Chapter 9
S he hungered. Her mouth moved, wanting to taste everything, but all her lips could grasp was air. Oddly enough, the whip of wind across her lips satisfied a deep need in her, a place she wasn't fully in touch with most days. She licked out, her tongue lashing the wind as it moved through her hair, caressed her body with invisible hands.
Lily turned as if weightless, suspended in air and time, grasping with her measly human hands to catch onto the wind. Pull it close to herself. Hold it dear. It slipped through her fingers again and again, soothing and stoking in equal measure.
"Boreas," she groaned, knowing without seeing as the scent of pine and wind wafted about her suspended body.
The voicing ended it all.
Lily startled awake, her own hoarse call waking her from the odd but delicious dream of the Greek god who’d stumbled into her small-town life. It took a minute, her breath still a heavy pant, for Lily to blink back to full wakefulness. Her fingers went to her cheeks, the heat there not wind-chap but lingering need.
She skimmed her hand from her cheek down, down, down, where she felt her own wetness pooled at the apex of her thighs. She cried out at her own touch, too sensitive from the dream. Not too sensitive, actually, as she thought of Boreas and slowly stroked her clit. Primed and ready, a few circles, a few imaginings, and her legs shook from the force of her orgasm. However, it felt hollow. She didn't want her own fingers. She wanted wind and claw and the lips of a god.
H er thoughts were maudlin at best throughout the morning. She'd had something with Boreas the night before. He'd shown up for her. Done something directly asked of him. He'd proven himself to be a god of action in the face of her need.
He'd also stoked her desire. The alley scene replayed in her waking moments, so it was no surprise she'd filled in gaps with fantasies in her dreams. But she didn't want a fantasy. She wanted his warm body next to her, on her, and she was more than a little perturbed Ryan had interrupted all that could have been.
Because of all this, her morning had been a little more annoying than normal. Or, more aptly, she'd been annoyed by her typical morning more than usual.
She dragged her feet, muttered to herself, but did the same steps she did six days a week to open her shop. She double-checked inventory against sales, noting what she needed to make soon and what she could put off for a few more days. Busy season was busying for sure, so as soon as Isa showed that afternoon she needed to get to the back and crank out as many candles as she could. Until then, she could print out labels and such from her laptop in between customers.
Lucky for her, customers there were. From her official open at 9AM onward, she had a solid stream, including a bunch of tourists who'd been at the masquerade the night before who'd waited until they were about to leave town before they bought the bits and bobs they found from local artisans. She smiled, talked candles, sold a mass of them, and even gave out info on her Etsy shop and website, telling people to be on the lookout for what might come next. She'd been toying with the idea of doing seasonal candles more often, possibly every season. The success of her current Christmas release pushed her to think harder on the idea, and the notion of expansion.
Between two separate couples coming in to buy up taper candles for events they were throwing over the holiday season up in horse country—the very same tapers she'd dotted all over the streets of Holly Hollow the night before—she emailed Madison. If she became serious about her original dreams for growth – the idea of leaving Etsy for her own web sales and bringing on more help at the shop to fulfill orders and possibly give her a bit of a break –she had to discuss the issue with her accountant. Madison annoyed her, but she did her job well and would be upfront with her about options. Maybe even a little too upfront, but Lily needed the reality of snarky Madison before she fully committed to doing more with her business.
She paid herself enough to live a simple life. Paid Isa a good hourly wage well above the minimum in Kentucky. Covered her bills. Had plenty to funnel back into the business and keep a nice chunk of change in her business account just in case. All good things. Her uncertainty was whether she could effectively upscale her business, or if she’d plateaued into something sustainable and comfortable but never more. Lots to think on, and having someone dig into the reality of the numbers of it all would give those thoughts more concrete focus.
As she ruminated on what she might want to do with her life if she had a bit more time on her hands and freedom to produce and create, she thought of Boreas. Wondered what might be if he stopped hesitating so damn much. She wondered if she hesitated too much in everything. She never jumped right in with business, which was a good thing. Maybe she also hesitated too much with relationships, with what she desired.
One of the downsides of working alone for hours was Lily had a long time to think on what she wanted, what she could or couldn't do, how she may or may not be able to get to the life she wanted to live. She dug into the bubbling desire in her gut whenever she thought of Boreas. Considered the pull she felt toward the god. Finally, she wondered why she didn't simply reach out and grab what she wanted, like her hands had done with the wind in her dreams.
The ringing of another customer coming in the door brought her out of her thoughts. Wasn't a customer though. Lily spun to greet the person and came face-to-face with Ryan once again.
"What–?" she started, but didn't finish. Ryan, face hard and red with anger, stalked to her without a word and gripped her shoulders tight, giving her a quick shake.
"Who were you with last night?" he hissed out in her face.
Lily froze for a second, brought up short by Ryan's barely bottled rage.
Then her own anger rose to meet his. Instead of answering, she struggled, ripping herself from his grip with a massive wrench of her shoulders and stumbling away a few steps. He followed her close, step for step, and she flung up her hands to ward him off.
"Back off, Ryan," she yelled at him. "You have no right to touch me."
"You're mine, Lil."
She gave a mirthless laugh as she managed to get a center floor display between her and the angry man staring her down. "I ain't been yours for a good seven years, Ryan. What do you think has changed?"
"I'm back."
"And?"
He huffed and she wouldn’t have been surprised if smoke spilled from his nostrils. "I came back here for you. To get back to where we were."
"Where we were? You mean when I lived oblivious to your cheating and you dragged me around wherever you wanted me to go, got me to do whatever you wanted me to do?"
"Now, Lil–" He stepped lightly then, as if about to explain. Placate. She was having none of it.
"No, Ryan. Breaking up came with some clarity. It wasn't simply that you cheated. You wanted me to be what you wanted me to be, which happened to be whatever helped you and your life. Never what made life better for me and mine."
"But I can give you a good life, Lil. Better than what you've had."
"What I've got is mine!" she yelled, her indignation pushing past her fear of this man in her shop. "Mine. I made it. With the help of some, including the lessons I learned from the likes of you. But mine all the same. You want to make it yours. Always did."
Ryan, in the face of her anger, ignored her points and brought the subject back to what he wanted, proving Lily's point, whether he realized it or not. "Who was the man you were with last night?"
"None of your damn business," she hissed back.
Again, he stepped forward, quick and aggressive, and again, Lily threw her arms up between them, landing them on his chest. He was muscled and toned, always had been, but he lacked the warmth and tingle she felt whenever she touched Boreas.
"You'll always be my business, baby."
Lily scuttled back then ran flat out, no longer caring. She grabbed her cordless as Ryan made his way behind her counter. He plucked it from her hand and tossed it on the counter behind him with a clatter of plastic. "Now, there’s no need for that. Just answer the question, Lil."
"I did. I said 'None of your damn business.'"
His jaw clicked and ticked, tight and grinding. "You fucking him?"
She blinked. The absolutely absurdity of this incident made her laugh. Ryan started, enough for her to shove him back a few steps and gain some space.
"By the gods, Ryan, you are something else." She elbowed past him and snatched up the phone again, dialing 911 as she moved back to the middle of the room. He snatched the phone and flung it on the counter, the hit sounding like breaking plastic this time around. She wrenched her mouth to scream, at and about him, when the bell over the door sounded.
Lily half expected Betty. Not so. A slickly dressed Madison walked in, her high-heeled boots clicking on the pine. Lily used the distraction to put more space between her and Ryan, who'd lost some of the anger on his face at another person entering the shop.
"Madison," Ryan muttered, straightening his tie and his spine.
"Why, Ryan. Fancy seeing you here." She sucked her lips as she looked between Lily and the man she just wanted to go.
In fact…. "You need to leave, Ryan."
"Oh, don't let me interrupt two old lovebirds," Madison chirped.
"Leave. Now."
Ryan stared, shook himself from whatever thoughts he had, then plastered on a sly smirk for show. "We'll continue our conversation another time, Lil." He winked as he passed and said "Madison," in a slow, sexy drawl before he hit the bar on the door a little too hard and stomped away.
Lily sagged in relief before she looked back at Madison, who had her own hard smirk on her face. "You and Ryan getting back together?"
"God, no."
"Looked cozy to me," she said, taking the time to inspect her nails as if the answer meant nothing to her at all. It did. Lily knew it did. She'd seen Madison hanging on Ryan and laughing a touch too loud at his jokes the night before. Another thing she'd wanted to talk to her about besides business.
"Madison, there's nothing there with me and Ryan. Never will be. 'Cause he's bad news. You hear me?"
She laughed, "For you."
"No, Madison. For any woman. He's not a good man."
"And your secret admirer is?"
"Who?"
"That big hunk of a man you're with last night. Who was he, anyway?"
Far too many people had questions about Boreas now, and Lily was struck with the fact he'd been right to worry about how people might react. Not because he looked or acted different, at least not last night, but because they were in a small town where everyone stayed in everyone else's business. Still, she wanted to get through to Madison.
"Listen. It's not jealousy that has me saying this. Ryan isn't a good guy. You'd be better off steering clear."
Madison shrugged, and in an odd instance of not wanting to gossip, changed the subject. "You emailed about some financial questions?"
Lily nodded and allowed her the out. She might be a little too haughty and gossipy and such, but Lily did hope she watched herself.
The two moved behind the counter, where Lily started talking business once again. Madison did the same, her professional demeanor firmly in place, as they chatted growth opportunities for Lily's Lights.
S he hoped there'd be a sign of Boreas that night when she closed shop. Nothing at her back door or at her house. Which had Lily itching to do something about it. She wanted him. He basically confessed he wanted her. Even went to lengths to get magic to help him do so. Why wait around after all that?