The Hidden (Heartfire) (5 page)

I felt complete.

He leaned his forehead on mine, struggling to catch his breath. He kissed me as I adjusted to the intrusion. I could see the strain in his face. He was holding back. For me.

Then Dylan started to move.

Slowly he made small circles with his hips. My hands snaked their way around him suddenly as my body started to move instinctively with his. I wasn't thinking, but I felt something new and strange and wonderful.

I felt like a woman.

For a long time the only sound in the cabin were our raspy breath. Our tempo increased incrementally as he whispered into my ear. We were perfectly in sync.

"I love you, Kaylia."

I stared up at him, my sweet friend. My dreammate. And now my boyfriend.

My lover.

"I love you too."

My soft words had an instantaneous effect on him. His hips started moving faster and out of tempo. His eyes were closed tightly, as if he were in pain. He moaned as he plunged into me, harder and faster. I was feeling a sort of pressure building inside me- it felt so good- it felt-

Above me I saw Dylan open his eyes, staring down at me with a hard look of concentration on his face.

"Dylan-"

"Oh God Kaylia-"

He didn't hear me whisper to him as he bucked above me, his body shuddering as he climaxed. He didn't hear what I said.

"Your eyes are gold."

Chapter Seven

Dylan

✬

I opened my eyes and reached for Kaylia but found only cool sheets. I had a moment of panic before I realized she was probably outside with her sketch pad. She liked to draw when she woke up, recreating everything she saw in her travels.

Last night I had dreamt, I was almost certain of it. All I could remember was a warmth surrounding me, and a feeling of floating. Almost like I was suspended in some sort of wonderful, healing goo.

I shook my head. Goo, Dylan? Don't tell Kaylia that. She'll probably think you're an idiot.

Then again, she did seem to be rather fond of me...

Love. She'd said it. She loved me too.

I lay back and closed my eyes. I felt good. I felt better than good. I felt
amazing.

This wasn't the power surge I felt when I woke up lately. This was something else. I felt soothed almost. It took a minute before I realized what it was.

The beast inside me was quiet.

It was all because of her. Something about being with her was more than exciting. I felt sated and calm in a way I never had before.

Of course, we'd barely slept last night. Once we'd started, we hadn't wanted to stop. I wasn't sure we could have stopped. Making love to her was like a compulsion.

We hadn't even eaten dinner.

I smiled, thinking about how she'd started so shy each time. But then she'd gotten wild. And then shy again.

It was the cutest damn thing I'd seen in my life.

She'd covered herself with the sheets after the first time... and the second... and the third. But I hadn't let her hide herself from me when we were having sex. Each time, she gave herself fully. And I made sure she found her climax every time after that first time.

That first time... well I just hadn't been able to wait.

I grinned and stared up at the ceiling. I'd been so careful not to hurt her and as a result, she hadn't been sore. Still, I hadn't taken her nearly as many times as I'd wanted to.

Six or seven times would have started to scratch the itch. But that was greedy. I wasn't about to do that to my sweet no-longer-virginal girlfriend.

Plus, we had the whole weekend to explore each other...

I pulled on my pants and padded down the stairs in my bare feet. I stepped out onto the porch. Just as I'd suspected, she was curled up in a rocking chair. Her shiny brown hair curled around her cheek as she bent diligently over her pad.

"What are you working on?"

She jumped in her chair. I smiled and walked over to her.

"Didn't mean to scare you. Good morning sweetheart."

She turned her head to meet my kiss.
My eyes slanted to the side while I kissed her, noticing that she shut the pad secretively.

Kaylia was blushing when I finally pulled back. My voice was husky as I asked her what she wanted to do today. I knew what I wanted to do, but I didn't want to be a pig about it.

No, not a pig. A dog.

"Maybe we could go for a walk? It's so peacful here."

She tucked her hair behind her ear. I stared at her graceful neck, having impure thoughts. I shook it off. This was my girlfriend, not a one night stand. I didn't have to rush.

If the lady wanted to walk, we were going to walk. And anything else she wanted. Not just today either.

Forever.

"I think I saw a path out back. Breakfast before or after? I'm cooking."

She smiled at me.

"After. But maybe some coffee first?"

I leaned down and kissed her neck.

"Already brewing. I'll grab some cups and we can take it with us."

She nodded, looking shy. I wanted to pick her up and throw her over my shoulder and carry her back to bed. But I was not a caveman. I was a gentleman.

Well, maybe I was a little bit both.

"Get your shoes on and I'll meet you out here in five."

"Alright. Thank you, Dylan."

"So formal, Ms. Thomas."

I chucked her on the chin and laughed, pulling her into my arms for a kiss. It went on a little longer than I meant it to. But that was just the way it was. I had a hard time controlling myself around her.

I forced myself to stop before I got too excited and spooked her. Instead of jumping her bones like I wanted to I just rubbed my nose against hers. Then I set her down and went to get my lady some coffee.

Kaylia

✬

"Here. Rub some of this on your neck, wrists and ankles."

Dylan took the small package from me and sniffed it. He was so cute, I wanted to kiss his nose. I restrained myself though.

I didn't want him to think I was a walking hormone.

"Soap?"

I nodded.

"It's eucalyptus. My Gran makes it from scratch. It keeps the bugs off."

I shrugged shyly.

"One of my family's old tricks. It works."

Dylan didn't look at me like a backwoods bumpkin. Instead he looked impressed. I sighed in relief.

"Cool."

We helped each other apply the soap to our skin and then walked out to the porch. Dylan locked the door and took my hand. He kissed the back of it softly, sending shivers down my spine.

The path was narrow so Dylan took the lead, warning me when to step over a branch or a rock. He lifted me up and over a fallen log as we headed down a slope towards the sound of a babbling brook.
 

I sipped my coffee from the travel mug he'd brought me. It was good coffee too, not like they served in the dorms. He'd added just a touch of sugar. Exactly how I liked it.

He kept kissing me, little teasing kisses that left me wanting more. I knew he would want to do that again. But he didn't push me.

I wasn't so sure I would mind if he had...

We walked for a while until we found a pretty spot. A huge rock was poised over a bend in the stream. There was a little pool of clear water. It was nice spot so we sat down side by side, letting our legs dangle over the edge.
 

"I want you to meet my parents. They're rich assholes. But they are
my
rich assholes."

I laughed.

"Dylan! You shouldn't call your parents names!"

He shrugged.

"I can't help it. I never want to lie to you."

I felt a strange feeling of foreboding. I hadn't told him about the beast with the silver hair that had been in my dreams. Maybe Dylan already knew, maybe he didn't.

But for some reason I just wasn't ready to talk about it.

So he was being honest.
 

And I wasn't.

I opened my mouth and there he was, kissing me deeply. I sighed, relaxing against his chest. The rock was smooth and soft with moss underneath us. I let him ease me onto my back and the kiss went wild.

Dylan stopped kissing me, his hands like vices around my wrist.

"Shhh... don't move."

We turned our heads towards the stream.

A bear stood on its hind legs staring at us. It didn't come closer or attack. It just stood there.

In fact, it looked almost afraid.

How an enormous wall of muscle could look afraid was beyond me. But that was my first though. My second one was 'run!'

I knew it would catch us though.

Dylan's hand seemed to grow where it held mine. I was afraid to look at him. Afriad of what I might see.

Then he growled.

The bear stood up straighter, towering over us, even where we were high up on the rock. It roared in a fury and Dylan pushed me back, protecting me.

I sure this was the end of us. I cursed myself for suggesting a walk. I'd just gotten us both killed.

For what? Because I wanted to delay going to bed together again? Because I was abormally shy and embarassed about the way Dylan made me feel?

This was all my fault.

The bear was enormous, well over ten feet tall. It could finish us with a swipe. I braced myself for the inevitable, scooting backward towards the treeline.

But Dylan didn't move an inch.

In fact, he stepped forward. I wanted to cry out- to stop him- but I was too frightened to make a sound.

Dylan growled again, sounding like an animal, not a man. The bear swang its arms without moving. It was as if they were sizing each other up before a fight.

That bear would kill Dylan. I knew it. I had to stop it.

Even if I had to sacrifice myself to do it.

I stood up and stepped forward. I reached my hand out, feeling an unspeakable power swell and flow through me. I said something that I didn't quite understand.

"Zeforauva. Zeforauva gomanda."

The bear stared at me, frozen in place. Then it dropped to all fours and ambled away. It looked back at us and make a strange mournful sound. Then it was gone.

I stared at my hand, wondering what had just happened.

Dylan grabbed me. I noticed his eyes were red. As I watched they quickly faded back to their usual grey blue. I think I was in shock because he kept saying the same thing over and over again and I didn't answer him.

I couldn't.

"Are you alright? Kaylia? Are you alright!"

I seemed to snap out of it then. I looked at him. At his handsome, worried face.

"Yes."

"Thank God. I was so scared Kaylia. I wasn't going to let him hurt you though."

He brushed the hair out of my face, staring at me in awe.

"That was amazing, Kaylia. How did you do that? What did you say to him?"

I shook my head. I was as surprised as he was. I'd been expecting to get eaten, not to speak in tongues.

"I- I don't know. I guess I'm a freak."

"Are you kidding? You're incredible!"

I stepped back before he could kiss me. I didn't feel incredible. I wanted to get as far from this place as possible.

"I think... I want to go home Dylan."

He dropped his arms and stepped back. He looked disapponted. He opened his mouth as if he might argue but he didn't.

"Okay. Okay."

We went back to the cabin and packed up. We didn't have those eggs after all. We just got into the car and left.

The sunny beautiful fall day felt mournful somehow.

I stared at the window at the passing landscape, wondering if I should have stayed. I'd enjoyed the time away from school, being away from the realities of our differences, from what had happened two weeks ago that night after the game.

But every night, every time I closed my eyes, it came back to haunt me.

It wasn't just that we were even more connected that I had thought. It wasn't that he seemed to be in some sort of trouble in the dreams. I couldn't tell him about the other I'd seen. Gray beard had been showing up in my dreams. Each night he came closer, more insistent, more demanding.

Every morning I woke up in a cold sweat, even last night, with Dylan's strong arms around me.

He couldn't protect me from this. In fact, I had a feeling it was up to me to protect
him.

Telling him any of that would only make him worry.

"You're awfully quiet."

I turned and looked at him. His handsome profile. His strong arms on the steering wheel. So confident and sure.

Meanwhile, I wasn't sure of anything.

"I'm fine. Just thinking..."

He glanced at me with a wolfish grin before turning his attention back to the road.

"Yeah, me too."

I felt my cheeks get warm. I knew what he meant. He was thinking about
that.

What we'd done together in bed.

I'd been surprised at how much I'd liked it.

I'd liked it
a lot.

That didn't mean I wanted to talk about it. That conversation would be so embarassing it would make me want to run and hide. I sighed, realizing there were a lot of things I didn't want to talk about. This was not a great start for our relationship.

Too many secrets.

Dylan

Chapter Eight

∏

I stood in the visitors area, covered in sweat and grass stains. I was shaking hands with alumni, the Dean, reporters and the parents of the other players. Through the crowd I saw Kaylia standing uncertainly by the door. I crossed the room in long strides, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

I pulled her back over to stand in front of my locker, ignoring the stares of the other players. None of them realized that the cute girl who worked in the team dining hall was the star quarterback's girl. But they would now.

It wasn't just homecoming, it was also our coming out party.

I threw my arm around her and grinned for a photographer snapping a picture.

Kaylia looked calmer than I expected, even though I could tell it was partially an act. I was relieved. I had been so worried she would freak or back out when it came time to make it public.

I squeezed her shoulder reasurringly. I didn't blame her for being nervous. After all, it was going to be the first time she met my parents, never mind the rest of the community that buzzed around the team constantly.