Chapter 21
Chapter
Twenty-One
Elijah
“ E ! Wake up! Elijah! Damn you, wake up!” Kainda woke me screaming close to my ear, shaking my shoulders. I came to soaked in sweat, heart racing, and panting like a dog. Nightmares. I couldn’t remember this one at least, so maybe I had a small chance in hell of going back to sleep.
I turned my head, looking at her panic-stricken face. “I’m awake, stop trying to rattle my teeth loose.”
My voice sounded like I’d eaten glass. I swallowed, trying to get the sick, sticky feeling to go away. Kainda scowled at me like I’d personally insulted her. She shoved me as I sat up. Flinging back the covers that were as soaked in sweat as much as me, she went to the table where the leftovers of our meal sat. She tossed me a bottle of water and went into the bathroom. I heard the faucet run as I took a long drink of water.
Wet washcloth in hand, she sat next to me and ran it gently over my face and neck. I took it from her, not in the mood for her to try to take care of me. Placing both items on the bedside table, I got up, leaving her sitting there. I heard her jump up behind me, but my mind set couldn’t cope with her hot and cold behavior. Escaping into the bathroom, door closing behind me as she said my name again.
I splashed water on my face, angry I’d had another nightmare. They’d stopped months ago I’d hoped I’d healed mentally, but now I had to wonder if it wasn’t the medication that had stopped them. Just my luck if it was the meds. The door opened next to me and Kainda stepped in. I felt it more than saw it, as I never lifted my head where it hung over the sink, water still dripping from my hair and jaw.
“Elijah, you can talk to me about it. You had a nightmare about your time with Uttu, didn’t you? Don’t bother answering that, I know the answer you were shouting in your sleep.”
I swung around to face her, angry with her for no other reason than she stood in front of me after I asked her for space. If she’d stayed in the other room, I could have— probably— kept my mouth shut, my temper in check. Going off the meds had done a number on my irritability. “Just get out, Kainda. You don’t actually care. All I am to you is a means to an end, to Uttu.”
Stepping into her space, I crowded her out trying to get her to step back through the door, so I could shut it in her face and lock it this time. Kainda didn’t cooperate with me. All I ended up doing was stepping into her, the entire length of her pressed against me. She looked at me, irritation shining in those hazel eyes. Even in the dim light from the window, they glowed. It dawned on me then, her magic had them lighting up.
“I’m so tempted to smack you in the mouth, but you’re getting a pass because I understand why you’re lashing out. But I’m only going to do it once. I’m not going to be your punching bag. And you’re wrong, I do care. You are more than just a means to an end.” She went up on her toes arms going around my neck, hands in my hair and kissed me.
A tiny lingering bit of the connection leftover from her spell, just enough for me to catch her feelings. She felt truly sorry for pushing me away and as much as she didn’t want to, she did care for me. And she really didn’t want to stop kissing me. It distracted me for a moment, but it didn’t last. I picked her up and set her away from me. “Go back to bed, Kainda.”
She took my hand and dragged me with her into the bedroom. The sheets a lost cause it looked like she’d thrown a bucket of water on me trying to wake me. I pulled out the awful foldout couch I hadn’t told her about earlier, while she grabbed the pillows and duvet cover. At least the mattress on the couch looked clean. She wasn’t going to leave me alone unless I walked out the door, and probably not even then. Tossing everything down, she climbed in and waited for me to follow her.
She snuggled in close, using me as her pillow, only to pull back. “Ditch the shirt, it’s as soaked as the sheets. Those ritual clothes are in the supply bag.”
“Why exactly did you keep those?”
She shrugged like it wasn’t strange. Maybe it wasn’t to her, for all I really knew of her. “I figured at some point we might need them. It’s not like we’ve had time to get you a change of clothes.”
Surprisingly, she didn’t demand I jump in the shower because I reeked of sweat and fear. Honestly, I was too tired to care. I’d probably fall asleep standing in the shower if I even tried. Changing my clothes, the AC kicked on and chills broke out on my skin. I tossed my discarded clothes in the bathroom.
“Get out of your own head and get your ass back in this bed. I wanna go back to sleep before the sun’s up, and that’s not going to happen until I know you’re settled. And if it makes you feel better, the whole room smells like you, including me.” She smacked the squeaky mattress to emphasize her point.
I shocked laugh burst out of me. “It doesn’t make me feel better, but thanks for trying.”
“Oh, fine. Hand me my bag.” She held her hand out, flicking her fingers when I didn’t move fast enough.
For a minute she rummaged around the bag before tossing a white candle, a lighter, and two small vials of liquid to the mattress. I had no idea what she planned to do. Setting the bag down and climbing to her feet, she stood next to me. Taking the candle and vials, she moved over to the table, setting the candle down and opening one of the vials. Immediately, the strong scent of the oil wafted through the room. Setting it aside, she opened the second vial, another intense aroma spread on the air.
“Is that peppermint?” I pointed to the vial still in her hand.
She smiled. “Good nose. The other is eucalyptus oil. Do you still trust me?”
“Yeah, I trust you.” A yawn cracked my jaw and all I wanted to do was go back to sleep, even if I did sleep like a dead horse.
Turning around, the lighter in her hand, the vial now on the table, she glared at me. “For the loves of the gods, you do not smell like a dead horse. So dramatic.”
“I kinda bugs me that you can so easily know exactly what I’m thinking, and ninety percent of the time I haven’t the slightest clue what’s going on in your head.”
She watched me for a moment and then nodded. “I’m sorry, you’re right, it's not fair. I’ll try to do better about blocking your stray thoughts.”
Then she opened the blinds just a fraction so that the light of the moon washed over the candle. She made a small adjust to the candle’s position and then lit the wick. Setting the lighter to the side, she picked up the first vial, the eucalyptus. She dipped her index and middle finger into the oil and raised her hand toward my face.
“Woah,” I grabbed her wrist before she could put the oil to my skin. “Are you supposed to dilute essential oils before applying them to the skin so they don’t cause an irritation?”
Another nod. “I carry mine pre-diluted, so I don’t also have to carry around large bottles of carrier oils, but yes, most oils require dilution to be skin safe. May I continue?”
Letting go of her hand, I held still for her. Gently touching her fingers to my forehead, she drew them in the shape of a crescent moon before moving to my throat. There she stroked a straight line down both side of my windpipe. This close the smell got a little overwhelming and as soon as her hands moved away from my throat I couldn’t hold back a sneeze. She chuckled as she dipped her fingers back in the oil before taking my right hand in hers. Turning palm up, she drew a spiral on my inner wrist before repeating the process on my left hand.
Then she set the vial back on the table and wiped the excess oil on her fingers on the side of the candle. She picked up the vial of peppermint oil, dipping her fingers in. Looking up at me, she reached up and touched a dab behind each ear. So close, I felt her breath on my skin.
Stepping back just a bit, she said, “Take off the shirt.”
I did as she asked, her eyes never looking away from me. This felt different from all of our other interactions. There was a deeper level of intimacy at this moment. The air around me felt charged, and the scent of fear and sweat now nearly nonexistent. I let the shirt fall to the floor as she stepped back into me, dipping her fingers in the oil once again. Bracing for the impact of her touch didn’t help, it still went to my head.
Tilting her head back, the movement of her hair fell back from her face as our eyes met. I felt it instead of seeing it when she touched the skin over my heart. She spread the oil across my chest until she reached the middle of my sternum before drawing it down my torso. Her touch glided around my navel before traveling back up to cross the rest of my chest.
“Turn around, please.”
I did as she asked, giving her my back. One of her hands rested on my waist to steady herself as she reached up to touch the base of my skull. This time her fingers didn’t travel a straight path, but a wavy line like a snake as she followed the length of my spine. When she got to my hips, she stopped. I didn’t dare move and break the spell we’d fallen under. Then her touch returned with my oil on her fingertips. She drew a line from the top of one hip bone to the other just before the creak of the floor signaled her stepping back.
“You can turn back around now.” Now her voice sounded more like it had the night before.
Turning back around, she looked away from the eye contact. Again she smeared the excess oil on her skin on the side of the candle. Then she handed me the vial of eucalyptus oil and stepped just the tiniest bit closer. Her chest moved with her heavy breaths that should’ve been louder in the quiet of the room. Finally, she looked up at me, making eye contact again, and magic sparkled in their hazel depths.
“You need to follow the same steps on me as I did on you while I say the spell. Do you remember all of it?”
She’d just scrambled my brain, and she wanted me to remember every shape she’d traced onto my flesh in order and in which oil. Damn, she asked for a lot. I had to think about it for a moment and try to put how turned on I felt out of my mind. You can do this, Elijah. Catching those tiny, fleeting thoughts from her was worth more than gold.
“Yes, I’m ready.”
She nodded and took a deep breath in through her mouth as I touched my fingers to the oil. “May the fiery essence of the oils cleanse the body, its heady scent clear the air of impurities. Light of the moon?—”
Her gasp broke the silence when I touched her throat, her eyes falling closed and her words left hanging. Her skin was the soft thing I’d ever felt. I could feel the pounding beat of her heart as my fingers trailed over the pulse point in her neck. A full body shiver had her body quaking beneath my touch.
“— bathe our space in our peace. By the light of this candle’s flame, this spell purifies us. As I will it, so mote it be.”
Her words trailed off as I finished with the eucalyptus oil and picked up the peppermint oil. She pulled off the tank top she’d put on before we went to bed earlier. At some point, she’d gotten rid of the sports bra. Her nipples hardened from the chill of the room, and all I wanted to do was taste her. I must’ve moved toward her because her hand came up and planted itself in the center of my chest as she shook her head.
Closing my eyes and giving myself a moment to collect myself before starting the next step of the process. When I touched the oil to her skin, her hand fell away, and she started the spell again. She turned around and lifted her hair out of the way before I could even ask. The skin marked by the ink of her tattoo was slightly raised, and I wanted so badly to trace every single line.
She stepped away as soon as I finished and picked up her shirt, pulling it back on. Disappointing, but I’d expected it. Reaching over, she closed the blinds before capping both vials and tucking them and the lighter back in her bag. She made no move to extinguish the candle, but grabbed an extra napkin from our dinner and wiped off her hands. Then she handed one to me before crawling back onto the mattress of the pull-out couch.
“Leave the candle, the magic when it’s finished working will let the candle burn out.”
The room no longer smelled of sweat or fear, neither did I for that matter. All I could smell was the combined scents of peppermint and eucalyptus. Together they were soothing, and I felt like I could breathe easier, like the last of the nightmare had faded away.
“Why isn’t the smell of this giving me a headache?”
She smiled, holding up her hand as tiny flashes of light jumped around her fingers. “Magic! Now come to bed and get some sleep. The spell should also keep the nightmares at bay.”
Joining her, the mattress groaned on ancient springs. She snuggled back into my side, tucking my arm around her. Putting her head on my chest, her other hand rested on my ribs. Her slender fingers tickled as she stroked me, trying to be soothing and failing. One of her legs tangled with mine as she moved to get comfortable. “Be still already and go to sleep, Kainda.”
Ignoring me, she turned her head up, kissing my jaw with her cold lips. “Good night, E.”
I stared at the ceiling, waiting for exhaustion to pull me back under into the land of sleep. Kainda sighed and laced her finger with the hand I had resting on my stomach. Her thumb stroked the back of my hand, trying to comfort me. Errant thoughts drifted to me, and they didn’t help. The sympathy stung my pride. It's no wonder she didn’t want anything to do with me. I was a hot mess and I knew it.
Her huff told me she’d heard every thought I’d had just now. “If you think I don’t find you attractive and want to be with you despite knowing it's a massive mistake, then maybe I should take you back to that hospital.”
“You sure have a way of showing it, Kai.”
She sat up and looked down at me. Fire burned in her eyes and her words growled out. “My name is Kainda not Kai. And I can’t show it because we can’t happen.”
“My name is significantly easier to say than yours is, and you call me E. But I can’t shorten your name down to one syllable?”
Her hair brushed my chest when she nodded, a goofy smile on her face. “I wish things were different. But human, witch relationships only end in disaster. My parents are the prime example. Magic said they were the perfect match for each other, but fate was wrong. Their marriage ended, and I was stuck in the middle.
Dad took me to live at the hunters’ headquarters, and my mom stayed with her coven alone. Her magic bound her to my father and the whole time he was alive she couldn’t have a relationship with someone else. Not even a casual hook up. But he could because he wasn’t held prisoner by magic. I watched him heal a broken heart while also seeing the intense pain my mom was in. She didn’t want to end their marriage, but she felt she didn’t have a choice. Do you have any idea how crushing it was for her to know my dad had moved on and was seeing one of the other hunters? I don’t want that life.”
Sitting up, I lifted her into my lap, so she was straddling me, and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Just because that was how their relationship ended doesn’t mean ours would end that way. We’re not them, and you can’t judge us through the lenses of their failed marriage.”
“This conversation is ridiculous, we’ve barely known each other for forty-eight hours. We can’t possibly know enough about each other to even consider a relationship.”
Leaning forward, I pressed a kiss to her pouty lips. “But here we are talking about just that. I’m not proposing marriage; just a chance to see if we could have something more. Oh, and more of the out of this world sex.”
She laughed so hard, tears slowly leaked down her cheeks. “By the goddess we’re a pair of nuts. We’re trying to banish a former goddess to the demon realm, one who kills every man she comes across. And here we are talking about a future neither of us might actually get to experience.”
“Yeah, well, I hope we survive this. But I think the possibility is about fifty, fifty, so why not enjoy each other and this moment?”
Those gorgeous eyes lit up, and her mouth curved into a beautiful smile just before she cupped my face and kissed the breath out of me. Neither of us spoke after that. The sex was just as intense and amazing as the first time. Her spell must still be lingering because I could very faintly feel her magic trying to connect with me. We fell asleep with our bodies wrapped around each other. My last thought, I hoped like hell we made it out of this and that she’d give us a chance.