by Nicole Thorn
They both stared at me.
“I shouldn’t have let you out of this house,” Jasper finally said, pushing back some of his hair. “Why do you want to go on a potentially dangerous mission with Zander, alone, after the way you two have been going at each other’s throat lately? Does this go back to the wooing thing you were talking about?”
“You’re actually doing that?” Juniper asked. “I know we talked about it, but I didn’t think you were really going to get him a chocolate bouquet. He’s probably gotten chocolate all over his sheets by now, and I’ll have to clean them . . . ” She looked quietly horrified.
I sighed. “Yes, this is the wooing thing. I’m getting really good at it, I think.” Taking your underwear off, and dropping them into a man’s lap could be considered good wooing, right? “But I need more alone time with him, or it’ll never work. Please? A couple hours alone with him is all I need.”
Jasper and Juniper looked at each other. She sighed. “I don’t want to get attacked by anything else, but if you get hurt, I’ll never forgive myself. And if he lets you get hurt, then I’ll have to find a way to kill a demigod. Maybe I could slit his throat in his sleep. But blood would get everywhere.”
Jasper patted her back. “She’ll just have to not get hurt, won’t she?” he said. He looked at me again. “Are you sure about this? I’ll talk to Kezia and make sure she doesn’t mind staying here with us, but I need to know that it isn’t a mistake. You can’t promise you won’t get hurt.”
I shook my head. “No, I can’t. Even if I could, that’d almost guarantee that I would get hurt. I will, however, promise to let Zander handle all the big monsters if at all possible, and hide in the trunk of the car if need be. It’ll be a huge bruise to my ego, but it’ll make him feel better, and you feel better.”
Jasper sighed. “All right. You win. I’ll talk to Kezia.”
Juniper still frowned at me. “If you die, I’ll find a way to kill you again. I swear I will. But I’ll stay here while you’re doing this incredibly foolish thing, if you promise that when you get back, you’ll talk to me and Jasper.”
I frowned. “About what?”
“I won’t tell you,” Juniper said, smiling. “I trust that the curiosity will be enough to keep you alive.”
“That’s mean,” I said, shoving her. “Deal.” I hugged my sister, and skipped out of the room. Next phase of Zander Wooing complete. Of course, there was no reason to not aide myself a little bit.
I grabbed a change of clothes, and went into the bathroom. It had been a long, stressful day that never seemed to end. I wanted to shower it all off me. When I stepped out, my hair hung limply against my cheeks, but I looked refreshed. I certainly felt better than I had since dropping the chocolate off in Zander’s room.
It felt like a million years ago.
The house sounded quiet as I made my way to Zander’s room. I didn’t bother knocking. If he was dressed, then he wouldn’t mind. If he was naked, then the yelling would be totally worth it, even if that made me a bad person.
He laid in bed, looking at something on his phone. He sat up when I stepped into the room, wearing my pajamas. “Jasmine? What are you doing?” I could tell by his tone that he knew precisely what I did.
“I haven’t been sleeping well,” I said honestly enough. “I thought you wouldn’t mind if I tried sleeping in here.”
“I suppose not . . . ” he said reluctantly.
With a huge grin, I went over to his drawers. I pulled them open until I found what I looked for. His biggest t-shirt. I yanked off my pajamas, leaving me only in my weirdest pair of underwear—on the front they had a white horse head, and on the back they had a wing on either cheek. Zander made a strangled sound as I pulled his shirt over my head. It felt so soft and warm. It was old enough that his scent had worked its way into the fibers, and that only made everything better.
I dived onto the bed, so that I laid on my stomach next to Zander, and smiled at him. “Good night,” I said, proceeding to wiggle until I knew the shirt had ridden up to my waist, and that my bottom showed.
I fell asleep faster than I had all week.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:
Swindled
Zander
So, she was evil. I should have figured it out by now, since the walking temptation always tried to get me in her pants. You’d think that the secret to immortality waited for her there, given how hard she tried to get at me. I’d never had anyone try this hard. Well . . . that wasn’t true. I’d never had anyone try this hard for longer than a night. I’d seen desperate, but this wasn’t quite the same for her. She said she loved me. Loved. Me. Someone loved me, and I missed it. I had to be told by Jasmine, because I tried so hard to not see it myself. The truth hovered right in my face, all the lights shining on it now. No more ignoring it, and no going back. We were in love, and that was that.
If I violated her in this room, the others might hear, and that kept me from doing anything. I didn’t want Jasper to try and kill me, because Kizzy would be sad when I shamed him utterly. It would be worth getting Jasmine under me for a couple of hours . . . Or her on top of me. I wasn’t picky. I wondered if she . . . NO! I will not wonder that at all. I wouldn’t get to find out because I tried not to care. I could be a good boy and not think about it. Not think about what’s under that shirt. Not think . . .
She wanted me to stare at her ass, so I did. Why should I deny myself getting to look as long as I didn’t touch? I very much wanted to touch . . . It looked nice and soft and pretty. Damn her and her nice body. It had been fun to touch. And why the fuck had she dropped her panties on me? Where did she learn how to do that kind of thing? Never mind. I didn’t want to know. I didn’t want to think of her wooing some dick with that. I could get myself worked up if I did, so I shut that down as quickly as I could, and just focused on the half-naked Jasmine in my bed.
She seemed to be fast asleep, so I got away with cuddles. I laid on my side and secured my arm around her middle. Nothing could get to her with me there. She felt safe in my arms, and I wished I could keep her there, away from the monsters and the people who would take her from me if they could. From any accident that could end her, including her own self-destruction. Jasmine would be safe and sound as long as she stayed in this bed. She wouldn’t get hurt there.
I faded in and out of sleep, uneasy about our plans for the morning. Danger lurked around every corner, and now we had blind spots. The seers couldn’t really see anymore, and that fucked us up in a lot of ways. Kizzy and I could fight, but we needed to know what we faced. We could die if we weren’t careful.
Jasmine stirred in her sleep, so I held her tighter. I hoped that something would click in her brain and she would figure out she was in a safe place. I wanted to chase away the bad dreams she may have had. I couldn’t imagine her head being a nice place after that day. All the spiders and her fucking bastard of a father. Hitting his own child . . . I couldn’t imagine how a parent could ever do that. It felt unnatural and cruel. A child should have infinite faith and trust in their parent, over anyone else. My mother had hardly been there for me, but I trusted her with my life. She would do anything she could to keep me safe. That was the least anyone deserved.
I woke up again and we’d moved. I laid on my back and Jasmine had curled up into a ball on me. She had my hand under her chin, and she wiggled around like crazy. There had to be some bad dreams click-clacking away in her head. I couldn’t chase them away, but I could hold her until they stopped.
In the morning, she woke up and stretched, rising until she straddled my body. I watched her as her arms reached up into the air, and she wiggled her fingers, making a sleepy sound when yawning. That shirt she stole from me rose up on her, giving me a look at her panties again. Damn. Her. It would be oh so easy to reach for them, tug them to the side, and finish what we started in the car. Easier still to knock her onto her back, and get on top of her. She wanted it. I wanted it.
Jasmine’s hands came back down, and s
he rested them on my chest. She allowed them to slide down as she ‘accidentally’ ground her pelvis against mine. “Good morning,” she said with a smile. “How did you sleep?”
I grumbled, since I couldn’t use my big boy words. I focused too hard on the stir Jasmine caused in my boxers’ area. Of course, she noticed. She sat on it, so there was no way for her to not feel it. Not to brag . . . but, ya know, I did all right in that regard.
“Ah,” she said. Her lips turned into the most wicked smirk any human could pull off, and she lowered her body down to meet mine. Fabric met fabric and I felt so disappointed to not feel the warmth of her skin against mine. She ground gently against me, her hand slipping under my shirt. Her nails dragged along my side, feeling the lines of my body. Jasmine made a sound of appreciation, and I felt happy to have pleased her.
I lifted my hips up, ensuring she’d feel me right where I wanted her to. Jasmine’s lips fell open when her knees tightened on either side of me at the same time I rubbed against her again.
I tugged her shirt up to her stomach as her lips found my throat. Jasmine kissed me while my hands explored the warm skin of her back. She felt so soft and inviting. I wanted her to be mine, and I forgot why she couldn’t.
I took her mouth with mine, and weaved my hand into her hair, holding her to me. Jasmine moaned into me as she began rubbing herself harder against me. I let go of her hair in favor of her hips. When I had them in my control, I moved mine in time with hers, causing enough friction to make her stop kissing me to moan. I smiled, and turned us over.
Jasmine pulled the shirt over my head, and wrapped her legs around me. I gave a strong thrust forward, even knowing I couldn’t be inside of her with the motion. It still did a lot for the both of us, making Jasmine bite her lip. Next I had to get that shirt off her. Too much in the way.
She grinned at the victory as I started moving down her body. Her legs opened wider by the time I reached her stomach, leaving kisses in my wake. Jasmine refused to keep still before anything even really started, but I preferred it that way. I would get to watch her come undone.
I reached her panties, and I stole a glance at her. Her eyes closed, and she didn’t move again until my lips touched her. Jasmine gasped, and reached for my hair. I let her tug on it as I purposefully teased her. I wanted her to wiggle and beg and feel every moment go by slowly and too fast at the same time. Her legs tightened around me between them, and I enjoyed her as much as I could with her underwear still on.
I played for a good long while before moving onto something else. Without a sliver of warning, I moved back so that our bodies pressed flush together. I kissed her at the same time I reached between her legs, and slipped my fingers inside of her. She groaned loudly as her nails tore at my shoulders. Jasmine thrashed under me, and I pushed my fingers deeper into her.
She went limp on the bed in only another half a minute, but it was enough time for me to realize what I’d done. Dammit. I wasn’t supposed to kiss her, or touch her, or even hold her. I failed at the only thing I could have possibly gotten right in my life.
Jasmine pulled my face down to meet hers. I kissed her without fighting it, because I needed her so damn badly. I doubted this would be our last kiss, so why should I fight it? We’d just done something intimate together, and I couldn’t risk her thinking it didn’t mean all that much to me. It meant far too much. Even simple touches became electric with her.
“That was . . . ” Jasmine stopped and smiled. “So, good.”
I kissed her cheek. “I’m glad you thought so, baby.”
Jasmine sighed and shoved at my shoulders until she hovered over me. “Are you gonna be all Zandery about this?”
I arched a brow. “Excuse me?”
She eyed me harshly. “If I hear you say you regret doing that, I will tell you what Kizzy told me Jasper does to her when she gets all ranty about flowers and her ears do that cute wiggly thing.”
I made a sad sound and whimpered, “What . . . what does he do?”
Jasmine cleared her throat. “Nothing. Nothing at all. Now, fondle me a little and then let me take care of you.”
Oh, she laid mostly naked and under me . . . Her breasts pressed right against me, and I wanted to get to do things to them. Damn! I should have done something when I had the chance. Now I had to live with the fact that I couldn’t do it in the future. At least for now, they rubbed against me. Mmm.
“I can’t fondle you,” I said. “We have to behave.”
“Hmm,” she said, eyeing me again. She wiggled, and wrapped her legs tightly around me, raising her hips to meet mine. “Not all of you agrees with that statement, Zander. Let me make you feel good.”
She made me docile for a total of a minute as she untwined her legs from around me to make room for her hand. Oh, why did she hate me? Why did her hand feel so good when it dipped under my boxers’ band? I had no answers. Instead, I forgot how to be a good person while Jasmine wooed the fuck out of me.
“We should stop,” I said flatly.
Jasmine giggled and did not let go of me. “Say it like you mean it.”
I could not.
“Just once,” she said. “Let me do something to you one time, and I promise to let up.”
I didn’t know what made me so stupid, but I nodded my head. Jasmine told me to move onto my back, and I did. She hopped on me, and I let her pull my boxers down. Okay, so this wasn’t what I thought would’ve been. She put her mouth around me, and I closed my eyes, unable to think about anything else. Morals slipped out the window, leave only me and Jasmine.
Jasmine drew out every motion and every swipe of her tongue, making me groan obnoxiously. I finished shamefully fast, and turned into a puddle of bliss as I laid on the bed.
Jasmine popped up to her feet, looking victorious again. She skipped over to her clothes and gathered them up in her hands, bending over to get them. Yes, I did look at her ass. No, I did not regret it.
“So, you’ll lay off now?” I asked.
Jasmine walked to the door, and looked over her shoulder with a sly smile. She laughed at me, and then left the room.
Fuck.
***
I showered, feeling like a monster as I did it. I shouldn’t have let her go down on me, no matter how amazing it felt. Damn, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It made me want to return the favor even more than I wanted to before. Jasmine drove me crazy in the best and worse ways. It was dangerous to be here.
When I got downstairs, Jasmine was enjoying a cupcake at the table. A healthy breakfast. She had propped her feet up on the chair, and she stared smugly at me.
“Morning,” I said, ignoring the look.
“Good morning,” she said, trying to sound sultry. She gave her cupcake an exaggerated lick as I walked to the fridge.
Her sister walked into the room, missing the dynamic. Juniper got a mug from the cubby, and began filling it with water as she greeted the both of us. She got a mumble from me, and a nice hello from Jasmine.
“You okay?” Juniper asked me. “You look . . . ” Her eyes narrowed. “Off.”
“I’m fine,” I said coldly, taking a bite from the bagel I took.
Jasmine smiled wide. “Hard night?” she asked me.
I sneered. “It was fine.”
Jasmine wiggled her eyebrows. “Are you sure? You look like you could use a little tension release.”
“No,” I sighed. “I don’t need any kind of release. Thanks . . . ”
“You. Are. Welcome.” She smirked.
Evil. She was evil and she loved it. Loved that she had me at her mercy, and that she had all this power over me and knew how to use it. Of course, she wouldn’t ease up after what I let her do. My fault for being so stupid.
Stay strong . . . Do not think about taking Jasmine back upstairs, and making sure she knew how much I wanted her. Do not picture her on her back, and unable to say anything but my name over and over again.
That would’ve been wrong, so I wouldn’t do it. Wou
ldn’t . . . do . . . it . . . Mmm. She looked good on her back, and her legs felt wonderful around me. I could stay like that for days, or until one of us needed to eat. Probably her, since she was human. That would’ve been fine. I could make her a sandwich, and then go down on her while she ate it. I wouldn’t lose any time that way. She could sleep while I ate, and I didn’t have to sleep at all. I would find a way to live without it. But I couldn’t think about her under me, or her eating a BLT while I went to town on her. God, I missed the days where we could hang out and watch Jessica Jones without me fretting so much about wanting her naked. I mean, I always wanted her naked, but I used to be able to handle it better. We could be friends, and there had been no stress. I thought that only came now that I knew I loved her. And worse . . . she loved me too.
Kizzy and Jasper came into the kitchen soon after, and I figured we would discuss leaving. I was wrong.
“What do you mean you’re not going?” I asked my sister. “We’re all going together.”
She shook her head, crossing her arms. “I’m staying with Jasper and Juniper. I didn’t ask questions. I do as I’m asked.” She smiled at Jasper, who stared at Jasmine . . .
“I don’t understand.”
Juniper sighed. “I think you and Jasmine could take care of this yourselves. We should stay, just in case something happens here.”
Hmm. I thought something was a little off, going by how Jasmine smirked at the wall as she casually ate her cupcake. Oh, okay, I get it. Well two can play this game.
“Okay,” I smiled. “I guess we’ll head out. I just have to grab my sword.”
I enjoyed Jasmine’s dopey look when I hurried off, and even more so when I came back with the sword, and waiting in the living room. I did some practice swings, and checked the balance while she watched.
We got into my car and headed off, following the map. Jasmine acted as my guide, and I thought it a miracle that we hadn’t gotten lost. The map had been hand drawn after all. Jasmine had grown used to new technology guiding her way. We could have ended up in Canada for all I knew. I didn’t have enough gas for that.