One Thousand Kisses

by One Thousand Kisses

  “You saved Jakey too.” Gret threw her arms around him. He had to brace his legs so neither of them would fall. “You’re a hero. Anisette would be crazy not to want you.”

  “That means a great deal to me.” Embor rubbed his heavy eyes against her shoulder and yawned. Celebrating was hard work. Or was it the virus? Anisette could heal him if she wasn’t still mad. “I think she’s angry with me, which does complicate matters.”

  “Awwww.” Gret kissed his cheek and his lips. “She doesn’t deserve you.”

  He tried to tell Gret he didn’t deserve Anisette. Her purity. Her cooperativeness. Her kindness. Her studiousness. Her prettiness. Her beautiness. Her pale, soft deliciousness. But Gret kissed him again, trapping his words.

  She tasted like salt and whiskey. She didn’t taste like Anisette.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Crazy Merryl’s boat skidded across the turquoise sea. The small key the cats had indicated on the map grew from a smudge to an island as they approached.

  Despite the dusk, Merryl worked the tiller deftly. The only large body of water Ani had visited in humanspace was Lake Mead. The ocean was bumpy. Her stomach wasn’t happy about the motion of the boat.

  “You sure about this?” Merryl slowed the boat as they neared land. Warped trees and shrubs lined the edges. “It’s privately owned. No trespassing.”

  Ani verified with the cats. “Am I sure?”

  “Meh,” said Master Fey.

  “Mew mew mew,” the tabby added. The cats huddled under a bench, as far away from ocean spray as they could get. They weren’t quite touching.

  Merryl kind of laughed. “You ditched the guy to take orders from cats?”

  “I don’t mind heeding the suggestions of others when they make sense.” Ani unbuckled the life vest Merryl had suggested she wear.

  “I’m not sure ditching a tourist on an uninhabited key at the direction of two cats makes sense.”

  “I appreciate that you were willing to do it, nonetheless.”

  “Hey, you’re the client. Your money’s good.”

  The boat chugged as they eased through shoals and approached the island. A break in the trees revealed a narrow beach. Merryl navigated as close as she could until the hull scraped against sand.

  The tabby peered into the surf. She batted the boat with a paw. “Meewwwww.”

  “You want to go to the island?” she asked Master Fey.

  “Meh.” He head-butted her calf, his whiskers tickling her skin.

  “This is crazy. I’m supposed to be the crazy one.” Merryl adjusted the straps of her bikini top, partly covered by an overshirt. “I’m going to wait for you.”

  “I’ll be fine.” Ani had to get rid of Merryl without worrying her. “I told you, I’m meeting someone. I’ll have a way back.”

  It wasn’t entirely a lie. The cats had presumably led her here to find Embor, and she could use globes to transport herself back to Skythia’s. Additionally, now that she’d visited once, she could transport here again if need be.

  She hoped Embor was all right. The cats seemed on edge for more than their proximity to water.

  Ani removed her shoes and packed them in the giant yellow purse. As Merryl watched, she climbed over the gunwale into the surf. Warm water sloshed her feet and calves.

  She held out her hands to the cats. “Who’s first?”

  The tabby jumped into her arms, and Ani splashed to the seaweedy shore. Then she retrieved Master Fey and her purse. It was a good thing she’d changed into some of Skythia’s shorts. Her skirt would have gotten soaked.

  “I should stay until your ride shows.” Merryl toyed with the steering wheel, watching Ani through the deepening gloom.

  “I’ll call you on my cellular phone if I need a ride.” Ani patted her purse. “It’s one of those special models that works anywhere.”

  Her explanation seemed to satisfy Merryl. She saluted Ani and chugged away. Once the boat disappeared, Ani dug out her flashlight. The cats waited by a thin path leading into the trees. When Ani swung the light on them, the tabby dashed into the brush.

  Master Fey swiveled his head to watch her go.

  Ani lurched forward but stopped when the scuttling sounds of the tabby’s progress disappeared, as if the tabby had stopped herself—or been stopped. “Mistress Fey, are you all right?”

  Master Fey flicked his ears, stretched and yawned. By his casual attitude, Ani assumed the tabby was in no danger. She clutched a freeze globe anyway and followed Master Fey onto the key. The flashlight shone on various signs of human occupation—beverage bottles, cellophane bags, clothing, shoes.

  Mosquitoes buzzed around her ears as she fought through the trees. She ended up returning the globe to her pocket so she could swat bugs and branches. The ocean breeze didn’t trickle this far into the mangroves. The island inclined upward. She pushed through one last thick mess of greenery into a clearing.

  In the center was the oddest house she’d ever seen. Splintered lumber, brick and sawdust were strewn in a circle around the canted structure. It appeared to have been ripped halfway apart. The moon and her flashlight provided enough light for her to see the building was two lambs’ tails from collapse.

  The play of her flashlight highlighted a blink of gold—the lady cat. The tabby hunkered beside a prone body, a half-nude adult male.

  “Oh my stars.” Ani rushed across the uneven ground and placed her hand on the man’s warm skin. She didn’t recognize him. His skin was darker than the Primary’s, and his hair was black. He snored loudly, and when she shook him, he didn’t respond.

  Master Fey sniffed the body and sneezed. A rank odor surrounded the man—human intoxicants. “It’s possible he’s drunk.”

  “Mew mew mew.” The tabby flicked her tail and leapt into the window of the dilapidated building. She glanced over her shoulder. “Mew.”

  “That’s not safe.” Ani hurried to the cat.

  Closer to the building, voices and laughter became audible. It was occupied? It should be condemned. A sneeze would be its undoing. As she watched, bricks thumped to the ground. This place could collapse any minute, and there were people inside.

  She had no idea why the cats had brought her here. Who was inside. What this had to do with Embor. But it was obvious the cats intended her to find out.

  She withdrew a transport globe to clutch in her sweaty palm. Time to be brave. Time to be like Tali.

  No, time to be like someone else. Neither her sister nor herself. Tali would have charged into the building before checking anything, while the old Ani would have gone for help without looking inside. Master Fey’s body brushed her leg as he walked past her to inspect the doorway, partly blocked by a timber.

  Ani held her breath and tapped the flashlight against the wall. When nothing swayed or creaked, she peeped in the window. A few shards of glass remained in the panes.

  The interior of the building looked worse than the exterior. A group of men and women sat around tables, drinking and cavorting. Many wore nothing but undergarments. Debris scattered the floor, and there were as many people prone as upright. Several of the prone individuals were definitely not unconscious and definitely not bashful.

  Had she interrupted some kind of human eight-hundred ritual?

  Then she spotted somebody she knew. Somebody enjoying himself. Somebody kissing a dark-haired woman. Somebody who owed her a gigantic explanation.

  Embor Fiertag, Primary of the Realm.

  Her stomach lurched. Ani pressed her fist to her throat, the globe inside cool. What in Hella’s name? Embor had frightened her half out of her wits, deserted her in humanspace, neglected to answer the communication globe and now was indulging in a wild orgy?

  This wasn’t humanspace. Merryl had deposited her in a bizarre hell dimension.

  “Miaow.” Master Fey twitched his tail and entered the building with ears perked. She took that as a sign the building wouldn’t collapse. Ani drew a deep breath, busted the glass shards with the yellow hand
bag and clambered over the windowsill. If nothing else, she’d find out what was going on before notifying Skythia her brother had gone mad.

  She cleared her throat, hoping to catch someone’s attention. When that didn’t work, she said, “Excuse me?”

  Heads turned. Recognition dawned. Recognition she didn’t expect.

  “Anisette!” everyone yelled at once.

  She didn’t know who these people were. How did they know her?

  “Anisette!” Embor leapt up, dumping the woman to the floor. “You’re here.”

  “As are you.” The ramshackle room glowed with fairy lights. Did their presence mean Embor’s companions were fairies? “I don’t recall a party on your schedule.”

  “His old lady’s pissed,” a bald man stage-whispered. “Emsh gonna get it now.”

  Many of the room’s occupants guffawed. The pretty woman Embor had been kissing scrambled to her feet. Her tall form and dark hair reminded Ani of someone.

  The brunette wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Oopsie. That wasn’t what you think, Princess.”

  “I don’t know what to think,” Ani said frankly. She took no pleasure in the fact Embor was kissing this woman after rejecting her, but they hadn’t exchanged proposition cards. He was free to dally as he pleased.

  The woman clutched Embor’s arm. “Tell her what you told us, Em.”

  Embor pushed away from the table. His hair hung loose, and his shirt was undone, exposing his muscular torso. Ani licked her lips. In the flickering shadows, he looked positively debauched.

  Even more than he had this morning, poised over her naked body.

  Ani scowled.

  “We have triumphed.” Embor advanced across the floor toward her. Her feet wouldn’t move. “Now we make merry.”

  Before she could respond, Embor swept her into his embrace.

  She punched his shoulder. “I’m glad you’re well, but we need to discuss—”

  He stopped her words with his lips. Her jealousy faded as the seduction of his kiss overwhelmed her. The yellow purse thumped to the floor. His tongue tasted dark and honeyed, and for a moment Ani allowed herself the indulgence. For a moment she opened for him.

  With a groan, he cupped her buttocks and lifted her. Her legs circled his hips, settling against him so intimately she felt when his cock stiffened.

  His kiss deepened. Ani could hardly believe the uptight Primary of the Realm was embracing her with an audience—and she was encouraging him.

  Whistles and cheers penetrated her haze of yearning. Moments ago there’d been a different woman in his arms. She tried to tell Embor to stop, but his teeth snagged her lip.

  Spirits, why did this man heat her like no other? His skin scorched her everywhere it touched. His hands kneaded her bottom, and an ache awakened between her thighs. Even fairies who followed The Thousand Kisses rarely exhibited, unless it was part of a ritual. She’d never tried exhibitionism, but if it was what he liked…

  No. He’d kissed that woman. She couldn’t get distracted. She struggled until he released her.

  “What are you doing?” she said.

  “Rejoicing.” He indicated his companions with an expansive gesture. His shirt gapped to his waist. “I captured Milshadred Torval so she can be held accountable for her ack…ack…actions.”

  Master Fey leapt onto the table and yowled in the face of an elderly woman.

  Ani glanced at the woman and back at Embor. Whatever desire she’d felt bled away. “That’s Milshadred Torval?”

  “The one and only.” Milshadred bumped her chair away from the table. “Stay away from me, cat.”

  “Kitty!” exclaimed a man. “C’mere, kitty, kitty. Have a pork rind.”

  Master Fey stared at Milshadred as if his eyes could do her damage. Ani didn’t see the tabby anywhere.

  By the Dragon, Embor had done it. A cord affixed Milshadred to the chair. If she could have escaped, no doubt she would have. But Embor’s success didn’t explain his current location, the people with him or why he’d only arrested Milshadred.

  It didn’t explain his lady friend. It didn’t explain why the sight of him kissing another woman kept creeping back into Ani’s head like a bad smell.

  She pressed a hand to her stomach. “Are these your assets?”

  “Yes.” Embor smiled. “Our plan worked.”

  “Horace of Clan Drakhmore, at your shervice.” An older man with a shiny, bald head bowed from his chair, nearly tumbling to the floor. “These are my people.”

  Ani curtsied in response. His identity answered one question and raised a thousand more.

  “What about Milshadred’s sibs?” she asked Embor.

  “Where?” Embor swung around. Ani grabbed him before he fell. His skin felt hot to touch, even for him. Now that she wasn’t kissing him, it seemed more significant.

  “Euridyce, Mickal and Ulster.” Ani checked his pulse. Slow, a little erratic. Since their embrace had given him an erection, she’d have expected it to be faster. “You said all four Torvals were here in Key West, but I only see Milshadred.”

  “We’re in Key West? That’s a relief.” Embor steered her to the table, his hands on her shoulders. His thumb stroked her neck. “After the party, it will be a simple matter for us to return home,” he said in a lower voice. “We’ll make love for three days.”

  Ani halted, and he stumbled into her. He wanted to make love for three days but he’d turned her down this morning? Kissed that woman? Something was muddled here.

  “About this party,” Ani began.

  “It’s brilliant. This place is brilliant. Want a drink?” His breath tickled her ear. “I’ve discovered the most splendid human concoction.”

  Ani reluctantly accompanied him to his chair and avoided the woman’s gaze. “Embor. Concentrate. Where are Milshadred’s sibs?”

  “Slimy buggers got away.” Embor snagged a long-necked bottle off the table. “I hit Euri with agony, but I forgot to freeze her. Did I tell you what she did to me? I hate her.”

  “You didn’t go into detail.”

  “Are you angry I didn’t catch all four? I’d be devastated if you hated me.” He peered owlishly down at her and crowded her against the chair. “You’re so beautiful.”

  “I don’t hate you.” If she hadn’t hated him after his hard-headedness had nearly cost her her sister five years ago, after he’d dragged her to humanspace on a vengeance quest—after he’d rejected her when she begged for sex—he was pretty safe.

  “She’s teeny,” the dark-haired woman observed. “A little doll.”

  The same odor that had oozed off the unconscious man outside clouded around Embor and everyone at the table. They were drunk. Completely sloshed.

  Ani fell into the empty chair with a bump.

  “Embor, you need to tell me exactly what happened after you left.” Including how he came to be intimate with the woman. Was she the reason he never sought partners? If he’d pledged himself to a Drakhmore, he had no business promising Ani three days of pleasure.

  Dammit.

  A sinewy hand grabbed hers. Ani turned to see the woman perched on the next chair. Blood spattered the top of her dress, and a freshly healed wound glared pink on her shoulder. “I’m Gret.”

  “Anisette of Clan Serendipity,” she said, freeing her hand. “Are you hurt?”

  “This old thing?” She rubbed the scar. “I got shot. No big.”

  “Someone shot you?” Ani’s stomach fluttered. Tali had told her fairies had ways of dealing with human weapons, but she’d taken great pleasure in withholding further information since Ani didn’t have clearance. “Is anyone else hurt?”

  Gret waved a vague hand at the others. “They’re fine. You should see the other guys. Em didn’t even bother with globes. You’re so lucky.”

  “At this particular moment, I don’t consider myself lucky.” She considered herself confused and in over her head.

  “But you are,” Gret insisted, without a flicker of umbrage, thou
gh Embor had kissed them both. “He told us all about you.”

  Embor rested against the table, his long legs crossed, and drank straight from a bottle. “I told you she was beautiful. She’s nice too.”

  “You could do worse,” Horace said. “Or better.”

  Ani frowned. Never mind the kissing and the alcohol. Embor’s behavior was unnatural. She’d witnessed the antics of drunken humans and a few drunken fairies, and this didn’t match. Why would he overindulge in intoxicants—ever? Canoodle with women banned from Court? Delay his mission in order to celebrate?

  It wasn’t like him, was it? She didn’t really know Embor. She didn’t know about his assets, his plans or his treaty with Clan Drakhmore.

  He drank from the whiskey bottle almost reflexively. Licking a droplet off his bottom lip, he offered her the beverage. “Join us.”

  “No, thank you.” She pushed it away.

  “Drink, drink, drink!” everyone at the table chanted.

  Embor rubbed the bottle’s mouth against her lips, his eyes hooded. The glass was moist and slick. “Open your mouth, Anisette. Celebrate with me.”

  A sip, if it would please him. Ani parted her lips, and Embor tipped the bottle between them. Harsh liquid burned her throat. She wasn’t sure she liked it.

  He stood before her, cupped her chin and tilted her face up. “Take more.”

  “I…”

  She shouldn’t have given him the opening. He slid the glass between her lips and smiled.

  Whiskey filled her mouth, overflowing down her chin. His hand secured the back of her head. The bottle hit her back teeth, cold and dangerous.

  In his loose trousers, he sported an obvious erection.

  Ani coughed and gagged, twisting out of his grasp. Her eyes watered as liquor dampened her shirt front.

  “I said no.” A little shivery, she knocked the bottle aside. “Why are you doing this?”

  He squatted and slid his hands up her arms. “Don’t you understand what this means? We can take Milshadred to Court, and it will solve everything. It’s over.”