Starlight,
Starbright
Wishing Star Book 1
by Jamieson Wolf
Breathless Press
Calgary, Alberta
www.breathlesspress.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or
persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Starlight, Starbright
Copyright© 2009 Jamieson Wolf
ISBN: 978-1-926771-08-3
Cover Artist: Justyn Perry
Editor: Miranda Elliott
Proofed: Kathryn Gerbert
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in reviews.
Breathless Press
www.breathlesspress.com
For my Husband
Thank you for taking my name
I give you my heart in return
And hope it’s enough
Chapter One
Adina Starlight gazed deep into her crystal ball.
She could see the couple sitting on the other side of the table, wringing their hands; they were anxious for news. Adina could see nothing but their distorted image in the crystal so she would have to wing it.
As usual.
“I see…” She lowered her voice. “I see…” Shit. What did she see? They had been waiting for ten minutes for her to “contact” the spirit world. She was drawing a blank. Normally she had several meetings with clients before a reading so she could milk them for all the personal information she would need to be convincing.
But these two had been walk ins. She hated walk ins; she was never able to prepare properly and always felt like she was grabbing at straws.
They were a husband and wife. The husband’s mother had died without disclosing the location of her will and the husband was desperate for money. Adina sighed. So was she when it came right down to it.
Well, she thought. Nothing for it. I’m going to have bluff my way through this. “I see an old room,” she said, making sure to keep her voice mysterious. “A dark room; there is lots of furniture, a large desk, there are shadows.” Shit. What the hell did an attic look like? “I see a red light coming from inside that desk, a red light that pulses.”
The woman let out a gasp. Thank god, Adina thought. She had hit pay dirt. “What’s wrong dear?”
The woman was visibly excited. “That desk, Gerald’s mother had a desk. It’s in our attic!” She clapped her hands. “Do you see anything else? Can you see inside the desk?”
Adina scrunched up her face so it looked as if she was concentrating. “I see…I see….nothing else. It has gone black. I could hear your mother very faintly, whispering to me.” She saw the look of hope on both their faces and hated herself, just a little. “It sounded like she was encouraging, like she was happy.”
When a tear of happiness ran down the woman’s cheek, Adina despised herself a little more. Shaking her head to clear those thoughts, she began to ask the couple how they would pay for their “talk with the other side.”
There had to be more to life than this. There had to be more than pretending to be something she wasn’t and faking something to pay the rent. She was no better than a high paid call girl. She grimaced. At least call girls get to have sex. She hadn’t had a man in her bed for months.
“Thank you so much Miss Starlight.” The woman said. “I can’t tell you how much this means to us. How much this means to my husband. Our family has been fighting over my mother-in-law’s money for so long and now we can finally end all the bitterness.”
The husband, Gerald, nodded. “This will keep our family from splitting apart over money. You’ve saved us, Miss Starlight.”
Adina grimaced again and put a fake smile on her face. “Think nothing of it.” She said. “It’s my pleasure.”
God, I need a drink.
Chapter Two
Adina sighed and took off her gold turban. Red hair fell to her shoulders in ringlets and she heard the static crack in the air. I should get a new job. She had been a Medium for five years now and had only had one true, real vision. She wondered now whether she had dreamed the entire thing.
God, she hated herself.
She locked her apartment door and turned on the lights. Blowing out the candles she lit to create the right mood, she breathed a sigh of relief that she didn’t have to lie any more this evening and went to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of wine.
She needed a drink. Perhaps the entire bottle. She had a bottle of white wine cooling in the fridge with her name on it and she intended to get blind, stinking drunk.
It hadn’t always been this way. When she was younger, she had gotten feelings, little visions. She listened to her gut and was able to find things when others couldn’t. She was able to know things she shouldn’t have known.
Then, when she had hit puberty, it had stopped. Something had happened inside herself that shut her off from that ability. That’s why she had started this Medium business in the first place; it was a half-baked attempt to cash in on something that used to be.
Adina would look at the stars every night and wish for something to change, for things to be different. But nothing ever changed.
Grabbing the wine from the fridge, she opened the bottle and poured herself a glass. She took a sip, letting the coldness of the wine soothe her throat. It was hard work talking in a sultry, otherworld voice all day and she was tired.
Heading to her living room, she left the lights off and looked up at the stars that blinked at her from the sky. She always looked for one that blinked brighter than the others. It always hung right beside the moon, just to its left. That was her wishing star.
She sighed. She didn’t know why she bothered. She was almost thirty, alone and her last boyfriend had cleaned out her bank account before he had taken off with her best friend. She hadn’t really felt anything, otherworldly or mundane, in years. Adina wanted to fill the silence of her apartment with the sound of something other than quiet. Something other than the beating of her heart.
Everyone she had ever loved had run away from her. Just once, she wanted someone to love her for her and not run away.
Tonight, instead of saying the wish inside her head, she spoke her wish out loud. She found her wishing star and, focusing on it, said: “Starlight, Starbright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I make tonight.” She paused here for a moment, not really sure what she was going to wish for. Then she sighed and said: “I wish for someone to love me. Really love me.”
She waited for a moment, and then sighed. She hadn’t really expected anything to happen. She turned away from the window and was about to pour herself another glass of wine when she heard a noise.
It was a high-pitched whistle. She turned and gaped at what she saw; her wishing star, was falling. It hurtled through the air at a fast pace, flashing across the sky.
She nearly screamed when she realized where it was headed, right towards her livingroom window.
Chapter Three
Adina watched the stars descent with something verging on terror. What the fuck? What the double fuck?
The high-pitched whistle was growing louder and she could see the star more clearly now; it was a burning ball of fire and rock. If she didn’t do something soon, she would be crushed to death when it smashed through her living room window.
With a muffled cry, she threw herself behind her couch and covered her face. She waited for the crash, for the earth
-shattering tinkle of glass. There was a muffled thump as something hit the glass and then…
“Shit, that fucking hurt.”
Adina felt her heart start to beat faster. Oh God, there was a man in her apartment. What was she going to do? Her mace was in her purse and she had nothing to defend herself with except a wine glass and the sandals she was wearing. She slowly took one off and stood up from behind the couch, holding a sandal in her left hand and the wine glass in her right.
What she saw made her gasp. A man, a very naked man, was lying on her living room floor. A sprinkle of something that looked like silver glitter covered his skin. She almost had to cover her eyes because of its brightness.
As her eyes got used to the light, she was able to see more of him. Ruffled black hair hung almost to his shoulders, a couple days worth of facial hair. And more muscle than she had ever seen before; his shoulders were broad and his chest massive. Hair sprinkled over his chest and she saw two round nipples peeking out at her. She looked lower and blushed.
She looked away and heard a chuckle. “Yeah, I have that affect on women.” The man said. “I’ve had no complaints in the bedroom department though, should you be interested.”
Adina came out from behind the couch, her sandal raised high in the air. “Who are you?” She asked. “How did you get into my apartment?”
“Can we save the questions for when I’m wearing clothes and holding a glass of that wine?” He sat up slowly and pointed at the glass she was holding. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m naked here.” He looked down. “And I’m starting to experience shrinkage.”
“Oh,” she said. She felt her cheeks blush bright red. “Right. I, um.” She ran into her bedroom and tried to find something she thought would cover him. The only thing she had that would remotely cover his large frame was her housecoat. It was pink satin and had a fun fur ruffle at the hem of the cuffs. She ran back into the living room and threw it at him, not daring to get too close.
The man looked at it, amusement showing on his features. He chuckled softly. “You’re kidding me right?”
“I don’t have anything bigger,” Adina said softly. “Sorry.”
The man smiled and Adina felt herself go soft. “I guess it will have to do.” He stood and Adina’s heart sped up even more. He was several inches taller than sheand, now that she could see all of him clearly, her blush deepened further.
He chuckled again and motioned to her wine. “Maybe you should calm yourself down and drink some more of that.” He smiled. “But I do find women who blush really attractive.”
Adina nodded and gulped her glass down in two mouthfuls. Why was she so hot? Her skin felt like it was burning. God, he was hot. Where did that thought come from? She went to take another sip and found her glass empty.
“Looks like you need a refill.” He said. “I wouldn’t say no to some either. It’s hard work traveling that fast.”
Adina nodded again and tried to find her voice. “Sure, sure.” She gulped in some air to steady herself. “And maybe you can tell me who you are?”
He smiled. “I would have thought the answer was obvious.” His smile deepened. “I’m your wishing star.”
Chapter Four
Adina took another sip of wine and turned to face him. “You want to run that by me again?”
He took a swing from his own glass. “I should have thought it was pretty obvious. You wished, I’m here.”
“But I’ve wished on that star a million times. Nothing’s ever happened before.”
“You never said your wish out loud before. That can make all the difference in things like this.”
She was not having this conversation. She rubbed her temples and took another mouthful of wine. “Do you have a name?”
He grinned. “Baby, you can call me anything you want.”
She glared at him and he laughed. “Okay, okay, I’ll give. My name’s Jack Star. Sort of like rock star, but a lot less glamorous.”
“And you’re a star? A real live star?”
He nodded.
“Why are you here?”
“Because you wished for me.” He said.
“That’s it? That’s all there is to it?”
He shook his head. “Yes and no. You wished for someone to love you. Really love you. That’s where I fit in.”
Adina laughed. “You can’t expect me to believe that.”
“Have you ever seen a star before? If you can accept that, then anything is possible.”
“I’ve been on my own long enough to know that I shouldn’t believe anything I can’t see, anything I can’t touch.” She thought of touching Jack, of reaching out and running her hands along his skin. “I don’t believe in anything that doesn’t have a logical explanation.”
“There are lots of things in the world that don’t have an explanation.”
“Like wishing stars?”
Jack nodded. “Fairies, sprites, dragons. We’re all kind of in the same family.”
“A make believe one?”
Jack shook his head. “Man, you’re one serious broad.”
“Broad?”
“Girl?” He watched her eyes narrow into slits. “Lady? Man, what do you want to be called? I haven’t had enough wine to deal with proper etiquette, okay?”
“I do have a name you know. You could try calling me by my name.”
“You’re name’s Adina, that much I know.”
“How do you know my name?”
“I know lots of things.” He grinned at her. “And lots of those things happen in the bedroom.”
She felt her eyes drawn to his cock despite herself and watched as it twitched, began to harden underneath the fabric of her housecoat.
Adina tuned away, covered her eyes. “I did not need to see that.” She said. “I’m having delusions. I’m having a hallucination brought on by remorse and guilt and I’m actually standing here talking to myself.” She took a gulp of wine. “Yeah, that’s got to be it.”
“Oh, I’m very real, cupcake.”
Adina turned and glared at him.
“Shit, calm down will you? I’m just having some fun.”
“You’re a hallucination,” she repeated. “That’s the only explanation. Men just don’t fall from the sky, it just can’t happen. You’re not real.”
He came towards her, touched the small of her back softly. “Oh, I’m very real.”
Adina felt his breath on her neck. The scent of him filled her nostrils. He smelled musky, spicy. She turned to face him and found they were only inches apart. His eyes were a brilliant, flashing blue and she felt herself falling into them.
“God you’re beautiful,” he whispered.
Adina felt her breath quicken, felt herself moving towards him. Their lips were almost touching when she pulled back, put a hand on his chest and pushed him away. “Fine, you’re real.” She said. “You’re very, very real.” Why was her heart beating so fast? Why was she so hot? “But I refuse to admit that you’re a wishing star.”
Jack sighed, crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Oh, so it’s like that is it?”
“Like what?”
“You need me to prove it to you? You need me to prove to you that I’m for real, that I’m here to love you and only you?”
Adina nodded. “I’d like to see you try.”
Jack nodded. “Alright. I will.” He looked down at himself. “But first you have to take me shopping.”
“Shopping?” Adina felt a bubble of laughter at the back of her throat. “Why do you need to go shopping?”
“You don’t expect me to go around like this all the time do you?”
Adina looked down at him, at his strong legs, at the chest that was barely covered by her thin nightgown . She wanted to reach out and touch his chest, run her fingers through his chest hair. Adina sighed inwardly and admitted that maybe, just maybe, she wanted to do more than touch him.
She wanted him to touch her.
Her heart beat harder. God, I
need a drink, she thought. Something stronger than wine. She wondered if there was some Jack Daniels in the fridge. Her mind stopped at the name, Jack. It all came back to him.
Adina raised her head so that she was no longer looking at his body and felt his blue and silver eyes studying her.
She felt herself blush as she looked at him head on, his gorgeous eyes looking deep into hers. She would not look away, she would not be afraid. She had been afraid for most of her life. She would not be afraid now.
“Fine,” she said. “Let’s go shopping.”
Chapter Five
Adina had been able to find a big pair of jeans and an old sweatshirt in the back of her closet so Jack didn’t have to walk to the store in her pink housecoat. She apologized for the state of them. “I usually use them to clean around the house,” she said.
Jack grinned. “You expect me to wear women’s clothing? Do you have any idea what this is doing for my masculine image?”
Adina smiled, despite herself. “I’m sorry I didn’t have anything else for you to wear.”
He shrugged and smiled at her. “That’s okay. These are comfortable.”
Jack came towards her, his grin widening. “Before we head out, there’s something I’ve been dying to do.”
The smoky sound of his voice made her melt. She should be running away, should be calling the police to report a crazy man in her apartment. But who would believe that he fell naked into her living room? Instead of running away, she looked at him, answered him. “And what’s that?”
“This.”
Jack came towards her, pulled her to him. He crushed his mouth to hers and Adina felt like her heart might stop beating. His lips were warm and Adina found herself kissing him back with all that she had.
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