books 1 - 3

by Ella J. Smyth

  He helped her into the warm water and was about to leave the bathroom when Adi asked him timidly, “Would you stay? Please? I’m afraid to be on my own right now…” Her voice trailed off in a whisper, a far cry from the usually so strident girl that had walked out on him only yesterday.

  He sighed inwardly. This is not the right time, he repeated silently.

  He sat on the side of the bathtub and avoided looking anywhere but her face. She stretched out her hand, and they sat like that, holding hands for a few minutes. When her eyes fluttered closed, he tugged on her. “Hey, don’t fall asleep yet, you need to make sure you clean those wounds.”

  She scrunched up her face in a way that he didn’t think was cute at all. “I’m too tired.” She sounded like a kid, and Honi sighed again.

  “Come on, let’s be quick and then you can go to bed, okay?”

  She nodded and sat up, using a hand towel to clean her breasts, tummy and legs. Again Honi looked at the ceiling, the floor, the toilet, anywhere but at her. “Could you do my back? I can’t reach.”

  Oh man, there she was, naked in his bathtub, holding out the damp towel with a trusting smile on her face. He couldn’t help but smile back and scrub her back for her. His hand disappeared under the waterline, and he thought of exams, John, his family, anything but the fact that he was scrubbing a beautiful girl’s body. He was a saint, no doubt.

  By the time they were done, she was nearly asleep again. He drained the water, grabbed a big fluffy towel and stared. She looked exhausted, curled up into herself, eyes closed and beginning to shiver. So he bent down, wrapped the towel around her and lifted her out of the tub. Well, he tried. He managed it after the third attempt. The girl was heavier than she looked, and he needed to bend down and engage his upper thighs to counterlever her out of the tub.

  Groaning quietly, back and biceps straining, he tugged on her until she was safely in his arms. It was all worth it when she snuggled closer. He stood up with another effort and carried her to his bed. Gently he laid her down and looked at her. She was completely asleep, breathing quietly, her head turned to the side, hair messy and wet at the tips. Honi brushed his fingers from her shoulder to her arms and moved to turn the light off.

  Adi’s hand grasped his, and she murmured a protest. When he looked at her again, she had one eye half-open and tugged at his hand, a frown line between her brows. Then she scooted all the way towards the wall. He quickly flicked the light switch and carefully got into bed next to her. She turned her back towards him, grabbed his arm and tugged it over her waist.

  Honi pulled her back against his chest, and after a little wriggling, they both found a comfortable position. They would have to talk about what had happened, but it could wait until the morning. For now, he enjoyed Adi in his arms. After what had happened, he had given up hope of getting through to her, and he had been sure she wouldn’t be back in his bed again. He was beginning to learn that nothing was predictable with this little firebrand. Soon his breathing mirrored hers, and he fell asleep with a smile on his face.

  8

  Adi opened her eyes, blinking against the strong sunshine in her face. The déjà vu hit her hard. Yesterday she had woken up feeling well rested and hopeful, until it had all gone to hell. She stared straight up as she tried to recall what had happened last night. Everything after waking up from her nightmare was a blur.

  She remembered the intensity of wanting to get to Honi, the overwhelming desire to see him, to be held by him. Like a red thread in her confused mind, she had known that his presence would make things better. Now that she had slept, undisturbed by any more bad dreams, she was sure of one thing: that he held the answers to her problems.

  She turned her head to the side. Honi lay next to her, just like the last time. Things were coming back to her, memories of being terrified all the way to his apartment. Shadows that had moved and light that had taunted her with its promise of safety, only to take it away when she’d left the warming glow. There’d been a fox, and she remembered vividly the fear it had invoked in her, how the animal had frightened her even though she wouldn’t normally have been afraid of foxes, small things that they were.

  Her face flushed and she cringed. She was naked and clean. Honi had undressed her and helped her into a bath. She relaxed a little when she thought back. He’d been a perfect gentleman and that made her feel warm inside. Some other guy might have taken advantage of her vulnerable state, but not Honi. She knew she could trust him. He’d been so caring, so concerned about her.

  She lifted her arm, and in the bright sunlight, the bites and scratches showed up just as shockingly on her white skin as last night when they were fresh. Some had barely broken the skin and were only visible as small pink lines, but others were deeper and crusted over.

  She lifted the blanket and glanced underneath. Her entire body as far as she could see was covered in these little wounds. That more than anything else convinced her that Honi had been right all along. She hated being so weak and vulnerable, but she vowed again that once he woke up, she would swallow her pride and ask for help.

  She lay there for another five minutes, wondering how Honi would train her. She kept stealing glances at his sleeping face and eventually got bored. Man, this guy could sleep! You’d have thought that it was him who’d had the terrifying experience in the middle of the night. Adi fidgeted. Still no sign of stirring from her big strong protector. She winced at her own sarcasm. Totally unwarranted, she thought and rolled her eyes at herself.

  Wonder if he’s ticklish? She poked his cheek with her index finger. No reaction. He was lying on his front, his face turned towards her, both arms above his head. It didn’t take much to pull the cover down a little bit and tickle his underarms.

  She wasn’t really prepared for the high-pitched squeal when Honi nearly jumped out of bed. He looked at her with shocked eyes, clearly still half-asleep. His face scrunched up in a scowl, and without a word, he grabbed his pillow and whacked her over the head with it. While she still recovered from the onslaught, giggling helplessly, he fell back into bed and growled, “What the hell? Is that the thanks I get for saving you last night?”

  Adi felt slightly chastened, until she looked at him closely and saw that he could barely hold back a smile. She laughed louder, grabbed the pillow and whacked him right back. This felt fantastic. Adi had never had many girlfriends, and she couldn’t remember a single sleepover. To discover this innocent joy with Honi meant a lot to her. This was different from any other relationship she ever had with a guy. There was potential for playfulness, and she knew that there was far more connecting them than just physical attraction.

  Honi stopped suddenly and asked with concern in his voice, “Are you okay? I don’t want to hurt you. Those bites must be sore.”

  Adi smiled widely. There it was again, his protectiveness, his gentleness, even in the midst of a play-fight. “No, it’s fine.” Then she turned serious. “So you said you could train me to control these visions, right? When can we start?”

  “Today after breakfast, if you want to.” Adi felt another grin break on her face. Now that she had decided to go ahead and trust Honi with helping her, she felt a great sense of relief and purpose. She would do her very best not to disappoint him. For both their sakes.

  Goddammit, this is hard! Adi didn’t really know what to expect when Honi had suggested training, but it was definitely more than sitting on the ground and being told to be quiet. He wouldn’t even give her a blanket, and she could feel the dampness from the ground soaking into her pants. Something about grounding herself and connecting with Mother Earth. What a bunch of crackerjack new age bullshit! She couldn’t even complain about it because he was sitting right next to her and doing the same thing.

  Adi had never been the best at sitting still. At one point, she had been told she had borderline ADHD, but she’d never really believed that. If she needed to study, she had no problem concentrating, so it was really all in her head.

  “Empty y
our mind, Adi. I can hear you all the way over here,” Honi snapped.

  For the love of… what did he think she was doing? Okay, he had a point, she was still thinking. But how on earth did you stop thinking? Her foot itched.

  “Don’t even think about scratching your foot. I can see you twitch with my eyes closed.”

  Now he was just being plain mean. Adi huffed in exasperation and opened one eye slightly to glare at Honi. She had really thought that training would involve a bit more, well, activity. She had pins and needles in her legs, her nose itched, and every time she tried to move, Honi barked at her.

  Heaving an enormous sigh, she closed her eyes again and tried to empty her mind. He’d said that this would get easier with practice, and to be fair, when she managed to tune out any background noise and ignore Honi’s comments, she did succeed for a few seconds in diving into a soothing blankness. She was so relaxed that her chin dropped to her chest, and her shoulders sloped forwards.

  “Adi!” A hand shook her hard. Adi’s head jerked up and she looked at Honi’s face only inches away from hers. “Seriously?” He glowered. “You fell asleep, didn’t you?”

  So she had. This was a lot more difficult than she’d thought. Adi stood up, swaying a little after so much time sitting on the ground.

  “You know what? You’re right, I am tired. I’ve never done anything like this before, and I’m finding it hard. There, I admit it. You happy?”

  Adi glared back at Honi, her brown eyes sparking a challenge at him. She was getting angry. She’d always had a temper, even as a child, but usually she did an okay job of keeping it under control. This boy though. This, this, this infuriating idiot!

  She glowered harder. Did he really think she wasn’t trying? He’d seen the wounds all over her body. He was the one warning her of the danger she was in. So why would he think she wasn’t trying her best?

  For a moment, Adi was so angry she could have hit him. Honi stepped back a little, subtly moving out of range. She stared at him, challenging him to face her anger with his own. What she saw instead was fear and turmoil. His concern for her was written plainly in his face. It worked like a bucket of ice-cold water thrown over her head. Her anger vanished as suddenly as dead leaves thrown on a fire, sparking hot and gone fast.

  Huffing loudly, she shook out her arms and legs, jumped up and down a little bit, then settled back down and crossed her legs the way Honi had instructed her to. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath in, held it for a count of four, and exhaled. This was really hard, but if Honi was worried enough about her to give up his time, then the least she could do was try harder.

  Honi was running out of ideas. It had been a while since he’d learned to do this, but he didn’t remember ever being that fidgety, not even when he’d been a teenager. Every time he closed his eyes and tried to sync his breathing with Adi’s, she twitched or sighed or did something to pull him straight back out of his own meditative state. And when he tried to correct her, she got upset!

  Did she not realize that this was the only way for her to learn control, to stop the nightmares? There was very little left of the scared girl from the previous night. Adi had turned into a contrary hellcat, and Honi had to admit, it turned him on a little when she stared at him in defiance. What he really wanted was to kiss the fight out of her. Ho’neo huffed from his left.

  His stupid wolf had finally deigned to make an appearance, only to laugh at him with his tongue lolling out. Big help he was, Honi grumbled. He still hadn’t figured out why his spirit animal had been so upset by Adi’s appearance. Maybe he didn’t like her? That would suck on so many levels, not least because it would be the first time ever that the man and the wolf were at odds with each other.

  Before he could follow his train of thought, Adi’s loud exhale traveled the short distance between them. He cracked his eyelids a little to see what was wrong this time. Adi was scratching her nose. Again.

  “Seriously, can you not sit still for five minutes? You’re worse than a toddler,” he complained in exasperation.

  “I’m trying!”

  “Yeah well, obviously not hard enough!”

  Adi jumped up, her eyes blazing. She took two steps and pushed Honi as hard as she could. He was so surprised he fell backwards, grabbing her arms reflexively at the same time. Honi looked around to make sure that they were alone and tugged hard.

  She yelped when gravity took over, and she bounced off his solid rib cage. Honi opened his legs and slotted her against his body. She was soft where he was hard muscles, and the contrast made him hot all over. Adi’s face was right above his, and her eyes reflected the surprise of finding herself in this position. All Honi had to do was raise his head an inch for their lips to connect.

  Adi didn’t kiss him back for a second, and Honi was beginning to worry that she didn’t want this. Then her lips opened and her tongue licked across his lower lip. Mmm, she tasted good. He held her closer and allowed her to deepen their kiss. For a few suspended moments, there were only the two of them, their tongues stroking and caressing each other.

  When Honi had to stop and take a breath, Adi’s glazed-over eyes told him that she was just as affected as he was. He moved his head to the side and scattered little pecks all over her face.

  “You know I’m not trying to make you angry, right? I worry about what’ll happen if you don’t learn how to defend yourself.”

  Adi nodded. The fight had drained out of her and was replaced with arousal. Her hips were rubbing against his groin, and Honi suppressed a moan. She felt so frigging good. All he could think about was taking her to his bed and keeping her safe. He lifted his back off the ground a little, wincing at the damp fabric sticking to his shoulder blades. Definitely not the time of year to make out on the grass.

  He gently pushed Adi off his chest. They smiled at each other as she grabbled for balance. His eyes rolled back when her pelvis ground against his hard-on on the way up. Damn, he was so turned on!

  Adi bent down again and whispered, “Wanna take a break? I’m too wound up to concentrate. What I need is a distraction. You up for it?”

  The ball of her palm pushed against the front of his jeans, and Honi groaned loader. He loved that she was so forward. This training session was obviously over until they both found some release. He slowly stood up, adjusting himself as he went. His boner was so obvious in those tight jeans, it looked obscene.

  Adi pressed her back to his body and wiggled her ass. “If you walk right behind me, no one’s going to notice.” She smiled over her shoulder and took his hand.

  Knowing that Honi had problems walking because of her was the biggest turn-on. Adi kept throwing glances at him and smiled when she saw how mussed up he looked, cheeks flaming and hair disheveled. Her stomach clenched, and with only a little surprise, she recognized the feeling for what it was.

  She was infatuated with this guy. She couldn’t afford to give in to these feelings, not until she was safe and her financial future secured. That didn’t mean that they couldn’t have fun though. Remembering the first time they were together sent a rush of lust through her body.

  An involuntary shudder ran deliciously down her arms. Honi mistook it for feeling cold and put his arm around her shoulders. She leaned against his warm bulk. His arm tightened even more and she couldn’t resist putting her hand against his strong body. His abs were so firm and ridged, she slipped her hand under his shirt and rubbed her palm up and down.

  “Easy,” he whispered. “You don’t wanna give Diepger a show, do you?” Her head jerked up, and sure enough, there was the TA, staring at them with an unreadable expression on his face. Before Adi could say anything, he turned on his heel and disappeared into a building.

  She’d have to remember to tell Honi about her suspicion that their tutor spied on her. Maybe then he’d understand her initial reluctance to accept this whole spirit animal business. She’d be left penniless, unable to finish her degree if she was declared mentally incompetent. And even if it
turned out her visions were real, it didn’t matter. Who would believe her? Other than the man walking next to her who looked at her like she’d hung the sun? He would help her master her gift. All she had to do was trust him and trust herself.

  By the time Honi opened his door, Adi had forgotten all about Diepger. Honi closed the door with his foot, too busy exploring her mouth with his tongue. Adi pressed herself against him, grabbing onto his hips and back. She reveled in the sleek muscles running down his back, his narrow waist and his firm ass. With an appreciative hum, she grabbed hold of his cheeks with both hands and squeezed.

  Honi snorted a laugh and had to pull back from her mouth. He grinned at her, “Enjoying yourself?”

  Adi shrugged and squeezed again for good measure. She enjoyed herself even more when Honi bent down and nibbled along her ear. Her head fell to the side, offering her exposed neck to him. Honi dropped little kisses from her ear to her shoulder, then bent down further and picked her up.

  Adi felt like her body was on fire, she was so turned on by his powerful arms cradling her against his chest. This position brought her mouth close to his neck, and she playfully nibbled the tendon running up his neck. She might have bitten a little hard, given the unmanly yelp before he threw her onto his bed. She would have felt sorry, except that she was too busy giggling when she bounced a few times on his firm mattress. She laughed even harder when she saw his face. He was like a disgruntled little boy who’d discovered that the chocolate he bit into was eighty-five percent cocoa.

  That was, until he stopped and looked at her with fire in his eyes. By the way his expression changed, he liked what he saw. From one instance to the next, he’d turned from a man-child into a predator, stalking towards her with the grace of a jungle cat. She scooted up the bed with a little squeak of her own, watching him with wide eyes full of appreciation and excitement. She loved this, the few moments of anticipation before the action.