by CC Solomon
Thinking about that made me a little light-headed. I was not up for the challenge of telling someone that I could not give them my heart. I didn’t want to cause that kind of pain.
“You mentioned an influx? What’s that about?” I asked.
Charles put his fork down. “Most of the folks we rescued from the prison came here. After being imprisoned by humans, the thought of going to a supernatural-only town was enticing, I guess. I don’t blame them, although the Colonel is good people. Except, Chelsea’s not going.”
I pursed my lips, remembering how Phillip cruelly murdered Oliver. I wouldn’t make light of that, regardless of how I felt about the man. Oliver had been Chelsea’s love, and Phillip had flat out ignored our pleas.
I grabbed a piece of bacon and chewed it in mini bites. It wasn’t over. We could work together with Hagerstown to find the other prisons. And with teleporting, I could easily see Chelsea, although a two-hour drive wasn’t too bad either, assuming no trolls or other scaries showed up.
“So, which guy are you picking?” Lisa asked, a look of excitement on her face.
“I feel like there are so many other, more important things to talk about. Such as finding the other two prisons or honing in on this power of six.”
“Probably, and we’ll talk about it later but romance talk now, please, and thank you,” she stated, wiggling in her seat.
Charles shook his head, and she gave a little giggle before tilting her head on his shoulder briefly.
I rolled my eyes. “They’re both good guys.” I began.
“Phillip’s fine,” Lisa cut in. “Like he seems cool, and he’s super cute. But Erik really likes you. He’s a great guy and he’s been through so much. He deserves happiness.”
“What has he been through?”
“He had a daughter. Seven years old.”
My mouth fell open in shock. I’d only known Erik for a little over a month and a half, but how had I not known about a family? “What happened to his daughter and, I’m assuming, wife?”
“He was divorced.”
“Damn, how old is he?” Charles asked with a mouthful of pancake.
“That question wasn’t urgent enough for you not to finish chewing,” I responded.
Lisa sighed. “Yeah, he got married and had a kid young. He was in his late twenties when the world went to hell, so he’s 30 something now. I love this age delay for paranormals thing. That’s my favorite part, I think. He still looks like he’s in his 20s, so you wouldn’t know how old he is. Anyway, I think the ex-wife died of the Sickness or something. His daughter died too. She was a werejackal like him, but she didn’t survive the change.” Her voice took on a hushed, saddened tone. “Apparently, children don’t fare well with the change. Like fifty percent don’t make it.”
I shook my head slowly, feeling an overwhelming sadness. I couldn’t begin to imagine what it would be like to lose a child. That pain had to be unimaginable.
“His daughter got stuck in mid form, and it was very painful. He didn’t tell me any more after that, but I think he helped her transition on if you know what I mean.”
I touched my chest, feeling nauseous. He had the right to be angry forever. To see your child in a permanent state of pain and then to have to take her life as her only way out… My eyes began to water, and I touched the corners of my eyes to prevent the tears from falling.
“Don’t tell him I told you both all of this. He only told me because we were on the road together for a while. I didn’t trust him at first, and I think he opened up to me to calm me down. And in case you’re wondering, he and I never had a thing. He’s a beautiful man, but we aren’t each other’s types.”
“I figured that out when you fell for my unmuscled brother,” I cracked, dabbing at my eyes with a cloth napkin.
“Hey!” Charles cried. He reached for my plate of pancakes, and I moved it away.
Lisa shook her head. “I’m only telling you because Erik deserves good. I wouldn’t want to see him getting hurt,” she stated.
I stared at her. “He won’t get hurt by me,” I said with confidence.
Phillip asked me out to dinner a few nights later, and I decided that since he’d help free my friends and heal me, dinner would be all right. Dinner with Phillip turned out to be dinner at his apartment with a personal chef. I was nervous about the location at first, but then thought better of it as anyone, namely Erik, seeing us out might get the wrong idea. Of course, I hadn’t told Erik that I was even going out with Phillip, but I would tell him as soon as this was over. As I promised Lisa, I had no plans to hurt Erik.
“You look beautiful,” Phillip stated when I walked in. I had on a black wrap dress that I’d purchased with credits at the boutique where Lisa was employed. It was a dress she’d made herself with her fairy magic. The dress fit me like a glove. In fact, that was becoming her claim to fame in town. Men and women were overjoyed with how she could make clothes for them that fit them well and highlighted features they loved while hiding those they didn’t. She was really beginning to become my fairy godmother.
Phillip looked nice as always in a pair of black slacks and a gray button-down. He leaned in to kiss me, and I turned my cheek towards him. He didn’t miss a beat and showed me the way to his separate dining room area. Two walls of his penthouse living space consisted of windows overlooking the town. Inside, the space was lit with candles, outside lighting, and dim recess lighting. It made for a romantic setting.
He offered me a seat and poured me a glass of red wine. Phillip sat across from me at the dining room table. We spent the time before our meal arrived with idle chit-chat. I let him lead the conversation, for now, curious about anything he would divulge.
Dinner came, and it was seafood risotto with tiramisu as dessert. I had no idea how they even got some of the ingredients, but I supposed that with teleportation and magic, the sky was the limit.
“Dinner was fabulous,” I stated after eating. I adjusted in my seat, readying myself for the big discussion.
“I’m glad you liked it. I only want to make you happy,” he replied with kindness in his eyes.
I sighed. “About that. I think we might have a disconnect.”
Phillip nodded swiftly. “I agree. I feel like you, and I haven’t grown closer. I thought actually seeing each other in person would be an instant bond for us, but instead. I think we’ve grown farther apart these last two months.”
I had to tread carefully here. Phillip was a shrewd man, and I wasn’t ready to, nor did I want to, make an enemy out of him. On the one hand, I wanted to be honest with him about my feelings for Erik so that I could move forward with that growing relationship. On the other hand, I had no idea how Phillip would react. What if he tried to mind control me into loving him? I couldn’t do it, and he’d know that I wasn’t under his spell. If he knew that I was immune, how would he react? He could kick me out. Lock me up. Or maybe he wouldn’t care? Perhaps he wasn’t as horrible as I was starting to wonder. Mae did say he would never hurt me.
I looked down at my half-eaten tiramisu. Finding the right words was harder than I thought. “I care about you, it’s just that—”
“You’ve fallen for someone else. Erik,” Phillip cut in with a tight voice. “He’s falling in love with you.”
I looked at him with wide eyes. “How do you know?”
Phillip shrugged. “Got him to tell me the truth the night I put you to sleep.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You mean you did your mind control on him.”
Phillip took a sip of wine, his eyes cool. “You can’t blame me for trying to check out my competition.”
I frowned. “I think I can. That’s way more than checking him out. That was unfair and cruel.” Heck, Erik hadn’t even told me he loved me. He probably wasn’t ready to, yet Phillip had forced the words out of him before he had time to even come to terms with them. With all that Erik had gone through, I felt protective of him and didn’t want anyone harming him. “Your power is scary,
Phillip. And using it the way you do…” I stopped myself. I was saying too much. Mae told me to keep quiet.
“What do you mean, Amina?” He held my gaze, not saying a word, his eyes cool. I started to panic. What if he was exerting his mind control on me now? I wasn’t susceptible to it, so I wouldn’t know, and I’d give myself away.
“I’m sorry if I sound judgmental,” I began. “You’re a good guy. And you mean to protect us.” I was elated. I remembered his speaker speeches. “It just makes me a bit nervous. But I know you mean well.”
He smiled. “Glad you know that. As for this Erik thing—”
I cut him off. “Phillip, I’m sorry. It came out of nowhere, but I just can’t ignore the feelings I have for him.”
He nodded. “I get it. You want to see how it plays out. You’re scared of what we have.” That was one way of putting it. “I understand. But, see, some time ago, I met with Mae, and she told me that you and I were going to do great things together. That we were connected. And would make each other better. When I found out I was able to help you get free, I knew for sure she was right.”
Interesting what information Mae decided to share with Phillip and what she decided to keep hidden from me. I had a strong feeling that I wasn’t getting the whole truth from her.
“So, you see, letting you go wouldn’t make sense.”
I scrunched my eyebrows together in concern. “What does that mean? You would force me, with your mind?”
Phillip grimaced. “Making a woman fall in love with me with magic seems ...pathetic. I’ll convince you, the old natural way.”
I looked at him with disbelief.
He chuckled. “You’ll see, I love a challenge, and I believe you are worth that fight.”
I relaxed my eyebrows. “Phillip, if Erik and I have something like I believe we do, I would never betray him.”
He smiled and lifted his wine glass again. “We’ll see.”
His tone was condescending and arrogant as if I were a child just telling him that I’d seen a unicorn, and he was the parent nodding his head saying, “sure, you did sweetheart.” Ignoring the fact that unicorns were actually a possibility in this world, he was wrong to be so confident.
Chapter 26
Erik opened his door and looked me up and down in my dress and heels. He’d clearly been headed to bed, dressed only in black sweat pants and a white T-shirt. “You aren’t just coming from school, are you?” he asked. He looked down at his watch. I already knew that it was after 10 p.m.
I shook my head and bit my lip, not looking forward to telling him where I had been. Why had I decided it was important to come to his place right after meeting with Phillip? Perhaps it was Phillip’s words that set me off. I wanted to tell Erik now how I felt. I didn’t want him to get the wrong idea about dinner or Phillip and me. It was time to declare my decision and if Phillip was going to kick me out of town because of it, well, then, Hagerstown would have me back.
“I just came from dinner…with Phillip,” I replied in a mutter.
He started to close the door. “Wait!” I cried, pushing my hand out on the door. “It wasn’t like that! Let me in, and I can explain instead of putting my business out in the hallway for everyone to hear.”
He eyed me suspiciously but opened the door wider for me to walk inside. Once in, he closed the door behind him and leaned against it, arms crossed. “Amina, I care about you, but I won’t share you.”
I smiled and walked over to him. I uncrossed his arms and placed them around my waist before leaning into his chest. “That’s good to hear because I told Phillip that I couldn’t see him romantically because I’d fallen for you.”
He gave me a gentle squeeze. “And what did he say to that?”
“That he was going to try to win me over.”
A low growl began in his chest. “I’m going to have to kill him.”
“Please, don’t. We have enough things to worry about.”
“What about maiming him?”
I pulled away from him and lightly punched him in the arm. “I don’t think that’ll work either.”
“Can I bash his car windows in, then? Sounds like my only resort now is to be petty. The guy rubs me the wrong way. He wouldn’t leave your side the night of the raid. Why he thinks he has claim to you, just because you spoke to each other in a dream confuses me.”
I suddenly thought of Phillip’s words about Erik confessing his love for me. I wondered if Phillip was telling the truth.
Erik squinted his eyes and looked at me. “What’s wrong? I was just kidding about hurting him…for now.” He grinned, and my heart skipped again.
Every time he smiled, I melted a bit. His ability to still smile even in the face of his past pain made his smiles even more special to me.
I shook my head. “Nothing, just allowing myself to be happy for a moment.”
He reached out and touched my cheek. I leaned into his hand, resting my cheek in his palm.
“I think you must have bewitched me,” he said in a low voice.
I chuckled. “I didn’t use any magic on you.”
“Then, I really am falling for you.” I thought of what Lisa said, then Phillip. They were both so sure Erik wanted to be with me.
“Good,” I whispered back.
“Woman,” was all he said before leaning down and kissing me.
I loved his lips, the taste of him. I pressed into him, hungrily exploring his mouth with my tongue. My hands rested on his chest, feeling the definition and heat of his body through the thin fabric of his shirt. He seemed to run extra hot compared to me, and I sought out more of his heat, even in the warmth of the summer evening.
His hands moved away from my face and rested on my hips, pulling me closer to him. I moved my arms to the back of his neck to get closer. Even with me in my four-inch heels, he was still towering over me. My chest mashed against his as I tried to clear the space between us. He let out what sounded like a frustrated growl before moving his hands to my rear and lifting me up.
I let out a yelp and wrapped my legs around his hips, my dress bunched up in an unladylike way around my waist.
He looked into my eyes, a look of restraint on his face. “Do you want to go to sleep?” He asked in a low voice.
I shook my head quickly. “But I want to go to your bedroom,” I whispered, my own voice thick.
He then began to slowly walk us to his bedroom with me wrapped around him like another article of clothing.
Way to make a girl feel light as a feather. I think I liked him more in this moment.
Somewhere between the front door and the bedroom, I lost my heels. He carefully lowered me on the bed and took his shirt off, revealing the wonderful cuts and defined lines of his body that I had drooled over not too long ago. He lowered my dress off of my shoulders carefully, although the fire in his eyes made me think he’d really wanted to rip it off. I laid back down on the bed and lifted up as he took the dress and my panties down the rest of my body and gently placed them on a chair beside the bed.
I unhooked my bra without his assistance, and he took that too. He placed it with my other clothes and looked me over. The room was lit only with the light outside of his window behind open blinds. However, I’m sure his were vision allowed him to see just fine in the dark. I couldn’t say I didn’t feel vulnerable at that moment.
He leaned over me, his hands balancing on the bed to hold his weight. “You’re beautiful,” he whispered before kissing me again. He moved a hand onto my waist and slowly moved it up my side until it reached my breast. The heat of his hand on my skin made me let out an involuntary gasp as his fingers lightly played over my nipples, bringing me to attention.
I grabbed his face, deepening our kiss, and sucking his tongue as he continued his massage of my chest. Something lower in me stirred for him, and I raised my hips, wanting to feel him between my legs. He moved from my lips and grazed my neck, marking me with his teeth in a gentle bite. The pain bordered on pleasure, but it
would leave a mark, and I didn’t care.
I clawed my hands over his back, feeling the muscles bunch under my fingers as he continued.
He moved back and gave me a devilish grin. I could see, even in the dark, that his eyes were now fiery orange and in their jackal form. He rose up and removed his pants in a literal blink of my eye and was over me again, positioned between my legs.
He lowered and kissed me again, and I ran my fingers through his short, silky hair, wrapping a leg around his waist. He moved to my ear, licking at the lobe. “Can I have you?” He whispered.
I’d never had anyone ask me that before. I wasn’t sure what an appropriate response would be, but at that moment, I wasn’t in a state of mind to want to give it much thought. “Yes,” I replied in a whispered voice.
Apparently, my “yes” meant just what I thought it would because he entered me agonizingly slowly. I wrapped my other leg around him, my arms falling lazily over the back of his neck. He played a game of fast and slow in a show of absolute control, adjusting his angles to hit my pleasure spots.
The heat within me grew, and he sent me over with waves of met desire. That seemed to set him off because his control shifted, and he moved within me rapidly before succumbing to his own gratifying release.
A growl escaped from him before he lowered halfway on me and moved beside me so that we were still facing each other, one of my legs trapped under him.
He leaned forward and kissed me, slowly and lazily. The fire in his eyes remained, and I sucked in a sharp breath as I felt him move again. One of his hands went to the small of my back as he continued steady movements.
This time there was no calculated control, just an easy rhythm, and I enjoyed it just as much. As he sped up his pace, for the second time that night, I cried out, and he soon followed.
We stayed still for a long moment, interlocked and quiet. I felt the rapid beat of his heart as my head lay against his chest. His skin was damp and hot, and I snuggled closer to him, unperturbed.
