Passionate Kisses 2 Boxed Set: Love in Bloom

by Magda Alexander

  Oh, yeah, you ancient witch whore? Well, guess what. Neither will I.

  Chapter Twenty One

  Emmett handed Nick a freshly washed casserole dish.

  Nick accepted it and swiped it dry with the kitchen towel. “You sure, man?” His forehead scrunched beneath the bill of his hat. “I really don’t mind trying again tonight.”

  Emmett had mixed feelings about sending Nick away, but like Jade had said over dinner, if they didn’t find anything paranormal at her house last night, maybe it meant whatever had attacked them had moved on. It would probably be nothing but a waste of time to try again. And Nick didn’t need to lose any more sleep over this while he had finals to study for.

  “Don’t worry about it, man. You’ve got classes and exams. If you head back now, you can get a decent night’s sleep and a last minute study crunch. If Jade has any more trouble at home, we can figure it out when you’re done with finals.”

  Nick set the dry dish on the counter and slung the towel over the oven handle. “I’ll be done Friday after next and then I’ll have practically the whole month of September off. Chiboza’s got some work for me, but it’s stuff I can do from home. I was planning on staying with my parents for my month off-to save on rent and be closer to Ali. So yeah, that would be a good time to get down and dirty and try to figure this thing out. But what’ll you do in the meantime? I’m not sure it’s a good idea for her to stay in her house alone.”

  “She can stay with me.”

  Nick scoffed. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea either. Maybe Jade can bunk with your sister, or Lisa could stay here and, like, chaperone you two crazy kids.”

  He wanted to argue and insist he could keep his hands to himself, but the truth was Jade pushed him to his limits. Seeing her in just a flimsy tank top and a thong this evening had made every cell in his body surge with sexual hunger. He wanted her in the worst way, and it didn’t help that he was falling hard for her. What he felt for her went way beyond the physical, and that was saying something where Jade was concerned, because physically, she was a smoking hot ten.

  Maybe this was love.

  He’d said the words to Chelsea, but only after she’d said them to him first. Uttering the phrase had always come with a twinge of guilt, like he knew he didn’t really mean it but couldn’t justify not saying it if he was going to stay with her. The relationship had been comfortable, like his leather recliner.

  Jade was like the body-hugging seat of a Lamborghini. Loving her was going to take him places, and take him there fast.

  When he thought about sex with her, it was about more than just his own release. He wanted to claim her with his body. He wanted to give his woman pleasure, bind her to him with it. It wasn’t about an orgasm. It was about protecting her with every ounce of his strength, about making her his and giving himself to her in the most intimate and visceral way.

  He’d never thought of sex that way before. It was humbling. It was frightening.

  He’d always thought of “no sex before marriage” as a rule. Now he saw “sex within marriage” as a privilege.

  And just like that, he knew. Jade was The One.

  As quickly as the realization struck him, he shoved it away.

  She was in a vulnerable position right now, and it was probably making him sentimental. He wasn’t cut out for marriage. As much as he cared for Jade, he couldn’t see them carving out a lifetime of happiness together when he was a small-town steady guy and she was a big-city party girl. Heck, he’d already taken her to the one cool place within a twenty-mile radius. A couple more visits to Billy Bob’s and she’d be missing her clubs back in Boston. He didn’t have a prayer of keeping her happy for long.

  She couldn’t be The One. She just made him wish she was.

  Regret punched him in the gut, because if she wasn’t meant to be his, he had no business letting his heart get involved. It wasn’t love he felt for her. Just infatuation. He could control infatuation. It would pass. Jade would return to Boston. Life would return to normal.

  In the meantime, he wouldn’t take any unnecessary risks where his vow was concerned.

  “You’re right. You’re totally right,” he told Nick. It was a terrible idea for Jade to stay in his house without someone else around to keep him accountable. “I’ll call Lisa as soon as you’re gone.”

  “Right now, Em. No sense putting it off.”

  “Seriously, man?” He didn’t try to keep the offense out of his voice. “Don’t you trust me?”

  “It doesn’t cost you anything to call her while I’m here,” Nick said, popping a breath mint and rattling the little plastic container at him. “It could cost more than I know you’d be okay with if you put it off and then never get around to it. Besides, what if Lisa can’t help out tonight? I can stay most of the night if you need me to.”

  “Yeah, you’re right.” He shook out a mint and tossed the container back to Nick. While his friend caught it, he picked up the kitchen phone. He dialed and ran a hand through his hair, trying not to acknowledge how disappointed he was he wouldn’t get to sleep with Jade in his arms tonight.

  He didn’t want sex with her, he told himself. He just wanted to know what it was like to have a woman in his bed, under his roof, for one night.

  Yeah, right.

  If he spent the night alone with Jade, his virginity vow would be gone faster than scarred ice under fresh Zamboni tracks. He knew it, and Nick knew it, and he hadn’t realized what a strong temptation it had been until his buddy insisted he call Lisa.

  “I guess we’ll see if Jade can move in with Lisa and Rob,” he told Nick while waiting for an answer. “Just until we get her house squared away.” When his sister came on the line, he said, “Oh, hey, Lisa. I have a favor to ask you.”

  “Hey, Lis,” Nick said loudly, shortening her name in part because he knew it annoyed her.

  “Uh, oh,” she said. “What’s the do-right duo up to this time?”

  “Doing right, as usual,” he said with a smile. After his parents’ divorce, their mother had stopped making them go to church, telling them it was up to them from then on. Fourteen at the time, he’d chosen to keep going with his mom. Lisa had been eleven. She’d chosen to spend Sundays watching football with their dad. She hadn’t been to church since, except to attend weddings and funerals, and she often poked fun at him for his “delicate Christian sensibilities.” He didn’t hold Lisa’s choices against her, but he prayed every day she would give God another chance.

  He explained the situation with Jade and her possibly haunted house while Nick nodded his approval. Lisa agreed to spend the night at his place. Beyond that, she wanted to wait and see if she “liked”-translation, trusted-Jade before deciding whether to open up her house to the near stranger. Ever the cautious girl, his sister. It was one of the characteristics that made her a good cop.

  “Thanks, Lisa. See you around, what, like ten?”

  “Maybe closer to ten thirty,” she said. “I don’t want to leave before Rob gets home. But I’ll be there. No hanky-panky in the meantime.” He could just see her wagging her finger at the phone. She might not want anything to do with Christianity for herself, and like everyone else, she joked about his prolonged state of virginity, but she’d never begrudged him his beliefs. Also, she was a saint for being willing to stay the night away from Rob, her husband of two years.

  “You’re a life saver,” he said.

  “You mean a virginity saver.”

  They signed off, and Nick nodded with satisfaction. “I can trust you to keep it legit for a few hours?”

  He rolled his eyes. “I think I can handle an evening of abstinence. Get lost, you overgrown cock block.”

  His buddy chuckled as he headed to the man-cave for his stuff. He came up a few minutes later and said, “I’m out of here. Tell Jade I said bye. Hope she feels better.”

  “Yeah, me too. Good luck on your exam tomorrow.” He stood on the stoop to see his buddy off.

  “Thanks for
dinner,” Nick said as he angled himself into his tiny car.

  “Thanks for the ghost hunting,” Emmett said. He watched Nick back down the driveway, and then he shut and locked the door. He ought to look for something, anything, to occupy himself other than Jade, but his feet took him straight up the stairs to find his sleeping beauty.

  He was concerned for her, he told himself. That must have been some headache she’d had after dinner, because the pain had drawn her face taut and put an intensity in her eyes he’d never seen before. He really ought to check on her, make sure she’d taken some aspirin and was resting well.

  He wasn’t dwelling on how hot she looked in that tank top and thong. No siree. Not at all.

  In fact, he’d better check to see if she was still wearing that skimpy getup. If so, he’d help her cover up.

  *****

  Mercy purred at the sounds of the men exchanging farewells and the front door closing. She’d done it. She’d gotten rid of the friend.

  Her preparations weren’t in vain. She’d staged the bedroom for Draonius’s plan. A pentagram of candles surrounded the bed. The large knife she’d snitched from the butcher block in the kitchen lay sharp and ready under her pillow. She wore nothing but the scraps of undergarments Emmett had seen her in earlier. Most importantly, the window was wide open.

  The moment Emmett broke his vow, the blessing around his house would fall. Draonius would swoop in and have but a short jaunt through the physical plane from his blackbird body to his new home.

  She couldn’t wait. Emmett’s body was a masterpiece. A fitting home for her marvelous lover, and a feast for the senses she couldn’t wait to sample. Forever.

  All that stood between her and Draonius’s success was a quick seduction. Now that she and Emmett were alone, there was nothing to stop her from finishing this.

  Well, not quite alone, she amended. There was Jade.

  How the woman had managed to find her way back into her body, she couldn’t imagine. Draonius had assured her Jade’s essence would remain in the abyss, where she couldn’t interfere with Mercy’s seduction. It wasn’t often her demon lover was wrong.

  Fortunately, it was taking all of the mortal woman’s strength to merely hold on. She would not be much trouble. For a handful of seconds after dinner, the sudden invasion had so displeased her she had attempted to thrust Jade from her body, but she’d caught herself before she’d succeeded. Thank the stars. If she’d shoved Jade out, her essence would be lost. Draonius would have been furious. Their plan required that Jade remain alive. Her dreams were an unrivaled source of power for them.

  Thus, for the time being, she would make do with Jade’s presence. Perhaps it would even add to her pleasure, seducing Emmett while Jade was forced to watch.

  Do you hear that, mortal? she taunted at the sound of Emmett’s stocking feet on the stairs. He’s coming. What was yours shall soon be mine.

  Jade made no response, no doubt too weak to do so. That was the last thought she wasted on the mortal.

  Turning her gaze to the open window, she spotted the glinting beads of Draonius’s eyes where he nestled in a great purple oak, waiting. “Hang on, darling,” she whispered. “We’ll be together soon.”

  He bobbed his head. His confidence made her swell with pride.

  When Emmett reached the top of the stairs, she met his curious eyes and smiled. To use Jade’s modern vernacular, it was show time.

  *****

  Emmett treaded softly up the stairs, not wanting to wake Jade if she was asleep. He shouldn’t have bothered. It seemed she’d been expecting him.

  She was sitting on top of the covers in her tank top and thong, hugging her knees. Her hazel eyes were liquid, like the tide pools out at the coast, shimmering with the irresistible promise of hidden secrets. She had a sweet smile on her face, but his heart constricted at how pale she looked. Then again, that might just be an effect of the candlelight.

  He hadn’t even known he had candles. Maybe Lisa had given them to him as a housewarming gift or something and Jade had found them in the pile of forgotten stuff in his closet. She had five of them lit around the bed, one on each of the bedside tables, one in the center of the chest at the foot of the bed and, strangely, two on the floor on the sides of the bed.

  “Candles help me relax,” she said, her smile warming just for him.

  His heart thumped with appreciation. His girl was so beautiful. And she seemed so happy to see him. “How are you feeling?” he asked her. “Can I get you an aspirin or anything?”

  “All I need is you. Come hold me. Please.”

  He was on the bed and pulling her into his arms before she’d uttered the please.

  Once he had her tucked against him, he realized she was shivering. No wonder. She had the window open. There must be a cold front moving in, since the chilly temperature was a far cry from the usual stuffy summer nights in his bedroom.

  “Let’s get you under the blankets.” He should have found her some clothes to put on, but he didn’t want her to be cold for a second longer than necessary. Tucking her under the blankets would be faster. And if he tucked himself in, too, all the better. Body heat and all.

  After a minute of rearranging themselves, he had her in his arms under the comforter. She was warm and soft and trusting. The feel of her smooth skin under his hands as he rubbed her arms and shoulders made his body hum with pleasurable tension.

  He’d been hard since he spotted her on his bed in her underwear. As she nestled into him, pressing her perfect breasts into his T-shirt-covered chest, he got impossibly harder. His dick ached for her like it had never ached before, and that was saying something, since he’d been denying himself, with the exception of the occasional happy-smacky, for a full decade.

  “I’m here, baby,” he said, comforting her with words, touch, whatever she needed. “I’m right here. It’s going to be all right. Nothing can hurt you here. I won’t let anything hurt you.”

  The truth of those words stunned him. He would move heaven and Earth to keep her safe.

  “I know,” she said, her breath searing over the sensitive skin of his neck. “You make me feel so safe.”

  His mouth went dry with desire. He was almost blind with the urge to roll on top of her and end his decade of restraint.

  “Are you okay?” she asked. “You’re shaking.”

  Jeez Louise, he was trembling with the effort not to screw her into the mattress. What kind of sicko did that make him? She was looking for comfort, and he was hard as a rock, desperate to rut with her like a mindless animal.

  Deprivation will do that to a guy, said the insidious little voice in his head. It was the voice he heard whenever he got turned on to the point of considering breaking his vow. And like always when he heard that voice, he shot a silent prayer up to God.

  Don’t let me blow it, Lord. I don’t want to let You down.

  Not to mention, he needed God’s help now more than ever. Jade had a demon haunting her house. It was the worst possible time for him to consider letting down his guard.

  “I’m fine,” he lied. “Just worried about you.”

  “I’m okay,” she said, smiling up at him. “I’d be even better if you kissed me.”

  Her smooth voice short-circuited his brain, and before he could think better of it, he descended on her.

  Her lips moved beneath his with tender hunger. Her arms tightened around his neck while the rest of her melted against him. The kiss was slow and needy and it did things to him no other woman’s kiss ever had. It made him feel like a man. It made his heart swell with love.

  He pulled back just enough to meet her eyes. “I think I’m falling in love with you. And I don’t think I’ve ever really been in love before.” He stroked his thumb over her cheek as he waited for her reaction.

  Shadows chased through her eyes.

  Crap. He shouldn’t have said the L word. It was true, but it was too soon. He’d just freaked her out big time.

  She opened her mouth
to say something then snapped it shut again. A look of consternation pinched her brows. Her fists clenched in his shirt. Her lips moved around the words, Help me, Emmett, but her voice felt swallowed up, dragged down somewhere dark and empty. He heard her, but he didn’t. It was the strangest sensation.

  A chill skittered up his spine like a hundred icy spiders. His fingers twitched with the urge to let go of her, which was ridiculous. He made them grip her tighter.

  “What do you need, sweetheart? How can I help?”

  Her body relaxed. Her mouth curved into a wicked smile. “You can kiss me like that again.”

  He breathed a sigh of relief that she didn’t seem overly freaked by his confession. In fact, there was a triumphant light in her eyes that had him calculating how long they had before Lisa showed up and how many tender ways he might comfort her in that time.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said.

  She threaded her fingers into his hair, and he let her tug him into another sweet kiss. She opened to him immediately, and he delved into her mouth. He was starving for her. The kiss was pure passion. It lit him like a wick. He burned for her, and nothing else mattered.

  Letting his need take the driver’s seat, he rolled to his back and guided her atop him with a hand cupping the back of her neck.

  She straddled him, keeping their mouths locked as if their lives depended on the connection. Trails of decadent tingles followed the skimming of her hands up his stomach. He wouldn’t have noticed losing his shirt except for the fact he’d had to stop kissing her for the half-second it took her to slip it over his head.

  When they came together again, her breasts warmed his chest through the thin layer of her top. Without meaning to, he gave a thrust with his hips, lifting her. The heat of her core seared him through his jeans, and her rocking weight on his throbbing dick made him see stars. Amazing, wonderful stars. He wanted more.