Love's a Witch (17 page)

She couldn’t see the book anymore but still didn’t look me in the eyes.

“I came to bring you back.” Mary whispered.

“I can’t come back yet.” I had so much to tell her, but I didn’t want to talk.

“Why?” When her eyes hit me, I knew I was a goner, and we both lost our breath as the mating pheromones rushed over us. I didn’t want to deny it anymore, and my chemical barrier was long gone. We were open to each other now, and I couldn’t leave her again.

I brought my legs forward without breaking the contact. I sat in front of her, and placed my palms on the sides of her face. A flush rushed under my fingers where I touched her.

“I learned something horrible about my old Pack. I am struggling with how to handle that.” I had to control myself enough to talk to her, but damn it was hard. My body prickled as my wolf pressed forward inside me.

“I can help. Amber and Jake can help. Why did you break away from us?”

I let my hands drop even though I wanted nothing more than to pull her in. I wanted to be close to her more than anything. Even though we weren’t Clan there was still a strong sense of home in her touch. Forming these thoughts into words didn’t work when the blood had fled my brain.

“My Pack…my Pack before I met the Paulsons, they are the harvesters who took Kari.” She sucked in a breath, but kept quiet. “You’re next on their list. They sent me to bring you back. They want you because they need to sweeten the pot since they damaged Kari.”

“What do you mean they damaged her? Is she okay?” Mary was scared, but those deep blue eyes of her flashed with something I had never seen before. This was no longer my sweet Mary who needed constant protection. She had changed while I was gone.

“She’s alive. She’s just scratched up. I saw them dragging her in, but I haven’t seen her since.” Hoping she was still alive was not the same as concrete proof, and I had to let Mary know I wasn’t sure.

Mary snorted. “They don’t have her locked up.”

“I assure you. If she escaped, I would’ve known. I didn’t get her out. At least, not yet.” Nothing sets the mood like telling your mate that you can’t save someone she cares about.

“You really think they are keeping her silent? Sure they have her physical form, but that’s not going to stop a witch. I may be naïve, but you are just dumb.”

“What do you mean?” I might not be setting the mood, but Mary was starting to squash it all together.

“Kari was able to follow me into a trance. I know she’s alive. She didn’t share how bad her injuries were when we talked last, but she’s surviving. At least she was yesterday morning.” Mary swallowed.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Mary wasn’t done. My mate was ready to show me this new side of herself. It was a show I was dying to see.

“You still view us witches as weak. Let me give you a little advice from a girl who studied a bit of history in school. Those who underestimate their enemies…they lose.” She stood up. “If you’re not coming back with me, I’m staying here.” She threw the book into her duffel and walked to my tent.

Chapter Twenty-One

Mary

All I could think about was sex. Not the fact that the one witch who felt like a real mentor to me was bound and gagged in a camp of werewolves. Not that there were other witches with her who needed help. Nope… All that was on my mind was that my body tingled like a million little ice-skaters were doing double lutzes over my nipples and riding the shivers they caused down to my lady bits. Freaking out didn’t cover the buzz that was going on in my brain.

We were surrounded by pine trees. The woodsy scent tickled my nose, and the chattering of the birds and squirrels around me clogged my senses. Maybe my sixth sense was wrong this time. Maybe I drew that image to prevent it. My body was getting warm. I was tense and fidgety. I couldn’t sit still, and every time I moved a new area of my body lit up with sensation. Those ice-skaters were working overtime. I tried to take a deep breath to calm down, but all I could smell was Craig’s scent.

I couldn’t deny how much my drawing was coming to life tonight. My head jerked up at the soft crunch of feet on the forest floor. I lifted the flap of the tiny tent. Craig held an armful of logs and tossed them on the remaining embers of the fire pit.

There must have been a slight breeze, because his scent flowed over me, and my whole body ached for him. My chest tightened, and I wanted nothing more than to get him out of those cowboy boots.

I had to trust my intuition. I only hoped it wasn’t being clouded by raging hormones. The connection to the Clan was still with me. My only problem was I couldn’t draw calm from them. It looked like I wasn’t the only one with my mind on sex. The pulse-pounding sexy vibe was coming through my connection. I quickly pulled back. The last thing I needed was a sex-crazed contact buzz.

Our connection was not like a cell phone. No words would travel that path, but the strength of our bond let us know we were all okay. My Clan believed in me, enough to let me in.

“You’re all settled in. Good. I’m going to get this fire going again, but it looks like we may be in for some rain. The temperature drops pretty drastically when the sun goes down around here. You already look cold.” His lips slid into a hungry smile. His eyes were glittering gold.

I looked down to where his attention was and my nipples were poking through my shirt like road spikes looking to pop the closest tire. I couldn’t stop thinking about that drawing. Bodies entwined in a slick hot dance, naked around a fire. It wasn’t just sex though. There was a physical need to be with this man. It had never been like this before. I guess absence really does make the heart grow fonder, but more than my heart wanted Craig right then. I was on the pill, but could that stop werewolf semen?

Dammit.
“Stop thinking about it, Mary,” I mumbled to my tennis shoes.

His snort of laughter reminded me he was still there, and that he was still staring at my chest. I looked around for something to do. I needed a distraction. Dropping the door flap I turned back into the tent. The small black duffel spewed its contents on the red sleeping bag, the only bed we had. The book Kari had given me, the same one from my sketch, stared up at me.

Gah!
I threw it out of the tent and kept digging. There might have been some paper to sketch on in a pocket. I hadn’t felt this antsy in a while. I needed some kind of outlet.

Craig’s voice carried in through the unzipped door. “Mary. Come out here.”

“No. You’re right. It’ll get cold. I better stay in here.” If I went out there, it was on.

“Is there a reason you’re throwing romance novels at me?” His voice was matched by the noise of the crackling fire.

I slapped my thighs with open palms. The slight sting was needed. A good slap across the face to bring me to my senses was also in order, but I stopped short of doing that. My body was fighting my fear. My body wasn’t afraid, it wanted to go out there and enact that scene.

Every turn I had made this last week pushed me closer and closer to Craig. We were heading in the same direction in every conceivable way but one—we weren’t Clan. I wanted that connection back. Sure, he would have a significantly longer life span than me. Unless I was looking to be turned a relationship with Craig just shouldn’t happen. I had trouble dealing with tomorrow, and if I acted on these impulses I would have to make decisions about eternity.

“Mary, come out here. Now.” The authority in his voice clanged low in my belly. “I am done playing.”

“You know what?” I stomped out of the tent. “I’m done playing too.” With a smile, I kicked off my shoes and socks. Craig wasn’t the only one who could pull from magical forces anymore. “Come here now? What am I, a pet? Well, pal, I might not be the weak little human everyone needs to protect anymore. I’ve learned a few tricks. Wanna see?”

My toes dug into the ground. The night was getting cold, but my feet pulled warmth from below. Craig’s eyes lost that wolf-gold color. His surprise at whatever he sensed made him step back. Good.

This powerful being was scared of me. I breathed in the air and kept that power close to me as I stalked closer. I let my toes wiggle in the soil with every step. The power was beginning to build in me. I wasn’t connected to Craig by Clan magic, and we weren’t mated, but I felt something inside me reach out to him and grab on. If I just pushed a little harder…

Craig closed his eyes like he did when Jake threatened to dazzle him. “Mary, I know you’ve been getting better with astral projection, and your dream work is improving if you’ve been talking with Kari. Do you even realize that you are walking your way into my head? I thought I only had to worry about Jake, but you need to be careful. If you keep playing around in there, you could knock something loose. You don’t want to make me a vegetable do you?” He peeked out at me through one squinting eyelid.

“So much faith in me. Tsk tsk tsk. Weren’t you the one who told them I needed to come into my powers? How am I doing?” I walked towards him, and although I wouldn’t try and grab hold of his mind again without assurance that I could control it, I was over being pushed aside. This was more like a hunt. “I am done being ignored.”

“If you start boiling rabbits, I am so outta here.”

I was beginning to think of him as my prey, but why was he talking about rabbits? “What?”

“Didn’t you see
Fatal Attraction
?”

“I don’t go to the movies that much. I like reading romances better.”

“It’s not a romance. It’s about a crazy woman.” His back was up against a tree.

A step closer. “Then it’s a dumb title.”

“That’s why they put
fatal
in front of it. She loses her mind and goes on a murderous rampage because of a guy.” Suddenly his cologne hit my nose again.

I groaned with how much his scent turned me on. The entire lower half of my body was throbbing.

“Was she a werewolf?” I was only half-focused on the conversation.

“What? No.” He looked to either side, and back at me. He was arguing with himself about what to do next. A fast side step, and he wasn’t blocked by the tree any longer. Craig looked like he might take off into the woods to escape. From me. Something about that made me want to chase him more.

“Then how does it apply to us?”

He was framed by the fire pit behind him. The flames continued to grow, the light pulsed around him. Then I realized it wasn’t the fire at all. I was seeing his aura, and mine.

“We weren’t talking about…wait…did you just say us?” Craig stopped running. My eyes darted around him. I was fascinated by the way the red around him grew as he realized I’d stopped stalking him.

That’s when he took over. In that moment, I found I couldn’t push him away. I believed in fate, and I knew this was meant to be, but that wasn’t why my body was softening. It was him. I wanted him, and I wanted to give my body over to the man who was made for me. Then his eyes started to glow.

Crap
. “No.” Instead of letting me tuck my tail between my legs and get away, he circled me. Even though the fire was not close enough to hurt me, I swore it was flames that licked my body wherever his eyes caressed me. I felt the pull of him as he strode within inches of me. His breath was warm on my face, and my traitorous nipples perked and tried to close the gap.

“Mary, there’s no need to lie about what you want. You’re hot for me. Your body wants mine. I can smell your desire.” And I could see his. That cocky grin sucked. When did he take control back? Craig might not be a vampire, but he’d dazzled me. There was no escape. Did I really want one? “I love that you’re already wet for me.”

Gulp.

“I made up my mind, Mary. No. Screw that. You made it up for me. I don’t doubt you can handle yourself. I just want the chance to handle you quite a bit in the process,” He stalked around me in long lazy steps. His fingers drew a pattern of heat as he reached out to touch me. “I want you. I’ll try and be gentle, but you know I’m not a refined guy.”

“I can’t believe I’m talking with a werewolf who’s trying to seduce me.” The red grew and I had to look to find the trees through the billowing aura. I didn’t want to look though. The outside world had been so harsh and I was relieved to see it fade away.

Bending over, Craig reached for something, but his golden eyes stayed on me. “You know that’s our problem, Mary.” When he stood back up to full height he had that damn book in his hand. “We’ve spent all this time talking. These books you read tortured me.”

“They weren’t that bad.” Okay, I’m pretty sure I knew what he meant, but I wasn’t going to take that step until he did. Call me a wuss, or old-fashioned, but I wanted him to make that move. My nails dug into my jeans and gripped the seam. No way was I going to let my nails dig in where they really wanted. Yet.

“Mary, shut up.” And then his lips were on mine. The stolen kiss in Kari’s house was nothing compared to this. There weren’t people in the next room. Our small tent, with one small sleeping bag, was just behind us. The two lovers I drew on that paper paled in comparison to this. My drawing and the reality blended together when I opened my eyelids. Red billowing aura pulsed and bled from Craig. I leaned my head back to watch the cloud of sex explode upwards. I couldn’t take my eyes off the dance of crimson in the air, until Craig licked my neck. My eyes crossed before rolling back into my head.