“I can see that,” McKenna says softly, laying her head on my chest.
I pull away from her, moving my hand to the side of her face, zoning in on her lips. She sighs, closing her eyes.
We haven’t had much alone time lately, and to say it’s weighing on us would be an understatement. People like to say sex isn’t a big deal in a relationship, that their bond is just as strong without it, but McKenna seems to be changing the game for me—whatever we are—that ever-burning kindling in my bones need her in that intimate way. Sharing the same air, the same space, living the same moments with the person you’d bet all your money on is something entirely new. It’s another level we connect on. Sex is my way of showing her the unwavering connection we’ve formed in such a small amount of time. It’s my way of telling her how I truly feel—words cannot do what I feel for this woman justice. Being denied the ability to show her how I really feel makes for rough times.
Unlike me, she’s graceful about it.
Her light, floral scent cascades over me, willing my body to move closer to her. Pull her as close as possible.
When she opens her eyes, she seems content, relaxed.
“Are you okay?” I ask. I’ve been so worried about her lately. “You’ve had a lot on your plate the past few weeks.”
She sighs, but tightens her arms around my body. “I’m—okay? I don’t know. Everything has been so extreme. From meeting you to finding out something is going on with the Thayans and hybrids and now come to find out my parents are still out there…it’s—it would be almost too much if I didn’t have you.” She smiles. “And Candy and Wood and Kai.”
“We’d do anything for you, you know that?” I say into her hair as I bring her into a hug.
She breathes me in. “I know, and I’d do the same. I only hope I survive long enough to prove it.”
“You will,” I say with conviction. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
She pulls back, her eyebrows knitted. “What if you don’t have a choice?”
I take hold of her shoulders. “We always have a choice. You and I are living proof of it.”
“What do you mean?”
I shake my head, letting my hands fall. “It’s nothing, but you have to remember who you are.”
Her eyes narrow, a small smile tugging on the corners of her mouth. “Yeah, yeah. Badass witch and all that nonsense.”
I laugh. “Exactly.” Bringing my lips to hers, so soft, I let them linger for a moment, letting her fall limply in my arms. The wind begins to rustle around us, as if we’re in a dust devil—our own makeshift tornado of emotion. The wind strokes our bodies, taking us prisoner. It pushes us closer together.
The sounds of Wood and Kai talking loudly breaks us apart and the wind immediately stops, the rustle of air falling flaccidly to the ground and disappearing. She swallows, rosy cheeks and red lips, and I take her hand, leading her to the main house.
The off-white house has always been a solace in my crazy world. Wood and I don’t really have a home. We’ve never been able to buy one of our own. I thought about it when I tried to go to college, but the job pulled me back in. I’ve had random spurts of want, but how can I take care of a home when I can barely keep myself well nourished? So, as lame as it seems, my parents’ house is what holds a very comforting feeling. Add McKenna, it might just be the most perfect place in the world.
“I love the yellow shutters,” McKenna says, touching the bright wood outlining the windows.
“Mom’s touch. It’s her favorite color.”
McKenna smiles. “It suits her.”
“It does, doesn’t it?” I reach for the door handle.
I let McKenna in first, closing the door behind us. She immediately walks to the wall of pictures mom has been adding to since we moved in almost twenty years ago.
“Ma,” I yell. “We’re inside! Tell the postman to go home.”
Mom peeks her head out of the kitchen. “I already pushed him out the window. It’s clear.” She laughs. “Where is everyone?”
“It’s just me and McKenna. I’m going to show her around. The rest are in the cellar.”
Mom’s mouth thins and she shakes her head. “Okay.”
When she disappears back into the kitchen, I find McKenna standing at the fireplace, a picture in hand.
“What do you have there?” I ask, taking the frame from her. As I look more closely, it’s a faint picture of me as a young boy. I’m sitting at a table with my birthday cake. My Batman shirt is loose and faded, but my eyes are bright with happiness as I stare at the seven brightly lit candles. I remember that birthday so vividly. It was the same day Dad told me what I was. What he was. And, what Wood would eventually be. Pursuers. That moment captured in time was the last picture where I was truly a kid.
“You were cute.”
“Were?” My eyebrows quirk and I tickle her side.
McKenna rolls her eyes, setting the picture back on the mantle, swatting my hand away. “Still are, shut up.”
I laugh, kissing the back of her head. She walks past the burgundy couches, to the light yellow recliners against the wall, feeling the old, worn cloth. She follows the hallway down toward the back of the house and I trail close behind her.
Stopping at the end of the hall, she points. “Yours?”
“Yeah.”
Biting her lip with a smile, she traces the doorframe and cautiously walks into the room I’ve been occupying for twenty years. Her eyes light up as she takes her time looking at every little nook and cranny. Her hands skirt across the bow and arrow mounted on the wall. I picked up the habit after we ran across a hive of werewolves in Florida. I found it easier to kill them with a silver arrow than shooting them with limited bullets. Arrows are reusable.
McKenna picks up A Tale of Two Cities sitting on my nightstand, flipping through the pages. She places the book down and takes a seat on the bed, patting the space next to her.
“What are you doing, Mighty?” My voice comes out husky.
I don’t know where that came from.
“Just sit with me, Declan.”
I take a breath through my nose and attempt to hold it in. The sight of her on my bed is enough for me to rip her clothes off, but add in her scent…I’m done for.
The comforter bunches and I make myself sit a few inches away from McKenna, which produces a laugh. She moves closer, her thigh touching mine.
“Your room is very—you.”
I look down, her pinky now touching my hand. “Thank you?”
“It’s a good thing. Manly.” She laughs.
“Manly, huh? I think I can handle that.”
“Mmm.”
Like the changing of seasons, her eyes zone in on my lips and my heart hammers against my chest, pounding its way through my ribcage. Shifting from summer to fall in the blink of an eye, her demeanor alters. Desire thick, want palpable. She licks her lips and leans in close, her mouth opening slightly. Faint sounds of pans bang down the hall where mom is, but all I can focus on is her breathing and the way my blood pounds in my ears. Kissing has never felt so intense before McKenna.
Her hand lands on the lapels of my jacket and she jerks me forward, her mouth crushing to mine. Like every other kiss, an electric current crackles through us, the spark almost visible. She moans, her tongue seeking mine with fervor. My hand tangles in her long, beautiful red hair, and she scoots closer while my other hand finds the skin under her shirt. Her lips taste faintly of vanilla, and the moment the flavor hits my tongue, I become ravenous. An absolute need to claim her eternally overwhelms my senses.
“Oh, goodness,” mom says as she passes my room, door wide open.
Idiot.
McKenna scoots back, covering her mouth and my heart stutters as I force myself not to tease her.
“I’m sorry, Ma.” I laugh.
Her lips purse and she shakes her hand, the wooden spoon waving wildly in the air. “Declan Wilder, I know you’re a grown man, and I love you, but at least have the decency to close the door if you’re going to be kissing someone, yes?”
I look to McKenna whose body is bouncing from laughter and I grin. “Yes, mom.”
Mom reaches deep into my room, grabbing the doorknob and slams the door shut, rattling the walls. When her footsteps can no longer be heard, McKenna begins to giggle louder and I join in with her.
“Oh my God, I can’t believe that just happened,” she sputters. “I haven’t felt embarrassed like this since I was a teenager.”
I clutch my stomach, whole heartedly cracking up. “Don’t be embarrassed, Mighty. It could have been worse.”
Her mouth falls open. “Worse? Declan, how could it be worse? I was practically mauling you on your childhood bed.”
“We could’ve been naked.”
Her laughter stops and she bumps her leg to mine.
“I kinda wish we were naked right now.”
“Declan!” McKenna shrieks and I boast.
“What?”
Her eyes squint and she bites her lip. “You’re incorrigible.”
“Why don’t we go for a ride outside? I’ll show you around the grounds. We can kill some time.”
McKenna’s face lights up and I pull her up off the bed and tug her down the hallway, waving at mom as we pass the kitchen.
Opening up the garage on the side of the house, I swipe my hands and walk to the quads lining the back wall. Covered in years of dirt, I take a towel off of Dad’s workshop and dust it off. Grabbing the keys off the key ring on the wall, I heave my body onto the machine and start it. The quad grumbles to life, filling the big space with the smell of exhaust and gas.
“Jesus,” McKenna yells, an excited smile on her face. “This thing is fierce.”
I offer her my hand and she climbs on behind me. “You have no idea.”
Placing one of her hands around my stomach, I take the other one and bring it to my mouth. She caresses my face after the kiss and then laces her hands together.
“Ready?” I ask, turning my face to look at her.
She kisses my neck and I tighten my hand, pulling the handle back toward me. The machine springs forward, racing into the woods.
Trees are nothing but green distortions as we speed our way down the pathway to the pond. McKenna’s hands grip me tighter, and she squeals happily in my ear. The smile that overtakes my face is something new altogether.
I take the corners fast and the long stretches of road even faster, basking in the freedom I feel with McKenna.
Together, we race down the road, miles away from everyone. When there’s only the sound of the engine of the quad and the chirping of birds, I stop at the little pond on the outskirt of our property. Pulling up to the dock, I shut the engine down and hop off, bringing McKenna with me. Lacing our fingers together, I lead her to the edge, sitting down.
The sounds of nature echo loud, and McKenna rests her head on my shoulder.
“It’s so peaceful out here,” she says, looking up at me.
“Other than behind the wheel of my Sting, this is my favorite place in the world.”
McKenna tips her head back, letting the sun wash over her face. “I can see why.” The bright sun bounces off the water, casting beams of radiant light on her face.
I’ll never see this place the same again, she’s forever changed it.
“You’re so damn beautiful, you know that?”
McKenna brings her head down and smiles. “You’re the only one to ever tell me that.”
I shake my head. I don’t believe that. “That’s a shame, Mighty.”
“It’s okay.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” she says softly. “Because now when you say it, it’s much more meaningful.”
I scratch the side of my head and look out to the water, overwhelmed with emotion.
Have you ever felt something so intense, it over takes your body? You have no control over your actions. You feel like your mind goes out the window and you rely solely on your heart. It shoves you forward, pushes you to the edge and makes you do things you never thought you’d do.
That’s what being with McKenna is like. I can’t fight it anymore. Pushing her away, doubting my what I feel for her, I’m done lying to myself.
Resist your wants,
dad would say. I was to rely on what was needed and stay on the path laid out for me. Mission first, everything else second.
She makes me want to throw caution to the wind. To hell with the rules.
It’s like the one night stands I had before her were my way of weeding through the muck. I had to work my way through the mud to find the clear ocean.
And though I don’t know what love is, at least love outside of family, I wonder if that’s what I’m feeling for McKenna. This pure, uninhibited want to be with her despite what I’ve been taught. It’s so foreign. I have this unabashed lure to throw family business and duty out the window for something more—something worth fighting for. Someone more important than every other person in this God forsaken world.
It’s wrong of me, but it’s also sort of…thrilling.
Raising my hand to McKenna’s hair, my fingers thread through the stunning red. Her eyes find mine, shining so bright I have to squint. My lips unconsciously part and she licks hers. Back and forth, her eyes dart from my lips to my eyes.