Chapter 9 “Seduction”
Kyoko felt like she was being rocked and she blinked trying to focus. “Tasuki? Why are you carrying me?” She frowned as she wrapped her arm around him for leverage so she could look around. “Whose house is this?” She was suddenly awake and feeling the adrenalin rush again. Blowing her bangs out of her eyes, Kyoko grinned feeling a little high… ‘Sure, who needs sleep?’
Tasuki placed her on his sofa then took a seat on the coffee table facing her. “This is my house… parents are gone on an extended second honeymoon and probably won’t be back for a month… I was carrying you because you were so tired you wouldn’t even wake up enough to walk in here.”
He reached down and pulled her shoes off as he added, “No… I don’t think you’re going to school today because it’s a long walk and in your condition, you won’t make it a block.” He tossed her shoes over his shoulder not caring where they landed. “Now, I’ve answered all of the questions you asked… or were gonna ask. It’s time for you to tell me what the hell is going on.”
“No one knows I’m here?” Kyoko asked as she pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around her knees. When he shook his head, some of the tension left her shoulders. Seeing that he was waiting on her to say something else, her lips parted and of course… nothing came out.
Closing her lips and at a loss for words, she relaxed her legs and fidgeted until she was sitting Indian style, then changed her mind again. She finally settled with her legs tucked in close and leaning her body against the overstuffed arm. That was better… now he wasn’t directly in front of her. She blinked when he moved over on the coffee table until he was even with her again.
Tasuki sighed suddenly deflated. “I thought you trusted me?”
“You’re the only one I do trust,” she answered honestly.
“Did you know those guys before yesterday?” He couldn’t stop the question before it left his jealous lips.
“No. Everything I told you yesterday was the truth. And you know what?” Kyoko sat up a little straighter. “Since I’m barely keeping up with everything that’s going on… and I do trust you… I’m gonna tell you everything.” She nodded determinedly. “And if you send me to a crazy house, then at least I might get some sleep.”
And she did. Kyoko didn’t leave out a single detail of anything that had happened after he brought her home from the mall yesterday. She even backed up so she wouldn’t leave out the stranger at the school or the fact she thought he was Tama. Tasuki wasn’t a guardian so she hadn’t broken her promise. She didn’t skip what Kyou did to make her powers work… or even that Shinbe had told her they would have to become lovers if she wanted to keep her powers.
“Breathe Tasuki,” Kyoko said gently, not blaming him at all.
He closed his eyes and inhaled… then did it again for good measure. “Are you one hundred percent sure of everything you just told me?” He had to at least give it a try.
“I was attacked by demons Tasuki… I think that was the clincher for me.” Kyoko almost grinned. “As far as losing my mind… that’s still a possibility. Am I really at your house?” Kyoko asked.
“Yes.” Tasuki frowned.
“Then yeah, I’m sure everything happened because it’s still happening. Unless you would like me to help you find the number to the local insane asylum.” She tensed up as something occurred to her, “Tasuki… if you don’t want any part of this, I would understand. It might not be such a good idea for you to even be talking to me.”
“Why? Because ‘The Adams Family’ said so?” Life came back into Tasuki’s eyes. “I’m not scared of them.”
“If they hurt you, I would hate them forever. So no… I’m not talking about the guardians hurting you. I’m talking about the demons. The ones last night were vicious. They’re already stalking the school looking for me and attacking me right in my own yard. You could be in danger just by being around me and now we are alone in your house.” She bit her bottom lip. “Maybe you should just drop me off at school, or no, not that… maybe take me back home.”
“Absolutely,” Tasuki nodded, “Not.” He smiled. “But I’ll tell you what I will do. I’m gonna take you up those stairs and put you to bed. Maybe after you get some sleep, we can decide where to go from there.” Without giving her a chance to talk her way out of it, he took her hand and led her up the stairs and into his bedroom. “I don’t have any silk nighties, thank god, but I do have a lot of oversized t-shirts if you want one.”
Kyoko giggled when a black t-shirt landed beside her but when she looked up… Tasuki was gone. Changing into the soft cotton, she crawled under the covers and didn’t even remember her head touching the pillow.
***** “I’m telling you his car isn’t in this parking lot!” Kotaro roughly pushed the kickstand down as he parked his motorcycle right beside Toya’s jeep.
“Maybe the punk was smart enough to see that he was out numbered and dropped her off here so he could go lick his wounds,” Toya smirked, liking that idea even better.
“Something tells me Tasuki isn’t that smart,” Shinbe mused as he jumped out of the jeep and joined Kyou and Kamui as they started across the parking lot.
Tama watched the guardians as they walked toward the school. After the dream last night, he wanted to see her… to see if she would recognize him and still keep his secret. Hyakuhei was on the roof of the high school just in case Tama needed the guardians distracted.
‘Where is my sister?’ Tama growled knowing Hyakuhei could hear him. ‘They’ve done something to her, I just know it.’ He could feel Hyakuhei using his power to search the school for her presence. ‘I’ll find her myself,’ Tama snarled as he started to go in after the guardians.
“Wait,” Hyakuhei hissed, “Send in the demons. If the guardians think she’s in danger, then they will run to her.
‘And we’ll follow,’ Tama finished for him.
Shinbe stood in the doorway of the chemistry class glaring at the empty desk where he and Kyoko should now be together. His gazed jerked to the empty spot declaring Tasuki was also missing. Pushing away from the door, he headed back toward the guardians who were waiting at the bottom of the stairs.
Seeing Shinbe headed back toward them alone, Toya let out a stream of curses that would have gotten him expelled if any teachers had overheard.
“Tasuki has obviously hid her from us.” Shinbe slowly turned his head toward the office. “Kamui, if given a chance, I bet you could find Tasuki’s address on the school's computer without a problem, right?” His eyes narrowed seeing the secretary watching them through the glass windows of the office, “First, we would need to distract Mrs. Hissy Fit.”
Just as he started for the office, all power to the school was shut down leaving a sudden eerie stillness as the collective bodies within the school held their breath. With no windows, the halls were nothing but dark mazes. That darkness was like a lethal shadow just waiting to strike.
“Toya… lock the students in their classrooms. Quickly!” Kyou backed into the shadows. “We are not alone… spread out.”
Toya streaked through the darkness of the lower halls hearing the resounding click of the doors as he passed. He didn’t even have to touch the locks as he used his powers. The temperature in the hallway dropped suddenly and he crouched as he spun around. Seeing what looked like a hairless wolf standing oddly on the upper wall like some demented fly, Toya slowly released one of the twin daggers.
“Do you think you can hide her from us?” the creature hissed as it lowered itself against the wall then sprang.
The demon was on top of him before he knew it had moved. The rage Toya felt was so powerful that it turned his site to a red haze. “You will never touch her,” his voice was dripping with deadly intentions.
“We already have,” the thing cackled as it bit into the arm holding the dagger. The bright red of freshly spilt blood speckled the wall. That same chuckle ended in a gurgle as a fountain of red liquid erupted from the demon's jugular, the delicate flesh of his throat torn and veins severed by one quick slash of Toya’s furious hand. Blood ran down Toya’s arm but he ignored it as he rejoined his brothers.
Kotaro stood at the top of the steps blocking the demons from spreading further throughout the school. He could feel them like something evil peeking through the cracks from below. “Come on, if you think you can take me,” he whispered through gritted teeth.
As if answering his summons, a large serpent slithered around the corner of the first step, wrapping itself through the banister like water in a crooked stream. Its sharp fangs dripped thick acid that hissed and sizzled as it landed on the steel and stone steps. “A snake… is that all you have to offer?” Kotaro smirked thinking it would be an easy fight until it picked itself up as razor-sharp, clawed feet erupted from his underbelly.
“Oh… that’s better… not!” Sarcasm at its finest. The demon had the nerve to smile at him.
“Need some help?” Shinbe asked from where he now stood at the bottom of the steps. “Since I do seem to be on the safe end,” He took a quick step back when a long spike shot out of the tip of its tail reminding him of the last time he’d fought a scorpion.
“Will you two shut the hell up and fight it before the thing grows horns?” Toya yelled then growled when it sprouted horns.
“I see your point,” Shinbe mused as he dodged the sharp spike. Taking a run and jump, he flipped, landing on the banister and nodded at Kotaro. “Shall we?”
Kotaro kicked the end of the steel handrail, loosening it as Shinbe shot a life-force blast into the center, snapping the railing into a lethal weapon. Using the sharp part of the steel beam, Kotaro brought it down in the center of the creature and vaulted into the air, still holding the other end. Once he was positioned straight up in the air, he jerked downward hard, spiking the metal clear through the step and pinning the beast to it.
For a moment, each end of the demonic serpent withered like a loose air hose, smashing into the wall and steps until the floor beneath it cracked. Shinbe jumped, wrapping his arms around its flailing tail until the blue light of the barrier he was summoning started. Both he and Kotaro pushed away from the demon at the same time, landing gracefully beside the other guardians at the bottom of the steps.
“That will teach it to act so big,” Shinbe smirked as the barrier shield started to shrink, taking the demon with it. Turning around, his smirk vanished seeing what looked like the hounds of hell not twenty feet behind them. “Nice doggies?” They answered with demonic growls.
When flames appeared on their backs, Kamui narrowed his eyes. “Fire? Let’s see how well that goes with a glass of water.” He started to chant as he brought his hands up and curved his fingers in an ancient sign. The fire alarm screamed just as the indoor sprinkler system swirled to life. Even as the flames sizzled and began to die, the demons attacked.
Kyou was in front as he summoned a sword of glowing light from his palm. Meeting them head on, he sliced the closest one right down the middle.
***** Tasuki drummed his fingers on the arm of the sofa knowing Kyoko was in a lot of trouble, whether what she said was true or not. She believed what she was saying and that was bad enough. He flipped on the TV trying to make time go by faster until she woke up. He was just staring at the screen in a worried daze until he noticed what he was looking at.
“Hey! That’s our school!” Turning up the volume, he sat forward seeing the flashing lights across the front of the building.
“Following last night's reports of the damage in the auditorium, we now have another report of a disturbance at the local high school. We still don’t have all the details, but several of the students are being sent to the hospital for minor injuries and the school is being shut down for the day.”
Tasuki could see students milling around the schoolyard behind the camera. One guy caught his attention. He was standing beside the steps watching the other students as they left the building. For just a second, his eyes turned toward the camera before looking back up the steps.
Black eyes… the boy had black eyes and a skateboarder’s haircut. That was the same boy he’d caught staring at Kyoko yesterday as they were leaving school to go to the mall. Kyoko’s words came back to haunt him as cold chills rose along his arms.
The news lady held the microphone out to some of the students that were standing around her, “Can you tell us what happened?”
Yohji stepped forward supporting a crutch from yesterday’s injury. Tasuki hadn’t told anyone, but he had seen Toya trip the boy to keep him from following Kyoko. Somehow that made more sense now than it had yesterday.
“Yeah man, I think it was wild animals or something because we could hear them growling and fighting. When we tried to open the door, it was locked. It’s a good thing our classroom wasn’t on the second floor because most of us jumped out the window when the fire alarm went off and the sprinklers came on.”
Tasuki hit the mute button noticing his hands were now shaking. Looking in the background of the students, he saw the black-eyed boy calmly walking into the school when the others students were still making a mass exodus. Tossing the remote to the coffee table, he no longer doubted Kyoko’s sanity.
Taking a deep breath, he decided that it was up to him to try to protect her from everything… even her self-proclaimed guardians.
***** Tama leaned against the cement block wall of the hallway feeling Hyakuhei’s hunger for the priestess searing through his mind and heart like a white hot blade. ‘You’ve found her?’ his voice was but a breathless whisper.
‘Yes.’ Hyakuhei's eyes darkened feeling her warmth on the other side of town. ‘It seems she’s hiding from the guardians. She is dreaming… her powers flared but only for a moment… shall we reach for her?’ Hyakuhei reached out… linking what power he could with hers and Tama’s.
‘Kyoko… hear me priestess,’ his voice was soft as he led Tama’s power to her.
Kyoko lay dreaming… remembering the feel of Kyou’s hands on her body. As her passion rose within the dream, a voice whispered in her ear. ‘Kyoko… come to me… hear me.’ She tossed her head back and forth on the pillow trying to find him in the dream.
Her lips moved as she answered him. ‘I can hear you… where are you?’
‘You’re not at school… are you?’ Tama asked as he relaxed back against the wall, blocking out everything around him so he could concentrate only on the link Hyakuhei had supplied him.
‘No… I’m not there,’ Kyoko felt herself waking up and struggled against it.
Wanting to give her a reason to trust him, Tama opened his eyes seeing the damage the demons and guardians had done to the school. ‘I came looking for you… to warn you to stay away from this place. I don’t want them to hurt you.’ The link destabilized leaving Tama standing there aching for his sister.
Tasuki gripped her shoulders, gently shaking her from the suspicious-looking dream she was having. He didn’t let go as she jerked forward in the bed. “Kyoko? I could hear you. You were talking to that boy again, weren’t you? What did he say?”
Kyoko felt panicked as she looked at Tasuki. “He asked me if I was at school. When I said no, he told me that he was there to warn me to stay away.”
So many things went through Tasuki’s mind at one time that he didn’t know where to start. He latched on to one important thing… important to him. Maybe he hadn’t lost her after all. “You were talking to him without touching a guardian… but I was holding your hand when you started talking in your sleep. Maybe the guardians aren’t the only ones who can bring on your powers.”
Kyoko’s gaze locked with his wondering if it could be true. Was it her dreaming of Kyou or was it because Tasuki was touching her that she was able to communicate with Tama… if it really was Tama? “I need to ask him what’s going on. I think he was trying to save me from something. Tasuki, will you try to help me find him again?”
Tasuki drew his shirt up and off his body then stepped off the bed unbuttoning his pants. Letting them fall to the floor, he crawled back onto the bed, taking her hands and bringing her to her knees so he could move in behind her.
Becoming confused, Kyoko frowned, still on her knees until Tasuki slid his arm around the front of her and leaned her back against him. His hand splayed across her rib as he caressed his way up to cup her breast through the cotton. His other hand was on her inner thigh as he pulled her knees further apart.
Tasuki whispered near her ear, “I may not be a guardian, Kyoko… but I’m the one who is truly in love with you. Now try.” He didn’t trust the black-eyed boy, but that wasn’t why he was doing this… he wanted her. He had a feeling this was going to be his only shot at binding her to him instead of losing her to the guardians.
Kyoko let her head fall back on his shoulder, feeling his palm softly squeeze the underside of her breast as his thumb ran over her nipple making it pucker and stiffen. She arched her hips away from him, but his hand slid up between her legs and he dragged her back to him. She whimpered as he pushed her panties to the side.
Tasuki ran his middle finger down the bundle of nerves to the hollow in the center, rubbing and applying pressure until his finger was coated with her moist heat. Using two of his fingers, he came back up to the bundle of nerves and stroked her sideways, making her flinch and cry out his name.
Caging her against him, Tasuki repeated that motion relentlessly. He leaned her to the side so he could reach her lips and took possession of them with a vengeance. He licked and sucked at her lips then deepened the kiss as she writhed against him so hard that he had to tighten his hold on her body. Without mercy, he brought her, silencing her cry by stealing it within the demand of the kiss.
Running his hand downward, he pressed his hips forward, letting her feel how thick and hard he was. Releasing her lips, he used one hand to pull the t-shirt over her head while he dipped his finger up inside her, using his palm to press against her g-spot in a rhythm that would keep her where he wanted her. He knew she wasn’t talking to anyone in her mind… and that was the way he planned on it staying.
“Feel me Kyoko… the one that loves you,” Tasuki whispered harshly in the shell of her ear as he pressed his hardness against the softness of her panties. “I want you to cum for me.” As soon as he said it, she did and he felt the hot liquid slide down his fingers.
While she was relearning how to breathe, he swept her down to the mattress and removed the rest of their clothes. He slid his tongue over her nipple then pulled it into his hot mouth. Slowly moving between her legs, he came up her body until the head of his pulsating hardness was imbedded in her heat. The contact instantly made him stiffen and shudder above her.
Placing his palms on hers, he growled as her fingers wrapped around his. Without being told, he knew what she wanted. Growling low in his throat, he drove himself inside her tightness with one forceful thrust… past her blood bond and as deep as he could.
Kyoko cried out as her virginity broke but the pain was so fleeting that she rolled her hips against him needing… wanting movement. Staring up into his expression, she knew this wasn’t wrong. She could see everything in his eyes… love, passion, power. He was offering himself to her and she wanted to give it all back to him in return… heart, body, and soul.
Tasuki held himself above her trying like hell to stay still for a moment as something screamed through his blood… power, he could taste it and it tasted good. Letting go of her hands, he brought his palms behind her and raised her hips off the mattress as he retreated. When her legs slid around him… gripping him, he slammed back into her knowing that was what she was asking for.
Kyoko was left to try to hold on if she could as he pounded into her again and again… hard, long, and deep. Sensations tore through her, spiking pure bliss through her body. As she came, he rocked powerfully inside her again and again till she thought she would lose what sanity she had left.
She could hear distant, hushed whispers all around them but couldn’t understand what they were saying. Straining to listen, she gasped realizing it was memories of Tasuki’s voice she was hearing… but of things that she didn’t remember happening. His voice telling her he loved her in so many different ways… a thousand life time’s worth of love.
Gazing up at him as his hair swung around her in a dark curtain, she inhaled seeing the color of his eyes… dark eyes swirling with glowing amethyst. They came together in a furious orgasm that slammed through them both at the same exact moment. Echoes of power pulsed between them as his seed shot deep inside her in the rhythm of his thundering heartbeat.
