The Paranormal Side

Chapter 17

When Paige and I walked out of the forest, the grounds were empty. Paige informed me that it was dinner time and that she was going to join them in the mess hall. I simply nodded in return. The peace feeling was slowly escaping me, leaving me hollow.

Empty.

Paige jogged off and I gazed at the field around me, now seeming more and more to me like a prison ground. What was it like for all these people? Living together all the time, without much contact from the real world.

How did Brian handle it?

As if I had spoken his name aloud, Brian was suddenly there, stepping in front of me to stare down at me. I met his eyes easily, no longer finding it hard to face the fact that he was not mine any longer.

"Katie," he whispered, reaching a hand up as if to stroke my cheek. He stopped an inch from my skin though, his jaw clenching. We were frozen like that for a few minutes, staring at each other. His gaze unreadable, mine empty.

He dropped his hand and shoved it into his pocket, an oddly human gesture that still managed to make my heart squeeze despite my emptiness. Brian stared down at his sneakers and I flashed back to the night when we stood in the pouring rain and Brian left me there, a crying mess.

"Zach is waiting for you in the training area. I came to take you there," he mumbled, not meeting my gaze. So apparently we weren't going to talk about my little episode. Fine. That was okay with me.

Brian led the way across the grass and past the buildings. I shuffled along behind him, wondering distantly if I would be able to even practice the arts with everything that happened. I felt drained.

I followed Brian to the edge of the forest behind the big house where Zach and Liam had talked. We began to follow a trail through the woods, and I focused on Brian's back, the muscles moving beneath his shirt as he walked ahead of me.

"Hey, Brian?" I said after a minute of silence. Almost imperceptibly, I saw him tense.

"Yes?" he inquired, not looking behind him as he continued to walk. I moved my gaze down until I was staring at his grass-stained sneakers.

"What was happening before I...came over?" I asked, flinching at the memory of the men beating Brian.

 Brian's shoulders tensed again beneath his shirt, but then slumped. "I was trying to escape," he whispered, his fists clenching despite his soft words.

"What do you mean 'escape'? They won't let you leave?" My voice rose up an octave, shock and anger starting to return to me.

Brian stopped walking and turned to face me, a movement so fast that I almost smacked into his chest. He was an inch away from me, close enough for his presence to overwhelm me. I swallowed and looked up to his stern face.

"You don't get it, do you? I'm dangerous, more dangerous than I thought. They can't let me leave until they know I'm under control, which may never happen," he said, his voice low and filled with self-hatred.

I stared up at him with my mouth opened, my heart beating wildly in my chest at his proximity. I had to clear my throat before speaking. "Then why did you try to leave?" Despite my attempts at clearing my throat, my voice came out in a whisper.

He stared at me a long time, his expression hard, but his eyes unbearably soft. "Because I felt your presence," he whispered in reply.

My heart seemed to freeze in my chest and I held my breath. Brian saw my reaction and clenched his jaw, his eyes turning hard.

Despite his angry expression, his next words came out gentle. "Katie, you don't understand what you do to me. Even before this bond, it was a physical pain to be away from you. The simple thought of hurting you makes me want to rip my hair out. Yet, it's almost impossible to stay away from you when you're so close.." His hand reaches up and cups my cheek.

The warmth causes me to close my eyes in ecstasy. I lean my cheek into his palm and I hear his breath catch. I open my eyes to see he had leaned down so his face was centimeters from mine.

"It's so hard to stay away," he whispered again, his breath mingling with my own. He was so beautiful, like a Greek statue. A god. It made my chest ache and I moved my hand up to cover his own, loving the feeling of his skin against mine.

"Then don't stay away," I whispered, closing the distance between us to brush my lips against his. A soft, faint touch, yet one that caused my insides to catch on fire, a burning desire in the pit of my stomach. I was surprised at the burning need I had, but I think we were both more surprised with Brian's reaction.

A sound halfway between a growl and a moan came from his throat and his hands locked around my waist. Suddenly, my back was against the rough bark of a tree somewhere off the trail and Brian was holding me in place with his body. His lips moved against mine with a rough hunger, which ignited the fire in my stomach to run through my veins and I became just as passionate, meeting his desire with my own as I pulled at his hair, catching his bottom lip between my teeth.

I gasped as his lips trailed down to my jaw and kissed down my neck, leaving a trail of fire. I arched my neck towards his lips with my eyes closed, my lips parting to gasp in very much needed air. All thoughts were gone, my body was hot as if I actually was on fire.

I scraped my nails down his t-shirt and he leaned back far enough away from me to lift it off his body, tossing it into the dirt somewhere beside us. My eyes raked over his toned muscles approvingly and he went back to kissing my neck. I ran my hands down his torso, feeling the lines of rigid muscle beneath his skin.

He trailed his teeth over my collarbone and I shivered in pleasure, my nails digging into his chest. I pulled him closer by the waist band of his pants and his lips met mine again with an intense urgency.

Suddenly, a voice broke through our little reverie. "Katie? Brian?" Zach's voice called through the trees.

Brian was away from me so quick that between one blink and the next he had his back against a tree facing mine, several feet away. He was gasping for air, his hair wild on his head from where I had ran my fingers through it. He looked at me with a horrified gaze.

I was cold without his heat, and I held my elbows with my hands, feeling my cheeks start to burn. I stared down at Brian's shirt and tried to control my whirlwind emotions.

"Katie?" Zach called again, his voice a little closer than before. Without looking at Brian I tossed his shirt to him. By the time I looked up he was fully clothed and staring at me.

"Katie," he whispered, just loud enough for me to hear. I felt my heart crack at his tone of regret. "I'm sorry.."

"Yeah. Because you didn't mean it, right?" I asked, my voice cold and quivering. He closed his eyes with a pained look.

"I have to stay away from you. I can't hurt you," he was still whispering, his eyes pleading with mine.

"You won't," I said, though I knew it was useless. I felt tears begin to press against the back of my eyes and I tried uselessly to hold them in.

I started to walk past him to the trail. "I better get going. Zach's worried," I said softly, a single tear racing down my cheek. I swiped at it angrily.

He caught my elbow and spun me around to face him. I yanked my arm out of his grasp, and his face was so hurt that I felt more tears start to build up. "I'm so sorry..." He whispered, his voice breaking at the end. I shook my head and turned my back to him, walking off towards the trail.

"I can find my own way there," I muttered soft enough for a regular human's ears not to hear.

I knew he heard.