Curse of the Egyptian Goddess (6 page)

An intense rush flowed through me when he slipped his hands under my shirt to rub my back, the skin on skin contact during my climactic high, shorting out all circuits in my good sense system. I let myself enjoy the simple pleasure of his touch and its tiny twinges that shot straight through my body. I couldn’t stop myself when I called out his name.

“Hey, baby. Are you ready to fuck me now?” he asked before another bite sent me over an unseen edge.

Our bodies together felt good. I hungered for his flesh almost uncontrollably. My hands dove under his shirt, and the sensation sent a shockwave through my body that instantly warmed my insides. When a moan escaped my lips, he slid his hand down to rub where the hot wetness had soaked through my jeans.

“I think you’re ready,” he said with a chuckle. He kissed my lips and then grabbed my arm roughly. “You want me to take you back to your place?”

I nodded, eyes slitted, my breaths coming out in rugged, labored pants. My body didn’t want to talk, so I followed him anxiously as he tugged me toward my car. His touch, though rough, reminded me of the joys I’d denied myself only days before. Tonight, I willingly took him in, the sparkle in his eye, the slight five o’clock shadow, the light scent of sweet cologne, and even the tightness in a certain part of his clothing.

I stared at him from the passenger seat in the car, my body aching for his touch. He kept his hands on the wheel and his eyes on the road, his expression unreadable in the moving lights. I slid across the bench seat and snuck my fingers through the buttons on his thin shirt. He didn’t seem to mind so I ventured downward to stroke his hardness through his jeans, fascinated by the warmth and the size. When he closed his eyes for what seemed like minutes, I pulled my hand away, afraid of getting into an accident. Oddly, the only reason I cared about that was because I knew it would prolong the time it took to get to my apartment. 

After he parked, he grabbed my arm again and pulled me inside. Once there, he crushed me against the wall with a hard kiss, his tongue invading my mouth deliciously. His hungry hands stroked my back before he dug his fingernails into my shoulders, just enough to cause an invigorating tingling sensation that increased my need to demanding levels.

When a high-pitched squeal fell out of my mouth, he laughed and pulled away to look me in the eye. “Do you want me now?”

Oh yeah, I wanted him!
I nodded, unsure of what was so funny.

Picking me up like a new bride, he carried me into the bedroom and laid me on the bed. My heart beat excitedly when one hand gathered up the material around my waist and then eased up my stomach to cup my breast.

“How bad do you want me?” he whispered.

When he pinched my hard nipple through my bra, a gasp was all I could muster. Pleasure consumed me. My eyes rolled back into my head and my toes curled. I arched my back into him, willing his fingers to continue their quest.

He pushed my arm above my head with the hand that wasn’t molesting me. “Do you want me bad?” he asked, nearly straddling me.

I nodded again, still panting. My body screamed for pleasure and I wanted him to take me, roughly or softly, I didn’t care as long as he took me soon.

“Good,” he said, locking something around my wrist. Then his face twisted angrily along with his words, “Now you know how I’ve felt,
every day
for the last ten years!”

My mind couldn’t grasp where his anger came from. I didn’t even fully understand it until he kissed me roughly once more, rose, and then shut off the lights, leaving me alone with an unfilled desire the size of North America.

Chapter 7

The next morning, I awoke still handcuffed to my headboard. Surprisingly, my head didn’t hurt, and everything still looked nicer than normal like the drug hadn’t completely worn off yet. I heard Calvin moving around in my kitchen. Pots and pans clanged, cuss words spewed, finally the door slammed and my car squealed out of the driveway.

Instead of trying to get free, I spent the next hour imagining what he could have and should have done to me. Oddly, being handcuffed didn’t bother me at all, but the new, erotic thoughts that crossed my mind made me blush in the morning light.

Calvin returned and the loud noises resumed, but he didn’t enter my room. He left the bathroom door open when he showered and I listened carefully, feeling jealous of the warm water that was undoubtedly running down his sexy body. When the water turned off, a long silence followed.

“Okay, I get it!” I finally yelled. “You’re sexually frustrated. Why are you taking this out on me?”

“That’s not it!” he demanded, appearing in my bedroom doorway, wearing only jeans. His hair and hard chest glistened in the light and his beautiful eyes ran down my body once. “Okay, maybe that’s part of it, but that’s not everything. What the hell were you thinking? I can’t believe you actually took a drug from a stranger! I lost a hundred bucks!”

My mouth fell open and my eyes widened as I gasped, not believing what I was hearing. “I thought you wanted me to. I thought you were still testing me.”

He rolled his eyes upward to the ceiling, and then he sat down on the foot of the bed, looking toward the door. “I’ll do it,” he said.

His serious demeanor didn’t mesh with the naughty thoughts that lingered in my mind. “Do what exactly?”

“I’ll break your curse.”

Elation and relief washed over me, filling me with pure happiness. I tried to hug him but only succeeding in twisting my arm. “Really?” I asked, lying back down with arm above my head.

He turned to look into my eyes and nodded. “As soon as you help me find a way to break my curse, I’ll break yours.”

“I would love to break them both. Just tell me what to do.”

“I think there’s a third piece to the set, but I need your father’s notes. There has to be a clue or something. He’s the only one who knew everything about that dig.”

“Sure. You can go there now. Help yourself.”

He shook his head. “I need you to come.”

My eyes widened fearfully. “Why?”

“You know where he kept his stuff.” His brow scrunched down over his eyes, making him appear suspicious. “I thought you were going to help.”

“I am. I…I just can’t bring myself to go back there yet.”

“Why not, Cleo? It’s been two years.”

“I just can’t.”

“Yes, you can,” he insisted. Rising, he pulled a key out of his back pocket and removed the handcuffs.

“Thanks.” I rubbed my wrist for a few minutes and then made my way to the kitchen, haunted by the lasting final image of my father–wide, scared eyes reflecting the guilt I felt. Without thinking, I poured myself a glass of vodka.

“Stop!” Calvin yelled, ripping the drink out of my hand to dump it down the sink.

Startled, I stared at him for a second trying to figure out what I’d done wrong. “Okay, geez! I just wanted to calm my nerves.”

“I’m surprised you have any nerves left,” he muttered.

His comment scraped slowly down my spine until a red hue obscured my vision. I’d had enough of his abusive treatment and his games that weren’t funny. I let it build freely and then released all my frustrations in one spurt. “What the hell do you know? You don’t know what I go through. I don’t get to turn into a kitty and prance around all cute, impressing the ladies. I go through hell!”

My outburst only infuriated him more. “Yeah? Well you’re not helping things by being blitzed all the time.”

“It helps me!”

He shoved me back against the counter and smashed his lips on mine. I hated the way my body responded to his roughness, but I found myself clutching the edge of the counter until my fingertips hurt.

After the kiss, he leaned into my ear. “Go ahead,” he whispered. “I won’t be such a gentleman the next time you get wasted and beg for it.”

“Gentleman?” I gasped, my eyebrows straining upward. “Are you serious?”

With a hearty laugh, he walked to the door and held it open. “Let’s go.”

The open door jolted my senses and made my skin prickle. I couldn’t do what he was asking me to do. I pulled a key off the top of the refrigerator and handed it to him. “There’s a box labeled “Siwa” in the den. You can grab it and bring it back here.”

He took the key and then swiftly grabbed my arm, pulling me towards the door.

“Emma, is everything all right?” David stood in the doorway, wearing another oil-stained gray T-shirt. He stared at Calvin’s hand on my arm.

“Hi Dave,” I said, feeling relieved that I had someone on my side. “Everything’s fine. Calvin was just leaving.”

“Is he bothering you?”

Calvin chuckled and let go of my wrist to square himself to David. “Are you trying to get into her pants too? Frigid little bitch, isn’t she?”

“I think you should go,” he said, stepping closer to Calvin.

Tension gathered in my shoulders as I stared in awe at the two large men. I wasn’t prepared to handle this much stress.
Damn it! Why did he have to pour my drink down the fucking drain?

Calvin shot me a smile. “How precious. I think this one will fight for you. Do you really want that?”

Suddenly feeling alarmed, I stepped in between the two and pried them apart, using my hands like a crowbar. “I’m fine, David. We’re just going to go for a drive. I’ll stop over later if you want.”

“Are you sure, Emma? Do you want me to call the police?”

“NO! No, I’ll be fine. Calvin is an old friend. He just hasn’t discovered manners yet,” I said, throwing Calvin a look.

“All right.” David stepped toward the door, but his eyes remained narrowed at Calvin while he spoke to me. “Stop over later then so I know you’re all right.”

“Will do,” I promised, giving him a reassuring smile.

Once in the car, I propped my feet up on the dash. “Why did you act like that? David’s my only friend in the world and you weren’t even decent to him.”

He glared at me for a second and then slammed on the breaks until my head hit my knees. When he smiled and sped up again, I cringed and raked my hair off my face.

“Real mature. You used to be the sweetest boy in the world.”

After a long silence, he bit down so hard I heard his teeth grind together. “You made a promise to me,” he said, forcing the words out slowly.

“And I’m helping. I’m going, aren’t I?”

“No. That’s not what I mean. You made a promise to me ten years ago. Did you forget that?” He glanced over at me, a mixture of pain and anger in his eyes. “Or did you drink away all your brains cells that comprehend loyalty? How dare you call me indecent!”

I shook my head, trying to understand. “What are you talking about?”

“We were supposed to meet.”

Moisture gathered below my pupils when I realized that he hadn’t forgotten me. He’d gone to meet me in New York. Even though I hadn’t made it, it meant so much just to know that he had. “I didn’t forget,” I choked out around the lump in my throat.

“So you just changed your mind?” he huffed.

“No.” I shook my head adamantly. “My dad…my father died the night before my birthday and then seven other funerals followed, all my aunts and uncles, one cousin. By the time that nightmare ended, I knew you weren’t waiting anymore. But I never forgot.”

Another long silence followed until he parked the car in front of my father’s house. He turned to me, his hard, angry expression nonexistent. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t know. I thought––”

“No. I’m sorry. I should have tried to contact you…I shouldn’t have been so self-absorbed.”

He took a deep breath and sat back in his seat. “You were really planning to go?”

I nodded. “I was ready to run away with you, I swear it. Look at me, I’m still running.”

He did look at me, long and hard. My heart nearly stopped when he leaned over and settled his mouth over mine. Butterflies swirled in my stomach, creating pleasure and heat. I readily opened to him and he slid his tongue into my mouth, caressing me with the tip. He cupped the back of my head to kiss me deeply and possessively while his other hand traced my cheek

“I’ve always wanted you,” he whispered roughly, spreading soft kisses down my neck.

Overwhelmed by his tenderness, I closed my eyes and arched my back, baring my neck. Desire pulsed and throbbed inside of me like my own heartbeat, and my head fogged as if overheated.

He kissed my lips again, wildly and his hands dropped to my waist. “Make love to me Cleo.”

I hadn’t realized I’d been longing to hear those words until he actually said them. His lips heated my body, and I feared I might melt under his kisses. His fingers caressed my stomach and left sensual tingles rippling across my skin. When he started to raise my shirt, I opened my eyes…and panicked.

The midday sun warmed my mother’s old garden while my father’s house stared back at me with disapproval. Painful memories slapped my face and made me feel guilty for enjoying myself when they no longer could. “Not here,” I whispered, pulling my shirt back down.

“No neighbors,” he responded and then bit my neck, triggering a bolt of excitement I found hard to suppress.