A freezing gust of air blew in from the right and some elves started shouting to seal it up, whatever that meant. I turned to see two large red doors, just starting to close on snowy fields that stretched as far as my vision could see. Reindeer, being tended by other elves, were walking into the large area.
“This way!” A small female elf grabbed my hand and started to tug me along after her, toward another entrance off to the side. A plaque above the rounded door read “Santa’s Office.”
“Go in,” she said, and motioned with her small hands for me to enter.
The whole place smelled like a bakery, but his office had the distinct smell of chocolate chip cookies baking. Santa himself was sitting behind his desk when I walked in.
“Hello,” he greeted me. He looked exactly as one would expect; long white beard, and a thick head of white hair. His cheeks were rosy and he truly did look jolly when he smiled at me. “You’re the new Karma.”
“Yes.” I smiled back, all the while waiting for the scolding.
“Would you care for a cookie?” He motioned to the heaped plate on the corner of the desk.
“No, thanks.” I didn’t want to get thrown out mid bite. He was Santa. He knew everything. Any second, he’d tell me to get the hell out of his office, throwing coal at me as I ran.
He stood up from his chair and walked around to the fireplace that blazed in the corner, lending the space a warm light.
“Would you like to sit?” He motioned to the two well-stuffed chairs in front of it.
“I don’t want to take up too much of your time. I can see you’re busy.” I made a step backward toward the door.
“I’ve got time for you.”
Guess I was going to have to see this thing out until the coal started flying. I watched as he sat. He was still smiling. I took the seat across from him. Maybe he didn’t know?
“I know why you’re nervous.”
Well, there went that.
“Karma, sometimes there are grey areas in life. Things that don’t fit neatly into wrong or right.”
“Okay?” At some point soon, my phone was going to start ringing like crazy.
He leaned forward and took one of my hands. “I trust you to make the right decisions.”
“And what would those be?”
“That’s not for me to tell you. Those are your choices. Your inner compass will point you in the right direction.” He nodded his head as he said this, as if he was imparting some great wisdom.
My jaw dropped as I contemplated grabbing him by the beard and screaming, I’m glad you’re sure, because I’m lost right now and would someone care to fill me in on what the hell I should be doing?
Fairly certain that wasn’t the right approach, I tried to think of a better way to discuss the situation.
I never got the chance. Elves swarmed in, interrupting our discussion with a work order problem. He left, telling me an elf would show me out.
I’d missed my chance to ask him what happened if my inner compass was spinning around like a bad ride on the teacups. The only thing it was telling me was to go puke my guts up, and hang on for a lousy ride, because the operator was drunk.
Chapter 22
Point your arrows somewhere else.
My steps immediately slowed once I spotted Fate leaning beside my condo door. I could still leave as he hadn’t…
Nope, he had seen me.
Whatever he was here for, it was probably something I wasn’t going to like. I wasn’t in the mood but that wouldn’t faze him.
My keys jingled as I yanked them out of my purse and slid one into the lock. He followed me in.
He didn’t say anything. No hello, or how are things. He toyed with the manual I was working with and then moved on, taking in the rest of the place. He was looking for clues, and I was letting him. Unfortunately for both of us, he wouldn’t find anything, and I was too scared to leave him any more unless I got desperate again.
I kicked off my shoes and walked into the kitchen, noticing the container on the counter. At least he’d brought iced tea with him. Good thing, because I was out.
He followed me into the kitchen as I took a glass out of the cabinet and offered him one. I sort of had to, since he had brought it. He nodded.
He took his tea and chugged most of it down in one gulp. He nodded toward me. I’d never had such a tense glass of iced tea in my life.
“What’s with the outfit?”
I smoothed the dress down, tugging on the hem. “It’s Luck’s. Santa’s elf led me out through their kitchen and there was a mishap with the flour.”
“It looks good on you.” His eyes slowly moved up my legs.
I drank the iced tea in my glass so as not to have to respond.
He needed to stop staring at me like he was ready to eat me. What the hell was wrong with him, today? He was too smart to get caught by Cupid, but he was acting awfully interested. The worst part about that was the more interested he looked, the more my body seemed to respond. Forget him, what the hell was wrong with me?
My breathing became more erratic. I tugged my hair loose of its ponytail and pulled it over my shoulders, trying to hide just how excited certain parts of my body were becoming. It backfired because he took it as a different type of sign and closed the gap between us.
One hand reached and threaded through my hair as I tilted my face upward. I felt his other palm land on my hip but it didn’t stay there long. Slowly, it slid down and then wrapped around until it cupped my ass and pulled me upward into contact with his hips, where I could feel just how much he wanted me.
His eyes never left my face, surely seeing how every point of contact affected me. There was something so intensely sensual as he watched, waiting for me to acknowledge the need between us.
He looked at me as if I were the only thing that existed. It was frightening in its intensity, and yet I couldn’t move away.
I was sinking and quick.
“What are we doing?” My voice was breathy with anticipation of what was to come, even as I feared the ramifications. Hadn’t I just convinced myself how bad it was to do this with him? And yet here I was, first sexual overture in weeks and I was putty.
His mouth quirked up as if to say, don’t pretend you aren’t with me every step.
The smirk was gone again and his hand in my hair tightened, tugging me closer to him.
If I let this go any further, I’d never be able to stop it. His mouth was a mere inch from mine when I acknowledged to myself that not only did I want this, I needed it.
I was drowning and this felt like a lifeline. It didn’t matter if it was an emotional Band-Aid, simply masking the injury. This was the only thing in my existence right now that didn’t cause pain. At least not yet, anyway. Tomorrow, or next week, would be a different issue.
My lips parted and it was all the welcome he needed. His mouth covered mine and then it became a frenzied battle for dominance as both of us tried to take what we needed from the other.
I quickly became the aggressor as I pressed him back against the fridge, pulling his head down to mine. He reached down, grabbing a thigh in each hand and hoisted my legs around his hips.
Our lips never broke contact as he started walking into the other room. When he would’ve pulled away, I held his head to me, fearing any break would let reality sneak back in. He somehow sensed my desperation and instead of pulling back, he deepened the kiss.
We only made it a few steps into the other room before we were on the floor. He pulled my breast above the low neckline as I reached down and unbuttoned his pants. My hands reached lower and urged him into me.
I threw my head back on a moan as he entered me. His mouth moved to the peak of one breast as his teeth nipped and then licked the hardened nub. My legs wrapped around his hips, urging him deeper within me.
Nothing mattered right now. All I cared about was how my body felt alive wherever he touched me. My hand gripped his head as his mouth bit my lobe. I wanted to climb insi
de of him, and if I couldn’t do that, I wanted him pressed inside of me as deep as he could.
Waves of pleasure started to wash over me and I felt him thrust. Arched over me, his weight partially on his forearms, his hands gripped my head as his eyes—almost wild, now—stared into my own, and then his mouth covered mine. There was something different this time, though. I felt it in his stare and I felt it in the almost claiming of my mouth.
The pressure of his lips increased and when I would’ve turned my head he held me there. His hips picked up their pace. It went from too much to not enough. The last little bit of hesitance, which had been buried within me, died, and I found myself clinging to him as I cried out.
He collapsed next to me on the floor of the living room, both of us still dressed. The reality I’d avoided was coming back quickly now, as the air cooled my skin. What the hell had we just done?
“What happened to your leg?” he asked.
They weren’t exactly the post-coital words most women long for. I looked down and saw the bruise. It looked like the shape of a boot, and I quickly tugged my dress down.
“I was moving the TV and dropped it.” I sat up, self-conscious now, and adjusted the top of the dress, the air becoming chilly.
He sat up as well, leaning on his one arm and eyeing me suspiciously. “Take off your dress.” His voice wasn’t husky; it was determined and it scared me, not because of what he’d do but what he’d see.
His eyes squinted and his gaze dropped to my torso before rising.
“No.” I got to my feet, looking to put some physical distance between us, just in case he wasn’t willing to let the subject drop. “I don’t strip on command.”
“Either take the dress off or I’ll do it for you.” He got to his feet as well. Somehow he seemed larger now that he was possibly going to try and rip my clothes off.
“We’re done. I think it’s time you left.” Don’t let him unnerve you. Stay in control. If I showed panic, he’d smell it. If he saw the bruises…I couldn’t even think about that. I knew what they looked like. What I looked like.
We stared at each other, only a few feet between us, as I waited to see how far he’d push the issue. My eyes darted around, trying to figure out a plan if he did.
Then something changed in his expression. “Why wasn’t that iced tea in the fridge?”
“What?” I looked at the half empty bottle sitting on the counter. “If you wanted it in the fridge, why didn’t you put it there when you brought it?”
He adjusted his clothing while he was mumbling curses under his breath, ripped the iced tea off the counter and left the condo, slamming the door as he went.
I didn’t care. I was too stunned about what had just happened. How many times had I told myself I wasn’t going to do that ever again, and a couple of steamy looks from him and I’m all in?
I fell on the couch with a loud sigh and covered my brow with my arm. A feather gently landed on my nose as I lay there. Opening my eyes, I held it up, thinking it had broken loose from one of my down pillows and made the journey from the bedroom to the living room via Smoke.
It wasn’t that small though, and it had the strangest iridescent quality to it. Where had I seen this shimmer before? It was right at the edge of my brain but didn’t want to break loose.
And then the memory slammed into me.
Cupid! I’d seen feathers like this flying all over his office. He’d been here. That hadn’t been Fate’s iced tea.
The ramifications ran through my head. He’d caught on way before me and hadn’t been happy about it. He must have realized something was wrong, because he couldn’t understand why he was so attracted to me. It’s not like he’d come on to me once since that night, months ago. Every detail that came to mind just compounded my embarrassment.
This was why you didn’t drink things when the tamper seal was broken. I jumped to my feet and dug my work phone out of my purse. Scrolling down my contact list, I knew he was here somewhere.
I scrolled down and hit send.
“What did you do?” I said, the second he answered.
“That was fairly quick, no?” Cupid said. “I feel as though you two are seriously wasting my gifts with these slam bams.”
“Why did you do that?”
“I’m going to tell you the same thing I just told him, darling. It’s my job.” Cupid’s voice, in comparison to mine, was the epitome of calm. “And I’m exceptionally good at it.”
“I didn’t want to have sex with him!” Perhaps I shouldn’t have even admitted it happened, but my embarrassment was quickly morphing into other emotions.
“Oh please, sure you did. I didn’t get to this pay scale because I sucked at seeing the signs.”
“I really wish you hadn’t. I thought…” My words trailed off, not wanting to say the rest.
“That he wanted you, too? He does, you idiot.”
He called to someone in the room to go fetch him a latte as his words sank in. Fate had wanted to have sex with me without Cupid’s interventions?
I needed to keep this in perspective. Even if he did, it was a far cry from “I love you,” and “I can’t live without you.” Still, it was better than having him ask me what time my flight out was.
It couldn’t matter either way, right now, as the other phone started vibrating in my purse. Not with the current status of my life. “I gotta go.”
“Toodles.”
It was Luke.
“Yes?”
“If you’re finished over there, it’s time for work.”
My hand clenched on the phone. I’d already wondered if they’d know. Would it have been too much for him to have kept his mouth shut and given me the illusion of privacy? I wrapped an arm around myself, as I replayed what they might have seen.
“I’m assuming you’re ready now?”
“Just tell me what you want.”
Chapter 23
Leave a message at the beep.
The last two days had been hell. Even if Fate had been looking for me, he never would’ve found me. I’d had two jobs for Malokin and a legitimate one for the office.
Just when I’d thought I’d have a break, I received another call from Luke. I’d been lucky though. They’d all been “save” jobs.
I was starting to wonder if Malokin threw me softball jobs to keep me off balance. As if he dragged me to the very line where I was about to snap and then eased me back.
It was a type of mental warfare I could imagine Malokin playing with me. Keep me off balance until I didn’t know which direction was up anymore. And I was sure it was Malokin. Luke was too stupid to play these games. He was more of a “hit them hard and obvious” type.
In the wee hours of this morning, I’d had to save a junkie, who was holding up a convenience store, from getting shot. He’d been one of the worst humans I’d seen in a while, and it made me wonder what Malokin was up to. Why was I saving these people? Now, I also had the additional knowledge that any of these saves might be a Lock and cause further turmoil at the office.
It was one of the things that drove me to come to the office today. I needed to know what I was dealing with, and see if I’d caused another uproar. But instead of going in, I sat in the parking lot, my fingers running across the leather-bound manual.
Harold had told me to stop working on it, but I couldn’t. When everything else seemed chaotic, this gave me some sort of control. I’d flip through the pages and make notes. Even when my life had no semblance of order, inside this cover, everything was how it was supposed to be. Somehow, working on this had become my mental salvation.
Sanity; I’d looked up the definition of it the other day. According to Webster’s Dictionary, it was the ability to think and behave in a normal and rational manner. Such a thing didn’t exist in the realm we operated within. At best, the office was in short supply.
I placed the book on the seat and reached for the glove compartment. The door was holding on by one hinge when I opened it and the Advil
bottle fell with a hollow sound. Popping the lid, there was single pill stuck to the side. At least it was an extra strength. A couple of bangs against my palm set the pill free and I swallowed it dry.
A quick check in the mirror showed the makeup job over the side of my face wasn’t the best. Nothing a quick rearrangement of my hair part couldn’t fix. I’d just have to remember not to push it behind my ears, as I liked to do, and try and stay on everyone’s left side. That store clerk had certainly had one mean right hook.
My old Honda’s door creaked and I gave her a pat on the hood after I shut it. “I feel you, old girl, all too well. It feels like we’re both hitting the end of the line.”
Step by step, I walked toward the building, trying to concentrate on not limping. I’d hurt the already sore knee during a different job last night, when I’d jumped a fence as the police pursued me. They’d been under the misconception I’d just knocked off a jewelry store. In truth, I’d just helped the burglar escape.
I walked into the office suite, and I noticed the receptionist watching me from behind a copy of Stars Magazine. Her narrowed eyes followed my steps. They were starting to catch on that something was off with me. It was in their eyes, when they thought I wasn’t looking.
“Are you walking funny?” she said, just as I’d made it to the interior door.
“Nope. Not at all,” I said, hoping she’d take the hint and drop the subject. Maybe I shouldn’t have risked coming in today, but I had to know if any of my last jobs were a Lock. I wasn’t going to make it too much longer, at this rate. I needed to figure out what Malokin was up to, because if I didn’t…
Try as I might, I couldn’t see a way out of this mess. Kitty could be anywhere. I was no closer to finding her than the day she disappeared.
And Paddy. Where was he? His absence made how much I’d relied upon him being there to catch me brutally obvious. I was jumping without a net, these days.
JINXED: (Karma Series, Book Two) Page 13
