Incubus of Bourbon Street (7 page)

“Maximus might have taken my dagger, but my incubus senses are still in full force.”

That meant yes. He felt the allure lurking in the shadows. His allure. “But how is that possible?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Kane and I had slipped into the shadows from the club numerous times. I’d never felt that before. Not even the night before. Except I hadn’t been listening to my own senses that much. Not after being in the charged club. Sexual tension had been everywhere.

The door to the office burst open. “Give me five minutes, will you? If I don’t get this order in, all we’re going to have to serve is tap water tomorrow night,” Charlie called back into the club. She spun and then jumped back with a yelp. “Holy crap. Where’d you two come from?”

I smiled. “We just got in from a meeting.”

Kane stood and waved for her to take his chair. “Don’t let us get in your way. You appear to be busy.”

She laughed. “Busy. You could say that again. Last night we had record business. Like, three times as much income as a night during Mardi Gras.”

“Whoa,” I said softly.

“You can say that again.” Charlie slid into Kane’s chair and grabbed the phone receiver. After punching one of the speed dial buttons, she shook the computer’s mouse, waking up the machine. “Can you do me a favor?” she asked Kane.

“Sure. What do you need?”

“Can you call everyone who isn’t working tonight and ask them if they can come in?”

“Everyone?” I asked.

She held up a finger and spoke into the phone, placing an order for about four times as much alcohol as we normally needed.

Kane watched her with fascinated interest instead of going to work on calling in extra employees. When she hung up, he leaned over her shoulder and clicked on a spreadsheet. “This is last night’s report?”

She grinned up at him. “Yes.”

Kane scanned the document, then clicked another. And another. “All of these are accurate?”

Her grin faded as irritation lit her green eyes. “Yes, boss. I double and triple-checked. It’s accurate. If you’d stuck around either of the last two nights, you wouldn’t be surprised.”

He turned his head to give her an amused glance. “Surprised isn’t the word I’d use. Impressed is closer. Nice job, Charlie.”

She shook her head. “Thanks, but it’s not anything I’m doing. In fact, we were so short staffed the first night, I’m amazed anyone stuck around. The booze, dancers, and places to sit were in serious short supply.”

I already knew why no one had left. The over-the-top sexual energy made it too hard to resist the pull. But unless someone was an incubus or witch, the person wouldn’t be able to feel the magical charge. He or she would just be compelled to stay.

“What can I do to help?” I asked her.

She didn’t even look up from her notes. “It’d be a huge help if you could restock the bar.”

“Sure. I’m on it.” I waved at Kane and slipped out of the room. The truth was, I could use something mundane to take my mind off the morning’s events. Especially since I had no idea what to do about any of it. My first instinct was to call Bea. The second was Lucien. Both of them had years on me when it came to the supernatural world.

I’d spent my formative years with my mother, an earth witch, but I hadn’t known I had power. I’d thought my only gift—if you want to call it that—was my empath ability. And once Mom disappeared, I’d shunned the witch community altogether. That was, until I’d moved to New Orleans and had been forced to face reality. Now I was the coven leader and couldn’t go even a few months without some sort of major crisis. The only problem was, I’d missed years of learning my craft. I had a few books, but book learning was different than experiencing.

Walking over to the bar, I pulled out my phone and tapped Lucien’s number.

“Morning, Jade,” Lucien said after just one ring.

“Morning.” I sat on one of the stools. “Hey, Kane and I have a situation, and I’m hoping you might be able to help us with some research. Do you have some time today to meet up? Maybe early afternoon?”

He hesitated. “Is it an emergency?”

Was it? I wasn’t sure. “Not a dire one. Not yet, anyway.”

He chuckled. “Right. I can meet you at one for lunch.”

“Your place?” I asked. Lucien had reference material we might need.

“Sounds good.”

I shoved my phone back in my pocket and headed into the storage room. Lugging cases of alcohol was the perfect activity for working off my lingering frustration.

An hour later, I had the bar completely restocked and was breaking down boxes when Kane and Charlie reappeared. Charlie had her arm around Kane’s waist and was leaning into him as they walked toward me. The scene startled me and I stood there just staring as she laughed at something he’d said. Then she patted his chest, her fingers lingering for maybe a second or two.

I didn’t think I’d ever seen Charlie touch Kane quite that way before. It wasn’t so much that she was being inappropriate. If she’d been Pyper or Kat, I wouldn’t have even blinked. But this was Charlie. She was…flirting. Charlie never flirted with Kane. Or men in general.

She flirted with me. And every other girl who came into the club. Even when her girlfriends were around. It was just who she was. “Hey, guys,” I said as they neared the bar.

Kane glanced at me then Charlie and back to me again, sending me a curious smile as if to ask what was up with her.

I raised my hands in an I-don’t-know motion.

“Oh, hey, Jade,” she finally said when she noticed Kane looking at me. “I was just telling Kane about my date for tomorrow night.”

“Date?” She’d broken up with her actress girlfriend a few weeks ago when the woman had been outed in a tabloid for kissing another starlet. Charlie had taken it harder than she’d let on, throwing herself into work. But if she had someone new, that might explain her overly affectionate behavior. “What’s her name?”

Charlie frowned. “Not a her. A him. And his name’s Bax.”

“Bax?” Kane and I said at the same time.

“Yeah.” Her brows knitted in confusion. “As in Baxter.”

We both stared at her wide-eyed.

“What?”

“Ah, nothing.” Kane shook his head at me. Not that I was going to say anything. She was free to date anyone she wanted. But in the time I’d known her, she’d never shown interest in the opposite sex. In fact, she’d been rather vocal about her love of women.

I cleared my throat. “Charlie?”

She met my steady gaze. “Yes?”

I wanted so badly to ask her why she’d suddenly changed her tune, but instead I asked, “Where’d you meet him?”

“School. He’s in one of my business classes.” She walked behind the bar and uncapped a bottle of water.

Kane sat on a stool next to me, watching her as if trying to decide how to respond.

She gulped down a quarter of the water then slapped the bottle on the counter. Meeting his confused gaze, she asked, “What?”

He raised his eyebrows. “It’s quite the departure for you, isn’t it?”

“So?” Defensiveness streamed off her in waves. “I wouldn’t say anything if you wanted to date a man.”

“I’d hope you would!” I added. “Considering he’s married to me.”

Her expression softened as she turned to me. “Right. That wouldn’t be cool. I just meant I wouldn’t care if he decided to switch teams, that’s all.”

“Hey,” Kane said, holding his hands up. “It doesn’t matter to me what team you’re on. No judgment here. You just took me by surprise, is all. And honestly, it’s none of my business anyway, so forget I said anything.”

She put the cap back on her water bottle and stared at the bar. Unease and doubt swirled around her slowly as if the emotions were just starting to form, but then she squared her shoulders and they vanished. “Okay. We’ll just forget about it.”

Why was she forcing herself to go out with a man? It seemed clear to me that deep down she didn’t want to. I lifted my hand to place it on her arm, to reassure her she didn’t need to do anything—or anyone for that matter—she wasn’t comfortable with. But I lowered my arm, afraid I’d upset her further.

“I’m going to go get lunch before I start rearranging the shift assignments,” she said. “Can I get you two anything?”

“No thanks. We’ve got a lunch meeting soon,” I said.

She shoved her hands into her jeans pockets. “All right then.” She nodded to Kane. “I’ll call and let you know if we need to do anything drastic.”

“Thanks. I’ll be back this evening to make sure everything is running smoothly, so that probably won’t be necessary, but if things change, I’ll let you know.”

“Sure thing, boss.” She waved as she strode to the back of the building, no doubt intending to go next door to see if Pyper needed anything. The pair took care of each other while they were working the same hours.

When we heard the back door click closed, I asked Kane, “What was that all about?”

“The date?”

“Yeah.”

“You got me. Charlie has never once even hinted she might be interested in a man before.”

“She doesn’t want to go. I could feel her apprehension.” I walked behind the bar and poured myself a Diet Coke. Some conversations couldn’t be held without caffeine.

“Then she shouldn’t go. Dammit. I wonder if this has anything to do with the ex-girlfriend being plastered on every tabloid from here to China.”

“It could.” Stranger things had happened. “But I don’t think so. Charlie isn’t the jealous type. More like a love ‘em and leave ‘em kinda girl.”

He held his hands up in surrender. “Then I got nothing.”

“Me neither.”

“Hey,” I said. “Did you check on Pyper?”

He nodded. “Yeah. She’s fine. Totally normal. Doesn’t know anything about what happened last night.”

“Well, that’s something at least. Though, we still don’t know who or what invaded your dream last night.”

Kane shrugged. “True. But if it becomes a problem, we’ll figure it out then.” He grabbed my hand and stroked my thumb and forefinger while I sipped my drink. The place was quiet, and I didn’t want to get on with the day. Life was so much simpler when I only had a house ghost to worry about. My mind fixated on the word “ghost,” and I grabbed Kane’s hand. “Come on.”

He didn’t budge. “To where?”

“Upstairs. There’s something I need from my apartment.”

That pulled a cocky grin from him. “Something you need?”

“Yeah, perv. Now get up and help me.”

His smile fell. “Is this going to be heavy?”

“No.”

“Good. Then why do you need me?” Kane leaned in and nuzzled my neck.

“I just do.” I shivered from the delightful tingle he sent all the way to my toes.

“Hmm, you just
want
me.”

“No argument,” I said, slightly breathless. “Now get on your feet, or I’m leaving you here to fend for yourself.”

He stood, and I couldn’t resist teasing him as I ran my hand lightly up his chest.

His eyes smoldered, drinking me in. Then, before I could initiate anything else, he grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the club into the back hall. We took the stairs two at a time, both of us wanting to be alone for just a moment or two. The club wasn’t private enough.

When we were on the third flight of stairs, Kane turned and whisked me up into his arms, carrying me the last few steps. We didn’t even make it inside before he was tugging my shirt up. But I was no better as I reached for his belt buckle. My time in the shadows had left my body charged with need, and I wanted him badly.

After I got his jeans open, I slid my hand down, nearly matching his groan as my hand glided over his velvet shaft. “I want you inside me. Right now.”

That was all he needed. A second later, he reached under my skirt and tore my panties in half right there in the hallway.

“Oh, God,” I said as he gripped my bottom, lifting me up. My legs wrapped around him and in one hard thrust, we joined in a frenzy of desperation. He was so long and hot and perfect. My eyes rolled into the back of my head as I joined him stroke for stroke, matching his frantic pace.

“You feel so good,” Kane mumbled into my neck, his lips brushing over my too-sensitive skin.

In answer, I tightened myself around him and moaned.

His breathing quickened as he slammed into me harder, his shoulder muscles rippling with effort under my clutching hands.

“Yes,” I said. “Yes. More.”

My words fueled his already out-of-control lovemaking and his grip tightened on my bare bottom hard enough that I knew he’d leave marks. “I want to feel you shuddering around me, Jade. Now.” Then he bit down roughly on the place where my neck met my shoulder.

I cried out as my release came hard and fast, every inch of me trembling with pleasure. Kane held still, shaking with his own need, while I shattered around him. And as I relaxed slightly, my muscles still quivering, he thrust again, and again, and again until he echoed my cry, burying his face in my neck, his breathing ragged.

We stayed locked together against the door, hanging on to each other. The entire scenario felt surreal. The apartment on the other side of the door had been mine for a time, and while I didn’t live there anymore, my bed was still in there, along with some other items we’d never moved. Would it have been so hard to just make it through the threshold? I started to giggle.

“What’s so funny, pretty witch?” Kane asked, releasing me long enough to gently slip out of me and set me back on my feet.

“Us. There’s a bed about five feet away on the other side of the door.”

He gave me his sexy half grin as he buttoned up his jeans. “Where’s the fun in that? We have a bed at home.”

I shook my head, amused and still slightly aroused by the thought that we’d just had sex in a not-so-private place.

“I didn’t hear you complaining,” he continued as he trailed his fingers along my jawline, staring at my lips.

“No, you didn’t.” And dammit if the look he was giving me didn’t make me want to start all over again. I traced his lower lip with my index finger ever so lightly and then leaned in, catching it gently between my teeth.

His arms came around me as he plastered me to him, his mouth opening and claiming mine. And then—

“Excuse me,” a female voice said.