Chapter 6
"Hey!" A voice shouted above Shayla's head. Her lashes fluttered as she struggled to regain conciousness.
"WAKE UP!" The voice was now next to her ear as someone slapped her across the face.
"What the hell?" She mumbled, raising a hand to shield her now-open eyes against the sunlight. How long had she been out? She asked herself this and several other questions. One in particular seemed very important. Who was this guy crouched down next to her?
"'Bout time. I've been yelling at you for like twenty minutes." As he spoke, he stood up and backed away to let her get up.
"Who are you? And why are you on my porch?" There were two good questions.
"Is this the Cooper residence?" She stood up and walked to her door, in a hurry to get inside and away from this annoying man. She opened her door and looked over her shoulder to answer.
"Yes, it is. You can go now." Just as she entered her home and started to close the door, he stuck a foot inside.
"Good. Then you must be Shay." He walked right past her and into her living room, leaving her flabbergasted in his wake.
"My name is Shayla. Not Shay. And get out of my house." She followed after him and found him kicked back on her couch with his feet on the coffee table.
"So? It's either Shay or Lala. Your choice." He answered with a smirk. She walked around to the front of her couch and stopped to look at the offending man.
His hair was cut short, and a beautiful shade of brown. His features were perfect, far as she could tell. His eyes were the kind of blue a girl could drown in. His jeans were loose, but his t-shirt was just tight enough to draw her eye to his muscles. Not too much muscle, but just enough to make a girl drool. He was oh, so hot. And he was most defenitely a bad boy. The smirk on his face grew as though he knew exactly what she was thinking.
"See somethin' you like?" With a scowl on her face she walked over to him and knocked his feet off of her coffee table.
"No. I don't. I see an annoying man, one that I don't know, may I add." She gestured towards her front door, still standing open, and gave him a get-out-now-or-die look.
"Whatever. You're a witch I hear. I'm here to help you train." She hastily picked her jaw up off of the floor, cocked her hips to the side and crossed her arms.
"You're nuts. Get out." Her anger level began to grow and that same haze from last night took over.
He kicked his feet back on the coffee table and smirked, showing her he wasn't going anywhere.
"And get your feet off my table!" She shrieked and a gust of wind blew through her house. His feet flew off the coffee table with such force that he nearly fell to the floor.
She watched as the haze faded away and he walked over to her. He leaned in so close she could smell his cologne. For just a second, she thought he might kiss her. Then she was horrified to realize she kind of wanted him to. All of her dreams were dashed and he leaned past her mouth to her ear. "Told you so." His hot breath tickled her neck as he moved away and sent shivers down her spine.
She was so frustrated at and strangely attracted to this man that she fled the room in a hurry. She couldn't be a witch. That stuff is only in fairytales. She leaned across the counter in the kitchen and took a steadying breath.
"Actually, it's real. Most fairytales are." That seductive voice answered her unspoken thoughts from right behind her. For the second time, as she turned and the world turned on it's head, the floor rushed to meet her. Before she lost conciousness she felt a strong pair of arms catch her and wondered how he knew what she was thinking.
~*~
"This is getting to be a habit." A snarky voice commented. Shayla was strangely comfortable and wasn't sure why. That's when the memories came flooding back. She knew she should be on the kitchen floor, but opened her eyes to find herself in her own bed with Mr. Baddie-yes, that's what she called him-sitting next to her.
She jerked up so quickly that she ended up on the floor. Mr. Baddie's laughter floated down to her as her cheeks pinked. She stood up as fast as she could, intent on wiping that annoyingly sexy smirk off of his face, and went to straighten her clothes. Her face flushed harder as she realized what she was wearing. Having passed out on the porch in the middle of the night, she was still in her pajamas. If it had been any other pajamas she wouldn't have been embarassed. But, no, she was in the silk and lace leopard print tank top and matching shorts.
"How...How long have I been out?"
"Don't worry, my thoughts were completely pure." His words struck her like a wall. For some reason, she had been hoping he hadn't noticed. "And a day."
She thought about telling him to leave. Then she thought about punching him. She leaned across her bed and slapped him across the arm. "Why didn't you wake me sooner?"
He shrugged with a nonchalance that set her on edge. "Meh-I was enjoying myself."
Shayla's face quickly turned beet root red, and she wondered if he had really slept in her bed.
"Yep. I did. You snore."
She warred between the urge to punch him and to ask a question, but in the end, curiousity won.
"Who are you? Are you some kind of mind reader?" She asked and for once there was no sarcasm in her tone. She had just been ripped out of the world she thought she knew and thrust into one that shouldn't exist.
"Soren. And yes. That's one of my abilities." His tone clearly said he thought he was stating the obvious but she couldn't find it in her to get angry.
"One of them? How many do you have." She crawled across the bed to sit in front of him, oblivious to the fact that the bedroom wasn't an appropriate place for a conversation with a man as lovely as this.
At that moment he leaned forward and she was struck again by the thought that he might kiss her. If that wasn't bad enough, she tilted her head so he could if he wanted to. He hovered barely away from her lips and smirked.
"Oh Shay, I have many abilities." The innuendo wasn't lost on her as he leaned back, clearly aware that she was waiting for the touch of those lips.
She swallowed several times before she regained the ability to speak. With a shake of her head in an attempt to clear it she questioned, "How do you know that I'm a witch. What are my abilities?"
He gave her a patiently amused smile. "I'm not sure what your abilities are. Though I think that fainting on command might be one. And I can sense your power."
"I'm still not sure this is real, but how can I learn about this? Any books you can--"
Soren cut her off with his hand over her mouth. "The books on your dresser are some good choices. Witch's intuition made you pick those, I guess. It sure wasn't brains."
She mashed her lips together in a straight line and glared at him.
"Oh, lose the attitude. I'm here to help."
"And if I don't want you here?"
"Well, I can't really bring myself to care. You're stuck with me. Deal with it."
Shayla scooted her way off of the bed, but paused as Soren grabbed her arm. She looked over her shoulder at the man behind her.
"I really am here to help. Don't be stupid and turn me away. You need me." His smirk seemed to state that she needed him in more ways than one so she shook his hand off and stood up.
"The guest room is across the hall. My bedroom's off limits. Now get out." Her blunt words caused him to shake his head increduously. Either he thought she was rude for kicking him out, or stupid for thinking the lock on the door would help. She wasn't entirely sure which. He rose from the bed gracefully and strode across the room. As he reached the doorway, he turned.
"Both actually." He laughed at the blush on her face and closed the door behind him.
Oh he wanted to play games did he? She'd keep him around as a teacher alright. But if he wanted games, he was sure going to get them.
~*~
For three days Soren made Shayla try a multitude of different spells to test her power level. When they weren't practicing, he was flirting and she was blushing. By the third night, she was ready to get even. He obviously knew he had an effect on her and she felt ashamed that a man could have that effect on her. What made it worse what the fact that he acted like she had no effect whatsoever on him. She began to formulate a plan and a way to keep him out of her head.
The very next morning-which followed a dinner of take-out with lots of snarky comments on Soren's part- Shayla was rudely awakened. Soren was spooning with her and letting his breath tickle the back of her neck. She smiled to herself.
"I understand completely that you just can't help yourself, but can you get the heck out of my bed?" She turned over in his arms to face him. She was momentarily taken aback by the sight of his lips so close to hers. All she could think about was how kissable they seemed. A little breathlessly she added, "Please?"
He seemed satisfied that he got under her skin and released her so she could get up. Thankfully this time she had worn something a little less revealing to bed. She looked back at Soren and her snarky comment caught in her throat. The sight of him laying there on her bed was beautiful. Of course, the fact that he was shirtless made it all the more wonderful. The only thing that ruined such a wonderful vision was the smirk that was growing on his kissable lips. She gave herself a mental slap for thinking of him that way. He could read her mind for goodness sake.
"Get up. I'm going to eat." She turned on her heel and stalk away, angry at herself for letting his looks get to her.
Half an hour later she had no trouble forgetting how good he looked. He was going over the basics of controlling her magic and keeping herself grounded. Of course his lesson was full of insults and snarky remarks.
"You look like you might vomit!" He commented while trying to teach her why meditation was important. "This will help keep you grounded and your powers controllable!"
"I might vomit if I have to keep listening to you." She murmured under her breath but kept her eyes closed to try again. Shayla focused on the silence and felt her face relax. As the silence carried away all of her thoughts she began to 'push' any excess power into the ground. She wasn't sure it was working at first, but since Soren was quiet she figured she must be doing something right. After a few more moments of charged silence, she felt something release and flow out of her, leaving her breathless but energized.
Her eyes popped open to see Soren seated in front of her doing practically the same thing she had been doing. That's when she got an idea. If he was focused on grounding himself, he wouldn't be reading her thoughts. She crawled silently across the floor to sit behind him. At the very moment she heard his breathing change, she leaned into his back to whisper in his ear. "Oh, and two can play that game."
She watched with glee as goosebumps broke out on the skin at the back of his neck, then she stood and pranced off into her bedroom for some reading on witchcraft. She was a bit surprised and even disappointed when he didn't follow her but she knew she had to get to work before she accidentally killed someone with her uncontrolled magic.
~*~
She spent twenty minutes reading before Soren decided to pay her a visit. What greeted her eyes when she looked up nearly made her groan. He was wearing a plain pair of jeans again, the kind that weren't too tight, but hugged him in just the right way. A plain white t-shirt and leather jacket completed his ensemble. He slapped a trucker hat on his head, cocked to the side of course, and grinned. She bit her tongue, careful not to speak, and watched him expectantly.
He gave her a disappointed look and Shayla was pretty sure he was hoping for a reaction. "Hmph. Get up. We're going into town for supplies."
Her stomach jolted at this thought. "Um, is there any way we can go to another town? Please?"
Whether it was the look on her face or the desperation in her voice she wasn't sure, but he hesitantly agreed. "We can go to Atlanta. But if we're going there, we're stopping by to see some friends of mine. And you might want to dress nice, they'll be in a club."
He walked off without another word, and left Shayla to her thoughts. This was perfect for her plan. She almost felt guilty for the things she was thinking. She had always had a naughtier side, only when her mother wasn't around of course, but she had been a teenager. Sneaking out was a right of passage. She quickly came to the decision that she couldn't just stop living because her mother had. She was young and she wanted to get even. She knew just what to do.
After a quick shower she nearly skipped to her room to get ready. She hardly ever wore makeup, or tried to look sexy for that matter. If his friends looked like he did, or worse, if they were women, she would have to make a statement. She pulled out the sexiest shirt she had, the tightest pair of jeans she owned, and a pair of sky high heels to make her legs look longer. She allowed herself a smirk. He wouldn't know what hit him.
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This is dedicated to Michelle, the oh so hot Caleb Lane, and leopard print speedos. (Google Caleb Lane, you'll see why. It's in google images!)