“What? What are you talking about?” Cass demanded but her voice came out in a croak as she realized that she was, indeed, crying again. A few teardrops had even fallen on his broad shoulder. Crap! She sniffed angrily. She hated to cry! It made her feel vulnerable and stupid and girly. Normally she never cried—she was tough, damn it.
If you’re so tough then why have you cried three times in the last two days? demanded the little voice in her head. What’s wrong with you, Cass? Get it together!
“No, I’m not crying,” she said, swiping at her eyes with the back of her arm.
“Yes, you are—I felt your tears on my skin.” Jake’s voice had an odd quality to it—a kind of wonder. He looked over his broad shoulder at Cass. “No one has cried for me before, Cassandra. No one has given me the gift of their grief for my pain. And you have done it twice.”
Cass wasn’t sure what to say.
“I…I’m sorry,” she finally managed. “I guess…I’ve just never seen anyone flogged before. It’s just something awful you read about in Dianna Gabaldon novels but never actually see in real life. I…I still can’t believe you let yourself be hurt for me.”
“I will always protect you.” His green eyes flashed fiercely. “Never doubt it, Cassandra.”
“Even…” Cass cleared her throat. “Even when you’re mad at me for watching your U-New channel? I swear I didn’t mean to,” she added quickly. “We don’t have anything like that in the, uh, human realm. But you’re right—I should have tried to turn it off way sooner than I did.”
Jake sighed and shook his head.
“No, Cassandra, I am no longer angry with you for the breach of my privacy. It seems we are destined to be entwined in each others’ lives for some time—there is no point in me being annoyed or embarrassed that you learned more about my private life than I would normally tell a client.”
“Well…you haven’t exactly seen me at my best either,” Cass pointed out. “I mean between the fact that I was wearing my night shirt when I first met you and then the way you saved me from the soul-sucker…and then what the, uh, Brandon clone was doing with my underwear the last time you popped into my room…”
One corner of the big elf’s mouth quirked up in a grin.
“Yes, he did seem to be enjoying himself. Hopefully no one has touched him and he’s still frozen in place. I can only imagine the havoc he is wreaking on your underwear drawer if he’s gotten free of my stasis spell.”
“Ugh!” Cass shivered at the thought. “Let’s hope not—I like my nice underwear. It’s my only indulgence.”
His eyes flickered over her appraisingly.
“So you do like pretty underthings. I thought as much.”
Cass felt her cheeks getting hot but she lifted her chin and refused to let herself feel nervous around the big elf.
“Speaking of underthings, mine were all wet along with the rest of my clothes. Do you think I could borrow something to wear while I’m here? I’d rather not lounge around in a towel the whole time. Unless you can dry out my clothes with one of your housekeeping spells?” she added hopefully.
Jake seemed to consider but he shook his head regretfully.
“Not at the moment. Until I can fully heal myself even the smallest spells are beyond me. It is a wonder I could even get us back here which probably has more to do with the pull of my home on me than my own power.” He sighed. “However, you can feel free to borrow one of my shirts if you like. They are hanging in the closet by my suits.”
“Okay, thanks.” Cass nodded. Carefully re-stoppering the long-necked blue bottle, she placed it on the counter by the sink which held her dripping clothes. Ducking back into his closet and shutting the door behind her, she found rows of conservative button-down shirts hanging beside the suits, just as Jake had promised.
Cass pulled one off the hanger—a white one with pale blue pinstripes running down the length of it—and slipped it on as she let the towel puddle around her feet. It was much too big, of course but the cool cotton felt good against her skin. The tails of the shirt fell to her upper thighs, effectively acting as a dress and when she had rolled up the sleeves to her elbows, she thought her new outfit was quite functional.
“While you’re in there, would you look in the top left-hand drawer to your right and get me a pair of sleep trousers?” Jake called to her through the closet door.
Cass felt a surge of surprise. So he was actually giving her license to snoop? Not a whole lot but still, it seemed significant somehow that he was allowing her to look in his drawers. Well, one drawer anyway, she amended to herself.
Pulling out the drawer he had mentioned, she found a neat stack of pajama bottoms folded next to an equally neat stack of boxer briefs. For a moment the neatness down to the minute detail awed her but then she reminded herself of the housekeeping spells she’d seen him do.
I could be neat and organized too if I could make it happen just by saying the right words, she thought. I wonder if he could teach me elf magic so I could do that?
Of course, Jake had said that any magic—even the smallest spell—was beyond him until he was healed. So they’d better concentrate on that first.
“Here you go,” she said, stepping out of the closet and handing him the pajama bottoms, which were black and made of some heavy, satiny material which was soft and silky to the touch. “Will these be okay?”
“These should do nicely. Thank you.”
Jake turned his back to her and dropped the towel to put on the trousers. Though Cass tried not to watch, she couldn’t help the way her gaze was drawn to his muscular ass. Damn, she didn’t know what kind of workout they did here in the Realm of the Fae but whatever it was, it was most definitely working for Jake!
Wouldn’t have to add anything extra if I painted him, she thought, remembering how she had beefed up the portrait of Brandon to make him look more muscular than he really was. If I painted Jake I could do it with no embellishments at all and it would still be damn impressive.
The thought of her boyfriend should have made her feel guilty—especially since she was comparing him to another man—and a half naked man whose home she was in at that. But somehow Brandon seemed very far away at the moment…more of an abstract concept than a real person. Especially when she was staring at her court-appointed elf’s perfect ass…
“Are you looking at my back?” Jake turned to her as he finished tying the drawstring on his pajama bottoms.
“Oh, um, your back. Yes…yes, of course,” Cass mumbled. More like his backside, whispered a naughty little voice in her head. She could feel her cheeks getting hot but thankfully Jake didn’t seem to notice.
“Does it look better, do you think?” He turned his head and tried to study the area in the mirror over the sink.
“Maybe a little,” Cass offered. “The bleeding has definitely stopped and it looks like some of the whip marks are, uh, closing up.”
Jake frowned. “Not nearly as much as I’d thought they would be though. Damn! I thought the healing potion would get me to the point where I could finish the healing with a word of power.”
“You still don’t think you can?” Cass asked. “Maybe you ought to try.”
“I will.” Closing his eyes he took a deep breath and said a word in Gaelic.
Though it sounded loud and impressive, Cass felt barely a ripple of the immense power she’d felt before when she’d heard him Spell-Sing or use words of power or whatever you wanted to call it. Something was happening—something was holding him back. Was it just the wounds on his back…or something else?
“Damn it!” Jake growled, opening his eyes and looking at his back again in the mirror. “What’s wrong with me? It’s almost like something is inhibiting my healing and my power.”
Cass had a sudden thought.
“I don’t know if you heard him or not but when that awful troll judge was finally letting us go he said something like, ‘I think you’ve learned a lesson that will stick with you for a long time,
Counselor.’ Do you think maybe there was more than just agony potion on that whip? Maybe they put…I don’t know…some other kind of stuff on it?”
Jake’s face darkened.
“You know, for someone who isn’t from the Realm, your mind works in remarkably fae-ish ways. Yes, that is entirely possible. I wouldn’t put it past Judge StoneThroat to coat the whip in magic inhibitor as well as agony potion. He doesn’t want me to be able to heal myself and if I have to wait until I’m healed naturally for my magic to return…”
“You’re going to be waiting a long time,” Cass finished for him. “Can he even do that? I mean, is it legal?” Then again, if flogging someone was legal in a fae court, she supposed she couldn’t be surprised at anything.
But Jake was frowning and shaking his head.
“No, it’s not but he’s betting that I won’t dare to bring him up on charges without my power as a Spell-Singer to back me up.”
“Well, what can we do? How can we heal you?” Cass asked, feeling almost as frustrated as the big elf looked. Everything was going to be put on hold if she couldn’t help Jake get better, because he couldn’t take her home until he was healed. Which meant she couldn’t get back to work on a piece of art for the I.C.U. showing. Which meant she was basically screwed.
Suddenly she had an idea. A stupid, crazy, embarrassing idea, but an idea nonetheless.
“Jake,” she said tentatively. “What if we…um…what if we tried…”
“Tried what?” He frowned at her, clearly not understanding. “What do you want to try, Cassandra?”
Cass couldn’t think of a good way to put it.
“What if we tried…this?” Biting her lip, she reached for him, putting a hand over the crotch of his silky pajama bottoms.
Jake jumped and grabbed her wrist reflexively but Cass noticed that he didn’t move her hand away from his crotch where she could feel a definite lump beginning to grow.
“What are you doing?” he asked hoarsely. “Now isn’t a good time to tease me, Cassandra. My levels of control are low in my current state.”
“I was just thinking maybe…maybe I could try healing you the way you healed me,” Cass explained haltingly. “I mean, I know I don’t have much magic to speak of but I am one eighth fairy and you did say you might be able to teach me some elf charms…” She could feel her cheeks getting hot and knew her fair skin was probably showing the blush. “It’s probably a stupid idea but it’s just…the only thing I could think of.”
“So…you want to try and heal me through pleasure?” Jake actually looked thoughtful. “No, it’s not a stupid idea at all. Especially since you have shed tears for me, which forms a bond between us.”
“It does?” Cass asked, frowning. “I, uh, didn’t know that.”
“I told you—tears have power here in the Realm,” he said. “Which is why what happened between your sister Aurora and the wounded phooka is such a serious thing.”
“It is?” Cass shook her head. “Will Rory be all right?”
“I have put a warding charm around your house and I will place more safeguards at a later date.” Jake sounded distracted. “But until I am healed, I can’t do that.” He looked frustrated. “I can’t do much of anything.”
“So do…do you want me to try?” Cass asked cautiously. She was still cupping his growing erection and she was beginning to think she might be getting more than she’d bargained for. Her court-appointed elf was pretty big in the size department. In fact, the word “huge” might not be an overstatement.
Jake looked at her seriously.
“There is nothing I would like more than to feel your soft hands on me, Cassandra,” he murmured, cupping her cheek. “You look so beautiful, half-naked in my shirt as you are.”
“H-half naked?” Cass stuttered, feeling her cheeks get even hotter.
He nodded. “I can see your gorgeous curves through the material—I don’t mind telling you it’s a very arousing sight as you can probably feel.” He nodded down to her hand which was now filled with his thick shaft, straining against the silky fabric of his sleep trousers.
A quick glance in the mirror showed Cass he was right. The white, pinstriped shirt was a lot more see-through than she’d been able to tell in the dim light of the closet. The outlines of her breasts and nipples—pink and tight and pressed against the thin fabric—were clearly visible. As were the curves of her hips and her pussy.
“Oh, I…” She started to try and cover herself with her free hand but Jake stopped her.
“No, don’t,” he murmured. “Let me look at you, Cassandra. You’re so beautiful it nearly stops my heart.”
“Oh,” Cass whispered again. What was it about his deep voice with the cultured British accent which made everything he said sound so damn sexy it made her panties melt?
If you were wearing panties, that is, whispered a little voice in her head. Which you’re not, don’t forget.
Good point. Cass pressed her thighs together tightly, feeling a naughty little tingle in her pussy. Was she getting wet? From being this close to Jake? From listening to him talk and feeling his shaft get hard against her palm?
“Would you really like to try to heal me?” he murmured, stroking her cheek again. “If you would, I would welcome your help with pleasure. But I know…” He frowned. “I know that you are promised to another.”
“That’s right—Brandon.” In the heat of the moment, Cass had nearly forgotten about her boyfriend altogether. He just didn’t seem real compared to the big, muscular reality of Jake. And he certainly didn’t seem important right now, although a part of her told her guilty that he ought to be.
“Yes—Brandon. Your human lover.” Jake raised his eyebrows at her in a silent question.
“Well, it’s not like we would be doing this just for fun,” Cass pointed out, her voice slightly breathless in her own ears. “It’s a matter of necessity. I mean, if you don’t get healed you can’t do magic and if you can’t do magic you can’t take me home. I can’t just live here with you, right?”
For a moment Jake’s pale green eyes were thoughtful.
“It’s not the worst idea I’ve ever considered,” he murmured. “But I understand that you need to get back to your human life. Still, if you wish to get home sooner rather than later…”
“We need to get you healed up,” Cass said decisively. “There’s no choice, we have to do this.”
“A healing like this can take some time,” Jake murmured. “And we need a more comfortable place in which to try it.” He raised an eyebrow at her. “Will you come with me to the bedroom?”
“Um…the bedroom?” Cass’s voice came out a little squeaky and uncertain. “How…how far exactly are we, uh, going to take this?”
She’d been envisioning herself giving the big elf a handjob—maybe even a blowjob if necessary. It normally wasn’t her favorite thing to do but the idea of getting up close and personal with Jake that way somehow turned her on. Maybe it was the warm, spicy fragrance that seemed to be his natural scent but she wanted to get closer to him.
But not too close, whispered a panicked little voice in her head. There have to be some limits—some boundaries. After all, you are still technically with Brandon.
Jake seemed to read her mind.
“Please don’t worry that I will take more than you want to give, Cassandra,” he said gently. “I believe just having you near me—touching me—should be enough to start the healing process if we do this correctly. I promise not to…” He cleared his throat. “Not to penetrate you under any circumstances.”
“Oh, well…” Cass felt herself relaxing. “All right then. You’re right—the bed is probably way more comfortable for this kind of, uh, thing than the bathroom floor.”
“Exactly.” Jake nodded and made an “after you” motion with one hand. “Let’s go.”
Twenty-Five
The bed was king-sized or whatever the fae equivalent of that size was and the shimmery silver spread was surprisin
gly soft to the touch, Cass thought when she climbed up onto the thick mattress.
Jake sat down beside her and then scooted to the center of the bed.
“Come here, if you please, Cassandra,” he murmured, patting his lap. “I need you close to me if this has a hope of working.”
“All right.” Feeling nervous and excited at the same time, Cass crawled over to the big elf and sat opposite him on the bed, her knees tucked demurely under her.
“Closer than that, I’m afraid.” Jake beckoned to her. “I don’t bite, I promise.”
“Do you want me to sit in your lap?” Cass asked bluntly. Feeling nervous made her speak her mind more—which was not always to her benefit.
Jake’s green eyes went half-lidded and he nodded.
“I think that’s an excellent idea.”
Feeling like her heart was beating in every part of her body at once, Cass knee-walked closer and straddled his lean hips so that they were face-to-face, planting herself firmly in her court-appointed elf’s lap.
Although I never thought I’d be doing this when Phil first introduced him as our lawyer, she thought wryly. How’s this for attorney-client privilege?
“Good, very good,” Jake murmured, his big hand stroking up and down her back. “Now let me tell you how this is going to work. You have, as you say, very little magic—although I suspect you have more than you think hidden away inside yourself. I am going to try and use pleasure to harness your magic to mine. If the pleasure is great enough, I should be able to use your magic to boost my own and heal myself.”
“So…kind of like a magical jumpstart?” Cass said, frowning. “My magic is the spark that gets your engine running again?”
“Something like that, yes,” Jake murmured. “But of course, in order to form the spark, we must have pleasure. May I unbutton your shirt, Cassandra?”
“Oh, I…” Cass nibbled her lip. “I thought that I would be touching you.”
“And so you will,” Jake murmured. “But the more skin-to-skin contact we have, the greater the likelihood of success.” He stroked her cheek. “I have seen your lovely breasts before, Cassandra. Are you ashamed to show them to me again?”
Be Careful What You Wish For (The Swann Sisters Chronicles Book 2) Page 23
