"That reminds me, I need to go to my storage unit and go through my Gram's things. I have most of her books and things, there might be a clue amongst them. Do you think that tomorrow after we go shopping we can drive out to my friend Patience's house and then over to the storage unit?"
Graven put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me in closer to him. He kissed the top of my head. "Of course. I will have Maritza take care of anything that needs to be done for the club in the afternoon."
"The only problem is that I know the Taker has taken all of my belongings from my little house. I don't think they know about my storage unit. I projected to the unit to check and it did not seem like anything was disturbed. I can't have them take what little I have left of my Gram and my old life."
"Hmm. I can try to find someone who can do a concealment spell. I will talk to Maritza about it when we get back to the suite. Maybe you can tell me more about your friends that you want to go see tomorrow. We still have some walking ahead of us." Graven probed in the gentlest way. How could I not continue to open up to him?
Chapter Thirteen
"I MET PATIENCE AND AXEL at the flea market that I used to go to on the weekends. They are venders and sell used odds and ends. They were always very nice. The last time I saw them I purchased a bookshelf from them." I pouted a little to myself knowing I would not have anywhere to put it now.
"So if you had no knowledge of this world or what you are, how did you know about them being Keepers?" Graven asked.
"I guess it's a little complicated. Apparently Gram was friends with them. I think that she asked Patience to befriend me and keep an eye on me. The first time I astral projected, Patience was there waiting for me, maybe looking for me. I don't really know, I was more worried about trying to figure out why I was kidnapped and how I was going to escape than to ask."
"Did she offer to help you?" Graven asked.
"She was trying to. She and her sister Phaela have been trying to research things to help me," I started to explain.
"What kinds of things?" he cut me off.
"Well for starters they were the ones who told me who The Taker was after Ziona mentioned him. They also told me about being at the center of a prophecy."
"I see. I'm not the only one who has been foretold of your coming." Might he have been gloating or perhaps he was just trying to justify to himself his own beliefs all these years.
"Yeah, except that I am the one; the one who will break the darkness with my light. They too believed that I would have a unique set of abilities or powers." My feet were starting to hurt. I was pretty sure I was going to find blisters on my heels when we got back to the hotel. At least we were finally walking somewhere in town.
"An Elemental?" he asked and stated all at the same time.
"What? I guess, but not exactly." I worried I was telling him too much.
"The Taker has been looking for someone who would be able to control all of the elements. I am ashamed to say, but that is one of the things that they have me do at the clubs."
"What do they have you do?" I asked.
"My clubs are known for being a safe and fun place for people of all backgrounds to come and party together. I have strict rules about anyone abusing their special gifts or humans in my clubs. I do offer private rooms for things that would be deemed inappropriate by most humans. But I was supposed to be filtering through the crowds for someone with a unique set of abilities. Some claimed that they were able to control the elements. They were all offered compensation and glad at the opportunity."
"The opportunity for what?" I asked.
"For money, power, I don't know what ever they thought that The Taker would offer them. Honestly I don't know what happened to them after I introduced them to Ziona."
"So what you're telling me is that you were looking for "me" to save me and at the same time you were looking for "me" to hand over to them?" I felt sick to my stomach. "I don't understand."
"Kasha, it's really not like that."
I let go of his arm. There really was no need for it anymore since where we were walking had street lamps and I could see where we were going.
Graven lifted both arms and pushed back his neatly slicked hair. "I told you that I made a choice to do things that were against what I thought was right. I betrayed myself to walk amongst the darkness. I knew if I did that it would lead me to you.
"Honestly I didn't realize that The Taker and I were looking for the same person all these years. I wish that I could have taken a different path, maybe one that was more honorable, but it was the path that led me to where I needed to be, where I am at this very moment and that is with you by my side."
Graven stopped me and took my hands in his again. I hadn't realized that we had walked back to the hotel. I looked up at the building and noticed that each step of the pueblo roof was adorned with what looked like brown bags glowing from a small internal candle. I couldn't remember if they were lit up when we left for the club.
The courtyard had a very ethereal feel to it. I knew morning was approaching because there was a slight illumination at the edges of the horizon. I looked back down, skipping Graven's eyes and looking at his wide hands that cradled mine, making them look almost childlike.
He took a step closer to me. I felt the butterflies tumbling in my stomach. I am pretty sure I all together stopped breathing.
"Kasha, please look at me." He lifted our hands as if to guide my gaze upward. He put his lips on the tops of each of my knuckles, gently kissing them. I felt each of his soft and full lips as they left the slightest bit of moisture behind with each imprint. Even after he removed his lips, I could still feel where he marked me with his reverence. I watched his mouth move from one hand to the other. Even after he lowered my hands I couldn't help but stare at it.
I pulled my own bottom lip into my mouth and wet my lips. His eyes lifted from my hands and I had no choice but to meet his gaze. I let the tiniest bit of oxygen filter in through my nose.
Everything around us started to become out of focus. My heartbeat was the only sound I heard. If my hands were dry there was a good chance every other part of my body that could have produced sweat was damp.
The hairs on my arm were standing on end. I knew it was from the intensity of the moment. I was experiencing not only my own emotions, but I could feel the devotion and desires that were vibrating off of Graven. His emotions were coursing through me. I felt like someone threw a ball of emotions at me.
I don't know if he could fake what he was feeling, but I could feel his intentions and the truth behind his words. I felt like the rest of my senses became recessive to my ability to feel the subtle changes in what I was feeling.
I looked at Graven and now saw several versions of him layered one on top of another. They were not exactly like carbon copies and not the way people artistically sketch an aura, more like layers of glowing holograms. I could see his gargoyle form amongst the layers. I did not shift my eyes from his. It really amazed me how no matter his form, his light eyes kept the same inviting and enticing look.
Graven let go of my hands and approached me slowly. He pushed my hair back away from my face. As his fingers brushed against my cheekbone it felt like tiny fireworks danced across my skin. I could feel the swirls of anticipation and fervor, I just wasn't sure if it was from him or me, maybe both of us.
I didn't need to have any magical or supernatural gifts to know what was about to happen. Part of me wanted to turn and run, run as fast and as far as I could. But I knew that I couldn't out run what was in front of me. Instead I let my feet propel me forward closing the distance between us.
Graven's hand remained at the side of my face. His fingers slid between the layers of my hair. My knees went weak and I was glad that he now cradled my head in the palm of his hand. Had he not, I may have melted down to the ground.
I put my hands on his chest and ever so slightly felt myself lifting up onto the balls of my feet as his face closed in on me. I could feel his
warm breath teasing the tip of my nose. I knew I should have closed my eyes, but I couldn't bring myself to break the fixed gaze. I looked deep into his eyes and felt like I was connected to his soul.
Just as his soft voluminous lips converged with my mouth, I let the lids of my eyes hide that they had pretty much rolled to the back of my head. His lips encapsulated mine with such a tenderness that it felt like two fluffy clouds collided. I let him kiss me. I did not kiss him back, but I also did not push him away. I wanted more. I wanted to feel the powerful kiss that he was holding back.
His lips hovered over mine as if he was silently asking if it was ok to proceed. My eyes remained closed. I wondered if he was looking at me. I was tempted to shift my consciousness into my astral body to see, but there was no way I wanted to miss a second of his touch.
I lifted up as high as I could on the balls of my feet until I couldn't feel them anymore. My body, every part of my physical body wanted to feel his lips against my skin again. This time it was my lips that grazed at his flesh. I hungered for a taste of him.
Even with my eyes closed I could see him. Every part of him exuded strength from his jaw line to his broad shoulders and sturdy thighs. My lips parted enough for my kiss to envelope his lower lip. All I wanted to do was lick his mouth, so I did. I licked his lips and took them one at a time into my mouth. Why wasn't he giving me what I wanted, what he wanted to give me?
Give me yourself. Give me all of you. I want to feel you, I demanded over and over again in my head. That was until he grabbed my head more firmly and slid his tongue past my lips. I pushed mine back until they met somewhere in between swirling around each other like our lives depended on it. They danced around each other as if they had danced a million dances together.
Our kiss was ravenous and I was ready to offer to him what I had never shared with another man. My emotions surged. I could feel the current running down my numb legs and arms. I felt like I could burst into a million pieces at any second.
Graven broke the kiss. He pulled back slightly and looked at me. He looked down at my feet and back up to my eyes. His hands lowered from my head over my shoulders and down my arms until they met with my hands. I welcomed them in my own.
"Kasha, we need to go inside to our room."
I was having trouble reading his facial expression and our emotions were so peaked with sexual desire I couldn't feel much of anything else. He looked back down toward the ground signaling me to look.
I looked down, the first thing I noticed was that my feet were no longer planted on the ground. When I felt the nothingness of them I assumed it was from my nervous and excited state. My eyes then noticed that my legs and body were glowing in that bluish shimmer that my astral body normally took on.
"Yeah, we need to get you in and out of the public eye. It is not likely that anyone is awake right now, but we can't have you out here like this," Graven whispered.
"What is happening to me?" I asked, confused by what I saw. The realization that I was in some sort of altered state and hovering off the ground snapped me out of it. My body dropped out of the air, not that I had far to go, but I was glad that I was already holding Graven's hands. They helped to steady me while I got rid of my sea legs.
We started to walk through the front doors of the hotel. The same woman sat behind the concierge desk. Only this time she wasn't smiling at us.
"You should know better, Mr. Fromarian. You can't do that shit out there."
I was not so much taken back by her outburst as much as I was by the fact that she now resembled some sort of large cat. I could see her human form with her fancy braided hair. My eyes drifted to her large turquoise pin, I knew it was the same woman. But I could see her features were now more feline.
"Yes, ma'am. We are heading to our suite now. Has Maritza returned from the club yet?" he asked her.
"No, shall I have her ring you before she comes up?" she asked him. "What is..."
"No, thank you," He cut her off and gave her a hard look, "That won't be necessary. Goodnight, or morning as it is."
"Come on," Graven whispered into my ear and escorted me to the elevator. I turned to look back at the woman now standing and watching us as we boarded the elevator. She looked like she saw a ghost, and I wasn't really sure what I thought I just saw.
Graven nor I spoke a word in the elevator on the ride up to our suite. We were still holding hands when we walked onto our floor. It was a short walk to our room, but it felt like it took forever.
We got into the suite and Graven shut the door behind us. I only took a few steps in and stood there frozen. Graven walked to meet me face to face. His voice deep and soft, "Are you ok?"
"Honestly, I don't know. I feel like I am crashing from a sugar high right now."
"Let me get you a water. Come in and sit down so we can talk about it. And keep in mind it is nearly morning, you are probably tired." He walked over to the kitchenette and brought me back a bottle of water. He opened it and stretched it out in front of me.
I sat down on the sofa and took a small sip of the water and resealed the bottle before placing it on the table in front of me. I sat up straight, when really I wanted to hunch over and hide. I closed my eyes and tried to take a deep breath and center myself.
"What-"
"Did you-"
We started to speak at the same time. Graven bowed his head gently toward me and waved his hand, palm facing up, offering me the opportunity to speak first.
"I don't even know where to start. I have never experienced anything like that, I don't know how I was levitating. Is that what you would call it? What do you think was going on?" I asked him.
"That was by far the most intense and emotionally charged kiss I have ever experienced myself, and I have lived several of your lifetimes. I have never seen...you looked like..."
"What? What did I look like? Because I was seeing some fairly odd stuff myself." I grabbed the water bottle again and instead of taking a sip I picked at the label.
"For starters, I could feel more emotion from you than I have ever experienced from a vibrational stand point. Usually I can just detect spikes and ranges of emotions. This was different; I was bombarded with every emotion all at once. I felt like one of us was literally going to explode, and not the same kind of explosion couples have when they are engaged in such intimate moments. I had to pull back and catch my breath." Graven rubbed his first three fingers against his brow where it met with the bridge of his nose.
"You were, I mean I saw you, like all of you. It is hard to explain. Normally I can see what people's true nature is because of my gift to both astral project and see when people are projecting. You see, we have one of the bodies that we talked about that is with us always. It is like a map of who we are.
"When we come into this life, we have a special template that tells our cells who and what we will be. In that template all of our history from past present and future lives are imprinted. It is like our soul." Graven continued to explain, "Even if someone does a spell to make themselves look different, I can see their true form. Like shifters for example, I can usually see what they are even when they are in their human form."
"Like the lady down stairs?" I whispered into my bottle as I raised it to my lips.
"You could see what she is?" he asked me.
"I don't know what I saw, she kind of looked like a leopard or a panther. Her face looked like it suddenly took on a feline shape, but a lot scarier looking than a kitty cat," I said.
Graven chuckled a little, lightening the mood and energy in the room.
"But what did you see on me?" I asked him.
"Kasha, I am not really sure. It was like watching a movie in fast forward and rewind simultaneously on the fastest speed possible. At the same time you looked like you were astral projecting. Your whole body was glowing and had a transparent shimmer thing going on."
"Dolores down there saw it, or at least she saw something. I have never heard her curse before. I am a very discreet
and private person. I have to be, so for her to see me in a position that could possibly expose us, she was pissed and probably shocked." He rubbed his hands over his knees.
"I could see you too, I could see all your layers or bodies, including your gargoyle figure. It was actually beautiful." Did I just say that? Yup, I did. I really didn't know how to act around a man, not a man like this. And still I wondered just how old he was.
"What is beautiful is you. I don't know what you are, or what you are becoming, but it matters not. Tonight solidified it all for me. I felt like our souls almost lifted away from our bodies to join each other." Graven moved closer to me and put his hand over my knee.
"I felt the same thing. I wanted to feel more, more of you. It was such a desperate need I had for you. I still do. I have never wanted anything or to give myself to anyone like this in my life, ever. Quite frankly, I have never given myself to anyone." My cheeks must have turned a brighter shade of red than my hair that I wished would fall into my face to cover my obvious embarrassment.
"Your innocence is like a breath of fresh air. Please don't think that it makes you weak, you have the maturity and strength of someone who has lived many lives before," he paused for a moment, "and from what I saw tonight, I think you may have lived many lives."
"I am of many, I think I am a Uni. Have you heard of that? Is it a real thing?"
"Wow. That makes sense on so many levels. We can't let anyone know that. I thought you said you didn't know anything about this world?" he questioned me.
"I don't. My grandmother came to me in a vision or something, I wasn't really sure if it was real."
"So you are way more than an Elemental. These Story Keepers, do they know your family history?"
"I'm not completely sure. I think that Patience might have a book for me. Maybe it has to do with my family's history. She hasn't mentioned it in front of her sister though. I get a weird vibe from her sister. I trust Patience with my life, as did my grandmother, but her sister- not so much." I took a big swig of the water this time. I watched the bubbles rising in the water as the water flowed into my mouth. I wondered if or what power I would have over water.
Betrayed: Breaking the Darkness Series Book Two Page 13