by Shona Husk
The door behind her opened. Kede appeared, a lilac towel wrapped around his waist. She looked at him, then back to the car. Deciding which one to ogle was a tough choice this early in the hangover.
Man beat machine.
Water dripped off his hair, traced over his skin like honey. There was no room on the balcony for her to put a safe distance between them. They should go inside out of sight. Her pulse danced at the thought. No, she was safer outside, with witnesses. Let the neighbours talk. And they would. They’d put the hire car and the strange man together and come up with an outlandish rumor that wouldn’t come close to the truth. The truth was far stranger.
Her lips curved at the corners, and she hid the smile in her coffee cup. When she’d emerged from her room desperate for an intravenous feed of coffee, Kede had been awake. Languid and beautiful on her sofa. She’d made him a cup of coffee so sweet and strong it could be used as an industrial solvent. He drank it like water. Neither of them mentioned the little ruby bottle on the counter between them, or what had happened last night. When she’d offered him a shower he’d vanished.
“Did you like the shower?” She checked her watch. He’d been in the bathroom for a full half an hour. The hot water must have run out.
He grinned, then remembered himself. “You didn’t join me.”
“I’d already had one. Besides, you didn’t ask.” Would she have been able to say no if he had?
She reached out and caught a drop of water trickling down his chest on her finger. A tingle of recognition traveled up her arm. She lifted her eyes, and the heat of his gaze slammed into her, like opening an oven door. Hot air washed over her, and made it hard to breathe. Despite the coffee, she was suddenly thirsty. He took her hand, brought her finger to his lips. His tongue flicked over the tip. Her breathing became shallow, the morning sun too hot on her delicate skin.
“I’m here for your desires.” His teeth raked the end of her finger.
Josie let herself melt for a moment. Her muscles were soft, like caramel. She took in a lungful of air scented like her favorite orange blossom shampoo. It was time to test his words and see if his purpose stretched beyond the bedroom.
“Whatever I want?” The words came out breathy. The sensible Josie was long gone, and when she returned the credit card bill alone would make her scream.
“Mmm.” He kissed the palm of her hand. His tongue made circles on her inner wrist.
Igniting her blood. She had to make her demand now or it would be swept away under the blankets. “I’d like to go out. Dinner. Dancing…”
Grant hadn’t taken her out. Claimed he liked being home with her, just the two of them. He was quite happy to be seen in public with his new bit, though.
Kede raised one brow. A quiver ran from her head to her toes.
“And maybe…” She gave what she hoped was a suggestive smile. If he kept touching her, they wouldn’t get to dinner. She wouldn’t even finish her coffee before wanting to be stripped and on her bed.
“I can fulfill your fantasies,” Kede finished for her. He released her hand, his smoky grey eyes thoughtful. And she knew those thoughts were about her.
Josie dropped her gaze to her coffee and swirled the cold contents of the almost-empty cup. What she needed was a distraction, something to keep her thoughts together instead of scattered like clothes around the bedroom. From the corner of her eye the Audi gleamed in the morning sunlight.
“Want to come for a drive?”
He looked over her shoulder to the car. “I can’t drive.”
There was no way anyone but she was driving the car. For one, the insurance bill would kill her. Two, this was her Universe-filled wish.
“You’re not driving.” If she had been stuck in a bottle for years the first thing she would want to do was get out and see how the world had changed. “But you can enjoy.”
Kede slid into the red leather seat. Smooth and warm, it permeated the clothing she had lent him. A big shirt like the one she slept in, and a pair of pink floral pants. Pajama pants. She acted like she had no desire to see him naked, yet every stolen glance said otherwise. He mimicked Josette and wrapped the belt over his body. It clicked into place. She gave him the sexy grin he had wanted to coax out of her. A devilish glint in her eye. The car roared like a tiger, and then they were moving.
Houses and cars raced past. The car was faster than any carriage or chariot he’d been in. The motion smoother. Music flowed around him. He absorbed new knowledge about the world, from his surroundings, from Josette and from the goddess Herself. She never left her children ill-equipped to do their jobs. Women didn’t like men who were only good in bed. Holding a conversation was an art in whatever language it was spoken. Or had been, but then powdered wigs and scandalous affairs had also been fashionable.
Her hands and feet moved, perfectly synchronized, as if the car were an extension of her body. He could feel the hum of the engine. The hum in her blood. The hum in his. He wanted to lean out the window and suck in as much of the world as possible. The fear that he would never get let out again was always present while he waited, awake and dreaming of his next escape. This was more of the world than he’d seen in hundreds of years. Usually his view was limited to what he could see out of the bedroom window, if he was allowed to look. He smiled and relaxed back into his seat, happy to be with the woman who was taking the time to show him her world instead of staying abed.
As the car swallowed the grey ribbon of road, he let himself pretend that he belonged here. That sand wasn’t measuring out his life by the spoonful. Next to him Josette was relaxed. He still didn’t understand her. She freed him but didn’t want him. She didn’t want him but wouldn’t send him back. Then she’d look at him with raw heat in her eyes yet do nothing, like she was the one tied up and unable to act.
He placed his hand on her thigh. The muscle firmed beneath his palm. Her eyes remained fixed on the road. Probably the safest place for them given the speed. Houses became fields, cows grazed in pasture stripped of trees. But the view out of the window didn’t hold his interest. Cows would always graze, but he only had Josette in this moment of his life. His fingers slid over the fabric covering her leg, her legs parted a fraction, an invitation of the most subtle kind. He pushed up her skirt, watching her face. Her breathing became shallow. Her knuckles tightened on the wheel. Not quite white.
At the edges of his mind he felt the sand shift and slide a little faster. As she opened to him the trickle would become a rush. No matter how much he wanted to suspend time and explore Josette’s world with her, he couldn’t fight the magic that had birthed him. He owed his fragmented existence to a goddess no one had heard of in centuries.
Kede twisted and draped one arm on the back of her seat, intent on losing himself in the woman driving the machine at a lethal speed down the road. His fingers skimmed her knickers, lace tickled and tempted. She flattened her back against the seat but made no effort to stop him. He wanted her to fight the lust in her blood, to resist his advances for another hour, another day, another night. To extend his time here for the both of them because only she could control how long he had out of the bottle.
His wish would go unanswered. Josette had dressed for him, even if she hadn’t realized. A calf-length skirt. A top that gathered under her breasts. A necklace that drew his eye to the creamy hint of skin that spilled over the neckline. Beneath the clothes she wore lace. He brushed his fingers over her panties. She wiggled and bit her lip, encouraging him to go further.
He drew her top aside and kissed her shoulder. The taste of her skin was sweet against his tongue. She turned her head as if to catch his lips.
“Watch the road,” he whispered, placing a kiss on her ear. He didn’t want to find out what happened if the car collided with a tree or one of the other cars hurtling down the road. He doubted the metal around them would offer much protection given the impossible speed at which they were traveling. Horses didn’t gallop this fast, yet even falling from one of them c
ould kill. A car crash would lead to certain death.
His fingertips stroked the lace. Josette shifted in her seat, and he found her sensitive jewel. Her expression shifted with every touch. When her teeth bit into her lip, he teased her, giving her only the lightest of touches. Under his arm her thigh quivered. The scent of sex smothered expensive leather. His body responded and his flesh hardened, tenting her pajama pants. Josette had worn them next to her body. Now the fabric rubbed against his skin like a devil’s torment, rough where skin should be soft and slick. He wanted to feel her around him, so he slipped his finger inside her panties.
She jumped. The car jerked. The belt tightened across his chest and he gasped at the sudden constriction. His hand remained between her legs, but he needed to be more careful. For a few breaths he did nothing. Josette’s knuckles were white, her eyes were fixed on the road, and her cheeks were pink. Then she gave him a quick glance and a smile. It was all the encouragement he needed.
He kissed her neck, her pulse rapid beneath his lips. He ran his tongue around the shell of her ear. “I’m going to slide my finger into you.” He paused, waiting to see if she would pull back and refuse. Would she be bold enough to let him caress her until she came?
Josette nodded without looking at him, and he didn’t need to look into her eyes to know what she wanted. It was in every half-taken breath, the shape of her lips and scent of her skin.
Kede eased two fingers into her slick core. His fingers worked against her skin, sliding, caressing. She clenched around him. He wanted more than his fingers buried in her. He wanted to feel her channel tight around his shaft. The sand poured faster, but he couldn’t stop. She wanted this, for the moment she wanted him, and he wasn’t going to fail her again. This time she would want him in her bed. She would let him love her. He would give Josette her deepest desire willingly even though it would end the spell, because she had given him one of his. She’d taken him into the world and let him imagine a life beyond what he was good for. For Josette he could be the man she wanted. He let a smile creep over his mouth as he watched her face for the moment she would be his. Her lips parted, but her breathing had stopped. Then she came, squeezing her legs closed, trapping his hand.
Chapter Six
He’d been put aside for a car. Kede had been sure he’d made progress, but she’d driven them home, and then she’d left him while she had taken off in the car. His chest ached like a spear tip had lodged in his heart. Josette acted like she didn’t want him, like she didn’t want him around her even though she desired him. Just when he thought he got close to her, she spun away and left him empty-handed. He wasn’t used to rejection, and it stung like ice held too long on bare skin. He needed to be with Josette. He wanted to be with her. To see her smile light up her eyes. His mouth curved at the memory. Josette was not like the other women he had known. They had made their intentions clear when it came to what they wanted from him, but Josette held back as if she were afraid of her own hunger. Maybe that was why he kept failing her when Inanu didn’t fail. They were made for lust and fantasy. Not being left at home, alone.
He lay on her bed and watched the sand run through the hourglass. He could count the grains as they fell. They were slowing. He should be grateful. Josette was giving him the time he desired. Kede sat up. He was wasting a precious gift.
He got up and showered until the water ran cold, then dressed in the pajamas she wanted him to wear. There were no men’s clothes in her house, and that pleased him. He didn’t want to think about her being with another man. And he didn’t mind wearing her clothes—they smelled like her. He would rather be wearing her, but that would mean leaving her sooner. Like a cheap piece of cloth he felt himself unraveling. It had been a long time since he hadn’t wanted to leave a job—no, he never wanted to leave a job while he was free, it was the women he wanted to leave. But not Josette. He wanted to dally with her longer.
His stomach growled, so he left the bedroom and the sand timer—it would run whether he watched or not—and went prowling through her house to learn about her world and her life.
In the kitchen he looked in cupboards until he found the food. Boxes of things, bags of things, tins of things. Last time he had been out food had also been free of containers. He picked up a tin of tuna—was it dead or alive in there? Dead. He knew the answer as he thought the question. Tucked down the side of the cupboard he found a slim paper-wrapped object. This would be chocolate. Something Josette desired. He broke off a row and ate it. It was sweet and coated his tongue in velvety richness. He had another row, now understanding Josette’s craving, and he wanted more. He surveyed the rest of the packaged food. Information filtered into his brain, but there was nothing there he wanted. While he ate the chocolate he turned his attention to the pictures stuck to the pantry door.
The silver car was there. He scowled and resisted the temptation to tear it down. The shame of being replaced by a car was a secret he would never share. He was sure no other Inanu had ever been replaced so easily…although wasn’t Ashur once traded for a camel? He shook his head. That wasn’t the same. Inanu didn’t get left behind, they were part of the ride. He sucked on another piece of chocolate. The other pictures were more interesting: a house big enough to be a palace, a promissory note from The Universe, a naked male torso between two candles, smoke curling around him. Kede frowned. He was better formed than that man. The picture advertised scented candles.
Spice up your love life.
Josette also wanted a new job, to lose five kilos and to have a holiday to Italy. He’d been to Italy. He wondered if the Colosseum was still in use. The sand dark with blood, the scent of death and sweat on the air. The woman at his side screaming for more. He grimaced. That spell had lasted for too long and he’d enjoyed it very little. He pushed aside the unpleasant memory of her nails digging deep into his skin and glanced down. The wrapper in his hand was empty. While chocolate was delicious, it hadn’t filled him up. He was still hungry. In the white box—fridge, a thought filled in—he found milk, eggs and other packaged food. He took the milk and pulled out a glass.
Out of the bottle and left alone. For the first time in millennia he tasted true freedom, and it wasn’t as sweet as the chocolate. He could do whatever he wanted, but he wanted to be with Josette. The more he pushed, the more she pushed back. Every time she turned away and ignored him he wanted her more. More than any other woman he’d ever been with. Her smile was like a sun burning within him. Like Inanna herself was smiling on him.
He would do anything to make her smile.
Kede shook his head. He couldn’t get attached. He had to live in the time he had, and he didn’t have forever with Josette. When the last grain fell it would be over, and he would have to wait for another woman to summon a lover. He put his glass in a machine that had taken the place of servants. A dishwasher.
The fruit in the bowl he recognized. He leaned on the kitchen counter and scrunched his way through an apple, core and all, even though it didn’t taste the way he remembered apples tasting. Apples were meant to be tart and small. These were bright shiny red and sweet. The change wasn’t bad. He started on another one and looked around the flat. There must be something he could do to please Josette. That would bring her back into his arms…
Kede straightened. She’d given him the answer. Told him exactly what she wanted, but he hadn’t listened because it was so different from what he was used to. She didn’t want to control him, she wanted to trust him. To trust men again. Josette needed to be wooed. His eye roamed over the kitchen, and new knowledge flooded into his brain. He knew what he had to do to complete his job.
Dinner. Dancing. Loving.
Josie closed her eyes and inhaled the smell of leather one last time before getting out. It even smelled red. She shivered. She’d known the smell would be intoxicating. But beneath the scent of leather there was something more appealing. Kede. She’d left him at home as a test, to prove she didn’t need him, didn’t want him. But she did.
She looked up at her flat and chewed her lip. Would he still be there? Or had she accidentally sent him back? Panic snatched her heart and dug its claws into the muscle. If he was there, she wasn’t going to waste the opportunity—tonight they were going on a date. She picked up the shopping bags off the seat and locked the car. Then double-checked she’d locked it. Someone’s delicious-smelling late lunch wafted through the air, sweet and spicy, as she went up the two flights of stairs to her flat.
Her front door was unlocked. Apprehension balled in her gut. She pushed it open and gasped. Her flat was on fire. Every candle she owned was lit and placed on any available surface. A confusing array of scents filled the air. Lavender, rose, vanilla.
The blinds were closed as if it were night. The table was set for two. Kede was in the kitchen in her pajama pants, an apron and oven mitts. The person having the yummy lunch was her. She tried to hide the smile, but her cheeks stretched and she lost. Why weren’t the men she could keep like this?
Josie closed the door and locked it. “I bought you some clothes.”
He smiled and touched the clothing he was wearing. “You don’t like me naked.”
She did, very much. “Not all the time. Surely you’ve had clothes before?”
“Only if I was allowed out of the house, and then not for long.”
“If you don’t want them, that’s okay. I thought we could go…” The penny dropped. This was dinner. Her sofa had been pushed to one side, and in the middle of the floor was enough space for two people to dance very close.
She’d wasted the morning buying clothes he didn’t need. They would be eating at home on a very personal date. His eyes absorbed the candlelight, and his skin gleamed like polished bronze. Josie sat heavily at the table. No one had ever gone to so much trouble to make her happy.