by CJ Ellisson
Their eyes locked.
“I’ve seen lynx.” Brilliant, Sherlock.
“Have you?” she breathed, not taking her eyes from his.
“In the wild, yeah. You remind me of a wild lynx.”
“I like lynx. I have a bunch of pictures on my phone. What’s it like to see one?” She turned her hand over, sliding along his skin, letting their palms touch.
Chérie had a point. Touching her felt warm, soothing, welcome, and familiar. “It’s a gift. Lynx are smart. And skittish. When you see them in the wilderness, they’re usually more aware than you are. They allow the sighting for some reason.” He let his fingertips lightly stroke her palm. “I never take it for granted. And they’re quiet, too. They pad through the forest like an owl soars - silently, quieter than a whisper.”
“You seem to know a lot about the wilderness.”
“A bit, yes. It’s always been my place of choice. I prefer wild things.” He couldn’t take his eyes away. She reminded him of the deep forest, or crystalline lakes on high, remote plateaus, nestled in the mountains. She made him feel still, secure, safe. She made him feel desire, a deep, aching longing. “I prefer it to all this.” His arm indicated the room around him.
“Do you?” she almost whispered.
He ripped his gaze from hers, as if a verdict had been made. Can’t do this. Can’t go here. He withdrew his hand.
“And have you made your decision?” the waitress interrupted. “It had better be a good one.”
Cam blinked. She seemed to have materialized from thin air. “Uh, Chérie? You said you wanted apple pie, salad and soup, right? Oh, and Jasmine tea.”
“Right.”
“What kind of dressing?”
“What do you have?”
“Balsamic, blue cheese, creamy cherry triple X mustard, Thousand Island.”
“Creamy cherry triple X mustard?”
“Honey mustard. I mean honey mustard.”
“I’ll have that.”
“I’ll have coffee, thanks.” Cam gathered the menus to hand them to Jill.
“Nothing more substantial? You’ll need to keep your strength up.”
“What for?”
“Life. Doing it. You know.” The waitress waved her pen in the air.
“You have pretty hair,” said Chérie. “How do you keep it so shiny? It almost sparkles.”
The waitress eyes bulged. “Does it? Oops. Too much gel, I guess.” She patted it hastily. Her eyes narrowed as she studied Chérie. “And you’re too cute for your own good.”
“What?” Chérie said.
“That better be a compliment,” Cam added.
The waitress squirmed as if engaged in some inner battle. “I’ll get your order in right away. Oh. Water? Do you want water? You need hydration.”
“Yeah, water will be fine,” Cam said.
After she left, Cam said, “She’s an odd one, don’t you think?”
Chérie laughed. “She is. But she made me laugh. Creamy cherry triple X mustard. Maybe she’s a porn addict. In any case, I feel more relaxed now.”
“Good. Me, too.” He reached across to touch her hand again. “And I think you’re right.”
“About what?”
“This feels familiar.” He swallowed. “It feels like something I want more of.”
Butterflies swirled in Chérie’s tummy. They made a hurricane funnel through her chest and soared to the top of her head, making her swoon for a brief moment. She grabbed the edge of the table.
“Are you all right?” Cam asked, concerned.
“Yes.” She laced her fingers with his. “Sorry, I got light headed for a moment.” Why does this keep happening to me? I really need to eat better.
“And there we go.” The waitress made a sudden appearance again.
“That was fast.”
“That’s what we’re good at. Speed. Take notes. Get busy.” She seized plates from her tray, nearly flinging them in front of Chérie before handing Cam his coffee. “Cream and sugar?”
“No thanks, I like it black.”
“Of course you do,” the waitress said, smirking. “This is all on the house. My treat. Do you want it to go? There’s a secluded park nearby, if you want to neck.”
“Jesus Christ,” Cam exclaimed. “What’s your problem?”
Chérie burst into giggles. The giggles turned into chuckles. The chuckles turned into gales of laughter until tears streamed down her cheeks. “Do I know you?” she managed to say. “You remind me of someone.”
“Do I? Probably a distant aunt. I always remind people of someone else. Never myself.” She turned and hustled away.
“Oh my God, Cam,” Chérie said. “She needs to stay on her meds.”
“I’ll say.” He shook his head. “Pretty odd way to start out a relationship, don’t you think?” He raised his mug to his lips, sipping the black brew.
“So now we have a relationship?”
“I hope so,” he said earnestly. “Before I came here…when I stood outside, having a nervous smoke…I thought about standing you up. Bail. No show.”
“I would have beat you to it, if I could have.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because my uncle always told me: the greater the experience, the greater the resistance to it.”
“Wise man,” Cam agreed. “Where’s he live now?”
“He passed. He left me his house in Edmonds. It’s beautiful. You’ll have to see it sometime.”
“I’d like that.”
“Good.”
They finished their respective food and beverage choice amicably, chatting about everything and nothing. When it came time to leave, Cam excused himself and made his way to the waitress. “I’ve got this.”
“Don’t try to be all macho,” the waitress snarled in a low, deep voice. “This one’s on me.”
Cam blanched. “Are you some kind of drag queen?”
The waitress cleared her throat. “Uh, sorry, I had a frog in my throat. Really, I’ll take care of it. You two get along now. Shoo!”
Cam wandered back to the table shaking his head. “I think the waitress is a he.”
“What makes you say that?” Chérie asked, rising from her seat.
Once more Cam placed his hand at her back, guiding her from the café. It felt like he’d done this a million times before. “When I went up to her, her voice came out like a guy’s.”
“Seattle’s got all kinds,” Chérie said, reaching for the front door.
“True,” Cam agreed. “Where’s your car?”
“In the lot around the corner.”
He guided her toward the back lot. “Which one’s yours?”
“Oh, this old bug here.”
“Cool ride.”
“Thanks. It suffices.” She backed up against the car and he moved closer, feeling the heat emanating from her. He fished around in his pocket and retrieved the tin he’d purchased earlier. “Care for a mint?”
“Sure.” She reached for the papery white peppermint and popped it in her mouth.
Cam studied her intently for a moment, watching her savor the sweet morsel.
“Are you going to have one?”
“Uh, yeah.” He dropped a mint into his mouth and worked it with his tongue, completely attentive to her lips.
Chérie smiled up at him, sucking her Altoid.
Cam, hand on the car, leaned close. He fingered a satiny lock of her coppery hair. “So, can I see you again?”
“I’d like that.”
“What’s your number?” He released the strand of hair and retrieved his phone from his shirt pocket.
She gave him the digits.
“I’ll text you mine.” He slid the phone into the pocket, and glanced at her lips. “In a minute.” His attention moved back to her golden eyes. Back to her parted lips. Interested. Definitely interested. He cupped her jaw with his palm and brushed her upturned, heart-shaped lips with his thumb. Tipped his head toward hers, feeling her warm, sweet
breath, her skin smelling faintly of coconut. Withdrew his promised lips and smiled mischievously, not letting his lips touch hers.
She smiled back. She tilted her head, a playful expression on her face, and touched the tip of her tongue to her teeth in invitation.
He ran his tongue along his teeth. Lifted her chin, and gently connected, lip to lip. Curved his hand around her warm neck. Let his tongue glide in, softly, no demand, just a teasing exploration. He committed to the kiss, insistent, certain, confident. Fucking incredible. Reluctantly, he released her. “Very nice, Ms. Manhattan. I liked that. Did you?”
“Yes.”
“Good. That was merely the appetizer.”
“When’s dessert?”
“When do you want it?”
She paused. “I have to teach tonight. And all day tomorrow. The next day?”
“Deal.” He angled in to give her one more searing kiss, before striding away.
Chapter Seven
A burst of colored light sped like a comet into the gilded room where Alpha lounged. It crashed against the back wall, exploding it to bits.
She looked up, shrugged, and idly turned the page of the nature photography book. So quaint - books. You can access this information in far easier ways. “Things not go as well as you’d hoped, my lord?”
Kayden shimmered into corporeal form, shaking bits of debris from his lustrous mane of hair. “How horrid! Ghastly! She actually tussled with me. Did you see the scratches on her arms? She got those trying to drag me into a storage closet.”
“Did you let her see you? That’s a first.”
“I didn’t imagine for a moment she’d be able to sense me, let alone see me.” He brushed his arms, trying to rid himself of the feel of her sweaty, doughy body. “Maybe she has a few psychic skills in her pea sized brain. Did you hear the things emerging from that cow’s mouth?”
“She’s hardly a cow, my lord.” Her fingers outlined a picture of Half Dome in a place called Yosemite. Might be worth a visit.
Kayden paced the room. “Human, cow, whatever. The poor thing’s so sex starved she actually liked it when I entered her.”
“I’m sure I would, too,” Alpha said, thumbing a page.
“Not like that,” Kayden said. He shuddered. “I paid her body a visit.”
“You’re digging in deeper, ka.”
“You know exactly what I mean.” He stormed in circles. “I accessed her. Used her a little. She liked it. She actually liked when I entered her. She moaned.” He shot an icy glare toward Alpha before she voiced another quip. “And all her ridiculous comments…” He tossed his head back and forth, his silky hair stirring into a starry tangle.
“I thought you made all the suggestions.”
“Hardly,” Kayden said. “I’m far more elegant and subtle in the art of influence. And I would never tell my beloved that she’s…what did she say? Too cute for her own good? She’s jealous. And horny. Apparently the woman thinks about sex all the time. My being inside her must have emboldened her.”
“It would me,” Alpha agreed. Her eyes slid across the page before her. Hmm, Thousand Lakes Wilderness. Not as pretty as a star shower, but pretty in its own way.
Kayden glared at her, nearly scorching her with his fiery heat. “Not…like…that.”
She put her palm up, shielding her face. “Whatever you say, my lord.”
He threw out his hand in her direction, dismissing her. “I did manage to get them going, though, didn’t I? Got Chérie to ease up with her nerves. Why does she do that?”
“Do what, my lord?”
“Assume tragic forms. Bodies born into suffering…unhappy childhoods…trauma.... When she’s with me, she’s happy.”
One of Alpha’s shoulders rose and fell in acknowledgment. “It’s Earth’s way. They incarnate, learn a little something or ignore the learning, die. To them it’s all about the experience. It’s all a wretched bore if you ask me.” Her fingertip tapped the page. I like this one. Seven Sisters Waterfalls in Maui. Exotic. Maybe I’ll do my hair like a waterfall next time.
Kayden ceased his restless movement. “It’s a matter of days now. Maybe even hours. Maybe she’ll visit him after her class.” He rubbed his hands together. “She’s been quick to get busy with those other boys, the one night stands. She’s a horny one when she hasn’t had any of our love, that’s for sure.”
“Because she couldn’t possibly be horny all on her own, could she?” Alpha rolled her eyes.
“No,” Kayden stated. “Not possible.” He wandered to the bed and fell back on it. “How exhausting. I think I’ll rest for a bit while we wait for them to consummate their union.”
“Good idea,” Alpha agreed. She stood, stretched and plopped beside him. “Can I join you?”
Kayden slid his eyes in her direction. “You did. What’s the deal? You’re getting terribly familiar with me, aren’t you, Alpha?”
“Please. You’ve made yourself clear. What, like, five thousand times?”
“And yet still you try.”
“It’s something to do. Besides, I’m still in charge of your care.” The last word made the corners of her mouth turn down.
“I don’t need caring for. I’m the ka.”
“And right now you’re the lonely ka.”
“I’m never lonely. Even when she’s in this form, I’m with Chérie all the time. Day and night. Our souls hum the same vibration, sing the same tune, beat the same heart-song.”
“Come on, ka, don’t be obtuse. When she has no memory of you, you miss her. I know you do. This isn’t the first go round.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m fine.”
“Define ‘fine.’”
“Stop torturing me, Alpha. Stop reminding me of things I’d rather not feel.” Kayden’s eyes moistened. His arrogant demeanor softened.
For a moment, Alpha thought tears were going to escape from his eyes. She held her breath. The ka crying could not be good. It might mess up the molecular…it might mix up the…. She didn’t know, but as far as she knew the ka did not cry.
Kayden closed his eyes. His hands, a body width apart, started moving slowly up and down, up and down. They extended upwards and arced forward and back, with his fingertips gently curved as if he were pushing his hands through someone’s hair, cupping the back of her head, delicately fingering her face.
“Are you conjuring her, my lord? Should I give you a moment of privacy?”
“This is what I do to console myself when she’s gone. These hands know every cell in her system. I sense them. I stroke them. I give energy. When she’s away, it’s all I have.”
“I’m honored you’re letting me see this.”
“I don’t want you to think I can’t take care of myself. Now hush.” He fell back onto the plush pillows, his hands still moving through space, caressing memories he carried in his soul.
His arousal pulsed with an inner light, making Alpha’s core slick. “I don’t think I should be watching this, ka. It’s rather, er, arousing.”
“I’ll continue whether you stay or not. Do as you wish, as long as it doesn’t involve me.” His eyes remained closed.
Kayden seemed to be casting a spell in the room. He conjured a thick and heady energy to the room. Filled with passion, love and exquisite tenderness, he seemed intoxicated.
Alpha knew he gave her a gift by allowing her to see this side of him. She dared not move. He let her see past the arrogant, bossy, core leader of their troupe, into the tender, soft regard he held for Chérie. This is why he allowed her to incarnate in an Earthly form. It wasn’t so Chérie remained in a good mood. It wasn’t to manage her moods at all. It arose out of a depth of love so profound, Alpha couldn’t express the experience in words. She could only rest next to him, cocooned in clouds of heart-felt love…the tender, deep love her ka’kriyayago shared with the ka’kriyayaga. “Thank you,” she managed to say. The room literally pulsed with tenderness and warmth.
“You’re welcome,” Kayden replied
, his hands moving sensuously along something only he sensed and felt.
Chapter Eight
Chérie lay on her bed, trying to catch her breath. Had what she thought just happened really happened? A transcendent moment. I actually experienced a blissed, beautiful, sexually transcendent moment of self-pleasure. With my angel? With Cam? It felt like he touched me here…and the he touched me there…and then he…and I felt so vast and enormous, like a celestial being. I felt cherished, adored…gorgeous even. A huge, dreamy sigh escaped her lips.
Memories of past sexual encounters sliced into her thoughts, stabbing her good feelings into submission. “So much for enjoying myself.” She grabbed her cellphone and tapped Zuri’s number.
“I can’t do this date thing,” Chérie snapped into the phone. She rolled to her side and sat at the edge of her bed, staring out the window at the Cascade Mountains in the distance.
Mac and Jack, her beautiful Abyssinian cats, made a hasty retreat from the room, zipping into the hallway.
“Can’t or won’t?” Zuri responded.
“Can’t, won’t, it doesn’t matter. I’m bailing.” She fell back onto a decorative blue, turquoise, and green patterned pillow. Brushed her palm along her sage green, silk charmeuse duvet. Studied the walls, painted in the colors of the sea. She did them herself. This room was her oasis.
Zuri sighed. “He really got to you, didn’t he?”
Her eyes closed as she remembered the kiss. Succulent. Arousing. Hot. Her skin tingled, thinking about it. “No! Yes. I don’t know, maybe. I’m not going to put myself through it. No more rejection.” She blew out her breath. “Do you know what I did? Just now? What I did to myself?”
“Um, I can guess, but I’d rather you told me.”
“I had the most intoxicating self-pleasuring moment I’ve ever had. I felt desired like I’ve never felt before. I swear invisible fingertips touched me. I felt…I imagined being touched - by him.”
“Sounds heavenly.”
“It was. It wasn’t. Oh, I don’t know!” She seized a handful of her short hair and yanked it.
A light blue text message bubble popped on the screen of her phone. Booty call! Tonight. J.
