The Seer's Lover (The Seven Archangels Series) (18 page)

What he said made no sense. “I’m of sound mind and body. Besides, I have access to tons of pharmaceuticals if you make me lose my mind.”

He turned back toward her. Not amused. “No, I won’t let what haunts me, haunt you.”

He still made no sense. “Can you kiss me again?”

“I…before, when I kissed you. Or mouth-to-mouth or whatever. You’re fine? You haven’t seen or felt anything odd? I won’t change you. I won’t hurt you.” His eyes bored into her with a ferocity that made Calise want this man to protect her tonight and forever. The bed vibrated, and Calise realized his whole body was trembling. He looked away.

She lifted his hand and kissed it. “Shh, I’m fine. I’m better than fine. Please trust me. Please trust being with me.” Calise turned his head with her fingertips forcing him to look at her. His eyes were wild from the battle no doubt raging in his mind. She couldn’t stop touching him. Her fingers traced his face, and he let her nails work their way down his chest. She massaged his arm and ran her fingers through his hair. His trembling got worse. “Quiet your mind and tell me what your heart says.”

“I shut my heart down years ago, Cali. It’s much safer. Listening to my mind is what’s kept me alive.”

Her heart broke for the solitude with which he’d lived his life. No one really knew him and she wouldn’t rest until he let her in. She stared into the depths of his eyes and pressed a hand over his heart. He blinked and she watched his walls crumble before her eyes. His body relaxed into hers, his pupils dilated and the guarded look he’d always regarded her with switched in one moment. She stared into her own eyes; the eyes of her perfect other half.

Her soul mate.

Intensity radiated from him. She’d always known him. He’d always been with her. Every decision and every moment had guided their lives to be right here. Right now.

If only she could open his heart to her, as she had opened hers to him.

Moving closer, she cradled his face in her hands. His body convulsed. She kissed him softly and he allowed it. A hand wrapped around her head and fingers intertwined in her hair. Their kiss deepened, his tongue danced next to hers in perfect rhythm, like they had practiced this dance for a lifetime.

Rolling waves of electricity ran through her body. Their passion grew, and the kissing became desperate. A necessity. A fight against their precious time.

He rolled her over on the bed, and the weight of his body practically made Calise come undone. Pulling her to a standing position, he lifted off her teal dress, leaving only a lacy black slip. She watched his eyes scan her body with pleasure. Pulling her closer, he kissed her again. She let her tongue dance into his mouth but he pulled back. “You have to promise me, if you see or feel anything that isn’t normal, you will tell me immediately.
Promise me
!”

She nodded helplessly and tugged at his t-shirt. He took it off and they rolled on the bed again. Nuzzling his chest, she inhaled deeply and savored his scent. Between being pressed up against him dancing all night and the horse ride home, she was so very, very ready. Her core was moist and aching for him, her breasts tingled. Her breathing was so ragged she had to concentrate to get enough air.

His control was phenomenal. He took his sweet time sliding her slip off, letting his fingertips send waves of pleasure up her legs, then her waist, then her arms. In a smooth motion, he ripped her thong off with one hand. She tried to tug at his jeans. He shook his head and slid between her legs while she laid back on the bed. Arching her back when his mouth hit her pearl, she reached for the bed post with one hand and ran the other through his hair.

He flicked at her with his tongue then stopped and let her back down the hill a bit, only to start again on the uphill journey to her peak. He entered her with his fingers leaving Calise lost to him. She cried out his name, begging for more. Lucas’s face was glazed over with his own pleasure.

She moaned with each cresting wave of pleasure rippling from her core. Her body rocked with his teasing tongue. Before she exploded, she wrapped her legs around his back. “Don’t stop,” she moaned.

They swayed in synchronous perfection until she hit her summit—a state of transcendental separation as if her body drifted into the cosmos.

Her cradled her as her crescendo subsided and she lay panting on the bed.

When she found the energy to open her eyes again, there he was, looking at her, lying on his side, with his elbow bent holding his head. He beamed like a boy who got an A+ in school.

What is higher than an A+? Because that’s the grade I want to give him.

He hopped off the bed and carried her naked, outside to the balcony. He brought a blanket and wrapped it around the two of them, interlaced his fingers in hers, and they stared out into the night sky over the ocean.

“Looks like the storm might be worse than we thought.” His voice carried genuine worry.

“Can it be your turn now?” she asked expectantly.

“Not tonight, Cali. Tonight is all about you.” He pressed into her backside, and immediately she ached for him all over again. She turned around to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him.

“I’m fine. Nothing funny or weird happened. See, I’m still sane and I want to be with you more than anything. I can’t ever remember wanting anything as much as I want you right now.”

“I won’t do that to you—”

“We can use protection. If not tonight, when? I might never see you again. All I can think about is how I never want to be apart from you. I’ll tell you if I feel anything
transferred
.”

“I…” His eyes started to get a little wild, and they darted around looking at nothing but the trees. The insects were dead silent, and she couldn’t hear any animals. They watched the trees sway with the wind and heard the ocean crash repeatedly.

“Cali, I…”

Enough was enough. She pushed him back into the cottage toward her bed. He lay down and watched her. She reached up to undo his buckle. He stopped her.

“I’m sorry, Cali. Good-bye.” He stood up, grabbed his shirt, kissed her on the forehead, and walked out her door.

Chapter 13

Calise lay there in shock. He was gone? That’s it?

A knock on the door jolted her out of bed, still naked. Lucas must have come back. She threw open the door to welcome him back into her bed, but Ron didn’t even seem to notice her lack of attire. She grabbed a towel.

“Hurakan is almost here. Don’t pack. You won’t be leaving tomorrow. Lock the doors and the windows and hold tight. I brought you a basket of food and water. Good luck.”

“Wait, Ron,” she begged. “Who’s Hurakan? Do you mean the hurricane?”

“My ancestors descend from Belize, and we still believe in the influence of many of the Mayan gods. Hurakan, the one-legged, brings great storms and floods to temporarily halt all of god’s creations, both of this world and the other.”

Shall I continue or is it best I don’t know…

“Actually, if you aren’t killed by a flash flood or high wind, a hurricane is actually the safest place to be. Like the bumblebee that cannot fly when it is wet, a hurricane quiets all creatures among us.” He turned, carrying two other baskets to drop off at the other two bungalows.

He’s lost it. Ron said “creatures” like he knows monsters are lurking about. What “creature” is worse than his own demon wife? Doesn’t he realize I’m already terrified?

Calise all out panicked. No other way to say it. She closed all the windows, collected candles and matches, and then assessed the bungalow for safe spots. All she knew from Wisconsin was that to evade a tornado, you were supposed to go in the basement or sit in a bathtub.

No basement. No bathtub.

With nowhere to hide, she sat on the bed and rocked back and forth, lonely and afraid. Thunder boomed nearby.

The longer she sat, the more she became resolved to her own fate, likely her bungalow sliding down the hill toward the ocean. Where was Lucas? He lived in that tiny beach house. She hoped he stayed safe with Carmen.

Just then, the power went off. Alone in the dark, she reached out with a shaky hand to strike a match and light a few candles.

She waited and listened, flinching every time the wind tossed a branch into her bungalow. The thunder and wind howled mercilessly, drowning out the thoughts in her head and rallying her fear whenever it started to fade. Her heart pounded fast so she pressed her palm against it and resumed swaying back and forth on the bed, watching the candle flicker and hearing the storm surge.

Lucas didn’t want her. Now she sat smack in the middle of a hurricane alone, and worst of all, she felt needy.

Me?

The candle flickered unsteadily.

Usually an independent sort, Calise found she missed Lucas with tangible physical ache. She curled into a ball under a cover of fear and hopelessness and eventually fell into a fitful sleep with the wind whipping around the bungalow, thunder and lightning drowning out any sort of previously peaceful jungle existence.

When she woke up, the hurricane was in full swing.
I never should have come here.

The whole bed pulsed and heat pressed against her back. She tried to push backwards, but something pushed back. She flew out of bed toward the door.

Stogey—panting violently and causing the bed to shake.

“Stogey, how did you—”

The door clicked shut and there stood Lucas. “I’m sorry for who I am, but I’m not ready to let you go.” His hungry stare searched her face. His gaze penetrated her to the core. Pleasure hummed through her body.

He controlled the situation. Ready to cave to his every whim, her body screamed to have him inside her as much as it screamed to be inside his world.

Inside the world of her soul mate.

Her desire for Lucas went beyond a carnal desire for total connection with him. Or tonight. A deep need ached within her to be with him every moment for the rest of her life. She couldn’t get close enough to this man. If only she could freeze time and stop tomorrow from coming. She already missed the man standing directly in front of her.

Deep breath. Live in the moment instead of crying about the future.

She reached for his face and he squeezed her hands with both of his. “Don’t be sorry for anything. I love who you are. But I can’t handle the thought of you leaving again. Stay. Just one night.” She put her arms around his neck and held him tight.

His body shook, and he handled her gingerly, as if she were fine china. After what seemed like minutes, his arms reciprocated and he held her with a ferocity she savored.

He kissed her gently and every part of her body lit up with sparks and shocks as though she’d touched a live wire. One lone candle still flickered, casting moving shadows on the walls. The thunder clapped while he held her tight. Whatever inhibitions that had stopped him before were gone and she didn’t know why. But she didn’t care.

Pulling him on top of her, she allowed his strong body to mold with hers. He propped himself up on his elbows. She devoured and memorized his every detail.

“Lucas, I…”

“Shh, Cali. I don’t want you for just one night, mi canción.”

She squeezed her eyes shut at his words and while her body ached for him, so did her mind. She wanted to know his every thought. Nurse his every pain. She was wet in anticipation of him.

He caressed every inch of her body starting with a delicate touch on the inside on her arms. Up and down—up and down. He kissed her from fingertip to nipple then descended downward. He stood up and undressed. A beautiful shot of his darkened silhouette graced the wall with a flash of lightning. He crawled into bed next to her. Paper ripped. Every precaution not to hurt her.

She pulled him back on top of her, and they molded together, faces touching, “I want to breathe your air,” Lucas said.

She exhaled. He inhaled. On the brink of shattering without him even inside her, she grabbed his hips, edging him closer. When his tip tantalized her lips, she threw her head back in ecstasy. His body shook as he pushed himself further inside her.

“Are you okay?” He held himself in place, never taking his eyes off of her.

She nodded then pulled her knees to her chest to take more of him inside of her. He released the deep moan of pleasure she’d longed to hear. A sound she’d caused.

They began to rock, and he slid slowly in and out of her. His sly smile told her he would take all the time in the world to make sure she climaxed with him.

When his pace quickened, she threw her head back, and he dove into her neck covering her with kisses and his scent.

When she couldn’t stand the teasing any more, she heard herself pleading, “Lucas.”

He varied his rhythm while they moved in unison together. Their eyes locked on each other. “Lucas,” she said, this time as a warning.

A wave rose within her. Nothing could stop the cataclysmic orgasm that washed over her. He expanded and throbbed inside her. She cried out his name while he whispered “Cali” in her ear at their simultaneous release.

He collapsed on top of her still breathing hard. Still inside her. Sweet sweat glistened on both of their bodies. He nuzzled her neck then came up on his elbows and gazed into her eyes. “Are you ok? Please tell me the truth.”

Should she tell him about the colors? Hues of crimson and gold. Patterns ran through her mind as they came. It was like looking through a kaleidoscope at the fair where the things you were looking at were real but distorted, colors and shapes applied liberally but in all the wrong places. Blood-red eyes flashed in her mind: she smelled putrid flesh while her body felt as though icicles were cutting into every inch of her. Then she saw golden wings and inhaled roses and lavender. She felt wind rushing over her body like she was flying. She knew, deep down, that something indeed had happened to her.

She saw faces. Faces of people she knew, but they were changed. Some were more beautiful and their bodies glowed like molten gold in direct sunlight. Other faces became like hideous monsters with red eyes, razor sharp teeth and the scales of a dragon. They all cycled through her consciousness so quickly she couldn’t register any of them individually.