In-Between Work and Play (The Jocelyn Frost Series Book 1) (22 page)

“Thank you so
much!  You’ll see! You’ll have condoms flying off the shelves.  Who knows?
Maybe you can even get the Hercules Lubricants to work a deal with you.”

“I hadn’t even
considered that.”  Her head tilted to the side. 

“Do you want me
to, like, put in a call to Tempest?  She’s, like, always working his wick,”
Bliss asked with a grin.

Caress nodded. 
“Do that.”

The siblings got
up from the table.  Whisper pouted as she left the room while her brothers
talked about making plans to head down to the southern continent.  Bliss
bounced over to the wall phone. 

“Who’s Tempest?”
I whispered to Caress. 

“One of our
older half-sisters.  She’s been a Hercules groupie for about five years. 
Thanks to her, we get most of his products at a discounted rate,” she said as
she walked us out.

“Hiya!  Are you
busy?”  Bliss popped a bubble.  “Oh, it’s cool!  He doesn’t mind you, like,
talking on the phone while you’re, like, doing it?”

“Your
half-sister actually knows
the
Hercules?”  Dex looked mystified.

Caress closed
the door, blocking my ability to eavesdrop on the sisters’ conversation.  “Yes,
she knows
the
Hercules.  They met
at an orgy in New Rome.  If it weren’t for her innate sex magic, I doubt they
would still be together.  Most of his other partners only last about two to
three fucks before he moves on to the next one.”

“He must have a
lot of kids.”  I couldn’t imagine what his family reunions looked like.

“Yes and no. 
Many of his groupies are fae, so they aren’t easily impregnated.  His human and
demigoddess companions, on the other hand, all walk away pregnant.”  Her lips
twisted. “Well with the exception of the daughters of the sex watchers.  They
control their own fertility.”

Finley
whistled. 

“There is also a
huge danger to fucking a watcher.  Most people become addicted to them in the
same way people become addicted to feeding vampires.”  Caress shifted her eyes
between Dex and me.  “Enough about that.”  She smiled.  “Why don’t the two of
you go and enjoy yourselves?”

Dex gave me a
heated look.  “Oh, we will.  Have a nice night.”  He attempted to usher me
toward the elevator.

“Just a second. 
Jocelyn, could you come and see me tomorrow before you leave?  There is
something else I want to talk to you about.”

My girly parts
were already heating up.  I muttered, “Sure.  Have a nice night” before Dex
pulled me toward the elevator.

A loud banging
on the door stirred me from my light slumber.  Dex kissed the top of my head. 
“I’ll get it.” His voice came out in a hoarse whisper.

I pulled the
sheet up to cover my nudity.  It didn’t matter to me that everyone here was
fine with doing each other in public.  I only wanted one person to see me: Dex.

After a quick
check through the peephole, Dex unlocked the door. 

Finley marched
into the room.  “What are you two maggots still doing in bed?  Our train leaves
in two hours.  You need to start getting your asses dressed to leave.” 

“Good morning to
you, too,” I croaked.

“Morning?  It’s
early evening.   Check out time was at noon.  Luckily, I’m screwing the owner,
so you won’t have to pay for an extra day.”

“Thanks for the
sacrifice.” I rolled my eyes.

“Don’t let her
hear you say that.  It’s not a sacrifice.  She’s the best whore I’ve ever been
with, and you know what?  I think I’m going to keep her.  That’s right.  Me,
Finley Fields, has finally met his other half.  Never thought in a million
years I would find a woman to fuck who would kill my desire to fuck other
women.”  At first, I wasn’t sure if he felt angry or happy, but then, I
realized he was just confused.

“Congrats.”  Dex
gave him a nod.

“Ah,” he said,
noticing that Dex was naked before adding, “put on a towel, man.”

Dex smirked. 
“Go fuck your whore, while I fuck mine.”

Finley poked him
in the chest.  “You know what, I
will
go and do that.”  He marched out of the room.  Closing the door, Dex turned
back to me.

“Your whore?”

“Sorry; what
should I have said?”

“How about
girlfriend?  Although, in some sense, I guess you’re right.  I’m addicted to
your cock.”  I bit my lower lip, watching it thicken.

About an hour
later, we were ready to check out.  Sadness overcame me.  We were headed back
to the In-between.  I didn’t want to think about it.  All I wanted to do was
stay here forever with Dex, engaging in our new favorite activity. 

We followed the
bellhop down to the ground floor.  I parted with Dex in the lobby in order to
see Caress in her office. 

Knocking on her
door, I waited a couple of minutes before a partially dressed Finley opened
it.  “We’re ready to go.”

A still naked
Caress joined him.  “Goodbye for now.”  Their lips met one last time.

“I’ll be back as
soon as I get off on Friday.”

“You better, or
I’ll tell my brother to hunt you down.  You hear me?”  She smirked.

“Loud and clear,
love.”  He pulled on his shirt before heading down the hall.

Caress sighed as
she watched him go.

Averting my
eyes, I asked, “You wanted to speak with me?” 

“Yes, come in
and make yourself comfortable.” 

I walked over to
her office couches while she pulled on a bathrobe. 

 “I’ve got to
hand it to you, Jocelyn, you are very hard to resist.”

“What are you
talking about?”  I tilted my head to the side.

“Your magic.  I
felt you push a sense of tranquility on my siblings and me.  Are you aware that
when you change the way someone feels, you change the way they think?  That is
a very powerful tool.” 

“I’ve never
thought about it like that.  I normally just will my clients to relax so that
they can open up to me.”  I rolled my father’s ring between my finger and
thumb.

“Still, you need
to be careful.  Not everyone wants his or her emotions tampered with.  Perhaps
you should warn your clients before manipulating their feelings.”

I was at a total
loss for words.  Thinking back to my session with Gwen only a few days ago, she
seemed to know what I was doing and needed for it to happen.  Had I somehow
unconsciously made her dependent on me, like a form of medication?

Caress placed
her hand on mine. “Look, I learned that lesson the hard way.  Like you, I used
to do it without thinking about the long-term effects.”

“What happened?”

“A friend of
mine, who was in love with a fairy, came to me for help.  He was worried that
she might have a wandering eye, so he wanted to know if I could make sure she
only loved him.  Turns out, she never loved him, but was in love with someone
else.  I tried to make him fall out of love with her, but he became depressed,
and eventually, wandered into vampire territory.” Her voice faded as her eyes
glazed over at the memory.

Damn
. 
“You couldn’t have known that would happen.”

She sniffled. “I
should have.”  Her eyes locked with mine. “You need to let people feel what
they have to feel.  Let them work out their own emotions.”

I nodded. “I
think I understand.  Thank you, Caress.  I’ve never known any of my
half-siblings, and my father never taught me about my powers.”

“That’s not your
fault.”  She gave me an encouraging smile.  “Here’s what we are going to do. 
We’re going to become good friends.  When I travel to the In-between on my day
off, I’ll put some time aside to work with you, okay?”

I felt a little
better.  “Okay.  As long as Finley doesn’t mind.”

“He won’t. 
Otherwise, I won’t let him near my pussy.”  She grinned.

“You’d do that
for me?”  I felt touched.  Here was someone I barely knew offering to help me
with a problem I didn’t know I had.

Caress squeezed
my hand.  “I have a little favor to ask in return.”

I frowned. 
“That is?” 

“Could you
counsel my little sisters and brothers?  It’s been hard on them since our
mother abandoned us.  I think it best if they could talk to someone outside the
family.”

How could I
refuse?  “I’d be more than happy to help your siblings.”

“Great!”  She
gave me a quick hug.  “You’d better get going before you miss your train. 
There is a gift basket for you and Dex at the front desk.  I took the liberty
of warding a couple sets of jewelry so that you two don’t have to worry about
fasting during the week.”

“Thank you so
much.”  I stood. “You didn’t have to do that.”

She waved me
off.  “What are friends for, right?”

I gave her
another small smile. “Right.”

Pushing the door
open, she stopped me once more.  “Oh, and Jocelyn?  You’ll let me know if
Finley strays, okay?”

Possessive
much?  “Sure.  Have a nice night.”

My brows knitted
together as I walked down the hall.  Caress definitely gave me a lot to think
about.  It was horrifying to learn my powers could have a long-term effect on
others.  I promised myself to only use my calming ability in case of an
emergency.  A small voice in my head began wondering if my powers had something
to do with what happened to Lucinda.  Did I manipulate her feelings so many
times that she did something stupid?  What about Dex?  Were his feelings for me
real?  Or simply the result of my powers?

Transitioning
back to the In-Between was harder than I thought, but at least, the symptoms
were manageable.  I just wanted to lie down and shut down.  Part of me was
excited about the prospect of the condom business; but the other part worried
that I might have accidentally influenced the choices Lucinda made before she
died.

I wanted to
question Marek.  Hopefully, he had more information about her murder now, and
the asshole who committed it was already in jail. I wondered if he would tell
me what I wanted to know, or just skirt around the issue?

“I don’t know
about you two maggots, but I have a date with a pillow.”

Dex yawned. “A
nap would be nice.”  His arm draped around my shoulder. “Are you coming home
with us?”

Should I?  I’d
spent so much time with him over the last few days that my lingering fears were
starting to drive me crazy.  “I don’t think I should.” I shrugged. “Besides,
I’m also out of clean clothes.” 

Dex turned to
face me.  His thumb traced down from my temple to my jaw.  When I wouldn’t
raise my eyes, he tilted my chin to look at him.  “Hey, I thought you would be
happy.  We’re getting what we want, right?”

I gave him a
weak smile. “Yes, yes, we are.” 

A frown marred
his handsome face.  For the love of Odin, my heart ached just thinking about
how his feelings for me might not have been sincere.  

“Then tell me
what’s wrong.”

The words lumped
together in my throat, but never got a chance to break free.

“We’re sharing a
cab, right?”  Finley pulled my bag from my shoulder.  I blinked several times
before I realized we were standing in front of the terminal that separated the
In-between and Erda. 

Everyone was
back to normal.  My boots reverted to my pumps, and my sweater dress and
undergarments magically adjusted to accommodate my naturally shorter frame and
smaller breasts.  Even my chocolate-colored hair was back with a vengeance.  As
for the guys, Dex’s blonde hair turned black again, while his irises shifted
from blue to green.  No longer a strawberry-blonde, Finley’s scruffy locks
reverted to their natural, sandy hue. 

“Sure.”  I
pulled off my new coat before sliding into the back seat of the cab.  It was
getting dark outside. Besides, it would have taken several hours to walk home
from there.

“You still
haven’t answered my question,” Dex stated as he slid into the seat next to me.

I pinched the
bridge of my nose.  “It’s been an overwhelming few days.  That’s all.  Besides,
I’m really tired.”

Worry lines
etched into his normally smooth brow. “That’s why you shouldn’t be alone. 
Would you like me to stay over at your place tonight?” He gave my thigh a
squeeze.

“You don’t have
to do that.  Besides, who will feed your birds?”

“Finley.” He
grinned.

Finley slid into
the seat on the opposite side of me as he slammed the door shut.  “Finley can
do what?”

The driver
slammed his foot on the gas as he merged in with the Sunday early evening
traffic.

“Feed my flock. 
I’m going to bunk at Joce’s place tonight.”

A smirk crossed
his lips as his eyes drifted towards Dex’s hand on my thigh. “You do know that
you aren’t wearing the warded jewelry anymore.”

“You’re just as
bad as Bill and Ted,” Dex muttered. 

“What happened
to those two?” I asked.  “I thought you said we would meet up with them.”

Dex closed his
eyes for a moment.  “They never left the In-Between.  Turns out, they headed
straight for the orgy at the Sex Magic Department.”

“Where to?”  The
driver shot us a look over her shoulder.  Finley told her the address of their
Victorian. 

The traffic was
pretty light so the ride only took a few minutes. Turning toward me, Dex gave
my thigh another quick squeeze. “I’m going to run upstairs and grab a change of
clothes.  I shouldn’t be more than a couple of minutes.”

I decided to
voice all of my fears to him before it was too late.  “I’ll come with you. 
Besides, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”

Worry lines
creased his forehead again.  Oh fair Frigg, I bet he thought I was going to
break up with him. 

After
instructing the taxi driver to wait, I grabbed my gift from Caress.  It would
have been wise to leave some of that stuff here.  Besides, if Dex freaked out
on me, he could keep it.  There was no way I’d want another man in the near
future.

An unsettled
feeling blossomed in my chest.

Opening the
front door, Finley shouted. “Hey, Hamish!  Crack open a six-pack… Hamish?”  He
dropped his duffel bag in the doorway.

“Finley,
DON’T!”  The sound of smashing glass reverberated out the door.  Dex ran in
after his friend.  I stupidly followed, even though something was obviously
wrong.  Pulling my phone out of my purse, I hit the emergency
help
button. My limbs went numb.  Finley
lay in a heap, surrounded by the broken glass of a mirror.  The foyer was
completely thrashed.  Worst of all were the feathers and random splatters of
blood on the walls and carpet. 

Where the
Helheim was Dex?  I broke eye contact with him for a couple of seconds, that’s
all!

Everything
inside of me screamed to run, but my legs refused to comply.