by Tenaya Jayne
He shook his head. “I don’t need to think about it. Your life is in danger.”
“It’s not just mine.”
“Yours is the one that matters to me.”
She blushed and looked down. “Thank you.”
He took a step toward her. She looked up, almost fearful.
“You said there were two things.”
“I’m scared to do what I’m thinking of…The Heart told me to live hard…I…uh…”
She was obviously flustered. He didn’t try to rescue her. He just waited, caught in hopeful anticipation.
She sighed and closed her eyes. “It’s my birthday.”
He groaned. “Why didn’t you tell me yesterday? I have nothing to give you.”
She smirked. “You might.”
“What?”
“A kiss…My first kiss.”
“You give me a gift for your birthday.”
“Then don’t disappoint me. Go slow. Do it well.”
He crossed the small distance and took her in his arms. He would have gone slowly, even without her request. She titled her head back. He cradled the back of her head in his hands. He could feel the beating of her heart against his chest. There was so much there. So strong a pull, how was he to kiss her and let go?
Her eyelids fluttered shut. He leaned down and pressed his cheek against hers, his mouth next to her ear. “You make me feel like I’m dying,” he whispered. “You ask me to have a strength I do not.”
“How?” she whispered back. “What strength?”
He rubbed his cheek slowly against hers before turning his head and kissing her mouth. A rushing filled him, like he was falling. Violently soft, painfully sweet, she sighed into him. It was slow, not just because she’d asked, but because he could remain there, just like that, all night, or maybe for the rest of his life. How did he let go? He couldn’t. How could he steal her heart and make it his? He wanted more. She kept her lips closed. Soft but closed. He wanted more.
No. He told himself. No more. Not yet. He had to show her more respect than that.
He pulled his lips away from hers and gazed down into her face, guilt assailing him for taking such a liberty with her, even though she had asked for it. He shouldn’t have.
“Thank you.”
He laughed darkly. “Don’t thank me.”
“Why not? You gave me what I wanted.” She smiled. “I liked it.”
He groaned internally, angry at himself and feeling even more guilty. “You should be careful what you ask for. I’m not a gentleman. You twist me up inside. I want to make love to you, Tesla. I’ve thought about it a lot. I can tell you’re not ready. I’m not asking. We barely know each other. You just need to know. I’m not noble. My desires are dark where it comes to you. I want to claim you. I want you to dream about me. I want you to fall in love with me.” He let go of her then and put his head in his hands. “I shouldn’t have said that, but you need to know the villain I am. So you can tread carefully.”
She laughed, shocking him. He looked at her in disbelief.
“You think I don’t already know all of that?”
“How can you?”
She laughed again. “I think there’s some cultural differences at work here. Let’s just leave it at that for now. You’re no villain, X. No more than I am anyway.”
He absorbed her words. “Are you saying you want what I want?”
“I’m not answering that.” She took a deep breath. “I made a mistake.”
“What do you mean?”
“I have something to show you, but the timing is cruel. I should have showed you before we kissed…or maybe not. I don’t think there’s ever going to be a time this will be easy.”
“What are you talking about?”
Her hands came together in front of her. Her fingers pushed the top button of her shirt open and then the next. His eyebrows shot up, his lips parted, and his brain went up in flames. She snapped her fingers in his face.
“X!”
“What?” he forced his eyes off of her chest and back onto her face.
“I’m not seducing you. I need to show you my heart. I need to know you can hear me.”
“Okay. I’ll do my best to…focus. No promises.”
She continued unbuttoning her shirt until it hung open, giving him a clear view of the space between her breasts, her sternum, down to her navel. Nothing would have been able to keep him focused on anything other than sight of the sides of her breasts barely showing through the open fabric. Nothing except the flashing light over her heart.
“Are you listening?”
“I’m trying.”
“My heart is the source of my power, not my hands. If something bad happens to me, and I’m in danger of dying, I think you could save me, if you touched my heart.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because of the way it feels when we hold hands. My power is chaotic. You give it peace. My heart usually doesn’t hurt the way my hands do, usually. But there are times. It’s like a heart attack. My pulse gets out of control. The power rages and runs wild through me. It’s terrifying. Like I could destroy the whole world around me and not stop myself.”
“How did you stop yourself before?”
“It’s only happened twice. I sped up time. To escape the moment.”
He stared at the pulsing light, mesmerized. “Lightning Flower,” he murmured.
She smiled. “You’re not the first to call me that.”
“Show your chest to all your suitors, do you?” Irritation was sharp in his voice.
She shook her head and made to button her shirt back up. He reached forward and stilled her hands. He lifted his hand to touch the light over her heart. She pulled back, crossing her arms over her chest.
“No! Not now. You don’t understand.”
“I want to understand. Why can’t I touch you?”
She buttoned her shirt quickly. “It’s too intimate. I fear… I might be overwhelmed. It would be difficult to not go… too far.”
He scowled, but after a second, he nodded in agreement. “You showed me yours. My turn.”
“Huh?”
He grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head. Her eyes dilated. He smiled obscenely wide, seeing her apparent enjoyment at gazing at his bare chest. He took a step forward and snapped in her face as she had done to him. She blinked and looked in his eyes.
“I’m not seducing you.” He used her words. “I’m showing you my marks.”
He touched the black mark of the antlers and the paler one of the tree next to it. She reached up and traced the shapes with her fingertip. He let her, enjoying it a little too much.
“The black one is nothing but a token of the night I changed. I used my power without realizing what I was doing. I had no control over it. The other is a small fragment of the spirit of a tree. It chose to live inside me.”
She tore her eyes away, looking back up at him. Shivers rolled out onto his skin as she traced her finger along the cool grey line around his neck. Her eyes smoldered as she splayed her hands flat on his chest. The look in her eyes brought back a nasty memory of Isolde. She used to look at him like that when she wanted to string him along. He grabbed both of her hands and pushed them back toward her.
“Too much. Don’t tease me, Tesla.”
She arched one eyebrow in a beautiful anger. “You’re as guilty as I. It feels like…being here like this…”
“What?”
“It’s a rush. Like I’m pushing a boundary I’m not supposed to.”
He narrowed his eyes and pulled his shirt back over his head. Anger flashed inside him that his ability to detect truth was useless on her.
“I’m sorry, X. Don’t be angry with me… I confess my innocence. I don’t have any experience. I don’t know what I’m doing to you.”
His face softened, and he touched her cheek gently. She reached up and placed her hand over his.
“I have to go. I’ll be back before mi
dday.” She turned to leave. It felt off, unfinished. She stopped by the door and turned back to him. “I will not lie to you. I hope you will grow to trust me. And I’ve never shown another guy my heart. If you suggest that again, I’ll bust your head open. My family sometimes calls me Lightning Flower.”
“I’m sorry. I was…”
“Jealous.”
He nodded in defeat.
“I want you jealous.”
He blinked at her a few times in surprise, making her laugh.
“See? I’m as much a villain as you,” she said.
“Hurry back. I’m greedy for your company.”
“You’ll probably change your mind on that soon enough. Pack what you need for a few days.”
She tore the air open and vanished.
He groaned and flopped back onto his bed, covering his face with his hands, thinking about their kiss. He wanted it again. He would have her. If he had to fight to the death for her, he would. His mind moved back to Isolde. In all the years, since his adolescence, the way he’d wanted her, it paled in comparison to the way he wanted Tesla. All the times he had kissed Isolde, it always made him feel happy and in love. Kissing Tesla made him feel deranged. He didn’t know the words to describe it. He was hungry for her lips again. But he wouldn’t let her play him.
If she was Contarren, he would be starting the process of negotiations with her father for her hand in marriage. Her father would decide with little or no input from her. But she wasn’t of his world. He didn’t know the rules for such things in Regia. She’d only told him things were different. He had a lot to learn. Her father might kill him the second he mentioned any such thing. Perhaps, when he went with her to her world, if he could make a difference in their troubles, become a hero, maybe, just maybe he could be considered good enough for their princess. Despair slunk into the back of his mind. He was an executioner and a necromancer. What worth or rank was that? Not enough, he was sure.
She’d come here and asked for a kiss. Aside from how gorgeous she was, he liked her. It was early still, their association new, but she was becoming his friend. He had real hope he could win her heart, but that didn’t mean he would be allowed to marry her, or whatever kind of arrangement they did in Regia. She’d talked about destined life mates. He needed to know more about that.
Tesla crept through the Everpath with more stealth than she’d ever used before, hyper alert for another shadow. She was close to the door home, when she saw it. It was far down the hallway, just standing still. It made no sign that it knew she was there. She pulled from her elf blood and became as transparent as possible. She needed to take the Everpath with her this time. Eyes locked on the shadow, she put her hand flat on the grey wall, her power reaching into it, grabbing its code and pulling it back into herself. She rushed through the door, still the shadow made no move.
She landed in her darkened bedroom. She wanted to go back to X, even though she’d just left. The time in between now and when she planned to go back seemed long. She had to stifle a giggle as a rush of excitement surged through her. She’d had her first kiss, and it was good. So good. She closed her eyes, remembering what it felt like. His words came back, too.
She felt powerful in a totally new way. It wasn’t power from the magic inside her. It was something else. Something primal, barbaric, and normal. He wanted her. The way a man wants a woman. He said she twisted him up inside. Her lips parted in a broad smile. For the time being, at least, she’d captured his attention and tormented his thoughts.
She sighed and lay down on her bed. She imagined he was lying on his bed, thinking about her while she was thinking about him.
“X,” she whispered, feeling connected to him, despite the fact they were galaxies away.
Just a few more hours, then you can see him again, she soothed herself. Her cheeks heated, and she smiled, running her fingers lightly over her lips. She was learning what desire felt like. It was an insatiable madness, or so it seemed. Frustrated hunger on her skin, aching to be touched. She’d tasted something, realizing too late she’d crossed a line she couldn’t return from. One kiss. Now that she’d had it, this knowledge begged to be added to. The experience wonderful and… immediately not enough.
Her soft shivery thoughts turned angry. Who else had he kissed? Who else had he put his hands on? She wanted to be the only one. Possessive and jealous already? She chided herself. She couldn’t show him she felt like that. He thought she had other guys buzzing around her, and it obviously bothered him. She’d told him she wouldn’t lie to him, and she wouldn’t, but she didn’t have to correct him. He’d figure out soon enough that he didn’t have any competition.
The sky was quiet outside her window. She snuggled into her pillow, enjoying the lack of pain that remained from being with him, and dozed off.
Chapter Nine
X tossed and turned in his sleep, deep in the throes of a nightmare. He was back in the village he’d grown up in. Isolde clung to his arm. People moved all around them in the square. Annoyed, he tried to pull his arm free of her grasp, but she wouldn’t let go. Tesla stood across the square. She looked at him expectantly, like she was waiting for him. Shadow monsters slunk up behind her. She didn’t notice; she just looked at him. He had to get to her.
“Let me go!” he shouted at Isolde.
She just smiled and shook her head. “What? You think you’ll ever be good enough for her? You’re mine, Alex.”
“That’s not my name!”
“I’m your wife, Alex. I know your name.”
Troy walked past, running his hand over Isolde’s breasts as he went, not halting in his stride.
He looked back for Tesla. Shadows swirled around her legs, but still she only looked at him.
Isolde tugged on his arm. “I’ll always tell you the truth. You can trust me. Just like you can trust her. Tesla will always tell you the truth.”
X gagged and shoved her away. Finally she let go, laughing. Everyone disappeared except him and Tesla. He tried to go to her, but he couldn’t move. The shadows swallowed her whole.
“No!”
Then his family surrounded him. His father, mother, and brother clung to him. He absorbed their affection for a moment, the warmth was better than sunlight. Then his hands opened up. He wasn’t wearing his gloves. He tried to pull away from them, but again he couldn’t move. Their souls rose through their bodies and rushed into his hands. They crumbled like dry clay to the ground.
X woke suddenly, his stomach pitching, covered in sweat. He put his head in his hands and pinched his eyes shut. Silent tears ran out through his closed eyelids. He swallowed and tried to ease his breathing.
Damn the past for poking at him like this, just when something had come into his life that made him happy. It was over. That life was gone. He missed his family like a hole in his chest, but he wouldn’t have taken Isolde back if she begged. He wouldn’t touch her again even if someone paid him. The part of his heart that used to be hers was seared.
He shoved the pain of loss down, tucked it away deep inside, where he could ignore it and deny its existence. He stood, ran his hands through his hair, and tried to shake it off. The worst part of his dream had been watching Tesla consumed by darkness and being powerless to save her. A sudden fear seized him. Did this dream mean something? Was something happening to Tesla right now?
X took a deep breath. It was just a dream, that was all. She’d said she would be back before midday. He needed to pack a few things to take to Regia. Under his disquiet that Tesla needed him was a disbelief he would be traveling to another world. He couldn’t wrap his mind around it.
He heard Maggie clattering around outside and went out to see her.
“Good morning,” she said brightly, stoking the fire under a pot of water.
He yawned. “You’re cheerful this morning.”
“This is going to be a good day. The stone has showed me some things that will happen very soon.” Her cheeks flushed, and she smiled, bouncing on the balls
of her feet.
X had never seen her this excited. She was almost giddy. She handed him a mug of hot tea.
“Thanks.” He blew on it and took a careful sip.
He sat down and watched her rush around, making heaps of food like she was about to host a party.
“Entertaining guests today?” he smirked.
“Yes! Well, just one. Tesla’s friend.” She blushed again and turned away from him.
He snorted. “I guess you have seen in the stone that this is going to be your new favorite person. I know you don’t like me that much. You’ve never made me cake.”
“I never felt the need to show off my culinary skills to you.”
He laughed at her, he couldn’t help it. She smiled and shrugged helplessly. “They will be here soon. Are you ready to go?”
“Almost.”
“Are you taking a gift for her mother?”
“Huh?”
“You will meet Tesla’s parents, you know. You should take her mother a present.”
He frowned. “How much of the future have you seen?”
“Just lots of today. Like I said. Today will be a good day.”
“Okay…well, what should I take to give to her mother?”
“You should give her that new dagger you made a few days ago. The flame shaped one with the etchings.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Really?”
She nodded emphatically. “Trust me. You want to win points with that woman? Forget delicate feminine things, give her a weapon.”
He snorted. “Okay. Anything else? Do I need to give something to Tesla’s father as well?”
Maggie pursed her lips and then sighed. “Sorry to tell you, but nothing you could give him is going to make him like you.”
X nodded. “Well, I guess that’s not totally unexpected. I am after his daughter.”
“You are, are you?” she teased. “She came to see you last night, didn’t she?”
“Oh my gosh!” he exploded. “Were you watching?”
“No! I wasn’t! I swear! I told you I won’t watch you like that. I was just guessing.”
He eased back. “Oh. Okay. Sorry.”