by Sonya Clark
Vadim came to a halt, arrested by the sight of her. Her beauty was such a delicate thing, all porcelain skin and full lips and fine-boned facial structure. She would have looked like a doll if not for her fierce nature shining through. Her beauty would draw any man but it was the fierceness he found irresistible.
She turned her gaze on him and he knew he was about to get some of that intensity at full blast.
“Where were you last night?” The cool tone of her voice didn’t match the heat in her eyes. He’d learned to go by her eyes.
“Busy. Things to do and all. You know how it is.”
“Something more important than my lessons?” Her voice wobbled the tiniest fraction. She looked away quickly then back at him. “We did have an arrangement, after all.”
Tension eased out of him, replaced with something she might call arrogance but he liked to think of as confidence. “Yeah, about that.” He strode to the end table and refilled the wineglass, taking a long drink.
“I suppose you were probably busy dealing with the kids that came up here and pranked the neighborhood with magic.” Her lips twitched in a brief, sardonic grin. “There were nutcrackers roaming the streets for hours. Unfortunately, well, you can imagine how that stunt is going over with some.”
Vadim curled his lip, glaring at the wine. “Got anything stronger?” He held up the glass.
She took it from him. “No. I thought you were going to keep those kids from doing magic outside the zone anymore. Especially knowing about the ordinance. There’s talk of it coming up for a vote soon after the council goes back to work after the holiday recess.”
He picked up the bottle and crossed in front of her to sit on the other end of the sofa. “It wasn’t kids.”
“With everything going on, what happened with the rations...” She shoved the blanket aside and moved her feet to the floor. “How could anyone be dumb enough to do something like that?”
Confidence evaporating at alarming speed, he chugged from the bottle and reached for bluster. “It’s hardly your concern. Your vote’s already locked up.” He chuckled. “And you’re not. So don’t sweat it.”
“I’m going to do my best to get out of voting for it. You know that.”
Vadim said nothing, staring at the sapphire polish on her toes. “You and I both know how this is going to play out.” Second thoughts about using her in the ID-badge heist shouted in his head. They could manage without her. Walk away now, he told himself. Get up and don’t come back.
Lizzie reached for his hand, twining her fingers with his. “I don’t want to do it.”
He set the bottle on the floor and squeezed her hand gently. “I know. We don’t always get what we want.”
“What do you want, Vadim?”
“This thing’s gonna pass. Jennings will make sure of it.”
She slid to the floor and knelt between his knees, her hands on his thighs and her face inches from his. “What do you want, Vadim?”
He traced the curve of her cheek with one finger. “Every second I can have with you until I get locked up inside FreakTown for good.” Such naked honesty hurt, but the words were out before he could talk himself out of saying them.
“Then don’t leave me alone at night again,” she whispered. Her lips brushed his, soft and sweet.
Vadim stood, pulled her up with him. He grabbed her hand and led her to the hall. “Then let’s not waste any more time.”
Chapter Nineteen
They tumbled into the bedroom, tugging at each other’s clothes as he chased her mouth with his. Lizzie ducked out of his arms and untangled herself from her sweater, letting it fall to the floor. He shrugged out of his coat and reached for her. Laughing, she hopped away.
“Let me show you what I did last night while you were busy.” She rolled her eyes on the last word and took up position in the center of the room.
A delightfully lewd grin creased his face. “My, my. This sounds promising.”
“Get your mind out of the gutter.” She took a deep breath to center herself then began to focus, just like she’d practiced for hours the previous night.
“Too late, sweetheart. My mind’s been in the gutter so long, it would go into shock if I tried to mend my wicked ways now.” He strode toward her but left her some space. His tone softened, he said, “What’s up your sleeve, Red?”
The room was shrouded in darkness. She’d practiced this with several different colors but now she wanted one in particular: an electric shade of blue she recalled him mentioning as his favorite. One by one, witchlight flowers bloomed in the air. Delicate petals opened out from a soft yellow-gold center. A small garden ringed the room, providing the perfect amount of illumination. A feeling of rightness filled Lizzie. She didn’t want to think about it at the moment, but she knew that feeling came from welcoming the magic instead of fighting it as she’d done for so long. She smiled, hopeful he was pleased. Wanting to please another person was another new feeling for her, and another one she didn’t want to dwell on too much.
Being so happy at his return, that he wanted her still—it didn’t bear thinking about but she would gladly revel in it for the night.
Vadim turned slowly in a full circle, stone-faced and silent. Lizzie’s pride in her accomplishment faltered for a moment, but there was no reason for him to be upset. She’d done nothing wrong. Impatient for a response, any response, she said, “I can change the color. I worked on that too.”
He faced her. “I like this just fine.” His voice had taken on a husky timbre that sent shivers through her. It was all she could do not to rush back into his arms. They had all night, though they might not have many nights.
Instead she walked to the small stereo panel in the wall by the door. She raised her hand to touch the controls but he stilled her hand with his. He’d gotten behind her before she realized he’d moved. “I thought you’d like some music.”
“I would.” He stepped closer, pressing himself to her back. He circled one arm around her waist and nuzzled her neck. “I want you to try something.”
Excitement sent her heart knocking in her chest. It made her think of the deep bass that permeated the dance floor at Sinsuality. “Magic?”
“Your magical energy interacts with the electrical energy around you. Have you ever given that much thought?”
Memories flooded her, bunching muscles into tense knots. She forced herself to relax, leaning against Vadim. “When I was little I used to short things out sometimes. I fried more than one tablet. Messed up the settings on my mother’s cell phone many times.” She let the memories come and didn’t shrink from them. Instead she looked them over carefully, as if seeing some of the details for the first time. “It scared them but I don’t think I understood why at the time. I thought it was more about keeping my status hidden. I just did everything I could to suppress it.”
“So few Normals really understand magic. They thought it was nature-based so putting us in urban reservations should have diluted our power, right?” He chuckled. “I don’t know if some of the Magic Born were already changing before we were moved to the zones. My guess is yes. My theory has always been that magic responds to its environment and vice versa.”
He moved his hand to the side of hers, palm facing the stereo panel. A rush of magic vibrated in her awareness. The tiny power-indicator light flashed on the panel then stayed on, music coming out in a jumble as if he was jumping through the archive to find a song he liked. It settled on something midtempo with a hypnotic, circular rhythm. He let it play for nearly a full minute while he planted soft kisses on the column of her neck. She craned her head to give him more access, heat fanning out under the skin his lips touched to spread through her body.
When the music stopped, she said, “How do I do it?”
“Same way you do the witchlight. Reach out and take it.�
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“It’s not really that simple.”
“No.” He nibbled her earlobe and she nearly called an end to the conversation right there. “Working with electricity takes more out of you. More energy, more control. I want you to try turning the stereo on but we’re not spending all night on this.” He trailed his hand up from her midsection to the V of her blouse, skating his fingertips lightly over sensitive skin. “I have much better things in mind.”
She pushed his hand away. “Let me concentrate. And tell me what I need to do.”
“Creating witchlight calls for reaching inside of yourself.” He pointed at the stereo panel. “This type of magic needs you to connect with energy from the outside. You know what your own energy feels like. I’ll keep a lid on mine. Try to feel what else is out there.”
Lizzie closed her eyes, trying to shut him and everything else out. The press of his body against hers made it difficult. He must have guessed as much because he put a few inches between them and kept his hands to himself. There was nothing but the starbursts behind her eyes for several minutes and she almost gave up. Just a little more time, she decided. She wanted to do this. Wanted it badly.
Something tripped across her senses. She reached for it, having to chase it down. Once she zeroed in on it, she was able to make sense of it. It flowed like water, rivers and streams in all directions of different widths and speeds. It crackled and popped, shining a bright white in her mind’s eye. For a moment she quavered, every childhood warning about live wires and every strange incident that left her mother shaking and scared threatening to shut her down. She swallowed her hesitation and pressed forward, reaching for the energy.
A sensation akin to the snap of a rubber band reverberated through her. It happened again, this time with an added sizzling buzz that trailed in its wake. The electric energy was shocking her. That made Lizzie mad, so she did the same thing she did with witchlight. She told it what to do with a push of her will. It eased to a quiet white noise.
Somewhere in all that noise was the stereo. She experimented to see if she could find it by feel. Lights flickered and the environmental controls fluctuated. She bit her lip, reaching for an unaccustomed patience. Slowing her search paid off as energy pinged against her awareness—a rhythm she would recognize on any dance floor in the city. She fine-tuned her focus and told that energy what to do.
Music, the same song Vadim had chosen, filled the room. Triumphant, Lizzie whirled and grabbed Vadim by the lapels, pulling him into a deep kiss. “I did it!”
“You did.” He made short work of the buttons on his shirt, then began to undo hers. “Now let’s move on to the celebratory part.”
“I’ve thought a lot about the first time, and what we talked about later. I did like it.” She halted to take a breath. “The spanking. And the bondage. All of it. Letting someone else have that kind of control over me, that’s not something I do.” She placed her hands on either side of his face, looking into the darkness of his eyes. “But I liked it with you.”
“I know you did,” he said, hands stroking her hair and back. “Still not sure we need a repeat of the spanking anytime soon.”
She licked her lips and did her best to maintain eye contact. “You think I allowed it for the wrong reasons.”
“I think there’s a big difference between liking a little pain to sweeten the pleasure and harming yourself. I just think that you should have a better handle on the latter before we go exploring the former any more. That’s all.”
She looked away, wanting to run. He’d already seen her at her worst, though, so what did it matter if he saw the shame too?
“Look, I’m not saying you’re going to be perfect overnight. You may never get rid of the impulse completely. It’s been a part of you for too long. But I think you can learn to block it or work around it. You just have to train yourself to listen to other impulses.” He shook her gently and tipped her face to meet his eyes again. “Hey. You can do this. If you can learn magic, you can do this. Hell, learning magic is probably the best thing you can do to get it under control.”
“Okay,” she said. “Fair enough.” She searched for a way to cover her embarrassment. Bad humor seemed easier than trying to summon the wherewithal to be sexy. “You’re just not in the mood for kinky tonight. Admit it.” Her fake laugh died quickly.
“I’m always in the mood for kinky. In fact, I’ve got a really good idea for what you can do for me tonight.” He kissed her, pushing his tongue into her mouth with a forcefulness that left no room for anything but desire.
Lizzie molded her body to his, wanting everything he would give her. She made a noise of protest when he stepped away. Confused, she watched as he moved the overstuffed chair directly opposite the bed and sat.
She said, “What are you doing?”
His lips curved ever so slightly. “It occurred to me you got a show the last time we saw each other. I think it’s only fair I get one this time.”
“Just what kind of show did you have in mind?” Delicious anticipation heated her skin. If he wanted a show, she’d give him one to remember.
“A nice striptease will do for starters.”
For starters? The remark was a reminder that for all her bravado and experience, Vadim existed on an edge even she’d never attempted. If he wanted to take her there, she would go. She didn’t understand how letting someone else take the lead could make her feel more free than she ever had, but for now she’d rather experience it than analyze it.
She tilted her head up, raising an eyebrow and putting some of the same challenge in her eyes as she had the first time they met. Half the buttons of her shirt were undone. She spread the gap of material just enough to tease, then took her time with the rest of the buttons. His eyes on her, he gestured at the stereo panel and changed the music to something with a slower beat.
He said nothing. He didn’t need to; the directive was in his face. Lizzie smiled briefly, trying to work out how to get her slacks off and maintain the mood. A slow shimmy did it, with her back to him as she looked over one shoulder. She swung around to face him, the blouse gaping open to reveal her purple lace bra and black panties.
The song’s slow, slinky rhythm filled the room. Lizzie felt it in her hips first, moving them from side to side in time. It spread through her body, just like the music always did, whether it was upbeat dance music or a hypnotic trance like this. Her legs and arms joined with the rhythm, and her hands tunneled through her hair.
Vadim remained seated. Lizzie made her way to him, her body rolling and swaying with the song. Expressionless, he never took his eyes off her. She danced around his chair before stopping in front of him, one hand falling to his shoulder. Meeting his eyes, she raised her other arm in the air and dropped suddenly, bottom skimming the carpet, knees bent and legs wide open. She rocked back and forth a few times before rising just as suddenly, turning her back to him.
Glancing over her shoulder with a grin, she said, “How are you liking your show so far?”
His eyes followed the side-to-side motion of her ass. “Very nice. If a bit tame.”
“Tame,” she said with mock indignation. “Clearly I need to work harder.”
Holding her hair up, she backed up against him. He jerked slightly when her ass came in contact with his knees, but made no move to stand or stop her.
Lizzie sat in his lap, wriggling her bottom in time to the music. She let her hair fall across his shoulders and chest, then leaned against him. The heat burning her skin ticked up a few degrees with the physical contact. She closed her eyes and draped herself across him for a long moment, barely moving. The barest touch of his fingertips on her arm sent her arousal into overdrive. Shivering, she grabbed the arms of the chair and lifted herself, working her ass from his crotch to his knees in tight spirals.
She turned around to straddle him, grabbing his shoulder
s and pulling herself closer to him. His own arousal was now very evident as she moved against him. She pushed his shirt out of the way, fanning her hands across his chest, their eyes locked together.
She gripped the outside of his lap with her legs to hold herself steady, raised her arms and leaned back until she was draped across his thighs. Her hair brushed the floor as she continued to move in a slow, sensuous rhythm. Eyes closed, she felt his hand at the hollow of her throat and bit her lip in surprise. It took effort to maintain control. Slowly, so slowly, he moved his hand down her body. From her collarbone to one breast, cupping it, his thumb brushing over the nipple through the thin lace of her bra. Farther down, across her abdomen to the waistband of her panties. His hand rested on her warm center for a moment before continuing on to her thigh.
He pulled her up and she rested her hands on either side of his neck. One hand on the small of her back and the other twisting in her hair, he drew her into a volcanic kiss. Powerful need created an ache inside, so intense it verged on pain. Tired of playing, she reached down to unfasten his pants. She couldn’t quite get coordinated enough to deal with the belt and zipper and with a frustrated growl she plunged her hand lower, grasping his throbbing cock through the material.
She was rewarded with a deep, growling moan. He broke the kiss, meeting her eyes. With just enough room between them she was able to get his belt and zipper open, then dip her hand inside his pants. Another moan escaped his lips as her hand wrapped around the shaft of his cock, fingertips brushing his balls. Grasping him tight, she drew her hand up to the head, circling it with her thumb.
“Is this still too tame for you?” She worked her hand up and down with torturous slowness.
He leaned his head back. “You’re definitely taking this in the right direction.”
Lizzie scraped her teeth over his Adam’s apple. “If you have some ideas of your own, do share.”
