Shift (The Neturu Chronicles) (26 page)

               
Kayla smiles and proceeds to answer him.  They talk all the way through
preparing the meal and eating it.  Kayla laughs a lot. When they’re done
eating, Damien looks at her. “What now?”

               
“I don’t know,” Kayla replies.  “What do you want to do?”

               
“Let me show you the pool.  It’s awesome.”

               
Laughing, Kayla replies, “Don’t we have to wait to go swimming?”

               
“We might if we were human.  Follow me.”  Damien takes her hand and
pulls her through the house.  She can’t help but smile.  They wind
their way through the halls until they come to two doors.  “This is the
gym,” Damien states, pointing to the one door.  “And this is the pool,” he
says, opening the door on the opposite wall.

               
The room is completely dark except for the light coming from the pool
itself.   Kayla grins. “That is an awesome indoor pool.”

               
“That it is,” Damien says, shutting the door behind them.

               
She walks across the large room, closer to the pool.  Kayla kicks her
ballet flats off and sticks her foot into the water.  “It’s really warm.”

               
“Yeah, that’s the nice part,” Damien says, walking up next to her.  “Are
you ready to go in?”

               
“I don’t know,” Kayla murmurs. “Kind of nervous about being in my bathing suit
on our first date.”

               
A devilish smirk passes over Damien’s face.  “All right, that’s
fine.”  With one movement, he grabs Kayla and tips them over into the
pool.  They hit the water and go under.

               
When they come to the surface, Kayla exclaims, “You jack ass!”

               
Damien laughs. “What? You aren’t in your bathing suit.”

               
“No, I’m in my clothes!”

               
“Then take them off,” Damien retorts, taking his shirt off.  He throws it
to the side.  “You have a bathing suit on underneath.”

               
Kayla glares at him.  “Now I feel like a stripper.”

               
“Woohoo, hell yeah!”  Damien laughs.  “Here, I’ll go first.”  He
undoes his pants.  Kayla covers her eyes.  “Oh calm down, I have
trunks on under my pants.”

               
“That’s a relief.”

               
“No, the real stripping will be saved for another time.” He chuckles. 
“Are you going to swim in your clothes?  That’s fine if you are.”

               
Kayla narrows her eyes at him. “Turn around.”

               
“Are you taking all your clothes off, because if so, I want to
watch.
”

               
“No!”

               
“Fine.” Damien groans, turning around.  “Go ahead.”

               
With shaking hands, Kayla unbuttons her shirt.  Wearing a bikini makes her
feel like she’s in her underwear.  Kayla tosses her shirt over by Damien’s
clothes.  She hears him laugh.  “Shut up,” she yells.  He puts
his hands up.  Kayla unzips her skirt, pulls it off, and throws it over to
the side with the rest of the clothes.

               
“Can I turn around now or are you naked?  If you're naked, can I still
turn around?” Damien asks with humor in his tone.

               
“Not naked and I guess you can turn around.”

               
He spins around in the water and drops his hand from his eyes.
 “See?  You look gorgeous.  No need to be nervous.”

               
Turning red, Kayla hums, “Mmhmm.”

               
Damien swims over to her.  “Relax, enjoy yourself.  We’re in an
incredibly warm pool, only lit by soft lights.  Come on, this is super
awesome.”

               
Unable to help it, Kayla smiles.  “Yeah, you’re right.”

               
“Usually am.”  Kayla shoves Damien and he draws out, “Wwhhatt?  It’s
true.”

               
“Full of yourself?”

               
“Just a little. So we’re in a pool…alone…what do you want to do?”

               
Kayla rolls her eyes. “I have a feeling I know what you want to do.”

               
“Totally, play Marco Polo.”

               
“What?” Kayla laughs.

               
With an exasperated groan, Damien dramatically says, “Marco Polo.  One
person closes their eyes and the other one has to dodge away from them.”

               
“I know what Marco Polo is.  I just don’t know why you want to play it.”

               
“We’re in a pool, and it makes me laugh.  I thought it would be fun. 
What?  You thought I only wanted to make out with you?”

               
She nods her head. “Yeah, kind of.”

               
“Well, I won’t lie.  If that’s what you want to do, I won't object.”

               
“You’re such a guy.”

               
Damien smiles in return.  “Are you surprised?”

               
“I guess not.  All right, you can go first.  Close your eyes.”
Swimming away, Kayla says, “Watch your back.  I may depants you.”

               
“I’m all for that,” Damien says through his laughter.  “Though, I do get
to return the favor.”

               
“Don’t you
dare!
”

               
“If I’m going to be bottomless then so are you.  Now be quiet, you don’t
want me to hear you.”  Kayla sneaks over to the far wall.  “Marco.”
Damien chuckles.

               
“Polo was a great merchant.” Kayla giggles.

               
Damien turns around and starts to swim near her.  “Do you know his travels
are recorded in Il
Milione.
”

               
“He met his father for the first time in 1269,” Kayla yells as she swims away.

               
“Wow, knowledgeable are we?  Did you know he met Kublai Khan?” Damien
responds, turning toward her voice.

               
Kayla shakes her head. “No, I didn’t.”  Damien turns to her
again.   She is quiet for a minute before swimming away from
him.  “Did you know that when he went back to Venice after twenty-four
years he was imprisoned?  He told his cellmate all his stories.”

               
“Did you know he was our age when he started out on his adventures?” Damien
retorts, moving in her direction.

               
She stops and smiles.  “I think your intelligence is hot.”

               
“I think you're hot period,” Damien replies, swimming towards her.

               
Smiling, Kayla says, “You’re hot enough to be a model.  Girls must melt
for you.”

               
He swims inches away from her.  “As long as I make you melt, that’s all
that matters.”  He steps closer to her.  “Marco.”

               
“Polo,” Kayla whispers.  Damien grasps her arms.  Kayla runs her
hands up his chest and then around his neck.  Nervously, she pulls him
toward her, with his eyes still shut.  This time she is the one to put her
lips on his.  Damien pulls her waist against him and her pulse skyrockets
as they kiss each other.

               
Kayla has never felt this thrill before.  Damien lifts her up by her
thighs and holds her against him. “I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

               
“I’m fine,” Kayla exhales.  “Are you going to think less of me if I kiss
you more?”

               
His gorgeous hazel eyes look into hers.  “No, I won’t.”  Damien pulls
her back down and they kiss again. Time disappears.  The kisses are tender
but passionate.

               
Kayla pulls away.  “I want to try something.”

               
With a curious look, Damien asks, “What do you want to do?”

               
“I want to feel you manipulate my energy.  Not too much, just a little so
I can see what it’s like,” Kayla says with a surprised confidence.

               
Damien murmurs, “If you’re sure, come here.”  He pulls her back against
him.  As soon as their lips meet, an explosion ignites inside of
her.  Her nerves light on fire, and her heart pounds against her
chest.  She pulls Damien as hard as she can against her.  The kisses
between them deepen.

               
Suddenly, the whole room bursts into light.  Kayla and Damien pull away
from each other.  Kayla actually shields her eyes.  “What in the—”

               
“Can you please not have sex in the pool,” Jackson snaps.

               
“We were not having sex!” Kayla yells back.

               
Damien gives Jackson a look. “It’s called privacy.”

               
“It’s called
my house
,” Jackson retorts sharply.

               
Kayla tries to pull away from Damien, but he holds her still.  “I was not
trying to get into Kayla’s pants…or bathing suit.  We were just enjoying
each other’s company.  Technically, we’re dating now and what we were
doing was not inappropriate.  So if you don’t mind, please turn off the
lights and leave us alone.”

               
“You need to keep your hands off of her,” Jackson growls.

               
“What?  Are you going to make me?” Damien asks snidely.

               
Kayla puts her hands up. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, there will be no fighting. 
Jackson, I appreciate you looking out for me.  It’s sweet, but you know
what? You can’t say anything.  What goes on between Damien and me is none
of your business.  Besides, we were just kissing.”

               
“I’m not blind; it was more than just kissing.  I don’t want him to take
advantage of the situation,” Jackson snaps.

               
“Now you've pissed me off.  What happens between us is our business. 
She said she wanted to know what it was like.  I don’t have to explain
myself to you.  Shut your mouth, or I will shut it for you,” Damien spits
out in anger.

               
Jackson clenches his fists. “Damien, don’t push me.  You
will
keep
your hands off of her.”

               
Kayla feels her own anger rise to meet Jackson’s. “He can put his hands on me
if he wants to.  We're dating.  He has my permission.”  She
grabs Damien’s arms and pulls them tight around her.  “You can’t lay claim
over me, Jackson.  You made your choice and I made mine.”

               
He stares Kayla down and then spits out, “Whatever.”  He turns and walks
to the door, slamming the lights off as he leaves.  “Have fun,” he
sarcastically exclaims, slamming the door shut behind him.

               
“Well, that didn’t go very well.” Damien sighs.

               
“No, no, it didn’t.”

               
Damien turns and looks at her.  “Is this the end of our date?”

               
“Umm, no,” Kayla retorts.  “It’s my turn to be Marco.”

               
“And what do you get when you find me?” Damien asks.

               
Kayla smirks and says, “Surprise me.”

               
“Here’s a towel,” Damien says, wrapping it around Kayla.

               
“Thanks,” she whispers.  Kayla watches Damien go to the edge of the pool
and fish out their clothes.  When he has them all, he lifts them up and
water pours out of them.  He smiles and looks at Kayla.  She sighs.
“What am I supposed to wear home?  I’ll freeze if I go outside.”

               
He throws the clothes on the ground.  “I
’
ll have to give you something to wear.  Come
on.”  He grabs her hand and pulls her to the door.  Damien turns to
her.  “I don’t think your parents would be happy about you being in my
room.”

               
“Why?” Kayla giggles.

               
“My reputation probably, so we’ll need to run.  That’s if you want to go
to my room.  I can bring you clothes here.”

               
Kayla grins. “As long as you don’t throw me down on the bed, I’m sure my
parents will get over it.”

               
“Oh come on.” Damien laughs.  “What fun is it then?”

               
Giving him a look, Kayla says, “You have to promise to behave yourself.”

               
“I promise,” he whispers, bending down to kiss her.

               
She meets him and the surge of energy slams into her.  Kayla lets go of
her towel and wraps her arms around him.  A second later she backs up. “I
didn’t say you could manipulate my energy all the
time!”       

               
“I didn’t mean to do it,” Damien exclaims.  “I can only control it so
much, and you’re doing it just as much as me.”

               
“Oh,” Kayla squeaks.  “Okay, no more kissing right now.  Let’s go.”

               
Damien opens the door and shouts, “Run!” as he pulls her down the hall.

               
They take off down the hallway and through the house.  When they come to a
corner, they stop and Damien looks around the edge.  “Do you see anyone?”
Kayla giggles.

               
“No, but we have to go up the stairs, so don’t trip.”

               
“Shut up,” Kayla snaps playfully.

               
He pushes her to the steps and they run up them.  When they get to the
top, Damien sweeps her up in his arms.  She laughs as he carries her four
doors down and then kicks the bedroom door open with his foot.  Kayla
squirms, so Damien sets her down.  “Wow, I thought you were just
visiting.”

               
“I am,” Damien replies, shutting the door.  “I just bring certain stuff
with me.”

               
Paintings cover his walls.  “You can’t fit this in your car.”

               
“No, I had it delivered yesterday.  I take it everywhere.  I have
them shipped in wooden boxes.”

               
Kayla walks over to one. “That’s gorgeous.” 

               
“Monet,” Damien declares.

               
“
What
!” Kayla yells.  “You just carry this around with you?”

               
He nods. “Yeah, trust me, my parents are furious about it.”

               
“This is incredible art,” Kayla whispers, looking at another piece. 
“Where did you get all these from?”

               
“Around the world; I’m glad you like them.”

               
She shakes her head.  “It’s unreal.”

               
“Didn’t Jackson show you his paintings?”

               
Looking at him, Kayla says, “What paintings?”

               
“Oh,” Damien whispers.  “He paints.  I thought he would have told
you.”

               
“No, he’s never said anything.  Where are they?”

               
Damien shakes his head.  “I’ll let him show you if he wants to. 
Don’t bring it up to him.  He can be shy about it.”

               
“What, are they finger paintings?” Kayla laughs.

               
With a serious look, Damien replies, “No, they’re actually very good.  I
have a few that he painted for me.  As much as we get on each other’s
nerves, I do admire his work.”

               
“Seriously, he paints?  Like an artist?”

               
“Yes, please don’t say anything to him.  He may actually punch me and I’d
let him.”

               
“I won’t say anything,” Kayla murmurs.  She makes the comment, but all she
wants to do is run to his room and demand to see them.  Getting a little
chilled, she shivers.

               
Damien walks over to a dresser.  “Let me get you some clothes.”  He
pulls out a pair of pajama pants.  “These are going to be a little big on
your petite frame, but they have a drawstring, and,” he says, turning around,
  “
You can wear a Yale shirt.”

               
“Sweet,” Kayla exclaims.  “Gimme, gimme!”

               
He tosses her a grey T-shirt.  “There, knock yourself out.  You can
keep it.”

               
“Yes!  Best present ever.  Okay, where do I get dressed?”

               
“Umm, well, here I guess, I can turn around or leave or…I don’t know…watch.”

               
Kayla glares at him. “No, there will be no watching.  If you’re going to
watch, it will have to be through my bedroom window.”

               
“Is that an invite, because Jackson told me how he got into your
house.
”

               
“What?  Why?”

               
Damien shrugs. “Boring conversation, really nothing entertaining.  I’ll go
grab us some water,
and
I’ll even knock before I come back in.”

               
“Sounds good.”

               
“Okay, see you in a bit,” Damien says.  He kisses her softly on the
lips.  She smiles and he returns the expression.  He leaves, shutting
the door behind him.

               
Kayla stands in the middle of the room before undressing to make sure he
doesn’t come back in.  When she thinks enough time has lapsed, she strips
off her bikini.  The clothes are nice and soft when she puts them
on.  She smells them.  The scent of Damien is all over the shirt and
she smiles.  Her feet are the only parts of her body that are still
cold.  She walks over to the dresser and opens a drawer.  “Come on,
where are your socks.”  She only finds shirts, so she opens the next
drawer. 

               
Just as she begins her search of the second drawer, the bedroom door
opens.  “Hey,” she exclaims, not turning around.  “You said you were
going to knock!  Where are your socks anyway?  My feet are like ice.”

               
“They’re in my room,” a voice replies.

               
She shrieks and spins around.  Jackson is standing in the doorway, staring
at her.  “Oh, hey, Damien went to get us water.”

               
“I didn’t expect you to be in here, let alone in his clothes,” Jackson says,
looking straight into her eyes.

               
Blushing hard, Kayla replies, “He got my clothes soaked in the pool; I had to
wear something.”

               
“So you changed in his room?  There are such things called
bathrooms.  We have four.”

               
“He wasn’t in here,” Kayla hisses, completely embarrassed.

               
Jackson exhales. “That’s good.  I just don’t want you to get in over your
head.”

               
“What do you mean by that?”

               
“Damien manipulating you, I don’t want it to go too far.  I know he’s not
doing it maliciously, but he has been with a lot of girls.  It probably
comes second nature to him.”

               
Stepping towards him, Kayla hesitantly inquires, “Is that what you did to me
that day in the kitchen?”

               
“I don’t know.  I don’t have any experience in that.  I can only
presume it was.”

               
“Damien says I’m doing it too,” Kayla whispers.  “So it could have been
both of us?”

               
Nodding, Jackson responds, “I guess.  Not that our kiss will be on your
radar anymore.”

               
“Do you want it to be on my radar?” Kayla asks. “Because every time you kiss
me, you run like I’ve set your ass on fire.”

               
“More like you lit a fire inside of me. We really shouldn’t be talking about
this.”

               
“But we are, I just…I don’t know.  Maybe having Damien manipulate me was
pushing the limit.  I’m just so confused, and he likes me.  He
doesn’t run away when he kisses me.  He admits that he likes me.”

               
Silence engulfs them, and then Jackson murmurs, “That’s what you think? 
That I won’t admit that I like you?”

               
“No, I mean, I don’t know,
”
Kayla stutters. 
“
You
just confuse me.”

               
“What exactly do you want from me, Kayla?  Do you want me to be more than
just your friend?”

               
“No,” Kayla retorts, looking at him.  “You’ve said repeatedly that we
can’t be romantically involved and that you aren’t attracted to me in that
way.”

               
Taking a step closer to her, Jackson says, “I’m attracted to you, Kayla. 
That’s not it.”

               
Damien’s voice steals their moment. “I really hope you didn’t walk in on her.”

               
Jackson spins around to find Damien standing in the doorway.  “No, I
didn’t,” Jackson snaps. “Although she said you were going to knock.”

               
“When my bedroom door is open, I’m allowed to walk in unannounced,” Damien
states.  He walks over to Kayla and hands her a bottle of water. “So what
were you kids talking about, anything good?”

               
“She wanted to borrow a pair of socks,” Jackson answers.  “I told her mine
were in my room, but she started to look through your drawers.”

               
Shrugging, Damien says, “Did you find my diary?”

               
“You keep a diary!” Jackson and Kayla yell together.

               
“No,” Damien scoffs. “But isn’t that what you find hidden in people’s
drawers?”  Both Jackson and Kayla raise their eyebrows.  “I don’t
have a diary, though if I did, it would be yellow with flowers all over it, and
it would have a lock so that no one could read it.”

               
Kayla giggles. “Now I know what to get you for Christmas.”

               
“Yes, all my dreams would come true and of course, I would only write about
you,” Damien notes, bopping Kayla on the nose.  Jackson groans
loudly.  Damien turns to him.  “Is there a problem?  You keep
interrupting my date.”

               
“I wanted to see where Kayla was.  I couldn’t find where you were.  I
was hoping you didn’t send her home alone,” Jackson snaps.

               
Shaking her head, Kayla says, “What, I can’t be by myself tonight?”

               
“No, it’s my turn to watch you anyway,” Damien retorts.

               
“Shut up, Damien,” Jackson growls.

               
Confused, Kayla asks, “Your turn, what do you mean?”

               
“Oh, Jackson didn’t tell you?” Damien quips with a devious smile.

               
Jackson takes a step towards Damien. “I’m warning you, Damien.  Shut up.”

               
“No, what are you talking about?” Kayla inquires, looking from Jackson to
Damien.

               
“Jackson has been sitting outside your house at night, making sure you don’t
shift and leave,” Damien replies. Jackson throws a punch at Damien. Damien
spins out of the way. “I knew that was coming. Next time, wait so you can
surprise me.”

               
Kayla looks at Jackson.  “Don’t punch him.  Is this true?  Were
you watching out for me?”

               
 “It’s not what you think,
”
Jackson mutters.
“
Your
family wasn’t taking the situation seriously.  I needed to be sure you
were safe.”

               
“That’s so nice of you.”

               
Jackson looks shocked.  “You aren’t mad?”

               
“No, it’s kind of sweet.”  Jackson's mouth twitches. Kayla stiffens when a
certain memory comes back to her. “Wait, that night, when I had the dream.
 My window was open.  Did that…I mean, did that really happen?”

               
“Did what happen?  What am I missing?” Damien asks.

               
Jackson looks away and runs a hand through his hair. “I have no idea what
you’re talking about.”

               
“Liar,” Kayla snaps, not in anger but understanding.

               
“What are you guys talking about?” Damien exasperates.

               
Staring at Kayla, Jackson pauses for a minute and then replies, “I have no idea
what she’s going on about.”