Possess Me Please (15 page)

His cock was rising to the occasion just thinking about it.

“I’ll be waiting in the kitchen,” he said.

Cyrus turned and left the room before he reached for her, yanked their clothes off, and claimed her in every position his brain had been flashing him since her remark about him proving her wrong.

* * * *

God, that man is too damn pretty.

Isabelle frowned after Cyrus left, wondering what he wanted to talk to her about.

Only one way to find out.
After pulling on a black T-shirt, bra, underwear, jeans and socks, she headed for the kitchen.

The delicious smell of food cooking hit her nose, making her stomach grumble. The only food she was used to smelling in her kitchen was Chinese, pasta or chicken. This was real food, though, not take-out.

She watched Cyrus push an omelet around in the skillet before placing it on a plate. He turned and smiled at her before setting it down on the counter. “Dig in.”

“Where did this come from? My fridge is empty.”

“Not anymore. I went out this morning before you woke up, and picked up a few things.”

Isabelle didn’t waste any time forking a mouthful of omelet into her mouth. The inside was filled with cheese, green peppers, onions and mushrooms and was cooked to perfection. “Oh, my. This is absolutely scrumptious. I can’t believe it.”

He continued cooking his own omelet. “What’s that?”

“You can cook. Is there anything you can’t do?”

He turned and looked her up and down at a leisurely pace, making her toes curl, and heat pool deep in her belly. “Nope.”

She laughed. “Ego much?”

“Hey! I am not an egomaniac.”

He tossed a dishtowel at her and snickered when it smacked her in the head before plopping to the counter. She grabbed it and slung it back at him, but he caught it and set it down. He scooped his finished omelet onto a plate and brought it over to sit next to her.

She only had a few bites left of hers. “This is amazing.”

“There’s nothing like a woman who isn’t afraid of eating. Most nibble on salad like rabbits. I find that rather annoying. You, on the other hand, eat as you live. You relish every moment, every bite. You want me to make you another?”

“No. Thank you. This was perfect.”

She finished eating, put the plate and pan in the sink, turned on the water, and squeezed some soap in to wash them. He watched as she placed the dishes in the strainer, dried her hands, and opened the fridge door.

“Holy hell.” She couldn’t stop staring. Since she’d lived there, there had never been that much food in the fridge. Fruits, vegetables, milk, eggs, cheese, butter—everything one could possibly need, and more. She closed the fridge door and opened the freezer. It was stuffed too—meat, frozen pizzas, and various other frozen meals crowded the shelves. “Oh, my.”

Cyrus closed the freezer door and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her back against his chest. “I hope you don’t mind, but I like to eat.”

She turned to look at him. Maybe this was a good sign. Surely he wouldn’t be stocking up on food for himself if he planned on leaving soon. “So are you staying? I mean, um…”

He took her by the hand and led her to the living room. “Sit down, Izzy.”

Maybe he wasn’t planning on staying for long. “Is something wrong?”

“We need to get rid of the Havoc.” He ran his fingers through his dark hair. “For good.”

“I don’t know how,” Isabelle replied.

“I do.”

“Tell me.”

He took a deep breath. “I talked to your witch friend.”

“Nina?”

He nodded.

“Why did you talk to Nina? How did you even know how to contact her?”

“Sorry, Izzy. I have this plan, so I filched your address book the other night.”

“Cyrus! This is a personal matter.”

She was horrified that he had told Nina about Stephen being back. Her friend had been worried sick over her the last—first—time Stephen had nearly killed her. Isabelle didn’t quite know how she felt about dragging Nina into this sordid mess.

“I should have asked you first, but honestly?” He shrugged. “I wasn’t sure how you’d respond, and I was willing to risk your ire as long as it meant keeping you safe.”

She rubbed her forehead with her fingertips. “How could you? This was my decision. Not yours. You lied to me about who you are—which I do understand, even though I still don’t like being lied to—then had plans all along to go behind my back with my friend?”

“No. It is
our
decision. I can’t allow you to come to any harm.”

Isabelle stood and began pacing. “Are you listening to yourself? It is
my
decision. It’s
my
body,
my
house,
my
problem. Do you see where I’m going with this? I make all of
my
decisions.”

“Izzy, be reasonable.”

He reached for her, but she evaded him, spinning around to face him instead. “Reasonable? You have dragged my best friend into something that has the potential of causing her harm, and you want me to be reasonable?”

“Settle down. Let me explain.”

“Do not tell me to settle down! Ever. You have no idea how angry I am at you right now. I should—”

The shrill ringing of the phone cut her off. She stomped over and picked it up on the third ring. She wasn’t sure if she was more relieved or agitated to hear Nina on the other end. She wasn’t any happier with her friend for agreeing to help Cyrus with whatever plan he had devised behind her back.

She loved Nina dearly though, and in the end, Nina convinced her to at least hear Cyrus out. Isabelle only agreed because this wasn’t worth losing Nina over—at least she hoped. After hanging up, she went back to the living room where Cyrus was waiting.

After crossing her arms over her chest, she leveled a stare that she hoped he took as a you-better-tell-me-the-whole-truth-and-no-bullshit look, with a little of I-really-want-to-kick-your-ass-right-now as a side dish. “Spill it.
All
of it.”

“I asked Nina if she could come up with a spell to bind Stephen from harming you or anyone else. She said she could do it.”

So far that didn’t sound too terrible. “Continue.”

“You can’t be here when we perform it. Nina needs to invoke an invitation spell. When Stephen tries to possess her, I’m going to grab him and restrain him until Nina binds him.”

And that was where the plan fell to shit. “Absolutely not!” Isabelle put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “You will not put my friend in danger like that.”

“Damn it, Izzy! What about you? What if you’re here when we do this, and Stephen gets inside you somehow? What if I can’t get him out in time? You take too many risks with your life already.”

She stepped up to him, not backing down when he loomed over her. “I don’t care what the consequences are, Cyrus. Stephen is my problem, not Nina’s, and I won’t let her risk her life for me.”

“She won’t be risking her life. I’ll get Stephen before he has a chance to possess her.”

He was scared. She could read it plain as day in his eyes. He was frightened for her. That meant he had to care for her. Isabelle’s heart flip-flopped in response. Maybe, just maybe, he could learn to love her after all?

She pulled him over to the couch, tugged him down beside her, and faced him. “Then what is the difference if we use my body or Nina’s? You say there is no risk because you will get him before he hurts her, so it won’t matter if it’s me or her.”

Cyrus took a deep breath and let it out in a long exhale. “Izzy, no plan is foolproof. I will get him, but sometimes things…happen.”

“Exactly. That’s why I won’t let my best friend risk her life. Would you allow your friend to do the same if the tables were turned?”

“No. I wouldn’t. But there’s a big difference. You can die. I can’t.”

“Yeah, and so can Nina.”

“Nina has already agreed to do this. She loves you, and she doesn’t want anything to happen to you. We both know Stephen will be caught off-guard when he doesn’t find you here, and that will be the advantage I need to get him before he realizes what’s going on.”

“Cyrus, listen to me carefully. This is not going to happen without me. Nina will not invite anything into her body. She cannot do what I can do. If she happened to get possessed, and you still got rid of Stephen, she would most likely come out damaged. I won’t…most likely.”

“Why do you have to be so damned noble? I’ve never met such a fierce woman. I admire your courage, but not so much at this moment.” He rubbed at the bridge of his nose, then sighed. “You aren’t going to back down, are you?”

She shook her head, and a small growl of frustration slipped from his lips. “Fine, Izzy.”

Every muscle in his body was tense.

She let out a long, calming breath, hugged him to her, and ran her fingers up and down his back. “Cyrus, I trust you. It will be okay, and Stephen will finally be gone forever.”

* * * *

Cyrus would call Nina and make arrangements for a backup plan. Yes, he would go behind Izzy’s back again. He had no choice. He would not allow her to come to any harm, and he hoped Nina would agree that they needed a Plan B in case things with Plan A went to shit. He wasn’t going to tell Izzy what he intended to do if something went wrong, because he wasn’t sure if she’d agree. And if it came to that, if everything turned out badly, he would
not
let her die.

He returned Izzy’s hug. “If I can’t get to my body before it dies, you know that I will be back, right?”

She nodded. “I understand that. I don’t care what body you’re in. It’s
you
I want.”

“And there’s always the possibility that I won’t make it to Stephen before he gets to—”

“Cyrus, you will get there in time. I trust you. I know everything will be okay because you will be there.”

He squeezed her tighter. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”

“Cyrus, if something does go wrong—”

“Don’t say it. I couldn’t bear it.”

She put two fingers over his lips. “If something does go wrong, you have to promise me that you will not blame yourself. I would never blame you. Tell me you won’t hold yourself responsible if something goes wrong.”

He couldn’t tell her that if something did go wrong, he’d use the backup plan, and she’d probably hate him and definitely blame him. “Fine.”

“When is this all supposed to take place?”

“Tomorrow night.”

“Sounds like we have time to have some fun. And I know just what I want to do for starters.” She grabbed his arm and started for the front door. “You have your keys?”

He looked at her a little puzzled. “Yes.”

A wicked smile curved her face, and he realized what she was up to.

“Good. Give them here.” She waggled her brows at him. “It’s time for me to drive that black monster of yours.”

“Here you go.”

Her eyes widened in surprise as he threw her the keys. She dropped them on the floor, making him laugh. Izzy scrambled to pick them up, grabbed her purse, and practically ran out the door.

Twenty minutes later they were flying down the interstate.

“This is wonderful,” Izzy said. “I feel revived. My blood is practically singing, and the adrenaline rush is like nothing I’ve ever felt.” She glanced over at Cyrus. “I have to admit, she handles even better than Wanda, but don’t tell her that.”

“Wanda?”

She laughed. “Yeah, my BMW. I call her Wanda. Every car needs a name, and cars are usually named after women. What should we call this beauty?” She rubbed her hand along the smooth dash in front of the steering wheel and pursed her lips. “I’ve got it. We’ll call her Betty.”

“Betty? You’re driving a bad-ass car, and you want to call it Betty?”

Izzy frowned. “What’s wrong with Betty?”

“It seems sissyish to me.” He shot her an annoyed look. “Good God. Betty?”

She laughed again. “How is Betty a sissyish name? What makes it any sissier than say, Wilma or Linda or Michelle or—”

He threw his hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay. Betty it is.”

“Now let’s see what Betty can do.”

She floored it, and Betty roared to life before easing into a deep purr as they cruised down the highway.

He’d never get enough of this woman. She took everything life threw at her and rolled with it, enjoyed it, loved it. He wanted to tell Izzy he loved her, but he wanted to make sure it was the truth—not empty words to make her feel better. He cared about her more than he had ever cared about anyone, but he had never been in love and wasn’t exactly sure what it felt like.

* * * *

Two hours later, Isabelle, Cyrus, and Betty arrived home. Isabelle ran her hand along the smooth line of the hood, but stopped when she noticed Cyrus staring at her, hip cocked and resting on the other side of the hood with an all-knowing grin.

“Hey. I already told you how nice Betty is,” she whispered. “But now that we’re back, I can’t talk about her in front of Wanda.”

She glanced at her BMW sitting on the other side of the drive, looking lonely and maybe a bit pouty.

Cyrus tossed his head back and laughed. She watched his throat muscles work as he did so, and thought how enjoyable it would be to kiss his neck at that very moment. He locked eyes with her and began a slow, predatory walk toward her. She was being stalked, and she liked it. It was the first time she sensed how lethal Cyrus could be. Her knees turned to jelly at his approach, and she felt empowered that this man, this demon, had been gentle, protective, and caring with her.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“What I’m doing is thinking about what we did in the back seat. What I’m going to do is kiss you senseless.”

And she wanted him to, but she also wanted some answers. He was stronger, and still he had never so much as put a tiny bruise on her…unless she counted the love-bites on her breast after they’d made love. “Cyrus, are you stronger than humans?”

He pulled her to him and kissed her neck. “Yes.”

A simple answer to a simple question. She had other questions, questions she had been wanting to ask, but her brain was melting into a puddle of desire. She took a deep breath and put a little distance between them while she still had the willpower to do so.