The Key (Heartfire) (8 page)

Harrison did as he asked while Luke explained the frat hierarchy. Harrison was an underclassman. Luke was a senior. So he got to order him around.

Luke turned out to be smarter than he looked. Polite even. He sent Harrison to get a couple of folding chairs for them to sit in. He even took off his baseball cap, like a true gentleman.

Kaylia knew she was getting hit on. But he wasn't trying to get her drunk or drag her off to his room so she let it happen. Enjoyed it even.

Luke wasn't Dylan. But he was easier to talk to than she'd expected. And she was flattered by his obvious interest.

So when he offered her another beer she shrugged and said something she probably shouldn't have.

"Why not?"

Dylan

 
♈

Dylan sat at the kitchen table, eating his takeout wings and drinking a beer. He was always drinking lately. And eating. He seemed to burn through fuel twice as fast as before.

"Come on man, let's go out. My friend is having a party."

Dylan shrugged and pushed his food away, following Chuck out of their suite. He had been avoiding the main room every night since the incident with the blond girl. Tonight it was quiet though. Everyone had found someplace else to party thank God.

He didn't want to talk and he definitely did not want to deal with more skanks throwing themselves at him. He knew he was being unkind but he didn't care anymore.

He was disgusted by his teammate's frantic hook-ups. They seemed to act as if they earned points by having as much sex as humanly possible. He wanted to tell them that an endless string of meaningless sex would only get them an STD or a kid.

But tonight for some reason he went along anyway.

It was starting to rain as they walked through campus to the row of frat houses just beyond. Random dudes were not welcome at these parties, but as athletes, they were invited just about everywhere.

He stood outside the house with his beer, letting the water soak him.

"Your beer is getting watery."

A cute redhead was smiling at him, ignoring the fact that her top was getting wet.

Actually, maybe that was deliberate.

"Come inside silly."

He went inside the crowded house, ignoring the girl who was sticking to him like static cling. Nothing mattered. He was numb to it all.
 

Not until he saw her.

He stood there, dripping water all over the floor. She was here. Kaylia was here.

He'd been worried about her, thinking she was sad. Thinking she missed him. But no. She was at a fucking frat party.

Kaylia was sitting in a lawnchair on the landing halfway up the stairs. She was laughing at something a bro' with wavy blond hair was saying to her. The flirtatious look on her face was like a knife in his gut.

He knew, he
knew
that she had every right to move on. He'd ended things. But that was a rational voice. His other voice was much, much louder.

The voice that spoke in grunts and growls.

That voice wanted to tear this guy's throat out.

He was across the room and up the stairs in two shakes, staring down at them.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

She looked surprised to see him at first. Almost happy. Then her expression changed to one of hurt. In a split second, her face had shuttered.

Closed for business.

At least, for him.

He stepped closer, until his knees were practically touching hers.

"You don't belong here, Kaylia."

She wouldn't look at him. She looked embarrassed. She looked
humiliated.

The imbecile next to her stood up.

"Hey man, back off. She's my guest."

He didn't recognize his own voice as he turned to face the guy. He was filled with visions of him touching her. Tasting her.

Fucking her.

"Who the fuck are you?"

The guy looked taken aback by Dylan's tone of voice. Then he stood up straighter like he thought he stood a chance. All frat boy swagger.

Oh boy did he have another thing coming.

"I'm Luke and I live here. Who the fuck are you?"

People were gathering around them, eager for a fight. Chuck tried to step between us but Dylan shouldered him away.

"Come on Dylan, it's not worth it. Plenty of fish in the sea, remember?"

"It? You mean 'her.' She's a fucking human being. And she's mine."

Chuck shut up when he saw the look on Dylan's face. He knew he was snarling. He had a very, very thin hold on his self-control. He had a feeling it was about to snap.

"Hey man, it's a free country. She can talk to whoever she wants to."

The idiot actually grinned at him. Like this was a game.

"And she wants to talk to me."

Even Kaylia tried to talk some sense into the guy.

"Luke, don't. I'll go. Okay, Dylan?"

Dylan ignored her. He was breathing heavily, trying to decide if he should throw the little pissant down the stairs or just choke him where he stood. He remembered the way Kaylia had smiled at Luke and the decision was made.

Choking. Definitely choking.

He reached out and grabbed Luke's throat, lifting him off his feet. People tried to pull him away but Dylan was too strong. He snarled at the surprised look on the frat boy's face as he clawed at Dylan's hand on his throat. Everyone was shouting at once. Chuck was screaming into his ear but he barely heard him.

"Come on man, you are going to get benched for fighting."

Even that didn't penetrate. Nothing did until he felt the soft hand on his shoulder. Until he heard her voice.

"Put him down Dylan."

Dylan did.

Chapter Twelve

Kaylia

 
☈

It was over in two seconds. Luke wasn't ever in any real danger. He'd simply rubbed his throat and walked away.

A few minutes more though... Luke might have ended up in the hospital. Or worse. Kaylia pushed the thought aside. Dylan wasn't like that. She knew him. He wouldn't hurt a fly.

Even as she thought the words she knew it was a lie.

The old Dylan would not have hurt a fly. The new Dylan was something else entirely. Brooding. Aggressive. Lost.

He was just... different.

Dylan's friend Chuck was smoothing things over so no charges would be pressed.

Kaylia was shocked by the violence that had come from Dylan in those few moments. He wasn't himself. And when he looked at her, he looked almost as surprised as she was.

Almost like he was afraid of his own strength.

He'd let go immediately. They'd stood there, staring at each other for a heartbeat. Then he sneered and grabbed her arm, pulling her down the stairs and out into the rain.
 
Kaylia was running to keep up with him.
 

"Dylan-"

She tried to dig her heels in but it didn't even slow him.

"Dylan! Stop! You're pulling me too hard!"

She stumbled as he stopped abruptly, turning to face her.

"Is that your new boyfriend? Did you fuck him Kaylia? Did you?"

He held her shoulders, not quite shaking her. His touch was gentle somehow, despite the desperate anger in his face. She could have broken free easily. But she was too stunned to step away.

"No, I just met him. I swear."

"Don't lie to me! I've been going out of my head, and you just moved on. Admit it!"

"Nothing is going on Dylan! Not that it's any of your damn business."

His arms dropped. He looked for a minute like she'd slapped him. Then he stepped in, so close he was almost touching her. Kaylia could smell the alcohol on his breath as it fanned her face.

"But that's not really true is it Kaylia? You know that it
is
my business. Everything about you is my business."

He ran his fingertips over her wet cheek.

"Whether either one of us wants it to be or not."

His fingers ran down to her chin. He gripped it hard, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

"Luckily for me, I'm happy to make you my business. Permanently."

He let go abruptly and turned, walking briskly through campus. She stood in the rain, staring after him. She felt frozen, shocked by his admission. He stopped and came back, taking her hand. He stared at her palm as he ran his thumb over the sensitive skin. He was such a contradictory combination of rough and tender. His voice was husky as he murmured to her.

"Come on, you need to get out of the rain. I don't want you to get sick."

She said nothing as she let him lead her back towards her dorm. He opened the door and she stepped inside, just out of the rain. He stayed outside, letting the water pour down his face. He looked so lost and alone to her in that moment, she had to stop herself from reaching out to him.

"What about you? Don't you have a big game coming up or something?"

He laughed, the sound surprisingly bitter. He held out his arms, letting the rain drench every inch of him. Then he tilted his head back and opened his mouth, drinking it in. He looked wild somehow.

Wild and untamed. Dangerous.
 

His blue eyes were practically glowing as he lowered his face, staring at her hard.

"Look at me. I don't get sick, Kaylia."

Then he stepped forward and kissed her mouth, hard and fast. She gasped at the suddeness of it. The heat.

And just like that, he was gone.

Dylan

☈

Running. He was running. He knew exactly where he was. The dunes near his family's house. The dunes that led to the water. He'd been here a hundred times.

A thousand.

But everything looked odd. The perspective was wrong. The angles of the earth and sky. It took him a while to figure out what it was. When he did, he was horrified.

He was too low to the ground, running like an animal on all fours.

Once he understood, he moved faster, his limbs eating the ground as they moved in tandem. It was so easy, like second nature to him. Even though he'd never done it before.

Something pulled him forward, despite his feeling of unease. He ran up the coast, travelling miles at an astounding rate. The scenery blurred past him as he picked up speed. He found himself somewhere else. Someplace unfamiliar.

He crossed a thin barrier of sand. A stretch of land too narrow for buildings. Then he was there- whatever had been drawing him was close. He could feel it. A rocky, impenetrable coast spread out before him. It ran in a circle, surrounding the small island completely.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard a voice whisper a name.

The Heart of Fire.

Up ahead he saw a huge stone building, like an ancient fortress. Something resonated inside him. Recognition. Fear. Anger.

He knew this place.

In the dream he began to climb the rocks, full of fear and longing in equal measures. He tried to grasp at the loose rocks that led up the cliff but his hands were clumsy and oddly shaped. He looked down on himself and saw something that frightened him to the core.

He was covered in fur.

He awoke covered in sweat and shaking from exertion. He cleaned himself up and changed his soaked sheets. He lay on top of the covers as dawn lit up the sky.

He didn't sleep. He wasn't prepared to face the dreams again.

But he did come to a decision.

He was done fighting whatever this was. It was pointless anyway. Whatever he was becoming, Dylan knew he had already changed far too much to go back. And whatever role Kaylia played in it... well he was done fighting that too.

The time had come to claim her as his own.

Kaylia

☈

Kaylia cut open the haunch of beef, watching as the juices ran freely to the cutting board. She placed a thick slice on the plate in front of her without lifting her eyes. She could feel him there, staring at her. She glanced up in time to see Dylan turn away.
 

She should have asked for a different shift, a different service. She could have asked to stay in the back. She should have. But she was too weak.

She couldn't help but want to see him, even if it was just across the lecture hall on Wednesdays. Or the dining hall every Monday and Thursday. He'd been stoically ignoring her for weeks now.

Until the party.

He'd been drunk though. And dangerously angry. She half-expected him to begin ignoring her again. She had been ready to tell him to go to hell when he'd dragged her out of that frat house. Nobody told her what to do.
 

But then she'd seen the look in his eyes. Desperate and lonely. It echoed the way she felt but never shared. And he'd let her see it.

So she kept her head down, stealing an occasional glance at Dylan.

Today when she glanced up he was staring at her, a haunted look in his eyes. His gaze was traveling over her neck and throat, down to her chest and lower. She gasped, taking a step back at the blatant lust in his eyes. It was as if he could see through her clothes. She felt naked and exposed.

"Kaylia- do you need a break?"

Pam checked up on her now and then. She walked the floor, keeping her eye on everything. She ran a tight kitchen. The boss didn't make them work crazy hard, but she didn't allow for slacking either.

She would definitely notice one of her servers standing like an idiot in the middle of the floor. Kaylia shook herself, waking up from the trance Dylan had put her in. She glanced at her boss, embarrassed.

"No, I'm fine."

Pam smiled at her, lifting an eyebrow.

"Then get back to it."

She nodded her head dumbly and stepped back to her station.

Another group of players had just come in. She served them one at a time, trying to ignore the feeling of Dylan's eyes on her. When she looked up again he was smiling humorously, rubbing his thumb across his lips as he stared at her breasts. It was as if he could see them, all the way through her shirt and the apron! She gasped, shocked at the sudden feeling that he was actually touching her, not just looking.
 

He lifted his eyes to hers. They were cold and hard but somehow full of fire. She swallowed, forcing herself to look away. She knew her cheeks were burning.