She might as well conserve her strength for the inevitable battle. She really should have paid more attention to Aunt Glin’s lessons.
The sudden silence made her look up from her plate. Her fork clattered to the table when she saw Emily, frozen in mid-sentence, her arms poised mannequin-like in the air and her perfectly glossed lips turning blue from the icy wind that had put her into an unnatural stasis.
Dorothy slammed back her chair as she got to her feet. “What the hell did you do to her?”
“She’s not hurt. She’s just…on pause.”
“Reverse it. Now.”
His lips tightened at the command. “I’d rather talk to you instead. Or I could continue to watch you eat without distraction. The way you licked that fork clean has me harder than I’ve been in years. Do you make love as greedily?”
“Are you kidding me?” She swallowed over the lump in her throat. “Unfreeze her.”
“I thought I was hungry, Dorothy. But hunger is not a strong enough word. I’m ravenous for you. Being this close to you, I’m not sure I can wait.”
Dorothy whimpered, throwing out her hand toward Emily and sending a wave of warmth to break the spell. Thankfully it worked and her sister shivered. “Ooh. I just got a chill. Weird. Where was I?”
Z’s facial expression didn’t change as Emily dove back into her irritating prattle. Dorothy had never been so grateful for the distraction.
“So then the secretary told me he was—”
“Kansas never told me what his best friend did for a living,” Z interrupted abruptly. “It must take up a lot of her time. I never see her in the courtyard.”
“Dee?” Emily’s grin wavered and she flicked her hand as if brushing away the subject. “Dee makes voodoo bundles and soap with her aunt, I think. Charges a ton for it too. There are a lot of gullible people with credit cards out there,” she giggled.
Dorothy felt Suki curl around her ankles and counted to ten. “It’s not voodoo, Emily. You know that. And everyone needs soap, right?”
It was a discussion they’d had a hundred times.
“I know that, but try to tell that to the employees at my father’s firm,” Emily said, attempting to win back Z’s attention. “I’m not sure I told you, but I just got a promotion. He’s put me in charge of entertaining the clients, throwing parties for the big spenders, that kind of thing.”
She’d always done that, Dorothy knew. And he never thanked her for it. He barely noticed she was there. At least now she was getting paid.
“People love your parties,” she said supportively. It wasn’t a lie. Emily never did anything small.
“Kansas didn’t,” Emily murmured, sounding put out. “But then, he’s become a hermit like his uncle, hasn’t he? I can’t imagine having as much money as the Fraynes and being such stick-in-the-muds.”
Z laughed at that. “Kansas? You haven’t seen him in a while, certainly not since he found his heartma—his husband. He’s the life of every party.”
She’d loved to see that, Dorothy thought wistfully. If Kansas were truly happy at last, their separation wouldn’t be so painful for her. “I’m glad to hear it.”
“Oh, me too,” Emily said in a rush. “The right man makes all the difference, I guess.”
Z stared at Dorothy through his thick lashes for a moment, his expression softening. “I’ve never seen two people who belonged together more. They’re very happy.”
Good. That was good.
After that, the rest of the meal was surprisingly normal. Z didn’t say a word when Dorothy cleared their plates and served the cake without any help from Emily.
But he never stopped staring. And that gaze was like a continuous caress that was driving her a little crazy.
Wizard. Don’t forget what he is.
Emily groaned. “I know you wanted this cake, Dee, but I am so full. You can have my slice. You’ve always had a bigger appetite than I did.”
Zap.
“Stop doing that, you jackass!”
He’d frozen Emily again. What really ticked her off was how not angry she was about it after that cake comment. What kind of person did that make her?
“Does she always talk so much?” He grimaced. “She was lying, by the way. She really wishes we were both gone so she could eat the entire cake herself. And she hurt your feelings.”
“She didn’t mean to, and you shouldn’t use the power just because you can. There’s something called responsibility.”
“As Kansas would say, ‘bullshit’. The worst misuse of power is to hide it, repress it or pretend it doesn’t exist. Why do you hide from your magic, Dorothy? And why do you continue to hide from me? Have I done something to offend you? Or have you never met anyone who shared your powers before?”
Dorothy scoffed. “You can drop the innocent act, wizard. I’m not that easily fooled by your kind.”
“My kind?” His brows lowered dangerously. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Instead of answering she released Emily again. “What were we talking about?”
“Little coward.” Z stared at Dorothy and shook his head, sighing heavily before reaching for her sister’s chin and looking into her eyes. “You are very tired and you need to go to bed immediately, Emily.” His voice was suddenly deeper, more resonant. “You won’t wake up until morning, no matter what you hear. And you’ll thank your sister for all the trouble she went to.”
Emily yawned and looked across the table at Dorothy. “I’m too tired to clean up, Dorothy. Can you do it? Thank you for going to all this trouble.”
Without looking at Z, as if she were no longer aware he was there at all, she got up and disappeared down the hallway.
When Dorothy heard the bedroom door shut she could no longer hold in her ire. “You arrogant, wicked, presumptuous—”
When she ran out of names to call him her magic took over, and a hunk of chocolate rum cake flung itself across the table, directly onto that gorgeous square jaw.
Dorothy covered her mouth, a shocked laugh escaping through her fingers. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that to happen, even if you did deserve it. You can’t just do that to people. Control them like that. It’s wrong.”
Z wiped the cake off his face, his eyes sparking gold. “Never start a food fight with a wizard.”
That was the only warning she got. Seconds later Suki ran screeching from the room and most of the cake was decorating the walls of Emily’s beautiful, easily stained apartment.
Dorothy couldn’t breathe she was laughing so hard, running around the table as the mad fool pretended to chase her. After all the intensity and tension of the last few weeks, getting hit by globs of chocolate was almost cathartic, and just the release she’d needed.
At least, it was the next best thing.
She grabbed one particularly gooey blob as it slid down the wall and turned to fling it at him, only to find him directly in front of her. He took her hand, sliding his fingers through the sticky mess and entwining them with hers.
“What did you mean by my kind, Dorothy?”
She stared at him in breathless silence. Even with cake painting half of his face, the man was too beautiful to be real. A golden pirate god. And he was touching her.
She wasn’t supposed to let a wizard touch her. Ever.
You haven’t been struck by lightning yet.
“Witches and wizards are natural enemies. Oil and water. You know that,” she said, lifting her chin when he frowned.
“Who told you that nonsense?”
Her lips parted and she shook her head. “Man, you are good. I almost believe you’re surprised.”
“Believe this.” A fine hum started beneath her skin. She could feel the power rising inside her, mingling with her desire to get closer, to feel more of him.
He pressed himself more firmly against her. “You feel that? The way your magic calls to mine? Matches mine? The way your body cries out for my touch? We’re not enemies, Dorothy. We’re the perfect fucking
fit.”
Z bent his head, his tongue curling around her chin to lick the streak of chocolate icing he found there. “Mmmm.”
“Wait.” But she tilted her head to give him easier access.
He released her hands and her arms rose up against the wall, held by some invisible force that had her pinned. Her eyes widened in momentary panic. He’d trapped her?
Z stepped away and began to unbutton her blouse. “Trust me.”
“Fine. Let me go first.”
“Don’t fight it.” He forced her gaze to meet his. “I know you can. I feel how powerful you are. But I’m asking you not to. I’m asking you to trust what your instincts, what your body is telling you. All I want to give you is pleasure.”
“How can I trust a wizard’s word?”
Z stilled at the last button, looking up at her from under his lowered eyebrows. “Known a lot of wizards, have you?”
Dorothy shifted guiltily against the wall, lowering her gaze to the dollop of chocolate on his shoulder. “I know of them.”
He let her shirt hang closed, only a thin line of skin visible to his gaze along with the white lace of her bra. One blunt finger ran from her neck to her belly button, circling the soft skin until she shivered with longing.
Don’t stop.
“The one who shielded your home... She taught you about these evil wizards?”
Dorothy nodded, somehow unsurprised that he knew the protection wasn’t entirely hers.
“What exactly did she tell you?”
“That wizards lie. Not some of the time. All the time. And when they aren’t lying they manipulate the truth to suit them.”
“What else?” he asked, his voice dangerously low.
“Wizards are physically incapable of fidelity. If a witch ever trusted a wizard with her heart it would mean the loss of her power or death.”
Z reared back as if he’d been slapped. His expression of disbelief was genuine. He looked horrified.
Dorothy lifted her chin, but the longer she studied him, the harder it was for her to believe he was like the wizards Aunt Glin had told her about. From the moment she’d seen him, something inside her had known he would never purposefully hurt anyone.
She knew him.
Unless that was what he wanted her to think.
“This is why you kept yourself from me?” His mouth took a grim turn, and he stepped closer. “Tell me if this is a lie.”
He pressed his lower body against hers. She could feel his hard, thick erection pressing against her through his pants. She moaned and he gripped her face in his hands, covering her in chocolate and blazing heat.
“Tell me if this is a lie.” He took her mouth, owning her with lips and teeth and tongue. Wind whipped around their bodies, lifting his braid and wrapping it around her waist as the kiss went on and on. She couldn’t get enough of his taste. She sucked his tongue inside her mouth, desperate for more of him, and he growled.
His hips thrust against her, her arousal soaking her jeans at the delicious friction. She bit his lower lip, arching off the wall as she tried to get closer. He pulled her shirt apart, tugging down her bra to fill his hands with her breasts. He tore his mouth away from hers to trace kisses along her chin, her neck.
“Makers, yes. These breasts have tormented my dreams. So soft. So lovely. Do you want to know what I’ve fantasized about, what I imagined last night as you touched yourself?”
He pumped his arousal hard against her hips and she gasped. “I wanted to suck on your pink nipples until they were too sensitive to touch. I wanted to cover your breasts in oil and press them around my cock.”
Dorothy groaned, and he smiled along the slope of her breast, massaging them in time to the movement of his hips. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? We can’t lie to each other now. Not with our powers mingling. You’d let me fuck you in any way I wanted, however long I wanted. Your breasts, your hot pussy, your ass. You’d let me, and you’d love it.”
She was too far gone to deny it. “Yes, Z! Yes, please.”
He opened his mouth over one hard nipple, sucking it deep into his mouth while sliding his palm down her stomach to get inside her jeans. When two fingers pressed deep inside her sex, she screamed at the sensation of fullness. The pinch of pain.
“More,” she moaned. “I need more.”
Z’s chest rumbled with pleasure as his rough fingertips slipped in her slick juices. He added a third, curling it against a spot that had Dorothy keening with pleasure.
“I knew you’d be like this. Knew you’d match me, need for need.”
If his need was anything like hers, she wasn’t sure how he was still standing. His body was holding hers up. She couldn’t think, couldn’t catch her breath. She’d never wanted anything more than this.
Don’t stop. Never stop.
That’s it, sweet. That’s it. Come for me, Dorothy!”
It rose up in her like a summer storm at his command. All fire and fury and sweet release. As her climax shattered around her, she felt his energy fully join with hers. For an instant, everything he was filled her until she wasn’t sure where she ended and he began.
Zenamulous. King’s wizard.
A window in the living room shattered. Emily’s porcelain Mardi Gras masks fell from the wall, crashing to the ground. Even the table lifted from the floor, sliding the dishes dangerously close to the edge.
Power. Magic. It was all around them.
When his cries joined hers, she knew he felt it too. Knew he’d come just from touching her. Knew how much he wanted her. Needed her surrender.
Surrender?
The wind died down, disappearing as quickly as it had come. Her body was released from its prison against the wall, and she wobbled when her feet touched the floor. She looked around at the mess and chuckled a little hysterically. “How am I going to explain this to Emily?”
A bright light flashed in the room, momentarily blinding her. When Dorothy could see again the walls, the windows, even her clothes—all spotless and unbroken, as if nothing had happened.
Aunt Glin had never taught her how to do that. “Wait a second. How did you…?”
Her throat closed when she turned to find him pulling a necklace from underneath his shirt. It was a ruby inside a silver starburst. And it was glowing. Pulsing with an urgency she could feel in her bones.
She looked up to meet his gaze, the helpless anger in his whiskey orbs unmistakable.
And she knew.
“You’re leaving.” She’d given in to him, let him touch her, and he was leaving. She knew it to her bones. Her arms wrapped around her waist defensively. “That was fast. From my observations, you usually spend a few more hours with your conquests.”
Had he decided her powers weren’t tempting enough? Or that she wasn’t?
“Damn it, Dorothy, don’t close up on me again.” He dropped his amulet, hands fisting as he paced in front of her. “I admit, the timing is abysmal, and you have no idea how much I want to ignore it.”
“But?”
“But I have a responsibility that must supersede all others.”
“This king of yours?”
Z’s eyes widened in surprise. “Yes. How did you know?”
She waggled her shaking fingers between them. “Some kind of transference. Don’t ask me. I’ve never made out with a wizard before and I don’t plan on making a habit of it.”
“I want…” He sighed heavily. “It doesn’t matter what I want. I don’t have time to prove to you that your teacher was wrong, Dorothy, but she was. Entirely, utterly wrong. Especially when it comes to you and I. I wish I had more time to show you.”
She took a step away from him. “Sadly, your necklace is blinking. As far as excuses go, it’s better than a headache.”
He grabbed her arms, pulling her close. “It’s not an excuse. My world is in danger and it’s calling me back. I’m bound by an oath. A spell that can’t be broken. More than that, my allegiance to my king.”
His
world? Was he saying what it sounded like he was saying?
Yes.
“Sorry, honey, I’d stay if I could, but Mars is in trouble,” she mocked, trying to yank herself out of his embrace. “I said it was fine. Just go already.”
He snarled, his grip tightening. “You belong to me and you know it, don’t you? Somewhere, deep inside you where you aren’t afraid of what your magic can do, you know you can trust me. With everything, Dorothy. Just as I’m trusting you with this knowledge.”
She watched him head to the balcony door, heard a thundering rumble growing louder outside. “What the hell are you talking about? What are you trusting me with? And where exactly do you think you’re going? We’re on the fourth floor.”
He stepped into the night, lightning flashing dangerously close. “Emily will wake when I’m gone without remembering I was here. But you won’t forget. Call my name, and the storm will come for you. Call my name, Dorothy. When you decide to come to me, I’ll be waiting.”
“This is ridiculous,” she shouted against the onslaught. “Come back inside and leave through the front door like a normal person.”
He climbed up onto the balcony railing and a funnel of dark clouds instantly appeared around him. The storm was centered on him. She looked around wildly. Only on him.
How was that possible?
Wizard.
One more brilliant flash of lightning and he was gone along with any sign of the storm. She was soaking wet as she leaned over the balcony, searching for signs that he’d fallen, but there was no broken wizard on the pavement below. There was no trace of him.
Was it a trick or had he been telling the truth? Why was she suddenly terrified she’d never see him again?
Call my name when you’re ready.
“Dorothy? What are you doing out there with the door wide…you’re soaking wet. Wait…are you crying?”
Surrender Dorothy - KINDLE Page 3
