Fiery Temptation (3 page)

At five minutes after seven, the doorbell finally rang. Neve shot up off the couch, but Kara was faster. She raced past Neve and bounded down the stairs to the front door. Neve cursed her high heels, which slowed her down considerably.

She’d just started down the steps when she heard Kara let out a high-pitched squeal. Neve’s heart pounded. There could only be one reason why her friend would make that noise—Jalen had to have arrived.

Kara hurried down the rest of the way as fast as she could, her gaze landing on the tall man who stood in the entrance hallway looking up at her. He didn’t seem to be paying any attention to Kara who stood near him, practically bouncing in place.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Neve crossed the short distance to Jalen. “You came.”

He nodded. “Sorry I’m a bit late. I took a wrong turn and had to backtrack a bit.”

Neve turned to look at Kara. “See, I told you.” At Jalen’s questioning look, she added, “Kara thought I’d made up our date.”

He gave her a smile that made her breath catch. “We can’t have that.” Jalen then shifted in Kara’s direction. “As you can see, I’m not a figment of Neve’s imagination.”

Her friend nodded, her gaze glued to Jalen’s face. “Oh my god, oh my god, you’re actually standing in my house.” Kara let out a small shriek with her hand over her mouth. Once she seemed to get herself back under control, she removed it, and said, “I’m sorry. I’m not normally such a girl, but I can’t seem to stop it. Can I have your autograph?”

Not wanting her date to get sidetracked, Neve interrupted. “We really should get going.”

Jalen nodded. “Just one quick signature, then we’ll go.”

Kara spun on her heel and raced up the stairs. Neve heard her friend slamming kitchen drawers as she looked for something to write on. Less than a minute later, Kara raced back to them. She held out the items she’d collected to Jalen. He took them and hastily wrote something before he handed it all back. Her friend looked at what he had written and smiled so large Neve thought her face would split in two.

Ushering Jalen out the door, Neve gave Kara a little wave before stepping outside. As she walked beside Jalen to the driveway, she ran her gaze over the sporty, black Infiniti G coupe parked behind her car, making it look like a piece of crap. He guided her around to the passenger side and opened the door for her. She slipped onto the red leather seat and put on her seatbelt as he closed her inside. He then walked around the back end to get into the driver’s side.

“Where would you like eat?” Jalen asked as he put the key in the ignition.

“What do you want? There are a few Mexican restaurants around here as well as Asian and a couple of Italian.”

“I could go for Italian, preferably a place that isn’t too big.”

Neve could guess why Jalen wanted that. The bigger the restaurant the more people and the greater the chance of him being recognized. To be honest, she would much rather have Jalen to herself without having to deal with autograph seekers.

“Actually, one of the Italian restaurants has exactly what you want,” she said.

“Then Italian it is.”

After Jalen backed out of the driveway, Neve gave him directions to the restaurant. It was where Kara worked. Given its small size, she didn’t think they’d be bothered too much. And it would give her a chance to really look at the place, so she could decide whether or not she really wanted to work there.

It wasn’t a very long drive before they were pulling into the parking lot of Matteo’s Italian Bistro. There were more than a couple of cars already there, suggesting it wasn’t completely empty. Jalen parked in one of the available spots and shut off the car.

Neve got out as he opened his car door. She waited for Jalen to join her before they walked to the restaurant’s entrance. A podium-type piece stood just inside, with a sign on it saying to please wait to be seated. Jalen and Neve didn’t have too long before a man in his mid-forties came to greet them. This had to be Matty, Kara’s boss. He smiled at them, did a double take at Jalen, but said nothing more than for them to follow him to a table.

Once they were seated and left alone with their menus, Neve had a hard time keeping her gaze off of Jalen. She was really sitting across from him. She felt a bit of a fan girl moment creeping up on her, but pushed it back. He didn’t need her going all giggly and stupid on him. He more than likely got a lot of that from other fans. She tore her gaze off Jalen and focused on the menu in front of her.

It took her all of a minute to pick out what she wanted to order. Neve lifted her head to find Jalen still reading his. To keep from staring at him, she looked around the restaurant. It had been done in dark wood furnishings and trim. The walls had been painted a pale beige. The carpeting was a deep, rich red. She spotted Matty talking to some customers at another table. He laughed at something that had been said to him. According to Kara, he was a great boss and treated his employees really well. Neve still wasn’t sure she wanted to work here.

“You look lost in thought,” Jalen said.

She turned her attention back to him. “Sorry,” she said with a small smile, “Kara works here as a waitress. She’s trying to convince me to come and apply for the hostess position.”

“You don’t sound as if you’re too thrilled about it.”

She shrugged. “I never really had the urge to work in a restaurant. But beggars can’t be choosers, right?”

“If you won’t enjoy doing the job, don’t do it. Or just do it for a little while until something better comes along.”

Neve chuckled. “So says the man who has one of the best jobs in the world. Not everyone gets to work at their dream job. I was already turned down by mine today.”

Jalen’s brow furrowed. “The early man site?”

“Yeah. I’d love to work there, but they aren’t hiring at the moment.”

He grinned. “So you like to dig in the dirt, do you?”

She felt her cheeks flush. “Maybe. I’ve always been interested in fossils and old things in general.”

“Old things, you say. How old?”

“Older the better. Like really ancient times.”

Jalen gave her a smile as if he were pleased by something. Their conversation ended when the waiter came and took their order. After he left, Neve met Jalen’s gaze to find him staring at her as if she were the only person in the room. She couldn’t for the life of her look away. Her heart beat faster as her blood heated. Under the table, she squeezed her legs together to try to alleviate the ache inside her pussy. Jalen reached across the table and took her hand. The simple contact had her biting back a moan. Her nipples grew taut beneath her blouse. As he stroked his thumb across the inside of her wrist, wetness pooled between her legs. Jalen’s gaze became hungry looking, as if he wanted nothing more than to pull her across the table and devour her completely.

The spell that came over them broke when the waiter returned with their drinks—hers a glass of white wine while Jalen’s was a beer. After she thanked the man, she tried to cool her body down by taking a sip of her drink. It only seemed to marginally help, not really doing anything to stop the arousal that still thrummed through her. She found herself suddenly hungrier for Jalen than the meal she’d ordered.

The food finally arrived and Jalen fought the urge to shovel it as fast as he could into his mouth, just so he could get the meal over with quickly. Sitting across the table from Neve, smelling her arousal, unable to touch her the way he wanted, was pure torture. His first glimpse of her walking down the stairs toward him at her place, seeing how her long, slim legs were encased in tight-fitting jeans, he’d almost forgotten Kara had been there. He’d barely stopped himself from reaching for Neve and pulling her to him, in order to greet her properly with a long, hot kiss that would’ve lead to both of them being naked.

What drew him to her as no other human woman had been able to do before? Jalen didn’t know. It wasn’t just one thing about Neve that attracted him. It was the entire package. The more time he spent talking to her, the more he wanted her. He could be himself, feel relaxed around her. Not to mention just breathing the same air as her turned him the hell on.

Then there was the little nugget of possibility. After he’d flown home, he’d called Gannon. There was something about his first meeting with Neve that reminded him of how Gannon had described the way he’d felt when he’d first spotted Arwen in the crowd, during the second to last concert on their tour. Jalen hadn’t been surprised to have his suspicions confirmed. His being so drawn to Neve, then needing to memorize her energy mark, was the same thing that had happened to Gannon. Once his band mate had heard Jalen had done the same, Gannon had said the one thing Jalen had already thought of—Neve could possibly be his mate.

Not that Jalen fully thought she was, but he couldn’t totally discount it, either. Over his very long life, he’d been with a number of mortal women. None of them affected him the way Neve did. Looking at her across the table as she ate, he wanted to gather her close, manifest his wings and fly her to some remote place, so he could make love to her without disturbances. And not as he appeared now, with his eyes and wings hidden. He wanted to make love to her as an Alte, as he truly looked. No other woman had brought that urge out of him in the past. Just Neve.

Once they finished their meals, Jalen signaled the server over for their bill. As they waited, he asked, “You still interested in catching a movie?” He pulled out his cell phone to check the time, then put it back in his jeans pocket. “We should be able to get there just as one starts.”

Neve nodded. “I’m game.”

After the waiter dropped off the bill, Jalen paid it and ushered Neve out of the restaurant. He drove toward Main Street where the only movie theatre in Barstow was located. He found a place to park, not too far from it and steered into the space before anyone else could take it.

Out of the car, he came around to Neve’s side and took her hand, linking their fingers together. As they walked toward the theatre, Jalen liked the fact she was on the tall side for a woman. He guessed her to be around five-foot-seven without her heels. She was the perfect height to tuck her head under his chin as he held her in his arms.

At the movies, he let go of Neve’s hand and held open the door for her. In the lobby, they stood looking at which theatres played what. As he’d guessed, two of the movies were about to start.

“What would you like to see?” he asked.

“Hmm, there are a couple of them I’ve wanted to see, but I’m not sure about the one. It comes across as a bit of a horror flick and I’m not into those. They scare the crap out of me.”

Jalen smiled. “Then we’ll pass on it. And the other?”

“It’s the newest comic book character turned live action film. I have to admit, I love those types of movies, not that I’m a huge fan or anything.”

“I’ve actually thought that one looked good as well. We’d better hurry and get our tickets, since it’s about to start.”

He went up to the cashier to pay and told her which feature he wanted two tickets for while he looked up at the board on the wall above her that listed all the movies playing. Met with only silence, he looked at the woman, a young one, to find her staring at him with her mouth hanging open. Jalen groaned to himself. He knew what would come next.

“You’re Jalen,” she practically yelled. “From Soar. I can’t believe it.”

Jalen looked around, noting all the heads that had turned their way. More than a few people talked excitedly with whomever they were with. This did not bode well. If he weren’t careful, he’d be swamped by fans wanting autographs, or have their photo taken with him. Even now he saw cell phones coming out and pictures being snapped of him.

“Yeah, it’s me,” he said to the woman. “I’d like two tickets for theatre number three.”

The hope that she’d just give them to him and let them go on his way died a quick death when she reached across the counter and grabbed his forearm, clutching tightly.

“Oh my god, I’m touching Jalen,” she said, her voice still overly loud.

“The tickets,” he replied, trying to encourage her.

But it didn’t have the desired effect. A small crowd had gathered around him and Neve. Jalen tried to shake off the woman’s hold, but she tenaciously held on. He shook harder, just short of possibly hurting her. She didn’t budge. He glanced over at Neve to find her watching the people around them coming even closer.
Shit.
He assumed she wasn’t used to this as he was. He should have known better than to come to such a public place, but with Barstow not being a large city, by any means, he’d hoped he could do something normal with Neve, without this happening. Obviously, he’d been wrong.

Jalen turned back to the woman at the counter. He was about to peel her fingers off his arm when Neve stepped closer to his side and yanked the woman’s hand away. She then turned him so he faced her and placed his arms around her waist. Her hands sank into his hair and brought his lips down to hers. A jolt of intense desire surged through him as she kissed him, stroking her tongue along his lips until he opened to allow her entrance.

The rest of the world seemed to fall away as he sucked on her tongue, a low moan pushing out of him. Jalen vaguely heard the sound of camera phones going off as he hungrily took Neve’s lips.

But then, she ended it all too soon. Pulling slightly away, she turned and fitted herself under his arm while one of hers wrapped around his waist. Neve looked at the crowd around them, which happened to be mostly female. “Sorry, ladies, but Jalen’s mine and I’m not in the mood for sharing right now. So no autographs or pictures taken with my man.” She turned to the ticket girl. “Two for theatre three.” Her tone didn’t brook any arguments.

The woman silently nodded, then ran up the price of admission, which Jalen paid for. Once she handed them to him, he put his arm back around Neve’s shoulders and they walked through the small crowd toward the theatres. He couldn’t stop smiling, playing over and over again when Neve had claimed him as hers. And that kiss she’d laid on him.