The Nymph's Curse: The Collection (57 page)

• • •

No matter how hard she tried, Harper couldn’t fall asleep. Her heart and her mind were at an impasse. She needed to get back to Seattle, back to work, and back to her everyday life. Yet her heart wasn’t letting her go — she wanted to stay here. She needed to find out if Carey’s death had something to do with Jenna. And more importantly, she needed to know that Starling and Chance would be okay. The nymph needed help. She was so young. She would have more and more questions the older she became. Her battle with being a nymph was only beginning.

Harper’s thoughts wandered to when she had been as young as Starling. It had been many millennia since she’d first begun to learn about her abilities — and her limitations. At first it had been fun, having the ability to seduce and control men with simply a smile, but as she had slowly aged over the centuries the fun withered away along with her youth.

She and Jenna had spent many nights making love with men they met upon the roads as they travelled, but the fertile place in Harper’s heart where love was supposed to be tended had never been sown. And it never could be. And as the realization that she could never really love grew, the loneliness in Harper’s heart grew as well.

It pained Harper to think of the hard lessons that Starling would soon have to face as a budding nymph.

Maybe she could help. But to help would mean she would have to tell Starling and Chance the truth of her being. She wanted to open up to him, to tell him the truth, but she wasn’t so naïve that she didn’t understand such things had emotional consequences — and she was already too involved in his personal life. Plus, if Chance didn’t know Carey had been a nymph, he may not know Starling was like her mother. She shuddered at the thought of not only outing herself, but Starling as well. She couldn’t expose the girl.

She rolled over and touched her cell phone. Its light cast long secret filled shadows. 2:00
A.M.
She sat up and flicked on the small lamp on the bedside table as she tried to rid the room of the eerie darkness. There was no point in trying to sleep. There was too much going on in her head.

There was a tap on her door, making her jerk with surprise.

For a moment she considered not answering, but there was no faking she was asleep. Whoever was standing outside of the door must have seen the light go on. They had to know she was awake.

“Who is it?” Her voice was hoarse from her tiredness.

“It’s me,” Chance answered.

The deep tone of his voice made her heart jerk as if the bass of his words were her favorite song. What did he want?

She smoothed the long strands of her hair. “Come in.”

The door cracked open and Chance stuck his head in. “I wanted to ask you something and I saw a light on. You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just having a hard time going to sleep.”

Chance stepped into the bedroom and sat down in the small recliner in the corner. “That seems to be going around.”

“Did you check on Starling?”

“Yeah, she’s the only one of us who seems to be getting any shut eye.”

Harper gave a weak smile. The girl had been through so much in one day, at least she could rest. “What’s up? What do you need?”

Chance wrung his hands together. “Well, I’m thinking I’m going to need to hit the road in the morning. Kodie’s chomping at the bit to get moving.”

Her stomach dropped in disappointment. “Why? I mean you guys are more than welcome to stay here as long as you need. I’m sure you probably need to talk to her school — there’s so much you need to handle.”

“I don’t want to be in your way, Harper. I know you have a lot going on in your life.”

Harper pushed her feet out from under the covers. Chance was absolutely right. She did need to get Jenna’s affairs handled, but she didn’t want him to go — at least not yet. She wanted to pretend just a little bit longer that she wasn’t the spinster she had become. Her fingers curled around the soft sheet as she looked at Chance. “Tell me the truth. Why are you really going? There’ll be more tournaments. Don’t you think it’s best for Starling to stay here? Or are you leaving because of me?”

Chance looked up from his hands and sucked in a long breath. “Do you mind if I come closer?”

She did mind. If he was going to break her heart he could do it from across the room. “Fine.”

He stood up and she noticed he still had his clothes on from the day before. Chance sat down on the bed across from her, close enough to touch, but a lifetime away.

“I don’t have much of a choice, Harper. I have to go.”

“What do you mean? Everyone has a choice.” She let her fingers uncurl from the edge of the sheet as she turned to face him.

“No, I made a promise to help Kodie out. He borrowed some money from a guy and the time is coming when he’s going to need to pay him back.”

“You agreed to back a loan for another poker player?” Chance seemed to be so intelligent, and he seemed to have his head on straight, so what had he been thinking vouching for the man?

“Kodie and I’ve known each other a long time. He was having a bad night in Vegas a few months back and he went to Three-Eyed Nate when he was desperate.”

“You let him borrow money from a man named Three-Eyed Nate?”

“It was stupid. He’d already taken the loan before I knew what was going on, or I would’ve never allowed it. He already owed me some money and I think he was afraid to come back to me for more.”

“As much as I don’t agree with the position Kodie put you in, I think it’s nice you would have your friend’s back. There aren’t many people in the world who would go that far for a friend.”

“Kodie’s been there for me during some really rough patches. The least I can do is be there for him. It’s what a real man does for his friend.”

Harper stared down at his fingers resting almost exactly at the center of the full-sized bed. “So you’re really going in the morning?”

“You sound relieved.”

In a way she was relieved. There would be no more emotional turmoil if he left, she could avoid the anxiety she felt when he was near. She could go back to a life where most things were controlled and fit into her nice little routine. Chance was far too spontaneous, far too impulsive to fit into her life. He was everything she wasn’t — even his smile was uncontrollable … and he was heart-wrenchingly handsome. “Not relieved exactly,” she answered. “I’m only wondering if I should go buy more groceries. I don’t want Starling to find anything in the freezer that we wouldn’t want her to find.”

Chance gave a half laugh. “It’s funny how we keep finding things we don’t want to find.”

“And how the things I’m looking for I can’t seem to find.”

“And what are you looking for exactly?”

Harper’s cheeks warmed for a second as she realized what he was implying. “There are a lot of things, but sometimes we can’t have the things we search for.”

Harper let her fingers move a little bit closer to his. Maybe, just maybe she could let her nymphish desires run free and she could have one night of passion-filled bliss before they both went their separate ways.

“Sometimes what we are not searching for is the thing we find,” Chance said as he reached over and his fingers found hers.

“I also need to find some books … for Starling,” she said slowly, more than aware that she didn’t care about the words she was forming with her lips. All she cared about was the warm touch of Chance’s hand against hers, and the need for more. “I made a promise.”

He lifted her hand to his lips. “Promises are something I can’t give you.” His warm breath caressed her hand. “But I can tell you I’ll try to make you happy for tonight.”

She should have said no or stopped him from brushing his full lips over the thin skin on the back of her hand, but her body wouldn’t allow her thoughts to escape as words. Her body wanted this, no, her body
needed
this. She was a nymph, the seductress, the demigod of carnal desires — and she could think of no one she wanted more than the man who shared her bed. Everything else in the world could wait. For one night, and only this one night, she would allow her inner demigod to be free and to follow the needs of her body and her heart.

Chance pulled her hand lightly and drew her across the bed and into his lap. His full lips met hers in an explosive combination of lust and excitement and she was overtaken with a deep need to possess all of him. But it could wait. If they only had this one night together, this one stolen night in a lifetime of noes, then she was going to enjoy every fleeting moment. She slowed their kiss, letting his moist lips caress the soft folds of her own until a moan threatened to escape.

She tilted her head back as if the moan would slip back down her throat, but Chance took the opportunity and languished in her blissful agony as he trailed the tip of his tongue down the line of her neck.

He stopped at the little dip at the base of her throat and lavished her with kisses. “This place is mine.” His voice was hoarse and raspy, echoing her desire. “We only have tonight, this one night together before I leave, but I want no man to ever own this place again.”

It surprised her that he would be the type who would want to own a place on her body, but she could understand his need to savor this moment forever. She ran her finger down the edge of his ear, stopping at the place where his earlobe connected with his neck. Sitting up in his lap, she touched his soft skin with her kiss-dampened lips. “Okay, but this place is mine,” she whispered into his ear, making his body quiver.

He turned his head, forcing her lips from the soft flesh of his ear, and his warm breath brushed against her cheek again. His eyes closed and opened and their eyes met. For the first time, she noted his eyes weren’t just silver. No, instead they carried the brilliance of finely buffed platinum. Chance reached up and ran his rough finger over the tender curves of her lip, drawing chills to her skin.

“You’re an amazing woman, has anyone ever told you?”

She smiled, letting his thumb slip from her lip. “Only you.” She bent her head down and took his thumb into her mouth, careful to not look away from his eyes.

He sucked in a rattling breath. “Harper,” he moaned.

“Hmm?” she answered, refusing to break the soft suction she’d created on his finger.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

She stopped and released his thumb. “What do you mean? You don’t want this? You don’t want me?”

His lust-filled gaze lightened. “That’s not what I’m saying. I just want to make sure we are on the same page.”

He hadn’t needed to speak the words that he didn’t want a relationship. He wasn’t alone in the sentiment.

Slipping out of his lap, she dropped onto her knees and took the waist of his jeans in her hands. She smiled up at him, refusing to acknowledge what he had said. “Lay back.”

Chance’s eyes closed; his endorphins must have kicked in, giving him a look of near euphoria. He dropped to his elbows as he leaned back on the baby pink satin bedspread. She ran her fingers under the edge of his pants, toward the top button. She stopped. The button was already undone. “What’s this? Were you hoping I’d sleep with you?” She laughed.

“No.” He reached down with his right hand and moved to close the wayward button, but she stopped him. “But I have to admit I sleep naked. And when I saw your light was on, I had to slip my pants back on to come talk to you. I guess I forgot to button.”

“So you’re saying you’re not wearing any underwear?” She gave him a wicked smile.

Chance’s laughter filled the small room.

“Shhh … ” She put her finger to her lip. “Starling’s sleeping. We don’t want to wake her.”

His laughter quieted.

“You’re a dirty man.” She pushed his hand back down to the bed and went back to his open button. “But at least there’s less to throw on the floor.”

“Yes,” he said, tilting his head back as she slid his zipper open, revealing a patch of soft brown hair. “We … we wouldn’t want a mess.”

Harper stood up and pulled off his pants, careful not to let them rub too hard against him. She let them fall to the floor with a soft thud and dropped back down to her knees.

His legs were covered with fine hair a shade lighter than the hair at the intersection of his thighs. She grazed her finger up his legs, starting at his ankle, moving to his knees, and ever so slowly twisting her fingers up the fine hairs toward his waiting member. He was larger than she had imagined; he would leave her well-satisfied.

He sucked in a breath, his body stiffening under her fingers as she bent down and took him into her mouth. His body shifted and he dropped to his back. Reaching down, he pushed her hair back and down her neck, exposing her face.

His body shuddered as she looked up and caught his gaze as she ran her tongue up his length.

“Come here,” he said in a ragged breath. “I want you on top.”

Letting go of him, she stood up.

“First,” he said, sitting up on his elbows, “take off your shirt for me.”

His command was playful, but the way he took control made the dampness between her thighs increase. Fingers trembling, she reached down and lifted the hem of her soft satin camisole and inched it upward, exposing the gentle curvature of her belly.

He reached up and ran his hand up under her shirt. His fingers found her sensitive nipples and he gently ran his rough thumbs over her tender flesh, making her skin prickle with excitement. He pushed up her shirt, exposing her naked breasts, and took her nipple into his mouth. His tongue flicked against her nubs and he let go. His hands slid up and she twisted out of her shirt and let him throw it to the ground.

Chance smiled as he traced his fingers down her sides and took in the sight of her body. His hands stopped at her pajama pants. Leaning in, he dropped his head on her soft underbelly. “I’ve wanted this since the first moment I met you.”

She ran her fingers through his long locks, twisting his soft hair between her fingers. “I’ve wanted this too.”

He pulled at her pants, slipping them down her thighs, exposing her to the night-chilled air. She stepped forward, letting the pants fall free of her skin.