The Satyr's Curse (The Satyr's Curse Series Book 1) (12 page)

“What is it?” he asked, noting the change in her.

She shook her head. “Maybe I had too much wine. I just felt dizzy for a moment.”

He placed his arm about her shoulders. “Come and sit down.” He escorted her to the table and pulled out a chair for her. “Here.” He reached for her water goblet. “Drink this, it will help steady you.”

She took the glass and gladly sipped a few deep gulps of the cool water. The fire in her belly cooled and her head immediately cleared.

Julian kneeled beside her chair and worriedly examined her face. After she put the glass down on the table, she finally turned to him. 

“I don’t know if it was the wine or the dancing, but I just had the most unusual feeling.”

“What kind of feeling?”

“An intense feeling of….” She rubbed her fingers back and forth over her forehead. “I don’t know how to describe it.”

“You were thinking about us…about how we would be together,” he murmured in a sultry voice.

Jazzmyn stared at him in disbelief. “How can you possibly know what I was thinking?”

His slowly smiled. “I can feel your thoughts.” 

She sat back in her chair, shaking her head. “I’m sorry. I must come across as a timid schoolgirl, but I guess I’m just a little overwhelmed by you.”

“You are hardly a timid schoolgirl.” He held out his hand to her and Jazzmyn took it. He pulled her from the chair and wrapped her in his arms. “You’re a woman with desires and needs. And I am a man.” He lowered his face to hers. “A man who desperately needs you, Jazzmyn.”

When their lips touched, the burst of energy that erupted within Jazzmyn almost made her fall to the ground. His kiss was overpowering and filled her with more pleasure than she had ever dreamed possible. She returned his kiss and eagerly parted her lips to let him in. As his tongue teased her, she felt the frenzy of passion inside her take over.

It was instinctual, without words or thought. She was being driven solely by her desire for him, rubbing against him and letting her hands wander over his thick, muscular body. She wanted to be free of her clothes, to strip away the last vestiges of protection and be naked beside him, to let him take her in any way he wanted. She didn’t care about right and wrong; she only wanted to satisfy her lust.

Julian pulled his mouth away and sank his teeth into her neck, causing her to toss her head back and groan.

“I want to take you right here, right now.” Julian stepped back from her. “But you’re not ready.”

His eyes alarmed Jazzmyn for a moment. They were not his eyes, but appeared menacing and strange, then the light seemed to shift and the troubling darkness was gone.

“I still sense hesitation from you,” he expounded. “When you’re ready for me, I will feel it.”

Jazzmyn wanted to cry out with protest that she was ready for him, but then her rational mind started to awaken from the spell of his kiss and she knew he was right. There was something that was keeping her from giving herself completely to Julian, but she didn’t want to acknowledge what that was…or more specifically, who it was. She refused to think of him, but the more she fought it, the more Kyle’s blue eyes haunted her.

“When you give yourself to me, there must not be any doubt. You need to be completely mine; otherwise I will regret our being together, and I can’t have that,” Julian asserted, breaking into her thoughts.

Jazzmyn placed her hand against his cheek. “You are a good man, Julian. Thank you for being patient with me.”

His eyes looked past her to the garden pond and the golden satyr staring up at the moon. “I’m not a good man, Jazzmyn. I have done things in the past that I deeply regret, but I want to make sure it’s right between us.” He kissed her forehead. “I’ll take you home.”

She glimpsed the table with the dishes of food open to the evening air. “I’ll help you put all that away first.” She motioned to the table. “Then you can take me home.”

“Leave it,” he declared, taking her hand. “I will take care of it when I get back.”

She let go of his hand. “No, we’ll put it away now.” She went to the table and began picking up plates.

“Do you always get your way, Jazzmyn?”

She flashed him a flirtatious smile. “I’d better or there will be consequences.”

His merry chuckle broke the tension that had been hovering between them. Julian walked over to the table and picked up a few of the crystal glasses. “Far be it from me to deny you anything.”

“Why, I do believe you are getting the hang of this, Mr. Devereau,” she playfully extolled and headed toward the house.

“You’ll get your way for now, Jazzmyn.” He came up behind her and added, “Until I get mine.”

Jazzmyn stopped walking and turned to him, her arms heavy with dishes. “What makes you so sure you’re going to get your way with me, Julian?”

He grinned and then stepped around her.

As he confidently strutted into the house, Jazzmyn was not sure what bothered her more; his self-assurance, or her abject desire to make sure that he got everything he wanted from her…and more.

Chapter 11

The following day the restaurant was filled with tourists in town for a teachers’ convention. Jazzmyn spent the entire afternoon in the dining room, helping the wait staff clear away dishes as she showed the steady stream of schoolteachers to their tables. Even Scott was coming out from behind the bar to take customer orders, help clear off empty tables, and put down new place settings. Kyle never left the kitchen, and Jazzmyn thanked the forces above that he had been too busy to visit the bar. Even Ms. Helen, who usually went home after the lunch rush, stayed on through the dinner crush to pitch in with the food prep in the kitchen.

It was after ten in the evening when the tables started to empty and everyone got a break. Jazzmyn was resting her tired feet at the bar with a glass of water when she saw Julian coming in the front door of the restaurant.

Her heart fluttered with excitement as he strolled in, wearing a dark blue business suit. When their eyes met, she felt as if it were only the two of them in the crowded room.

“How does he do that?” she mumbled as he approached the bar.   

“Hello.” He leaned forward and pecked her cheek. “You look beat,” he added as he pushed a wisp of brown hair that had fallen from her ponytail away from her face.

“We got hit with a boatload of schoolteachers in town for a convention,” she told him as he took the red leather barstool next to her.

“You want your usual merlot, Mr. Devereau?” Scott asked as he stood across the bar from Julian.

“Evening, Scott.” Julian took a seat on the stool next to Jazzmyn. “Perhaps just a nice cabernet sauvignon tonight.”

Scott nodded his head. “I’ve got a bottle in the back. I’ll go and get it for you.”

“I didn’t think I’d see you tonight,” Jazzmyn remarked as her eyes followed Scott’s figure walking away from the bar.

“I wanted to see you,” Julian softly said. “After last night, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”

Jazzmyn turned to him. “You seem to be occupying my thoughts a lot lately, as well.” She nervously ran her hand over the back of her neck. “That’s kind of a new experience for me.”

“Get used to it,” he whispered. “When can I see you again?”

Her mind stumbled through the days of the week. “Tomorrow and Saturday are the busiest days for us, but Sunday should be pretty slow.”

Julian nodded. “In the meantime, I will have to take up my usual spot at the bar so I can watch you from afar.” He quickly browsed the thinning tables behind him. “Why don’t I pick you up Sunday and we can head off to visit a few plantation homes? There’s one particular house I would like to show you by the river in St. Charles Parish. The property once belonged to our family, and I used to visit it often as a child.”

She gave him a quizzical glance. “Your family used to own a plantation home?”

“It belonged to my mother’s family, actually, and it’s not one of the grand homes you think of along the river. Fairview was a much smaller residence as compared to the homes at Destrehan or Oak Alley.”

As she took in his dark eyes, Jazzmyn realized how little she knew about Julian’s past. Her concerns about the man’s intentions began to edge back into her thoughts. “You never mention your childhood. Why is that, Julian?”

He shrugged his broad shoulders. “Not much to tell really. I had a pretty typical childhood.”

“Where did you got to high school?”

He rubbed his hand along his chin. “It was a small private school in the French Quarter. It does not exist anymore.”

“What did your father do?”

“He had a few businesses in the French Quarter.”

“And your mother?”

“She was a housewife.” He paused and frowned. “Why all the questions? Are you having second thoughts about us?”

Jazzmyn shook her head, suddenly feeling foolish. She silently berated her doubt and blamed Kyle’s influence for her sudden cross-examination. “I guess I just wanted to know more about you. I know so little about your past.”

“All you have to do is ask, Jazzmyn.” He furrowed his wide brow with concern. “What about Sunday? Would you still like to spend the day together, or do I need to submit a resume for any further dates?”

She eased back on her stool, relieved by his whimsical response to her interrogation. “I would love to spend Sunday with you, Julian.”

His eyes glistened with a hypnotic light that momentarily distracted Jazzmyn. “Perhaps on the way back from the plantation, we could stop by this little farmer’s market I know on River Road. I could pick up a few things and fix you dinner.”

“At my place this time,” Jazzmyn insisted. “You haven’t seen my house, and I don’t have quite as many satyrs hanging around everywhere. I must admit they were kind of creepy.”

“Then I will get rid of all of them. I want you to feel comfortable in my home.” He removed something from his inside jacket pocket. “But I do have one more for you to look at. I promise it’s not as creepy as the ones in my house.” He placed a small white box on the bar in front of her with a bright red ribbon wrapped around it.

“Julian, what is this?” she asked, reaching for the box.

“Something I want you to have. To remind you of me.”

When she opened the box, Jazzmyn discovered a small gold satyr on a gold chain. The figurine was only about an inch high, but the detail in his face, the small horns on his head, and even the flute in his hands was exquisite.   

Julian took the necklace from the box and undid the clasp. He stood from his stool, moved behind her, and then gently lowered the chain over her neck. When he took his stool again, he admired the small satyr hanging about her neck.

“Now you can keep me with you always,” he added with a smile.

“Julian, I don’t know what to say, but thank you.” She inched forward and kissed him on the lips. An exquisite charge of electricity zoomed through her when their lips touched. Her body was reluctant to pull away from him, but her mind fought to regain control. When she leaned back on her stool, Kyle was standing beside them.

“You’re back, eh?” Kyle declared with a scowl on his face.

“Yes, I’m afraid so,” Julian returned in a rather chipper voice.

Kyle folded his arms over his chest. “We’ve been so busy today, I never got to ask Jazz about your date last night. Where did you cater dinner from?”

“I didn’t cater dinner, I cooked it,” Julian told him with a cheeky grin.

“You?” Kyle almost broke out in a fit of laughter. “You hardly look the type who would be handy in the kitchen, Julian.”

Jazzmyn knew what Kyle was up to and figured she better shut him down before he challenged Julian to a duel. “Julian prepared a wonderful vegetarian meal for us, Kyle. Better than many vegetarian restaurants I have been in.” The two men glared at each other as she spoke.

“I’m sure it wasn’t better than mine,” Kyle asserted. “But Julian has never let me cook for him, so he wouldn’t know how good my food really is.”

Julian patted Kyle on the shoulder. “Well, tonight is your lucky night, Kyle. Why don’t you whip me up some broiled tomatoes with a light rosemary sauce and some roasted potatoes in olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt?”

“Maybe you should leave the menu up to the chef?” Kyle griped.

Jazzmyn stood from her stool. “Kyle, you’ve been wanting to cook for Julian, and here’s your chance. Now go and see to his order,” she directed in a sharp voice.

“All right, boss. I’ll get right on that.” Kyle angrily spun around on his tennis shoes and dashed for the kitchen door.

A wave of relief washed over Jazzmyn after he had left the bar. “You don’t have to eat any of that, Julian. I know he can be an ass at times, but he really is a great chef.”

Julian’s eyes danced with merriment. “No, let him prepare my order. You never know, we might want him to cater our wedding.”

“Cater our wedding?” Jazzmyn grimaced at the thought. “Heaven forbid. If that day ever did come, I fear Kyle would end up being the wedding chef from hell.”

“In that case, perhaps you should make sure he does not put rat poison in any of my food,” he remarked, and then nodded toward the kitchen.

Jazzmyn gave Julian one last perturbed look. “You drink your wine and I’ll check on Kyle.”

“Yes, boss,” Julian quipped.

Jazzmyn attempted to give him an angry scowl as she turned for the kitchen, but his bright smile made her grin instead. After she stepped inside the kitchen door, she saw Kyle at the prep area, barking orders at poor Carl, and her lighthearted mood quickly disintegrated.

“No, get the big, fat tomatoes I placed in the walk-in by the polenta,” he loudly commanded and shoved a plate of tomatoes at Carl.

Carl ran past the prep table and back to the walk-in refrigerator down the hall.

“Maybe you should let Carl or Ms. Helen handle this,” Jazzmyn suggested. “You’re libel to do something that will get my health permit revoked.” 

“What? You don’t trust me? Hey, I can be professional, Jazz. I’m not going to let my petty insecurities interfere with my ability to prepare food.”

“That’ll be a first,” Jerry the dishwasher chimed in.

“I can do this,” he assured her. “Besides, Ms. Helen had to get home to Reggie, and Carl can’t do it because he’s an idiot.”

Jazzmyn placed her hand on her hip. “Carl is not an idiot. He went to a top cooking school and has been an excellent sous-chef, but all you do is browbeat him, just like you do all the kitchen staff.”

Kyle took a step back. “How can you say that? All the kitchen staff love me.”

A round of snickering could be heard from Jerry the dishwasher and Leon the cook.

Jazzmyn moved closer to the prep table. “Kyle, play nice with Julian. Don’t put Jalapeno peppers in his potatoes or chicken broth on his tomatoes, all right?”

He sarcastically smiled. “I promise I will make you proud.”

“That’s what worries me.”

Kyle’s blue eyes spotted her necklace. “When did you get that?” he asked, pointing to the gold chain.

Jazzmyn put her hand over the gold figurine around her neck. “Julian just gave it to me.”

“Buying you little gifts already? So you did sleep with him, eh?” He picked up a frying pan from the stove behind him.

“Jesus, will you grow up?”

He turned back to her, holding the pan in his hand. “Why should I grow up? You sure haven’t. You’re out there drooling over the guy like he’s a red velvet cake and you’re a diabetic.”

“Kyle, you have no right to stand there and critique my behavior around Julian when your own behavior is more akin to something one would witness on a reality show about a mental hospital.”

“Me? I’m not the one letting my hormones hang out, sister. You’re so hot for the guy it’s embarrassing to watch.” He pointed the frying pan at the kitchen door. “How can you be interested in a guy like that, Jazz? He lives in that weird house in the French Quarter and spends all of his time at your bar, drinking your wine. What do you really know about him? He could have a wife and kids in Nebraska, and just comes down here to get a piece of ass every now and then.”

Jerry and Leon started giggling frantically at their respective stations.

Jazzmyn glowered at her cook and dishwasher. “Kyle, stop this.” She turned back to him. “Stop pestering me about my seeing Julian. Stop trying to pick a fight with Julian when he comes into my restaurant, and stop being a general pain in the ass!”

He slammed the frying pan in his hand down on the stove. “I’m just trying to protect you, not pester you, Jazz; there’s a difference.” He shook his head. “Will you at least think about hiring a private investigator to look into his past?”

Jazzmyn lowered her head and groaned.

Carl reappeared in the kitchen, carrying a plate of tomatoes. His hazel eyes darted nervously from Kyle to Jazzmyn. “Should I come back later when you two have made up?” 

Jazzmyn waved him into the kitchen. “Get started on Julian’s grilled tomatoes and make sure he…,” she pointed at Kyle, “doesn’t screw it up.”

Jazzmyn let out an irritated sigh and gave Kyle one more angry scowl. She turned from the kitchen and headed back into the dining room. When she approached the bar, she saw Julian sipping from his glass of cabernet sauvignon.

“Everything all right back there, or was Kyle plying your head with misinformation about me?” Julian inquired as he turned to her.

She took a seat on the red leather stool next to his. “He thinks you have a wife and kids in Nebraska, and that I should have a private investigator check you out.”

Julian laughed as he put his wine glass down on the bar. “Well, at least he didn’t think I am the serial killer haunting the city.”

“No, he has already suggested that before.”

“Oh, I see,” Julian commented with a slight frown. “I’m glad I’m not too concerned about his influence over you.”

“You don’t have to be concerned at all, Julian. I told you there is nothing between us.”

“Are you sure about that, Jazzmyn?” He raised one dark eyebrow to her. “A man with that much persistence may one day break down your defenses.” He ran his finger along the curve of her jaw. “You are very important to me, and I cannot risk losing you to another, ever.”