Lunacy (20 page)

I sighed, begrudgingly agreeing with him. "But your
car's so sexy! It gets my motor running," I added with a grin.

Jynxx and I shared a laugh at that one and he
surprised me with a sudden kiss more ferocious than any previously.
It stole the breath from my lungs and he spoke when we parted.
"Even dirty car talk won't convince me to take you right here,
right now. Get back in your seat, or you'll be late for your
test."

"Are you sure, peasant? Even if this is our only
chance?" I teased.

He snorted and slapped my ass hard enough to make me
gasp and leave a strangely pleasant and warm stinging sensation
behind. "Have we met, rich girl? I make my own chances," he
purred.

Without further protest, I climbed back into my seat
and he righted his. He fidgeted uncomfortably for a second, opening
his window to let some of the cool nearly winter air flood the car.
We sat in quasi uncomfortable silence until we were almost to the
school.

"Just to be clear, you do know that I would be
totally cool with christening my car with you, if it wasn't your
first."

I arched a brow at him. "You mean you've never... In
this car?"

He shook his head. "And get my Baby all dirty? Hell,
no. It'd take a special girl for something like that."

I was torn between exhilaration at Jynxx's confession
that he did actually want me, and silently cursing my virtue for
preventing me from what would have likely made the most awesome
morning ever. I was hopeful that it wouldn't be our only
chance.

***

Oberon High loomed before us with its oppressive
walls and I sighed affectedly, turning to glance out the window
back toward the woods as Jynxx parked his car. "This is going to be
the longest day ever," I groaned.

With a chuckle, he leaned in close and pressed a
tender kiss to my lips that had my heart racing from the second our
flesh touched together. His eyes were black as a moonless night,
and from this close they were stunning. "So, whaddya say,
Kaysh?"

I stammered for a second. "Say about what?" I finally
managed.

He laughed, and it made my heart light to hear him so
happy. "Since you're totally not catching hints, I can be all
formal, I suppose." He took my hand in his, the warmth calming and
comforting, looking down at our fingers wound together before his
gaze came back up to mine. "Be my girlfriend, Kacea."

I felt like a retard, but tried to play it off. "Are
you kidding me? I've been wanting you to ask me that since we were
in, like, seventh grade."

His smile was dazzling, the happiness filling his
eyes as he pressed a soft kiss to my knuckles. "Let's get you to
class then, brainiac. You'd better ace that test, or I'll know you
were thinking of what could have happened this morning instead of
focusing."

The dark promises underlying his words made me blush
and I just shook my head. "Why ya gotta be an ass like that?!"
Distraction: accomplished.

Luckily, I managed to get through my Shakespearean
Literature test with minimal total losses of direction. I made a
point of not looking anywhere near the desk Jynxx was seated at,
even though he was close enough that his scent was heady and made
me long for the end of the day.

At lunch we sat together, Raul wiggling his eyebrows
at us from across the table. "Well, well. Aren't you two looking
all cozy this morning?"

I jammed my straw onto the table and pointed it at
him, blowing hard through the open end and pegging him effectively
in the face with the wrapper. "Your point, Captain Obvious?"

He smirked and retorted, "Kinda touchy, eh Lieutenant
Sarcasm?"

I shrugged and ate my whole lunch in approximately
five minutes. That wasn't normal for me. At all. Must have been
because the full moon was so close. I was stocking up on energy
just like the boys were. Raul had watched me, slack-jawed, as I
cleaned my plate with frightening efficiency.

"Jesus, Kaysh. You're not pregnant, are you?"

I almost choked to death on what was left of my
carton of milk. After a coughing fit that was befitting of a two
packs a day smoker, I shook my head. "Why the hell would you throw
something like that out into the universe?!"

He shrugged with a little smile, his gaze going to
Jynxx, tone suddenly all business. "You'd better take care of her,
big guy, or you've got me to answer to."

Jynxx nodded solemnly. "Not a problem."

"Aww, look at you, Raul! All playing the big brother,
when I could so totally kick your ass." I sniped, sticking my
tongue out at him.

He snickered. "In your dreams, girl. Maybe when we
were kids, but not now."

I waved it off with a chuckle. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever,
Ginger Avenger."

He pelted me with a grape and I caught it before it
could fall to the floor, popping it into my mouth and mumbling my
thanks around it. Raul rolled his eyes and went back to chatting
with Tarren.

The rest of the day dragged on, but the blissful
reprieve of the final bell had me practically running to get out
the door. I didn't need anything from my locker, so I headed to
Jynxx's car as quickly as my legs could manage. Jynxx wasn't far
behind me, but his gait was much calmer than mine, much better
controlled.

"Ready for some more training, grasshopper?" he asked
with a smirk.

I shrugged, climbing into the little sports car when
he unlocked the doors. "I'm ready for it to be the end of this
weekend so this shit can be done and over with. For a few weeks, at
least."

"You're not the only one," he agreed as he climbed
in. He started the car with a roar and took us back to his place,
and one of our final rounds of etiquette training for the
samling.

Chapter 19

School on Friday went by surprisingly fast. I wasn't
sure if that made me happy, or made me want to bend time so
Saturday wouldn't be coming up so quickly. The samling was tomorrow
night, and I was starting to mentally go into full on panic mode.
Were Jynxx and I prepared? Honestly, as prepared as we could be
with barely a week to get all our shit in the same bag. Elomina and
the boys had done their best to run every possible scenario by us
that could come up, so all we could do was remember and follow
through on those contingency plans if everything went sideways.

"Hey. You alright, kitten?" Jynxx's words brought me
from my thoughts and I nodded, keeping my eyes on the road out the
side window.

I apologized, settling my hand on top of his where it
rested on the shifter. He'd been driving us around a lot more since
we'd started dating a few days prior. Must have been a protective
thing. Not that I was complaining.

"I'm just kinda spacey, right now. Worrying about
tomorrow, and all that."

"I really don't think we have anything to worry
about. I mean, from what I grasp, the clans are currently at peace.
It's not like we have to be afraid some rival clan is going to just
pop in, slaughter anyone able to lead, and take over. We don't live
in the Middle Ages anymore, Kaysh." His warm eyes flicked to mine,
and he gave me a smile that warmed me down to my toes. "I've got a
feeling that everything will work out just like it's supposed
to."

"Not if I can help it. I won't let
them win."
A voice rang in my head, like
something I should have remembered.

I suddenly had a sharp, shooting pain pierce my
skull. I cried out, both hands clutching the sides of my head like
I thought my skull would fall apart without the support. I had a
flash of grey eyes looking down at me. Before I could fully grab
onto the image, the pain stabbed my brain once more and I let it
go.

Jynxx had just pulled into the parking lot of Club
Luna and he shut off his car, frantic as he tried to figure out
what had happened to me. He was asking me questions, but all I
could hear was a ringing sound, soft and muffled like I'd been too
close to a grenade that had gone off. I shook my head, slowly at
first, gesturing to my ears and waving my hands spastically before
clutching at my skull again.

He frowned, and I watched him scent the air. He moved
my hands away from my head and turned it slightly to get a better
view of my left ear. He touched his finger to the edge of it and
held it before me. The tip of his finger was coated in blood. I
cringed, leaning back away from it a little.

I spoke, trying not to shout and not whisper all at
once. "Just... Just give me a minute, Jynxx." As I spoke, the pain
started to ebb and I could hear a few more bits of the world around
me. "I think if we just sit here and chill for a few, my hearing
will come back completely."

I grabbed a napkin from his glove box and checked my
right ear for bleeding, but it was fine. I used it to blot at my
left ear until it stopped coming away with fresh moisture. Almost
instantly, my hearing came back in a rush. The world seemed too
loud, so I rolled up my window and breathed in shallowly to let my
body readjust.

"What the hell just happened? It was like someone
shot you, Kaysh. With the way you screamed, I nearly drove us off
the road." He gripped my hand tightly, his hard-fought control
obvious by the corded veins in his forearm.

"I... I don't know. I thought I saw something, heard
something, and then it was like my brain tried to liquefy itself."
My voice sounded reedy, afraid. I was unsettled as hell. Whose eyes
were those? Whose voice? And why did it feel so horribly
familiar?

When I tried to get a handle on it, my forehead
throbbed, a dull pain this time that was almost like a warning. I
backed off, not wanting to get zapped again by whatever it was that
my mind was trying to protect me from. I knew if it was really that
important, it would come to me in time. Apparently, that time was
most definitely not right now.

He lifted my hand in his, pressing a gentle kiss to
my knuckles. “We can go back to my place and just chill if you’re
not up for hours of screaming and thrashing, you know.”

Jynxx’s words were gentle and completely innocent,
but I couldn’t help a small smirk. “Doesn’t mean there wouldn’t be
hours of thrashing and screaming at your place. Then you couldn’t
puss out because we wouldn’t be in your car anymore.”

He narrowed his eyes and shook a finger at me. “Don’t
you be biting off more than you can chew, kitten. This dog bites
back.”

I wiggled my eyebrows at him, starting to feel better
with the humor. “Maybe this kitten likes it when the doggy bites
back.”

Jynxx snorted at that and gently ran his fingers down
the side of my face. “This kitten doesn’t even know how she likes
it,” he teased darkly, leaning in closer to capture my lips with
his.

I melted into the kiss, sliding my fingers into his
thick hair, the nearness to this absolutely gorgeous man who cared
about me like Novocain to my already healing eardrum. The petting
went on for a few moments before I broke away, breathless.

“Keep that up and I might end up breaking my rule
about the car…” he practically purred, resting his forehead on
mine.

It was my turn to laugh, quickly fixing my mussed
hair in the mirror and opening my door. “You still think you’ve got
what it takes to deflower me, peasant?”

Quicker than normal eyes could follow, he was out of
the car and had me pressed back against it, the heavy rhythm of his
pulse against me drowning out my own heartbeat. I gasped at the
speed, then all heat in me cooled rapidly as a familiar and
unwelcome voice rang across the parking lot. “Get a room, will
ya?”

Alain Reece was shooting us dirty looks and I flipped
him off, but Jynxx respectfully gave me some space. “It’s up to
you, Kaysh. If you’d rather be somewhere quiet, we can leave.”

I pondered it for a minute, finally shaking my head.
“We need you to be here to show that you’re purposely being
involved in the wolfy community. If we bail now, it might reflect
badly, and that’s the last thing we need with how much we’ve busted
our asses for the last week.”

He sighed, agreeing with my words, but obviously not
happy about it. "Why do you have to be right all the time, huh?" he
whined.

I smirked. "Elementary, my dear Watson. Females are
possessing superior intelligence. Therefore, you're just
outclassed, my friend."

He rolled those pretty black eyes and pushed me
forward with a hand at the small of my back. "Onward then, oh most
highest of geniuses."

I was honestly surprised I could feel anything other
than the pressure of his hand through the thick material and
unforgiving steel bones of the corset I was wearing, but this
metaphysical werewolf and kinda-sorta goddess thing had made our
connection deeper than it should have been. I could feel the heat
of his hand through everything, forcing myself to shove the
sensations to the back of my mind for now. We were in public, and
about to be fully immersed in several hours of moshing and getting
rid of pent-up anxiety over the samling tomorrow. Now wasn't the
time to be letting my mind wander into the realm of irreversible
naughtiness.

I smiled at Feign as we handed him a few bucks to
cover our entry fee, passing by the table and heading to the large
inner chamber that housed the show. Just about to kick off, we were
lucky to be more towards the back of the crowd than last time. I
was thankful, not wanting to get jostled around too awfully much
after my episode in the car.

The bands scheduled to play tonight were also
small-timers, but hard rock and metal groups from a little ways
away. None of the local wolves were on the bill for tonight. They
all wanted the chance to let off a little steam, and that meant I
was definitely going to hang towards the back. All I needed was to
get majorly hurt by some Ulven throwing windmill kicks and make
Jynxx and the boys look weak. As if sensing this, Jynxx was content
to hang back with me for most of the show. A few times I made a
point of shooing him to go and get his aggression out. Like any
metal head, there was only really one time and place that you could
kick someone's ass and get away with it. That was in the pit, and I
wasn't going to deny him that sort of release.