wondered how she would figure that out, she listened again. “One of them is close by, like just outside the yard. Two of them are maybe two or three houses away and the last one is far.”
“Good enough.”
“Now, what do you smell?”
She inhaled deeply. “Creosote.”
“That’s an easy one.”
“Your cologne.”
He chuckled. “I’m not wearing any.”
“Well, then. I guess I smell you.”
“What do I smell like?”
“Nice. A little musky, but fresh. Sexy.”
“Sexy?” he chuckled. “What else?”
She inhaled again. “Tar?”
“Good. The neighbors down the street are doing their driveway. Anything else?”
“A faint smell of urine.”
“The neighbor’s dog. That’s a good one. The scent is very faint.” Holding her by the shoulders, he guided her to the mats he’d laid out.
She felt the soft cushiness under her feet. “Now what?”
He let go of her and remained quiet.
“Lucas?”
She heard the crack of a branch and turned to the direction of the sound. “Lucas?” When he didn’t answer, she reached for the blindfold.
“No,” he said, his voice coming from a slight distance. “Hit me.”
She turned to the sound of his voice. “What?”
“Hit me.”
She spun around as his voice came from a completely different direction. “Where are you?”
Silence.
Standing perfectly still, she listened then heard the faintest sound; fabric brushing against fabric. She turned and swung, and while she hit nothing, she heard movement. She’d been close.
Breathing in, she paid close attention to the wind on her face, and to every scent the wind brought. She thought she detected that personal musky scent of his and swung, but missed him again. She lost her balance with the swing, but quickly regained it.
“You’re making it too hard,” she complained.
When he didn’t respond, she listened for sounds of motion. There was nothing but the distant songs of the birds.
Nothing.
And nothing.
Then, just a tiny squeak, so faint she wasn’t sure she’d heard it at all. The sound of flesh on vinyl, just like the mat. She estimated that it came from ten feet to her right, but as she turned and stepped toward it, she heard the brush of feet against dry grass just a few feet to her left and lashed out.
This time, her fingertips touched flesh and she thought she heard Lucas smother a laugh. Out of nowhere, she felt a light slap against her shoulder, then another light tap on the chin. But every time she lashed out, she missed. He’d stepped back and out of reach.
But then she heard the swish of his pants as he lunged for her and she struck out before he could strike her. Her hand landed somewhere on his face, possibly his cheek.
This time he didn’t hold back on the laugh. “That was very good,” he said. “I’m impressed.”
“Can I take the blindfold off now?”
When he didn’t answer, she listened carefully, heard him take a quick step closer to her and struck him with friendly force in the gut.
He grunted and laughed at the same time. “Okay. I think we’ve don
e enough for today.”
Lux pulled off the blindfold. “How’d I do?” she said with a proud smile.
“Good,” he said rubbing his belly. “Too good.”
“That was fun,” she said. “I didn’t think I’d ever manage to hit you, but I’m glad I did. You know, sometimes fighting demons happens when it’s quite dark. This could come in handy.”
“You don’t say,” Lucas said with a knowing grin.
“Oh,” Lux said with an embarrassed smile. “That was the point, wasn’t it?”
“Whether it’s fighting demons in the dark, or any other assailant, it can always come in handy.” He stepped up to her and put his hands on her shoulder. “I know people, slayers, who never get the hang of it.”
“Really?”
“Really. You really have something special, Lux. You’re incredible.” He leaned in to kiss her, a friendly and congratulatory kiss that quickly heated up to something more.
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for a passionate embrace while his lips pressed against hers, his tongue searching hers.
Lux responded to him in the strongest way. He tasted so good, smelled so good and felt so good. She raked her fingers through his hair, holding him tight as she pulled him to her and her lips savored every moment against his. “Lucas, I want more…”
“Oh!” Sully said, stepping out and seeing them. “There you are, Lux.”
With much difficultly, Lux pulled away from the sweet embrace of Lucas’ lips and looked at Sully. Did the brothers intend on constantly interrupting her time with the other?
“I was ready to head off to school,” Sully said. “I thought we could go in together.”
“Um,” Lux said, completely disentangling herself from Lucas. “Sure. I need to take a quick shower first, though. I got up early to come train with Lucas. He’s helping me with my moves.”
“Right,” Sully said in a flat, unhappy tone. “Of course, he is. Maybe one day you’ll let me show you my moves.”
Understanding his not so subtle meaning, Lux smiled and patted his arm as she passed him by to head back into the house. “It shouldn’t take long.”
Sully glared at Lucas then looked back at Lux. “No problem. I’ll wait for you.”
Lucas looked at his brother. “While I think that my training is more than adequate, I guess you should do all that you can to ensure she is in top shape.”
