by I. T. Lucas
“Yes, of course, please.” Syssi smiled a tight little smile, gesturing for him to follow her while doing her best to pretend as if he wasn’t making her nervous and awkward as heck.
The stranger that wasn’t a stranger...
Following her, he walked in and closed the door. Her place seemed to shrink with him in it, and suddenly she felt trapped, struggling to get air into her lungs as if Kian had somehow consumed all of the breathable air. And yet, as she felt the heat rolling off of him at her back, a rush of awareness coursed through her body, tightening it all over in some places, while loosening it in others. She had to take a breath if only to inhale his scent.
Unable to bear the tension, she whipped around only to find herself a fraction of an inch from his solid chest. Afraid of what she might see, she hesitated a moment before looking up at his face.
Syssi inhaled sharply. His eyes were the most intense shade of blue she had ever seen. She felt enthralled by them. Hypnotized.
Wow, waking up must have been a dream within a dream, and she was still sleeping, still dreaming, and conjuring this gorgeous man, those amazing eyes.
She wondered if he would feel real if she touched him. Except, remembering how very real he had felt in her dream… well, that obviously offered no proof one way or the other.
Syssi waited for him to say something, or at least kiss her senseless, but he did neither. Instead, he was boring into her eyes, holding her captive.
It felt as if he was pushing at some mental barrier inside her head, the pressure at her temples getting progressively worse until the barrier shuttered and a flood of submerged memories came barging to the forefront of her mind.
As Syssi struggled to process and assimilate the influx, she was aware of Kian’s hard eyes watching her intently.
At first, Syssi felt as if her head was about to explode from the tremendous pressure, but as it eased and the memories rushed in, she was certain she was losing her freaking mind.
Kian at the lab, the danger, rushing to the car, the penthouse, that kiss, the dreams.
What was real?
What was a dream?
Searching his eyes for answers, Syssi found her own burning desire mirrored. Except, his seemed more like a predatory hunger, one she’d experienced before. She remembered him standing in this exact spot, looking at her with the same ravenous expression on his handsome face.
This hadn’t been part of her dream. It had happened.
Overwhelmed, she took a step back.
Kian looked so intimidating as he loomed over her like a mountain of a sex-starved man. And yet, curiously, now that she remembered him, she was no longer afraid. Excited, anxious, needy, awkward... yes... but not afraid. For some reason, she felt she could trust him. Kian would protect her.
Syssi had no reason to question her infallible instinct. It had never steered her wrong before.
Which brought back the issue of what the heck he needed to protect her from, and what really was going on?
“What...?” she began.
Kian cut her off, gesturing for her to stop.
Clearing his throat as if trying to bring some moisture into his dried-out mouth, his voice came out sounding like gravel. “I need you to pack a bag, you’re coming with me,” he commanded and then waited for her to do as she was told.
“Really? Just like that?” Syssi cocked an eyebrow.
“I’ll explain everything on the way. The situation I mentioned before makes it dangerous for you to stay. We need to get out of here, ASAP. Please hurry up and pack only what you’ll need for a couple of days.” Kian took hold of her shoulders and turned her around toward the bedroom, playfully smacking her butt as if to hasten her on her way.
Taken by surprise, Syssi jerked her head back, giving him the what-the-hell-do-you-think-you’re-doing look before strutting to the bedroom.
But as soon as her face was turned away, she smiled.
What was it about this man that she would allow him to do that? Delivered by his hand, a move that she would’ve found offensive coming from anyone else, had brought her a delicious tingle of arousal.
He had a lot of nerve, though—playing around as if they were an item and as if nothing was going on, without bothering to explain what the hell it was.
Rushing, she opened drawers and threw items of clothing on the bed; yesterday’s bizarre events and this morning’s panic attack enough to convince her that she needed to get away. But from whom or what?
She’d soon find out. Kian had promised he’d explain.
Pulling her overnight bag from under the bed, Syssi thought about her strange memory loss and its sudden return. She shook her head. At least one mystery had been solved. The erotic dreams hadn’t come out of nowhere. They had been the result of her attraction to Kian. She hadn’t remembered him consciously, but her subconscious had done a marvelous job of choosing this incredibly handsome man to star in her sexy dreams.
She had a feeling Kian had something to do with her memory loss. But what? Had he hypnotized her? And if he had; when? How? Why?
Could she trust him if he had?
Was she a complete idiot if she did trust him?
Syssi was packed and ready to go in a matter of minutes, hurrying to brush her hair, apply a little eyeliner, and step into her platform slides. She was ready to step out of her bedroom when her eyes fell on the romance book lying face down on her nightstand. Unzipping her bag, she added it to the few things she was taking with her.
Five inches taller, with her hair falling in thick, shiny waves down her back, she left her bedroom more confident in her looks but less so in the soundness of her mind.
That extra minute spent had been so worth it.
As she walked back into the room with her duffle bag slung over her shoulder, Kian’s eyes widened, and the heat in them made her feel feminine and powerful.
Sexy.
Wanted.
Walking toward him, she even swayed her hips a little. But then her confidence faltered, and she searched his eyes, hesitantly gauging his reaction.
As if guessing what she was looking for, Kian gave her an appreciative once-over, his hooded gaze letting her know how much he liked what he saw.
She smiled, wordlessly thanking him for his mute admiration. But then she lost her nerve and lowered her eyes, her momentary bravado replaced by an embarrassed blush.
In two quick strides, Kian closed the distance between them and reached for the duffle bag. Slinging it over his shoulder, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close against his side.
Syssi stiffened momentarily, not sure what to make of the possessive move. It definitely wasn’t the casual type between friends. It was something more. And though she didn’t want to read too much into it, it felt incredibly good just to go along and lean into him as if it was the most natural thing for her to do.
As they walked out the door with their arms around each other, she sensed it was a new beginning. But of what? And as they kept going down the long driveway, the feeling intensified, shaping into a strong premonition that she was never coming back.
She didn’t know the why or how of it, or if it was good or bad.
Regrettably, it was in the nature of premonitions to be vague; revealing only a hint of an outcome and very little if any of the particulars.
Syssi wondered if there was anything she would terribly miss. The furniture belonged to her landlady, all her photos were safely stored on her laptop, and the rest of her stuff could be replaced with as little as a thousand bucks. Except her Precious, of course.
Her BMW convertible was the only luxury she had accepted from her parents, and she loved that car. Precious would go wherever she went. Leaving it unattended on the street was out of the question.
“What about my car?” She turned to Kian.
By then they had reached the curb, joining the two imposing men standing guard. One was a huge redhead, the other a slightly smaller, gorgeous blond. Both were looking her
over with unabashed male curiosity and appreciation.
Tucking her closer against his side, Kian tightened his hold. “Give me the keys.” He held out his palm, staring daggers at his companions.
Puzzled by his abrasiveness, she lifted her eyes to look at his angry face. “Aren’t you going to introduce us?”
Pointing dismissively at the men, he barked, “The big red oaf’s name is Anandur, and Rapunzel’s name is Brundar.” Partially blocking their view of her with his body, he finished the introduction. “And this is Syssi, Amanda’s assistant.”
Sidestepping Kian, the one named Anandur smiled and brought his lips down to her offered hand for a kiss. “Enchanted.”
Was she imagining it, or did Kian just hiss?
Brundar bowed his head without saying a thing, but his lips curled up slightly, suggesting he was suppressing a smile.
This time, there was no hiss.
“Which one is yours?” Kian asked, closing his fingers over her keys.
“The blue BMW over there.” She pointed.
He tossed the keys to Anandur, who caught the dangling thing midair, and mock-saluting Kian walked over to her car.
“Brundar, you’re driving,” Kian ordered and opened the SUV’s back passenger door for Syssi. Motioning for her to scoot over, he joined her in the back seat, and settling close to her, placed a proprietary hand on her thigh.
With the thick curtain of her hair hiding her face, Syssi smirked. She wasn’t sure what to make of Kian’s behavior. He was acting like a jealous boyfriend.
On the other hand, it was entirely possible that he was always rude to these guys, or that the animosity between them lingered from something that had happened before. In either case, it had nothing to do with her.
Still, whatever the reason, Syssi didn’t mind the feel of his body pressed against her side, or his fingers closing around her knee. On the contrary, it felt nice. It had been so long since she had enjoyed this kind of closeness.
Suddenly overcome by an intense yearning for it, her gut twisted with a sense of loss as she realized how improbable it was for something meaningful to develop between them.
She was such an idiot.
One hot kiss and two erotic dreams didn’t constitute a relationship or even a fling.
What was she thinking?
Syssi sighed. Wishing for it wasn’t going to make it so.
But in the meantime, she could pretend a little and enjoy the warmth of togetherness. Even if it was all an illusion. For the duration of this adventure, she decided she would let it unfold and deal with the consequences later.
Chapter 37: Kian
Holding Syssi close, Kian savored the feel of her. Still worried about how haggard she had looked when he had first gotten to her place, he glanced down, but her face was hidden behind her hair.
Damn! The girl had looked ashen as if she had been sick or tired from a sleepless night, and her pretty face had been pinched with worry and fear.
It was his fault.
He must’ve harmed her somehow with his thrall the other night, and this morning had scared her out of her mind, galloping down that driveway the way he had. The fact that he had no choice did nothing to ease his guilt.
He wanted to make that tired look go away, to enfold her in the shelter of his arms and ease her fears and worries, to cocoon her in safety and warmth and undo whatever damage he had unwittingly done.
But this was not the right time for this. And besides, he would probably freak her out. As it was, his body didn’t get the message that it was okay to power down yet, and with the way he was still primed for a fight, he could just imagine how threatening he must seem to her.
Forcing in a deep breath, Kian tried to relax his coiled muscles.
He was so grateful that he had made it in time. His original plan had been to thrall Syssi again to get her to cooperate, but he was glad he had decided against it and had restored her memory instead. It had confused the hell out of her, but at least he hadn’t compounded the damage to her brain.
Yeah, keep telling yourself that.
The truth was, he wanted Syssi to remember him; and all other plans had flown out the window once he had seen her again and his hormones had taken over, doing his thinking for him.
Kian smirked, remembering how following her inside, he had zeroed in on that shapely behind of hers.
Lucky for him, she hadn’t caught him ogling it.
But oh, boy, those form-fitting leggings she was wearing outlined her ass so perfectly and left so very little to the imagination, he’d had to fight the urge to cup them with his hands, and after giving them a nice squeeze, run his fingers along that center seam all the way down to her core.
When she had turned around and found him almost pressed against her, he had wanted to kiss her, bad. It was good that he had learned some restraint over the years because with the way she had gazed at him, wanting him to do just that, he had to remind himself that there was no time and that he had to restore her memories and get her out of there first. The kissing had to wait. Though he had managed to get away with that little slap on her delicious ass, thankfully, without getting in trouble.
She might’ve even liked it.
Perfect, the girl was absolutely perfect.
Sexy, sweet, beautiful.
His.
Sitting next to Syssi, feeling her warmth radiate through their clothes, smelling her delicious scent, Kian wondered what it was about her that stirred these unfamiliar cravings in him. The lust was to be expected; Syssi was beautiful and sexy and it was in his nature to want her body. But the possessiveness, the protectiveness, the tenderness he felt toward her, these were new.
He hugged her closer and caressed her knee lightly, reluctant to spoil the moment and upset her with the explanation he had promised. But it needed to be done.
Taking a deep breath, he shifted so he could look into her eyes and took her hand, squeezing it gently.
“Remember the people we were trying to avoid the other day in the lab?” Kian used the most reassuring tone he could muster, hating that he had to scare her again. “They came back last night and ransacked the lab—wrote hateful things on the walls.”
Syssi’s hand flew to her chest and the color drained from her face. “Oh my God! Poor Amanda, she must be so upset!”
Fuck, that hadn’t worked as well as he had planned; the girl had turned as pale as a ghost.
And he hadn’t even gotten to the punch line yet.
“She is distraught, but not over the damage. That is easily fixed... Amanda had a notebook. Among other things, it contained a list of all her paranormal subjects by their first name, phone number, and the ranking she assigned them. That notebook is missing, and we believe the vandals got it and may try to harm those on the list.”
“Why?” Syssi kept rubbing her chest as the bad news kept piling.
“Why do they do all the evil deeds they do? Hate, fear, ignorance, greed, envy. Take your pick. They may believe special abilities are evil, the mark of the devil or some other nonsense like that. The why doesn’t matter, just know that they will. You are the highest ranked on Amanda’s list, which makes you their number one target.”
Just talking about it had blown his hard-won composure away. The idea of anyone or anything posing a threat to Syssi had him seething with rage. “Can I have your cell phone? We need to get rid of it. The fuckers can track you by its signal.” He held out his palm. “Don’t worry. I’ll buy you a new one.”
Syssi handed him the device and scooted away, putting some distance between them. Kian knew he’d sounded vehement delivering his little speech, and with her already being scared, his dark mood must’ve added a layer of anxiety.
Pulling her back to him, he plastered her against his side and squeezed her shoulders reassuringly, tightening his fingers on her cold, sweaty hand. “Don’t worry, sweet girl. I’d never let anything happen to you. I’d rip to shreds each and every one of those bastards with my own bare han
ds before I let anyone lay a finger on you. You are safe with me.” Kian finished his gruesome pledge with a kiss to the top of her head.
Except, it didn’t seem to help with her anxiety. The poor girl remained silent and rigid.
Way to go calming her nerves, moron.
At this point, she must’ve been as scared of him as she was of the looming threat.
Opening the window just a crack, he sent her phone flying straight into a construction curbside trash bin.
Now the fuckers could follow it to the damp.
Chapter 38: Syssi
“You could stumble and twist your ankle wearing these insane shoes,” Kian bit out as Syssi wavered and gripped his bicep for support.
Walking from the car to the elevators, she felt a little lightheaded. Was it the Kahlua? Perhaps. Though it also could’ve been whatever Kian had done to her head. But then, being scared out of her freaking mind might’ve had something to do with it as well.
“It’s not the shoes, they’re actually pretty sturdy. I’m just a little dizzy. I might be still tipsy from all the Kahlua I had this morning. Or, what’s more likely, the weakness and lack of balance are the results of all the excitement. I was so scared...” Embarrassed, she glanced his way before looking down at her feet.
Some of the dark shadows had lifted off his handsome face, and he no longer looked as frightening as he had in the car. Though judging by his stiff posture, he was still tense.
“Tipsy? Before lunch? Somehow you don’t strike me as the type.” A smile tugged at his lips as he wrapped his arm around her waist, propping her against his side so she was almost floating, her feet barely touching the ground.
“No, I’m not, I hardly ever drink. I’ve been feeling anxious for the past few days. The bad feeling was so strong that I couldn’t shake it off.” Syssi looked up at Kian with a sad smile, deciding to tell him the truth about herself. After all, Amanda had probably already told him all about her and her questionable talent. “I learned from experience to listen to that cursed foresight of mine and not disregard it as nothing. When I feel something bad is going to happen it almost always does. So anyway, long story short, I spiked my coffee with some Kahlua to soothe my rattled nerves.”