[18+ Rated]

¤¤¤¤¤

14 Years Ago

Several books were scattered across our living room floors, mostly about Biochemistry on one side and Physics on the other.

I picked up a book that was particularly big and heavy with bold lettering that says "Biochemistry,  Molecular Biology, and Genetics" on the front cover and flipped through the pages, which were filled with Ran's neat handwriting. As expected, nothing made that much sense to me, so I placed it back down.  

The owner of the book was engrossed in his own activity, mainly tinkering with Bunny while sitting crossed legs on our carpeted living room. On my side was Quin, lying on her belly and propped on her elbows and pillows, and busy in her own little world of Physics.  Whereas I was holding a grammar book, which I loved, and a Geometry book, which I hated. 

I inched closer to Gio and instantly felt smarter. 

"What are you reading?" I whispered to him. 

He looked briefly at me and went back to browsing the newspaper in his hands. "Nothing, much," was his brief reply. My curiosity getting the better of me, I peered over his arms to see what article he was reading. Bolden letters jumped from the pages: Lee Stocks Plummets as Family Feud Worsens. I was unable to read more because Gio folded the newspaper. 

"Aren't you supposed to be studying?" He playfully pulled me in closer so that we were shoulder to shoulder. "Do you need help with your math again?" 

"I just finished my English lessons and yeah, I don't understand this business with the hypotenuse and why I have to find it. Seems to me,  if it doesn't want to be found, we should just let it be."

Gio burst out laughing,  which made Quin and Ran shush him simultaneously.  He covered his mouth with his hand to muffle his voice.  

"Okay,  I'll help you with it. Give me your book," he whispered. 

Gio proceeded to explain the mathematical concepts to me and as in the other instances, his explanation helped me understand the topic. Unlike me, he was good at math. In no time, I was solving geometry equations like a professional third grader.

After a moment, Mom came, bearing slices of strawberry shortcake, cream puffs--my personal favorite, and glasses of milk.  

"Oh my goodness,  what hardworking children you are. Time for an afternoon snack," she remarked, her eyes shining in approval of our industriousness.

"Cake!" Quin blurted out as she got up from being sprawled on the floor with her Physics book.  Ran likewise stopped tinkering with Bunny and followed Quin to where the sweets were, while Gio stood up to help Mom place the sweets and glasses of milk on the coffee table. 

"Mom! I found the hypotenuse!" I blurted, proudly showing Mom my solutions. She looked at it briefly and gave me her brightest smile.  

"Good job,  Ranya! You're getting better at this." 

I beamed.  "Gio helped me." 

"Oh?" Mom turned her smile at Gio. "Thanks, dear." 

"It's not a big deal, Ma'am." 

"I told you many times, just call me 'auntie,'  Gio. Your mom is like a big sister to me."

"Yes, uhm... Auntie." 

Mom flashed Gio another warm smile before straightening up. "Your Father and I have business outside.  Will you kids be fine here? Nan is here to look after you all." 

We all said a chorused "Yes" as we ate our cake. Quin jumped out of her seat and gave mom a quick parting hug and got her hair ruffled in return.  My mom quickly left after and we resumed eating. 

"Ran,  how come your parents allowed you to stay here for several days?" Quin asked. 

Ran grew quiet for a second. Sighing softly,  he said, "It's mom. Papa said she's growing sicker and would need further treatment. They're going away because of it. I don't want to be left alone in the house, and asked them if I could just stay here." 

"Oh," Quin said thoughtfully.  "You know I--Ouch!"

I gave Quin's shin a quick kick under the table.  We were not supposed to tell others our abilities, even if they happened to be a close friend. 

"You know I want another cake. Can I have yours,  Onee?" Quin said overly sweetly. I huffed, but pushed my plate towards her, which contained a slice of strawberry shortcake and my beloved cream puff. She beamed in delight and wolfed down everything. Guess who was gonna get another stomachache in less than half an hour?

After a while,  Gio stood up. "I have to go.  I have to deliver things for Ma," he said as he casually tidied up after himself. "She was sick again." 

Terrible guilt clenched my chest at Gio's news but I chose to push it aside for now and made a note for myself to avoid Nan in the coming days.  

"You're leaving? I'm leaving too," I quipped. I turned to Ran and Quin, who were both still enjoying their food while reading. "Will you be alright here?" I asked.  Both nodded their heads without looking at me.  

I stuck my tongue at them both and followed Gio out of the Manor. I had done all my studies and assignments for the day,  and I couldn't wait to meet Rael for our training.  

Sprinting as fast as I could,  it took me barely a minute to reach my favorite spot which I had named "The Grove." Most often than not,  Rael and I would train here, under the shade of magnificent trees and overlooking the lake below. There was no better place to train. 

I had been doing kinda well during training too. I could control my powers now  half of the time. The other half still ended in disaster.

Rael was already waiting for me,  as usual. His wavy golden brown hair moving along the gentle sway of the wind. He heard me approach and turned to me with a smile.  

"You're early today."

"Mhmm.  I finished Math early so I came here," I said as I looked up to his brown eyes, which always seemed to be full of life. 

"Are you studying well?" 

"I am! Gio helped me with Math when I get stuck." I laid on the grass with my hands under my head and stared at the passing cloud. Truth be told, a considerable part of my time with Rael was lost on chit-chat. He seemed to be genuinely interested in what I did during the day and I, in turn, was just happy to have someone to talk to other than Nan, Gio, and Quin. 

At the mention of Gio, however, Rael's face darkened a little. "You talk about this Gio a lot." 

"Mhmm, he is a good friend. He is Nan's son." 

"Oh?" Rael signaled for me to get up and start our usual drills. I complied, standing up and grounding myself. Like previous times, I closed my eyes and reached into the flickering flame inside me, coaxed it to life, and guided it outside my body.

I noticed that as long as I could keep my calm, it also stayed calm, and I could wield it easier. There were moments too, that it would move with my emotions like it had a life of its own and rage with me, swirling in rapid succession and gobbling up life within a five-meter radius.  Those usually ended in disaster, but Rael wanted me to experience both occurrences so I could learn how to control my power in each instance. 

The dark tendrils swirled around me like weightless ribbons. If I concentrated enough, I could feel them like mildly electrified satin on my palms. 

"While you're training, I suggest you stay away from boys," Rael said out of nowhere, catching me off guard that the black tendrils threatened to evaporate.

"Huh? Why?" 

"It would ruin your studies!" 

I looked at Rael and caught the very subtle upward tilt of the corner of his mouth. "You're teasing me again!" I huffed. 

The ashen tendrils around me completely vanished. "Aww, I lost control again." 

"That's okay, kiddo," Rael said as he approached me to adjust my stance. "Try again and concentrate this time." 

Expelling a breath, I reached in again, but the thoughts of Gio, and by extension, my ailing Nan, had already depleted the calm I needed to call forth the dark energy effectively. Guilt and worry collided, causing an erratic upsurge of energy from within. It came out in a burst and dissolved quickly, a matter which didn't escape Rael's attention. 

"What happened? You seem troubled. "Did I say anything wrong?"

A deep sigh escaped my throat and I plopped myself on the ground.

"It's Nan, Rael. She's sick. And maybe I was to blame."  I hugged my knees to my chest and rested my head on them. I had worked hard to control my powers but Nan was always with me. And I mean, always.  It was possible I caused her to be sick like the others. All those times that she was with me, perhaps, little by little, I was stealing her health away from her. 

Nan had been the kindest to me. The first person to fuss over me when I get sick or injured. And who would even stand up to my parents when she thought they were being unreasonable.

A sickening feeling rumbled from my core when I thought of Nan getting sick, or worse, dying, because of me, and I curled tighter into a ball. The gusts of wind, which would have been otherwise welcomed, seemed to add to the nervous dread I was feeling inside.

Please, not Nan.  Not my Nan.

A hand gently stroke my back. "Shhhhh...don't worry about things that are out of your control, kid."

I sniffed.  "But she could be sick because of me. I--"

"We don't know that. But we do now that you're working hard to control your powers. So don't worry about it."

"Easy for you to say." I sulked.

"Listen to me. The power you have is great and immeasurable, believe me. With that kind of power, you should be as brave as a lion, and nothing worries a lion, kiddo."

I looked up at him but only managed a half-hearted huff, which, for some reason, seemed to amuse him. 

"Master your powers, little lioness," Rael said. "I want to hear you roar."    

A feeling of deja vu hit me when the soft glimmer of the chandelier welcomed my sight, together with the sleeping form of Gio by my bedside and my arm hooked on an IV drip. Gio was resting his head atop his arms on the side of the bed, his black hair a ruffled mess. 

A wave of relief hit me at seeing him that I bolted upright, only to be restrained by the sudden pain on my shoulders, among other body parts. 

"Gio." My voice came out hoarse. I cleared my throat, which felt so dry, several times. 

Gio stirred and opened his eyes lazily. They found mine and softened, then narrowed a split second after. Then I remembered what transpired that ultimately resulted with me strapped with an IV drip. 

Uh oh. 

"Welcome back," I said with the sweetest smile and a matching head tilt. I had never needed to look cute more than now.  

Yeah,  good job,  Reainne. Try getting out of this one. 

Gio got up and fetched a glass of water from the bedside table and didn't even acknowledge my sweet greeting.  I swear to God, the temperature in the room plummeted faster than my grades during calculus exams. Damn.

"Drink." He placed the glass of water near me with a loud thump and placed several tablets with it--vitamins, analgesics and some others I didn't even recognize. Then he remained standing where he was, looking at me pointedly, daring me to protest.  

Being the big, mature girl that I was, I took the glass and obediently drank the tablets given, swallowing several strongly worded opinions with them.  

"What were you thinking?" Gio hissed. I repressed a flinch and let out a shaky breath instead. He got a newspaper from the bedside table and showed me the headline showing the rubbles of Musa's building. 

I averted my gaze.  This was exactly why I didn't want to tell him. 

"I--I don't want to talk about this." 

My hand itched to remove the needle stuck in my arm.  I wanted to get out of here. How long was I out anyway?  The last thing I wanted to do was to waste time arguing with Gio about how idiotic my plan was.  

"Remove that, I dare you. I'd really strap you on that bed for real." 

I groaned. "Okay, first, don't tell me what to do. Second,  get off my case, for crying out loud!" I pulled the needle in the next second and moved out of the bed, ignoring the painful protest from my body. I heard him mutter a curse. Ignoring him, I proceeded to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face and rinsed my mouth. A bottle of alcohol on the medicine cabinet atop the sink caught my attention, and I mechanically reached for it, dousing my hands in the cold liquid. It was an odd habit, but I now knew why it gave me comfort. 

I turned off the tap and prepared to take a shower.

I was determined to pursue my plan with or without Gio's help. 

It wasn't him who had to contend with the overwhelming guilt. It wasn't him who had to witness his parents suffer on repeat. It wasn't him who had a parent under Musa's clutches. So yeah, I would get this shit done no matter what. 

My top was halfway over my head when the bathroom doors opened with a bang and Gio, with face dark and brooding, barged in. 

"You almost bled to death! If I wasn't there you could have died!" Gio barked as his eyes landed on my exposed skin and his face darkened some more. I followed his gaze and spotted a particularly nasty gash on my side, not deep enough to require stitches, but bad enough to leave a scar.

"If that cut was any deeper, you would be dead by now." 

"I won't," I smiled at him weakly as I placed my top back. "I'm sure you noticed, Gio, but I heal quickly. Much more quickly than normal."

Gio closed his eyes and let out a breath, clenching his hands into fists. "That doesn't give you a reason to be reckless. Powers or not,  you're not immortal. You could die." 

"I'm only trying to save my Dad!" 

"And I'm only concerned!"

That shut me up. I had no reply to that one. Deep down, I knew he was right, though. It was a reckless plan because I was desperate. I leaned on the wall; the coldness of the tiles seeped into my skin. 

"I was so worried." Gio ran a hand along his already ruffled hair. "When you stopped answering your phone, I felt so sick to my stomach. I should have listened to my gut and flew back sooner when you didn't sound alright during my calls. I was waiting for the tracker to turn on." 

He trained his obsidian eyes on mine. His gaze, intense and soulful, spoke of his inner turmoil. "I thought finding your apartment empty was the worst feeling in the world. But seeing you walked in there covered in all that blood"--Gio rubbed his face with his hand--"I have no words for it."

I shut my eyes, my chest overwhelmed. A long silence stretched between us. 

"I'm sorry.  I--I was just used to acting alone. I'm sorry I made you worry." A tear slid down, which I quickly wiped away. 

There was another pregnant pause. Meanwhile, I kept my gaze down. Not ready to meet his tired eyes.

I felt him in front of me, his familiar musky scent giving me an odd comfort. I really couldn't bear to look at him though. Not after I belatedly realized the worry I caused him. 

I don't fucking deserve him. 

He lifted my chin up. "Hey,  look at me," he said in a much softer voice. "I'm glad you're okay."

His dark eyes mesmerized me again, a gaze so intense with emotions that it melted further words of apologies. His face was marbled perfection except for the dark circles under his eyes,  which I undoubtedly put there. Then his lips formed into a lazy grin.

"Stop looking at me like that." 

I blinked.  "Like what?" 

"Like you're begging to be kissed." 

I felt heat rise to my cheeks. Goddamn!

"Well, if you insist then." 

Gio cupped the back of my neck as his lips crashed on mine, rough and demanding, teasing my lips to part and receive him deeper. Delicious shivers ran down and up my back when he started exploring my mouth. 

My hand wrapped around his shoulder as I took his pent-up frustrations, made evident by the way he kissed me. His body pressed mine into the cold bathroom wall. 

I matched him, movement for movement, running my hands along his back and then his tousled black hair. I pulled him closer and he groaned against my mouth as he deepened the kiss more. He pressed against me hard enough for me to feel all his toned muscles. 

His scent was overwhelming my senses. His lips expertly dancing on mine were making me feel all sorts of sensations and emotions at once. New. Different. Those which I had never felt before. 

My hands found the buttons of his top and I started tugging at them impatiently. He suddenly broke the kiss, resting his forehead on mine. He took my hand in his, stopping me from undressing him further.  

"You're injured," he rasped. 

"I'm okay. I want this," I replied, smiling softly. 

His already dark eyes darkened further. The next moment, he was kissing me again with the same burning hunger as before. I took that as my cue to undress him further and soon, his top fell on the marbled floor. His hand snaked around my waist and tugged at my shirt. He broke the kiss so he can pull my shirt up from over my head. My shirt joined his top on the bathroom floor.  

Gio lifted my chin once again, making me look at him. Both of us were breathless at this point, desire running thickly in each of our veins.  

"I love you," he whispered, his voice thick with emotions that melted my insides and nearly made me cry. "You don't have to say it back. I just want you to know that I love you."

I wanted to say it back though, but the words got stuck in my throat. So I did the next best thing and kissed him. He kissed me back,  a light chuckle escaping his throat.  

"Why? What's funny?  Am--am I a bad kisser?" I asked, a little self consciously. 

"No. It's just that, this is the first time you kissed me." 

"Oh." 

With a mischievous glint in his eyes, he pushed me against the adjoining wall, right under the showerhead and turned the tap on.  Warm water glided down our bodies, drenching our remaining clothes. 

His hand cupped my face, his finger tracing the sensitive spot under my neck and sending another batch of shivers all throughout my body.  

Gio smirked. "Found it." 

"Found wh---" 

My words vanished from my mind completely as Gio claimed my mouth once more and trailed kisses down my neck, right where his finger had been. His warm breath touching my skin caused goosebumps to form all over me despite the warm water gliding off my body. 

His hand snaked around me and unclasped my bra, which promptly fell on the floor. My shorts and underwear were removed next. 

He lifted his head from my neck and stared at me. His throat bobbed as his eyes roamed from my head to my feet,  drinking my form. A felt a little self-conscious being naked before him, especially with bruises and wounds, that my right hand clasped my left elbow in a semi-hug. 

Looking back up at me again,  he touched my face. "You're so gorgeous," he said, before kissing me again. A tiny voice of triumph bounced inside my head at his approval.

With a sudden movement, he lifted me up. Then his mouth traveled down and found my breast.

Holy Hells Gates. 

My hand clutched his back, my body leaned into his for support as he pressed me against the wall. My nails dug into his flesh when his tongue rolled and licked, sending foreign sensations coursing through my body. 

"Oh God," I gasped. He snickered and continued teasing me. Gasp after gasp escaped my lips. When he put me down, my knees almost buckled. He caught me though, while snickering. I slapped his shoulder. 

"You're enjoying this too much."

"Love, I am," he said as he dived in for more deep kisses. His hand gently trailed down my shoulder and paused awhile at my breast, then went down further there. 

I flinched and moaned when his fingers massaged that spot. The sensation was so intense that it made my core tremble. I broke the kiss and just rested my head on the crook of his neck, eyes shut and my nails digging into his muscled back once more.  It was just too much. 

His fingers moved in a circular motion and increased the pressure, eliciting another batch of moans from my throat. Meanwhile, I completely melted into his arms as my body shook and shuddered. Drinking in the delicious sensations he was making me feel. 

From somewhere deep into my core, a dam broke and flooded my body with wave upon wave of bliss. Gasping, I clung on to Gio's body for support as I rode the rush.  When it subsided, I was a panting mess.  

Then something fell on the floor with a loud clank, causing the warm water pooling below to splash. Gio pressed against me once again, skin to skin. The hard planes of his body melded with my own.

"I love you," he whispered. I barely responded in between heavy breaths, still exhausted and glowing from my previous orgasm.

He hoisted me up again and I felt the pressure of his engorged manhood against my entrance. I gritted my teeth at the sudden uncomfortable pain when he slid it in. 

"Shit," he rasped. "You---Is this your first time?" 

I nodded in response as I clung to him tighter.  He stopped moving, letting the pain subside and waiting for me to adjust to his width.

"Jesus Christ. I--I didn't know." 

"It's okay," I hissed. "I'm okay." 

With a grunt, he kissed my neck again, nibbling on the sensitive spot there while remaining unmoving.

"Relax, Love," he crooned. After a while, and little by little, he slid it in. I bit his shoulder when it felt just a little too much.  

He started thrusting slowly, his breaths coming out ragged against my ears. My own gasps of pleasure and pain became in sync with the rhythm he set. 

His pace increased after a moment. More demanding. More desperate. I clung to him tighter, gritting my teeth as the pressure within my core built up again, lightning up every fiber of my being. He thrusted harder and felt myself explode again with a scream.

He didn't stop though. He kept going even when I was basically trembling in his grasp, riding the wave of another orgasm.  

Then with a grunt, he thrusted hard and deep, and finally claimed his release. 

He let me down,  holding me by my waist to keep me upright. Both of us were breathing heavily as we held each other. 

He kissed my cheeks tenderly and embraced me once again. 

"I love you," I whispered.

dies

If it sucked,  well,  you asked for it. 

dies again.

Muahugs  ;-;

RF

Join my discord!
https://discord.gg/8M78EnxrCS