Soul(s) (9 page)

“
Daydreaming or are you
stalling because you’re petrified?” Ajani taunted. I realized I
hadn’t answered him yet.

“
Neither,” I
answered.

“
Then answer me this time.
Are you ready to start?”

“
I awakened ready,” I
jabbed back.

Clever,
he chided,
but not
original.

You want to talk like this
now?
I thought back surprised.

Why not?

I remember when we first met, you yelled at
me for something similar to this.

This is different, I’m in
control.
He told me.

We were circling each other. Neither had
made a move yet. I could see Keegan off on the sidelines, his eyes
following our movements like a cat ready to pounce.

We’re making your venku
jealous,
Ajani thought to me.

He has nothing to worry about. I’ve already
chosen him over you.

“
Ha,” Ajani scoffed out
loud, “If only it were that simple, darling.”

He charged forward his deku turning into a
long wooden practice sword. He might have thought he was in
control, but I had been using the banter as a distraction. I was
ready when he struck first. I easily dodged his attack and
countered with a very simple well placed foot. He skidded to the
ground. I repositioned myself so we were facing again and I used my
telekinesis to push him against a near boulder. He slid across the
ground and his body slammed against the rock. He wheezed as the
wind was knocked out of him. Dust and dirt crumpled on top of
him.

I feared that I’d been too rough and quickly
released the pressure-hold I’d had keeping him smooshed against the
boulder.

Are you alright?
I asked.

He didn’t answer. He was
angry. I hadn’t really hurt him, I realized, just battered the hell
out of his ego. In one fluid motion he got up, levitating ten or
more pieces of the boulder that had cracked from the rock. His
hands flew madly as he catapulted at me. He was so
strong now.
He’d been
holding back before of course, this was training. Now he was so
angry at being bested he was wild.

Rock pieces flew at me so quickly that I was
only able to dodge the first two. One clipped my thigh causing me
to lose my balance and another sliced open my cheek as it whipped
by my head. Down on one knee, another rock hit me in my side.
Suddenly, I felt myself being flung back like I was a ball being
thrown.

I used my power to slow myself and I skidded
to a stop without hitting anything but I was too out of breath to
do much more then suck in and cough back out air.

“
ENOUGH,” I heard Keegan
roar.

Keegan don’t.

It was such a faint whisper of a thought I
wasn’t sure if he heard me at all. I looked up at Ajani who
ironically did not have the smug impression I’d expect to see on
his face. His jaw was tight but his eyes held all his emotion, he
was shocked that he’d hurt me. He wouldn’t be able to block Keegan
attack because he was only paying attention to me.

I didn’t mean to hurt
you,
Ajani thought desperately to
me.

My body hurt so much that I couldn’t even
focus. I knew I was about to blackout. The last thing I thought was
to Keegan, asking him to stop.

12: KEEGAN

Keegan. Sariah
was calling out to me.

I wanted to rip Ajani to pieces. Wipe that
smug fucking expression off his face. I didn’t even need to see his
face to know it was there. He was a selfish, arrogant prick. I made
a conscious choice to control my anger. Sariah would always be more
important to me than anything or anyone else. I choose her.

I changed directions at the last moment and
went to her instead. I moved so fast that the wind from me passing
Ajani blew him over. I’d deal with him later.

When I got to her she was only
semiconscious. I scooped her up into my arms and she groaned as I
cradled her to my chest.

“
Take her to your room and
heal her,” Bem instructed urgently.

I nodded silently and took off as fast as I
could—which was like a bullet—back to our flat. I was thankful for
my powers.

I moved as quickly as I could inside the
building without crashing into anything or dropping her. When I got
to our room, I kicked the door closed behind me. I practically flew
up the stairs to our room. Laying Sariah down on our bed, I kissed
her forehead and then leaned back so I could see her examine
her.

The connection between was so strong that
even a kiss sparked the creation of healing energy and the slices
on her cheek were began to scab. However, her other more serious
wounds were still wet with blood. I needed to get her into the
bathroom soaking in our tub. I hoped I’d given her enough strength
so that undressing her wouldn’t be too painful.

Can you hear me, Wats?

He didn’t mean to hurt
me,
she insisted faintly.

“
He’s an arrogant prick,”
I said aloud. Sariah eyes fluttered open at the sound of my
voice.

Relieved that she was fully conscious now, I
bent forward brushing her lips with mine. I felt the heat pulse
between us. A little more color splashed in her cheeks

“
I need to get you
undressed and into the water then you can sleep. You’ll feel better
after that,” I said.

She nodded and I slowly peeled back her body
suit. Her beige mocha skin was bruised on her ribs and around the
gnashes on her legs. My gut twisted in my stomach.

“
You’re blushing,” I said
surprised to see her cheeks turning red. “After all we’ve done
together, you’re still shy around me?”

I can’t help it. You overwhelm me.

I picked her up carefully and took her into
the bathroom. I held her while the tub filled, cradling her in my
lap. When I eased her into the water she sighed with relief. I let
her sit in there until the scars were faded and almost gone, and
there was just a faint bruise where the rocks had hit her. I leaned
forward over the edge of the tub to get her out. She was dry in
moments of the air hitting her skin.

I left her naked, covering her fully with
the covers and I stayed clothed but slipped in behind her. She
stirred against me.

“
Are you alright?” I asked
worried that the water hadn’t healed her enough.

“
I feel better, but I need
more than water.” Her voice was even, her tone low and
unintentionally dripping with sexiness.

“
I’ll make love to you if
you want me to,” I offered, trying not to sound as eager as I felt.
I’d wanted her from the first day we met, but the feelings I had
for her were deeper than that and I need more from her than just
her body and I had wanted to wait until she felt the same way about
me. I hadn’t wanted to rush her. I also wanted her to
choose
me.

I could have had her in
the Caves but it was too soon. I could feel that she was still
overwhelmed by our connection. It was so complicated being reborn
into Second-Plane. Sex was an emotional need, but also physical.
Back on earth you didn’t crave another person like this. You didn’t
need to satisfy this kind of sexual hunger. But at the same time,
it was similar to love making on Earth was like. She was my Venku,
my soul mate. I
wanted
to please her.

Let me try,
I thought to her.

She didn’t say anything but she didn’t move
away either. I slowly took off my body suit and then placed my hand
on her waist. I didn’t want to scare her and I knew the passion
between us was intense. It would only increase as we got physical
with each other and that was disarming to me too, but my need for
her overrode my fears.

Leaning forward, I kissed the path from her
shoulder up to her neck. The energy flared between us.

“
I’ll go slowly,” I
promised, my breath stroking he neck in hot waves.

“
Alright,” she said. Her
eyes were closed.

“
Tell me if it’s too
much,” I told her. With my left hand on her waist, I wrapped my
other arm around her body and cupped her breast from behind. I
thumbed her nipple as I kissed her shoulder. I was already hard,
and she moaned, instinctively moving against me.

More?
I thought to her. I could feel her body healing against mine.
We created so much energy between, that just foreplay was enough to
finish healing her injuries, but this was more than reviving her
body now, and I was willing to go as far as she was.

13: SARIAH

My body was on fire. I was scared of how
much I wanted him. My mind felt completely over stimulated. I
couldn’t process the way he made me feel. I felt out of control but
I at the same time I knew he was right there. I could trust him. I
could let him take control. I gave in to myself.

I need more.

He moaned, biting the back of my shoulder
passionately.

“
If it’s too much, tell me
and I’ll take it back to where you’re comfortable,” he
promised.

He pulled me towards him, his arm tightening
around my waist like an anchor. His other hand dragged lazily down
the length of my thigh.

“
You skin feels like
silk,” he said in a low voice.

I felt his left hand drag back up and over
to my sex. My thighs spread in anticipation and he didn’t make me
wait. One, then two, fingers slid over me, glazing me in a firm but
gentle arousing touch before finally dipping into me.

My world burst into technicolor. I pushed
back on him as his hand moved, moaning in a way I didn’t even know
I knew how.

“
Too much,” he said into
my ear.

Gutturally groaning back was all I could
manage for a response.

This is our first time
together,
he thought to me
urgently,
you have to talk to
me.

I can’t even think.

“
Since I just heard that
thought, I know that’s not true,” he teased his voice heavy with
his own arousal. He pulled at my earlobe with his teeth and palmed
deeper into me.

I want you.
My thought poured out of my mind like warm
honey.

That got his attention.

He shifted his weight, pulling his fingers
out of me. He hand careened moistly down my thigh. I rolled my head
back against his shoulder, closing my eyes as I sucked on my bottom
lip. I was already intensely aroused and his hand leaving a light
trail of my own juices down my leg turned me on even more. At the
back of my mind there was a little bit of panic. I knew intimacy
led to closeness. Closeness to love and there were only two
outcomes of love, boy leaves girl, girl leave boy.

I felt Keegan’s lips
massaging against my neck and I stopped thinking. Carnality won and
I put everything else aside. He lifted my leg at the knee with his
hand, moaning deliciously into my hair as he eased himself into me.
He began to move behind me in a tantalizingly slow adagio, letting
my body acclimated to his girth. This wasn’t going to be like
anything I’d ever felt on
any plane
of existence.

I panted loudly as my hips rowed backwards
against him. His hand spread out griping my stomach as his tempo
increased to moderato. The pleasure was building. The tension was
mounting. Any moment I would come. I bit my lip in anticipation as
little shockwaves of pleasure pushed me closer to the edge.

You feel so good, so
good.
Keegan mind sang to me as he
moved.

He pulled my leg back, opening me wider,
pushing deeper. My body quivered deliciously. Everything else
faded. There was just us; his breath on my shoulder; the pulse of
his hips; our skin rubbing together warm and slick. My hand snaked
into his hair. I turned my head and his lips found mine
passionately; our mouths tangling with an emotional hunger, that I
imagine neither of us had expected, and we came undone. I
contracted in ecstasy, clenching hard around him I came. He moaned
sweet things into my hair as our body slowed back down and our
breathing lulled in harmony.

When I woke up I felt fantastic. Keegan was
sleeping on his stomach with his head turned towards me. I wanted
to curl up on him but I resisted, studying his body him
instead.

His was so beautiful.

He must’ve felt me watching because one his
eyes opened and he stretched lazily. He rolled over on his back,
the sheet slipping down low on his hips.

My eyes trailed over ever curve of
muscle.

Our eyes locked and the way he was smiling
at me made me laugh. If time was a measure for knowing someone then
I barely knew him, but I knew that smile. His personality was just
so likable. I didn’t mind being his venku at all; which was better
than fantastic since from the sound of it we only got one and it
was a pre-destiny chosen ordeal. Would that be enough? To be tied
together by fate? I wasn’t so sure, both of us were so much more
human like than the others in Second-Plane. I hoped our chemistry;
our physical connection would be enough to sustain us. Maybe then,
it wouldn’t matter if he never fell in—

“
You’re over thinking
things again,” Keegan said, his words blowing out between yawns.
His accuracy stopped my thoughts abruptly.