Unaware that the storm was now growing closer, Kyoko felt the breeze cool her heated skin and welcomed it with a soft smile. Closing her emerald eyes, she enjoyed the solitude of the night before heading to Senninâs and joining the guardians that slumbered there.
Senninâs daughter, Suki, had become her closest female friend on this side of the time portal and her hut was where the group stayed when they werenât traveling across the dangerous lands looking for the shattered fragments of the guardian heart crystal. Suki had been with them from the very start, even though she wasnât a guardian.
Kyoko smiled thinking of Suki and the one guardian that never left her friendâs side⦠Shinbe. He was one of the five guardian brothers. He was also a letch and very much had a thing for Suki. With midnight blue hair and eyes of amethyst, it was all Suki could do to continue to fight his advances.
Her smile widened wondering how much longer Suki could hold out. Suki may be stubborn but Kyoko knew just how stubborn a guardian could be once he set his mind to something.
Kyoko and the youngest guardian, Kamui, would often go into laughing fits as Suki tried her best to keep Shinbe in line without admitting she liked him. Kamui had a great sense of humor and she loved him dearly. The color of Kamui's eyes would change with his mood but she didnât think anyone noticed but her.
When Kamui smiled, it was true happiness and very contagious. But deep down, Kyoko sensed something more⦠something he hid from everyone⦠even himself. Sometimes Kamuiâs eyes would shine with secrets and knowledge she couldnât even come close to comprehending. For one so pure of heart, it was almost as if he held the weight of the entire universe on his shoulders. It made her want to protect him just as much as he protected her, even though he was in no way weak.
Shaking her worries for Kamui from her mind, Kyoko was left with Kotaro, the livelier of the group and Toyaâs self-proclaimed competition. Almost from the very beginning Kotaro had claimed Kyoko for his own⦠constantly telling the others that she was his woman. This always got a rise out of Toya regardless of the situation. She knew Kotaro was joking but Toya always took him so seriously.
With dark windblown hair and ice blue eyes, Kotaro was a handful. He was constantly calling her âhis womanâ no matter how many times she denied it. He was a prince within his own territory and spent much time there, protecting it from the demons within his realm. Most of the time all he would have to do was just flash those bright blue eyes of his at her and sheâd melt into a puddle.
He knew what strings to pull with her to get almost anything he wanted. Sometimes she wondered if every one of the guardians didnât have her wrapped around their little fingers in one way or another. The group very seldom saw him though. Her thoughts came full circle back to Kyou.
âKyou,â Kyoko shivered as the name left her lips. He didnât like her⦠or anyone else it would seem. He often acted more like an enemy than a brother to Toya. Those two gave the words âsibling rivalryâ a new meaning. Out of the five brothers, Kyou was definitely the strange one and the one to avoid at all costs. He was even more hostile than the demon plagued land he lived in.
Giving up on her scattered thoughts, Kyoko opened her emerald eyes and slid off the stone only to stop dead in her tracks. There⦠not twenty feet from her stood Kyou. He looked almost angelic except for the dangerous expression in his golden eyes.
âSpeak of the devil,â she thought to herself.
The darkness that surrounded them seemed to illuminate his body⦠giving him a ghostly appearance. Kyou's silence was thunderous. He looked as if he was considering something and Kyoko had a feeling she wouldnât like whatever the result was.
Kyou watched her face become pale because of her alarm and savored her intoxicating scent. For once⦠she should fear him. She should also fear the demons he had just destroyed to protect her. His eyes bore into her as he remembered the dangerous monsters heâd just eliminated. If they had gotten to herâ¦
The muscles in Kyouâs jaw flexed angrily at the very thought of a demons claws touching her. Still⦠she did not run, nor did she scream. Would she scream if she realized Hyakuhei was on his way? Such fearlessness was not in her best interest. As his thoughts darkened, her lack of fear only served to inflame him further⦠stoking the fires of the odd rage and passion he felt for the priestess.
Kyoko stood completely still. She didn't know how to take his hauntingly beautiful image. She was too scared to move and she dared not utter a sound knowing anything she did could put her life in danger. She wasnât so sure he had forgiven her for bringing the guardian heart crystal back into his realm.
She could feel a chill slowly crawling its way up her spine⦠not stopping until it reached the back of her neck and spread out from there like icy fingers of warning. She took a step backwards before she realized it and stopped herself from taking another retreating step. She knew that would be considered showing fear and she had been taught by her grandfather at a young age to hide such fear.
Her grandfatherâs words came back to haunt her, âShowing fear only makes you an instant victim.â
Trying to fight the creeping sensation, Kyoko closed her eyes for a second. But when she opened them again, Kyou was nowhere to be seen, causing her to be even more terrified. Again the teachings of her grandfather haunted her, âNever let the enemy out of your sight or you will not see the coming attack.â
"Kyou?" She whispered his name as fear laced her voice. She then felt his hot breath on her neck and heard him inhale long and slow as if testing her scent.
Slowly, with her eyes wide open, expecting death any second, she tilted her head sideways, stopping only when her cheek touched his silky one. She gasped and tried to throw herself forward only to feel his arm go around her like a steal band, slamming her back against him and knocking the breath from her.
Kyoko's sudden fear was making it harder for her to regain that breath. She decided that she now knew what a panic attack really was and wondered if she was going to hyperventilate. This was the one person she feared more than Hyakuhei, though she had kept that little fact to herself. She had never been within touching distance of him⦠she definitely liked it better that way.
Her scent now surrounded him, intoxicating him. Kyou could smell her untainted scent mixed with fear, getting stronger and heavier the longer he held her imprisoned against him. Finally⦠she was showing the fear he demanded but still she did not scream. Her first mistake had been that small step she had taken away from him. Just that simple gesture had heated his guardian blood in ways he hadnât felt in a very long time.
The lids of his golden eyes momentarily closed while images flashed before him too fast to decipher as he imagined the ghostly sound of her voice screaming⦠whether in fear or something else was hard to tell. All he did know is he did not want to hear it.
Or⦠maybe he needed to hear that sound to rid himself of the spell she had put him under. Something told him that it wouldnât matter one way or the other. Deep inside his guardianâs heart, Kyou knew he wanted her and he was not one to be denied. A slow dangerous smile graced his lips as she started to struggle against him. He quickly caught one of her wrist in a light grip as she jerked.
Kyou nuzzled her neck and then took in a sharp breath when she rubbed up against him trying to free herself. "You are encouraging me," He growled low in his throat and brushed his lips against the delicate flesh of her neck. His heated blood challenged him to claim her as his own.
Kyoko couldn't help the chills the sensation of his lips gave her. Was he trying to seduce her or was he going to kill her after all? She stopped struggling and went perfectly still not sure if she liked the sound of what he had just said and she didn't want to piss him off. Something told her that he was only trying to scare her.
'Smart girl,' Kyou contemplated to himself, but still she was not screaming and he was touching her⦠how odd.