had powers? Why was she so completely drawn to Kal?
What was she supposed to do with the rest of her life? The
scene of her parents' death played over and over in her
mind, their lifeless bodies swinging in front of her, back
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and forth, as the smell of death permeated the room.
Without warning her burden seemed to lessen. She
could still see the terrible images but it seemed as though
she was watching them from a greater distance. The pain
receded in her head and she felt as if she could raise her
lids, as if the light of the day wouldn't destroy her.
She opened her eyes slowly, testing them to see if
they worked. Kal's face appeared before her immediately
and, as was becoming habit when she looked at him, she
was struck by the complete perfection that was his face.
Next to him, she saw the most beautiful woman she had
ever seen, presumably this was the Charma that Kal kept
speaking to. The woman seemed to radiate light all around
her. It was fitting because she was so blonde. Her soft
features were strained and she seemed to be staring ahead
right into Isabelle's very soul.
"Not so much, Char," Kal instructed. "We can't lose
you to this destruction. You've done enough." Kal sounded
for the first time gentle as he placed his hand on Charma's
back.
"She's very important, Kal, but you already know
that." Charma did not remove her gaze. "You didn't tell me
you heard the chanting."
"Get out of her mind, Charma, before it's too late or
Veli and Leo will string me up by my thumbs. It'll take
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both of them but somehow, I suspect, they really will
manage to do it." Charma took a deep breath and Isabelle
felt the company that had been in her mind disappear.
Everything felt lighter, easier. That must be the woman's
power, to absorb pain. Biting her lip, she tried a smile but
no response came from the stunning blonde.
"Go rest, little cousin." Kal helped Charma off the
bed gently. "I will make introductions later after you have
rested."
Charma gently smiled, turning to glance at Isabelle.
"It's lovely to meet you, Isabelle Listora. Your parents were
great people and their death is a tragedy for all of us. Thank
you for finding us after all of these years. I hope you'll
think of us as your second family." She paused and then
finished, "Somehow you can see him so clearly when it
takes everyone forever to get past his safeguards. You're a
woman to be reckoned with and I hope we'll be good
friends."
Charma walked slowly past Kal into the hall
without a pause. Kal turned back to Isabelle, practically
jumping to her side.
Kal ran his hands through his hair, a gesture she'd
not seen him do before. Finally, he sat on the bed next to
her. "Do you feel okay, kiddo? You had us all terrified;
you've been asleep nearly twelve hours. You just collapsed;
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I didn't know what to do with you except to bring you to
Charma." He stroked her hand.
"I feel remarkably okay. How is that possible? How
can I even be functioning after what's happened?" Isabelle
was slightly confused. She decided to stop questioning
what was happening. Nothing about the last day had been
rational; she was simply going to have to get a better grip
on the irrational and learn to like it.
"It's Charma, it's her power. She shares your
burdens, heals them if you like, and then you feel better
somehow. It lessens the magnitude of terrible events,
emotions, and traumas. But there is a price to pay for
Charma; she has to live with your event instead of you.
People are just drawn to her; they find her on park benches
and airplanes and just to talk to her. We almost never ask
her to do what I asked her to do for you."
"Remind me to thank her when I see her again.
Where are we exactly?" Isabelle sat up in bed to look
around the room. She had to suppress a giggle because she
immediately knew this was Kal's room. Well, Kal's room as
it must have been when he was a teenager. She didn't
imagine he'd have quite so many nineties rock and grunge
music posters hanging on the wall now. She bet if she
looked in the closet she would find flannel shirts and ripped
jeans. But outside of the clearly dated décor, everything
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about it still screamed his presence.
The color on the walls was denim blue, exactly the
shade of the shirt he had been wearing when she met him
the day before. The room was simple and not overdone, as
if he just knew something was tasteful or fun and then
didn't bother to overanalyze it too much. Kal would
attribute his lack of interest in the details of these kind of
things as great flaw that he possessed but it was clear to
Isabelle that Kal had put all of his energies in life where
they belonged and didn't need to be bothered with the
mundane things like paint colors and the changes in
fashions over the years. He had her to do those things now.
Well, she amended in her thoughts, if he wanted her to do
those things for him.
"We are on an uninhabited island right off the coast
of Maine. Veli found this place while he and Marina were
investigating a lead about ten years ago. She was so sure a
member of our group was living in the town right on the
coast of the mainland. But they could never find anyone.
Maine has so many little islands, some of them privately
owned, some of them public, that most people don't think
twice about our house and the privacy we crave here. It was
like a dream finding this place. Veli and Marina are
stronger by the water and god knows we need Veli to be
strong. So it's nice to have a home base, admittedly it's nice
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to have a place to come 'home' to.
"Dot keeps the house up and travels back and forth
to the mainland and Marina keeps the island thriving and
somehow makes it unappealing to boaters and tourists so
we almost never get unwanted visitors. But, specifically,
you are in my room, my wing if you like. The house is
quite large, huge actually and totally abandoned when Veli
found it. Marina thinks it was waiting for us but I don't
know if I buy into that. Even I have a limit when it comes
to what I will and will not believe in." Kal ran a hand
through his hair and she stared at the way the light bounced
off of it. She wanted to reach out and stroke his hair, his
cheek, anything she could touch. Instead, she forced herself
to concentrate on what he said.
"We thought it was perfect because if
we ever did
find anyone else then they could move into their own wing
but I wasn't sure where else to put you and truthfully, I
wanted you with me. We only have furniture in the places
where we live. Most of the house is closed up and waiting
to be filled. Can I get you anything, some water?"
Isabelle couldn't help but notice the worry in Kal's
eyes and she was desperate to soothe him. Charma had
made her feel better but hadn't gotten rid of the deep need
inside of her to connect with Kal.
She was a smart woman, and smart women knew
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better than to question gifts like the man in front of her. She
reached out and kissed him, hard on the lips. It was an
offering she was hoping desperately that he wouldn't resist.
Much to her delight, he didn't disappoint her and after an
initial hesitation that she suspected was from shock, his lips
softened and drove into hers with a longing that matched
her own.
* * * *
Kal took his time, deepening the kiss with Isabelle.
He loved the feel of her lips and he could hear the soft
chanting begin distantly in his ears. Surprisingly it wasn't
distracting at all or invasive but sanctified what was
happening between them as right and sacred.
"This feels so right to me, Kal." Isabelle's voice was
a husky whisper. "But I have to confess, I've never done
this before, except with you in my dreams, and I don't want
you to be disappointed by my lack of any and all carnal
knowledge outside of my own fantasies." Isabelle looked
down at her hands.
Kal pulled her head back so he could look her in the
eyes. He wanted her to see that everything he was saying to
her was real. "Isabelle, sweetheart, you can hear that
chanting when we're together, can't you?" Isabelle nodded
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slowly. "That doesn't just happen by chance. We, the
Outsiders, if you like, we only hear that song when we're
using our powers to right something that has gone wrong or
when we are combining our souls with our soul mates. I
can hear that with you and you can hear it with me because
we are meant to be together. If you went out there and
started kissing Leonardo, and please don't do that because I
really like Leonardo and I might have to cause him bodily
harm if you did, you wouldn't hear the chanting. We are
meant to be to be a pair in all things."
Her eyes were huge. "That makes it even worse.
Now I have to worry that you'll be totally disappointed with
your soul mate's lack of experience and realize that you're
going to be stuck with me forever." There was desperation
in her voice.
"Do you know what an incredible turn on it is to me
to hear that you haven't been with anyone else? Someone as
sexy and gorgeous as you are has been waiting for me?"
Kal could feel his jeans tightening as his erection started to
form. He knew he was going to have to be careful with
Isabelle—if she was worried about disappointing him, he
was terrified of hurting her.
"You think I'm sexy?" she asked in a barely audible
whisper.
"Do I think you're sexy?" A growl that he couldn't
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control slipped out of his throat as he pushed her down on
the bed, rolling on top of her. "Can you feel that?" He
grabbed her hand to touch the hard point of his manhood.
"That's how much I think you're sexy. I didn't know I had
this much raw animal left inside of me but god, I think I
might explode and we haven't even gotten started yet."
He bent his head down to devour her mouth. He
needed to take possession of her, lay his claim, somehow
proclaim to the universe that she was going to be his for all
time and damn anybody who tried to take her from him.
"Oh Kal, I feel like I've been waiting for this my
whole life, maybe longer somehow." Isabelle raised her
hands to pull his shirt out from where it was tucked in at his
waist.
Kal used one hand to help her, discarding the
garment and then began laying kisses on her neck, not
caring if he marked her. It would just be another way for
everyone to know she was his.
Isabelle's fingers were playing havoc with Kal's
nerves as she stroked his broad chest with skill he wouldn't
have expected. "Isabelle, darling girl, if you keep doing that
I'm going to go crazy and I'm trying very hard to be a good
boy here and go slow so you can enjoy your first time." Kal
strung Isabelle's hands behind his neck, hoping they would
stay there so he wouldn't lose his mind.
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"You said it yourself, Kal, we're meant to be
together. Do you think I wouldn't enjoy anything that you
did to me?"
That was all the invitation that Kal needed.
Surprising himself with the force and velocity of his moves,
he ripped Isabelle's shirt right from her body. "Hope that
wasn't your favorite shirt." He grinned sheepishly—he
might become animal-like during the full moon but he
didn't want to terrify her their first time together.
"No, but it was my only shirt." Isabelle laughed. "I
am officially without clothes."
Kal could swear that her voice had taken on a new
quality, almost a cat-like purr and he had to admit that the
tone of it was turning him on as no sound ever had before.
Maybe he wasn't the only one who had animal qualities.
They had, after all, been born for each other. She might
eventually like his wild side, he hoped.
"That was my intention, love, to get you completely
naked and keep you that way." Kal began devouring the
skin above her breasts. He had never seen such perfect
breasts. He reached out to cup them with his hands and
squeezed gently before taking one of her already alert
nipples into his mouth to suck on it. Isabelle moaned
deeply in her throat, using her hands to pull him closer, the
effect of which only had Kal sucking harder. "God, baby,"
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he groaned. "If you don't stop that, I'm going to come right
here and make a mess of things without ever taking your
virginity."
"You're not taking my virginity, Kal," Isabelle
purred, startling him for a second. "I'm giving it to you."
"I know you are, darling." He kissed her nose. "And
that's what makes it all the more sacred to me."
Suddenly adventurous, Isabelle reached down to
stroke the now completely hardened rod bulging in Kal's
pants. He groaned loudly and quickly unbuttoned his jeans
to pull them off. As far as he was concerned, they both had
on way too many clothes. Isabelle's were going to have to
come off quickl
y. He pulled her back to look at her almost
completely naked. She was wearing black silk panties and
given that she hadn't known what was going to happen to
her that day it occurred to Kal that she must wear this kind
of underwear on a daily basis. He was going to love to
undress her every day.
"You are the most beautiful creature I've ever seen,
Isabelle. I didn't know that such beauty actually existed on
earth." His hands slipped over her hips to slide her panties
off. "How do you manage to have so many curves and still
be all legs?" His mouth began kissing down her legs where
his hands had just been touching. Seconds later he was
back to making love to her mouth. He couldn't seem to get
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enough.
"I'm not beautiful, Kal. I'm really fairly normal
looking," she breathed in his ear as she wantonly began to
lick his earlobe. "But I feel beautiful, somehow, when you
look at me."
"You've been looking in broken mirrors. I've been
all over the world and I've never seen anyone who can hold
a candle to you." He touched her stomach gently. Wanting
to extend her pleasure as long as possible, but knowing that
he was dangerously ready, he slid down her body to her
velvety, hot core and with his tongue began to taste her. He
had imagined this moment several times since he had met
her but he couldn't have imagined what the taste of her
inside would do to him. She had been made for, designed
for him and he knew he could never get enough of her.
"Oh god, Kal!" Isabelle screamed, her head flying
backwards onto the pillow. "Sshh, baby," he crooned. "I'm
just getting you ready for me. The way you react is so
fantastic, baby, I can't even tell you and god, honey, the
way that you taste is like heaven."
Screaming his name, her hands dug into his hair at
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