Starbound (4 page)

No sir. I was trying to make sure she got home in one piece. Had you seen what she was wearing, you would have understood.
That dress barely covered her fine ass, and I am not even going to mention how low the neckline was. I couldn’t think about her bare shoulders and exposed neck. Not now.

“Fine,” she finally gave in. “I’m too damn tired to walk anyway.”

I figured adding that she was also barefoot wasn’t a good idea. “Here.” I offered her my hand. “Let me help you.”

She walked right by me. “I’ve had all the help I can handle tonight.”

I held up my hands. “Forget I offered.” It was far better if we didn’t touch. I followed closely behind her just to make sure she didn’t trip and land on her face.

She planted her butt into the truck without much help from me, but I did have to refrain from laughing out loud a time or two. Kat made a cute drunk. After I made sure she wasn’t going to fall out of the seat, I hightailed around the truck and hopped in before she changed her mind. Everything Kat did lately surprised me. She seemed lost.

And that was bad.

I could handle the spunky and sassy Kat all day long, but one glance at those gloomy eyes and I felt myself getting sucked in.

Before I did, or said something I couldn’t erase, I put the truck in drive. She had her eyes closed with her head back against the seat. She shivered, and I leaned forward to crank on the heat.

She smiled, turning her head toward me. “Thanks. I can’t believe how cold it is.”

I caught a glimpse of her dimples and gripped the damn wheel tighter. This might just be the longest five-minute ride of my life. “Dressed like that I’m shocked you didn’t freeze to death.”

“There is nothing wrong with my dress,” she snapped.

“That’s a dress? I thought it was a shirt.”

She gave me a dull look, eyes narrowing. “Seth…”

I glanced over at her, trying to ignore that my heart skipped a beat when she said my name. “Hmm?”

“Just take me home.” She closed her eyes again and leaned back.

When she moved closer to me in the cab, I kept my eyes glued to the road. My truck had one of those bench seats, where nothing stood in the way of her and me. I thought about throwing up some kind of invisible barrier, me being a nixie and all, but I figured that might have been excessive.

The next thing I knew, she had her head resting on my shoulder and a hand on my thigh.
Oh holy God
.

I looked over at her. Gigantic mistake. The hem of her dress had hiked up while she had snuggled to my side of the truck. Her face was soft, and there was the lightest dusting of freckles on her nose. She smelled liked faerie roses and cherry blossoms, sweet and succulent.

By the time I tore my gaze from her legs I had passed her house and almost swerved off the road. “Damn it,” I swore. Pulling the truck to the curb two houses past hers, I put the car in park.

Her eyes fluttered open, long lashes sweeping, and I found myself staring into eyes that looked like the center of a star. “Maybe you’re not like all the rest, Seth,” she mumbled, her hand still on my thigh. “Thanks for the ride.” Then she shocked us both and brushed a feather light kiss across my lips.

Frozen, a second passed with us breathing each other’s air. That tiny first taste of her lips was not enough. My eyes darkened, my body stiffened, and my gaze shifted to her soft lips. I was about to do something utterly stupid, yet it didn’t change the fact that I wanted it.

Wanted her.

More than I wanted my next breath of air. I closed the distance between us. My whole wall of defense came crashing down the moment our mouths touched, and my world fell out of orbit. I had fantasized about kissing Kat practically every night. It came nowhere close to the real deal. She was…

Intoxicating.

Sensual.

Breathtaking.

Her fingers dug into my thigh as I wrapped my hand in her long curly hair, keeping her mouth sealed to mine. I couldn’t let her go. Fireworks exploded behind my eyes as her taste invaded my mouth, our tongues dancing together. It was like the finest wine infused with sugary cherries.

My whole life I had waited for this…wondered, and now I would rather die than stop kissing her. Stop touching her.

Die
…
Die
…
Die
…

That one simple word echoed somewhere in a small corner of my mind, snapping me out of it. I pulled back. Her lips were swollen and her eyes murky, but she wasn’t easily derailed. I probably had the alcohol to thank for that. Her hand ran up my thigh, and my head dropped to the back of the seat as I prayed that I would have the strength to stop this before it went any farther.

God, she was lethal.

If the curse didn’t kill us, then surely she would.

The moment my head hit the back of the seat, she moved, and her lips were on my neck, doing the most wicked things with her tongue. I moaned, twining my fingers in her hair again. Honestly, I didn’t have the first clue how I had gone so long without kissing Kat.

“Seth,” she whispered in my ear. “Kiss me again. Please.”

Someone kill me now
.

She trailed kisses down my jaw, stopping just above my mouth, our lips just a breath’s length away. She looked into my half-closed eyes and took my lips into another shattering kiss that left me aching everywhere.

I don’t know what happened next, one minute she was beside me, and the next she was in my lap—our kiss never breaking. We didn’t need oxygen, not when we had each other. Her hands snuck under my shirt, making my stomach muscles jump.

I shifted and her back hit the steering wheel, giving me access to her body. I was dying to touch her. Leaning forward I—

Like a gunshot, the car horn blared through the night, long and loud, saving my sanity.

Appalled by my lack of self-control, I just stared at her. I could have gotten her killed tonight. Sure she might have had an awful night, drank a little too much, but what I had almost done was a thousand times worse.

This was the girl I loved, that I vowed to protect, and here I was doing exactly what I promised myself, my parents, and her parents I would never do.

I placed my hands on her waist and hoisted her to the other side of the car. “Stay there,” I warned, my voice gravelly. I didn’t want her to get any more ideas in her pretty head, because I couldn’t take another round with Kat in the front seat of my truck.

Her hair was a wild disarray of curls. Her lips were red and swollen. And her eyes were still cloudy with passion.

“You should get inside,” I advised in a voice of ice.

She tugged down her dress and reached for the door handle. “Whatever,” she said.

Not that I cared. I would rather have her annoyed with me than dead. “You’re welcome,” I snapped as the door closed in my face. After I made sure she managed to get herself inside, I thumped my head on the steering wheel. “That was so stupid. What were you thinking?” I scolded myself and then slammed the truck into drive. It lurched forward at full speed, tires screeching and rubber burning.

Chapter 4

Katia

Oh. My. God. Please tell me last night had been a very vivid and bad dream. Please tell me that I hadn’t thrown myself all over Seth Nightingale in the front seat of his pickup. That I hadn’t begged for more.

I covered my face with my hands, rainbows dancing behind my eyes.

“Oh crap.”

That was exactly what I had done.

And worse, I loved every second of it.

Wait, that was not right. I didn’t like Seth. I hated Seth.

I didn’t know if that made it worse or not. Matt and I had broken up and all I could think about was kissing Seth.

Lord have freaking mercy
. Seth could kiss. He kissed like it was going to be his last. Never had I felt something like that before. His lips were like an addiction. He had made me tingle from my head to my toes, and I was pretty sure the wine I’d had last night didn’t even come close to making me feel that good.

I touched a finger to my lips, recalling how his had felt on mine.

Soft.

Demanding.

Possessive.

It felt like he had branded me with his kiss. Why had we never kissed before? I had known Seth my whole life. Sure, I’d thought about it. A lot. But it had never happened—until last night. And now, all I could think about was when I would get the chance to kiss him again.

Scientific reasons of course.

I needed to make sure what I thought I had felt was real. Not a one-time-alcohol-induced-mind-blowing kiss.

Somehow during junior high things changed. We drifted apart. I drifted. I left my circle of friends for a more popular group. Looking back, I felt ashamed of what I had done. It sickened me that I had turned my back on the circle.

Olivia.

Elena.

Zeke.

And of course Seth.

From the first day of kindergarten the five of us had become fast friends because we all shared one thing in common.

We all had magick.

Back then though, Elena hadn’t been a bitch, and I hadn’t been so shallow and self-absorbed. Things had been different. Simpler. Freer.

There was strength in numbers. A circle of five was the perfect balance to nature. Air. Water. Fire. Earth. Spirit. There were nixies that had affinities with the elements. Now if you had a complete circle of five with a nixie for each element it was divine—unimaginable power.

We weren’t so sanctified.

Only one of us had an affinity with an element. Our circle had been formed more out of friendship and curiosity. We all had a love for magick, and our circle provided us with a platform to practice and experiment. What else did kids do?

Lying in bed, I stared at the ceiling, watching a prism of colors frolic from the sunlight and the crystal beads hanging in from my bedroom windows. Fragrant bottles of my favorite oils lined the old carved dresser in scents of lavender, rosemary, rose, and many more. If there was a part of the craft I hadn’t let go, it was dabbling in oils and dried herbs. My room was infused with the essences of flowers that always smelled like high summer and cool misty mornings.

Candles with wax dripping down the sides hung in sconces above my bed, and I realized how much I missed them—the circle. How much I missed doing magick with them. I’d never felt less like a nixie than I did now.

I wanted to belong again. Have meaning to my life, because right now, I didn’t feel like I was accomplishing anything. There was this huge chuck of my life that was lacking or missing. And I wanted to find a way to fill it. Something inside me told me that I needed to try to make amends with the circle.

And I could start by talking to Seth. Talking. Not sucking his face off.

But I might not resist if he tried to kiss me again…

First, I had to get the courage to face him in school on Monday. He didn’t exactly make it easy. What was it about his loner the world-be-damned attitude that I liked? It probably helped that he looked the way he did, dark messy hair with eyes greener than emeralds. Seth was the guy at school every girl secretly wanted but would never admit to wanting.

Myself included.

I realized suddenly that Monday was too far way. I wanted to see him now. Throwing the covers off me, I shot out of bed, making a beeline to the bathroom. I shrieked like a banshee when I got a look at my reflection in the mirror. I looked like a member of an 80’s punk rock band. My usual soft curls were spiking in every direction. My eye makeup was smeared around my eyes like a raccoon. And I imagined I smelled worse than I looked.

Christ
. I hope I hadn’t looked like this last night.

Downing two aspirins, I wasted not another second and hopped into the shower, scrubbing until my skin glowed. I dressed quickly and ran down the stairs two at a time. Just as I was about to walk out the door, Mom stopped me.

“And where do you think you are going?”

I took a step backward and spun around, facing her. Her blonde hair was pulled back with wisp of curls escaping the knot at her neck. She had a mixing bowl of cake batter in hands. The spoon was stirring by itself.

Everyone in my family had magick.

The TV was on in the other room with Collins monopolizing it as usual. “I’m meeting a friend,” I answered.

“You got home late last night.” There was undertone of disapproval in her voice.

“I know. I’m sorry. Matt and I had a fight, so I hooked a ride home.” I really didn’t want to rehash the details.

“Are you alright?” she asked, brushing a piece of hair behind my ear. Her soft eyes twinkled with concern.

“Yeah, I’m fine, but I am going to be late if I don’t get going.” Yes, I was fabricating, but I really wanted to get out of the house in this decade. “I’ll see you later,” I called, promptly slipping out the door.

The trip into town was a short one. Trees the color of mulberries lined the road, and the September sky was clear and blue. I pulled up to Eddy’s Auto Repair with my nerves in my throat. Was it stalker-ish that I knew his work schedule?

Probably.

The door chimed as I walked through. Seth was leaning on the counter, his head buried in paperwork. There was a strong odor of grease and oil in the air. The shop was connected to the garage where loud clanging and the buzzing of drills sounded.

He glanced up at my approach, green eyes clashing with mine. “Kats,” he said in surprise. Only Seth ever called me by that nickname.

My lips split into a silly grin, dimples and all, as I approached the counter. I loved seeing the way his eyes looked me over at first glance. It was like he was seeing me for the very first time. It gave me tingles.

“What are doing here?” he asked, surprised.

I’d never been in Eddy’s before, for obvious reasons. “Looking for you,” I replied.

“Well, you found me.” He tapped a pen on a pad of paper.

I glimpsed down at the tablet under his hand. “You are still an amazing artist.” I turned the slip of paper around so I could get a better view of the sketch. It was a landscape of a place I knew well. “This is really good.”