Woo-woo feelings a whirlwind inside her, Solitaire gathered up her cards, listening to the still small voice of intuition. “Oh,” she whispered, seeing him. Zhayme.
The whirlwinds increased inside her. Edgy, restless, Solitaire shuffled her cards more swiftly than usual. Not that the man didn’t drive her insides gooey with all sorts of forbidden desires. Forbidden, the key word. He was out of her league. He had an ex something? who probably had the fangs to fight for him. And she didn’t need any man complications in her life. Not one who could obviously devastate her heart.
And here he came. Incomparable. Potent. Charismatic. The description jangled in her mind like a phone during a 60’s suspense movie scene.
Stop. Down. She ordered her yearning rebellious sex juices, already starting to boil over for him.
“Wooh, hot in here,” she muttered as he stepped up on the dais. Her hands shook, a true rarity for her.
“Why do you need a fortune teller?” She faced the birthday lion in his den, or her temporary den. Vigorously, she shook back her own long mane.
“My beautiful fortune teller, I have many abilities. However, not your gift.” He sat before her, not just sitting, aristocratic, the latent power of a lion-at-ease sitting.
His voice, a melding of brandy and velvet, soaked into her. Add a match, she’d be flambe’ in his arms. In his bed. Oh God, I’m not thinking about his bed.
Her hands still shaking slightly, she fanned the cards. And desperately wished she didn’t look like an unprofessional klutz. “Choose a card, Birthday Man.”
“You should know, my Solitaire, I have the ability to choose whichever card I desire.”
Ohmygawd, his hand, impossibly beautiful and powerful, with tapered fingers. Solitaire swallowed down her passion, now threatening to steam out her ears.
“Prove it.” Ridiculously breathless, she’d murmured the challenge.
“King of hearts,” he low purred. Selecting one card with the grace of a magician, he presented it to her.
The King of Hearts.
The card’s face seized her entire being.
Tearing her gaze away from the betraying card, she inanely asked, “Is that a statement?”
“Soon to be ‘truth’.” His voice grazed over every inch of her flesh.
“Is that so?” Having knife-flung the question at him, she flung up her chin.
He smiled, trip-tripping her heart.
“I do have a question for the fortune teller who can see our newest project beneath the ocean.”
“What? The manner of my disappearance?”
“We will have to ‘disappear’ for a short time, to view the city.”
“View the city…?”
“My question…” The dark intensity of his gaze honed in on her eyes like a laser. “Who seeks to destroy me? By sabotaging our restoration?”
The crucial importance of her answer shone in his eyes.
“The invisible man,” she blurted out, the words pulled from her, unbidden.
“Make him visible, my Solitaire…to your mind’s eye.”
His command was hypnotic. Not to be refused. She wondered at her compliance as the image quickly formed.
October 8th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Weird. Interesting. Just like any Halloween story should be!
October 9th, 2008 at 12:36 am
Lex, thanks…I think…no, thanks!
October 9th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
I was born on Halloween. I should know what constitutes a great Halloween story.
You’ve got all the elements! Me likey!