Touching Smoke (13 page)

“Athletes do it all the time,” he pointed out.

“Not that fast!”

A pause splintered between us, lasting a second too long before he said, “Does it bother you?”

I didn’t even have to think about it. “Not nearly as much as it should.” I contemplated my next question before asking, “You’re not something overly cliché like a vampire, or a werewolf, are you? Because I have to be honest, I won’t be impressed.”

There was absolute silence for several long heartbeats while I waited for his answer. Then I got it, in a deep, husky sound that filled the whole meadow with a hypnotizing roar. He actually stopped walking and doubled over a little. His entire back vibrated against my chest, sending a warm tingle shooting down to my stomach. I giggled, addicted by the belly rolling laughter emanating from him.

“Is that a no?” I prompted once he’d calmed down a little.

“That is a definite no,” he straightened, clearing his throat. “I wouldn’t want to be overly cliché.”

I shrugged. “I have nothing against vampires and werewolves. It’s just…”

“They’re overused?” he supplied, the grin present in his voice.

“Yeah,” I mumbled, feeling my cheeks prickle. “It’s just everywhere right now, TV, books… movies. I think I would have lost all respect for you if you had been.”

He cleared his throat, the laughter still very present in his voice when he said, “Then I’m glad I’m not.”

“What are you then?” My smooth delivery missed its mark.

“Nice try,” he resumed walking. “No personal questions, remember?”

“That isn’t fair!” I cried, affronted. “You know absolutely everything about me. I think I have the right to know something about the guy who’s been following me around my whole life. I mean, realistically, I shouldn’t even trust you.”

“Why do you?” he asked quietly, all serious now.

“I didn’t say I did,” I pointed out. “But you did save my life more than once, and my mom did know you, even if she didn’t like you,” I hesitated a second before adding, “and because you’re the only person I have right now. It’s a stupid reason, and probably dangerous too, but as it stands I have no idea what’s going on, or why I’m being hunted. I think I need all the help I can get.”

He was quiet for a moment, maybe mulling my words over before answering, “I don’t make promises very often, but I promise that I will always protect you, even if it means from me. Keeping you safe is my only mission, and I
never
fail.”

“Why?” I whispered, throat oddly tight. “Because my father’s paying you?”

He shook his head. “Because there is nothing more important than you.”

I had no idea how to take that statement because I was pretty certain he didn’t mean it the way my overactive imagination did, with heart fluttering excitement.

“I heard them,” I murmured after a moment, changing the topic. “I don’t know how, but I did. I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but… Is that normal?”

“What’s normal?” he remarked offhandedly. “People who claim to be normal are the biggest bunch of freaks I know.”

I chuckled at his philosophy. “Yeah, but come on, even you have to admit this is crazy.”

He shook his head. “This is an average day for me.”

“Those guys, the ones chasing us, who are they?”

“It’s hard to explain.” That was laughable.

“Well, I don’t think anything will surprise me anymore.”

The soft rustle of his feet as he cut a path through the trees echoed around us as we made our way to the highway. For a long moment, I really thought he was going to avoid my question. He had a habit of going unnaturally quiet when he didn’t want to answer something.

“They manipulate fire,” he said unexpectedly, “and have a core body temperature of three hundred degrees.”

“What does that mean?” I asked, still not understanding how exactly those things could handle open flames like that.

“It means that they have the ability to control fire the way most people can touch their nose with their tongue or walk and chew gum. Their bodies are generated to protect them from heat.”

I still didn’t getting it. “How is that even possible?”

We reached the deserted highway and quickly crossed to the other side. “The same way most people are born with the five senses. They are just lucky enough to possess six.”

“You mean like ESP?”

He shrugged. “Something like that.” He paused for a moment as if contemplating his next choice of words. When he spoke again, he seemed even more uncertain. “The human brain is an intricate system of mazes. It is capable of things that most can’t even comprehend. Some are able to control and use a larger portion of their brain, others not so much; this is one of those cases.”

I considered this carefully before answering, “So, they’re like mutants?”

Humor lightened his next words. “I wouldn’t call them that to their faces, but yes.”

“Wow…” I whispered, resting my chin on the bend in my arm, grazing the side of his face with mine in the process. “Does that mean you’re like them?” I kept my voice low to avoid deafening him.

He didn’t answer, nor did I expect one. I could almost see the
No Trespassing
sign pop up between us.

“The bike is just a bit further,” he said instead, a direct avoidance of my question.

I nodded that I understood. The night was actually kind of beautiful when we weren’t running for our lives. I oddly felt more at peace there amongst the towering trees then I ever did being cooped up inside any motel room. There was a certain amount of freedom that crept its way through the pores of my skin, filling my system with a need to tear through the tranquility, and become one with the sounds and shadows. The temptation drummed through my marrow, in time with my heartbeat. The unbridle desire enflamed my blood.

“Let me down,” I whispered, wiggling.

He obliged without question, setting me down gently.

My feet sunk in rich soil, seeping soft and moist between my toes. The warmth leached through my heels, penetrating into my blood stream like a fast shot of adrenaline. I took off running without any premeditation. I bounded through the night like an elk through a maze, letting the sweet jolts of pain bolt up my legs with every hard pump. I zigzagged through the trees, leaping over risen roots and jetting rocks with no effort at all. It was as if I knew where it all was, where I needed to duck, jump, or swerve to avoid slowing down.

The forest cracked and Isaiah lunged out after me. His blue eyes seemingly glowing in the darkness in a way that should have seriously freaked me out. Instead, the challenge in them only made me push harder, even though I knew he could beat me easily if he really tried.

The drive was irresistible. The rush. The power behind the chase. I laughed. I didn’t know why, but once it started to pour out, I couldn’t stop. For the first time in a long time, I felt alive! I felt…
free!
It was beautiful. I never wanted to stop. Then the cramps sunk their talons into me and I hit the ground hard with my knees. The pain knotted like warring snakes in my gut, coiling and tearing at my insides with a vengeance that stole the breath from my lungs. I could scarcely cry out when Isaiah fell down beside me and gathered me up into his arms.

“Breathe,” he murmured soothingly into my damp temple.

“Can’t!” I squeaked, mortified to have him see me like this, but unable to do anything about it.

“You need to feed.” He eased me up into sitting position, holding me tight against him.

I shook my head, tears spilling from my lashes. “No! I ate!”

“A handful of fries doesn’t construe as eating,” he replied evenly.

I dragged a stream of air in through my nostrils, willing the pain to subdue, even a little, just enough to get me to my duffle bag. “I don’t have anything else,” I rasped, squeezing my eyes closed. “I left my duffle—”

“No,” his large hand cradled the back of my head, guiding my face towards the crook of his neck. “Not that kind of food.”

Confused, I frowned. “What…?”

He ignored my confused croak and pressed me closer to the sooth, toned column of his neck. The vein beating under the thin layer of skin brushed my lips, warm and pulsing with life. It beat in time with my heart until it was all I could hear.

“Isaiah…?” I shook with the losing battle raging inside me.

“Do it!” His breath hit my ear hot.

The pulsating melody of his blood drummed in my ears like the call of a siren. I was drowning even before I could think of saving myself. There was no need to think, or question my desires. The demon knew exactly what it was craving and had no aversion staking claim. The pinch behind my canines was brief, as was the quick, sharp pain that followed. I felt the clumsy prick of fangs against my bottom lip; it was a momentary jolt of annoyance before I found what I yearned for in the inviting vein beating just for me.

His guttural groan of my name nearly shattered the thin thread of restraint I was holding on to. I released my own moan of pleasure as I sunk happily into the warm bliss. His blood was like liquid ecstasy flowing into my system. The high was unimaginable. Neon lights of life flashed behind my closed eyelids, surrounding me with a pleasure no one should ever experience outside of heaven.

“Fallon…” The sweet plea rang in my ears like bells. “Enough!”

No! I wanted to beg. My arms around him tightened, clasping his shuddering body to me selfishly.

“Mine!” I heard myself rasp against his warm skin.

The fingers in my hair tightened. “Yours. Always,” he confirmed his voice dark with husky pleasure. “But you have to stop.”

He could push me away. I knew he could. Easily. But he didn’t. He waited for me to take whatever I wanted, even if it meant hurting him in the processes.
That’s
what made me release him; the thought of hurting him, even unintentionally, was more than I could bear.

“I’m sorry,” I panted, alternating between kissing and licking the injuries I’d caused him.

He shook his head, planting his own kisses to my throat and sending delicious little tingles all throughout my body.

My head dropped back against the mossy ground and I stared up at the spinning canopy of branches overhead. Our ragged breathing mingled, beating like war drums in the absolute silence. I was painfully conscious of his weight crushing me, pressing me into the soft earth, and I made no effort to push him off. The solidness and heat radiating around him cocooned me like my own personal blanket of security. I would have happily stayed there for all eternity if it were possible.

I let my lips stroke the side of his face, my arms still looped possessively around him, frightened by the terrifying churn of fear raking inside me at the very idea of letting him go. My fingers fisted in his long hair, holding him to me even tighter. If I had my way, I would have kept him there, wrapped in my arms until the stars fell from the heavens, and the world imploded in a glorious inferno.

He turned his head, nuzzling the side of my jaw with his lips. His arms snaked around my middle, turning us so we were on our side and I was pressed into the warmth and security of his chest. We were touching everywhere like two pieces of a perfect puzzle. Even the erratic beating of his heart beat against mine in an age-old language understood only by them. We were so close to being a single entity as we could possibly get without ever removing our clothes. 

“What am I?” I whispered, my eyelids already drooping in the promises of sleep.

If at any point I doubted that he felt half of what I felt, he pressed his lips to my ear, and whispered, “Mine. Always.”

The sun was gleaming through the branches when I opened my eyes. Isaiah lay on his back beside me, arms wound securely around me in his sleep, crushing me greedily into the curve of his body. I had my head pillowed on his chest, breathing in his rich scent of leather, spices and wilderness. But there was something else hidden amongst all that, something untamed and feral, something that called to me. I couldn’t place it, but I was more than willing to lie there for as long as it took to breath it all in.

“Hungry?” His sleep thickened murmur sent a shiver along my spine.

I didn’t want to say yes. I couldn’t as much as I wanted to. The bright crimson smear across the smooth flesh of his throat was all the memories I needed to remind me of what I’d done, even if the marks had vanished overnight. The lack of repulsion frightened me more than the act itself. Drinking from him should have disgusted me. I should have been repelled. Instead, I was twitching like an addict needing her next fix. My whole body shook with the hunger. The familiar pinch behind my canines demanded attention.

“Don’t fight it,” he murmured, turning his body so he lay on his side, offering me himself like a gorgeous, gold banquet.

God I was so tempted.

“No… please…” I whimpered, grabbing his shoulder in a white-knuckled grip, pulling him closer and pushing him away at the same time.

“This is what you need, Fallon,” he said gently. “This is the only thing that will keep away the cravings.”

I shook my head, eyes transfixed on the pumping little vein calling to me. “It’s wrong.”