The Power
Page 22
On the tips of my toes, I wrapped my arms around his neck and I did what I wanted to do with no clothes between us. I rocked my hips back and forth, slow at first and then faster.
In a distant part of me, where my brain still functioned, I couldn’t believe I was actually doing this out here, but the exquisite pressure building in my core obliterated common sense.
The hand on my hip glided up my waist and over my ribs, creating wave after wave of shivers. He then coasted his hand over my breast, stopping in the center of my chest.
Seth made this sound in the back of his throat, a groan that pulled me out of the haze of pleasure, because it was part aroused, but . . . but part anguished.
I started to pull back, but then he kissed me again, and I was dragged back in, back under. Our breaths were coming out in short, shallow pants in between hot and hard kisses. The tension built. My fingers dug into the nape of his neck. What felt like every nerve ending in my body stretched tight. There was a deep pulling and tugging sensation coming from several sensitive points in my body. Then it all snapped. Release coiled out from my center, and I might’ve shouted. It felt like I did. My throat was suddenly hoarse and there was a hollowness in the center of my chest. I didn’t know if anyone heard it or if the wind whipped it away, and I wasn’t even sure if I cared or not.
The release left me breathless, weak in the knees and utterly sated. If it weren’t for how tightly Seth was holding me, I would have been eating the ground.
His hand trembled against my chest as he lifted his mouth from mine. The bridge of his nose dragged over the curve of my cheek and then his warm breath was dancing on my lips again. He stilled.
Seth jerked his hand back and lowered his leg so fast, I almost did fall right over. “Are you okay, Josie?”
I laughed. What a weird question. “I don’t think I can feel my legs.”
Seth drew back, cupping my cheek. He held me close as he lifted my head. “What?”
His eyes were doing the glow-bug thing. They were a luminous tawny color, and his glyphs were out, racing across his skin wicked fast, as if he were in the presence of a god. “Your eyes are glowing.”
Seth’s lashes lowered, but there was no shielding those babies. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah.” I squeezed his shoulder, confused by his concern. “You gave me an orgasm, Seth. Not a punch to the vagina.”
He blinked.
I grinned. “I’m completely fine. Except now I feel like I need a nap. And maybe some fries. Okay. Definitely some fries.”
“Okay,” he said after a moment, stepping back but still keeping his arm around me. “Let’s go—”
“Back to the room so I can repay the favor?” I asked, touching his chest. Under my palm, his heart pounded fast. “How about that?”
Seth laughed, but the sound was off. Strained. “How about we get those fries first and then see where we’re at?”
I opened my mouth to protest, but a very loud and very obnoxious yawn broke free, right in Seth’s face.
“Yeah,” he murmured, turning me around. “Let’s get some food in you.”
CHAPTER 9
Seth
Josie passed out halfway through eating her French fries, and by some miracle she didn’t end up face-first in the greasy basket. She was curled on her side, hands limp and open just below her chest.
I’d pulled her sneakers off for her and draped a thin blanket over her legs. A herd of Minotaurs could’ve performed a flash mob in the center of the room and she would’ve slept right through it.
Sitting on the edge of the couch, I watched her sleep like a total creeper, but I watched to make sure she was okay. That she was breathing normally. Paranoia was hitting me hard, because I knew she was okay. Tired and weak? Yes. It would pass. Maybe it wasn’t paranoia. Maybe it was guilt.
It was definitely guilt.
Because I, on the other hand, was wired, chock-full of energy. Buzzed like I got after a good fight, a good fuck. Buzzed like I was every time I touched Josie.
I was wired, and I was fucking sick.
Every part of me was fucking sick, because the power lighting me up and that fucking “touch the gods-damn sky” high was borrowed. It was stolen. Fuck, it was the worst kind of thing.
I’d caved to that thing inside me.
When she tapped into akasha, it had woken up and it started paying attention. It needed and demanded, whispered to me, telling me what I could do. It remembered that I could feed off Josie without really hurting her. And I’d listened. Gods, I’d listened to it.
What the hell was wrong with me?
And it was all me. There wasn’t something or someone else living inside me that I could blame.
Pushing off the couch, I stalked to the window in the bedroom and drew back the blinds. Nothing but darkness greeted me.
What in the fuck had I done?
Oh gods, I knew exactly what I’d done. I thrust my fingers through my hair. The weeks of working on the elements had been chipping away at my restraint. Fuck. And today? When she’d tapped into the akasha, the lick of power that washed over me had dug in deep with razor-sharp claws, opening up a need I did not want.
But could not ignore.
I knew I should’ve walked away. I should’ve ended training the first second I felt her aether calling out to me. Fuck. I should’ve ended these trainings the first time I found myself wanting what I should never ever want from her. There was a lot of shit I should’ve done, but I didn’t listen.
In a distant part of me, where my brain still functioned, I couldn’t believe I was actually doing this out here, but the exquisite pressure building in my core obliterated common sense.
The hand on my hip glided up my waist and over my ribs, creating wave after wave of shivers. He then coasted his hand over my breast, stopping in the center of my chest.
Seth made this sound in the back of his throat, a groan that pulled me out of the haze of pleasure, because it was part aroused, but . . . but part anguished.
I started to pull back, but then he kissed me again, and I was dragged back in, back under. Our breaths were coming out in short, shallow pants in between hot and hard kisses. The tension built. My fingers dug into the nape of his neck. What felt like every nerve ending in my body stretched tight. There was a deep pulling and tugging sensation coming from several sensitive points in my body. Then it all snapped. Release coiled out from my center, and I might’ve shouted. It felt like I did. My throat was suddenly hoarse and there was a hollowness in the center of my chest. I didn’t know if anyone heard it or if the wind whipped it away, and I wasn’t even sure if I cared or not.
The release left me breathless, weak in the knees and utterly sated. If it weren’t for how tightly Seth was holding me, I would have been eating the ground.
His hand trembled against my chest as he lifted his mouth from mine. The bridge of his nose dragged over the curve of my cheek and then his warm breath was dancing on my lips again. He stilled.
Seth jerked his hand back and lowered his leg so fast, I almost did fall right over. “Are you okay, Josie?”
I laughed. What a weird question. “I don’t think I can feel my legs.”
Seth drew back, cupping my cheek. He held me close as he lifted my head. “What?”
His eyes were doing the glow-bug thing. They were a luminous tawny color, and his glyphs were out, racing across his skin wicked fast, as if he were in the presence of a god. “Your eyes are glowing.”
Seth’s lashes lowered, but there was no shielding those babies. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah.” I squeezed his shoulder, confused by his concern. “You gave me an orgasm, Seth. Not a punch to the vagina.”
He blinked.
I grinned. “I’m completely fine. Except now I feel like I need a nap. And maybe some fries. Okay. Definitely some fries.”
“Okay,” he said after a moment, stepping back but still keeping his arm around me. “Let’s go—”
“Back to the room so I can repay the favor?” I asked, touching his chest. Under my palm, his heart pounded fast. “How about that?”
Seth laughed, but the sound was off. Strained. “How about we get those fries first and then see where we’re at?”
I opened my mouth to protest, but a very loud and very obnoxious yawn broke free, right in Seth’s face.
“Yeah,” he murmured, turning me around. “Let’s get some food in you.”
CHAPTER 9
Seth
Josie passed out halfway through eating her French fries, and by some miracle she didn’t end up face-first in the greasy basket. She was curled on her side, hands limp and open just below her chest.
I’d pulled her sneakers off for her and draped a thin blanket over her legs. A herd of Minotaurs could’ve performed a flash mob in the center of the room and she would’ve slept right through it.
Sitting on the edge of the couch, I watched her sleep like a total creeper, but I watched to make sure she was okay. That she was breathing normally. Paranoia was hitting me hard, because I knew she was okay. Tired and weak? Yes. It would pass. Maybe it wasn’t paranoia. Maybe it was guilt.
It was definitely guilt.
Because I, on the other hand, was wired, chock-full of energy. Buzzed like I got after a good fight, a good fuck. Buzzed like I was every time I touched Josie.
I was wired, and I was fucking sick.
Every part of me was fucking sick, because the power lighting me up and that fucking “touch the gods-damn sky” high was borrowed. It was stolen. Fuck, it was the worst kind of thing.
I’d caved to that thing inside me.
When she tapped into akasha, it had woken up and it started paying attention. It needed and demanded, whispered to me, telling me what I could do. It remembered that I could feed off Josie without really hurting her. And I’d listened. Gods, I’d listened to it.
What the hell was wrong with me?
And it was all me. There wasn’t something or someone else living inside me that I could blame.
Pushing off the couch, I stalked to the window in the bedroom and drew back the blinds. Nothing but darkness greeted me.
What in the fuck had I done?
Oh gods, I knew exactly what I’d done. I thrust my fingers through my hair. The weeks of working on the elements had been chipping away at my restraint. Fuck. And today? When she’d tapped into the akasha, the lick of power that washed over me had dug in deep with razor-sharp claws, opening up a need I did not want.
But could not ignore.
I knew I should’ve walked away. I should’ve ended training the first second I felt her aether calling out to me. Fuck. I should’ve ended these trainings the first time I found myself wanting what I should never ever want from her. There was a lot of shit I should’ve done, but I didn’t listen.
