“Cold?” he asked, pulling the covers over me more.
“I wasn’t until I realized how hot you are.”
“Mmm, thanks.” The cocky tone in his voice made me laugh.
I peeked out and found him staring at me. I groaned and shut my eyes again. “Okay, that’s weird.”
“What’s weird?”
“Waking up with someone next to me.” I ran my hand over his chiseled chest and traced small, lazy circles on it. He felt so good, so right and I couldn’t get enough of him. “Do you think we should get up? We seem to be prone to late day naps.”
“Wait, are you telling me that you’ve never woke up with someone else in the bed?”
“Once I had some sort of magikal mishap.” I cleared my throat. “I, umm, sneezed and gave myself the chicken pox but they weren’t like normal children get them. They were unique to say the least. Anyway, I feel asleep listening to someone reading a book to me and woke up with them still reading. Does that count?”
“Magikal mishap?” He laughed. “I like the soft spin on that. And no, that doesn’t count.”
“Then no, I haven’t ever woken up with someone else in the bed with me.” I snuggled closer to him, desperately seeking his warmth. “Not that you haven’t already picked up from hearing every little detail of my life but I have issues with abandonment.” I laughed and ran my finger down the center of his chest.
Riston hugged me tight and kissed my forehead. “I am so sorry, Kars. I swear to you that I will never leave you....”
“Whoa!” I put my hand up fast, covering his lips so he couldn’t say anything else ridiculous. “I have equally as many issue with commitment. I have issues that have issues, buddy. No more of that talk or I won’t bother to ask for your phone number. And why are you apologizing? It wasn’t you who....” I stopped as I thought about what was said before I’d fallen asleep. It was foggy but there.
I’m RJ.
His words hit me hard, sucking the air from my lungs. There was no way that Riston was RJ. My imagination must have been on overdrive before I’d fallen asleep. I let out a small laugh as I shook my head. “I think Amber and everyone else might be right. I really might be crazy.”
“Why is that?”
My gaze moved over Riston’s tawny flesh and I couldn’t fight the need to taste him. I planted a tiny kiss on his chest and propped myself up on my elbow so I could see him better. “How is it that you’re tan all over?”
He chuckled. “What kind of question is that and how is it that you can bounce from one topic to another on the spur of the moment.”
“I don’t know. It’s a gift. Why?” I glanced down the length of him and stopped when I hit the portion where the white sheet had him covered.
Riston reached out and caressed my exposed nipple, causing it to harden instantly. “That’s some gift. I’m almost afraid to ask what it is you’re thinking about half the time.”
“Right now,” I looked up at him through hooded lashes, “I’m thinking about sliding down the length of you and sucking you off. I think it would be interesting to see how much of you I can fit in my mouth. Don’t you?”
Riston laid there staring at me. If he wouldn’t have blinked I’d have thought I’d given him a heart attack. Waving my hand in front of his face, I tried to gage if he was alive or not. He blinked again. I took that as a good sign.
“Riston?”
He didn’t respond.
The opportunity to completely knock his socks off seemed perfect so I went with it. I moved over him and my hair fell forward, cascading around the two of us, leaving me staring into his crisp blue eyes. I kissed his full lips chastely before sliding down and planting tiny kisses on his torso. I neared the thin line of dark curls that originated under is navel and ran my tongue through it.
He jerked. “Karri.”
“Mmm, yes?”
Riston grabbed a fistful of sheets as I continued lower, licking, kissing and nibbling on his taunt abdomen. I moved down more, taking hold of his semi-hard cock and running my tongue up the side of it. For a split-second, I thought Riston might actually leap off the bed. I chuckled. “I take it that you like that.”
A rather pained expression covered his face as he gave a slight nod. “A little, yeah.”
“Just a little, huh?” I asked, easing my mouth over the head of his penis. With him not quite fully erect, I was able to not only get him in my mouth but slide almost all the way over him.
The feel of his pulsating shaft, twitching, growing in my mouth left me feeling wanton and free. I raked my nails lightly over his thighs causing him to jerk once more. I sucked on him then, drawing out his erection and fighting my own gag reflex as he hardened to full length. He hit the back of my throat and I stared up at him through hooded lashes to find his mouth open and his upper body straining.
The angle was familiar. Too familiar. Images of the man PJ had sent me to, the one who had been chained to the bed flooded my mind as I began to work my head up and down.
Riston slid one hand down and eased it in my hair, cupping the side of my head as he went. “That’s it, baby. Yeah.”
I wrapped my hands around the base of his cock and began to alternate twists with them. Pulling off just a bit, I allowed saliva to build in my mouth and pushed it over the tip of his dick. He moaned and stared down at me as though it were the most erotic image he’d ever seen. I only hoped that were true.
Taking him deep into my mouth once more, I moved my hands through the moisture running from my mouth and began to stroke him as I sucked. I added my teeth then, scrapping them gently up the length of him, holding back my excitement as Riston moved his hand out of my hair fast just before claws broke free from it.
“Kars,” he panted.
Humming softly, I arched a brow in question and found him flipping me fast. Before I even knew what was happening Riston had me on my hand and knees and was pressing his distended flesh into my wet core. He didn’t wait for me to be ready. No. Riston drove himself to the hilt and hooked an arm around my waist as I tried to scurry away from him.
Gasping, I clung to the sheets as the balance between pleasure and pain was balanced perfectly when Riston reached down and began to rub my swollen clit. He pumped feverishly into me, each time filling me past the point of acceptance, reminding me of just how much of a man he truly was.
“That’s it, Kars. Come for me. Come all over my fingers, baby. Soak ‘em.”
My body obeyed, instantly tightening as an orgasm seized hold of me. My hot channel fisted his dick, holding him to me, causing him to moan. I clenched my muscles as even more pleasure washed over me.
Riston howled out and began drilling his cock into me with such a force that I found myself fighting to support our combined weight. He pushed in hard and stilled, his balls drawing up tight as he filled me full of his semen. Exhausted, I went to collapse onto the bed face first but found Riston holding me to him.
“Riston, I can’t believe I’m going to say this but I....”
“I love you.”
I stilled, positive that my ears were playing tricks on me. Not wanting to make a big deal out of what I had to have imagined, I didn’t comment. There was no way in hell that Riston could have fallen in love with me in a matter of days. That was ludicrous. Wasn’t it?
Brushing my hair to side, Riston bent over me and planted a kiss on my brand mark. It heated for a moment. I hissed and glanced over my shoulder. “What the ... ?”
It was gone. Infuriated, I glared at him. “How dare you?”
A confused look came over him. “I healed it, honey.”
“I never asked you to heal it.”
“But, Kars....”
It hit me just how irrational I was being. Taking a deep breath, I collected myself and dropped my head down. “I’m sorry. Thank you.”
Riston withdrew from me slowly, a wet sucking sound accompanied him. He growled slightly. “Damn, I was just in there and I already want to go back. Karri, you’re
killing me.”
“I’m killing you? Pfft. You won’t be walking funny for the next day. I will.”
He eased us to the bed and instantly drew my body to his, spooning me so perfectly that it felt as though we were made to fit together. As I stared forward I found myself looking out the window staring at the house with the green shutters. “I really need to get some blinds.”
Riston chuckled, the manly sound reverberated through me. “That or you just call me when you’re about to undress.”
“Why?”
“So, I know to watch from my bedroom window to be sure not to miss the show.”
I turned a bit. “You’re Mr. Meticulous?”
“I’m not that bad,” he said, as his lips curved upwards a tiny bit. “Okay, maybe I am that bad.”
“So, we’re neighbors?” The realization of what that implied hit me.
“Mmmhmm.”
I took a deep breath, not wanting to have the discussion I knew we had to have. “Riston.”
“Hmm?”
“It won’t be weird between us now will it?”
He ran his hand over my arm. “Weird doesn’t come to mind when I think of watching you undress, Karri.”
I laughed. “No, I mean what just happened won’t make being neighbors weird will it?”
“I’d say it makes things more convenient but I’m getting the sense that you’re not too sure about that.” Letting out a deep breath, he pulled me into his arms tight. “Say it.”
“Say what?” I asked, doing my best not to ruin what we’d just shared.
“You’re trying to find out what I’ll do when you bring other men home with you, aren’t you?”
“Riston, I’m just trying to be practical. Things like this don’t last.”
“Things like what, Karri?” He laughed but it sounded anything but jovial. “So tell me, honey. Did you start thinking about someone else during sex or right after we finished up?”
I rolled out of his hold and tried to get up only to find him pulling me back to him. “Riston, please.”
“Please what? Please don’t be upset that you’ve already got someone lined up for your bed and are a little concerned about it being weird between us?”
“Riston, don’t.”
He let go of me and sat up fast. I could feel his anger, his confusion but most of all his pain as he turned his back to me. Sitting up, I went to touch him, to comfort him and stopped when I spotted the tattoo on his upper left shoulder. It was almost identical to mine. I stared at it, unable to believe what I was seeing. That was PJ’s artwork if I’d ever seen it. Everything seemed to hit me at once. Amber’s comments, Riston’s knowledge of my father, his being a lycan and something that could work magik, the comments my mother had made on the beach--all of it swarmed me, filling my head completely.
It clicked. Riston James Wallace was RJ.
“You didn’t answer me, Kars. Did you start thinking about someone else during or after we were together?”
“I’ll answer your question,” I did my best to hold my tears in, “if you answer mine first.”
He shrugged. “What’s your question? Do you want to know if you can take a picture of my penis for your collection or to remember me by?” he asked, biting each word out.
“No. I just want to know where Jack and Victoria O’Higgins are buried, RJ.”
He sat up straight and stared ahead for a moment before turning to face me. The moment his crisp blue eyes locked on me I lost my battle to keep from crying. He made a move to touch me and I scattered off the bed fast, pulling the sheet with me.
“Kars.” He stood and faced me. “I didn’t know how to tell you.”
I gasped when I heard his confirmation. Taking a deep breath, I held myself together as best I could. “Where are they buried?”
“I’ll take you there.”
I shook my head. “No. You won’t.”
“Karri-Lynn, please....”
Looking around the room, I began to see flashes from when I was younger. “Ohmygods.” I put my hand up, let my magik go and fought back a scream as it coated the walls and repaired the run-down state of what had once been my parents’ room. “I used to live here.” That’s why it had seemed so familiar, in a dark, yet comforting kind of way.
“Kars.” Riston came towards me fast and I thrust magik at him, keeping him away. “Let me hold you, honey. I know this is a lot for you.”
“This was my house, our house and you lived,” Turning slightly, I glanced at the white house with green shutters, “next door.”
Lifting the sheet off the floor, I clutched it to me and ran towards the hallway. I hesitated just a moment before heading directly to the door I knew had been my room. I pushed it open and stared around it. It had been pink. That much I remembered. Now, after over twenty years of having no one live in it, it was faded but still pink. I covered my mouth as tears ran down my face.
I couldn’t breathe. It was all too much. My magik continued to rush throughout the house, repairing it all, restoring it to what it had once been. Instantly, my childhood bedroom filled with dolls, stuffed animals, a white canopy bed, everything I’d left in the storage units. It all had a place. It all belonged here. All except me.
I rushed down the hallway, taking the stairs at an alarming rate. When I hit the main level my entire stomach twisted. It was just as I remembered it being. I slowed as I approached the dinning room, still able to remember the countless times I’d fallen asleep at RJ’s feet, listening to he and my father go over plans, strategies, whatever it was that they did.
Unable to deal with it all, I ran towards the backdoor, needing to escape it all, needing to outrun a past I hadn’t been looking for. I pushed the screen door open fast and found myself tripping over the end of the sheet. I held it tight to me and fell to my knees. I looked up at the sky, watching the sun set and let the tears continue to flow.
I hadn’t come here looking to find the keys to my past. I’d come to protect Amber and the men in the unit. “Ohmygods, the team, it’s dads ... it’s RJ’s. No. I didn’t come for him. No.”
Strong, warm arms wrapped around me. “Come in the house, Kars. We’ll talk about it there,” Riston whispered. “I should have said something but I wanted to get you know you, Kars. I wanted to....”
“Where are my parents buried?”
“In the cemetery just outside of town.” He hugged me tight and as much as I hated to admit it, it felt good. “I’ll take you. I promise.”
“Right after.”
“What?”
I wiped my cheeks and leaned into his embrace. “I told you that I’d answer your question. You asked when it was that I thought of someone else. It was right after we were done. My fear of you being hurt is what prompted it. I didn’t want him ... umm,” I let out a choked pathetic laugh, “To hurt you. That’s why I wanted to make sure we would be fine with leaving it like that, Riston--RJ, whatever the hell it is you go by. I wasn’t thinking of another man as in bringing him here to be with me. I was worried that he’d come here and find you. I didn’t want anything to happen to you because I’d fallen for you. Are you happy now? Is that what you needed to hear? I fell for you the minute I laid eyes on you. Way to instantly assume the worst about me.”
“Honey, look at me.” He tugged on my shoulders gently.
“I’m not your honey. I’m not your anything, Riston, RJ.” I threw my hands in the air. “I don’t even know what to call you. Not that it matters. I could call your name for hours. You won’t answer. What are you going to do now? Huh? Are you going to load me up and drop me off with strangers? Hey, why don’t we make an appointment with the devil? I’m sure you could dump your burden off on his lap.” I laughed. “Though, now, with what I’m becoming, I’d have way too much playing with him.”
That did what I wanted it to do. It made him let go of me. I looked behind me to find I was alone. I hadn’t heard Riston leave but I wasn’t in the best of shape to trust my senses so I didn�
�t pay a lot of attention to that.
Standing slowly, I wiped my eyes and clung to the sheet with my other hand. I didn’t stop. I headed straight back into the house and went to what used to be my room. I sat on what used to be my bed and stared around the room.
“Are you planning to sit there and mop all night or are you going to embrace what you’ve been given, Legs?”
Legs? Only one person used that as a nickname for me.
“PJ?”
A white light flashed before me and a tiny woman with endless waves of dark curls stepped free from it. Her blue eyes seemed to sparkle as she winked at me. “I have to say, I was starting to think you’d never figure out who Riston is.”
I stood quickly and hugged her to me, needing to be sure that she was really there.
PJ laughed. “I’m here, Karri. As much as you like to hide behind your eccentric behavior, you’re not, nor have you ever been crazy. You also weren’t able to communicate with me before either. I’m not on the front lines as a solider like Tripp so I can’t become corporal for just anyone.”
“Am I dreaming?” I asked, unsure what was going on but damn happy to see her.
She shook her head. “No, Karri, you’re not dreaming.”
“How is it that I can see you then?”
She sighed and lowered her gaze. “I think you already know the answer to that.”
“Because I’m dying.”
She nodded. “Have you told Amber yet?”
“Why? She doesn’t need to know the truth. She can’t stop it.”
PJ shook her head. “I disagree. She should know that her time with you is limited. They should all be told that, Karri.”
“I wouldn’t change anything. I’d do it all the same, PJ.”
“I didn’t think you would change it, Karri. Without you healing Amber every time her illness over took her, she’d have passed away eight years ago. I should have warned you not to heal the dead. I never anticipated that Amber would fall ill to the physic attacks in addition to her own power eating at her. And I never thought that....”
Wicked Lucidity Page 26