Octavia's Time [The Klawinken] (Siren Publishing Allure) (8 page)

“You’re magnificent,” he said, looking down at her. “You also look quite content lying naked in my arms.”

“Content doesn’t even begin to describe it,” she said, admiring a face so perfect that it made her breath catch in her throat and her heart beat faster. “I’m just happy that my subconscious picked you for my dream lover. I’m sure the real Tobias isn’t nearly as well endowed as you are, or possibly in person, he’s not nearly as tall or muscular or good-looking. Although the man’s beyond hot, you far surpass hot.” She grinned. “I mean, making love to you was unreal, and that’s what I have to keep remembering.”

“I’m as real as you want me to be.” He smiled, kissing her lips gently.

Octavia lowered her mouth to kiss Tobias’s chest. “Dreams aren’t real. They just make you wish they were.”

Tobias smiled. “So I take it you’re not disappointed in this so-called dream?”

“I love the taste of you, the feel of you, and of course, the way you look is an absolute turn-on. No man can compete with you because he can never do exactly what I want, be exactly what I want, and make me feel the way you do. He can’t be inside my head the way you are.”

Tobias’s arms crushed her to him as his lips searched for hers. His kiss was wild and gentle all that the same time. “Then taste me again, my sweet Octavia.”

“Yes…oh yes.” Octavia scooted down his torso until she was even with his cock that she knew would taste of their mating. She took him into her mouth and cleaned him with her tongue as he began to grow again. “It’s wonderful how you knew that I wished to taste you this way,” she breathed into his cock.

When he ejaculated, Octavia drank from him as if she couldn’t get enough of his cum, making his body spasm further and his eyes roll back in his head. Octavia loved watching the pleasure she had given him contort his facial expressions until he was spent. Everything about Tobias made her want him again and again. Would it, she wondered, be possible to dream him like this again.

“In time, Octavia, all things are possible. I promise.”

She felt her eyes closing against her will. She fought to stay in the dream, but the darkness drew her away from Tobias and back into her world.

Octavia woke up with a slight headache, and her body ached all over. She touched herself between her legs and actually felt more soreness than she had after her mating with Mathieu. All she could think of was that it must be a delayed reaction. Her thoughts then turned to Mathieu and the night before. He had been so angry with her, and rightly so.

Dragging her tired body from her bed, she went to her CD case and found three of Tobias Morgan’s CDs and inserted one of them in her computer. She had always loved his voice that had a unique quality and an unbelievable range. She searched all three CDs until she found the song she was looking for. “The Looking Glass” began to play. Hearing it again brought the dream right back to her. She stared at his CD cover. He had looked even hotter in her dream.

The song ended and another one began. She could have listened to his music all day except she remembered that today was her day to volunteer at the homeless shelter. How was she going to get there when her car was still parked at the restaurant, and her parents had already left for work? She’d have to make some phone calls to a few friends to see if there was anyone available to take her to pick up her car.

She went to the bathroom and quickly splashed water on her face, brushed her teeth, and pulled on a T-shirt and jeans before heading down the stairs to the kitchen for some much-needed coffee. When she looked out the kitchen window, she almost fell over. Her car was parked in its regular spot. That explained why there was no frantic note from her mother or father asking her to call them. She ran outside in her bare feet and opened the car door. The keys were in the ignition.

“Looking for something?” She heard Mathieu’s voice from behind her.

She turned around and looked hesitantly into his beautiful green eyes that were thankfully much calmer than the night before. “How did you get my car here?”

“I have my ways. Let’s just say I wasn’t leaving it where it was, and I thought the fewer questions your parents asked the better.”

“You didn’t have to do that, especially after everything I put you through. But I really appreciate it. I was just trying to figure out how I was going to get myself to the homeless shelter today.”

“I’ll take you there.”

“Thanks, but I can take myself there now that I have my car.”

“I’ll drive you, Octavia.”

One look at Mathieu’s face and she knew the subject was not up for discussion. She could have insisted on driving, but she owed him for last night. “What you did last night, well, all I can say is thank you. I was really stupid.”

“Yes. You were really stupid. What were you trying to do, get yourself raped?”

“No, of course I wasn’t. I just wanted to prove to myself that I had choices. That I could be with another man if I wanted to.”

“Is that what you really want, Octavia, to be with another man?”

“I know what I did last night was wrong, terribly wrong. All I can tell you is that it will never happen again. I’ll never put myself in that kind of danger again.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Mathieu, please, you promised you wouldn’t…”

Mathieu stepped closer to her, his hand taking hers. “I know you don’t like hearing this, but you belong to me as I belong to you. There is no other man for you, and the fact that you think there might be is killing me. It makes me physically ill.”

“I would never do anything to hurt you, Mathieu. I’m so confused about who I am and what it means to be Klawinken. I told you that I need time, and I promise you I won’t do anything foolish like that again.”
Dreams aren’t real, so they don’t count.

“I hoped that you might be sensing your Klawinken heritage or possibly your gifts that should be guiding you, opening your mind to who you are, but I can see you’re fighting it, and I don’t understand why.” There was pain in his voice. She knew how much she had hurt him with her words and her actions from the night before. There was no denying that there was something between them that went beyond the fact that he had taken her virginity.

She shook her head, taking both his hands in hers. “Please don’t give up on me. Can’t we be friends for now?”

“Friends,” he practically spat, his face turning cold. “You want to be friends. Have you forgotten what happened between us? That our bodies mated as one? Did it really mean nothing to you? Can you be that cruel to not only deny me, but yourself the truth of who we are?”

“I don’t mean to be cruel,” she choked out. “I’m just scared, Mathieu. I’m so scared.” Tears tumbled down her cheeks. Every pent up emotion from the last few days came out in a torrent of tears that shook her from head to toe.

Mathieu’s arms brought her into the safety of his chest as he kissed the top of her head. “Please don’t cry, Octavia. I’m so sorry. It’s okay to be scared. I understand. I’m such as ass. I want you so badly, need you so badly, that I can’t see beyond my own desires.”

“I’m sorry, Mathieu,” she whimpered.

“Let’s go in the house. I’ll make breakfast, and then we’ll go to the homeless shelter. I want you to meet some of my friends. I think meeting other Klawinken will help you understand us better.” He drew her away from him so that he could look into her eyes. “I will give you the time you need, no matter how difficult it is for me. Everything’s going to be okay, I promise.”

Mathieu guided her into the house where he proceeded to cook up some scrambled eggs and toast. As she was making the coffee, she couldn’t help but look over at Mathieu and compare him to Tobias. Mathieu was drop-dead gorgeous, and there was nothing about him that wasn’t perfection. However, he wasn’t Tobias. Tobias was bigger than life, and there was, she reminded herself, a reason for that. Comparing Mathieu to a dream was doing him a terrible injustice. She needed to put Tobias out of her head, learn more about her Klawinken heritage, and find out about these gifts that Mathieu kept referencing.

After breakfast, Mathieu put the dishes in the dishwasher while she ran upstairs and changed into a clean pair of jeans and a pretty turquoise top that she had always liked. She tied her hair back in a ponytail and put on some light makeup. She felt better when she came back downstairs. Mathieu smiled when he saw her, his eyes lighting up. She knew he thought he was in love with her. Everything he did told her that. It would have made everything so much easier if she had just fallen totally in love with him as he had expected. But nothing that had happened to her since her twenty-first birthday was what she had expected.

Mathieu opened the passenger door for her and then went around to the other side of the car and slid into the driver’s seat. She had been about to ask, “Do you need directions?” but thought better of it. He was extremely sensitive, and she didn’t want to imply he didn’t know where he was going. However, when he made a wrong turn, she couldn’t help but speak up.

“Mathieu, this isn’t the way to the homeless shelter.”

“I know. Remember, I said I wanted you to meet a few of my friends.”

“I didn’t realize you meant today.”

“It won’t take too long, and I think it’s important. Plus, we’re here.” He smiled.

He parked the car in front of a gallery called the “Half Moon.” Octavia touched the birthmark on her neck, wondering why she hadn’t put that together before.

“Your place of employment?” She looked over at Mathieu.

“One of them.” He then added, “It’s an interesting gallery, and I think you’ll like it, along with my friends.”

Mathieu showed her into the gallery where a young woman was in the process of directing the hanging of a painting. She turned and smiled when she saw Mathieu. “Mathieu, we missed you last night. Hello, Octavia.”

“Sorry about that, but something came up.” Turning toward Octavia, he said, “You know Kala.”

She looked into the face of her friend from school who had suggested she have her nipples pierced. If she hadn’t been sure before, she was now convinced that nothing about her mating with Mathieu had been left to chance.

Kala walked over Octavia and gave her a hug. “I’m sorry I wasn’t entirely honest with you, Octavia. I only wanted what was best for you and Mathieu. We were wondering how long it would take him before he brought you around. He’s a very possessive man, and he’s been waiting for you for a very long time.”

Octavia blinked. “You’re Klawinken.”
Of course she’s Klawinken. Sometimes I can be so dense.

“Yes, I am,” she said, turning as she lifted her hair so Octavia could see the half-moon on her neck. “As are you.”

Distracted by the sound of loud voices coming from the back of the gallery, she turned to see a burly man rushing toward them. His eyes went directly to Kala, who melted into him when he held out his arms to her. “Did you miss me, darling?” he asked before lowering his lips to hers.

Mathieu smiled. “This is Roger, Kala’s mate.”

He was the man she had spoken to when she called about the piercings.
I never had a chance.
She had been completely manipulated. She knew she should be angry, but anger would serve no purpose now. She needed their help if she was ever going to make any sense of who she was and what her future held.

Roger turned to Octavia. “Oh, Octavia, I’m so happy to finally meet you.” He picked her up in a big bear hug. Octavia couldn’t help but laugh as he held her tightly before he sat her back down. “My God, she’s a light little thing.”

“You’ll have to forgive my husband. He’s quite demonstrative. Although in private, I would never complain.” Kala’s face flushed slightly.

“There’s someone else here that would like to say hello,” Mathieu said, taking her hand. He walked her to the back of the gallery and through a door that housed the Tattoo Exhibition. Some of the portraits hanging on the walls were quite startling. She looked around in awe. Footsteps came up from behind them. When Octavia turned, she stood facing her sister. Evenela looked at her expectantly, her eyes brimming with tears. “Octavia, my little sister, it’s so good to see you.”

“Where did you come from?” Octavia felt as if someone had punched her in the stomach. All these years and not a word, and then she just appeared out of nowhere, without warning. For the second time that day, she burst into tears.

Evenela waved Mathieu away as she hugged Octavia to her tightly. “I’ve missed you so much. Believe me when I tell you I’ve thought of you every day. It was never my choice not to see you.”

Mathieu backed away from the two sisters. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a couple things I need to attend to.”

Evenela smiled gratefully at Mathieu before she walked Octavia to a bench in the middle of the room, where they sat down. She wrapped her arms around Octavia, holding her close until her tears had subsided. “Why,” Octavia said, finally able to speak, “didn’t you call me or try to see me?”

“You don’t know how many times I wanted to. I could have helped you so much. But the Klawinken were bound by a promise that they would stay away from us until we turned twenty-one or unless we came to them as I did. Please forgive me, but being Klawinken, I had no choice. I had hoped the letter I sent you would have helped you in some small way. When Mathieu called me, I knew I had to see you. I’m hoping you might let me help you now.”