His voice had been rough and deep, yet had eased into Zoës pores with a soul-stirring tingle. Hed spoken English, though it had been accented with something other than her native French. German, to guess from his surname Rothstein. His brown eyes had moved over her face, landing on her lips, and then along the scar that curled across one cheekyet hadnt lingered theretill finally theyd locked onto her gaze.
If only the moonlight had been stronger, she may have seen much more, and might have gazed for endless hours at the sexy man who had defended her with muscle and might.
The timer dinged and Zoë shot upright, leaving the stake on the floor. The next part of the blend recipe must be enacted immediately.
Now for the magic.
She tapped the glass with her matte-black-polished fingernails that were tipped in white. A smidge of secret potion was added to the faery ichor from a long, narrow vialtap, tap, the iridescent particles fluttered into the alembicand then she recited the spell that shed worked for months to perfect after dozens of hours studying the family grimoire.
Feé substitutuary lente.
This kind of molecular magic tended to zap her energy. All other magics barely taxed her system, though she did have difficulty wielding any magic in public. Call it a lack of confidence, or never having been taught to use her magic around others.
Dissimulate, was the final word.
The ichor in the alembic turned purple and she knew the process had been a success. Now she need only reduce the ichor to dust, package it in vials and hand it over to Mauritiuss courier, who always arrived on Sunday morning, bright and early, despite the fact she was a vampiress.
Reaching for a tray of glass vials, Zoë paused and tilted her head to listen. She eyed Sid. The cats ears also perked.
Someone knocking on her front door after midnight?
Unusual. Absolutely unprecedented, actually.
Leaving the spell room, she carefully locked it with a snap of her fingers. Sid pussyfooted in her wake down the iron spiral stairs that landed but a few paces from the front door, and assumed his protective stance behind her legs.
Confident of the protective barrier that shielded her threshold from vampires, werewolves and faeries, Zoë gripped the doorknob and opened it to reveal a sexy smile and beaming brown eyes.
Her rescuing knight said, Ive come for another kiss.
Chapter 2
Leather coat draped over one arm, Kasparor rather, the man who allowed those he kissed to call him Kazstood in her doorway, not crossing the threshold. Zoë could usually feel her wards tingle when an unwanted visitor activated them. Not even a ting in the air. He was human; she was sure of it.
Yet it was well past midnight. She never received such late callers.
You found me, she stupidly said, glancing over her shoulder and up the stairs. The dust mix needed to sit for an hour before she reduced it, so she could manage a chat.
He rapped the bright door. Figured out what cerulean looks like. Its so bright it glows even in the dark. Nobody could miss it. You going to invite me in?
Depends on what you want.
I like a cautious woman. Smart. Especially this time of night. Ive already said what I want. Another kiss. In fact, I figure I should get one kiss for every one of those bastards I laid flat. Four down. Four kisses.
Youve already taken two kisses.
He stepped up to the threshold, towering over her, but not making her feel small in any way. Two left.
And too many ways she imagined those kisses. Long and lush, deep and delving, hot and achy. But she hardly knew the guy.
Zoë leaned up and kissed him quickly. Theres one.
That wasnt a kiss!
You didnt specify length.
He beat the door frame with a fist, but as a sign of his own frustration, nothing threatening.
Well call that one half a kiss, Zoë conceded, because she wasnt going to deny herself this mans delicious kisses. She may be a bit of a recluse, but she wasnt a hermit. And oh, but this felt like some kind of faery tale when the handsome prince showed up to woo the princess with glass slipper in hand.
Not that there was any slipper she could see. What girl could walk on glass, anyway, without breaking it? She preferred to keep bloodshed out of her faery tales.
Zoë crooked her finger, inviting him inside with a silent dare. Her normal cautionary inhibitions slipped away as she stood in Kazs intent brown gaze. Sort of brown and gold blended together, she decided of his eye color. Freckled eyes alive with expression. She could stare into them all night long.
Kaz walked her up against the wall, and braced a forearm against it, paralleling her head.
Your hair is interesting, he noted in a bemused tone. He swept his gaze down the white streak that spilled from roots to tips in an inch-wide swath.
Does it bother you?
Not at all. Its pretty to look at. Like your mouth. Your lips are soft and pink and when you dash out the tip of your tongue like that I want to taste it.
Whats stopping you?
Kiss number three landed on her mouth with a sigh and a press of skin to skin, yet it encompassed things about her that felt needy and wanting. Kissing usually happened in the dark, and during a heated race to sex. She rarely enjoyed a kiss merely for the sake of it. And the thought of starting a race felt wrong.
Such luxury he gifted her. And wrapped in a dreamy kind of faery tale she wanted to read all night long.
Inviting him to taste her breaths, Zoë opened her mouth a little wider. Kazs tongue explored and caressed hers. Slow, lazy, he moaned as he placed his palm against her back, gently affirming his control.
And then suddenly the kiss was not there. Instead, Kaz beat the wall beside her head with a fist.
Rudely startled from the amazing fall into bliss, Zoë gaped up at the stranger she had foolishly allowed across her threshold.
Theres another reason Im here, he said. Now his look admonished, yet curiously. About a matter of something gone missing from my, er...person.
Zoë flashed him her best innocent cat-burglar smile, and followed with a flutter of how-can-you-not-forgive-me lashes tossed in for good measure. Something you were carrying before the fight?
Yes.
Whatever it was, you probably dropped it while beating on those idiots.
Possibly, but I looked around and couldnt find the missing item. Im inclined to believe this a case of sticky fingers.
Huh. Zoë made a show of looking at her fingers. My fingers are not at all sticky and Was that faery dust embedded in the whorls on her fingertips?
Sparkly? Kaz noted the shimmer despite the spare light in the hallway.
She rubbed her hands down her pants legs. You know us women. Always putting sparkly stuff on our faces and skin. Just some glitter.
Give me back what you took, Zoë. Please?
He said it so gently, and yet with a sure tone of command, she simply nodded and pointed over her shoulder.
Up there? he asked.
With a guilty shrug, she offered, Sometimes I cant help myself. Its a habit. It was also fun, daring and the only way she could find a thrill lately.
I need it back. Cant buy those things at the supermarket.
I need it back. Cant buy those things at the supermarket.
Ill uh, go get it. You wait here.
But he didnt wait in the foyer, and instead, followed her up the spiral staircase. Zoë ran the steps, beating him to the fuchsia door and turning to put up her palm.
This is my private She couldnt call it her spell room. Kisses aside, she didnt know him well enough for that yet. Uhstudy. You cant go in there. Youll mess up, uh...like my vibes and stuff. Ill grab it and come right out.
There was no belief in the doubting look he gave her. The things she did to protect the magic were very necessary.
She opened the door and slipped inside, locking it behind her as she did. Just give me a minute to find it!
The thing she had taken sat on the floor beside her backpack. Too bad she had to return it. Whatever it was, she liked it. And wellit was his. He had held it in his wide, strong hand. She stroked the column, imagining his grip about it, and then her thoughts strolled to Kazs fingers stroking her skin. Slow and soft, like his kiss. Yet also needy, as his kiss had proven.
She clutched the metal column to her chest. Could he be the rescuing knight shed never known she needed? Did she need rescuing? Well, no. She was perfectly fine, not in any danger. But the idea of him, so masculine and take-chargewho would shove that out their front door?
A rap on the door spoke his impatience. If she were going to claim kiss number four, shed better play nice and give him back his toy. Besides, the clock was ticking. She needed to tend the ichor blend soon.
Slipping out, without opening the door so wide he might glimpse her spell work, Zoë held out the thing with a sheepish grin.
The tip popped out accidentally. Sorry. Is it some kind of weapon?
He claimed it with a snatch, and compressing the side paddles, the stake part snapped back inside the column. Something like that.
You always carry such an interesting weapon on you?
Always.
Have you...ever used it on anyone?
Many times.
So he was more than an innocent stranger who had happened to pick a fight with four idiots. The man knew how to handle a dangerous situation. So much so, he was always armed.
Are you like some kind of avenging angel who rescues those in need? Have you ever killed anyone with that thing? The point is very sharp. Its less like a blade than something you would stab
He silenced her curiosity with a punishing yet much-desired kiss. Dont mess with me, the kiss seemed to say, and dont ask stupid questions. But do let me take what I want.
Zoë was cool with that. Very cool with that.
The mans hand glided along her jaw, sending titters of heat down her neck and chest where her nipples tightened in a pleasurable squeeze. He dived deep inside her mouth with his tongue, tasting, touching and divining. She gave him all that he wanted, and he wanted a lot.
She knew nothing about Kaspar who liked to be called Kaz by friends and those who tended to kiss him. Save that his mouth knew exactly how to fit against hers for maximum pleasure. And that the heat of his body against hers, so wide, hard and strong, felt like some kind of ridiculous fantasy in which she was granted everything she had ever desired.
It never worked like that in real life. Not even with a healthy dose of magic tossed in for good measure.
But who was she to argue a moment of serendipity? Because truly, the stars had aligned above her home and the clouds were clearing. Never in her life had Zoë felt so connected to a man she didnt even know. The thought should frighten her, but instead, it made her want to race to the end to get to the happily-ever-after part because she didnt want to go through all that harrowing middle stuff.
It was always the middle stuff that screwed up the relationship. Secrets were revealed, bad habits discovered, kinky quirks
Dont move so quickly forward. Stay in the here and now, Zoë.
And so she would.
Sighing into the kiss, she tilted her body toward Kazs aggressive stance and as their hips met, he drew his fingers down her spine, coaxing her even closer with his touch. Chest to chest, she melted against his heat and strength. He made her feel delicate and pretty and so, so desirable.
A girl could become bewitched by such a kiss. And a bewitched witch was certainly a rare thing.
I want to know bewitchment.
Kaz slowly pulled away, holding her gaze as if the connection of their lips could continue in their eyes. As his thumb traced the scar on her cheek, he studied it, but didnt say anything or ask the usual questions. She didnt mind answering, but was impressed that he wasnt so hung up on the outer surface. Or maybe he was being polite.
Finally, he exhaled, stepped back and tucked away the weapon inside his coat.
Thanks for the kisses. Ive work to do, he declared in that deep, commanding tone that cued her to nod and touch her kiss-burnished lips.
He skipped down the stairs, leaving her floating on a euphoric cloud of desire and wonder, and stretching out a proverbial hand for him to return to her arms.
She was on her way to happily ever after. Her rescuing knight needed to get on the same page as her.
Once at the door, Kaz called up, Ill be back!
Uh... What to say to make him stay?
After the front door shut, Zoë fisted the air and growled. Way to drop the ball. Shed had him, and then she had not. Hed wandered out as casually and as quickly as he had appeared.
She shifted her body against the spell-room door, bending her legs to squat, and sat with her legs sprawled out across the floor. Sid nuzzled against her thigh, rubbing a kitty hug along her black pants.
She touched her mouth, still warm from Kazs remarkable kisses. She could feel him there and imagined the sensation would not soon leave. Not if she fixed it to memory. Memory was a special kind of magic that anyone could access but few could master. The key was in sorting the good memories from the bad and never letting them intertwine.
She had her share of bad memories. A mother gone too soon, a father forced to leave her life, a friend who had once been a tormentor. But some new memories were forming, and those could only be filed under spectacular.
Standing on his back legs, Sid nudged his head along her jaw until Zoë patted him and pulled the fat ball of fur onto her lap to snuggle.
That man certainly knows how to kiss, Sid. And he will be back, because he wont be able to stop thinking about me. And thats not magic, thats just she sighed wishful thinking.
Sid agreed with a meow.
And Zoë decided that the bewitchment had commenced.
* * *
Kaz double-stepped it down the sidewalk that paralleled the street before the Moulin Rouge. The red-and-gold neon lights spinning round the iconic mill wheel flashed across the faces of passersby. As he turned to walk along a row of buildings that reflected the pink, green and yellow neon, he spied the informant he had earlier in the day arranged to meet walking across the Boulevard de Clichy.
He knew he was late. He should count his luck the vamp was still in the area.
Hustling and turning the corner by the Magnum club, Kaz gained on the vampire, who strolled down the Rue Lepic, hands in his pockets, oblivious to the stares he received from the passing women dressed for a night of flirtation and fun. Kaz could have called out, but he wasnt stupid. Shuffling around a couple walking hand in hand, he landed beside the vampire and slowed his stride.