He arranged her more fully upon him, shifting, searching…and
found it. Rubbed against it, that tender spot so deep within her, and she came.
He allowed her this orgasm. He allowed her to come around
him, driving him closer to insanity with every quake. And when she was finished
he held her tight in his arms and allowed her to recover. But he did not allow
her long.
He rose over her and gently laid her back on the bench. And
then he eased himself out. Locking gazes with her, he slowly thrust back in.
She whimpered.
He showed no mercy. As soon as he was able, he eased his
length from her clutching cavern once more.
And drove back in.
She came again.
Her renewed internal shivers set him off.
He lost control.
Like a madman, he pounded into her, using the base of the
bench as leverage. His strokes became shorter. Faster. Harder. Her cunt cinched
tighter, wept. And then…
And then his sanity fled.
Because she came yet again.
But not like she had before. This was a bone-deep orgasm
that shook her, racked her, racked him, straight to the core.
Incredibly, he felt it all. His ecstasy. Hers. He could tell
by the confusion, the delight in her expression, that she felt it too.
For a long, flawless sliver of time, they were one.
One soul.
One body.
One heart.
Then ecstasy flooded his being as the dam broke.
After they had recovered from the most amazing sex of their
lives, he wrapped her in a blanket and carried her out onto the patio so they could
watch the sunset in each other’s arms. Aimalee fell asleep and missed it. But
when she awoke, he told her he didn’t care, that he’d come to love holding her
while she slept.
The unfamiliar concept of having someone watch over her in
her slumber stirred strange cravings inside her. She’d been alone most of her
life, since her father died. There’d been no one to take care of her—until now.
And heavens, she liked it.
She snuggled closer to him, deeper into his embrace, his
warmth, savoring the tantalizing scent rising from him. His heart throbbed
against her cheek. She ran her hand over his chest, down his abdomen and—unable
to resist—across his groin. She laughed at what she found.
“What?” he grunted.
“You’re hard again.”
“Naturally.”
“But so soon?”
“I always want you.”
“Ah yes.” She tried not to let that old, familiar annoyance
rise. “The spell.”
He stilled. “I cannot help it, Aimalee.”
“I know. It’s just…hard.”
He swallowed a chuckle. “Quite hard.”
She rose up and glowered at him. “I’m not joking. Do you
know how difficult it is for me, knowing that you only want me because of some
stupid spell?”
He tried to pull her back down. “It’s not just the spell—”
She resisted. “Of course it is, Keeshan. You are in love,
deeply in love, with another woman.”
“That’s not fair. I lost her. A long time ago.”
“But you still love her. Even now. Even after all this
time.”
His features tightened into a mask. “I will always love her,
Aimalee. But even when I am thinking about her, I want you.” He draped an arm
over his eyes and sighed. “Do you know what that does to me? How it tears me up
inside? She was my one true love. And my lust betrays that love every time I
look at you.”
Though a dagger shattered her heart, Aimalee eased back down
onto his chest. She traced the line of his cheek. “I do know, Keeshan. I do. I
suffered the same guilt over Carter before I…before. I didn’t want to want you,
when it was him I loved. But I couldn’t help myself.”
He lifted his arm and peeped out at her. “It’s not your
fault. It’s the Dark Djinn’s magic.”
“I know. But it does not make it any easier.” She threaded
her fingers and nibbled on her lip. “Do you still think about her?”
“Every day.” Silence surrounded them. “Does that bother
you?”
She thought about it. “No. Not really. Knowing that someone
else holds your heart is tough to swallow. But we cannot control who we love,
can we?”
“Life would be a lot easier if we could.”
“And where’s the fun in that?”
He chuckled and they fell silent, simply enjoying the tickle
of the evening breeze, the twinkling of the stars in the sky and the faint
shushing of the sea in the distance. But there was something on Aimalee’s mind.
And she had never been one to hold her tongue. So she blurted it out.
“How did she die?”
Keeshan tensed. “What? Who?” But he knew to whom she
referred.
“The woman you loved.”
“Circe?”
“Circe. That’s a pretty name.”
“She was beautiful.”
Her heart pinged. Just a little. “How did she die?”
He stilled. “I don’t want to talk about this.”
“Tough.”
“Aimalee…” Something akin to panic flickered over his
expression. She contemplated letting the subject drop but it had been on her
mind for days now, eating away at her. She needed, desperately needed to know
everything about Circe. And she suspected he desperately needed to tell her.
Tell someone.
“Just tell me. Then I’ll drop it. Never bring it up again.”
He kissed her instead. A deep and desperate kiss.
But Aimalee was determined and stubborn and had a pretty
good memory for things they’d been talking about just a second ago. So when he
lifted his head, all sloe-eyed and sexy, she started again. “So tell me what
happened.”
With a groan, he dropped his head back on the pillow. “I
really don’t want to discuss this,” he muttered.
“I think you need to. I think it would be good for you.”
He sat up and fixed her with a dark look, as though he was
making a difficult decision or fighting some inward battle. Then his expression
shuttered and he drew three gentle lemniscates on her shoulder. His touch sent
shards of sensation skittering through her but she ignored them.
He leaned closer and whispered, “Isn’t there something else
you would rather do?”
Seriously? He was trying to seduce her out of asking
questions?
Seriously?
“No.”
His head jerked back and he stared at her as though she’d
just sprouted a third nipple. “What?!”
“I said no.”
He drew the shapes again and then got all dreamy again and
murmured, “Are you sure?”
“Um. Yes?” She sat up and scooted back because his brow had
furrowed and he was reaching for her again. “Stop that. It tickles.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed several times as he gaped at her in
astonishment. “You really don’t want to…do…something else?”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “No. I would like to
talk.”
“Talk?”
Was she speaking in tongues? “You know. The exchange of
words some humans partake in? To share information?”
He frowned. “I know what talking is but… Don’t you…want
to…?”
“Have sex?”
“Yes!” Relief washed across his face.
“No.”
He did a double take. “No?”
“Keeshan, why are you acting so strangely?”
“Strangely?”
“Come on.” She nudged him with a toe. “Fess up.”
“Aimalee…” His lips worked. “I just-just drew the
incantation on you.”
She frowned. “The sex spell? The one that’s supposed to make
me fall into your arms, panting with passion?”
“Yes!”
“It didn’t work.”
“I know.” He frowned. “Aimalee, it’s never not worked. It
always works.”
She bit back a grin. “And do you always use it to get out of
conversations you don’t want to have?”
“Yes. No. I mean…” He shook his head, the skeins of his hair
brushed against her shoulder. “I just don’t understand what happened.”
“Maybe we’re breaking the spell.”
He rubbed his lower lip with a blunt finger, deep in
thought. “Maybe.”
“Or maybe I just don’t want you anymore.” She said it in a
teasing tone.
He was not amused. “Don’t even joke about that.” His voice
came out in a low growl.
“Sorry. Maybe it only lasts for so many spells.”
He barked a laugh. “I’ve used it way more with other women.”
She wasn’t sure why but this comment annoyed her. She
crossed her arms over her chest and glared out at the sea.
“Aimalee. Why are you pouting?”
“I’m not sure. You used the spell
more
with the other
women. Does that mean I am a slut? Or you just wanted them more?” Frankly,
either option was untenable.
“Neither.” The way he sealed his lips told her he wanted to
say more but thought better of it.
“Tell me.”
He sighed heavily, just like a man being forced into a
conversation about feelings and emotions and all that icky girlie stuff.
Aimalee smiled at the thought. But hid her smile behind her arm.
“Tell me.”
“Okay. Fine.” His square chin firmed and a muscle bunched.
As though he was grinding his teeth. “I used the spell on them more because I
used it whenever I wanted, while I tried not to use it on you.”
“Tried
not
to use it on me?” She wasn’t sure if she
should be honored or offended.
“Damn it, Aimalee. I wanted you to want me for me. And not
because of the spell. There. Are you happy?”
Her heart leapt. “Yes.” His questing gaze swung to her as
though he hadn’t heard, so she said it again. “Yes.”
“Did it work?” Why his voice sounded so unsure, so hopeful,
she couldn’t say. But that he was uncertain touched her heart. She laid her
hand on his arm.
“Yes. I did want you. Without the spell. I still do.”
His eyes warmed, his lips twitched and his head began to
lower. Yes. She recognized the signs. He was going to kiss her. And this time
she didn’t know if she had it in her to stop him.
Best thing to do was to back away now. So she did.
He followed.
“No, Keeshan. I want to talk. Remember?”
“We’ve been talking.”
“I want to talk about Circe. I want to know how she died.”
She wasn’t sure why it was so important to know. But it was. Until it was out
in the open, Circe would always be between them.
Keeshan raked his fingers through his hair and sighed.
“There’s nothing to tell.”
She suddenly wished she’d watched more
Law & Order
.
“What do you mean there’s nothing to tell?”
“I simply don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“I couldn’t ask. The Dark Djinn told me she was dead. He
told me I had killed her but wouldn’t say more than that. I assumed she…she…”
“Took her own life?”
“Yes.”
Aimalee lay back and gazed up at the enchanted stars. It was
a lovely sky. “Was she the type to do something like that?”
Keeshan stilled beside her. “No. She wasn’t. But how else
could my loving her have ended her life? He was adamant about that. The only
thing that saves my sanity is the knowledge that she has moved on.”
“What do you mean?”
He glanced at her. “Moved on. The wheel of reincarnation is
always turning.”
“You mean she was born again? You believe in that?”
“Certainly. She’s probably had a hundred lives by now.”
“That must be difficult for you. That she’s lived other
lives without you. Been with other men. Forgotten all about you.”
“I have accepted all that. What eats at me is not knowing
if…”
“If what?”
“If she’s happy. That’s all I want. I want to know she found
some measure of peace in the world.”
“Have you ever asked the mirror?”
His eyes, suspiciously damp, glimmered in the moonlight.
“I’ve never been able to get the mirror to reveal anything to me.”
“Nothing?”
“Not even a hint.”
Aimalee nibbled at her lower lip. “I could ask. Maybe it
would show me.”
He went absolutely silent, taut. Tiny tears beaded on his
lashes. “Would you?” he whispered. “Could you?”
She cupped his cheek, wiping away the tears with her thumb.
“Of course.”
“Oh, Aimalee. If I could have that weight off my soul. To
know what happened to her. To know she if is all right—wherever she is—that
would be wonderful.” He kissed her forehead. “I would be forever grateful.”
Aimalee tossed off the blanket. “Let’s do it. Now.”
But Keeshan was immovable. “Not yet,” he said, pulling her
back into his arms. “Let’s just enjoy this time.”
Aimalee understood his hesitation. She understood it
completely.
He wanted to know what had happened to his beloved Circe but
was scared to death to learn the truth.
His feet dragged slightly on the floor as he followed
Aimalee to the mirror room. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to know what had
become of Circe, of the love of his life. He did. But he dreaded the
possibilities.
Had she moved on to a life of torment and loss? Had she
suffered? Had the bright light of her soul dimmed? Because of him?
He did not know how he would handle such truths. He did not
know if his heart could survive it. So many tears. So many sleepless nights
filled with thoughts of her. Hopes for her.
Aimalee opened the door and glanced back at him as he
lingered on the threshold. She took his hand in hers and gave it a gentle
squeeze. “We can do this another time.”
“No.” He stepped into the room. “Let’s do it now.”
Together they crossed to the large stone throne, the chair
in which he had spent countless hours staring at the mirror, that heartless,
unforthcoming surface. He’d never had hope before.
And hope was, he was coming to find, a frightening thing to
have.
He sat on the chair and Aimalee arranged herself on his lap.
He nestled her closer against him and savored his last moments of ignorance.
For who knew what he would discover?
“Are you ready?” Her voice was but a whisper in his ear, the
trill of a tiny bird. But it shot through him like a bolt of lightning.
He swallowed. Nodded curtly.
“Mirror. Please show me what happened to Circe.”
There was a long pause as though the mirror was loading a
litany…or simply tormenting him. Keeshan closed his eyes but only for a second,
because he didn’t want to miss a thing.
The first face to come up sent shock ricocheting through his
body. His gut lurched. Pulse thrummed. Brain buzzed.
Because he knew that face.
It was Desiree. The first woman who had come to visit him in
the lamp. Two thousand years ago.
He was aware of Aimalee tracing soothing circles on his arm
but only just, because the second image appeared, a laughing visage with
charming dimples on both cheeks. Yes. He knew this face as well.
She
was Minu
, the Persian princess who found the lamp in her father’s
storeroom. Minu had enjoyed her time in the lamp, dreading the arranged
marriage the king had planned for her. When it was time for her to leave, she
had cried.
And then the third vision flashed onto the screen and the
fourth and the fifth and his heart began to sing because he knew them all.
Brígiða, a white-haired Viking with exquisite curves. Gia, Luli and Ròs, the
redheaded Scottish firebrand. Kei, a soft-spoken geisha from imperial Japan.
Glenys, the Welsh warrior woman. Leah, Anna, Deborah, Natalya the Russian
enchantress…he knew them all.
His pulse thudded as a mind-bending realization hit home.
Circe had come to him. In different bodies, she had come.
Though her true identity had been hidden from him, she had come. Time and time
again.
Every face the mirror showed him, every incarnation since
she had slipped from his life. Every visitor. Every woman. Every consort.
Circe. His love.
He looked at Aimalee and his heart swelled.
Aimalee. His Aimalee.
There was no need for guilt. No need for pain. No need for
sadness or worry or loss. Because she had been with him all along.
She was with him now.
“Are you all right?”
Was he.
“I am fine.” He pulled her closer and tucked her head
beneath his chin and watched as the women he had loved, had always loved,
continued to pass before him. He knew when they were coming to the end because
he remembered them, each and every one.
At the time he had cursed himself for being unfaithful to
Circe. Now he knew he was destined to love them. Because they
were
Circe.
All of them.
All of them.
His lips curved into a smile that bubbled into a laugh. A
joy unlike anything he had ever known washed through his body, releasing two
thousand years of stress and anger and pain. And it was the most wonderful
feeling he’d ever known.
When the last visage appeared on the screen, he knew who it
would be. But the mirror, as always, was a trickster. Instead of showing
Aimalee’s face, it showed the two of them sitting on the throne, a mere
reflection. And then it faded to black.
Keeshan could tell from Aimalee’s posture, from the loose
way she held her body, she had not realized she’d been included in the litany.
But she had been.
She cuddled closer, watching him in silence as the emotion
swirled through him. The pure joy of this moment. The weight of her in his
arms. Her warmth. Her breath, live and warm on his cheek.
Aimalee.
Circe.
He bent his head and for the first time in two millennia,
knowingly kissed the woman he loved above life itself.
And it was divine.
She kissed him back, tender little dabs that did not take
long to change into something far more fervent.
And when the passion rose in him, he knew beyond a shadow of
a doubt, it was passion for her. It had nothing to do with any spell, any
incantation or any curse. It was the passion of a man for the woman he loved.
And it was pure.
To his dismay, she pulled back. She put her palm on his
cheek and held him still, held him at a distance and stared at him.
She was so beautiful. He couldn’t help smiling at her. Or
perhaps it was a giddy grin. He didn’t know and didn’t care. “What is it?” he
asked.
“They were all so…lovely.”
“Yes.” He removed her hands and kissed her again.
“Was Circle as lovely?”
“Lovelier. But none of them is a match for your beauty.”
She snorted. He loved how she snorted. Her bangs fluffed up
in the air. “Oh please.”
“I am serious, Aimalee. You are the loveliest of them all.”
She made a sour face. “Isn’t that the mirror’s line?” And
when his brow furrowed, she shook her head. “Never mind.”
“Aimalee, there is something you need to know.” He debated
whether or not to tell her but only for a heartbeat. She deserved to know the
truth. It was her truth, after all.
“What?”
“Each of those women, each of Circe’s incarnations, they all
came to the lamp. To me.”
She stiffened. “All of them?”
He nodded, watching her, gauging her reaction. He could tell
she hadn’t figured it out yet. “They were all beautiful and I loved each one.”
She tried to pull away but he pulled her right back into the circle of his
arms. “They were all you.”
“Me?” She blinked. “I don’t…”
And then comprehension dawned.
“Yes. It’s you.” He kissed her forehead, her cheek, the tip
of her nose. “You are Circe.”
She shook her head. Tears puddled and then eased down her
alabaster cheeks. Her lips worked as though she wanted to say something but
wasn’t sure what. Then she peeped, “Are you sure?”
“Certain. Absolutely certain. We’ve been together before, my
love. And no matter what happens, we will be together again. Forever.” He drank
her in, still reeling with the truth of it. “We never lost each other. And we
never will.”
And though the passion was riding him, though his cock was
nudging against her thigh, and while she would not have put up any resistance
to a kiss, he didn’t kiss her.
He wanted nothing more than to sit here and hold her. Hold
her in his arms and feel the blood pulse in her veins, watch the breath lift
her breast, feel the hum of her incredulous murmurs as she contemplated this
revelation and accepted its truth.
There would be time for passion later.
They had forever.