Sweet Desire, Wicked Fate

by Wray Ardan

  Suddenly he stopped. His eyes flew open and he placed a hand on her shoulder and pushed lightly. “Shit, Jade! I thought I was dreaming.” Before she could respond, his voice changed. He pulled her close. “Are you okay? I’ve been so worried about you.”

  She slipped her hand under the sheet that covered him, intent on undoing the top button of his shorts.

  “What are you doing?” Clamping down on her wrist, he pulled her hand away. “You were half dead a couple hours ago, and now you want—”

  Ignoring him, she pressed her lips against his, cutting off his words.

  He turned his head away.

  “Jade, NO!” He lowered his voice. “This isn’t cool.” She could feel his heart thumping against her chest as he tried to slow his breathing. “Get up. Get off me. We aren’t doing this. Not here. Not now!”

  “Why? Don’t you want me?” Jaden stood up abruptly. Her sheet fell to the floor.

  “Yes. No.” Propping himself up, Briz stared at the silhouette of her body outlined by the moonlight. “Christ, you’re naked!” Averting his eyes he grumbled, “Go back to bed.”

  She pulled her sheet back up around her, then held a hand out to him.

  “By yourself.” Briz flopped back down on his pillow.

  “You sure wake up grumpy,” she said, grinning.

  “I’m grumpy for a reason.”

  “Will you walk me to my room?”

  When Briz stood up, Jaden stroked his chest. “Come on.” Grabbing her hand, he guided her to the bedroom door. “I know this isn’t you, Jade. This is because of that thing that bit you.”

  Happily entwining her fingers with his, she walked beside him, expecting a tingling sensation. Instead she wanted to leap on top of him. She said his name as she climbed into her own small bed and scooted over to make room. “Just lie down with me for a while. You don’t have to get under the sheet.”

  He rubbed his face and looked away as if he was willing his brain to make him do the right thing.

  “Come on, Briz.” For a second she thought he would surrender.

  “No.” He stepped back.

  “Will you at least stay with me till I fall asleep? What is this place, anyway? Where are we?”

  “We’re with the triplets. Hubs brought us here.”

  “The triplets?” Jaden lowered her head onto the pillow. Somewhere in the back of her mind she had a vague feeling she was supposed to know who they were.

  Briz sat on the floor resting his back against her bed. “Go to sleep. You’re safe here.”

  She slid over and ran her fingers through his hair.

  “Stop it, Jade.” Lightly tapping her hand, Briz leaned forward. “Or I’m leaving.”

  Later she woke to the sensation of Briz moving away from her, and she wondered if he’d ever really been there. The room was filled with incandescent light. An angelic being hovered over her. Another angel set a large container of liquid on the nightstand next to the bed, and a third appeared carrying a pan and several towels. The three of them were pure white, with translucent blue eyes that studied her. She caught a glimpse of Briz standing in the doorway before he dissolved into the darkness.

  CHAPTER 25

  The sun was rising. Briz watched the triplets come and go from Jaden’s room. His eyes twitched as if he’d been gaming for too many hours. Last night he tried to keep track of all the different turns Hubs’s boat made as it motored through the bayou. Even during the day the turns would have bewildered him. He wished he could shove more RAM into his brain to compute everything that had happened.

  Cold-blooded mongrels wanted to pulverize us. That pretty much sums it up. Oh yeah, and they’ve changed my girlfriend into some kind of a lascivious babe. Which is really ratcheting up my dreams. And the thing is, I kind of like the changes in this bad-girl version of Jade.

  One of the triplets paused and looked at him on her way from the kitchen. “Son, Jaden is doing better. Her fever is breaking.” There was a soft rise and fall to her words. He knew it was Isadora. “Though we aren’t sure whether she’ll ever be exactly how she was before. You may see changes in her personality.”

  Changes? Did she say changes? They really are psychic. Lady, I’m not normally a macho sexist. I was perfectly happy with the sweet and innocent version of Jade. That’s a real turn-on too.

  Oh great, I’m a sexist pig. Lying back on the sofa, Briz fell asleep again.

  Hours later, the sounds of people whispering and cupboards creaking nudged him awake. Slowly stretching, he sat up. Across from him, Hubs was sprawled in the oversized chair staring at him, a mandolin resting in his lap. Rainbows floated across the man’s somber face and around the room as the sun touched the prisms that hung in the windows.

  Briz combed his hair with his fingers. Resting his elbows on his knees, he lowered his head and stared at the fresh bandage on his leg. Then he realized that he was clean.

  Did they bathe me? He gave Hubs a sideways glance.

  The rainbows disappeared. Briz looked out the large window. The afternoon clouds had blocked the sun. He realized that most of the day had passed. His folks would lose it if he didn’t show up at home today. Being gone for one night was fine, but two wasn’t going to fly.

  Briz looked around the room ignoring Hubs’s penetrating stare. Last night he hadn’t noticed the small piano near the front door, the paintings on the walls, nor the family photos showing a young Hubs with his deep brown dad and pale mom and aunties. Not exactly a conventional family, he thought. But conventional families are hard to find.

  Hunger pangs made his stomach rumble. Right on cue one of the mind-reading triplets came out of the kitchen carrying a plate of food and glass of water.

  “Jaden mentioned ya is a vegetarian. Wasn’t sure how strict ya are, so we all just steamed up some vegetables for ya. We can make more if it’s not enough.”

  “Thank you.” Unwilling to make eye contact, worried that she could hear his every thought, Briz took the plate and said, “This is great.”

  “I’m Olympe.” The woman walked over to the chair where Hubs was sitting. “Hubs’s mama. I know it can be hard telling me and my sisters apart. Hubs here and his papa Billy are the only ones who ever could.”

  Settling on the arm of the chair, she ran her fingers through Hubs’s hair, arranging his loose curls.

  She’s right, Briz thought. I’d never be able to tell them apart. Except by her voice. It has that sweet, musical cadence you only hear in the South.

  After he had a few bites of food, Briz gestured to a painting on the wall. “Is that Guyon Manor?”

  “It sure is. Back in its day it was a charming place. My husband Billy painted it.” She smiled. “Both the house and the painting.”

  “He was a good artist.” Briz smiled back.

  “Bless his heart, that man of mine could do anything he set his mind to. Just like Hubs here. Are ya an artist?”

  “No.” Briz glanced at Hubs’s mandolin. “My dad’s been teaching me to play the guitar.” After taking a sip of water he said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to spend the whole day sleeping in your living room.”

  “My dear boy, there is nothing to be sorry for. Ya has been through a lot. My sisters and I reckon that after today’s rest and the poultice we applied to yer leg all night, ya is gonna be all right. The wounds weren’t too deep.” A shy grin spread across Olympe’s face. “We tried to wake ya. Then decided it was best to let ya sleep while we cared for ya.”

  They did bathe me. That’s why I had those dreams.

  Briz lowered his eyes back to his plate, feeling his face redden. Without saying another word he continued to eat until one of the other triplets came out of Jaden’s room.

  “Tamara, is our patient ready for company now?” Olympe asked.

  “I’m certain she’d enjoy seeing you, Briz.” Tamara gave him the once-over. “She’s been asking for you all night. Even when she was burning up with fever.”

  Briz responded with a tightlipped sm
ile. Unlike Olympe, nothing about Tamara was sweet and soft. She seemed more worldly, educated. The beat of her words strangled the charm of her Southern roots as if they embarrassed her. He set his plate down and walked toward the door wondering what Jaden might have said.

  Softly knocking he peeked into her room. Jaden was curled up in bed wearing one of Hubs’s large T-shirts. Seeing Briz she motioned for him to come in. He sat down careful not to jar the bed. Charcoal-colored bags hung beneath her eyes. Still he said, “You look like you’re feeling better.”

  “Yeah. I was pretty out of it.” She raised herself upright, and twisted her hair into a knot. “I don’t really remember much about last night.”

  “You remember being bitten, right?”

  “Sort of. It’s kind of all hazy. What about you? Are you okay?”

  “I’m doing all right.” Trying to make light of it, Briz smiled. “It was one crazy night.”

  Jaden didn’t smile back. Briz watched her wadding the edge of the sheet up in her hand.

  After a few minutes she asked, “So, after Datura bit me, was I a horrible person?”

  “Horrible? No.”

  Briz stared at the floor. He could feel Jaden looking at him.

  He was grateful that she’d lost consciousness at the manor last night before they’d had a chance to give Violet an X-rated performance.

  When Briz finally looked up, their eyes locked. Seeing her doubt he admitted, “Yeah, well, you were in bad shape. Both of us were. You had a fever and passed out. I found Hubs and we brought you here.”

  “Guess you won’t want to hang out with me any more,” she said with both sarcasm and regret.

  Briz lightly patted her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

  Jaden frowned and pulled away. “So were the triplets with me all night? Or …” She tightened her hold on the sheet. “I may as well just ask, I’ll probably never see you again anyway—did … did we … have sex last night?”

  “What?” Briz choked.

  “I mean … I don’t remember it, and I know there would be—”

  Briz had never squirmed so much without actually moving a muscle. Nervously laughing he said, “If you have to ask …” and he immediately regretted saying it.

  Jaden’s face turned red as a stoplight. He’d given a sarcastic guy answer, exactly what one of his degenerate friends would have said. Briz rubbed his clammy palms on his shorts while looking at Jaden out of the corner of his eye.

  “So, we didn’t?” She tugged at the top of her T-shirt as if it was cutting into her throat. “It’s just that I, I … It didn’t seem like a dream. I thought—”

  The more Jaden pulled on her shirt, the more nervous Briz felt. He wasn’t sure if she was upset because she thought they’d gone all the way, or because they hadn’t. Before she could ask him anything else he turned toward her and blurted, “Face it, Jade, that’s what all guys want. I’m no different from the rest of them.”

  Briz’s shoulders sloped forward. If your friends are a reflection of who you are, I must be scum.

  While Ava had made Briz want to run, right now sitting there on the bed next to Jaden he wanted to feel her beneath him. He had to get it together now. Sitting up straight he took in a couple of steady breaths, doing his best to awaken his one remaining brain cell.

  This time his voice was unruffled. “But that’s not all that girls want.” He took another deep breath. “They’re into every moment leading up to it. I mean, girls enjoy the sex part, too. Except they won’t if you don’t make the journey worthwhile.” Holding her gaze, he continued, “My three sisters have engrained that into me. For years they’ve lectured me on what girls like, how to treat a girlfriend, and how not to. After some … big mistakes, now I try to take their advice when it comes to females.”

  He paused before asking, “Did you really think I’d take advantage of you when you were delirious?”

  He could feel his brow tighten with lines of guilt. Last night he’d been more than willing to do it with her. In self-defense, though—I was poisoned.

  He took Jaden’s hand and caressed it. “Just so you know, you will be seeing me again. And if or when we make love, Jade, I want both of us fully present, experiencing it together. Not some Mal Rou version of you. And not right now.”

  “So it was just a dream?” Jaden tilted her head to the side and gave a slight smile.

  “You sound so relieved. Oh, my bruised ego.” Briz laughed. He released her hand and pressed his palm over his heart. “Being intimate with me upsets you more than being bitten by a Mal Rou.” He decided not to mention that she’d woken him up last night.

  “Actually that’s the problem. When I’m around you, I forget all about the miserable cretins. But I wasn’t worried I’d lost my virginity with you. I was worried that it happened and I was too sick to remember.”

  Briz’s eyes widened. He ran his fingers back and forth over his chin. This new Jaden was full of surprises.

  He couldn’t stop from glancing down, enjoying the way her T-shirt defined her breasts. Remember bozo, you’re taking things slow. No repeats of last night. He reached over and released her hair; it flowed down covering her breasts. Principled. Mindful. Trustworthy. That’s me. I’m a good guy.

  “You need to have more faith in me, Jade. My priorities are set—destroy nefarious genetic mutations first—”

  “Destroy them?” Jaden’s voice was small. “I wouldn’t know how… .”

  Her tone silenced Briz’s lustful thoughts.

  Looking up at him, she wiped her moist eyes. “I’m so sorry you were dragged into this.”

  “It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t ask me to come after you.” Briz folded his arms around her. Would he have followed her into the field if he’d known what was going to happen? Good question.

  There was a tapping on the bedroom door. Jaden pulled back and said, “Come in.”

  The door opened but no one appeared. Hubs’s voice entered the room. “We h-have to g-go, B-Briz. I w-want to get b-back to town b-before dark.”

  “I’ll be right there, Hubs.”

  “Miss J-Jaden,” Hubs said kindly, “th-this morning, I fi-fixed the lamp next to yer b-bed. In case ya need it.”

  “Thank you. Hubs?” He was closing the door when Jaden called his name. Hubs peered around it into the room and Jaden said, “Thank you for everything.”

  Briz had the impression that Hubs actually smiled as he nodded and shut the door.

  “I have to go, Jade. You’ll be safe here.”

  Briz was finding it hard not to touch her. The back of his hand brushed over her cheek, down her neck. Then he glided the tips of his fingers along her collar bone, enjoying the way it made her tremble, stopping when the sensation made him want more. Inhaling a deep breath he took Jaden’s hand in his. “If my folks don’t hear from me today they’ll get majorly bent out of shape. I’ll be back tomorrow. Then we’ll figure out what to do. Maybe Violet can help us.”

  “You met Violet?”

  “She’s the reason you’re here. You have some interesting friends,” he said, smiling. Then Briz remembered Violet’s description of how the Professor had been changed. “The triplets will take good care of you. You’re going to be all right, Jade.”

  He wanted to believe it was true.

  “Oh! My mom.” Jaden sat up straight, her eyes glistening. “She was hurt, wasn’t she?”

  “It’s okay. Ava took her to the hospital. I’ll look in on them.”

  Jaden leaned against him and he felt her tears dampen his shirt. “Briz, I don’t want you to come back.” Her words were muffled against his shoulder. “This is my mess and I’ll figure it all out.”

  “Well, I am coming back, so deal with it,” he said, stroking her hair.

  “You don’t have to.” She shifted away from him. “You’ve done enough. I don’t want you getting hurt. Besides, you should be getting ready for your trip.”

  “You’re joking, right?”

  “But y
ou’ve been saving and planning for years.”

  “Jade, you’re more important to me than going on a stupid trip.”

  Briz cupped her face in his palms and placed his lips against hers. Their kiss felt like a first kiss.

  There was another tap on the door. It was time for Briz to leave.

  The noise of Hubs’s boat seemed out of place on the bayou. Briz asked him to identify landmarks in case he ever had to make the trip on his own. Though Hubs pointed out several inlets and what he considered to be unique-looking trees, every stretch of water and bald cypress looked the same to Briz.

  Ever since he’d moved to Belle Fleur, Briz had heard locals say that Hubs was mentally challenged. They gave Briz the impression that Hubs didn’t have the ability to do much more than mop up the cafe. They were wrong. Even with their limited conversations as they rode in the skiff, Briz glimpsed the man’s intelligence. Hubs just couldn’t easily communicate all he knew. Briz could hear his own grandpa telling him not to judge a book by its cover. Right now, being with Hubs, he truly got what his grandpa meant.

  People never give Hubs the opportunity to be better than what their puny minds allow him to be.

  “Men of few words are the best men.” Shakespeare’s words seemed to be an appropriate description of Hubs. Briz hoped that Hubs was a brave man, too. If Violet was right, they were going to need all the help they could get to capture the Mal Rous.

  We’re probably nothing more than human party-favors to the Mal Rous. I have no doubts that they’d happily string us up like piñatas and whack us apart.

  What am I doing?

  CHAPTER 26

  When Briz passed through the hospital’s sliding doors, the cool air wrapped around him like a wet blanket soaked in sickness, healing, and abrasive chemicals. He counted a dozen people in the lobby, some babbling and fevered, others with slashes and abrasions. A man with a deep gash in his arm was mumbling about a rabid bebette. Briz recognized the Cajun word for critter or little monster. The Mal Rous had been busy.