Shift (The Neturu Chronicles) (64 page)

               
Jackson groans heavily and turns around. “Can’t hear you!”

               
“Whatever,” Kayla yells after him.  “I will have to save it for Damien
then!”

               
Jackson turns and looks back at her.  “I will pull him out of the shower
by his hair.”

               
Kayla laughs. “That wouldn’t be uncomfortable or anything.”

               
“Then don’t get naked with him.”

               
“You’re no fun,” Kayla sighs dramatically.

               
Waving his fingers, Jackson leaves the room. “I’m ignoring you. 
Bye!”  When a minute goes by and he doesn’t return, Kayla gets her stuff
and heads to the shower.

               
When Kayla is finished getting dressed, she opens the bedroom door. 
Jackson is lying on one of the couches with his feet dangling over the
side.  Kayla laughs. “You’re too tall for that couch.”

               
“I’m too tall for most stuff period,” he replies with a grin.

               
“Too tall to ride this ride,” Kayla snips, walking over to him.

               
“Oh, I think I could handle you.”

               
Kayla runs over and jumps on top of him, sitting on his stomach.  “What do
you want to do?”

               
“Uh, lie here for a little bit.  Your lover boy tried to call you, but he
got me instead.  There was an accident, and he’s stuck in traffic. 
He’ll be here in an hour or so.”

               
“I see,” Kayla replies. “Maybe I should call him.”

               
Jackson shakes his head. “Nah, he’ll be here soon enough.  I’d like to
enjoy your company for a while before you’re too distracted by him.”

               
“You’ve spent two days with me,” Kayla teases.  “Isn’t that enough?”

               
“What can I say, I am glutton for punishment,” Jackson exhales dramatically.

               
Reaching down, Kayla tries to tickle him.  He just raises an eyebrow in
return.  “It’s not fair that you’re not ticklish!” Kayla exclaims

               
“Actually, I am ticklish, very ticklish, just not on my ribs.”

               
“Where then?” Kayla asks, scooting down.

               
He shakes his head smiling. “It’s in the no-no area.”

               
“Where is it?” Kayla curiously inquires.

               
With an amused smirk, Jackson replies, “On the very insides of my thighs. 
Nowhere
you’re
allowed to touch.”

               
Scooting down by his feet, Kayla starts at the insides of his knees. 
“Here?”  He shakes his head and laughs.  Kayla’s hands creep up
higher on his legs. “Here?”  With a raised eyebrow, Jackson shakes his
head again.  With shaking hands, Kayla reaches up even farther and tickles
him.  When he doesn’t react, she pouts.  “I’m not going any higher.”

               
“Too bad for you,” Jackson sighs.  “I am
really
ticklish.”

               
After a quick thought, Kayla reaches down at the very top of his thigh and
tickles him.  Jackson turns and falls off the couch, taking Kayla with
him.  She quickly pounces back on top of him and starts tickling him
again.   Jackson can’t stop laughing.  “Knock it off,” he gasps.

               
“No!  Payback!” Kayla yells.  “Now who’s a pain in the ass?”

               
He grabs her and rolls them over, so he’s on top.  Jackson grabs her
wrists and holds them against her chest.  “No more tickling,” he says.

               
Kayla has a huge grin on her face.  “Now I know how to get you,
though.  You just wait and watch, revenge will come.”

               
“Don’t start a war you can’t win.”

               
Still giggling, Kayla sticks her tongue out at him.  “I’ll still get
you.  When you least expect it.”

               
Jackson bends down, his face dangerously close to hers. “I bet you will, but I
warn you, retaliation will be brutal.”

               
A throat clears.  They both look up to see Lindsay standing over them with
a tray of food.  “I brought you something to snack on until Master Damien
gets here.”

               
Kayla’s cheeks flame.  Jackson stands up and sticks out his hand to
her.  She grabs it and he pulls her up, releasing quickly.  “Thank
you for the food,” Kayla murmurs, not sure what to say.

               
Lindsay stares at them in what appears to be disapproval before setting the
tray down on the table.  “If you need anything, you only need to press that
red intercom button on the wall by the bar.”

               
“Thanks.”

               
With one last look, Lindsay leaves the room.  Jackson shuts the door
behind her.  Turning around, he smiles.  “I think we’re going to get
in trouble.”

               
Kayla puts her finger to her mouth.  “Shh, they probably have the room
bugged.”

               
“That would be awkward.  What if people…do
stuff.
Do they watch?”

               
“Ewww,” Kayla squeals. “Gross.”

               
“Maybe you need to keep that in mind while you’re staying here with
Damien.  It’s better than having your parents in the room,” Jackson
states, smiling broadly.

               
Crossing her arms, Kayla snidely remarks, “I bet he can turn the cameras off.”

               
“Don’t burst my bubble.  I want to pretend that you aren’t going to be all
over each other.”

               
“Fine, he won’t touch me.”

               
Jackson turns and mumbles, “I wish.”  He sits back down on the
couch.   

               
She walks over and sits down next to him, snagging the remote from him. 
“I get to pick what we watch.”

               
“Oh, great,” Jackson groans.  “No soap operas, please.”

               
“Uh, no, we’ll find something better than that.”  She starts to flip
through the channels.  “Holy cow, there are hundreds of shows to choose
from.”

               
Jackson leans back. “You’re going to take an hour to choose something.”

               
She stops on a channel and screams.  “Oh! Oh! Oh!  Where is Damien
when I need him?”

               
Jackson flinches at her reaction. “What are you getting so excited about?”

               
Kayla points to the screen. “It’s
Grease
!  Damien knows all the
lyrics.  I would force him to sing them with me.”  The beginning song
starts to play and she immediately starts to sing to it, bopping around.

               
He laughs. “You like this movie, I take it?”

               
“I love it!” Kayla replies.  “This is awesome.  How can you not like
this movie?”

               
“I like
Grease
.  I never said I didn’t.”

               
Kayla sighs heavily. “Yeah, but Damien knows all the songs.  It would be
so much fun to actually have someone to sing it with me.  Oh well, I’ll
have to do it another time.”

               
“That is what would make you happy, to have someone sing it with you?” Jackson
inquires.

               
“Yes,” Kayla exhales dramatically.  Jackson looks at her and then starts
to sing along with the song playing on the TV.  Kayla gapes at him,
shocked that he actually knows the lyrics, and then she starts to sing along
with him.

               
To her delight, Jackson sings through the whole movie.  They laugh
hysterically and dance to every song, especially to
“
Grease Lightening.
”
  Kayla is surprised at how well
Jackson can actually dance.

               
During the last song of the movie, Jackson spins her out and back in again,
pulling her tight against him.  For the finale, he dips her.

“I feel like I’m being
cheated on.”

               
They look up to see Damien standing in the doorway, his arms crossed. 
Jackson quickly lets Kayla go.  With red cheeks and shaking hands, she
brushes her hair behind her ear.  “Sorry, it was just on.”

               
Damien starts laughing. “I don’t care.  I’m pretty sure I sing better than
Jackson, though.”

               
Jackson groans.  Kayla smiles at him.  “You did all right; don’t let
him make you think otherwise.”  Jackson grins back at her.

               
“Okay, enough of that, do I even get a hug?” Damien inquires.

               
Laughing, Kayla walks over to him.  “Yes, you can have a hug.”  She
wraps her arms around him and pulls him against her.  “Did you have a good
drive?”

               
He holds on to her and says, “Traffic sucked, but yeah, it was all right. 
I was worried about you the whole time.”

               
“I made it here in one piece.  No need to worry.”

               
“It’s my job to worry,” Damien murmurs, putting his forehead on hers. 
“I’m just glad you made it safely and in one piece.  I’m going to find
this bastard and take care of him.”

               
Kayla squeezes him tighter against her and puts her head on his shoulder.
“Thanks, he scares me.”

               
“Nothing will happen to you.  I promise.” Damien kisses her head. 
“You’re safe.”

               
“Okay,” Kayla whispers, pulling her head back up.  She raises her eyes to
meet his. “Thank you.”

               
He gives her a soft smile.  “There’s no need to thank me, but I know a way
you
could
thank me.”

               
“Not going to happen.”

               
“I meant a kiss!  Geez, give me a little credit.” Damien chuckles.

               
She smiles. “I can do that.”

               
Jackson clears his throat. “I’ll, uh, leave you two alone for a while.” 
He starts to walk out the door.  As he passes Kayla, his eyes lock onto
hers, and her chest tightens.

               
“We’ll come and get you in an hour or so,” Damien replies.  “We need
proper time to say hello.”

               
“Damien,” Kayla chastises.  He just grins.  Jackson looks away and
walks out of the room.

               
Before Kayla can think, Damien kicks the door shut.  With one movement,
she is up in his arms.  “I’ve missed you so much, so I’m going to shower
you with affection for a while.”

               
“Oh really?” She laughs.  “And how are you going to do that?”

               
Damien carries her into the bedroom and throws her onto the bed.  “I’ll
show you.”

               
“Hey!  You’re the one who always says no kissing while lying on the bed,”
Kayla says with a smile.

               
He kicks off his shoes and climbs on top of her.  Looking down, Damien
whispers, “Mmm, our clothes will stay on.  Promise.”

               
Kayla snorts with amusement. “Oh, that’s good to know.”

               
Bending down, Damien places his lips on hers.  It only takes Kayla a
second to realize part of her really did miss him.  She wraps her arms
around his neck and kisses him tenderly.  Like usual, things start out
slow between them, but then, like a spark, Damien unfurls his energy into
her.  Kayla bucks against him and starts to kiss him more
passionately.  He runs his hand up her leg and places it on her hip. 
Kayla moves herself against him, which makes Damien pull back.  “Whoa,
hold on, baby.  We’re speeding a little too fast.”

               
“You can be a little bit of a scoundrel,” Kayla whispers.

               
Damien bursts out laughing.  “A scoundrel, huh? Hmm, and where does that
get me?”

               
“I’ll tell you when you get there,” she murmurs back.

               
Damien chuckles and puts his head down.  “You have no idea how much I want
to tear every piece of clothing off of you.  It’s getting more and more
difficult to hold back.”

               
“We can stop then, sorry.”

               
“No,” Damien states sharply.  “It’s not that.  I’m going to be
honest. I want you.  I want you so bad that it’s making my blood boil, but
I know we shouldn’t.  I’m suppressing the desire to ravage you right this
moment.”

               
Kayla’s eyes get huge.  “Wow, okay.”

               
“So see, being a scoundrel won’t do us any good.”

               
“I said you could be a little bit of a scoundrel,” Kayla says, tracing her
finger down his chest.  “That gets you somewhere.”

               
“And where is that,” Damien breathlessly whispers back.

               
She reaches down and starts to pull his shirt up.  “I’ll show you.” 
Damien lets her take it off.  He looks back down at her, and Kayla smirks.
 “Remember, you lose your shirt, I lose mine.”  Damien’s eyebrows go
up.

               
Suddenly, they hear, “Master Damien?”

               
He sits up quickly and bellows, “Are you serious?”

               
Lindsay is standing in the living room with her head bowed.  “I’m
sorry.  Your father is calling for you.”

               
“I’m a little busy!” he yells.

               
Kayla covers her face with her hands. “Get off of me, Damien.  I think I’m
going to die.”

               
Damien does as she asks.  He gets off the bed and walks over to
Lindsay.  “The door was shut.  It’s called knocking.”