Blood Rush (The Lost Witch Trilogy #2) (12 page)

Lash’s face hardened and he crossed his arms over his chest. “That brings me to
my
fine print. I don’t want you near Zane. I don’t want you to talk to him. I don’t want you to touch him. And I don’t want you to think about him. If a month is all you’ll give me, then I want all of your heart for one month.”

Sarah’s eyes widened and wondered if she could agree to his terms. She could keep away from Zane, but could she stop thinking about him? She stared up into Lash’s brilliant blue, intense eyes and nodded her head before she knew what she was doing.

“Okay Lash.”

Lash grinned in satisfaction and pulled the flowers he’d been holding up between them.

“These are for you,” he said softly.

Sarah took the flowers from him and smelled the deep red petals. “I’ve never gotten flowers from a boy before,” she said with a small smile.

Lash laughed softly. “So I’m your first. Perfect. Now let’s seal the deal with a kiss,” he said and took her gently by the shoulders, leaning down and kissing her like he had that day in the classroom. It was powerful, mind blowing and consuming. She responded to the kiss, and gave up. She let all the worries and doubts go and let the boy who loved her, kiss her with his whole soul.

Chapter 10 - No Means No

The next two weeks went by fast as Sarah got used to the new flow of her life. Every day started out with breakfast with Agnes, followed by an awkward and mostly silent ride to school with Gretchen. Gretchen was polite and kind, but she was distant now that Sarah and Zane weren’t together. Sarah ignored it and pretended that everything was fine because no good could come of confronting the issue.

School was bearable now. She was making friends in all her classes and she had to admit that she was enjoying being able to talk to kids her age. Having more control over her power and being able to pull it in so she didn’t shock people was heaven. Ever since she was thirteen she’d felt like such a freak. Now, she could blend in and she loved it. Carter had taken the news of her and Lash dating well and was still just as friendly and kind. Lash wanted them to sit by themselves during lunch, but she insisted on sitting with Carter and his friends. She had sat alone by herself during lunch at their old high school too many times. She wasn’t going to waste one day of feeling normal.

Plus, it kept her mind off of seeing Zane and Charlie together. Even though she had agreed to Lash’s fine print about not talking to Zane, seeing Zane or touching Zane, she couldn’t help looking at him occasionally. She couldn’t stop herself. Her eyes were drawn to him like a magnet. Every now and then their eyes would meet across the lunch room and she’d feel a charge of something zip through her system. It wasn’t her power. It was an emotion she couldn’t quite put her finger on. She couldn’t tell what Zane was feeling when he looked at her, but his eyes would always turn bright silver and she’d have to turn away.

Charlie, on the other hand, she hated looking at. She hated seeing the self-satisfied smirk on her face. She hated the pink streaks in her hair. She hated everything about this girl. But what she hated most of all, was the fact that she got to touch Zane, look up in to his face and laugh, and that she could kiss Zane any time she wanted to. Which for some reason, was always during lunch. Right in front of her. Some days it was so bad, Sarah would leave the lunch room practically shooting off sparks she had so much angry energy flowing through her.

One of the best things about the last two weeks was definitely Lash though. Sarah had been pushing Lash away for so long, that now that they were together, she was surprised by how easy it was to be with him. She enjoyed his company and he was the perfect boyfriend. He made her feel beautiful, he was kind and thoughtful. He was helpful.
And he was a good kisser
. She didn’t know what that said about her, that she could be in love with Zane, but enjoy kissing Lash too. Probably nothing good. Yesterday, before she’d gotten in her grandmother’s car so Lash could drive her home, he’d pulled her in for a long steamy kiss. She pushed him away finally, laughing in embarrassment at the cat calls they were getting. Lash just grinned and walked around to his side of the car. But before she had slid in to her side, still smiling and blushing, she’d caught sight of Zane, sitting in his jeep, staring at her. The smile on her face had immediately disappeared and she’d felt sick to her stomach. He looked furious almost as if he hated her.

Sarah had made a promise to Lash though and she was determined to keep it. So she got in the car and shut the door and tried to put Zane out of her mind. It was getting harder and harder to do that though. Especially at dinner time. Her grandmother insisted on keeping the seating arrangement the same. Lash had cornered Francis and requested formally that she be allowed to sit with him during dinner, but she hadn’t budged.

Lash was still furious with her grandmother over it, but there wasn’t much they could do. Her grandmother had done so much for all of them. The least they could do was bend to her rules. So every night, she sat next to Zane and tried as hard as she could to ignore the fact that the person she truly wanted to be with, was so close, all she had to do was reach out and touch him.

Zane didn’t seem to be having much of a problem sitting next to her though. He ignored her just as completely as she ignored him. He had even invited Charlie over to dinner one time. She’d sat quietly, staring at each of them, looking very uncomfortable. Her grandmother had tried hard to draw her out in conversation, but Charlie answered every question with a yes or no, and refused to be drawn out. She’d told Zane half way through the dinner that she was ill and asked to be taken home. Francis, Beatrice, Agnes, Gretchen and her dad had immediately started voicing their concerns as soon the front door had shut.

Gretchen insisted hotly that Zane should not have to spend one more second in Charlie’s company. Agnes agreed this time. Francis and her dad thought it was a good idea to keep the charade going a little bit longer. Beatrice kept quiet which left her and Lash. She knew if she said anything about wanting Zane to break up with Charlie, Lash would throw a fit and take it the wrong way, so she kept quiet.

But that had been the only excitement. Usually after dinner, she would meet with her grandmother for more lessons on using her powers. She’d now learned how to control her power better and access her power without the presence of strong emotion as a catalyst. She’d also learned how to read minds, levitate more proficiently and move objects with more grace and power. But every session with her grandmother ended with the same thing. A lesson on protecting herself from mind control. Francis had brought in her father after the first lesson so that she wouldn’t have to endure the brunt of Sarah’s power. It had become too draining on her.

Sarah grinned across the room at her father as he tried to control her mind. Mind control was not one of Race’s gifts, so she wasn’t sure how this would even prepare her for Charles, but it made Francis and her dad relax and feel like they were doing something so she went along with it. Every time her dad tried to enter her mind, she just flung him out. By the end of their sessions, her dad always had a raging migraine and would have to leave for his house so he could take a few Motrin and lie down. Without her grandmother or Race knowing it, she’d even tried her own hand at mind control just to get the lessons to end early. She’d slip in smoothly and plant a few thoughts about how tired they were or, that poor little Sarah had worked hard enough and they should give her a break by ending early. She’d only tried it the last three nights, but it had worked every single time. It actually worked so well that it scared her.

After her lessons were over, she and Lash would watch a movie, or do homework. Zane always chose to leave with her father. Sometimes Gretchen would go with them, which meant that she and Lash weren’t exactly supervised. Beatrice, Francis and Agnes all went to bed early. And every day it was getting harder and harder to hold Lash back. He was determined to take their relationship to a physical level that she wasn’t ready to go to. And it was starting to bug her. He knew he was pressuring her, but he didn’t care. It was like he had thirty days to do whatever he wanted and he was determined to have her completely.

Sarah knew she could use mind control on Lash to make him stop, but she felt bad about manipulating people she cared about. She was scared that if she got used to controlling people any time she wanted to or needed something, that she’d turn out like Charles. And that, she did not want.

She watched the television screen pretending to be transfixed by the movie about a zombie apocalypse, but honestly she was bored to death. She wanted to go upstairs, take a bubble bath and go to bed. But Lash was sitting next to her with his arm around her shoulders and he was leaning in, kissing her neck. By tomorrow night, she’d have to bring a chair and a whip to fight him off she thought tiredly.

“Everyone’s asleep Sarah. Let’s go up to your room,” Lash whispered in her ear as he moved up her neck to her ear.

Sarah pulled back and turned to look up into Lash’s bright intense eyes.

“Lash,
no
. Come on, let’s just watch the movie, okay?” she said, smiling and patted his hand on her knee.

Lash moved in closer and pushed her hair over her shoulder. “I need you Sarah. Stop pushing me away. I want you and when I kiss you, I can tell you want me back. What’s stopping us? Come up stairs with me Sarah,” Lash said and then pulled her shirt lower on her shoulder before leaning down and kissing her collar bone.

Sarah felt a shiver ripple down her back. She knew she could give in to Lash. Her body was willing. But in her heart, she knew she didn’t want this. Now how in the world was she going to keep Lash from chasing her around the room?

“Lash, I said no. Please accept that. I’m not going to have sex with you,” she said bluntly and to the point.

Lash pulled back and narrowed his eyes at her. He reached over and took the remote from her hands and turned the movie off. Sarah watched him silently as he put the remote down and looked at her with burning, hot eyes.

“You said you would be mine for a month. I’ve been very patient for the last two weeks. I’ve respected the fact that you recently broke up with Zane. But my patience is long gone Sarah. I’ve wanted you for so long, that it’s just part of my life now, like breathing. But I’m done waiting. You’re
my
girlfriend and I want you. There’s absolutely no reason that I shouldn’t have you. Go upstairs with me Sarah. I promise you’ll be glad you did,” he said softly, rubbing the inside of her wrist with his thumb.

Sarah swallowed nervously and looked away. “You’re, um, obviously not a beginner at this kind of thing.”

Lash tilted his head and gave her a half smile, still staring at her. “No, I’m not a virgin. I haven’t been for a long time. Why should that matter? I know you’re not a virgin. Knowing that you were with Zane killed me, but I can look past that. You’re with
me
now and that’s all that matters. Come with me Sarah,” he said, and leaned over to kiss her.

Sarah turned her head at the last moment, and he caught the side of her mouth. He pulled back and looked at her strangely.

“What is it? Why are you holding back on me? I would never hold anything back from you that you wanted. That’s what love is, giving the person you love everything they want and need,” he said persuasively.

Sarah shook her head and scooted back, holding her hand up protectively in front of her. “I don’t know that I agree with your definition of love. There’s more to love than taking. Lash, I am a virgin. I’ve never had sex with Zane.”

Lash sat up and stared at her in surprise, a slow grin lighting up his face. “Life cannot get any better than this,” he said with feeling and reached out to grab her.

Sarah narrowed her eyes at him and sent a small spark out between them that popped loudly, making Lash jump in surprise.

“Uh,
what was that
?”

Sarah smiled coolly. “That was a warning. Back off just a little and listen to what I’m trying to tell you. The next spark will hurt.”

Lash frowned at her and scooted back slightly giving her a foot of space. “Fine, talk, but we’re wasting time.”

Sarah shook her head in irritation. “I’m not going to have sex with you Lash. When I promised I’d be your girlfriend for a month, I wasn’t giving you free access to my body. Why would you even assume something like that?”

Lash blinked in confusion. “Are you serious?
We’re dating
. That’s what people do when they date. It’s normal, it’s healthy and it’s the best way I know to express your feelings for someone you care about. I want more than anything to show you how I really feel about you.”

Sarah closed her eyes and prayed for patience. “So all those girls you’ve slept with, I’m assuming there’s quite a few, did you love them? Did you love even one of them?”

Lash looked away from her and seemed uncomfortable by the question. “Well, no of course not. I’ve only ever loved you. You know that.”

Sarah winced and looked down at her lap. “So were you just using them because it felt good?”

Lash turned red in the face but nodded his head. “Yes Sarah. It feels really good. And if I was using those girls, they were using me too. I want you to know I haven’t slept with a girl since Jill. It would be different with you. I’ve never slept with someone I loved before. I want to know what that’s like,” he said, reaching out and grabbing her hand in his.

Sarah allowed him to hold her hand as she looked away, feeling so sad for some reason for all of those nameless girls Lash had slept with.

“Lash, I’ve come to understand quite a bit about power lately. My own and other people’s. And that part of myself, my body, the most private part of me is something I will only share with a man who I know I will be with me forever. Giving myself,
all
of myself to you like that would give you the power to hurt me in a way that no one else could. We’ve only been dating for
two weeks
. I’m not ready to give that part of myself to you Lash.”