As I shook myself from my thoughts, I glanced around at my surroundings, realizing we were way the hell out in the middle of bum-fuck Egypt! Nonetheless, we kept moving forward in between Eucalyptus trees that smelled like cat piss, on a path that looked no more than a freaking cow trail, until finally we'd reached an opening.
Abruptly my jaw dropped. "Oh, hell no!" escaped my mouth as I peered at what had to be the largest orgy known to man, and I wanted nothing to do with it!
Rook slowed his bike, then came to a stop, parking within a mass of other bikes, and I found myself growling, "No! NO WAY! Just turn this bike around— right the fuck now—and take me the hell away from here!"
Climbing off, Rook looked at me as I continued to sit, my ass glued to the seat. A grin stole across his lips and he gave a small shake of his head. "Relax, Cookie, will ya? Ain't a soul here gonna touch you without your say so."
Glancing around again, my eyes took in both male and female in all states of dress. I was unable, but to let my eyes roam over the—freedom—of the sexual acts on display for all to see.
After a few seconds, I turned back to look at Rook, exclaiming, "What the hell, Rook?" before stuttering out, "surely you don't expect me to…to…join… in?" Eyes huge and roaming again, I breathed, "HOLY CRAP, Rook!"
Amusement crossed his features, and after pitching his eyes over the scene of debauchery going on around us, a laugh ripped loose from his chest as he exclaimed, "Oh shit, woman…we're just having a blow-out. You weren't brought here for this!" Then sticking out a hand, he muttered, "Now, come on, let's go!"
Slowly, I reached out, allowing him to take my hand and help me off the bike, all the while wondering just what I was walking into. I knew all about the walk of shame, I'd been there, done that. However, this? This would end with a walk from the participants WAY beyond any walk I had ever taken.
As we began to mill our way through the exhibition, I couldn't help but find my eyes falling on the sex acts being performed around us. I'd always felt I was damned liberated and open minded, hell, I'd worked in a damn strip club for Christ's sake, but this—this was a whole different kettle of fish, and I felt like the lone Guppy in a pile of Bass!
My face flushed and my eyes grew big, as the pairing was, to say the least, very open-minded. There were men on men, women on women, two women and one man, two men and one woman, three, four couples, getting it on together, and the list just went on and on.
Hell, I wouldn't have been surprised to see a donkey somewhere within the mix! Then, when I thought I'd seen all there was to be seen, and there couldn't possibly be anything else to surprise me, one particular couple caught my attention and I breathed, "What the fuck? How in the hell? OH MY GOD—I didn't know that was even possible!!!!
Laughing, Rook tugged at my hand, chuckling, "Come on, big-eyes, I think your sensibilities have been overloaded enough!"
With a small gulp, I turned, beginning to follow Rook. However, before we'd made it ten feet, he was forced to raise a leg and kick a couple out of our way, muttering, "Damn Cappie, get your scrawny ass out of the way," as a man and woman flopped over in front of us, a tangle of arms, legs, and body parts, I'd rather not have seen.
Shaking his head, Rook tugged at my hand again, moving us around the couple, who seemed to have not paid the least attention to Rook's words as they continued on with their… God, I didn't know what to call it.
Finally, as we reached the door leading into the clubhouse, I found myself letting out a relieved breath, happy to put the whole, free-living circus behind us. However, the jarring thought it was highly possible I'd find the same type of behavior, if not worse, occurring on the other side of the door as what I'd been witnessing, stopped me dead in my tracks. Rook, feeling my sudden resistance, peered over his shoulder at me, as I breathed out a worried, "Um, Rook?"
Raising an eyebrow, he silently encouraged me to continue. I gave a quick glance at the scene behind us. "What do you think the chances are of finding that," I asked, indicating the mass of thriving bodies with my head, "going on in there?"
With a practiced eye running his eyes over my face, Rook murmured, "You're really uncomfortable with this whole scene, aren't you?"
I gave a shrug. "'Uncomfortable' is an understatement! Shit, Rook, I've seen animals in the zoo with far more modesty than what I've witnessed here!"
With a smirk, Rook scratched his chin, but before he could answer my question, a deep, gravelly, somewhat hoarse voice sneered from behind me, "Close your eyes, then, princess!"
Jerking around, I found myself staring at the bearded face of a man I had a hard time deciding whether was devastatingly handsome, or fucked the shit up!
A jagged, raised, purplish-red scar ran from left to right across the length of his forehead, just below the skullcap molded to his head. However, the scar on his forehead wasn't where the damage to his features ended, for separating its way from its mother, was a child mutilation, which ran downward and sliced a quarter of the right side of his eyebrow in half. From there, it continued its journey beside the piercing green of his right eye, before disappearing into his hairline.
Slowly, my eyes dropped lower, tracing the bare chest beneath his vest. The smoothness of his skin was marred by multiple crisscrosses of the same type of red, purplish-hued scars as his face.
The disfigurements painted the otherwise perfection of his flesh in puckered whelps, which flowed their way over his stomach and abs in harmonized rivers that trailed off beneath the waistband of his jeans.
Though the scars weren't fresh, I could tell they weren't that old, either. Yet, even with all the damage to his features and body, somehow, it didn't repulse, instead, they added mystery, allure, and, I admit, made him sexy as all fucking hell!
As the days turned to weeks, I watched Cat grow more powerful, more in control of the darkness that lurked within her. Yet, I couldn’t shake the feeling that she was just playing with fire, dancing closer and closer to the flames without realizing the true extent of their heat.One evening, after a particularly grueling session, I found her sitting in the garden, her eyes distant, lost in thought. I sat beside her, not speaking, just being there.“What are you thinking about?” I finally asked, breaking the silence.Her gaze snapped to me, and for a moment, I saw the girl I’d grown up with, the girl who’d held my heart captive for so long.“I’m thinking about us,” she said softly. “And what we’re going to do when all of this is over. If there’s an us left.”The words hung between us like a question mark, and I knew she was referring to the prophecy, the one that had brought us all together, the one that threatened to tear us apart.“There’s always going to be an us, Cat,” I said firmly
One evening, as the three of us sat in the library, Daniel finally spoke. "Your great, great, great ancestor is Sharella," he said, his eyes on me.My heart stuttered. Sharella, the woman who had tried to kill us? I couldn't believe it. "But...I don’t understand..."Holding up his hand, he continued, "Madeleine was not your foster grandmother, Cat, she was *your* real grandmother, unlike Rook and Keeley. However, she didn't carry the hybrid gene," Daniel continued, his gaze flicking to Rook. "It skipped ten generations. But it was always meant to come to you, Cat. The power was passed down through your lineage, waiting for the right moment to manifest."Rook's fists clenched, his jaw tightening. "What are you saying?" he demanded."I'm saying," Daniel said, his voice steady, "that the darkness you fear in her is a part of her heritage. And if you can't accept it, you can't truly be by her side."The room was filled with emotion, the words echoing in my mind like a curse. Was I destine
The gravity of his revelation hit me like a sledgehammer. If Sharella had already caught wind of what Catriana was, we were in far more trouble than I had ever imagined."So what do we do?" Keeley spoke up, breaking the tension.Reif's smile was grim as he looked at Catriana. "We need to make sure you’re ready for what's coming. And we need to find a way to protect you, without you becoming the very thing we are trying to save you from."~CAT~Days passed, and we all tried to resume our lives as if the battle with Sharella had never happened. Rook and Keeley went about their coven duties, while I threw myself into my training, pushing my powers to their limits. Yet, the tension remained thick in the air, a constant reminder of the secrets we were keeping.Mornings found us pretending that everything was normal, sipping coffee and exchanging pleasantries over breakfast. Reif had somehow managed to charm his way into the coven's good graces, and even though his presence was unnerving,
Keeley chuckled despite herself, breaking the tension in the room. "Well, when you put it like that..." she said, helping me pull on one of Rook's oversized t-shirts.Rook shot her a glare, which she returned with a playful smack to his arm. "Okay, okay," she said, "but we do need to figure out what to do with this mess."Reif looked around the room, taking in the shattered furniture and the dark magic residue that hung in the air. "Well, I can't say I'm much of a housekeeper, but I can help with the heavy lifting." He bent down to pick up a piece of the broken bedframe, flexing his biceps in a way that made it clear he was enjoying the situation far more than he should.I couldn't help but laugh, the tension of the moment breaking like a dam. "Thanks," I said, "but I think we've got it covered."Rook groaned, rubbing his head. "What I wouldn't give for a pint of blood right now."Keeley snorted. "And here I thought you liked living on the edge," she teased.We all laughed, the sound
The door to the bedroom crashed open, shaking the very foundation of the house as if hit by a tornado. Sharella’s cackle filled the room---a sound so malicious it sent a chill down my spine.Rook's eyes snapped open, and he threw himself in front of me, his body a wall of protection."You laid with her?" Sharella's voice was like a serpent slithering through the air, each word a deadly venom. "Goddess, you're stupid. Your bond to her will be your downfall, Rook."I looked up at Rook, the horror of what was happening finally registering. "What does she mean?" I whispered, my voice trembling.He didn’t answer. Instead, he stared at Sharella, his eyes blazing with a rage that could have set the room on fire. "Get the fuck out of here," he snarled.Sharella's laugh grew louder, echoing through the room. "You think you can protect her?" She stepped closer, the shadows playing across her face. "You, with your pathetic vampire powers and your curse? I'll have her, and you'll watch as I take
I stared at Rook, with a mix of fear, confusion, and a strange, inexplicable excitement."So, what does it all mean?" I asked , my voice hushed.Rook's expression grew tight, his jaw clenching as he took a step closer to me. "It means," he began, his voice low and intense, "that I have to be careful. I can't risk losing control, especially around you.""But what if you do?" I couldn't help whispering, my eyes locked with his because of my own darkness. "What if the creature inside of you takes over?"Rook's eyes searched mine, the depth of his pain reflected in the depths of his own. "Then you'll have to save me," he murmured. "As I've always tried to save you."Drawn like a magnet, I stepped closer to him. "And what if I can't? What if the darkness is where you truly belong, though?"He took a deep, unsteady breath, his gaze never leaving mine. "Then I'll have to be the one to save us both," he said, his voice a mere breath.The room around me faded away with his nearness, the warmt