by Mia Hoddell
She paused briefly.
“Sorry I didn’t want to bother you with this, especially with whatever is happening to you but he’s starting to freak me out.”
I was not expecting what she had just told me. I thought it would have just been some gossip, not that my ex had lost his mind.
“He probably hasn’t called because he knows I wouldn’t answer. I made the mistake of doing that once and I think he could tell that when I hung up on him I wouldn’t chance my luck again. I’ll call him though, I don’t know what he’s thinking. Sorry Chlo. One question though, why is he still bothering you? Didn’t your usual foul mouth and bitchiness stop him?” She laughed at my question.
“Believe me I tried but he’s not listening to anyone, just focused on answers.”
I nodded, even though she couldn’t see me. It sounded exactly like Ian, he always was hot headed.
“I understand, I’ll talk to him after you go.”
“Thanks.” I could hear the smile in her voice as she livened up a bit. “So I know you can’t tell me where you are but can you tell me what you are living in?”
I rolled my eyes at her inquisitive streak. “I’m in one of Kai’s houses. It’s really quite nice; basic as he very rarely stays here but it’s really modern.”
Chloe was speechless on the other end of the line and I started to worry as it was normally impossible to shut her up.
“Wait you’re living with Kai?”
“Well what did you think I was doing? He’s the one keeping me safe and I would have nowhere to stay, no money or anything without him.” I was confused by what she had assumed was going on.
“I guess but you are only seventeen Rea and you’re already living with your boyfriend!”
I sighed, believing that this could go on for a while.
“Believe me it’s not the situation I imagined myself in either and yeah it creeps me out too sometimes but it’s out of my control. Look I’ve got to go now. I had only just got in when you rang and I’m still soaked and cold from the snow.” I was leaning against the radiator but it was doing little to warm me as I was still in my damp clothing.
“You’re somewhere in the country where it is snowing, that narrows it down slightly...What were you doing in the snow anyway? You hate snow.”
I cursed under my breath for the slip up in narrowing down my location. On the news this morning only five areas had been a
ffected by both air and water Elementals.
“Just walking around with Kai trying to lift our moods. I really have to go Chlo, I’ll call Ian after I’ve had a shower.”
“OK but keep in touch yeah?”
“Yeah, see you.” We hung up and I threw my phone onto the bed so I could use both of my hands to peel myself out of the clothing.
Once I had finished in the shower and was no longer shivering I got changed into my pyjamas. I wasn’t planning on doing anything for the rest of the day so wanted to be comfortable when curled up by the fire. I was just hopping around my room as I pulled my last sock on when a knock came from the other side of the door.
“Yeah?” I was a little out of breath when Kai appeared in my room, and he looked at me strangely as I finished hopping and stood up straight.
“I was just checking on you as you seemed to be taking awhile...” His words trailed off as he took in the sight of my room.
“What happened in here? You’ve only been here a few nights.”
“My phone was ringing when I got in but couldn’t find it, hence the room. I haven’t been down yet because I was speaking to Chloe for a while, I’ll be there in a minute.”
He nodded and turned to leave, pausing as he reached for the handle. “You want a drink or anything?”
“A hot chocolate would be nice thanks.” He left the room and I moved towards my bed, trying to build up the courage to call Ian.
It was no surprise that Ian answered after only two rings, his voice filled with urgency and anger as he answered.
“How could you do this Rea?” He was almost shouting down the line before I had even uttered a word.
“Hi to you too Ian and how could I do what? If anything I should be asking you that question.” I wasn’t planning on being so aggressive but he took the choice out of my hands with how he answered the phone.
“How could you run off with him, that’s what?!”
“Just calm down and stop shouting otherwise I’m just going to hang up and leave you with all of your questions.” I sighed, trying not to shout back at him.
Collapsing on my bed I waited for his response.
“Okay, fine. Explain then, how could you run off with him?”
It wasn’t much of an improvement but I could deal with a cold, annoyed Ian better than his anger.
“I haven’t run off with him. I have every intention of coming back when it is safe. Look you’re going to hate hearing this but I really can’t tell you a lot about what’s happening. At the moment it’s not safe for me to be around you guys and Kai can keep me safe.”
“I could keep you safe better than that asshole. Tell me the truth Rea, he’s not letting you leave is he?”
I almost laughed at the irony of Ian stating I was being held captive by Kai, when I was the first person to accuse him of kidnapping me. I tried to stop myself but in the end couldn’t.
“How can you protect me from something you know nothing about? Hell, you don’t even know what I’m running from exists and just for your sanity, no Kai is not keeping me here, not that it is any of your business.” I was beginning to get irritated by Ian’s obvious thought that he had some kind of claim over me.
“I don’t like you being with him Rea. Your mum’s going crazy with worry too. How can you do this to us all?”
“First of all, this has nothing to do with you, we broke up remember and we weren’t truly friends when I left. Secondly, my mum knows everything and is fine as I spoke to her recently.” I heard him growl and it was obvious he wasn’t going to be able to control his anger anymore.
“It has everything to do with me! You’re my girlfriend not that assholes you’re with.”
I could feel tears starting to well up in my eyes and I hadn’t even got to the part about Chloe yet.
“Shut the hell up Ian. I’m not yours, you lost me when you cheated on me. If you haven’t got over me then that’s your problem but it doesn’t mean you have some possessive claim over me and you have no right to bother anyone I know. Especially Chloe, you understand?!” I tried to cover up my tears by shouting.
“How many times do I have to apologise for that Rea? Just let it go.”
“I never asked for an apology Ian, I didn’t even want one as it would just be another lie. I thought there was a small chance we could stay friends but there really isn’t and your reaction in the past week plus the treatment of my friends just proves how unstable you are.” I sniffed not able to hold back the noises anymore.
“Aww don’t cry Rea, I’m sorry. I’ll stay away from Chloe from now on, I was just going out of my mind not hearing from you. I love you Rea.”
I was considering throwing my phone at the wall as he spoke but refrained as I knew I would regret it later on. I was about to reply when Kai entered my room again, his face morphing into a look of concern and worry as he saw me sitting on the bed crying.
“What’s the matter Rea?”
I just pointed to the phone and held up a finger to say I’d be a minute. Ignoring me he strode across the room in a few steps and sat behind me, pulling me against his chest and silently offering me strength, even though he didn’t understand the problem.
“That’s him isn’t it Rea? Has he been there the whole time, not letting you leave?” He sneered down the phone as more tears fell from my face.
“Just stop it Ian. I’m not doing this anymore. I only phoned to get you to stop bothering Chloe. Did you know you’re scaring her half to death? Because you are and right now I can see why.”
I felt Kai sti
ffen at the mention of Ian’s name and his grip on me tightened.
“Just leave everyone alone okay? If you wanted to keep me you should have thought about that before you went and slept with Alesha, but you didn’t. Everything that has happened is your fault Ian and acting like a moronic psychopath isn’t going to do you any favours.” I hung up on him as soon as I finished as I couldn’t deal with him anymore.
Kai didn’t speak for awhile, he just held me while I cried, soothing me by playing with my hair.
“Sorry you had to hear that,” I said after a minute or so.
“What’s been going...” His words were interrupted by my phone ringing once again. I looked down at the screen and reached to press the end call button when Kai reached for the phone.
“Do you mind?” I turned to look at him, shaking my head while shrugging my shoulders, leaving the decision up to him, while I curled up against him.
“If you want to live past the end of this week I suggest you stop calling Rea and leave anyone you have been bothering there alone.”
I was surprised by how quickly Kai had caught on to what was happening and by the coolness in his voice. He didn’t shout but instead kept a level, serious and menacing tone that was probably worse. I couldn’t hear what Ian’s response was but by the sounds of it he wasn’t getting the message.
“You don’t know what you’re getting involved with. You want to help Serena, then back off because I’m what she needs right now. No. I’m not even going there so don’t bother.” Kai spoke over the top of Ian.
“Shut the hell up and listen to me. Rea is no longer your girlfriend so that makes her none of your business. Stop calling and harassing people because if you don’t then you’ll be facing me and I won’t hold back like I did in the car park. Got it?” Kai didn’t wait for a response and just hung up on him instead.
“Let me know if he bothers anyone again OK?”
I nodded.
“Thank you.” I stretched up to kiss him, my resentment for him bringing me here slowly slipping away as he demonstrated his care for me even more.
“You don’t have to thank me, I love you Rea and I don’t like seeing you hurt.”
I kissed him again as it was the only thing I had to offer at that moment in time as I wasn’t ready to admit loving him.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Kai continued to run his fingers through my hair for a while after he hung up on Ian. As he whispered soothing things in my ear, he held me tightly, offering comfort while my tears receded. After I had managed to calm myself down we headed downstairs, my feet a little unsteady after being curled up for so long.
“So what do you want to do?” Kai asked as we collapsed on the sofa.
“There are other things to do here besides watching TV?” I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Well I can think of a few but you probably won’t agree to any of them.” He pulled me across his lap so I was straddling him, giving me a pretty good idea what he meant.
“Keep dreaming.” I laughed and he shrugged at my rejection.
“Is there anything else?” I moaned, placing my hands on the centre of his bare chest to stop him trying to kiss me.
“Well if you don’t like my suggestions then no, there isn’t. Not unless you want to go back out in the snow. Other than that it’s either watching TV or the one Blue-ray I have.”
“I guess that movie will have to do then. What is it?” I sighed as I rolled onto the other side of the sofa so Kai could get up to put the film on.
“Transformers.” He stretched before he began hunting around the empty drawers trying to find the case. I tried to stifle my smile unsuccessfully at the idea of Kai watching Transformers but the image was too funny. Up until that point Kai was a tough, strong guy but I began to think of him as a slight nerd when he let on that it was his favourite movie.
“You’d think in a house you spend no time in and have no belongings in it would be easy to find something when you need it,” he muttered to himself as he pulled open numerous cupboards and draws.
“Finally,” he shouted in success as he moved back towards the TV to start it. Kai had just sat down beside me and was flicking over the adverts when his phone, that was resting on the kitchen work top, started to vibrate.
“What’s wrong now?”
He groaned as he pulled himself up again and moved to retrieve the gadget before bringing it back to the sofa. Checking the screen he let out a sigh before hanging up on whoever was ringing and I refrained from inquiring as to who it was.
“Sorry about that,” he said as he draped his arm across the back of the sofa and I drew my legs up to my chest and curled up against him. His chest was warm against my cheek through the thin navy material of his shirt as I lay on him.
We had watched about ten minutes of the movie when his phone vibrated again. This time it only went off once though, signalling he had received a text message rather than a phone call. Kai tried to lean forward without moving me but he couldn’t stretch far enough so in the end, I had to lean forward too. I heard him sigh as he read the message and once he had finished, he dropped the phone by his side, clearly annoyed at whoever was bothering him.
He pressed play on the remote again but by now I was bored of watching it so I decided to have a little fun at Kai’s expense. As he watched the movie intently I slowly started running my hand lightly up and down his thigh. Each time I made my way up I moved higher and higher. I could feel his pulse and breath quicken beneath me as I repeated the action over and over again.
“Rea...” His speech was ragged and he spoke in a coarse, husky tone as I continued to run my fingers up and down his leg, each time stopping short of where I knew he really wanted me to go.
A satisfied and smug smile spread over my face at the effect I was having on him and I was concentrating on what I was doing so much that I didn’t feel him move. The hands that were suddenly around my waist shocked me, making me flinch as he picked me up. He turned me to face him so I was once again straddling him before pulling my head closer to kiss me.
The movie was still playing in the background but it was irrelevant now. Kai’s strong hands were running down my back as he deepened the kiss and mine were wandering over his chest. Twisting underneath me Kai gently lowered me so I was lying on the sofa with him on top of me, all without breaking away from me. His lips started to travel down towards my ear where he nipped it and I could feel his hot, heavy breath tickling me. He then continued his exploration as his lips began caressing my neck before slowly moving lower.
My breath hitched as he moved towards my chest and I let out a moan, tangling my hand in his dishevelled hair. His hands had found the edge of my shirt and slowly moved higher, feeling hot and strong against me as he ran his hands over my bare skin. He started to lift my shirt up, placing kisses on my stomach, his lips making me feel like I was in heaven when a bright light shone out from behind my head, overpowering the light from the TV in the darkened room. The object then started to vibrate behind my head, becoming increasingly uncomfortable.
Kai let out an uneven groan as he moved back up my body to look at the phone that wouldn’t stop ringing. He was out of breath as he checked the screen before repeating the previous action of hanging up without answering. While he was doing this I just lay there, trying to control my pulse and figure out if this was what I really wanted.
Before I could come to a decision as to whether to stop him or not though, his lips found mine again. This time Kai had a new found urgency and desire. His hands moved quickly back under my shirt, pulling it up and exposing my lacy, black bra as the kiss intensified. I was loving his attention too much to stop him, even though a nagging voice in the back of my head was telling me I wasn’t ready to take things any further.
His hands were slowly moving towards the waistband on my trouser and I was just about to say something when his phone went off again.
“You really...should...get that,” I said in between kisses.<
br />
“Not important,” he said and resumed his exploration of my body. The ringing however did not stop and was beginning to ruin my mood, something that Kai understood when he felt I wasn’t as into what he was doing anymore. He pressed his lips hard against mine once more before groaning and pulling himself off me and taking his phone outside to answer it.
While he was outside I used the time to straighten my clothes and regain my composure. Oh my god that was way too close, if that had gone on any longer I would have been too far gone to stop him. Do I really want to stop him though? Thoughts surged through my head as I tried to figure out what I wanted. Since first seeing Kai I had always known I was physically attracted to him but not to that extent. I also knew that a slight part of me still hadn’t got over the fact that he was the one who caused me to be taken away from my family and friends. That was the part of me that was stopping me from going any further with him. It was also the part making me hold back on expressing my feelings for him. Do I love Kai? I thought, more confused in my dazed state than ever.
Kai then entered the room again interrupting my mental dilemma.
“Some people just don’t know when to stop. They have really bad timing too.” He looked irritated by something.
“It doesn’t matter. Who was it anyway?” I couldn’t help it anymore, I was too curious about who could have wanted to get a hold of him so much.
“Alanah.” He spat the words out and I felt my heart twinge slightly with jealousy.
“What did she want?” I asked, trying to sound casual but failing to keep the annoyance out of my voice.
“To know why I haven’t been working recently. She’s on her way here now,” he added reluctantly.