Sydney ran her hands over his waist, his legs, even his stomach, but she took her time. She wanted to work up to that, she wanted to make him wait for it as long as she could. She let her breath caress his sensitive skin and she could see his stomach muscles jerk. “Please, Sydney,” he moaned and she closed her hand around him. She grinned before running the tip of her tongue along the underside and around the tip. He groaned with pleasure pressed his heels against the floor. She could feel the tension shaking his body as she closed her mouth around him and he gasped.
Sydney ran her lips along his length, following the movement with her hand. Xander buried his fingers in her hair without putting any pressure against her head. “Goddamn,” he panted before jerking her into his lap by her hair and her arm causing her breath to catch. He pulled her against him and kissed her so hard it almost hurt.
Xander stood, still holding her against him, and crossed to the bed, lowering her more gently than she expected. She wrapped her legs around his waist. “Hang on,” he raised himself up and reached for his phone on the night stand. A few buttons later and he had turned his phone off and they both laughed as he tossed it back onto the table. “There.” He turned back to her and the soft look in his eye nearly took her breath away. He grinned at her as he lowered his mouth to her neck. The feeling of his lips against her skin, and the tickle of his beard raised goosebumps raised along her arms and neck.
Xander ran his calloused hands lightly down the length of her body like he was a blind man trying to memorize her curves and the feel of her flesh. Her nervousness melted away under his touch and when he pushed her knees apart she sighed and smiled at the ceiling. He hooked one of her legs over his shoulder and kissed his way down her thigh and when he kissed her center she whimpered and grabbed the pillow above her head.
Sydney’s body knew what to do even if she didn’t. Her hips rocked against his mouth and he had to hold onto her as she arched her back. She came so hard her breath left her lungs and she had to gasp for air. He kissed his way up her body again and she pulled him close, kissing his face as he ran his fingers through her hair. “You’re even more beautiful when you come,” he whispered. “I love you,” he said timidly.
She knew she shouldn’t love him back. It was a terrible idea but Syd felt herself getting sucked into an uncontrollable and headlong fall she couldn’t stop. The words found their own way out. “I love you too.”
Xander grinned at her as he lowered himself into her and she threw her head back and moaned. They moved together, holding on to each other tightly as if their lives depended on it. She came again and he squeezed her so tight it was as if he thought she would fly away. He growled as he got closer to his own release and the sound sent chills over her body bringing her to the edge and over again. Afterwards, they lay together refusing to return to the real world. It was in the middle of the afternoon and they had dangers looming over them but they appreciated peace and contentment while they could.
Xander
Xander took a deep breath, relishing the scent of Sydney on his skin. He ran his fingertips over her arm and she shivered in her sleep. No matter how happy and comfortable he was at that moment, he couldn’t forget the chaos of their lives for long. There was no denying the fact that there was definitely something surreal going on. Sydney wasn’t crazy and he wasn’t crazy, at least he didn’t think he was. But there definitely was a psycho who cut people’s heads off stalking them. Or was he just stalking Sydney?
Xander’s back stiffened against the mattress in anger. The idea that someone was threatening Syd made him furious. He wanted to hunt the fucker down and beat him to death with the tire iron. Whoever the bastard was, he thought he had the right to do whatever he wanted with people. And Xander couldn’t wait to show him how wrong he was. He was messing with the wrong family if he thought Xander would just let him hurt someone he cared about.
Sydney sighed loudly in her sleep and Xander’s anger subsided a little. He had been so worried that she would freak out and if she let herself get this close to anyone, especially Xander. But he would be damned if he let that happen. His arm tightened around her and she sighed again. A creeping fear hovered in the shadows. What will I do if Sydney backs off in the morning? He had no idea how to answer that question but he would deal with it when the time came. He hated to admit it, but Sydney was running this show.
A fucking game...The anger he felt when he found out Sydney had been keeping score flared again. He hadn’t realized how hard she was fighting getting close to anyone. If there was a game there had to be a winner and winning meant, to Sydney, being in debt to someone. Not being an equal. Or, if she won, then she was able to distance herself from the loser. That was what pissed him off the most about the whole thing—Sydney not thinking there was a chance to be equal and not seeing herself as having any control.
Feeling antsy, Xander slipped out of the bed. He moved slowly, trying not to wake Syd but he realized a small bomb could go off and she probably wouldn’t wake up. He would like to take the credit for that, he smirked, but he knew it was whatever was going on with her medically. She had been sleeping like this more and more. Worry nagged at him. He grabbed his phone and texted Rabbit.
“Any luck?” It only took a few moments before Rabbit replied.
“I found a doctor with a habit. I’m working on him.”
Xander knew what that meant. He hadn’t been directly involved with the club in years, but he remembered how jobs went. Rabbit would take over the doctor as a client, which would either entail a buyout with current dealer or strong arming him out of the way. Then he would make sure the doctor got into more debt than he could pay off. Whatever his poison was he might be able to get it from his place of work—but if he couldn’t risk that? Rabbit would make sure he could supply the demand.
Some of Xander anxiety eased. If he could get Syd into the hospital, they could all rest a little easier. He shuddered at the idea of some kind of parasite in her head. He wanted to get it out as much as she did. His skin crawled to think of it. Not that she grossed him out—not even a little. But he imagined how it would feel to know something was living inside you and it really freaked him out. He hadn’t mentioned it because he was trying to be strong for Syd, but he had a real parasite phobia. He shuddered again.
To ease his revulsion he reminded himself of what Sydney felt like in his arms—the heat of her skin against his. His dick jerked and he considered waking her up for round two but decided against it. She was sleeping comfortably and he figured she needed her rest. Her light snores were cuter than they were funny. He slid into bed quietly and pulled her close again. She barely stirred. As he ran his hand over her back he made a promise to himself—they were going to stay in this bed where the craziness of their world didn’t exist and do their best to forget everything except themselves
Chapter Thirty-Eight
If she wasn’t enjoying herself so much, Sydney would almost be ashamed of how much time she and Xander spent in bed. Between talking, sleeping, eating take out and lounging around the bed, they both did a great job at pretending nothing was wrong. It was as if they carved out their own alternate reality, giving themselves a respite from feeling hunted and worried. Sydney knew they were being careless and stupid, but she didn’t care anymore than Xander did. She might have a parasite in her head. She might be attacked by a psycho at any time. Maybe she would lose it and turn into a lunatic like Connor or Randall Barnes. But, it was hard to prepare for the unknown. They needed to figure out the here and now before they could think about what might happen.
Early the next morning, Sydney was fighting the need to go to the bathroom, making herself ignore the need and try to fall back to sleep. She was reluctant to leave the warmth Xander’s arms. Besides, for the first time in what seemed like weeks, her head wasn’t hurting and she was afraid movement would bring the dull ache back. But a sound brought her out of her languish. It was the creak of the apartment door opening and it caused her to freeze in
terror.
“I knew it!” a familiar voice squealed.
Sydney peaked over the edge of the blankets and cringed at the sight of Shay wiggling in excitement in the doorway.
“Oh, god, make it go away,” Xander croaked in her ear.
Sydney didn’t know what to say so instead she slid lower in the bed and covered her head with the blankets.
“Oh no you don’t! Get up!” A heavy weight crashing onto the foot of the bed bounced Syd hard enough that the throb in her head woke up and tapped away at her skull.
“What are you doing?!” Xander growled raising himself to his elbows. “You know we’re naked under here, right?”
Shay cackled with delight. “Yay!”
“You are insane,” Xander muttered, giving up and flopping back onto the bed.
“Not to mention gross,” another voice laughed from across the room.
“Oh, even better,” Xander groaned. “Hi, Zak! Come on it,” he called sarcastically from underneath the arm he had thrown over his face.
“Shay, you could at least let them get dressed,” Zak dragged Shay off the bed. “We’ll go get donuts and coffee while you guys...uh...hose off.”
While Zak herded Shay out the door Xander met Sydney under the blankets. “Well, the cat’s out of the bag,” he chuckled.
“Apparently,” she laughed. The sound of Shay’s laughter bouncing down the stairs felt like it would be more appropriate at a funeral given the current situation and her own humor fizzled. Shay and Zak’s intrusion had yanked Syd and Xander back into the real world. “We have to tell them everything, don’t we?”
“I think that is the fair thing to do.”
The stone of guilt and shame reformed in her stomach. She would give anything to spare her friends from the trouble that was following her, but it was too late for that. She had already dragged them in too deep. The need to run was nearly overwhelming, but she knew that would be pointless. Running wouldn’t do them any favors now, she had let them get too involved for that already.
“How did they even get in here?”
“Shay has a key,” Xander sighed.
“Good job.”
“Sorry. She was going to find out sooner or later though,” he sounded slightly offended.
“I don’t care that she knows about us,” she reassured him. Even though she had to admit Shay knowing put more pressure on whatever was happening between her and Xander than she felt like dealing with at the moment.
Sounding a little relieved, Xander shrugged. “It’s not fair to keep her in the dark. Better tell her now rather than when it’s too late.”
***
By the time Zak and Shay returned, Xander and Sydney were out of bed and dressed. They came back into the apartment buzzing with excitement. “Breakfast is here!” Zak exclaimed brandishing a box of donuts and Shay held up what could best be described as a bucket of coffee for them all to share.
Shay plopped down on the floor on the other side of the coffee table and Zak pulled a chair over from the small kitchen table. “OK! Spill!” Shay’s voice was higher pitched than normal in her excitement.
Xander and Sydney rolled their eyes at each other. Deciding to ignore Shay’s need to know intimate details of what was going on between them, they began recounting a story worthy of a horror movie. They took turns filling Zak and Shay in on the events from Sydney waking up next to Lake Michigan, to Don’s death, to her moving in with Shay to being attacked by Randall to the events in Vegas to then being attacked by Connor in the garage. When they were done they waited for Shay or Zak to react.
They stared at Xander and Sydney in shock. Zak was the first to break the silence. “What the hell have you guys been smoking and when are you going to share?” he asked, not sounding like he was joking.
Sydney couldn’t figure out if he was entirely disbelieving of their story, or if he was just giving himself a few moments to process the information. “Xander,” she turned to him. “Show them the video.”
Without a word, Xander retrieved his laptop and pulled up the security camera program. He began the playback and set the computer in front of Zak and his sister. Watching their expressions caused Sydney to relive her own reaction to the death of Connor. Zak’s face visibly drained of color and, for the first time since Sydney had known Shay, her good humor abandoned her. She looked more serious than Syd had ever seen her look before. Her pale eyebrows formed a V and she chewed at her lip.
“Oh, my god! Is that real?” Zak grimaced and looked away.
“Did you see the weird part?” Xander asked them.
“Dude? Weird part? Someone getting their head cut off isn’t the weird part?”
“Watch it again.”
“I really don’t want to,” Zak protested.
Shay knew when he was being serious and when he was playing—blood or not, they were family. She remained silent and leaned towards the screen to focus on the spot Xander was pointing to. Reluctantly, Zak did the same, both of them looking like they were going to be sick.
“What the hell was that?” Shay asked, speaking for the first time.
“We aren’t sure,” Xander answered. Sydney suddenly felt like an outsider. She kept quiet knowing that Shay would need Xander to convince her. They had grown up together—including Zak—and she was the one who didn’t belong. She was the one who had brought this trouble to them.
“OK. So let me get this straight,” Shay began. “Sydney has no memory before, like, almost five months ago. She’s on the run from crazy people and people who cut the heads off crazy people. Everything seems to have started with a gamer convention last year and a dig in Colombia may have something to do with it. She keeps having nosebleeds, headaches and sometimes hallucinations?”
“Yeah, that kind of sums it up,” Xander nodded and put his hand on Sydney’s knee causing her to jump. She had been staring at her lap trying to keep the guilt and shame from overwhelming her.
“Jesus,” Shay breathed.
Sydney braced herself for the attack she was sure was coming. She had brought all of this into their lives and she deserved whatever resulted from her actions. She saw Shay get to her feet and make her way around Zak’s chair to stand next to Sydney. She plopped heavily down, knocking Sydney into Xander, and threw her arms around Syd and her brother pulling them both in for a crushing bear hug. Relief flooded through Syd and tears burned in her eyes but she refused to let them fall. She took a deep shuddering breath.
“You aren’t mad?” she asked.
“I’m only mad that you didn’t tell me sooner!” She squeezed Sydney and Xander again. “God, guys, I can’t believe you were keeping this from us.” She looked up suddenly, remembering Zak. “Get over here,” she commanded and Zak reluctantly stood. Shay yanked his arm until he was on the couch too. Everyone had to shift to make room but being squished together only made it easier for Shay to force everyone into a group hug.
When Shay finally let everyone come up for air they grabbed donuts and coffee and munched quietly. Sydney didn’t know how she could have an appetite with everything that happened but she did. She ate three donuts and could have kept going except she realized she was the only one who didn’t seem full. Her headache still pounded away but, thankfully, it wasn’t bad enough to stop her from functioning normally.
“OK, I’m not saying that I’m completely convinced something...I don’t know...paranormal, is going on, but I think you should go to the doctor and the police,” Zak told her.
“And tell them what?” Xander asked.
“You have a video showing a guy committing murder!”
“And if we try to explain everything that happened?” Syd asked. “They would think we were either playing a game or were on drugs.”
“If you go to the doctor and prove that…” he trailed off.
“That I have something living in my head?”
“Might have something in your head,” Xander insisted.
“Then I would become an experime
nt. If there was something there they would lock me up and cut me open.”
“How can you be sure of that?” Zak asked.
“Why wouldn’t they?” Shay asked.
“What the hell could even be in there?” Zak shook his head. “I mean, what is going on?” He sat his coffee down and ran his fingers through his hair making it spikier than it already was.
“We really don’t know,” Xander shrugged.
“This is just…”
“Insane?” Syd offered.
“Bizarre?” Shay suggested.
“All of the above,” Xander sat back, wiping donut glaze off his fingers.
“What do we do?” Shay asked.
“I don’t want you guys to do anything!” Sydney insisted.
Shay looked at her confused and Xander explained. “Sydney is trying her best to keep everyone as uninvolved as possible.”
Shay scoffed, looking very offended. “Ridiculous. We are all in this together.”
“No. No we’re not!” Zak snapped. “These people don’t want us. They want Sydney.”
Despite the sting of his words, Sydney agreed. She opened her mouth to apologize but Xander spoke before she could. “Watch your mouth.” His words were cold and sharp and Shay looked at him in alarm before holding up a hand to calm her brother.
“Zak, that’s not fair.”
After a moment of awkward silence, Zak looked at her sheepishly. “I’m sorry. I’m just kind of freaked out.”
Xander relaxed then Shay did as well, giving Sydney a look that clearly said they had just avoided a bad confrontation.
“You don’t need to apologize,” Syd told him.
“The hell he doesn’t—” Xander growled but she silenced him with a hand on his arm.
“He doesn’t need to apologize. I do.” Xander and Shay both started to interject but she stopped them. “I did bring all of this to your door step. And I’m sorry. I don’t want any of you to get hurt.” She had to force the words out around the lump in her throat. “It would be best if I just left. Maybe I could lead Them away.”
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