Mystical Seduction: full-length sensual paranormal romance (The Protectors) (19 page)

“What were you thinking?” he shouted. “You’re not dressed!
You don’t even have shoes on!”

She squirmed and kicked him several times in the shin.
Though his leg hurt like the devil, he refused to turn her loose.

“You can’t leave me,” he shouted. “I won’t let you leave
me.”

“If you won’t let me help you, I’ll find this Prince Manelin
myself. You don’t need me? Well, buster, I don’t need you, either. I was doing
just fine without you!” She kicked him again.

“Dammit, that hurt!” He tossed her over his shoulder and
clamped one arm over her legs.

Did she really not need him? His heart tightened at the
thought.

“You’re a danger to yourself, Faith Summers. I’m going to
lock you up. And if you hit me again, I just might stuff you into a very dark
closet.”

“You try it and I’ll singe your eyebrows off,” she growled.
She’d started to glow again. Not a good sign. “I can do it, you know. Thanks to
your dumping all your mystical powers on my head, I can strike you down with a
bolt of lightning if I wanted.” Everyone in the café took a broad step away
from Horace and Faith. “Whether you like it or not, I’m going to track down
Manelin and find out what he has against us. You can come along with me, or I
can go by myself. Your choice.”

“You fight me and I’ll bare your lovely ass in front of
everyone and spank it until it’s as red as a cherry.”

“Neither of you will be doing anything of the sort,” Stone
interrupted. He didn’t shout. He didn’t need to. No one disobeyed Stone. He’d
honed his ability to command into a formable art form. “Horace, you will take
Faith to see her parents. They don’t deserve to be left worrying.”

“
My parents?
” Faith immediately stopped struggling.

“Yes,” Horace bit back, refusing to loosen his hold on her.
“They’ve filed a missing person’s report.”

“Oh,” her tone softened. “Oh! How careless of us, Horace! I
need to call them. They worry. I’m their only child, you know. I hate to
imagine how frantic they must be right now thinking I’m missing. And Kimmi,
I’ll have to call her. She’ll be worried, too. And for no reason. I’m not
missing, I’m right here.”

He didn’t look forward to facing her parents, or explaining
what he’d been doing to their daughter. The dynamics of families were a mystery
to him. From the outside, the strings that held a family together appeared so
precious, so fragile. He didn’t want to be responsible for breaking them. He’d
much rather face down a killer than face Faith’s family.

But unfortunately, Stone had a made a good point. Taking
Faith to visit her parents might be a way to keep her from playing superhero,
which left him no other option.

He’d take her to see her parents…after he carried her
upstairs and dealt with the little problem of her glowing again.

* * * *

“I’ve never seen Horace violent like that.” Dallas sank into
the nearest chair and cradled her trembling hands in her lap. “I was scared
he’d hurt Faith. He’s usually so calm and easygoing. What do you think has
gotten into him?”

Brendan massaged her tight shoulders. “He’s in love. And it
terrifies the hell out of him.”

“Why? Falling in love isn’t a bad thing.” Her voice grew
clipped, like she was preparing for the courtroom. “Besides, with us as his
friends, he has the best role models for a blissful union right under his nose.
How can he be worried that his relationship with Faith will be any different?”

“It’s all about control,” Stone offered. “Horace has always
had a need to be in control. And so does Faith, I suspect. Just look at
Horace’s life. He’s the owner of his own business. He went deep into debt to
buy a condo so he wouldn’t have to rent. And he swore he would never have a
relationship with a woman.”

“Now he has one.” Dallas was beginning to understand.

“Right. His ego is getting in the way. He can’t admit that
he was wrong about not wanting to get involved with anyone. And at the same
time, his life is spinning out of control.”

“I’m sure he blames that on Faith as well,” Dallas said,
feeling more and more worried about Horace and his future.

“Don’t forget that his powers aren’t his own anymore,” Brendan
added. “That is a sharp blow to his ego as well.”

“Exactly,” Stone said.

“Then what do we do?” Dallas asked. “I’m not about to let
Horace ruin the best thing to ever happen to him. Anyone with any sense can see
that Faith and Horace are meant to be together.”

“There’s not much we can do, love. Horace wouldn’t
appreciate our interference.”

Stone nodded in agreement. “But we do need to keep an eye on
them. We need to make sure they don’t kill each other before they come to their
senses and accept what is inevitable. They are partners and that means that
they need to learn to work together.”

“I still don’t like it,” Dallas said. She dropped her head
into her hands. “They’re bound together. I just wish they weren’t so…so…damned
stubborn. They’re only making everything harder for themselves.”

“If they don’t learn to work together,” Stone said, “they’re
not
going have a future together, and they
will
end up getting
themselves killed.”

The late afternoon sunlight slanted through the windows of the
long, narrow kitchen. Horace leaned against the red tile countertop and watched
dust motes dance in the golden light while Faith’s parents gushed over their
beloved daughter. Every now and again, Faith’s mother or father would slide Horace
a slow, calculating glance. Were they plotting to murder him and dump his body
into a shallow grave in the backyard?

It didn’t help that Faith had decided to dress like a damned
schoolgirl. Seeing her smile innocently at her parents and offer demure apologies
for not contacting them sooner, made him feel like the very devil.

What parent would be happy handing their young, bright
daughter—currently dressed in a short, lavender and blue, plaid skirt, matching
white twin-set sweaters, patent leather shoes, and her hair pulled back into a
ponytail—over to a brute of a man who’d lived nearly half his life on the
street? His life had been too different from hers for this relationship to
work. Yet it was too late for second thoughts, wasn’t it? Thanks to him, they
were going to be together forever.

Forever.

The thought of being with Faith until the end of time should
have made his blood run cold. Instead, thinking of Faith made Horace’s blood
race and had him glancing around for a bed…or an alley wall.

He felt like a feral animal watching Faith as Judy and James
took turns, hugging their daughter tightly.

That they cherished her didn’t surprise Horace. As much as
he wanted to keep himself from liking Faith, he kept finding it more and more
difficult to keep his feelings for her under any kind of control.

She’d embraced his friends. Gave freely of herself in the
bedroom. And promised to never give him a dull moment. Faith Summers was
special.

And his
.

“We’re going to be married,” he announced.

“What?” Judy cried in distress. She grabbed her daughter’s
hands. He’d neglected to put a diamond on her finger. Damn. He’d forgotten all
about getting her a ring. “Tell me this isn’t true, Faith.”

“I don’t understand what you’ve done to her.” James wasn’t a
large man, but he looked prepared to defend Faith against Horace nonetheless. “If
you think you can brainwash my daughter and steal her away from us, you better
think again.”

“She’s not brainwashed,” Horace said, flatly.

“And you’re not human, are you?” James’s candor surprised
him.

Even after seeing what they’d seen, most humans, especially
the scientific types, would try and explain away the truth by exchanging what
they’d seen with a plausible lie. Freak ball lightning, organized crime, and
mass hypnosis would just about cover what Faith’s parents had witnessed and
survived.

“No, I’m not human.” Horace saw no reason to deny the truth
to his future in-laws. “I’m also not a danger to your daughter.”

James peered closely at Horace. “What are you? And what in
the hell could you want with her?”

“The marriage was my idea,” Faith pointed out. “I thought,
considering the circumstances, that it would be best if we went ahead and
started planning for our future.”

“Circumstances?” Judy jumped in and asked, her gaze
immediately going to Faith’s flat belly. “Circumstances, as in a child?”

It broke Horace’s heart to watch Faith shake her head.
“Sadly, no,” she said. “The other circumstances. As I had tried to explain the
other day, Horace and I seem to be linked.”

“And what about your education? You’ve missed nearly two
weeks of classes, not to mention skipping the class that you were supposed to
be teaching. Dr. Newitt is furious with you,” Judy pointed out.

“My Ph.D. will have to wait.” Faith cringed as she said it.
“There is too much happening right now. I need to be able to concentrate on the
dangers at hand.”

“Like that madman who tried
to
shoot you?”

“Exactly.” Faith got a fiery spark
in her eye. She was too innocent to know she shouldn’t take on forces like this
mysterious Manelin alone. She was only a human. What could she do? Much to
Horace’s chagrin, she announced to her parents, “Horace needs me. We’re a team
now. Something or someone sent that horrible gunman to this house. I’m going to
help him fight it.”

“No, she’s not.” Horace knew he tread on dangerous ground.
They hadn’t finished the argument they’d started in the café, only postponed
it.

He didn’t want to lose his temper in front of her parents.
And it could be dangerous if Faith lost hers. Besides, in the past he’d never
had to share his plans with anyone, especially not with the humans. “Perhaps
this is too much information,” Horace said.

“They have a right to understand what’s happening, and what’s
already happened to them.”

“They weren’t harmed,” Horace reminded Faith. “Not
permanently.”

Her stubborn streak reared its pretty head again. But they
didn’t have time for fireworks. Why have the power to control Faith’s mind if
not to make things easier for himself?

“You are safe. They are safe.” Horace pushed his will
against Faith’s. “We will focus on the wedding plans and not talk about
anything else.”

Faith must have recognized his use of his powers over her
right away. Her blue eyes grew large and a bright flush tinted her cheeks.
“Don’t you dare!” She covered her ears.

He’d been too soft on her. For her safety and his, he needed
to stop playing mister-nice-guy. Without speaking a word, he made certain his
command to obey overwhelmed her stubborn spirit.

“We should discuss the wedding,” Faith said. Her anger
drained away, replaced with a blank stare.

“I don’t see how there could be a wedding,” Judy said.

“You came to us the other day terrified and admitted that
this creature”—James made an agitated gesture in Horace’s direction—“was trying
to turn you into his slave. To take over your life. To control you. Knowing
that, honey, how can you expect us to support your decision to marry him?”

“You’re right, Dad. It doesn’t make sense. But something has
happened between us. We’re linked in a way I don’t fully understand.” Her voice
still sounded empty. “We should talk about the wedding plans.”

Horace hated seeing her like this. He released his iron
grip, freeing her thoughts.

“Then how do you truly know that this is what you want? How
do you know you aren’t being controlled?”

“I am being controlled!” Faith snarled at Horace. “But
that’s a different issue altogether. If he’d trust me just a little, he’d
understand that.”

“I do admit I hold some power over your daughter,” Horace
said.

James looked ready to deck him.

“Let’s all sit down and have some tea,” Judy said with a
rush. “I’m sure if we have a calm, rational discussion, we can sort this all
out.”

“Thank you, Mom.” Faith pushed Horace into the adjoining
living room. He’d intended to stand, but Faith’s insistent tugging on his arm
changed his mind.

He sat next to her on a long, white sofa that overlooked a
bank of windows into the sloping backyard. A flock of small birds had landed in
an elm tree. Had the birds landed there, waiting to watch the disaster unfold?

He should have never come with her to her parents’house.
They hated him and had every right to hate him. He’d never fit into a happy
family structure. And never would. She must have sensed his discomfort. She
tightly clasped his hand between hers and held it on her lap.

No one spoke while Judy fixed the tea. The tension in the
room had grown untenably tight by the time Judy returned to the living room
carrying a silver tray with a tea set that looked as if it had been in the
family for centuries. With a graceful ease very similar to her daughter’s, she
poured the tea.

The cup she handed Horace was chipped. He carefully sipped
the hot drink, half expecting it to be poisoned. The tea tasted like a watery,
off-the-shelf kind of blend, but harmless.

After everyone had been served, Judy settled into a chair
across from Horace and slid on a pair of glasses.

“I suppose there is really only one important question that
needs to be asked.” She leaned forward slightly. “Do you love my daughter?”

Faith held her breath as she watched Horace keenly.

“Love isn’t an issue.” At least not an issue Horace wanted
to discuss. He briefly explained how they’d been linked and how Faith now
controlled the lion’s share of his powers. “Circumstances have bound our auras
together. There is no undoing what has been done—quite unintentionally,” he
quickly added.

“I do promise that I’ll take good care of your daughter. I
own Club West in the River North neighborhood. It’s wildly popular and making
money hand over fist. I’m investing that money in a diverse mix of stocks and
bonds. So you’ll never have to worry about her going without. And I’ll protect
her. I have the means.”