no move to slip away from him. “Do you really want the touch police back up here again?”
“They’ve already come and gone while you were sleeping. I told Morticia that we were fine and that she had nothing to worry about. You take anything from me you need.”
The warmth in his voice melted something in her she hadn’t realized was frozen. Every other relationship in her life had been with other lamia, but their interactions had been almost utilitarian in nature. They’d hook up and grope each other desperately to ease the tension that came from living beside yet separated from the human world, and once their needs were satisfied, they’d part again.
Sometimes lamia found real mates among their own kind, but most often they married for convenience and for the sake of perpetuating themselves and their legacy. Her parents, her teachers, the council had all drilled into her from childhood that she had a destiny. She would be an inspiration and a driving force to great achievements in the human world. She’d been groomed for the role she was to play all her life, and her placement with Tom Bridges had been the culmination of much study and planning by the Lamia Council.
After the Syndicate that oversaw the Paranormal world had also approved her selection of host, the Council had installed her into the position after graduation with great solemnity. It had felt almost like getting married.
What would the Council say about Josh Trenton? How would she ever convince that stodgy, self-important panel that he was important enough to be her next host?
They spent the rest of the evening talking and laughing. He told her about Alicia and Rob and their two kids. She told him about growing up lamia.
“Sounds a lot like growing up Gotti.” He laughed as he toyed with the ends of her hair.
Since discovering he could play with her hair, he hadn’t really stopped, and she was happy to relax into the sensation—almost but not quite touching. “We are not the mafia!”
“Well, your families are all rich, you have this secret underground organization, and you infiltrate society to make hits on people—just a different kind of hit than they do. Do the lamia actually control the world?” he asked, and his voice held only a light teasing note.
Adriana looked at him seriously. “The Council believes that we are instrumental in the growth and achievement of the human race. They think that each lamia has a duty to find a host that is both compatible and worthy of our attention. When we touch someone, we take energy from them, but we also return a boost of performance or creativity or intelligence. They are very protective of that power.”
“They are sure as hell going to hate you wasting that on me.” He sighed. “All I’ve got to contribute to the world is a new half-pipe trick or another videogame.” He stretched his injured leg out on the bed. “But I have to admit, my hip has felt so much better since I got here. Is that you?”
“Probably.”
“Then thank you.” He leaned in closer and picked up a length of her hair to press it against his lips. “You are incredible.”
They spent the next few days stealing kisses or holding hands for the briefest of moments as they hiked or skated or soaked in that crazy hot springs Josh had discovered.
On the one hand, he was the most sexually frustrated he’d ever been, but on the other he was the happiest he’d ever been as well. Each touch meant something important to them. Each kiss was eagerly anticipated, each caress timed so as to provide maximum payoff for each of them. Breathing lessons on the beach had taken on monumental importance when he learned that the more control she had over her abilities, the longer they could touch each other without starting a fire, so to speak.
He grew very skilled in the use of props to act as extensions of his hands and his fingers, the qigong balls providing the most incredible results when applied to the right places. But
“They’ve already come and gone while you were sleeping. I told Morticia that we were fine and that she had nothing to worry about. You take anything from me you need.”
The warmth in his voice melted something in her she hadn’t realized was frozen. Every other relationship in her life had been with other lamia, but their interactions had been almost utilitarian in nature. They’d hook up and grope each other desperately to ease the tension that came from living beside yet separated from the human world, and once their needs were satisfied, they’d part again.
Sometimes lamia found real mates among their own kind, but most often they married for convenience and for the sake of perpetuating themselves and their legacy. Her parents, her teachers, the council had all drilled into her from childhood that she had a destiny. She would be an inspiration and a driving force to great achievements in the human world. She’d been groomed for the role she was to play all her life, and her placement with Tom Bridges had been the culmination of much study and planning by the Lamia Council.
After the Syndicate that oversaw the Paranormal world had also approved her selection of host, the Council had installed her into the position after graduation with great solemnity. It had felt almost like getting married.
What would the Council say about Josh Trenton? How would she ever convince that stodgy, self-important panel that he was important enough to be her next host?
They spent the rest of the evening talking and laughing. He told her about Alicia and Rob and their two kids. She told him about growing up lamia.
“Sounds a lot like growing up Gotti.” He laughed as he toyed with the ends of her hair.
Since discovering he could play with her hair, he hadn’t really stopped, and she was happy to relax into the sensation—almost but not quite touching. “We are not the mafia!”
“Well, your families are all rich, you have this secret underground organization, and you infiltrate society to make hits on people—just a different kind of hit than they do. Do the lamia actually control the world?” he asked, and his voice held only a light teasing note.
Adriana looked at him seriously. “The Council believes that we are instrumental in the growth and achievement of the human race. They think that each lamia has a duty to find a host that is both compatible and worthy of our attention. When we touch someone, we take energy from them, but we also return a boost of performance or creativity or intelligence. They are very protective of that power.”
“They are sure as hell going to hate you wasting that on me.” He sighed. “All I’ve got to contribute to the world is a new half-pipe trick or another videogame.” He stretched his injured leg out on the bed. “But I have to admit, my hip has felt so much better since I got here. Is that you?”
“Probably.”
“Then thank you.” He leaned in closer and picked up a length of her hair to press it against his lips. “You are incredible.”
They spent the next few days stealing kisses or holding hands for the briefest of moments as they hiked or skated or soaked in that crazy hot springs Josh had discovered.
On the one hand, he was the most sexually frustrated he’d ever been, but on the other he was the happiest he’d ever been as well. Each touch meant something important to them. Each kiss was eagerly anticipated, each caress timed so as to provide maximum payoff for each of them. Breathing lessons on the beach had taken on monumental importance when he learned that the more control she had over her abilities, the longer they could touch each other without starting a fire, so to speak.
He grew very skilled in the use of props to act as extensions of his hands and his fingers, the qigong balls providing the most incredible results when applied to the right places. But
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