Lust (16 page)

I looked around me. There were

about a dozen small thatched roof

cottages that were built into the

hillside nestled between a forest

and a river.

“This is the Allure village?”

“Were you expecting something

different?”

“Something bigger.” The Allures

didn’t seem like simple, hut

dwelling people to me, and I

definitely expected more than

twelve houses. Did a lot of them

live together?

“Your numbers are dwindling.”

“You make it sound like that’s a

bad thing,” I mumbled.

“Allures play an important role

in the order of things,” Adrian

explained.

I turned to him hoping he’d

continue.

“All creatures do, but the Allures

are needed to keep the balance.”

“The balance?” I asked. I wished

something the Dryads said would

make sense to me for once.

“You’ll understand soon,” Sky

touched my arm.

“Which is Violet’s house?” I

looked over the homes.

“That one.” Adrian pointed to

the brown and green cottage at the

top of the hill. “Roland’s is over

there.” He pointed to one to the

right of us.

“I want to see Violet’s first.”

“Hers before your maker’s?”

Adrian raised an eyebrow.

“I think she left something for

me there.” I grappled for a

reasonable sounding excuse.

“And you are only telling us

now?” Donna put a hand on her hip.

“I forgot. Just remembered.” I

hurried up the hill.

“Thanks for escorting us, but

we’ll be fine from here,” Owen said

from somewhere behind me. I

assumed he’d follow, but either way

we needed to start searching for

any answers we could find.

“You’ll come for the festival?”

Donna called.

I glanced over my shoulder.

Owen was right on my heels.

“We’ll try.” He caught up with

me as I reached the door.

“Go on, try to open the door.”

Sky called up the hill.

“Wait. We need a key.” Owen

tried the door. It was locked.

“Daisy should be able to open

it.” Adrian called up. I heard

footsteps behind us, and I knew

one of the Dryads was following.

I put my hand on the doorknob.

It warmed under my touch and

gave way.

“You’re an Allure,” Donna said

from behind us.

I nodded. I had it in me. That

much was true.

I turned around and watched

the three Dryads disappearing

down the path.

Owen leaned in. “I know how to

find them.”

“What?”

“Shh.” He put a finger to his lips.

“How?” I peered down the path.

The Dryads were nowhere to be

seen. “How do you know?”

“I can be persuasive.”

“Meaning you flirted with the girl

for info?” I didn’t like that he flirted

with her, but if it got us the

information we needed, then I

guessed it was well worth it.

“I didn’t flirt, I gave her

attention. She doesn’t get much of

it.”

“Why not?” I found I actually

cared. That was a good sign. Caring

was feeling.

“Her family isn’t all that

important. I can relate.”

“Says the advisor of the king…”

“I got my position out of my

friendship with Levi, not my family.”

I wanted to know more about

Owen’s family, but now wasn’t the

time. “If we know, do we need to

go inside at all?”

“It’s probably a safer place for

me to explain everything.”

“Sky doesn’t think Violet has a

plan.” I pushed open the door. I

figured I should be forthcoming as

well.

“Violet has one.”

“How do you know?”

“Because her Allure doesn’t work

on me. She might have used it on

Georgina and Mayanne but…”

“Wait, you’re right. How didn’t I

think of that before? She might

have been using her Allure on

them.”

“It wouldn’t work on me or Levi,

and neither woman sounded off to

you, did they?”

I shook my head. “No, but either

way, let’s hope she did have some

sort of plan.”

12

OWEN

Iturned on the one small lamp as

we walked into the simple yet

spacious home. From the outside it

had appeared small, but the high

ceilings and large hallways were

nothing like what I expected. It was

almost like an illusion. My eyes

went immediately to the large

window with a view of the entire

valley below.

“We broke into someone’s

house.” Daisy carefully closed the

door behind us.

“If that was the case, would it

have been so easy for you to open

the front door?” The door hadn’t

budged when I touched it, but

Daisy’s touch worked immediately.

“It seems strange that any

Allure can open it. Wouldn’t that be

a security or privacy issue? It can’t

be that simple.”

“None of the Dryads were

surprised, so it has to be pretty

common.”

“Or they want us to think that.”

Daisy walked into the living room.

“We can’t trust anyone anymore.”

“You can trust me.” I followed

behind her. “But I agree with you

about trusting anyone else. The

Dryads seemed to know more than

they were saying. I’m hoping this

isn’t some sort of trap.”

“We can’t know for sure, which

is why we need to work fast.”

“We can’t go anywhere else

tonight. We need to get food and

sleep.”

“You better not really be

planning on going to that festival.”

I smiled. “Really? Jealous of

Donna?”

“This has nothing to do with

jealousy, it has to do with

fraternizing with the potential

enemy.”

“I know you aren’t a fan, but I

did get some information from her.”

“You mentioned that earlier.

Ready to share?”

“Yes.” I put my hands on her

hips. “But first I need something

from you.”

“What?” She scrunched up her

forehead.

“This.” I crushed my lips into

hers. I’d been waiting hours to kiss

her, and I wasn’t going to give up

the chance.

She wrapped her arms around

my neck, pulling me closer. I lightly

bit down on her lip. She moaned,

and I intensified the kiss, soaking

up her taste as I explored her

mouth. I slipped my hand just

underneath her t-shirt, wanting to

feel her soft and warm skin.

She pushed my hand up higher,

and I cupped her breast through her

bra. She moaned as she ran her

hand up and down my chest. Each

touch set me on fire. I’d never get

enough.

She bit down on my lip, and I

groaned. I unclasped her bra and

cupped her breast without the

fabric in the way. She moaned as I

ran my fingers over her nipple.

I used my free hand to unbutton

her pants, and I slipped my hand

inside. She thrust her body against

mine. I released her breast and

pulled off her shirt, immediately

discarding her bra.

I held her against me, reveling

in the feel of her bare chest against

mine. Everything about it was

natural. We belonged together in a

way that still made little sense. I’d

never given much credence to fate,

but I’d changed my mind. We were

fated to be together. There was a

higher power that wanted us

together, and it made each day we

spent together feel like a year in

the intensity it created.

“I can feel your heartbeat,” she

whispered with her lips running

down my neck.

“I can feel yours.”

“I still can’t believe you’re here.

Despite all this craziness, you’re

with me.”

“I am.” And I always would be.

“We can’t do this though.” She

rested her head against my

shoulder. “We can’t let this go

further.”

“Because of how you feel, or

because of everyone else?”

“Everyone else. The only

feelings of mine I know are real

right now are the ones I feel for

you.”

“Good. And although I don’t

want to stop, you’re right.” I let out

a few deep breaths. My body was

ready for her, but my mind knew

that she was completely right.

I bent down and picked up her

bra. Instead of handing it to her I

put it on her myself. I moved

around behind her to clasp it.

Dressing her wasn’t nearly as much

fun as undressing her, but it was

intimate in a different way.

She pulled on her shirt while I

buttoned her jeans.

She ran her fingers through her

hair that fell over her shoulder.

“We’ll finish that later.”

I smiled. “Yes we will.”

“What did Donna say?”

It took me a moment to answer.

It was jarring to move from

touching Daisy to discussing

something serious. “The Glamour

Realm is really several islands.

We’re on one of the largest ones.

The Force is headquartered on one

smaller one.”

“And the Elders?”

“We have to travel to the

farthest island in the chain in order

to reach Energo. Once we get there

we’ll have to climb a massive

mountain to get to Mount Majest.”

Not that I planned to climb

anything. I’d fly us anywhere we

needed to go.

“Fantastic.” She pressed a hand

to her forehead.

“There’s more.” I needed to

share everything I knew. At least

Donna had been chatty.

“Oh?”

“When they say we won’t get an

audience, they mean it. We won’t

even be allowed near the palace on

our own.” I wasn’t used to being

denied access anywhere. I’d grown

up as the best friend of royalty, and

I’d never had a door closed in my

face. Now I had to learn to navigate

a world where no one cared who or

what I was.

“But we have to. There’s no way

to know how long Violet will be with

the Force, or even if she’s going to

help.” She paced around the worn

wood floors of the main living

space. The sparsely furnished place

had a quirky yet homey feel.

“Which is why it’s important

we’re here.” I had to keep our

confidence up. We needed to be

ready for whatever came our way.

“Maybe there’s something here that

can help.”

“Maybe she left a clue. She

specifically said she wanted us to

see her home.”

“Could be, but when would she

have left it?”

“I don’t know.” She sighed. “It

was only a thought. I’m also

wondering about Taylor. When and

how did she disappear? And what

about Violet’s past? What was the

story behind the story Myrtle told

us?”

I put my hands on her hips

again and pulled her in. “You’re

cute when you’re frustrated.”

“I guess that means I’m cute a

lot now.”

I laughed. “You’re breathtaking

when you’re happy.” I knew I was

moving us from the situation again,

but I couldn’t help it. Daisy was so

stressed and sad. It was killing me.

“I’m happy when I’m with you.”

“Are you?’” I looked deep into

her eyes. I was constantly checking

to make sure she was still there.

“Very.” She leaned forward and

brushed her lips against mine.

“I’ve missed you.”

“Me too. And I got jealous. I’m

ridiculous.”

“Not ridiculous.”

“I got jealous, and you were

getting us information.”

“I want you to be jealous.”

Being jealous meant she was still

feeling. She needed to stay that

way. Positive emotions were better,

but negative ones could be strong.

“Oh yeah?”

I ran my lips down her neck. “It

means you feel. You care.”

She leaned her head to the side

to give my lips better access. “No

matter what happens, I’m going to

remember your touch.”

“I won’t let you forget it. I won’t

let you forget anything.”

“I love you.”

I looked into her eyes again. “I

love you too.”

Tears streamed down her face.

“I want to love you forever.”

“And you will. I’ll make sure of

it.” I wiped away the tears from her

eyes.

“What are we looking for

exactly?” She blinked a few times.

“Anything to tell us where we

need to go.”

“How do we do this? Are we

really going to manually search her

house?”

“Absolutely not!” a scratchy

voice called from the dark corner of

the room.

I transformed again,

immediately on alert.

“Are the dramatics really that

necessary?” The voice asked.

“Who are you?” Daisy’s voice

shook. We both watched the corner

of the room where the voice came

from.

“I’m Glendale.” A small furry