by Nina Bangs
“I didn’t have anyone else to go to.” That was one of the hardest things she’d ever had to admit. “I don’t have a family. I don’t trust Ted anymore. And I was never close to Hope.” She shrugged. “I never made any close friends. Guess that left you.”
Sparkle raised one perfectly shaped brow. “Umm, how about the Supreme Being? A logical choice. Love, forgiveness, compassion?”
Passion closed her eyes. “I’ve never seen the Supreme Being. I’ve never talked to the Supreme Being. I’ve only talked to Archangel Ted. And I don’t think I believe in Ted anymore.” She opened her eyes. “I don’t know what I think.” She started to get up. “This was a mistake.”
“Sit down.”
Passion sat.
“Two tortured souls. You’re perfect for each other.” Sparkle’s eyes shone. “You’re right. I was the wrong person to talk to. I’ve never had doubts about my place in the universe, about the things I do or don’t do. I’m happy. You need someone who can empathize.”
Passion just stared.
“You’re a virgin, right?” Sparkle answered her own question. “Of course you are. What else could you be? I can’t believe you’ve slept in the same bed with him for a week and nothing’s happened. You need help, sweetie.”
“I don’t see—”
Sparkle held up her hand. “Quiet. I’m thinking. How can you make any decision about your existence when you’ve never really lived?”
Passion didn’t see where Sparkle was going, but from her gleeful expression, Passion figured the trip would end badly. “Forget I even talked to you. I—”
“You want Edge.” She waved away Passion’s attempt to interrupt. “Don’t feel bad, all women want him. But you have an advantage. He wants you back. I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”
Passion’s heart did the ker-thunk thing.
Sparkle leaned forward. “I’m on a roll now. Don’t stop me. You and Edge are the perfect storm—life versus death. Plus there’s this total sexual attraction for each other. This is my moment in time. I can create sexual chaos on a scale no one could ever imagine.” Her eyes seemed to grow unfocused with the sheer joy of the thought.
“One problem.” Passion almost hated to wipe that joy from her face.
“What?” Sparkle didn’t look as though she was paying much attention.
“We’re completely wrong for each other.”
Sparkle blinked. “That’s the whole point, sweetie.”
“And he hates me now.” Sorrow pulled at her with each word.
Sparkle’s smile was a slow slide of almost orgasmic pleasure. “I’m the queen of sex and sin, Passion. Remember that. I’m at my most powerful when I’m walking that blade’s edge between love and hate. When you merge two powerful emotions, beautiful things can happen.” Evil moved in that smile. “Or everything can go to hell. It’s all about the game. And chaos can be…euphoric.” She reached over to pat Passion’s hand. “So sit back and enjoy the ride. Edge will teach you about life.”
Sparkle was scary. Time to put a stop to this. “No. You’re not going to meddle in my life, such as it is. And considering what Edge does for a living, he’s not the best person to teach me anything. I think I’ll go back to my room.” Running away? Definitely.
She’d told Sparkle what Ted would expect one of his good angels to say. But Passion wasn’t that person anymore. Did she want to make love with Edge? Yes. Not Sparkle’s way, though. Passion never wanted either of them to feel manipulated.
Sparkle didn’t react to her announcement. Instead, her gaze grew vacant as she began to hum a tune.
Passion frowned. “Light My Fire” by the Doors. She recognized it because Hope had downloaded the song from iTunes. It was one of Murmur’s favorites.
“Jim Morrison of the Doors was one of my successes.” Sparkle’s voice had taken on a singsong cadence. “He was a beautiful, sensual powerhouse.”
Passion pushed her chair away from the table and started to rise. “Thanks for listening to me, but I’ll work things out on my own.
Without warning, Sparkle knocked her chair to the floor and stood.
Startled, Passion froze, her gaze riveted on Sparkle.
The cosmic troublemaker slowly rose into the air. Lightning flashed around her as her eyes took on a now-familiar amber glow. Her hair floated in the air, crackles of energy making the ends spark.
She began to hum “Light My Fire” again. The tune echoed throughout the room, stilling everyone there, weaving a strange compulsion that pulled at Passion.
Ohmigod, no! Passion stumbled over her chair as she backed away. Frantically, she looked around the restaurant. No cosmic troublemakers, vampires, demons, or angels. No one powerful enough to help, including her. Passion would kill Hope for once again not being within easy calling distance.
Sparkle continued to hum, staring blankly from those glowing amber eyes. Someone else was sitting at her control panel while Sparkle took a coffee break. As she swept the restaurant with that eerie gaze, Sparkle toed off her shoes and then began to remove her clothes.
Erotic energy flowed from Sparkle in waves that grew stronger and stronger as she unzipped her black silk dress and let it slip to the floor. Her black bra and panties followed. She kept her earrings. Passion felt the waves of energy as phantom fingers touching her breasts and trailing down her body. Desire pooled low in her stomach.
Around her, men and women were stripping naked and turning to whoever was closest to them. Horrified, Passion watched a woman who had to be at least eighty tackle a buff twentysomething guy at the next table. They fell to the floor. Passion looked away quickly because some things once seen could not be unseen. Nope, didn’t want that picture stuck in her mind forever.
Turning, Passion raced for the exit just as the chef dashed from the kitchen and made a grab for her. She dodged his flour-coated fingers and ran from the restaurant. As she fled, she glanced back to see Sparkle, naked and still floating above the floor, starting to drift toward her.
Once out in the hotel lobby, Passion looked around. Everything looked normal…until Sparkle floated out through the restaurant door. Passion ran toward the great hall even as the people in the lobby started to strip. It would only be a matter of time before Sparkle’s sexual power overcame everyone in the hotel.
But what could she do? Instead of shouting “Fire!” should she scream “Sex!”? Somehow she didn’t think that would motivate people to flee in terror.
She had to find Edge before she ended up on the floor naked with some stranger. Passion didn’t pause to think about why it had to be Edge. She was going with gut instinct.
So she ran. And as she raced toward the great hall, she glanced at her watch. Oh, crap. It had been a lot more than five minutes since Ganymede left, and he hadn’t contacted her. He was in trouble. But she couldn’t do anything to help him now.
Passion was out of breath by the time she burst into the hall. Sparkle’s erotic pull was making it hard to think, urging her to tear off her clothes and join her body with whoever was nearest. Uh–oh. She realized she’d already unbuttoned her top while she was running.
It looked as though the first fantasy was about to begin. Panicked, her gaze skittered around the room. No Edge.
“I’m afraid if you wish to take part in the fantasy, you must purchase a ticket. Didn’t we have this discussion before? And I’d suggest you wait until you reach the dressing room to disrobe.” Holgarth’s supercilious voice sounded right behind her.
She spun to face him. “Where’s Edge?”
Holgarth narrowed his eyes. “Is something the matter?”
“Where. Is. Edge?” She just managed to control her need to shake the wizard until every bone in his skinny body rattled.
“He’s in the dressing room. Now, what is the—”
“Sparkle. Run.”
She left him staring as the door between the great hall and the hotel lobby slowly swung open. Sparkle floated into view. The last thing Passion saw b
efore she stumbled from the room was Holgarth methodically undressing. Ugh, gross.
Passion slammed open the dressing room door and rushed in. Edge turned to face her. He’d shed his shirt and was in the process of sliding his jeans down over his hips. “What the—”
She was gasping for breath, whether because of all the running she’d done or because Sparkle’s sexual compulsion had found its target of choice.
Her gaze slid across his powerful chest, paused at his tempting male nipples—what would they taste like, feel like, as her tongue swept across them—before slipping down his hard stomach to where the bulge of his cock—wow, “cock,” another word she’d never used—grew even as she stared.
Passion pulled herself from the brink. “Sparkle’s lost control. Everyone in the castle is doing it with whoever is closest to them.” She shuddered even as she plucked at her top, the need to rip it off almost overwhelming.
Edge watched her from hooded eyes, and for just a moment she thought she saw excitement flare in them. She must have been hallucinating, because when she glanced again they looked normal for him—cold, emotionless, and just a little amused.
She narrowed her gaze. “This isn’t funny. We have to get out of here and find Hope. Unless you know a way to stop Sparkle before she leaves the castle and infects all of Galveston.”
“Infected by sex?” He glanced at her open top and then looked away. He clenched his hands into fists. “Not the worst way to go.”
Something primal stretched and licked its lips as she noticed his interest in the swell of her breasts where her top hung open. It purred its approval at his clenched fists that hinted at control issues.
He took a deep breath. “You’re right. We need to get out of the castle. Then we can try to figure out how to stop Sparkle.” Edge didn’t bother putting his shirt back on. He merely pulled up his jeans and quickly fastened them.
Passion was losing her battle with the sexual compulsion coiled inside her. Even as he grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the door, need uncurled, slithering along every nerve until it reached its target. There it expanded, filling her with hunger that was almost pain. She slapped her free hand over her mouth to stifle a cry.
And as Edge reached for the door, they heard it.
The soft echo of “Light My Fire.”
Drawing closer.
11
Edge dragged her down a hallway leading away from Sparkle’s eerie humming.
“Where’re we going? We have to do something about Sparkle.”
“Can’t right now. Too distracted.”
If he felt the way she did, then “distracted” was a really weak word. How about so overwhelmed with lust that all she wanted to do was drag him to the floor and then…Think about something else, something not sexy. Passion filled her mind with the image of a tuna and peanut butter sandwich.
“Ganymede could stop her. They have an emotional bond.” He sounded reluctant to admit that. “But he hasn’t shown up yet. That’s bad news.”
“Ohmigod! Ganymede. I forgot to tell you.” She filled him in about the power Ganymede had sensed. “And he hasn’t checked in with me.”
Edge’s muttered curse held all his frustration and worry. “Damn cat had to go off on his own.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Can’t do anything about him now.”
“Even…distracted, you should be able to stop the humming until we find Ganymede. You were able to hold Ganymede in check last week, and Sparkle isn’t as powerful as him, is she?” Passion was gulping air, probably because of all her running. But the hunger clawing at her emotions, her body, was also taking its toll.
“Yeah, well, there’re different kinds of power. Sparkle hits below the belt. Literally. Right now, I can’t focus enough to stop anyone.” He flung open another door. “Besides, what happens if I do stop her? I free a roomful of people from her compulsion, and they come out of it to find that, wow, they’re naked and having sex with a stranger in the middle of the great hall. That’ll be good for business.”
Passion’s steps were flagging. She just wanted to stop and…She shook her head. Couldn’t think about that, wouldn’t think about it. But her mind seemed to have absorbed Sparkle’s humming, the tune repeating and repeating on an endless reel. She tried out a mental scream to drown out the sound.
For the first time, she noticed where they were. “A chapel? I didn’t know the castle had one.”
“Sparkle rents it out for weddings.”
“Wait. Why aren’t we going down to the dungeon or up to one of our rooms?”
“Too many crazy people and too easy to get trapped. We need to get out of the castle.”
Passion had just about reached her limit. “Can’t we stop for a minute?”
“Not unless you want to make love in front of God and anyone else who wanders through. The way I see it, we’ll still be here when the next bride and groom walk down the aisle. They’ll have to step over us on the way to the altar.” He kept on going.
After a few more turns down hallways Passion didn’t recognize, he pushed open a final door and they were outside. But before she could even sigh her relief, he’d pulled her into what looked like a small greenhouse.
“Weren’t we safe outside?”
“You didn’t take a good look. The courtyard’s contaminated.”
Contaminated? Passion decided that was one way of describing what Sparkle was doing. But the word sounded sort of cold, and she was burning up with her need for Edge.
“Why here?” Plants, some that looked a little strange, filled the room. There was a table in the middle of the greenhouse with even more plants.
“It’s private.”
Passion stopped her mental screaming long enough to really look at Edge. He practically thrummed with tension, and his eyes were dark with a hunger she recognized. “We’re in trouble.”
“Oh, yes.” He smiled.
That smile burned along the same sensual path as her own. It looked as though they’d finish this trip together. Somehow the realization didn’t horrify her. Not now, at least. Later, when Sparkle’s humming wasn’t coating her with its sexual compulsion, she might rethink things.
Passion dropped her gaze to judge the exact strength of his…contamination. Even a hazmat suit wouldn’t help him now. And she didn’t believe for a minute she’d ever do any rethinking.
She clenched her hands into fists to keep from ripping away his clothes. Passion didn’t feel very virginal. But then, she’d visited the minds of a few virgins, and lust crossed all boundaries.
Where, where, where could they lie down? She raked her fingers through her hair. Her pounding heart felt as though it would explode through her chest at any moment. She glanced down at the floor. “The floor looks comfy. Nice soft dirt.”
His gaze skimmed the room, passing over the table with its plants.
“How about the table? We could move the plants.” Not one at a time either. They’d be gone with one desperate sweep of her arm.
Edge shook his head. “Wouldn’t be very comfortable.”
Comfortable? He was kidding, right? She was so hot for him that…“Hey, the wall seems pretty sturdy, we could—”
“No.” He pointed. “Over there. Cinn keeps a cot here for the times when her plants need her.”
These were Cinn’s plants? And she slept with them? Okay, that discussion could wait for another time.
He frowned. “The cot’s narrow. You won’t be—”
She spoke through gritted teeth, because if she didn’t keep her teeth under control she’d bite him. “Comfortable. I know. And. I. Don’t. Care.” Passion could still hear Sparkle’s humming in her head. Mental screams weren’t doing any good.
Edge placed his hands on either side of her face, forcing her to look at him. “Can you control what you’re feeling? Can you stop this?”
“No.” Why would she want to stop it?
He dropped his hands. “Too bad. Because I can’t either.”
&nb
sp; What glowed in his eyes should have scared her. It was so sexual, so primal it made her shiver, but not with fear. She’d bet her eyes looked the same as his.
He started to speak, but she put her finger over his lips. “Don’t. I can’t wait any longer.”
Passion followed him to the cot. With single-minded intensity, she began stripping. Before he could offer to help, she was finished. The black bra and panties Sparkle had given her went last.
She turned to find he hadn’t offered to help because he was busy getting rid of his own clothes.
She’d seen naked men in the minds of those she visited, but she’d always kept an emotional separation. Before, it hadn’t been her life or her fantasy. But this was hers, and he was…amazing.
There might be a moment in the future—if they had a future—when she’d be able to absorb the wonder of his body at her leisure. Sure, she’d seen him when he came out of the shower. But like now, there hadn’t been enough time to truly appreciate all of him: the smooth flow of muscle beneath warm flesh, the shape of him—wide shoulders, hard thighs, and everything in between.
Right now? All she wanted to do was to feel him through every one of her starved senses.
Before she could spend any time trying to figure out what came next, he scooped her up and laid her gently on the cot. Then he knelt on the dirt floor beside her.
“If you’ve spent your life under Archangel Ted’s thumb, I assume that this is—”
“My first time.” She met his gaze. “Do not say the ‘v’ word. I’m not afraid—of you, of the pain, of anything. The only thing that scares me is the thought you might slow everything down so you can try to be gentle. I’m not feeling gentle.”
Heat flared in his eyes. “Tell me what you want.”
His expression along with—she glanced down—everything shouted, “Hurry, hurry, hurry.”
She reached out to run her fingers along his clenched jaw. “I want you under me. I want my hands, my mouth on you. I want you inside me.”
“Got it.”
He nudged in beside her while she shifted so she was kneeling on the cot, straddling those lean hips. Her on–top position wasn’t about control, it was about access to every inch of his body.
