A Risky Proposition (23 page)

“She wished for death and King Moab gladly accepted her contract, for although she had no spell crafting talent, she was very beautiful.  Her eager first wish was for the return of my father’s life.  When Moab explained that not even a death djinn can return life to the dead, and that she must choose another wish, she flew into a rage and drove him from the house.

“But it was too late; she had already entered into the contract.  And he didn’t stay away for long.  He began courting her, bringing flowers and small trinkets to woo her.  My mother was strong, resisting him for over a year, but she gradually began to succumb to his seduction.  I hated him, for I knew that he was slowly taking her from me.  I could see it in her eyes when he finally broke her spirit and she was no longer able to resist.”

Anger and futility burned in his gaze—the same anger and futility I’d seen every time he saw me near a death djinn. 

“Sparrow…” my voice faltered past a tightening throat. 

But Sparrow continued as if he hadn’t heard me.

“At last she agreed to make her wishes and complete the contract.  Her first two wishes were to see that I was taken care of:  that I would grow up to be healthy and strong amongst my sidhe kin, and that I would always be protected and guided by the force for good. 

“Then she told Moab that the third wish would be for herself, but that she hadn’t quite settled on what it should be.  She asked that he return the following day so that she could spend one last night with me while making her decision, for she intended to send me to live with my father’s kin after giving up her soul.

“She gave me this silver coin that night, promising me it would be my good luck charm and that everything would be alright.”

Sparrow rubbed the coin between his fingers again, as if the contact gave him the courage to continue.

“I remember falling asleep, weeping in her arms, begging her not to leave.  When I awoke the next morning, she was gone.  I wandered outside, calling for her.  I made my way toward her family’s property, for I had the thought that she might have wanted to say goodbye to them as well. 

“I came upon her in the pool where she had first met my father.  She had drowned herself, choosing to end her own life so that her soul could not be claimed, and would return to its rightful place in the Sea of Souls to be reborn.  I was taken in and raised by my sidhe kin, for though my mother had cheated Moab out of her soul, he could not renege on her first two wishes.” 

The pain in Sparrow’s eyes seemed ancient and diluted by long acceptance, but it tore at my heart.  It flowed into me, making me angry and sad and breathless with injustice.  I hadn’t even realized I was crying until he reached up to gently brush a tear from the corner of my eye.  His hand remained, cradling the side of my face.

“Don’t cry, Sydney.  All souls pass, and enough tears have been shed over my parents already.  I needed to tell you this, not because I wanted your sympathy, but because I felt you should know why I have been so angry around you.  The thought of watching you lose your soul to the death djinns infuriates me.  Do you understand?”

I nodded mutely, my tears falling faster.

“Damn it, Sydney, don’t cry like that,” he whispered, leaning forward to press his lips to the thin rivulets staining my cheeks.  “I’m sorry, I should have known better than to lay that on you.”  He groaned and cupped my face in both hands, his mouth traveling unhurriedly across my jaw.  My eyelids fluttered shut as his lips reached mine and began a gentle tasting, making me forget everything but his touch. 

I opened my mouth to him and he deepened the kiss, my tears salty on his tongue.  A slow, profound force moved through me, different from the quick stabs of desire I had felt before.  It left me dizzy and reeling as I returned Sparrow’s kiss with a passion approaching desperation.  I clung to him, feeling as if I would lose myself if I let go.

His hands left my face, traveling restlessly down my shoulders.  Warm palms moved to lift my breasts in a teasing embrace, his thumbs brushing enticingly over the fabric above my nipples.  I arched into him reflexively, drawing his breath into my mouth as liquid pooled low and hot within me.  I wanted him so badly I ached.  A deep wave of need moved through me and I moaned, reaching to free his shirt from the waistband of his slacks so that my hands could roam his skin.

“You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to touch you like this, Sydney,” Sparrow breathed into my mouth.

“I think I might have some idea,” I disagreed, my smile melting into a haze of desire as Sparrow’s kiss became more demanding.

My fingertips brushed firmly up over the unyielding muscles of his back, splaying wide to take in as much of his coveted flesh as they could.  I gently raked his smooth skin with my fingernails on their journey back down, before moving my hands around the solid mass of his waist and pushing them up between us so that I could caress his chest.

Sparrow’s hands left my breasts to stroke my hair and he grasped the nape of my neck to fit my mouth closer to his.

My hand wandered across his chest, making him gasp when I found his nipples.  I rubbed them with my fingertips, creating a gentle friction, and he retaliated by breaking our kiss.  I sounded an objection that quickly turned into a moan of pleasure as he pushed up my tank-top and his mouth found my breast, teasing one thoroughly with his lips and tongue and then kissing a path over to the other.

He tore his mouth away with a groan and pulled me into him, stroking my back as we both caught our breath.

“I have to get back to work,” he gasped unsteadily.

Seeing the disappointed look in my eyes, he grasped my hand in his and brought it to his lips, then slowly guided it down between us, pressing it firmly into the thickness of his erection.  Goddess, I wanted him inside of me.

“I want you, Sydney—so much it hurts.”  He grimaced.  “But I didn’t intend for it to happen like this.  I have to stay focused on the investigation and getting your contract cancelled.”

I wanted to tell him that having incredible sex with him would probably go a long way toward strengthening my resistance to the death djinns, but it didn’t seem like the prudent response.  Instead I said, “I appreciate that, Sparrow; I really do.  And you can be sure that I’m focusing on getting my contract cancelled as well. 
But I want you too.” 

He smiled.  “A compelling argument—one which we’ll have to explore later, because they really are calling me back to the office.” 

“Your tattoo is glowing again,” I commented, brushing my fingers over the white fabric concealing his upper arm.  A mild shock of awareness warmed my hand, sparking along my already aroused nerve endings.  “I can see the red pulsing through your shirt,” I whispered in fascination.

He answered by leaning forward and taking my lips in a swift kiss, his tongue tasting them gently at first, then thrusting into my mouth suggestively, bringing us both back up to the boiling point.

“I can’t seem to get enough of you, Sydney,” he murmured as he pulled me closer, nipping at my earlobe and sending a delicious shiver down my spine.  A soft growl of frustration sounded deep within his throat.  “I have to go.  But I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”

“Soon,” I agreed.  I wanted more.  I wanted him to tear my clothes off and take me right there.  But I wasn’t about to beg for it.  If he’d rather go back to work instead, that was fine. 

Not.

He stood and tucked his shirt back into his slacks, then leaned down to brush his lips across my forehead.  His fingers skimmed lightly over my cheek in a caress that left my flesh tingling for his touch long after he disappeared.

I sank back into the bed with a groan of frustration.  When I grabbed my pillow, I discovered that Sparrow had replaced the silver coin beneath it. 

I squeezed it tightly in my palm, cursing all death djinns.

Chapter 12 – What Lies Hidden

Figuring that I’d wallowed in my frustration for long enough, I trudged through the kitchen to rejoin Sunny and Lorien in the sitting room.  I turned the corner to find the tawny leather couch occupied by Angelica.  She wore her French maid’s uniform with her long blonde hair piled neatly atop her head. 

She sat next to Sunny, who was still in her pajamas, with her dark curls spilling over the shoulders of her silky black robe.  A sparkling Lorien hovered excitedly between them, and Angelica was listening attentively as she and Sunny gave a joint update on my death djinn predicament. 

Jasper seemed to have taken a liking to Angelica without the offending presence of her vacuum, and had stretched himself out on his back beside her so that she could rub his belly.  I thought I’d heard the sounds of cleaning earlier, but I’d been a little too preoccupied to acknowledge it.

Sunny stopped mid-sentence as soon as she caught sight of me, a knowing grin spreading across her face.  “Did Patrick just now leave?”

“No,” Angelica answered sadly.  “Sydney’s lover left almost an hour ago.  He continues to withhold his beautiful erection from her, merely teasing Sydney with caresses of his hands and mouth.  She has been alone, attempting to quiet her longing since he left.”

Sunny and Lorien looked from Angelica to me with similar expressions of disbelief.

“That’s about the size of it,” I confirmed as I dropped onto the vacant loveseat.  “But maybe next time you’ll let me tell them myself.”

“I am sorry, Sydney,” Angelica said, her blue eyes anxious.  “It is just that I feel your unfulfilled desire so strongly.  I was barely able to keep myself from coming to you.”

“It’s alright Angelica, really.”  I felt guilty for chastising her.  It wasn’t her fault that my frustration affected her almost as much as it did me.  And it wasn’t news that anything involving sex was a natural topic of conversation for her.  A person could learn a thing or two from Angelica about releasing their hang-ups.

“It’s good that you were able to keep yourself from popping into my bedroom, right?” I asked encouragingly.  “I mean, unless you popped in and then left before I saw you.”  I tried not to show my discomfort at the thought.

“No,” Angelica said brightly.  “I was better able to control my response this time.”

“Have you had sex since we talked yesterday?” Sunny asked with an unabashed grin.

“Oh yes!” Angelica nodded enthusiastically.  “I went to a man in his dreams last night and we shared very hot and satisfying sex for many hours.  I had weeks of pent-up desire to spend, so I brought all of my favorite toys.  I think he especially enjoyed the swing.”

“
Swing?
” Lorien muttered under her breath.  I giggled.

“So, do you think you’ll see this man again?” I probed.

“Well, I did think about your suggestion,” Angelica hesitated, the topic of monogamy making her uncomfortable in a way that openly discussing the use of sex swings couldn’t. 

“I do not wish to return to the unsatisfying lifestyle of endlessly answering countless calls of passion.  And I
was
drawn to something in this man, even though his call of passion was not particularly strong.  I think its lack of strength allowed me to fulfill my own desires as well as his. 

“There is something that feels strangely familiar about him,” she continued, a troubled look in her eyes.  “I think that maybe I will visit him again tonight,” she admitted, sounding embarrassed.  “I am still finding it difficult to control my urges, after all.

“But we should be discussing Sydney’s situation, not mine,” Angelica insisted.  It was an obvious attempt to change the subject.

“Yeah—what happened with Patrick, Syd?”  Sunny propped her elbows on her knees and dropped her chin into her hands, fixing me with an impertinent grin.  “Other than him teasing you with his hands and mouth and leaving you longing for his beautiful erection, that is?”

My cheeks warmed and I shot her a dirty look, but remembering Sparrow’s kisses brought an irrepressible smile to my lips.  “He told me how his parents died, and then we made out.”

That got a mixed reaction.  Angelica leaned back into the sofa cushions with a thoughtful expression; Lorien gave me a sad smile of understanding; Sunny just looked concerned and a little horrified.  My gaze fixed on Lorien.

“His dead parents?  That was his idea of a romantic prelude to your first kiss?” Sunny asked in disbelief.

“In my long years as a succubus I have learned that desire can be sparked by many different things,” argued Angelica.  “Some lovers never feel so alive as when they are reminded of their own mortality.  Maybe Sydney and her lover used this topic as a way to incite their passions.”

The absurdity of that theory registered distantly in my mind as I continued to stare at Lorien’s sad expression.  “You knew.”

Lorien shrugged, her bare feet twitching in a nervous rhythm beneath the edge of the coffee table.  “The details of Agent Sparrow’s past are no secret to anyone who’s interested enough to find them.  And his bias against the death djinns and their contract was one of the reasons I was so happy to have him on our side.  Nonetheless, I didn’t feel like it was my story to tell.” 

She raised her violet eyes to mine, adding, “And I don’t think Agent Sparrow would have told you if he didn’t care about you, Sydney.”