She was just about to turn away when the crowd parted, and she saw him. He was dressed much like everyone else there, but he had his hood pulled up over his head, and all she could see was his chocolate brown eyes staring at her. She held his gaze, her heart pounding in her chest, a burst of desire and something she couldn’t name rushing through her.
But the moment was over all too soon; the crowd surged again, this time taking her with it. Before she knew it, she was standing in front of the bonfire, the people around her chanting the ritual spell as they flung their scraps of paper into the blaze. Barely conscious of what she was doing, she threw her paper into the fire, mumbled the words she’d memorized, then let the crowd propel her away from the fire.
When she was finally free of the crowd, she headed for the edge of the clearing and a few minutes of time to herself. She was still reeling from her brief meeting with the man in the hood and needed some time to collect herself. It took a few minutes for her heartbeat to return to normal and for the tightening in her middle to relax, but her mind was still spinning, searching for some explanation for how she’d reacted.
Her reaction to the stranger had been strong and swift, had taken her by surprise with its intensity, and she wasn’t sure where it had come from. If she’d been able to see more of the man than just his eyes, it might have made more sense; after all, she’d been single for more than a year now. Then she realized that her reaction to him had started long before she’d looked into his eyes; it had started when he’d wrapped his arms around her.
Instead of helping, that thought startled her so much that she stumbled back a few steps. Feeling the solid trunk of one of the trees that ringed the clearing, she leaned back and willed her heart to stop pounding in her chest. Then she forced herself to stop and think logically about what had just happened.
After a few minutes, she was able to convince herself that what had happened between them hadn’t really been that big of a deal. It had merely been a look and nothing more. Sure, her body had behaved strangely, but then look at where she was. Suzanne had been right; it was a night ripe with romance. The bonfire, the big moon high in the sky, and the mystery of the ceremony all added up to the perfect place for romance to blossom.
Pushing herself away from the tree, she squared her shoulders; she wasn’t here for romance; she had a job to do and then she was going home. If it was time for a little romance in her life, that was fine, but she wasn’t going to have that romance here, and certainly not with a witch. As much as she loved her new sisters-in-law, there were already enough witches in their family.
***Quinten***
Quinten had circled the bonfire twice but still hadn’t seen Annabelle or her twin sister Joslin. He’d never met them before but knew that it wouldn’t be that hard to pick them out of the crowd, especially if they had their shifters with them. Stopping and looking around him again, he tried to decide what to do; if the sisters weren’t here, then he was wasting his time.
It surprised him that they weren’t there; after all, Annabelle was under investigation, along with her sister and a shifter. They had to know that the council would be summoning them at any time, and again he began to wonder what hold the shifters had over them. There had to be something that would make two women like Annabelle and Joslin turn their backs on everything they’d been taught, and he was going to find out what it was.
Deciding that there was much he could learn here, even if Annabelle and Joslin weren’t here, he approached a group of witches and stood silently, listening to them talk. Dressed as he was, no one would know who he was or what he was doing there: a perfect opportunity to hear what the coven thought of the shifters in the midst. Hopefully, he’d discover something that would help him in his investigation, something he could tell the council when they met in a few days.
“I heard that Joslin made Jake take her to the Caribbean: said she was tired of the woods and tiny cabins without running water,” one man said, then shook his head. “I still can’t see her living on a cattle ranch way out there in the middle of nowhere.”
The woman standing next to him nudged him. “Oh, George, you know those girls will be perfectly fine up there. They’ll have each other, and I’ve met Justin and Jake; they’re good men.”
“Where did Annabelle and Justin get off to anyway? I don’t think I ever heard,” another man asked.
“No one did; it was a big secret,” the woman said, with a big sigh. “It’s so romantic.”
The man standing on the woman’s other side spoke up. “Margarite, you think everything is romantic. If you ask me they should have stayed here and faced the council instead of running off and leaving a shifter to answer to the council.”
Quinten had heard all he needed to; something was definitely up in Simon’s Cove and he was sure that the shifters were behind it. The issue of Deacon and his use of black magic was quickly taking second place to the infiltration of shifters into what he considered one of the most stable covens in America. He seemed to be the only one who was concerned, but soon enough he’d expose what they were trying to do and then he’d be guaranteed his promotion.
Stepping slowly away from the group, he turned and headed for his car, satisfied with his night's work. But then he remembered the little scrap of paper in his pocket and turned back around. When he got to the bonfire, he repeated the words he’d known for most of his life, then threw the paper into the flames and watched it turn to ash.
When he turned from the fire, the first thing he saw was the woman who’d bumped into him earlier that night. She was standing under one of the trees talking to another woman, who seemed excited about something; they hugged briefly, and then the other woman walked away.
He studied her for a moment, unable to walk away just yet. She was taller than most women, and although the robe covered up most of her body, he could tell by the way it fell that she was trim and curvy underneath. Then the memory of what it had felt like to hold her in his arms, if only briefly, returned, warming his blood and raising his heart rate.
She was staring at the bonfire, completely lost in her thoughts, her blonde hair blowing in the breeze, making him want to run his fingers through its silken masses. He didn’t recognize her, was sure that he’d never seen her in Simon’s cove, but there were a lot of people here; he couldn’t possibly know all of them.
Wanting to get a closer look at her, he skirted the crowd and worked his way closer to where she was still standing under the sheltering limbs of the huge tree. Thanks to the mask, he couldn’t get a good look at her face, but when she turned and started to walk away from the clearing, he saw her green eyes and his heart began to pound in his chest.
He followed her through the crowd, wondering the entire time what he was doing, but unable to stop himself. They wound their way through the crowd, skirting the bonfire, until they came to the Simons home, where she paused, looked up at the sky, then sighed, her shoulders slumping as if she’d had a bad day.
Watching her, an intense need to have her in his arms again began to grow inside him, and when she walked around the side of the house instead of going in, he followed her into the darkness. He’d only gone a few steps when suddenly she was standing right in front of him, so close he could have reached out and touched her.
“Who are you and why are you following me?” she asked, her voice cutting through the darkness.
She was standing only feet from him, her green eyes glowing in the moonlight in an unusual way, but all he noticed was the pull he felt, the need to take her into his arms and kiss her. When she repeated the question, her husky voice touching him somewhere deep inside, he stepped closer, unable to resist her any longer.
When he pulled her into his arms, she gasped, but didn’t push him away, so, he tipped her chin up and lowered his lips to hers, softly at first, then with more pressure when she didn’t resist. He should have been surprised when she slid her arms up and around his neck, but it felt so right, all he could do was let the kiss hap
pen.
Chapter 3
***Penny***
When the stranger’s lips came down on hers, Penny’s head began to buzz, and desire leaped to life inside her. It was shocking to find herself being kissed by not only a stranger, but one whose face she couldn’t see; still, she did nothing to stop him, couldn’t have if she’d wanted to.
Instead, she found herself wrapping her arms around his neck and opening her mouth to his kiss, her body humming with pleasure. He pulled her against his body, practically crushing her against his hard chest, then explored her mouth with his tongue until a moan escaped her throat.
That small sound brought her back to where she was and who she was with; marshaling all her strength, she pushed away from him, wishing the kiss hadn’t been so wonderful. She stared up into his brown eyes, her breath coming in short gasps as she tried to figure out who he was. But then he stepped closer again and took her face in his hands.
“I don’t usually participate in this part of the ceremony, but I couldn’t resist,” he said, his eyes searching hers.
His deep voice sent shivers down her spine, and all she could get out was, “Oh,” before his mouth came down on hers again. This time she didn’t hesitate, simply wrapped her arms around him again and let him kiss her until her knees were weak and she had to lean on him for support.
She could feel the pleasure rushing through her, her body responding to the man in ways that shocked her, and she knew that this was quickly turning into something more than a kiss. Pushing him away again, she said, “I don’t know who you are.”
He smiled at her and said, “You’re not supposed to.”
Then he turned and disappeared into the trees, leaving her standing alone, her lips still tingling from his kiss, her knees trembling and her body alive with desire. Too shocked to move, she stood there for a long time staring out into the woods where he’d disappeared. Finally, feeling more under control, she walked back around to the front of the house and sat down on the porch, a silly smile on her face.
Only a few minutes later, Suzanne came up the steps; the first thing she noticed was the look on Penny’s face. “You’ve been kissed,” she accused.
Penny hadn’t heard her approach, but when she looked up at her friend, she couldn’t help the huge grin that spread across her face. “Maybe.”
Suzanne crossed the porch and sat down next to her. “There’s no maybe about being kissed; either you were kissed, or you weren’t.”
Penny’s smile got even bigger. “Okay, so I was kissed,” she said.
Suzanne began to pout. “That’s not fair, I was the one who wanted to be kissed.” Then she asked, “Who was he? What did he look like?”
“I have no idea. He had brown eyes and this wonderful deep voice, but I never saw his face, and he had his hood up, so I don’t even know what color his hair was,” she said, her voice soft in the quiet of the night.
Suzanne’s eyes got wide. “Oh my god, you didn’t just get kissed: you got kissed,” she said, her voice going up an octave.
The tone of Suzanne’s voice finally broke through the fog Penny had been in. “It was just a kiss, nothing more, so don’t get so excited. Whoever he is, he’ll probably be gone after the holiday, and I’ll never see him again,” she said, getting to her feet. “It’s late. I think we should go to bed; tomorrow will be another long day.”
Suzanne shot Penny a surprised look. “You’re not even going to try to find him?”
“Why would I? It was a Samhain kiss, that’s all,” Penny said, not very convincingly.
Suzanne got up and followed Penny into the house; when they paused at their bedroom doors, she said, “Well, if it was me, I’d try to find him.”
Penny sighed. “It was just a kiss.” Then she went into her bedroom and shut the door.
***Quinten***
Quinten unlocked the door to the shabby hotel room and let himself in, still reeling from what he’d done that night. Giving a girl a kiss on Samhain was nothing new to him, he’d been following the tradition since he was thirteen, but the kiss this year had been different. It had been about more than following tradition or having a little bit of innocent fun.
He’d been driven by some invisible force to kiss that woman, a force that felt bigger than anything he’d ever felt before or might feel again. The strength of that need had surprised him, and even now he could feel her lips on his, her arms wrapped around him and her body pressed against his. It was both frustrating and exhilarating to have his body so in control of his mind.
Heading straight for the bathroom, he stripped off his robe and clothes, sure that a nice long shower would wash the woman from his mind. But when he emerged cleaner but still with her presence around him, he gave up and went to bed. He had a lot to do for the upcoming meeting with the council, but he knew that he’d never be able to concentrate tonight, not with that woman swimming around in his veins.
Unable to help himself, he replayed the kiss in his mind again, the wonderful feeling of her lips, the thrill when she wrapped her arms around him. Part of him was tempted to find her in the morning, to see her in daylight, to assure himself that she wasn’t just a ghost or an apparition playing games with him.
But he was here for something very important, couldn’t lose sight of the fact that he had a responsibility to this coven and all the witches who sheltered here. He’d sworn to do his duty as an inquisitor and thinking of that woman would only cloud his thinking and judgment.
He’d just have to forget her and hope that their paths wouldn’t cross again, that some force greater than them both hadn’t decided to step in and disrupt his ordered life and the plans he’d been working on for years. It wouldn’t be easy to be appointed the youngest grand inquisitor, but he was so close he could taste it, and he wasn’t going to let a woman ruin all that.
***Penny***
Penny spent the next few days looking over her shoulder, sure that she’d see the man who’d kissed her again, but whoever he was, he’d disappeared. The big Halloween party came and went, and the rest of the celebration was over, but she couldn’t get him out of her mind. Now more than ever, she wanted to get the meeting with the witch’s council over with and go home, to get on with her life and forget that the kiss had ever happened.
When the summons from the council finally came, she was so relieved that she forgot to be worried about what they’d decided. The council had no hold over her; she wasn’t part of the coven, so their decision about Annabelle’s use of black magic really had no consequence for her, but she hated to see her sister-in-law exiled from her family and friends, and she intended to fight for her if necessary.
She spent the day going over everything that had happened over the last few months, getting the story straight in her mind in case she did have to defend Annabelle. But she was sure that it wouldn’t be necessary; after all, the council had been present when Deacon had tried to kill her brothers by calling a demon right out of the sky. They’d spent hours interrogating everyone involved before finally disappearing to where ever they went and leaving them alone.
But they had called for an investigation months ago, and she understood that in this world they liked to do things formally. So, she’d have to appear in front of them and plead Annabelle and Justin’s case, if for no other reason than to appease that need.
When it was time to get ready for the council meeting, she dressed carefully all in black, hoping that she wouldn’t stick out any more than she already did. She pulled her long blonde hair back from her face and secured it tightly in a bun at the back of her head, then put on just a little bit of makeup, downplaying her startling green eyes. Stepping back from the mirror, she decided that it was the best she could do and headed downstairs where everyone was waiting for her.
The big meeting hall was just as crowded as the last time she’d been there, many people extending their stay in Simon’s Cove to watch the proceedings. As she took her seat in the front row, she could feel eyes on her and hear t
he whispered conversation going on around her. Many people in the crowd were known to her, and she considered them her friends, but there were a few distrustful faces in the crowd.
Up until then, she hadn’t been nervous, but suddenly butterflies erupted in her stomach, and she took a deep breath to calm herself. Suzanne squeezed her hand, and smiled at her. “It’s going to be fine, don’t worry,” she whispered.
Penny nodded her head, glad that her friend was here. Her nerves had just begun to calm when the door behind the raised platform opened and the council began to file in. Once they were seated, Minerva, the High Priestess of the council, raised her arm and silence fell over the room.
“Thank you all for coming tonight. I hope this will be a short meeting and we can all get on our way back home,” she said, then added, “As you can see, we are short one council member. Walter Simons won’t be able to join us, and it appears that his replacement has disappeared.”
The room erupted in excited chatter; many people hadn’t heard about Deacon’s attack on Annabelle and Joslin earlier that summer, and she could hear the story being quietly spread through the room. Minerva waited for the room to quiet down, but her face was impatient, and Penny cringed. The last thing she wanted was the High Priestess to be annoyed.
But finally, the room was silent, and she was able to continue. “The council has had many months to examine this situation, and with the new developments of the last month, we’re ready to rule on the charges against Annabelle Simons.”
Penny couldn’t help but sigh with relief; not only was this just about over, but she hadn’t had to do anything, just as Annabelle had promised. But then the front doors flew open, and a tall man came striding down the center aisle. He stopped when he got in front of the council, then bowed respectfully to them.
Fairplay Shifters Boxset Page 26