Enemy Mine (Mending The Veil) (2 page)

“Please, there’s nothing you can do to trouble me.” She moved to the door with a come-hither look over her shoulder. “Follow me.” She didn’t look back as she led him around the side of the cabin and along the well-trod footpath cutting through the trees, down a slight hill to the river bank beyond it.

Rissa felt the presence of the forest animals and silently sent out a message for them to walk off. They’d kept watch over her for days as a favor, kindred spirits whom she cherished. She heard his step falter as a cat hissed loudly in the woods to their right. She recognized the sound and wondered if the jumpy Guardian had even a clue what kind of cat made it. His quickened pace made her suspect that he might. She couldn’t help smiling as she sent the feline the silent command to back off. A soft hiss of displeasure made her choke back a chuckle as she heard him stumble behind her.

Rissa inhaled as she broke through the trees to face the tranquility of the river’s bank. The sounds of frogs croaking and crickets chirping surrounded her in a blanket of serenity. This was her world. The creatures and the dense forest were her reminders that she was here on Mother Earth to care for and protect the forces of nature.

The man stumbling closely behind her was not a part of her world. His male musk was foreign as it mixed with sweat, a scent that she found oddly...interesting. No male Witch allowed himself to sweat. They rarely needed to do enough physical labor to warrant sweating. Plus, they tended to cover their male scent with fragrant oils and herbs.

She inhaled once more as she approached the edge of the water. There was something about his male scent that drew her. Balancing on one bare foot, she turned to look at him. He was a fine male specimen. One that would draw the attention of any woman with red blood running through her veins. Still, he was a Guardian of the Light and her enemy.

Travis shifted from one foot to the other as he stood watching her with his hands stuffed in the front pockets of his aged shorts. Rissa moved as far as the edge of the river before turning to offer him the towel in her hand. He slowly took it, and she noticed he made sure not to touch her bare arm as he did so. She smiled and held out a bar of soap.

“You’ll want this as well. I’ll give you a few moments to get in the river.”

“Thank you.” He immediately lifted the bar to his nose and breathed in the clean scent of lye and a hint of rose oil. This was not the store bought variety of soap, meaning it could very well be enchanted. She read the thoughts in his expressive eyes. Oh, he really did not trust her. She almost rubbed her hands together in glee. This was going to be so much fun.

“Rose oil soap. I made it myself...during March’s blue moon.” She winked at him as she turned to walk back up the bank of the river to disappear in the shadows of the trees.

Chapter Two

Travis couldn’t help but watch her shapely bottom as she sashayed her way back up the path to slide into the dark shadows of the trees. He listened to the animal sounds, trying to hear the high-pitched hiss of, what sounded to him, like a big jungle cat. When he heard nothing besides frogs and cricket songs, he slipped off his favorite pair of runners and experimentally dipped a toe in the water. The cold water made him close his eyes in relief. A mosquito buzzed near his ear to disappear as he lifted the hand with the bar of soap to slap it away. He tossed the towel up on a low bush and the bar of soap up on the shore before he pulled his damp shirt over his head. His jean shorts were next after he stuffed his wallet, necklace, and pocket knife in one of his shoes.

“Shit! What are you doing, Holt?” He shoved an agitated hand through his thick hair as he debated the wisdom of getting naked when he was in the enemies’ territory. Of course, if he didn’t strip all the way down she might get suspicious of him. Decision made, he tossed his boxers on the pile of his clothes and dove head first into the water. He swam several feet into the middle of the river and came up to push his wet hair out of his eyes. Movement on the bank he’d just left had him looking closely at the shoreline in alarm.

“Hey! What are you doing?” She looked up, a pretty smile on her serene face as her hands went to the strings at her hips. Holding his gaze with a boldness he found both intimidating and exhilarating, she unwrapped her skirt to toss it on the same bush as the towel. His breath caught in his throat as her arms crossed over her waist. Long fingers gripped the white cotton of her shirt to slowly pull it off over her head.

“I should think this river is big enough to hold the two of us without a meeting, Mr. Holt.” Her saucy grin had him sinking lower in the water as she stood there in a satin slip that lovingly hugged every curve of her body. He didn’t get the chance to agree or disagree as she dove with elegant grace into the river ahead of him.

Travis watched for her head to pop up close to him, but wonder turned to alarm as the minutes passed with no disturbance in the water’s glassy surface. Fear burned in his gut as he swung around to look behind him. Was this Witch able to change into a fish? He knew there were those within the brotherhood who swore the Witches could shift into animals. If so, he might find himself the bait for a shark or a piranha.

“Chilling, isn’t it?” He turned quickly toward her soft voice, sending water splashing around him as he came face to face with her, instantly caught in a pair of sparkling green eyes. Her dark hair clung to her head in wet strands that glowed blue with the kiss of the moon. She laughed, the musical notes of her voice heating his blood as he stared at her beauty, spell-bound and helpless to defend against her. “A moonlit dip is soothing, but you stand there as stiff as a statue, Mr. Holt. What holds you back from enjoying the pleasure of a swim?” She tilted her head as her dark brows nearly touched with her questing search of his face. Her eyes widened suddenly, and a sly grin lit her features. “I see. You are shy. Tell me, are you one who prefers the company of men over that of a woman?”

“What? No...” He lost his train of thought as she laughed and moved closer in the water. A brush of her bare leg against his had him stepping back and almost slipping in the sandy bottom of the river bed.

“Come, I have no quarrel with men whose sexual appetites go beyond the border of society’s pretentious restrictions.” She twirled in the water, easily going under to reappear closer to him.

“Lady, you don’t have any idea how far I can push those boundaries.” He’d had enough of her teasing and taunts regarding his masculinity. Before he thought better of his actions, his hands reached out and caught her waist to yank her against him with an impact leaving her gasping in shock. Green eyes widened in alarm and surprise as her hands caught at his bare shoulders.

“Does this give you any doubts about where my sexual hungers lie?” He ground out through clenched teeth. To hold her soft flesh against his skin was an unexpected temptation. One that Travis thought he might be able to use against the Witch. If her clinging hands and quickened breathing were to be believed, then she was just as affected by the way their wet bodies met and matched in a perfect communion of opposites. Where he was solid and firm, she was soft and yielding. Her silken legs tangled in his as he kept her from touching the bottom.

This Witch clearly thought she had him right where she wanted him, Travis thought as he looked into endless pools of green. Let her think she had him by the short hairs. As long as he gained her trust, his mission would be a success. He had to remember his oath, his chosen path to vengeance, and in doing so, he could live through anything he had to do to destroy his enemy.

***

His solid shoulders flexed beneath her hands, sending a jolt of physical awareness through Rissa that she didn’t fully understand. She found herself caught in his dark eyes, as if she might drowned in the sweet depths of his soul. He was stronger than she’d given him credit for. She’d taunted him as a means of pushing him to reveal his true self and his plan to destroy her. She hadn’t counted on him being bold enough to take her teasing as a challenge to his manhood. There was no doubt about his virile prowess with the hard length of manhood pressing against her lower belly. Rissa swallowed a moan as a tingling sensation preceded a delicious throbbing between her legs.

Holt’s masculine grin sent a shiver down her spine in a mixed reaction of fear and excitement. She’d come to the mountains to escape her future, and the Goddess, in her divine wisdom, was throwing a strong vibrant male in her path. She wondered if he was the answer to her prayers or the end of her torment. Life or death, the path would be something she would not regret later.

“The tempting vixen is suddenly without words?” Small lines crinkled at the corners of his eyes as he stared down at her. Rissa found him devastatingly handsome, and though he was also disgustingly arrogant, his quit-witted repartee and blatant sexuality made him impossible to dismiss. A ride with this man would definitely be all kinds of hot, sweaty fun, leaving him worlds away from her intended groom. Her heart nearly broke as she could almost see the invisible binds of her family’s expectations wrapping around her, binding her to a life that would surely leave her an empty shell of misery. They wanted her to marry for breeding and bloodlines, but it went against every dream she carried with her of finding the other half of her soul.

Rissa experimentally moved her hands down over his warm shoulders, her eyes watching her hands as her palms smoothed over hard muscles and rough skin to land on his firm chest. Beneath her left palm his heart beat a quick, fierce rhythm of life. Her fingers trembled as she stared at her hands resting on his naked flesh. He was real, he was a promise of rebirth, and he may be her enemy, but Travis Holt’s caress touched her down deep in her soul, where she had always followed. Slowly, she raised her head, her eyes locking with his. She felt the strings attempting to bind them together and chose her path with a heavy breath.

“Do I tempt you, Mr. Holt?” His eyes dilated as his hands clenched on her trim waist. “Be tempted. Kiss me.” She demanded with a confidence that built within her as his heart hammered against her palm in an accelerated beat.

“I don’t think that would be wise. I don’t even know your name.” His jaw clenched as her nails lightly scored his chest.

“I am Rissa Jennings.” She whispered as she reached up to thrust her hand in his hair to pull him down to her. Their lips brushed lightly, a testing kiss that had her blood singing through her veins with a magical call that she could not ignore.

Chapter Three

Power pulsed between them as their lips met once more and clung. When his wet tongue slid along her lower lip, silently requesting entrance to her mouth, she didn’t think to object, but met the first slow thrust with her own tongue. She eagerly tasted him, bemused by the way he angled his head to slide his tongue over her teeth in a strong sweep before once more tangling it with hers.

Someone groaned and hands moved. His one hand slid up her back to thrust into wet hair to hold her head for his hungry kiss. His other hand moved down below the water on a sensual path to the curve of her silk covered buttocks. Rissa wrapped her arms around his shoulders, gasping as her breasts were pressed fully against his hard chest. His lips moved over her cheek to brush against her ear.

“Rissa. What are you doing to me?” His deep voice sent a shiver of pleasure over her entire body as his mouth settled against her neck in an open-mouthed kiss.

“The same as you’re doing to me.” She smiled as his teeth gently nipped her neck before he pulled back to look down with darkened eyes. “Don’t stop.” The urgent plea in her words instantly made Rissa want to hide her heated face in his chest, but his thumb beneath her chin lifted her face up for his serious inspection.

“Are you sure?” Holt’s question didn’t even give her pause as she pulled his head back down to hers. Her teeth captured his lower lip in a gentle nip before he growled at her and captured her mouth. She wanted to purr as his fingers clenched on her bottom before sliding down over her hip. She felt him grasp her slip before pulling it up to her waist. He released her head to slowly peel the material up over her trembling body.

Rissa lifted her arms as he drew the wet slip up over her head. His eyes held hers for precious seconds before they moved down over her shoulders to rest upon her naked breasts. She almost covered herself, but relaxed as his look softened to one of reverence.

“You’re truly exquisite, my lady.” His voice and words slid over her flesh like a hot flame, burning her with a delicious sting of longing. Rissa barely had time to smile before his hands came up to span the bare skin below her breasts. His thumbs gently moved up to tease her as his hold lifted her swollen flesh up to his mouth. The breath in her lungs exploded as he placed a teasing kiss to the valley between her breasts. Rissa slid her fingers through his wet hair, her head falling back as his mouth found and clamped down over a tight nipple.

“Please.” Rissa sighed in surrender as each tug of his lips echoed through her body to gather between her thighs with a pleasure and need she was unable to control or ignore. Grasping his shoulders, she pulled herself up, and wrapped her legs around his waist. He pulled back from her chest to stare at her with a shocked look of hunger.

***

Travis’s hands cupped her firm, round bottom as he lifted her up, positioning her over his hardened cock. He watched her eyes widen as her body opened to him in a welcome embrace that was hot and wet. She was beautiful with her green eyes glittering in the light of the full moon. Her dark hair framed her pale face, trailed over bare shoulders, and floated upon the water around them.

He let her body naturally slip down on his; the torturous pleasure had him biting his lip as he forced himself not to rush the joining. Then she cried out, a sweet, keening cry of pain that made him shiver and clutch her bottom as he felt a barrier within her tight channel. His eyes flew to her face as his lust-drugged mind slowly understood her pained expression.

“Holy hell!” He cursed lowly, his hands going to her small waist to lift her up off him.