That Old Black Magic (16 page)

She had to get back. Darrak was getting worse with every minute that passed. “Darrak needs—”

“He needs something I won’t be providing. Quite honestly, I don’t care if he lives or dies. But he matters to you.” His eyes lit up again. “The answer is as simple as they come, Eden.”

She went silent, waiting, willing her impatience to back off. It wasn’t helping right now with this hellishly frustrating man. “I need to get back.”

“Of course. For Darrak. And for your friend . . . the werewolf.”

She inhaled sharply. “You know about Andy?”

He nodded. “You have obtained a spell to contain him tonight.”

“How do you—?”

“Not everything is cloaked to me, Eden. I know the things I need to know. It’s all a part of the whole.”

Now he was talking like a fortune cookie, too. “Please tell me how to help Darrak.”

“Like I said, it’s simple.” He grasped her chin and looked into her eyes. “You broke him, so you need to fix him. I’ll see you again, Eden. Very soon.”

He snapped his fingers, and the next moment she wasn’t on the beach any longer. She was back in her apartment.

Darrak stood directly in front of her, holding on to her wrist. “I’m serious, Eden. You can’t see Lucifer again. It’s too dangerous. Put that damned summoning crystal down, will you?”

Lucas had returned her within the exact millisecond she’d left. Darrak had no idea she’d even been gone. She put the marble back in her pocket and hung her coat back up in the hall closet.

He sighed with relief. “That’s better.”

“I need you back in bed,” she commanded.

He leaned against the wall. “I appreciate the interest, but I’m not feeling all that frisky at this precise moment.”

She grabbed his arm and pulled him along with her to the bedroom. He didn’t argue again as she put him back into bed and sat on the edge with her hand on his forehead.

“It’s okay,” he said. “It doesn’t hurt that much.”

“And here I thought you were a good liar.”

“It’s over, Eden. I can feel it.”

“No it’s not. Not even close.”

She didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to get what Lucas had told her. She’d made this mess, she’d done something, shifted something, messed with something that shouldn’t have been messed with when she’d tried to remove the curse. Nothing else had changed in order for him to feel this lousy.

This wasn’t his inner angel and demon doing battle inside him. This was merely a glitch.

She looked down at his pale face as he looked up at her uncertainly.

“I’m going to fix you,” she said. “So get ready.”

ELEVEN

“Not that I don’t have every confidence,” Darrak began, “but are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“Do you trust me?”

He eyed her. “Should I?”

“Do you?” Eden asked again.

“I don’t want you to use your magic again for this.”

“Tough. It’s the only way. I need to go back in and shift things back to the way they were before. When I tried to remove the curse, I rearranged the furniture in there. I know what I did wrong—I shifted the light and dark sides of you when they were already in perfect feng shui position.”

“So you’re trying to say you did an Extreme Home Makeover on me?”

She snorted. “Pretty much.”

He leaned back against the pillow. “Fine. Do your worst.”

“I think I already did that.”

“Andy’s got less than three hours before sunset.”

“I know. Now, shhh.”

Eden pressed her hands against his chest and closed her eyes so she could concentrate. This time it didn’t take long at all to sink down to the metaphysical level. She wouldn’t be able to explain it to somebody else, only to say that it felt very natural. Very right. If it didn’t do damage to her soul while she was down here fiddling around, it would prove to be a very useful talent.

She scanned Darrak’s being, and yes, the light and the dark were bumping up against each other violently now. Of course. How couldn’t she have noticed that before? It was like two lions infringing on each other’s territory, both equally powerful but very, very different.

A turf war was going on in Darrak’s body between who he was and the new part of himself he refused to accept.

Something else caught her attention. She hadn’t noticed it before. She’d been too distracted thinking the pure darkness was the curse, when really it was his demonic side. But now she saw it hiding at the edges, staring out at her. His curse. It was slimy and evasive, and one look at it told her it would devour her if she even attempted to reach toward it.

If the spell from before had been like a puppy returning to its master at its first opportunity, this was a snake, winding around everything, both light and dark, until it was too tangled to untie.

One day, she might try again. But not today. She instinctively knew that grabbing hold of it now would only do more damage.

Darrak gasped out loud as she shifted the light and dark parts of him back into their comfortable positions. The raging jutting turf war stopped immediately.

Putting Darrak back together was a lot like putting IKEA furniture together. Only this didn’t come with instructions.

Eden opened her eyes to see Darrak was staring up at her.

“Done,” she said. “How do you feel?”

“Better.”

Relief flooded her. “Thank God.”

“If you say so.” He grinned and slid his fingers into her hair. “Yeah, I feel way better now.”

“Things don’t seem as bleak?”

“Oh, things still reek of bleak. Just without the bonus prize of sheer agony.”

She pulled back. “I should have told you. I’m sorry.”

He sat up. “Yeah, well, I’m sorry for not taking the news like a champ.”

Her guilt from before prodded at her again. “You had a right to know earlier than today.”

“How about we renew our agreement to be honest with each other? Or I might start borrowing your body again to do my errands at night.”

“Blackmail. I can respect that.” She hadn’t told him about her meeting with Lucas, but she’d been returned so quickly that she honestly didn’t see a reason she needed to share that with him. She didn’t want to spoil his improved mood by mentioning his ex-boss.

Eden looked down at her amulet. “Not much damage done.”

“Anything is too much.”

“It was worth it. I’m so glad you’re feeling better.”

“Angel.” He blinked. “I’m half-angel. Maybe if I keep saying it out loud it won’t feel so utterly insane. Which half is angel, though? That’s the question.”

She almost smiled. “I think it’s your right half.”

He snorted. “It was a rhetorical question.”

“I could see it, you know. Two separate pieces that aren’t too thrilled about taking up the same space. The right”—she took his right hand and brought it to her lips, kissing it—“and the left.” Then she did the same to the left.

Darrak watched her carefully. “Well, I can tell you that both sides like that a lot.”

He was wrong. This wouldn’t be the end of him. She’d fixed the pain and she could fix everything else if given enough time. “You’re going to be okay.”

“You know that for a fact?”

She nodded. “Yup.”

“Beauty, brains, and the ability to soothsay. I’m very impressed.” He frowned. “You’re looking at me strangely right now.”

Desire had replaced the concern she’d felt before. She slid her hands over his shoulders. “Am I?”

“You are.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Better, like I said.”

She leaned forward and brushed her lips against his. “How much better?”

His gaze darkened with passion. “One hundred percent.”

Then, as if a well had broken, he pulled her against him and kissed her hard and deep on her lips.

She grinned. “So you are feeling frisky now.”

“Never friskier.”

His mouth covered hers again, his tongue sliding against her own. She couldn’t remember him ever kissing her with this kind of abandon before, not even the time they’d been given a lust elixir. There had always been something to stop them—worries about her black magic, Darrak’s spell that might make it worse, or not admitting her true feelings about the demon in the first place. They’d always fought against what felt so right.

Sure, they had plenty of problems stacked up against them like a tall, impenetrable brick wall, but nothing remained to keep them from giving in to their passion for each other.

“I want you, Darrak,” she whispered against his lips.

His eyes blazed with need. “You know how much I love you.”

“Show me. Make love to me.”

It was all the encouragement he needed. He gathered her into his arms and turned her around to press her down against the mattress. She worked to remove his T-shirt and jeans, running her hands over his hot, bare skin.

He kicked off his shoes and unbuttoned her blouse, sliding her pants down her legs. His mouth moved over her curves as he went, filling his hands with her breasts so he could slide his tongue over them, making her arch her back and gasp with pleasure.

She wouldn’t think about their problems. She wouldn’t think about anything but this moment. She’d do like Darrak always suggested and live in the now. The future was not invited.

“I love you,” he whispered again after he’d explored her body inch by inch.

“Darrak, I—” But anything she would have said next was swept away by the feeling of him filling her in one deep thrust. It swept away her thoughts, her words, her entire universe.

Eden clung to him as he moved inside of her and she captured his handsome face between her hands, staring deeply into his ice blue eyes—such a cool color to be filled with so much heat. He felt so good, smelled so good, tasted so good.

Darrak made her feel better than anyone ever had in her entire life.

People like Ben, like Leena, like her mother, thought what they had between them was wrong. That it was impossible for her to care this deeply for a demon and for that demon to care about her in return.

But Darrak wasn’t exactly a demon anymore, was he? He was special. He was unique.

He was hers.

She arched against him as it felt as if she exploded into a million pieces of pleasure and couldn’t help but cry out against his lips. A moment later, her name left his lips in a harsh, raspy groan as he experienced his own shattering moment of completion.

They lay naked on her bed, side by side, the covers tossed off and the shadows of the dark room playing across their bodies. Darrak held her hand tightly in his, their fingers entwined, and stared into her eyes as she relearned how to breathe.

“Yes,” she whispered, trailing her fingertips down his bare chest. “That was very good.”

He pulled her closer, his lips tracing the contour of her jaw. “No spell.”

“Gone for good.”

Darrak slid his hand over her hip, then around to her back where he played up the length of her spine. She nestled closer to his warmth, which had thankfully returned now that everything was back in proper alignment.

“I think I could get used to this,” she said.

“You, me, a messy bed.”

“To hell with everything else.”

A smile played at his lips. “I have a feeling you’d need food. Eventually, anyway. We could always send out for chocolate donuts.”

“You know the way to a girl’s heart.”

He slowly trailed his fingers over her face, then down her throat, collarbone, and breasts. He swirled his thumb around her nipple, which made it extremely difficult to think properly.

She wanted him again. And again.

“Darrak, please...”

“Please what?” He was grinning now.

She eyed him and couldn’t help but smile as well. “Don’t be so smug, demon.”

“Smug? Moi?” He leaned forward and kissed her shoulder, but his fingers didn’t stop playing with her sensitive flesh until he replaced them with his tongue. Her mind went white. “You want me, Eden?”

“No, you absolutely disgust me.” She grinned and captured his mouth, kissing him deeply. “Yes, I want you.”

“And you need me?”

“Oh, yes.”

He leaned closer to whisper in her ear. “And you love me?”

She took his face between her hands and stared deeply into his eyes. “Of course I do.”

He pulled back, locking gazes with her. A frown creased his brow. “I’ve been thinking a lot. You know, between the bouts of agony and confusion.”

Eden raised an eyebrow. “Should I be scared?”

“Possibly.”

“What have you been thinking about?”

“Stanley.”

“You’ve been thinking about Stanley? Before, during, or after we had sex?”

He laughed. “Not now, trust me. No, I’ve been thinking about him and his decisions lately. Especially when it comes to Nancy. He and I had a little talk about his proposal to her.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Stanley was a selfish loser, never thought much about anyone but himself and his next conquest.”

“I remember. But what’s your point?”

“I was like Stanley, sort of. Way better looking, of course.” He flashed her a wry grin. “Less balding, anyway.”

“No argument here.”

“But when it comes to faulty starts, him and me—we’re a lot alike. Until we met a couple of very special women. Stanley met Nancy . . . and I met you.”

Darrak looked so serious right now it almost made her laugh. By the looks of things, his brush with mortality had given him much to think about. “You did. So what’s your point?”

He met her gaze and held it. “Eden, this is going to sound crazy, but it feels right. Especially now. I . . . I just . . .”

She stroked the messy dark hair off his forehead. What was this all about? “Just say it. It’s okay.”

Darrak sat up completely and brought Eden up next to him, clasping her hands in his. His eyes were so full of sincerity she had a moment of fear about what exactly he wanted to tell her, what confession he suddenly wanted to make.

“What, Darrak? Talk to me.”

He searched her face. “Eden . . . marry me.”

She blinked. “What?”

He squeezed her hands tighter. “We’ve been through so much together and . . . I know it’s a human concept that doesn’t normally apply to demons, well, like
ever
. But it feels right. I want to be with you for however long we have together. I know it’s not ideal, and our lives aren’t anything remotely resembling a fairy tale, but . . . I love you. And I want to marry you because it’s a symbol of how we feel. How
I
feel.” He laughed a little. “Damn, I sound like I have no idea what I’m doing here, but I’m doing it anyway. Eden Riley, will you marry me?”