Ritual Magic (18 page)

"Oh." I leaned my head against his shoulder
and looked up at his strong chin.

As we entered the master bedroom, I could
feel the butterflies begin to swim around in my stomach again.
Am I really ready for this?
I thought to myself as I eyed
the bed with concern.

Solomon laid me down softly on the bed but
then took a step backward, listening to everything around us as if
he were double-checking that we were safe. He paused for a brief
moment before turning to me with a tense look crinkling his
eyes.

"Are you hungry?" I shook my head.
"Thirsty?" I shook my head again. "Is there anything I can get for
you?"

"Solomon?" Leaning back on my elbows, I
looked up at his uncommonly broad shoulders and down to his slim
waist. "Are you
stalling
?" I chuckled underneath my breath
as I continued to scan his body. It suddenly occurred to me that I
was not the only nervous person in the room.

"Of course not!" He stood up straighter as
he looked down at me with an embarrassed frown, his spiky blond
hair adding a shocking halo to his expression. "I just want...to
make it perfect for you."

Letting that sink in, I eyed him again,
taking in every detail of his body, his expression, his amazing
profile. He was already perfection as far as men were concerned, so
what could possibly be the problem?

"What are you nervous about?" I was suddenly
no longer worried about the night—I was curious about his personal
insecurities. An insecure man could cause all sorts of havoc on a
romantic situation. Heck, an insecure woman could wreck it beyond
belief with one simple word or action. I should know.

He sighed as he settled down on the edge of
the bed and I took the opportunity to be closer to him by sitting
up behind him, tucking my legs under my knees and reaching around
him to pull him into me, resting my chin on his impossibly broad
shoulder. It almost felt natural, comfortable. It was as if we sat
like that all the time, sharing intimate details of our days and
lives.

"It's just..." He shook his head in dismay,
practically ignoring the fact that I was holding him at that very
moment. "Well, I have been wanting...pining for you all of these
years."

"Yes, fifty years. It's a very long time to
want someone." I spoke with disbelief in my voice. "Are you sure
that you are still...you know...that interested?" I knew what the
answer was. He was here, with me, and he had been practically
drowning
me in his desire earlier.

Shaking his head slowly, he leaned down onto
his knees, resting his elbows on his firm thighs and basically
causing me to stretch out to be able to keep holding onto him. He
was definitely making it difficult to keep the contact going, so I
finally gave up and sat back on my heels, trying to watch him from
behind, eyeing his defined back through his tight blue t-shirt.

"What is it, Solomon?" Trepidation began to
leak into my voice. "Have I done something wrong? Mistreated you in
the past?" My voice shook and I knew that he wouldn't have missed
it. Solomon hardly ever missed any minute detail.

Shaking his head adamantly, he sighed deeply
as if he were trying to clear his body of the stress that had been
pooling there. "No, it's nothing like that. It's just...well, I
haven't...you know...in a very long time." He turned around to face
me, and there was fresh pain in his eyes, heavy and deep.

I was immediately taken aback.

"What? What are you saying?" I blinked
wildly at him, questioning his words. He simply sat there staring
at me as if his eyes could make me comprehend what he had just
said.

Taking possession of my hand that was
closest to him on the bed, he covered it with his own as he frowned
down at the comforter. "I haven't been with a woman since..."

"Since when, Solomon?" My voice shook.

"Since I met you."

My heart instantly sped up and I could hear
it pounding in my ears like it was banging on my brain.

"What did you just say?"

Sighing, Solomon finally made eye contact
again, his blue-green eyes boring laser-sized holes into my heart.
"I'm saying that there has been no woman in my life since I met
you." He suddenly looked even more insecure and uncomfortable.

"Okay..." I shook my head. "But you were
busy. I always kept you close and you never had a chance to have a
personal life. All you had to do was ask, Solomon. I'm sure that I
wasn't so much of a tyrant that I wouldn't give you a day off." Was
I actually that demanding of Solomon to never give him time for a
personal life?
Boy, I really sucked as an employer.

"No, that's not the case. I had plenty of
personal time. I just never found it necessary to be with anyone
else." His voice sounded wounded as he turned his head towards the
doorway of the bedroom. "I wasn't interested."

Cocking my head to the side, I thought about
all of the women that probably were constantly throwing themselves
at him...unless he always acted like a cold, military vampire all
of the time.

"Didn't you have someone that was interested
in you?" I wasn't sure that I wanted to hear about any other women
in his life. A sudden flash of jealousy pulsed through my brain as
I pictured him surrounded by a plethora of bombshells on an
almost-familiar yacht. It may have just been my imagination, but I
have a very
active
imagination.

"Yes," he sounded like he was frustrated
with the conversation, "but I preferred to use my time to practice
with my weapons and other skills. There seemed to be no time for
any relationships past those with my troops." He shrugged. "I
wasn't interested in a relationship...save one." His voice drifted
off as the honesty of his words clung to the air.

"Are you saying that you passed on all other
relationships because of...me?" I was having a hard time keeping
the surprise from my voice. "What could possibly possess you to
feel that way?"

Solomon's expression appeared to share a
deep sense of pain and anguish, the sight of it alone causing a
sharp pang to ring through my chest. "Possibly because I've been in
love with you since the moment that I first laid eyes on you. I
didn't
want
anyone else." He looked quickly toward the
curtained window as if he needed something to stare at, avoiding
eye contact with me at all costs.

"Really?" My lips quirked up in a slight
smile.
Don't smile, you idiot! He just told you that he has been
suffering for fifty years because of you. You went back into the
past, looked into his luscious blue-green eyes, drooled all over
him and then left him broken hearted for the rest of your
professional relationship. Don't you dare smile!
I couldn't
help it. "You haven't? In fifty years?" I tamped down my smile as I
tried to look serious and concerned about what he was sharing.
Yippee!

Turning back to make eye contact once again,
Solomon nodded at me seriously. "No, I haven't. So now you realize
my concern." He shook his head as he gazed up my body, sighing
deeply as he stopped at my chest a fraction of a moment too
long.

"What are you talking about? I don't get it.
What are you concerned about, Solomon? We're both consenting
adults."
Dang, that sounded dumb coming out of my own lips.
I tried to read his expression but he wasn't giving anything away
from the looks of it.

"It's just been so long...I could...hurt
you." He slumped forward in defeat as a warm wave of relief washed
over me.

"Is
that all
you're concerned about?"
I laughed because I just couldn't help it. "You're afraid that
you're going to hurt me because it's been, well, fifty years?"

"Actually, it's been longer than that." His
voice dropped as his gaze drifted up to my eyes again.

My chin dropped slightly as I shook my head,
narrowing my eyes on him as if I was suddenly extremely suspicious
of him. "How long, Solomon?" Was he going to explode from sexual
build-up? He suddenly looked extremely dangerous to me.

"One hundred years?"

I heard myself gulp audibly as I shook my
head slightly. "Are you asking
me
if it's been one hundred
years?"
Was he honestly asking me or telling me?

"No, that's what I'm telling you—it's been
one hundred years." He stopped what he was doing and rolled his
lips between his teeth as if he had begun to pick up some of my
personal habits.

"Well,
that
was not my fault." I
laughed uneasily as I looked at him with renewed respect. How could
anyone
possibly wait that long to have sex?! "Why would it
be over a hundred years?" I leaned away from his penetrating stare,
suddenly feeling like I wasn't up to the task of 'deflowering' him
after one hundred years.
It's like he's been revirginized or
something! WEIRD! It's a whole lifetime! One very long, very
celibate lifetime.

"I was busy." He shrugged as he considered
it seriously. "I had a kingdom to run and then, when I met you, all
I could think about was you. My dreams were filled with you. It was
always you."

"Busy?" I skipped right past the 'it was
always you' part and went straight for what I thought was the real
issue.

"Yes." He nodded seriously. "There was
always something other than women to concern me. But then you came
into my life and you were the only thing I could see; the only
woman I was constantly consumed with. I was instantly aware that I
had...needs." His eyes glowed suddenly as he leaned forward and
lowered his chin so that he was basically scorching me with his
desirous look. "A lot of them."

"And here I am..." I put the pieces together
in my head. "And now you think you are basically going to break me
apart with all of your sexual frustration." My shoulders shook with
laughter because I just couldn't help myself. "Don't you think
you're being a little too dramatic about this?" I ran my fingers
through my long hair, flicking it over my shoulder for effect,
knowing that I would draw his attention to my neck and skin by
doing so. I was dragging out the best weapons I had to get him back
on target. "Don't you think you could control yourself a little
better than that just because it
is
me? I mean, it's your
job
to protect me, isn't it?"

He looked at me seriously as I tried to
laugh off the whole silly conversation. "I'm deadly serious,
Celeste. This is something that we should be cautious about."

Turning my head over to the side, I looked
at him again—at his concerned expression, his cautious words, the
tension in his shoulders and the despair in his voice. I didn't
like being the cause of it all.

"Huh."

He straightened his shoulders
ever-so-slightly as he took in my thoughtful expression.

"Huh." I said again as I straightened my
shirt and turned away from him, flipping my legs over the edge of
the bed, sitting up straight with my back towards him. "I guess
you're right."

I stood up next to the bed and began to
undress without ceremony. First it was my shirt that I yanked over
my head, and then it was my jeans, slowly unzipping them and
pulling them down to step out. I was fiercely glad that I had the
foresight to wear a lacy bra and panty set underneath, because I
wanted more than anything for this to be a big show. I wanted to
make him
pay
for working me up, taking me to the brink of
absolute madness, and then leaving me there hot and bothered. I
sauntered over to the desk that held my overnight bag as I felt his
eyes burrow into my back, his gaze skimming my body as I walked
with a little too much hip and my bra and panties sharing a little
more skin than he had ever seen from me.

"What are you doing?" He asked, his voice
heavy with concern but a little breathy as well.

"Going to bed." I answered over my shoulder
as I unzipped my bag and pulled out my favorite University of
Oregon t-shirt. Yanking it over my head, I sashayed past him to the
bathroom, slamming the door behind me.

I was going to take my time going through my
regular routine just to help calm myself down. I walked through the
motions of each as if I were a zombie, concentrating on the actions
instead of the sensations as I brushed my hair, brushed my teeth,
and washed my face. Looking at myself in the mirror, I cursed my
own idiocy for even
thinking
about men.

You're better off alone, Celeste. Men are
nothing but high-maintenance trouble, and you don't have room in
your life for that kind of heartache anyway.
Clearly my
subconscious was right about that. My life was too complicated as
it was for me to begin worrying about where our futures lay.

Turning to the door with a deep cleansing
breath, I turned the knob and yanked the door open to find Solomon
standing there, a look of deep concern on his face.

Taking a quick step backward, I stared him
down. "There's nothing in there to be concerned about." I growled
as I pushed past him towards the living room.
It's me that you
should worry about, actually. I think I could definitely explode
from sexual tension and frustration.

"Where are you going?" His voice followed me
as I grabbed a quilt that was lying across the foot of the bed.

"I'm sleeping on the couch." I huffed as I
stalked to the couch, threw the quilt down and proceeded to fluff
one of the many throw pillows angrily. Finally, after I had taken
my frustrations out on the unsuspecting pillow, I stretched out,
draping the quilt over my legs and torso as I turned away from him,
noticing as he walked towards me from the bedroom doorway. I felt
like a pouty little teenager, but at least I was getting my own
way, darn it.

"What purpose does it serve for you to sleep
out here on the couch?" His questions were beginning to get on my
nerves.