Shards of Skye (The Skye Chronicles Book 1) Page 12

  His hands were all over her. He couldn’t stop touching her, kissing her, exploring her. The raw emotion coming from him overwhelmed her and her body responded accordingly. They never made it to the bedroom. Maddox picked her up to take her there but they never made it past the stairs. He was unable to wait and the beast inside of him demanded release.

  Surprisingly enough it was Skye who stopped him on the stairs. She only meant to make him crazier by throwing her clothes to the ground. What that did was make him ravenous and he devoured every part of her right there on the bottom steps.

  It was a long time before Skye could form a rational thought. Her first thought was that the stairs were not exactly comfortable. The thought made her giggle which made Maddox peek open his eyes to look at her. He had been lying on the stairs beside her in an uncomfortable position, but his body was so spent that he never felt anything but pleasure resonating from it.

  “Something amusing?” his voice was thick and full of leftover passion. Skye smiled at the sound.

  “The stairs are not comfortable.” she said with a shrug.

  Maddox shook his head slightly then forced himself to stand. He scooped Skye into his arms, carrying her to the bedroom and carefully placing her on the bed. She lounged back onto the pillows naked and exposed. Her long pale hair was her only cover only hiding small parts of her luscious body.

  Maddox stared at her unable to move. Her eyes were bright with excitement and life. Her body shined as if a light had been lit under her skin. Her lips were slightly swollen from his passionate kisses.

  He wanted to frown at the thought that he might have been too rough with her but he didn’t. He couldn’t. Instead, he inwardly smiled thinking about how strong his warrior elf was. She took his passionate kisses and gave him the same amount of passion back.

  He had found his match. She was his. She was meant to be his wife. The thought struck him like a bolt of lightning and his body reacted as such. He stiffened and stared at her breathlessly.

  Skye looked at him feeling a bit insecure that he was staring at her so long. She waited patiently. She felt there was a storm inside of him raging and she knew him enough to know he needed time to sort it out. She had no idea that the storm was the fact he wanted to marry her but he wasn’t going to allow himself to propose. Instead, he was about to break her heart and his own in the process.

  Maddox finally moved towards Skye. He slowly crawled onto the bed with her. His body hovered over hers barely touching her with his body. Skye touched the sides of his face with her hands. She cupped his face and looked into his eyes searching for something.

  Maddox had only cried once before in his life, when his mother died. Now suddenly he felt the tears wanting to fall once again. He couldn’t show Skye that. Instead he leaned into her, pressing his body into hers slowly.

  Skye gasped at the sensation. She closed her eyes and a smile replaced the worried look she had on her face seconds before. Maddox slowly made love to her, savoring her body, memorizing every moan and noise that she made. He paid close attention to every move her body made and stored it away in his brain.

  He knew he would need this memory later when he was suffering without her. He needed to remember how she felt and reacted to him, how he was able to make her feel. Every touch, every breath, every moment broke his heart into pieces, yet his body never showed her that. Instead, he wanted to leave her with one last memory of something good. It was all he had left to give her, besides her life.

  “I love you,” he whispered so softy that Skye wasn’t able to hear it over her screaming his name. Maddox felt a tear fall from his eye as he closed them.

  Skye sat in the lunchroom listening to her friends. They were busy trying to decide on a place for them all to go on vacation to when graduation was over. They knew their lives would be hectic with working or college after they graduated and Evan had come up with the brilliant idea of a trip they could all take together.

  Skye was pleased that they had even included Maddox in the trip. Mike had been the only one who hadn’t looked very happy about it. Mike acted like the true friend he was and never uttered a word against it.

  Skye wasn’t sure if Maddox was going to join them on the trip. When she brought it up to him, he didn’t seem too interested in it. He never actually answered her either way on the trip, which bothered her. She couldn’t figure out why he wouldn’t just say if he wanted to go or not.

  She had even told him that if he didn’t want to go that she would understand. She planned on going to be with her friends regardless, but just wanted her boyfriend with her. He had shrugged the matter off so she just decided to wait a few days and ask again once graduation was here.

  Skye looked at each of her friends, smiling as she did. She loved them as if they were her family. In a way she felt that they were her true family. Not blood related, but they shared something with each other that most people didn’t. They shared their souls. Skye knew she was being sentimental and it didn’t bother her as it may have once did. Now she could only smile happily. Today was their last day of school and then the next day they would walk across the stage and graduate.

  “Whatever you are on, I want some Skye.” Kel said, interrupting her thoughts.

  “What do you mean?” Skye asked a little confused. She hadn’t been paying attention to what they were saying and may have missed something.

  “You have a Cheshire cat grin going on over there! What’s gotten into you?” Kel said with a wry smile.

  “I can tell you who’s gotten into her,” Evan muttered. Skye barked out a laugh and smacked Evan on the arm.

  “Hush your mouth.” She couldn’t help the blush on her cheeks. She had never been one to share her sexual life with anyone else and she wasn’t about to start.

  “He’s right though. I can smell it all over you.” Mike said looking at her with sad eyes. It hurt Skye’s heart to see any sadness in her friend whom she loved dearly.

  “What?” Skye wasn’t sure what else to say.

  “Love. I can practically smell it emanating from your skin. You’ve given yourself completely to him and I don’t mean sex.” He shot a look to Evan but Evan didn’t care.

  Skye felt everyone’s eyes on her and the silence was suddenly so loud she couldn’t stand it. She reached her hand over and placed it on top of Mike’s on the table. He gently pulled his hand away. He stared into her eyes for a moment then shook his head slightly.

  “Mike…” Skye started to say but he stopped her.

  “No. Don’t please. I just want you happy. That is all that has ever mattered to me.” He gave her a small sad smile then stood up quickly and walked away from the lunch table. For a long moment everyone was silent.

  Mike’s feelings towards Skye had never been a secret. He had obviously always cared for her in a way that was much deeper than friendship. But no one had ever brought it up or heard it brought up so publicly.

  “I guess it’s a good thing Maddox was too busy to join us today.” Evan finally said breaking the silence. Skye looked to Evan then over to Kel.

  “I’m sorry guys. I didn’t want our last day at school to end like this.” Skye whispered.

  “It was a long time coming. He’ll be okay. He just needed to say it I think. He’s still going to be your friend.” Kel said the words that Skye needed to hear.

  “I hope so.” Skye replied. Kel looked over Skye’s head, rolling her eyes with a loud sigh.

  “That little slut you seem to suddenly be friends with is coming over.” Kel said. Skye didn’t need to look to know she meant Nancy. Skye shook her head.

  “She’s not as bad as you think. You just have to get to know her.” Skye said low hoping Nancy couldn’t hear her yet.

  “She wants your boyfriend. You do know that, right? Because it’s certainly obvious to everyone else.” Kel said in a voice that blatantly showed that she didn’t hold the same concern about Nancy hearing her as Skye did.

  “I don’t think she can help
that, but in any case she wants everyone. It’s not personal.” Skye said quickly.

  Nancy quickly sat down beside her at the table and gave Kel a smile that was far from warm. Kel chuckled and flipped Nancy off. She didn’t need words to get her point across.

  “Charming as ever.” Nancy hissed to Kel.

  “Slutty as ever.” Kel shot back still smiling.

  “Okay guys chill out.” Skye said trying to be the peacekeeper. “What’s up?” She asked Nancy.

  “I’m just here to let you know that your Nanna canceled for tonight.”

  Skye was supposed to train with her and was disappointed to hear she had canceled. It was the night before graduation and if she ever needed the extra help, this was it.

  Of course, she couldn’t say that in front of her friends. They all thought she was just finally having family time with a long lost relative.

  “What am I supposed to do tonight then?” Skye asked.

  “Go be with your boyfriend. Buck told me that his family is out of town for the night and Maddox has the house to himself.” Nancy said causing Kel to raise an eyebrow suspicious of her.

  “You and Buck friends now?” Kel interrupted. Nancy looked over to her with a smile.

  “Wouldn’t you like to know?” Nancy responded.

  Skye looked to Kel shocked. Did Kel like Buck and never tell her? Kel ignored Skye’s questioning gaze, and she kept her eyes locked on Nancy. Skye knew Nancy was a supe but she didn’t know why she wasn’t afraid of Kel. Kel’s eyes were screaming murder.

  “I won’t be at graduation so I wanted to go ahead and say ‘good luck’. I’m going out of town on a cruise.” Nancy’s smile made Skye shake her head. The siren on a cruise, it was an amusing thought.

  Nancy licked her lips slowly still staring at Kel, she then got up and left the table without another word. Kel started mumbling under her breath, but it was hard to make most of it out. Skye heard the words ‘skank’ and also thought she heard Kel say something along the lines of ‘Probably doesn’t even wear panties because she drops them so often’.

  Skye just cleared her throat trying to stay out of the obvious tension between Kel and Nancy. Kel seemed fearless, a quality that Skye had always admired.

  The rest of the school day went smoothly. The teachers didn’t put any real effort into doing anything in their classes. The grades were already put in and the students only showed up to classes to say goodbye to their friends or make plans for the summer.

  Skye was happy the day went by fast. She had wanted to train but one more happy night with Maddox sounded wonderful to her. They hadn’t made love in a few days. He barely saw her over the days after that amazing night and when he did he seemed distracted.

  Skye’s own mind was more worried about her upcoming graduation and fight for her life, so she understood. But tonight she wanted to make special. His family hadn’t left town in a while and the excitement of surprising him at his house made her nervous with anticipation.

  Skye started to open her car door to get in when Mike walked over to her. Skye started to speak to him. She had been wanting to talk to him ever since he left the lunch table, but he had stayed out of sight.

  Before she could say or do anything Mike grabbed the back of her neck gently and pulled her face to his. His lips caressed hers softly and only for the briefest moment before he pulled away. Skye’s eyes were wide with amazement at his actions. Mike bent over kissing her lips once more and then he released her.

  “I should apologize for that but I won’t. I won’t do it again either, but I would have never forgiven myself if I didn’t at least do it once.” He touched the side of her cheek softly then walked away.

  Skye stood unmoving for a moment longer before she turned to see Mike driving away. Mike’s lips had been unbelievably soft and gentle, but they had also not been the right set of lips to touch hers.

  Skye slipped inside of her car staring at her steering wheel for a few moments. She knew she was avoiding leaving the school for a reason. She was being a chicken.

  She knew she would have to tell Maddox what happened and knew that he would be pissed off. She didn’t want him to fight Mike over it and hoped he would listen to reason. She just knew she couldn’t hide it from him.

  She wanted an open and honest relationship with him, even if it meant having uncomfortable conversations like the one she was about to have with him.

  Skye drove to his house trying to think of ways to tell him so he wouldn’t be so upset about it. She hadn’t kissed him back. Had she? She rethought the moment over and over in her head and she couldn’t remember ever moving her lips. His lips had been the busy ones, not hers. Skye knew that was no defense though. Had she been a normal girl she might have hit him afterwards or at least tried. But she knew she loved Mike deeply as a friend and couldn’t bring herself to hit him.

  Once she pulled onto Maddox’s road she drove slower to make sure his relatives really were gone. It wasn’t because she was worried about his reaction, she told herself. The garage door was open and Maddox’s car was the only one inside. She smiled and pulled into the driveway. Buck had done her a favor by passing the message onto Nancy that Maddox would be alone. Now he was all hers for the night.

  Skye tried to be quiet as she snuck into the house. Luckily they rarely locked the doors. She supposed if you were the demons most people feared, then there was no real reason to lock anyone out. No one could be crazy enough to sneak in. No one but her she thought with a gleeful smile.

  She climbed the stairs and saw his door cracked open. She bit her lip happily as she peeked inside. Maddox was standing in the far end of the room facing the window. He was beautifully and blessedly stark naked.

  His tight cheeks and well-muscled body glistened with water that was still drying from a recent shower. Skye didn’t mind him dirty but the thought of him freshly out of the shower made her stomach quiver in hunger for him.

  “Surprise.” she said in a low voice trying to be seductive. She felt a little awkward doing it, but it also gave her a rush of pleasure to try to seduce him.

  He turned slowly and faced her. His face had a look of shock on it but it didn’t look genuine. She stopped walking towards him wondering why he was looking at her so oddly.

  “What are you doing here?” His voice was rough and the tone was harsh. He had never spoken to her like that before and it surprised her.

  “I…Uh… I heard you were alone and thought I’d surprise you.” She said confused at his reaction to her.

  He grabbed a towel close to him and wrapped it around his stomach blocking her view of what she had hoped to already be enjoying by now. Instead she stood awkwardly in the middle of his room curious as to his behavior.

  “You shouldn’t have come.” He said nearly barking the words at her. Skye knew something was wrong but for some reason her brain was refusing to process it. She fought the instinct to apologize. She knew she had no reason to apologize. Her boyfriend was home alone and she had come to surprise him.

  Skye for the first time noticed what was lying on the floor next to his bed. It had been there the whole time, but she never glanced at it until now. Maddox had never really left his clothes just thrown on the floor. He had even picked clothes off of her own floor before to help clean. Skye focused on the clothes noticing they were not his clothes. She knew this because they were red laced and were a bra and a thong.

  Her eyes met his finally. For some reason her brain was still only working at half speed. What was making her brain cloudy? This fog in her head was making impossible to form words.

  What the hell was wrong with her? She certainly didn’t feel fine. Her heart was racing faster than she thought possible. Her eyes felt as if they were stinging, and her hands were shaking. But she wasn’t afraid. No. She was mad.

  “What the hell?” That was all she could manage to say. Maddox looked down at the clothes he knew she had seen. He looked back up to her and forced himself to shrug his shoulders.


  He took a step towards her but stopped when he saw her take a step back. He wanted to take her into his arms and tell her it wasn’t true. He wanted to confess his stupid plan to her. He wanted to but he wouldn’t. He closed his eyes for a second and then reopened them, determined to be the monster he truly was. He was going to let her see that monster.

  “Shit. Sorry, Skye. I didn’t mean for you to find out like this.” His voice was deeper, once again rough. Skye shook her head slowly trying to clear it.

  “You didn’t mean for me to find out like this?” She actually let out a small laugh. The sound was anything but happy. “Does that mean you did mean for me to find out? Were you planning on telling me that you’re apparently screwing someone else?” Her voice started to slow rise in anger.

  “Well, not exactly. I was going to break things off with you before they got too serious, but that didn’t happen. You fell for me. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to hurt you but you had to know that I needed more.” Maddox’s mouth felt like it was full of bile. The words he was speaking were so far from the truth that he was shocking himself by saying them. But he fought to maintain the image he wanted her to see of him.

  “No. No. This isn’t you. This can’t be you. You’re acting like…” She almost choked on the word, but he finished it for her.

  “A monster? A demon? Yeah Skye that’s what I am and it’s about damn time I start acting like one. I’m tired of pretending to not be who I am.” His words were harsh yet his eyes seemed so vulnerable.

  Skye looked back at the underwear on the floor. When her gaze returned to his she no longer looked impassive as she had momentarily been due to the shock. She looked broken. But when she opened her mouth, she was screaming and didn’t sound as weak as she felt on the inside.

  “You bastard! How could you do this to me? I fucking love you! I slept with you! I gave you everything I was. I told you my secrets and gave you my fucking heart!” She rushed towards him and slapped him hard across the face.