Authors: Jennifer Cole
The cool air swirling around the terrace began to sizzle with an electric current. The hairs on her arms stood erect, and a shiver raced up her spine. Another minute or two, that was all she had to wait.
The tips of her fingers tingled as she finally heard the cracking of cement. Focusing on the largest statue, Elena refused to blink.
The stone statues perched around the ledge of the terrace began to explode, one by one. Roaring split the air, causing Elena’s belly to flip with excitement. When the dust settled or blew away, six winged beasts stood facing her. Their glowing eyes were hypnotic and titillating, yet she had her sights set on just one of them.
Zander jumped off the ledge, and when he reached her, he gathered her in his arms. She returned his embrace, sighing in contentment.
“Every moment I am away from you is an eternity,” he mumbled against the top of her head.
“Mmm, you will win my heart if you keep talking like that, beast.” She giggled.
“Would that be such a bad thing?” The apprehension in his voice pained Elena. She would have handed her heart over to the beast without hesitation, if she honestly thought he would accept it.
“No, Zander.” She placed a kiss in the center of his massive chest. “It would not be a bad thing.”
“Hey, Elena,” Adan called over.
“Milady, good evening,” Henrik said as he bowed.
“Hey, guys,” Elena said. “I’ve ordered in dinner from the deli tonight.” Pulling away from the warmth of Zander’s embrace, she nodded toward the openness of the darkened night sky. “So why don’t you go do your thing, and I’ll set up the table for when you come back.”
“Sounds good.” Kenyon moaned, rubbing his impressive six-pack abs. “I am starving tonight.”
“Well, get going then.” Elena chuckled. “Go have fun.”
An hour later, with the table heaped with sandwiches from the deli, Elena stood watching the beasts flying toward the terrace. One by one they landed.
The seven of them sat around the table and dug into the feast she had laid out. Over dinner, Elena shared with the beasts her visit with Jeff that morning, and her research regarding the curse.
“I feel really bad, guys,” she said, beginning to stack the empty plates and bowls. With a defeated shake of her head, she sighed heavily before continuing. “I’m no further ahead with a solution. Or even any idea of a solution.”
“It is all right, Elena,” Mabon said. “Your efforts alone are appreciated. More than you know.”
“But it’s not good enough,” she stated with a groan. “I need to get my hands on the damn spell book that creepy student has.”
Standing, she reached to pick up the plates, but Magnus was at her side. “Allow me,” he said. “And thank you for dinner.”
“Yeah, thanks, Elena,” Adan repeated.
Each of the beasts grabbed something to help clean off the table, before the group moved into the suite. The air grew cooler, and the wind picked up. Elena felt sprinkles of rain as they walked across the terrace toward the open glass door.
Once inside and their dinner dishes tidied up, she joined the guys in the sitting area. Mabon, Henrik and Kenyon were each flipping through the books she’d gathered from the university library. Adan sat on the floor in front of her laptop, which she’d left open on the coffee table.
From the moment he’d awakened, Elena had felt Zander’s eyes following her wherever she went, and whatever she did. Under the weight of his gaze, every aroused erogenous zone she had–and a couple she’d never known about–were delightfully stimulated. Elena wasn’t certain how much more of Zander’s visual seduction she’d be able stand. She was already about to cream her panties.
“So, you have found nothing regarding the curse, milady?” Magnus asked.
Elena shook her head. “Nothing substantial. I’ve come across things like, ‘curses work on your imagination since no one genuinely has the ability to place one’. Which is a crock of shit,” she said, glancing at each one of them. “They say curses only work when you believe in them. Stop believing the curse can affect your life and it loses power over you. This is another load of shit, because I’m sure you guys have tried that one.”
“Yes, we have certainly thought of that,” Kenyon admitted.
“I’ve got to tell you, it would put my mind at ease to get my hands on that ancient spell book.” She groaned when she caught Zander’s heated gaze. The tightening of her nipples beneath her shirt had erotic images of her and Zander together, flashing through Elena’s mind.
Remembering the beasts could hear her thoughts, Elena’s cheeks warmed. She gave her head a swift shake and cleared her throat. “Um, yeah, anyway... I think I’ve found every spell ever thought of under the sun, except the ‘spell of humility.’”
“As Mabon said, your efforts are appreciated,” Henrik offered.
“We have been this way for hundreds of years, milady,” Magnus said. “There may be no way to break the curse.”
“A spell was cast, there is always a way to break it.” Elena stood beside the sofa and pressed her fingers to her temples.
A challenge always got her blood flowing. Elena loved to solve a mystery. Why could she not concentrate on fitting the pieces of this puzzle together?
The reason for her distraction sat on the sofa, eyeing her as if she were a tasty little morsel he was dying to sample. Any doubts she had about Zander’s interest dissipated at an alarming speed.
No longer could she stand it. The differences between their physical forms meant nothing to her in the grand scheme of things. Elena could no longer fight the attraction, and damn it, she knew Zander felt it as well. She could see it in his eyes when he looked at her, felt it in the weight of his stare as he watched her. More importantly, she felt his need when he held her in his arms. His touch was electric.
Elena wanted more. No, she needed more.
“For heaven’s sake, this is ridiculous,” Elena said, and leapt through the air, landing on top of Zander.
* * * *
The suddenness of Elena’s acrobatics threw Zander off guard, causing him to lean back into the sofa.
“What are you–” His question was cut short as Elena brushed her soft lips against his.
The room fell silent. After several moments, she pulled away from him, waggled her brow and dragged her tongue across her lower lip.
“Uh,” he managed to squeak out. “That was...nice.”
“
Nice
?” she repeated, narrowing her eyes.
“Well, uh, the others are–you know–here. Watching,” he said in a low voice, trying not to attract any more attention to them. Which he knew was futile, since Elena sat sprawled on top of him, and he was panting like a dog in heat.
Elena’s heated gaze held his, and over her shoulder she growled, “Leave.”
From the corner of his eye, Zander watched his five fellow beasts stumble over one another as they raced to the open terrace door.
“See ya,” Adan said quickly.
“I was just thinking I could use some air,” Henrik announced, pushing past Mabon.
“Where are we going to go?” Kenyon muttered.
“Stop talking and just get the hell out,” Magnus said nervously, glancing back for a split second.
The loud flapping of wings carried into the suite, signaling the beasts had launched off the building.
Leaning down, Elena pressed her lips to Zander’s again.
They were just as he’d imagined–soft, confident. Elena was a woman who knew what she wanted. And by the gods, she wanted him. The taste of her mouth made his head spin.
He needed to stop her.
The tip of her tongue teased the seam of his lips, coaxing him to open his mouth. As he did, to utter a protest–a mild one, but a protest nonetheless–Elena seized the opportunity to slip inside.
The slide of her tongue alongside his made Zander’s breath hitch. Wide-eyed, he watched her. Elena’s eyes were closed, lids fluttering as her excitement escalated. The subtle fragrance of feminine arousal tickled his nose. He inhaled deeply, her natural pheromones taunting his lust as he allowed her to control their kiss.
A moan of passion caught in her throat, and her arms tightened around his neck, her fingers fisting in his hair.
Closing his eyes, Zander permitted himself to savor the moment. The repressed libido he had buried years ago began to emerge. His hands stroked down the length of Elena’s back, over the luscious curves of her hips, then cupped and squeezed her buttocks.
If this were to be his last moment on earth, Zander would die a happy man, or rather beast. With the days of living as a man long gone, he’d never imagined once again living in human form. Yet right then, with Elena straddling his thighs, his body aching to be one with hers, Zander wanted nothing more than to be a man.
Just once
, he began to think, and felt the instant void as Elena pulled away from his mouth.
“Do you feel it?” Her breath was harsh, her voice husky.
“W-what?” he stuttered, attempting to tamp the hoarseness of his own voice.
“The sparks. The electricity.” She paused to run the wet tip of her delicious tongue over her swollen lips. “We have chemistry.”
Oh the gods. If she moves her cute ass a bit lower, she is going to feel it all right.
Elena’s eye sparkled and grew dark. “Sounds like fun,” she said, in a huskiness that had Zander’s body standing at full attention. Wiggling her backside down the length of his body, when she reached his erection, she pressed down and a sexy grin played on her face. “Mmm,” she groaned. “Is this all for me?”
Zander held her hips in place. She was going to kill him by rubbing herself against his hardening shaft.
“Elena,” he murmured as she once again pressed her lips against his.
Across the muscles of his chest, her hands roamed and explored. Gentle fingertips traced the flat dark disks of his nipples, and a firm squeeze brought them to immediate attention.
Her lips left his once again, and Elena placed light kisses along his jaw line. Her teeth nipped at the flesh of his neck as she ventured lower to flick her tongue across the peak of one of his nipples.
Zander’s balls threatened to unload as the wet tip teased his flesh.
Lower down his body, Elena wiggled until she’d settled between his thighs.
“Elena,” he moaned, uncertain if his tone carried a warning or just arousal.
He needed to stop her.
She leaned over, and using her teeth, plucked the end of the cord holding his loincloth in place around his hips. As she lifted her head, the cord released and the scrap of cloth was discarded to the floor.
When Elena’s gaze settled on the hardened flesh between his legs, her eyes grew wide. Her luscious lips gaped open, and a soft groan came from her throat.
She looked up at him, apprehension flashing in her eyes. “I’m no expert,” she said, shaking her head. “But I don’t think that’s going to fit inside me.”
Zander’s cock, proportionate to his body size, jutted proudly, eagerly, from a nest of tight dark curls.
Standing close to eight feet tall and weighing over five hundred pounds, his body was enormous compared to that of a mortal man. He suspected the flesh between his legs would cause Elena intense pain if he were to enter her body. Gods, it might even kill her.
“I will not put it inside you,” he told her regrettably. As painful as it was to Zander thinking he could never love Elena physically, as she deserved to be loved, he would not cause her pain.
“Well, I didn’t say I didn’t want you to.” Elena must have read the concern on his face, because her smile once again turned incredibly sexy. “We’ll work on it,” she said in a husky tone.
Turning her attention back to the hard length of his cock, she wrapped her fingers around his extraordinary girth and began to stroke him. Eyeing his shaft, Elena licked her lips.
Zander sucked in a breath. She wouldn’t touch his cock with her mouth?
Would she?
“Hmm,” she moaned, sizing up the situation. “I’ve got an idea.” Holding his gaze, she dipped her head to flick her tongue across the broad mushroom shaped bulb of the end.
Of its own accord, Zander’s ass shot off the sofa at the warm, wet contact.