When my fist connected with Kade's face, there was no crunch of bone or cartilage like I had been expecting. He merely stepped back, therefore lessening the strength of the blow I had landed to his handsome face. I knew he could have avoided my hit easily, but for some reason he had let me make contact. Probably because he knew that once my brain caught up with my body I would feel awful about punching him. Which, would be correct.
Bastard. My eyes narrowed at him angrily. As he stared at me with nearly glowing otherworldly blue eyes, looking neither shocked nor ruffled in the slightest, my fury sparked once more.
God damn it Emily! I chastised myself internally. Keep your damn temper in check!
I began to feel hot. Scorching hot, from the inside out. I felt the tickle of flames kiss my fingertips just as panic began to lodge itself in my throat at the thought of once again becoming a human fireball. Out of what appeared to be instinct, Kade wrapped his large hand around my arm. He ignored the flames that had already started to work themselves up from the tips of my fingers to the middle of my forearm.
He was going to singe his whole hand off if he kept touching me! Hadn't his family ever taught him not to play with fire?
I opened my mouth to protest further but instead of words, a sharp scream escaped my lips as my body fell back, barely managing to stay on the examination table as I crumpled in to myself, shuddering from the pain uncontrollably. This pain was nearly worse than anything the scientists had done to me.
I looked up at Kade through blurry, tear filled eyes as I convulsed in pain once more. He was staring down at me with wide eyes, seeming to be frozen in place as he watched me writhe in pain. His outstretched hand was limp, seeming to be stuck in his own head over what was currently happening.
Doctor Ama sprung into action immediately, grabbing Kade's shoulder as she wrenched his frozen body in her direction, forcing him to make eye contact with her. "Kade, you need to calm her down. Her body is succumbing to the radiation that comes from her abilities. She hasn't completed the transition yet and isn't immune to her power's effects until she does. If you don't calm her down, she will die. And she will destroy this entire building with her."
With horror filled eyes, I realized that my entire body was now on fire. I was beginning to catch objects around me ablaze. Ama had grabbed a fire extinguisher and was putting the flames out as they began, but I could see that she was still worried about the possible outcome here.
I focussed on my breathing, attempting to calm myself down. It was whenever I was seriously overwhelmed with any kind of emotion that this seemed to happen. Whether it be rage, lust, it didn't seem to matter. I watched Kade as he neared my smouldering body and raised his hands up in some sort of peace-offering sign. His expression was no longer stricken with panic, but with determination. I nodded, letting him know that I was okay if he came closer to me. Later... later, I would kick his ass for lying to me. For pretending that nothing was going on between us.
Kade brought his palm to my face, wincing as the flames danced along the edges of his hand. My eyes widened in horror; I was burning him. The anger and betrayal that I had been feeling towards Kade dissipated immediately, instead replaced with self-hatred and regret towards myself and what had happened today.
It was as if a bucket of ice-cold water had been thrown over me, and suddenly the flames were gone, vanished as if they had never been here in the first place. I sat up, grabbing for his hand worriedly as I looked at the angry, blistered looking skin.
"I'm sorry," I whispered brokenly. The words got lodged in my throat as I struggled with my emotions, coming out with a sob. I had no idea what I was doing. No idea how to get used to this new life, no idea how to take in all of the information that had been thrown at me in such a short amount of time. And no idea how to process that I was supposed to be with him... forever.
The thought made my heartbeat flutter ever-so slightly. I stared at his hand in shame, feeling the anguish start to take over my body. I managed to reign it in a little bit, not wanting the sadness that was engulfing me to send me into yet another inferno. I had done enough damage here today. My eyes trailed around the room, noticing the black scorch marks that adorned several items around the table. When my eyes finally reached my own body, I gasped.
As I looked down at myself, I slapped my hands over my chest and crossed my legs out of embarrassment. "Oh my god." I squeaked out. I was completely naked, flashing both the doctor and Kade, who was gazing at me like he hadn't felt his flesh burning at all. In fact, I watched him with wide, shocked eyes as he broke his gaze with me only to lazily trail his eyes down my body, which was still completely on show for him. My cheeks turned bright red as I stuttered, attempting to find some sort of retort, some sort of distraction from his appreciative attention over my exposed body.
When I looked back at his hand once more, more worried about him than my current lack of clothing, I made a noise of astonishment. His hand was completely healed.
I felt clothing slipping over my shoulders, realizing that Ama had returned with an extra robe. I pulled it on hastily, ignoring Kade's devilish grin as I looked to the doctor.
"How is that possible?" I gestured to his healed hand expectantly. I was more glad than anyone would ever know that he wasn't in pain over something I had done. It didn't stop the shame that still ran through my mind over allowing myself to spiral out of control, but it did ease the ache that had began deep in my chest.
Ama gave me a grin. "Something you will not take for granted, I'm sure, is our incredibly advanced healing rate. Of course, we still need to take some blood samples to ensure that your cells have completely mutated, but yours should be similar, should you ever need it."
A deep growl cut through the room, causing me to jump, looking back at Kade once more. His hard eyes were staring murderously towards Ama, making her take one large step backwards.
She seemed to back track immediately, "Not that you'll ever need to heal from anything, that is. You'll always be completely protected by our people." Her words were rushed and breathy, appearing frightened by Kade's loud outburst.
Her words seemed to dull the fire that had erupted in Kade's own expression, because he released some of the air he had been holding in his chest. He didn't look apologetic, however which annoyed me. I elbowed him roughly.
"Don't be a dickhead." I chastised him angrily. "She's just trying to explain things to me. Plus, what even was that? What are you, some sort of rabid bear?"
Kade's lip twitched slightly, showing me that he had found whatever I had said to be amusing.
To my utter shock, he turned towards the doctor with a cheeky grin. "My apologies, Doctor."
Ama looked like she was about to faint, and was definitely done with the both of us at this point. However, there were still some things I wanted to ask her. She began to unwrap the needles as she prepared to take my blood for testing.
"Of course, your Highness." She responded airily. "Now, back to the matter at hand. Emily, I'm sure you've realized by now that your body chemistry is still extremely unstable," She looked to me, grinning with a slightly pained expression.
I nodded, "How can we fix that? I can't allow that to happen again, not when I hurt Kade. I could somehow hurt you, or Magda, or god forbid someone else." My voice wavered slightly, showing the both of them that I was still very much distraught by what had happened only moments earlier. I was terrified of myself now.
She nodded, understanding clearly written over her features. Her eyes were soft. "There is only one way that you can fix this now, hon."
I held my breath, somehow knowing I wasn't going to like what she was going to say.
"How?" I breathed out, suddenly feeling Kade's warm body behind me. He had moved closer to me while I had been distracted by Ama's words. So close, in fact, that his muscled chest was pressing in to my back. I shuddered against him slightly, fighting the urge to lean back in to him and close my eyes and...
I shook myself, refocussing on what Ama was trying to tell me. Her lips were tipped up in an a knowing grin, but she continued without commenting on my embarrassing reaction to the Prince of Nauria.
Her eyes turned serious once more and she sighed. "The only way for you to complete the mating bond is for Kade to mark you. This will finish the marking process and will complete the changes to your body. Once marked, you will need to mate in order to completely seal the bond between the two of you."
My mouth opened and then closed as I processed what she was telling me. "Surely, by mating, you don't mean..."
Before Ama could respond, Kade's mouth was brushing against my ear causing me to shake slightly from the drastic reaction my body was having to his closeness.
"She means fucking," His voice was husky, and I nearly fell off the table in response. I did my best to keep the heat from my body and restricted it to only one spot.
I couldn't speak. I stared at him, my mouth dry as I began to undress him with my eyes. I shook myself, trying to refocus on Ama but Kade's hard body against my own was making it nearly impossible to do.
"In your dreams," Was the only response I could muster, and it sounded like a lie even to my own ears. I cringed at how weak I sounded. How desperately I wanted him.
His dark chuckle was the only response I got as he eased off of me, allowing me to talk to Ama once more. I knew that my cheeks were surely flushed and my breath a little uneven, but she seemed to believe this reaction was normal.
I wanted to roll my eyes at that. There was nothing normal about this.
I cleared my throat, "I'm sorry, but I don't think we're... ever going to get there." My voice was strained, knowing just how in denial I sounded. Just keep faking it, Emily. I encouraged myself.
The last thing that man needed was another boost to his damn ego.
Ama chuckled to herself, shaking her head at me. "The main thing is completing the marking. That will balance your abilities and ensure you don't become a fireball again. The rest is... up to the both of you, whether you decide to go there or not. However, what has been done already cannot be changed. If you do not complete the marking, you will stay in limbo and continue to be unable to balance your powers and emotions. That puts yourself and others in danger."
I pursed my lips, nodding. "And how do we complete the marking?"
Kade made a noise that sounded a lot like a growl, although this time... it sounded hot. I refused to make eye contact with him, knowing if I did that, there was no going back.
"Kade can show you how. You can do this in the privacy of your own room... it is quite intimate." Ama seemed to be sheepish now. I frowned, not sure of what else to ask.
"So, he... just... bites me?" I clarified, sounding just as confused as I felt.
Ama laughed. "Yes. But trust me, you'll enjoy it." She paused, "Oops, was that too informal? I'm sorry, I'm speaking on my own memories." She shook her head at herself, and a second later I felt the slight prick of the needle in my arm. I watched as blood filled the small tubes. She collected two of them, and stood up with a smile.
"Well, I'll let you know if we find anything unusual. I suggest you complete the marking tonight. Your body will continue to get more unstable every day that passes. The reactions will be worse each time. I'm not trying to scare you in to doing something you don't want to do, but... well..."
Her tone implied that there was no other option. I nodded, sighing. "I understand."
"And um, we don't have to, you know...?" She knew what I was implying.
Ama laughed, "No, but there is one more thing." She looked sheepish once more. When she saw that I was clearly waiting for an explanation, she continued.
"When both of you complete the marking, you will... go into heat. This means that you'll want to mate. You'll want nothing more than his hands all over you, to feel him against you. This happens to mates once a month, to ensure... reproduction." She seemed to cringe, awaiting my reaction.
I released a long breath. "It's gonna take a lot more than that to make me want to do it with him." I narrowed my eyes at him.
Ama burst into laughter, bracing herself on her knees. She laughed for what felt like forever.
She obviously didn't have much faith that I would succeed with that. And to be honest... neither did I. Ama gave a small bow as she left the room.
I reluctantly turned to Kade, meeting his eyes for the first time since he had so kindly explained what Ama wanted us to do together. My cheeks warmed, but I managed to control the heat that threatened to consume me once more. Right now, the only heat that I wanted to consume me was Kade's.
No, bad Emily. Stay strong. Stick it to the man. I chastised, trying to convince myself that wasn't what I actually wanted.
"So... what now?" I asked reluctantly. I wasn't really in the mood to get bitten, but who was I to judge their weird fantasies.
"I think you know," Kade's voice rumbled darkly, and I had to press my legs tightly together in order to avoid squirming beneath his heated gaze.
"Uh, clarify for me?" I stepped back a step, suddenly nervous. He stepped closer, pressing me back in to the office wall. I had nowhere to look but his hot, heady expression.
"Time for me to mark my mate," His eyes had taken an entirely different hue of blue, and I could feel the intense emotion emitting from him. This was something they took extremely seriously here, and I wasn't sure I would ever fully understand it.
I swallowed hard, still looking at him with wide eyes.
Kade pressed his now healed palm on my cheek tenderly. "You're doing to do it here?" I asked him breathlessly, becoming less paranoid by the second. As long as he was touching me, my body was happy.
He chuckled lowly, causing me to shiver at the sensual promise his tone implied.
"No," He whispered in my ear. A sense of dizziness caused my vision to blur slightly before my eyes to refocus and realize that we were now inside the bedroom we had shared last night.
"I'm going to do it here." His voice was husky as he stalked towards me, pressing me closer to the enormous bed in the centre of the room.
"Shit," I all but whispered as my knees met the edge of the mattress and Kade pushed me until I fell back onto its soft covers.
"Oh, you'll be saying much naughtier things to me by the end of this," He whispered huskily.
It was then that I knew that I was in trouble. Because the feelings that were circling in my chest weren't just lust. "We'll see about that," I murmured breathlessly.
___
OMG.
Things are about to get H O T!
So sorry for the wait for this latest update! I work full-time and this time of year is super busy. I appreciate you all commenting wanting me to update so much, it truly makes me set my butt down in front of my computer to get it out there for you!!
Thanks for the support!!! <3
What do you think is going to happen next?!!?
Please vote & especially comment! It makes me update faster :)
-Kyla