Her knee scraped hard and she landed face-down in the grass. Her glasses clattered against the sidewalk, and she heard the lens shatter. She bit her lip, but couldn’t stop the sobs that burst forth. She laid her head on her arms. Her shoulders shook with the force of her tears.
Why didn’t he leave her alone? What had she ever done to him? She knew she looked different, but so did he. While she tried to stay hidden in the shadows, Nico Bui stood out from everyone around him like a flashing neon light. She didn’t want his attention. Or did she? She couldn’t deny her fascination with him. Her latest dream of him surfaced and she moaned.
“I’ll put a hex on his butt.” Her head still down, she mumbled into the dirt, watching an ant crawl by through her fuzzy vision. She didn’t hear the footsteps on the sidewalk approach.
“Hmm, that’s not a very nice thing to do on Valentine’s Day.”
She jerked her head up, conscious her skirt had ridden up over her knees. She twisted to her side and pulled the material down, wincing at the sting of her skinned knees. She squinted.
A tall man with black hair stood over her. She felt she should know him, but knew she didn’t. Natalie eased onto her bottom and glanced around, but no one was in sight, except for the stranger dressed in black.
He held a hand out as if to help her up, but she flinched away from him. Her eyes settled on the gold ring he wore engraved with the initial L.
When she refused to take his hand, he knelt beside her, his hands hanging loosely between his knees. “Who would you put a hex on?”
She looked into black-as-night eyes. The urge to tell him her darkest secrets rose within her. When he smiled, she couldn’t resist. “I-I want to hex Nico Bui. He’s determined to ruin my life. I hate him.”
“Tsk, tsk. Hate is too strong a word for such a beautiful girl like yourself.”
Natalie looked down. Her lip quivered. She didn’t hate Nico, but he made her feel “things” -- anger, lust, frustration.
“I’m not beautiful.” Her voice sounded husky with tears, which threatened to spill again. “If I were, David would love me.”
A black eyebrow arched. “Love you?” He took her chin in his long fingers and lifted her face. “You’re but a baby. What do you know about love between a man and a woman?”
Natalie felt her cheeks flush. “I’m seventeen.” She pulled away from the man’s disturbing touch. It hadn’t been creepy. Just the opposite. She’d ... liked ... him touching her. She swallowed on that acknowledgement and shook her head. She frowned and studied the man from beneath her lashes.
He knelt closer, and his face came into focus. He reminded her of Nico. Something about the way he carried himself. The eyebrow rose again, and she knew he found her scrutiny humorous.
“I have to go home.” She pushed up, ignoring the throb in her knees. “My grandmother will be worried.”
“Ah, yes.” He nodded. When he stood, he dwarfed her by a good foot and a half. Another similarity to Nico -- tall, lean, and ... dangerous.
She shivered.
He bent and picked up the broken glasses. “I’m afraid these are no longer any good.” He handed them to her.
Natalie sighed. She and her grandmother barely made ends meet. She hated to think what a new pair of glasses would cost them.
“Contacts are a lot cheaper than glasses these days, you know.”
Natalie glanced at the man, sharply.
He gave a short nod of his head and placed his hands behind his back. “Before you go, may I offer you some Valentine’s candy?” He pulled one hand in front of him and held it palm up to her. In the center lay two heart-shaped candies wrapped in bright red foil.
Her mouth watered. No one ever gave her Valentine treats. Nona couldn’t afford the chocolate. She reached out, tempted to take what the man offered. “Which one can I have?”
“I offer you both.” He worked the candies between his fingers to hold up one. “One is light and sweet.” He worked his fingers again. “The other dark and bitter.” The candies circled and twirled between his fingers, then rested in his palm. He held them out to her.
Her mouth watered at the prospect of tasting two such different but decadent flavors. She reached toward temptation, but snatched her hand back at the last minute. She wasn’t sure, because his lips didn’t move, but she thought he said, Such a smart girl.
“I can’t accept candy from strangers, but thank you.” She glanced up to see if he might be offended. He didn’t look like the type to piss off.
He smiled. “I understand.” He turned and walked a few feet away, then stopped.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, Natalie. Try not to put any hexes on anyone.” He laughed. “And may all your heart’s desires come true.”
“Thank --” Her glasses slipped and she bent to rescue them. “-- you.” When she looked back toward the stranger, he had disappeared. She frowned. After the initial shock, she picked up her bag and started home. Ten steps later, she stopped and turned back. How had he known her name?
* * * * *
The lone figure moved within the shadows of the oak tree. He took a pull on a cigarette, then discarded it into the dewy grass with a flick of his fingers. He let the smoke filter through his nostrils into the crisp dark air as he watched the light in Natalie’s room snap off.
Her body would shine like alabaster in the moon’s light. The image of her firm muscles, rippling across her arms and legs as she danced, would be such an erotic sight with the silver beams caressing her throat and nipples like a lover.
He knew she would be perfect. He could teach her all the secrets of night magick. He sighed and looked into the darkness. Not yet. She was still too young. She needed a few more years of life’s experiences to learn what a true sorceress she could really be. He’d have to wait. He turned to the narrow street, taking solace in the chill of the night.
Chapter One
“How long you back in town for, Natalie?”
“Don’t know, Joe.” She smiled at the man behind the bar. A dirty apron covered his round stomach and a dull white cap his head. “I’m in between jobs right now.”
“You quit the fancy teaching job in New York?”
“Yeah, the Big Apple isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.” Neither are the fast city boys. But she wasn’t going to go there with the neighborhood gossip. Joe and his sons were worse than the local beauty parlor when it came to rumors. By this afternoon, the whole town would know she was back home and out of a job.
“You’re just a small town girl. Stay down here on the coast with your grandmamma.” Joe wiped an oyster knife on his apron and continued to shuck the day’s catch to serve up fresh on the half-shell, or baked with seasonings and parmesan on top.
“Hmm.” She’d heard the same advice over and over for the past two days she’d been home.
Home. She looked out the window at the sun-speckled waves of the Mississippi Sound. She had thought New York City home for the last eight years, until Rudy had ruined whatever security she had felt there with his harsh betrayal.
“Got a boyfriend, Nat?”
Natalie glanced back at Joe’s youngest son. He hadn’t changed much from high school. Black hair, brown eyes, and a gorgeous smile, like the majority of the boys she’d grown up with. Except David. The name sent a jolt of pain through her chest at the remembered unrequited love she’d carried around with her all those years ago.
With the thought of David came the even more painful thought of Nico. Over the years, she’d realized he had been the boy she had really loved. At seventeen, she hadn’t known how to show him, or tell him, with his bristly nature. The image of a stray dog, snarling at anyone who tried to be nice to him after all the malice others had shown, entered her mind.
“No, not anymore.”
“Ahh ... left the boyfriend with the city, huh?”
Damn. That’s what she got for daydreaming about Nico. Natalie smiled at Joe’s all-knowing nod, hoping that little tidbit wouldn’t be all ove
r town, too.
“Probably best. You need a man who understands where you come from, my baby.”
Joe Jr. nodded in agreement with his father.
Natalie sighed and resisted the urge to roll her gaze to the ceiling. She’d heard these words, too, over the last few days, like a broken record. She was only twenty-five, for Pete’s sake, not forty-five. She still had several more good years before she needed to worry about settling down with one man. Rudy had taught her that.
Instead, she nodded and agreed. “That’s what Nona says, too.”
“She’s a wise woman, is our Sophia.” Joe handed Natalie the bucket of oysters, then crossed himself. “God bless she knows the old ways. Saved Joe Jr.’s life when he was a baby.”
Natalie smiled, but cringed inside. Not another story!
“I remember, Joe.” She cut him off before she had to stand here another hour listening to stories she’d heard a million times. “Thanks for the oysters.”
She turned and headed out the door. The bells jingled and the outside glare blinded her on the way out. She missed the step and would’ve fallen flat on her face, except for the steely grip that saved her.
“Oh ... God.” She laughed. “Thanks, I forgot about that st--”
Brown eyes stared into hers and the strong fingers tightened around her biceps. Her heart did a flip-flop in her chest at the same time her clit twinged with excitement, like it always did.
“Hello, Braces.” The exotic, brown-eyed gaze swept over her from head to toe. “All grown up, I see.”
“N-Nico!” His name stuttered from her lips before she could stop herself. He was the last person she had expected to see. Shit. She hadn’t stuttered in seven years, now listen to her.
He smiled and released her.
Natalie took a deep breath, hoping her pulse would come back down from hyperspace speed. He scared me, that’s all. Didn’t have anything to do with the way his jeans fit like a second skin, emphasizing the healthy bulge between his hips, or the smell of warm, clean man swamping her senses. It didn’t have to do with any of that.
He reached down. His hand wrapped around hers and the handle of the bucket.
Natalie jumped in reaction to the feel of his hand over hers. Electric.
“I’ll carry that for you.”
“Uh ... weren’t you going in?” She released her grip and felt a few seconds of disappointment at the loss of his touch.
“I can come back later.”
“Oh. Then, sure.” She smiled, not sure at all. Nico Bui being nice had to be a new experience. “Thank you.”
“Welcome. Where to? Your grandmother’s?”
“Yeah, but I don’t expect you to carry that all the way there. I’m quite capable.”
A wicked look flashed in his eyes and a black eyebrow lifted with a twitch of his lips. “I bet you’re capable of quite a few things after living in New York City for so long.”
So much for nice. Natalie’s cheeks grew hot, but she refused to let him intimidate her like he used to when they were younger. She was a grown woman. Sophisticated -- he leaned closer -- and capable of handling good-looking men. “Nico --”
“Welcome home.” His mouth touched hers in a brief butterfly kiss, but the pressure inserted strong enough to make her forget what she’d been about to say.
“Umm. That’s what I like.”
“What?” Her voice squeaked, so she cleared her throat and tried again. “What do you like?”
“A woman with her mouth shut and her face dazed and confused from my lovemaking.”
“Nico?” He was unbelievable. An arrogant son of a bitch! She put her hands on her hips. The door to Joe’s opened and two local women stepped out and looked over at them. Immediately, their heads bobbed together in discussion. Natalie cringed.
Nico gave her a lazy grin and turned toward her grandmother’s house. His look asked if she was coming, or going to stand around to become fodder for the local gossipmongers.
Natalie shook her head, but followed. “You never change, do you?”
His eyebrow cocked. “How do you mean?”
“You snap your fingers and expect women to jump.”
He shrugged. “All of them but you.” He stopped. The look he gave her over his shoulder held a mixture of respect and something like sadness. “You never ran to me. Always away, even though you wanted me.” The frown disappeared. “Just like you do now.”
“Dammit, would you listen to yourself?”
His gaze narrowed. “You never cursed before.” He shook his head. “I don’t like it.”
Natalie laughed. “Tough.” She’d stopped a couple of feet behind him. Her finger pointed at him and her foot tapped the concrete. “I don’t take orders from any man.”
“Why? Did some man hurt you?”
Yeah. You, David, and Rudy. But, she didn’t say that. Instead, she shook her head.
In two steps, he stood in front of her. Natalie blinked, not sure how he’d managed to move so fast. The bucket of oysters sat on the sidewalk where he’d been seconds before. She glanced up, but only saw a blur of his face before his mouth crushed hers.
She fought against him, but a strong arm wrapped over her left arm to pin it to his body while her other arm lay trapped between them. His hands massaged the small of her back and the base of her neck. And, his mouth ... God what a mouth.
He devoured her with his tongue and teeth, nipping her bottom lip. She moaned and opened her mouth wider in surrender. His tongue slipped in to play havoc with the sensitive flesh inside. The twinge in her clit became a sharp pain, demanding release. Her panties grew damp. She clenched her thighs to ease the throb.
If she’d known he kissed like this, she would have begged him to fuck her years ago, instead of dreaming about it.
His teeth bit her bottom lip harder.
“Oww.”
He didn’t release her, but lapped the wound with his tongue. His mouth still on hers, he smiled.
“Like that, don’t you?”
“Um hmm.” She squirmed enough to get one arm free and pull him closer, but he stepped back.
“I bet, if we put it to the test, you’d like taking orders from a man.”
He’s teasing me. She pushed at his arms, embarrassed to find herself panting. Her lips tightened. He wasn’t even breathing hard.
He stepped away from her and picked up the bucket. “I’ve waited a long time to do that.”
She wanted to kick herself for enjoying his kiss, but touched her swollen lips instead. “What? Tease me again? Was it worth it?”
He grinned. “You’re wet, aren’t you?”
He didn’t wait for her response, but turned and walked down the sidewalk like he knew she’d follow.
Natalie bit her lip to stop the scream of frustration. Some things never changed. He could still make her angrier than any man she knew. If they weren’t going to her house, she’d go the other way, just to prove him wrong.
* * * * *
The oysters sat in the bucket forgotten on the counter. The sight of Natalie’s hips swishing in the tight denim skirt as she washed the dishes had his cock throbbing. The kiss they’d shared earlier hadn’t helped the situation, but he ignored it. Hell, he’d gotten good at ignoring his body’s needs for Natalie. With a small grunt, he adjusted his fly, liking the flick of his fingers down the length of his shaft.
Her hips moved once more in a gentle swaying motion, and the image of him sliding deep into her cunt forced him out of the chair. Three steps and he stood behind her, looking down on the top of her head. Her head came just below his shoulder. He’d always liked the fact she was so much smaller than him.
His hands settled on either side of her hips. She stiffened beneath his touch, but continued to fool with the dishes. Soapy hands glided over the bowls and plates with slippery ease. Nico groaned. He had waited long enough. He had tried to hide his desire years ago through taunts. He loved that she responded all hot and bothered, stomping her foot and stu
ttering whenever he came near her.
“Do that to me.”
Silverware clattered to the bottom of the sink. She stood still beneath his touch, except for the tiny tremor he felt go through her body.
He leaned down. The smell of her hair made his head spin like a drunk’s, and he wondered what the hair between her thighs smelled like.
Ambrosia. He pushed his cock closer into the small of her back.
“I-I don’t think this is such a good idea.” Her voice sounded uncertain, but husky with desire.
He grinned at the sound of her little stammer. “You know you’ve wanted me to get into your panties since we were kids.”
Nico heard the sharp intake of her breath. That turned him on almost as much as her habit of stuttering. His grip on her hips tightened and he pushed into her warmth harder, needing to get closer. “Why do you think I tormented you for all those years?”
“Because you liked to be a bully?”
He leaned further and nibbled her ear before he ran his tongue around the edge. He felt her shiver, and whispered, “Wrong. That’s how long I’ve wanted to get into your panties. I didn’t know how to tell you.”
He heard a choking sound erupt from deep within her throat. He had to make her understand he wanted her more than any other woman he’d ever met, but the words he knew he needed to say wouldn’t come. If she rejected his heart, he’d never recover. He had to use the one weapon that he knew she wouldn’t reject ... his lust.
“I knew the minute you became sexually aware of me.” His hands moved down the short length of her skirt. He liked the fact she’d always worn skirts instead of jeans. For hours, while he worked on his bikes, he’d picture her long legs and imagined them wrapped around him.
“You’d been trying to ignore me all day, but the second I kissed Katie White, you got this odd look of need across your face.”
His fingers touched skin, smooth as silk. “You’d never looked at me like that before.” He continued his quest back up beneath the soft denim material. “That’s when I knew.”
Hard Candy Page 5
