Slayde, Book 2 (Chaos Time Serial) Read online

  What would he think if he knew the thoughts flipping through her head? Would he be weirded out like she sometimes was? Curious? Turned on?

  “No I don’t.” She turned her head as heat of a different kind slithered between her legs. Mortified and embarrassed, she knew it was time to go. “I feel gross and sticky and I’m done.”

  She hadn’t even realized he’d stood up, much less had gotten to within yards of her, when suddenly his strong arms banded around her middle and he was flopping them both back into it. The thick ooze squished between her bare toes and under her nail beds. She gasped and slapped his bare shoulder.

  “Let me up!” She banged her fist against him. He stared at her with penetrating eyes.

  She swallowed, unable to tear her gaze away from the sharp lines of his jaw and the full pink lips. She licked her own and could swear she’d seen his pupils dilate.

  The world, that until a second ago, had been loud with the sounds of the jungle were now muted. There was a weird rushing sensation in her ears. A bump, bump, bumping sound that had to be her raging heartbeat.

  Suddenly she was hyperaware of the way her body fitted to his. How her stomach filled the hollow of his own, how their thighs touched and filled her limbs with unbearable heat. Holding herself absolutely still wasn’t helping either, no, it was doing just the opposite. The lack of movement, of being able to do more than take shallow breaths, only made the ache deeper, the craving more violent.

  Sable swallowed hard, at a total loss what to do. He was older than her, twenty she thought. Maybe twenty-one. She was seventeen. The age difference wasn’t all that great, but in another time, a different world, it would have been enough to cry rape.

  Wetting her lips, heart beating in her throat, she knew she should jump off him, but it was like what she should do and what she wanted to do were at complete odds with each other, increasing her indecision.

  Her lashes fluttered against her cheeks when his large palm traced slowly up the length of her spine. Stomach dipping, gathering with a swirl of Kamakazi butterflies she started to lean in, slowly, so slowly...

  “You missed a spot,” he said, and grabbing a large fistful of mud, plopped it on her head.

  Shocked, all she could do was blink as the spell shattered into a million pieces. And when it did she could breathe again, think again. His blue eyes were twinkling, but she noticed a twitch in the muscle beneath his left one and sensed that maybe he’d been as confused as her.

  Mortified, embarrassment, and relief crowded her thoughts.

  “Gross, Slayde,” she hissed and swatted at his hand as he tried to massage it into her scalp. But with reality, came the knowledge that Slayde made her feel things, weird, powerful things. Things she wasn’t ready to feel. Maybe would never be ready to fill. She didn’t want to be with a guy because destiny demanded it. And right now, this was all too weird. Because each time she was with him, images would blur on top of her reality.

  He was holding her, and in her head she saw him holding her in strange and wonderous lands. Lands were dinosaurs still roamed. Where pirates claimed the seas.

  Fate, destiny… she didn’t want to believe in that crap. She wasn’t sure how to change it, or if she even could. But she was going to try, and that meant not falling back in love with Eric Slayde.

  “Hey, all over, remember,” he drawled in that thick honeyed accent of his, and determined to make this lifetime different, Sable pretended like everything that’d just happened hadn’t. She pretended that for a split second she’d wanted to die of humiliation. Or that she thought she would die if she didn’t get to taste his lips. Didn’t get to feel his warm breath whisper along the column of her throat. Didn’t feel his hands squeeze her breasts, or rain kisses along her navel.

  Because this life, she’d own herself. That’s how it would be. Period. And with an act worthy of any thespian, she squelched a glop of mud between her fingers and smeared it on his face.

  He snorted with laughter and swatted her hand away. Taking that opportunity to sit up, she tried to put some distance between them, but he tugged on the end of her hair and played idly with it.

  “You’re a bastard, Slayde,” she laughed. “But my hair is brown. Not like it’s that different than theirs and besides, do you have any idea how long it’s gonna take me to wash this crap out later?” Her tone was high pitched with exasperation and that shivery secret thrill that even though she shouldn’t enjoy his touch, she did.

  Maybe if they were friends, if she could see him as something other than her destiny, she might be able to let this madness go.

  Reclaiming her hair from his sticky fingers, she asked, “What’s your deal, Slayde? Why are you sometimes nice to me, but always such a douche to Hunter?”

  The mention of Hunter had Slayde going immediately rigid. His hands stilled and he leaned back. “I don’t like him,” was all he said.

  “Why?”

  He frowned. “Do I need to like everyone I meet, Sable? I just don’t like him okay.”

  Her lips twisted. “You don’t seem to like anyone.”

  “Part of my charm, baby.”

  “Stop that.”

  “Stop what?” he asked, anger beginning to surface in the tone of his voice.

  “That.” She flicked her wrist at him. “Acting like an idiot. You always act like someone’s out to get you, so you bite first without even taking the time to see if maybe you’ve get them pegged all wrong.”

  “You don’t know me,” he grumbled and pulled away.

  She hated that he was doing that, but Hunter was her friend.

  Sure, maybe she hadn’t known him much in this lifetime. But her memories, her visions they were becoming more and more real, and she knew they weren’t hallucinations. They were real moments in a time when she’d known and loved them all. Or at least Errol had. But where Errol ended and Sable began was starting to grow fuzzy. Their looks may not be the same, but most of who they were, what they loved was essentially the same.

  And Errol had loved Slayde completely, even while she’d betrayed his trust. The history between those two was so convoluted and hard to understand, but she knew without a doubt the dark haired Errol had been devoted to Slayde, asshole and all.

  It weirded Sable out at times, but it was part of why she was so aggravated with Slayde now. He was capable of so much more than this. He was even really likeable, if he’d take the time to let his guard down.

  His jaw clenched and he looked away. She grabbed his chin, forcing him to look back at her. The pink slash of his mouth was tight and angry.

  “I do know you, Slayde. From a different time, maybe. But I do know you.”

  “Listen, kid...”

  She reared her arm back and walloped him on the arm.

  “Hey!” he snarled and the blues of his eyes began to bleed through with a veins of white. She noticed when he manifested his powers his eyes turned completely white, but she knew he wouldn’t hurt her. Deep in her soul, she knew it.

  “I’m not a kid,” she growled.

  “You’re seventeen. Kid. Jail bait.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I’ll be eighteen in two weeks, but even if that weren’t the case, I’m no kid.” And using the entire force of her phoenix she willed the truth of her words into her sharp gaze. She may not know herself fully yet, but she knew as she grew more and more into her phoenix and became both bird and woman, she’d be even less human than the rest of them. She’d be like time itself, unending and eternal.

  He glanced away, but not before she’d read the confusion burning bright in his eyes. Still not looking at her, he asked, “so what’s your deal, huh? Why if I’m such an arrogant prick do you keep hanging around me?”

  “Because there’s more to you than this.” He finally looked at her and she nodded. “A lot more. I like you, Slayde. You say I barely know you, but that’s not true, I’ve known you forever. Our paths have always crossed and it’s always been the same between us.”

  Whoa! Did
she really just say that? She hadn’t meant to say that, but it sorta slipped out and it felt so true and so right and she knew she wouldn’t, couldn’t, take it back.

  He was breathing heavy, and were it not for the thick crust of mud on her palms, she knew she’d be sweating like a stuck pig. She was surprised he wasn’t laughing at her, at her stupid assertions. But maybe in some weird way, he was feeling this too.

  “And what’s that?” he asked, and for reasons she couldn’t explain she knew her answer mattered to him.

  She thought of Dragden then, awful terrible images of her nude body wrapped around his like that women at the tree, her face and eyes blissed out and she knew she could never let that happen again. History or the future-whatever—could not be allowed to repeat itself. It would not.

  Which meant she’d have to keep her heart out of Slayde’s hands this time. It was becoming clear to her that what Dragden craved wasn’t Sable, or even the phoenix, the man had powers in his own right. The truth was, Dragden wanted what he couldn’t have. If Sable made the mistake of falling in love with Slayde again, history would be doomed to repeat itself.

  But even telling herself that, didn’t mean she could just magically turn off her need to reassure him. There were times she could barely stand Slayde, but when the shadows crept into his eyes, and he let down the asshole visage, she couldn’t help but want to comfort him.

  “Truth, Slayde. There’s truth between us.”

  The muscle in his cheek ticked and he grabbed her fingers, giving them a gentle squeeze. “Truth, huh?”

  She nodded.

  “Then tell me your truth. Where are you from? What do you like?”

  She cocked her head, and couldn’t understand the sudden fear that squeezed her belly in a tight fist. Being around him, it was all so conflicting. It would take nothing, she knew, to get right back to where they’d been. As much of a jerk as he acted with the others, he couldn’t do with her, it’s what made this so much harder. Her visions hadn’t shown her everything, hadn’t shown her how to defeat Dragden, but she was beginning to glean enough to know that she should stay away from Slayde.

  But when he looked at her like he was now… with sadness in his eyes, and how he kept finding any reason to touch her… it made it so damn difficult.

  Clearing her throat, she deflected. “I like chocolate, pink bunnies with long floppy ears, and rainbows.”

  He snorted and grabbing another wad of mud splatted it hard against her chest. “You’re such a freaking liar.” His full lips curled upward and her heart banged so hard against her ribs she was surprised he hadn’t heard it.

  The yearning for touch, for acceptance was so strong and she hated to admit it, but she was so weak. You’d think after years of being in an asylum she wouldn’t want touch. Because all she’d ever gotten inside had been beatings. Instead of kindness, she’d been spat upon, both figuratively and literally.

  But instead of being the alley cat who’d been beaten over and over and over and who was now wild and cruel, she was the pitiful puppy desperate to be loved. It made her sick, because she recognized it for the weakness it was.

  Her smile was shallow, with no heart behind it. “Yeah, well what about you?”

  Blue eyes sparkled, his face was so open, so honest that it took her breath and made her fledgling resolve waver violently.

  “The same,” he said, “that and hot girls covered in Aztec mud.”

  “God,” she laughed despite herself.

  They stayed that way for another hour, laughing and forgetting for a moment that the world around them was merely a façade—that this interlude wouldn’t last and that soon, they’d have to go fight evil head on.

  Finally Slayde looked up into the sky, a frown grabbed his brows. Standing, he held his hand out to her. “I think we’re as muddy as we’re gonna get. We need to head back, because you need to get some sleep, boss man says you’ve got a big job ahead of you.”

  The fear returned; that sour sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She hadn’t thought about what it would mean going into a Lord’s lair alone.

  She didn’t even have a clue what a Lord was. Not really. Her visions weren’t really helpful here. Until Hunter had mentioned a Lord, she hadn’t even heard of it. He’d said that her phoenix would show her what needed showing, so how come she’d never seen or heard of a Lord until now?

  “Sable?” Slayde’s voice gently tugged her back from the convoluted quagmire that was her mind.

  Shaking her head at him, she sighed. “I’ll deny it until my last breath, but I’m scared.”

  He threw his arm across her shoulder and gave her a gentle hug. “Don’t be. You’ll be great, Nix.”

  She warmed to hear him call her that and she couldn’t deny that her toes curled a little.

  “Besides we both know you like it hot.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You’re disgusting.”

  “Me?”

  “Me?” she mimicked in a high-pitched falsetto, “I might be young, but I’m not stupid. I caught the double entendre.”

  “Okay, well obviously I’m the stupid one because don’t know what that means,” his eyes twinkled and she knew he knew, he was playing up the role he was most comfortable in, that of the dumb jock stereotype. She knew better. “But you do need your rest. So beam us up, Scotty.”

  “Oh,” she glanced at her arms, “do you think the mud will melt off when I start my fire?”

  “Nah.” He shook his head, “your clothes don’t, it just sort of vanishes, probably the same for this.”

  She nodded and when her fire poured out of her skin it was exactly as she’d feared, for whatever reason the clothes shifted with her, but the mud melted. She gave an aggravated squawk and he laughed, shrugging his shoulders.

  “I guess we’ll have to come back and do it again later for you,” he waggled his brows. Her feathers ruffled and she shook her head as she wrapped her large wings around him. Catching a stiff breeze, Sable glided back to the tree.

  When they landed she shifted and whined. “Man, all that hard work.”

  “What happened to you?” Arianna eyed Slayde up and down.

  Sable couldn’t help feeling the tinniest bit pleased that he looked like the swamp thing and smelled like a wet dog. Arianna pinched her nose and jumped three trees over, closer to Hunter who was still laying silent.

  He shrugged. “We have about another two hours before sun sets.”

  She yawned and stretched her arms high above her head. She was actually kind of tired. She hadn’t slept much last night, or the night before. She could really use some sleep. It wasn’t the heat that bothered her, but the humidity was awful. Like trying to breath in wet fumes, it was almost too much.

  “C’mon,” he sat and snapped a broad flat leaf off a neighboring branch before patting his thighs, “lay your head on my lap.”

  She covered her nose. “No offense, but you stink and you’re filthy.”

  “Oh shut up,” he grumbled affectionately, “so were you a few seconds ago. Now come here.”

  “Wake me in an hour if I fall asleep,” she doubted she would, but just in case. “I need to remud.”

  He nodded. “Promise.” And then gestured impatiently for her to come to him.

  With a sigh, because she knew she really shouldn’t continue to get this comfortable with him, she went and laid her head down on his lip. Odd, but stench aside, it was nice. He started rubbing her head and fanning her face and just before she gave herself over to the little death she whispered, “My mom hated me.”

  “What?” he asked, almost sounding shocked, as if he hadn’t expected her to say that.

  To be honest, so was she. Everything she’d told herself back at the swamp, was just falling by the wayside. And while she didn’t give two craps about destiny, the fact of the matter was, she needed a friend and Slayde was filling that void. Seeing him back in that bar in New Skid Row, he’d called to her. Made something dormant inside of her come to life. She
hated that she wanted this. Because she knew where it’d led last time.

  And she was too smart to think that it might not happen this time. But she was a fly trapped in amber. She knew it was deadly before she sank into it, but it was so pretty she just didn’t care enough to stop.

  Pissed at herself, but refusing to take it back, she sighed. “You asked me earlier to tell you something about me. She hates me, Slayde.”

  His hand was large and warm and he cupped her cheek and she wanted to tell him to never stop touching her like that. But she couldn’t. This had to stop. “Well then she’s an idiot,” he finally whispered back gruffly.

  “She called me a freak once. Said I scared her.”

  He shook his head, and she almost purred because his hand was still on her, still rubbing and touching and healing things that she thought would never mend. “There’s not a thing wrong with you, Nix. Not one thing.”

  “You don’t know me at all, Slayde.”

  Rolling her head, she made to sit up, but he kept her firmly pressed to his thigh with a hand on her shoulder. Chewing on her bottom lip, she refused to look back at him.

  “That’s a lie,” he snarled. “I saw you back there. I do know you, Sable. I don’t know how and honestly,” he laughed, but it lacked humor, “it makes me feel like I’m losing my head, but sometimes I swear I see—”

  “What,” she rolled her eyes, “we play in the mud for a little while and you think you’ve got me figured out?” Swatting at his hand, she again tried to sit up, but again, he refused to let her.

  “You don’t get to just walk away,” he snarled.

  Anger churning in her belly, she was finally able to look at him. Because the anger was so much better than the wanting. The wanting killed, the anger made everything clear. Helped her to breathe and think and reason and realize this nonsense had to stop.

  “Let me go, Slayde, this was a bad idea.”

  His lip curled back. “You think I don’t know what’s going on? What the hell are you doing to me, little girl, huh?”