Amazed, page 16
She’d felt that lightning when he kissed her for the first time and it had lingered ever since. He’d walked her to her room after her shift one night, waited until she’d opened the door and turned to tell him goodnight, then had kissed her breathless.
From that moment on, all he had to do was look at her and she could almost feel the lightning that had made every nerve ending tingle.
She’d been waiting for him to make another move ever since.
Instead, he simply flirted with her at the bar each evening, all the while looking at her like he knew all her secrets.
Which kind of freaked her out. After all, how could he have possibly figured out her secret in a matter of weeks when Glory and Travis hadn’t figured it out in six years?
It just wasn’t possible.
* * *
“What do you mean you don’t know what she is?” Markos stared at his brothers and sister incredulously. This was what they’d dragged him away from Cassie for? To ask him stupid questions?
They should know this already. If they’d paid even a little bit of attention in school, they should totally know this!
“Come on, Markos, just tell us,” his sister Mia said. “She’s a dragon, right?”
Everyone at the table — dragons, shifters, fairies, witches — leaned forward.
“What makes you think I know if you haven’t figured it out yet?” Markos demanded.
“So she’s not your mate then,” Liel said as he pushed back his chair to climb to his feet. “I wasn’t going to ask her out, but now—”
Markos lunged forward, grabbed his brother’s shirt and slammed him back into his chair, making it rock back on two legs before stabilizing. “Don’t even think about it!”
Liel burst into laughter. “Right. That’s what I thought.”
“You’re an idiot,” Zee, another of his brothers, said to Liel, then glanced up at Markos. “So come on, fess up. Is she a dragon?”
“Or a phoenix?” Ashlynn, Zee’s mate, asked.
“Or maybe a bear?”
“I’m telling you, she’s a wolf, Glory!” Max snapped.
“Fairy!” Lily’s wings fluttered as she lifted off her feet. “Definitely a fairy.”
Markos snorted. “And you guys haven’t figured it out yet? Seriously?”
“What?” Liel said. “Granted, it’s weird, but I don’t see how we could possibly know what she is when none of us agree.”
“I’m telling you, she’s a cougar,” Cole said. “It’s all in the scent.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Megan glared across the table at the cougar. “I don’t understand why you won’t listen to me. It’s perfectly obvious what she is!”
“Yep,” Markos agreed. “You guys are pathetic.” On the other hand, this was a wonderful development, good for weeks of torture! Of course, he’d have to convince Megan not to tell—
“She’s a witch, of course!”
“Exactly!” Jessica said. “She’s cast a spell to hide her nature.”
Markos couldn’t help it. He burst into laughter. “Seriously?”
The three sisters glared at him.
He threw up his hands. “Hey, don’t mind me. You guys go right on thinking she’s a witch. I’ll be real interested to see her cast a spell or two.” He waited a beat, then asked, “You have seen her cast a spell before, right?” He grinned at the looks on the witches’ faces. Clearly, they hadn’t seen anything of the sort.
“Well, no,” Lara said.
“But that doesn’t mean anything,” Megan insisted.
“Exactly,” Jessica said. “It’s not like witches go around casting spells all the time. It would be rude!”
Markos snickered. “Okay. Well, you go on believing that. I’ve got better things to do with my time, like court our other resident witch.” And with a shake of his head, he headed to the bar, where Cassie was busy serving drinks to customers.
Chapter Two
CASSIE HAD JUST handed over three shot glasses filled with The Beast Within when Markos slid up to the bar and murmured, “Hey, beautiful.”
She wanted to roll her eyes, but instead, her heart gave a thud and she had to concentrate on filling the two glasses of FeyLines for Logan without spilling. Her hand wanted to shake in reaction to Markos’ presence, but she held it steady by sheer force of will and long years of practice.
He was making her crazy! All that flirting and no follow-through. What was he waiting for? An engraved invitation?
Setting aside the bottle of FeyLines, she lifted both glasses and handed them to Logan, who grinned at her, winked, then turned and walked away.
Interesting man, that fairy. Quiet, with an utterly, to-die-for prettiness that should look feminine on a man, but somehow didn’t on the fairy.
“Hey!” Markos slid in front of her, obstructing her view of the fairy’s backside, which was truly exceptional.
Cassie sighed. “What’s up?”
“Stop ogling the fairy!”
“Seriously? You do know that’s an impossibility.”
Markos scowled at her, which really just opened up an entire array of possibilities for Cassie. Perhaps a bit of honesty might light a fire under the aggravating dragon.
“The man is gorgeous. I mean, seriously, to die-for gorgeous. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such perfection in a man. Not even on a movie screen. You’re asking for the impossible.”
Markos lunged across the bar, snapped a hand around her neck and pulled her forward into a kiss that was so devastating, all thoughts of the fairy were obliterated at once.
Cassie clutched at his shoulders and kissed him back. Tiny zaps of electricity rolled down her spine and she lost all sense of place or time.
An eternity later, the sound of someone’s throat clearing interrupted the fog of desire surrounding them.
Gasping for breath, Cassie pulled away and slid a glance to the right where Travis stood, trying to look stern.
“Interesting bartending behavior.” He raised an eyebrow, then grinned. “I heartily approve.”
Cassie snorted. “Of course, you do. Phoenix can’t place her drink orders anymore without you snatching a kiss first.”
“Well, yeah,” he said. “There’s gotta be some benefits to working with your mate!”
“A man with his priorities straight,” Markos said.
Cassie rolled her eyes. “I need to get back to work.” She glanced at Markos and hesitated.
“Go on, love. I’m not going anywhere.”
Cassie nodded and turned away, trying to contain her joy.
It had worked!
And he’d called her ‘love!’
Feeling almost giddy, she headed to the other end of the bar where a line had formed, filling a few orders along the way.
It was a good forty minutes before she managed to make it back to Markos.
He’d settled onto a bar stool and had seemed perfectly content to simply watch her work the entire time.
“Do you need another drink?” she asked.
“Maybe. I’ve been drinking Dragon Flame all night, but I’m ready for something new. What do you suggest?”
“Beer?”
He made a face.
“Tequila?”
“Seriously? Why are you suggesting human fare? Do you even have that shit back there?”
“Of course we do! Some people find their concoctions to be quite exotic. Have you even tried any drinks from earth?”
“Of course I have. I even drank some of that Full Moon crap last weekend with the wolves.”
Cassie grinned. That Full Moon crap, as he put it, made the wolves a bit crazy and was always fun to serve, especially with the right music playing.
“Okay, let me rephrase that question. Have you tried any earth drinks made by humans?”
“Nope. Not sure I want to either. But I’ll try something you recommend since you’re a bartender and all. You’ve gotta have a pretty good idea of what’s good back there, right? So hit me up with something human that you love.”
Cassie made a face. “Yeah, well, the thing is, I’m not much for human brew either.” She grinned at him.
He shook his head. “You’re just mean, messing with me like that.”
“It’s just that once you’ve had the best alcohol in the universe, nothing else compares.”
“The universe? How can you possibly make that claim?”
She shrugged. “Well, let’s just say I can’t imagine anything better than Incognito. It’s super expensive though, so I rarely treat myself.”
“Oooh, now I’m intrigued. So how do you drink it?”
“Shots usually, though you can add it to other things to make amazing drinks like The Incognito Blast or Iced Charm.”
“Damn. Now I’m really intrigued. Okay, let’s start with a couple shots.”
“If you’re sure, but don’t come whining to me when you see the price tag on it.”
He raised an eyebrow. “All right. Lay it on me.”
“They run about a hundred bucks a shot.”
“Holy shit. Is it liquid gold?”
She grinned. “No. But the people who make it think it is.”
He let out a bark of laughter. “All right, darling, set me up with two shots. One for you, one for me.”
“Oh, I really shouldn’t drink while at work.”
“Eh, why not?” Phoenix asked as she walked by, headed toward the kitchen. Normally, she would be waitressing for Shenanigans I, but Travis had closed it for the night so that everyone could attend the celebration of Ashlynn and Zee’s mating at Shenanigans II. Of course, that meant Ashlynn wasn’t available to waitress, so Phoenix was filling in. She headed back toward them, loaded down with appetizers and drinks. “Trust me,” she advised as she walked by again, “no one’s going to care around here.”
Cassie glanced around. No one was paying attention, and honestly, Phoenix was right.
Travis and Glory were her bosses and they were known for handing their waitresses a shot during a particularly rough shift.
“Drink up,” Travis would say. “It’s probably the only way you’re going to survive dealing with those mangy wolves tonight."
She grinned at the memory. “All right. Hold on and I’ll get the bottle.”
She walked to the back of the bar and the row of special liquors. She grabbed a bottle of Incognito and a couple shot glasses, then headed back to Markos, who’d been joined by Zee and Ashlynn.
“Oooh, that’s a pretty bottle,” Ashlynn exclaimed, admiring the teal color of the bottle with its necklace of charms around the neck. “What is it?”
“Incognito.”
Markos nodded to Cassie, so she grabbed a couple more glasses and lined them up on the counter. She broke the seal and poured out the liquid.
It came out clear with a bit of smoke that dissipated as the liquid hit the inside of the glasses.
Ashlynn pulled one of the glasses toward her, then froze when color began to swirl in the depths of the liquid, a bit of pink and blue that swirled around each other, but never quite touched.
She glanced from the shot glass in her hand to the ones on the counter that were still clear, then let go of the drink. As she pulled her hand away, the color disappeared and the liquid went back to clear.
“That is so cool! How’s it doing that?”
Cassie grinned. She’d forgotten how much she loved serving Incognito. No one had ever requested the drink in Jamesville so it had been years since she’d last served it. “I don’t know, but the colors are always different, depending on the person.”
Ashlynn’s eyes widened. “Well, go on!” She urged Zee and Markos. “Pick them up!”
Zee chuckled, glanced at his brother, and after a moment of silent communication, lifted his glass at the same time as Markos.
Both drinks began to turn purple, with a bit of red in Zee’s glass and a bit of green in Markos’.
“Incredible,” Ashlynn exclaimed.
“You haven’t seen anything yet,” Cassie said as she picked up her own glass.
Everyone stared as the liquid inside her glass exploded into a myriad of colors, too many to even count.
“Hey, how come you get all the colors?” Ashlynn demanded.
Cassie giggled. “Who knows?” Actually she did know, but explaining would be to tell everything and she wasn’t quite ready for that.
Markos winked at her, which made her suspect again that he’d figured out her secret.
She frowned at him, but he just grinned, making her breath catch in her throat. She shook off his spell and lifted her glass higher. “All right. You guys ready for a bit of Incognito?”
“Bottoms up!” Ashlynn crowed, lifting her drink high.
The four of them clinked glasses together and downed them. Cassie tried to keep an eye on each of their faces, just to see what their reactions were, but the drink was so blissfully exquisite, her eyes slid shut in reaction. Always so amazing.
“It’s like liquid fire,” Ashlynn whispered.
“Lightning in a glass,” Markos agreed.
Zee nodded.
“That sounds terrible,” Phoenix announced as she arrived at the bar, Travis on her heels.
“Is that Incognito?” Travis demanded.
“Yep,” Ashlynn said.
“We’ve always had a bottle in stock, but I’ve never served it in all the years I’ve been bartending.” He stared at Cassie suspiciously, then raised an eyebrow.
Oops.
She might have just outed herself to her boss.
“Well, this explains a lot.” Travis grinned. “Go on and pour out a couple more shots.” He turned to his mate. “You’re going to love this drink, Phoenix. I don’t know why I never thought to serve it to you before.”
Phoenix looked doubtful. “Liquid fire doesn’t exactly sound appealing to me.”
Cassie grinned, the feeling of relief that Travis wasn’t angry nearly overwhelming in its intensity. “Two shots coming right up.”
She poured them out and slid the glasses across the bar toward Travis and his mate.
Phoenix picked up her glass and stared into the liquid as it turned several shades of green.
Cassie had never seen it do that before. Multiple shades of the same color. Unusual.
Travis didn’t touch his own glass, just grinned and watched as Phoenix sniffed hers.
“It doesn’t smell like anything,” she reported.
“Exactly,” Cassie said. “Incognito, remember?”
Phoenix hesitated.
“Go on,” Travis urged. “I promise, you’ll love it.”
When Phoenix looked like she might just sip at the shot, Cassie quickly said, “No, no. You have to bolt it back. I mean, it’s good when you sip it, but it’s so much better when you shoot it back.”
“Fine.” Phoenix sighed and in one quick move, gulped down the shot.
For one moment, Cassie thought it hadn’t worked on the koala, which would have been unheard of, but then Phoenix’s eyes got huge and she waved her hand at Cassie. “Gimme another, quick!”
Cassie grinned and poured out another shot.
Phoenix took a tiny sip from the glass, then set it down. She stood there a minute, looking as if she was just savoring the taste on her tongue, before nodding decisively. “You’re right. It’s much better taken all at once.” She looked up at Travis. “Did you know it would taste like that?”
He shrugged. “I suspected, but you never know. That’s why it’s called Incognito. It’s always a surprise.”
“Didn’t it taste like fire?” Ashlynn asked.
“Or ashes and cinders?” Zee said.
“No way,” Phoenix said. “It woke up my koala. That hardly ever happens.” She glanced sideways at Travis, who jerked to attention. “She wants to come out and play.”
“Time to go,” Travis said abruptly, grabbing Phoenix’s hand and pulling her away from the bar.
“Wait!” Phoenix pulled her hand free and ran back to the bar, where she scooped up her shot of Incognito and quickly belted it back. She stood there a moment, clearly absorbing the experience, then pointed at the bottle and exclaimed, “That’s incredible! It’s like my entire body, my blood, my everything was infused with eucalyptus, all at once.” She glanced back at Travis, who was impatiently waiting. “Maybe we should bring the bottle with us.”
Travis rolled his eyes.
Cassie grinned and poured out another shot for Phoenix. “There. Now you’ve got one for the road. Oh, and here! Travis never did drink his.” She slid the other shot glass toward Phoenix, who grinned and proclaimed, “It’s mine now!”
Phoenix picked up both glasses and hurried back to Travis, careful not to spill a single drop along the way.
Cassie sighed as she watched the two of them leave the bar, oblivious to everyone but each other. They were so cute together and so very much in love.
She desperately wanted the same for herself, but had pretty much resigned herself to being alone for the rest of her life.
Then she’d met a certain sexy dragon and all bets were off.
Now she was hopeful again, in a way that felt both scary and exciting at the same time.
She blamed the dragon. He hadn’t moved from where he’d been sitting and even now was gazing at her as she stared after Travis and Phoenix.
She sneaked a peek at him.
As if he’d been waiting for that very thing, he winked at her.
She jerked her eyes away as heat filled her cheeks. Thank goodness for her darker skin tones! “I should probably get back to work.” She started to turn away, then stopped. “Did you need anything else?”
“Nah. I’m good, love.”
She nodded, ducked her head and hurried to the other end of the bar, where she continued serving drinks and tried to ignore the dragon filling her head with impossible dreams.
Chapter Three
“HEY, CASSIE.”
“Oh, hi, Logan.” Out of her peripheral vision, she saw Markos snap upright from the end of the bar where he’d retreated. “What can I get you?”
Logan leaned against the counter. “I was wondering if you might know why a certain dragon promised me an entire bottle of FeyLines if I would come up here and flirt with you.”
