The Key (Heartfire)

by Celeste Davis

  Something pulled him forward, despite his feeling of unease. He ran up the coast, travelling miles at an astounding rate. The scenery blurred past him as he picked up speed. He found himself somewhere else. Someplace unfamiliar.

  He crossed a thin barrier of sand. A stretch of land too narrow for buildings. Then he was there- whatever had been drawing him was close. He could feel it. A rocky, impenetrable coast spread out before him. It ran in a circle, surrounding the small island completely.

  Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard a voice whisper a name.

  The Heart of Fire.

  Up ahead he saw a huge stone building, like an ancient fortress. Something resonated inside him. Recognition. Fear. Anger.

  He knew this place.

  In the dream he began to climb the rocks, full of fear and longing in equal measures. He tried to grasp at the loose rocks that led up the cliff but his hands were clumsy and oddly shaped. He looked down on himself and saw something that frightened him to the core.

  He was covered in fur.

  He awoke covered in sweat and shaking from exertion. He cleaned himself up and changed his soaked sheets. He lay on top of the covers as dawn lit up the sky.

  He didn't sleep. He wasn't prepared to face the dreams again.

  But he did come to a decision.

  He was done fighting whatever this was. It was pointless anyway. Whatever he was becoming, Dylan knew he had already changed far too much to go back. And whatever role Kaylia played in it... well he was done fighting that too.

  The time had come to claim her as his own.

  Kaylia

  ☈

  Kaylia cut open the haunch of beef, watching as the juices ran freely to the cutting board. She placed a thick slice on the plate in front of her without lifting her eyes. She could feel him there, staring at her. She glanced up in time to see Dylan turn away.

  She should have asked for a different shift, a different service. She could have asked to stay in the back. She should have. But she was too weak.

  She couldn't help but want to see him, even if it was just across the lecture hall on Wednesdays. Or the dining hall every Monday and Thursday. He'd been stoically ignoring her for weeks now.

  Until the party.

  He'd been drunk though. And dangerously angry. She half-expected him to begin ignoring her again. She had been ready to tell him to go to hell when he'd dragged her out of that frat house. Nobody told her what to do.

  But then she'd seen the look in his eyes. Desperate and lonely. It echoed the way she felt but never shared. And he'd let her see it.

  So she kept her head down, stealing an occasional glance at Dylan.

  Today when she glanced up he was staring at her, a haunted look in his eyes. His gaze was traveling over her neck and throat, down to her chest and lower. She gasped, taking a step back at the blatant lust in his eyes. It was as if he could see through her clothes. She felt naked and exposed.

  "Kaylia- do you need a break?"

  Pam checked up on her now and then. She walked the floor, keeping her eye on everything. She ran a tight kitchen. The boss didn't make them work crazy hard, but she didn't allow for slacking either.

  She would definitely notice one of her servers standing like an idiot in the middle of the floor. Kaylia shook herself, waking up from the trance Dylan had put her in. She glanced at her boss, embarrassed.

  "No, I'm fine."

  Pam smiled at her, lifting an eyebrow.

  "Then get back to it."

  She nodded her head dumbly and stepped back to her station.

  Another group of players had just come in. She served them one at a time, trying to ignore the feeling of Dylan's eyes on her. When she looked up again he was smiling humorously, rubbing his thumb across his lips as he stared at her breasts. It was as if he could see them, all the way through her shirt and the apron! She gasped, shocked at the sudden feeling that he was actually touching her, not just looking.

  He lifted his eyes to hers. They were cold and hard but somehow full of fire. She swallowed, forcing herself to look away. She knew her cheeks were burning.

  Dylan didn't leave until the dining hall closed that night, or the next two nights she worked. In fact, he did the same thing in English class.

  He watched her. And he waited. What he was waiting for, she wasn't sure. Maybe he knew she was mad at him. Maybe he was waiting for an invitation.

  Well, she hoped he liked disappointment because that was going to take a long ass while.

  Kaylia wasn't sure exactly how she felt. On one hand her own desire for Dylan would rise up in response to his obvious lust. The way he circled around her was exactly like an animal, marking his territory. It was insulting and reassuring at the same time. On the other hand, she also felt hunted, as if she were a small prey animal and he was a ferocious killer.

  Not that she feared him exactly... it was more that she feared herself.

  Whatever it was inside her that leapt up to answer him.

  It was a cruel joke. She'd wanted to see him and now it seemed that he had decided to stop fighting whatever drew them together. But he didn't approach her. He just watched and waited.

  That's when the dreams started in earnest again.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Dylan

  ♅

  Dylan ran past the former lead quarterback to take the starting position. Ryan glared at him, but even he had known it was inevitable. It was humiliating for a Senior to be replaced by a Freshman, but inevitable.

  It was unheard of, to have a freshman take over for a seasoned senior. But Dylan had been unstoppable in practice, even single handedly winning last week's game, a lost cause at halftime. So now he was starting.

  He was making national news tonight. But none of it mattered. Nothing mattered.

  He grit his teeth and got into position.

  Don't think about it.

  Don't think about her.

  Two weeks ago when he'd seen her at the party, he'd finally given in to the truth. Kaylia belonged to him. He was going to have her. He was going to keep her.

  He'd never even been tempted to mess around with other girls, not since he knew she was real. He preferred to take out his frustrated desires on the field.

  Thanks to his elusive soon-to-be girlfriend, he had a lot of frustration.

  He was getting stronger by the day, more vicious, more alpha. Nobody argued with him, or even approached him anymore. Now they just followed.

  During the day he was invincible. Unstoppable. Unbreakable.

  But not at night. When he was alone and the dreams came. He wondered if it would be different with her beside him, wrapped in her arms while he slept. Either way, he was not going to let her go.

  Even if being with her increased the torment, instead of ending it.

  Dylan leaned forward and waited for the whistle.

  His mind cleared in an instant.

  His vision focused to the point where he could see the sweat dripping down the faces of the opposing team. He could see every fan in the stadium. He could see every blade of grass on the field.

  He inhaled and waited for the whistle.

  The game began.

  Kaylia

  ♅

  A strange energy coursed through her as she doled out cocktails. She stood up straighter, moved faster. Her body was thrumming with barely restrained power and an eagerness to unleash it.

  It wasn't her own power, but she felt it. And she knew where it came from.

  It was his.

  Dylan was down there somewhere, getting ready to take the field. It was weird being here, watching him play, when they still hadn't spoken since that night. Not with words anyway.

  But they both knew, there would be words. Soon. Lots of them.

  Tonight, in fact.

  In the meantime, she had VIP's to tend to.

  Kaylia was serving food in the skyboxes, the super expensive seats that were high
up in the center of the stadium. The views were ideal, not too close that you were on the field, but high enough that you could see the action on long plays and field goal kicks.

  The best part of the deal in her opinion was that they were temperature controlled. While the players and fans were out there sweating or freezing, important donors and guests of the university were in here, cool or cozy, depending on the season.

  There were little TV's scattered around the room for close ups of the action. There was a private, fully stocked top-shelf bar with gourmet food service in each one. They even had special uniforms for the servers. Kaylia was wearing a starched white uniform with team color accents and a cute little apron with a pocket for tips. They hadn't even made her wear a hairnet, just a jaunty little white paper cap.

  It looked kind of silly, but she pinned it in place without a word of complaint.

  She didn't really mind looking silly anyway. She was just excited to watch the game. It was her first time at the stadium, though she'd known how well Dylan was doing in the first few games of the season.

  Plus it gave her time to think about what she would do afterwards.

  About Dylan.

  Everything had changed today. After two weeks of longing looks and radio silence, he'd finally broken the heavy tension between them. Dylan had texted her this morning to meet him after the game.

  He hadn't asked her. He'd informed her of his plans for them. Whatever he was wrestling with, had shifted somehow.

  The way he'd been watching her the past few weeks... well, he scared her a little.

  She didn't think he'd hurt her, but there was something dangerous about him now. How could he have changed that quickly though? It didn't make any sense.

  And for some reason she still trusted him. She had immediately. Almost from the moment they'd met.

  Well... dream Kaylia had trusted dream Dylan.

  And if they hadn't spoken during the day, they'd been together almost every night. Lately, he'd been taking charge of their excursions... brimming with energy. Coming to her room. Taking her on long dream walks up the coast. And then his eyes would change. And he would disappear, racing ahead of her. So far and so fast she could never hope to catch-up.

  He was trying to show her something, she just didn't quite know what it was yet.

  All she knew was that she was painfully aware of his presence in the stadium, even 500 feet from the box. They were connected, for better or worse. Maybe even forever.

  Kaylia sighed, wishing her mother were here for her to talk to. Nan didn't really understand modern boys, and there had never been anything to talk about. Not until Dylan. She couldn't tell Charisse because of the unusual nature of her relationship with Dylan, or whatever it was. It wasn't ordinary boy troubles, that was for sure.

  Somehow though, she felt sure her mother would have understood.

  It was probably just wishful thinking, but it felt right.

  True somehow.

  She served another gin and tonic and a plate of spicy wings, shifting her eyes to the screen as Dylan threw the ball in a high arc. He even looked larger than usual on the tiny screen as the game progressed. She watched in awe as his strides took him through the line of scrimmage and further than any other player on the field. He shouldered them out of his way without visible effort and into the end zone.

  Her mouth opened in surprise. Goodness. He was incredible. Unbelievabley strong and yet somehow graceful and precise. As if he'd been born to do this.

  She knew she shouldn't have been surprised. She knew he was talented. She just hadn't expect him to dominate the field, making the other players seem like children against a giant.

  Her giant.

  Kaylia spent the rest of the game with her eyes trained on his broad back, barely able to tear her eyes away to serve drinks.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Dylan

  ♆

  Dylan's blood was pumping, even more than it had during the game. The game he'd crushed, making his debut as starting quarterback more than memorable.

  It was fucking epic.

  But that was just the icing on the cake.

  The main event was after the game. When he got to see his sweet girl. Tasty, young, tender Kaylia. He was going to see her now.

  He was going to claim her.

  Dylan shook his head. He didn't know when he had started thinking about Kaylia as his, but his possessiveness was overwhelming. He was thinking in archaic terms.

  Like a knight. Or a caveman. He was turning into a full blown Neanderthal.

  No. He was thinking like an animal.

  Basically he wanted to throw her up in a tower and piss in a circle around her. Then he would challenge anyone who came near her. He'd do more than that.

  He'd tear their fucking heads off.

  That wasn't the normal way to feel about your girlfriend, was it?

  And that's what she was. Starting now. He'd tell her as soon as he got there. He picked up the pace, jogging towards the front entrance of the stadium. It was quiet now, but he'd made sure she wouldn't be standing there alone for long.

  He checked his phone again. Kaylia hadn't written him back but he knew she'd be waiting, exactly where he told her to. He could feel her nearby, sense her presence. He could practically smell her.

  "What do we have here?"

  Dylan's head jerked up. He was hearing something. The voices were far off, nearly halfway around the stadium from the players exit. But it sounded as if it were happening right beside him.

  He scanned the darkened exterior of the stadium. About a hundred feet away there was a small crowd. Guys in a semi-circle. Staring at something.

  Kaylia.

  He knew it.

  Dylan started running.

  Before he even got there he could see the fear radiating off of Kaylia. She had her shoulders hunched forward and her back pressed up against the wall. There were seven or eight guys surrounding her. They were older. Not students. Local football fans. One of them reached out and touched her shoulder.

  "Come on cutie, don't be shy."

  The guy was wearing a red shirt.

  Without even breaking stride Dylan's feet left the ground. A split second later his fist connected with the back of the guys head. All of the power and momentum he'd built up went into that punch. He hit the wall behind Kaylia and stopped, swinging around.

  Red shirt down.

  Kaylia's eyes widened as Dylan stepped in front of her.

  "Leave her alone. She's mine."

  Red shirt was moaning and holding his head but blue shirt and striped shirt cracked their knuckles.

  "Yeah, says who?"

  "Says fucking me."

  Blue shirt drew back to throw a punch. To Dylan it all looked slow motion. He was on the guy before he even started to swing, crushing his fist with one hand. A pathetic scream was the only sound as the guy crumpled, clutching his hand in agony.

  Blue shirt down.

  "I said leave her the fuck alone."

  He didn't recognize the voice that was coming out of him. It was lower, more guttural. If he hadn't felt the rumble in his chest, he would have thought it was someone else speaking.

  But it was him. He was the monster now. He was going to make them pay for touching what was his.

  He grabbed striped shirt and threw him across the causeway. He hit the ground and lay there, unmoving.

  "Hey man, that's Dylan Westen."

  "Fuck. Let's get out of here."

  They took off at a run, the injured limping behind them.

  "You'll regret this man!"

  Dylan grunted and turned to face Kaylia. She was breathing fast as she stared into his eyes. He grabbed her shoulders and turned her into the light, inspecting her for injuries. Relief flooded his body as he realized she was unharmed. Relief and something else. Something raw and unbridled.

  Desire.

  Kaylia

  ♆ />
  His eyes were gold as he leaned toward her.

  Kaylia held her breath as Dylan grabbed her and pulled her against him. This was not the boy she'd met at the beginning of the semester. This was not the boy from her dreams.

  This Dylan was wild and untamed. He could have killed those men without breaking a sweat. And now he was focused on her.

  But she wasn't afraid.

  No. In that breathless moment that they stared at each other, she was not afraid at all. She felt herself opening up, accepting him.

  All of him. The sweet and the rough. The polite and the untamed. Everything.

  His lips came crashing down on hers a moment later.

  Her mouth opened in surprise and he groaned, pushing his tongue inside her. This was different from the other kisses they'd shared, in the dream and in real life. He wasn't just kissing her, he was taking her.

  Her back arched as his arms tightened, pulling her against his hard stomach. His arousal was pressing insistently against her. He lifted her slightly so that it pressed firmly between her legs.

  Her feet dangled helplessly as she struggled for breath, for equilibrium. The ground could have been the sky for all she knew. The world felt upside down enough.

  Her skin tingled where he touched it. His body was giving off waves of heat and she absorbed it all, taking it in. It felt like there was a pool of hot lava rolling around in her belly.

  She felt so alive, all her senses were suddenly heightened. She wanted him to keep going at the same time that she wanted him to stop, to slow down. Just a little. She didn't even know what she wanted, or how to put it into words. It was a deep animal need, a need to get closer. A need to meld with him completely.

  But...

  It was happening too fast.

  Too fast!

  She wrenched away from him, panting as they stared at each other. He could have held her easily but he didn't. He let her go, breathing heavily. Watching her with those strange golden eyes of his.