A/N: Hello everyone, We present Volume three of the Interesting Hobby series. Included, is April 2536 through October of the same year. Enjoy, and please remember to comment. We love to hear what you have to say. It gives us a reason to keep writing.
--Mel and Chuck
VOLUME THREE
APRIL 2536
I pull away and beam up at him. "Wow," Kale murmurs. My smile twists into a smirk. I love that I've robbed him of any words other than 'wow'.
I lick my lips. I wonder if I could get another one…
"Let's not push things with your dad," he says with a grin. "He's going to overwork me as it is."
"Oh, no. I didn't mean to add to your work. I'm sorry." Way to go, Dani. Now Daddy's going to be pissed and you just told Kale that you're sorry for kissing him. Smooth.
"You're not sorry," he says, "and neither am I." He takes my hand in his and I giggle. Then I pull away as I remember exactly why I shouldn't be holding Kale's hand.
"Where's Daddy?"
Kale glances up to my mother's painting room. "Your parents are upstairs. They'll be a while."
"Eww." Thinking of that makes me think of the box of condoms Mom gave me, and that makes me nervous. Suddenly uncomfortable, I brush past Kale to sit on the couch. He takes it in stride and goes to wash his glass and put it away.
I smooth my dress over my knees and call out to him, "Kale?" He pokes his head into the room.
"What can I do for you?" he asks genially. He leans against the wall with easy grace and I catch my breath. He's gorgeous.
"Daddy's been training you for a long time, and he's, y'know…"
"Basically all-powerful?" he supplies.
"Yeah. I was just wondering…what all can you do?"
I frown as he laughs at me. "Dani, I don't think I could sit here and list everything I've learned. A lot of the time I don't even remember everything I've got."
"Then how come I don't see you using them? I mean, I watched you practicing with the electricity, but I haven't seen hardly anything." He must be exaggerating about the number of powers he has.
He looks away and I can sense his discomfort. "Dani, a lot of my abilities are kind of unsafe. It's better if I don't use them here at home. It could end up being dangerous to you or your mom, and I don't want that."
I purse my lips. "You mean that my dad told you not to." I love my father, but sometimes I think he's too hard on Kale.
I look to see Kale blushing. "I didn't say that," he mutters. I grin at his sudden sullen attitude.
"But he did, didn't he?" I goad.
"Shut up, Dani. You're not as cute as you think you are."
"But I am. And hey," I grab his wrist as he tries to get up and leave, "I wouldn't like you as much, if you and Daddy didn't get along. I'm only teasing you."
He sits down, his annoyance under control. I swear, everyone in this house has such a hair-trigger temper. It's a wonder we all manage to live together.
"Can I ask another question?"
"Go for it," he says, leaning back with his hands behind his head. I pull my legs under me on the other end of the sofa and angle my body towards him.
"How do you keep from using your powers? Like, if I had some of the powers Daddy has, I don't know if I could control myself," I tell him honestly. For example, mind-reading. I would love to know what Kale's thinking as he looks at me…
"I manage," he says shortly. "It's important that I have self-discipline."
"But why do you have to do that and Daddy—"
"Dani," he interrupts, "just let it go. This is your dad's house and he can do whatever he wants. I'm only here because he brought me in, and I respect that. And besides…" He moves over to be closer to me. "We can talk about other things besides powers and fathers..."
My eyes widen as he kisses me again, and I forget everything except the way his mouth moves against mine.
***
MAY 2536
I'm not sure what Daddy thinks he's doing, but it's making me mad. I haven't had a moment alone with Kale since… well since he kissed me on the couch, and it's getting really frustrating. The rational me knows that Daddy understands, that he's keeping us apart on purpose, whether out of some misguided feeling of fatherly duty or an actual reason. Either way, I wish he'd stop. I find myself thinking venom at him in the middle of dinner, and though I know he hears me, he doesn't respond. It's like he thinks he knows better than me how to run my own life or something.
"Mama?"
She's washing dishes, her hair is up in a pony tail and she's got suds on her elbows. "Yeah, Baby?" She looks up to where I stand, bare arms crossed over the front of my yellow checked sun dress. The color looks good with my hair, and the bright blue ribbon around my waist brings out my eyes.
"Can I talk to you about something personal?" I ask.
Mama puts down the dishes and grabs a towel, drying her hands. "Of course," she says. I walk on bare feet across the hard wood floor to where she stands. She's so short. I never realized as a child how young she looks, but now that I'm almost sixteen and 5'7, a full four inches taller than my mother, it's beginning to sink in. I wonder briefly if I'll stop growing soon too before I speak.
"Can you do something about Daddy, please?" I don't mince words. In my house its better to just say what you're thinking.
Mama arches an eyebrow. "What about him?" she asks.
"He's being completely unreasonable. He won't let Kale and I alone for a second, which is stupid considering how many years we've been allowed to do whatever we want," I make my case just as I practiced.
Mama laughs. I am not amused.
"Oh Dani, for all those years the two of you weren't making out in our living room."
"We were not—"
She cuts me off. "And for all those years you weren't a hormonal teenager who your father had to worry about getting pregnant,"
"I'm not going to—we're not even—what have you been telling him?" My voice has gone all high pitched and accusatory. I mean, I know Daddy can read minds and all, but he's always been really good about not using that to solve problems or draw conclusions in regards to me. But if Mama has talked to him about our conversation… about the box she gave me that's currently stowed in the top drawer of my dresser… How embarrassing.
"Nothing," she assures me, folding her arms and managing to look down at me despite her height. I think it's a mom thing. "But I can't help it is he's decided to intervene. Besides, he's not actively keeping the two of you apart so much as intensifying Kale's training, which for all we know is completely necessary."
"You can't actually believe that. Daddy knows EXACTLY what he's doing! He's being a prude!"
Mama laughs, probably at the thought of the word Prude being applied to her husband. From what I've seen and heard coming from their bedroom, it's probably not something she'd ever think to call him. But I'd really rather never think about that again.
"Dani, Baby, you need to be patient. Daddy isn't what either of us would call reasonable, but he's your father, and he loves you. He's not going to do something that's going to hurt you. You need to trust that. I do."
"That's easy for you to say," I groan, "He's not killing your sex life." Mama gets an odd look in her eye that I disregard.
"Have you stopped to think that maybe he's doing this as much for Kale as he is for you? Do you think Kale needs this big a distraction when he's trying to sort through all of the things he's learning?"
I don't like the way she's turning this conversation into a defense of Daddy. He's the one ruining everything and being unreasonably archaic, not me!
"And have you even considered that you're only fifteen—"
"Almost sixteen!"
"And that maybe you don't need to be worrying about 'your sex life' for another few years? You've got forever Dani, why rush things?" She's leaning against the kitchen counter, arms crossed beneath her breasts and a smug look I hate on her face.
"That's not the point," I seethe. This conversation isn't going at all how I'd planned. She was supposed to be on my side! I crossed my own arms, scowling at her where she stood and fighting back tears. No, this wasn't going at all well.
"What's the point then, Dani? We are your parents, and maybe, just maybe, you should accept that we know what's best for you right now."
I stamp my foot and growl beneath my breathe. "Fine," I shout, "I should have known you'd take his side!"
"Dani, sweetheart, don't be like that," she tries to soothe, but I won't have it. If she thinks she knows what's best then she can just be that way! I don't care.
"Like what? Like you pretended to understand before, gave me condoms and told me to be careful, and now you're on his side and trying to keep me from having a life?"
"Dani—"
"Well FINE! I don't CARE!" I shout, turning my back on the woman who raised me and running up to my room to throw myself across the light blue bedspread.
I should have known this was how it would end up. Daddy's too controlling to let me have any sort of life, and Mama's way to in love with him to freaking disagree…
I feel the tears running down my cheeks and the anger and resentment coursing through my body as I shake on the bed.
Damn them. Damn them both.
***
JUNE 2536
If I were going to be fair, I'd have to admit that I've been pissy since the conversation in which my mother proved herself to be firmly on my father's side, and completely unsympathetic to my plight. But I don't have to be fair, and I've had a way better attitude than either of my parents deserve. Daddy still won't talk to me about his over-protectiveness and Mama just smiles because she likes seeing me miserable. I hate them.
I sit at the table, picking at my food. Kale's sitting across from me, so at least I can look up and see him.
Looking at the four of us like this, I get the beginnings of an idea. It niggles at me until I finally give voice to it.
"Kale, I was thinking we should go out for a walk tonight."
He bites his tongue and Daddy speaks smoothly, "Kale doesn't have time for that. I'm taking him hunting tonight, and we won't be back until late."
But I'm not going to let him shut me down so easily. "Well, we can go before then. You don't have to leave right after dinner." Kale's looking down at his plate. I want him to look at me.
"No, Danielle. Not tonight." Daddy's words sound final, but I'm not giving up. He can't do this. We eat in silence for a couple minutes before I speak up again.
"You know, Kale, it's odd how we never seem to spend any time alone anymore. You would almost think we were being kept apart."
His eyes remain on his food, and I can see a slow blush creep up from the neck of his shirt all the way to his cheeks. "Let it go, Dani."
"No, I mean, it just seems like my parents are trying to keep us from being alone together. Don't you think?" I ask, pressing the issue. Why isn't he looking at me?
"Dani, please don't do this."
"No! Why aren't you speaking out against this unfairness?" He continues to ignore me and I'm growing more upset, desperate even, as I go on. "I know you like me! Why aren't you doing anything about this?"
"Dani, sweetie," Mama tries.
"No, Mom!" I slam my fist on the table. Some small, quiet voice in my head tells me I'm yelling now, far louder than dinner conversation permits. I can feel tears starting in my eyes and my father's patient gaze only makes it worse. I scream across the table, "Why won't you look at me?!"
He does look at me then, his beautiful lips compressed in a thin line. "Danielle, stop."
Danielle? He's never called me that in his life. I stare at him, lips trembling, body shaking. There are tears on my face as I focus on his face. Everything else is blurred out.
"It was just a walk," I whisper. "I just wanted to walk with you."
His dark blue eyes look at me with something like sympathy. He enunciates clearly, "Dani, I'm going hunting with your father. I'm sorry."
I stand abruptly from the table and run to my room. I'm kind of surprised that Daddy didn't force me back to the table. He isn't much for displays like this. I throw myself across my bed and cry, barely aware of the sound of the back door slamming.
"God DAMN it!"
I crawl over to the window and open it quietly. Kale's in the backyard, sending enormous bolts of electricity into the tire swing. I can see his muscles straining from here. I hope you kill yourself training, I think bitterly.
Daddy walks out to Kale in the moonlight. I can hear him pretty clearly from here.
"Get yourself under control. I won't take you out like this."
"Under control? Sir, were you in there just now? How much more control do you expect me to have?"
"More than this. You need to calm down. If you need to release the excess energy, you can kill the prey tonight. But you have to be better than this."
Kale slumps. He doesn't say anything, but Daddy responds to what's in his head.
"I told you the rules. You will respect my daughter the way we discussed or I will make you suffer. She's only fifteen, you can wait." He listens again and laughs.
"She's my daughter, Kale. Nothing she says is going to be as simple as that."
I have to strain to catch Kale's next words. "She's going to hate me," he says almost miserably. Too late. I already do.
But Daddy laughs again and pats Kale's shoulder. "Only until she loves you again."
I shut the window. I don't want to hear any more. I curl up on my bed and cry until I fall asleep.
***
JULY 2536
I'm sick of being ignored, sick of being left behind. Every freaking week Kale and Daddy go hunting, and the night's they're not killing people, they're practicing new powers. It's not like Daddy doesn't make an effort to spend time with me, he always has. Every day he comes in and we have a chat, make dinner together, or go for a run… but I can't help feeling that the time he spends with kale is more… productive.
That's why I'm here, poised on the ledge of this ten story building while Daddy and Kale are out bartering at the market. Mama's going to be pissed when she finds out I left the house. I'm not supposed to unless either of them are with me; yet another way to keep me a child forever. But I'm fifteen now, almost sixteen, and I have to gain independence some day.
I take another tentative step towards the edge, peering out and at the ground. I hadn't realized the building was this tall. It had looked shorter from the ground. I get a little dizzy at the prospect of the drop.
Still. I've made this decision. If Kale gets to practice his power on a regular basis, it only follows that I should do the same, and if Daddy won't help me…
Well a high ledge is just as friendly as my family these days.
I peer down again. The road looks so narrow from this height. Maybe I should just—but no. That would mean I'm not as dedicated or as worthwhile as Kale. I have to do this, have to prove that I can do this. Besides, it's not like there will be that much damage. I've never had trouble healing before.
Then again, I've never jumped off of a ten story building.
"Dani, what are you doing?"
I flinch at the sound of Kales voice, close behind me, teetering for a moment as shock and dizziness make me sway. His hand on the back of my dress pulls me back before I can lose my balance. He lets me go as soon as I'm steady, take a few steps away from me and folding his hands behind his back.
"What do you want?" I hiss, turning to face him. The warm wind buffets my skirt, wraps around my legs. Kale flinches as I take a step to steady myself.
"Your father sent me," he says in answer.
I scoff. "You expect me to believe that?"
"He was busy," Kale takes another step forward, cocking his head to the side. "What are you doing?" he repeats.
I scowl at him. "I should think that's fairly obvious." I turn back around to peer off the building.
"Don't be like this, Dani. Please." His voice sounds almost pained. Good. Maybe now he'll understand what it's been like watching him and Daddy these past few months, what it's been like wanting to talk to him like I used to and not being able to.
"Why not? You and Daddy seem to think practice is more important than family. More important than friendship. It only follows that I should think so too."
"That's not what it's about," he says softly, taking another step in my direction.
"God, Kale. Can't you just leave me alone? I've spent months trying to get your attention and you haven't been interested. The least you can do is go away now that I want solitude."
He doesn't say anything to that, only takes another step forward.
"Dani?"
"What?" I ask bitterly.
"I want to spend time with you."
"You want to spend time with my father more." I can hardly breathe now and the tears are coming. God damn it. Why can't I feel something without crying?
"I don't want to… I have to. Some of these abilities are dangerous. Until I learn to control them, keep the compulsion to use them down… it's not safe to lose control around you." I whirl back around to face him. His eyes are downcast. I wish he'd look at me.
"Who said anything about losing control?" I'm crying openly now. I probably look disgusting. Maybe it's a good thing he refuses to look at me.
"It's not really a choice when I'm around you anymore, Dani…" his voice trails off. "You're so damn pretty."
I can't believe this is what we've been reduced to. I know he likes me, and God knows I like him… but things have gotten so complicated with Daddy's stubborn insistence that we be kept apart.
"Just go away Kale," I whisper, turning back around to face the street. I have to do this. I have to jump. Maybe that'll make it all go away. I've never tried this before…
"Dani, please."
"Why are you really here?" I ask, trying to keep my shaking sobs from my voice.
"I told you, your father sent me."
"You're lying." I can always tell when he's not telling the truth. I've certainly known him long enough. Besides, Daddy would never send him if he thought I was in danger. But then, I'm probably not in any real danger. Pain is the only thing a healer like me has to fear.
"Isn't it enough that I'm here?" He's pleading with me, begging me to take a step back and talk to him. Finally. Here's the moment I've been waiting for. The alone time I've been craving. But somehow it feels hollow.
"No, Kale. It's not. Not when all you want is to take me home. You don't want to talk. You just want to control me. Just like him.
"No, Dani come on. You know- DANI!"
But I don't hear the rest of what he's saying because I've jumped. I'm free falling through the air, my hair and dress whipping out behind me as I go down, down, down.
And then there's a sudden stop, a jolt.
But blissfully, no pain. I can't believe a drop like that has resulted in this painless weightlessness, this weird rushing in my ears. It's like I'm flying, still falling through the air at speeds so fast I can't even move.
Can my eyes open? They can. And I see the city beneath me, rushing by in a whirl. Decaying bridges no one uses any more, old roads overgrown, the camps I've only heard of but never seen. The ones I came from.
And then I notice the weight around my waist, around my chest. It's Kale, his arms wrapped tight around me, keeping me pressed against him so I'm not buffeted by the wind.
And I can't help it. Through teary eyes and a stuffed nose, I laugh against the wind.
***
Later…
He sets me down on a street a few blocks away from our house.
"What the hell were you thinking?" he demands. "Are you happy now that you've recklessly jumped off a building?"
I just stand there, catching my breath. That was the most exhilarating thing in the world. Kale doesn't seem to think so, though.
"You are so goddamn stupid! What is wrong with you?"
He's pissing me off now. "Don't you insult me, Kale Flint. We both know I would have been fine."
"Just because you have that power doesn't mean you have to test it!" he yells. He takes three quick steps, grabs me by the arms, and shakes me hard. "Why did you do that? Why?"
His temper should frighten me, but it's only feeding my own. "I told you why, Kale! I'm sick of feeling like I'm invisible to you, and sick of being treated like a baby!"
His eyes glint dangerously and his grip tightens momentarily before he lets go and turns around, stalking a few steps away. I watch as his muscles tense beneath his shirt and he starts shaking. Suddenly his hands are full of fire.
"Kale!" I gasp and take a step toward him.
"Stop. Just…wait," he grits out. Oh my God. Something's wrong. My mind starts running away with itself, but he slowly gets himself under control. The shaking ceases and the flames around his hands die down. I'm afraid to get closer.
He turns to face me again, a mixture of solemnity and shame on his face.
"Now do you see, Dani? Do you see why I spend so much time with your dad?" He stands alone, apart from me. "I want so badly to be with you…but I'm afraid to get too close. You're a hell of a distraction, and my focus gets shaky."
He bites his lip and looks down. "I'm sorry I shouted at you. You just make me so angry sometimes, and it was kind of freaky to watch you jump off that ledge."
I feel awful. Mama and Daddy were right when they said that Kale needed the help. I walk tentatively up to him and put my arms around him.
"I'm sorry too, Kale. I didn't mean to get so jealous that I made you lose control," I whisper. He hesitates before returning the hug. We stand that way for a minute, and I think to myself that it's the nicest feeling in the world before he gently pushes me away from him.
"Your parents are waiting for us at home. We're in trouble," he says darkly. We walk back to the house hand in hand, until he lets go and opens the door for me. And of course Mama and Daddy are in the living room.
"Danielle," my father says quietly. My stomach flips at the sound of his voice. It's flat and low, like he's barely in control of his temper. Shit. Kale and I sit on the couch, careful not to touch.
"You left the house without supervision to stand on the outside of a building and throw yourself off. I'd like to say I don't know what possessed you to do it, but unfortunately I do. If you ever do something that stupid again, you will regret it." Mama, who normally gets tetchy when Daddy says things like that, only looks on with stony eyes.
"You betrayed our trust, Dani." She sets her jaw and I know that she's hurt. I feel really bad now.
"I'm so, so sor—"
"Be quiet," Daddy's voice cuts through mine like a knife. "I'm not finished."
"Kale," he directs his attention to the boy next to me, "I would like to hear the explanation you've come up with."
"Yes sir. I left the market, to spend some time with your daughter. She was on the ledge and I couldn't let her fall. So I flew her here." His eyes, which have been on my father this whole time, fall at Daddy's next question.
"Don't lie by omission, Kale. What did you do?" He sounds terrifying and awful. Mom never sounds this way. I think it must be a father thing.
"I was angry," Kale recounts quietly. "I yelled, and I almost…lost control. I didn't burn anything, though."
Daddy looks at him for a long minute. Nobody says anything, and the silence is making me sick.
"Daddy…" I say finally, "Daddy, he didn't hurt me. And he saved me from getting splattered all over the pavement."
Mama looks like she's biting her tongue to keep from saying something, but Daddy nods once.
"Kale, outside. We're going to work until your control is noticeably better, and I'm going to provide you with extra incentive." I flinch. He's going to hurt Kale, I just know it. But Kale stands up, and he doesn't even look scared, just determined and kind of resigned.
"Don't worry, Dani," he assures me as I stand up. "I need to get better, and your dad will help me. This isn't your fault." So why do I feel like it is?
Mama stands next to me as we hear the backdoor close.
"Hope you learned something today, kiddo," she says quietly.
***
AUGUST 2536
Its August, my birthday. Mama has made a chocolate cake and lemon chicken. Daddy and Kale stayed home for the day, no training, no hunting, just me. It's been wonderful. Of course, I'm apparently still not allowed to be alone with Kale, but after what happened that last time we tried… I still can't get the sound of his screams coming from the back yard out of my head.
And so we all spend time together, Mama, Daddy, Kale and I.
We go for a run in the morning, keeping a steady pace as we make a round down the high street and towards the island before doubling back. I slow before my parents and Kale does the same. Soon we're barely even jogging, and finally we slow to a walk.
My heart is pounding and there's a thin sheen of sweat along my skin. The sun is so hot I can feel my skin heating. It's a very good thing I don't get sunburns. I watch Mama and Daddy jog ahead of us, slowing their pace to keep an even distance. Even here we're not allowed to be completely alone.
"It's freaking hot out today," I comment, fanning myself with a hand and strategically lifting the tight shirt I'm wearing to bare my midriff.
Beside me, Kale smiles but refuses to stare.
I think he thinks its gentlemanly or something. I just find it annoyingly obtuse.
"What," I tease, twisting the shirt in back to keep the hem bunched beneath my breasts. I'm not exactly weighed down by them, but I've filled out pretty nicely in the last few years if I do say so myself. Hopefully I can make Kale notice. "Don't you like to look?"
Beside me, his grin widens and a blush darkens his cheeks. He looks good blushing and overheated like that, with sweat running down from his neck to the waist of his sweatpants. He's not wearing a shirt, so the view of just exactly what his training has developed is excellent.
He glances over at me and I arch my back, letting my head drop back and my braided hair brush against my bottom as I inhale and pretend to sigh. My breasts are conveniently displayed in the process. I can't help the blush that climbs up my own cheeks in response. I've never been quite this… active about flirting before. Thank God Daddy is far ahead of us.
When I look back over at Kale, he's staring determinedly ahead, biting his lip and swallowing though his throat is dry.
I glance up ahead to make sure my parents aren't watching, and then I slow to a dead stop, grabbing Kales arm and spinning him to face me. He moves easily, even for being off kilter.
"Look at me," I order, cocking my head to the side. His eyes are tightly shut and he's still biting that lower lip.
Let me… I think.
And finally his eyes flutter open, dark lashes exposing dark blue eyes I could swim in.
He's looking me in the eye, but soon his gaze wanders, following the line of my cheek, down to my neck… shoulders. His eyes linger on my breasts before drinking in the golden skin at my midriff and then snapping back up to meet my steady gaze.
"You've gotta stop teasing me, Dani." He whispers, voice hoarse. I laugh aloud.
"Who says I'm teasing?" I murmur, "Everything you see, you can have."
His throat constricts as his eyes flutter shut. Is he thinking about it? The way his eyes dart back and forth before closed lids tell me he is.
"You don't mean that," he says, he's trying very hard not to open those eyes again.
I laugh. "I definitely mean it," I say, inching closer to him and grabbing one of his hands in mine. His palms are warm.
He grimaces, a look of absolute pain on his face.
Oh. God. That explains a lot.
I drop his hand like it's made of molten metal, taking a few steps back and whirling around.
I can hardly speak… not when he's looking at me like that. How could I be so stupid? It's obvious how he feels… pain. Freaking pain at the thought of touching me. How could I have missed this?
"You… Ass hole!" I hiss, trying to breathe and blinking rapidly. I'm an idiot. Such an idiot. "Why didn't you tell me!" I sound like I'm about to cry, and I am, and I can't care, not when I feel like this. Not when the only boy I've ever—when he's repulsed by the thought of kissing me again.
This explains so much. Why he hasn't fought like I have to get some alone time, why he got so mad at me after the building… Why he spends every waking moment with my father.
His eyes fly open, and he has the nerve to look confused. "I don't—"
"When were you planning on telling me you aren't interested?" I shriek, whirling back towards him and stalking forward. For once, I'm glad of my height. On tiptoes I'm able to look him in those lying, cowardly eyes.
"Dani, what are you—"
"Were you going to wait until you found me naked in your bed? Were you going to let me humiliate myself and then have a good laugh with Daddy about 'poor little Dani," pining away after her best friend?"
"No! I'd never—"
"Liar!" I let my fists fly, hitting him right in the jaw and then slamming my other clenched fist into his gut. Daddy taught me how to hit, and by God if I didn't learn well.
He sinks to his knees, trying to catch his breath and looking thoroughly perplexed. I can't stand him. I kick his stupid perfect chin and hear his teeth slam together quite satisfyingly before I turn heel and run.
I can't be there anymore, can't stand to look at him for another God Damned second.
I'm watching where I step through bleary eyes, seeing Mama and Daddy get closer in the distance… and then from behind me, something hurtles into my back, tossing me foreword and then spinning to land with me on top of it. I'm shocked for half a second before I realize that it's him, and then I'm fighting; twisting and writhing and scratching like a demon.
"Bastard," I scream, "Fucking gutless, sniveling son of a –"
But then I can't speak anymore because his lips on mine cut me off as he rolls, pinning me to the hard packed earth and pressing heavily against my body. I can feel his weight above me, and something hard against my belly… Oh God. I guess he really did like what he saw.
And I'm blushing and arching and kissing him back for all I'm worth, savoring the feel and panting as he breaks away…
I'm left bereft when the steady weight of his body is wrenched from over mine.
"What, the hell, do you think, you're doing?" Daddy's voice is low, dangerous. He's angry. I wouldn't be surprised if he's going to take out the anger on Mama in their bedroom tonight… But somehow, as he throws Kale off of me and sends him spinning across the road to land in moaning heap, I can't bring myself to care much.
Daddy grabs my arm, drags me to my feet and pushes me towards Mama before rounding on Kale.
Kale stand up, joints popping back into place as he meets Daddy's gaze. They're probably going to fight now. Daddy's going to lose his temper and Kale is going to be punished…
But somehow that all seems secondary, because as Mama pulls my arm to keep me at her side, and the men in my life face each other scowling, all I can think is, "Happy Birthday to me!"
***
OCTOBER 2536
I'm picking out my clothes for the day when the knock comes at my door. "Danielle?"
"Come in," I call as I pull on my robe. Daddy enters the room and shuts the door behind him.
"I need to speak to you. About…recent events," he says. I sit on the bed and pat the spot next to me, and he sits.
Recent events. That's a weird way to describe what's been happening. After Kale tackled me on my birthday, Daddy…he was scary. He electrocuted Kale—just for a few seconds, and Mama said it wasn't very bad, but Kale's body was twitching and jumping. Daddy's been pushing him even harder since then, and Kale takes it. The whole thing pisses me off, but Kale just works even harder and tells me how Daddy is right, he's always right. Bull.
"Danielle. I understand that you've been upset regarding…" he waves his hand expressively, "things. I wanted to avoid this conversation, but your mother was unable to explain everything appropriately to you, and I want you to understand the other side of this situation.
"You've seen for yourself that Kale has some lethal powers, and that he occasionally has lapses in control. He's young, and he needs help. I have given him specific guidelines to aid him, but it occurs to me that you would benefit from these as well."
"Daddy, I know he's training. I got it," I tell him exasperatedly. I'm really sick of hearing it by now.
"No, you don't," he corrects me, "which is why I'm going to explain this as clearly as I can stand to." He pauses for a minute and it occurs to me: he's super uncomfortable right now. The thought makes me uncomfortable.
"I know you like Kale," he starts. Oh God. "That doesn't excuse your behavior. I've outlined in detail how he is to conduct himself around you, but your actions are making it unnecessarily difficult for him to act appropriately."
"Daddy, please don't—"
"Don't interrupt me again," he says coldly. I shut my mouth and cringe.
"You cannot continue to flirt with him so…brazenly. It makes him useless for hours afterward, and it erodes what control he has," Daddy preaches. I would roll my eyes, but I know from experience how well he takes that. "I'm tired of listening to his overactive hormonal fantasies. If you can't be sensitive to all this…"
He stops and rubs the back of his neck, starts again. "If you have to…do things with him, could you at least try to wait until he's better trained?"
I don't answer him. He obviously doesn't want me to, and this whole conversation is so embarrassing. I want to die. Maybe he feels the same way, because he stands and opens the door.
He turns back and ends his diatribe, "I've punished him for his actions in this, but if you test his limits and ignore my wishes, I can punish you just as easily. Don't push me." He looks at me steadily and I know he'll make good on his threat. But there's no way he wants to.
He leaves and I go back to my closet. I still need something to wear, after all.
Downstairs I sit next to Kale at the breakfast table. He's munching on some warm bread.
"He talk to you?" he asks casually. I suppress a laugh. There are no secrets in this house.
"Yep," I reply just as casually. "He wants me to stop tempting you."
He chuckles. "Good luck with that. I'd sure appreciate it, though."
I am, oddly, in high spirits. He likes me, and that's enough for right now. Or at least today.