Possessed (15 page)

Her
face grew hot as she recalled waking up dry humping him this morning. She’d
been so mortified she could barely meet his gaze. He’d been so hard; she hadn’t
wanted to stop.

Fanning
her face, she scanned her walk-in for something casual to wear. She pulled out
a purple ECU Pirates T-shirt and black jeans. It was growing chilly so she
found a pair of fuzzy pink socks and put those on also.

When
she joined Sebastian in the kitchen, he was placing silverware and napkins by
their plates. “You don’t have wine,” he commented without looking up. “Do you
want water or juice?”

“Juice
sounds good.” She watched him move around in her kitchen as though he were
right at home. Then she noticed that her boxes were gone. “What happened to my
blender? And my muffin pans?” She struggled to recall what else may have been
in the missing boxes.

“I
finished unpacking for you, though we’ll have to pack it back up when I buy us
a house.”

Keva
practically dropped in her chair. She was certain that her jaw hit her chest in
shock. “A house?”

“This
place is nice, but I’d like to have my own office as well. I also unpacked the
boxes you had in your office.” He tilted his head to the side. “Your mom seems
like the old-fashioned type. Maybe we should get married.” He nodded. “Yes. It
would be less trouble that way.”

Her
eyes widened. “Holy hell! You’ve got a screw loose. And I thought it was bad
when you wanted to be called Bastian!” She buried her face in her hands. And
that’s when it clicked. His hair. He was wearing it loose, but whenever he came
back to himself, he’d always quickly bound it into a ponytail. “You’re
not…Bastian, are you?”

He
laughed. “Keva, I see we really need to talk.”

“Answer
me.”

Rolling
his eyes, he took his seat across from her. “It’s like I told you before, I
don’t have split personalities. I’m always aware of what’s going on around me
and of what I’m doing. But when my energy builds up to the point where I can’t
ignore it, I’m unable to manage it and I have little impulse control. It
doesn’t mean I will do anything I don’t want to do. I won’t rob a bank or
commit murder, but I take what I want. And I’ve always wanted you.”

Her
breathing increased. She recalled him saying similar words as he fucked her
against the wall in her apartment in Nevada.

He
grinned. “Speechless? Keva, I’ve discouraged you from loving me because I
thought it was best for you. But I loved you before we ever met. I’d like you
to give me the chance to win your heart, to prove to you that I’m the man for
you.”

She
didn’t know what to say. Her feelings for him had been growing steadily since
their first time together. She wanted to declare her love for him, but
something held her back. Could she trust him? What if he changed his mind? He’d
been so adamant before about her not falling for him. Could she really allow
one speech to sway her? But she couldn’t deny his request. She would give him
the chance to prove himself.

By
Friday, Keva had somewhat come to expect Sebastian to be home when she arrived.
Only this time he wasn’t. There was no sight of his truck. She got out of her
car and looked around the parking lot, wondering if perhaps he’d left and
someone had taken his space. But that wasn’t the case. He was gone.

She
bit her lip as she unlocked her door. She would not cry. This was exactly as
she’d anticipated. Hadn’t she been expecting this every day since he’d blown
into town demanding sex? There was no smell of food wafting from the kitchen. Since
his arrival, Sebastian had proven to be a very good cook. He’d prepared dinner
for her every day.

Over
the course of the week, they’d fallen into a pattern. After dinner, they’d
watch television or read. She’d begun to appreciate his company. For the first
time, she had someone she could talk to about anything. She could never discuss
her work as a Channel with her family because they thought it was dangerous. Sebastian
had gone through a variety of careers over the years. And when they tired of
talking about jobs, they’d discovered they liked many of the same programs.
He’d read much of the same classical literature that she had. At bedtime, she
didn’t object to him sharing the same bed. She slept on one side, and he on the
other. Each morning, she woke in his arms. It was a bit embarrassing, but she
loved waking up next to him, his hard body keeping her warm and safe.

Unable
to stop herself, she climbed the stairs to her bedroom. Sebastian had never
unpacked, but he had a toothbrush on the bathroom counter.  The countertop was
clean and devoid of any items. Last she saw, he’d wheeled his suitcase into the
closet of the guest room. Keva was in the room before she could think better of
it. She hesitated, her hand on the closet door. If she opened it and his
suitcase wasn’t there…

“Keva?”
She heard the front door open and close.

Swallowing,
Keva met him at the bottom of the stairs. “Where have you been? How did you get
in without a key?”

“I
went to the grocery store.” He held up a bag. Grinning, he fished into the
plastic sack and displayed a box of cornbread mix. “We can experiment before
the big day.”

“Oh.
Thank you. And the door?”

He
shrugged, and he wouldn’t meet her gaze as he said, “I don’t use my abilities,
but some talents are innate. Opening locks is like breathing for me. I guess
it’s a part of the telekinesis.”

Keva
bit her lip. They hadn’t discussed his psychic talents because he hadn’t seemed
comfortable with it in the past. But that could have been because she’d been
recommending he be evaluated at IOP, an agency that would have exploited his
powers. “You’re truly amazing. I’ve never met another psychic like you. To have
so many—”

“It
makes me a freak among freaks,” he interrupted and headed toward the kitchen.

“Don’t
talk like that about yourself. You have a wonderful gift. I’d love to be able
to see the world the way you can.”

“You
have. Each time we’ve made love, you’ve felt it flow through you.” He put the
grocery bag on table and took out pasta, sausages, and sauce.

Tentatively,
she asked, “Have you given any more thought to…using your powers so that you
don’t experience buildup to such extremes?”

He
ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m trying. For you.”

Her
eyes widened. “For me?”

“I
want to be worthy of you. I can’t do that if I’m losing control every few
months.”

“I’m
glad you’re using your talents, but you should do it for yourself.” She smiled.
“And you never know. You might be blown away by some of the things you can do.”

He
gave her a shy smile. “I’ve been practicing.” Holding up a hand, he wiggled his
fingers and a cabinet opened. He frowned as though concentrating and a pot came
out. It ambled toward him. Sebastian grabbed the handle. “Took me two days to
learn that.”

“Wow,”
she whispered.

“It’s
not much, but I can do it on my own. I need to touch someone to use telepathy and
it freaks people out.” He placed the pot on the stove. “I understand that. Thoughts
and feelings are private. The clairvoyance comes and goes. It’s the most
ephemeral of my talents. I have a difficult time grasping it and using it. But
I like surprises. Knowing what will happen before it does would make life
boring.”

“I’m
proud of you.” He seemed stunned, and she thought she might have seen his eyes
well up before he turned around.

“Thank
you.” His voice sounded suspiciously thick. He cleared his throat. “Dinner
should be ready in about a half an hour.”

“Would
you like some help?”

“Sure.”
He shifted to give her room to join him at the oven.

Something
nudged her in the middle of her back. Turning, she found a skillet floating in
midair. Laughing, she grasped the handle and put it on the stove.

****

“Thanks
again for dinner. It was delicious,” Keva murmured as she nestled her head into
her pillow and allowed her body to go limp. Her eyes felt heavy. They drifted
closed and she sighed. “You keep cooking like that and I’m going to keep you.”
His sauce, spiced up with sausage and seasonings had been so tasty that she’d
had a second helping.

Sebastian
laughed. “That’s my goal.”

Eyes
popping open, she rolled over to face him. He hadn’t mentioned marriage since
earlier in the week, and she’d thought he’d given up on the idea. “I was just
kidding.”

He
ran his finger down the bridge of her nose. Tapping the tip, he smiled at her.
“I know.”

She
studied him in the dim bedroom, the only light coming from the window. Flipping
back over, she tried to get comfortable again. She felt and heard Sebastian
move closer.

“Can
I hold you?”

Knowing
she would wake up in his arms anyway, she consented. His arms closing around
her felt so good that she couldn’t regret her decision. He also smelled good. She
wiggled her bottom to get closer, freezing when she came into contact with the
rigid bar of his erection. It wasn’t the first time she’d felt it. After all,
she’d been snuggled up to him each morning. But she’d assumed it was the state
he naturally woke in. Heat pooled low in her belly.

“I’m
sorry,” he said, rubbing his chin across the top of her head. “Don’t worry. I’m
not expecting anything. You just feel so right in my arms.”

“That’s
okay.” She bit her lip, the drowsiness of only moments ago evaporating.

His
fingers trailed over the skin of her belly, exposed the gap between her T-shirt
and her pajama bottoms. “Keva, do you find me attractive?”

She
almost choked. “Why do you ask?”

A
fingertip lodged in her bellybutton. “We’ve only been together when I force
myself on you. If given a choice, would you want me?”

“Yes.
Do you find me attractive?”

He
chuckled. “You can ask me that? I’m testing the structural integrity of cotton
here.”

“Yeah,
well, that could be the result of proximity and deprivation.”

“Maybe
that’d be true if you were someone else.”

“You
don’t know how much I want to believe you. But it’s difficult to reconcile what
you’re telling me now with what you’ve told me previously. I could have been
chopped liver for as much attraction you had toward me that night you picked me
up from that club in Vegas.”

“What
do I have to do to prove it to you?” He gripped her waist and flexed his hips
into hers, grinding his erection into her ass. She gasped. “Other than this?
Keva, the second I hit town, I called you asking for pussy. How can you think I
don’t want you?”

“That
was as Bastian.”

He
growled. “I am one person. I always want you. I’m just better at controlling my
baser urges when I’m not glowing blue. The truth is that unfortunately the
crazy, crass shit I say when I’m losing it is a constant in my head, but I
filter it.”

She
turned on the bedside lamp and rolled over to face him, her heart thumping. “Really?”
She wet her lips. “What are you thinking now? The unfiltered version.”

Sebastian
made a strangled sound. “You like when I’m a demanding bastard.”

“To
a certain extent. It’s honest. Brutally so, but I know what you’re thinking.”

He
ran a hand through his hair. “I can’t believe you’d want to hear this,” he
muttered. “Before, when I said I wasn’t expecting anything…what I’d have liked
to have said was…I’m dying to eat you.” His dark eyes were intense as they
blazed down into hers. “That I love pussy, yours in particular. That I want to
eat you out until you’re screaming my name. And before you’ve come down from
that high, I’ll fuck you so hard and deep—”

She
slapped a hand over his mouth. “I shouldn’t have asked.” His lips stretched
into a grin beneath her palm. When next he spoke, his voice was muffled. She
didn’t need to hear it. It would only be something to break her resolve. As
much as she desired him, it was imperative that she keep a level head where he
was concerned.

Sebastian
captured her wrist and tugged it down. He kissed her, his mouth soft and
undemanding on hers. She could easily pull away, but she didn’t. Opening to
him, she slid her fingers in his hair and moaned when he gave her his tongue.
Her heart thumped, her nipples tightened, and her pussy, if possible, grew even
slicker. God, how she wanted this man.

His
hands roamed her body as though he owned her. He squeezed her breasts, plucking
her nipples before reaching down to haul her hips to his. She threw her leg
over his waist as he ground his rigid length against her mound.

Sebastian
broke their kiss, his breathing ragged. “Keva, if you don’t want to make love,
we’d better stop.”

“You’re
right. We shouldn’t.” She pressed her face to his chest and tried to slow her
breathing. He smelled so good.

Dropping
a kiss on her forehead, he said, “I was hoping you’d argue with me.”