Pyromancist (35 page)

He gave her a stern look. “Clelia, I’m not
Dr. Frankenstein. I love you. I’d never hurt you.”

“That’s not what I meant. I just don’t see
how it’s even possible.”

By the time Izabell approached with a tray
loaded with two steaming plates, they had finished the dozen
oysters. Izabell cleared the dishes and utensils and placed the
main course in front of them.

“Grilled sea bass with fern and salted
butter, and grilled vegetables on the side,” Izabell said. “It’s
the best I could do with a grill on the kitchen fire. Tomorrow I
should have fresh lobster.”

“This looks delicious. Thank you Izabell,”
Clelia said.

Izabell turned to Josselin. “Would you like a
Sauvignon Blanc with your main course?”

Josselin looked at Clelia. “Cle?”

“I’m fine with the champagne, thank you.” Her
head was already spinning from the glass she had.

“No, thank you, Iza. We’ll stick to the
champagne.”

“I’ll leave your dessert in the kitchen,”
Izabell said. “I’ll be on my way then, unless there’s anything else
you need?”

Josselin got to his feet to touch his cheek
four times to the older woman’s in the customary greeting. “No,
thank you Iza. I appreciate you coming in personally to take care
of our dinner.”

Izabell kissed Clelia’s cheek. “My regular
chefs are all booked because of the peak season, but I actually
enjoyed the primitive experience.” She winked at Clelia. “Good
evening. Glad to have finally met you.” To Josselin she said, “Just
leave everything as is. My team will be in in the morning to clear
the table and clean the kitchen.”

After Izabell had left, they ate in silence
for a while. The fish was scrumptious. It was perfectly cooked.

“You said you feel a change inside yourself,”
Josselin said. “With the information I have, I could train
you.”

“Will it work?” Clelia asked skeptically.

“I don’t know.”

“Then why not run if we’re not sure? Why face
Lupien? I lived in South Africa for four months without being
discovered.”

“I found you,” he reminded her gently. “It
was only a matter of time... Besides, Lupien will never stop, not
until he has you, and the only way to ensure your safety is for you
to be prepared.”

“What exactly did you mean when you said I
had to face him?”

“The only way for Lupien to steal your art is
for him to corrupt you. He cannot take it from you if you don’t
give in to your dark side. He’ll try anything to turn you to evil.
He’ll kill, lie, burn, manipulate, and torture whoever he must.
Whatever he does, you can never give in, do you hear me? You can
never give in to the darkness his actions would make you feel.
Because when you do, he’ll take what he wants–your gift. And the
only way for him to take it, is to kill you.”

Her heart clenched at the thought of facing
Lupien and his wrath, and all of which he was capable. “Why face
him at all then?”

“It’s the only way.”

“Who’s to say he won’t simply come back again
and again, until he can sway me?”

Josselin was quiet for a moment. He pushed
his plate back, regarding her with an intensity that she had seen
before, the day in the forest when he had hit Iwig. A fear much
bigger than the one she felt for herself enveloped her soul.

She felt the blood drain from her face. “No,
Josselin.” She shook her head. “No. You’re not going to fight
him.”

“It’s the only way,” he said again.

“You lied to me. You brought me here under
the impression that I was the one to fight him, but it was never
your intention. It’s you who’s going to fight him.” When he didn’t
answer, panic rose inside of her. “Am I right?”

His gaze was steady. “I didn’t lie to you
when I said you’d have to face him. But we’ll face him together.”
He gave her an apologetic look. “In a symbolic sense.”

Clelia jumped to her feet. “You
did
lie to me. You’re not going to let me go near him, are you?”

He got up too. “Cle, I’m a skilled fighter,
an expert on paranormal abilities.” He rounded the table slowly.
“Trust me.”

She shook her head again. “No. No. I don’t
want you to put your life in danger.” Tears burned at the back of
her eyes.

“There’s no other option.” He spoke
patiently, as if he were talking to a child. “If I don’t do this
now, we’ll never be free of him. Can you honestly live like that,
looking over your shoulder every minute of every day? Do you know
what will become of me if anything happens to you?” His eyes
flashed with emotion. “I couldn’t live through that again.
Ever.”

Clelia saw his pain and anguish. She couldn’t
imagine how terrible it had to have been for him to have lost
everyone he loved, his whole family, in one night, and to have
taken the blame. He had carried the weight of that fateful night on
his shoulders for so long. He had suffered enough for one lifetime.
She couldn’t ask him to live in fear for the rest of his life, yet,
how could she send him to danger with her blessing?

Tears rolled down her cheeks. “I don’t want
anything to happen to you.”

He took her in his arms and kissed her wet
cheeks. “I know I’ve already asked too much of you, little witch.
I’ve taken your redemption and asked for your patience. Now, I yet
again have to request more. I’m asking for your trust.”

Her answer was her kiss. She stood on tiptoe
to kiss the lips of the man who had once been her hunter, and who
had now become her protector.

* * * *

Feeling her in his arms, soft and tiny, woke
that sense of protectiveness in him he had always experienced
around her. He’d do anything to ensure her safety. He’d gladly give
his life. He owed her that, and more. He owed her nothing less than
his soul. But he had also started glimpsing pieces of a future with
Clelia that involved waking up seeing her sweet face every morning,
a house filled with light and things that made it home, and the cry
of a baby, the laughter of children. All of this had invaded his
dark, twisted spirit and gave him hope. He didn’t want to let go of
that hope. He wanted it with a passion he had never wanted with
before. Nothing mattered except her. Them. If this, no–when–, this
was over and Cain wouldn’t forgive him for his disloyalty in going
after and saving Clelia, he’d leave the force. They’d build a new
life. It wouldn’t have to be in New York. It could be wherever she
wanted.

Her kiss turned deeper, her tongue seeking
his. He groaned when she sucked his lower lip into her mouth, just
like he had showed her to. Male pride filled his heart. She was his
to teach. His little witch slipped her hand down his body and
placed her tiny hand on his crotch. His whole body jerked in
response to her touch.

He pulled away to look at her, but cupped her
hand to keep her fingers on his groin. “If you continue like this
we’re going to skip dessert.”

“I don’t care for dessert.”

Her breathing was irregular and her lips
swollen from his kiss. Without wasting another second, he picked
her up and carried her to their room, reveling in the way she
nestled against him. Josselin made swift work of undressing them
both. She remained perfectly still, allowing him to pull down her
dress and underwear and to place her on the bed, but when he came
over her, she pushed with her hands on his chest. He paused to look
at her.

“Roll over,” she said.

Her cheeks flushed adoringly at her
forwardness with him. Even if he had no intention of letting her
ride him, not just yet, he played along, just to see her shyness at
the control she was taking. He lay down on his back, folding his
hands behind his head, grinning up at her. He was curious to see
what she had in mind.

She knelt over him, standing on her knees,
and the sight of her body posed naked for him to enjoy every inch,
wiped the grin straight off his face. She was beautiful, perfect.
He wanted to touch every inch of her skin. When he lifted his hands
to feel the firmness of her breasts, she shook her head.

“No.” She took his hands and placed them
above his head. “Keep them here. Tonight is my turn.”

Josselin barely managed to fulfill her wish
as she moved her body so that she was lying on top of him. The
feeling of her skin against his drove him crazy. He gritted his
teeth as she started kissing him softly from his neck to his torso,
sliding her body over his as she moved down. His cock jerked at
every move. It took all the control he could muster to keep still.
Lifting his head, he watched as she licked the skin around his
navel, tracing a path all the way down to his balls. A sharp jab of
pleasure launched into his spine as she sucked them into her mouth.
The loud groan that came from his throat sounded primitive. Her
warm little tongue licked and sucked its way up his shaft until he
thought he was going to explode. Her palms moved up over his belly,
her fingers pinching the flat disks of his nipples just as her
teeth scraped over the crest of his cock. Josselin arched off the
mattress.

“Ah. God, witch!”

Just when he was going to grab her hair, to
keep her head still, lest he come before he had even penetrated
her, she slid her body back up over his and cushioned his painfully
hard cock between her breasts. He was slick from her tongue, and
she easily stroked his shaft between those pretty mounds. Josselin
looked down. He groaned, clenching his jaw so tightly that he heard
his teeth crunch.

“Stop,” he said, surprising himself that he
managed to utter the word. “Stop or I’ll lose control, and I don’t
want to hurt you.”

She obeyed, but only to torture him further
by straddling him on her knees, running a finger through her folds,
gathering her juices and rubbing it around her tight entrance and
her clit.

Josselin nearly choked. His heart was about
to explode in his chest. He couldn’t keep still, couldn’t refrain
from touching her any longer. His control hung by a thin thread. He
watched as she took his cock and placed it against the entrance of
her pussy.

Understanding her intention, he grabbed her
hips and held her still. “Not like this. Not so soon. It’ll be too
intense.”

Ignoring his warning, she tried to force
herself down an inch, but he tightened his grip.

“Cle, let me love you gently tonight,” he
said.

Instead of being a wise little witch, she was
a disobedient one, cupping his hands and guiding them to her
breasts.

“We’ll go slowly,” she said.

Josselin felt the hard nipples under his
palms contract further as she moved down more, her pussy trying to
adjust to take his size. His gaze slipped down. It was the most
erotically beautiful thing he had ever seen, his woman claiming
him. It took every ounce of control he possessed not to slam up
into her. Even as his hips started rotating involuntarily, he
stilled them, focusing on Clelia’s face to try and ground himself,
to keep him from going over the edge and taking her hard and fast
like his body demanded.

Her face was twisted with pleasure, her lips
parted, her eyes wide. She moved up and down slowly, with every
stroke taking more of him. He watched the lips of her pussy stretch
around him and felt the tremors that ran through her vagina,
squeezing his cock. Josselin grabbed her hips again to aid her
movement, to prevent her from taking him too fast, but she tricked
him by lifting up slowly and slamming down hard, taking him to the
hilt.

Clelia cried out. Her head fell back as she
arched her back, pushing her perfect breasts out to him. Josselin
repeated over and over in his mind that she had the control. She
had all the control. He wanted to let her have him at her pace,
slow and sweet, but his witch had other ideas. Reaching behind she
cupped his balls, squeezing softly. Air wheezed from his lips as
she picked up her pace. Her moans alone were an aphrodisiac that
had the power to shatter his self-control. She squirmed and panted
and she moved faster, her milky breasts moving with a beat that
echoed that of his heart thumping between his ribs.

He saw it in her eyes. She was close. She had
managed to keep those brown eyes prettily open for him, and he
recognized the hazy look that came over them. Feeling the restraint
he fought for slipping, he pressed his thumb on her clit and held
her in place with one hand on her hip while slamming up into her
with the force and speed his broken control demanded.

Her scream echoed in the room as she
contracted around him, her pussy milking his cock, sending him over
an edge so deep he wasn’t sure he’d ever come back up. Hot needles
pierced the base of his spine as his seed spurted into her. He
clutched her to him with an instinctive primal action until the
last drop was spilled. Only then did he slacken his grip to allow
her limp body to fall onto his chest.

They were both wet with perspiration. His
hands rubbed over her buttocks and her back. It took several
seconds before they caught their breath. As reason returned to his
over-sensitized mind, concern set in. Josselin grabbed her hair in
a ponytail to move it away from her face.

He kissed her temple. “Are you all
right?”

Only a content little sigh escaped her
lips.

He pulled his semi-hard cock free from her
body, inviting a whimper from her lips.

He rolled her onto her back. “Sore?”

She blinked at him.

He moved down the bed until his face was
level with her pussy. She was glistening with her juices. His seed
was running down her legs. An overwhelming feeling of pride and
possession engulfed him. He carefully parted the folds and licked
his finger to slip it inside.

Her thigh muscles quivered at the
penetration.

“It’s all right. I’m just checking that I
haven’t injured you.”

She flushed so prettily. “I’m not fragile,
Josselin,” she said, her voice husky from being thoroughly
loved.