Chapter 43
River
I teleported directly into the garden clearing in the woods, immediately regretting it when I realized someone else was already here.
Skye was sitting in the dirt, playing with the flowers. She froze as soon as I appeared, but then looked away quickly, like she’d allow me to teleport away without questioning me.
I took a step forward, and her haunting silver gaze locked on mine, holding me captive for several seconds. I finally blinked, looking down to the foliage as I took more steps forward. I sank down into the dirt, leaving several feet between us while I wondered what the fuck I was doing.
I felt as if I’d lived ten lifetimes since I last saw her. Since we…did things in this clearing.
“Are you okay?” she asked softly.
I stared at her, hard, cataloging every bit of her appearance.
because she looked…different. Her dark hair, hanging straight around her shoulders seemed glossier.
Her silver eyes, narrow with suspicion seemed brighter.
Her hands delicately held a single flower, though there was a slight tremor from her affinity’s reaction to me.
“I’m never okay,” I muttered.
Skye snorted. “Figures.”
“I don’t care what you think of me, Skye,” I lied as irritation flickered along my spine. “I have too much going on to care if someone thinks I’m an asshole.”
Skye’s eyebrows hit her hairline. “Well, I don’t think you’re an asshole.”
I blinked at her.
Oh. Maybe–
“I think you’re a smug asshole who needs to get kicked in the balls a few more times.”
I scoffed, barely hiding a laugh in time. I hadn’t been expecting that, though I couldn’t fault her for being honest.
I opened my mouth to respond, but she cut me off again. “River? I also think you’re really sad and lonely, and I think a lot of people have let you down in life. And I think you’d be a very different person if you had real support behind you.”
A slight chill came over me, making the hair on the back of my neck rise. From this position, the light of the moon glowed around her form like a halo. It only made her gaze more eerie, those silver eyes piercing as they watched my every move.
“Oh,” I said, feeling dumb.
“Why did you run away?” she whispered. “Am I that awful?”
I breathed out slowly.
“No, you’re not. You’re the exact opposite of awful. It just…scared me, I guess.”
Skye nodded when I finished speaking. “Okay. Let’s play a game. A question for a question, and you have to answer honestly, or I’ll leave.”
“What if…I can’t answer everything honestly?” Skye began to scowl, and I added on quickly, “I’m not bullshitting you. I can’t explain it, but I’ll tell you if I can.”
Skye nodded slowly, then leaned back more comfortably. “Why did you punch the wall next to my head?”
“I was trying to see if you’d teleport,” I blurted as if she’d compelled me.
Skye’s eyes widened for a second, then she sneered at me. “You thought scaring me would make me teleport?”
My heart raced inside my chest. “Is that your official question?”
“Yes,” she hissed.
“Okay. Then yeah,” I answered weakly.
“Why?”
“It’s my turn for a question.”
“You just asked one.”
“No, that one didn’t count.”
Skye groaned, then snapped, “Fine.”
I gulped. “How many Links do you know of?”
Skye went very still. “Three,” she whispered.
“And the…the bodyguard?”
“He’s just a bodyguard,” she answered, shaking her head.
Okay. That was good. I think.
“Have you done your Link-testing yet?” she asked.
“No,” I scoffed.
Skye rolled her eyes while I chewed my thumb, considering another question.
“Why do you want me to do my Link-testing so bad?”
Skye rolled her eyes again, looking up into the stars like she searched for strength. “Because I like you.”
“And you can only like me if we’re supposed to like each other?”
“Nope, it’s my turn,” she snapped. “Why are you scared of someone liking you? Are you really that adverse to my guys that you’d turn me down?”
“Which one am I supposed to answer?”
Skye batted at my head, and I laughed as I leaned away from her. Without overthinking, I grabbed her arm, pulling her into the dirt next to me.
Skye made an adorable squeal sound as I caught her, then pulled her into my side. We both froze as if realizing the gravity of what I’d just done, but then she relaxed a little, melting into my side.
My heart pounded at the proximity. She smelled good, her shampoo sweet and fruity.
Her skin was soft. Her body fit perfectly against mine, and I could imagine it now, the two of us pressed together like this, every day, every night.
Nothing in between. No one forcing either of us to do their bidding. Nothing–
“Why do you have to be such a dick?” she whispered, shattering the moment.
I wanted to laugh, but instead, I groaned.
“Why can’t you just be quiet?” I muttered.
Skye disappeared from beside me so quickly, I nearly fell into the dirt. She reappeared in front of me, having teleported.
“What is your deal?” she snapped. I buried my head in my knees. “If you hated that kiss, just say that! If you hate me then just say that!”
“I don’t hate you,” I insisted, my voice muffled. “And–”
I blinked my eyes open in shock, Skye appearing in my field of vision while one of her hands held my hair.
“You don’t hate me?”
“Unfortunately,” I whispered.
Skye stared at me with her eyebrows nearly to her hairline, her silver eyes wide.
“And…”
“And I didn’t hate the kiss, no. Or anything else we did,” I replied. “Also unfortunate.”
“For you or for me?”
“Both of us, I suppose.” I swallowed thickly as Skye slowly let go of my hair. “How many times are we going to have this conversation?”
“When will you stop acting so hot and cold?” she fired back.
“Is that your question?”
“No. My question is, how can you teleport?”
I froze.
My chest ached with the need to respond to her, and that seemed odd. The only time questions caused me pain was when they were coming from Avery.
“You wouldn’t believe me,” I said.
She leaned into my space, making my heart jump again.
Try me, she said into my mind.
Pain free.
I chewed my thumb, still in awe that she could get in and out of my mind so easily.
It’s an affinity, I whispered, waiting for the pain to start.
It didn’t.
That…was weird. Avery had ordered me not to discuss my affinities. Was it because he hadn’t specified?
You have a teleportation affinity, Skye repeated, her brow furrowed.
I have…an affinity for…borrowing affinities.
Skye’s furrowed brow turned into a full blown scowl. So it’s my teleportation affinity?!
Technically, yeah, I replied.
Skye watched me closely, then looked down at my forearms like she could actually see the teleportation affinity zooming through me. I sucked in a breath as her cool fingers touched my arm, tracing along my veins. For the first time in weeks, my hands didn’t ache with pins and needles.
Skye’s silver eyes flicked back to mine. So can you take any affinity? Just by touching me?
No, I replied. There has to be intention behind it. When I touched you at the gala, I was…trying to get some telepathy, actually. Also, you’re really strong. I don’t know if I could take a complete affinity from you.
Skye hummed quietly, the sweet sound lost among the sounds of the night.
She was still tracing the veins on my forearm, and I was feeling a lot of things about it.
Like, my dick throbbed. My dick never throbbed.
Except the few times I’d been close enough to Skye to smell her fruity shampoo.
And now, as she continued touching me, I was actually… getting hard.
Our eyes met, and then hers dropped to my mouth. She leaned in slightly, and my breath caught in my throat.
And then she was touching my face, and I jerked back quickly, hating how she pulled her hands back so fast, looking unsure.
“I’m…sorry,” she breathed. “I fucked up. I’m just…I’ll…”
“It’s fine,” I whispered.
“Totally fine. This definitely isn’t the most humiliating moment of my life or anything,” Skye babbled. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have touched you.”
No, she shouldn’t have. Touching my arms was already too much, but now the scary affinity was awake, watching Skye intently.
I wasn’t sure what would happen if it tried to attack her.
I’d never been able to hold it back before, and I’d only heard rumors of Skye’s strength.
I didn’t know if she’d be able to fight this affinity off.
“Just don’t touch me,” I whispered. “My skin. Don’t touch my skin. With your hands. Please.”
Skye blinked at me a few times while my heart raced. It seemed like she was trying to decide whether or not my request was too weird to honor, and I couldn’t blame her for that. It would be a testament to how much she wanted me.
But she surprised me again.
Skye nodded, then clasped her hands behind her back. I stood to my full height, looking down at her while her eyelashes fluttered. Arousal wound through me, so unfamiliar but not unwelcome this time. I wasn’t ready for what’d happened before, but I was now. And I wanted more.
My eyes roamed over her, watching how her chest heaved slightly. She was just as excited for this as I was, and I decided I needed to show her I was also honoring my weird request.
I stuffed my hands in my pockets.
Skye’s lips parted, maybe in surprise, but then she rolled her lips between her teeth.
“Now what?” she whispered.
I leaned in, and she closed her eyes, her breathing a bit shallow as she waited for me to kiss her.
I could’ve done something horrible to her. Her hands were behind her back, her eyes were closed. She had no idea what I was capable of…but she trusted me.
I had no idea how I’d earned it, but Skye trusted me.
Something inside me cracked, the same something that’d been bothering me since Aiden had rattled my brain when he sucker punched me.
Avery had told me to get close to Skye.
And I was.
But…it wasn’t because he’d ordered me to. This wasn’t forced. This was natural. It wasn’t hard, either, this thing between us just worked for whatever reason, even if we bickered constantly.
“I’m sorry we can’t touch,” Skye whispered, her eyes still closed. “I’m sorry I didn’t ask before.”
“It’s okay,” I replied, also in a whisper. “I’m sorry I’m an asshole.”
Skye grinned, then chewed her bottom lip.
“I want to, though,” I whispered, my breath fanning across her face. “I want to touch you more.”
“I want that, too,” she said, then sucked in a breath as I brushed my lips across hers.
I didn’t know why I’d told her not to touch me.
The second our lips touched, something inside me ignited, flaring bright and hot. I leaned into her, deepening the kiss, shuddering when she moaned.
Her tongue flicked against my lips, and I completely folded, opening my mouth to her, feeling my entire body heat as her tongue expertly caressed mine.
I’d never been embarrassed for my lack of experience, but now, I was regretting not knowing more. How could I compete with three other Links?
Skye let out a breath of shock as I kissed her jaw, then her neck, and I wanted to hear more. I knew how she sounded when she came, but these sounds were different. More eager.
She shuddered when I ran my tongue along her jaw, then kissed below her ear.
“River,” she groaned. “I really want to touch you.”
I nipped at her ear.
“Fuck, River. You get to touch me why can’t I touch you?”
“How would you touch me?” I whispered against her ear. I had no idea who I was anymore. Something about Skye made me…different. An unfamiliar boldness was pushing me past my comfort zone.
Skye leaned forward as if she could see exactly where I was even though her eyes were closed, and she whispered back.
“I’d suck your cock.”
It took everything I had in me not to blow my load right there.
“I’d hold it with both hands. I’d run my tongue up and down, swirl it around the head…”
I leaned closer into her, the heat from her lips so close to my ear, I shivered.
“I’d let you come down my throat. I’d let you choke me with your cock.”
Holy fucking shit.
I jerked away from her, breathing out shakily. Skye stayed put, eyes closed, hands behind her back, but now she chewed her lip.
“That’s all?” I breathed.
Skye smirked. “What else do you want?”
“Too bad you can’t get me off without your hands,” I whispered.
Skye opened her eyes, the silver practically glowing in the dark. She smiled. “Sit down.”
I sat back on my heels without hesitation, then moved so I could sit up against a tree. Skye shuffled closer to me, her hands still behind her back, mine still in my pockets. She leaned in, kissing my jaw, my chin, then moving back to my lips, running her tongue across the seam.
I was so turned on I thought my dick might explode.
My heart was pounding, my dick throbbing. I couldn’t take in a full breath. I closed my eyes.
“River,” Skye whispered, her voice practically purring. “I don’t ever need my hands.”
I blinked at her, and then–
And then something…grabbed my cock.
I dropped my head, staring at my joggers, looking for…I don’t know what.
It squeezed me.
I sucked in a breath, staring at…nothing, still, and then I tilted my head back to meet Skye’s gaze.
“I don’t have to touch you at all,” she said.
Affinity.
It was her affinity.
She began stroking me, somehow using the perfect grip. The perfect speed. Was she reading my fucking mind?
I didn’t think I cared right now.
“Fuck,” I breathed.
“Oh, I like that,” Skye practically purred again, leaning into me. I leaned back shakily, still afraid of her touch but not wanting her to stop. “I like you like this.”
“Shut up,” I tried to hiss at her, but horrifically, it came out…as a moan.
“Yeah, this is better. You’re not being a pain in the ass right now.”
I moaned again as the affinity tightened on me. My legs shook. I tossed my head back, wincing as it bumped into the tree trunk behind me. Nothing could take me out of this moment, though.
“Fuck,” I choked out as her speed increased, squeezing in just the right spot and rolling over the tip.
I thrust my hips up into the air, into…nothing. But I was too far gone to feel embarrassed.
“Too bad I can’t touch you,” she taunted, making my dick throb for some reason. “Then I could be down on my knees, taking you down my throat. Would you like that? Would you like to hate-fuck my throat?”
I came.
In my pants.
I shuddered, barely holding in a cry as I felt my release spread across my boxers, going on for almost too long before the pleasure waned and embarrassment began to set in.
Skye didn’t say anything for a moment, and suddenly, I realized she was looking at her phone.
I…
We…
She’d just made me come in my pants, and now she was checking her phone.
“That your boyfriend?” I tried to snark, but it came out too breathless. Too desperate. “Do you just take turns getting them off with your freaky affinity?”
Her silver gaze snapped to mine, then her eyes narrowed.
“Actually, they take turns fucking me, and it’s amazing. Have a good night, asshole.”
She teleported away.
And I was left in the dirt.
With a wet patch on the front of my sweats.