Babes in Toyland II

by Aspen Mountain Press Authors

  "Dominik, if you want a kiss for old time's sake, then take one. Just one."

  "You'll see.” He smiled and then covered her mouth with his.

  Aine stiffened under the sexual intensity of his kiss. She'd almost forgotten he was an incubus and could bend lesser creatures to his will. Make them satisfy his sexual appetites. Male or female, Dominik went after anything on two legs. This kiss meant nothing more to him than satisfying a base need.

  Her body responded to him as if no time had passed since she'd last been in his arms. In his bed. Dominik had given her ecstasy that only one other man had been able to give her. Or as close to the pleasure Ionatán had given her than anyone else. Pleasure she'd had a taste of in Adhamh's arms. The thought of Adhamh caused her body to respond to Dominik with urgency.

  He chuckled against her mouth when she pressed her body against him and wound her arm around his neck.

  Aine heard a roar, and someone shout Dominik's name. Then strong hands grabbed onto her and yanked her from between Dominik and the wall. Breathless, Aine looked up into Adhamh's angry face. Whatever he saw in her face only angered him more. He released her so fast she almost fell. Instead of helping her, he turned to Dominik and advanced on him.

  "Stop!” Aine didn't know if it would work, but she tried anyway. “Adhamh, stop!"

  Neither man listened, not that she expected them to. She threw her hands up, and they both froze in mid movement. “This is crazy. Dominik, why did you bring us here other than to make Adhamh insanely jealous? Oh, and kudos for that. I didn't think you were right."

  "I brought you here because of your offer. I'm ready for my heart's desire. I'm ready to pay the price you've asked."

  Aine stumbled as shock washed over her. “Really?"

  "Yes. The words you shouted at me on your way out have been eating at me for years. Decades, really."

  "What does Adhamh have to do with it?"

  "I have discovered something during a recent affair. I'm privy to some knowledge that Adhamh needs to know."

  "And it involves me?” Aine's stomach tightened. What was Dominik up to? Why couldn't he just say whatever it was he had to say?

  "I know the name of your maker.” Dominik looked at Adhamh.

  Aine dropped her hands and both men sighed in relief as they stretched.

  "How did you find out, and why bring me here to tell me? And why under these pretenses?"

  "I knew you wouldn't come unless you were enticed.” Dominik sighed and turned to Aine. “I also owe you an apology, and wish to accept my heart's desire. In return for the knowledge Adhamh seeks."

  "You think to bargain with me? I do an equal exchange, Dominik. One desire for another. Why would you think Adhamh's heart's desire is to find his maker?"

  "So he can kill him and return to human form."

  Aine shook her head. “That's not possible. I'd know if it was."

  "You might be a goddess, Aine, but you don't know everything. And someone more powerful than you wishes you to remain in your ignorant bliss. Or at least she thinks it is bliss. Adhamh was not made vampire by another vampire. He was cursed. And when he gave in to the curse and slaughtered his village, he sealed his fate. He can in fact redeem himself. It's not too late. He just needs to confront his maker."

  "Wait. You said he could kill his maker and become human. Now you make it sound like it was something more powerful. Something or someone like a god or goddess is responsible for his transformation. For his curse."

  "Who made me what I am? Is this true that I can return to human form?"

  Dominik nodded. He looked back and forth between them. “Of course if you return to human form you will die. Not immediately, but you can be killed, and would eventually die of old age if nothing else."

  "That's not his heart's desire.” Aine put her hands on her hips. “No deal."

  "But if I'm human, then I can die and be reunited with my love."

  "Your love isn't in heaven.” Dominik snorted. “She's alive and well and on this earth. And there is no heaven. You die and enter the Styx to be reborn again."

  "There are the fiery pits of Tartarus and the Elysian Fields as well,” Aine reminded.

  "If I'm no longer vampire I can be with her again."

  "What about it, Aine? Do we have a deal?"

  The look in Adhamh's eyes left no room in her heart for a refusal. Even if she'd wanted to say it, she wouldn't have gotten the words past her tight throat. Blinking back tears, she nodded. “It's not so simple, though. Your heart's desire might not be ready for you. You will need to work slowly and honestly to gain her trust and her love."

  "Show her to me.” Dominik leaned close. “Please."

  Aine clapped her hands and the space in front of her shimmered and changed until there was a figure in the center of it. One woman stood in a kitchen making homemade bread as another woman chatted to her.

  "Molly!” Adhamh gasped.

  "You know this woman?” Dominik stepped toward Adhamh. “Who is she? Where is she? I would pay any price for her."

  "Then pay up. Name my maker!"

  "Anu."

  Aine gasped and backed up. My mother? My mother did this to him?

  "Are you sure?” Aine gave a silent prayer that he was joking.

  "Yes. I'm sorry.” Dominik shook his head in a rare expression of feeling. “One of my lovers last week enjoyed pillow talk. He told me the story of a man cursed by the Goddess Anu for loving her daughter. She was tricked into believing he had done harm to her, and in turn she cursed him forever. Apparently my lover had desired the daughter himself and thought with the man—

  Adhamh—out of his way, his path to the wife would be cleared.

  "Unfortunately, the wife disappeared when she learned others had betrayed her husband. She was never found. When Adhamh returned, he believed they had killed her in reaction to what he had become. Before the truth could come out, Adhamh slaughtered all in the village in revenge for his wife's death.

  Aine quickly walked over to the sofa and sat down. Adhamh ... Anu ... wife ... She buried her face in her hands. Dear Goddess! My own mother!

  "I will owe you no more favors, Aine. I have paid you double the agreed price. Two hearts’ desires for mine."

  "Two?” Adhamh asked.

  "Yes, two. Your heart's desire. And Aine's. It's kind of nice to know that your love could withstand centuries apart and still find each other. Don't waste it this time."

  "What the hell are you talking about, Dominik?"

  Aine stood and walked over to Adhamh as if in a fog. The others all faded into the background as she stopped in front of him and cupped his cheeks. She looked at him, studied his eyes, his hair, his nose, all of him. He was not her Ionatán. Not in looks, and not in temperament. But a few centuries mourning her death might have had something to do with that.

  "Thank you, Dominik."

  "No, thank you, Aine. Thank you for teaching me what real love is. Thank you for showing it to me, even when I didn't deserve it. You're a special woman. You truly are a goddess of love. Now get out of here and explain all this to Adhamh. I'm getting tired of his glares and disbelieving looks."

  She took Adhamh's hands in hers and transported them from Dominik's penthouse to her house.

  "Talk to me, Aine. Anu, the mother goddess, allowed herself to be tricked into believing I needed to be turned into a vampire so that someone else could have my wife? Who am I? What is so important about me or my wife that a goddess would even care?"

  "Everyone is important to Anu. She cares about all her children. I'm one of her favorites. That's why I'm allowed to live here and lead a pseudo normal life."

  "Then call her here or take me to her. I want my life and my wife back!” Adhamh grabbed onto Aine's shoulders. “Will you take me to her?"

  "Adhamh.” She winced as he tightened his grip. “Please, stop. You're hurting me."

  He looked down at his hands and released her. “I'm sorry."

  Aine stepped back and reac
hed in her shirt. “I should give you your gift now."

  "What about the price? I never agreed to give you anything in return."

  "It's all right, Adhamh. I want nothing in return.” Aine closed her eyes and tugged at the chain she'd put his ring on. Keeping the ring in her fist, she tried not to cry at the pang of loss she felt. This was the first time she'd removed the ring since she'd found it in the forest.

  Aine opened her eyes and stared at Adhamh through tears. “Here, Ionatán."

  "Ionatán?” He stared at her, then at the item in her hand. “How do you know my name? The name I had before I became vampire?"

  Tears slipped free and cascaded down her cheeks. No wonder this gift had been chosen for him. Aine willed her appearance to change to one he would recognize. It didn't even take a full second for shock to kick in.

  "Aine! But I don't understand."

  "I didn't until a few minutes ago."

  His hands cupped her face. He shifted her hair through them, and buried his face in the long tresses. “But you don't look the same now as then. You can change your appearance at will, but why didn't you tell me who you were when I first came here?"

  "I didn't know. You don't look like Ionatán. Similar maybe, but not really close."

  "The curse did this to me. Made me look different. By the time I figured out what had happened, that we'd been betrayed, and I went back for you, you were gone. Some said you'd left, but then several others told me that you'd killed yourself. I couldn't help but think they'd sent me in the forest to die while they killed you. In my fury, I killed them all and sealed my fate. Although that tidbit was only revealed to me after the fact."

  "It was late at night, and I heard some of the men gathered outside our home. I heard them discussing your death and how painful it would be. Then they began to wager to see who would get to bed me first. Who would get to take your place. It didn't make sense to me that they would send you out in the woods and have you killed all so one of them could take your place. Looks or not, no one, not even you knew I was a goddess. They had no reason to want you dead. Hell, they could have tried to rape me when you were off on scouting missions if that was what they wanted. I should have realized it was something more than a mortal manipulating the whole thing."

  "None of it makes sense. I want to know who orchestrated the whole thing."

  "Does it even matter? We've found each other again."

  "It matters. I've spent centuries looking for you. If you're a goddess, why couldn't you help me? Why didn't you come for me?"

  "They made it look like you were dead. I found that ring in the remains of what I thought was you."

  "All the years we've spent apart. I've been stuck in darkness and death. No wonder we never found each other until now. And it's too late. It's just too late."

  Aine cried harder at the desolation in his voice. The sadness in his eyes made her want to hold him in her arms forever.

  "What's been done cannot be undone."

  "Anu!” Aine turned to the doorway. Her mother stood there in all her glory, smiling at them.

  "You!” Adhamh stepped toward her.

  "Wait!” She held up her hand. Adhamh stopped, but he stood there, trembling from the effort. “When you killed those people, innocent and guilty, what was done could not be undone. Not even when I learned of the treachery. You needed to redeem yourself, Adhamh. You needed to prove to me that you were the man Aine had fallen in love with."

  "Has he done that?” Aine took his hand in hers and squeezed.

  "Truthfully? He did go in to Dominik's even though he thought he'd never walk out of there alive. He did put you above himself. I've kept an eye on him over the past few hundred years. He has taken his curse and made it a gift. He's helped many people that he wouldn't have been able to help if he'd lived out his mortal life and died in ancient Eire. And his mourning all these years hasn't gone unnoticed either."

  "What about me, mother? What about my mourning?"

  "I did what I thought best to protect you. The fact that you never told him you were a goddess led me to believe you yourself had doubts."

  Aine paled as both of them fixed their gazes on her. “How could I tell him I was a goddess? You know what it was like in those centuries before he was even born. You have seen the way I suffered. I thought I could pretend to be human and keep his love."

  "It doesn't really matter.” Anu sighed and walked over to Adhamh. “I was tricked into doing this to both of you. Without Dominik's interference, none of this would have come to light. I knew you both suffered, but I didn't know about the treachery."

  "Is there a way to make me human again?"

  Anu looked at Aine. “If I make you human, then you would die. Aine is a goddess, and therefore immortal. Do you really wish to be human once more?"

  Adhamh stared at Aine. She wondered what he was thinking. One minute turned to two, then more, and still he hadn't answered.

  "Adhamh?"

  "I wish to be whatever Aine will accept."

  "I love you, Adhamh. Vampire or human, whichever you pick. I'll stay with you no matter what. Now that I have you, I'm not going to let you go."

  "Now, children. That isn't an answer, but it was what I was hoping you'd both say.” Anu sighed. “I won't make you human. I can't watch my daughter suffer more, and she'd suffer with each of your human deaths when you are lucky enough to find each other again. I also can't undo the curse, since you pretty much sealed the deal when you killed all those people.

  "What I can do, however, is change the curse enough to satisfy you both. You will be able to tolerate the sun. You will still have to drink blood, but Aine will be your sole source of that, do we understand each other? If you feed from her you will retain good health. If you feed from another you will weaken. It could result in death.

  "Of course you could die, but it'd have to be from something such as having your head cut off and burned or some such thing. We can sit down later and discuss this at length if you prefer."

  Aine cupped Adhamh's cheeks. “What do you think? Want to spend the rest of your long life with me?"

  "Yes.” He turned his head and kissed her palm.

  "Yeah, well, call me if you need me, Aine.” Anu was gone in a flash, and they were left alone once more.

  "I can't believe it's you.” Adhamh tugged her into his arms and held her tight. “I've been searching for you forever."

  "This is our own private Christmas. Neither of us will have to suffer through the holiday again. It's like you're my Christmas gift."

  "And you're mine.” He nuzzled her neck. “I can't believe it."

  "Neither can I.” Aine led him over to the bed. She sat on the edge and patted a spot next to her. “I hoped to be able to hold you in my arms again, and now I can. I don't know whether to keep calling you Adhamh or to call you Ionatán."

  "Adhamh. I've gotten used to it now."

  "Then you won't mind if I go back to my darker looks? I haven't been blonde since you died—were changed."

  "No, I was attracted to you both ways. Because you are still Aine no matter what you look like. I should have known from the start that there couldn't be another woman just like you. It had to be you. I can't believe we almost lost each other again. I really am thick headed, aren't I?"

  "You are too stubborn to believe when a person is telling the truth. Is it any wonder I didn't tell you I was a goddess? Even then, you were so damned stubborn."

  Adhamh growled and pressed her down on the bed. “Are you going to get all self righteous and rowdy on me? Or should we take the slow, tender route."

  Aine gasped and stared into his deep eyes. She swallowed. “Which ever you want."

  "I just want you."

  If she'd had any resistance left, it would have melted at his loving tone. “I can't believe it's you."

  "I know one way to prove it to you.” His eyes and voice deepened as he lowered his mouth to hers. He kissed her tenderly. Streaks of pleasure raced through her skin a
s her nerve endings burst. Adhamh. Ionatán. Love. Aine sighed and wrapped her arms around him.

  The Game

  Jeanne Barrack

  Chapter One

  Dave Harris had pulled more than a couple of strings to get off time from work to take this little four-day excursion. The Holiday season was always busy for the police, but somehow he'd managed to get that four-day back-vacation owed him.

  He looked down at Shari's sleeping form sitting in the front seat next to him. A strand of vivid auburn hair screened her face from view. His shoulder ached from keeping still for the past three hours so he wouldn't wake her.

  He sighed.

  He'd planned on some alone time with Shari. After a month together, he still knew next to nothing about her other than that she was a reporter for the Brooklyn Bridge newspaper, a weekly rag that focused on news and human interest stories that affected the borough.

  They'd met at a crime scene at a club in the Park Slope area. She'd been hanging around looking for a story and Dave had been instantly drawn to her flame-colored hair. He'd always been a sucker for redheads.

  When she saw him eying her she boldly walked up to him, handed over her business card and simply said, “Call me".

  He had.

  And for the past four weeks they'd gotten together whenever they had free time—night or day. He smiled. ‘Get together’ was a pretty pallid way to describe what happened whenever they were in the same space.

  Sex. Pure, hot, wet, quick, furious, sweaty fucking.

  He met her once a week for lunch at Angelo's, an Italian joint near the precinct. He'd never taken Angelo up on his offer to use the back room whenever he wanted, until Shari. The nooners had become a weekly ritual. His lips twitched as he realized that now whenever he smelled Italian food he got a hard on.

  He'd taken her once, standing up against the wall in an alley in back of a snitch's apartment near where she worked. On the spur of the moment, he'd text messaged her with the address and just one word—"now".

  Ten minutes later, her skirt was up to her waist, her thong was down to her ankles and his cock was deep in her pussy. She'd come twice with his hand and once with his prick.