For Whom the Spell Tolls (6 page)

The only thing that crossed my mind at that moment was the line “That’s a huge bitch!” from
Deuce Bigalow
.

It was an evening I doubt I could ever forget.

I felt a smile curling my lips at the recollection of Bram’s adventures with the German woman, but managed to dispel it. I figured it wasn’t something he would want to recount anytime soon. And besides, he
had
supplied me with the portal ripper …

“Thanks, for … uh, everything, Bram,” I said and offered him a genuine, heartfelt smile before raising my hand to knock on the front door of Knight’s lodge, lest I freeze to death on the doorstep. Before I had the chance to make contact with it, the door opened on its own accord, revealing a very unhappy Loki looming before us.

“You’re a minute late,” he grumbled at the vampire, crossing his arms against his chest and looking pretty pissed off.

Bram’s eyebrows reached for the sky in a practiced but feigned expression of surprise. “How odd. According to my timepiece,” he said as he fished out a pocket watch from another era, “I am a minute early.” Then he shrugged, smiling broadly. “I suppose we should respectfully split the difference and assume I was on time.”

Knight muttered something I couldn’t understand while holding the door wide open for me. With a wave to Bram, I squeezed past the Loki, and relished the warmth of Knight’s house as it settled into my bones, thawing the cold harshness of the elements.

“We shall soon be in touch, my dear,” Bram called out behind me. “And I should appreciate it if you would put in a good word for me with the brunette.”

I just shook my head, forever surprised by his nerve. I took off my down jacket and draped it over the chair Erica had formerly occupied, turning to face Knight as he closed the door behind him. Seconds later, the lights from the Lotus reflected through the windows and I heard the sound of the engine purring as Bram backed up, his tires crunching the snow. Moments later, he faded away down the driveway.

“How was your date?” Knight asked with a scowl as he approached the fireplace and stepped onto the hearth.

“It was hardly a date,” I answered, figuring he was going to start a game of twenty questions. “You heard him, he has the hots for MJ,” I said her name in a dreamy-like way. “Apparently he’s not the only one.”

Knight raised his eyebrows at me, smiling. “Someone sounds jealous.”

“Well, when one of your ex-girlfriends randomly shows up, it’s a little off-putting.”

Knight chuckled. “I would hardly call MJ my ex-girlfriend. We dated very briefly and ended up being much better friends.”

“Oh, and why was that?” I asked, my hands on my hips.

“Because she was in love with someone else who she ended up marrying,” he finished with a smile.

“I see,” I said and couldn’t help feeling stupid. “But it sounds like you were into her?”

Knight shrugged. “At the time, yes I was. But that was before I met a feisty little fairy who made me stop thinking about other women altogether.”

I couldn’t help but smile at him. Sometimes he knew exactly the right things to say.

“So going back to your date with Bram,” Knight started.

“It wasn’t a date!”

Knight had never liked Bram, and at one point in time, he’d been convinced that I was dating the vampire, something which I never had, nor ever would. Although not exactly his nemesis, Knight definitely wouldn’t call Bram a friend.

Sitting on the leather couch, I reached down and untied my shoelaces. I took off my shoes and socks to make myself comfortable because I had an inkling this lodge would probably be our refuge for the remainder of the evening. Propping a pillow against the arm rest of the couch, I curled up against it, and stretched my legs out.

“Tell that to Bram; he clearly thought it was a date,” Knight continued with tightened lips and eyes still narrowed. But as angry as he appeared to be, he managed to keep his temper and/or jealousy in check—owing to the fact that his eyes weren’t glowing. Well, not yet, anyway.

“Bram would call coasting through McDonald’s drive-through a date,” I answered.

Knight smiled at my joke, but it was a rushed smile hinting that he was keen on acquiring more information. “So was it a complete waste of your time? Or did he actually come through on that information he promised earlier?”

I stifled a yawn, feeling increasingly tired with my full belly and the radiant warmth from the fireplace. “He delivered,” I said simply, reaching into my pants pocket, where I’d placed the portal ripper for safekeeping. I withdrew the small instrument from my pocket and offered it to Knight. He took the few steps separating us and grasped it in his large hand, flipping it as he examined it curiously. It was obvious that he’d never seen one before.

“What is it?” he asked finally, continuing to study the tool in the low firelight.

“Bram called it a portal ripper,” I answered and sat up, afraid I might accidentally surrender to my body’s need to sleep if I remained sprawled on top of the couch. 

“A portal ripper?” Knight repeated absentmindedly as he continued to rotate the device in his hands.

“Apparently, it can cut a portal to the Netherworld wherever we want it to,” I told him. “Bram said it could be the single advantage for defeating my father.”

“And Bram also exaggerates,” Knight was quick to respond as he placed the portal ripper on the mantel and faced me squarely.

“I don’t know, seems like a handy gadget to have, if you ask me.”

He nodded. “Yes, it seems handy, but that’s if you buy what Bram is selling.”

“What do you mean?”

Knight shrugged, as though I should have instantly followed his line of reasoning. “Considering Bram worked for your father …”

“
With
my father, not
for
,” I chided him with Bram’s own words, but added a sly smile.

“As I was saying,” he frowned, giving me the feeling that he wasn’t in a very good mood. I was already more than certain it was because of my “date” with the vampire. “Since Bram worked with your father all those years, it seems a no-brainer to distrust him. Who’s to say that he’s not setting us up?” He took a deep breath. “As far as we know, he could be your father’s newest mole.”

“At this stage of the game, my father would prefer to have us assassinated if he or someone who worked for him knew where to find us. To Melchior, we are worth a lot more dead than alive.” I took a deep breath. “Once you, Christina and I are out of the way, there goes The Resistance.”

Knight nodded as he ran his hands through his hair, and eyed his boots before bringing his attention back to me. “You make a good point, but I still don’t trust Bram.”

I shrugged and sighed, having already considered the question of whether or not Bram could be trusted. “I can’t say for sure if Bram is completely truthful.” I sighed, looking at the fireplace and watching the flames dance along the log before consuming it. I brought my eyes back to Knight’s, and was awed as the firelight reflected in his beautiful blue eyes, making them appear almost red. “But I also know that sometimes you have to take a chance in life. Without Bram, we could be headed down a one-way street with no chance of escape. “

“Then it’s a chance you’re willing to take?” Knight continued, narrowing his gaze on me as he cracked his knuckles.

I shrugged. “I think the answer to your question is pretty obvious.”

“You’re going with yes, you do trust him,” he said, exhaling a pent-up breath. “Then I guess it waits to be seen.”

As if to signal the termination of the conversation, he lifted the fire iron and poked the log in the fireplace, which crumbled into embers. Reaching for another large log, he bent over and plopped it onto the fire grate, stoking it with the iron. Standing up, he wiped the debris from the log on his pants before holding his hands behind his back to warm them. The flames of the fire fanned and flickered behind him, creating an aura that silhouetted his swollen deltoids, broad shoulders, and accentuated his trim waist and shapely thighs. I suddenly flashed on the sexual torture he’d inflicted on me in the Suburban while we were en route to this lodge.

Maybe it’s time to prove just how much of a bitch payback can be
, I told myself. It probably also didn’t help that the embers of jealousy were still smoldering inside me.

Silently, I came to my feet. I could feel Knight’s eyes on me and saw the question in their depths, as if he insisted on finding out what I was up to. But I just stood there, staring at him boldly, with no trace of bashfulness or shame in my gaze. Then, as seductively as I could, I grabbed the top of my long-sleeved shirt and simply pulled it up and over my head, allowing the tendrils of my hair to snake back around my shoulders, and fall across my collarbone, adorning the black lace of my push-up bra.

“You’re not the only one who can replay memories of us in our more … carnal moments,” I said quietly, with a cunning smile.

Knight chuckled, but there was a fire in his eyes that burned even more brightly than the fire behind him. I watched his eyes travel down to my breasts, where they loitered on my cleavage. After a few seconds, he brought his attention back up to my face again.

“Is that so?” he asked, another chuckle dying on his lips, but leaving a slight smile in its wake.

“It is,” I said simply.

“So tell me all the naughty thoughts swirling around in that head of yours,” he demanded.

“All in good time.” I unbuckled the button of my jeans, pulling the zipper down as slowly as possible. Knight’s eyes never left my body as I slid the jeans down the lengths of my legs. I felt his gaze penetrating my black lace underwear and a blush started to creep across my cheeks. Refusing to allow any timidity or hesitation to consume me, I forced the anxiety aside, and chose instead to channel my inner femme fatale.

I approached him, adding an extra sway to my mostly naked hips. I stepped onto the hearth and glanced up at him, the top of my head only grazing his shoulders. Somehow, the fact that he was so much taller and bigger than I was, not to mention that he could snap me like a twig if he wanted to, turned me on … a lot. There was just something about him—he just made me feel so feminine. I ran my fingers up his shirtfront, dipping my index finger into the recess of his clavicle. With a simple shake of my hand, I could feel a pile of my fairy dust already manifesting in my palm. I opened my hand and allowed the dust to rain down Knight’s shirtfront. At the same time, I walked my index finger down the center of his chest, while imagining the fabric of his shirt separating beneath my fingers. I watched as the image I held in my mind played itself out in reality as Knight’s shirt divided in two, revealing his stunning chest.

Knight’s chest never failed to impress me with its deep valleys and sumptuous peaks of pure muscle. His exceptionally broad shoulders are definitely something to write home about and his biceps are probably the size of my head. Sinking my face into the ropey muscles of his lats below his arm, I kissed a soft trail, feeling him wince when I touched an especially ticklish spot. Somehow, knowing this enormous man was ticklish—someone who was bred to defend the Netherworld and exterminate any would-be threats—was sexier than sexy.

“My daydreams always begin with a memory of this,” I said as I spanned my hand across the soft skin of his naked chest. I outlined the pale pink, raised scar that started at his collar bone, and crossed all the way down through his right pec. He’d told me a long time ago that he’d earned the scar in a battle with a werewolf, and although some might consider it a blemish on his otherwise flawless chest scape, to me, he couldn’t be any more perfect.

He started to reach out to touch me, but I shook my head and firmly pushed his hand back down to his side. I intended to assert my own right—I was in charge now, and just like he’d formerly done to me, by teaching me the true meaning of sexual frustration, I was anxious to return the favor. But I was going to one-up him.

“Your rules, huh?” he whispered.

“My game, my rules.”

I stepped away from him and unclasped my bra, letting the straps drop down my arms. I crossed my arms against my chest, cleaving my breasts together so the mounds appeared even larger, but I shielded my nipples with my arms.

“No fair,” Knight whispered.

I smiled as I dropped my hands to my sides, the bra falling until it landed unceremoniously on the floor. I glanced up at Knight, and relished the fact that his eyes were riveted on my breasts. To be able to possess such power over him gave me a rush, in and of itself.

“You have the most beautiful body I’ve ever seen,” he said in a hushed tone. I could feel my nipples hardening as he scrutinized them.

“That’s nice,” I answered, trying to sound as indifferent as I could. I had to remind myself not to get too caught up in my own lustful thoughts, since the whole point of this game was retribution. I brought my fingers to my breasts and outlined my alert nipples, feeling goose bumps starting as my nipples hardened even more. I pinched one rosy bud between my index finger and my thumb, rolling it gently. “Whenever I think about your fantastic body, something… happens to me,” I continued, remembering I had a story to tell.

“Something happens to you?” he repeated, his voice coming out incredibly breathy. I could see the outline of his penis already straining against his pants. I had to resist staring at it because every time I glanced at it, my giddiness exploded and threatened my delivery, my payback.

“Something that makes me want to … touch myself,” I finished, savoring every second of the control I had over this incredible man, this unparalleled creature. As a soldier created in Hades’s own image, Knight was the strongest they came. He was brawny and powerful and now this enormous beast hung onto my every word, unable to tear his eyes away from me. And it was so painfully clear that any power he might have had was useless against my own—the age-old wisdom of womankind.

“Where does it make … you want to touch yourself?” he whispered.

I cocked my head to the side, pretending to ponder his question. “Here,” I said, lazily looping my index finger around my nipple. “And, maybe here too,” I added, encircling my other nipple. “But, mostly down here,” I finished as I slid my finger down my stomach before rubbing the outside of my lace panties. Feeling the soft lace, a stinging sensation started from deep down within me.