Be Careful What You Wish For Read online

  She had the sleeves of her blouse rolled up and she could see the streaks were past her elbow now and the hand the soul-sucker had bitten was so puffy it looked like a balloon or a rubber glove filled with water. Just twitching her fingers was excruciating and Cass wondered uneasily if Jake would really be able to heal it. And if so, exactly how much was it going to hurt?

  I’m not going to think about that. After all, I want it to hurt. It’s better than making a fool of myself if it feels…too good instead, she told herself. Resolutely, she let her hand drop to her side and looked out the window again.

  “I see you’re admiring my view.”

  The deep voice behind her startled her so much that Cass jumped and let out an involuntary squeak. She turned to see Jake standing behind her with an unreadable look on his face. He had removed the charcoal suit jacket and the sleeves of his crisp, pale green shirt were rolled up, revealing tanned and muscular forearms.

  “Uh, yeah,” she said, feeling incredibly glad that all he’d caught her looking at was the scenery. “I was actually trying to figure out where we are though. Last time I looked at a map of Florida, there were no mountains—especially not in the Tampa Bay area.”

  “Not where—when,” Jake emphasized. Seeing her puzzled expression, he explained. “Elves don’t look for particular locations in which to build their homes, they look for particular times. In fact, the physical area my house occupies changes almost daily but the time it occupies—which is exactly seven thirty in the evening—does not.”

  “Wow that’s really weird. And interesting.” Cass looked out the window again at the mountain range wreathed in mist imagining what an elfin real estate ad might look like.

  This three bedroom, two bath condo is priced to move and located at beautiful 3:15 in the afternoon. Just the idea made her head hurt.

  “Why?” she asked Jake. “I mean, what’s so special about seven thirty in the evening?”

  “Remember I told you that my people draw their strength from the light of Lady of the Evening star?” Jake nodded at the single brilliant star high above the mountains. “That is she and I can always see her at this time. My lady,” he murmured and made a slight bow in the direction of the window. Cass realized he was addressing the star.

  “Can it—I mean she—hear you?” she asked, wondering how much stranger things could possibly get.

  “If she chooses.”

  “But…but how? I mean, a star is just a flaming ball of gasses, isn’t it? Like the sun?”

  “Maybe in your world,” Jake murmured. “Not here.”

  “Well where is here, exactly?” Cass asked in exasperation. She was beginning to feel like they were talking in circles and combined with the strangeness of his house it was more than her sleep deprived brain could take.

  “It doesn’t matter.” Jake frowned, getting back to business. “What matters is seeing to your hand before you get soul poisoning.”

  “Soul poisoning? That’s an actual condition?”

  “A deadly one if left untreated. Now let me see your hand, Cassandra.”

  Reluctantly, Cass held out her hurt hand. She was disturbed to see that while they had been talking, the red lines had spread so high they disappeared into the rolled-up sleeve of her white blouse. Whatever the hell kind of venom the paint monster had been packing, it was certainly no joke. Now her whole arm was throbbing like a rotten tooth.

  Jake sucked in a breath, a worried look flitting across his chiseled features when he saw her arm. “This isn’t good. The poison is moving very quickly.”

  Cass felt a stab of fear.

  “Hey, that’s my painting hand, you know. Even though I can’t really do any painting right now but still…can you heal it?”

  He furrowed his brow.

  “I think so if we begin immediately but it’s not your hand I am concerned with—it’s your heart. If the venom of the soul-sucker reaches your heart before we can draw it out you’ll become inherently evil for the rest of your life.”

  “So I guess that’s considerably worse than just being a bitch once in a while, huh?” Cass tried to make light of it but his words and the worried look on his face scared her. What had she gotten herself into? And would her court-appointed elf be able to get her out?

  “Do you ever stop joking?” A corner of Jake’s thin but sensual mouth quirked up in a half smile. “Never mind. Come sit down so I can work on you.” He led her over to the dark blue leather couch and seated her in front of the blue and green fire still crackling quietly on the hearth.

  Cass glanced up at the TV puddle, hoping he wouldn’t suggest turning it on while he worked. She was profoundly grateful when he ignored it in favor of studying her hand. No doubt the bitchy reporter face was going to tell on her for watching his news the first chance it got but Cass preferred not to be there when it did.

  There was a black oval coffee table with a bowl of steaming water on it, sitting in front of the couch that Cass hadn’t noticed before. Looking closer she saw some kind of pink and purple flower petals floating in the bowl. A soft floral scent like lavender and some kind of herb she couldn’t name was rising with the steam. Beside the bowl of scented water were some soft white bandages and a little pot with a label written in some flowing cursive script that she couldn’t read, even though she felt like she ought to be able to.

  “First of all I need you to take off your blouse.” Jake was still looking at her hand with the distracted air of a surgeon faced with a serious case so he missed the incredulous look Cass was giving him.

  “Right. Take off my shirt so you can heal my hand. I’m so sure,” she said flatly.

  Jake looked up, his pale green eyes blazing.

  “Cassandra, this is no joking matter. I need to see how far the soul-sucker’s venom has spread. Remove your blouse or I will remove it for you. Now.”

  His arrogant tone set her teeth on edge and Cass wanted to tell him to go straight to hell. Why did he always have to be so high handed? But she remembered the genuine fear in his eyes when he’d examined her hand and also how fast the red streaks were climbing up her arm. Maybe she’d better do what he said.

  “Fine.” With a short, exasperated sigh, she attempted to unbutton the white blouse—which was one of Phil’s old ones that Cass had borrowed to have something professional and non-black to teach in. To her dismay, the fingers on her hurt hand were so swollen that she couldn’t make them move—the buttons were completely beyond her.

  “Here.” Without waiting for permission, Jake pushed her hands aside and unbuttoned the white silk blouse swiftly, his warm knuckles brushing the inner curves of her breasts.

  The quick, impersonal touch seemed to start a fire inside her which only made Cass angrier. Damnit, she didn’t want to find him so attractive, especially when he was ordering her around like this!

  When he had the blouse all the way unbuttoned, he drew it swiftly off her arms and studied her chest closely. Cass knew he was only looking to see if the red streaks had spread past her shoulder and down toward her heart (they hadn’t as far as she could tell). But she couldn’t help but be conscious of the fact that she had on a sheer white lace bra that clearly showed her dark pink nipples and areolas through its nearly see-through fabric.

  Pretty underwear was her one clothing indulgence—it made her feel sexy and feminine even under the shapeless black artist clothes she usually wore—but she hadn’t expected to be showing this bra off to anyone when she picked it out. Well, no one but Brandon, but he wasn’t one to admire what she was wearing.

  Cass had tried to give her boyfriend a strip tease once or twice but he preferred to skip the foreplay and get straight to the sex—a fact that always kind of pissed her off. But then, what could you expect from a guy who was still fourteen emotionally? After all, it wasn’t like she’d picked him for his brains or maturity so she didn’t exactly have the right to complain.

  “It’s spreading quickly but it’s not as close to your heart as I’d feared. We