by Cherie Marks
“Do you want to talk about it?”
She lay back down and stared at the ceiling. “My grandmother was standing over me, and she looked as if she wanted to kill me. The scent of roses filled the air, and as I looked around, I knew it was the bedroom of my childhood. I was crying, and she was too. Finally, she moved away and when she returned, she wore a somber look on her face like a mask that I know all too well. It is her constant visage, and it’s almost worse than when I thought she was going to kill me.”
He pulled her against his chest and wrapped his arms around her. It felt good to hold her.
“Do you think she wants me dead? Maybe she blames me for my parents’ deaths.”
“Impossible. You certainly didn’t create that situation. Grath did. As you said, the blame rests on him.”
They laid together, and Zayn liked the feel of Ivy in his arms. Despite the fact that he knew they had to find a way out, part of him wished they could stay like this forever. He’d spend every day of the rest of his life just like this and be nothing but happy. He hated to admit it, but he didn’t want things to change.
“What happened to Grath?”
His heart sunk. He had just been thinking that he didn’t want things to change, but now they would. Now, she’d look at him differently, and she’d pull away from him. It was inevitable.
But there was no real reason not to tell her the truth. “I killed him.”
He heard her breathing pick up as she asked, “How?”
Zayn didn’t want to admit how depraved he’d become by the time he’d finally challenged Grath, but he knew he couldn’t hide from what he’d done any longer.
She tried to pull back and look at him, but he held her tightly. Again, she asked, “How, Zayn? Tell me.”
“When I turned sixteen, Grath watched me closer than he ever had before. I knew why, but rather than make me nervous, it only made my fury at him grow. See, once one of the members of his army reached an age where they began to question his authority, he strapped them to the machine and took every last drop of their magical energy. It was just a matter of time before he turned on me, and he was so powerful, there would be no way to fight him. The only thing I could do was outsmart him.
“I had been covertly working on a way to make Grath’s machine portable with one goal in mind. I would use his own machine on him. With Franny’s help, I escaped my room one night and snuck into his room with the portable machine. While he slept, I hooked him up to the machine and turned it on. I had thought to strap him down, but I hadn’t anticipated that the machine wasn’t fully functional. It wasn’t nearly strong enough, and he broke free. We were both attached to the machine, and I guess I had siphoned enough of his magic that when he raised his hands and began to chant, I knew the exact defensive spell to use. It rebounded on him and he was knocked out.”
Zayn paused, bracing himself for her reaction. She was about to learn that he was truly a monster to be feared. But he was done hiding from his past.
“I killed him in cold blood. I sliced his throat and let him bleed to death. I embraced everything he’d taught me and showed absolutely no mercy.”
He felt her fingers brush his chest, and he allowed himself to accept her small gesture of comfort for just that moment.
“You had no choice. He was a monster. He deserved to die.”
“Then, I do too. I was still hooked up to the machine, and every bit of the magic energy he’d stolen transferred to me.”
“But, you weren’t him.”
Shame filled him as the hope in her voice reminded him of all the destruction he’d inflicted. It was time to confess.
“You don’t understand. All of that power went straight to my head. I liked it. And Ivy, make no mistake, I used it.”
“What do you mean, you used it?”
“I mean that I hurt people, Ivy. I killed people. Anyone who got in my way in that building, I obliterated. Yes, they were Grath’s people and loyal to him, but I liked the feeling of absorbing their energy. I rampaged for two whole days before Franny found me.
“She calmed me down and held me accountable for what I’d done. It broke the bloodlust, and together, she and I cleaned up the mess I’d made, including sending Grath’s body far away where no one could even extract another drop of the magic he had stolen from so many.
“Franny and I moved around from place to place, never staying too long because the magic inside of me always overwhelmed me eventually, and I destroyed everything in the vicinity. The first time, Franny had been away, thank goodness. No one had been near. When she returned, she realized just how dangerous I was now. We worked on a way to release the magic without all of the destruction, but nothing short of putting me in the middle of nowhere when we knew an explosion was imminent seemed to work.
“That’s when she showed up.”
“She? Someone I know? Who is this she?”
Did he detect jealousy in her voice? “Baba Yaga, the head-witch-in-charge. She’s like a bajillion years old and refuses to let eighties fashion die. She brought us to Asscrack and gave us the rose. It worked. I just had to release daily. The rose grew and my temperament improved. And then you showed up and all hell broke loose.”
“But the rose is dead. Even if we do get back to our dimension, how will you control the magic?”
“I don’t know, but for the first time ever, I don’t feel the pressure of it inside of me.”
“Is it gone?”
“No. I can still feel the energy inside, but it’s finally at an equilibrium. I don’t know how to explain it.”
“Maybe it’s this place.”
“Maybe it is.” He rubbed his chin lightly over the top of her head, the light stubble from his beard growth catching on her soft hair. With the slightest hesitation, he asked the question swirling in his brain, “What if we just stay here?”
She pulled back to look at him, and though her gaze searched his as if she were trying to see how serious he was, she bit her lower lip and smiled before answering, “Would that be so bad, do you think?”
He shook his head slowly and lowered his mouth to hers. The melding of their lips sent electricity spinning through his body. The light touch of their mouths together felt risky and right all at the same time. For just a second, he considered pulling back, taking things slowly, but then she hooked her leg over his and pulled their bodies tightly together, sending the slow sexual tension in his abdomen into overdrive. She was only wearing a t-shirt and her underwear, driving him completely crazy.
The minute he deepened the kiss, he lost all sense of taking things slowly. Her breasts pressed against his chest, and he slid his hand down her torso, over her hip, and under the t-shirt. His fingertips tingled as he slid them along her bare skin and ran his hand lightly around the outside of her breast. With his thumb, he brushed a hardened nipple, taking the moan from her lips. He fed her kisses while brushing back and forth over the tightened peak until she was writhing on the bed beside him.
She broke the kiss long enough to beg, “I need you, Zayn. I need all of you.”
Who was he to deny her needs? With one swift motion, he rolled her to her back and pulled her shirt over her head. He sat back and drank in the beautiful sight of her curvy, sensual body. She wore no bra, and the scene before him was better than any fantasy he’d ever pictured. Her dark, pink nipples made his mouth water at just the thought of tonguing them. She was everything he’d ever dreamed of, and he wanted to possess all of her tonight and always.
“So beautiful.”
He wasted no more time and lowered his mouth to rain kisses over her chest, slowly making his way to cover a pebbled point with his mouth and suck lightly until she was arching upward and holding him in place by his hair. He pulled back and moved to the other side, following the same pattern until she was keening in a high-pitch, begging for him to give her what she needed.
He quickly removed his clothing and made quick work of her panties, sliding the silk down her legs with
kisses to the inside of her thighs. She was getting excited and his balls were tightening with the desperately sexy sounds she gave. She would give him what he wanted, and he would give her what she needed.
With a long, wet lick, he searched for her clit, and she cried out when he touched his tongue to the little bud. He focused attention there, licking and sucking until she was wildly tossing her head back and forth.
“Now, Zayn. I need you inside me now.”
With no more hesitation, he raised up over her and with a strong push, pumped into her a few times until he was seated fully inside her and white lights swum in his vision. He held still and breathed in and out through his nose a few times, working to control his intense reaction with her squeezing his cock like a glove. Like it was his first time and he was a fresh adolescent, he barely restrained the urge to spill inside her right that moment.
Once his mind was his own again, he began to move, pistoning in and out of her tight snatch. She raised her legs and cradled him as he set a steady pace, trying to make it good for her. This was all he wanted. She was all he wanted.
IVY WAS MINDLESS TO anything other than the sensation of Zayn deep inside her, his hot flesh on hers as she felt him hit a spot deep inside over and over until she thought she would either scratch his back to pieces or explode. With each stroke, he took her a little higher. She grabbed his shoulders and began to meet him stroke for stroke. She rode him, seeking the peak of the pleasure she was scaling, pure pleasure filled her body as she sought completion. He reached a hand between them and put pressure on her clit, as he pressed in tighter and forced her thighs wider, adding a circular motion to each penetration. In an instant, she felt the hot, white explosion behind her eyes as the walls of her pussy squeezed with pulses of fiery passion. She might have called out his name. She might have promised him a trophy for his performance. She wasn’t entirely sure. But she felt his strokes begin to lengthen and he called out her name as she felt the throb of his release. He pumped into her over and over until he stilled over her, resting his forehead on hers for a moment before rolling to her side.
Ivy stroked her hands along her own torso and smiled.
“Are you okay?”
He sounded raspy and out of breath. He’d overused his voice.
“I’m more than okay. I’m fantastic. You?”
Zayn propped himself up on his elbow and grinned down at her. “I think you promised me a trophy.”
She laughed, and he pulled her against him, laying back, her head resting on his arm and chest. “I’ll get right on that. Can we do that again?”
He chuckled. “How about we do that all night long?”
Chapter 19
LIFE FELL INTO A HAPPY rhythm in the small cottage. By day, they walked the terrain, searching for a way to leave the dimension, and by night, they made love until they collapsed from pure exhaustion.
Another week went by, and though Ivy was content spending time with Zayn, so many things they’d left behind felt unresolved. The situation with her grandmother seemed so out of the realm of possibility. Could her Gigi have helped Grath murder her parents? How was that even possible?
The dreams of her grandmother continued too, stronger and more disturbing than ever. Always, at the end, Ivy was left with a feeling of such sadness, like the weight of the world was on her shoulders. It made her antsy, like her mind was preparing her for something that was coming, something she needed to get ready for.
Once again, they were preparing to go out into the colorful world around them, and Ivy slipped the piece of bark from underneath the mattress, surreptitiously sliding it into her back pocket. But, she apparently hadn’t been quick enough because Zayn’s hand grasped her wrist, and she looked into his face, marred with concern.
“Why do you still have that?”
“I don’t know. I thought it might be useful.”
“We aren’t even sure it was ever something we could use. Remember? It’s possible it was meant to be a weapon, used against us. Why would you still carry that around?”
Ivy could sense the anger laced with concern, but she didn’t really have a good answer for him. Something was telling her to hang on to the small piece of wood, and she wasn’t above following her instincts. Of course, the fact that they weren’t making progress on leaving this dimension and getting back to their own was another reason she kept it. The creature that had given it to them clearly thought it was useful in some way. Until she had a reason to believe otherwise, she would keep it nearby.
“Look, Zayn, I’m not mad at the time we’ve spent here. It’s been a nice break, and it’s made me realize golf is a much more important part of my life than I thought. I’ve missed it. But, I think we both know we can’t stay here forever. There’s unfinished business waiting for us where we belong. I kept the bark because, until we have a way home, I don’t want to throw away any possibly useable tool. It might come in handy.”
“You’ve been thinking a lot about leaving, huh?” Something soft and somber filled his gaze. Surely she hadn't hurt his feelings? Big, bad warlock, surely didn’t wear his heart on his sleeve, but she had to wonder if they could carry what they had back into their real world.
“It’s just difficult knowing what I left behind and not being able to ask the questions I need answers to.”
“What do you think you’re going to find out? Nothing good. Here, you’re protected from all of that heartache, all the misery that led us to that point where it all came to a head. I don’t feel the pressure of the magic here, and I don’t want to go back to that.”
“Are you saying you don’t want to return to our world?”
He looked upward and raised his hands into the air. “I’m not so deluded to think I can stay here forever, but I’m just not ready to go back right now.”
“How can you say that? We left lives...and people...back there. Don’t you think folks will wonder what happened to us?”
With slow precision, he jammed his fingers through his hair and sighed heavily. “Don’t you realize what’s at stake here? I don’t want to go back to find out I’ve destroyed everything we ever cared about. What if I’ve hurt Franny? What if I destroyed the entire tournament and everyone in it? I can’t face that.”
Ivy’s heart squeezed in her chest. She crossed to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her cheek to his chest. “I’m so sorry you’ve lived with this for so long. It must be an impossible burden to bear.”
He held her tightly to him and rested his chin on top of her head. “I don’t want to face the consequences this time. It’s too hard.”
They stood there together for several minutes, holding each other in silence. Ivy breathed in his fresh, clean scent and didn’t want the moment to end, but reality knocked hard on her brain. She had to be the voice of reason.
“I know it will be hard, but we have to go back, Zayn.”
He pulled free of their embrace and contemplated her with an inscrutable expression. Ivy wasn’t sure where his mind was now, but she was sure she was ready to find a way out...with or without him.
“You should go. Like I said, I’m not ready yet.”
She stared at him. Her breathing stilled. Though he’d been telling her the entire time that he wanted to stay, she hadn’t really considered the possibility that they wouldn’t be together. Clearly though, it was the way it had to be.
She nodded and lowered her gaze to her hands. “I see.”
“I’ll continue to help you look for a way, but once we find it, you’ll go back without me.”
“Of course. You have to do what you have to do.”
Zayn reached out a hand to touch her, but she moved back, leaving his hand hanging in the air. “Maybe it’s best if we go in different directions today. You know, we could cover more ground that way.”
“I don’t know. What if you run into trouble?”
“What if you run into trouble? I can take care of myself as well as you can. I’ll be fine without you.”
The words hung in the air, heavy and painful. She hadn’t meant to show him how much his choice affected her, but she admitted to herself that she was hurt by his decision. She had hoped being with her would be enough to get past his fears, but clearly it wasn’t. And her heart ached because of it.
“Okay. We’ll go our separate ways today. If you get into trouble, send a flare spell high into the sky, and I’ll come running—just for back-up—but I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Ivy wasn’t sure why she was surprised he’d accepted the offer so easily. She was the one who suggested it, but she’d hoped he’d put up a little more protest. Maybe he really didn’t want to be with her. What else was she supposed to believe?
She shouldered the makeshift bag of supplies she liked to carry with her and started for the door.
“I guess I’ll see you when I see you. If I find the way out, I probably will just take it. So, maybe we should say our goodbyes now, just in case.”
But she didn’t even give him the chance. She heard him call her name as she slammed out of the door and began to jog away from the cottage, not even giving a look back.
Clearly, it was over between them. And she was fine. It had been good while it lasted, but nothing lasted forever. She would move on easily, getting back into her regular routine without a second thought to the time she’d spent in a real-life fantasy with a man who made her feel incredible every moment of every day.
A splash of liquid hit her arm and another one hit the back of her hand. She wiped the tears from her eyes and ran on.
Who was she kidding? She’d come to care for Zayn. If she was really being honest with herself, she’d fallen hard for him.
She was in love with Zayn. And now she’d lost him forever.
Chapter 20
WHAT HAD HE DONE?
He had to be the biggest dunderhead that ever walked this world or any other, including his own. Ivy was the best thing that had ever happened to him. Sure, Franny had saved his life and helped him learn to control the beast inside of him, but Ivy had done so much more.