Saffron (11 page)

“I like the sound of that.”

“Me too, love. Me too. I love you, Saffron.”

The look he gave her solidified his statement. And she knew the rest of her life would never be the same, but it would be so much better.

Also available from Total-E-Bound Publishing:

Seducing Damian

Aliyah Burke

Excerpt

Chapter One

That feeling was back…again. Barely containing the shiver—although not entirely unpleasant—that coursed through his body and made him weak in the knees, the man cleared his throat and swallowed before continuing with his lecture.

“Are you okay, Professor?” a student asked from the front row.

The man nodded his dark head and flashed the students in his class one of his winning smiles. The women longed to have that smile mean more than it ever would. His classes were always full. Both men and women wanted to take his class. He taught with vigour most people didn’t see anymore. He taught about ancient Egypt. Although, truth be told, Egyptian mythology was his true passion.

“I’m fine, thank you.” His voice was deep and soothing; the sort of voice that could offer comfort or bring immense pleasure, depending on how he wanted it to be heard. Blinking, he put his eyes back on his class. “Now, where was I?”

“Just about to tell us about the Valley of the Kings,” the same student spoke.

He grinned and responded, “So I was. Okay.” He swept his gaze across the smaller group study he was doing today. There were only about fifty in this class.
Damn, Damian, you have got it made.
Then he continued with his lecture. In spite of everything, his love of teaching and his love of the very subject, Damian Memphis Keith still felt that unknown presence.

As the students were filing out of the lecture hall, Damian began to tuck his own papers in his satchel. A warm breeze blew over him, causing him to look up in suspicion. On the air, the faint scent of lotus blossom lingered, tantalising his nose like no smell ever had, at least not while he was awake. The hair on his body seemed to stand on end as if filled with an electrical current.

What the hell? Damian shook his head and tried to focus on what he was doing. Instead his gaze was drawn to the far corner of the room. He could barely make out the image of a woman bathed in the sunlight from the large windows. At her side were two lionesses, at least he thought they were, for they were also hard to discern.

Dropping his papers, Damian rubbed his eyes because he knew there was no way what he was seeing was real. For one, he didn’t know anyone who carried themselves with such presence. And two, he positively didn’t know anyone who had big cats as pets.

“Professor?” A voice shattered through his haze.

Inhaling deeply, Damian opened his eyes to see Kathryn Harrison standing before him. She was one of his best students. The only downfall…she wanted much more than a professor-student relationship.

“Yes, Ms. Harrison? Something I can do for you?” Damian shoved the rest of his papers away.

“I was just checking to make sure you were okay,” she admitted. “You looked a bit dizzy earlier and just now you were staring off into the corner at something only you could see.”

Risking another glance to the corner, all he saw was the sunlight filtering in the window. No woman, no cats, nothing. He frowned briefly before he turned his attention back to the woman before him. “I’m okay. Thanks for the concern. I guess I am coming down with something.”

Damian picked up his briefcase and tossed his leather jacket over his arm. “I will see you tomorrow, Ms. Harrison. Again, thanks for the concern.” Long strides took him up the steps in the lecture hall and through the door.

* * * *

“Touch me,” she commanded. The voice was sultry and hypnotic. “Touch me, Damian.”

If he had half a mind to think of refusing that would have fled under the compulsion he heard in her tone. “Yes,” he murmured and reached through the dark.

Skin softer than velvet lay beneath his hand. He groaned in pleasure. Sliding across the silk sheets, Damian pressed the length of his body against the one beside him as his fingers sank into the wet folds at the juncture of her thighs. His other hand delved into the thick hair that fell about her head.

The scent of her sweat and arousal filled his nose and the room. Combined with the smell of his sweat, it added to his increasing pleasure. “Why can’t I ever see you?” he asked as his grip on her body turned possessive in the lightless room.

A smooth hand reached around his head, teased the hair at the base of his neck, her touch driving him crazy. She tugged his lips to her full ones, her tongue slipping into his mouth to mingle with his. “Why do you want to see me?” Her other hand ran over the expanse of his muscled back.

“Why wouldn’t I? You are beautiful.” He nuzzled her neck and traced his tongue along the beating pulse of her throat. The woman beside him remained mute and he felt her supple form shift, her strong thigh pressing against him as her other leg moved up across his hip, an act that brought his throbbing dick closer to her heated core.

Damian couldn’t wait another second and climbed on top of her, groaning as her fingers closed around his rampant cock and guided it into her wet heat. Immediately her muscles closed about him, cradling him, loving him, embracing him as a lover would. Biting back his groan, Damian allowed his eyes to close as he began to move within her.

In the dark of the room, he learned her body by smell and taste. Her taste was unique, exotic and something he couldn’t place. He laved along her collarbone, alternating with sharp bites of his teeth, only to lick the sting away. Her fingers dug into his back as he continued to pleasure her.

It didn’t take Damian long to reach the peak of his pleasure. As her muscles tightened around him, he knew she was near her release as well. His speed and depth increased with each pounding thrust. One final plunge and he erupted within her body, coating her womb with his semen as his yell filled the room.

Exhausted, both emotionally and physically, Damian was careful as he withdrew from her body and spooned them together. His lips touched her temple as he kissed her tenderly. “Don’t leave me this time,” he muttered as he sank into the plush mattress beside her, holding her as tightly as he could without hurting her.

Beep. Beep. Beep
.

His fingers slammed on the alarm, shutting off the intrusive sound. “Damn it,” he swore as he opened his eyes. Alone. It had been nothing but a dream. Rolling into a damp spot on his bed, he realised it’d apparently been a very vivid dream. “What the hell is going on with me?”

Swinging his feet over to the floor, Damian ran a hand over his stubble-covered face before he stumbled, exhausted, into the shower. Many more nights like this and he was going to be absolutely useless.

For the past two months, the dreams had been becoming more frequent and intense, making it hard for him to remember it was just a dream, and not real. This mysterious woman had become an obsession to him. He had no idea what she looked like, who she was or anything like that. All he knew was her smell, touch and voice. That alone was enough to turn him into a randy college student as opposed to the mature thirty-eight year old professor of the small yet respected college. As he stood under the spray of his showerhead, he wondered if maybe he was losing his grip on reality.

“Maybe all I need to do is go out and get laid,” he spoke to the emptiness of his shower. Either way, he was doing way too many loads of laundry to keep his sheets clean. Still, the memory of his dream filled him and began to lengthen his cock. Without hesitation, he soaped his hand and began stroking himself. Longing for her touch, he allowed his mind to create the feel he had experienced with her. His hand moved faster and faster until he spurted his come all over the shower wall.

Damian scrubbed his body until he was content there was no lingering sign of sex on him. Climbing out, he wrapped a towel around his waist and used another to dry his thick, black hair. He stripped his bed and remade it quickly.
Well, I am learning how to make a bed in seconds, that’s for sure.

Moving through his apartment, Damian looked over the artefacts he had collected over the years. As his gaze touched each one, he noticed that a few of them seemed to be in better condition than he recalled.

Draping the extra towel over one shoulder, he moved towards the statue that currently held his attention. Picking it up carefully, he knew something was different. When he had acquired the small sculpture, it had been missing the left hand and the Ankh—or Egyptian cross as it was also known, which had a loop at the top—it was rumoured to hold. The one he held now was complete. There was an Ankh in the left hand and the chipped-off black varnish that had covered the wood was refurbished and shone with an illustriousness that amazed him.

Sekhmet was complete.

Setting the figurine of the goddess down, Damian backed away with a mixture of disbelief and extreme hope it wasn’t just his imagination and returned to his room to dress. “I’m seeing things. I know that now, because there is no way a statue from around 2600 BC could restore itself.”

Rushing, Damian got ready for his day and left his apartment without looking at the statue again. He climbed into his Jeep Wrangler and drove off to work.

* * * *

“I’m going, Father,” she declared.

Sighing, he turned his dark head to look at his child. While he had many children, this one was special to him. One of his favourites, perhaps
the
favourite. His own protector.

Sitting on his throne accompanied by his falcon, he nodded. “Very well. I would ask but one thing of you before you go.”

Golden eyes narrowed suspiciously. “And that would be?”

“Allow me to mark your shoulder so you don’t forget.” The black eyes were straightforward as they held hers.

Without hesitation, she nodded. “Agreed.”

While he knew she was not going to let him stop her from going, he was aware she was immensely fond of him. They were close, considering how many siblings, and half-siblings, she had. There were times it seemed only she understood him.

He rose and moved towards her. Halting in front of her, he reached out and touched her left shoulder with his hand. The entire hand resting against her smooth, dark skin. A flare of blinding light exploded from beneath his palm and when it had faded, he removed his hand.

His gaze moved over the mark on her shoulder. “Very well, it is done.”

Eyes which had long been known to spew fire were gentle as they looked upon him “I will return. Especially if you have need of me.” Her words were soft but sincere.

“I know. Just as I know I will be checking in with you. I am sending along a falcon with you.” An elegant flourish of his strong hand and another bird had appeared, this one landing on her own shoulder, the left one.

“As you command.” She accepted his decision with a nod. Looking down at her clothes, she shrugged and waved her hand. Leathers vanished and she was redressed in blue jeans and a red three-quarter sleeve tee with black hiking boots on her feet. The thick black hair she possessed was captured into a high ponytail.

“Goodbye, Daughter. Until we meet again,” he said.

Smiling, the goddess inclined her head in a rare show of respect for the King of the Gods. A minuscule gesture brought her two lionesses to heel and she walked away with the falcon on her shoulder. Before they reached the wall, they disappeared, leaving the throne room empty except for Ra and his companion.

Walking back to his throne, he took his seat and glanced up at his falcon. “Things are sure going to be different without her around.” Ra wondered exactly what was going to happen with his child, Sekhmet, back on Earth. Especially considering the last time she’d been there all of mankind had very nearly been wiped out of existence, courtesy of her vengeful nature.

* * * *

The last lingering fog of the morning that surrounded the mirror-surfaced lake parted, leaving in its wake a still figure. Sekhmet took a deep breath and smiled as the sun shone down upon her dark beauty. On each side of her was a lioness and, as she nodded, they ran through the tall, lush grass, acting childish. Simultaneously, the falcon on her shoulder took to the sky, eager to get an aerial view of its new domain.

With surefooted motions down the path of crushed rocks, the silent woman walked up to the door of the large house that sat on the property. It was immense, easily over forty rooms in the “M” shaped mansion. She stopped in front of the huge ornate door and a grin almost crossed her face as the door swung silently open.

“Welcome home, Goddess.” A deep voice came from inside.

She surveyed the interior of the home. Very plush, wealthy. It would work for her. “Thank you,” she said sincerely.

The man who stood in the shadows was massive. He looked as if he were carved from teakwood. After all the years with him she could easily pick up on the slight strain that hovered around the corners of his full mouth. He wasn’t fond of her newest whim.

“Don’t worry so much, Talios. And while we are here, you must not call me that. If there are people here, call me Mistress.”

He nodded. “It will be as you wish it…Mistress.”

This time a smile did cross her face. “Relax, Talios. We are here to have some fun.” She winked at him and walked off; her cats suddenly back at her side as she flowed up the polished stairs. After ensuring everything on the upper floors was to her satisfaction, she headed back down.