Starbound (21 page)

To distract myself from the fine specimen lounging next to me, I tried to think about anything but his lips. Soft. Moist. Sweet. Memorable. I snuck a tiny sideways peek. He was nibbling on his bottom lip.

Epic fail.

I groaned under my breath.

The movie wasn’t much of a diversion. I couldn’t lose myself in the plot and the characters, not when my mind was constantly straying to Seth. To make matters worse…I nearly fell out of my seat when I felt the first charged touch.

He fingers stroked the back of my hand, making me shiver. In the dark, my senses heightened and every nerve ending in my body was amplified. A simple movie with friends was turning into one of the most erotic nights of my life, all thanks to the guy sitting so close to me, but it wasn’t enough.

I edged nearer to him on the couch, needing to feel his heat fused with mine. The urge to touch him even in the most innocent way, like thigh to thigh, was too much for me to ignore. It wasn’t long before the innocent flirting did nothing to satisfy this burning need inside me.

“I need more popcorn,” Seth mumbled in the middle of the movie, pushing up from the couch and exiting into the hallway.

I really shouldn’t. I knew that I was only seeking trouble, but my body and my heart were screaming for five minutes alone with Seth. A minute went by. Then two. And I finally made my move. Olivia was gripping the edge of the armrest as the girl onscreen was cornered by a guy with a wicked looking machete. Zeke was beside Olivia with his eyes glued to the screen, stuffing his mouth blindly with popcorn.

“I’m going to use the bathroom,” I murmured, sneaking out of the room unnoticed. It was almost too easy. Heading down the hallway toward the kitchen, I listened for Seth.

Before I got to the light at the end of the hall, a hand weaved through mine, tugging me to the side. My back hit the wall, and Seth’s body was pressed up against mine, boxing me in. Not that I minded in the least. Glancing up, his eyes flashed in the dark corner. I rose up on my toes, lacing my hands behind his neck. My breath hitched, and I tilted my chin to kiss him, meeting him halfway.

He didn’t hesitate.

“Just this once,” he whispered against my lips.

I nodded, agreeing to anything as long as he didn’t stop kissing me, touching me. It was a long and languid kiss, one I could savor for days. Hopefully the memory would sustain me for years. His hands were everywhere, but at the same time, it wasn’t enough. That seemed to be the theme of the day.

Smoothing down the sides of my stomach, his hands rested low on my hips. I doubted there would be another stolen moment as perfect as this. I let myself get swooped away by his silky kisses, which was a big no-no.

If I lost my head, I lost my life. Being cursed sucked llama balls.

His tongue swept across mine, and I felt the sparks of magick radiate from him. Now that he was tied to me it would be as natural as breathing to share magick. The burden or resistance rested within me. I sucked at denying myself pretty much anything. I was used to getting what I wanted, but not today.

Why did it always feel so good to have something forbidden? It tasted sweeter. Felt more decadent.
I love you
, I whispered inside my head. At least I thought it was all in my head.

Chapter 21

Seth

I pulled away as the first signs of magick surged through my blood and looked down at Kat’s flushed face. Her eyes were bright with longing, and her lips were petal pink. I dropped my forehead to hers, taking the time to let the scent of her imprint on my senses. She smelled like a faerie garden—sun-kissed dust and pixie roses.

I rubbed my hands down arms sheen and soft, afraid she would disappear if I blinked. Being with Kat was like a fantasy. “We should get back,” I murmured.

She nodded, keeping her eyes fastened on mine.

Brushing back the hair from her cheeks, warmth cascaded through me. We both lingered, knowing that these moments were far and few between.

She stepped out of my arms, and I watched her disappear around the corner. My forehead hit the wall, and I clenched my fists. An overwhelming urge to pull her back into the shadows bombarded me.

I was able to slip back into the room and take my seat beside Kat, but our little interlude hadn’t gone unnoticed, as we had hoped. Zeke caught my eye, lifting his brow. I gave a slight shake of my head, letting him know there was nothing to worry over. Kat’s life wasn’t doomed yet.

When the movie finally ended, I think we were all a little surprised that the evening had gone without a hitch. No curse activity trying to ruin our fun. It was just the kind of normal I needed. Sneaking around with Kat had been an added bonus.

“Next time, I’ll bring the party favors,” Zeke said, grinning and finishing the last of his Pepsi.

Olivia rolled her violet eyes and smacked him. “Hey. There is nothing wrong with the classics. Not everyone needs booze to have a good time, you know. Just ask Kat and Seth.”

Oh snap. She did not just call us out for making out in her hallway.

Kat grinned, dimples winking in the dark.

I followed her home, just to make sure there were no mishaps lurking in the night. You never knew which block the curse was hiding around, or when it would strike next. I was taking no chances, not with the new moon just a few days away. As soon as she slipped inside, I hit the gas on my truck and headed home. The whole way, I felt like I was living a dream, floating.

I went straight for my room, my bed never looking so inviting. Leaving the lights off, I fell onto the mattress face up, kicking my shoes off at the end of the bed. The last week had been a constant state of chaos. There wasn’t a day that went by that this curse didn’t torment us somehow. It was so close to being unleashed, it all but tasted freedom and the lives it would claim.

Just as my head hit the pillow, with the taste of Kat still on my lips,
her
voice oozed through my brain like green slime—the curse. And then, in just one heartbeat, my night went to crap.

The sleek voice of the curse slithered, filling my head with thoughts and ideas that weren’t mine. Unprepared and caught off guard, she easily manipulated the images that weren’t real. Memories of Kat and me together—happy and in love. Snapshots of a future that had never been a possibility.

A porch swing on a spring night.

Our wedding.

The honeymoon we would never have.

Growing old with the family we made.

In one of the fake memories, I caught a quick glimpse of Kat’s wrist, seeing the five tiny stars dotting her skin. Even knowing that it wasn’t real, my heart swelled, because I so wanted it to be real. Damn curse.

I hated the feelings it enticed, torturing me. It was that dire want that sparked my bitter anger, flaring it to a potent level that tasted like blood in the back of my throat. Or maybe it
was
blood—my blood.

Rage coated my insides, and I didn’t care one way or the other what
she
did to me, just as long as Kat was safe. On either side of me, my hands clenched, fighting the stream of magick the curse weaved like a demented seamstress. I wanted her out of my head—out of our lives.

She felt my defiance, searing my head with a blinding pain that had my ears ringing. Behind my eyes, she stamped quick flashes of enlarged spiders with fangs as large as daggers. They dripped with sticky venom that would fry my brain. I grabbed the sides of my head. The curse wasn’t going to cease fire, not when Kat and I had grown closer and still resisted our natural need to bond. We threatened her.

And she was wiggin’ out.

The worst part, I knew that Kat would be able to sense my distress. I didn’t want her doing something stupid, which was a given. She only thought with her emotions, making her reckless and impulsive. I needed to end this hold the curse had over me before I found Kat in my bedroom.

Holy smokes
.

That was exactly what I didn’t need, and just what the curse was hoping for. Kat and me behind closed doors with a bed a foot away. Total formula for tragedy…or freaking bliss.

If the curse wanted to push me around, I was just going to have to push back. She wasn’t the only one with a few charms up her sleeve. I called forth a little spell Zeke had taught me long ago for blocking unwanted visitors poking around in the mind. Tingles radiated through my veins, but no matter how much energy I poured into the spell, the curse clung in my head like ivy.

Until finally, with no warning, when I was on the verge of exhaustion, the images just stopped. I lay staring at the ceiling, taking in a sharp jagged breath. It was hard to breathe. Immense pressure sat on my chest, and it took me a moment to realize I wasn’t breathing.

I forced myself to exhale, and then inhale, long, deep, even breaths. It was actually harder than it sounded. Whatever voodoo she had worked on me, it was screwing with my respiratory system.

With a not-so-steady hand, I ran it through my hair. And as if Kat knew that I needed her, my phone buzzed. It was kismet.

A text message from hers truly flashed on the screen.
What the hell are you doing? Trying to give me an ulcer?

My head might be feeling like it had been clunked with an axe, but Kat could still bring a smirk to my lips. Wincing, I replied,
Keep your panties on. It was nothing.

Well, that sure didn’t feel like nothing. I thought my heart was going to spring nails and rip its way out of my chest.

Funny
.

Who’s being funny?
She shot back.

I was afraid to tell her the truth. I didn’t want her to get upset or worried. We had enough on our minds with the approaching new moon and our own conjuration.
It was just a bad dream.

Hmm. You better not be holding out on me, Seth Nightingale. I will roast your bum if I find out you are lying.
The fact that she was suspicious was just more proof that things between us were changing. Good, bad, it didn’t really matter, not when neither had a happy outcome.

Duly noted.

Okay. BTW, I miss you.

Damn.

And just like that she could make my heart trip and make me feel like a douchebag all at the same time. Skills, Kat had skills. There were so many things I wanted to say. I typed “I love you” and then erased the words that were in my heart. Instead I said,
Goodnight, little Kats.

I’m not little anymore, Seth.

Didn’t I know it.

I never had a problem with sleep before, but insomnia had set in. My thoughts ran wild, thinking about all the dangerous things that had happened over the last few weeks. The curse had amped up the ante—big time. Whatever it was that we were doing, she was infuriated. The further we dug and plotted, the more hazardous our lives became, but none of us was willing to give up.

Not yet.

***

Katia

I chewed on the end of my purple nails, contemplating. Seth and I didn’t have to sneak around any longer to see each other, yet that didn’t mean it still didn’t feel naughty telling Mom where I was going. It was the first time, though, that we would be alone, and it had taken some severe convincing to get Seth to agree.

I was bursting with excitement and anticipation.

The new moon was tomorrow night, and the preparations would begin. The spell might be a complete bust, but it might be the piece we needed to take down a curse that had destroyed our families for decades. A curse that has interfered with fate too many times. The pros outweighed the cons.

Butterflies fluttered in my belly. I had spent three days chipping away Seth’s icy resistance. It took one lonely tear to finally get Seth to cave as he brushed aside the tear on my cheek with the pad of his thumb. All I asked for was one day. Just him and me hanging out—normal stuff. No pressure. No walls. No curse. Just us.

We were about to embark on a powerful spell that would take us on a very risky journey; the least he could do was spend a few hours with me. The future was uncertain. Why waste the here and now?

Then there was also the motivating factor of possibly stealing another kiss…or five. Ever since Olivia’s, I had a one-track mind. Seth’s lips. Seth’s lips. Seth’s lips. I felt like
he
had me under a spell as well.

It was becoming redonkulous.

On the flip side, I needed something to remember before we decided to cast a power spell. But right now, I had to get past Mom.

Ugh
.

“And where are you off to?” she asked, seeing the stupid enormous grin that wouldn’t leave my lips. I wouldn’t have been surprised if there were stars twinkling in my eyes as well.

“To meet Seth,” I answered, coming down the stairs.

“Hmm,” she said, pursing her lips. That was her not-so-subtle way of letting me know she thought that was a bad idea, but not even her hesitation could damper my elation.

“Don’t worry. Nothing is going to happen. We are just hanging out.” I swiped my handbag from the end of the banister, and started digging for my car keys in the bottomless pit that was my bag.

“Katia, I know that you think you can handle spending time with Seth, and maybe you can, but I don’t want you to underestimate the magnetic pull that lies between the two of you. It is a force that goes beyond the natural order of the universe.”

Did everyone think we were destined to fail? To die?

I felt like our parents were just waiting around for what they thought was the inevitable. It put a small hiccup in my mood. I wasn’t ready to give up what I had just found. Imagine if they knew that Seth had already said the sacred vow, that we had already sealed half of the dooming curse. It would only reinforce how catastrophic it was for me to be alone with Seth.

“I know. We’ll be careful. I promise,” I said, my hand already opening the front door.