Mari stood on her tip-toes to reach her hands up around his neck, feeling the softness of his black curls hanging against her hand. She had been wanting to do nothing but crush his lips with her own and drown in him, but something shifted. In an instant, she felt the shift from Blake being entirely wrapped up in the rightness of the moment with her, to him pulling away both physically and emotionally.
“Kerrigan!”
Mari cringed and closed her eyes in shock, as the feeling of him pulling away from her felt like part of her soul being ripped from her body. Her hand flew to her heart, trying to physically stop the pain in her heart. Her head buzzed with the headiness of what was happening around her.
Her eyes flew open to see Blake backing up, several more steps, his eyes sweeping in disbelief between her and Riley who stopped when he caught up with Mari, putting a steadying arm around her waist as she swayed as the pain of the separation swept at her again.
Before she could say or do anything to stop it, Blake was gone. He had turned and ran off down a side street. She felt the world fading to black around her, and then there was just nothingness. A soul crushing nothingness that seemed like it was going to consume her from the inside out.
˜
She was so alone in the darkened room. She felt his absence like a knife carved out of her heart. She was laying curled in a ball, up against the headboard of the bed, curtains drawn around the bed shielding her in. Her body shook as she was racked with wave after wave of shivers. She had pulled all the coverings from the bed to wrap up in, but her naked body was still reeling.
Mari was trying to slow her breathing using a counting exercise when she felt the energy in the room shift. She could feel him moving closer outside of the curtains, his large, dark shadow drawing nearer with every hurried step. She watched as he pulled back the curtains with a wave of anxiety washing over her.
His face. She could see his face finally. Her heart was soaring with the sight of him, and was lost in the act of memorizing every aspect of his face as she watched him climb quickly up the length of the bed to where she was laying.
Strong arms encircled her as he shifted her against him, and their legs entwined in a mess as he pulled her closer. He used one finger to trace the curves of Mari’s face. He had waited for so long to see her face. She had always been surrounded by such a brilliant light that he could never make out her features before. He had been like a moth to the flame, drawn in by her light and captured there for so long.
Mari’s body responded eagerly as his finger traced a long line down her neck and collar bone. She let out a soft moan, feeling every inch of her body relaxing under his touch, every bit of fear was washed away as he held her. He had pulled her up on top of his lap, so that they were face-to-face despite their dramatic height difference.
Mari took advantage of the position and shifter her weight so that she was turned, straddling his lap and looking slightly down at him for the first time. She brought her hands up to the sides of his face, mirroring what she had done on the street. She gazed down at his eyes, wishing he knew how badly she needed him in that moment.
Blake placed his hands on top of hers, holding her gaze with his own. He couldn’t express what he was thinking or feeling, though his body was betraying him as she sat straddling him in all her perfection. Her skin was pale, like moonlight with the lightest smattering of freckles covering absolutely every inch of her body. Her breasts were the most perfect thing he’d ever seen, he leaned forward catching one of the hard, pink nipples in his lips, teasing at it as she wound her hands in his hair.
Mari’s head fell back as his tongue swirled around, causing her body to clench and tighten, despite herself. She felt the sheer need for him, and that undeniable closeness building to a fever pitch within her. She leaned down grasping his rock-hard length in her hand and positioning it within her entrance. She sank her hand down and eased down, enveloping him within her as much as she could.
Her body was slick with anticipation and need, but there was simply too much of him for such a small space without some effort. She wound her hips slowly in a circular motion attempting to ease herself down a little bit more each time.
Blake released the captive nub from his mouth as she gripped him and began working herself around him. He was so concerned that he was going to hurt her. He attempted to resist moving, but was finding it more and more difficult as she began to rock her hips back and forth. The friction was building, driving him closer and closer to release. His hands gripped hard at the ample curve of her ass.
His grip was firm and did nothing but drive Mari firmly over the edge of reserve she had. Her head fell back as a cry of pleasure escaped her, crying out his name as she drove him deeper and deeper within her with every thrust of her hips against his. She felt her body clenching around him as her mind faded in a blissful crash, feeling his own release as he tensed and followed her over the edge.
Blake collapsed back on the bed in a heap, pulling her small body along with him so that she was left lying on his chest, their legs an entwined mess. He couldn’t move; he couldn’t think; he was utterly content in that moment. His hand traced through her blonde curls as his eyes opened a crack to gaze at the beautiful woman before him.
Mari folded her arm so that her chin was resting just over her arm, studying his face as her mind fogged over with the need for rest. She was fading off to sleep and could only make out the faintest plea from him before she lost conscious thought again.
“Don’t leave me.”
Chapter 11
Mari awoke, groggy, in the back seat of the SUV, stretched out across Riley’s lap. She frowned looking up at him. She couldn’t remember how they’d gotten there, and was worried that she had been more vocal in her sleep than she’d have liked to admit. He was absorbed in a conversation on his phone and hadn’t noticed that she had woken up.
“No, they for sure recognized each other,” Riley answered into the phone by his face, “I couldn’t stop him and keep her from being left unconscious on the pavement. It was a lose-lose situation, man. Alright, we’ll see you tomorrow back there.”
Riley hung up the phone with his thumb, dropping the thin phone to the side on the seat. He looked down at Mari, surprise etched on his face as he realized she was awake.
“You’re up? Man, you scared me there. You can’t just go around groping evil assholes and then passing out like that,” Riley sighed as Mari shifted and sat up out of his lap, “You had me seriously worried, babe.”
“Don’t,” Mari started but stopped mid-thought as she swayed lightly, feeling that aching absence she had felt on the street digging back into her heart. “Don’t- “
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t call you Babe. I got it,” Riley offered with a smile, “I’m going to take you back home and you can shame me all you want for it then. We need to get you out of here as soon as possible, though.”
“What about Magni, Val, and Will? Where...Where are they?” Mari asked as she blinked around her in the empty car. She was confused by Magni’s absence. He had agreed to stay with the car in case they needed to pursue anyone, and now he was gone and Riley was wanting to whisk her away from the scene. It was all very bizarre, and she couldn’t make heads or tails of it in her groggy state of mind.
“They went after Blake,” Riley offered in explanation as he exited the backseat of the car and moved to the driver’s seat, “I can’t really fight him right now, not much of a match for him even when I was at my strongest, but I can’t shift or anything right now, and he knows it. So, I stayed with you, Magni went off to meet up with Will and Val. Val was right behind me when we caught up with you two.”
Mari sensed the awkwardness as Riley fell quiet at the description. She was sure what Riley had come upon had not made sense to him. How could it? He’d just been telling her not long before what a walking bag of dicks he thought his friend had turned into. How could she be standing there on a street corner
in the guy’s arms, leaning up to kiss him? A deep sigh escaped Mari as she realized how many levels of fucked up her life had become.
“I got an odd impression with the two of you, like there was more going on there than I realized,” Riley added as he turned the car over and pulled out on the quiet street, “Care to share about your bonding experience?”
“Not really,” Mari sighed as she rolled flat on her back on the backseat of the car. She stared up at the grey fabric of the roof with the purest wish that she did have the power to create those ground opening, embarrassed person-swallowing holes she seemed to need so often these days.
“I mean, come on, Mari. I get you back to the car, and then you start saying his name over and over while you’re passed out,” Riley said defensively, “I know something is going on here. I know I’m pissed at him, beyond pissed at him, but he’s my brother.”
Mari brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose in frustration. She wanted nothing to do with this conversation, but Riley seemed so insistent on having it. She needed a break. A break from Riley, from Blake, from her brothers, from simply all of it. She knew that was not a possibility while they were still in the middle of trying to help Rena, but she told herself mentally as soon as she got the opportunity that she was going to go spend a weekend at Ben’s and get away from all the lunatics in her life.
“I don’t know how to explain it,” Mari sighed, “How much did my Uncle tell you?” She was hoping that Illwyn would have shared some part of the messy, sordid affair so that she wasn’t having to lay everything bare in front of Riley, but she was sure there wasn’t much that he had been sharing about her situation with concern to Blake and how she knew him so well. Mari closed her eyes, trying not to think about anything, light flashing over her eyes in bands as the car passed beneath street lights.
“He just said there was more at work here than we could understand, and that you were part of that.”
“Cryptic as usual,” Mari sighed as she thought about her uncle’s growing tendency to speak in half-truths. It was growing increasingly infuriating as the whole situation unwound around them. Though, she was glad he hadn’t let all the details of her dreams be public knowledge. She wished he would have at least told them all she wasn’t crazy.
“Apparently, I have some sort of psychic link with your friend,” Mari explained, “You know what my powers are, right?”
“I think they told me you were an empath,” Riley recalled, “But I’ll be honest, I’ve never met one before. I know the concept, you can read emotions or something like that, right? I just couldn’t say I understand what you can do. If that makes sense…I don’t know. I’m rambling.”
Mari turned her head looking at Riley up in the driver’s seat. She let her guard down, mental blocks falling away completely. She was overcome with his emotions. Worry, confusion, grief, anger, hurt, and jealousy seemed to be the worst. Mari pushed herself up, and climbed awkwardly into the front seat, bracing herself against Riley’s shoulder as she tried to make it up into the front without causing him to veer off the road.
“Something like that,” she sighed as she settled in the front seat next to him, “You’re worried about Blake, even though you really want to hang onto the anger you have towards him. You’re confused, and hurt by what’s happening and feeling the loss of him like he died, even though he’s still around. The only one I can’t make heads or tails of is the jealousy.”
Riley gave Mari a quick bewildered glance. He had never been in a situation where he was in trouble with the Fae, so he had never experienced the various sensitive Fae. Illwyn had been the only one and his power was very different than Mari’s. Riley felt rather exposed, knowing that she could easily pry on his inner-most feelings was vaguely unsettling.
“That’s not fair. No snooping around in my head anymore. Okay? I try not to be an ass, but if you do that, I can’t promise you won’t be thoroughly disgusted with me.”
“If it makes you feel better, I can’t read actual thoughts,” Mari explained, “It’s really more that I can feel what you are feeling. So, your dirty thoughts are safe, you pervert.”
Riley laughed lightly as he felt the conversation slipping back into the comfortable banter they had developed over the last few days. He genuinely liked Mari as a friend, and feeling that shift when she spilled all his internal emotions on display had been a bit unsettling. He was beginning to understand why her brothers and uncle were so worried about protecting her. He could see now why she would be such an asset to the Fae.
Mari was quiet for a moment as she was resuming her normal state of guarded consciousness. She could still feel the general feelings of friendliness radiating off Riley, but she was still confused by the jealousy. It was more than just a mere, passing thing for Riley. There was some sort of deep-rooted jealousy that was lingering between him and Blake and she wasn’t sure she could understand it.
“So, how does your power translate into you and Blake being psychically linked?” Riley asked bitterly as he thought about how Mari and Blake had been looking at each other.
He had felt like he was intruding on something profoundly more intimate than anything he’d ever experienced. They had been looking at each other in that moment like a dying man looks for salvation. It was raw, desperate, and unconditional. They had looked at each other like they were looking at their salvation.
Riley was jealous, intensely jealous of that. For all his conquests, and there were many, he had never had a true relationship with any woman. It had always been shallow and fleeting. What he had never realized was how empty that left him, until he saw that moment between his former friend and Mari. They hadn’t even done anything more than just looking at each other, but Riley yearned to have someone look at him like that.
“I don’t even fully understand it,” Mari admitted as she sensed how deeply it was upsetting Riley, “I had never been able to see his face, but knew instantly that it was him. I don’t even know how to describe it. The whole situation is pretty messed up.”
“This has helped,” Mari admitted as she held her wrist up showing the intricate silver bracelet in the dim light of the dash. She hadn’t thought it would work, but being able to sleep without the fear of being burnt had allowed her to overcome the wall she had built between her and Blake. Once that barrier was gone, she had given herself over to the dreams completely and now just felt the peace that being with him in her dreams brought her.
“I don’t understand,” Riley admitted as he glanced at the bracelet. He didn’t understand the importance of the bracelet, or anything she was saying. He couldn’t understand how all the dots connected in the messed-up puzzle they were all trapped in.
“Well, there was the whole awkward dinner thing, right?” She said with a furious blush creeping up her face, “Apparently, we’ve been sharing dreams, and I was left with some pretty nasty burns from them. The bracelet has at least stopped the burns.”
Mari wasn’t sure why she felt like she could confide in Riley. She thought maybe it was because he knew Blake, but she realized it was just that he was that kind of person. He seemed to be so open about everything, it made it easy for her to let herself relax and just be honest.
“What the fuck? He’s burning you in your dreams?” Riley asked in shock as he tried to process what Mari was saying, “How does any part of that seem even remotely okay to you? I know we don’t know each other really well, but that seems pretty messed up, Mari.” Riley was many things, an admitted pervert sure, but he’d never hurt someone like that. It sounded like Blake was losing his grip on his control more and more.
“It’s okay. It’s not like that,” Mari sighed as she thought about Blake. She couldn’t explain to Riley why she knew that Blake wasn’t intentionally hurting her, it wasn’t something she even understood herself fully. Mari knew consciously that Blake was making some bad decisions, but despite that knowledge, she knew that he wasn’t a bad person.
“Mari,” Riley sighed, “Do you know how you sound? He burned you in your dreams, but it’s okay…it’s not like that? He kidnapped your cousin. I am family to him and he attacked me and basically left me for dead. But it’s ok? Nothing about him is okay right now.” His mind was racing as he tried to figure out how to get through to Mari just how far gone Blake was.
Mari paused trying to understand what Riley was saying, but she just couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that there was more going on with Blake than what Riley could see. She could sense Riley’s frustration and fear, even though she was shielding herself and knew that he was seriously concerned.
“You don’t understand, Mari. Blake has always struggled for control. It’s not an optional thing for him, he must maintain control. This woman he’s run off with, she’s done nothing but teach him how to lose control. I’m just warning you, don’t let yourself get sucked into this. Just be careful.”
Riley was genuinely concerned for Mari. She seemed like she was already sucked into whatever spin Blake was selling. Riley was convinced that whatever it was, it must be part of whatever their plan was. He didn’t like it. The whole idea made him intensely more protective of Mari, though he didn’t know her well. He did not want to see her hurt by Blake.
“I’ll be careful,” Mari answered quietly, “I promise.”
Mari laid a hand on Riley’s arm that was relaxed on his lap. She wished she could explain it to him, and reassure him that it would all work out because she knew it would.
Chapter 12
The hours spent in the car riding back to Mari’s home were marginally less tense. Both Riley and Mari eased back into friendly banter as the topic of conversation shifted away from such serious things. They walked back to the main house and entered through the side door off the kitchen. They didn’t find anyone around, and decided to take a few minutes before they called to check on the others. Mari decided to go check on her sister, while Riley was in search of food.
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