Chasing the tesseract

Chapter 21

Branches and leaves claw at my shin, tangling in my hair as I sprint through the forest, desperatley trying to escape the voices in my head. Every muscle in my body aches as I come to a clearing, collapsing to my knees in the centre, my hands flying to my chest where my heart is pounding. Breathing heavily, I punch the ground over and over, my fist quickly becoming bruised and bleeding. A rustling sound in the bushes behind me causes my to fly to my feet, turning just in time to see Stephen burst into the clearing.

"Abi." he shouts, bending over to catch his breath as I turn to leave again. Stopping in my tracks, I turn to face him through blurred vision. Once he's regained his ability to breathe properly, he steps closer to me, his eyes fixed on mine, watching for some sign of protest. "Please just talk to me."

"What do you want me to say?" I ask, my voice breaking as he continues to walk towards me, my eyes beginning to glow white as anger bubbles witching me. Sparks prick on my fingertips, small bursts of a white glow tracing their way around my hand. Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath, pushing down my anger as the glow fades from my eyes.

"I need to know how you feel." he mutters as he stops inches from me, his eyes fixed on mine as he looks down at me. My heart races as his warm breath collides with my cool skin sending shivers of pleasure down my spine.

"I feel nothing." I lie, looking away from him and towards the ground in an attempt to avoid his eye contact. If I look him I the eye, I won't be able to lie to him. Lifting his hand, he places it under my chin, lifting my face upwards so that our eyes meet again causing my breath to catch.

"You're lying." he concludes, a smirk on his face as I knock away his hand. My eyes remain fixed on his as I take a deep shaky breath only to inhale his scent which does funny things to my stomach.

"You have no effect on me whatsoever." I deny, turning around and beginning to walk away. His hand catches my wrist, stopping me from moving. My back hits his chest as my pulse races, his hand now on my hip and his breath tracing down my neck.

"Really? So your heart doesn't race when I'm stood close to you." he chuckles just as the pounding of my heart grows louder. "You don't blush and turn away when our eyes meet." His soft fingers find their way to my wrist, brushing lightly over the skin and accelerating my pulse as his fingertips press against my skin. "Your pulse doesn't race when I touch you?" he asks as his hand makes its way up my arm and to my neck, wiping the hair from my shoulder and leaving it bare. Clearly noticing the catch in my breath at his skin on mine, Stephen smirks. "and your breath doesn't catch when my fingers slide over your skin." Slowly, his other arm wraps tightly around my waist, pulling my body back against his as my stomach swarms with butterflies. "Does your stomach not swarm with butterflies when I wrap my arm around your waist? Your skin doesn't tingle when my breath hits your face" Bending down, he presses his lips against my collar bone setting my skin alight as he traces kisses up my neck and to my chin. "or when my lips press against your neck?"

"No it doesn't." I whisper, my voice shaky as I become light-headed. A smirk forms on his face as he spins me around to face him, his face now inches from mine as our eyes lock. My hands lay flat against his chest, my nose inches from the end of his as my eyes flicker down from his eyes to his lips. Slowly, I find his face nearing mine, or rather mine nearing his as my hunger for him grows.

"And what about when I do this?"he asks as he pushes me backwards, my back hitting the tree behind me as his arms land either side of me, trapping me under his body. A shiver travels down my spine and I take a deep shaky breath, his face inches from mine once again.  "Did that have an effect on you?"

"Kiss me." I whisper, giving in to my desires and meeting his eyes now filled with confusion. I can't control the flutter within, the lump in my throat, the violence of my heartbeat against my ribs. God this man makes me wild. He's a bad idea, but I love bad ideas.