The Torn, Book One of the Holding Kate Series (25 page)

Corey cried out,
“Taylia!” His voice, filled with the echoes of hundreds of years of agony, loneliness, friendship, and love, ravaged my heart. I wrapped my arms around him, and he sobbed into my hair. Eunavae fell beside us and wept. Donnie and Tara gathered her in their arms, and Trip knelt down between them with a hand on each one.

The medics ran in and began trying to separate us. “BACK OFF!” I snarled at them and Trip stood up and blocked them from reaching us.

“Give us some time,” he commanded.

They reluctantly backed down. I think it had something to do with Trip’s sheer size and the sword strapped to his side.

He crossed his arms and stood guard while we soothed and cooed and held Corey and Eunavae.

Finally, Corey sat up. “It was true. It was my quest. I didn’t believe in love before I came here.” He touched my cheek. “You opened my heart in the Scriptorium, but I didn’t believe any other kind of love was real. That is why I had such a hard time with you and Trip.” He drew a shuddering breath. “My own parents…” He broke down and sobbed and I wrapped myself around him.

“I love you, Corey. I love you, so.” I sighed into his hair and he clung to me.

He settled again and turned to Eunavae, Tara, and Donnie. “I am so sorry I stranded you there so long…so, so sorry. I love you, guys. You are my family.”

They all hugged him and cried together. When he pulled away he gawked at Eunavae. “Your eyes! Your skin!”

Her face mutated from sorrow to shock, “I can see!” She looked down at her baby soft and smooth arms. “I am not scarred? But, I thought we kept the scars.” She touched a thick scar on Tara’s arm.

“Mine was from the Scriptorium. I guess it’s different there.” Tara wiped tears from her cheeks.

“Yes, the Scriptorium changes us forever.” Corey grabbed the back of my neck and pulled my forehead to his.

“Can we get in there now?” One of the medics asked.

We laughed, wiped our tears, and Trip stepped aside and waved his hand in our direction.

They began to separate us, but Corey refused. “No. We stay together.” He locked his arm around my shoulders. I noticed he was shorter and turned to stare at his face.

I lifted my hand to his soft skin and fingered his blond curls. “There you are,” I whispered. “My Corey.”

He raised his eyebrows and touched his cheek. “Young again?”

I nodded and cocked an eyebrow suggestively. “Remember my promise to you about when you were my Corey again?”

“Hey,” he called to the white coat. “Let’s get this over with as soon as possible!”

I giggled and ran my hands along his cheeks and through his hair in complete glee over his transformation. My Corey was back. I couldn’t wait another second to have his tender lips on mine.

“Kiss me, old man,” I whispered.

He obliged. Bliss. Kissing Corey was my all-time favorite thing to do. We lost ourselves in tender kisses until I heard one of the white coats say, “Er…are they allowed to do that?”

“Dude, that kid has been away for over 200 years. Give him a break,” the other white coat answered.

We started laughing in each other’s arms, and Corey picked me up and spun me around.

“Okay, you two, this way.” The medic grinned at us. We headed down the hall and a loud crash drew our attention. Mel burst through the door at the end of the corridor and ran into Donnie’s embrace.

“You’re back.” She jumped into his arms, wrapped her legs around him, and they fell against the glossy gray wall.

We smiled and followed the medic into our processing room. They had a lot of questions for Corey. How long was he gone? Why didn’t they age? Whose jump was it? Why did he still speak English? We answered each one with our fingers intertwined and my legs wrapped around his under the table.

They left us alone for a moment and we wasted no time. We grabbed each other and resumed our kissing. Arms, legs, and lips intertwined, I couldn’t get close enough to him. Delicious tension built up between us with every moment that passed. Passion spiked in me and he ran his hand across the skin of my lower back. I moaned in his mouth and his tongue stroked my lip.
Oh, dear God, we have to get out of here!

The door opened and we broke apart, our breathing heavy and the air tinted with desire. The medic, looking down at his clip board, announced we were free to go. We jumped up and ran out of the room, hands locked. We whipped around the corner and Corey pressed my back against the wall. Slowly he leaned into me and kissed me with such pent up passion, I thought I would melt. Needing him desperately, I wrapped my leg around his and surrendered to his soft lips. Desire bloomed and I ached with the intensity of his need of me. We broke apart panting, our eyes hazed with passion, and then we ran on along the corridor to the exit. We burst through the double doors into a star spangled night sky.

“Wait!” The medic chased us down. “You forgot your new jumpsuits.” He threw them to us and waved us on.

We ran down to the lake, scattering the peacocks and peahens, and ducked under one of the willow trees. Corey had me in his arms before the branches fell shut behind us, kissing my neck, my face, my lips. His kisses became urgent and hungry and I thought I was going to explode into flame. He unzipped my jacket, and I peeled off his shirt and we kissed every inch of skin we could find. He pulled me down to the grass and stretched me out on top of him. Corey was everywhere. His hands were all over me, as though he couldn’t find enough places to touch.

“Corey!” I moaned. There were no words to describe how I needed him. He flipped us over until his body covered me.

“Kate, my Kate, I have waited so long.” His voice broke with glorious agony and he kissed down my neck to my shoulder. “You are so beautiful.” His eyes grazed over my body, then locked onto mine. Desire became a tangible force connecting us, locking us together in passion and love.

I thought I would cry so intense was my love for him. I just wanted him to be forever mine, in every way. I wanted to bond myself completely to him, permanently.
He couldn’t possibly be more mine than he was right now, could he?
I was determined to find out and do whatever was required to cinch our bond.

My hands ran down his bare chest, so smooth and strong, his muscles lean and sculpted to perfection. I traced each one with my fingers and he sketched patterns on my skin as well.

“I love you, my Kate,” he whispered.

“I want you, Corey.” My voice was almost pleading.

He leaned down, eyes burning with desire, wrapped his arm under my back and lifted me to him. He hovered over my chest. I could feel his breath between my breasts, and every cell in my body screamed for his touch.

“Give them a few more minutes.”

We froze when we heard Mel’s voice.

“Sounds good to me. Come here, wife.” Donnie said.

I let out an exasperated sigh.
Were we never going to get a break?

Corey, refusing to be jerked away from his bliss, nuzzled my neck and kissed me slowly, luxuriously, as he sat up and tucked me back into my jacket. Then I wrapped my legs around him and kissed him while I put his shirt back on him. We sat with me on his lap and kissed for as long as we were able to, savoring each moment.

“Mmmm,” Mel sighed. “Just a little longer?”

Donnie chuckled and we peered out through the willow branches to see them in the golf cart, Mel kissing his neck. We resumed our own kissing.

“Okay, you four, come on out,” Donnie growled. Then we heard whispers.

“Four?” I repeated.

We stepped out from under the willow tree just as Trip and Tara stepped out from under a willow tree a few feet down the river bank. We grinned sheepishly at one another. Corey shrugged and wrapped me in a bear hug and spun me around again.

“Dude, we don’t need a chaperone, Tara and Corey are 220 freakin’ years old!” Trip growled.

I looked up at Corey and we burst into laughter. Mel and Donnie caught the laugh bug and it finally spread to Trip and Tara. Sheer joy changed our outburst into uncontrollable laughter. We laughed until our sides hurt and our eyes misted.

Trip laughed so hard he ended up flopping onto the ground on his back side. Corey’s legs gave way and we all sprawled on the grass, hysterical in our happiness.

It was so good to be home, together, young…safe…in love. We finally pulled ourselves together and stood up. I jumped on Corey’s back, and he carried me to the golf cart. Trip and Tara sauntered up, pinkies linked.

“Hop on. We are cooking out cheeseburgers tonight,” Mel said.

“How long were we gone?” I asked.

“About 5 hours, everyone is still adjusting to English, spandex, hot and cold running water.”

“I could eat about a hundred cheeseburgers,” Trip said.

SCCCCRREEEECCCHHH! The sphere announced itself.

“You’ve got to be freakin’ kidding!” Tara shouted and threw her arms up in the air.

The sphere fell on us. Corey and I wrapped our arms around each other and held on.

We landed in the dark on a high butte. On one side a dark copse of trees spilled down a hill, on the other side a vast plain opened up and a ghostly green mist billowed around our knees and trickled down the hill in all directions. The scent on the air was of rotten eggs, but sharp and metallic. Ocean waves crashed behind me and I turned to see the foaming surf about a hundred feet below a sheer cliff. I lifted my eyes to see the brightness of the moon and gasped. The other members turned to see what was wrong, and we all stared into the night sky with our mouths hanging open.

The crescent shaped moon was accompanied by an even larger half purple moon and to the right another full moon weighed down on us.

“How is that possible?” Trip asked. “More than one moon?”

“Does this mean we are on another planet?” Tara asked.

We all stared at the moons, trying to comprehend the impossibility.

“Couldn’t they have waited until after the cheeseburgers?” Trip grumbled.

ROOOOAAARRRRR!!!! An enormous beast sounded from the trees.

SEEEERRRRKKK! Another beast called from the plain.

We huddled together not knowing which way to go.

“We’ve got to get off this ridge,” Tara whispered.

“Listen!” Donnie held up a hand.

We heard it. A whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, getting closer with each whoosh. Then a massive bird like creature screeched behind us as it flew up from the beach.

We scattered like jacks thrown down a ramp. I didn’t even think. I just ran for the cover of the trees, propelled to break-neck speeds by the decline of the hill. I pierced the darkness of the forest and skidded to a stop. I whirled around when I heard feet behind me.

“Don’t stop!” Mel ordered and grabbed me as she ran by.

“Wait! Mel, where are the others?”

“No time, run. Find cover.” She yanked me into her wake.

We ran until we could no longer see the moonlights through the dense canopy, then we stopped to breathe. Mel pressed her back to one of the trees and I hunkered down in front of her. The eerie green mist swirled around us.

“We are separated! We have to go back and find them.” I gasped in the foul air.

“They are fine. Donnie followed them. I followed you.”

“Okay, but we still need to find them.”

“No, we need to concentrate on not becoming some nocturnal snack.”

Well. When she put it that way…

“This is either Tara’s jump or yours, so we need to try to figure out what our next move should be.”

“I thought Tara already had her jump, with the sea serpent.” I shifted to my other foot.

“Maybe, that could have been Kail’s. We weren’t really sure.”

I did not want to think about what horrors we could encounter if this was Tara’s jump. Xena Warrior Princess had some pretty atrocious battles in her Scriptorium preparation. Her jump would only be a nightmare. Me however? Suffering kittens would send me over the edge so our chances of survival were better if it were my jump. That wasn’t much of a comfort at the moment.

I heard a snuffling noise to the right. Mel and I stood, poised for a breaking escape. The snuffling noise stopped and a guttural growl erupted through the bracken. We turned to run, but I glanced back.

Fear trickled down my spine and my heart thumped an angry staccato as I watched the enormous beast crash through the thicket behind me. “Run!” I commanded my feet, but they seemed to be growing roots into the mossy forest floor.

“RUN!” Mel screamed and yanked on my arm so hard I thought she had wrenched it right out of my shoulder, but it worked. I was running. We were both running for our lives.

“Is it yours?” she yelled at me.

“I don’t…I don’t…” I looked back over my shoulder and saw the beast pause and throw his nose into the air, sniffing. He stood up on his hind legs and I saw it. It was wearing a long yellow leash of sorts around its neck, but the ends were frayed, as though he had gnawed himself free.

I stumbled and went crashing into the thicket, thorns snagging my clothes and hair. Mel was next to me in an instant. “Get up!”

She saw the look of panic on my face. “It
is
yours,” she said and ancient sadness crossed her features. “What is it?” she slashed at the vine tangled around my feet and stole quick glances over her shoulder.

“It…It…it’s my….” I croaked out in despair.

ROOOAAARRR! The beast bellowed when he caught our scent.

“Get up! Go!” Mel urged.

I scrambled to my feet just as the beast crashed through the wall of branches and vines. We froze, staring at the hideous creature as long talons scraped the ground at his sides and black gunk oozed from his mouth and eyes. Pointed fangs pressed into the matted fur of his face. His eyes held deadly intent and seething malice. His breath rose in green fumes around him.

“What is it?” Mel’s voice whimpered.

“It’s my,” I shuddered. “It’s my daddy!”