Shift (The Neturu Chronicles) (65 page)

               
“I’m sorry, Master Damien.  Your father said to come and get you, no
questions asked,” Lindsay murmurs as she continues to stare at the floor.

               
“And if I were in the shower, would you have come and gotten me then?” Damien
asks sharply.

               
She shakes her head.  “No sir, I’m sorry.”

               
“Damien,” Kayla says, getting off the bed.  “Leave the girl alone. 
She was just listening to your dad.”

               
“Would you feel the same way if we
had
taken your clothes off?” Damien
snaps.

               
“
Damien
,” Kayla shouts.  “Shut up!”

               
He turns his growl on Lindsay.  “I will take the call in here. 
Please leave.”

               
Lindsay nods her head, looking like she’s about to cry.  Kayla walks over
and smacks Damien on the arm.  “Stop being a jerk.  Don’t worry,
Lindsay, you were just doing your job.  It’s fine.”

               
Lindsay looks up at Kayla.  “Master Damien is right.  I’m so sorry.”

               
“Damien…is being impolite.  Don’t listen to him,” Kayla kindly
instructs.  Lindsay’s eyes widen and her gaze quickly darts to Damien.

               
Damien bursts out laughing.  “If anyone else ever said that, heads would
roll.  It’s a good thing you mean so much to me.”

               
“Yes,” Lindsay mutters.  “Master Damien is of the Merjyet line.  He’s
not to be questioned.”

               
Kayla turns and looks at Damien. “Really?” She doesn’t even try to hide her
sarcastic tone.

               
“This is why I like you so much.” Damien chuckles.  “You don’t give a crap
who I am.”

               
“Nope, if you’re being a jerk, I will say as much.”

               
Shaking his head, Damien continues to laugh.  “I need to take this call
from my dad.  Have mercy on me, Kayla, you rule.”  He walks back into
the bedroom to take the call.

               
Kayla looks back at Lindsay.  “I will apologize for him.”

               
“You can’t do that,” Lindsay hisses.

               
“Uh, yeah, I can.  I’m sorry that he was mean to you.  There’s no
excuse.”

               
Lindsay just stares at her in awe.  “Master Damien’s last girlfriend was
not…nice…at all.”

               
“You knew her?” Kayla whispers, stepping closer to her.

               
Lindsay looks for Damien; he’s out of sight.  She quickly says, “Yes,
she’s awful.”

               
“What’s she like?  Pretty?  What’s her name?”

               
“Her name is Natasha.  Her personality makes her ugly to most of us,”
Lindsay murmurs back.

               
“Okay, that means she is pretty.”

               
Lindsay gives Kayla a kind look. “You are beautiful too, Miss Kayla.”

               
“Kayla, call me Kayla, the Miss is silly.”

               
Lindsay giggles. “All right, Kayla.”

               
Kayla bends closer to her.  “What does she look like?”

               
“Umm, straight blonde hair,” Lindsay says.  “She wears contacts and her
eyes are always different colors.  She is very petty and shallow. Master
Damien would never have let her talk to him the way you just did.  He
would have been very, very angry.  That shows that he really cares about
you.”

               
“Really?” Kayla chirps.

               
With a nod, Lindsay says, “Yes.  He didn’t laugh around her or look at her
with affection.  When he arrived here, he was frantic to know if you were
okay.”

               
“That’s sweet,” Kayla replies, putting her hand to her chest.

               
“He’s been here with Natasha before, but he never shared his rooms with her.”

               
“Really?” Kayla exclaims quietly.  “That surprises me.”

               
Lindsay shakes her head.  “No, no one understood why they were together.”

               
“Sex,” Kayla sighs, not thinking before she speaks.

               
The girl’s hand covers her mouth.  “Don’t let him hear you say that!”

               
“What?  It’s the truth.”

               
Lindsay just stares at Kayla and then starts laughing.  “I hope you marry
Master Damien.  You would bring some spice to the Merjyet line.”

               
“Yeah, I bet.” Kayla giggles back.

               
“Do you need anything?  I see you haven’t eaten the Kiej snacks I brought
you.”

               
“Oh,” Kayla shouts.  “I need those.”

               
Nodding, Lindsay says, “They’re very good.”

               
“Thanks, I should eat them.  Thanks for the dirt on Damien’s ex.”

               
“Not a problem,” Lindsay whispers.  “If you need anything, please feel
free to ask.  I’ll personally attend to you.”

               
Kayla rolls her eyes.  “That’s not necessary.”

               
“I would like to do it.  Please, just accept it.”

               
“Okay,” Kayla finally sighs.  “I should go eat.” 

               
With a small tilt of her head, Lindsay says, “I’ll see you soon, Miss,” and
then she turns and leaves.

               
Thoughts of Damien’s ex circulate through Kayla’s head.  She now wants to
know more, but knows she can’t ask Damien.  He may get mad that Lindsay
told her anything.  Kayla walks over and starts to eat the food that
Lindsay brought.

               
A few minutes later, Damien walks into the living room.  “My father says
hi, and he’s sorry that we were interrupted.”

               
“You told your dad?” Kayla yells.

               
Damien puts his hands up.  “I didn’t tell him what we were doing. 
Just that we had the door shut.”

               
“He’s going to think we were having sex! That is so not cool.”

               
“Can we get back to the fun non-sex activities?” Damien asks, closing the
distance between them.

               
Kayla laughs and shoves him away. “No, not now that your father knows.”

               
He grabs Kayla and pulls her against him.  “I lost my shirt.  It’s
only fair that you lose yours.”

               
“No, now stop it.” Kayla giggles.

               
“I feel totally gypped here.  Jackson got to see you in your underwear,
and you aren’t even dating him.”

               
“He was helping me.” Kayla laughs.  “That’s so not the same thing.”

               
Giving her a look, Damien asks, “Do you really think he wasn’t having
inappropriate thoughts?”

               
She opens her mouth and then closes it.  “Okay, fine.  You win. 
He shouldn’t have seen me, but we didn’t have much of an option.”

               
“I want to see where this tracking device is,” Damien murmurs, pulling on the
top of her pants.

               
“Later.” Kayla snorts, pushing his hand away.

               
“Really?” Damien quips excitedly.

               
Kayla shakes her head. “No.”

               
“I think it’s only fair,” Damien states, crossing his arms.  “I am sort of
your boyfriend.  My cousin shouldn’t see you more unclothed than me.”

               
“All right.” Kayla sighs, grabbing the bottom of her shirt.  “It is only
fair.”

               
Damien gets a wicked grin on his face.  “Excellent.”

               
She starts to pull her shirt up, but then stops. “Nah, just kidding.” 

               
“What?” Damien exclaims.  He grabs her and throws her over his shoulder.

               
“Put me down!” she screams.

               
“Nope,” Damien retorts.  He carries her over to the couch and stands her
up on the cushions. 

               
Kayla looks down at him. “What are you doing?”

               
“Taking my clothes off,” Damien retorts, undoing his belt.

               
“What? No!” Kayla yells. “Stop it!”

               
A grin crosses his face.  “Why?  I thought this was, I take it off,
you take it off.”

               
“No!  Pants stay on.”

               
“Fine,” Damien groans, but then his look turns mischievous. “Just kidding,” he
says and drops his pants.

               
Kayla looks up at the ceiling.  “Damien!”                                               

               
“Yes,” he replies. 

               
“Put your pants back on,” she demands.

               
He scoffs. “No.”

               
“What is with your family and stripping?” she yells.

               
“Excuse me, what?” Damien retorts.  “Who stripped what, when?”

               
Kayla clamps her mouth shut. “Nothing.”

               
“No, Jackson took his clothes off in front of you?  What in the hell,
Kayla.  Did something happen between you two?” Damien asks, fire in his
eyes.

               
She vigorously shakes her head. “No, nothing, nothing at all.”

               
“I feel like I’m competing with him, and I don’t like that,” Damien says. 
“I really care about you, Kayla, I do.  I want to be with you, but I don’t
understand how you and Jackson somehow end up kissing each other or losing
clothes all the time!”

               
“It was at separate times,” Kayla assures him.  “Nothing happened.”

               
Damien turns away from her. “Kayla, I need to ask you a question, and I want
you to answer me honestly.”

               
“What?” Kayla whispers.

               
“Do I need to be worried about Jackson, because…well… I’m starting to feel like
you aren’t in this with me.”

               
Kayla jumps off the couch. “No, I am in this with you.  I promise.  I
want this to work with us.”

               
He glances over his shoulder at her. “Then be my girlfriend. It would make me
feel better, and I know Jackson would back off out of respect.”

               
“I don’t know if I’m ready for a serious relationship,” Kayla replies.

               
He turns around to face her.  “I want to be exclusive with you.  I
want you to be mine, my girl.  I would shower you with affection and
anything you would ever need.”

               
“I don’t have to be your girlfriend for you to shower me with affection,” Kayla
states.  “And I already have everything I need.”

               
“Be with me,” Damien says.  “It’s that simple.”

               
“Give me a little more time,” Kayla whispers.
“
Please.
”

               
Looking away from her, Damien mutters, “I worry because it is so easy for you
to be with Jackson, and yet you shy away from me any time we’re together.”

               
“Because I don’t want you to get the idea that no clothes means sex.
 Jackson understands that.  He can see me without clothes and not
maul me.”

               
“He’s seen you without clothes more than once?” Damien snaps.

               
Kayla bites her lip and sighs. “He sketched me for a painting.  He didn’t
see anything because I was wrapped in a sheet.”

               
“I realize that we aren’t exclusive but knowing that hurts me…a lot.  How
would you feel if I said I was hanging around a naked girl wrapped in a
sheet?  Better yet, how would you feel if I was with Tracy and we were
taking our clothes off?”

               
Her jaw drops.  “I would be pissed.”

               
“Thank you, now you know how I feel,” Damien snaps.  “I need to know what
you want.  Do you want to be with Jackson, because if you do, I need to
know.
Now.  I don’t want to get hurt.  I have
true, honest feelings for you, Kayla.  I don’t want to lose you, but if
I’m going to, I would rather it be now.”

               
“No!” Kayla exclaims.  She walks up to him and takes his hands. 
“Damien, I want to be with you.  I came all this way to see you.”

               
His eyes plead with her.  “I hope that’s true.  I have my
doubts.  You’re so different with Jackson.”  Kayla reaches down and
takes her shirt off.  Damien’s eyes widen.  “What are you doing?”

               
“Showing you things aren’t different,” Kayla explains.  She undoes her
pants and starts to kick them off.

               
“Kayla, stop it,” Damien urges.  “That isn’t what I want.”