TheHealers (21 page)

Everything went wild in my body. I pressed my hands down on the seat so I could lift myself up and push harder. The grabbing and prodding of his hands all over my exposed body pushed me over the edge fast. One of his hands slid up under my shirt to grab onto to my breast, while the other continued to clutch my waist. This man was the source of my undoing. I was his. My heart and body sang as he continued to push and pull our bodies together and apart, but never leaving me completely. I could feel him tense and swell inside of me and I knew we were both about to explode. Alexander was my life line. There was no point in denying it anymore. This connection we had was getting stronger every moment and this animal instinctive claim he took sealed my fate. My heart knew we were joined. In every possible way. In this last thrust I gave him everything. His body stilled for a moment, as though he felt my concession.

“You are my everything, Layna. Mine.” The strain in his words willed his distant first language to be heard. Just barely. Both of Alexander’s hands grasped my hips and began a tantalizing stride that I knew I wouldn’t survive.

And then together we reached a release that paralyzed both of us for the moment.

The brush of fingers across my nether curls brought me back to consciousness. Soft kisses touched my lower back.

Alexander made both of us decent again and pulled me out of the car. Vertigo attacked my body for a moment, but he held me and it disappeared. There were definite benefits to having a Healer boyfriend.

Suddenly, it hit me that we were in a parking lot at a bar. I was standing there trying to realize when I had become an exhibitionist, and I found myself lost in those deep dravite eyes.

“Don’t worry. Nobody noticed, but if they had, they would have been jealous.” And he snickered. “Especially with all those sexy little noises you make. It’s all I can do to keep myself from losing it. You are damn hot woman.” Fire ignited his eyes for just a moment and I thought he might just throw me in the backseat again.

He stood still while a tremor worked its way through his body and then guided me to the passenger door. It absolutely floored me that I could incite such hunger in this man. His eyes raked over me with full disclosure of his intent. The best part was that it wasn’t just physical. The physical lingered, but underneath was the strong emotion that kept him close.

“I need to get you back to the Conservatory before we really end up giving someone a show.”

Butterflies tickled my body everywhere as I heard Alexander laughing all the way to his side of the car. His body covered his seat and then he reached over to slide his fingers over my still flushed cheeks.

“I love this little evidence of what I did to you. It makes me feel good.” Then he leaned over to take my lips in a strong possessive kiss. I loved it. And I blushed more.

My thoughts wandered over the events that had just taken place. Never did I imagine this evening I would have ended up being thrown in the back seat of this truck and had…well, you know. Little smiles came across my lips. I could feel happiness leaking from my pores. It settled right down in my body and gave me chills everywhere. Alexander’s cheeks were crinkled, too.

“You feel it too, don’t you?” I asked. Wonderstruck, I looked over to see him man handling the steering wheel as we prepared for the off road part of the journey.

“Of course I do.” The promise was laced in his words.

“How is this even possible?” This was so surreal and surpassed any emotion I had ever experienced.

“Our souls are joined.” He reached down with one hand to grip my fingers and slowly kiss them, while he continued to control the steering wheel with the other. “Sometimes, in our lifetime, we are lucky enough to meet the other person that makes us whole. With people like us, the magic in our bodies calls out to each other and grips the other. It’s more permanent than anything human. Nothing can take you away from me. You make me whole, Layna. I look at you and I feel crazy. It’s so hard for me to understand how someone so small can demand my entire being. You do realize you have me at your feet.” The strength in his voice relaxed something in my body and for the first time since this whole falling down the rabbit hole thing, I felt safe.

From then on, I decided to be a good girl.

Chapter Twenty-one

“
How
do you know when a healing is necessary?” The words came from the man with the malachite eyes at the front of my classroom. He was one of my teachers. And he was Madden.

“There are no other options.” Another student in the class responded. When I say student I do not mean a teenager. All of the students in my class were adults, thank goodness. I would have felt like a complete idiot in one of the classes with the teenagers. They were a lot smarter.

“Yes, and what else?” Madden continued to prompt us for more to the answer. I also saw a little twinkle in his eyes when he looked at me. Yes. The man lived to torment me. We had become subtle friends after the bar “incident”. However, he was still not Alexander’s favorite person. I raised my hand to answer the question. It almost seemed appropriate that it was I who gave the next response.

“Layna?” He was waiting for me to answer. I knew it.

“You have to make sure you are safe.” I cautiously looked around as I said it. For most people this entailed a trained Guard. But for me, I just had to make sure I wasn’t seeing any snakes. It turns out that I have a natural indicator for Hunters. Usually only Guards can do this, but for some quirky reason, so can I. Alexander and Iostus had decided not to share this with everyone yet. It seemed that the Hunters knew this. This was why they were tracking me. Alexander had explained to me that the Hunters wanted to make sure I was dead. My body cringed even now as the thought settled across my consciousness. My ability to heal physical and mental wounds and to track them made me very dangerous to them. I wished I felt dangerous. Although, Alexander and I had been working on that. He didn’t want me to, but I was learning to fight. Tingling sensations echoed across my skin and I looked down to see little goose bumps. Fear was healthy, right?

“That’s right, Layna. Safety is one of the most important things. Once the Hunters sense you using the magic, they can find you. This is their job and they are very good at it. Remember that they are given chemicals that create their superhuman talents for tracking and battle. They are chemically altered at such a young age that we do not even consider them to be human any more. Do not underestimate and try to do magic without a Guard. Can someone tell me what is special about the Guards?” Funny, it almost sounded like Madden heard my thoughts. After a few seconds, I remembered the previous conversation and was able to fall back in line with the discussion.

Claire started to speak, “Guards keep the Hunters from us. They fight with unparalleled strength to protect us from them. From what we have seen in the conservatory, they are trained vigorously.” I locked eyes with Claire and we shared a small smile. She and I had spent many afternoons drinking herbal tea at our favorite cafe on the conservatory. This particular cafe happened to be within visual distance of Guard training. Yummm… yes, it was very fun to watch. Especially when I was able to catch glimpses of one of their teachers, Alexander. His body flexed and moved in ways that ripped the oxygen right out of my body.

“Everyone is free to go, but I want an e-mailed one page summary on the safety precautions used in healing. See you next class.” Madden’s voice called me back to reality.

“Are we going to our usual lunch spot?” Claire raised her brow at me in a knowing look. She had gathered her things and stood beside me in the room. I still sat, daydreaming.

“Wouldn’t want to miss it. I’m hoping the hunky Guard that is teaching will be sneaking over for a few minutes to have lunch with us.” He had promised me that last night as I indulged him with one of his fantasies. Well, it had been one of my fantasies, too.

“Get that dirty girl grin off your face right now. I’m already jealous enough every time I see him. I don’t need to see your face get all colored thinking about it.” A hand on her waist and I knew she was ready to go. I scooped up my things and headed to the door with Claire.

Madden stopped us on our way out.

“Are you guys going to get lunch?” I did get a little lost in those sad puppy dog eyes for a second. But, he just wasn’t Alexander. Alexander was my protector, my Guard. I had trouble breathing without him. And with him.

“We are, but Alexander will probably come by for a little bit.” Bitterness spread through my mouth. Madden knew I was with Alexander, but he still made every effort to be around me. Sometimes, when he thought I wasn’t looking, I noticed him staring at me in that way. You know, the “I would love to strip you naked” way. I was most assuredly flattered. Either way, Madden and Alexander would have to get along.

“Do you want to come with us?” My voice started off wishy washy but by the end of the sentence I was confident in inviting him.

He gave me a private glance with raised eyebrows that said,
are you sure?

I tugged his arm and didn’t give him a choice.

“Of course, you should come. What would we do without our Madden side comments.” A soft chuckle snuck out of my lips. Madden was quite humorous and any time with him was guaranteed to be funny.

The loud rummaging sounds kept us from walking too far. I turned to see Claire actively engaged in an all out assault on her bag.

“I can’t believe I did it again. My phone is missing from the bag!” That girl could never keep track of her phone. Although, it was easy for me to talk. I didn’t even have a phone to keep up with. Not since it had gotten smashed from being traced. A pang smothered all over my chest and settled in my stomach. I didn’t have any people to keep up with anyways. Leo…All my friends. I owed them an explanation, something. Alexander promised that when it was safe I would be able to talk to them again. Who knew when that would be?

I reached over to put an arm on Claire. Her silky bleach blonde locks trickled down over her shoulder. I would have to ask her if that was real or bottle induced.

“Go look for it in your room. Last time you lost it, that’s where it was. We can just meet you at the cafe. Your seat will be saved.” Arms wrapped around me in a crushing hug.

“Thanks, Layna. I’ll be there soon.” The relief in her voice reminded me of something else. She was expecting a call from James. The two of them had been together lately. James used magic. I wasn’t sure if it was his magic or my lack of knowledge about it that gave me pause when I saw him. I didn’t trust him
—
not that I didn’t understand what drew her to him. His body sculpted itself into every wet dream a girl had ever had. Maybe that prompted my lack of trust. Good looks tended to associate with dangerous guys. That put fear into me every time I thought it. Where did Alexander fit into that wisdom?

I watched Claire saunter off and realized it was just me and Madden. Great.

“It’s just me and you, Red. Sounds like a great date to me. You did ask me out, right?” So overly full of himself. A strong arm wrapped itself around my shoulder and ushered me off to our lunch spot. As we walked, I pondered over the training I had been given over the last few weeks. Alexander had been so adamant about only entrusting himself with my training to fight. It annoyed me and pleased me to no end to see how protective he was.

“I’ve heard you are becoming quite the little badass.” Madden’s banter at my fighting skills did not amuse me.

“You want to take me on sometime?” The flex of the muscles on his forearms did not invoke a lot of confidence in my
mad
skills, but he wasn’t a Guard. The arm around my waist tightened a little, but we continued our pace.

“Any time, pretty little lady.”

He asked for it.

“Ummmpf…. Hey!”

I didn’t feel bad at all as those malachite eyes looked up from the ground half hurt and half amused. He had gone right down.

“You said anytime.” My arm reached out to help him up. The motion replayed in my head. It was a simple move. I had slipped my foot out in front and tripped him. It’s very simple to overpower someone with a big head. They never see it coming.

“Whoa!” And there we were rolling around in the grass. I guess I didn’t see it coming either. My arms flailed around like an octopus to keep myself unpinned. My only advantage was that I was smaller. A quick maneuver of my leg around his hip enabled me to flip him unaware. The strength in my legs was undeniable. I wasn’t sure if it came from the training with Alexander during the day or the workouts with Alexander at night. Either way, he was busting my ass into shape.

With a smile on my face and my legs splayed across Madden while I sat on top I began to speak, “Do you give up yet? I’ve got you pinned now! I win!” Squealing like a little girl…yup that was me.

“Actually,” Madden started while looking around at the passerby’s that stopped to glance at us. “I think I’m the lucky one. I’ve got a good looking woman holding me down. Not sure it gets better than this. I’m not going to fight you back at all. You win. Do whatever you want with me.” Smugness emanated from his face. Something that looked like wishful thinking shadowed across his cheek bones for a moment and then it was gone.