Chapter 7

The ride home was a quiet one. Owen insisted on driving, and Leena watched him the whole way carefully. Chris hadn’t had to pull Kasey over closer to him. She had been as close to him as she could manage before he was completely in the Jeep. She hadn’t spoken, and the longer she went without speaking, the more worried he became.

Chris didn’t want to think of her alone tonight in her little house. He didn’t want to let her go, not now that he’d finally gotten close to her. He wanted her in his house, where he could watch over her, care for her. He actually didn’t know how he was going to get out of the Jeep and walk away when they got back.

Kasey leaned into him. As long as he was there, she felt safe. It was going to take her a long time to forget what those women looked like when they found them. She remembered the blood on all the men. Looking down, she glanced at Chris’s hands. There was no blood on them now, but she would still see it there for a while.

Her stomach tightened, and she felt herself start shaking. “Owen, please stop for a minute.” She couldn’t stop shaking.

Chris turned to her and reached out to hold her shoulders. “Just breathe, Kasey. Breathe through it.”

She shook her head. She couldn’t catch her breath.

Owen pulled over quickly.

Pushing away from Chris, she opened the door and scrambled out. She ran into the ditch and stood there bent over with her hands on her knees.

Chris was out and around the Jeep before Dade could pull up behind them. He slid down the slope into the ditch and ran to her in a few strides. He placed his hand on her back and talked softly to her. “Just take deep breaths, sweetheart.” He knelt down and looked into her face. “Just breathe. It will pass.”

He glanced up to see Owen looking distressed. Leena wouldn’t let him come and help after what he’d gone through that morning. “You have to relax and let it go.” He shook his head at Owen.

Kasey was gasping, trying to draw air in. He brought her chin up so she would look at him. “Kassandra,” he said softly. “Look at me. Don’t look away. Just keep looking at me. Listen to my voice, sweetheart. Let me bring you through this.” Chris stood, slowly straightening her up. “That’s it. You’re doing fine. Just keep looking at me. Take a deep breath now, and let it go.” He smiled as her breathing became quiet again. “That’s it... Keep looking at my eyes, sweet Kasey. You’re going to be fine.”

It had been a long time since he’d used his gift in this way. He’d promised himself long ago to never use it this way on someone again. But this was Kasey, and it was for all the right reasons this time.

Chris lowered his lashes, looking down and breaking the connection. Then he quickly looked at her again. “Are you okay?” he asked her quietly.

She nodded. “It was awful. I looked at your hands and saw the blood and all of it again, and then I couldn’t breathe, Chris.” Kasey wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

He kissed the top of her head and held her close for a moment. “Kase, look at my hands, sweetheart. They’re clean. It’s gone.” He held them out in front of her. She took each hand and turned it over slowly and looked at them. He held one of hers and brought it to his mouth. “Let’s get you home.”

Leena and Cora practically pulled her out of his arms when they climbed to the edge of the road again. He let them hug and comfort her as he stood there with his hands in his pockets, beside the other men.

Dade grinned at him. “You’ve been holding out on us, Larkin, big time, huh?”

Chris looked at the others standing there and let out a breath. “There is a slight chance I know a few things I haven’t shared.” He looked seriously at Dade for a moment. “For very good reasons, my friend.”

Steven looked down at the ground for a moment then back at him. “If the women caught a feel of that, you’re going to have some serious explaining to do.”

Chris grinned, “You forget my profession. I excel at finding loopholes.”

“Be careful, or that loop will turn into a noose around your neck.” Dade laughed.

Chris sighed, knowing he was right. He glanced at Owen. “I don’t want her alone tonight.”

Owen stuck his hands in his pockets. “I’ll make a suggestion to Leena.”

Chris nodded and walked over to try to get Kasey back into the Jeep.

He hadn’t been lying. He didn’t want her alone. But he also didn’t trust himself with her alone right now either. She lifted her face for a kiss as he opened the door to the Jeep. He lowered his mouth to hers to feather a brief kiss against her lips. Brushing his fingers over her cheek, he smiled before he closed the door.

Chris had Owen drop him off first, leaving most of his stuff in Dade’s van. Kasey would be spending the night with Leena and Owen at their house. The worry of her being alone was gone. The worry of what he’d done wasn’t, and he needed some time to sort that out.

He stepped into his large, quiet home. It felt empty after the weekend of being so close to the others. He dropped his pack by the door, only to pick it back up and carry it with him to his temple room. As the door opened, he flicked a hand and the lights came on.

He looked around, comforted by the familiar space. It always soothed him. The dark blue of the walls relaxed him. His bookshelves were lined with any book that had ever been written on magic and all varieties of the occult, dark or light. He’d read every one of them, too.

Beside them on the shelf was a large leather-bound journal that contained his experiences with what did and didn’t work.

The marble floor was polished to a brilliant sheen. Sighing, he walked to stand in the middle of the pentacle carved into the floor.

One wall, lined with cabinets that were filled with various magical ingredients and items. He didn’t require them, but having them provided a sense of security.

Setting his pack down, he took out the Solstice gifts and placed them on a table. Holding the cuff links in his hand, he walked over and placed them inside a carved wooden box on the shelf.

Then he went and sat on the cushions in the far corner, away from the window. He waved a hand towards a shelf, and several candles moved to settle down on the stands throughout the room. With a snap of his fingers, the flames grew from the wick. Sighing, he flicked his hand, and the electric lights turned off, as the soothing candlelight caressed the room.

He studied a fairy sitting on a shelf next to a wolf and grinned. The irony of that didn’t slip by him. What, he thought with a sigh, was he going to do about beautiful, sweet, innocent, little Kassandra Wright? Could he tell her everything about himself and his past, then watch her run the other way? He was sure he wouldn’t survive that ending.

He could keep his mouth shut and continue as he had for the last several years, yearning, wanting. He groaned when he thought of how she’d felt against him in the dark.

Chris couldn’t go back to the harmless banter and a chaste kiss here and there. Was he able to give her the time she needed? Running his hands through his hair in frustration, he swore under his breath. He stood up and paced to the door. With a snap, as he walked out the door, the candles snuffed out, and he closed the door to darkness.

He was almost to the kitchen when he realized he’d left his pack and phone in the temple room. Dropping his head, he took a deep breath and focused. Down the hall he heard a door shut and opened his eyes to see his pack floating towards him. Catching it in midair, he grinned.

Now he needed a drink and some time to get his brain together before he went to the office in the morning.

Dropping the pack on the kitchen counter, he fished his cell phone out of it and flipped it open. He stared at it for a few minutes, then sent Leena a message.

Everything ok there?

He glanced towards the fridge until a beer was in his hand. He had just taken off the cap when she replied.

Yes. Kase is soaking in the tub.

He grinned at the image that came to mind with that.

Good. Call if you need anything.

He set the phone down and took a long drink. What was it with beer? Why did man think it fixed all? He chuckled and was studying the bottle when Leena’s message came back.

Will do. And Chris, you and I are going to have to talk.

He grinned at the phone. He had been expecting that.

Name the time and place and I’ll be there. Tell Kasey good night for me.

Setting the phone down, he picked up his beer and leaned back, taking a slow drink. Leena would be the easiest of the four women to talk to, and he knew at some point he’d have to do a lot of explaining to all of them. The only one he feared telling was Kasey.

Grinning into the bottle, he remembered what she’d done to him over the belly ring being charmed. Oh, she was more powerful than she let on too, for the little thing she was. He sobered for a moment thinking of how strong she’d be when she was older, that was almost frightening. He finished the beer and grabbed his phone, deciding sleep was the best plan of action.

Chris had just flicked off the lights and dropped down onto the mattress when his cell phone rang. He flipped it open to see Kasey’s number on the screen.

“Hi, sweetheart. How are you doing?” There was a pause.

“Better. You don’t mind that I called, do you? If you’re busy...”

“I just laid down in my bed. You can call me whenever you want, Kasey. You should know that.” He pursed his lips wondering if she had his home and office number.

“Do you want me to let you go to sleep then?”

Her voice was so soft, so sweet, his muscles clenched just hearing it. “No, I’m not tired, really, just trying to relax. That was not the weekend I had planned.”

He heard her sigh softly into the phone.

“Yes. That’s one of the reasons I called, to thank you for being so good to me today.”

“You don’t have to thank me for that.”

“I know, but I wanted to anyways. Will you let me know if you hear anything?’

“Of course.”

“Good. The other reason I called was, well, I was relaxing in the bath, Leena’s filed me with so much herbal tea I may never be tense again, but I was just lying there, relaxing with my eyes closed...”

His mind filled with that image, and he smiled to himself.

“And I started thinking about you and when we were alone those few times.” He imagined her blushing right now.

“I never really got to talk to you about any of that, Chris.”

He could be there with her in his arms in twenty minutes. “We can talk about it if you like, sweetheart.” His voice was suddenly huskier.

She giggled. “Well, I guess I really don’t want to discuss it like the weather or anything, but what I meant to tell you was I was thinking about you and how we were, and um... I wouldn’t mind being with you like that again, if...if you want to.”

He grinned into the phone. “Kassandra, just hearing your voice over the phone has me hard and wanting.”

There was a pause “Oh, good, that makes me feel better...because the sound of your voice almost has me wanting too, just listening to it, Chris.”

He groaned, “You’re killing me, Kasey. I’m ready to drive there now and carry you out the back door.”

She laughed. “Oh, see? You’ve distracted me completely from the other reason I called. Now I’m just all hot.”

He hissed out a breath. “Now you’re just being a mean and sexy little witch.”

She giggled again. “I’m sorry. Really, I can’t help it. Every time I see you standing there in the moonlight wearing just your black sarong... God, Chris, do you know all I could think about when I saw you was licking every inch of that muscled chest…”

His hand not holding the phone grasped the pillow and squeezed. “Kasey, please! Have some compassion for me here.”

She gasped. “I’m sorry. See? You did it again.”

He closed his eyes and tried not to think of the way she would look doing as she said. “What was the other reason you called? And I warn you, if it involves any part of your body or mouth or anything close to what you’ve got me thinking now, I will hang up and be on Leena’s doorstep in twenty minutes or less.” There was a pause.

“Oh. Hmm.”

“Kasey!” The little witch had him so hard he was almost panting like an animal for her.

“I was thinking,” she answered quickly.

“I know what you were thinking, you little witch.” He took a deep breath. “And the other reason you called?”

“Okay, but it involves body parts, but not in that way. The parts like your eyes and what you did tonight on the way home when I had that attack.”

He sat up. So she did know.

“I didn’t completely realize it at the time. It hit me after we dropped you off. Chris, what did you do?”

He let out a slow breath. “It’s similar to a hypnosis technique, but more of a spell. I wanted to help you, but talking you through it wasn’t working.”

“Is it like mind control?” Her voice was suddenly very quiet.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and thought. “Not completely, no.” He waited.

“Would you ever use it against me, for any reason other than like today?”

She spoke so softly he could barely hear her. “No. Never. That wouldn’t be fair to either of us.” And he knew then he wouldn’t, and it was the truth.

“Okay, good, then. I have one more question, Chris.”

“Go ahead.” What more could she know?

“Did you like what I did to you after...after you made me feel so good outside the cabin?”

She caught him completely off guard. He was shocked. He closed his eyes and remembered. “Kasey, say the word, and I’m in the car and coming to get you.”

She laughed softly. “That’s not an answer.”

He growled into the phone. “Yes. Yes, I liked it. Are you enjoying teasing the hell out of me right now?”

“Oh, yes.”

Her voice was low, and he groaned into the phone. “Go get some sleep, you sexy little witch,” he whispered.

“Same goes for you. Good night, Christopher.”

“Good night, sweet Kassandra.” He closed the phone and took a deep breath, holding it before letting it out slowly. Teaching that woman was going to be more than worth it.