The Witching Moon: The Witches of Redwood Falls - Book 1 (4 page)

He strode through the gate, latching it
before sitting on the half wall surrounded another garden bed. He
didn’t know how long she’d be, but he wasn’t in a hurry to leave.
It was peaceful here, calm. He breathed deeply, smelling the
pungent earth and the tea roses behind him. It smelled like her, he
realized as he dragged in another breath, holding the perfume in
tightly before releasing it.

A car rumbled down the road, the occasional
kick letting him know that it was Poppy. He really needed to fix
that for her. If only she’d let him.

He didn’t stand as she drove onto the
driveway, wanting her to make the first move. He wouldn’t push,
wouldn’t force. She didn’t respond well to that, and he knew she
would only push back. Their years of friendship aided him. He knew
her better than he knew himself.

He smiled at her once she climbed out. “Hi.
Nice drive?”

“Yeah.” She shifted the keys from hand to
hand, but he didn’t remark on the nervous gesture. “Really nice
actually. I visited my grandma.”

His brows rose. “I’m surprised you’re back
already. You must have left early.”

“I didn’t get much sleep.”

“Me either.”

She eyed him warily, and his conscience
pricked. He hated to see her distressed.

“Do you want to come inside? I can make some
coffee.”

“Sure.”

He fell into step behind her, wanting to
soothe her rigid shoulders, rub her stiff neck. But he knew he
couldn’t touch her. Not yet. She needed space, needed to come
around to the idea of them together. He could wait.

For now.

But as he sat at the table in her small
kitchen, watching her bustle around, keeping busy, her hips swaying
gracefully, he wasn’t so sure. He’d wanted her for so long, needed
her. It was everything he could do to stay in his seat, to not
reach out, to not touch her.

“Here. Just how you like it,” she said,
placing black coffee in front of him.

He smelled roses as she brushed past him,
his eyes hooding at the scent. His fingers itched to reach out to
her.

So close!

“Thanks.”

“I hope you weren’t waiting long.”

He sipped the biting brew. “Only a few
minutes actually. I’m glad I was able to catch you.”

She nodded, choosing a seat on the opposite
end of the table to sit. She couldn’t be farther away, he thought.
He set his cup down. “Look, Poppy. I know this is hard, but we need
to talk about it.”

“Okay,” she said before taking a sip. Her
shoulders straightened as if preparing for battle.

He could easily imagine what she wanted to
say, but he didn’t have a desire to hear that it was impossible to
be together. “Wait.” He held up a hand. “Please.” Her mouth closed
slowly as she leaned back into her chair. “May I say something
first?”

“All right.”

“I know what you’re thinking. I know that
you think this isn’t right, that we can’t be together.” He waited
for her nod. “I don’t know everything about the prophecy, so I
can’t argue any points there, but I do know one thing and it’s the
same thing I said last night. No one will ever love you like I
do.”

She gulped. “You don’t know that.”

His nostrils flared. “I do.”

“Drake, please—”

“Ah.” He held up his hand. “There’s more.”
He checked the smile tweaking his lips. She was so adorable when
annoyed, but grinning would only piss her off. “I know you don’t
agree with me. And I don’t want to force you into anything. I don’t
want to take away any of your options.”

“Then why were you there last night?”

“Because I wanted to make it very clear that
I want to be one of your options. I wanted you to know that I want
you, that I’m fighting for you.” She shifted in her chair. “Here’s
what I’m proposing…”

Her eyes bulged.

“No. I’m not actually proposing here, but I
have a proposition. Date me. Go with this whole thing as if I
really were your mate. If some guy shows up, one with all of your
qualifications from the prophecy, then I will step aside.”

“You’ll really step aside? Completely?”

He swallowed hard, hoping his voice wouldn’t
crack. “Yes. I’ll step aside so you can date him, can figure out if
he’s what you really want. But I’ll still be here, still hoping
that you’ll realize it’s me. I don’t want to force this on you,
Poppy. I want you to choose me. But I’ll be doing everything I can
to persuade you.”

She stirred her coffee absently now, eying
him. “And what would ‘dating’ entail?”

“The usual stuff. Going out to crappy
movies, sharing a fancy meal… necking in the car.” He grinned at
her blush. She was gorgeous when color kissed her cheeks.

“I don’t know about the make-out part of the
plan, but I’ll go with the outings. The rest of it… we’ll just have
to see.”

“Totally fine,” he quickly agreed. In truth,
he was relieved that she’d agreed to any of it. “Oh, and I’m not
holding back any more.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve had to hold back my feelings for
years. I want to hold your hand, kiss you, and say what’s on my
mind. Every thought or feeling I have from now on, I’m going to
express. I’m not hiding anything because of the prophecy or from
worry that you’ll run away.”

She swallowed hard, then cleared her throat.
What was she getting herself in to? “So, when do you want to
start?”

“Why not today? Now?”

“Okay.” She breathed shakily.

“But there’s something I’d like first.”

“What’s that?” Her eyes narrowed. “You
aren’t getting a kiss, so don’t even try.”

He snorted. “I didn’t figure or I’d
already’ve had one.” He leaned across the table toward her. “I want
to know what the prophecy says. All of it.”

Her lips firmed as she shook her head. “No.
I don’t think so.”

He gulped coffee. “I think it’s only fair.
You’ve rejected me once over it already. How am I going to persuade
you that I’m the guy if you won’t tell me what it says?”

“Some other way. I can’t tell you. I’m
sorry.”

Realization cut through him. She didn’t
trust him. He’d shown up at the stones when he wasn’t supposed to
and she thought he’d manipulate her with the rest of it. He
couldn’t blame her, not really. Because if he knew what it said,
he’d have figured out a way to make it apply to him. “How about
this… I already know there’s a time limit. Could you at least tell
me how much time we’re dealing with?”

She debated for a minute before her
shoulders fell. “Less than a week.”

If felt like he’d been hit by a brick. “A
week?” he croaked.

“Yes. Well not even that. Thursday. The full
moon.”

“Of course.” He only had five days to
convince her that he was the one for her. It was everything he
could do to gulp down the rest of his drink without choking. “Guess
there’s no time to lose.”

“And this is your idea of a date?” Drake
asked, scanning the mountain of junk she was accumulating as she
pulled out more stuff from her cabinets. “Organizing your
kitchen?”

She bit back a grin. She really couldn’t
help herself. Holding a bundt pan, she turned back to him with
innocent eyes. “Yes. I’ve been putting it off far too long. Would
you rather not be here? I could do it myself, but you did want to
start dating me right away and since you gave me dibs on planning
the first date...”

“I do want to be with you. But just know,
you’re fired from date planning.”

She couldn’t hold back her laugh any longer.
“Fine. I guess I had that one coming.”

“After this? Absolutely.” He grinned.

“Thank you for helping me though. It’ll go a
lot faster with you here.”

“Just tell me what to do first.” He rubbed
his hands together.

She eyed the opened cabinets, scrunching her
nose at the dust, crumbs, and heaven only knew what else, littering
the bottom of each. She plopped a wet sponge into his hand.
“Scrub.”

“And what will you give me?” He tossed her a
saucy wink.

She loved to see him like this. Care free,
relaxed. This was a side of him that he’d hidden all this time. At
least since he found out the prophecy. The dimple that crested his
cheek had always been adorable, but there was more to it now.

His green eyes twinkled, and her stomach
fluttered. It wasn’t fair for any man to be that handsome. How was
she supposed to keep an emotional distance from him over the next
few days? His offer surprised her. She knew what he wanted, what he
was trying to do. And she appreciated it. He’d given her an out
that would help her let him down easily when her mate showed
up.

But when she glanced back to that dimple,
she swallowed hard. She wanted to kiss it. She cleared her throat.
“Ah. What do you want?”

“I think you know.”

She couldn’t help it then, laughter roiled
out when he wiggled his brows. All unease fled and the comfort
she’d always felt with him return. He was her best friend. Had been
for years. She couldn’t let the prophecy take that away, couldn’t
let it change anything. She couldn’t bear to lose him. “You’re
incorrigible.”

“But you like me this way.”

“I do.” She couldn’t lie to him. Not about
this. “You were never like this before.”

“I couldn’t be.”

A slice of guilt ate at her. She took up her
own sponge and reached on her tip toes to a top shelf. She’d never
meant for him to stifle anything of himself. She didn’t want that
for him. To think he’d had to hold anything back, hurt her. “I’m
sorry. I didn’t realize.”

His fingers brushed her hair over one
shoulder, exposing her neck. A shiver coursed through her. What was
happening to her? She’d never wanted to arch into his touch, to beg
for more. But one small brush of his fingers had her whimpering
inside.

“I had to hold it back. After you told me of
the prophecy, I knew there was nothing I could do to convince you
to be with me. I knew you’d never accept it.”

“And I will now?” Her voice was breathy, but
she didn’t care.

“Yes. I was the man at the
stones.” His fingertips glided over her neck and her thoughts
blurred.
What had he said?

He turned her to face him and her stomach
did one quick flip when she met his hungry eyes. He wanted her, and
she felt an answering curl in her belly.

She jerked her head to the side when he
leaned down, but instead of getting frustrated, he sifted his
fingers through her hair, breathing in her scent below her ear.

“You smell incredible. Like your tea roses.
I could smell you forever.”

She wavered in his touch. “It is roses.
How’d you know?”

“I smelled them in your garden this morning.
I didn’t know you used them for anything other than decoration.” He
massaged her scalp.

Her eyes shuttered closed on a moan. How
could something feel so good? She was grateful his other arm held
her around the waist, supporting her. She would’ve melted to the
floor without it.

Her head lulled back onto his hand and her
eyes fluttered open. His lips were an inch from hers, but he didn’t
take, didn’t demand. It would have been easier that way. She
wouldn’t have had a choice. But he wasn’t going to do that. She
could see it in his eyes. He wanted her to choose. He wanted her to
make the choice to kiss him.

Her tongue wetted her lips. His eyes
followed the movement, mesmerized by the action. His eyes darted
back to hers, darker, deeper, and she knew he was at his limit.

As her body burned, she forgot why she’d
held back, why she’d denied herself all this time. All she could
think, all she wanted, was him.

Her arms snaked up around his neck, and she
saw victory in his eyes. Longing. Desire. They surged through her
like live wire, waking up parts of her body long gone dormant.

“Poppy,” he groaned, molding her body to
his.

She gasped at the contact.

He lowered his head to
meet her lips.
Knock,
knock
.

They froze. Several more knocks, more
forceful than the first.

“You’ve got to kidding.” He swore as she
untangled herself from his arms.

She felt empty from loss of him, but she
couldn’t ignore the knock. It jarred her out of the moment, waking
her up from a hazy dream.

Another frantic knock. “I’m coming,” she
called out, stumbling toward the entry. Cracking open the door, her
neighbor stood on the other side, her eyes puffy as they darted to
the opening.

“Helen?”

“Poppy!” She latched onto her arm once Poppy
opened the door all the way. “Thank heaven you’re here.”

Poppy’s heart sped up. “What happened?
What’s wrong?”

Helen burst into tears. “It’s Molly. She’s
gone.”

“What do you mean gone? Where did she go?”
Helen’s sweet four-year-old daughter was quiet and bright. She
always had a big smile for Poppy when she saw her, waving to her
from her mother’s car as they passed.