Reignite (Extinguish #2) (17 page)

Luce pulled a card from
the pile and was arranging it in his hand when she spoke. "Does you have
kings?"

Luce froze, no part of
him moving except his eyes as they darted to her. "What did you just ask
for?"

"Kings."

"That's what I
asked you for," he said, tone clipped as he glared at the girl. "You
said you didn't have any."

She shook her head,
steadfast. "
Nuh
-uh. I do have them. See?"

She held up a king to
show him.

It took everything
inside of Luce not to snatch it from her hand.

Un-fucking-believable
. He detected nothing but innocence inside of her,
no sort of benevolence beneath her skin, even though she'd just lied right to
his face. He hadn't had a creature baffle him so much since Serah. Children, to
him, were an unknown entity. Children didn't go to the pit.

This tiny mortal felt no
shame for manipulating him, had no remorse for lying to win the game.

That was his M.O.

He had to admit, he was
impressed. Carefully, he pulled the kings from his hand and wordlessly passed
them over to her, letting her, for the moment, get away with cheating him.

The game went on for a
few more minutes before Serah stepped into her living room where they sat, Luce
on the couch and Nicki cross-legged on the floor on the opposite side of the
coffee table.

"Who's
winning?" Serah asked casually.

"Me!" Nicki
exclaimed.

Walking over, Serah
plopped down on the couch beside Luce, sitting so close her body brushed
against his. She leaned over, resting her head on his shoulder as she glanced
at the cards in his hand. Luce tensed at the contact, largely trying to ignore
it to focus on the game. Her touch felt stronger with his shield down, making
himself
visible.

The things he did for
her...

"Does you have
fours?" Nicki asked.

Luce turned a four over to her, although he was
pretty damn sure he had asked her for those not long ago. She asked for another
king next and drew a card to go fish, as Luce cleared his throat. "Give me
your twos."

As soon as the words
were from his lips, Serah elbowed him in the side. "Geez, you can't
ask?"

Luce cut his eyes at
her. "What?"

"Give me your
twos." She mocked him, the words low and gritty as she tried to emulate
his voice. "You sound so demanding... so mean."

Mean?

If only she knew who she
was talking to…

"Fine," Luce
said. "Do you have any twos?"

"Go Fish!"

The game went on for a
few more rounds before Luce gathered enough matches to pull ahead. They were
two books away from completion when Nicki suddenly jumped to her feet, throwing
the rest of her cards down. "I'm done playing now."

Luce gaped at her.
"You can't be
done
."

"Why?"

"Because I was
about to win."

Nicki shrugged, turning
her attention to Serah. "Can I go outside and play? Please?"

Serah hesitated before
smiling. "Sure, just stay where I can see you."

Luce stared at the
little girl as she skipped away, disappearing out the front door. She'd been
there for less than an hour and Luce was already frazzled because of her. His
gaze shifted to the discarded cards. No one had ever just quit on him before.

Mostly because they
couldn't, he wouldn't allow it, but still…

Reaching over, Luce gathered
all the cards from the table and started shuffling them. He shifted his body
slightly, turning toward Serah beside him. She was staring straight ahead,
watching out the large window at Nicki running around the front yard.

As if she could see his
gaze, a small smile lifted her lips, her cheeks flushing slightly. "So
strange," she whispered.

Luce certainly agreed
with that. "Children are strange creatures."

She turned his way.
"I was referring to you."

"Ah, I'm not so
strange," he said. "I'm not much different than you."

"People think I'm
strange," she counters.

"Do they tell you
that?" Luce asked curiously, defensiveness prickling inside of him. He
knew humans could be cruel. He wasn't always around to hear what they said to
her.

"No, but I know
they do," she said quietly. "I can sense it."

Her answer surprised
Luce.

"I know what you're
thinking," she said right away, continuing. "That I'm crazy, thinking
I can sense it, but I do. I sense a lot, and maybe it's all in my head… I don't
know. But I get feelings about things that I can't shake."

"What kind of
feelings?"

She sighed. "All
kinds. I know things, things I shouldn't know. I can tell when someone's being
genuine or when
they
're just humoring me. I can walk
into a crowded room and automatically be drawn to someone, one person among
dozens, and I just get this overwhelming urge to talk to them. I walk down the
street and find myself somewhere I hadn't planned to go, like some force lured
me there. It's like I have some kind of radar."

"Maybe you
do," Luce said, "but it's not fool-proof."

"And how do you
know?"

"Because that
wasn't what I was thinking. I don't think you're crazy, Serah. I think you're
special."

"Like you,"
she said. "You said we weren't much different, after all."

He smiled at that. Special?
There was no denying it. He was special. He'd been purposely created that way.
The debate had always been whether or not it was for the good.

"We are
alike," he said, continuing to shuffle. "The difference being I wish
I could forget everything you no longer remember."

"And I wish I could
remember."

"I know you
do."

"I wish you'd tell
me."

"And I wish I
could."

She was quiet for a
moment, just watching him shuffle. "I sensed things about you, too, you
know."

"I'd be surprised
if you hadn't."

Her eyes narrowed
contemplatively as she stared at his hands before meeting his gaze.
"You're a stranger to me, Luce. In my head, I don't really know anything
about you. You walk around barefoot, you find shoes out of nowhere, you order
an apple for breakfast but you don't eat it, and you're always there.
Everywhere I look, you're there, and then you're gone again. It's not
normal."

Normal
is relative
,
he
wanted to say
. Fuck normal anyway.

Before he could say
anything, though, she continued.

"You're a stranger
to me," she said again, "but somehow I know you. I see you pop up out
of nowhere, I find you standing in my hallway, or lurking outside of my work,
and my heart starts to race, but it isn't because I'm afraid. It races, because
it knows you. It skips a beat, because it knows you're there. My heart knows
you even though the rest of me doesn't."

Luce's eyes drifted down
toward her chest briefly before looking at the cards in his hand. Her heart was
beating steadily, melodically. "It's not racing now. It's been at ease
today."

"You can tell
that?"

He shrugged a shoulder,
absently dividing the deck of cards down the middle and pushing half of it
toward her. "You want to play?"

Carefully, she picked up
the partial deck. "What are we playing?"

"War."

"War," she
repeated, starting to turn her cards over, but Luce reached over, grasping her
hand, stopping her before she looked at them. He quickly ran through the basics
of the game as she stared down at his hand on top of hers. When he was
finished, she looked back up at him. "I've played this before."

She posed it as a
statement, but Luce could see the questions in her eyes. "Yeah, you
have."

"Did I play it with
you?"

"Many times."

"Did I win?"

"Once."

She nodded, shifting to
face him more as she smiled. "Well, Luce, it's about to be twice."

He laughed, amused, as
they started playing.

Twenty minutes later, Serah won
the game.

"We really
appreciate this," Nicholas whispered, standing on the front porch, a
sleeping Nicki wrapped around him, drooling on his shoulder. "Seriously, I
can't thank you enough."

"I
told you it was my pleasure," Serah said. "If you need anything else,
I'm here."

Nicholas
smiled. "You might live to regret that."

Serah
laughed. "Never."

Nicholas
departed after thanking her a few more times. Serah waited until they were out
of sight before closing the front door and leaning back against it. It was
nearing three o'clock in the morning and Serah had missed work. Her boss had
understood, but it still weighed heavily on her.

Serah's
gaze shifted around the room in the darkness, the only source of light from a
very dim lamp. Luce sat still right in the center of the couch, elbows resting
on his knees, eyes on her. He'd stayed the entire evening, never once
complaining that he had somewhere else to be.

Did he
? She couldn't help but wonder.
Where did he go when he had to leave
?

As
if on cue, he rose to his feet. "I should go."

"Stay."

The
single word from her lips stalled him. He stood there, still staring at her in
the darkness, as he seemed to contemplate it. After a moment, he stepped toward
her, cradling her face between his hands. His thumbs lightly stroked her
cheeks.

"You're
beautiful, angel," he whispered. "You sure you want me to stay?"

She
nodded.

She
wasn't sure the implication of it, what his staying truly meant, but the
thought of him leaving made her chest tight. Parts of her ached, aching to be
reacquainted with what she used to know, with what she used to be with him. It
was the closest to remembering she got. She wanted that.

Maybe
she wanted
him
.

Leaning
down, he softly kissed her, the lightest touch of their lips. Without deepening
it, he picked her up, and Serah gasped in his mouth as he carried her through
the house. He took her right back to the only bedroom, laying her on the center
of the bed.

Serah
relaxed as Luce's lips left hers to instead explore her skin. He kissed her
face, her jawline, her neck, sending tingles deep down through her body as he
kissed her again and again.

His
hands roamed, gently caressing her. He tugged her dress up over her head when
she raised her hands, letting him take it off. His lips traveled the length of
her torso, easily shedding the rest of her clothes.

His
mouth found the apex of her thighs. Sparks ignited inside of her as she arched
her back, her hands in his hair. It was soft, much softer than she expected
from someone constructed from such harsh lines and dark features. He kissed
her, tasted her, caressing her flesh with his tongue.

Pleasure
tore through her, orgasm gripping her as her muscles twitched. She cried out,
and he didn't let up, continuing the motions until the sensations subsided and
she relaxed again.

She
lay there, breathing heavily, body tingling, as he tore off his own clothes
haphazardly. Her eyes trailed over his naked form, mesmerized by the lines and
contours. He was stunning, absolutely perfect, no flaws or blemishes, nothing
out of place. Even the mark that had not long ago been carved in his chest was
gone, fully healed, having faded away.

Luce
stared down at her, something brewing in his eyes, unexpectedly dark. Her back
prickled with a sense of danger, but desire shoved it aside.

Maybe
he was dangerous, but for some reason, she trusted him.

"So
beautiful," he said again, voice rough and gritty as his hands massaged
her breasts. "You sure about this?"