The energy ribbons crackled away as if they were fireworks as we yanked out of each other’s minds. I felt irritated and cold from the separation. I thought Caleb would throw me off his lap in anticipation of whoever it was, but he lifted his head from mine and glanced that way, his hands tightened on my back.
I heard Bish’s thoughts before I saw his head poke in the door. He was worried about what he’d find us doing, then Kyle walked in right behind him and the worry in his mind was the same. Both looked equally unhappy to find us in our bathing suits with me in Caleb’s lap.
“What are you doing here, Bish?” I asked as Caleb asked Kyle the same question, but with much more edge in his tone.
“I’m your chaperone,” Kyle said grinning in clear enjoyment of the situation and Caleb’s reaction.
“And I’m his,” Bish muttered and glared at us. “They couldn’t spare anyone else so I volunteered to come. Kyle insisted on coming, too. So here we are. What are you doing?”
“We were about to go to the beach,” I answered.
“Great, I’ll go put on my suit,” Kyle said chipperly and flung his duffel bag on the club chair before running upstairs.
“So, you’re going to be here with us the whole time? What about work?” I asked.
“I quit.”
“What?”
“It wasn’t for me anymore. Besides, like I said before, no one seems to have your best interest in mind so I’m here to stay.”
I rolled my eyes at him and secretly growled inside. Well, there went our fun getaway.
Hey, it’s ok. He can’t keep you from me and this’ll be a good chance for him to get to know me, maybe even like me.
Yeah. Me on your lap is a good way to start.
I could kiss you if you think that’d help.
Ha, ha.
He grinned. I’m totally serious. I’m feeling a little unfulfilled right now. We were interrupted during the encounter that you started.
I smiled, biting my bottom lip and felt my cheeks pink. He grinned wider, running his hands up and down my arms.
Later. We’ll finish this later, I promised.
You bet we will.
He gripped my chin between his thumb and finger and kissed me. I shivered in anticipation. I wrapped my arms around his neck, forgetting our guests and remembered when I heard an angry grunt and exasperated sigh.
“All right, all right, you two. You said something about the beach, right?” Bish said.
I sighed, pouting, and Caleb smirked at me. “Later,” he assured quietly, where only I could hear.
Caleb lifted me gently to my feet and went to grab us some towels from the hall closet.
“Could you put something on?” Bish asked me, but not looking right at me.
“This is something, my bathing suit. We’re going to the beach. Generally, people wear these at the beach, unless times have changed,” I said sarcastically.
“You’re such a smart a-”
“Hey! Are you going to be like this the whole time?” I asked.
“Probably. Are you going to be strutting around in practically nothing and hanging all over your boyfriend the whole time?”“Probably,” I replied cheerfully and heard Caleb snicker behind me which earned him a glower from Bish.
“Whatever. I’m going to put on my suit,” Bish grumbled.
“You don’t have to come,” I volunteered.
“Oh, I think I do.”
Once he was gone I turned into Caleb, feeling the strain and irritation leave me with the touch of his skin. I couldn’t help but sigh. “Crap, Caleb. I was really looking forward to this.”
“I still am. It’ll be ok.”
Ah, jeez. You have got to be frigging kidding me. She can’t be this sexy all the time. No flaws! None? Really? She’s so hot...
It wasn’t Caleb’s thoughts blaring through my mind. It was Kyle’s. We both turned to see him looking hotly at me, unabashedly, and Caleb having heard all Kyle’s thoughts through me was beyond peeved.
“Let me grab a shirt,” he said loudly, glaring at Kyle, “and you one, too, apparently, Maggie.”
Kyle smiled in contest as Caleb went to our luggage. Kyle walked over to me and licked his lips as I tried to shrink myself, crossing my arms over my chest. He wasn’t even trying to hide his thoughts from me.
Man, look at those legs. Jeez, Chad’s an idiot.
“Kyle, stop.” I looked at him with a look of amazement at his boldness. “You know if I can hear you that Caleb can, too, through me. Stop it.”
“I don’t care if he hears.”
“I care.”
“Why? Afraid he’ll get jealous?”
“Kyle,” I protested.
“I figure you probably like Caleb’s tattoos,” he mused. “I have one, too, you know. Two in fact but the other one’s in a much more interesting spot. Wanna see?”
“No, I’m good. Are we ready? Bish!”
“I’m coming!” he yelled from the bathroom door.
“Why so skittish, Mags?” Kyle said with a mysterious grin.
“I’m not skittish, I’m irritated.”
“Why? We interrupt your little interlude earlier?” he said snidely.
“Yes! You did, actually,” I said and put my hands on my hips to emphasize.
He grimaced and turned away, heading for the door. He put his hand on the knob and looked back at us.
“Ready? Let’s go.”
Bish came back and I had to smile at him. He bashfully had a towel thrown over his shoulders and was thinking about how he didn’t want to get burned so he stopped mid stride and turned towards his bag for the sun block. Then he went to stand by Kyle. He made an impatient motion with his hand, like he was waiting for us and not the other way around.
I rolled my eyes and looked up to see Caleb standing beside me, towels in between his knees as he pulled one of his t-shirts over my head. I looked down and saw it was his ‘Spill Canvas’ tour shirt. Then he took the towels in one hand and the other grasped mine.
This is not going to be as fun as we thought.
He smiled sadly at my comment.
Ah, yeah it will.
I gave him a questioning quirked brow and he relented.
Ok, yeah. This isn’t going to be as fun. But. He smiled wider and pulled me close. We’re together and you’re safe. The prison won’t last forever and then you’ll be all mine.
Mmmm. Yeah. Can we fast forward to that part?
He laughed out loud and kissed my forehead.
“What’s so funny?” Bish asked tersely.
Kyle coughed uncomfortably, glancing at us and rolling his eyes. His thoughts said we were being reckless with our significant abilities and had better watch it. He opened the door, walking out swiftly.
“Nothing. Inside joke. Let’s go,” I said.
“Whatever,” Bish grumbled and held the door open for me.
Caleb pushed me through it with a hand on my lower hip and I heard Bish cussing up a storm in his mind.
“Can we keep the PDA to a minimum? I just ate,” he said snidely.
Caleb and I looked at each other, a disgruntled Bish behind us and a begrudged Kyle in front, leading the way. Our chaperones. No. This was definitely not going to be fun.
The End…For Now.
Be sure to pick up the sequels to Significance, Accordance, Defiance and Independence as the story of Caleb and Maggie continues…
Thank you to my God first of all and my family for supporting me through my endeavors of writing. It was a whim one day that has turned into this thing that I love. Thank you all who have helped me and to the ones who purchase my books, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Thank you.
Please feel free to Contact Shelly at the following avenues.
shellycranefanpage
authshellycrane
shellycrane.blogspot
Enjoy Shelly's other series
Collide
Devour
Stealing Grace
Wide Awake
Smash Into You
Letters To Henry
The Choosing
Shelly is a bestselling YA author from a small town in Georgia and loves everything about the south. She is wife to a fantastical husband and stay at home mom to two boisterous and mischievous boys who keep her on her toes. They currently reside in everywhere USA as they happily travel all over with her husband's job. She loves to spend time with her family, binge on candy corn, go out to eat at new restaurants, buy paperbacks at little bookstores, site see in the new areas they travel to, listen to music everywhere and also LOVES to read.
Her own books happen by accident and she revels in the writing and imagination process. She doesn't go anywhere without her notepad for fear of an idea creeping up and not being able to write it down immediately, even in the middle of the night, where her best ideas are born.
Shelly's website:
shellycrane.blogspot
Now, enjoy an exclusive excerpt from M. Leighton's Blood Like Poison.
The murmur of death, a dark shadow overcast,
Ringing long and eternal as life slips slowly past,
It breeds the unthinkable and touts the unknown,
It begins at the end, on a whisper, a moan.
PROLOGUE
Bo was on his knees in the center of the concrete floor, kneeling on a black towel. He was shirtless and covered in blood spatter. Under the slimy red sheen, I could see a sickly greenish black color seeping across his chest, radiating from the left side outward. It was darkest over his heart and it pulsed as if gangrenous death was being pumped throughout his body with every slow squeeze of the muscle. That, however, was not the most alarming part. The thing that caught and held my attention was his face.As always, when I thought of Bo, my heart clenched painfully. I remember seeing him that day, the horror of it and how terrified I was. But even now, I can’t bring myself to regret stumbling upon him like that. I might’ve gone through the rest of my days in a selfishly numb state of hiding if I hadn’t met him, hadn’t known him for who and what he was. He taught me so much about a world I didn’t know existed and so much more about a life I hadn’t been living.