In-Between Work and Play (The Jocelyn Frost Series Book 1) (4 page)

It was like my
hormones suddenly hijacked my body while holding my brain for ransom in the
form of Dex Rivers.   My freaking eyelashes started to bat like some Regency
Romance heroine.  And to make matters worse, my nipples were even betraying
me.  Thank Frigg for padded bras!  I don’t think I could have stood there
another minute if I were using the rational part of my brain.

“Yes, well, of
course I’ll help you.” He turned his head to stare at the far wall.  A bead of
perspiration trickled down the side of his face.  “This may take some time
since only about fifteen percent of our records are available online.”

“Time. Right,
and the Archive is closing.” I couldn’t help sounding disappointed. 

The group of
teenagers started to get louder.  One of them waved him over.  Turning back
toward me, he gave me an apologetic frown. “Why don’t you start looking through
the online materials?  You can use the computer next to my desk.”

“Oh, okay.” I
felt a little disappointed that he was leaving me, but I understood. 
Navigating the Archive’s website was fairly easy.  Maybe all it would take were
the right key terms like “spell,” “contraceptive,” “pregnancy and prevention,”
or “demigods.” 

While the
computer did its search, I lifted my eyes.  Dex stood in front of the
teenagers.  He was too far away for me to hear what he was saying, but I got
the sense that at least a couple of them were listening to him.  The others
were playing with their phones, or whispering to each other.

Turning my
attention back to the monitor, I found my search was fruitful—over fifty
thousand entries.  Ugh, that sucked.

I was so
consumed by skimming through article summaries that I hardly noticed the time.
Clearing his throat, my gaze shifted from the computer screen to Dex.  He
leaned in toward me to look over my shoulder. I noticed a sympathetic smile
crossing his lips. “I hate to tell you, but the Archive has been closed for about
an hour.”

“Oh!  I’m
sorry.”  We bumped heads as I hastily stood up. 

Dex rubbed his
forehead with his palm while his eyes scanned my forehead. “Are you okay?”

My cheeks
flushed.  “Yeah, I guess I have a hard head.”  I reached over to lightly touch
the spot where my forehead hit his. “Sorry about that.”  Our eyes locked, and I
almost forgot to breathe. 

His voice
softened. “Don’t worry about it.  It happens more often than I’d like to
admit.”  With his lips only inches away from mine, he stopped.  Taking a step
back, he ran his fingers through his hair. “Anyway, there were some people that
lingered for a while, including that group of students working on a last minute
final research project.” I chewed on my lip.  Was I a slut for thinking that he
was going to kiss me?  For right now, it was emotionally safer to think about
something else.  Right, the students!  “Did they finish?”

“Yeah, but just
barely.  They still need to type out their paper and put their poster together
tonight.  Lucky for them, they all live in the same dormitory.”  His shoulders
lifted in a shrug. “To be young again, right?”

“Right, and
you’re ancient.” I gave him a flirtatious poke in the arm.  Was it too much?  I
wasn’t sure. “What are you, like, thirty-two?”

He poked back,
but on my non-bruised side. “Thirty.  What about you?  I’m guessing,
twenty-four.”

Heat burned my
cheeks. “Twenty-four?  That’s close, but you know what they say…” I paused,
watching him shake his head. “A lady never tells her age.”

“That’s really
cheesy.” His grin made my insides melt.

“I bet you like
cheesy.” I gave him a smirk.  Yes, our conversation was kind of corny, but I
was having fun, so I didn’t care.

“Maybe, maybe
not.  How about twenty-three?”  His smile fell a little bit.

“Nope.”

“Twenty-two?”

“Yeah, right!” 
Shaking my head, I realized that if he knew my name, he most likely knew my
age. “What do Bill and Ted think?”

His brows
knitted together as his eyes glazed over.  Maybe they hadn’t told him yet. 
“They are telling me that they can recall seeing you around the Department Mall
for about five years.”

“They’re
right.”  I turned back toward the computer.  It was getting late, and I guessed
I’d taken up enough of his time.

“Leave it.  I’ll
scan through your results in the morning.”

“Okay, thank
you.”  It felt odd leaving the computer on, but that was okay with me as long
as it was okay with him.

“No problem.” 
Turning back toward him, I caught him staring at his shoes.  “I was, umm…” He
cleared his throat.  “I was wondering if…if…” He popped open a shirt button.  A
bead of perspiration trickled down his temple.  It was warm in there, but not
hot enough to make him sweat.

“You were
wondering if…?” After ditching the used ice packs in the trash, I slung my
purse over my shoulder.

Taking a deep
breath, he quickly asked, “…If you wanted to go get some coffee?”

My eyes lit up.
“Sure!”

His coy, sexy,
little smile returned to his lips as our eyes met. “Great!  I know a nice place
about two blocks from here.  Do you want to walk?  Or would you rather I call a
taxi?”

I linked my arm
through his as we made our way toward the front door.  “It’s a nice night.
Let’s walk.”

A symphony of
crickets greeted us as we exited the building.  Lightning bugs danced through
the air while groups of will-o’-the-wisps playfully chased each other.

Our conversation
was light.  It was really nice.  I hadn’t had a carefree conversation with anyone
besides my mother in years.

The coffee shop
was cozy.  They even sold iced coffee and cakes.  We each bought our coffee and
cake before going outside to sit on the porch. 

The warm summer
air swirled around the table, kissing us with gentle breezes.  Several couples
were scattered at the other tables, along with a few college students, doing
work for their summer classes. 

“This place is
really cute.  Do you come here often?”

Dex sipped his
drink.  A spot of whipped cream sat on the tip of his nose.  “I…”

Chewing on my
bottom lip, I reached over to wipe the cream off his nose.  Dex caught my
wrist.  After giving me a wicked grin, he licked the frosting off my thumb.

My mouth went
dry.   I really needed to stock up on whipped cream.

“Thanks.”  He
caressed the back of my hand with his fingertips.  “To answer your question,
yes, I sometimes come here for my breaks.”

“Maybe we can
meet up sometime?”

“I’d like
that.”  He sipped his coffee.  “You know, your search may take several days. 
Why don’t we make a plan to look things up during our lunch breaks? And then
again after work?”

“I’d hate to be
so bothersome.” 

“Nah, don’t
worry about it.”

Was he for
real?  Where had he been hiding all of my life?  “Thank you.” I took a bite out
of my cake before I started spouting something mushy or stupid. 

“Great, how
about I pick up lunch, and you get dinner?”

I wiped my mouth
with a napkin.  “That sounds like a great plan.”

Despite the
sugar boost from the cake, and the adrenaline rush from enjoying our coffee
date, I felt my body shutting down.  I truly enjoyed the ease of our
conversation, but after yawning for the third time, Dex took pity on me.

We parted ways
several streets into the Residential District.  Our fingertips lingered
together for a few seconds.  At the corner, I glanced back over my shoulder to
find Dex watching me.  We gave each other one last wave before heading out of
sight. 

Declan

Hard,
pink nipples poked through a wispy cloud of lavender-scented, chocolate-brown
hair.  Her back arched as her core hummed in the blissful agony of reaching
that peak.  All she needed was one more hard thrust to send her over. Her moan
was music to my ears.  Hot, moist muscles griped my shaft desperately,
attempting to milk my essence.  Her gorgeous, glowing, aqua eyes disappeared in
the depths of her expanding pupils.

Groaning, my own
eyelids opened while the sticky result of my dream oozed all over my hand.  In
the back of my mind, I knew I should have gotten up and taken a cold shower,
but the images felt so real.  No, I could get it back.  Willing the
demigoddess’s image to reappear, I squeezed my eyes shut once more. 

My imagination
worked overtime as my
ba
, my
soul’s personality, refused to return to her in our dreams. 

The pillow
beneath my head was etched with hieroglyphics designed to keep my
ba
connected to my body while I slept. 
Too often, Egyptian demigod youths lost their lives by allowing their
bas
to wander freely.  But I would have
definitely let it leave if it chose to copulate with Jocelyn. Whether or not we
really came together that way, I wasn’t sure.  I preferred to think that rather
than believe I was experiencing my first wet dream since I was thirteen.

Jocelyn Frost
was dangerous.  The women I dated in the past consisted mainly of dark elves
and a couple of vampires. 

Like dwarves,
the dark elves clung to the shadows of caves and the deep forest.  Their moon-
kissed skin glowed under the stars while their ebony-black hair sparkled with
the reflection of the stars.  The night was their domain. 

The dark elves’
beauty was eternal.  With faces that were as smooth and timeless as the marble
statues created by the ancients, their demeanor was often just as cold as those
stones.  There were exceptions, just like with any species, but I had yet to meet
one.

With that
thought, my body temperature began to regulate.  Moments ago, I was encased in
a thin layer of sweat.   But now I was fully awake and obviously alone—save for
my sleeping flock of ibis.  Hence, I concluded it might be best to take that
shower.

The cold water
invigorated my senses, and for the moment, eased any lingering discomfort from
my dream.  Before long, my thoughts veered back to the aqua-eyed beauty.  I
could almost fancy her standing in the shower with me.  Only mere inches would
separate our skin. After lathering up a washcloth, she would stroke my chest in
a circular motion, moving her way down south, past my navel…

For the love of
cheese! Was my attraction to this woman purely hormonal? Or was it simply
because she was a demigoddess?  It was obvious she had intercourse on her
brain.  Perhaps it was Jocelyn’s pheromones that triggered my illogical
reaction? 

Fantasies
consisting of highly inappropriate things kept creeping into my mind.  The
frigid temperature of the water had little to no effect on my overly excited
organ. It begged to be dealt with again.

Most annoyingly,
it took longer than normal to relieve my aching loins. After a few minutes of
pumping, my member was finally soft enough to exit the shower.  I shaved my
face before making my way back into the bedroom.

Several of the
ibis were still on the furniture, cleaning their feathers.   Their voices
tugged at the corners of my mind.  Normally, we were telepathically linked,
allowing us to freely communicate with each other.  But today, I shut them
out.  The last thing I needed was to send them into heat.

My special flock
were still quite young.  I prayed they would hold off nesting for another year,
but I couldn’t be sure.   

As a son of
Thoth, it was my responsibility to protect my father’s sacred animals.  Thus
far, I had only heard the call once.  And because of that, they lived at my
residence instead of the wilds back on Erda.

I quickly
dressed.  I needed to make haste in order to accomplish all of my chores before
checking into the Archive. 

I winced, seeing
the mess I made across the bed.  It was a pity that condoms either ripped or
overflowed.  As a lad, I used tube socks to deal with that issue.  But I later
learned it was best to find either a friendly, insatiable fae or just empty
myself in the shower.

With fresh
linens on the bed, I headed down the hall with a basketful of laundry.  I
loathed doing the wash, but preferred saving my money and putting it back into
my home, rather than taking  it to the cleaners.

About an hour
later, I grinned, taking two steps at a time up the Archive stairs with only a
few moments to spare.  Bill and Ted pounded on my mind.

What’s
wrong?
I asked the
roaring were-baboons. 

Images of
Jocelyn crashed into my skull.  I carefully filled the two baboons in on our
coffee date.  One wrong thought and they could have easily pounded pornographic
images of Jocelyn into my mind.  As exciting as that may have seemed, I did not
feel the urge to masturbate while at work.

Checking the
return book slot for the fifth time, I came to the conclusion that my
supervisor was taking a holiday.  Apparently, the meeting at the Department of
Sex Magic lasted longer than he anticipated.  Good.  Since my morning activities
were complete, I was able to sit down at my desk in order to do some research
for various departments. 

Less than an
hour later, the roar of the baboons drew my attention to the door.

There she stood,
tugging on the end of her necklace.  My heart rate accelerated.  I knew that
proper etiquette dictated I should keep my eyes on her face, but my inner
baboon decided to feast on her features.

Too late, her
perky breasts caught my attention.  Were those taut nipples really a rosy shade
of pink, or a deeper shade of a similar color?

After staring at
her for a few moments, my eyes lifted to meet a slightly uncertain expression
on her face.  Partially stiff, I covertly adjusted myself before I stood.

We met halfway
across the room.

“Hi Dex, how’s
your day going?”  Bright rays of light cascaded through the windows,
illuminating the room as the corners of her lips lifted. 

“Well enough.” 
I rested my palm on the silky small of her back.  The scent of lavender drifted
from her hair, causing me to momentarily relive my earlier dream.  Choking, I
coughed, then swallowed, before asking, “And yourself?” 

She shrugged.
“The same.  I had a cancellation, so I thought I would make the most of my time
and stop in here.”

We were by the
computer connected to my desk, and I took a moment to think about what I wanted
to say.  Last night, Jocelyn mentioned that she grew up in New Jersey, so I did
my best to shift my vernacular to sound more Earth-friendly. “That’s a really
smart thing to do.  I’m glad you decided to come in early.  I’m going to order
us some lunch and then we can get to work.”