A Girl Named Calamity by Danielle Lori

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

LUST AND MAGES

Inever had a man in my life before. My grandfather died before I was born and I never knew my father.

I was a bastard and had been looked upon as such until I was old enough that men started noticing my classic looks more suited for a blue-blood than peasant stock, and decided the nature of my birth could be overlooked.

I’d never been interested in any man until I started to see the appeal in a pair of green eyes.

Maybe it was the fact that men were a new thing to me that made me feel the way I did. Made me feel safe, when I was only a means to an end. I realized I was as brainwashed as the women in Maxim’s harem.

My brain knew it; my body just didn’t understand.

Weston might not have had a hum, but one thrummed through me at his closeness and his rough hand wrapped around my arm.

My skin tingled at his side brushing mine as he walked beside me. He walked me right out of an Untouchable army, and my body wanted to thank him in a carnal way, while my mind knew this was one prison to another. One that would destroy Alyria.

I looked up at him, seeing that he was already watching me. And most likely hearing every one of my thoughts. I didn’t care. I’d been used to the lack of privacy a long time ago.

There was so much going on in his eyes that I couldn’t read them. Tension clouded the air between us and I tried to lighten up the mood.

“Why do you have fangs?”

His lips tipped up, and I wondered if it would be different kissing him than it had been with Maxim. Would his sharp teeth cut me? My thoughts were interrupted by angry eyes. I got back on track.

“I’m not completely against it, but I need to know you aren’t going to try to bite me. I’ve already had enough of that.”

He stopped and turned me towards him. “Who bit you?”

“Some naked woman in the forest.”

He frowned. “Where?”

I showed him the scar on my wrist, and he shook his head. “You don’t give your blood to just anyone,” he chastised.

“I didn’t have a choice! She was going to drain my blood in her pond and swim in it!”

“It’s a wonder you made it this far.”

I didn’t mention I had been robbed by a child as well.

I smiled. “I sure fooled you for a while, though, didn’t I?”

He gave me an annoyed look as we reached a couple of Untouchables who had Gallant waiting for me outside the camp.

“Where is your horse?” I asked Weston.

“I didn’t bring one.”

I blinked. “You mean you walked all this way?”

He didn’t give me an answer, and I pondered how he got here on foot. The Untouchables walked away and left me alone with Weston while I looked at my horse and then at my short dress.

“This isn’t going to work, Weston,” I said as I realized all I had were some dirty shirts in my saddlebag. My breath hitched when he grabbed my bare hips and set me on Gallant sideways; his hands seared my skin. “I can’t ride like this.” I felt like I would slide right off.

He mounted Gallant and grabbed the reins, boxing me in with his arms. “You’re fine. I won’t let you fall.”

I was most definitely not fine.

His forearm brushing my bare stomach and resting on my thighs was the only thing I could think about. It lit a fire under my skin. I felt every slight movement he made and could focus on nothing else.

I was on fire, and he was the fuel.

I fidgeted around and tried to keep my shoulder from bumping him. And tried to move away every time I thought his arm would brush my stomach.

“Stop,” he growled.

I tried to stop. I really did. My mind was a hazy mess, and I needed to focus on something else. Another minute of fidgeting and I jerked when he gripped my hips and pulled me all the way against him.

I felt breathless and melted against him as my entire body heated. There was a haze over my mind, but this time, there was nothing magical about it.

“Did you enjoy kissing Maxim?” His deep voice was close to my neck it sent a shiver down my spine. I couldn’t think in this position, so the truth came out of my mouth.

“Yes.”

He turned my face toward his. “Do you think you would enjoy it more with me?”

“Yes,” I said without any hesitation.

“You stabbed me. Do you feel bad about that?”

I bit my lip and nodded.

“You shouldn’t,” he scolded.

“But I do.”

“Do you know what this is between us?” he asked.

“What?”

“Lust. You’ll have it with many men. Don’t try to make it into something special.”

I tensed, irritation flaring through me. “Do you think I’ve been pining over you or something?”

“I can hear your thoughts, Princess.”

“Yea, well, you didn’t hear my thoughts when I was sitting on Maxim’s lap with my tongue in his—”

“Enough,” he barked.

That nasty trick of his had my mouth involuntarily shutting and I glared at him. I should have never told him I felt bad about stabbing him.

Maybe if I did it again, he would forget what I had said.

That’s an idea.

* * *

The haze that clouds one’s mind. The dilated pupils. The racing heart. The erratic breathing. My grandmother would have looked me over and said, “You’re in lust, dear. I’ll make you some tea, and you’ll get over this,” as if it were a disease, and then she would have dragged me to the chapel to repent my sins.

I hated lust. It was irrational and didn’t pay any attention to my mind. It did whatever it wanted and—

“Stop. I can’t handle your thoughts right now,” Weston said darkly from across the fire.

I scowled. “Then maybe you should stay out of my head!”

“Fuck, you drive me crazy.”

“Well, you drive me crazier,” I retorted as I stood up and started to walk out of camp.

“You need to stay here.”

“You don’t know anything about what I need! Leave me alone!”

I walked further into the woods before I was pulled back against a chest hard enough that all the breath whooshed out of my body. I would have been yelling at Weston if I had been able to breathe and there wasn’t an older man in a black cloak standing in front of me. I pulled on Weston’s arm; he loosened it some, and I sucked in some air.

“Did you think I wouldn’t notice you?” Weston told the man harshly. “I let you sniff around because you’ve apparently gotten yourself into something you shouldn’t have. Leave now and I’ll let you live.”

The older man’s face flushed. “I’ll take the girl first.”

What am I? A sack of potatoes?

Weston laughed coldly. “You can have her if you can take her from me.”

Yea . . . just a heavy sack of potatoes.

The man’s eyes narrowed. “We can work together. I’ve been watching, and you apparently don’t know how to handle the girl. Let me do it and we will get the seal open as soon as possible.”

I tensed while I listened to this man. I didn’t want to know how he would ‘handle’ me. I shuddered, and Weston’s arm tightened a little around me.

“I work alone.”

“You cannot keep the girl! At this pace, the seal will never be opened. The others have allowed you to keep her only because we thought it would be opened soon. We won’t wait any longer.”

“Do you think I give a fuck what you want?” Weston said menacingly. “You aren’t taking the girl.”

Name’s Calamity, I grumbled internally.

There was silence for a moment, and I realized there was something else going on by the focus in the old man’s eyes. He was concentrating on something and then winced.

Weston laughed. “Your mind tricks could use some improvement.”

The old man must have been a Mage. His face turned bright red in anger. “Maybe so, but my other skills are . . . proficient. You will not do what you are supposed to, and that is why I will be back for the girl.”

I sucked in a breath as the Mage disappeared into thin air.

Did he mean that Weston wouldn’t make me open the seal? A small bit of elation filled me until Weston’s arm tightened around me and I wheezed.

“Do not listen to the ramblings of an old Mage,” he scolded before he dragged me back into the camp.

* * *

I stared at the crystal around my neck while I lay in front of the fire. It wasn’t glowing, and I wondered why it didn’t consider Weston a danger. Maybe it couldn’t sense him at all like I couldn’t sense his hum. Or maybe it was because he didn’t physically abuse me.

It wasn’t like he made me feel all that welcome, though, either.

“I want to know what happened to you while you were gone,” Weston said.

“Yea, well, too bad. I don’t want to tell you,” I retorted.

“Tell me.”

Sonofabitch.

My whole story came spewing out of my mouth. I told Weston everything that happened, not holding anything back. He took it all in, and looked irritated when I explained about Sahara and how she bit me.

“You don’t let anyone take your blood,” he scolded.

“She wouldn’t have wanted it if I wasn’t a virgin. So I’ll be losing that as soon as possible.” I said it with a little truth, and also because I wanted to hear what he would say.

“You won’t be losing anything.”

For some reason, he believed he could control every aspect of my life, and it made me want to scream in frustration. Instead, I just closed my eyes and imagined Maxim on top of me, kissing me, peeling off my dress.

“Fucking hell, Calamity. Stop,” Weston growled.

“I can have sex with whomever I want.”

His eyes narrowed. “No, you can’t. As soon as the seal is open, you can do whatever you want. Until then, a virgin you will be.”

I scowled. “Why do you think you can control my life?”

“Why do you constantly try to piss me off?”

“’Cause I like to,” I mumbled as I rolled over, trying to get comfortable. The toll of my day had overwhelmed me, and I fell asleep seconds later.