Raging Hearts. Amy Blankenship

a slight smile tug at the corner of his lips. She blinked wondering if he’d just read her mind. Now she knew why she’d never been this close to the golden guardian… it was dangerous to the senses.

      Feeling a pull beyond his control, Kyou slashed his lips across hers in a powerful kiss as if to seal some unknown bargain. Lasting only mere seconds but feeling like an eternity, he slowly ended the kiss, wondering what spell she’d cast on him to make him feel such alien emotions and cravings. Kyou held her closer… unwilling to release her just yet. He watched her with a strange look… almost in wonder, his golden eyes seeming to shatter from the reflection of the water.

      He’d wanted to teach his priestess what could happen if she was caught alone and without protection, but somehow it became more. He should have known better then to touch her. His senses widened and he felt his brother approaching at a swift pace, making him silently growl at the intrusion. Kyou glided across the water to the bank, righting them and gently standing her on her feet.

      Seeing she was still under his trance, he gently reached out and traced the pad of his thumb across her soft cheek liking the possessive heat stirring within his guardian blood. Giving into the pull one more time, he tilted her lips back to his for a last searing kiss before vanishing, leaving behind only the fluttering of a translucent golden feather that also vanished as it touched the water’s surface at her feet.

      Kyoko stood there for a moment after Kyou had disappeared, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened. Then she gasped and looked down at herself. She was naked and he’d been touching her, holding her. She couldn't help it, but something started in the pit of her stomach… heat. Something, that up until now… she’d only felt on those very rare moments with Toya.

      Finally getting her wits back, she grabbed her clothes and held them against her. “How dare Kyou do that!” She felt her temper start to spark for the high and mighty lord Kyou. “Just who the hell does he think he is?” her face lifted to the sky as her fingers rose to softly touch her still tingling lips.

      She tensed up when she heard Toya's voice calling her name. "Great," Kyoko shook her shirt out, quickly tossing it over her head. By the time it slid into place and she was able to see, she was staring straight at Toya, not five feet in front of her. Pulling her shirt down as far as it could go, she blushed ten shades of red.

      "Toya, turn around!" She demanded then whined inwardly, ‘Geez, do none of the guardians have any sense of decency?’

      When Kyoko had been gone to long, Toya had raced through the forest cursing his own stubbornness for not stalking her to start out with. Following her scent, nothing had prepared him for what he’d found… she was standing there like a goddess. Her breast lifted with her arms as she pulled her shirt down over her naked body. Toya had frozen.

      Sure, he heard her say, ‘Turn around,’ but that didn't mean he could do it. All his heated blood had just raced to his midsection and he couldn't move. As his gaze moved up her body very slowly, it finally came to rest on her face. Oh hell, he’d seen that look before. Knowing she was about to use her Taming spell on him, Toya spun around. He could hear her grumbling behind him, something about…Guardians with no manners.

      While burning that image to memory, something caught his attention. He could smell Kyoko's scent strongly but there was another scent clinging to it. Silver flecks appeared in Toya’s golden eyes as he slowly turned around making sure she was dressed so he had freedom of movement. He walked toward her hoping he was wrong. The closer he got to Kyoko, the stronger the scent.

      Kyoko stood very still, waiting on him to finish. She knew he smelled his brother on her. All the guardians had enhanced senses and after all this time she was still trying to get used to that creepy little fact. She tensed up when Toya grew closer, feeling a slight panic as he placed his cheek almost against hers and inhaled. He then grabbed her chin and turned her face to his, staring at her mouth.

      Toya saw her shiver and could smell her lingering fear. "Kyoko, was Kyou here with you?" When she nodded, he gazed down at her mouth again, his eyes narrowing on her lips, "Did you bite him?"

      Kyoko was so taken aback when he said that… her knees almost buckled. Then, thinking about the question and mentally seeing herself bite the most feared guardian in the land, she began to laugh.

      "No, Toya, I did not bite him! I was taking a bath and floating in the water with my eyes closed. When I opened them, there he was, practically lying on top of me and…" her voice dropped down to almost a whisper as she shrugged, "he kissed me." Kyoko quit laughing when she saw the silver override the gold within Toya’s irises.

      Toya grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, needing to know exactly what happened. "Kyoko, did he do anything else? Tell me now!" He could feel the panic building within him at the thought of Kyou kissing Kyoko… what the hell was he thinking.

      She was shocked at how mad Toya was all of a sudden. Kyoko shrugged and with a confused look on her face, she nodded. "Yeah, he lifted me out of the water and brought me to the bank, stood me up here, and then… disappeared.” She nervously raised a hand and ran it through her wet hair as she looked away. Secretly, she wondered where Kyou was now and if he was still watching them. Usually Kyou’s presence was felt not seen. “He never even said a word," she added as an afterthought.

      "Kyoko, did he mark you anywhere?" Toya asked in a calm voice while hiding the fact that his insides were screaming in denial. He pulled her hair back to look at her neck before she could even answer. He could feel his heartbeat strong and pulsing under his skin as he searched for any hidden marks Kyou may have left behind.

      Kyoko tried to smack his hand away but he would have none of that, so she yelled, "No, he didn't! Why?" This was starting to freak her out a little. What did Toya mean, ‘mark her’ anyway? She felt her skin start to crawl as she envisioned a vampire scene from some old black and white movie in her mind. Then the scene twisted into one of the newer movies where the vampire was sexy and… and she quickly deleted the thought.

      Toya let go of her hair after not finding any marks but gazed at her very intensely, his heart still hammering hard in his chest. "I don't like this." He watched as she put her arms around herself as if she was cold. Toya growled softly, deep in the back of his throat as he stood in front of her, looking down into her emerald eyes.

      "From now on, stay close to me." He watched her lips for a minute, not liking the fact that Kyou had kissed them when he hadn't. It was making him mad and the fact that it was making him mad, was making him madder. He inhaled her scent again; smelling his brother's disturbing presence and that wasn’t making him happy either.

      â€œKyoko, go take another bath,” Toya said a little harshly, stunning Kyoko and pricking her temper.

      "I just took one!" Her emerald eyes shot sparks at him.

      Toya smiled on the inside. He loved nothing better than to make her angry because she looked so cute when she was like that. But sniffing again, he informed her, "You stink!"

      "Toya!" Kyoko yelled back as her hands fisted at her sides.

      Toya felt his body get heavy and down he went. God, he hated it when she used that Taming spell against him. "Kyoko, stop that!" He glared up at her. “Damn it!”

      â€œWell… you are rude! I do not stink!" Kyoko glared down at him wishing he were still standing so she could do it again.

      Feeling the effects of the spell wearing off, Toya slowly got back up, hoping she wouldn’t use the Taming spell again. "Kyoko, listen, please, take another bath. You don't smell it, but I can," He tried to explain but she cut him off.

      "Toya!" Kyoko hissed as he once again hit the ground. He was lucky she wasn’t kicking him.

      He lay there for a minute as Kyoko glared down at him. Slowly, he looked up at her and whispered, "You smell like him." Then he stood up, his molten-silver eyes hidden under his dark bangs, causing the silver highlights to glisten in the sunlight. Didn’t she