Valentine Kisses: A Kiss to Last a Lifetime

by Abigail Drake

  Time ticked by as I struggled to formulate a response. “I have more questions. And I need them answered honestly this time.”

  A flash of the old arrogance passed over his features. “Fine. Ask, and I shall answer.”

  “There are lots of people here who never lived on Merdonia, including Lolita. Why does she have bands?”

  Morgan folded his arms across his chest. “In Merdonia, the penal system is a bit different from Earth. If the parents don’t fulfill the years of their sentence, it is passed onto their children.”

  “That’s awful.”

  He shrugged. “But effective, and a great deterrent to crime. Is there anything else you wanted to ask?”

  I took a deep breath. “What my father did to my mother…was it because he’s a Channeller? Is that why he acted that way? Is that why he lost control?”

  He put his fingers under my chin and lifted my face up so he could look into my eyes. “We choose our own destiny, Lola. Your father did not do well without a Neutralizer to ground him. He wanted to be rid of Callista and may have seen this as his only option. At least, that is what your mother told me.”

  “Amazingly generous of her.”

  “That was your mother in a nutshell. Amazingly generous. Beautiful. Kind. Just like you.”

  “Is that really what you think of me?” I grew very still, like even my heart had stopped beating. He cupped my face in his hands, his gaze locked on mine. When he spoke, his voice sounded rough and raw with pent up emotion.

  “That and so much more. You have changed my life completely. I am out of balance. Off kilter. Lost. I’m not used to feeling this way. I’m not certain I like it.”

  I reached out with my Channeller powers, wanting to believe him. As soon as I did, I got hit with a wall of pure emotion. Sadness. Pain. Longing. Lust. And, most of all, something that seemed a whole lot like love.

  I swayed toward him, closing my eyes. His fingers brushed across my face, sending shivers of pleasure across my skin. As soon as his lips touched mine, I knew the truth.

  Morgan Slade actually cared for me. Not because I was a Channeller or a Merdonian or Callista’s long lost daughter. He cared for me because he just couldn’t help it.

  He pulled me close, holding me tightly in his arms. “Lola. Sweet Lola. What are you doing to me?”

  I kissed my way slowly up his neck, pausing to nibble on his ear. “What would you like me to do to you, Mr. Slade?” I asked, my voice a husky whisper.

  He let out a sound that was half laugh, half moan as I wrapped my legs around his waist, my bottom still on his desk, my skirt hitched up around my hips.

  “Everything,” he said, pulling me even closer. “I want you to give me everything, and I want you to take everything from me as well.”

  “Okay.”

  I wasn’t about to argue. I wanted him, too. I had since the moment he’d walked into my shop and demanded a haircut with his perfectly arrogant, perfectly kissable mouth.

  “Okay? That’s it?” he asked, teasing me as his hands slid under my shirt to caress my bare skin. I arched against him.

  “Stop messing around and kiss me, Morgan Slade. Now.”

  When he complied, he wasn’t gentle, or sweet. He was rough, wild, and completely perfect. In moments, my clothes were tossed into a heap on the floor. He made a sound deep in his throat as soon as he saw my lacy undergarments.

  “Do you have any idea how hard it was choosing all those bras and panties and not knowing if I’d ever get see you in them? And do you realize how much time I spent fantasizing about what you might have on beneath you clothing? It became an obsession of mine. A way to torture myself.”

  “And now you’re torturing me.” Impatient, and wanting to feel his skin against my skin so badly it hurt, I started to tug on his shirt. “Stop talking. Take your clothes off.”

  He discarded his shirt with such ferocity, buttons flew across the room. “Your wish is my command.”

  I touched the firm muscles of his chest, watching in amazement as little lightning bolts raced across his skin. He moaned, letting his head fall back.

  “I’ve been waiting for this my whole life,” he said.

  “Really?”

  He let out a laugh that sounded a bit pained. “Yes. Really.”

  He cradled my face in his big hands and kissed me until I was nothing but a big puddle of desire. If we’d been attached to the Trifield 100XE at this moment, it would have exploded. Ka-boom.

  “Mr. Slade,” I said, as I struggled to catch my breath. “You’ve been holding out on me.”

  He grinned. “Neutralizing isn’t the only thing I am good at, Miss Flannigan.”

  My eyes grew round and I licked my lower lip in anticipation. “Maybe you should demonstrate. I’m kind of a hands-on learner.”

  He ran a single finger down the valley between my breasts, his face growing suddenly serious. “Lola,” he said, his voice unsteady. “There is something you need to understand. When a Channeller and a Neutralizer mate, a bond is formed. It’s not like other relationships. Are you sure this is what you want? Once we do this, there is no going back.”

  “I want you, Morgan. So much. Don’t you dare stop.”

  I didn’t have to say it twice. When we made love, it wasn’t quiet or nice. It was a thunderstorm, with noise and bright flashes of light. My hands provided the electricity, and he absorbed my heat. We weren’t just making love. We were fusing ourselves together.

  And he wasn’t exaggerating. He did have some serious skills. I’d never felt so vulnerable and exposed, but for the first time in my life I didn’t have to hold back. There was no worry about hurting him with my hands or embarrassment about my feet. For the first time, I was able to be myself, and it was life altering.

  I’d known Morgan Slade was trouble. Hot, dark, and dangerous. But I realized something else once I had my wicked way with him. Several times.

  I was dangerous, too.

  #

  I woke up naked and wound up in Morgan’s black satin sheets, feeling completely and utterly satisfied. Whatever walls he’d tried to erect between us had come down last night, and they’d never be rebuilt again.

  I pulled the sheet off the bed and wrapped it around my body. Morgan was nowhere to be seen. I could still smell him on my skin, but his energy had gone. He wasn’t in the apartment.

  I wandered from room to room until I found my way back to his office. My blouse was wrinkled and missing a button, but my clothing had come out relatively unscathed. I had not. Morgan had marked me somehow. I was a changed person.

  An ornate chest sat on his desk, about twice the size of a shoebox and beautifully carved. An envelope rested on the top.

  Lola.

  Bold, strong, brash, and full of confidence; even Morgan’s handwriting did something to me. I opened up the envelope with a silly flutter in my heart. That changed instantly as soon as I read the note inside.

  This box belonged to your mother. You wanted to know everything, and now you will. Forgive me.

  If he asked for my forgiveness, he must have done something really bad. I stared at the chest and part of me wanted to leave it there, unopened and untouched, but I couldn’t. I had to know.

  I picked it up and carried it back to my cell, never looking back. As soon as I got to my room I changed into a clean shirt and yoga pants, pulled my hair into a messy bun, and sat on my bed staring at the box.

  The moment of truth. Opening it could change everything. Morgan had given me ample warning, but he must have thought I was ready to see the contents. I had my doubts.

  My mom had been falsely imprisoned. She’d been abused. She’d lost her only child. She’s spent almost thirty years on an alien world, and died just before she had a chance to go back home. She hadn’t had a happy life by any means. Opening the box could be painful, but it needed to be done. I sighed, pulled up the latch, and lifted the lid.

  What greeted me came as a surprise. It wasn’t dark, horrible, or sad. The
box contained a wealth of sweet sentimental items. Baby clothes. A soft blanket. Booties. I also found a photo of Callista holding a smiling bald infant in a silver frame. I grinned when I picked it up. I’d never seen myself as a baby, and I was completely gorgeous. Even without hair.

  At the bottom on the trunk, I found a thick, heavy journal made of leather. Battered and well used, the first entry had been made just after the Merdonians landed on Earth. The last entry was dated a few days before she’d died.

  I curled up on my bed and started to read. We planned to open the portal in the evening, which meant I had the entire day to myself.

  Valentine’s Day. I’d spent last night with Morgan, giving myself over to him in a way I never had before, and now I was frightened about what he might be hiding from me. Who knew what secrets this journal would uncover? Did I really want to find out?

  I knew the answer to that already. Holding this journal was as close as I’d ever get to holding my mother. Even if it led to problems with Morgan, I had to read it.

  As soon as I looked at the first entry, I started to weep. Reading her words felt like listening to my mother whisper in my ear. She’d had a hard life, but she’d still managed to find joy. In her fellow Merdonians. In Morgan. And, most especially, in me. Soon my tears dried and I laughed at some of the stories she told. The memories we’d shared together were few, but precious.

  When she wrote about after I’d been taken, however, I noticed something very strange. I could read the pain in her words. I could almost feel it leech up from the ink on the page to my fingertips, but there was something missing. Not in what she said, but in what she didn’t say. I pondered it, trying to figure out what was wrong. It hit me harder than those seven bolts of lightning.

  “She knew where I was the whole time.”

  I closed the journal. There had to be more. I dug around in the box, emptying it completely. I turned it upside down, banged on it, and that’s when I felt the false bottom. I used my fingernails to pry it open; not caring one bit that I was ruining what little was left of my manicure.

  Inside the secret compartment were hundreds of photos…of me. I was a gap-toothed first grader, a lanky middle school student with knobby knees and a flat chest, a high-school student wearing way too much make-up. She’d kept the program from my beauty school graduation ceremony, and a newspaper clipping about when I opened my shop. There was even a clipping about the deed transfer when I bought my house.

  Everything was there. All the little moments of my life that Muriel had never cared about, my mother had guarded and hidden like a precious treasure. At the bottom of the pile was a letter in a pale pink envelope. I opened it carefully.

  Dearest Lola,

  You were the most powerful Channeller ever born. I knew it right away, and that put you in terrible danger.

  Some of the prisoners whispered about selling you to the Hunters. I heard them. I knew the greed in their hearts, and I could not let that happen. The Warden agreed to help me, but only if I promised to stay and open the portal for him. The price I had to pay for your safety.

  Just after we arrived in Pittsburgh, we left the compound. We were desperate, and saw Muriel as our only option. I gave her every penny I had, and Charles used his powerful skills as a Neutralizer to manipulate her into thinking you were her own child, and to convince her to stay in the Pittsburgh area. It may have been selfish, but it kept you safe. It also gave me the chance to see you on rare occasions. To keep watch over you.

  I’d dreamed she would grow to love you someday. I know she never did, not in the way you deserved, and I hope you find solace in the fact that I never stopped. Not for a second. Every breath I took, from the moment you were born, I took for you, my darling girl. You were the most important thing in my life. The only thing that really mattered.

  If something happens to me, and Charles asks you to open the portal, you must refuse. Don’t let them mislead you, my dear child. It is not safe. A Channeller can open the bridge across space, but only at great personal risk. It could cost you your very life.

  I’m sorry I was never able see you again. Even though I could not hold in my arms, you were always, always in my heart.

  With all my love,

  Callista.

  The note was written in a beautiful script, but I could barely see it. My vision had blurred with tears.

  A soft rap came at my door. Morgan didn’t wait for a response. He walked into the room, a worried frown on his face. I rose to my feet, angry sparks coming off my fingertips. I didn’t even try to hide my disgust.

  “Were you ever planning on telling me?”

  His frown deepened. “Telling you what?”

  “That I might die opening the portal.”

  He looked shocked. “That’s nonsense. It cannot happen. My father assured me it would be completely safe.”

  “Are you sure?” I handed him the letter and watched the color drain from his face as he read it. I sucked in a breath as I realized the truth. “You didn’t know, did you?”

  “Obviously not,” he said, looking right down his arrogant nose at me. “Do you honestly think I would allow you to put yourself in danger?”

  I sank down onto my bed, almost giddy with relief. “I thought you knew. I thought you were willing to sacrifice me for the rest of the Merdonians. The greater good, and all that. Why did you ask for my forgiveness?”

  He shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his pants. “Because I had that chest sitting in my quarters. I should have given it you sooner. It was yours, and yet I clung to it. Selfishly. It was the only thing I had left of Callista. I guess I didn’t want to share.”

  He sat next to me on the bed, his shoulders slumped with the weight he carried, and the enormity of every decision he had to make. I put my head on his shoulder.

  “What are we going to do?”

  “You’re going to run away. Right now. My father probably thought risking the life of a single Channeller was worth saving hundreds. I do not.”

  I looked up at the clock on my wall. Time was running out. I pictured Lolita’s face. Not everyone here was a criminal, but if they didn’t leave, the Hunters would eventually kill them all, including Morgan. I couldn’t let it happen.

  “It isn’t your decision to make.”

  His fingers clenched and a powerful wall of concern hit me. I almost laughed.

  “Wow. You can’t hide your emotions from me anymore, can you?”

  He shook his head. “There is no point even trying.”

  I kissed his cheek. “Go away. I have to get dressed. I have a big show to put on.”

  He got up and walked slowly toward my door. He stopped with his hand on the doorknob, and turned to face me.

  “You are your mother’s daughter, Lola, in so many ways, but you are also very different.”

  “How?”

  “You are the product two Channellers and more powerful than I could have ever imagined. As much as I worry for your safety, I know you can do this.”

  “I have lightning bolts coming out of my fingers, Morgan. I’m not afraid.”

  His eyes met mine, and a strange chill passed over my body. “But I am.”

  #

  I put on a silky blue wrap-around dress and styled my hair into a complicated up-do. I adjusted my boobs and tried to quell the nervous flutter of my heart. No matter what, I knew this was the right thing to do. I felt it down to the core of my bones.

  Morgan stood outside my door, waiting for me. “You’re lovely, Lola. Really, truly beautiful.”

  I went up on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek, running my nose along his jaw line just to smell him one more time. He’d be leaving soon, with the rest of them. Something I’d known all along, but now that the time was at hand, reality weighed on me like a heavy, oppressive cloak. I ignored it.

  He handed me a small box. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

  I blinked in surprise. “But you’ve already given me so much.”

  A muscle worked
in his cheek as he tried to contain his emotions. “You were stolen away as a child, raised by a despicable person, lost you mother only weeks before finally having a chance to meet her, had your business shot up, got kidnapped by me, learned in a week what most Channellers never accomplish in a lifetime, and gave me the very best night of my whole entire life. Trust me. I owe you.”

  I opened the package, surprised to see a sizable diamond perfectly cut into the shape of heart for Valentine’s Day, hanging on a delicate silver chain. “Oh, pretty.”

  He helped me put it on, and admired the way it looked. “You already have my heart. You may as well have this, too.” His voice sounded gruff, but I could hear the emotion behind his words.

  I’d never received a gift for Valentine’s Day before. Not even a card or a box of chocolates. The odd thing was, with Morgan, I didn’t feel the need for expensive baubles, red hearts, or bows. He was my gift. The necklace? Just icing on the cake.

  “Thank you, Morgan. But all I ever really wanted was you.”

  When he kissed me this time, it was so sad and sweet I had to struggle to control the fresh flood of tears that threatened to fall. I managed to hold it in, mostly because I didn’t want to die with messy make-up. Morgan was not as successful. As the tears rolled down his cheeks, I kissed them away one by one, promising everything would be okay, but we both knew I lied.

  We walked together to the great room. People carried bags with all their belongings inside. The air positively hummed with excitement. They were all ready to go home. I was here to help them.

  “Let’s get this party started.”

  He gave me a crooked smile that tugged at my heart. “No time like the present.”

  He led me over to the portal, and I slipped out of my shoes. I felt tiny and strange without my heels, but touching the cold concrete with my bare feet empowered me. I now had direct and unbroken contact to the energy within the earth. It hummed through me and I grinned at Morgan.