Agon (5 page)

“
No, I cannot. I’m sorry,
but he is to protect you. And from what I have heard, he did his
job well today.”

She nodded and turned back to Riss. He
saw the fear there and also something else. But before he could
figure out what it was, she stiffened. Riss felt his wings stretch
from his body. He wasn’t sure what it was that had startled her,
but he was going to protect what he already considered his
family.

“
Do you all have those?”
He nodded and left them where they were, spread from his body wide
and full. He had no idea why he felt so at ease here with her, but
he did. “Does he have them as well, and are they this
big?”

“
Agon? Yes he has wings,
though I believe his are bigger than mine. He is a large man.” She
walked around him but kept her distance, too. He let her, knowing
that she wouldn’t touch him, and it saddened him for some reason.
“His are wider than mine. I have been…when I was created, there was
little use for them. Agon was made a decade later, and we found
that our wings could be used to protect, not just fly. He can cover
a great deal of area with his.”

“
He said he wants to kiss
me.” Judith was behind him so he had no idea what was on her face
when she said that. “I don’t want him near me. Especially not to
touch me. I can…I have this freaky way about me, and I can see
things when I touch people.”

“
You are gifted, not
freaky.” She huffed at him, and Riss smiled. “Benny says that you
help him on cases. He said that you have solved a great many cases
for him that he would have otherwise left as cold
cases.”

“
His boss hates me. The
commissioner says I’m a waste of taxpayer’s money. I don’t know how
he figures that when I’ve never taken any money from his precious
department.” Riss turned then, bringing his wings to his body. She
was leaning against the building and looking at the dark, wooden
fence that surrounded her property. “I don’t think he is the one
that sent those men for me, but I think he knows about it. If that
man Agon stays here, he’ll get hurt. I’ve got enough shit going on
right now, and watching some guy who thinks I need protecting isn’t
on my list of favorite things to do today.”

“
He cannot die.” She
nodded and looked at him. Riss felt her pain as if he was sharing
it with her. He supposed in a way he was. “Has he harmed you? In
any way, has he harmed you?”

“
Agon?” Riss nodded. “No,
and I won’t let him either. I’ve been…let’s just say I’ve had
enough pain in my life and I’m fed up with it. I have to go to
work.”

The abrupt change of subject startled
him, and before he could catch up with her, she was moving into the
building. Just as the door closed behind her, the one to the house
opened and Agon stepped out. He did not look any happier than the
girl had.

“
She is in there?” Riss
nodded and watched as Agon paced in front of the door. Riss
wondered if he was aware that he was talking to himself when Agon
suddenly turned to him. “She is my wife. Not my wife as yet, but I
think Michael has set me up. And when I’ve tried to see him, he
tells me he is much too busy today.”

“
And that would be bad for
her to be your wife, Agon?” Agon nodded, then shook his head. “I
see. You want her, but not enough to be…I think it is called
‘saddled’ with her. I can think of many things that one would
regret being saddled with, but a beautiful woman is not
it.”

“
She is not going to be my
wife. In any way, Riss.” Riss nodded as Agon started pacing again.
“I want to touch her. Feel her body close to mine and kiss her. I
have a need to taste her mouth to see if it tastes as good as I
think it might. Then there is my body. I cannot control it around
her. I run so hot and hard that I feel as if the world knows that I
need her in ways that are not right.”

“
She will taste better
than you can ever dream of, and her body will give you pleasure in
ways you cannot imagine.” Agon stared at him for several seconds.
“But you cannot touch her. She is your charge. If you do not wish
to have her as your wife, then you must not touch her in any way.
If you do…if you do, my friend, then there will be no turning back.
For the touch of the woman you are to spend your days with will
haunt you in ways that will make you want to end your life in order
to be with her. Trust me on this. I am well aware of how your body
will crave her, and you will stop at nothing to have her again and
again.”

“
I do not want her.” Riss
nodded and could see that Agon was lying to him as much as he was
himself. “She is beautiful and stubborn, but I do not want her. But
I fear that it might be too late for me.”

“
I understand.” And he
did. Riss had a feeling that they would be lucky if they made it to
days end before Agon kissed her. And less than a week before he was
bedding her. Riss wondered if there was a feather or two in the
front room of the house he could lay upon Judith’s bed. Leaving his
friend, he went to find one. It would be worth it to know that Agon
was as happy as he was.

Chapter 3

Judith was very good at ignoring
things that she didn’t want to see, like the man that sat on her
counter as if he had nothing better to do with his time than to
watch her every move. But the other man, Agon, was driving her
crazy. He’d been in her room when she’d awoken and had followed her
around like a wounded puppy all morning. Then about an hour ago,
the other man had shown up, telling her he was her protector for
the rest of her days. He’d kept his distance, but she knew that
he’d be leaving her, too. She didn’t want anyone around her. The
fucking people were driving her insane. Why didn’t anyone listen to
what she wanted? Why did everyone think they knew her better than
she did herself? So she did what she did best, ignored them in
favor of working.

The jams were setting up nicely. She
wanted them to be perfect, and adding just a touch of cherry juice
to the strawberries had given them a lovely color. Glancing at the
crates of blackberries that had been brought to her that morning,
she was excited about getting started on them as well. She moved to
the pot on the stove to see how the soap was coming along. She
loved the smell of the pink flowers she’d found in the wooded area
yesterday.

“
What is the difference
between jam and jelly?” Her assistant, Jane Holloway, a young girl
from the local college, looked at her. “Jam and jelly. What’s the
difference?”

As with all people, Judith had avoided
touching the young girl. They had come close a few times, but she’d
managed in the three weeks that Jane had been coming to help her
not to touch even her clothing. But lately, like today, it seemed
as if Jane had it in her head to touch her, and Judith was getting
annoyed by it.

Judith tried to think of her question
and when she remembered, she nodded toward what she’d been working
on. Keeping her distance, she explained the differences.

“
Jelly is made from fruit
juice; jam is made from the pulp of juice, or sometimes simply
crushed fruit. And preserves, which I also make, has chunks of
fruit in it, like whole strawberries or other fruits.” Judith
picked up the jam that was cool now and set the small jar on the
window shelf. She set the other two kinds, all strawberry, on the
same shelf. “See the difference?”

Agon came up behind her and looked,
too. She wanted to scream at him to back off, but she had figured
out earlier that no one could see the two men but her. Not even
Benny had remarked on them when he’d come by an hour ago to ask her
a few more questions. Instead of asking Agon to move, she backed
into him to get him to move out of her bubble, the area she claimed
as her own. It was a mistake, and she knew it the moment he wrapped
his arm around her waist.

“
You smell like your
jams.” His breath, like his words, fanned over her neck when he
spoke near her ear. “I would very much like to see if you taste as
good as I believe you would. For as much as I do not want a wife,
the thought of tasting every part of you has me wanting
more.”

Moving away from him was the hardest
thing she’d ever done in her life. He didn’t pull her back to him,
which surprised her. Men, in her experience, did not give up so
easily. She wondered if this was some sort of trick he was playing
on her just to throw her off. Moving back to her stove, she stirred
the kettles as she tried her best to get control of
herself.

They worked until just after two. Jane
had a class and needed to be there. After a lengthy conversation
with the other man, Agon sat down on the counter and the other man
left. She had to take several deep breaths when she nearly messed
up measuring the sugar three times.

“
I could help you.” She
didn’t answer him. It had worked before, ignoring the men who were
there to watch her. But she had a deep feeling that Agon wasn’t
going to be easily dissuaded. “It is customary to answer someone
when they speak to you, is it not?”

“
Not when you don’t want
them here.” She poured the sugar into the pot and looked at him.
“Why don’t you just leave? I don’t want you here. And in the event
you didn’t notice, there was someone else sent here to watch over
me.”

“
He will not be coming
back.” She looked at Agon when he hopped off the counter and came
near her. She moved back when he was entering her space, and he
stopped. “I will not harm you.”

“
So I’ve been told before.
I’d very much like it if you would go back over there. I don’t want
you near me.” He nodded but didn’t move. “Whatever is going through
your mind right now is not—”

“
What does it feel like to
kiss? I mean, to kiss a woman that has lips that seem to call to
you, with a scent that no other human has but you? Will you taste
of the berries you have eaten as you work? Will you be all the
sweeter for them? Or will you taste of honey, the sweetest thing I
have ever had the pleasure of eating?” She felt her breath leave
her body at his question. “I have seen it done many times in all my
life, but have never wanted to…I would imagine that it would take
two people to kiss, would it not? Would you help me with my
questions, Judith? Help me to see what it is that calls to me so
loudly?”

“
This isn’t a good idea.
You and I both know it. Are you telling me you’ve never kissed
anyone?” He nodded and smiled at her. “I don’t believe you. A man
that looks like you, and you’re telling me you’ve never been
kissed? I suppose next you’ll tell me you’ve never had sex
either.”

“
I have not.” She backed
up when he took a small step toward her. “It is forbidden. Kissing
as well as sex. But I’m finding it very difficult to think of
anything else but sex with you, and kissing. I should very much
like to have both with you.”

“
No.” Her voice sounded
breathless, and she thought he knew it. Judith cleared her throat
and tried again. “I’m not having sex with you, and you are not
going to kiss me. I don’t know what kind of person you think I am,
but I don’t have sex with strangers. So you just back the fuck up
and go over there where you were. If you’re not going to leave,
then you should stay back so I can—”

“
I am no stranger to you.”
She felt her body respond to his closeness as he took another step
toward her. As hard as she tried, she could not back up. Her body
had a mind of its own right now and she was so fucked. “Just a
kiss. I would very much like a single kiss to see if you are as
delicious as I believe you to be.”

She wanted him to touch her. It scared
her in ways she didn’t understand, yet she wanted it. When he
cupped the back of her head and pulled her gently toward him, she
went without any fight. As soon as his mouth brushed over hers,
Judith moaned. He was going to hurt her, she just knew
it.

As far as kisses went, it was quick.
His mouth was firm and soft at the same time, yet she found she
wanted more. Before he pulled completely back from her, Judith
suckled his lower lip into her mouth and nipped at him. He groaned
and pulled her body to his.

“
Do it again. Touch your
mouth to mine again and open your mouth.” She put her hand on his
chest as he did as she asked. “Kiss me, Agon. Taste me
please.”

His mouth took her with so much hunger
this time that she had to hold onto him or fall. Judith slid her
tongue along his and gripped harder on his arm so she wouldn’t drag
him to her bed, because she was sure that was where this was going
to end. The man may not have any experience at this, but he
certainly caught on quickly. He made love to her mouth like she
wanted him to do to her body. As he slid his leg between hers, she
felt his cock as he rocked against her. Tearing his mouth from
hers, he looked down at her.

“
My cock aches.” She
nodded and pulled him down to her mouth again. He cupped her ass
and brought her closer to him, and she felt her body heat up with
need. “Tell me what I should do. I need…I need some relief. You
will help me, yes? You’ll give me what I need, what we both need,
please?”

She did need it as well, and if he
kept rocking into her pussy like he was, she was going to get it.
He was taking her so close to the edge that she knew that once she
tumbled, there would never be any way she could get rid of him.
Cupping his balls, she cried out when he nipped at her throat. Her
climax was so close that she could feel it in her entire body. But
a sound, hard and pounding, had her pulled from him and behind him
before she could come. The door opened before she could think, and
she was shoved away just as someone stepped into the
room.