Rowdy

by Amarinda Jones

  He wasn’t looking for love. But he would use it to get what he wanted. Newton wanted power. He sensed Rowdy was the key to that power. He also knew something extra about Hester’s curse. There was another part to the curse that very few people knew about. Just as Hester was consumed in flames her last agonized words were muttered and recorded by a nun from St Anne’s Convent.

  Augusta, le destin de tous les Législateurs est avec vous. Vous avez le pouvoir inhérent de profiter à beaucoup. La connaissance d’augmentation d’entre vous les capacités et l’utilisation cela judicieusement. Beaucoup dépendront de vous dans l’avenir. Bénit être l’enfant.

  Augusta, the destiny of all Law-givers is with you. You have the inherent power to benefit many. Gain knowledge of your abilities and use it wisely. Many will depend on you in the future. Blessed be the child.

  How many other people knew that Augusta Lawrence held the fate of all Law-givers? At first, Newton worked feverishly to find out what powers she did possess. Something that Hester believed could benefit all indicated immense power. After days of research on the Law-giver clan, Newton discovered two things. All Lawrence women were witches and that there was a verbal legend that the Lawrence woman of the twenty-first century had powers that even Hell was said to be wary of.

  “And I want them.” Newton contacted people for years trying to track down someone who knew how to seize inherent power from a witch and he found them. Or more to the point they made it easy for him. A Hell-spawned demon had been watching Newton and offered him the spell to usurp Rowdy’s powers on the promise Newton then used those powers to aid Hell. When questioned by Newton, the demon explained that no one from Hell could approach the Lawrence woman. She was like poison to them but they were more than eager to aid her friend in being her downfall. The only cost was if Newton failed. “But I will not.” From what he could work out, Rowdy had no idea she was powerful in anyway. Sage Moor did, but that old lady was dead, and that was just as well as, like her niece, Tilly, the old biddy had made it clear she did not care for him him.

  “I just need to get a chance to use the spell.” He picked up his recently acquired passport and tapped it thoughtfully against his goatee-covered chin. Rowdy was turning thirty in a couple of days. He was on his way to Australia, spell in hand, for the big occasion. He was booked on the evening Qantas flight into Brisbane. Rowdy was unaware he was coming. “It will be a big surprise for you my love.” There was only one problem. Argon Cardissan.

  When Newton had first heard that this immortal had made contact with Rowdy he was alarmed. Although she indicated it was purely to do with Tilly and the mess she was in, Newton doubted this. While Tilly had the ability to get herself into problems like no other person he had heard of, he also knew that there was no such thing as coincidence in life especially when it involved a Cardissan and a Lawrence. Part of him was pleased that Rowdy had been angry enough to mention Argon’s presence to him. She had raged against him in fact. Newton was thankful she had for he had pushed ahead as quickly as he could with his travel plans.

  Knowing Cardissan was there and acting on it was going to be difficult. To Newton’s knowledge no man had turned Rowdy’s head until now. In the last couple of days Rowdy’s emails had been short and evasive and he sensed a change in her.

  “So I’m going to have to get rid of you, Argon.” Newton knew this was not an easy thing to do. From what he had read some immortals could be killed but it took a lot and the consequences of killing them were perilous. What Newton planned to do was weaken Argon by using his love for Rowdy. He had no doubt the immortal loved her. Cardissan men were fated to meet and fall in love with Lawrence women. And although his ancestors were reported to have had many women in their lives, there was only ever one who could weaken a Cardissan and that was their true love. Newton was astute enough to know that Argon was meant to stumble into Rowdy’s life just before she turned thirty. It was as Hester’s curse foretold. Whatever that pair were doing now and he could only speculate angrily on it, Newton could not allow them to marry as the bond would never be broken and any hope he had for acquiring power through Rowdy would be dashed forever.

  The zombies he had paid handsomely to infiltrate Brisbane would help distract Rowdy. It was a bonus to find the timid office manager emailing him for help as Newton suspect he would when he set up the bogus zombierid.com website. Everyone relied on the internet for answer. When Rowdy was sufficiently sidetracked with the zombies her precious Argon would be taken by them. He had promised the zombie leader, Andervarle, an immortal as the final payment.

  “My plan will work. I will not fail.” Newton slammed his fist on the desktop angrily. “I will not let that happened,” he vowed angrily.

  “Did you feel that?” Augusta shivered and turned toward Argon for warmth. “It was like a clap of thunder without the sound.”

  “I only feel you.” Argon was the happiest he had ever been in his long, lonely life. His hands caressed her full breasts, delighting in the trembling he felt run through her body. They had long since abandoned their clothes, those lay in an untidy pile beside them. My love needs me and I am content. Yes, he had to force the declaration of love from her lips and he expected Augusta to deny it straight after but that didn’t matter. That she loved him was all that did.

  “What if…”

  “What?” He knew Augusta was going to throw up every possible barricade she could think of to negate her feelings for him. She was scared. Argon understood that. This was all new to him but he was prepared to do whatever he had to in order to keep her at his side. Bless you Hester for uttering those words.

  “What if this is wrong?”

  “It’s not.” There was no question that it was right in Argon’s mind.

  “Hear me out.” Augusta sat up and looked down at the man. “What if we’re just reacting to something that is not specifically about us?”

  “You’re not serious?” Argon shook his head and smiled at the woman he loved. She was so beautiful to look at that it made him catch his breath in wonder.

  “I am. This curse has been with me forever—as it has you—I wonder if anyone with a Lawrence or Cardissan surname had wandered into our lives would we be feeling what we are now.”

  And the first barricade went up.

  “Augusta True, that’s crazy and you know it.” Argon knew in every fiber of his being this woman had been created for him as he had been for her. “What do you feel in here?” He placed his hand over her heart. The strong sure beat was as true as the woman herself.

  “I’m confused.”

  “Are you really?” Argon suspected fear of the unknown was more likely the reason. And Augusta did not quite know everything about who she really was. Argon planned to tell her but now was not the time.

  “Yes but what am I doing with you?” Her tone was that of frustration.

  “We’re making love.”

  “I think it’s just more like plain old lust.” She looked specifically at his erection.

  Argon laughed at her words and pulled her toward him so she ended up straddling his thighs. His eyes strayed down to the curl-covered entrance between her legs and his cock jerked in excitement.

  “Nothing wrong with lust.” His hands moved down to cup her backside and urge her forward. “I love you.”

  “How do I know you’re not just saying that because you want to find a home for this fella? Her hand reached out and squeezed his cock gently.

  Argon closed his eyes momentarily and enjoyed the hand that seemed in no hurry to leave his turgid flesh.

  “You know this could all just be some weird family history thing and you’re just some immortal bloke with a weird name who I happened to stumble across.”

  “What?” Argon opened his eyes and looked into his beloved’s face. Augusta looked so serious that he tried not to laugh, but failed.

  “Well you are. And how do you know I’m not just some desperate spinster looking to get laid?” She toyed with the flesh in her hand
s.

  “Are you?” But then they were both desperate—for each other and that was a good kind of desperation.

  “No, well I thought not. I have done pretty well without you or any man in my life but maybe I am just desperate for sex and any man will do.”

  Argon shook his head as she threw up her next barricade.

  “Augusta, I think you’ve been lonely. I too have been lonely.” He did not realize how much until he met her. In the past he covered up a lot with his brash ways but all that was unnecessary with Augusta. She made him want to be the best man he could for her.

  “You were lonely? Really?”

  “Oh yes.” Argon removed her hand from his cock because if she kept stroking him as she was he was going to come all over her. And that would be such a waste, as being inside her was so much more fulfilling. He linked her hands with his. “I also believe you want to talk yourself out of what you feel for me as you’re scared.”

  “Bet you’ve never been scared.”

  “I am now. I don’t want to lose you.” The thought of that terrified him.

  “You can’t lose something you never had.”

  Argon rolled his eyes in exasperation.

  “Are you trying to piss me off? Because if you are it’s not going to work.”

  Augusta leaned in and looked down at him, the tips of her breasts scraping his chest.

  “No, I’m just being realistic. I don’t want to be pushed into marriage because an ancestor of mine muttered something dramatic for effect. Hell, I would have done that to scare people if I knew I was going to die.”

  “Augusta I don’t know what’s going to happen when you turn thirty.” It was constantly on his mind as was the need to tell her the whole truth. “Maybe the world ends, maybe we end, maybe nothing, maybe everything. But I know right here and right now I need to be with you.”

  “I can’t promise anything.” Her eyes were earnest on his.

  Argon kissed each of the hands that were linked with his.

  “You have promised more than you know without realizing it.”

  She pushed back from him.

  “Sex is not a promise.”

  Her naked and available body belied the prudish look she tried give him. May my true love never change.

  “What is it then?” He watched as she moved her body so she was poised to lower herself on his straining shaft. Argon quickly waved a condom on to encase the flesh. What a drag it would be to be mortal and have to delay the moment fiddling with packets. And yet I would give it all up for Augusta.

  “Well, this is enjoyable.” She sank down and covered his cock, her eyes closed as she took delight in the moment.

  That he could give her such pleasure made Argon’s heart swell with love.

  “And you’re a desperate spinster right?” His hands grasped her hips and helped guide her pace. For someone who had denied herself such intimacy with a man, Augusta was a quick learner and Argon was happy to be the teacher.

  “And you’re available “Liar.” Watching her breasts bounce up and down made him smile.

  “What are you smiling at?” she asked looking at him in puzzlement.

  “You’re beautiful.” No other words could describe Augusta. She was beauty. She is mine.

  Augusta stopped moving and looked at Argon in wonder.

  “You make me feel that’s possible.”

  “Augusta True, you have always been beautiful, you have just never allowed yourself to believe it.” Argon pulled her down into his arms and rolled her over so he was on top of her, his cock still lodged tightly within her. He ran his tongue over her lips, then down her chin, delighting in the shiver of excitement he felt from Augusta’s body in response. From there he licked her shoulders in long slow strokes savoring every moment. “You taste so delicious.” He wanted to taste every part of her.

  “I need more now,” she whimpered as her fingers moved to his butt trying to urge him to move inside her.

  “But I want to play.” The feel of her hands on his butt was driving him wild. As much as he wanted to pound away inside her, Argon also wanted to remember every touch. He chuckled against her skin as she sighed. Augusta sounded both impatient for more and happy for him to continue his exploration. The valley between her breasts was especially tender to his touch. Argon smiled as she squirmed and a wild hiccup let loose from her lips. Knowing more were sure to follow, Argon’s lifted his head and placed his mouth on hers. He could kiss Augusta for hours. There was a innocent, sweetness to her that Argon found enchanting.

  “Now!” Augusta demanded, wriggling beneath him.

  Argon could only stand so much himself. He could see no reason to deny either of them further. He pulled out of Augusta and pushed back in thrusting deep and slow as he placed kisses on her mouth, each one ending with him sucking her bottom lip on release. The completeness of the moment was not lost on either of them.

  “Oh, Argon,” she choked out the words, as if too caught up in the intensity of what she was feeling to say more.

  “I know.” He cupped her face. “I love you.” The tears Argon saw in her eyes made his heart swell. My love loves me. I can ask for no more. “Hold on, Augusta True.” Her arms wrapped around his body as Argon increased his pace until Augusta squealed with excitement and came, then relaxed, limp and satisfied. As he felt his cock explode inside her, Argon knew a sense of peace he had never dreamed existed. “Anything you want from me I will do.” It was his vow to the woman he loved.

  Chapter Five

  I’ll be the one out the lobby with the yellow stress ball in my hand. That was what the reply email from Fred Ward had said. Not carrying a red rose or wearing a trench coat as was the stereotypical stranger meeting guise.

  “I probably would have guessed a stress ball as the next option,” Augusta mused to herself as she shook her head and scanned the people in the polished, marble lobby of the Post Office Square building. The people she and Tilly had met when the agency had been in full swing were never normal nor did the expected things. Augusta had definitely decided to re-open the Matilda Moor agency. She liked the idea of being her own boss. She would keep Tilly’s name as people were familiar with it and Augusta knew her friend would not care one way or the other. At present, due to lack of funds, Augusta planned to run it out of her apartment. She had some savings, probably enough for a month or two. Only problem was there had never been money in the agency when she and Tilly had been doing the job. Ends were only just met but then, as much as she loved Tilly, the woman was no financial genius.

  “So where are you stress ball man?” Augusta watched the people who walked fast, talked fast and jostled each other to get wherever they seemed hell-bent on going. Brisbane City was no different from any other metropolitan city. People had places to go in the shortest amount of time and time was money. “Thank God, I don’t work in the city.”

  Augusta blew out a sigh and wondered what Argon was doing. She looked down at the ring that sparkled on her finger. She no longer tried to pull it off for it seemed determined to stay as did the man himself. Augusta felt her heart flip-flop as she thought about last night. The sheer luxury of being able to drop her defenses, if only for a moment, to touch and taste Argon was a gift. How long it would last she did not know. Yes, she loved him but Augusta knew life was never that simple and love that happened so fast made her naturally wary.

  “Oh you know he’s wrong, wrong, wrong for you,” she murmured as she thought about her birthday that was in less than two days time. “And yet you’re daydreaming about him.”

  “Rowdy?

  Augusta swung around surprised at the sudden intrusion into her thoughts. For a moment she had almost forgotten why she was there. The man before her was average height, weight and coloring and if he had not been squeezing the rubber stress ball in his hand so tightly she would never had guessed he was the man she had come there to meet.

  “Fred Ward?”

  “Yes.” The man looked at her tensely.

>   She held out her hand. “Augusta Lawrence.” The man in turn stiffened alarmingly and she had a feeling the ball in his hand was about to explode if the whiteness of his knuckles was any indicator.

  “You’re not Rowdy?”

  Whatever was scaring this man was doing a good job of it.

  “Rowdy is a nickname.” Like Tilly, Newton also called her Rowdy. It was natural to assume he would refer her on as “Rowdy”.

  Fred Ward breathed out a long, relieved sigh.

  “I didn’t know what to do. I went on the internet and found people talking about monsters and to my mind zombies are monsters and I found this website and Newton and he sounded like he knew what he was talking about and he suggested you as you are in Brisbane and—”

  “Hey, take a breath or you’re going to faint.” The man’s words rushed out so quickly and his face was so pale that Rowdy was worried for his health. She motioned him over to some neatly upholstered seats that were in the far corner of the lobby and away from passersby. If they were going to conduct business of a supernatural kind it was better to do it away from the normal public. There was less likelihood of being overheard.

  He sat down gratefully, stress ball taut with pressure from his grip.

  “I don’t know what to do.”

  “Why do you think zombies are meeting in the basement?” It was not something that most people would come up with as their first answer for strange behavior.

  “At first I didn’t. I just thought they were employees wasting time by hanging out down there.”

  The fever-bright eyes that looked into hers would have made Augusta think Fred was a zombie. She had only seen a couple of them but they burned with almost an inner hatred that shone like a beacon on the outside. But Fred did not smell of burnt garlic or moldy leather. He was more nervous sweat, too much coffee and breath mints.