The Untamable
Chapter 5
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"This is wrong."
He reached over with his chopsticks and picked up a piece of chicken from my plate. Munching thoughtfully on the meat, he frowned. "Seems perfectly right to me. In fact, that's better than my coconut curry. Switch."
I sighed as Leo shamelessly switched our plates and began to scarf down my chicken with cashew nuts.
"Stop it." Shaking my head, I smacked his hand when he tried to reach for my pineapple juice. "I meant this constant watching them. It's just wrong."
Wounded at my refusal to hand over my drink he glowered at me disapprovingly before going back to eating. "This is research."
"This is spying."
"You're the one who is determined to save my soul."
Rolling my eyes, I smacked his hand again when he tried to swipe me drink again. "The sooner you go back to heaven the sooner we all can get on with our lives."
He gazed longing at the yellow liquid as I drank. "You mean your life."
"Whatever," I down the last of my juice, stuck my tongue out at him and started on the curry. "Besides, why are you wolfing down food anyway? I thought gods didn't need to eat."
"I'm giving you company. It wouldn't look right for you to be eating alone."
"How sacrificing of you."
"Bow to my greatness, are you going to have the rest of the curry?"
Sighing, I pushed the plate towards him and he proceeded to polish off the last of the food on our table. I took a moment to gaze out at Sara and Sean. She was positively beaming. We'd stayed up all night on the weekend while she gushed and giggled about how great and romantic Sean was. I had to admit. He was pretty great. He'd not only been a perfect gentleman, he had taken her on perfect little dates. Their relationship was slowly blossoming into something sweet. I was almost envious.
"Desert?"
Dragged from my flowery thought, I scowled at him. "Isn't your bottomless pit filled?"
"If it's bottomless, how can it?" He winked and gestured for the waiter. "I've heard their soufflé is to die for."
Putting my chin in my hands, I watched Sean touch Sara's hand and smile as if she was his earth and sky.
I sighed.
At least some good came out of this.
We followed the couple home in silence. I had a feeling most of it was because Leo had no place left in his stomach to even fill air in his lungs. Ahead Sean kissed Sara softly and lingeringly released her hand as he made his way back to his car.
"He's nicer than I gave him credit for."
"The spider spins a fine web around the fly and by the time the fly notices, it's started eating the wings already."
Glaring at his fatalistic prophecy, I pulled him back into the shade of the car. "You are sick you know that? You can't admit that this is going smashingly. That it is not about the flesh but about the heart."
"It's their third date. How naïve are you?"
"He would have made a move if he wasn't a gentleman."
Leo rolled his eyes and took my hand. "Your knowledge of men is hardly something to boast about."
"WHAT!" I squawked as he snapped his fingers and we materialized in the mansion.
He smirked. "Come on? Simon the chess club president? He wouldn't have taken your flower if he knew how. Obviously you were setting yourself up for a fall on prom."
Cheeks flaming red, I spun on him, now truly furious. I would have shoved him if he didn't scare me beyond reason as well sometimes. "How dare you! My flower is none of your business and who the hell calls it a flower!"
"He was afraid if he kissed you any deeper you would have been stuck in his braces." And then I did shove him, and he went sprawling into his throne with laughter. "Come on Goldfish, I have seen your pickings. All three of them."
I couldn't kill him, could I? I mean how would it look? It might damn my soul forever. But it was definitely looking worth it as he continued to recount my disastrous boyfriends. The chess player, the nymphomaniac grad and the cheating investment banker. The truth is by the time he was done, I was sitting on the arm of his chair and shaking my head trying to hold back my own laughter. It hurt at first to see him pull at my most embarrassing moments, but his candid humor eventually made me realize they had been disastrous. All three of them.
"Peter wouldn't know sexual deviance if it came and kicked him in his backside. All that bluster was just to intimidate you because you scared the shit out of him."
Startled at the change in his context, I blinked at him. He was done bashing me? "Are you kidding me? The guy had the weirdest concept of kinky."
"Because you were too damned sexy for him."
I glared at him. "Are you mocking me?"
With a snort he languished back in his seat one leg dangling off the arm, his elbow and temple propped on the other where I saw. "Mocking you is getting boring. Besides, why are you defending him?"
"I'm not."
"Leaving him was probably the smartest thing you did." Lifting his head, he reached out and pulled the pin from my hair. I couldn't hold the gasp as it tumbled down in waves down my back. Even cell in my body had gone perfectly still as I felt his fingers comb once down the entire length. And it felt like he'd stroked my soul, because suddenly even inch of me was alive and zinging with lightning awareness.
But he just straightened and rose out of his throne with a yawn. "Enough for tonight. We have a lot of paperwork to sort tomorrow."
And he didn't even look back.
But he took my pin with him.
I had pretty much been satisfied with how things were going with Sara and Sean, but Leo insisted we revisit them. We found them on the roof of Sean's apartment building, the sound of a saxophone permeating the air. We stood in the balcony of the adjacent building leaning against the balustrade.
"Oh look, he's dancing in the moonlight with her. You have to admit that's romantic."
"He wants into her pants."
I had stopped being able to muster up a glare when he spewed his nonsense. "Cynic. His hands are on her waist. No wandering."
"Biding his time."
"Leo, I swear you're primeval. I see now why the Almighty keeps you around."
"I aim to please."
I turned away before he could see my smile. I was afraid it was getting less exasperated and more affectionate than comfortable. I saw Sean laugh and dip Sara as she laughed happily. "My, he is rather good."
Turning away from the scene, he leaned his back against the concrete barrier and crossed his arms. "Yes, I know you're easily impressed."
"He's dipping her! That takes technique!"
I expected a rebuttal but what I got instead is the wind knocked out of me. In the space of a heartbeat, he'd spun me into his arms, one hand holding mine, the other firmly planted low on my spine. "That is not technique."
My skin caught fire, but he'd already maneuvered one thigh between my legs and before I could catch my breath, I was dipped back against the balcony. "Leo!"
Above me, his eyes were wild and wicked. "Afraid I'll drop you?"
"Put me down!" His grip loosened and I shrieked as I slid back another inch. "Pull me up!"
"Make up your mind Goldfish."
I clutched him harder; my balance completely shot, my heart nearly in my throat as I held on for dear life. He was insufferable! With a whine, I lifted my head and buried it against his chest.
And then just as suddenly I was back, my feet firmly planted, my nose pressed into his black shirt, the red jewel digging into my forehead, every inch of me pressed against his warmth.
"You're horrible."
His chuckle reverberated through me as I felt him gently start to sway, my hand still in his, his fingers playing with the ends of my loose hair around my waist. "I'm getting a few house guests over the weekend. I'm sorry we won't be able to spy on your friend while they are here."
The change of subject was expected now. He would do something like this. Sweet, or tender, then pretend it didn't happen. His capricious nature was starting to become easier to anticipate. "A whole weekend without you. However will I manage?"
There was a soft rumble in his chest. Indication that he wasn't pleased with my teasing.
I lifted my head and looked up at him. "How will you grant wishes if I'm not there?"
His honey eyes roamed my face. "How self-important you are. There's an entire ministry up in heaven that takes care of it. I'm only the slacker boss, remember?"
"I'll catch up with Sara in the meantime. Finish your meeting." I didn't put my head back against him, but I let him sway us a little longer in the silence. The music being absent not bothering us.
"Tell her she needs to put out before he ditches her."
My hand smacked his shoulder gently before I moved to step away from him, but his arms wrapped around me like bands of steel. Breath halting in my chest, I stared up into his eyes, mouth nearly an inch away from him.
He only gazed back for a moment before smirking. "I don't think you want to do that." His eyes gestured down.
I frowned and glanced down.
My breath left me in a whoosh.
Everything around us was pitch black and sparkling diamonds.
Floating a few feet above cloud cover, the city was a grid of lights strung together.
We'd been dancing in the sky the entire time.
I knew, I'd never be able to dance again.
The weekend was a little more uneventful than I would have liked. A part of me was acknowledging that there had been a routine to showing up at the mansion and interacting with Leo. Sara had been all about Sean and as much as I enjoyed her enthusiasm, it slowly began to grate on my nerves. Maybe I was just jealous. Or maybe I was just bored since I'd seen most of her dates with Sean. Either way, when she decided to call it a night, I let her. I had initially thought we could have a sleep over, but after the afternoon of gossiping I was done.
She told me she wanted to surprise Sean with a date and I suggested she take him for a picnic at the planetarium. Mondays were usually off days, so no one would be around. We could set it up at the stage in the amphitheater and they could have the best of the starry night without having to camp out in the park with mosquitos. Sara was pleased and I promised I'd help set it up Monday morning.
That night when I was preparing for bed, I felt a sudden shift in the air around me. I'd begun to recognize it now. But when I turned around, I saw two shimmering shapes that looked nothing like that god I was expecting.
Swallowing my disappointment, I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow when Taurus and Pisces became corporeal. "Seriously guys, I thought we agreed no dropping in without calling first."
"We did," Taurus winked. "But we thought we test your boundaries a little considering what you've been doing for Leo."
I frowned. "What have I been doing for Leo?"
"Hello!" Issy proceeded to fall unceremoniously on my bed and grinned at me. "His mark is fading every day. You must really be running him ragged. You have to tell me your secret. How are you doing it?"
I shook my head. "I'm sorry, I don't follow."
Taurus leaned against my writing desk and tilted his head in a winsome smile. "You're fixing him. He's getting closer to returning to the heavens."
"Which is more than what we can say for us, so I thought we'd come in and grill you a little," Pisces picked up my teddy bear.
Yanking my favorite bed partner out of his hands, I ignored that sudden twinge of regret that sparked in my chest. Leo was getting close to leaving. But for the life of me I had no idea what I was doing. He didn't believe in love any more than he did when he started. In fact, the more I watched him with Sara and Sean, the more he resisted the idea. Maybe it wasn't me.
"I don't know what's doing it," I corrected them. "It's certainly not me."
The dark haired god snorted before rising from the bed and moving to my tiny bookshelf. "You're definitely doing something to our Leo. We've never seen him so…what's the word Taurus?"
I couldn't help hold my breath.
Taurus shrugged. "Happy."
I blinked. "Excuse me?"
"He seems pretty happy. We haven't had to force him to do his work. No one from the Ministry has had to remind him he'd behind schedule." Taurus met my eyes. "You've almost tamed our wild lion Goldie. What did you do?"
Suddenly his words were ominous. "I swear. I didn't do anything."
"Maybe not deliberately." Pisces snapped a book close before putting it back in the shelf. "But Cancer's come over the weekend for an inspection. In fact, that's why we're here." He walked over and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I squirmed under his hold.
"Why are you here?"
Taurus yawned. "There's a party in your honor."
"Er…"
"Cancer arranged it." Pisces grinned down at me. "But I don't suggest going in your jammies."
Wiggling out of his arms, I glared at him. "I'm tired. This really isn't a time for a party."
"We insist." Taurus' voice was as playful as ever but his eyes told another story: I couldn't refuse.
With slow discomfort building in my gut, I nodded and told them I'd change and be right with them.
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To be continued…
