Forgotten Visions (The Divinities Book 1) (10 page)

Doubt settled in. “No, I… How?”

“He’s your life partner.” Kalissa peered at Willow in question. The nymph knew. “Before you ask, no, your mating rose is not visible to me. I can see it in your aura and the way you look at each other. It was the same with your parents.” Sadness passed between them. Willow took a deep breath and continued. “Close your eyes and focus. Search for the connection that draws you to him.”

Kalissa hesitated, unsure how to find the connection. Another crack from a fist hitting a jaw ricocheted off the trees and pushed her into motion.  If she didn’t do something, Ayden and the demon would kill each other. She closed her eyes, concentrated on Ayden, and stretched out her senses.

Frustration mounting, she lost focus. Willow’s voice drifted into her thoughts. “
You are stronger than you think. Open your mind to his. Accept what you deny
.”

A tree branch sailed past, inches from her head, and landed with a thud in the woods. The wind from the flying object whipped her hair in her face. Her heart kicked with beats that would send her into cardiac arrest if she were mortal.

Screw trying to figure out what the hell Willow had meant with her cryptic riddles. Ayden needed help. She crouched closer to the dueling shadows. One got knocked down by a punch so hard he slid along the ground and stopped inches from her. He got up and stilled, locking gazes with Kalissa. Her heart stopped beating. That was not Ayden. She didn’t try to comprehend how she knew as she scooted backwards.

A face formed out of the black cloud of a body. She cringed and fought back a gasp. Although he wasn’t fully solid, his true form flashed in her mind. Marbled blue scales covered his body, and his eyes glowed crimson. One of those blue-scaled claws rose in the air and came down lightning-quick to swipe at her.

Kalissa braced for
the impact of the demon’s claws, eyes squeezed shut. It didn’t come. She opened her lids. Bile rose in her throat, and her stomach soured. The demon lay on the ground in front of her, arm extended out, and head several feet away.

Ayden stood over the body, sword in hand; his chest rose and fell as he caught his breath. She smiled and flew into his arms. Relief and happiness raced through her.

“Are you okay?” It was the first thing out of Ayden’s mouth after he’d teleported them back inside the cabin. He walked around her, touching her and checking for injuries.

“I’m fine.” She took his hands in hers to halt his circling. “What about you?” Searching his face, she saw yellowish bruises forming along his right cheekbone and left eye. A deep, claw-like scratch lay over his right eye. To her relief, it had stopped bleeding.

“I’ll live.” He pulled her to him and held her tightly. “Are you sure he didn’t hurt you?”

Kalissa had tensed for a second before she deflated, falling into him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and nodded into his chest while breathing in his scent—sandalwood and man. Comfort and warmth blanketed her as he held her. If it weren’t for Willow and Ayden, she wouldn’t be here. She wasn’t sure where she would have ended up, nor did she want to find out. His concern for her touched something deep inside; the self-doubt and anxiety shrinking away. He could never hurt her as Liam had. 

She pulled back to look into his eyes. “Who hit the tree?”

He smiled a sexy smile that made her go weak in the knees. “The shadow demon.”

Kalissa narrowed her eyes at him. There was a “duh” in that statement. “How did you change like that?” She had her theories, but she asked anyway.

Instead of answering, he took her hands from around his waist and led her to the kitchen. Kalissa climbed onto one of the barstools when they’d reached the island that separated the two rooms.

Once on the other side of the counter, he explained. “I’m not sure, really. I panicked and just reacted. I mean, I got into his head and found his strongest ability and took it.” 

“You can do that, get inside people’s heads?”

He thought about it for a second. “Not always. With other Divinities, I can just sense their Divine gifts. With demons, I have to go into the subconscious and search. Some are harder than others.” He opened the refrigerator to the right of the island.

“How did that demon get past Willow’s wards?”

“Shadow demons are hard to detect,” he replied as he pulled some things out of the refrigerator and placed them on the counter. “Chicken stir-fry okay?”

“Yes, that’s fine. Is it dinner time already?”

“Not really, but since we didn’t get to enjoy our lunch, I thought I would start dinner early. Plus, I’m wound up and need something to do.” He gave her a gentle smile and went back to pulling out ingredients.

Kalissa looked at the clock on the stove behind Ayden. It was 3:30. She hadn’t realized they’d been out so long. They must have hiked longer than it seemed before settling in for the lunch that had been so rudely interrupted.

“Damn shadows,” Willow grumped on her way into the kitchen, setting the picnic basket and blanket on the table. “They think they can just sneak up on someone. We showed him, though, didn’t we?” She walked over to stand next to Ayden, giving him a little nudge with her elbow. She looked down at the chicken and vegetables laid out on the counter. “Oooh, what’s for dinner?”

“Chicken stir-fry. Want to join us?” Ayden asked.

Willow thought about it for a minute and then shook her head. “No, thanks. You kids have fun. I’m going to scout around.”

An hour later
, Ayden found Kalissa sitting on the back porch swing, taking in the cooling evening air. Leaned against the doorframe, he watched her with a smile he couldn’t get rid of. Her eyes were closed; feet folded like a pretzel under her.  Dark blond curls cascaded down her back and around her shoulders. This was the most peaceful and relaxed she’d appeared since he’d picked her up from the ER. Then it dawned on him that she was meditating.

She opened her eyes and turned to him.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt.” He pushed off the doorframe and went to her, handing her a glass of red wine.

She smiled and took the goblet. He sat down next to her on the swing. “It’s okay,” she said, taking a sip of her wine.

After a long moment of sitting and enjoying the sounds of the forest, she broke the silence by asking, “What happened to us?”

He wasn’t surprised by her question. He knew she had wanted to ask, he’d read it in her emotions. He took a deep breath before speaking. “We only had the summers because I lived in California. The summer before we turned eighteen was our last summer together.” He stalled. He wasn’t angry anymore, but it still hurt. The hurt made him cautious when he was around her, afraid she’d leave again. So many times, he’d wanted to lash out at her, tell her that what she’d done was the worst thing anyone could do. Now, he knew it wasn’t her fault.

“Two weeks after school started, I called like I did every Wednesday.” He stood and walked to the edge of the porch.

“What did I say?” Kalissa said softly.

Ayden closed his eyes. He heard the sympathetic apology in her voice. “You acted like you didn’t understand why I was calling you. I thought you were playing around at first. Then you got mad at me and told me you had a boyfriend and not to call you again.” 

Kalissa made a soft sound. “I’m so sorry…”

Ayden turned around, only to find Kalissa standing behind him. He had blocked her from his senses so he couldn’t feel her regret. He hadn’t even heard her move. “Don’t apologize for something you had no control over.”

Kalissa took a step back. “But that was so…”

He let her trail off and nodded. “I was so angry with you. I swore if I ever saw you again, I would let you have it.”

Kalissa looked down at her linked hands in front her. “Is that why you reopened the case? To piss me off? To start a fight?”

“Gods, no.” He reached out and pulled her to him. Relief diminished her tension. She melted into him after a brief hesitation. Her fear abating. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek to his chest.  It felt so right to hold her. “I had a lot of time to think. When I decided to take the position as sheriff, I asked Papa about memory spells. When I picked you up at the hospital, my suspicions were confirmed. You have no memory of us. Then Zach and Khloe agreed with what I believed happened.”

“Liam.”

“Excuse me?”

“It must have been Liam. He was my first…well, my second boyfriend. The first one I remember.” Ayden pressed his lips together to hide a smile at her correction. He remained quiet to let her finish her thought. “He was controlling. He didn’t like me talking to people he didn’t know. It kind of makes sense now.”

Ayden gave her a raised eyebrow expression, not sure where she was going with this. “What makes you think it was him?”

Kalissa looked out into the forest. “Let’s go inside,” she said and stepped out of his arms.

“You sense something?” 

Kalissa shook her head. “No. Just a bird.”

Ayden picked up her glass where she’d left it on the table next to the swing and turned to the door. He handed the wine to her before opening the door and following her inside to the sofa.

“Liam was an aggressive, take-charge kind of person. He was a control freak. He always questioned me after I’d spoken to Zach or Khloe without him around. He asked what they’d said. And even accused me of keeping secrets from him once.” Kalissa took a sip of wine.

Ayden clenched his jaw to hold back a curse. Her words sounded as if it was nothing, but the hint of fear mixed with self-doubt hung heavily in the air. His suspicions of an abusive boyfriend were becoming confirmed by the minute.

“I didn’t think anything of it until now. Liam seemed to know a little too much about the Divinities. The moment I met him, he knew I was a Divinity.” Ayden frowned. Humans didn’t pay enough attention to them to make that kind of observation.

“I know that’s not too unusual. I mean, we don’t hide what we are. Humans have known about
magickin
for centuries,” she added.

“I feel a
but
coming on.” 

She smiled. “I found something. I went over to his house after school almost every day. One day, his father called him into the study, leaving me alone in his room. I wasn’t trying to snoop. I was looking for a CD on his desk, and a piece of parchment paper slid off onto the floor. I picked it up, but couldn’t read it. It was written in runes.”

“You can’t read runes?” Ayden asked with a smirk.

Kalissa rolled her eyes. “No. I stopped going to the witchcraft classes when I was…seventeen. And don’t remember much before that.”

“Well, I’m sure there are other witches that don’t know how to read runes.”

Kalissa smiled at him. “Yeah, all under the age of five.”

“Did you ever tell anyone about the note?” Ayden asked.

She nodded. “I told Zach. We both thought it was a little odd, considering Liam was human.”

“After Liam died our senior year of college, I stayed to myself,” Kalissa said after a brief pause. “They said he had a heart attack,” she added.

“You sound unsure about that.”

“I…I’m not sure what I thought.” She looked down at her wine glass and traced the rim with her finger.

“Were you bound to him?” he asked, trying to leave the jealousy out of his tone.

“I’m not sure. I mean…I don’t remember. Oh, gods, I’m an idiot.”

“No, you were—
are
—under a spell. There’s a big difference.” He took her wine glass and set it on the coffee table. For fear of what the spell would do to her, he didn’t press for any more information. So far, it hadn’t caused her any pain. However, there was guilt in her tone.

Wanting to chase her dark musings away, he lifted her chin with his fingers, leaned in, and captured her lips with his.

When Ayden’s soft
lips touched hers, an invigorating surge of power rolled through Kalissa, possessing every inch of her. A mixture of desire and fear washed over her.
You will not have a panic attack. You’re stronger than that
, she coached herself. For once in her life, she wanted to be touched, caressed, and loved. Even if it were only for one night.

Ayden was familiar, in an old friend kind of way. A friend that made her want to explore her fantasies, instead of run from them.

When Ayden had kissed her the night before, it had been light and gentle. Now, he kissed her with intent—and with a hint of urgency and need. Her panic spiked but didn’t rise to alarm until his hand slipped under her shirt and glided up to her breast.

“Stop.” It came out breathlessly with a hint of terror before Kalissa could push the anxiety back. Ayden lifted his head. His baby blue eyes mirrored her fear. He knew the cause of her panic. Embarrassment and shame flooded her.

“Lis.” It was a plea, and she almost cried. She wanted so deeply to be with him, to know what it was like to make love to someone without pain and humiliation. He brushed his knuckles over her cheek and kissed her lips. “I won’t ask you for details. Just tell me what I can do to help.”

“I…don’t know,” she whispered.

Ayden gathered her in his arms and sat back on the sofa. She let him draw her into his chest.

After a few minutes of silence, Kalissa took a shaky breath. She had never told anyone what she was about to reveal to him. Not even her twin. “Ayden?”

“Mmm hmm.”

She lifted her head. He looked peaceful, relaxed with his eyes shut. “You’re not mad?” 

His lids lifted and his eyes met hers. “Why would I be mad?”

He was seriously confused by her comment. “It’s just…well, Liam…I couldn’t say no.” The last section of the statement came out in a rushed breath. She studied Ayden as the confusion became clear and a tic appeared in his jaw. A tang of panic made her heart race, but she pushed it away with even breaths.

“Everyone deals with anger and stress in different ways. Liam used sex.” She stopped, unable to continue. Mostly out of embarrassment for being so vulnerable and weak. If she’d put her foot down, taken control, and actually told him no…

Liam would have found another way to release his anger.

She’d worked to gain control of her life and the panic attacks that arose from the closeness of another person for years. Not even Zach could get near her without the air thinning the first year after Liam’s death. She’d promised herself to never submit to anyone again, but she longed to know what it was like to make love to a man. To orgasm without pain.

Ayden’s hand cupped her cheek. She nuzzled into his warm palm. “I could never hurt you.” 

The truth in his words went straight to her heart. Ayden’s baby blue eyes held nothing back. “Can you show me? I mean, I can’t make promises, but I want to tr—”

His lips touched hers, soft yet demanding, before she’d gotten the last word out. With a moan, she opened for him, and his tongue swept in, tangling with hers as his arms pulled her close. All her worries evaporated like water droplets hitting a hot iron. She couldn’t deny her longing to be held, caressed, and loved by him any longer. Ayden ignited the flame she’d thought had died. Flame? Hell, he set off a damn inferno inside her that burned through her body with the slightest touch.

She ran her hands up his muscular arms to his broad shoulders, her fingertips barely brushing the skin. He shuddered. The sensation felt good against her aura and bounced between them until it was absorbed, merging them as one. Their magnetism mingled their Divine powers, teasing each other and intensifying the magic that ran through their veins. She coiled one arm around his neck and buried the fingers of her other hand in his silky hair, tugging slightly. He moaned softly and pulled her closer.

To her surprise and relief, the panic never came, and she wondered if he was using his empathy to calm her. If he was, she was grateful.

“Ayd?” she whispered, a breathless, almost panting question against his lips. “Are you…?”

“I’m taking your anxiety and replacing it with my pleasure.” A sexy, crooked smile tugged the corner of his mouth. “Of course, it’ll double your pleasure.”

Mischief flirted with his words, which died when he possessed her lips again.

She wanted to feel his bare chest against her hands and test out his admission. Moving her palms down his back, she felt every tight muscle until she reached the bottom of his shirt and tugged it upwards. Their kiss broke just long enough to pull his shirt over his head. Chest bared and looking edible, he gave her a dreamy smile and reclaimed her lips. Their tongues danced as they deepened the kiss.

His lips left hers to trail light kisses across her cheek to her ear, teasing her earlobe by nipping it with his teeth before exploring downward. Her head fell back onto the sofa to give him better access as his wet, hot tongue moved over her delicate skin to the crook of her neck.

Ayden was trying to kill her with sensuality. A slow death she greeted with open arms, because without the fear, she was free to accept every caress, nip, and lick he gave her. She wanted more, and yet, he was taking his sweet-ass time, slowly torturing her. Her sex throbbed and ached to be touched, to have him inside her.

He worked at the buttons of her blouse, and the fabric shifted against her stomach until she felt the garment fall open. Through it all, he never ceased his slow, exploratory kisses across her collarbone down to the skin between her breasts. She sucked in a gasp and almost cried out when he freed her breasts from her bra, taking one of her nipples into his mouth, circling it with the tip of his tongue.

When she thought she would explode from their mingled pleasure, he released her breast and trailed light kisses down her stomach. Instead of grabbing for him like she wanted, she watched him undo her pants. A hint of panic peeked out of her subconscious. He stopped and locked gazes with her. “Are you with me?”

At her nod, Ayden slowly slid the denim over her hips, then off her legs until they dropped to the floor. He knelt down on the floor between her legs and placed tiny, feather-like kisses up the inside of her right thigh. The stubble of his two-day-old beard lightly scraped against her skin, making her flinch. His lips trailed farther up her leg to her hip until they reached her belly just above her panty line. Slowly, he removed her panties with the same sensual movements he had her jeans. Kalissa had to force herself to be patient, but it was hard. Her body screamed to bring this sluggish act to the grand finale. It was killing her. She wanted him so badly, she ached in anticipation.

Exposed and naked while he still had his jeans on, she fought the urge to cover up. She jumped slightly when his lips touched the inside of her thigh again. He smiled and asked, “You okay?” She nodded and watched him. “We can stop at any time.”

As if
. Never in her thirty-two years of living had she felt this much pleasure. She wouldn’t be held responsible for her actions if he stopped now. She would plead temporary insanity for assaulting an officer. 

He placed a hand on her other thigh and gave a gentle nudge to urge her to spread her legs apart. She complied, scooting her bottom to the edge of the sofa. When his lips touched her core, she sucked in a breath and closed her eyes briefly. His light touch against her skin made her ache for more. He moved his hand farther up her thigh to her lips to open them. She threw her head back into the sofa as he licked and sucked, sliding two fingers inside her. She gasped at the amount of pleasure that shot through her body and arched into him. Never in her life had she ever felt like this. His power went through her like a warm current in her veins. Their magic whirled around them. Just when she thought she would burst from the mounting passion, he lifted his head and moved up her body with his fingers still inside her, his thumb replacing his tongue. “I want to hold you when you come,” he whispered in her ear and then kissed her neck.

Kalissa wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her hands in his hair, bringing his mouth to hers. The pleasure built as he moved his fingers in and out of her while his thumb rubbed her clit until the convulsing waves of an orgasm took her under.

Ayden gathered Kalissa
up in his arms, carried her to the bedroom, and laid her down on the bed. Her hand rose, cupped the back of his head, and pulled him into a deep, passionate kiss. Slowly, he drew back his empathic hold on her. He hoped she wouldn’t need it any longer, now that the ice was broken.

He pulled away from her, slid backwards off the bed, and smiled at her groans of protest. Their eyes locked and stayed fixed on each other as he removed his jeans and secured a condom in place. Settling between her legs and positioning his cock at her entrance, he reclaimed her mouth again, slipping his tongue between her lips. He could still taste remnants of wine as their tongues twined and danced together. She raised her hips slightly, moving, rubbing against him as waves of passion and desire wrapped around them in a lover’s embrace. Her desire ran through him as his own, intensifying his need, pushing him towards the edge of control. But the hint of fear, of the unknown, still lay under the surface, as well.

Each movement pushed them further into ecstasy until he couldn’t take anymore. Her need was his need. They were connected on a level he’d never known. It was beyond his empathic abilities. Was it because they were life partners?

She made a pleading moan. He reacted and entered her slowly. Then stopped a few inches in. Kalissa became very still, her breathing coming in panicked gasps.

“Lis? Look at me.” When her eyes met his, anger made its presence known again. He’d seen way too many domestic cases over the years and knew firsthand the effects they had on the victims. “Are you okay? Do you want me to stop?”

Her head shook side to side. “Don’t stop. I’m okay.” 

He claimed her lips in a searing kiss and pushed farther inside her. A moan escaped Kalissa’s lips, and he pulled out, but not all the way. He entered her again, repeating the slow in and out tempo until he’d filled her completely.   

“Ayden…”

Looking down into her lust-drunk eyes, he saw her fear had turned to need. He knew what she wanted.

He increased the rhythm, each thrust becoming faster and harder until they both cried out in release. He collapsed beside her and gathered her into his arms so she lay across his chest. 

“I think you broke me,” Kalissa said with a laugh.

Ayden laughed at first, but then looked worried. He lifted his head to look her in the eyes. “Did I hurt you?”

She gave him a provocative smile. “No, silly. I was teasing.” She crawled up his chest to place a kiss on his nose and then his lips. “Thank you.”

“For what?” He wrapped his arms around her, deepening the kiss.

“For freeing me.” She brought her knee up to rub gently over his still hard cock.

Ayden groaned. “You keep that up, and I’ll have to take you again,” he teased with his lips over hers.

“Hmmm, sounds promising.” She licked his lips playfully. “But only on one condition.”

“What’s that?”   

“Take off the kid gloves,” she said. She let out a squeak when he rolled her beneath him and entered her at the same time.