Chapter 6
“Aprocurer of magical items?” Jacques raises his eyebrows.
“Yeah,” I say, and set my computer down on the coffee table.
I roll my neck and blink a few times to refocus my eyes.
The guys just woke up and I filled them in on everything…
which isn’t much. “I ran that name through the system and didn’t find anyone who matches Lyra’s description.
In the city, that is. Steven Miller is a really common name, though… too common, if you ask me.”
Jacques sits next to me on the couch, tucking his wings in close to his body. Having his body up against mine feels good. Warmth rushes through me and I inch closer. Jacques leans in, slipping one arm around my shoulders. I rest my head against him and my eyes fall shut. I never did get that nap.
“I didn’t get anywhere with that number on the card. It was probably for a burner phone too. Whoever that guy is…I won’t be tracking him down.”
“But you think he’s the same one interested in you?”
“It makes sense,” I answer. “And how many magical procurers can there be? I mean, there are a handful of people who collect occult items. But they call them just that…occult items. They don’t necessarily believe the things have real magic.
” Jacques sweeps his hand down my arm. I twist, angling myself toward him.
He leans down, bringing his hand back up to push my hair back so he can kiss me.
My heart lurches in my chest and my eyes flutter shut.
The frustration I was feeling over the stupid name on the card melts away the second Jac’s lips touch mine.
“I needed that,” I say when he breaks away.
“I know,” he tells me, and goes in for another kiss.
“Ace?” Gemma calls from the kitchen. “The chicken is still frozen. What else do you want for dinner?”
“Pizza,” Thomas suggests. He’s in the kitchen, most likely raiding the pantry.
“I second that,” Gil says.
“Me too,” Hasan agrees.
“Fine,” I chuckle. “Pizza it is.” I phone in an order and am told that the delivery service is running a bit behind. Gemma offers to go get it, and the twins jump on a chance to leave the house, saying they’re going with her in case anything tries to go after her.
“I’ll keep watch,” Hasan says once the others leave.
I reach for my computer again, opening it up to show him the camera views. “You don’t have to.”
He narrows his eyes at the images on the screen. “I can see better than that.”
“I know,” I agree. “But if anything comes close, we’ll know. The motion sensors will go off.”
Hasan doesn’t look convinced. He pushes his broad shoulders back and shifts his gaze to Jacques, expecting him to protest against technology and insist we find an army to stand guard.
“It’s better than nothing,” Jacques says, eyeballing the computer screen skeptically.
“I’ll do one round and check the perimeter,” Hasan says, seeming satisfied.
“Okay,” I say with a laugh, and then point to my computer. “I’ll be watching.”
Hasan leaves and then the house falls silent. It’s cooler tonight and I opened up all the windows downstairs to let in the evening breeze.
“You’re tense,” Jacques tells me, wrapping his arms around my waist.
“I know, and I’m trying not to obsess. It’s just….” I trail off and let out a breath.
“I’m tense too,” he confesses. “And I’d be even more so if I were in your shoes.”
I close my eyes and relax against him again. He leans back, pulling me with him. With his grand wings behind him, we don’t fit on the couch together very well. Letting out a sigh, Jacques tries to resituate. I know he’s more than ready to be human again.
“Maybe I’ll ignore all this creepy stuff and focus on breaking the curse.”
Jacques laughs softly. “We have time to worry about the curse later. But this so-called creepy stuff is another story. I want to find who’s behind it as much as you do.” I can hear the venom in his voice. “And make them pay for doing this to you.”
I tip my head up and look into his dark eyes. “I love it when you get all protective on me.”
His lips curve into a smile, and that heat I felt earlier is back in full force.
“I’d do anything for you, Acelina,” he whispers, and I shudder. He runs his hands along my back, massaging my stiff muscles. I let out a moan and push myself closer to him. In a swift movement, he sits up, pulling me into his lap.
I wrap my arms around his shoulders and straddle him, feeling his cock harden beneath me. He groans and leans in, lips going to my neck.
“Can I take you upstairs?” he whispers, and his old-fashioned tendencies turn me on. Licking my lips, I bring my hands down his chest, slowing when I get to his waistband.
“I’m not sure I can wait that long,” I groan, rocking my hips as I pop the button on his jeans.
His hard cock begs to be touched. I gather my hair in my hand and push it back behind my shoulders.
I cup Jacques’s face in my hands, kissing him hard and fast. Stubble covers his strong jaw, and feels so good under my fingers.
I pull back, wetting my lips.
“Ace,” Jacques starts, and I put my finger to his lips.
“Shut up.” I move down, kneeling before him, and part his legs.
Jacques inhales sharply and leans back, eyes fluttering shut.
Moving in, I carefully take the zipper of his pants in my teeth and pull it down.
Jacques lifts his hips, helping me shimmy his pants down enough to get to his cock.
The tip gleams with precum, and I wrap my fingers around the thick shaft.
I circle the tip with my thumb, and Jacques lets out another moan.
One of his hands falls on top of my head, taking a tangle of hair.
I slowly move in, and knowing I’m teasing him gets me even more hot and bothered. Parting my lips, I look up and meet his eyes before I take his cock in my mouth, sucking hard, moving my head up and down a few times before stopping and swirling my tongue over the tip.
Cupping his balls with my other hand, I tip my head and run my tongue up and down his large cock before taking him in my mouth again. His fingers ball into a fist, pulling my hair. It hurts, but the pain only adds to the pleasure.
“Ace,” Jacques groans. “If you…if you don’t stop, I’m going to…” He cuts off, using every bit of self-control he has to pull me away. “I don’t want to finish yet.” He caresses my face. “I want to take care of you now.”
Smiling, I let him bring me back to the couch.
He lays me down and removes my pants, slowly inching them down over my hips.
I’m so wet already, and seeing the lust in his eyes makes me even wetter.
Jacques slips a finger on each side of my panties and rolls them down.
The moment they hit the floor he parts my legs and moves in, kissing his way up my thighs.
My pussy quivers, knowing what’s coming.
I lift my head up off the couch, watching him put his lips against me.
Then his tongue touches my tender clit, and I drop my head back down and bring a hand up, sweeping it over my chest. Jacques slips his hands under my ass and pulls me to him, flicking his tongue again before sucking my clit.
I close my eyes and buck my hips against him.
He slips a finger inside me, going right to my G-spot, and gently presses on it as he continues to eat me out.
“Ohhh God,” I moan, bending one of my legs up. I drape it over Jac’s shoulder. I’m getting so close, the orgasm winding up tight inside of me.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go upstairs, Ace?” Jacques asks again.
“Stop and I’ll kill you,” I pant, sliding closer to Jacques.
“As you wish,” he growls, and dives back in.
He pushes another finger inside me, then spreads my legs wider and lashes his tongue against my clit.
The stimulation overloads my senses and I come hard, the orgasm starting in my core and sending pulses of pleasure throughout my entire body.
My mouth falls open but no sound comes out, because at that moment, I can’t breathe.
Wetness spills from me, and Jacques laps it all up.
“That was amazing,” I pant.
Jacques grins up at me from between my legs.
“I love watching you come,” he says as he stands.
My pussy is still spasming as he scoops me up, spreads his dark wings, and flies us upstairs, landing in the hall right outside my bedroom door.
He pulls his wings in close to his body and carries me to the bed.
We strip each other of our remaining clothing and fall onto my unmade bed.
Jacques moves on top of me, pinning me to the mattress.
His hard cock rubs against my clit, and it feels good enough to almost make me come again.
He makes a move to push his cock inside of me, but I’m feeling selfish right now.
“Not yet,” I mumble, and push his head back down between my legs.
“Greedy tonight, Ace?”
“I’m always greedy for you,” I groan, and bring my hand down, touching myself as Jacques watches. He parts my legs and starts eating me out again, working me with fervor. Already worked up from before, I come fast this time, body spasming as the orgasm ripples through me.
My ears ring and my fingertips tingle. He doesn’t give me time to recover. Instead he moves up, grabbing my hands and pinning them above my head. Then he moves his hips over mine and drives his cock into me.
“Ohhh,” I moan, wrapping my arms around him. I drag my nails up his back and buck my hips. Jacques kisses me, pushing his tongue into my mouth. His breathing quickens and I know he’s close to coming as well.
But I’m being selfish tonight, remember?
I push him off me and down onto the mattress. I take his cock in my hand and climb on top, guiding him into me. I lean forward, breasts in his face, and ride him hard and fast. Jacques grabs my hips, pushing me onto him. His eyes shut and his mouth falls open. He’s about to come…and so am I.
I lean back, switching up the angle a bit.
Jacques lets out another moan as he comes, and feeling his cock pulsing inside of me is all I need to be pushed into another orgasm.
I grind against him, riding this out for another moment.
Pitching forward, I come for a third time, spasming wildly around Jacques’s cock, and he rolls us over, moving on top of me again.
He kisses me, long and slow, and I moan again at the taste of myself on his lips.
Once the aftershocks subside, he moves off to the side, pulls the blankets around us, and holds me close against his big, hard body.
Gemma and the guys will be back with the pizza soon, but I can’t keep my eyes open any longer.
Even if I could, I’m so perfectly content lying here, naked in Jac’s embrace, that I’m not getting up just yet.
Jac runs his fingers through my hair, lulling me to sleep. My entire body relaxes as I begin to drift off, and I hover in that state of not being fully awake but not actually asleep yet for a moment.
I’m aware of everything and nothing at the same time. The steady beating of Jacques’s heart echoes in my ears, and the sound is as comforting as the crickets chirping outside my window.
“I love you,” he whispers, breath warm against my neck.
“I love you, too,” I mumble back before I fall asleep. This time, I know I’m sleeping and that I’m dreaming. I’m sitting in what looks like my room, but none of my personal possessions are here.
Standing, I rub my hands up and down my arms. It’s so cold here, and when I exhale, my breath clouds around me. Floorboards in the hall creak and I take a few steps toward the bedroom door.
“Hello?” I call.
The door opens on its own, and Braeya comes in. Her eyes meet mine and she smiles.
“Hello, Acelina.”
“What do you want?” Even in my dream, I’m wary of her.
I feel a little bad about that, even though I have no reason to trust her.
Though on the other hand, I have no reason not to trust her either.
We’re family, very distantly related, but with enough of the same blood coursing through our veins to share a physical resemblance.
“You’re running out of time. If I could help you, I would.”
“Time for what?”
Her eyes go to the bed behind me. I turn, seeing a shadowy figure under the covers. It’s Jacques, and if I look hard enough, I can see myself snuggled up in his arms. Well, my body at least.
“Am I actually asleep?” I ask.
“Your body is,” she says. “But your soul is on the astral plane. It’s the only way I can communicate with you.”
I look at Braeya, eyes narrowing. “So you’re actually real?”
She smiles and her face lights up. Do I look like that too when I—doesn’t matter. “I’m what you make of me.”
“I don’t understand.” I shake my head.
“I know, and I’m sorry. It’s hard being here. You have to hurry.”
“I can’t hurry if I don’t know what I’m hurrying,” I say, not meaning to snap, but this is the second cryptic dream she’s appeared in giving me some half-ass warning I can do nothing about.
“The curse,” she says, eyes going back to Jacques. “You need to break it before it reaches its thousandth year.”
“Thousandth year?” Oh shit. That’s coming up. Jac said he figured out the dates and did the math. “What happens when it reaches its thousandth year?”
“They’ll turn to stone. Forever.”