Must Be Magic (Spellbound) (33 page)

“To the hot tub.”

Goose bumps broke out across her skin at the thought of even opening the door. “Maybe we should save that for later.” Much later. Like after a bottle of wine later, when she was good and warmed from the inside out.

Or after she’d coaxed him back to the blankets by the fire. Sex would definitely warm her up.

“Later we have plans.” He tugged the shirt over her head, tossing it to the floor well out of immediate reach.

“I’m not going out there naked.”

“You weren’t worried about anyone seeing you on the island when you lathered up.”

Darby scoffed. “This isn’t a deserted island.”

“It’s a deserted cabin in the woods. I don’t see the difference.”

“You wouldn’t. There could a hundred people out there and as long as I was naked you wouldn’t care.”

With a deadpan look, he said, “You’re going to have to explain the problem with that.”

They were almost to the door.

“Aperio.”
His amulet glowed softly at the command, and the door swung open, bringing with it a chilly blast of December air.

She turned to run, but his arms were already around her, guiding her outside. By the time she’d reached the porch, she knew the hot tub was the only way she was getting warmed up. “You win.”

He shook his head, encircling her wrist. “Not so fast. You’re skipping one very crucial step.”

Eyes narrowed at the tone that promised she wasn’t going to like what came next, she followed his gaze to the massive pile of fluffy snow that Bryce had shoveled off the porch just after their arrival.

“Bryce,” she warned.

“What? You didn’t know that you’re supposed to jump in the snow before you get into the hot tub?”

“Not a chance—”

He scooped her up into his arms, grinning the entire time.

She scanned the area, looking for anything to slow him down as he crossed the porch, and came up with exactly nothing. “I’m not kidding.”

“Has anyone ever told you how gorgeous you look when you know you’re in trouble?”

She pushed at his shoulders. “That’s the most twisted compliment—”

He dropped her.

The snow closed around her, rising well past her shoulders and her butt still hadn’t hit the ground. It took less than a second for her shock to fade, replaced by the piercing sensation of cold as every nerve flipped the switch from damn-it’s-cold, to fucking-freezing.

“Son of a…” Shivering, she scrambled out of the snow, slipping as she tried to get back on her feet.

“Now, you’re ready for the hot tub.”

The cocky look on his face was pure Bryce Lancaster, the one she’d always enjoyed taking down a peg.

She glanced over his head.
“Occido.”

Like a mini-avalanche, a huge chunk of snow broke away from the rest, sliding off the roof and landing directly on Bryce’s head.

“Now you’re ready too, Councilor.”

Despite that he looked like he had more in common with Frosty the Snowman than a former district attorney, he dove for her with a cutthroat intent she’d only glimpsed in the courtroom.

She held her hands up. “Truce.”

His eyes narrowed, and she could almost see him playing out the bargaining process in his head before he said a word. “What are the terms?”

“Me. Anytime. Anywhere. For the rest of our lives.” She hadn’t realized what she meant to say until the words were out, and then she had to try and pretend that they weren’t the most important ones she’d ever spoken.

It didn’t work.

He took a step toward her, the raw emotion on his face making her forget that she was standing in the snow, naked.

“Are you proposing to me, Darby Calder?”

She grinned. “Well, since you brought up moving in and babies, I figured I should at least cover this base. What do you say, Councilor. Do we have a deal?”

He shook his head. “I’m afraid that the rest of our lives just isn’t long enough.” He dragged her into his arms, his mouth whispering across hers. “But it’s a damn good place to start negotiating.”

About the Author

A born-and-raised Maritimer, Sydney Somers fell in love with writing when she finished her first story, “Jenny and the Glowing Green Mittens”. After attempting her first book in high school, she set writing aside to focus on school. While getting her degrees in psychology and education, Sydney tried her hand at journalism between part-time jobs, before finally returning to her love of writing.

Twenty-five novels and novellas later, Sydney is thrilled to spend her days slaying demons, running with shapeshifter packs and making the people in her head fall wildly in love. When she’s not writing or curled up with a good book, Sydney can be found chasing after her herd of kids, talking her way into a gourmet meal, exterminating rogue dust bunnies or joking about the pending zombie apocalypse. She loves hearing from readers and invites them to email her (
[email protected]
) or drop by her website (
www.sydneysomers.com
) anytime.

Look for these titles by Sydney Somers

Now Available:

Talons: Caged Desire

Call Me Cupid

Waitin’ on a Hero

Enslaved

Trust Me

Busted

Pendragon Gargoyles

Primal Hunger

Primal Attraction

Primal Pleasure

Primal Seduction

Primal Temptation

Shadow Destroyers

Unbreakable

Stripped Away

Storm Warning

Dark Obsession

Spellbound

Say You’re Mine

Don’t Let Go

Night Spell

Whatever It Takes

Condemned to darkness…tempted by passion.

Primal Temptation

© 2013 Sydney Somers

Pendragon Gargoyles, Book 4

Enslaved by a vengeful goddess, forced to live on blood, Lucan can barely remember life as a knight of the Round Table. Yet when one woman’s touch awakens millennium-old feelings that tame the savage darkness within him, he has no choice but to deny their all-consuming passion—for her own protection.

Cat shifter Briana Callaghan has watched all three of her brothers find their mates, but love isn’t in her future. Especially when her mate turns out to be a lethal mercenary…and the only man ever to break her heart.

When she’s chosen to compete in the Gauntlet, an immortal death match, Briana realizes the prize—the sword Excalibur—is her only hope of severing the fierce bond that has the power to destroy her.

Stunned to find themselves pitted against each other, Briana and Lucan quickly find that the only thing they’re fighting harder than their enemies is their sizzling, heartbreaking chemistry. But even if they survive the Gauntlet, claiming the woman he loves will be as impossible as letting her go.

Warning: Contains adult language, skin-tingling sexual tension over a thousand years in the making, and a brutal warrior unable to resist the only woman to appeal to both the man and the monster within.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Primal Temptation:

The door hadn’t even shut and her mouth was beneath his. He wasn’t sure who reached for the other first—didn’t care. Once he anchored his hands in her hair, as though it could keep him grounded somehow, he cared only about memorizing the drugging taste of her, the way her lips parted eagerly under his.

Not even the ambrosia he’d drunk from the Grail on the day he became one of Arthur’s immortal knights tasted as incredible as Briana’s kiss.

The voice that cautioned him something was wrong was little more than a whisper now, drowned out by the roar of an ocean during a rising storm.

A silky murmur of approval hummed in her throat, and he pushed his tongue into her mouth, stroking deep. Her fingers slid beneath his shirt, skimming his stomach.

He groaned. “I promised your brother—”

“That my clothes would stay on,” she finished for him. “Nobody said anything about yours.” She yanked off his shirt.

Finally.

She ran her palms up his chest. Pure feminine satisfaction sparked in her eyes. His own slid shut at the lazy exploration, her nails lightly raking on her second pass.

“Briana—” He bit down to silence the fierce demand she not play with him. He didn’t know how much he could take.

She stilled. “Haven’t you craved my touch?” She massaged the back of his neck before sinking her fingers into the ends of his hair, tugging just hard enough to make sure he was paying attention.

Had Excalibur itself materialized next to him he couldn’t have looked away from her.

She nipped his jaw. “Has wanting to touch me again never crossed your mind?”

“It’s never been far from it.”

Her cat showed in her eyes, and then she leaned in to seal her mouth over his. Need jack-knifed through him, and he locked his arms around her. With her body flush against him there was no longer a need to imagine the warmth of her skin, the softness, the sweetness—forbidden thoughts that haunted his dreamless sleep.

She somehow edged closer, her thigh sliding between his, and then there was nothing soft or sweet about his thoughts. Once more they revolved about her nails sinking into his bare back as he sank into her.

Hands in her hair, he pressed into her welcoming body, letting her know exactly how hard he was for her. She nipped his jaw, his ear, his bottom lip, pulling him into her mouth and sucking hard enough he ached to see her on her knees, sucking something far more sensitive.

Slipping his hands down to her ass, he lifted her off her feet, grinding her against the length of him.

“Luc…” The rest of her words were lost as he recaptured her mouth, sliding his tongue between her lips as slowly as he let her body slide back to the ground.

She tipped her head to the side, inviting him to tease a slow path to her shoulder.

The pounding of her pulse echoed in his head, and he lingered over the sweet spot. He dragged his teeth along her skin, rocked by a wave of hunger so intense it nearly dropped him to his knees.

Gods, he needed so much from her.
So much.

The moment his fangs pricked her flesh, Briana whimpered, and he froze.

No!
Fighting the ferocious need to hold onto her, he spun around.

She cut off his retreat, surprising him.

“I need to go.” He could feel the hunger invading every cell in his body, taking over. Where the hunger pulsed the deepest, the monster within him stirred. Lucan could again feel its interest in Briana when only blood and death ever appealed to that part of him.

She shook her head. “You can’t leave.”

“If you knew the thoughts running through my head you wouldn’t be standing in my way.” Thoughts he’d be wise to share, if only to make her understand. To make her run. If he lost control…

“You want to drink from me.” No fear or revulsion. Only…curiosity? “Don’t deny it.”

He wanted far more than just her blood. Always had. Which was why he needed to get as far from her as he could. He hadn’t dared touch her in centuries for fear of the consequences. If anything happened to her…

He should have left her with Tristan.

All too aware of the darkness pushing closer to the surface, Lucan made a move to go around her.

She growled, blocking his path once more. “You swore to keep me safe.”

“I thought you didn’t need my protection?”

Briana edged toward him like the lethal predator carefully buried beneath gorgeous blue eyes pleading with him to stay. “But the one thing I can’t protect myself from is you.”

He closed his eyes, his hands clenched tight at his sides. “Right now I pose the biggest threat.”

“Bigger than you think.” She touched his face, her palm cool on his overheating skin.

He hissed out a breath.

“Your eyes are nearly black, Luc. How far do you think you’d get before the madness drives you back to me?”

Fear, cold and sharp punched through his chest. It wasn’t losing himself that he feared as much as the wraith’s rising interest in Briana.

For years after Rhiannon had enslaved him—
changed
him—he’d been unaware of exactly what she’d done. He’d wake to the aftermath of destruction the wraith had unleashed when Lucan lost control, no longer able to fight the compulsion to follow Rhiannon’s orders.

As the centuries went by he’d learned to recognize the monster’s presence, its awareness. It’s determination.

And right now the wraith was determined to be close to Briana.

“If you give in now, you won’t lose control,” she pressed.