Lunacy Page 6

  I balanced on one foot while I unzipped and yanked off my left boot, setting my now nearly bare foot on the hardwood floor of the kitchen. I also shrank about two inches on one side in the process, so I braced myself with a hand on Jynxx’s arm while I stood on one foot to remove the other boot. It fell heavily to the floor beside its mate and I sighed, happily wiggling my toes, my legs feeling significantly cooler now that they were able to breathe.

  The quiet of the house was almost overwhelming, and it made me acutely aware of several things at once. Firstly, Jynxx’s arm was like heated marble beneath my fingers. Secondly, from this close and without the invasion of a couple hundred people around us, he smelled amazing. Combined, those two things led to my pulse roaring so loudly in my ears that I was almost positive he could hear it.

  Luckily, he didn’t. He also didn’t seem aware of my lingering hold on him. Reluctantly, I let go and he followed me through the living room and into the space after it with a grand staircase at its center.

  The room we stood in had once been a ballroom where magnificent affairs were held back in the days when women still wore bustles and cars were horse-drawn carriages. The large staircase had been reupholstered with posh crimson carpeting, the railings up either side stained a dark mahogany that added Victorian flair to the room. It split in two at the top, a wing to either side as well as one that continued straight onward.

  We went to the left at the top of the stairs, and I was feeling more relaxed as we walked the intricate maze of halls that led to my bedroom. What can I say? When my parents came into that money, and continued to accrue more, they didn‘t skimp on finding the biggest place they could afford. The fact that it was only the three of us didn‘t seem to deter them in the slightest. Honestly, it almost made me agoraphobic and afraid to venture out of my room sometimes. Especially when I was at home by myself.

  I stopped before my room and was horrified as I remembered the state I‘d left it in this morning. "Um… wait out here for a second, okay?" I ducked inside, closing the door behind me and dashing about, grabbing the few bits of dirty clothing strewn about and chucking them into the laundry basket. I yanked the covers up on the bed, tossed the scattered throw pillows back onto the gargantuan mattress, and decided to leave my guitar and amp out where they were. A quick, cursory glance around and I felt like it was safe for someone else to see it.

  “All clear!” I said loudly, sitting down on the edge of the four-poster bed as he opened the door.

  Jynxx arched a dark brow as he looked around, whistling in awe as he took it all in. My room was sizeable, and aside from the bed with its gauzy crimson curtains, there were a few old and restored pieces that matched the Victorian theme of the rest of the house. Two parlor chairs and a loveseat almost big enough to be a couch took up some space towards the other end, along with a TV, a few game systems, my computer, and two large speakers for my sound system. It was like having a living room inside my bedroom.

  I was letting my gaze wander around the room, taking in all of the possessions I had. Things most people would say I should be thankful for. Sure, I had lots of stuff. But I would rather have my parents home than have them buy me anything I blinked at twice to attempt to fill the space that they just didn‘t.

  I felt the soft mattress sink down beside me and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I hadn’t even heard him move! Was I really spacing out that badly? Maybe I was more tired than I’d originally thought. Jynxx chuckled at my girly squeak, but I let it go. I was more concerned with the fact that, not only was there a boy on my bed, but it was the guy I’d been mentally drooling over.

  He gave me a small, masculine smirk and I looked away quickly, afraid he’d be able to see the place my mind had run off to if our eyes met. “Kacea..?”

  “Hmm?” I made a point of not attempting to articulate any words or looking at him.

  “Why are you blushing?” I felt the bed move slightly beside me as he moved closer and I forced myself not to give him any ground. I muttered my reply to the floor and he leaned in so close that I could feel the heat of his skin as it nearly touched mine. “What was that?”

  I crossed my arms, almost hugging myself as I said a little louder, “I’ve never had a guy in here, okay? Not like… You know!” I added the last with a touch of angry embarrassment.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa…” Jynxx said, the light touch of his fingertips on my chin turning me to look at him. “You mean you’ve never..?”

  I was silent a moment, my embarrassment becoming pure rage. “Oh, fuck you!” I half-shouted at his amusement, grabbing a pillow and whacking him in the chest with it. It bounced off harmlessly as if he was made of stone and I’d tossed a marshmallow at him. However, Jynxx wasn’t the type to take such an assault lying down. He grabbed a pillow of his own and it left me scrambling to grab something to defend myself with. That simple attack turned into the most epic pillow war of my life. We chased each other for the better part of ten minutes, and when I say “we” I mostly mean that I was running like hell and somehow managed to evade being captured.

  I ended up standing in the middle of the bed, slowly attempting to retreat without taking my eyes off him, my black and white striped pillow held before me like a shield. His pace slowed and he stalked me, like a predator that knows they have their prey cornered, and now they just want to play. He hit the edge of the bed and crawled towards me on all fours. His movements were slow, sinuous, and made my pulse race through my veins like a classic Corvette full of premium fuel. His face was serious, and I had a moment where fear pierced my heart, only compounded when he sprang and tackled me off my feet. I was effectively trapped just by the sheer size of him looming over me, even though he didn’t touch me or hold me down.

  My breathing was already erratic from our game of cat and mouse, and having him above me like that, I fought internally not to struggle or actually try to fight him. It was just a game after all… Right?

  Everything around me narrowed down to the warmth of his body thrumming against my skin, how thick his eyelashes actually were from this close up, the soft curve of his lips and how they were slightly parted, the way some of those thick locks of ebony hair fell forward to cast shadows on his face, and the slight amber tinge around the center of his pupils… The amber tinge that was rapidly starting to fill up and devour the darkness of his irises like the morning sun chases away the night. I was so tired that I was seeing things. What the hell?

  On a subconscious level, I felt like it was something more than that, and I managed to skitter out from underneath him before anything else could happen. I probably wouldn’t protest if things were to go farther, and I wasn’t totally comfortable with that. “…Sorry.” I said, my ears burning hotly once more. I hopped off the bed, grabbing a pair of shorts and a tank top for bed. “I’m gonna go change. You can get dressed down for bed. Just… Don’t be naked when I come back, alright? I think I’ve had enough excitement for tonight.” I added the last bit jokingly, hoping that I hadn’t somehow offended him by not giving in to his affections. I wanted to, but… I also didn’t want to be that easy.

  He nodded, a soft smile on his features that told me without words that he understood. I was almost to the bathroom door when he said after me, “The naked part can wait until tomorrow night.”

  My whole face turned scarlet and I hid in the bathroom for a few minutes, listening to him laugh about my virtue and rolling my eyes. I grumbled under my breath as I changed into the strappy camisole and black shorts. Before I headed back out, I cleaned and redressed my wound one more time, not wanting to drag it open while I was sleeping. It was actually healing quite nicely.

  Emerging, I only got a step outside the bathroom when the sight of the smooth, pale muscles of Jynxx’s back stopped me dead in my tracks. “Sweet Jesus…” I murmured, unable to keep the words from escaping me in awe. He turned at the sound of my voice and it took every ounce of willpower in my body to keep my jaw from dropping onto my toes. I managed it, somehow. Bully for m
e!

  The sight of his bare torso from behind was amazing, but the front view… He was the stuff wet dreams were made of. Sculpted arms, a broad chest that led to perfect washboard abs that sank even lower to… My train of thought derailed at that moment. His jeans were unbuttoned and I could just see the edge of the waistband of what appeared to be black silk boxers. Oh my…

  With a pointed effort, my eyes met his and he tried not to laugh. “I know you said get comfortable, but I wasn’t sure if you were ok with no pants, or not.” After a moment of me stammering and managing nothing intelligible, he did laugh, and fastened the button. “I’ll take your award-wining speech as a sign that keeping them on is the better choice, for now.”

  For now?! I had the grace to squash the color that rose in my cheeks, for the most part. “You’re probably right.”

  “Did you want me to crash on the couch, or..?”

  I shook my head. “The couch is comfy for sitting, bad for sleeping. That bed’s big enough that I probably won’t even notice you’re there.” I made it sound as casual as possible, succeeding for the most part.

  “You’re the boss,” he said with a little smirk, turning down the covers.

  We climbed in beside each other and I rolled onto my side, facing away from him and towards the door. I mentally focused on slowing my breathing so I’d be calm enough to get to sleep. He clicked off the light and I said quietly, “G’night, Jynxx.”

  With a yawn, he responded, “Sweet dreams, Kacea.”

  Buddy… You have no idea.

  Chapter 9

  I was running. I didn’t know why, but I was running for my life. Something was after me, and I knew that if it caught up with me... Being dead would be the least of my worries.

  I dashed through the trees, branches snagging at my clothes and tangling in my hair like skeletal fingers as I ran. My breath came in desperate and ragged pants, chest heaving as I tried to suck in enough air to keep my legs moving. I could hardly see where I was going in the sparse moonlight that filtered through the branches, trusting all other senses to keep me alive.

  Then I could hear it coming up close behind, crashing through the brush as though nothing was there to obstruct its path. The thing stalking me had no need for stealth; it knew it was going to catch up. A strange whimpering noise surrounded me, then I realized it was coming from my own lips in frustration and fear. The being following didn’t seem tired in the slightest, drawing upon inhuman stamina. I was a sprinter, not a distance runner; my endurance was starting to falter.

  My left knee buckled as I tripped, falling forwards onto the branch and leaf littered ground. Catching myself on my forearms, twigs and small rocks scraped my skin raw, the coppery scent of my own blood assaulting my nose as it oozed from my shallow wounds. With a terrified moan, I rolled over onto my back, intending to get up and start running again. But it was too late, the beast was upon me. Heart pounding wildly in fear, my pulse roaring in my ears, breathing so shallow that I was nearly hyperventilating, I swallowed convulsively and gazed up at my pursuer.

  Jynxx stood over me, his black shirt hanging on his thickly muscled milk-white frame in tatters. The moonlight cast half of his face into shadow, his eyes that darkly golden amber I'd seen them flash to a few times, the ferocity and feral look in them far from human. He slowly ran his tongue across his lips, elongated canines glittering sinisterly in the pale light of the moon. He grinned at me, showing a maw full of the teeth of a predator and throwing his head back, letting out a bloodcurdling howl. Frightened beyond the point of conscious thought, all I could do was scream.

  Then everything became warm. Almost too warm. A heavy, comforting heat like an old and familiar blanket I wanted to wrap around myself and bury my face in overwhelmed me; the panic at the sight of the creature before me started to abate. The smell of that heat was just as homey. Rich, earthy, and intense like being in an evergreen grove after a warm summer rain. I was drawn from my half-slumber as the source of that heat made contact with me and almost scalded me with the temperature of it. It jolted me from my nightmare as Jynxx rolled over behind me, wrapping one of those thickly muscled arms around me and pulling me close to the curve of his body. I fit in the effective prison of his arms like I belonged there, as if we were made for each other. He buried his face in my neck, his chin resting comfortably into the hollow of my shoulder, and his breathing leveled off. He was very much deeply asleep, and I was now very far from it.

  My panicked heart beat was so loud in my ears that I half expected the din to wake the boy sleeping behind me. He murmured something unintelligible against my neck and settled more fully into sleep. He was so tight against my back that I was grateful he’d left his pants on. I mentally counted to ten, using a bit of the meditation I’d learned in karate class to forcibly slow my pulse, my breathing that was nearing hyperventilation, and calming myself enough for my eyelids to start feeling heavy.

  “Kacea?” I heard a voice, soft and muffled as if it had to travel a great distance to reach my ears. I was about to ignore it, but a loud series of knocks on my door jolted me awake, and nearly threw me out of bed in the process. I glanced at the clock on my nightstand and the red LED told me it was almost nine a.m. I must have fallen back asleep, even though it didn’t feel like I’d slept at all.

  “Yeah, Mom?” I said back loudly through the closed door.

  “You waking your skinny ass up?”

  I smirked. It’s not that skinny. “I am!” I said aloud.

  “Your father and I are heading off to work, so don’t sleep the whole day away, alright?”

  “Alright!” I listened to her footsteps fade away, apparently satisfied with the level of alertness in my response.

  Jynxx groaned into my shoulder, “So loud, Kaysh. Can’t you see I’m trying to get my beauty sleep?”

  I scoffed loudly and elbowed him in the stomach. It was like knocking my elbow into flesh-covered concrete. “Your ass needs a few nights of insomnia so the rest of us feel worthy of your presence then, not more sleep!”

  I felt his weight shift behind me and I turned to look up at him, propped on one arm while his other hand slid to rest on my hip. His midnight black gaze met mine and I felt my breath hitch. Some of that glossy black hair fell forward to frame the perfect porcelain of his face and he said simply, “I am not that pretty, Kacea. Not in the slightest.”

  I blinked at him slowly, disbelief obvious on my face and hoping that my restless sleep hadn’t left me with dark circles like a raccoon under my eyes. My expression also detracted from the fact that I’d grabbed a pillow from behind me. I managed to successfully whack him with it a few times before I was disarmed. His big hand easily encircled both of my wrists with room to spare. Either I had mega tiny and delicate little girl wrists, or his hands were a lot bigger than I’d originally thought.

  “Remember how this went last night?” he said softly, practically purring his words into my ear.

  It was easier to resist his charms when I wasn‘t looking into his eyes. I didn‘t miss a beat as I countered with, “I do. And resistance isn’t futile, damn it!” I managed to catch him off guard with a bit of my grappling skills picked up from the mixed martial arts class Dad had let me enroll in. Using all the weight of my body and a lot of force from my legs, I rolled backwards and ducked inward, ending up on top of him with my arms crossing over each other… and my wrists still trapped in Jynxx’s grip. Epic fail, on my part.

  He wiggled his eyebrows at me and a purely masculine grin took over his features. “Is this why you ran last night? Didn’t know you were a take-charge kind of girl, or that flexible. If you wanted to be the top, all you had to do was ask.”

  I balled both of my hands into fists and raised them as much as I could, which wasn’t much considering he was still holding my wrists hostage. I brought them down hard, right onto the area of those abs of steel that his diaphragm was hiding behind. He tensed before I struck, so I was glad it was the heels of my hands or I might have dislocat
ed knuckles. It was as effective as trying to break through a wall of cinder blocks with my forehead. Granted, I have a pretty hard head, but it still wouldn’t work. Using his grip on my arms, he pulled me forward so suddenly that I lost my balance, having to catch myself on my elbows. It drew a gasp from me and I was pressed almost fully against the length of his body and bare torso.

  It could have been nice, but I looked up and his eyes caught mine. The color had bled from them and they were that weird amber color again. They were almost hazel, but with a touch more gold, just like they had been in my dream. I froze and he noticed it, his expression cooling but the color change still present. He let me go and I skittered backwards, stopping on my knees at the end of the bed.

  “What’s wrong, Kacea?” he asked, his nearly glowing eyes blinking curiously at me.

  I shook my head rapidly, not able to find my voice for a second. “Your eyes, Jynxx. Go look at your eyes.”

  He cocked his head to the side questioningly before getting to his feet and walking over to the large mirror atop my dresser. As he gazed at his reflection, I watched the yellow fade away as if someone had injected ink into his eye sockets. Silence filled the room, crushing with its weight.

  After a few moments, his voice came out reedy and afraid. “You did see that, right?”

  I swallowed loudly. “That depends… What did you see?” I asked, half afraid of hearing him confirm what couldn’t have been a hallucination. There were no half-asleep or “trick of the light” excuses. Not this time. It was morning with the sunlight streaming into the room, and we were both wide awake.