To Wrangle A Witch (Southern Sanctuary Book 3) (13 page)

He
swallowed hard.  “No I’m fine.”  How could he explain that the
concept of finding himself sprawled out on the grass in his garden was
tantamount to him going down and making trash angels at the local garbage
dump.  At least he had Serena’s soft warm thighs to pillow his head and
her gentle fingers caressing his temples.  And now he came to think about
it the sun felt kind of nice on his face and the fresh air really did seem
sweeter out here.

“I
want to thank you for what you did earlier… the kiss… distracting me so we…
you, could remove the taint.”   Colour rose in Serena’s cheeks,
though there were still dark circles under her eyes from her sleepless night.

“Take
off your shoes.”  Goddess he was tired, drained and yet strangely content,
he had the distinct feeling he was picking up that last emotion from Serena’s
garden, weird.

“What?” 
She blinked at his request.

“Your
shoes.  Take them off.”

“I…” 
She looked at him perplexed.  “We’re back to your previously undiagnosed
foot fetish?”

“Off.” 
He lifted his head, visibly wincing at the effort that small movement cost
him. 

Quickly
Serena toed off first one tennis shoe, then the other.
 
Rolling her eyes she reached over gently pushing his
head back down to rest in her lap.  “There.  Happy?”

He
turned his head slightly, drinking in the sight of her delicate feet and
adorable toes.  Something inside of him unfurled and relaxed.  Funny
when he saw Serena with shoes on it made him think she was leaving and every
particle of his being, no matter how sore and torn had loathed that
thought.  Now that she was barefoot again he could relax. 

“Immeasurably.” 
He sighed, closing his eyes.

“Locke? 
You can’t go to sleep out here.”

“Hmmm…
why not?”

“Well
you need bed rest and… medicine.”

“I
am resting and don’t they say sunshine and fresh air are the ultimate
medicine?”

“Please,
you don’t believe that.”

“Today
I’m a convert.”  He gave one last sigh as his whole body relaxed.

Serena
stared down at his gorgeous face unsure whether to laugh or groan.  The man
was infuriating, arrogant, tricky, gorgeous, brave, maddening, sexy, funny and
unpredictable.  And Earth and Sea she was half a breath away from falling
in love with him.  What was she going to do? 

Lying
back she stared up at the blue sky, her mind drifting back to the memory of
their kiss.  Instinctively she lifted her fingers to touch her still
tingling lips.  Mother Earth help her, what was an Earth Witch to do when
she found herself falling for a slick corporate truth crusading lawyer? 

They
had nothing in common… well except for the blazing heat of attraction. 
Okay so they laughed together.  And he made her feel safe, after all he
was essentially a warrior in a three piece suit, and Earth he looked hot in
those suits.  Not the point she reminded herself.  She rode the whims
of the currents and tides.  She was restless and antsy when the moon moved
into a new cycle and her feet itched for change when the winds swirled and
became directionless.   His corporate staid lifestyle of scheduled
meetings, deadlines and timetables was not compatible with her restless earthy
one. 

Serena
watched two butterflies swirl and dance together, biting into her bottom lip as
she acknowledged that her real problem was that the time for running away from her
attraction to Locke Valhalla expired about three seconds after she’d laid eyes
on him. 

Neither
of them sought deep meaningful long term relationships.  She because she
didn’t want to be tied down, needed to be ready to move when the moon, wind or
currents called to her.  And he because he’d created his pristine,
peaceful castle of perfection and loathed the mess, inconvenience and
disruption any outsider bought into that world.
 

But
there was definitely an attraction between them, so why couldn’t she indulge in
a summer time fling with the man?  A few steamy nights?  The
occasional nooner?  Shower together to save water for the good of the
environment? Sure, really why not?  She’d had a few short term affairs and
hook-ups in the past; this would be absolutely no different from any of those.

The
more she thought about it the more the idea blossomed and told hold of her, was
she really going to do this?  She looked down at his gorgeous peaceful
sleeping face.  Was she really going to have an affair with Locke?
 
Then again how could she not?  Moon and Earth
watch over her, she was going to seduce Locke Valhalla.  Soak up every
detail and wrap those memories around her like a blanket for when she was old,
and alone.  Better to regret the things she had done than to regret the
things she hadn’t.  It was time to wrangle with Locke Valhalla… because
all too soon it would be time to walk away.

Chapter
Sixteen

Locke
came awake with a start.  Confused for a moment by the blue sky above, his
first instinct was to check on Serena.  Sprawled out on the grass next to
him she looked like an incredibly sexy garden sprite, fast asleep, her head
pillowed by a mound of flower petals.  His second instinct should have
been to get the hell off the grass but all he could think about was snuggling
in closer to Serena’s warm soft body.  Maybe waking her up with hot
drugging kisses and then…

“Well
now I know why you weren’t answering your phone.”

Whiplash
fast he turned his head to find Hadleigh lounging only a few feet away on a
wrought iron chair she’d snagged from under the veranda.  Damn and
fuck.  He sent his sister a haughty superior look; hard to do when you’ve
just been caught snoozing outdoors with your head resting in a beautiful
woman’s lap.  Double damn these sweats, they gave him no leverage, even if
they were designer.

“Kitten.” 
He acknowledged dryly.

Hadleigh
sent him a superior look of her own and raised him a smirk, holding up her
phone and snapping a quick photo.  “I’m thinking this photo heralds the
death knell on the endearment Kitten.”

“Now
Gigantore…”

Hadleigh
began texting.  “Hmmm… I know Erik’s email off by heart, you wouldn’t
happen to know Fen’s would you?”

“Hadleigh.” 
He folded his cards and said her name.

“Yes
big brother?”  She snapped shut her phone, focusing her full attention on
Locke.

Locke
bit back a sigh, family!  “Is there a problem?”

“Hmmm.” 
Hadleigh stretched her long legs out, contemplating her steel capped
boots.  “Well I came to check up on you.  Didn’t expect to find you
frolicking in the fields with little Miss Mary Sunshine.”

Locke’s
lips quirked up at the edges.  “Trust me, after the last few days I’m an
expert on frolicking and this isn’t it.”

“If
you say so.”

“Way
too many clothes on for a start.”

Hadleigh
tilted her head to the side slightly, studying her brother.  “How much sun
have you had?”

Reluctantly
Locke sat up, losing physical contact with Serena felt wrong somehow but she
was too distracting by half.  Ouch, sitting up straight was awkward,
wincing as the bandages around his middle tightened.  They were more
annoying than they were worth.  Absently he lifted his top and began to
unwind them.  “So the question on the table remains Hadleigh, why are you
here?”

“Well
like I said, you weren’t answering your phone and I have news.”

“Well
I have some news too, but you go first, height before beauty and all that.”

Magically
a small sharp dagger appeared in Hadleigh’s right hand; absently she began to
twirl it between her fingers.  “We figured out what the vamps were after
at Maat towers and why they didn’t trigger any of the traps we set.  They
played it sneaky and smart, went for the laundry.  Drum tells me there are
trace amounts of Serena’s blood there, on some old rags.”

“Serena’s
blood?”

“Cut
herself on the job, ruined a pair of those sparkly shorts of hers.  Seems
the laundry dudes held on to them for some unknown reason.”

“Probably
to jerk off with.”  Locke surmised cynically.

“Thanks
for that picture.  Anyway that’s how the vamps got a bead on Serena’s
whereabouts here. Put some sniffers out worldwide and tracked her down. 
Nice thing is they left a lot of trace behind in the laundry and the ducts so
we were able to track them back to their lair.”

“Please
tell me they’re all dead.”

Hadleigh
shrugged.  “Not exactly.  They heard us coming and escaped out a
hidden underground tunnel a few minutes before we arrived.  We know for
sure the Queen was there and three of her court.  They’re in the wind but
we know where they’re headed… here, to finish the contract.”

“I
suppose the Chippendales have a grand plan?”

“They’re
working on it, we have a day at least before the vamps get here.  So for
tonight our only focus needs to be on killing the one that went to ground.”

Locke
ceased trying to unwind the bandage; damn thing was knotted too tightly. 
“Done and dusted Gig… baby sis.  Took it out myself a couple of hours
ago.”  He indicated with his head the depression in the nearby garden bed.

Hadleigh
blinked slowly, assessing Locke before giving him a brief nod of approval;
which in enforcement speak, translated to a hearty slap on the back and
effusive thanks.  “Okay good.  I’ll keep two perimeter patrols on the
property but the little witch should be safe out here tonight if she needs to…
frolic.  I’ll send Declan by just before sunset for a security check on
the house but don’t let him hang around, if he’s not needed here tonight then
he needs to be over at Cousin Cedric’s, convincing him to sign the peace
agreement with his sheep.”

“That’s
still going on?  I drew up those documents over a month ago.”  Locke
shuddered at the memory of the awful three hours he’d spent at his cousin’s
farm, communing with invisible sheep thanks to the help of a large picture
alphabet board. Scary intelligent creatures… unable to speak but they could
read and they’d had very definite ideas on what their demands were. 
“What’s the hold up?”

“Cedric
isn’t sure if the whole vegan lifestyle is for him.”

“Well
he shouldn’t have magically modified his sheep then.  Anyone with half a
brain would know that if you gave them smarts they wouldn’t appreciate you
trying to eat them.”

“Well
it’s Dec’s problem to solve and don’t let him try and weasel out of it.”

“It
will be my pleasure to send the hunk of burning love off to deal with the
livestock.”

“Now
don’t hate him just because he’s beautiful.”  Hadleigh rose to her feet
abruptly, heaving a sigh, in three strides she was by Locke’s side, dagger in
hand. 

He
knew better than to flinch, he just met her gaze with a blank enquiring look.
“Problem?”

Batting
his hand out the way Hadleigh sliced her dagger through the knotted
bandage.  “There, that was driving me nuts.”

Locke
pulled down his sweatshirt and muttered his thanks.  “So you’ll be back
tomorrow to tell us all about this grand plan the Chippendales have of how to
protect Serena and kill off the last of the suckers?”

Hadleigh
disappeared her dagger.  “Yeah.”

“Remind
them of the bigger picture when you get back.  Sek and Mot and are still
out there somewhere, not to mention Daddy Apep.”

Hadleigh
picked up the wrought iron chair as if weighed nothing.  “No one is
forgetting that fact, least of all me.  If it helps we found all of
Xander’s blood at the vamp lair and destroyed it.”

“How
is that supposed to help?”  Locke enquired mockingly.

“Well
it means Sek and Mot are back to square one on the blood front.  They need
the blood of an ancestor to wake Daddy.  If nothing else it puts their
need for your witchy girlfriend’s blood on the back burner.”

“Not
my girlfriend.”  He could not believe he’d just muttered those asinine
words, way to play it cool Valhalla.  “And I disagree, Serena is still
their number one priority since they believe she’s dying, they think they’re on
a clock, this is their last window of opportunity to get a witch’s blood and
gain some revenge for their brother’s death.”

Hadleigh
went still for a split second, light grey eyes running over Serena’s still
sleeping form for a moment.  “Well maybe she’ll just have to die then.”

Locke
was on his feet instantly, hands clenched into fists.  “What do you mean
by that crack?”  What the fuck was he doing facing off against his own
sister, the enforcer?  It would take no effort on her part whatsoever to
swing that wrought iron chair around and crack open his stupid skull. 

Except
all Hadleigh did was shrug nonchalantly and smile at him.  “Just an
idea.”  Spinning around she headed indoors.  “By the way I didn’t get
a chance to tell you last night, I like what you’ve done with the garden… very
non-prissy.”

Cow! 
“Goddess, just procreate already, and don’t forget to wipe your humungous
feet.”  He yelled at her back.  Staring at his sister’s retreating
form wondering just where and when his life had so abruptly begun to veer out
of his control.

“What’s
wrong?  What’s happening?”  A husky voice asked from behind him.

 
Drinking in the sight of a sleep tussled
Serena, her hair mussed, her cheeks flushed and pink, Locke couldn’t help think
that he had just pinpointed ground zero for all his problems.
 
“Nothing’s wrong, Hadleigh was just here giving me
an update.”

“I
thought I heard yelling.”  She looked around dazedly, pansy eyes still
heavy from her recent nap.  At least the dark circles under her eyes had
retreated and the colour in her cheeks was back.

“Nope,
not at all, just reminding her to wear a sweater.”