Riding the Veil

by Claudy Conn

  She walked away from him, unsure where to go and unwilling to allow him to see the tears spill down her cheeks. She swiped at them with her fingers, furious with herself for crying. She had never even told Apollo how she felt. Never told her dearest friend Balla. It all just came gushing out of her.

  “Jacie…I swear I will make it up to you,” he said softly.

  “You can’t. Time lost is just that.”

  “Then I will make certain time going forward is better,” he said.

  “Look,” she said, turning back to him. “Forget it. It’s over, done with, I had my say, you have given me your answer. Now you have to think about leaving here and going somewhere safe.”

  Her insides caved as she said the words. She was telling him to leave. It was the right thing for both of them if he just left, she knew that, and yet her heart raged against her decision.

  “Now?” He looked surprised.

  “Well, no, not right this minute. You can bunk here on the couch for the night, but you know you can’t stay here indefinitely. ACE people might stop by.”

  His eyebrow went up. “I hadn’t planned on staying here indefinitely.”

  “Well, good,” she answered. “However, while you are here, you need a shower, boy, do you need a shower.” She pointed. “Go on…the shower is in that direction.”

  “And clothes…?” he said, and grinned. He was shirtless, but his hand motioned to his raggy pants.

  “Right…there is a men’s shop just down the block. I’ll get you what you need,” she said as she pushed him towards the shower, and closed the bathroom door.

  A moment later, she was in her huge walk-in closet, throwing on a floppy gray but comfortable jogging suit. She pulled a wool cap on and tucked her long hair inside. No need drawing attention to herself.

  Socks and sneakers on, she stuck her head into the bathroom to call, “I’ll be right back.” He opened the foggy glass door wide and stood in all his glory with the water raining wet and sleek over his beautiful naked body, and over his large and impressive man parts.

  “Okay, Jacinta,” he said, grinning broadly, she supposed at her expression and because of the gasp that escaped her lips. He had done that on purpose. Why? Wasn’t she still the little girl he said he thought of as his sister?

  She hadn’t expected this. She hadn’t even meant to look towards the shower stall, yet she had. She silently berated herself. Not only had she looked, she had stared. Her eyes traveled over his wet, dark blond, shiny hair, down his broad and tattooed chest to his flat belly. His muscles flexed—one in particular seemed to respond to her staring.

  She found it difficult to speak. “Er…uhm…right, going now…clothes…for you…and don’t call me Jacinta. I allowed it when I was young. Not young Jacinta any longer, but all grown-up Jacie,” she said on a swallow because he was not unconscious of his nakedness or of the fact that she was having a difficult time looking away from his now hard-on the size of Texas.

  “So you are, quite grown up,” he answered quietly.

  Their eyes met in a lockdown that sent a blaze of heat through her system and reminded her that she should go.

  She turned and hurriedly left him at her back, and because of her excellent hearing, she heard his chuckling even as she walked hurriedly out her door.

  Alone in the elevator, she decided speed was necessary, so she shifted into the crowded men’s store, startling a man she bumped into when she stepped out of the shift. He eyed her strangely. She excused herself, what else could she do?

  She did a tour of the aisles as she searched for what she guessed would be Retaal’s size and collected clothes, socks, and underwear, paid for them and moved onto the street, raced her way past humans too busy trying to get where they were going to notice her and shifted back to her apartment.

  Retaal was out of the shower and drying his naked self in the middle of her living room.

  Burn, baby, burn, her libido screamed in her head and then added, forget everything he did or didn’t do, this guy is hot and you should try him on for size.

  She chastised herself. She wasn’t going there, not with Retaal. Oh no, she knew better. She couldn’t let her heart open up to him, and what the hell was he doing? Just why was he drying himself in the open, knowing she would walk in on him?

  She stopped short as a gasp escaped her throat and turned sharply to give him her back. “I don’t think brothers should stand naked in front of their sisters!” she told him sharply.

  He laughed out loud. “I don’t think of you as a sister any longer…not even a little,” he said on a note that shot through her blood and made her tingle.

  She stomped into her bedroom and went to her bathroom where she, with a thought, incinerated his prison garb.

  Definitely needed to destroy any evidence of his presence here in her apartment, in case she had a surprise visit on the morrow by team members.

  “You can come back now,” he called after her. “All covered up.”

  She took a long breath of air, let it out and left her bedroom behind her as she stepped into her open living area, and once again was halted in her tracks.

  She hadn’t thought the clothes she had purchased for him were sexy, but EGods, the black T-shirt stretched across his torso like a second skin. The black jeans hugged his hips and long legs to perfection. His layered, gleaming dark blond hair was dreamily brushed around his handsome head, and damn, he was a God of Sex!

  Every inch of him beat a path to her most intimate girl parts and demanded she pleasure herself by mounting him immediately. No words, just action.

  Stop! She had to get control of the sudden need between her thighs.

  This was really strange, as she hadn’t thought much about sex in a very long time. Was he, like a Fae prince, radiating some kind of sexual aura? No, he wouldn’t do that. Not his style.

  Sex had become unimportant to her because of her one failed experience a couple of years ago when she was nineteen. A popular student, an Anunn had flirted with her enough to make her curious about the whole deal. Balla had encouraged her to go for it, and he had seemed worthy and hot. He also talked about his prowess and abilities in bed. Jacie had been intrigued. He had bragged about his power to please. He hadn’t.

  The entire experience, at least for her, had been lackluster and she had written sex off as overrated. Besides, she hadn’t had the time.

  She had chosen that particular male for his looks and because he was admittedly a good deal of fun. He had never elicited the sensations Retaal had drawn from her. He had never made her blood race through her body or made her feel feral as she did now looking—just looking at Retaal.

  Jacie was riveted by heat as she stared at Retaal, which had never happened to her with any other male, and this was a new sensation.

  Oh yes, she grew up totally infatuated with him, but it had not been sexual…it had been dreamy admiration. This? This was primal.

  His eyes caught and held hers. “Something wrong?” he asked with a wicked smile as he stepped up close, reached over and removed her black knit hat and dropped it onto the floor.

  Her hair came tumbling out and he helped it along through his fingers. His hands filled with her hair and he held her in place, simply staring into her eyes.

  “Do you know,” he said, his voice low and husky, “your violet eyes are riveting, and your hair…I don’t think I ever noticed how flaming beautiful it is.”

  She was frozen in place, enjoying the feel of his hands in her hair when she realized that she was in trouble. Then his whispered words set all kinds of feelings racing through her. This couldn’t happen—not with him. Her heart, when it came to Retaal, was fragile and would follow her body. She couldn’t enjoy a toss with him in bed…Cumas did that without love, but she wasn’t a Cuma, and she knew she would never recover from the experience.

  He had an odd look on his face, as though he were reading her mind. She knew he couldn’t. Oh, he had the ability, and could do so with most humans, e
ven with some demigods, but never with her. She was an immortal who had built up barriers in her brain to prevent such an intrusion.

  Even so, even as she reassured herself that he could not read her mind, she eyed him doubtfully because of the way he was looking at her.

  “No,” he interrupted her thoughts. “Don’t look so worried. I can’t penetrate your mind, haven’t been able to for years and years. You have a very solid wall built in there.”

  “Good…” she said.

  “Your expressions…your eyes give away so much, Jacie, don’t you know that?”

  “I’ll have to master a poker face for the future,” she said. She gazed down at his bare feet, as he hadn’t put on his new socks or the old boots he had arrived in.

  “Yes, I am staying the night,” he said, once again reading her. “You know, Jacinta, I must be allowed to compliment you. You have a good eye, really good. You got my style and size exactly right.”

  She wanted to tell him again that he was no longer allowed the privilege of using her full name, but decided to let it go.

  “So you aren’t heading out now to meet your team?” she asked, trying not to show much interest in his answer.

  “I will meet up with them, but not tonight. Since I have your permission to occupy the couch…thought I would, but only after we spend some time bringing each other up to date,” he answered.

  “Oh, does that mean I tell you everything I did the whole time you were away, but you tell me nothing?”

  He laughed. “No, it does not. We will share information, your life experiences…and I will tell you anything you want to know.”

  “Anything?” she asked, and then because the words were out before she could stop them, “like…even…?”

  He flicked her nose. “Even what, Jacie?”

  She smiled, forgetting for a moment that she had not yet forgiven him. She put aside the questions she wanted answered, like was he in love, did he have a woman? Why should she care?

  “Right, like are you strong enough to portal out of here if we have unexpected company?”

  “I am now and I can portal or shift. I save doing the portal for when I am taking along company on the trip,” he said. “Have you changed your mind, Jacie…do you want me gone?”

  “No, I want you safe. What I mean is I want the mission safe.”

  “I would never put it or you in jeopardy,” he answered.

  “Have you heard back from your father?” She changed the subject.

  “Not yet…I believe he is annoyed with me for questioning his judgment regarding you.”

  “Oh, I am sorry for that. Look, you must be exhausted,” Jacie said, thinking all at once that she was keeping him awake. She started to turn away and head for her bedroom.

  He was on her, undeterred by her cool aloofness as he embraced her, and then with one finger lifted her chin so they were face to face. She was uncomfortably aware of his touch and of the fact that she had to strain her neck to look up at him.

  She pushed out of his hold and didn’t quite meet his eyes.

  He sighed heavily and said ruefully, “I see I have quite a bit of repairing to accomplish with you, little one. No, you aren’t keeping me from sleep. At the moment, it is the last thing I want to do. All I want is for you to come…” he pointed to the sofa, “sit with me and talk…do stay, Jacie, please.”

  She inclined her head and sat on the sofa, her knees tucked under her as she pushed into the corner. “That was prettily done, Ret. You must have quite a line of women hanging on your very accomplished style.”

  He laughed. “You have a very odd idea of who I am.”

  “Right, forget I said that. You want to talk, but I am not sure how to do that. How do we start? I don’t know how to start,” Jacie said in earnest.

  “I will start then…” He began by telling her what he encountered week after week, month after month, and how he dealt with the humans in his efforts to know them and understand their fears and feelings about the supernatural population. Most of the humans, he told her, didn’t think of supernaturals as ‘really’ existing and had not given the subject much thought. The humans he talked to were shocked that supernaturals were actually being hunted and imprisoned, though others, he admitted, were okay with it, as fear came into play.

  “I took a job as a professor at NYU. My blood test wasn’t an issue because of my father’s serum. The students and faculty saw me as a human—one of them, and it was easy to get on the subjects I wanted to discuss in and out of class.”

  “Excellent,” Jacie said.

  “No, I was shut down. The university didn’t like the philosophy I was promoting. They said I was indoctrinating the students with information that had not been verified. I had what they call tenure and could not be fired without cause, so they trumped up a list of offenses and dismissed me.”

  “You see what I mean? I am sure one of Crawly’s spies found out, probably even by accident, what you were talking about in class and sent the administration to stop you. Retaal, I believe it is impossible to get through to the humans, at least in any numbers that count,” Jacie threw back at him ruefully.

  “No one ever thought it would be easy. At any rate, I used my dismissal as a story for the NY Times and bam, just as I hoped, members of the ACE unit arrived at my apartment and interrogated me. Then two months ago I made certain they found me with a group of students on campus grounds…as I loudly protested the Crawly militia.”

  “What happened then?”

  “Surprisingly, arresting me in front of so many students drew them to our cause. Fortunately, I had managed some popularity with my students over the years and as they don’t know about the inner workings of the secretive militia, they weren’t frightened. I imagine they went through with their protest in the wake of my arrest.”

  “Hmmm,” Jacie murmured thoughtfully.

  He grimaced. “Indeed, I should not have gone through with my plan until I knew how they were controlling the supernaturals in the Dank.”

  “Yeah, the oxygen thing. I never saw that coming,” Jacie agreed. And then out of nowhere, “What about a personal life? Did you have one?”

  His smile moved into a smirk. His eyes glittered with amusement. “What are you asking, Jacie? How many times I bedded a woman?” One of his brows was well up.

  She snorted and her cheeks felt hot. She was sure she was blushing and waved this off as ludicrous with almost a violent hand motion. “No, of course not. I wasn’t talking about sex…I meant, did you play tennis, go skiing…interact with humans on a one on one basis, that was all I was asking.”

  “Ah, of course,” he said. “And you, if I tell you my personal business, you have to tell me yours.”

  “Right, of course,” she said, and studied her fingers.

  “Yes, my team and I did mingle with humans and each other. Yes, I dated. No, I was never serious. The mission always came first,” he said quietly. “Now you, Jacinta. What have you been up to?”

  “Finished my education, continued training as a soldier…dances…practiced magic spells with Apollo, took Topsy on long walks.”

  “Ah Topsy. I suppose he is in Apollo’s care now,” he said with a grin.

  “Yes.” Jacie laughed. “It is a good thing Topsy doesn’t need too much attention from Apollo. He’ll get it from the children on the island.”

  “And a boyfriend?” he asked on a soft note.

  “A boyfriend?” She snorted. “Do you mean, did I date? Not much.”

  “No one special?”

  “No…though I had one not very special introduction…” Her voice trailed off as she felt her cheeks flame up. Why had she told him that? She had fallen into the old habit of simply speaking freely with Retaal, as she always had in the past.

  He frowned. “Did he force you? Who was it? I will have his blood!”

  She laughed. “No, he didn’t force me. He was always flirting with me, and I thought he looked like he would know what he was doing. As it turned
out, he didn’t, and it turned me off to the whole sex thing.”

  Retaal burst out laughing.

  She frowned at him and wagged a finger. “It isn’t nice to laugh at someone who is trying to be honest.”

  “You are quite right. What about your partner…Dog? Have you an interest there?”

  She smiled. “Dog? He said you and he had only met briefly years and years ago…”

  “Indeed, so we did. I saw him with you in the Dank. He seemed…er…protective of you, but no, we only had a passing acquaintance. I take it you have an affection for him?”

  “I adore him. He was on Devos quite a great deal when you were gone and we formed a wonderful friendship. He is my partner.”

  He eyed her. “In all things?”

  She eyed him. “No, the wolf and I are not romantically inclined, and besides that, he has a mate.”

  Retaal said nothing to this and asked instead, “So, this person you…er…were involved with on Devos. He left you thinking there is nothing earth shattering about…sex?” His silver eyes twinkled.

  Jacie stiffened. He was making fun of her and that wasn’t right. She frowned and was about to dress him down when she curbed her temper and instead decided to answer his question. “Oh, as to that, he certainly was a good kisser. That is what led me to think he might be good at…well. You see, I have kissed a few males in my time, and he was the best kisser of them all and the best looking, but…” Why was she telling him all this? She had never told anyone other than her best friend, Balla, about her intimate dealings with the opposite sex.

  All at once, and without warning, he had her in his arms.

  What was happening? What was he doing?

  His lips covered and parted her lips, his tongue found its path to hers, and all other thoughts were suspended, all logic went into a hodgepodge of mush.

  An explosion of scents and flavors filled her mouth, as though she were sucking on her favorite chocolate but better, so much better, and she had no will whatsoever to stop him.