by Sabrina York
“I asked the mirror to show me Carter and-and…”
He pulled her closer, rocked her back and forth. “What did you see?” He had to ask though he did not want to know.
“I’m not sure. It fogged over before I could see everything.”
Keeshan sighed. “It does that.” Damn mirror. If he did not know the mirror was a soul as enslaved as he was, as ensorcelled and entombed, he would smash it into smithereens. But the mirror had no choice. Like all of them, it had to dance to the piper’s tune. Had to obey. “The mirror is obliged to show what is asked and compelled to fog over just as emotions begin to rise.”
“That sucks.”
His lips quirked in a tiny smile. “Yes. The only way you can watch is by remaining dispassionate. Which is virtually impossible.”
“Can you help me?” Damn. She was so beautiful, her soul so pure, shining through.
He cleared his throat in a rumble and steeled his spine. “What do you need?”
She shifted around on his lap, suddenly enthused. “I was thinking… If it’s the emotion of the asker clouding the vision, maybe you could ask the mirror to show you Carter. I could sit beside you in the room and watch. Then maybe my emotions won’t cloud things up.”
Keeshan stared at her, unsure how to respond. Damn it all anyway. Magic didn’t act like that. It wasn’t situational. There were no cheats, no tricks that could outwit a spell.
But she was so hopeful, he hated to refuse outright.
It was probably for the best. Let her see how fruitless this quest was. Maybe then she would stop trying to catch a glimpse of the man she should never have loved. But…
What if it worked? What if she saw Carter in all his selfish, misogynistic, faithless glory?
Could she bear it?
Could he?
“Aimalee, I don’t think that is a good idea.”
Her hope crumbled.
Why did that send a shard through his heart?
He was supposed to be heartless.
“Can we try, Keeshan? Please?”
He buried his face in her shoulder. What was it about this woman that he could not resist her slightest demand? He knew he could distract her. He knew all he had to do was draw the incantation on her flesh and she would be so overcome with lust she would forget about Carter and her brilliant idea and become obsessed with only him. And he wanted that. He wanted that so badly he could taste it on his tongue, even as he tasted her.
But he was determined to resist the temptation. He had to. He cared too much to force her to want him. He cared too damn much. And that frightened him to death.
She must have sensed his weakness, his consent, because she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him, splattering kisses over his cheeks. “Oh thank you! Thank you. I just want to see him again. I just want to see him.”
“I know.”
Damn. With all his heart, Keeshan hoped the mirror would behave. Show her something innocuous. Something mundane. Carter shaving. Carter on the toilet. Carter watching the television box. Anything but… Anything but that.
He stood and helped her to her feet. As they walked to the mirror room, Keeshan had the strangest sensation they were walking to their doom.
She must have felt it too. “Will you hold me?” she asked.
Keeshan raised her hand to his lips. “Certainly.”
He settled himself on the wide chair, arranging her on his lap. She settled in, wriggling until she got comfortable, which only made him more uncomfortable. He was cursed with a near constant hard-on whenever she was around and having her warming his lap was a torment beyond words. But for her, he could tolerate it. At least for a while.
The lust was beginning to rise again. Clawing trails of arousal snaked through him, bubbled and spat, heightened his tension. He bit his lip against it and hardened his resolve.
But honestly, he did not know how long he would last. It had been hours since he’d been inside her.
“Shall we?”
His brain seized and then he realized what she meant was, “Shall we ask the mirror?” In the depths of his imagination, she was asking for something else entirely.
“Yes.” He cleared his throat. “Mirror. Show me Carter.”
There was a brief of hesitation as though he had surprised the mirror with this unfamiliar request. Keeshan almost always asked to see Circe or Lisette. But the mirror could not refuse the request. The dark glass faded and a scene began to coalesce.
“Hold me,” she said in a small voice.
Keeshan wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. She snuggled closer, her focus trained on the mirror. She shivered so he rubbed her back until she relaxed.
“Here it comes…”
A windowed room appeared. A large desk. Orderly shelves filled with pristine, untouched books.
Aimalee bent forward. “That is Carter’s office. But…”
The door opened and Carter entered, followed by Sorcha.
Keeshan cringed. Damn.
Carter crossed to the desk and extracted a bottle of Scotch out of the bottom drawer. He poured two generous glasses and handed one to Sorcha. “Do you think she suspects?”
Sorcha snorted. “She thinks you walk on water.”
“Still…”
“She doesn’t have a clue.”
Aimalee tensed. Keeshan resumed his stroking.
Carter threw back his drink and poured another. “She didn’t show up last night. I mean, I expected she’d be put out. Asked to miss the opening and all. But she didn’t even finish the display.”
Sorcha ran a long-nailed finger around the lip of her glass. “She’s pouting. Let it go.”
“She didn’t come in this morning. She never misses work.”
“She’ll get over it.
Aimalee sighed. “See. He misses me. He’s worried.”
Keeshan merely grunted in response because now Sorcha was moving closer to Carter. And she had that look in her eye. Keeshan had seen it more than once.
But Aimalee never had.
It didn’t take long for her to realize things weren’t as they seemed. Her body tightened as she caught the furtive move Sorcha made with her hand. Keeshan nearly cursed out loud. The bitch was stoking Carter. Right there in broad daylight.
Carter grabbed Sorcha’s wrist. “Not here,” he hissed.
“Yes, here, lover,” she whispered in his ear. She moved closer still, close enough to dart her tongue around his ear. Carter, the weak bastard, threw his head back and groaned.
Keeshan cleared his throat. “I think we’ve seen enough.”
“No!” Aimalee clutched his tunic. “I want to see it all.”
“No. You don’t.”
She frowned at him, filled with resolve. “I must.”
Together, they turned back to the mirror. To the vision of Sorcha unbuttoning Carter’s shirt and scoring his bared chest with her nails.
Carter whimpered. “Someone could come in.”
“Fucking let them,” Sorcha snarled. “I want you. On your knees. Now.”
Whether or not Carter complied—Keeshan rather suspected he did—they never discovered because Aimalee leapt from his lap with a cry and the mirror fogged over.
“What happened?” She shook the mirror a little to try to get the image back.
“Don’t bother,” Keeshan said. “Emotion has clouded the vision.” He couldn’t tell her it was his fault. His emotion, his anger, his pain the mirror had sensed. Because when Aimalee hurt, somehow he hurt too.
She spun on him, lips in a pout. “Did that really happen or did that stupid mirror just make it up?”
“The mirror tells only the truth.”
“How do you know?”
“It is compelled to do so.” He stepped closer and wrapped her in his arms. “Are you all right?”
She wrenched away with a growled no and his heart stuttered. Damn it. He should never have let her watch this. He should have known…
“I am so ang
ry.”
Keeshan stilled.
She was angry? Anger was good. It was a hell of a lot better than heartbreak. He almost felt relieved. Almost.
“Can you believe that-that bitch?”
“That bastard!” Keeshan felt the urge to add.
“Can you believe they…? Oh my God.” She raked her fingers through her hair and paced the room. “They’re having an affair. Right behind my back.”
It was all Keeshan could do to hold back a snort. Behind her back but just barely. There had been many times when Aimalee had nearly walked in on them. They had not been terribly discreet.
“He is not good enough for you. He never was.” He tried once more to pull her into his arms. She allowed it but only for a short while. Again, she twisted away to resume her furious pacing.
“And there I was feeling so guilty. So damn guilty for wanting you.” Oh, how she spat the words. “And annoyed at wanting you. At being made to want you by that damn spell. And all along he was fucking her. I’m so mad I could spit.” She glared at the mirror. “I should smash that damn thing.”
“It’s not the mirror’s fault.” Keeshan had to bite back a smile. This wasn’t the time for a self-satisfied smirk but her words made him want to grin like a monkey. She wanted him. His mood, and other things, began to lift. He took her arm. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
Still muttering, she allowed him to lead her onto the sweeping patio. The moon had risen, splashing pale light across the panoply.
He wrapped his arm around her shoulder as they strolled into the night. It was time to distract her, he thought.
Well past time.
But he did not draw the incantation. He had another, better plan in mind. “Beautiful night,” he murmured.
She started. “Huh? What?” She glanced around. Infinitesimally, she relaxed. “Yes, it is.”
“Far too beautiful for such a dark mood.”
She frowned at him but he could see her natural humor bubbling to the fore. “It’s never too beautiful for a fit of pique.”
“Well,” he chuckled. “If anyone deserves a fit of pique, it is you, my dear.” He gestured at the vases in the alcoves along the wall. “Would you like me to stand aside while you smash something?”
She tried to swallow a laugh but failed. It came out suspiciously like a snort. “Don’t amuse me. I am trying to be annoyed.”
“As you should be.”
She fell silent as they came to the balustrade. She leaned against the cool stone and gazed out at the shimmering sea. “Should I be angrier, do you think?”
Keeshan quirked a brow. “Are you not angry?”
“I am.” Her teeth nibbled at her lower lip in a way that captured his imagination. “But not as angry as I should be, I think.” She propped her chin in her palms and contemplated the peaceful vista. He was loath to interrupt her thoughts. She was working it through. She needed to work it through.
But he could not keep from touching her, providing at least some comfort. He teased her nape and she sighed.
When she glanced at him there were tiny tears on her lashes. “Do you suppose I really loved him?”
“Only you can answer that.”
She shrugged and looked back at the sea shushing silently in the distance. “I wonder. He was the first man who paid me any attention. Maybe that was it. Maybe I was in love with love. It was so exciting and…I was lonely.”
“I find that mind-boggling. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever known. And I’ve known many.”
Aimalee fixed him with a wry stare. “Now that I find mind-boggling. Besides, you don’t really want me want me. I could be ninety with boobs down to here and you’d still want me. Remember the enchantment? The one that makes me utterly irresistible to you?”
He bristled. “I have been resisting you.”
She snorted a laugh. “And thank you so much for that.”
“I didn’t say it was easy.” He yanked her closer and kissed her. Her mouth was like nectar. He let himself linger, tasting and nibbling and feasting on her essence. He knew, just knew, when the passion snared her too. Her body warmed in his arms and she made tiny tormenting movements, nudging her hips against his. His cock grew harder—it always was hard—but the throbbing became steadily more intense.
Keeshan eased away. He had to. They still had something important to discuss. And he wanted to make something crystal clear to this little minx.
“Aimalee, earlier you said you were feeling guilty for wanting me.”
“Yes.” She went up on her tiptoes and kissed him again. “I don’t feel guilty now.” This she proved by boldly running her nails up his chest and scraping a hard nipple.
Keeshan cringed. Damn. She was making it hard to focus.
She always made it hard.
He captured her wrist. Needed to stop this torment so he could focus. Think. “You said you were annoyed the incantation made you want me.”
“Yes.” She guided his head down and nibbled on his neck. “I’m not annoyed now.”
She bit him. Gently, but still… All logic flew from his head. Lust rushed in to fill the space. He wanted nothing more than to bend her back over the balustrade, lift her leg and slide inside…but there was something he needed to say.
What was it again?
Oh. Yes. “It wasn’t the spell.”
She found his length and squeezed. Keeshan’s thin control began to dissolve. But at his words, she froze. He placed his hand over hers and resumed the delicious motion.
His gut lurched, his soul howled when she stepped away. The cool breeze went suddenly cold as an abyss between them opened.
She crossed her arms and glowered at him. “What do you mean, it wasn’t the spell?”
With great effort, he searched for his train of thought. Which was…
Ah yes. The spell.
“I only used the incantation on you one time. The first time.”
Aimalee shook her head. Her brow puckered into a frown. “No. You must have used it again.”
“I did not.”
“Then why do I still want you?” She stepped even farther away. He longed to follow but didn’t. “I mean, really want you. I think about you, about your body, about the way you feel inside me. Your taste. Your scent. I ache for you when you’re gone. That is not natural.”
Keeshan grinned. He couldn’t help it. “It is very natural.”
“Not for me. I never felt like that.”
“Not even for Carter?” A thrill snaked through him at the thought.
She opened her mouth to answer but no words came out. Her thoughts, however, were stamped on her delicate features. Shock. Horror. Surprise. “Oh my God.” She put her palms to her flaming cheeks. “Oh my God. No. It was never like this with him. Never.”
“Aimalee.” He stepped forward. He could not stop himself. Not now. He had his confirmation. She wanted him without the damn spell. And she had never loved Carter, not really. She had probably never even wanted Carter. Perhaps she’d been in love with the idea of love. And that was fine with him. So long as it was Keeshan she wanted.
Because, may all the gods help him, he wanted her. With every fiber of his being.
Chapter Ten
He tugged her into his arms and she melted against him. “Aimalee. It’s all right. I feel it too.”
She buried her face in his chest. “But…” She glanced up. Tears again. Damn.
“But what?”
She cupped his cheek. “But for you it is the spell. It could be any woman and you would want her. It could be Sorcha, for God’s sake.”
He choked back a mortified laugh. “Never say it.”
His expression must have been pretty horrified because she laughed as well. And then she sobered. “You know it’s true. This passion you feel for me—it’s been the same with all the other women the lamp has brought to you.”
“No. Not really.” The emotions Aimalee evoked went far deeper. For instance, before he met her he
would never have bothered to resist seducing a woman simply because she was upset. Not when the enchantment was upon him. He would have drawn the incantation upon her and taken what he wanted, needed.
With Aimalee, he could resist. It nearly killed him but could resist. Hell, with Aimalee, he wanted to try.
Blind, mindless sex simply didn’t have the same allure as holding her tight in his arms, knowing that alone gave her pleasure.
Clearly, she did not believe him. She skewered him with a suspicious frown. “How? How is it different?”
He stared down at her beautiful visage, her perfect features, the crinkles at the corners of her eyes, the wry quirk of those lovely lips. And he couldn’t help but kiss her. It was a delightful kiss though a short one. Because she eased away.
“How is it different?” She was damn insistent.
He shrugged. It was so difficult to put into words. “I…care.”
Her brow furrowed. “Didn’t you care before?”
“Yes. I cared about finding release. But that was all. With you, I care about so much more. I care about your happiness. I care about your safety. I care…” He swallowed. “I care what you think of me.”
She smiled then and somehow all was right with the world. “I do think well of you,” she said. “I do.”
He suddenly no longer cursed his internment in the lamp.
Because it had brought her to him.
“Ah, Aimalee.”
He wanted her so much. Wanted to kiss her, hold her, sink into her and make her come but he hesitated. She had just gone through something terrible. Discovered Carter’s perfidy. He should give her space. Give her time. It was wrong of him to want to leap upon her now. It was—
He stilled.
Was that her hand? On his thigh?
She shot him an impish grin paired with a naughty wink and his heart hitched. “Aimalee?”
“Keeshan?”
Bone-deep relief bubbled through him and he let go a little laugh. “Are you asking me for permission?”
She peeped up at him in the most enchanting way, the minx. He loved this playful side of her. “Do I need to ask permission?”
Never! “My lady, you can have me any time you wish. Any way you wish.”
“Truly? Because there is something I have been thinking about.”
