"It wasn't your scars but it was the sight of you that caused me to faint."
"You are so good for a man's ego, darling."
Cybil shivered at the way he murmured darling. Now isn't the time for these thoughts. Get your head out of the gutter, girl. “I know you probably won't believe me, but this is the truth. I have this really weird ability, and I used it without meaning to the night I met you. It overwhelmed me and I passed out. It really had nothing to do with your scars."
"What happened?” Josh stopped fidgeting and looked at her, but Cybil avoided his gaze.
"When I looked at your face and saw your scars, I saw what happened to you. I felt and saw your accident through your eyes. As if I were you."
Josh was quiet for so long that she looked up at him and was surprised to see him staring at her with a mix of shock and disbelief.
"You expect me to believe that you looked at me and knew what had happened? And does this happen every time you look at someone?"
She was surprised by his snide tone, even though she'd guessed he wouldn't believe her. “No, it doesn't,” she said. “I don't expect you to believe me. I'd hoped you would ... but..."
Josh laughed and stood up quickly. “Well, I have to give you points for originality, but I've heard better excuses from total strangers. Go on, Cybil. Go home. Leave my key on the table by the door and I won't ever bother you again."
"But I thought we were friends."
"So did I, so did I. But I can't stand the knowledge that the sight of me disturbs you so much. I'll stay out of your life as much as possible and I'll keep my music at a low level when I know you're home."
Cybil closed her eyes and groaned. This wasn't working the way she'd hoped. How can I convince Josh that his face doesn't bother me? Why do I care so much? Why am I so attracted to a man who obviously can't let himself be attracted to anyone? Even if he had believed her, nothing would change between them. She'd go on changing boyfriends every other week and he'd stay in his apartment, isolating himself from the world once more.
"Go, Cybil, go on home."
His anger had fled, but it sounded as if it had been replaced with sadness. Did our friendship mean as much to him as it does to me? If it did, then why is he pushing me away? Why can't he just believe me?
"Josh,” she whispered as she pulled out her key. “I'll give you your key, but I want something in return."
"What?"
"I want you to believe me. Give me a chance to convince you."
He laughed. “You don't ask for much. Why not ask for the world? The moon and the stars?"
"Think about it, Josh. Have I ever lied to you?"
"Listen to what you are saying. When I look into your eyes, I have visions of your past. Do you even realize how impossible that sounds?"
"You're Wiccan. Don't you believe in things that aren't always tangible?"
"What does me being Wiccan have to do with anything?” Josh shook his head and gave her a look of disgust. “You know what, I'll just take my damn key and remove you from my apartment and my life myself."
Cybil gasped and stared at him wide-eyed as he advanced toward her. “There. There's your damn key.” She tossed it at him, jumped up and ran toward the front door. She yanked it open and dashed the short distance to her door.
As she closed her door behind her, she heard Josh say, “And stay out of my life."
Sobbing, she collapsed against the door and slid to the ground. That had not gone as she'd planned. Not at all.
* * * *
Cybil struggled down the hall with several bags of groceries. As she reached her door, one bag tipped precariously while she dug in her purse for her key. Josh's door opened and she hurried to get her key before he came out. She wasn't ready to face him yet.
"Thanks, Josh. I really appreciate your help with this."
Cybil looked up at the strange voice. Josh was letting another person out of his apartment? Her eyes met Josh's and she flinched. When she ducked her head, the top bag fell out of her arms and the rest of the groceries followed.
"Shit,” Cybil cursed as she knelt and tried to scoop up her groceries. She didn't need a confrontation with Josh in front of his friend. She shook her head so her hair covered her eyes. To hear Josh talk, he had no friends, so where did this one come from? She snuck a glance at him from the corner of her eye and saw tall, dark, devastating male. He was so handsome she couldn't help but feel a twinge of desire deep in her belly. A vision of her in between the two of them danced enticingly before her until she pushed the thought aside and reached for her groceries.
"Cybil?” Josh leaned down and scooped up a few cans that had rolled near his feet.
"Sorry, Josh. If I'd known you were coming out I'd have waited."
"Cybil—"
"Stay out of your life. I know. Trust me. I've been trying to avoid you for a week now. I was getting good at it too."
Deep sensual laughter sent a shiver up her spine, and Cybil found herself turning to look at the stranger against her will. “Oh my.” She gasped as his piercing blue eyes caught hers and held her in place.
"Josh wishes you to stay away from him?"
"Um...” Cybil found herself falling into those eyes. Falling ... falling ... as the deep blue swirled.
His voice came as if from a far distance. “Why would Josh want a beauty such as you to stay away from him?"
Cybil swayed as his eyes darkened to black. Then she pitched forward into a sky as dark as a moonless night. She heard a screech and the sound of a woman's scream. Blood covered her vision, and as she glanced down, Cybil was surprised to see the warm red fluid covering every inch of her body.
"Oh God, oh God.” Cybil scrambled backwards and closed her eyes trying to fight the vision. She could hear the cries of many, most of them young. The sounds of chanting and a fire blazing out of control filled her ears.
"Stop her!” the stranger cried out, his voice cracking with emotion. “Make her stop!"
"Beware of the creature within. Do not give in to his demands; do not surrender to his cravings. You must be strong for when you meet your destiny. She comes to you before the end of the year. You must be ready. Prepare yourself.” As the words echoed in her ears, Cybil wondered where they came from. Dear Heaven above am I losing it? Has this damned man's past sent me over the edge into an abyss of no escape?
A stinging on her cheek brought her back to awareness, and Cybil looked into Josh's frightened face. She rubbed her bruised flesh wondering if she should thank him or not. She glanced down and relief rushed through her that there was no blood to be found. What had happened to this handsome man? He must have been in a war or something. A POW who had been captured and tortured.
"You poor, poor man,” Cybil crooned as she slowly shook her head.
"What the hell did you do to me?” he demanded, anger sparking in his eyes. “What in the world are you?"
Cybil stuttered as she reached for her purse and searched blindly for her key. She looked back and forth between the two men, not letting either one hold her gaze. Joy sent her heart thundering as her hand closed on the key. Triumphant, she lifted the key and inserted it in the lock. She had to get out of here before they told everyone what a freak she was. If this had happened a hundred years ago, she'd have been burned at the stake as a witch. Hell, even the witch was looking at her funny.
She ran inside her apartment, but before she could slam her door shut two pairs of hands stopped her. Both men had picked up her groceries and brought them into her apartment. Trapped, Cybil backed up and stared wordlessly as they set her groceries down and turned to face her.
"I'm sorry for your loss and the pain you suffered,” she said to Josh's friend. “I didn't mean to invade your mind like that. I ... sometimes I can't control myself."
"This happens often?” the stranger asked as he quirked his eyebrows and looked at Josh, then back at her.
"Um ... the last time it happened was the night I met Josh."
"Dar
e I ask what you saw when you invaded his mind?"
Cybil shuddered. “He was gaining on the car in first place when another one tried to pass him and clipped him, sending him into a spin. The car spun around, then flipped and rolled. Another car slammed into him right before his started on fire. As the flames drew closer—"
"That's enough!” Josh shouted and grabbed Cybil. “How the hell can you do this?"
"Who cares how? I just don't want her to do that again."
"You were telling the truth then?” Josh whispered.
Cybil nodded. “I don't usually have visions or invade people's minds like that. I apologize, but I find that when I'm around Josh, my self-control shatters."
"So when you look at Josh, what do you see?” his friend asked.
"Flames. And I can feel his pain."
"That's why you fainted? That's why you can't look at me?” Josh released her to grab her hands.
Cybil shook her head so her hair hid her face again. “I can't look at you because when I do, I lose control of myself. I do things and feel things that I don't want to.” She winced. Okay, part of that was a lie, but he didn't need to know that.
"I'm going, Josh. I hope you two get this taken care of. And no more invading my mind, Ms. Cybil."
Cybil grinned and looked at the stranger. “If Josh wasn't so distracting, I wouldn't have done that."
"I think I know the solution to your dilemma, but it's not my place to say. I'll see you later, Josh. Good evening.” With a wink and a wave of his hand, Josh's friend walked out the door leaving them alone.
"I'm sorry, Cybil.” Josh took her hands in his and she trembled as his thumbs caressed her wrists. “I ... your story was so far-fetched it seemed impossible to believe."
"It's okay.” She pulled her hands away when his touch ignited the desire their argument had banked.
"Dylan was telling me about this procedure I can have done that will reduce some of the scarring on my face. Of course, nothing will get rid of all of it. I'll never be my handsome self again.” He laughed.
Cybil shook her head at his self-depreciating words. “You are handsome."
"No, I'm not. Most people can't look past my face, and those who do are usually after my money."
"Usually?” Cybil asked as she sat on the sofa a safe distance from him and his touch. “What about those who aren't?"
"People like you and Dylan are few and far between. Besides, he has his own scars he keeps hidden. Looks like you do, too.” He hesitated, then walked over to the sofa and sat down next to her.
When he wrapped his hand around hers, she fought not to pull away as heat flooded her. He smelled like chocolate and coffee and made her mouth water as he leaned against her. She tensed as her body began to tingle where he touched her.
Josh stiffened and pulled away. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to invade your comfort zone."
"Oh God. Look at me!” Cybil burst out laughing. She hadn't been acting like herself for days now, but this was ridiculous. She was not going to continue this way indefinitely. Either Josh wanted her or he didn't but she was going to find out, and now.
"Look at you?"
"It's you, Josh. When you're near me, I can't think straight. My control goes right out the window and I do dumb things and say stupid things all the time. That—this isn't the real me."
"You mean you aren't really as klutzy as you seem to be?"
"No. You seem to bring out the worst in me."
"I-I'm sorry,” Josh stammered.
"Why are you sorry? I'm trying to tell you—oh the hell with it!” Cybil grabbed him by the shirt and yanked him close. She pressed her lips to his and tried to show him with actions instead of words.
At first he stiffened, but as she leaned closer and pressed her breasts against his chest so there wasn't even room for a breath between them, he softened under her and returned her kiss, gently at first, then like a man long starved.
Nipping at her lips, then soothing them with his tongue, Josh made kissing more erotic than anyone else she'd been with. As their mouths dueled for supremacy, Cybil realized that this time she was more than willing to let someone else take control, but would Josh be willing?
"I'm not sorry this time,” Josh whispered as he broke the kiss to lick and nip his way to her ear. His breath tickled her as he added, “If you want me to stop, say something now, because otherwise I'm going to make love to you, and once we start I don't know if I'll be able to stop."
Cybil moaned. The thought of this hard, willing man desiring her so much that he wouldn't stop; that he wanted her this much and was giving her a way out was more than she'd imagined. She didn't want him to stop. That he put her needs and desires before his own, even when he obviously hadn't been with a woman in a long time excited her even more.
"Don't stop, Josh.” Cybil lifted her hands to his cheeks and caressed his scars. When he shuddered, she placed kisses along his face trying to show him that his appearance didn't bother her.
"Cybil.” Her name was drawn out and sent shivers up her spine as Josh caressed her lower back.
Moisture pooled between her thighs, and she shifted trying to ease the discomfort. She wanted, needed him inside her, buried to the hilt, thrusting so deep that he broke the hold her dream man had on her. No man had given her an orgasm, except for him. Tonight, with Josh, she didn't think she'd need to fake it. His kiss alone was pure unadulterated sin. His hands, as they moved on her back fed the flames of her desire until she felt like an inferno, or a volcano ready to erupt at any minute.
"You have no idea how long I've wished for this,” Josh whispered in her ear as he scooped her in his arms and walked to her bedroom. “I've ached for you since the first night I laid eyes on you."
Her first thought was to laugh and remind him that he hadn't been with a woman for a long time. She was flattered that he felt the need to say such kind things, but she didn't want to hear them.
"Josh,” she said between nips at his neck. “No lies between us tonight. We've finally gotten past all that. I want you; you want me. Let's just leave it at that."
He looked like he wanted to argue, but instead he nodded his head and lowered her to the floor so her body slid along the hard length of his. When she stood on her own two feet, he swooped back down and captured her mouth with his.
His skillful manipulation of her body left no doubt in her mind that before his accident he'd had more than his fair share of women. But for now he was all hers, at least until he had the procedure done that Dylan suggested. Maybe she could make him love her before then.
Warm hands slid under her shirt and brushed against her rib cage before cupping her breasts. Cybil was more than grateful she hadn't worn a bra to go to the store. Since she was so well-endowed most bras weren't comfortable and whenever she could she chose to go without. Josh growled his approval before latching onto a nipple and sucking fiercely through the soft cotton of her shirt.
"Damn.” She groaned and clung to him as her knees weakened.
"You are so hot,” Josh said when he paused. “I used to love dropping in to surprise you just so I could watch you walk around the apartment."
"You have got to be kidding me.” The words escaped before she could stop herself, but he laughed and shook his head.
"Nope. Watching you walk around with these bad boys moving around. I could barely keep myself from popping out of my pants.” Josh kneaded her breasts as he spoke so she was breathless and barely able to respond.
"I told you, no lies."
"Cybil, you don't lack for male attention. Do you think I didn't see all those men come and go and not wish I could take one of their places?"
"Because I have large breasts?"
Josh groaned and buried his head between said breasts. He continued to work his magic on her as she moaned and wiggled under him. “No, not because of the size of your breasts. Because of you."
Cybil shook her head, but bit her tongue. Any woman would be attractive to a man with self-es
teem as low as his. Yes, she was pretty, but the thought of him coming over just to look at her was a little odd. But flattering.
"Cybil."
"Josh?"
"Stop. I can hear the wheels turning in your head. Am I that poor a lover that you analyze everything I say and wonder if it's true or not? Have I ever lied to you? You're really crushing my ego here."
Cybil giggled and relaxed against him. “I'm sorry, Josh. It's just ... well, I've wanted you ever since the night I saw you half naked and practicing witchcraft."
"It's not called—Really?"
"Yes.” Cybil grinned as she slid her hands down the center of his chest to the waistband of his pants. She lifted his shirt and pulled it off so she could run her hands over his pecs and abs.
Josh moaned, sending a rush of shivers up her spine. He felt smooth like silk, yet hard like steel. She couldn't wait to feel him thrusting inside her. Closing her eyes, Cybil leaned down and licked his flesh, enjoying the salty taste of him as he groaned and shivered.
"By the Goddess.” He cupped her head in his hands as she swirled her tongue around his nipple. She gently bit at the hard nub before soothing the pain with a lick.
"That's it, you little minx. To hell with your need to be in charge. We're doing this my way.” Josh pushed her onto the bed and climbed above her until he straddled her.
Cybil stared up at him in astonishment until she met his gaze and froze. This wasn't sweet, neighborly Josh who met her gaze. This was red-hot lust. Straight-up desire. And it was aimed at her.
"You really want me, don't you?” Cybil breathed, unable to keep the awe from her voice. “This isn't just because I'm convenient for you."
Josh's eyes darkened along with his expression. Predator. Moisture pooled between her thighs as he pressed against her, his weight pinning her to the bed even though she had no desire to escape. This was what she'd dreamed of. This was what she wanted, needed in a lover.
"You, Cybil. No other woman but you,” Josh said.
The growl and harshness of his words made her believe him. She reached up and peppered several kisses on his jaw before he gasped and pulled back.
Tarot Card Anthology: Synchronicity Volume 1 Page 8
