Catalyst (A Tethered Novel) Page 12

  I turned the knob on the red door and stepped inside. Binks ran up the narrow stairs, nearly tripping Kace so he could get into the room behind me. I glanced at him in a whole new light now. It was odd that he was like some sponge for magick. I went straight to the book and began flipping through its pages without knowing what I was looking for.

  “What type of spell do you think I’ll need?” I asked, trying to make my voice sound as normal as possible when my words felt anything but.

  “I don’t know,” Kace said, flopping on the puke-colored loveseat up against the far wall.

  I stopped and glared at him. “What do you mean, you don’t know? You’re supposed to be helping me figure this crap out because you know more than me.”

  “I’ve never actually had to use a protection spell for anything, though.” He shrugged while messing with the tassels on one of the throw pillows.

  “You have got to be kidding me,” I said as I resumed my frantic search for a spell to help me. One caught my eye: A Spell for Protection. “I think I found one.” I skimmed the spell, searching for the ingredients.

  Black candles to line a circle with.

  There were plenty of black candles on the shelf. I went over and grabbed an armful as Kace stood and glanced over the spell I’d found.

  “This one is so basic. I hope it will be enough,” he said, already sounding pessimistic about the whole thing.

  I ignored his comment and went back to the book to figure out what I needed to do next.

  Create a circle, and then line the candles around you within. Clear your mind before lighting them to sweep away negative energy within yourself. Light the candles while thinking of your intentions: protection, safety, comfort.

  I created a circle with the chalk like I had done before and set out the candles around me like the book had said, feeling as though I had a ticking time bomb fastened to my chest. Before I set the final candles into place and closed the chalk circle all the way, I called for Binks. He came directly to me and curled up in my lap. I wasn’t sure whether or not he needed to be enclosed within the circle in order for his magick to work, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I looked to Kace next.

  “Are you going to help, or are you just going to stand there and watch?” I asked him.

  He flashed me a wicked grin. “I already told you, any time I get to work magick with you I’m down for. I was just marveling at how easily you’re taking all of this. I mean you just drew a circle.”

  He moved to sit beside me on the cold hardwood floor, and I didn’t say anything. His presence mixed with mine in the circle I was creating and made the area seem too small and suffocating as I closed us inside with both chalk and candles.

  I sat Indian style and Kace did the same. His knees brushed against mine in the confined space I’d created, and I felt tendrils of warmth swim to the surface of my skin there. For the first time, I wondered what he felt when we touched. Did he feel warmth like me, or was it something else entirely that sparked to life inside of him?

  Kace sat the book on the floor beside us, and I glanced at him, allowing my eyes to rake over every inch of him. He’d worn a faded, baby blue, cotton T-shirt and a pair of khaki cargo shorts that were well broken in, just like the shirt.

  “Are you ready to attempt this?” Kace asked, a smirk playing in his words.

  “Yeah.” I looked up to find him smiling knowingly at me, as though he’d borne witness to the way my eyes had been taking him in and he liked it. My cheeks warmed under his stare, and I shifted my attention to the book.

  “Okay, now it says to clear your mind of negativity,” I said, struggling to do just that.

  “All right, not a problem,” Kace said.

  I watched as he closed his eyes, their thick lashes fanned out against his cheeks. Why did guys always have lashes girls dreamed of having? All the mascara in the world could never make my lashes look as long and dark as his did right now.

  I took in a breath and closed my eyes to clear my thoughts of anything negative—something that wasn’t going to be too hard, because I really wasn’t thinking anything negative at the moment anyway. Kace shifted his weight, causing his knee to brush against mine a little more. Nope, all thoughts were good at the moment.

  I opened my eyes after a few minutes and found Kace staring directly at me. He flashed me a crooked smile and I grinned back.

  “Now, I light the candles while thinking of my intentions. Protection, safety, comfort. I guess you should think those things too,” I said, my voice sounding a bit husky and unsure. Kace’s eyes flashed and he looked boyishly pleased to have the effect he did on me.

  I shifted my gaze to the candles and began lighting them, while repeating the same three words in my mind: Protection, safety, comfort.

  Kace picked up the book and glanced at its pages. “Envision the fires creating a flaming, bright sphere of protection around you. One that cannot be penetrated. Envision this sphere growing until it encases the house in a bubble,” he said, reading from the book.

  I closed my eyes again, this time envisioning what Kace had told me to. Binks purred loudly from in my lap, and I wondered if what we were doing was actually working. I opened my eyes after a few minutes and met Kace’s stare dead-on.

  “How do we know if it worked?” I asked.

  “What did you feel last time, anything?”

  I thought for a moment before answering, remembering the sudden flare of heat that had overcome me. “I don’t know. There was a clap of thunder and then a storm came afterward, but I’m not sure it was from doing magick. It was probably just a coincidence.”

  “But did you feel anything?” Kace asked again.

  I shook my head. “Not much. There was some sort of heat I felt. It was different than what I feel when we touch though, so I’m not sure it was anything.”

  “Hmm…I don’t know. I guess we’ll just have to hope for the best. Maybe he doesn’t have any more magick left in him,” he said, looking at a sleeping Binks in my lap.

  “Maybe.” I glanced down at him.

  Disappointment crept through me. I had expected some sort of sign that the spell we’d done had worked, like maybe for the candles to blow out on their own or something of equal creepiness like the last time. This time, though, there’d been nothing.

  “So, should we order in or go out?” Kace asked after we’d cleaned everything up and headed downstairs.

  “Umm, whatever you want to do, I guess,” I said, not realizing he’d been planning on staying after.

  “Oh, God, you’re one of those people.” He scoffed in a tone I didn’t much care for.

  I turned to face him. Scowling, I blew a strand of hair that had fallen from my bun out of my face and crossed my arms over my chest. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  His oddly colored eyes flashed with amusement. “One of those people who never really know how to give someone an actual answer when they’re asked to make even the simplest of decisions. You’re a deflector.” He pointed at me and grinned.

  He’d said it like he’d had me pegged from the beginning or something and was just now getting to see that he’d been right all along.

  “Whatever, I’m not one of those people. And what’s a deflector, anyway?” I asked, bemused.

  “A person who deflects the question back on you, the questioner.”

  “Order in,” I said, sounding more firm than I’d been going for. I was not a deflector. I hated people like that; no way was I going to be labeled as one of them. “That’s my answer. We’ll stay and order in. What do you feel like eating?” I asked, heading toward the kitchen where I’d seen a phone book at some point.

  “I don’t know. Whatever you feel like.”

  I spun around and glared at him. “Nu-uh, you are not going to do that to me. Especially not after that.” I motioned toward the staircase where we’d just been. “I don’t even know what there is around here for takeout.”

  He grinned and crammed his hands into
the front pockets of his shorts. “Doesn’t feel too good, does it?”

  “You’re such an ass.” I smiled and shook my head. “And you called me a deflector.”

  “Takes one to know one.” He licked his bottom lip and his grin deepened, igniting the dimple I was beginning to love. “Seriously though, Collette’s delivers and if I tell them it’s me they’re delivering to, they’ll allow me to order a bottle of wine.” He raised a challenging eyebrow at me. “What do you think, want to have a drink or two with me?”

  “Sure,” I said. I could use a drink. After all, someone was trying to get rid of me, and anything I could do to relax seemed needed because of it.

  This was what I told myself, even though alcohol and Kace did not seem like a good situation for me to put myself in. I was practically setting myself up for a hot fisherman fling as Vera had called it.

  No, I could behave…as long as Kace did.

  True to his word, dinner came with a nice bottle of wine after Kace had mentioned who the order was for. I scoured the cabinets in my grandmother’s kitchen for two glasses we could drink from that weren’t plastic. Finally, I found her stash in the cabinets above the refrigerator.

  “Geez, Grandma liked her drinks,” I said as I glanced at the loads of tumblers, shot glasses, and an assortment of wine and champagne glasses hidden away.

  Kace came over and placed both of his hands on my hips. He lifted me up and slowly set me down in front of him so I wouldn’t have to shimmy my way off the counter on my own. The motion of brushing against him sent shivers across my skin and ignited images in my mind that I’d thought would only appear after a glass or two of wine.

  Screw my one and done rule. Tonight I was in desperate need of fun and relaxation and maybe a little something else. Maybe…

  “Here you go,” I said, holding up a glass between the two of us while at the same time holding my breath.

  Kace smirked at me. “Thanks,” he said as he took it from my fingertips, being sure to brush his fingers against mine.

  One thing I’d learned about him in the short time I’d known him was any time he could touch me, he would. Maybe the feel of contact with me was just as good for him. After a few glasses of wine, it would definitely be something I’d ask him.

  Kace poured us each a glass of wine and then raised his for a toast. “To keeping you safe, even if it means I have to spend the night. Every night.” His eyes glittered as he said the words, and he tipped the glass to his lips, never removing them from mine.

  I felt my heart skip a beat. He had no idea how good him spending the night sounded to me right about now.

  “To the first part, yes. To the second part, not so much.” I tipped my glass back and drank. Vera would be proud; I was playing hard to get. At least I thought I was.

  I spun and headed back into the gaudy red room that was the dining room, hurrying to get away from the sexier than sin look Kace was giving me. I set out the food he’d ordered for us, curious to see what it was. Removing the lid from a circular container, I smiled.

  “Baked ziti?” I’d expected something more sophisticated and gourmet now that I knew all about Collette’s and their type of food.

  Kace shrugged as he sat down at the table beside me. “What can I say? I’m a man who enjoys the simple things in life.”

  “Is that so?” I questioned as I scooped some of the pasta onto my plate.

  A boyish smirk twisted his lips, and I’d never wanted to kiss him more than I did right then. “It is.”

  “Tell me about you,” I said as I sat down and took a long sip of the incredible wine he’d gotten us.

  “Tell you about me? What do you want to know?”

  “Nope, none of that deflector crap.”

  He chuckled. “Well, you sort of put me on the spot. I mean, that’s a broad sort of question.”

  I rolled my eyes and took another sip. “Fine, I’ll make it easy then. What’s your favorite color?”

  He stopped scooping pasta and looked me directly in the eyes. “Green, like the color in your eyes.”

  “Corny.” I chuckled.

  He shook his head and smiled. “No, seriously. Green is my favorite color, and it just happens to be one of the colors swirled in your eyes.”

  “Yeah, sure, whatever you say.” I dragged the words out, enjoying teasing him. “Favorite type of music?”

  “Anything besides classical and country.”

  “So that means you like opera, didn’t think you were the type.”

  “Ha, funny,” he said, cocking his head to the side. “Your turn. If you could go to any place in the world right now, where would you go?”

  “Ireland,” I said without hesitation. It had been at the top of my list of places to visit since I was like seven.

  “Ireland, huh? I figured you’d be more of a beachy destination type of girl.”

  “And why is that?”

  He took a sip of his wine, staring at me over the rim of his glass before answering. “Because you seem like the type to enjoy being in a bathing suit.”

  “Ha, I think you’d just like to see me in a bathing suit.”

  He leaned across the table, a devilish smirk twisting his full lips. “Or, a little less.”

  “That could be arranged,” I teased with a wicked grin of my own.

  God, what was I saying? I blushed and tipped my wineglass back, finishing its contents. Kace poured me another before I could tell him no.

  “No need to blush. We’re all adults here,” he said with a heated look, which only made my cheeks flame even more.

  I tipped the glass he’d just refilled back and took a long swig. “I’m not blushing. It’s the alcohol,” I lied. Partly.

  Kace didn’t say a word. He reached for my chair and jerked it closer to his with one deliberate motion. I watched as the muscles in his bicep bulged beneath his T-shirt. My eyes were still open when his lips came crashing down against mine. They slanted across them, soft and warm. His arm circled my waist as he drew me in closer toward him.

  I closed my eyes once I felt his tongue flick against my bottom lip. Opening my mouth, I allowed him the access to the deepest parts he seemed to want. My hands gripped his biceps, and I felt his muscles grow ridged and taut from my touch. Warmth swam though me, clouding my mind more than the alcohol. The two made for a dizzying haze. His lips left mine in favor of the sensitive skin along my neck. I thought of what we were doing and how we should probably stop, but then Kace’s lips found mine once again and I was drowning in that haze once more. The words I had planned on saying were forgotten.

  A sigh escaped from me as his warm hand slipped beneath my tank top and along my ribs. Kace moaned in delight at the sound. He scooped me up, cupping my rear, and pulled me into his lap faster than I thought possible. I ran my hands up over the cotton of his T-shirt, focusing on the feel of his solidness beneath, and then back down, stopping just above the waistband of his shorts. Pulling at the edges of his shirt, I slipped it up and over his head, then tossed it on the floor.

  I probably should have been embarrassed for the aggressive role I was taking in this moment, but I wasn’t. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was due to the pent-up sexual tension that had been between us from the start, or maybe it was the magick that bubbled beneath my skin from the feel of his touch urging me for more, I couldn’t be sure. One thing I did know though, I didn’t want to stop what we were doing.

  Kace trailed kisses along my jawline again, this time nibbling and sucking as he went. He stopped to tease the curve of my neck, and I tipped my head back while lacing my fingers in his thick hair. Another whimper escaped me as his lips traveled closer to the tops of my breasts. He lifted his head to look at me, his icy eyes flashing with satisfaction at the sounds he was luring from within me. He eased my tank top up over my chest, and I lifted my arms so he could pull it off with ease.

  His lips slid up my throat, and I tilted my head back again to allow him more access. They trailed up over my jaw an
d back to my lips where they hovered, barely touching mine, not quite kissing me. The sensation of his warm breath across them was nearly overwhelming. I intertwined my fingers in his hair again and pressed my lips to his, hard. I could feel him smile as I heard him groan in pleasure from my sudden dominance.

  “Up,” he demanded, slapping my butt with enough force to startle me.

  I stood, my legs feeling like Jell-O beneath me. Kace gripped my hand and pulled me into the living room where he thrust me down on the couch and leaned over me, forcing me to lie back as he covered my body with his. His lips found their way to mine again as his hands slid across my bare stomach.

  “As much as I’m enjoying this,” he said between kisses, “if at any time you want me to stop, just say so.”

  I wrapped my arms around his neck, forcing his lips against mine again. “Yeah, I don’t think that will be happening.”

  Kace was in my bed, wrapped around me when I woke the next morning. His arm lay draped over my side, his bare chest snuggled tightly against my back, and our legs were intertwined with each other’s. I smiled and closed my eyes, enjoying the feel of waking up in someone’s arms. The few times I’d spent the night with Ryan, I’d come to realize he wasn’t much of a cuddler, at least not when it came to me. He sure could cuddle the shit out of a body pillow at night though.

  Last night had been amazing. I’d forgotten how nice being with someone that way could make a person feel. How it numbed your mind to everything except pleasure. The blissful, overworked sensation that tired out your muscles. The intense emotional connection that tethered you to the other person. Sex with Kace had been incredible, unlike anything I’d ever experienced before, and I wasn’t giving all the credit to the magick flowing beneath our skin from contact.

  I snuggled against him a little more and drifted back to sleep, feeling that warmth of my magick reaching out to brush against his.

  When I woke again, it was to the sensation of someone staring at me. I opened my eyes slowly. Kace lay with his head propped up by his hand, grinning wickedly at me.

  “Morning, sunshine,” he said in a low, husky voice.