by Jacey Ward
“Wait a second,” the investigator said, rising from his spot. “If you didn’t recruit her tonight, what did you do?”
Kalen was chagrined as he realized that Evander had seen something in the meeting between himself and Circe that he didn’t want the vampire to have figured out.
“Never mind,” he snapped defensively. “And get the hell out of here like I told you.”
“She doesn’t know, does she? You haven’t told her who you are?”
“I’m seeing her tomorrow,” Kalen growled. “I wasn’t about to walk up to her and say ‘Hey, I’m the leader of the Corpus and I need to find Uvall because he owes me.’”
“Kalen, she’ll be eager to help,” Evander explained. “Her best friend was almost killed by the sorceress traveling with Uvall.”
Kalen nodded thoughtfully.
“That is definitely useful,” he replied and he meant it. He didn’t want to tell Circe who he was, not specifically anyway. If she already had a beef with Uvall, that would make things much easier and he could keep the details of who he was hidden from her.
Since when are you ashamed of who you are? There is no shame in being the leader of the Corpus. Be proud of what you have.
It was his father’s voice mocking him and Kalen tried to silence the jeer, taking solace from the fact that his father was rotting in limbo.
But that didn’t make the shame in his gut boil any cooler.
“True,” Kalen told Evander evenly. “But, seriously, if you don’t leave, I’m about to go medieval on your ass.”
The vampire nodded and spun to leave without argument, sensing the sincerity of his boss’ tone.
“Let me know how it goes,” Evander said before departing.
Kalen didn’t respond, only half-paying attention to the PI’s retreating frame, his mind back on the dinner with Circe.
If I recruit her to help me, it’s inevitable that she’ll learn who I am, he thought, weighing the pros and cons of what he was thinking. He had been on the brink of asking her for her help that night but something had stopped him.
Perhaps it was knowing that he needed to possess her, just one time.
She’s much too attractive to be good in bed, he reasoned. We’ll have a quick romp in the hay and the novelty of her will be gone. Then we can have a business relationship.
Kalen wondered who he was fooling and allowed himself to fall back on the sofa, unbuckling his belt as he finally permitted his strong hand to slip inside his silk boxers, the image of Circe’s glowing saffron eyes boring into his.
His eyes half closed as his fist enclosed the semi-hard shaft. With long, tight motions, he let himself return to the dream he had started on his way up to his place. If he inhaled deeply, he could smell Circe’s sweet but spicy scent in his nostrils.
There had been an undeniable spark between them. Even the waitstaff had kept their distance, as if sensing that something exciting was growing between the attractive pair.
As his strokes increased in speed, he remembered watching her lips move as they sat in the restaurant, wondering what they would feel like around his cock and the idea only made him harder.
“There’s something different about you,” he remembered her saying. “You’re not like the demons I know.”
“I’m not from around here,” he told her, keeping his gaze trained on her face. He didn’t want her to sense the intensity of his desire.
Well she can’t see my hard-on. And she’s not a demon so she can’t discern my emotions.
Kalen grunted, the memory, stalling what was supposed to be a pleasurable moment for him. The mere thought that Circe might learn the truth about him had put a damper on his arousal.
He clung to his partially engorged unit, envisioning Circe in a different environment and in seconds, he was fully engorged again, his teeth gritting with the strength of his arousal. In his mind’s eye, she was there with him in the hotel suite.
Kalen pictured her in the Victoria’s Secret number she had rocked on stage a couple years earlier, a white and gold shear bodysuit which accented her long legs and firm breasts.
He willed her closer with his eyes and she moved toward him as if transfixed by his face.
“I knew you would come back for me,” she whispered, straddling him as he grasped his rock-hard member. “I knew you couldn’t stay away.”
“Of course I came back,” he growled. “Kiss me.”
She didn’t need to be told a second time, leaning her face forward so their lips meshed together, her hot skin touching his as her center grazed his.
He could feel the heat of her core burning through his boxers and in his dream, she tasted just as he had imagined; a combination of honey and expensive wine.
Her hips rocked against him gently, the lace of her panties slipping against the moist cleft of her opening and Kalen groaned aloud.
His hand cupped the top of his pulsating head as if it was her slippery opening, dancing over the bundle of nerves, and he groaned loudly, feeling his sack tighten.
No, not yet, he told himself, exhaling sharply but he couldn’t slow his movements as the Circe in his vision draped herself over him and guided him inside him. His hips surged upwards, as if impaling her deeply, his fist tightening even more on his rigid shaft.
She mewled, the noise sending shivers of pleasure through him and he bucked upward, wanting to fill her even more deeply. The walls of her core closed around him, and he gritted his teeth together, knowing he was going to explode.
“That’s it, baby. Ride me hard. You’re so fuckin’ beautiful,” he groaned in his mind. “I’m coming!”
“Not yet,” she purred, her amber irises radiating with eerie light. “Fuck me harder, Kalen.”
The sensual words put him over the edge and he couldn’t hold out any longer, the thought of having Circe Lancaster riding his cock too much.
He streamed over himself in burning streaks, moaning loudly as he did.
Slowly, he sat up, looking for something to wipe himself with, disappointed that the fantasy had ended – however, he now knew that having her beneath him, on top of him, and every way in between was inevitable. If she could make him come that hard in a fantasy, then there was no way she was escaping from him without him tasting every inch of her lithe body.
He knew that there was no way he was going to be able to resist sleeping with her.
I don’t even know how I managed to send her home tonight.
Unsteadily, Kalen rose to his feet and walked toward the bathroom, running water over his hands, willing himself to think clearly.
There was a major risk asking Circe to work with him to locate Uvall, one which would certainly expose his secret to her. There were so many other Valkyries in New York alone; he certainly did not need to commit to Circe.
But he wanted her and there was nothing he could say to himself that would convince him otherwise.
Who cares if she learns about you? He challenged himself. You have nothing to hide from a mere Valkyrie. Who cares what she thinks about you or Corpus?
It bothered him to realize that he did though, possibly for the first time in his eternal life.
“It’s only sex,” he said aloud as if trying to convince his own mind. “Politics don’t need to get involved.”
On that false assurance, Kalen turned his delusional thoughts elsewhere.
Chapter 3
She stroked the outside of the phone with a long, purple fingernail, listening to Arya through the earpiece.
“Well, it’s not surprising, Circe. I mean, sure, it’s brazen but if he’s a foreign demon, he might not be well versed in the new world ways.”
“Still, approaching me in the open like that,” Circe sighed. “And then he took me for dinner!”
“I agree,” her best friend conceded. “It’s really strange. Do you think he’s working with Uvall?”
“No,” Circe said quickly and she wondered why she was so determined to defend the demon stranger. The Deviants
in America knew better than to act like Kalen had, calling out another in such a public way. He should be reported for his actions but Circe had been unable to bring herself to do that – not when her body still tingled every time she remembered the connection they shared.
The model had met thousands of men in her life, both Deviant and mortal. She had been plied with gifts and flattery, been to the most expensive resorts and ridden in the flashiest cars but she had never been as awed as she had been with the black-haired demon who had materialized from nowhere.
What had shocked her the most was that he hadn’t taken her up on her invitation to come to her suite at the Mercer.
Throughout their dinner, she had been sure he wanted to ask her something, but the question had never surfaced.
She had to wonder if it had been a proposition, or something more…dark.
He’s a demon. Why would he be interested in me? He might not be a demon lord but he’s still more powerful than I will ever be.
Circe was glad she was seeing him again that night because she didn’t intend to let him slip away a second time. Strong connections like that just didn’t happen to her – and it had been a looong time since she had had mind-blowing sex. She sensed that sex with Kalen would be…epic.
“I’ll ask Dante about him,” Arya said, shattering her reverie.
“No!” Circe cried. “Don’t! I don’t want him to know that I’m – “
She stopped herself from saying the words aloud. She had almost said “I don’t want him to know I’m seeing a demon.”
Jesus Christ. I have one dinner with a total stranger and I’m picking out wedding invitations. What the hell is wrong with me?
She had no real answer except that she was strangely entranced by the immortal.
“It’s okay hun, the same thing happened to me when I met Dante in the bar that night. You must remember that?” Arya reassured her. “There was just this electric, insurmountable attraction that I couldn’t fight. Remember, you tried to stop me from leaving the bar with him, but I just – had to.”
Is it fate or is it something they do to us to makes them irresistible?
“Hello? Circe are you still there?”
“Yes,” she sighed. “Just don’t mention Kalen to Dante. Promise me.”
“All right,” Arya replied reluctantly. “But what if he’s working with Uvall?”
“He’s not!” Circe said convincingly – at least to her ears. “He’s just a tourist, all right? Don’t you think I can take care of myself?”
There was a hesitant pause and Circe felt guilty for questioning her. After all, they had been friends forever; almost literally.
“I’m just worried about you, Circe. I’m not trying to get involved with your relationships.”
Relationships. Yep, we’ve both lost our minds.
“I know,” she replied apologetically. “I’m sorry. I just haven’t slept much since this goddamned show started and now Analeigh is pissed at me for leaving the play last night.”
“I still can’t believe you did that,” Arya chuckled appreciatively. “I wish I’d seen that bitch’s plastic face when you told her to screw off.”
“Well, you know Analeigh; it’s really hard to tell how she took it. I gotta go, Ary. I’ll call you after my date tonight and let you know how it went.”
“Please do, and if you need anything – “
“What I need is for you to give my niece a kiss for me and then just relax. You’ve come a long way from the Sapphire Strip.”
Arya snickered.
“Jasmine is spoiled rotten. Dante dotes on her like a princess.”
“She is a princess, just like her mama. Maybe it’s time to think about having a little brother or sister – “
“Okay, I’m hanging up now!” Arya called cheerfully and Circe had to laugh.
“I love you both.”
“Talk later. Love you.”
They disconnected simultaneously and Circe turned to look at herself in the mirror of the bedroom. To her chagrin, she saw her brow had furrowed.
Stop it, she growled to herself. There’s nothing to worry about with Kalen. He’s just needs a tour guide.
But you’re not a native New Yorker.
But close enough, really. She had spent enough time in the city to give him a quickie.
I mean a quick TOUR!
And then I can press him for details about what he’s doing on this side of the planet.
She leaned forward, wiping under her eyes to remove a streak of mascara before standing back up to admire herself.
Circe had held back nothing that night, her toned, slender figure was accentuated perfectly in a long, red A-line dress. There was a daring slit up the thigh, pronouncing her perfectly sculpted right leg, made sultrier by a pair of four-inch gold pumps.
It was relieving to know she could wear heels without towering over Kalen, something that didn’t happen to her often – if ever. Not that the fact she was six feet tall in stilettos had ever stopped her from wearing them in the past. It was just refreshing to know that for once, she would be looking up at her date instead of down.
As always, her make-up was flawless, her eyes made brighter by the simple but jeweled diamond choker around her throat.
Spraying a mist of Chanel over her glistening curls, she stood back to admire her handiwork.
There was a knock on the door and Circe whirled to glance at the alarm clock on the bedside table.
If it was Kalen, he was half an hour early.
Good thing I’m ready, she thought, not even slightly annoyed. The desire to see him had overridden her usual way of reacting. If it had been anyone else, she would have ignored the door and forced her date to wait. Yeah, she was a bitch sometimes, and she knew it.
She answered the knock, a wide smile on her face which faltered immediately.
“Cassie! What are you doing here?”
“Sh-she dropped me!” the blonde cried, pushing her way inside Circe’s room, tears streaming down her face. “I – I’ll n-n-never w-work again!”
“Woah, calm down,” Circe told her. She peered into the hallway, hoping that Kalen wasn’t there to witness her friend’s breakdown. Satisfied, she closed the door and hurried to sit with the girl.
“What’s going on?”
“Analeigh!” she sobbed. “She dropped me as her client!”
Circe snickered.
“She is such a sadist,” the raven-haired beauty grunted. “What did you do to piss her off?”
“I – I only followed your lead, Circe! I told her I wasn’t doing the ‘networking’ anymore, or at least not at the level we’ve been going. I figured if you could do it…”
Circe shook her head, rolling her eyes.
On what planet did she think that she could get away with that shit.
“And she said she was dropping you?” Circe asked gently.
“She yelled at me for an hour, telling me that I have no right, that I was losing popularity and that I did her a favor by saving her having to drop me.”
“She’s such a drama queen,” Circe chuckled, rising to find a tissue for Cassandra.
“You think this is funny, Circe? This is my career we’re talking about, my life!”
Circe handed her a Kleenex.
“She hasn’t dropped you, dumb ass. She’s being her usual psychotic self.”
“She did! She has!”
Circe lost her bemused expression and grabbed Cassie by the shoulders, staring her dead in the eyes.
“Do you know why she treats you like this?” the Valkyrie snapped. “Because you let her. She’s a bully and she does it to everyone who permits her to act like a lunatic.”
“It’s easy for you to say,” Cassie retorted, shifting her blue eyes away. “She likes you.”
Circe snorted contemptuously.
“She abhors me, Cassie but she needs me, just like she needs you and the others. What do you think will happen if she ends up with the reputation as a c
ruel agent? No one will sign with her and she’ll fail.”
Cassie stared at her with wide eyes.
“Are you suggesting we go on ‘strike’, or protest?” she gasped and Circe groaned loudly.
“Of course not!”
Jeez, do I have to spell out everything?
“What I’m suggesting,” Circe continued, checking her temper. “Is that you have to remember she needs us just as much as we need her. She just needs a gentle reminder occasionally.”
“Well, I can’t remind her now, can I?” Cassie wailed miserably. “She’s fired me.”
“Cassie, I know you’re not thinking clearly but she can’t drop you because you had a fight,” Circe explained. “You have a valid contract. If you think she’s serious, call your attorney. In fact, call your attorney anyway and have him renegotiate the terms of your paperwork. Explain what a nightmare Analeigh is to work with. That will remind the cellophane bitch how important we are to her.”
Cassie dabbed her eyes with the edge of her tissue and stared at Circe in wonder.
“You think I should do that?”
“Of course. But trust me, Cass, she didn’t dump you. She’s evil incarnate but she’s not an idiot.”
Cassie looked at her with mild wonderment through red-rimmed eyes.
“How come you’re so wise, Circe?” she asked and the Valkyrie swallowed a snicker.
Because I’ve been alive longer than they teach history about, she thought. But of course, she kept her amused reply to herself.
“You can’t let bullies grind you down. They only become powerful because no one stands up to them,” Circe told her. “If you let her get under your skin, it will age you. And we both know as a blonde, you can’t afford to age any sooner than natural.”
She grinned wickedly as Cassie smacked her good naturedly. She eyed her fully for the first time since entering her room.
“Oh my God,” she gasped, jumping up. “You’re on your way out!”
“In a few minutes,” Circe told her. “My date isn’t here yet.”
Cassie’s eyes widened.
“Your date? Does Analeigh know about this?”
Circe’s mouth became a fine line of annoyance.