Magick Rising (56 page)

wanted him. To hell with her trepidation. If he could do that for her, the

least she could do was give him his last wish.

Elated and letting her inhibitions fall by the wayside, she said, “All right,

you’ve convinced me. Make love to me, Duncan.”

“Wha-at?”

“You heard me.” Smiling, she took a step toward danger and salvation.

FIERCE JOY SUFFUSED Duncan. “Are you sure?” he asked as he

captured her hands in his. Why had she changed her mind so quickly?

Hell, why was he asking why? His entire body thrummed with need . . .

need for her.

“Yes,” Beth said with more confidence than he had ever seen in her.

“Come with me.”

She led him to her room where the four-poster bed with its homey quilt

appeared soft and inviting. It even looked big enough to accommodate him.

But now that they were here, in her sanctuary, she seemed hesitant.

Fearing she would change her mind once again, Duncan searched his mind

for a way to distract her. “Why don’t you light the candles while I turn out

the light?” he suggested. It would give her something innocuous to do,

soothe her.

Her hands were a little unsteady at first, but she managed to light the

candles and stood staring at them for a moment. Coming up behind her,

Duncan reached out to gently massage her shoulders. She’d liked that

before, and he wanted to go slow so he didn’t scare her. She was like a

frightened fawn who needed to be coaxed and reassured.

She relaxed into his caress, sighing in pleasure. Emboldened by her

response, he leaned down and placed a kiss at the base of her neck, right

where her pulse beat frantically against his lips. So soft, so warm.

Beth gasped, and he pulled back, not sure if her reaction indicated

sexual excitement . . . or fear that his teeth were so near her tender flesh.

Before she could react either way, he turned her around and captured her

lips with his.

He didn’t just kiss her, he loved her with his mouth, gently and

reverently. She responded with a sigh and slid her arms around his neck.

Encouraged by her small sign of trust, he deepened the kiss, probing her

mouth with his tongue, and letting his hands roam down the sweet curve of

her back. When he realized she wasn’t wearing any undergarments, he

hardened against her softness. So sweet, so wonderful . . .

She met him kiss for kiss until he was almost breathless with need.

Leaving her luscious lips for a moment, he kissed his way down her neck as

he let his hands rise to cup the small softness of her breasts. Finding her

nipples taut and straining against the fabric of her caftan, he suckled the

tight little bud of one breast until Beth was moaning and rubbing against

him. Her soft cries were driving him wild.

“Wait,” she said urgently. “I want to feel you, too.” Quickly, she pulled

his shirt out of his pants and undid the buttons then stripped his shirt off.

“Nice,” she said in appreciation as she ran her hands through the thick hair

on his chest.

He loved the way she touched him. It had been so long since a woman

had looked at him this way, stroked him with desire. It was incredibly erotic.

Even more so when she unfastened his jeans, tugged down his zipper, and

slipped her hand inside to fondle him.

Closing his eyes, he reveled in the pure pleasure for a moment but

couldn’t take it for long without exploding. He pulled away only long

enough to strip off his remaining clothes and to raise Beth’s caftan off over

her head. Now, they were both naked.

He laid her down on the bed and leaned over her on one knee, just

admiring her for a moment. So sleek, so feminine. Even her slight tremors

couldn’t detract from her loveliness. “You’re beautiful,” he murmured and

captured her breast once more with his mouth as he ran his hand down her

belly to delve deep between her legs.

She was moist and warm, waiting for him. With a small cry, she opened

her legs wider so he could stroke her secret nub, and she reached out to

caress him once more. Soon, their slow, seductive movements turned more

urgent as their breathing grew heavier and they took fierce pleasure in each

other.

Urgently, he increased the slick friction inside her, circling her nub

faster and faster until she screamed in release, pulsing around his finger.

Jubilant with her response, he swiftly knelt over her until his tip was pushing

against her opening. He couldn’t wait any longer—he had to be inside her.

She opened for him, trustingly, joyfully, and pulled him toward her.

With relief, he thrust inside her slick welcoming sheath and gasped. He

couldn’t help it, he had to pause for a moment. The rush of sheer sensation

almost made him lose it. Too soon.

Slowly, he moved in and out. A sensation like molten silk surrounded

the most sensitive part of his body. Exquisite. A wave of ecstasy washed

over him, only enhanced by her cry of gladness as she wrapped her legs

around him and urged him on.

That was all he needed. Propping his arms alongside her head, he

thrust in and out, trying to control himself, trying to make the pleasure last.

But all too soon, the waves crashed over him, beating against him in erotic

frenzy and leaving him mindless as he pumped inside her. When he felt the

pulsing in her body match his, he couldn’t last any longer. He exploded,

taking her with him as the world burst around them in glittering shards of

light.

Exhausted, depleted, Duncan slumped down beside her, fearing he

would crush her if he landed on top of her. For the first time in a long time,

he felt peace. But only a little, since he knew all too well what awaited him

tomorrow.

Beth rolled over and hugged him. “Thank you,” she whispered with a

wide grin. “That was wonderful.”

He glanced at her in surprise. She seemed so joyful, disproportionately

so. “Yes, it was. I’m glad you enjoyed it,” he murmured.

“You have no idea,” she said with glee.

His brow furrowed as he regarded her with a puzzled expression.

“Then tell me.”

“I’ve been avoiding relationships, knowing I can’t burden anyone else

with my illness.”

Fear and compassion clenched at his heart. “Maybe your holistic

remedies will beat the odds,” he said urgently, not sure if he was trying to

reassure her or himself. “Maybe they’ll find a cure soon. Maybe your

rituals—”

She hushed him with a finger to his lips. “No. That won’t happen. The

symptoms are worsening. The end is inevitable.”

It would be cruel to continue to offer false hope, so he refrained. “How

can you say it so calmly?”

“I wasn’t calm at all—then. But I’ve come to accept it.”

At that moment, he fell in love with her. Even if he hadn’t been kayoed

already by her beauty and caring soul, her courage and determination in the

face of such odds would have bowled him over. He blinked back sudden

moisture.

“It’s okay,” she said, stroking his face with a compassionate touch. “I

finally see some ray of hope.”

Unmanned by the fact that she could comfort him while she was in

such need of it herself, he asked thickly, “How?”

“You.”

“Me?”

“Yes,” she said urgently, rising up on her elbow to stare down at him.

“You said it yourself—no disease can withstand a werewolf’s blood. Don’t

you see? This was what Ian hinted you could do for me.”

“No!” Duncan leapt out of bed, running a hand through his hair. The

thought was totally abhorrent. He couldn’t. “Ian is crazy—
you’re
crazy. You

have no idea what you’re asking for.”

“Yes, I do.” Beth gathered the sheets around her breasts and sat up to

give him an intent stare. “I’m asking for my life.”

Ignoring her pleading gaze, he said, “No, you’re asking for degradation

of the worst sort. What kind of life do you think you’d have when you turn

into a
thing
three nights a month?”

“It would be better than dying an inch at a time,” she said with her chin

raised in defiance.

“No, it wouldn’t. You have no clue what it’s really like.”

She reached out a pleading hand. “Please, Duncan. I told you before I

would do anything to stay alive.”

“Even this?” he asked incredulously.

“Especially this. You think I can’t tell how vibrantly alive you are—how

healthy? I’m sure it’s part of the attraction I feel toward you, the need to

possess what you have.”

“Well, I won’t give it to you,” Duncan said. He couldn’t and still live

with himself. Savagely, he grabbed his jeans off the floor and pulled them up

over his nakedness.

She looked hurt. “You would deny me a cure for my disease when I’ve

been searching so hard to find one for you?”

Zipping up his pants, he said, “You’d just be trading one terminal

illness for another—one that’s far more painful. One that’s going to
kill
me

in a couple of days. Hell, listen to yourself. I’m looking for a cure to rid

myself of the very thing you want. Doesn’t that tell you something?”

“Yes,” she said with a glare. “That you don’t appreciate what you have.

That you’re too stubborn to find the good in it.”

“What good? There is none.”

“Lupa said there was—but you’re too pigheaded to even try.”

“Too smart, you mean,” Duncan shot back. “I won’t do this to you.

Trust me, you’ll thank me later.”

“When?” Beth demanded, her voice rising. “When I’m dead?”

“No. When you see what it does to me, to my body. When you see me

lose all humanity.”

“Is that a dare?”

He hadn’t intended it that way, but why not? “All right,” he said, his

fists clenched in frustration. “I dare you to watch my transformation

tomorrow night and see if you can stomach it.” There was no way she’d be

able to—that would change her mind, for sure.

“All right.” She swept out of the bed with the sheet still wrapped

around her and glared up at him. “I accept your dare. But afterward, if I still

want to be a werewolf, will you make me into one?”

“I’ll think about it,” he growled. But he didn’t have to worry. One

experience of his hideous transformation and she would run screaming the

other way.

The thought was satisfying, yet sad, too. Once she saw the thing he

turned into, she would never want him close again.

BETH SHOWERED, unsurprised to find herself alone when she exited the

bathroom. Though their lovemaking had been marvelous, Duncan’s

stubbornness on the werewolf topic had sent him running for cover.

But, for the first time in many years, she felt a burgeoning hope. There

was a cure for her disease—a real cure. So she had to become a werewolf, so

what? It would be worth it to feel healthy again. Now she just needed to

convince Duncan.

She dressed and went into the kitchen where he already had some tea

and muffins waiting for her. “Thank you,” she said as she joined him at the

table.

The morning after the first night of love could be an awkward time, but

they were saved from the embarrassment by the lingering aftereffects of

their fight. She gave Duncan a considering look then opened her mouth to

speak.

He stopped her with a warning glare. “Don’t start. I refuse to get into

that argument again.”

She closed her mouth, wondering what would convince him. He was

stubborn, but she was even more so, especially when it came to her health.

She would give anything to be well again. Never to have to worry about

when she would lose control of her body and her speech, when her brain

might turn to sludge, when her personality might change . . .

She wanted that. Badly.

But she wouldn’t harass him about it again. Not now, anyway. First

she’d pass his test,
then
reap her reward.

Throughout the rest of the day, Beth psyched herself up. She was

determined not to wimp out, but the closer it came to sundown, the edgier

Duncan became.

She helped him set up his cage in the detached garage and watched as

he tightened the bolts on the thing. About eight feet on each side, the cage

was just large enough to hold him. The bottom was made of heavy

reinforced steel, and the sides and top consisted of steel bars covered in

silver. A heavy padlock secured the single door.

She shivered. Somehow, the existence of the cage made it all seem

more . . . real.

As he grasped a bar to tighten it, she asked, “Doesn’t the silver hurt

you?”

“Not in human form,” he said curtly. “It stings a little, but it’s bearable.

It’s only when I’m in werewolf form that it burns. Or so I’m told.” He

glanced at her, frowning. “I don’t remember anything after I . . . change. I

just know that the cage holds me until morning.”

“How do you get out?”