“If you don’t shut up, I will kill you, man,” Devon growled.
“Devon, stop,” Virginia ordered. “I’m sure Jasper knows what is at risk—it’s not just his life at stake.”
“Tell me what the hell is going on,” Jasper ordered. “Obviously you don’t want your president to know we’re here, but why?”
“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Virginia said with a fake smile. “We simply want to get you into your rooms before we announce your arrival. After that, perhaps you will have a meeting with him.”
He heard the words coming out of her mouth, but something about the way she spoke, or perhaps it was the way her body stiffened, made his suspicion rise.
Devon stopped in front of a long row of doors. “This is our dormitory area. Thanks to Walter, there’s a suite that was recently vacated. You can put them in his old room. You’ll be staying here, Starling.” Taking a set of keys from his pocket, he unlocked the door.
The door opened to a large bedroom. Pictures of circling vultures adorned the walls. In the center of the room was a white queen-sized bed with Starling’s luggage beside it. “We took the liberty of collecting your things from your hotel.”
“You bastard. You had no right touching my things.” Starling rushed into the room and lifted her bag onto the bed.
“We had a courier pick up your items. I was trying to make you more comfortable. It’s hard to say how long you may be staying with us.”
Starling blanched. “If I have my way, it won’t be for more than one night.”
Devon laughed. Virginia silenced him with a motion of her hand. “We shall see how cooperative you and Jasper are. In fact, if you play nicely, you may end up walking away from this experience.”
He found that hard to believe. If they were hiding them, even if that meant putting them in the headquarters’ nicest bedrooms, there was only a slight chance Starling would make it out alive—and an even smaller chance of his survival. No matter how he played through the possible scenarios in his head, for the vultures, he was expendable—or worse, a liability. In fact, if he were separated from Starling now, there was little chance that he would make it through the night.
He had to stay alive for her.
“She can’t stay here alone. I won’t allow it,” he said, as he stopped beside Starling. “I don’t trust you.”
“That isn’t a choice you get to make, Jasper,” Virginia replied.
“Don’t underestimate me,” he threatened. “We can continue being the perfect little hostages, or we can start fighting. Your call.”
Devon glanced over at Virginia. “We’d only have to run one guard during the night. It would draw less attention.”
“Fine,” Virginia conceded. “But if something goes wrong, Devon, I will personally take it out on you.”
Jasper suddenly had an urge to make sure something went very wrong. He couldn’t help but laugh.
“Something funny?” Devon grumbled.
“Not at all. I just imagined your face uglier than it already is. I really think you would have to start wearing a bag over your head.”
Devon took a threatening step toward him, but Virginia stopped him. “No, Devon,” she said, glancing down at her watch. “We only have a few hours before the council meets. We need to get our story together. There’s no way, after we were seen in the dining hall, that we won’t have a fight on our hands. We have to tie up a few loose ends before word spreads.”
Devon nodded. “Got it, Ms. Virginia.”
Virginia glared at Jasper. “As for you two, stay out of trouble. Your lives depend on your cooperation.”
Chapter Sixteen
Starling rifled through her suitcase. She had all of her paperwork, her clothes, but the small, extra bottle of pills she had brought with her was missing. She had nothing left to trade for their freedom.
Jasper’s face was tight and his brow furrowed. Even from across the room, she could hear him grind his teeth. He was a good bodyguard, but she couldn’t imagine how he could get them out of this mess.
“You okay, Jasper?” she asked, pulling the zipper closed on her bag. She sat down on the edge of the bed, and as she stopped moving she realized exactly how exhausted she was. Even her eyes were tired.
“I’m fine. Are you okay?”
She nodded. Physically she was fine, but her emotions were a mess. There was no way they were going to be okay. On top of it all, she’d lost all of her medication and hadn’t found the books. The only good thing about being down in the bowels of the Catharterian headquarters was that it kept the spirits at bay. So if she stayed here, she was a goner, but if she managed to get out of this place, freedom would be its own hell when the spirits inundated her once again. Regardless of what happened, a white picket fence, dog, and a normal life weren’t in her future.
“You are being quiet.” Jasper walked over and sat on the bed beside her.
“You’re surprised that I’m quiet after everything we’ve been through? We are stuck in our enemy’s headquarters. Nothing’s going our way.” It came as a shock, but she couldn’t help the desire that simmered up from her core. Dark and dangerous—who knew that it could make a handsome man that much sexier? She looked away, focusing her attention on pushing her bag off the bed and onto the floor. It landed with a thump.
“At least we are together.” Jasper picked her bag up off the floor and sat it on its pedestal legs. “I’m sorry about all of this, Starling. I could have stopped it all from happening if I’d been strong enough to ward off Edward’s possession.”
“Strength has nothing to do with it. You didn’t stand a chance, Jasper. Once we get the books, maybe they’ll have what we need to stop something like that from ever happening to you again.”
“Do you know where we can find them?”
“Virginia took the White from the mausoleum, but I don’t know where she was taking it. As for the other books, according to Molly, a ghost I met, there are two more books in the Libros Umbrarum: the Black and the Red.”
“Did Molly know where to find them?” Jasper sat down on the edge of the bed, so close that he almost touched her.
The heat radiated off him, raising her desire from an ember to a flame. She couldn’t feel this way toward him. He’d made it more than clear he had no interest in her. She was his to protect, not to love. She edged back into the headboard until she was sitting fully upright.
“She didn’t.” Starling tried not to stare at the painful looking cut under Jasper’s eye.
“As far as I can tell, the headquarters is enormous. Even if we had weeks to search the place, I don’t think there’s much chance of us finding those books. That is, unless you can get some kind of clue where to look. Do you think you could use your powers?”
“You mean, do I think I could seduce someone to find out?”
“You can’t tell me you haven’t thought about it.” Jasper looked down at his hands. “I don’t understand why you don’t. If I had a power like that … ” He shook his head. “Let’s just say I would probably have more money and sex than would be healthy.”
Anger trickled into the fire of her desire. “So you’d be a man whore?”
“Maybe in the past, but not now.” Jasper looked over at her, and some of the darkness in his eyes disappeared, replaced by a flicker of something she couldn’t quite place.
“Why not now?”
Jasper grinned, making his dimple more prominent. No matter how hard she tried to force back her feelings, she couldn’t help the way her heart lifted along with the corners of his full, oh-so-kissable lips.
“Let’s just say that life has a way of becoming complicated.” He reached over and touched the back of her hand. His fingers stroked against her skin, intensifying her desire.
Did he know what he was doing? Did he understand what she experienced with just the thought of his lips pressed against hers again? If he did, he would have stopped. He would have been too protective to let her fall in love—
even with him.
“How are we going to handle this, Jasper? How in the hell are we going to get out of here?”
“I don’t know, but the longer we stay, the more likely it is that they will kill me and then probably you. I’m fine with dying for you, but I can’t handle the thought that they are going to hurt you.”
“Virginia isn’t the first person who has wanted to hurt me and she’s probably far from the last. If you haven’t figured it out by now, Jasper, I’m a lot stronger than I look.”
“And a lot more stubborn.” He chuckled. “You don’t want to underestimate her. She’s hiding something, not only from us, but clearly from her council as well. You never know what a caged animal is willing to do to get what they want.”
“So what are we going to do?”
“We need to find her Achilles’ heel.”
“Devon.” Starling sighed as she glanced down at Jasper’s fingers on hers. “He’s her closest ally. If something happens to him, she will be down her right hand.”
“That will only make her more reckless if we kill him.”
“I’m not saying we kill him. I’m thinking that if I seduce him, he’s our way to make it out of here alive. ”
“So you’re saying I was right about the whole seduction idea?”
“Right is a strong word,” she said, running her thumb over his as she tried to memorize exactly how good it felt to have her hand in his. “I’m only saying that it wasn’t such a bad idea. And right now, it is our only option. We don’t have a whole lot of friends down here.”
“No, but we have each other and we can make one helluva team.” Jasper drew away his hand. “Just as long as we play it smart.”
“Smart. Yeah.” Starling nodded. She yearned for the return of his touch, anything to keep from thinking about the seduction that would have to come. Devon was an egotistical, chauvinistic leech who thought himself God’s gift to women—and in a matter of hours he would be slobbering all over her.
“Where do you want me to sleep?” Jasper asked. “I’m more than happy to be on the floor, but I may need a blanket.” He stood up. The place where his fingers had touched grew cool, and she could barely withstand the urge to reach out and pull him back to his place beside her.
“You can’t sleep on the cold concrete. A man your age might not be able to stand up in the morning.”
He answered with a playful growl. “You know I’m only a few years older than you. If I’m old, what are you?”
“I’m dignified,” she said, faking a stuffy air as she straightened at the edge of her dirty red dress in an attempt to lighten the mood.
Jasper’s laughter filled the room. It sounded so good to hear him laugh.
“Whatever you say. Just remember that I saw you trip over your own suitcase,” he teased.
“That wasn’t a trip, it was a defensive maneuver, and don’t you forget it.” There had been so much stress since he’d started once again being more than a shadow that she’d almost forgotten how good it felt to have a carefree moment, a moment of complete surrender. If only this moment could last forever.
“Oh I won’t.” His eyes sparkled.
“As far as tonight, you can sleep in the bed with me.”
“Only if you promise to not use any of your defensive maneuvers,” he pretended to grumble.
For a split second, she imagined his hand gliding over her skin, finding the curve of her thigh and sliding down. She shifted in the bed, making room for him on the other side. “Don’t make me have to.”
“Turn on the light,” he said, pointing toward the lamp on the nightstand. “And I’ll turn around for you to get changed.”
She clicked on the light. “What are you going to wear?” She got out of bed and grabbed her bag. Unzipping the suitcase, she rifled through it. There was nothing but some dirty clothes and a few pairs of clean socks and underwear. “I don’t think I have anything in here that is going to fit.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll sleep in my clothes. But if you’re okay with it, I may take off my pants. Cool?”
“You’re wearing underwear, right?”
“Nope. Freeballing.”
“Then keep the pants on. I don’t want to wake up with something squishy pressed against me,” she said.
“Something squishy, eh? I don’t want to know what guys you have been sleeping with.” There was an edge of jealousy in his voice.
“Oh, there was nothing soft going on with any of the men I’ve slept with.” In truth, she’d only slept with one guy. That had been over a year ago, and their relationship had ended after she had caught him cheating. Since then, she’d sworn off sex, but now, within Jasper’s reach, her celibacy seemed like a ridiculous idea.
“I don’t know want to know.” Jasper said, his playfulness gone. He walked over to the light switch by the door and clicked off the overhead light. “Get changed. I won’t watch.”
She took out a pair of her barely worn boxers and a dirty tank top. She slowly lifted off her dress, letting the cold air of the room rush against her skin, cooling the heat of her unwelcome desire. The red dress she had worn was the only sexy thing she owned, and she had wasted it on Devon.
Glancing back, Jasper had sat down on the other side of the bed, judiciously diverting his gaze. Disappointment crept through her. Unclasping the back of her bra, she slipped it from her shoulders and dropped it into the bag.
Her self-consciousness took over as she changed and quickly slipped between the cool sheets of the bed. How she wished she had something that resembled one of those scantily clad women in an underwear catalogue that men always drooled over. As it was, the only model she could have passed for was one out of a postdated Sears catalog.
She rolled on her side, afraid that if she faced him in the thin light of the bedside lamp, she wouldn’t be able to control her need to feel him against her.
At least she wouldn’t have to worry about him being so attracted to her that he couldn’t help himself. Although, it would have been far better than okay if he let his warm fingers trail down her skin all the way to the soft mound of flesh between her thighs.
“Starling?”
“Hmm?” she asked, keeping her back to him as he perched on the side of the bed.
“I have to tell you something.”
She rolled over. “What?”
“I … I was the one who was sent to keep your mother safe. We knew about the Catharterians and that there was a faction who might come after the two of you, but we didn’t realize the full threat. I didn’t take the warning seriously; I was still dealing with the fallout after the deaths in Montana. And … and … I’m sorry.”
He rested his warm hand on her shoulder and softly stroked her bare skin. His eyes were filled with remorse. He clearly expected that she would be angry or hurt, but instead there was only the ache of pity. What a weight he must have carried to believe that he alone was responsible for her mother’s death. “Jasper, there were so many things going on in my mother’s life. She had made enemies.”
“I should have been there to save her.”
“I should have too, Jasper.” She put her hand on his. Her entire body tingled.
“Can you forgive me?” Jasper’s voice only made the tingle intensify.
“We both made a mistake,” she said.
The bed bumped against the wall as he lay down next to her. “You’re not afraid of the dark, are you?” he asked tenderly.
“I’m not afraid of the dark, only of the things in the night that I don’t expect.” Her cheeks warmed.
Jasper cleared his throat. “I’ll do my best to keep anything unexpected at bay.”
“You better, or remember those defensive maneuvers? Don’t think I won’t use them,” she said lightly, as she frantically hoped he could read between the lines of her banter.
“Can you feel that?”
She went still, but felt nothing. “What?”
“That’s me shaking with fear.” He chuckled.
“Ah, I thought it was an earthquake.”
“Oh, you think that was an earthquake … if given the chance, I could make your earth shatter.”
She tried to not read too much into his words, but she didn’t know exactly what to say. She wished she were one of those sex vixens from a Saturday night movie, a woman who had all the right moves and could make a man drop to his knees in a second. Starling paused. She was a sex vixen. When she had used her gift in the past, she had wrapped the boy around her finger. Maybe she could practice using her power on Jasper.
But the thought of treating Jasper like she planned on treating Devon bothered her. He deserved better. True seduction, seduction that meant something, needed control. And that level of seduction was best left to her nymph sisters who knew what in the hell they were doing. There had to be baby steps into the realm of sex vixen; her first was sharpening her flirtation skills. As it was, if she tried to seduce anyone, she’d probably only end up with another pizza.
“’Night, Starling.” Jasper leaned away and clicked off the light. “If you need anything, let me know. I don’t want you roaming around in the dark. I’d hate for you to find something unexpected.”
“’Night, Jasper.” A thin seam of light poured out from under the crack of the door, filling the room with deep shadows.
The minutes twisted by while she listened to the calm melody of his breathing. The sound was rhythmic and constant, the sounds of sleep. It was so quiet, it made the beautiful agony of not feeling his touch against her skin only the more painful. She stroked her arm, trying to remember exactly how good it had felt when he’d touched her last. He had to be fantastic in bed; she’d bet he was the kind of man who always made sure the woman was satisfied before thinking of himself.
Her entire body warmed and she rolled on her back. Lifting her shirt so her stomach lay bare, she continued tracing her fingers up and down her skin. The soft flesh of her belly was nothing like his muscular core.
If she ran her fingers over him, would he tense or relax under her touch?
The Nymph's Curse: The Collection Page 72
