The Willow (4 page)

“That’s ‘cause I am…” My words cut off as Kyden’s arched brow rose higher. “I’m not human, am I?”

“You never were.” Ignoring the stab of fear, I waved him on. “The Otherworld is in another dimension. It has nothing to do with the Earthworld. You cannot think of it in those terms. It’s a world of its own.”

“I have enough trouble wrapping my mind around Earth. Now, I gotta deal with other dimensions too? Is there more than just this one?”

Kyden nodded. “There is, but for now, stick to the two. I believe that will keep your mind busy enough.”

Couldn’t argue with that.

Suddenly, a light breeze swept across me and my gaze lingered over to the water, waves were splashing up on the shore. “What lake is that?” I hesitated a moment, then asked, “That is a lake, right?”

The laughter resumed.

“No, it isn’t a lake,” Finn answered.

My brows rose as I all but whispered. “What is it then?”

He laughed harder. “That’s the North Sea.”

“Hardy har har,” I retorted.

The next hour, Haven talked, and talked, and talked some more. How anyone can have such a long one-sided conversation is beyond me. But she managed just fine. She asked Finn a couple of questions, but every time he opened his mouth to answer, she just continued talking. Finn rolled his eyes a couple times and Kyden would laugh softly. Obviously they were used to this.

I actually didn’t mind her talking. I could have listened to her for hours. She had the sweetest sounding voice and was so expressive. Moving her arms and hands while she talked trying to show you exactly what she meant.

The longer she spoke, the more I could see why Finn loved her so much because I was beginning to love her too. She hid nothing of herself and I appreciated that about her. She wanted to know everything about me and she shared her entire world in return.

After a deep breath, she asked, “So, you tried to kill yourself, what was that like?”

“Haven,” Finn shouted.

Kyden laughed, which he disguised not too well as a cough.

“What?” Haven said, innocently. “I just wanted to know what it was like.”

“It’s okay.” I waved away their concern. “I don’t mind answering.” She wasn’t asking to be judgmental, just more out of curiosity. “There’s not much to tell, really. It hurt at first and then I was cold, but after that I don’t remember anything until I woke up here.”

“And you did it because your parents died?”

Finn shook his head and buried his face in his hand. “Haven,” he said slowly.

Kyden laughed loudly.

This might be funny, if the subject matter wasn’t. “I just never felt as if I belonged there, which I guess makes tons of sense now. But Gloria and Frank were amazing people and having them was always enough, you know?”

Haven nodded, but looked sad.

And that sadness washed right through me. Hers? Mine? Who knew? “When they were gone, nothing mattered anymore. It was impossible to go on without them, and I just couldn’t find a reason to wake up.”

“I’m glad you did it.” She blushed slightly. “Not that I don’t feel bad you were so sad, but if you didn’t, you wouldn’t have come.” She smacked Finn’s arm. “Right, Finn?”

He peaked through his fingers at her. “Yes, dear.”

When I met Kyden’s gaze, he was watching me intently. Could I decipher his look? No. But the intensity of his gaze left me uncomfortable enough that I had to look away.

Just as I did, Haven grabbed my arm. “Get up. Let’s go for a swim.” Being in my underwear with Kyden here, held about as much appeal as eating a jalapeño pepper. I yanked my arm away. “No thanks, I’ll wait here.”

She stomped her foot like a small child throwing a tantrum. “Oh, come on.”

I smiled at her, not budging an inch. There was no way in hell I’d be getting half naked with Kyden around. I’m embarrassing myself enough with my clothes on.

“Go on, Haven,” Kyden said firmly. “I’ll wait with her,”

“Boo on you too!” She scowled, but yanked on Finn’s arm.

Apparently, supes lack in modesty. They had zero qualms about stripping to their knickers with watchful eyes.

As they hit the water, something suddenly became quite apparent. “Why can I see?” I asked Kyden.

“You do have eyes,” he responded.

I shot him a look. “No, I mean it’s nighttime, but I can see as clearly as if it was the day.”

“You’re seeing as supes do,” he told me with a grin. “Our vision is superior to humans.”

What did he find so amusing? Was it my annoyed look or the restoration of my sanity? Whatever it was, he sure was amused, and his smile seemed to grow the longer he looked at me.

Annoyed, embarrassed, one of those things forced me to look away. I gazed into the fire and was completely mesmerized. The way the coals raged with color as the heat charged through them was entirely hypnotic.

“Where are you from, Nexi?” Kyden asked, drawing me back to his gaze.

“Carson City. Have you been?”

“Yes, a few times.” He smirked, then asked seriously, “Do you miss it there?”

“No, can’t say I do.” Attempting to kill myself should make that pretty clear.

His expression turned curious as he said, “Do you not have anyone there who is missing you? Wondering where you have been?”

“Not really, the only friends I had, I shut out after Gloria and Frank passed.”

His brows furrowed, appalled. “And they let you?”

“If you want it bad enough, getting rid of people isn’t such a hard thing to do.”

With that bit of happy talk, we fell silent as we watched the raging fire. My mind swirling from the past events, all that changed, the complete one-eighty my life had taken.

I couldn’t even tell how much time had passed when Kyden nudged my arm, nodding toward the sky, but when I saw the sun was rising, I guessed it’d been a while.

When I followed his gaze, warmth filled me. A paint brush couldn’t have painted a better picture. I always appreciated the Earth’s beauty, and whenever I was lucky enough to see an extra bit of its glory, I never wasted a second of it. Judging by Kyden’s tranquil expression, he felt the same. “You like sunrises?”

He grinned in the sweetest way. “I do, Álainn.”

Surprises around here were never ending—he had a soft side. I hadn’t expected that. I was mildly curious about what he kept calling me, but the sunrise took precedent. I leaned back against my arms and watched the brilliant sky. My thoughts drifted away as I filtered through all that had changed. How different things were. When the sun met the middle of the sky, for the first time since Gloria and Frank’s death, I was happy.

A week had come and gone, and I needed something to remind me of…well…me. So, I made my way down to the Gateway. Taking a deep breath, I walked through and the world rippled around me just as it had before.

“Christ, that’s creepy.” I shuddered, cautiously approaching the cliff.

After a careful climb down, I glanced around quickly, but there was no one in sight.
Perfect!

Throwing caution to the wind, I went to the side of the Peninsula where it was a little more secluded and quickly stripped naked. Everyone has at least one naughty secret and this is mine. I love to skinny dip.

Back home, Lake Tahoe was pretty close to my willow and I’d always sneak in a quick swim when no one was watching. Gotta love the way the water feels against naked skin. The rush always made me feel so alive.

After another quick look around, I ran toward the water as the warm summer wind tickled my skin. I hit the water and swam out to where it got deep. Spinning and twirling around, allowing the cool water to glide over my skin and enjoying every moment of it.

I could have stayed out here for hours, but soon, anxiousness set in. Someone might come along. With one finally dunk, I swam back to shore. Looking quickly to make sure no one was watching, which they weren’t, I set my feet onto the sandy floor and walked back to my clothes. I reached down to grab my pants, but heard a noise behind me. I spun around to see Kyden an inch from my face. “Holy shit,” I screamed and gave his arm a punch. “Don’t do that!”

His jaw clenched tight and his eyes reminded me I was naked. Swearing at myself, I spun around and dressed quickly. Fully clothed, I turned back and he hadn’t moved. His eyes fixed on my body.

And that is how we stood for what felt like forever, not saying a word. My humiliation grew as each minute passed. With the air growing thick, I blurted out, “Sorry about that.”

“Nothing to be sorry about—I’m sorry I interrupted you.” His voice was deep and strained. “I enjoy the water before training.”

“Yeah, but I bet normally you enjoy it in clothes,” I said under my breath, which was true. He was only wearing those silver shorts. May I just say, if he looked good in his kilt, then he looked unfucking believable in his shorts. They left nothing to the imagination and his body was utter brilliance. I’d seen most of it already, but I hadn’t seen what was beneath his kilt. I could hardly breathe taking all of him in. He was definitely all man—every bit of him.

His deep throaty laugh drew my gaze to his. “Come on, let’s go get changed. I’ll meet you in the Hall for training.”

* * * *

It’d been three long, grueling hours of me being used as a mop to dust the Guardian’s Hall floor. The good thing, I was doing better tonight. The bad thing, Kyden wasn’t giving me the luxury of not fighting back. At least, the anger that was beginning to build was overtaking the embarrassment I felt from earlier.

After a hard blow to my back, I twirled around and slammed a fist straight into his chest. He responded with a deep groan as he lunged forward, grabbed my arm, and twisted me away with a kick to the hip. “You cannot let me get a hold of you,” he said firmly.

“Shut up,” I snapped in my defense. I was beginning to suspect he enjoyed chastising me. Springing forward with a kick of my own, I blasted his thigh and sent a loud smack echoing through the hall.

Before I could pull back, he grabbed my foot and flipped me over backwards. “As I said, you cannot let me get a hold of you.”

“As I said, shut up!” If there’s a flaw in my character it’s my wicked temper. I don’t get mad often, but when I do, I have trouble controlling it. And it just so happened, I’d had just about enough of being tossed around by Kyden.

A curious expression crossed his face, but I could care less about it. I was too busy being pissed off. Exploding, I kicked out again. It never hit. He grabbed my thigh mid-stride and dragged me forward to wrap it neatly around his hip.

“Jerk,” I growled, trying to jerk my leg back, but it didn’t budge. When I met his gaze, his eyes were hungry and it wasn’t food he was after. This attraction between us was too immediate. I’d never felt anything like it. Normally, I had to know the guy before I’d ever let him kiss me. With Kyden, though, anytime would do.

Thankfully, it appeared I wasn’t alone in this regard. He focused on my lips. His grip softened as he began to run his hand slowly up my thigh and leaned in.

My stomach clenched.
Yes, kiss me!

“Nexi,” Haven shouted.

I jerked my head toward the door to find her stomping her foot, completely irate.

Kyden dropped my leg just as she barged forward, and grabbed my arm to storm out of the room.

I glanced quickly over my shoulder, and it did nothing to settle my hormones. The way Kyden was looking at me just stepped up sexy a whole ‘nother notch.

Haven tore down the hall—her rage oozing from her. This was so out of character for Haven. She was always such a ball of sunshine. I hadn’t seen her upset, even once.

I forced her to stop. “What’s wrong, Haven?”

“Well…” She hesitated and glanced to the floor. When she raised her head again, she was the same old loveable Haven. “Don’t worry about it. Everything’s fine.”

“You sure?” She was hiding something. The bond we shared made it almost impossible to keep secrets.

She smiled brilliantly. “Yup!” Then, wrapped her arm in mine and started down the hall again.

Then, for the first time, I took a much better look at her. She was wearing a pink silk, baby doll dress that barely covered her ass. She was talking about something, but her words slid right past me. Due to the fact that I was too busy staring at her breasts bulging out of the top. She may have been tiny, but other parts of her certainly weren’t. I forced myself to look away. Those things were mesmerizing.

Once at my residence, Haven threw open the door and headed straight for the bedroom.

I followed in behind her and when I stepped through, I knew I didn’t leave my room looking like this. Clothes had been thrown everywhere. There wasn’t an empty space left, even the lamps had shirts draped over them. “What are you doing in here, Haven?”

She peaked around the closet door. “Just checkin’ out your clothes.”

“Yeah, I see that.” I laughed. “But I doubt they’re gonna fit you.” She had to be in the negatives…well…her bottom half away.

“Don’t be silly, these are for you.” With a flick of her hand, she dismissed me. “Go shower, we have stuff to do.”

I washed up quickly, more than curious what she was up to. When I came back out, she had pretty much pulled my entire closet apart putting outfits together. “Are you going to tell me what this is all about?”

“Nope.” She pointed to a sub on the end table. “Eat. I’ll do your hair first.”

I sat on the bed as she got to work. Using a blow dryer first, which made eating near impossible, but when she switched to a curling iron, I got a good chance to dig in.

Just as I was taking my last bite, she ripped it from my hands. “Hey, I wanted that,” I blasted.

She ignored me, moving onto my face.

Within ten minutes, my skin felt completely plastered. Haven looked pleased with the outcome. I, on the other hand, was a little worried I’d fit in on Hollywood Boulevard.

“Put this on,” she said, handing me a short black skirt, a chevron periwinkle blouse, and high leather boots, “and be quick.”

Which wasn’t a problem—excitement coursed through me. What was this was all about? I went to the bathroom and changed quickly.

The second I stepped out, Haven’s eyes went wide. “Gosh Nexi, you’re so beautiful.”

I snorted a laugh. “Yeah, right.” Sure I’d been blessed with being naturally pretty, but beautiful, and wide-eyed beautiful at that—unlikely. More like plain Jane—that was me.

“No really, Nexi, come look.” She pulled me in front of a full-length mirror and I hardly recognized myself.

My long dirty blonde hair was perfectly straight except for the slight curl at the ends and the makeup took my breath away. It was brilliant. My hazel eyes were lined with a deep green color, my lids enhanced with a glittery purple shadow and my lashes long and thick. My cheek bones were defined with a rose blush and my lips glistened with a light pink gloss.

The blouse was a perfect shade against my skin. I glanced toward my breasts in shock. I had a little to work with, but not as much as this bra made it appear. My skirt hung tight against my body, and even though it was short, it didn’t look slutty. Finishing off the look, were the leather boots that sat just below the knee. They hugged each leg perfectly and the three-inch heels were sexy as hell!

“Wow,” I said, sounding as astonished as I felt.

Haven nodded, slowly. “Wow, is right. You’re going to have the guys drooling over you tonight.”

I met her gaze in the mirror, beginning to get annoyed. “Where are we going, Haven?”

She giggled. “I’m not telling.”

I hate surprises! I wasn’t one of those kids that could wait till Christmas to find out what they got, I always had to go searching—hunting for my gifts. I can’t stand suspense and definitely hate the unknown. So, this sucked big time!