Tasting Temptation

by Charity Parkerson

  “What seems to be the problem?” Skylar asked as she came to her feet and stepped around the desk. She would deal with Gideon later. If she was going to be alone, then she needed her career.

  Cassidy shrugged. “I’m not sure. The woman refuses to speak to me. She said that she wanted the owner and she won’t calm down until she sees you.”

  Shaking her head, she followed in Cassidy’s wake. “Which table?”

  Cassidy pointed to a corner booth, answering, “The one with the chick wearing fake wings and holding a wand.”

  New Orleans was a colorful town, and Skylar was never surprised by anything anymore. A pissed off fairy was actually pretty low on the list of oddities.

  It wasn’t until she reached the edge of the table that she caught sight of the man, and her heart stopped.

  Gideon was looking up at her with a blank expression. Unlike her, he didn’t seem a bit surprised to see her there. Tearing her eyes away from his face, she focused on the fairy, and she was forced to clear her throat before she was able to speak.

  “My manager tells me that you wished to speak with me.”

  The woman’s green eyes sparkled with merriment and the wings were actually pretty awesome. They almost looked real, but Skylar still wanted to punch her in her cute little face. How dare Gideon bring another woman here?

  “Yes,” she admitted, sounding adorable and making Skylar feel even more sick to her stomach. “You have a problem.”

  “Okay,” Skylar drawled at the odd statement. Not, “we have a problem” but “you have a problem.” That wasn’t good. That was the sort of statement that was usually followed by, “you have termites” or something similarly awful. Of course, right now the problem seemed to be that this woman was having lunch with Skylar’s man.

  “What problem might that be?” she asked, forcibly not looking at Gideon.

  “You’re a mortal chick.”

  Skylar could only blink in confusion as she wondered if that was some newfangled slang that she’d never heard of before. Finally, she asked, “And that’s a problem?”

  The fairy nodded and her choppy brown hair brushed her chin at the motion. “Well, yeah. You see, my Gideon here is all angelic-like and he’s got the immortality gene thing happening that you just don’t have. So, I’m here to fix your problem. See now, all you have to do is live forever, then you two could be together and have a ton of angelic babies while living happily-ever-after just like my Freddie and me.”

  Although Skylar didn’t understand most of what the woman was saying, a picture of her spending an eternity with Gideon filled her mind and, before she could stop it, she admitted, “Then I certainly do wish I could live forever.”

  The fairy smiled triumphantly as she smacked her on the upper arm with her wand, and said, “Wish granted.” It didn’t hurt, but it certainly took her by surprise.

  “See; all fixed, and now I can go back home to my super-hot, yummy delicious husband who is still waiting in bed for me.”

  Skylar looked at the spot where the fairy struck her before meeting the woman’s gaze once more. “Are you on drugs?” she asked, unable to come up with any other reason for her behavior or the nonsensical complaint. It certainly would explain the shiny silver shirt and yellow tutu the woman was wearing.

  “No, but I do have to get going.” And with that pronouncement, she disappeared; not just left as quickly as possible, but actually disappeared. One minute, Skylar was looking at her and the next, she was gone.

  Unable to do otherwise, Skylar turned to face Gideon. A wicked smile played on his lips. He slid from the booth, tossing a few bills on the table as he went.

  “I’ll explain everything when I see you tonight,” he promised before touching his lips to the corner of her mouth. Luckily, he didn’t linger there for long and her knees didn’t buckle in front of her employees.

  “I’m seeing you tonight,” she repeated, feeling lost.

  His mouth turned up at one corner in an impressive smile as he drawled, “Oh yeah.”

  Skylar kept her eyes locked on his massive form until he was completely out of sight.

  “Are you going to let him do this to you again?” Cassidy hissed behind her, snapping her out of the trance Gideon had woven around her.

  “Yes. It seems that I am,” Skylar answered absently.

  A thoughtful look passed over Cassidy’s face before she grumbled, “Yeah, I probably would too. Damn, that man is fine.”

  4 CHAPTER NAME

  .

  By nine thirty that night, Skylar had all but given up the hope of seeing Gideon when her cell phone chirped, alerting her of an incoming text message.

  I’m outside your back door

  “Well, that can’t be good,” she grumbled as she made her way to the door. “He could have kicked my booty call to the curb a few hours earlier so I could get some sleep.”

  He was shirtless and there was no car in sight. She noticed those two points as soon as she opened the door. She forcibly tore her eyes from his bare chest in an attempt to hold onto her sanity. This was going to hurt bad enough without adding her longing to touch him into the mix.

  “I didn’t think you were coming,” she confessed.

  “I had a fight tonight.”

  A spike of fear ran down her spine and she looked him over for injuries. When she didn’t find anything, her heart rate slowed.

  “You don’t look any worse for wear,” she said, sounding more relieved than she intended. She didn’t want him to know how much she cared.

  “I never do.” He brushed his hand over his head as if searching for the right words and her heart rate shot through the roof again. Whatever he needed to say to her, it was going to hurt like a bitch. The sick feeling of dread in her stomach said it all.

  “If you’re going to dump me, then please go ahead and do it. I can’t stand the suspense.”

  A look of confusion crossed his face at her words. “I’m not dumping you. Why would you even think that?”

  Skylar growled, “Because you’re acting all mysterious and you’re standing on the porch like you have no intentions of coming inside. Not to mention, you snuck away this morning like I’m some sort of one-nighter you’re scared to wake up to.”

  He rubbed his hand over his head again and shifted from foot to foot. Looking nervous, he glanced around as if checking for onlookers. “I had an errand to run this morning.”

  “Yeah, one with some hot little married chick,” she shot back before she couldn’t bite back the words.

  He smiled. “You’re jealous,” he accused.

  “And we’re still standing on the porch,” she reminded him.

  He glanced around again. “I didn’t want to do this inside in case I break something, or I need to get away quickly,” he added so quietly she almost missed it.

  “What could you possibly . . .” she began. A set of black wings appeared behind him, seeming to unfurl from his shoulders and surround him. It took her mind a moment to accept what she was seeing.

  A scream tore from her throat. Slamming the door, she found her back pressed against it without any memory of actually closing it. Her mind raced, and the only real thought that she could grasp was not a pretty one.

  “Oh my God. I fucked a bird.”

  “You did not fuck a bird.” Gideon’s voice sounded exasperated through the wood separating them.

  Throwing the door open wide, she made a slashing motion across her throat. “Shh! Do you want all my neighbors to know that I’m a sexual bird-fucking deviant?”

  The wings were gone and a smirk touched his lips. “Babe, after the way I’ve made you scream my name, they already know how sexual you are. And for the last time, I am not a bird.”

  His words caused her heart to beat even faster and her mouth went dry. What was wrong with her? A jolt went through her. Maybe it wasn’t her at all. His wings were black and he tempted her do things even she didn’t know that she wanted. Perhaps Gideon truly was the devil. Afte
r all, she’d always heard he came in a beautiful package and there was no one more beautiful than Gideon.

  “What are you?” she managed to whisper.

  “Invite me in,” he said, enticing her with his words.

  “Not until you tell me what you are.”

  Gideon gripped the doorframe and leaned closer. Dropping his voice, he repeated, “Invite me in, Skylar.”

  “Are you going to steal my soul?”

  Gideon drew back sharply as if she’d slapped him. “What kind of question is that?”

  Skylar immediately felt like shit at the hurt in his voice. Taking a step back, she allowed him to pass and closed the door behind him. “A stupid one since you already own it.”

  His head snapped around in her direction at her answer. “Do I own you?” he asked, sounding as if her answer meant everything to him. The power she felt in that moment was a heady thing.

  She held his gaze. “Show me again,” she demanded.

  Slowly turning on heel, his wings unfolded. There was not any sort of mechanical process as she’d been expecting. His tattoo simply went from appearing real to being real in an instant, almost as if a trick of the light.

  “I’m an angel,” he told her over his shoulder.

  An angel, not the devil, or so he claimed, she thought wryly.

  Keeping her eyes locked on his wings, she confessed, “I thought angels were round little men with pink cheeks and white wings.” Not black wings like a demon, she silently added.

  “I’m a guardian,” he explained, sounding patient. “You’re thinking of the angels that escort souls to the Heavens after their mortal bodies pass from this life.” He tilted his head to one side as if thinking things over, before adding, “But I still don’t think I’ve ever met an angel of the light that meets your description. You have to keep fit in order to travel through the realms. It’s hard work.”

  Lifting one hand, Skylar pressed her palm against the bare skin between his wings. The hard planes and warmth of his body reminded of her how real he was.

  Carefully, in case she was doing something wrong, she used her free hand to rub one of the inky feathers between her fingertips.

  He drew in a sharp breath at the light touch and she felt his muscles tense. She recalled the night she’d traced the lines of his tattoo.

  “You like it when I do this.”

  It had not been a question, but he still answered, “Yes.”

  The breathlessness of his voice made her feel more dominant than anything ever had before. She didn’t know how it was possible, but she couldn’t deny that he was really an angel. She was staring at and touching the proof. She stroked her fingertip over the feather once more and he shuddered beneath the touch.

  She wondered if perhaps shock had set in because she no longer felt scared or horrified. She felt justified. For so many months, Gideon’s overwhelming presence had drawn her in and he’d almost seemed otherworldly to her. She’d been right. He really was more than everyone else was. Giving herself time to adjust, she continued running her hands over his body as she searched inside of herself.

  In the end, the truth was undeniable. She was in love with Gideon Black and it didn’t matter that he was different from her. With her hand on his waist, she circled his body until she stood toe to toe with him. If her love for him had not sealed the deal, the look on his face would have. He was scared of her rejection.

  “There’s more,” he confessed before she had time to put his fears to rest.

  “Okay,” she answered slowly, unsure if she could handle more.

  “My friend, Tam, the girl you met today,” he explained. “She’s a real Pixie.”

  Relief flooded Skylar’s veins. In the grand scheme of things, his friend meant nothing to her. “She granted your wish,” he added.

  Skylar’s brows drew together as she tried to recall her conversation with the pixie. At the time, all she’d been concerned with was Gideon. Now, she went over their exchange word for word in her mind and her brow cleared.

  A luminous smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. “We’re going to have angelic babies and live happily-ever-after.”

  “Forever,” he reminded her, and the look on his face spoke volumes about how unhappy that one word made him.

  Gideon watched the happiness slip from her face and he knew the other shoe was about to drop.

  "Are you stuck with me forever against your will because I wished for it? Is that why you look so sad?"

  "Not at all," he assured her. "I want to be with you for the rest of my life. I want those kids that you pictured in your mind as you made that wish."

  "How do you know what I pictured? Are you psychic too?"

  He smiled at the worried look on her face. "It was your expression as you said the words," he explained. "I knew that you were seeing the same thing that I was."

  "Aww, you're such a sweet talker."

  "I'm not trying to be," he promised. Squeezing her hands between his, he attempted to hang onto her in any way that he could as he confessed, "I'm in love with you, and I don't ever want to lose you."

  She clung to his hands and the look of earnestness on her face left him in awe. "I love you too and I don't want to lose you either, so I don't understand why you look like you're miserable."

  He shook his head. She wasn't thinking this through.

  "I'm waiting on you to realize what else you wished for," he admitted. "My life is infinite. Forever means something much bigger to me than you are considering."

  She shrugged. "I said ‘forever.’ Did you think that I was being trite? I . . ." She shrugged again as she seemed to struggle for the right words. " . . . I was desperate for you," she said finally. "Every time that I walked into that gym and I saw your face, longing would hit me in the gut so intensely that sometimes I couldn't breathe from it." She blushed, and he begged her with his eyes to continue. They were beyond the embarrassment of a confession.

  She cleared her throat. "So, yeah, um, I want you for an eternity." She paused and a fierce look passed over her face. Her eyes flashed dangerously. "As a matter of fact, I'd likely scratch out Death's eyes if he tried to take me from you."

  Gideon threw his head back as a burst of laughter tore through his chest. Wiping a tear of mirth from the corner of his eye, he pulled Skylar into his arms, tucking her against his chest. With his arms wrapped around her, he held on tight. Love for her filled him to the point of overflowing.

  "You might not be so quick to attack Death if you ever met him."

  Skylar tilted her head up and searched his face as if checking to see if he was fucking with her. "Death is a real person?"

  "Person might be a bit of a stretch," he told her as he tucked her head beneath his chin once more. "But he's real, and the women tend to fall at his feet." He chuckled at his own joke.

  "Oh, maybe I would like to meet him after all."

  Even though Gideon knew that she was teasing him, a flash of jealousy sliced through his chest. Grabbing her ass with both hands, he hauled her hips against his erection so she could feel how hard he was for her.

  "You're mine," he reminded her.

  Her hands slipped down his body, heading straight for the zipper on his jeans.

  "Forever," she agreed.

  The End

  Sample of the next book in the “Sexy Witches” series, “The Wizard & The Wanton”

  “What do the cards say?” Rowena asked, as she looked right then left, keeping an eye out for a certain very tall gentleman.

  She’d purposely chosen this outdoor café because it was within sight of Cruz Apothecary.

  Lena made a tsk sound, drawing her attention back to the reason they were there. She couldn’t ask the Seer to read her cards in the heavens where anyone could see, but she felt safe doing so in the mortal realm.

  “It’s not that easy to read the cards of a Fate, Rowena,” Lena confessed, causing Rowena to snort.

  “I love hearing you call me Rowena. Everyone else cal
ls me Mistress Rowena.” Well, not everyone, she silently confessed, but she wasn’t about to say that aloud.

  It was Lena’s turn to snort. “No offense, but the only way that I’m calling you Mistress is if you’re wearing all leather and I’m bracing to be spanked.”

  “Wonderful!” Rowena cheered. “It’s a date, two weeks from next Thursday.”

  Lena’s head shot up, and she searched Rowena’s features as if trying to decide whether she was joking.

  After a moment, a smile broke out over her face. “You’re on.”

  At Lena’s answer, they both threw their heads back laughing and a shadow fell over the table. Rowena’s laughter died instantly when she recognized the shadow’s owner. Randall Cruz had spotted her, after all.

  AUTHOR BOOKSHELF

  A Secure Heart