Not What She Seems

chapter 8



Out on the street Sylvia was thankful she was so downright attractive. People often complained how hard it could be to catch a cab but she never had that experience as cabbies were more than happy to pick up a good looking young lady. She motioned for a cab and watched as two almost collided in a race to pick her up. She climbed into the first one and told the driver to take her to Cambridge, to Harvard Square. As the cab inched its way through the city streets Sylvia tried to relax but found it nearly impossible. She couldn’t decide what was stressing her out more, the Hunter who’d followed her home or her first real meeting with Mason. When she caught the driver openly staring at her in the rear view mirror while stopped at a red light, she scowled fiercely at him. She had neither the time nor the inclination to flirt with him today.

Traffic was worse than she had expected and she arrived at Harvard Square twenty minutes late. Hastily she tossed a few crumpled tens to the driver as she slid out of the cab and dashed into Au Bon Pain. She hoped Mason was still there. She remembered him mentioning he had a tight schedule that day.

Once inside the café Sylvia looked about frantically, trying to find Mason in the sea of customers.

“Looking for someone?”

She jumped when a male voice spoke behind her but she broke into a huge grin when she saw who it was.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you!” he apologized.

“Hello, Mason, I’m sorry I’m so late today. Traffic was awful!”

“It’s no problem. I’m running a bit late myself. I got held up after my last class. I saw you getting out of your cab when I was crossing the street and I called to you, but you didn’t hear me, I guess.”

“Well, no harm done. We’re both here now, right?” Sylvia couldn’t help but notice how downright delicious he looked in his pullover sweater and faded jeans. She was ready to take him, on the countertop in the middle of the café, crowd be damned, if he suggested it. The feeling of the energy rolling off of him was intoxicating.

“What’s your pleasure?” Mason asked her. Sylvia considered his choice of words as she tried to pull her mind away from the sexual fantasy that had begun playing out in her head.

Mason escorted her to the counter to order as he pulled out his wallet. She wasn’t surprised to see he planned on picking up the tab even though it was she who had invited him for coffee. A man of his caliber could be expected to be a gentleman, even though so many men of the current time seemed to have forgotten what that entailed.

Sylvia gave her order to the girl behind the counter and watched her as Mason gave his. The cashier was flustered by his good looks and trying hard to act casual but failing miserably. Mason seemed not to notice his effect on her.

When their food was read, he led Sylvia to a table in a quiet corner. He placed the food down and held out a chair for her.

“Is this okay?”

“Yes, thank you; it’s fine.”

“So… what do you do, when you’re not retrieving runaway K-cups?” Mason began with a twinkle in his eye once he was seated as well.

“I work for a PR firm,” she replied with her canned here’s-what-I-do-for-work answer when she couldn’t divulge she was actually an escort. “What about you?” She was dying to know if he was studying to join the Ministry, given his chosen course of studies.

“I’m working on my Doctorate in Theology right now, here at Harvard.” Sylvia oohed appropriately at this as she nibbled on her bagel. “I earned my Master’s recently, and this is the last step for me before jumping back into the work force.”

“Are you planning on becoming a Priest?” Her question elicited a chuckle from him.

He shook his head as he swallowed his sip of coffee. “No, not at all, though many people assume that. My calling is to teach, and religion has always interested me. It just seemed natural that’s what I would teach someday. I’ve got a ways to go still, but I’ll get there. In the meantime I’m assisting with classes while I work on my last degree.” Sylvia noted he didn’t mention anything about the business or the millions of dollars he had inherited from his Grandfather.

“Sounds like you’re a busy guy.” She was relieved to hear he wasn’t planning on a life with the Church. That might have made the task of seducing him much harder. It was no explanation for his retained virginity, which still baffled her.

“I am. But it doesn’t mean I don’t have time to grab a coffee with a damsel in distress,” he joked, referring to their initial meeting.

“I may not be a ‘damsel in distress’ today, but I am glad to see you again,” Sylvia confessed boldly. She had to remind herself to keep breathing as she waited for Mason’s reply. It was possible she had overstepped a boundary already, but she hoped not. She got the feeling he would be receptive to her honesty, and he was.

“I’m glad to see you again too,” he replied softly. “I don’t know why our paths crossed as they did but I have a feeling I’ll be glad it happened. There’s something different about you, Sylvia. I don’t know what it is but I like it.”

Sylvia cast her eyes downward as she smiled demurely. This was going better than she ever could have hoped.

“I need to tell you something up front here. I think honesty in a relationship is extremely important, so I want to be honest with you.”

Uh-oh. Sylvia had no idea where Mason was going with this and she wasn’t sure she liked it but she knew she had to play the game.

“I really appreciate that. I agree honesty’s very important.”

“Okay, this is kind of hard for me, and I won’t get into all of it right now, but… I haven’t been in a relationship in about ten years. I don’t mean to put it all out there right from the start, but I think you deserve to know that, Sylvia. I’m interested in you, romantically, but I fear I’m a bit rusty at the whole thing.” Mason’s piercing blue eyes searched hers as she took in what he had just said.

No romantic relationship in ten years. Apparently no sexual relationships in that time frame, or ever. Yet there he was, looking like he had stepped out of a GQ magazine, all good looks and casual hotness. In Sylvia’s world, where the men all couldn’t wait to bang the first girl that said ‘yes’, she felt like she had just discovered something entirely wonderful and unknown.

“I understand. I haven’t had a meaningful relationship in a long time either. I feel a bit out of practice myself!”

“So… we’ll take it slow, then? See how it goes?”

“I’d like that. To us- going slow.” Sylvia raised her coffee cup upwards to toast Mason. She didn’t want to go slow, she wanted to take him into the restroom and show him what he’d been missing all of those long years while she drained every last drop of Innocent energy from him. Not yet, but someday, and maybe in a place where she could take her time with him, instead of a public bathroom.

“To us, may we see where this takes us.” Mason returned the faux toast and they both sipped their coffee in amicable silence for a moment before engaging in the usual small talk people use when getting to know someone new.

He checked his watch. “I hate to eat and run, but I’m behind schedule today, and I’ve got to go assist with another class shortly. When can I see you again?”

“My schedule is pretty flexible this weekend, how about then?”

“I have to double-check my schedule but I’m sure we can work something out.” He waited until she finished the last bite of her bagel before standing up. “Can I hail a cab for you?”

Sylvia nodded enthusiastically. With a Hunter after her a cab ride home would be the safest thing. The Hunter. She had managed to forget about him for a bit while she was chatting with Mason, but she regretted letting herself be so sloppy. She needed to have her guard up at all times until the police caught him.

Mason got her a cab as offered and grasped both of her hands in his for a moment before leaning over and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.

“This weekend, then. I’ll call you.”

“Terrific.” Sylvia slid into the cab, her cheek still tingling from Mason’s chaste kiss. It felt as if the glorious sensation were slowly traveling through her body, bit by bit. If the man could do that to her with a quick peck on the cheek, what else could he do with that fabulous mouth of his?

“And Sylvia?” Mason leaned into the cab. “I just wanted to let you know- you look absolutely gorgeous today.” She flushed at the compliment as he closed the door and the cab merged into traffic. Men complimented her all of the time, but somehow hearing it from Mason pleased her immensely. He wasn’t trying to butter her up to sleep with her. His compliment was sincere and without selfish motives. Such a thing was foreign to Sylvia and it warmed her inside. She smiled to herself the whole ride home. For the moment Mason’s words outshone the Hunter’s threat.

~~~

Reality came crashing back down on Sylvia when the cab reached her apartment building. She paid her fare and hurried into the building, anxious to be back behind her closed, locked door. As the elevator rose, she suddenly remembered the incubus Lilith was sending to guard her. She didn’t like having her space or her privacy invaded like this, but she was relieved that she was sending her help. Until the Hunter had been caught she couldn’t feel safe anywhere, but maybe a bodyguard would help allay her fears.

As she exited the elevator, her eyes grew wide. The incubus had arrived and was sitting on the floor, next to her front door, with his bags next to him. He looked like he planned to stay for quite a while, given the amount of luggage he had brought with him.

“You!” Sylvia could barely choke out the word.

“Hey, Sylv! When Lilith gave me this gig, I had no idea it was you… small world, huh?” Keith rose to his feet, all six foot four of him. He was just as Sylvia remembered him, with his dark hair, smoldering dark eyes and the body of a professional athlete, with toned muscles in all the right places. Even in his jeans and t-shirt, she could tell he hadn’t changed a bit from the last time she saw him those hundreds of years ago.

“No way,” Sylvia shook her head, “this won’t work.”

“C’mon, that’s no way to treat an old friend, is it? We had some good times together, you and I. No need to be rude, now.” Keith grinned at her jocularly.

“I’m calling Lilith right now. You can’t stay! She’s got to send someone else.” Sylvia dug hurriedly through her purse to find her cell phone. This had to be some kind of sick joke. Lilith had sent the one incubus she had ever slept with, the one she had the incredible sex with, the one who had almost destroyed her.

“All right, if you insist, but can you at least call from inside? It’s not a great idea to be standing out here in the hallway with a Hunter on the loose. Especially when he knows what you are and where you live.”

Sylvia sighed and fished her keys out of her purse. Keith was right. It would be foolish to waste more time out in the hallway when her apartment and the safety it offered were right in front of her.

She swung the door open and was set to march right in when Keith grabbed her arm gently. Sylvia gasped at his touch. Unbidden desire flooded through her but she pushed it down. She was just riled up from her meeting with Mason, she knew what kind of damage being attracted to Keith could do.

“Let me go first, okay? Let’s make sure the place is empty.”

Sylvia rolled her eyes as she stood in the open doorway while he made a quick sweep of the apartment.

“All clear,” he called as he came out of the hallway. “Nice place you got here. You must be doing pretty well for yourself. I’m not surprised.” His eyes traveled slowly down, then back up, the length of Sylvia’s body. “I’ve never seen anyone as hot as you, not even the other succubi.”

“Enough!” Sylvia snapped as she closed and locked the door behind her. She placed her purse down on the table and dug through it again. Finally she extracted her cell phone.

She stood with her free arm crossed over her as she waited for someone to pick up at the service. Keith’s roving eyes felt like a physical weight upon her. She could feel him assessing her.

Finally Lilith herself picked up.

“Not him, he needs to go. Keith can’t stay here, send someone else,” Sylvia demanded without bothering to greet her.

“What on earth are you talking about? Are you still going on about what happened all those years ago? I had forgotten that whole mess, and I thought you had, too. Don’t be foolish, Sylvia. He’s the best one I’ve got, and if you want a bodyguard, he stays. I don’t know what your problem is but I suggest you get over it. That was centuries ago! I’d thought you let go of all of that by now. If I were you, I’d say ‘thank you’ and put on a smile instead of bitching about it.”

“I won’t have him in my house. I can’t… I just can’t.”

“You will, if you’re smart. If you were any other one of my girls I wouldn’t even offer his services to you, but you’re my eldest daughter. I want you safe. Pull your head out of your ass, get over it, and accept this gift I’ve given you.” The dial tone reached Sylvia’s ear before she had a chance to respond. She closed her phone and stared at it in her hand as she thought about her options.

“I take it that didn’t go well for you?” Keith smirked at her.

She slowly lifted her gaze to meet his. “No, it didn’t,” she admitted. “I don’t like it, but you’re all I’ve got.”

“So I can stay then?”

“I guess so, but there’s going to be some ground rules here.” She hated herself as she said the words but Lilith was right. She needed him. It was better to have Keith- obnoxious, cocky, sexy Keith, who had broken her heart and almost ruined her- than to be alone with a Hunter after her.

“No hanky panky.” She jabbed a finger in the air at him “I mean none. You are not here to hop into my bed or try to get me into yours. You’re here to keep me safe, like Lilith ordered. Nothing more, nothing less.”

His eyes shone with amusement, but he nodded.

“I’ll need to hunt sometimes. You can tag along if you like, but when we go out, you don’t speak to me, you barely even look at me, and you never interfere with my hunts. Times have changed, Keith. You got that?” Sylvia stood with her hands on her slender hips, her eyes blazing with fury.

Keith bent at the waist in an exaggerated bow. “As you wish, Master.”

He ducked again a moment later to avoid the throw pillow Sylvia hurled at him.