My Forbidden Desire (15 page)

“This is dumb,” she said when she’d had enough of him tailing her through the store like he was glued to her butt. “Dumb, dumb, dumb.” She faced him and pushed him in the chest with both hands. He didn’t budge. “Lay off, would you?” She lowered her voice. “No one’s going to attack me in the vegetable department. And if they do?” She picked up a zucchini and waved it at him. “It’s the vegetable of doom for them.”

He didn’t laugh. He just stood there staring over her shoulder, looking like he’d stepped out of the pages of
Bad Boy Magazine
. He was just too freaking hot for her to live. Those black curls of his were killing her. Right now, a few dangled over his forehead, and golly, didn’t she just want to run her fingers through his hair?

Maybe she’d be okay doing it his way. Or not. Probably not. Mostly.

Xia scowled. “We need to get the hell out of here.”

“I thought you said we’d be safe.”

“Probably. But I’m getting a bad feeling about this.”

She shrugged. “I’m not.” She pushed him again. Naturally, he didn’t move. She grabbed a pineapple and put it in her cart. “I’m shopping for you, too, you know.” A bag of potatoes. Some grapes and a can of the fake whipped cream sitting by the ersatz strawberry shortcakes, because, well, hell, she was an eternal optimist, wasn’t she? Was she really considering agreeing to his terms? What she needed was a distraction. A reason not to be looking at him so often.

“Are you finished?” he asked. He’d just dropped two large bags of baby carrots into the cart when his attention shot to her left. She rolled her eyes and looked to the right, where a tall man with a military haircut was heading into the produce section. Whoa. He was probably stopping by after work; he was dressed in black trousers and a gray sweater that draped like cashmere. Very European of him. The way he walked reminded her of Xia. The man gripped an empty basket in one hand as he headed for the bok choy.

Their gazes met the way that sometimes happens in stores, in an impersonal friendliness. A draft rippled the hair on the back of her neck. She smiled, and so did he, and he moved on with his shopping. She followed his progress. Wow, he was good-looking, coming and going. Talk about an excellent reason to be distracted. Totally hot. Not as hot as Xia, in her opinion, but a damn good-looking man. Too bad Maddy wasn’t here. He was her type. Sophisticated. Probably had money and a penchant for spending lavishly on the woman of his dreams. As for her? She went for big bad boys in leather. Who thought she was the scum of the earth. Sigh.

She glanced at Xia. He was looking at her, and it wasn’t one of his I-hate-you-you-fucking-witch looks. He looked at her like maybe her getting the whipped cream was a brilliant idea. Her stomach dropped to her toes. What the hell, she thought. You only live once, and if she didn’t like what he needed, well, they could stop or she could just say,
Honey, never again
. She gathered up her nerve, kept looking at Xia, and said, “Okay. We’ll do it your way.”

At first he didn’t get what she meant. Then he did. His gaze went from intense to scalding hot. Her heart did a few extra beats as she waited for him to say something. But all he did was touch her shoulder while she was standing there clutching a cauliflower. His fingertips lingered. Alexandrine melted. And then, holy cow, he slipped a hand behind her, into the curve of her lower back. Like they were a couple or something.

Oh, my God
. They were going to sleep together, with no sleeping involved. She was going to strip off his clothes and touch his naked skin and explore his body. His finger worked under her shirt and stroked up her spine. And then he would do his thing, and, well, whether she’d be able to do anything was a question yet to be answered.

“Nervous?” he asked.

“No.”

“Liar.” His mouth twitched. “I won’t hurt you,” he said. “It’ll be okay.”

He kept his hand on her back, caressing her with his fingertips. And, boy, she was ready and willing to do it right here. In the interest of avoiding a scene likely to end in their arrest, she headed for the spinach. The good-looking guy was nearby, too, and he gave her a once-over that did nothing for her now. She shivered, though.

“What?” Xia said, but it wasn’t a nice, easygoing inquiry. He sounded intense, even for him.

She frowned. “What, what?”

“You shivered. Why?”

“I got cold.”

“Listen to me.” He bent his head close to hers and kept his voice low. “If there was another mage here besides you, I’d know. A mageheld is another matter. I can’t feel a mageheld. They’re cut off from the kin. But you”—he crowded her even more—“you can.”

“I didn’t feel anything.”

“You shivered.”

“People shiver all the time.” She lifted her forearm toward him. “We’re standing right by the spinach misters, Xia. I got cold. That’s it.” She stopped short. Really, was she sure? Really sure? She got a hollow feeling in her chest. “At least, I think that was it.”

“Tell me what you felt. Where, when, and how.”

“Cold. Along my arms.” Now that he was making her tell him, everything sounded so much creepier than it had felt at the time. “The back of my neck, too.”

“Not in your head or maybe your chest?”

She thought about it. “Maybe. I’m not sure. It didn’t last long.” She thought about how she’d felt. “Like a draft of icy air along my skin.”

He frowned. “Is it possible to tell who set you off?”

Right. She was going to tell him she was ogling a complete stranger five minutes after she’d told him she’d have sex with him on his terms. “Seriously, Xia, I thought it was the misters.”

“This isn’t a game, Alexandrine. I need you to be straight with me.”

“All right.” She threw her bagged spinach into the cart and looked around. They probably wouldn’t have ended up doing it, anyway. He’d find some way out of it, or his terms would turn out to be too much for her to handle, and she’d find a way out. “That guy.” She nodded in the direction of the hottie with the buzz cut who happened to be standing by the string beans. “I’m not even sure I felt anything. I’m not having any premonitions, Xia. Nothing bad’s going to happen. I’d know if it were. I was just looking at him, that’s all, and I got a chill.”

Xia looked in the direction she’d nodded. His eyes flickered, and she got another ripple along her arms. “Not good,” he whispered.

“Well, yeah. He’s a major hottie. I was thinking of giving him my phone number. But that was before, I swear.”

His attention went back to her. “Are you an idiot?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

He took her by the upper arm and came in close to speak in a low voice. “He’s mageheld, Alexandrine.”

“How can you tell?” She turned her head. The hottie was watching them, no doubt about it. But then, lots of people were watching them on account of Xia being even hotter than this guy. In her humble opinion.

“Number one,” Xia said, “short hair. We all get shaved when we’re taken.” His fingers tightened on her arm, and his eyes did that flickering thing as he walked her to the Pink Lady apples. “His name’s Durian. Until recently, he was Nikodemus’s right hand. And, baby, you don’t want to be on his bad side, because back in the day, any fiend who crossed the line against humans got whacked by him.” His voice rasped. “I’m on his bad side, seeing as I’m the one who helped Rasmus take him down.”

Alexandrine’s heart turned cold at the abrupt reminder of what Xia had been to her father. Meanwhile, Durian walked away from the beans and examined a butternut squash. His attention flicked up, and their gazes met. He smiled at her, and now he didn’t seem as friendly. Goose bumps rose on her arms.

“All right, then,” she said. She kept her tone deliberately calm despite feeling anything but. “What now?”

“He won’t try anything here; too many humans around.” He seemed to realize how close he was holding her and released her. “Bag up your vegetables of doom and let’s see if we can get out of here without him interfering.”

“Right.” The truth was, they’d been attacked three times last night, and if Xia hadn’t been there, the magehelds would have gotten in the first time, and they would have destroyed her place. And probably have done worse to her. Much worse.

They walked to the checkout line. Durian headed for the front of the store, too, but he didn’t get in line. He dropped his empty basket and disappeared. Alexandrine got in another line, paid a numbing $281.92 for her groceries, and headed for the parking lot with Xia on her ass again. They got her overflowing canvas shopping bags into the side panniers on his bike. The rest was stuffed in her backpack. Alexandrine didn’t see Durian anywhere, but her arms and nape were cold. Xia was getting on the bike when Durian, swear to God, appeared from nowhere, just the way he’d disappeared inside.

“Xia,” the mageheld said.

“Come on, Alexandrine,” Xia said. He handed over her helmet. She got on, arms tight around his middle while Xia backed the bike out of his spot. Durian followed, smiling a wolf’s smile he directed at Xia. Alexandrine’s heart was banging a hundred miles an hour.

“Rasmus sends you his best wishes,” Durian said.

People went in and out of the grocery store the whole time, blissfully unaware. They pushed carts, carried bags, herded their children.

“Carson’s going to come after you.” Xia touched some gizmo on the motorcycle, and the engine roared to a start.

Through the faceplate of her borrowed helmet, Alexandrine saw Durian’s eyes flash an improbable deep purple. “Not anytime soon,” he said over the sound of Xia revving his bike. He pressed a hand to his chest and grimaced. Ice shot down Alexandrine’s back. She tightened her hold on Xia. The air in front of Durian coalesced. Sparks shimmered around the forming edges in tiny purple flashes. The nape of her neck got colder. Xia’s body tensed, and the cold in her head spilled down her spine.

“Just try, assassin,” Xia said. The air rushed toward them, faster, spinning, gathering force. Xia did something, and the whirling mass of air dissipated. “You know better than to try that shit with me,” Xia said.

Durian acknowledged that with a shrug. “Maybe it’s time we stopped hiding from humans.” He looked at Alexandrine, who was damn glad the helmet hid her face. “Your little witch will take you sooner or later, fiend.” Her hearing was muffled with the helmet on, but she saw the venom in his face. “Or have you forgotten she’s Kessler’s brat? It’s in her blood.”

“All you have to do, mageheld, is hold on. Nikodemus and Carson are coming after you.” Xia put his helmet on and directed his bike out of the parking lot. When he made the turn onto the street, he gunned it, and Alexandrine held on for dear life.

They parked half a block from her building. While she got off the bike swearing she’d never ride one of those again, Xia hauled out her bags. He set them down, leaving her to pick them up on her own. He had his knife in his hand, so she didn’t complain. That whole scene with Durian had shaken her. She wanted Xia free to take care of whatever needed handling. When she was ready, she headed for the entrance with her keys dangling between her clenched teeth. And then she stopped.

Her heart beat double time. Not fast, but doubled, like she had two hearts in her chest. It was hard to get a breath. She put down one of the bags and let her keys fall onto her palm.

“What?” Xia asked.

She had an odd feeling in her upper chest, a tickle to go along with whatever the hell was going on with her heart. She concentrated on the sensations and lost them both. The amulet felt hot where it rested against her belly. “I don’t know,” she whispered. “Something’s wrong.”

Xia grabbed her arm. “Like last night?”

“No.” She shook her head. Just like that, everything went back to normal. She was disoriented now. Her heartbeat was back to normal, and the frost along her arms was gone, but she wasn’t so sure she was back to normal. “It’s not that. I just… It was nothing. It’s gone now, anyway.”

“You sure?” Xia frowned.

“Yes, I’m sure.” She walked to her building’s front door. The throbbing in her chest returned, and she must have slowed down or paused or something, because Xia stopped her with a hand to her shoulder. She longed to be safe at home where she’d never go out ever again.

“If you think something’s off, don’t ignore it.”

“You’re making me paranoid.”

“Good.”

“I have no idea what to think anymore.” She shifted her bags again. “I’m getting a cramp. Can we just get inside so I can put this stuff down? It’s heavy.”

“Give me your keys.” She dropped her keys onto his outstretched hand. “Thanks,” he said. He turned the key in the lock, and even though she knew everything was fine, thank you, she felt inordinately glad that Xia was big and mean. “You feel anything?”

“No.”

They took the stairs up to her floor, where he unlocked her door, and she set down the heavier bags. “Stay here until I tell you it’s okay.”

“And if it’s not?”

He glanced over his shoulder while he opened the door. He wasn’t smiling. “Leave the bags and run.”

“Okay.” But everything was okay, right? She felt normal. No magic, no premonitions. She was, as Xia would say, vanilla. And that, she realized, was not normal. Not for her. There wasn’t ever a time when she felt completely and utterly normal. Shit. She stopped him with a hand to his arm. “Xia, wait. Something’s wrong.”