I move to the little table, and it's easy to see which one Kassam picked. It's surrounded by people, from a woman with a baby in a stroller to the same businessman again, everyone in the damn cafe is clustered around the table, watching Kassam take a big bite out of each cookie. "Hi guys," I say brightly as I push my way through. "We need you all to back up a little, okay? Kassam needs his space. Isn't that right, Kassam?"
He smiles lazily at his new disciples and makes a flicking motion with his hand, indicating they should go.
They disperse—very reluctantly and with many longing looks—and I sit down in a newly vacated seat that’s still warm. Yech. I take the sugar from the center of the table and pour a heaping amount into Kassam’s cup, along with a dose of creamer. “You can’t turn this shit off, right?”
“Alas, no. It would not be a punishment if I could.” He breaks off a small piece of cookie and holds it out to me. “Let me feed you, my light.”
I glance up, startled, and Kassam’s got that “let’s fuck” look in his eyes. Oh shit. He watches me with that hungry gaze, and I realize that the people around me are not the only ones that need to focus. Kassam needs reining in, too. I take the cookie from his fingers, pop it into my mouth, and then put a lid on his coffee. I offer it to him. "This one is yours. I doctored it up in a way I think you'll like."
"Let us go to your abode and fuck, Carly," he murmurs. "My body is ravenous for yours."
I'm trying to sweeten my own coffee and accidentally spill sugar all over the table at that. "Throw on the brakes, Kassam," I say in a wobbly voice. "I need answers before I'm letting you touch me again."
He growls impatiently.
"Drink your coffee," I say. "Give me my answers, and then let's…we'll talk about you and me."
I suspect he takes that as a “yes, we'll fuck” answer, because his smile widens and he gives me another sultry look before taking a sip of his coffee. His expression turns to one of ecstasy and his head tilts back. He groans, low and deep, and I cross my legs, because my pussy pulses in response.
I'm pretty sure someone a few tables over groans, too.
"What do you mean it's your curse, Kassam?" I ask, leaning in. "Can you tell me more about that?"
"It is my curse to be split into four Aspects of what I truly am." He picks up another bite of cookie and offers it to me. I hold a hand up and he eats it instead, his eyes closing. His long lashes look stunning, and I find myself fascinated by them…and touch the crystals at my wrists.
Focus. Focus. "So there's four Kassams running around?"
"There was…once. I am the last. I was trapped on the mortal plane with an enchanted sword in my guts." He lifts his shirt and touches his washboard abs. I'm pretty sure I hear the barista whimper. "For millennia, I existed without existing. Unable to free myself, and unable to touch my powers. My anchor abandoned me to die, and I assume he died, too." Kassam's gaze grows hard. "He was a coward and deserves whatever fate he has suffered. I hope the fires of the underworld burn him for all eternity. I hope he suffers a—"
"Let's put a pin in the whole 'deserves suffering' thing," I say quickly, before Kassam can get even more derailed. I reach over and tap his hand. "What's an anchor?"
He captures my fingers before I can pull away and lifts them to his mouth, kissing the tips. "You are, my light." And he gives me the flirtiest, most lascivious look ever.
I squirm in my chair. I'm pretty sure others are squirming, too. His sexuality is so intense it practically hangs in the air. Like if the coffee shop spontaneously turned into an orgy, I would not be surprised in the slightest. Everyone seems to be hanging on his every word, even when we talk so low they can't hear us. Kassam is just…magnetic. "You know that's not an answer, right?"
Kassam grins, and he's that fascinating mixture of boyish charm and seductive stranger once more. "It is a better answer than the one I have to give you. Plus, I like thinking about you." He tilts his head, regarding me. "It has been a long time since I had company. I did not realize how much I missed it."
"You know you're a master of not answering a question?"
He laughs, delighted. "So I am. Very well." He thinks for a moment, then takes a long drink of his coffee. His eyes light up with enthusiasm at the taste, and I know my decision to sugar the ever-loving fuck out of it was the right one. "As a god, I cannot dwell on the mortal plane without some sort of anchor to tie me here. My very being is bonded to yours because you volunteered to be my anchor."
"Did I? I don't remember that."
"You held out your hand. I took it. That is enough." He smiles and drains his cup. "Now that we are joined, I am here on this mortal plane for as long as you are."
Well that sucks. It sounds like the choice is all his and zero percent mine. I guess I shouldn't be surprised—if he IS a god, I'm just a lowly mortal and all. "So why are you here on Earth then?"
"Earth?"
I use my thumbs to point at my surroundings. "Here? What's your world called?"
"Aaah." He nods, thoughtful. "Aos. It is called Aos…or it was when I was last present. Perhaps it has changed since then. A lot of time has passed." He tips back his empty cup and then stares mournfully down at it. Wordlessly, I nudge mine toward him, and he gives me a delicious smile of pleasure as he tips my cup back. "You are an excellent companion so far."
A hot blush steals over my cheeks. "What, because I fed you?"
"You fed a lot of my needs last night." The look he gives me over the rim of the coffee cup is positively sultry.
Good god. I cross my legs, because my pussy is reacting to that look he's giving me. "Don't distract me with more of your not-answers. Why are you here on Earth instead of Heaven or wherever it is you hang out?"
The smile he gives me is positively lethal. "Because I've been very, very naughty."
I shift in my chair, heat suffusing my body. Despite the crystals, I still want to race around the side of the table and crawl into his lap and dry-hump his leg. Maybe I need more crystals. Or maybe he's just that damn sexy.
At the table next to us, an elderly couple starts making out. Like, hardcore making out. Tongues-licking-over-each-other's-faces, tearing-at-each-other's-clothing making out. I try not to stare, because it's not polite, but do these people not realize they're out in public? Discreetly, I adjust my gaze to a booth behind Kassam…and see a woman with her hand down her pants, her eyes closed in ecstasy. I look around, and everyone in the cafe seems to be in various stages of…pleasuring. "What the fuck's in the coffee this morning?"
Kassam chuckles and drinks the rest of mine, just as quickly as he did the last cup. "It's my presence."
I look over at him, narrowing my eyes. I think about how much he fogged my mind and how I couldn't take my hands off of him last night. How even right now, it's hard to resist him, and I'm dripping with crystals to clear my head. He oozes sexuality, from the way he licks the last drops of coffee off the rim of the cup to the way he watches me with those fuck-me eyes. "Are you…the god of love?"