Finding Cupid

by Daisy Dexter Dobbs

  “Right,” she said around Dake’s finger. “But I wasn’t going to say anything about the woman part, I was going to ask about the oddly peculiar part.”

  “What I mean,” Dake explained, “is that one minute you’re all wide-eyed, innocent and helpless and the next you’re sounding just like a professor giving a lecture.”

  “I’m sorry. I can’t help it.”

  Laughing again, Dake began painting her butt with chocolate. “Sweetheart, there’s not a damn thing for you to be sorry about. On the contrary, I find you to be the sweetest, sexiest, most intriguing female of any species I’ve ever encountered.” He licked the chocolate from one of her ass cheeks.

  “Hey, you haven’t finished painting my ass,” Lula objected.

  “I’m a very impatient caveman,” Dake answered.

  Chapter Ten

  “Why is he crying?” Lula whispered to Zeb.

  “Alfred’s always crying about something or other,” Dake said through a sneer. “The sky is blue, Alfred. Boo-hoo-hoo.” He gave a dismissive wave.

  “Bad breakup,” Zeb replied, ignoring his brother’s snide remark. “Alfred and Leonard had been a couple for almost two years. Last night, Alfred got home to find Leonard had just left. No note, nothing. I’m sorry to let you down, darling, but I’m afraid I need to be here at the shop until Alfred can compose himself enough to handle customers.”

  “I understand perfectly,” Lula said, smoothing her hand over Zeb’s shoulder. “Dake will contact you on the phone if we find Cupid so you can come say goodbye.”

  “Yeah, and get your brain freeze,” Dake added with a roll of the eyes. Drop-jawed, Lula gave him a wounded, surprised look. Damn. Dake had promised her he wouldn’t tell Zeb about the memory zapping thing. He shrugged an apology.

  “Dakin, you’ve been in a shitty mood all morning,” Zeb said. “And now you’re jabbering nonsense. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you had PMS.”

  “Ha-ha, very funny.”

  Arms crossed over his chest, Zeb eyed him with that I-can-see-right-through-you look of his. Dake hated that look. It meant Zeb was getting ready to probe with a list of touchy-feely questions.

  “You’re suffering from pre-separation anxiety, aren’t you?” Zeb asked.

  “Pre what?” Dake coughed a laugh. “Zeb, that is such bullshit.”

  “You may as well admit it, Dakin. It’s written all over you.”

  “Mind your own beeswax, bro,” Dake warned. “I don’t have time to play twenty questions with you. I’ve got to help Lula find Cu—” Dake hesitated, glancing first at Alfred who, although still sobbing, clearly had his ears perked, and then at the couple of customers in the shop. “To find her teacher,” he finished. “Come on, Lula.” Dake clasped her arm.

  “I know he doesn’t mean to be so harsh, Zebulon,” Lula said, stroking Dake’s hand and patting it. “He’s having a hard time.”

  Dake hissed an exasperated sigh. “I am not having a hard time with anything,” he protested, well aware that it was a lie. “I’m just tired, that’s all.”

  “It’s no wonder after all the amazing sex we had last night,” Lula said matter-of-factly, only to have Dake shush her.

  “Ahhh, I see,” Zeb offered with a twinkle in his eye. “Well, in that case, make sure you stop and get yourself a strong cup of coffee, Dakin, so you’re not being a bear to poor Lula on her last day here with us.”

  Last day here… The words grated on Dake’s mind like fingernails on a chalkboard. Why the hell was he having such a hard time with the idea of Lula leaving? After all, he was the one who usually initiated the end of an affair, fully enjoying the return of his freedom and looking forward to the next sexual conquest. But Lula was different. She was special. She was—

  Steeling his expression, he stiffened, shoving all such thoughts of Lula from his mind as he hauled her to the door of Zeb’s shop. Dammit, he’d never been a sap over some woman before and he wasn’t about to start now.

  “Jesus, I thought we’d never get out of there,” he said as soon as they exited the shop.

  “It’s okay, Dake. I understand,” Lula said as they headed off in the opposite direction they’d taken yesterday.

  “Understand what?” he said, setting a brisk pace.

  Yanking on his shirt sleeve, Lula pulled him to a stop. She was so damn beautiful, it almost hurt to look at her as she smoothed her fingers across his jaw. Giving him a soft, sweet, angelic smile he probably didn’t deserve, she said, “I understand that you’re upset because I’ll be leaving soon.”

  Shit. Was there some neon sign flashing I’m a sap over his head or something? “Look, I’m not upset, Lula. I mean, sure, it’s too bad that our time together is coming to an end, but, hey, we had some great times together, right? It was a hell of a lot of fun. And the sex was hot. I mean really hot. What more could we ask for, huh?”

  Winking, he chucked her chin with his knuckle and started walking again. “Besides, we’ll probably see each other again in the future.”

  “No.” Keeping pace with him, Lula shook her head. “Once I leave Earth, I won’t be permitted to interact with you again on future visits. It would be too painful for both of us. I must allow you to get on with your life and find someone else.”

  Damn. Dake didn’t want to hear this. He was half tempted to slap his hands over his ears and go la-la-la the way kids do when they don’t want to listen.

  Last night, the sex was awesome. It couldn’t have been better. Practically all night long they rolled around in that chocolate mess, enjoying the hell out of each other. The night was capped off with a perfect round of in-flight sex as Lula lifted them off the plastic sheet and up to the mirrored ceiling where they twirled around slowly. While Dake fucked her sweetly, they got a close-up, bird’s-eye view of flesh meeting flesh.

  And now she had to go spoil everything with talk about them never seeing each other again—and him finding somebody else.

  “Hey, cheer up,” he said with forced bravado. “We’ve got all night tonight, sweetheart. Me, you, those wings of yours…we’ll have a great time.”

  “Not if I find Cupid and my classmates today,” Lula said. “Once I find them, we must say goodbye, Dake. Forever.”

  Dake looked over and saw her chin tremble. It made him want to grab her close, whispering in her ear that everything would be all right, that they’d be together forever. Forever? Jesus, he was losing his mind. Just to be safe, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and kept walking.

  A fat tear coursed down her cheek. “By gods, leaving you will be the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I have come to…to care deeply for you, Dake.”

  Whoa. Okay, it actually hurt to hear those words coming out of her mouth. Like a stomach punch where the aftereffects just kept on churning deep in the gut. Maybe it hurt so bad because she was voicing the same feelings he had going on inside. Feelings. Damn, there was that word again. Zeb’s favorite word. Dake suddenly found himself crossing over into new territory and he didn’t like it in Touchy-Feely Land one single bit.

  Slowing his pace, he smoothed his thumb across Lula’s cheek, wiping away her tear. Touching her was a big mistake. It opened the floodgates of his emotions. He might never see Lula again. Never hold her close. Never see that firestorm of ecstasy in her eyes at the moment he brought her to orgasm—at the moment her wings spread and she sang out in joy. The realization struck him deep in his gut like a hot knife twisting away at his insides.

  Words escaped him as Lula took a deep breath and swiped the tears from her eyes.

  “Sorry. I’m better now,” she said with a bright smile—a counterfeit smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I didn’t mean to get overemotional.”

  Dake knew he should have said something back to her, telling her he cared for her too, but he didn’t say a word. No, he just kept walking alongside her like a big dumb cluck, because if he opened his mouth, he knew damn well he’d find himself saying something stupid. Something he’d be sorry f
or later. Like telling her he wanted her to stay with him. Always.

  And that was just plain fucking nuts. Hell, he’d arranged his bachelor life just right. No ties, no sticky relationships. Just plenty of casual fun with lots of different women—none of whom he’d ever slept all night with, besides Lula.

  He had a rule about sleepovers. No waking up in the morning with some babe at his side, no matter how hot she might be. It made things too messy. They started getting all needy and clingy then—getting ideas about love and marriage and babies and houses with white picket fences and all that crap.

  Free and clear, that’s the life Dake wanted. Hell, he was only thirty-eight—not even forty years old yet. Maybe he’d settle down when he was sixty, but now? Uh-uh. No way. No messy romantic entanglements for him.

  Then why in the hell did his insides feel like they were being tortured with a red-hot poker right now?

  He’d only known Lula for a couple of days. Okay, yeah, they were amazing days and the most astounding nights of his life. But aside from that, there was just something about her—apart from the wings and the flying orgasm thing they did together. He glanced over at her, walking alongside him with a bounce to her step as she scouted out the area, hoping to find Cupid.

  Lula caught him gazing at her and held out her hand. Extracting his hand from his pocket, he took her hand and she smiled, gently swinging their arms as they walked. Why in the hell that simple act made his cock swell he had no idea, but it did.

  “The weather couldn’t be more perfect for our search today,” Lula said. “The sky is blue, the sun is shining, the flowers are blooming and it seems everyone is outdoors enjoying it.”

  “Yeah, it’s a nice day.” Frankly, Dake hadn’t even noticed. All he was interested in was Lula.

  She was all in blue today. When they went shopping, Zeb had picked out a long-sleeved blue silk blouse that matched the deep blue of Lula’s eyes. The jeans were a lighter blue and hugged her luscious curves to perfection. It was a regular, everyday kind of casual outfit, nothing particularly sexy or provocative about it—except on Lula.

  She looked sexier in that getup than most women did nude, and Dake should know because he’d seen plenty of naked babes.

  Lula was extraordinary. Unique. Fascinating. It was like she’d become a part of him somehow and if she disappeared from his life, a portion of his soul would be ripped out and the gaping hole would never heal.

  Nah. That was just more crazy talk. Touchy-feely stuff. Dake decided it was due to the aftereffects of all that phenomenal sex they’d had, that’s all. It simply wasn’t possible to fall in love with someone you’d known for less than a week.

  Love? Jesus, did that word really just flit across his mind as if it was something he tossed around every day? Whoa! He had to get a grip. A few bouts of in-flight sex and he was thinking like a guy who’s ready to make a commitment.

  He glanced at Lula again, zeroing in on her breasts straining against the silk and the way they jiggled a bit with each step. His cock throbbed hard against his fly as he watched her. He itched to drag her into an alley, slam her against a wall, rip that shirt off her and suck those jiggly tits as he fucked her senseless.

  Christ, he was morphing into some kind of a testosterone-driven animal. A sex-crazed beast.

  Nope, uh-uh. This was no good. The sooner they could locate Cupid and Lula’s classmates, the better. A quick hug, a chaste goodbye peck on the lips, a smiley adios and he’d be outta there, on his way back to the perfect bachelor’s existence he’d worked so hard to create for himself. Yeah, maybe that brain freeze forgetfulness thing they’d do to him was for the best after all.

  “Oh dear gods, did you see that?”

  Lula’s voice snapped Dake back to the present. “What?” He looked around, not seeing anything special. “Did you see Cupid or one of your classmates?”

  “No…” she said absently. “Excuse me for a moment, Dake.”

  Before he had a chance to say anything, Lula disengaged her hand from his and skipped over to the bus stop across the street. She stood there speaking to a guy in a suit who was too damned good-looking for Dake’s comfort. What the fuck? was the first thing that crossed Dake’s mind. And the second.

  “What’s going on?” Dake asked, with a territorial slip of his arm around Lula’s waist when he reached her. As Lula continued to speak to the guy, she raised her hand like a crossing guard in answer to Dake’s question. That, along with a shushing sound, was all she offered Dake. Well, that was real reassuring.

  “Yes, right there,” Lula said to the thirty-ish man. “The one dressed in red and black.” Both Dake and the guy Lula was talking to followed her gesture until Dake spotted an attractive young woman across the street waiting for the bus going in the other direction. “Trust me,” she told the guy. “She is your intended. Your soul mate.”

  “Come on, that’s nuts,” the guy said, appreciatively eyeing the shapely brunette at the bus stop. “Ridiculous. How would you possibly know something like that?”

  “Because I’m a nym…um…because I’m psychic! Yes, that’s it. I’m extremely psychic,” Lula said and Dake groaned. Poor little thing was a terrible liar. “Now hurry, go to her before her bus comes. You must prevent her from getting on.”

  “What? I can’t just walk up to a stranger and tell her not to get on the bus. She’ll think I’m an idiot,” the guy said, never taking his gaze from the brunette across the street. “Is this a joke or something? Like one of those hidden camera things you see on TV?” He gazed around him then.

  “You must believe me,” Lula said, gripping the man’s arms and shaking him. “I tell you the truth. If you don’t intervene,” she warned, “she’s going to meet another man on her bus this morning and end up marrying him.”

  “But—”

  Lula sucked in a gasp. “The bus approaches! Go, quickly, before you lose your chance.”

  To Dake’s astonishment, the guy didn’t hesitate. He ran across the street, catching the brunette by the elbow just before she stepped aboard the bus.

  Lula dragged Dake a few feet to the side to get a better look at the couple. The woman looked annoyed at first, whipping her elbow from the man’s grasp, but as he spoke, her expression soon became relaxed, then pleasant and she finally smiled. The bus rolled by as he led her into the coffee shop at the corner.

  “Well, I’ll be damned,” Dake said.

  “Another perfect love match. Thank the gods.” Breathing out a sigh of relief, Lula beamed a smile at Dake. “It would have been so much easier if I’d only had my bow and arrows with me,” she told him.

  “Of course, I made a pledge to Cinnamus that I would refrain from using them until I found Cupid. Besides, it would be difficult to shoot invisible arrows at people without being cloaked in my invisibility garment or using the invisibility serum. People would probably stare at my strange actions and could possibly take it upon themselves to interfere with my mission.”

  “You’re probably right.” Dake had visions of the Portland police cuffing Lula and hauling her away for psychiatric observation. “Are those two really soul mates? I mean, how could you know something like that for sure? What if you made a mistake?”

  “Yes, they are indeed meant for each other. I’m certain of it,” she said with conviction. “You must remember that I’ve been trained, Dake. Schooled in the fine art of detecting and promoting perfect love matches,” she said, just the way a lawyer or doctor or other professional might talk about their schooling. But, of course, they wouldn’t have received their diplomas from some academy in the clouds.

  “In addition, as a nymph I am naturally inclined to detect certain pheromones.” Dake gave her a clueless look. “Pheromones are chemicals secreted externally by an organism to send information to members of the same species,” Lula clarified in the brainy professor-like voice he’d heard her use a few times before. She pointed toward the coffee shop. “Rest assured they are a perfect match.”

  “So
you can sniff out soul mates, is that what you’re saying?”

  “In a sense, yes.” Lula chuckled. “And then once I have the couple in sight, I’m able to tune in to get brief glimpses into their futures. That’s how I knew she was about to meet another man who would become her husband.”

  “So you really are psychic, then?” Dake asked, praying to God she couldn’t read the jumbled touchy-feely thoughts that had been swimming around inside his head all morning.

  “Somewhat.” Lula held her thumb and forefinger about an inch apart. “But only when I’m directly involved in a love match situation. In this case,” she explained, “I could see flashes of a dull, unhappy life for the woman if she married the other man she was about to meet on the bus. It would be a relationship devoid of true love, friendship or a sense of satisfaction.

  “But the stream of consciousness I tapped into—that’s the unbroken flow of thought and awareness of the waking mind,” she explained when Dake found himself giving her another clueless look, “showed that the couple I paired would have a rich, love-filled and very rewarding life together.”

  Dake nodded. “That’s pretty cool.”

  “More warm than cool, actually,” Lula said, interpreting his question literally. Dake stifled a rising chuckle as she went on. “I would liken the thought waves emanating from people as something akin to a warm, gentle summer breeze with a touch of electrical current.”

  “That’s pretty amazing,” Dake said, figuring it was a safer phrase with a clearer interpretation. “In fact, you’re pretty amazing.” He drew her close, planting a quick kiss on her lips.

  “You are too,” she said, returning the kiss. “I have not encountered many mortal men as flexible and tolerant as you, Dake.”

  “Me?” His voice came out almost in a squeak as he slapped a hand against his chest. “I think Zeb might have a thing or two to say about that.” Dake laughed.

  “Perhaps, but only in jest. He enjoys taking a ride on your back as much as you do riding on his. But, in truth, Zebulon loves you very much. And it’s clear he respects you, Dake.”