Darkly Divine: A Paranormal Enemies to Lovers Romance

by C L Walker

  That deal was sealed the moment she pressed her lips to mine.

  Who the hell was I kidding, thinking that I could bury what I felt for her when it was all consuming?

  I had informed my Great Grandma that I wouldn’t be fighting fate any longer and she rolled her eyes, and when I told my mom she laughed at me. I had been the only one who thought I stood a chance.

  My future was in Sky’s hands and she was still trying to maintain a distance she no longer truly wanted to maintain.

  “What are we going to do?” I muttered to myself as I scrolled through my phone in the student parking lot.

  I was looking at colleges, but I had no idea where Sky wanted to run off to after we graduated. I didn’t know if she would want to take a break, hell, I didn’t even know if she wanted to go to college at all.

  I was torn because I still wanted to achieve my goals and see the world, but I wouldn’t go without her. If I had to, I would wait until she was ready, it’s not like I didn’t have time anyway.

  I looked up just as she passed my car, I was about to open my door when Devin ran up beside her, so I let go of the handle.

  I wasn’t jealous but something about the way he looked at her pissed me off.

  I put my phone away before I leaned back and closed my eyes.

  I hadn’t been sleeping well because of everything going on, I was bothered by the fact that she went back to her mom’s every night. She wasn’t safe and as the one who was meant to protect her it made me feel guilty.

  Maybe if she wasn’t so stubborn.

  My car door flung open, and I nearly jumped in surprise but given that my surprise was seldom followed by fear I couldn’t be moved, literally.

  I smelt her immediately, she had a unique smell just as everyone did, one that appealed to me in many ways and today it was accompanied by–perfume?

  I peeled my eyes open. “Why are you wearing perfume?” She had never worn it before.

  She folded her arms across her chest. “I didn’t come here to get grilled.”

  “Then why did you come here?” I reached for my backpack before I stepped out of my car.

  As we walked to the doors she said, “When I passed your car you looked upset.”

  I perked up at her confession. “You wanted to see if I was okay?”

  She glanced at me as she reached for the door. “Maybe.”

  “I’m good, but you know what would make me a lot better?”

  “What?” She stopped.

  “If you didn’t wear perfume ever again because it masks your natural scent which is so much more enticing.”

  Her eyes snapped to mine as she blushed. “What?”

  Why does that make my heart flutter?

  I moved closer to her, and when I kissed her cheek softly, she sucked in a breath but didn’t move. “I like the way you smell, I told you as much already. Which reminds me, where is my sweatshirt?”

  She snapped to and pulled it out of her bag and chucked it at my face.

  I laughed when I pulled it down and found that she had taken off.

  I followed her because next to her is where I longed to be.

  “When are you going to stop running from me?” I asked once I caught up to her.

  “When you don’t feel dangerous.” Her honesty surprised me.

  “That sounds to me like you don’t want to run forever.” I grabbed her hand and swung her around and into my body. “We don’t have to fight like this.” I wrapped my arm firmly around her waist as her chest pressed against mine. “It’s pointless now.”

  When I tipped my face down towards hers, she surprised me again when she didn’t move, so I pressed my lips to her cheek a second time. But when I made to move to her mouth she ducked away.

  He was going to kiss me! Shit. I should have let him.

  “We don’t have to fight?” she asked as she fought against the urge to kiss me herself. “But that’s all we know how to do, so quit playing.”

  She left me again but despite how it looked I felt encouraged. Her mind had told me all that I needed to know. Clearly, she was the one playing, hard to get that is.

  When I arrived at the gym for the pep rally my eyes found her immediately, she was sitting by Sai, and Jesse was on the other side of him, and Ashley was sitting in front of him in the next row with all her friends.

  Thankfully, there was no one sitting behind Sky because I needed that spot, I was going to continue as I had because I knew she was going to crack sooner than later.

  I was going to keep telling her about how she appealed to me, and I was going to keep touching her until she decided it wasn’t worth the fight anymore.

  I was patient, I could wait for her even if it took her weeks, months, or hell, even years. Because she was worth it and someday, I’d make sure she knew it.

  She was a queen amongst subjects, a queen who didn’t even know she wore a crown.

  I was going to put it all out there so there was no question as to what I wanted, I didn’t want to confuse her anymore.

  Devin was somewhere behind me, so I knew I had to be faster to make sure I was by her side first.

  There was a part of me, an instinct I had to battle with that wanted to kill him for looking at her like she was a hot piece of ass. But if I killed him, I’d get in trouble and she would be pissed off at me for ripping someone to shreds over some petty shit, so I tried to ignore him. But it was getting difficult.

  Since she had taken me being a demon so well, I didn’t want to do something to change that. That was the part I feared, her seeing me as a monster like she did Jack and her mom.

  I had murdered a man and thus far she had treated me no different for it because we both knew the world was better off without Jack in it.

  But after the letter I received from the counsel I knew I would have to exercise more restraint in the future. They didn’t care much when human scum was removed from the Earth with good reason, but they did care that I did so in front of a human girl. Had she not been my blood mate and expected to be turned I would have been in deep shit.

  I took a seat behind her after I climbed the bleachers and I put my knees on either side of her. Surprisingly, even though she sat between my legs and we were touching she said nothing to me.

  “Hey, Micah,” Sai said, and Jesse gave me a nod as soon as I sat down.

  “Hey,” I said.

  I listened in to the war that she was at with herself once again that no one else was aware of. I couldn’t help but laugh at her, she was okay with it being me that was touching her, she was relieved even as she had breathed a sigh of relief once she glanced behind her, but she also hated how I made her feel.

  “Hey, Sky.” I leaned against her back and brought my mouth to her ear. “I’ve missed the feel of you against me.”

  She turned enough to look me in the face, and I slid down lower into the space people normally put their feet with a challenging look as my body wrapped more snuggly around hers.

  “You can’t sit there.” She looked down at my thigh that was pressed firmly against her hip.

  “Obviously, I can, because I am.”

  She made like she was going to move so I said, “Don’t bother. I’ll follow.”

  “Why are you doing this?”

  I grabbed a piece of her hair and rubbed it between my fingers. “You know why.”

  “I won’t give in,” she retorted, and her eyes flitted to my mouth. Oh no, yes, I will!

  You already are, more and more with every hour that passes.

  When I smiled, she sighed before she turned around and folded her arms across her chest. “This doesn’t make any sense.”

  Sai looked at her and laughed before he threw me a wink.

  He was cool, and I knew how much he genuinely loved her, so I was happy she had him and that he approved of me being a part of her life.

  Jesse leaned behind him and said, “I was just telling them about the graduation party I am going to throw at my house once this is a
ll over. You down?”

  “Another party?” I ran my hand down the side of her arm. “I’m down if she is.”

  She snorted and smacked my hand away because she knew exactly why I had said that. If it was anything like the last party, how could I refuse?

  I felt the glare of Devin when he walked into the room, and it wasn’t because of any supernatural ability I possessed. He was just super obvious, and when I met his eyes, I could tell he was angry with where I was sitting, but it was his fault for thinking he stood a chance with me around.

  The pep rally began and about a minute in she leaned back against me just a touch, but not enough that anyone would notice aside from me. It was subtle but that small movement brought her that much closer to the crotch of my pants, she just needed to let herself slip back a sliver more, but she wouldn’t.

  It was for the best though since we were both already hot and hyperaware of each other and we didn’t need to be any more turned on at school.

  I couldn’t see what was going on, so I had to scoot my ass back a bit and lean my chest forward against her back again, and when we touched, her shoulders lifted as she inhaled deeply.

  He feels so good.

  I felt it as her emotions eased, touching me made her feel calm in a sense, even as my touch also made her heart race and made her fingers itch to touch me in return. It made me smile, I was happy to know I made her feel so many things, the same as she made me feel.

  I had thought that maybe Devin sat somewhere else, but I noticed him out of the corner of my eye as he squeezed past everyone on the bleachers and made his way over to us. He had his eyes on Sky and I got pissed all over again because I couldn’t fathom his persistence.

  What was up with guys who persisted in losing battles, especially when another guy was clearly in the picture? I was literally sitting with her between my legs as I leaned my body up against hers, so it looked like a loss for Devin if you asked me.

  He sat down beside her after looking down at my leg that was going to remain as a barrier between them.

  I gave him a look that let him know that I knew how much I bothered him. It was petty but I wanted him to know that I knew he wanted her and that I didn’t give a fuck, because I wanted her too.

  “Hey,” he said to her, and then to Sai and Jesse.

  Jesse leaned past Sai and Sky, to do some fist bump bullshit that put Devin way too fucking close to her as he extended his arm in front of her. She leaned back but it was too late, his arm grazed her breast and if he didn’t watch it, he was going to lose a limb because I didn’t like it and more importantly, she didn’t either.

  I switched positions and leaned around her other side so that he had to scoot over a little more to accommodate me.

  “Sorry, man.” I put my arm over my leg and began to lightly caress her forearm.

  “It’s cool,” he said but his tone said otherwise, and I could tell Sky caught it as well because she stiffened before she sent him an awkward smile.

  That irritated me, he was being a burden to her, and she didn’t have the guts to tell him to fuck off because she was too nice.

  I was the only one she expressed her anger towards, but I knew it was different with me, she didn’t really want me to leave her alone. The fact that she felt comfortable repeatedly telling me to leave her alone was actually great. She knew she was safe to defend herself against me, she trusted me not to hurt her physically which was a hell of a lot more than could be said about anyone else she knew.

  Especially Devin, he made her feel nervous in a bad way and he was getting away with being an annoying little shit because she wouldn’t say so.

  It didn’t make sense; he had made his way through tons of girls at school, any number of them would drop their panties for him no questions asked, so it must have been about the chase where she was concerned.

  He clearly wasn’t used to not getting what he wanted.

  I did my best to ignore him, and it helped that I was distracted since Sky had let me caress her arm and touch her through the entire rally. I couldn’t wait to have her alone in the privacy of my cabin where I could hold her closer and touch her skin without holding back.

  When it was over, she made to stand up, but I grabbed her by her hips and pulled her back down into my lap.

  “What the hell?” she snapped. “I need to go to class.”

  “Are you coming, Skylar?” Sai called to her from a few rows below us.

  They had third period together, but he was going to have to wait.

  “Just a second,” she said in an angry tone, and she climbed off my lap.

  When he quirked an eyebrow, she had already spun around and shoved me back against the bleachers, so he left with everyone else.

  “Geez, Sky, you’re so violent.” It was hilarious that she carelessly pushed around someone that could break her, but I took it as further evidence of her trust in me.

  She had successfully broken my hold of her, but she hadn’t taken the opportunity to move away from me further proving my point that although she said otherwise, she wanted to interact with me even if we were fighting.

  “Is this really how it’s going to be now?” she asked with an incredulous look on her beautiful face.

  I simply nodded my head before I pulled myself up so fast that I could have sent her flying down the bleachers in front of us had I not wrapped an arm around her and held her to my chest.

  “Woah!” She turned her head and looked below her. “You would do well to remember that I am human, that would have hurt!”

  I set her up right and let her go instead of kissing her like I wanted to, because there were still people leaving the gym and I knew it would embarrass her.

  “I am in more control than that, I would never do something so stupid like dropping you down a set of bleachers.”

  I grabbed her hand to hold it, but she yanked it out and stomped down with a flush on her face. When she reached the floor, she turned to leave through the door that led into the hallway.

  But I had other plans, so I snaked my hands around her waist, lifted her up, turned her around, and pushed her towards the doors that led outside to the back of the school.

  “Micah,” she warned, and she tried to dig her heels in. “I have to go to class.”

  “Just a moment of your time.” I put my hand on the small of her back and pressed lightly.

  When she wouldn’t move, I decided to go with a different tactic. “You do recall how easily I can lift you over my shoulder, right?”

  She gave me a sharp look over her shoulder that said you wouldn’t dare.

  But I would.

  I slid in front of her and put my hands on her hips and prepared to throw her over my shoulder when she squealed, “Fine!”

  She marched forward and out the back door and once outside she leaned against the concrete wall with a pout.

  I pulled on her arms slowly to get them to break apart from where they rested across her chest and she let me. Then I stepped forward and tipped my face down, so it was just above hers.

  I marveled at the violet color of her eyes as they shined in the light from the sun that beamed warmly above us as I whispered her name.

  “What?” she whispered in return.

  As her eyes held mine, I saw her anger melt away into something else. Something that burned just as hotly, that threatened to steal all my self-control and subdue me where I stood. When she looked at me like that, I was the weak one, I felt it in every fiber of my being, a great willingness to do anything to please her, anything to give her pleasure.

  “What can I do to convince you to let me in?” I looked upon her mouth with overwhelming lust.

  I didn’t care if she begged for it, I had said that mostly to piss her off, because the truth was, I was about ready to beg for it myself.

  She rose on her tippy toes and whispered into my ear, “A lot more than this,” before she kissed my lips softly and took off running.

  And I mean to say she literally
ran, even kicked up dust in the gravel as she peeled out as if she were running from the devil himself.

  How cute.

  Twenty-two

  Skylar

  My bare feet dangled over the edge of the dock and I used my arms to lower myself enough to touch the water with my toe. I pulled myself back up quickly as I watched the small ripples rush out until the water looked smooth once more.

  I didn’t know why I went there; it was the same beach Jack had attacked me on, but as weird as it sounded, being there made me feel alive. I knew he wasn’t coming back so I stared at the water with a smile on my face because I had won.

  Micah had been right, because that night as I had witnessed the darkness in those around me, I was finally able to see it in my own reflection as well because Jack’s death brought me nothing but relief.

  I got on my knees and leaned over the side to see if I could see his truck, but the water was thankfully too deep. But someday someone would dive off the dock and go deep enough to see the rusty old thing sitting at the bottom and perhaps recognize who it belonged to.

  Hopefully, Micah and I will be long gone.

  “Woah, don’t fall in, dare devil.”

  I jumped back quickly, stunned out of my quiet moment.

  “You’re up early,” Micah said.

  I sat back down and let my feet dangle again. “I couldn’t sleep, and I didn’t want to stay in the trailer because of how she has been the last few days.”

  “I see.” He sat down beside me, so close that our thighs were flush with one another. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  I tried to hide my surprise, but he had caught me off guard with such an offer. “No, there’s nothing really to say about it anymore. That time has passed as I have mentioned before.”

  “But someday you might want to talk about it, and if you do, even if its ten years from now, I’ll be here to listen.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” There was no way he would still be hanging around me ten years down the road, but he was trying to be nice, so I kept my comments about it to myself. “Why are you up so early?”

  “I have a lot on my mind,” he said. “I thought the beach would be nice at this time and when I saw you, I of course decided to come over here.”