Pixie Dust (Karli Lane #1) (33 page)

He steamrolled me, pinning me to the bed with his weight. “Karli,” He hooked his hand around the small of my back and started kissing my neck again. “I’ve seen it all. Remember?” He forced my thighs apart with his leg, making me fully aware that he wasn’t wearing any clothes below the waist either. I may have subconsciously arched my back in response. His hand moved down to my ass, then dipped below to my nether regions. My body was betraying me, throbbing, readying itself for his entrance. He smiled widely upon that realization before he took my nipple into his mouth, licking and sucking until it became painfully hard.

I gasped. “Oh God!” I clenched the sheets when the head of his massive erection pressed against my cleft. “Dammit, you sooo don’t play fair!”

He lifted his head and leaned over to whisper in my ear. “Enjoy it while you can Karli.” I shivered when he blew his hot breath into my ear. “Because this is all you’re getting for now.” He pulled his body away from me making me whimper a little. “I just wanted to remind you that I’m not the only one who wants me inside of you. The sooner you admit it, the happier we’ll both be.” He got out of bed and started pulling on his t-shirt and jeans.

A whine may have escaped my mouth when he covered up that beautifully bare body. “You are such an asshole! You can’t just waltz in here, get me all worked up, and then leave!”

“Why not?” He smiled. “You do it to me every time I see you. Besides, we have some work to do.”

“What kind of work?” I asked.

“I want you to practice changing objects again. Only this time, you’re going to do it without my powers.” He patted himself down and pulled his keys out of his pocket. “I’m going to run to Starbucks to get some caffeine. You should probably get ready while I’m gone. We don’t have a lot of time before you have to leave for work.” He walked down the hall and opened the front door. Before leaving, he said, “By the way, I love the new bed. It will definitely hold up under pressure.” He was out the door before I even had the chance to question what he meant by that.

Chapter 28

**********************

Vance returned a short while later with coffee and pastries. He took a bite of his scone and patted the Formica kitchen countertop. “What color granite do you want?”

“What? I can’t just go around changing the place like I own it!”

“Sure you can.” He insisted. “You can easily switch it back when you’re ready to move out. Why not live with the upgrades until then?”

“Really? I can do that?” I asked excitedly.

He grabbed my hand, pulling me into the kitchen. “Karli, you have the most powerful magic in existence in the palm of your hands. You can do whatever you want with the right focus.”

“Whoa that’s a very dangerous thing for one person to have.” I paused. “It’s scary to even imagine. What if I get too cocky, or even worse, what if I like the power? What if I get so hungry for it that I can’t stop myself? I could essentially bend the world to exist around my whims if I wanted.”

He smoothed away the crinkle that I was making between my brows. “First of all, it will take you a
long
time to get up to that level. Secondly, and most importantly, you will
never
get out of control. Goodness is ingrained into your DNA. I have never met a single Fae who doesn’t exist to make the world a better place.”

“How can you be so sure? I was raised differently than they were, in a world filled with corruption. For Christ’s sake, I grew up in the town that is dubbed, Sin City! I’m hardly what someone would call altruistic.”

He kissed my forehead. “Don’t worry Karli. I know you, and I know the people that you come from. Just trust me on this, okay? You will not interfere with the natural order of things. You will only contribute positive things to this world, with or without your magic.” He moved over to the counter next to my stove. “Now, get over here and try this. We’ll start with the smallest piece first and move on until the whole kitchen is done.”

Before I knew it, my entire apartment was transformed into something out of a Better Homes & Gardens magazine. I chose black granite countertops with real oak cabinetry for the kitchen and bathroom. The linoleum floors in those two rooms became multi-colored slate tiles while thick, plush beige carpeting blanketed the rest. The stark white walls throughout were now painted in beautiful shades of red, gold, or blue. My appliances were all top of the line; I even converted my standard bathtub into a slightly larger Jacuzzi model with dual shower heads. The TV Vance conjured was hanging on my living room wall in front of my new chocolate brown leather sofa and oval glass top coffee table.

I stood back to admire my work as a single tear escaped my lids. “I can’t believe this is the same place. It’s beautiful.”

He came up to me and kissed the tear away from my cheek. “No more so than its creator.” He looked at the clock on my new microwave and sighed. “It’s after five Karli. I need to drop by the station and you need to get ready for work. Are you going to be okay?”

I choked back a happy sob. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.” I framed his face with my hands. “Thank you Vance. Really. I would’ve never dreamt any of this was possible if you weren’t around.” I stood up on my toes to kiss him. He responded by parting my lips with his tongue, slowly thrusting into my mouth. This felt so right, nothing like my experience with Tanner last night. I felt like I belonged here, with this man and no one else. I didn’t know if it was just the high from my newfound abilities, but I felt a void when he pulled away.

He kissed the tip of my nose and smiled. “Have a good night at work Karli. I’ll see you soon.”

**************

I showed up for work with a spring in my step, ready to conquer the world. Leo came up to me with a curious look upon his face.“Good evening, my love. What may I ask is responsible for painting that beautiful smile on your face?”

“Am I smiling?” Damn, my cheeks hurt. Guess so.

He frowned. “Yes, my sweet you are. Quite a bit. What have you been up to these past few days? I’ve missed you.”

“Um, not a whole lot really. I went out with Erica and some friends last night, otherwise, I’ve just been at home learning some new……uh, spells and stuff.”

He raised an eyebrow in disapproval. “Really Karli? Spells and stuff?”

“Yeah, you know…like witchcraft?” He started walking away from me, throwing off some major wounded puppy vibes. “Leo, wait!” I said as I was chasing after him.

He took me by the arm and pulled me into a corner. Looking around, I could see that we were drawing too much attention to ourselves. In a hushed tone he said, “Karli, I thought we were making progress. I understand if you feel the need to omit certain truths about yourself, because you doubt my trustworthiness, but please
do not
lie to me. I can sense it from a mile away and quite frankly, it hurts me. I have been nothing less than completely honest
and
trustworthy with you and I simply do not deserve it."

“Leo, I---”

He held his hand up. “Don’t Karli. This is neither the time nor the place for this conversation. If you really want to discuss this, we can do so after the bar closes.”

I stared at my feet, too ashamed to look him in the eye. “Okay.” Walking away I added, “If you need me, I’ll be in my usual spot.”

The night went by in a thick fog. Leo had one of his men stationed at his table while he stayed in the back the entire time. Jesus, he couldn’t even be in the same room as me? I was on autopilot mixing drink orders, avoiding conversation as much as possible. I was on the verge of breaking into tears so many times that I had to keep running to the bathroom to pull myself together. My tips sucked, as expected, making my night even worse.

After closing, Roxy came up to me and whispered, “Hey Kar, are you okay? You’ve been really out of it all night.”

A tear fell which I quickly wiped away. “Um, thanks for your concern Roxy, but I’ll be fine. I’m just having a bad night.”

“Does it have anything to do with Leo?” She asked.

“What? Why would you think---”

“Shh,” she warned. “He’s coming out of the back.” She jerked her head in his direction.

I involuntarily looked his way and averted my eyes as soon as the guilt sucker punched me. “Did you need something Roxy?”
“Um, yeah. I was just going to ask if you’ve seen my cell phone. I haven’t been able to find it since I was at your place.”

“No, I haven’t, but I wasn’t really looking either.” I answered.

“Would you mind if I dropped by tomorrow to check?” She asked. “My life is in that phone and I really need to find it.”

“Yeah, sure. I should be home until five or so. Drop by anytime.”

“Thanks Kar. I appreciate it.”

I sank into a booth as Leo let everyone out. “Are you coming Karli?” He aske
d.

What? Did he change his mind about talking? “Um, I thought---”

“We can talk upstairs.” He growled. I stood up and trailed behind him silently all the way up to the penthouse. He shut the door behind me and started pouring himself a drink from the wet bar. “Karli, would you like one?”

 “Yeah, sure. Whatever you’re having will be fine.” He handed me a scotch. “Thanks.”

He took a sip of his drink. “So?”

I drank my liquor slowly, trying to gather my nerves. I finally managed to make eye contact with him. “So……..I don’t really know where to start Leo.”

He moved over to the couch and sat down. “How about the truth Karli?”

“Will you quit calling me Karli?” I whined.

“Why?” He asked. “It’s your name. Unless that has been a lie as well.”

“Dammit Leo, you know that is my real name! You also know that you rarely address me using it!”

“I’m sorry if I offended you,
my dear
. Is this better?”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Leo, please stop trying to placate me. I can feel your pain. Trust me, it’s hitting me right in the fucking face. It’s pretty damn hard to ignore.”

“That’s an interesting choice of words………What do you mean when you say you can
feel
my pain?”

Oh God. Now what the hell am I going to do? I can’t lie to him again. I sat down next to him and let out a big sigh. “What do you want me to say? I’m at a loss for words here.”

He grabbed my hand. “I want you to trust me with the truth about you. What have I ever done to make you think that you shouldn’t? I would give my life for you. Why can’t you see that?”

I sighed even deeper, raking my hands through my hair. “Leo, it’s not what you’ve done or haven’t done. It’s what you
are
.”

“You mean, a vampire?” He questioned.