Fluorescence: The Complete Tetralogy (53 page)

The deep kiss made my head swirl with dirty thoughts—twisted, erotic visions of the pleasure I’d been forced to abstain from for too long. A hand inched up my bare knee and slid beneath the robe, lingering on my thigh. I pressed my palm against his chest and felt his heart pounding, the golden light growing brighter with each beat. The heat and energy drew me in, every pulse pulling me closer and closer toward his body as we kissed.

Our lips parted and he held my face, staring at me, studying me again as if he were waiting for some kind of response.

“I’m sorry,” he said with a loud exhale. He lowered his hand. “I didn’t mean to assume that you—”

“Don’t be,” I said, as I stopped his fingers from sliding off my leg. “I mean, it’s fine.” My voice trembled with more urgency than I had wanted him to hear. “It’s like I said earlier. We’re both adults, right?” I leaned in closer, surrendering with a consensual smirk and an innocent nibble of my lip.

Men like that.

David scanned up my body, making my heart thump even more eagerly in my chest as his eyes slowly made their
way back up to lock with mine. Then he forked a hand through
my hair and pulled me into another kiss. More passionate than the first, the second kiss tore away apprehensions, exposing my long-overdue desires. Every inch of my body flushed with waves of carnal need and I exhaled a groan.

Breathing in the fiery scent of his skin. Tasting his lips against mine. His tongue in my mouth.

Jesus…

His t-shirt clung to his chest, sticking already to sweat. I wrinkled it up to his underarms, provoking him to peel it over his head and toss it off to the side. On his left pec was a tattoo of a lion’s head with an intricate mane weaved into the coils of a geometric design. The swirling tribal patterns spread up over his shoulder and down his arm like a short sleeve.

I bit my lip again. Tasteful, well-done tattoos on a firm, maintained body were one of my fetishes—an addiction I couldn’t cure. I slipped off the bed for a moment and turned to face him. His hands stayed fixated on my waist as I straddled his legs. Rough denim tickled my inner thighs and the friction made me quake as he forced my hips closer.

High school boys didn’t know how to touch me. They didn’t know how to make me cave in with a well-paced kiss,
or how a stroke of the tongue to my décolletage could render
me breathless.

David did, and it made me writhe.

No stupid games. No clumsy questions. Just pure instinct
driving us together.

I kissed his collar bone, tasting salt on his skin, and he
dropped his head back, sucking in a breath through his teeth.
He shuddered and I squeezed my legs tighter, needing him inside me.

Hot embers of golden light flickered across his chest, bringing the tattoo on his shoulder to life with hypnotic bolts of color.

Just when I had started to believe that my life could only get worse, David—a man I didn’t trust ten minutes ago—reached out, took me into his arms, and blew my mind.

. . .

I collapsed beside him on the bed, panting, and wiped my forehead with the back of my hand. Sweat glimmered on
my skin and my muscles burned. My hair was damp—tangled
all over me. I combed my fingers through it, but they caught on a knot.
Ouch.

David reached for a pillow and tucked it beneath his head.
I curled up against him and rested my face on his chest. His scent was musky—peppery, almost—and tainted by the pungency of cigarettes.

The glow inside him had toned down and the color had changed into a more blood-orange now. I assumed mine was the same as I could just make out a faded orange halo in my vision. My knees ached. My wrists hurt. But the satisfaction rippling through me felt so damn good. I don’t know if it was my need or his skill, but it was crazy perfect.

Laying my head against him felt strange, though. Like it was
too
intimate. I’d barely gotten to know him and yet we had sex. Mindless, primitive sex. And yes, it felt great. And yes, I’d do it with him again in a heartbeat.

But maybe it’d have been better if we’d…

“So, what did you want to do with your life before all of this?” he asked, in a voice much softer and more soothing than I’d ever heard come out of his mouth. “Before the Saviors came and screwed it all up?”

“I don’t know.” I grabbed another pillow and moved over, sliding the bed sheet up to my shoulders. The room had gotten stuffy and warm since I’d turned down the A/C. “My parents wanted me to be a lawyer. It wasn’t my thing. They wanted me to make shit-loads of money and marry a ‘nice Indian boy.’
Also
not really my thing.”

He smirked and raised an eyebrow—the smart-ass—clearly touting his conquest of me. I liked the cockiness. It made me think he had nothing to hide, that he’d made every decision confidently and without regret. Something I wish I could do.

I rolled onto my side and looked into his endless brown eyes. His nose had a nice slope to it, but the shape of his face seemed different than what I’d become familiar with in Hispanic guys. I couldn’t tell exactly what his ethnicity was, and that bothered me. “Speaking of Indians, what are
you
exactly? If that’s not too forward to ask after sex?”

He laughed. “My mother was Hispanic-American and
my father was a pure-blooded Samoan. I was born in Hawaii,
but we moved to Chicago when I was six.”

“Ah.” That explained a lot. I had to admit, it was an attractive combination. All the toned muscle without all the bulk, and a unique face that really set him apart—in a good way. Maybe I wasn’t into him much at first, but now I liked the way he stood out. The clean, sharp lines of his face and
goatee made him look fierce and intense but also… beautiful
, in a badass sort of way.

“So… Indian, huh?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Can’t say I know much about your culture. Aside from a handful of Bollywood movies where they’re always singing and dancing and… wow, I sound like a jackass right now.”

I grinned. “No. Don’t worry about it. I’ve heard worse. ‘Jai Ho’ and all that Americanized crap. I’m not Hindu like my parents anyway. I don’t practice anything. I just want to live for myself.” I laid my hand on his chest and brushed my fingertips over the soft little curls of hair. It quieted my fervent thoughts. I felt raised lines on his skin—scars—and it made me wonder where he’d gotten them all.

“I… like you,” he said, his voice a broken whisper.

“I kind of like you, too, David.” I scooted closer and rested my head on his outstretched arm.

“Maybe… we should get to know each other a bit more before we—”

“Yeah. Maybe.”

He had a point. For the first time in my life, I did feel
awkward about what we’d done. It wasn’t regret. It felt more like something was missing. I was used to casual sex, but this… didn’t feel so casual anymore.

He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me in toward his side. His body felt good against mine. I draped a naked leg across his and wriggled closer, feeling more comfortable and safe than I had in a long, long time.

Something inside urged me to keep David near—to make our tryst more than a fling. But that wasn’t what
I
wanted.

“David, I…” I knew what I had to say but didn’t know how to say it.

“What is it?”

“We’ve got a lot going on and… I-I don’t want things to get messy between us.”

“Messy?” His chest shook lightly as he stifled a laugh. “What are we, high-schoolers? Things are only going to get as messy as you let them.” He stroked a line down my arm
with his warm fingers. “This won’t involve any broken hearts
unless you let it.”

It won’t.

I won’t let that happen.

Chapter
8

D
avid told me later that night that he couldn’t remember my name.

Awkward.

It’s not like we were ever formally introduced. Well, it wasn’t the worst thing I’d heard after sleeping with someone. Still, it was awkward.

Sunlight filtered through the window curtains. I stayed in bed, rolling over beneath the sheets to stare at David, as he lay asleep in the bed across from mine. There was a look of discontent
on his face, as though something was bothering him.

After securing the belt on my bathrobe, I sat up and placed my bare feet on the carpet. I
could see fluorescence living inside David’s chest, swirling and moving of its own accord. Each inhalation made its flow quicken; each exhalation caused it to briefly become sluggish. Then I saw something else—a dark, sinister col
or creeping through his veins.

“Why are you watching me?” he asked, opening his eyes.

I gasped. “I’m sorry. I-I didn’t mean to wake you.”

He sat up and slid his bed sheet off to the side. “I don’t care,” he said with a grin, putting his feet on the floor. The sight of his tattooed chest reminded me of last night and I felt heat flush through me.

“Did you sleep in your robe?” he asked, tugging on his pants, zipping them up, and then weaving his belt through the loops.

“Yeah.”

He chuckled as he reached under his pillow for his gun and tucked it into the back of his jeans.

“What?”

“Nothing. Women are strange. You take it all off and then put it right back on as if nothing ever happened.” A grin twisted his lips before he pulled his t-shirt on over his head. “Are the others awake?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Hungry?”

“Yes,” I replied. My stomach had already started to grumble.

“There’s some stuff in the fridge and beside the desk. Help yourself.” He walked over to the door connecting the two rooms and unlocked it. Then he knocked. “Wake-up time, kids.”

The fridge? When did he…

The door unlocked from the other side and opened. Brian stood there with a horribly bitter look on his face.

“Stop calling us kids, jackass,” he growled.

“Nice to see you bright-eyed this morning,” David replied with a chuckle.

I was certain Brian was going to punch him in the face right then and there.

But he didn’t.

While they talked, I went over to the refrigerator, opened it, and
took out a small carton of milk. Then I checked the
desk drawer beside it and pulled out a box of breakfast snack
bars.

I headed back to the bed and sat on the edge. Just as I took a bite of a granola bar, David closed the door between our rooms and turned toward me.

“Those okay?” he asked.

“Sure.” I’d barely finished chewing my first bite. I took a sip of milk and set the carton down beside me. “When did you have time to get this stuff?”

“I don’t sleep
much,” he said matter-of-factly as he walked over to the desk and flipped on the coffee pot. “I went out for a smoke
and figured I should grab something for us.”

“What about Brian and Alice?”

“I’m sure the kid’s got it covered. He thinks he can take care of himself, so I’ll let him keep thinking that.”

It kind of frightened me, how incredible stealthy David was. He snuck out in the middle of the night, took a walk, and got a smoke, and I didn’t even hear him come back in. If he wanted to hurt us, he could easily have done it by now. But who was I to judge? I’d barely known him for day and already we’d had—

A sick feeling washed over me and I held my breath. The room closed in. Spots of light invaded my vision and I felt weightless.
A burst of hot white light blinded me and I opened my
mouth to scream, silently choked of all oxygen by the swift change in atmosphere.

Ugh!
I hit the ground hard and shook my head as my vision returned to normal.

“What do you think you are doing?” a terrifyingly familiar voice asked.

God, no.
Not again.

I lifted my face to look upon the snow-white translator—the one Savior who spoke to us.

I looked back down at the cold, glossy floor and swallowed.

“What do you want?” I asked in a weak voice. My vocal cords suffered because of the thin air.

“We have not granted you permission to bond with the Tracker,” he replied. “Such behavior is unacceptable.”

“What?” I almost laughed but couldn’t find the strength. “Who the hell are you to tell me that?” I came to my knees. “First, you make it so I can’t be with any other men. Now that I’ve found one I can be with, you’re going to try to stop me?”

“There will be consequences if you do not meet our demands. The Seeker and the Tracker must be separate. You cannot choose him as your mate.”

My mate?

“I didn’t.” I scoffed and gritted my teeth. “For an advanced race, you guys don’t know shit about our kind.” I stood. “People can hook up without choosing ‘mates,’ or whatever the hell you want to call it. Having sex doesn’t mean we’re bonded for life.”

The translator’s eyes narrowed and he tipped his head to the side, staring into my eyes as if he were searching my soul.

“This is your only warning,” he said, in an unaffected tone.

“Hey,” I started. “Why are you only telling
me
this? You can’t just—”

The room flashed white and I was blinded once more.

“Kareena?”

Someone’s fingers pressed into my arm.

“Kareena?”

I blinked several times until my focus returned.

“David?” He stared at me, concerned, and cupped his hands around my shoulders.

“Are you okay?” he asked. “Where’d you go? You tripped out.”

“Uh… Yeah. I’m fine.”

The coffee pot hissed and steamed as water began dripping into the carafe.

Chapter
9

I
didn’t want to tell him the Saviors had snatched me from the hotel that morning. Crucial information, maybe, but I didn’t want him to know what they had told me about
us
. Besides, David and I weren’t a
thing
. We were only using each other because we could. He was an opportunist and I was, well, okay with that. That was all it was, and I wasn’t about to let the Saviors screw me over again.