My breathing hitched as the euphoria built up inside of me. Mason slammed my back into the wall, his hunger for my lips turning up the volume of the imagined music. His soft moans were now forceful growls that lit in both our bellies and fueled the best kiss of my life. We were ablaze with a red and yellow fire we had no hope of controlling.
He had one hand beneath me, supporting my weight so I could remain pinned to the wall while we ravished each other. His fingers tangled in my hair, tilting my head to deepen the kiss. He uttered erratic, manly noises under his breath that made my heart bang around in my chest like an alarm, cluing me in that something significant was happening. I couldn’t turn back from it; I’m not sure I wanted to. Though I knew it was too early to make such grand declarations, I realized that I felt right with Mason. I wanted exactly this moment and dozens more like it. His kiss was heady, and I let it confuse my higher reasoning that otherwise would have told me to run from the crazy mountain man who didn’t even know how to drive a car.
Of course Von chose that exact moment to return from his shopping trip. “Ho! Put a sock on the door next time you’re snogging, kids.”
Mason slowed his passion for me, meeting my lips with gentleness he had not possessed mere seconds ago. We both slowly deflated like overfull balloons a week after a party. He cupped my face with his large, rough hand, caressing the contours of my cheek like he was stroking silk he was afraid to muddy. “So beautiful,” he murmured. I could tell from the slight tremble in his voice that he was just as shaken as I was at the kiss.
I heard Von drop his things in the kitchen and head back out to the car for the next round.
Mason lowered my legs to the floor, gripping my thigh with trembling fingers on the way down. He dropped his hands and shook his head, as if trying to snap himself out of the spell we were casting on each other. “Is that what it is to kiss a human? Or is it because you’re an Omen? You’re my first of either, so I don’t know why it feels like this.” He wiped his hand over his lips with wide eyes, blinking rapidly to clear his head.
“I think I kiss pretty normal for a human.” I hope.
He shook his head slowly as he processed the beauty of what we’d just experienced. “No, hani. That was anything but normal. I can feel that in my whole body.” He flexed his forearms and shivered.
“What does hani mean?” I asked quietly. I’d been curious since he first used the term, but had been too chicken to ask.
His lidded eyes found my hazel. “It means ‘honey’ or ‘darling’. It means you’re mine.”
I reached out and touched his fingers, wondering if we could recreate that same crazed magic, or if it was all a fluke. It was in the name of science that I pulled him forward to kiss him again. Of course that was why. Science. This time I twined my fingers through his as we drew out the painfully slow passion that built like a fire in my chest. The red and the yellow streaks and sparks danced around the edges of my vision, staying with me even after my eyelashes fluttered shut. Part of me was screaming at myself to run from the permanence I could feel settling in my chest.
But I didn’t run. I held on for dear life. The significance of me reaching out to grip Mason’s hands wasn’t lost on me. I couldn’t even feel my OCD battling inside of my brain, yelling at me about germs and the doomed intimacy that came with holding hands. Finally the conflict I always warred with stopped. I’d never been able to hold Beto’s hand, and here I was, reaching out for more of Mason.
Of course Von came back in through the door, and of course he slammed it loud enough to rouse Danny, who came out to grouse at the intrusion.
Of course Mason and I hadn’t kissed enough to satiate either one of us. Mason leaned in to kiss me once more, ignoring the gasp and whistle from his two best friends.
19
Marrying me Off
Danny let out a loud curse when we finally broke apart. Mason and I could do nothing more than stare at each other with mirrored expressions of shock. “Great. So you know?”
“Know what? You knew about this?” Von asked, putting the rest of his bags down in the kitchen. “I mean, I knew they were getting gooey for each other, but I didn’t know it’d exploded into humping against a wall. I might need a cold shower after that one. Well done, Mason. And November? Who knew you had that in you?”
My face turned crimson as the reality of the most amazing kiss of my life came crashing down on my head. “Oh, gross. Sorry, guys. I should’ve been more discreet.” I’d never been a public display kind of girl, but that one had taken me by storm.
Von held up his hands. “Don’t hold back on my account. Happy for you, mate.” He slapped Mason on the back a little harder than I thought he should’ve. Then Von winked at me just to tease my growing discomfort. “Humping in the living room. Sounds like a band name, yeah?”
I paled. “I’m sorry. I got caught up, and I… Totally uncool of me.” I couldn’t face Von’s teasing grin. I flew into the bathroom, locking myself inside with my embarrassment. When a knock came to the door, I begged for them to go away.
Danny’s voice was calm to counter my thumping heart. “October, come on out. I’ve got to explain a few things to you. Did you see colors? Hear music?”
Mason and I both replied with a confused, “How did you know?”
“It’s what happens when an awakened Omen gets it on with someone from Terraway. Not many people know about it because it’s a pretty private thing, but it happens. Did you hallucinate? Like, did you see anything more specific than just the abstract colors?”
“I did,” Mason answered when I cracked open the door.
I shook my head. “I didn’t, but something happened that was weird.” I covered my face with my hands, wishing I didn’t have to talk about something private with Danny, of all people. “When we were… you know, I swear something happened to my senses. It was like I could taste color or something.” My nose crinkled as I shook my head. “I’m not explaining it right.”
Danny nodded, moving to the couch to decrease the heightened climate of the room. “That’s about right. You didn’t hallucinate, though? You saw colors, but no specific images or visions?”
“No. Was I supposed to?” I shoved the throw pillow back into place on the other end of the couch from Danny, and sat down so it would support my back.
“Not necessarily. Everything’s normal for who you two are. Intense, yeah? People don’t get how Mariang and I are the way we are, but imagine years of that. It never gets boring. It never gets less.”
Mason perked up at this, shoving his shirt over his head and slumping on the couch to cool down (This, incidentally did nothing to cool me down. Dude was ripped). “Incredible. You never told me it was like that. I’ve never… not even with Kara.”
I grimaced at being compared to his dead wife, though I knew that was an inevitability. “Anything else we should know about?”
Danny’s elbows rested on his knees as if gearing up for the birds and the bees. “October, when you start to see hallucinations, let me know. I mean, first thing. Understand?”
“Now I’m worried. What will that mean?”
“Nothing bad, but I’ll give you the rest of the sex talk then. There are things you should know, but not yet. You two barely know each other still. And you’ve got Von to factor into it all.”
“Anybody order a third wheel?” Von joked. “I’m kidding. We’re making you overanalyze what should be good old fun. Enjoy it. I can make myself scarce with Katrina or whoever.
“Oh my gosh! It’s nothing like that. We only just kissed, you guys. Stop marrying me off.”
“I have to talk to you!” Mason blurted out at Danny, standing abruptly.
Danny gripped Mason’s shoulder and then slapped him on the back with unconcealed pride. “Sure, mate. Let’s go for a walk.”
20
Precious
Von waited for the front door to close before he cast me a mischievous grin. “You’re a minx, you are. I wonder what would’ve ha
ppened if we hadn’t interrupted. Virgin, indeed. Your legs and hips seemed to know the dance well enough. You’ll be an absolute tomcat when your time comes.”
“Shut up.”
“Hold on. Let me get your first aid kit.”
“Bathroom. Under the sink.”
“I know,” he said, glancing at me over his shoulder as he turned toward the bathroom. “I live here too, now. I know where things are.” I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. The guys had moved in a few weeks ago. Like, moved in. Some days it felt like home to have them in my space with me, but other days it felt… I don’t know, like, get out of my space.
Von returned a minute later with the red box. “Exactly where I knew it would be.” I worried at the state of the contents of that cupboard, which he no doubt shifted in the extraction of the kit.
“You alright?” I asked him. “Did you cut yourself?”
“No, daft girl. You did. Give me your hands.”
He turned the living room’s end table lamp on to get a better look at the damage. I tried to hide my shame from him, and clasped my hands between my knees as I shifted on the couch. “I’m fine, Von. It’s not a big deal.”
He gently parted my knees and pried my hands out, rubbing them with a warm washcloth that was now totally ruined. He was quiet when he disinfected the cuts, breathing through his teeth as he eyed my blood droplets with lust he tried to conceal. “Did Mason… Was he… How did… Was he nice to you?”
I refused to look at him. “Yes. He was great. It was all pretty intense. I’ve never kissed anyone like that.”
“Talk to me, Peach. Pretend I’m a brother,” he reminded me. “I think that’ll suit our threesome just fine.”
“Really?” I softened at his use of the nickname I cherished.
“Really.” The dimple appeared in his left cheek, so I started to relax.
“It was nice. Special, even.” My first instinct was to stuff it all down, but under the regime of Von being more of a brother than anything else, I guessed there was no real reason to hold back. “I think I like him. But there’s the whole two different worlds thing.”
“Small obstacle,” Von teased, a smirk tugging up the corner of his mouth.
I kept my eyes trained on Von’s dark green t-shirt, wondering when the last time he washed it was. “It was exciting and new. I’ve only ever kissed Beto. This was different. Like speaking a new language I never even knew existed, but somehow I woke up fluent in it.” I shook my head. “I don’t know. I’m explaining it wrong.”
“Go on.”
“I heard flutes playing.” The urge to scratch my hands was heady, but I did my best to resist as Von wrapped a bandage around each one. He did a substandard wrap job, but it was the sweetest thing anyone had done for me in a long time. It was the sweetest thing I’d let someone do for me in a long time. Somewhere in an unmarked place along our journey, I was starting to trust Von.
“You heard flute music while you were snogging? Like, in your mind?”
“Yeah. That’s really how it is for Danny with Mariang? Did you know?”
Von chuckled. “That you think Danny and I talk about anything personal tells me how little you know about us. I have no idea on that front. He’s a pretty private person when it comes to Mariang.”
“Well, whatever it is, it was intense.” I grinned at him, breathing easier as my nerves started to dissipate. “Thanks for letting me girlfriend all over you. I don’t really talk about this kind of stuff with anyone.”
“I had you pegged as the girl who takes her time to weigh her options. Imagine my surprise when one of the most untamed outcasts in Terraway is plotting his way to your all-access theme park right under my nose. I’ve been falling down on the big brothering job, no doubt.”
My face soured. “For the record, my virginity is not a theme park.”
“Then clearly he’s doing it wrong.” Von placed the kit on the coffee table and sat next to me on the couch, his knees falling open as they did when he was trying to relax.
“You going to Katrina’s?”
He shook his head, kicking off his shoes. “No. I’m staying here tonight. And probably most nights, come to think of it. You know Ezra prefers it this way. You and Penny get to be the two women in my life for a while.”
I don’t know why that made me blush, so I kept my head down until my cheeks turned back to their normal shade of adulthood. “That’s a sweet thing to say.”
He jerked his head toward my bedroom and pulled me up off the couch. “Why don’t you and Mason take up in your bed? Something tells me Mason won’t want to sleep in his wolf form tonight, and none of these beds or the pullout is really big enough for three. I’ve grown quite fond of the couch.” Von winked at me. “You’re welcome.”
My neck started itching, so I scratched a line down my throat to alleviate my growing apprehension. “Von, I don’t know. I mean, that’s too serious. Sleeping alone together after our first kiss? That’s too fast.”
“You’re just going to have to cry yourself to sleep tonight thinking how much you miss me. You’ll think on how fortunate you were when you used to sleep next to the most perfect man you’ve ever laid eyes on. Tough break, Mason. Best to dash his hopes gently.”
I raised my eyebrow at his bluster. “Seriously. I don’t want to block you from enjoying your night. Go out with Katrina. There’s plenty of security around the house.”
Von yanked on my arm and led me into my bedroom. “Lay down,” he instructed, shutting the door. He climbed into the bed next to me and pulled the covers up around us, settling down on the pillow to my left. It felt like we were kids in a fort, and I loved him for trying to ratchet down the tension that never seemed all that far away. “Until Danny and Mason figure out this Omen-Reaper business, you’re not out of my sight. I’m serious. Now that you and Mason are starting things up, I don’t want to get edged out of a job. I need this, November.”
I rolled on my side to face him, able to make out just the outline of his features. He was handsome in the barely there moonlight that slid through the half-inch gap in my thick taupe curtains. “First off, I’m not starting things up. It was a kiss, Von. A great kiss, but don’t make it weird. Even if something down the road ever did start up, this whole Death Omen thing works far better with two Reapers. Your job’s safe. You and Danny can stay out of my love life.”
Von pecked my lips with a smirk. “Cute that you think that’s true. Think of it as an HR issue. If you hooked up with Brenden, the higher ups might have something to say about it, yeah?”
“I guess. Gross analogy, though. Brenden’s like, over thirty.”
“Hello! I’m two blinks away from thirty!” He shook his head at me. “Mason’s thirty-one, you know.”
“Then you can date Brenden.” I nuzzled my nose to his and whispered, “Old man.”
Von’s mouth fell open. “I can’t believe you just said that. I’m in my prime, I’ll have you know.”
“I might have something of Ollie’s for joint pain if you need it in your old age.”
His hand found my waist under the covers and squeezed, finding my ticklish spot and working it right good. We rolled around for a solid minute in a fit of giggles, making a perfect mess of the sheets.
He froze above me, shifting with sudden caution as we stared into each other’s eyes. There were things there that didn’t have words to match, so we didn’t say them. Von slowly closed the gap between us to deliver another simple peck to my lips, making my cheeks turn pink with its sweetness. “You went and made it all precious,” I scolded him through my blush. “That was adorable. Now get off me. Mason’s going to get the wrong idea.”
Von rolled off and laid on his back next to me, resting his heavy leg atop my thigh just for the contact. “You are precious. If Mason starts treating you like you’re not, it’s time to move on. Understood?”
“Understood.” I fiddled with the hem of my yellow t-shirt. “You’re not a bad guy, you know.”
&
nbsp; He turned his head to look at me, his handsome face examining the sincerity of mine. “If you could not spread that around, I’d appreciate it. You’ll utterly destroy my loose cannon reputation.”
“We can’t have that.”
Von tossed me a teasing grin. “I’ll see you in the morning, love. When you’re dreaming about me, try to work up a decent code name, so Mason doesn’t feel too put out. Mason gets to be the man in your bed, but I’ll always be the man of your dreams.”
“You should really work on building up your self-esteem. You’re too humble.”
“Goodnight, dream girl.” He rolled out of the bed and left the room.
I waited for Mason, but after half an hour, I was too exhausted to wait any longer. I made myself at home in my bed, anchoring my body to the center of the mattress – my favorite spot. I hadn’t slept by myself in too many nights, and though I wished Mason wasn’t avoiding me, I took my rare breath of alone time where I could get it and closed my eyes.
I think I muttered some kind of unladylike reply when Mason slid into the bed next to me however long later. He rolled me over so he could spoon me, kissing the back of my shoulder, as if we did that sort of thing all the time. Which, I guess we sort of did. Though, it felt more intimate when it was just the two of us. Mason didn’t need to talk about the kiss, and I was grateful to have escaped the big emotional recap of it all.
Von followed in a few minutes later, uncomfortable as he sat on my other side. “I tried to take the couch, mates, but Danny vetoed it. I want to give you your space, but with all the extra reaping you’re doing, Danny thinks you need double the pulling at night. I’m sorry.”
Tremble (Terraway Book 2) Page 12