Demons & Dragons

by Gina Kincade

  Blood coursed through his body with a pounding need to run fast and wild. He pulled away from her carefully and climbed out of bed. Although he instantly missed her warmth, he focused on the other urgent needs of his currently human body. Unsure why this continued to happen to him now, he decided to go with the obvious guess. She had unleashed something else inside him with her spell. Now his body craved the abilities of the beast like it wanted for food and sex.

  Stretching, his skin tingled as though something crawled under it that needed to be let out. Much against his inclination, alone he tried to quiet his mind enough to get in touch with the animal inside of him which needed to be free. Although leery of trying to turn into something on his own, these urges called for the large, vivacious creature he'd been before. His mind touched upon attributes like thick legs powered to carry a large body with the strength to kill.

  Having participated in blood sports with Lord Dalysbury when the man had lived, he had seen an English Mastiff hunt wolves and lions. Hitting him in a sudden rush, the shift made him feel like a hammer pounded at the base of his skull. He could not seem to stop it, and pushed his fear of spells gone awry and doubts of his abilities aside. With complete abandon, he let the animal take over. Every muscle stretched to the breaking point. His skin covered over with fur in hasty waves of heat, and his energy built undeterred until he'd truly transformed.

  He had seen the fur over the strong sinew and bone just before Aubrey’s waking gasp distracted him. He could no longer speak, yet he wanted to reassure her of her safety. He realized the animal had its own instincts, deadly and wild, but his own thoughts and ways of life had been retained as well. Oddly enough, they didn’t war inside of him, but flowed into one another, remaining under his control to stifle and unleash. He hoped she already knew this fact. His stance proud, he stood motionless, giving no pretext of attack.

  “My Lord, what a beautiful gray wolf you are. The likes of you I never thought I would ever see, outside of books, up this close.” He felt relief when she raised her body out of the bed, letting the blanket fall away as she came to touch him. The feel of her hands running through his fur was intoxicating, yet potent. A feral growl escaped him as her naked body brushed against his hair.

  “You long to run, do you not? I shall never stifle you, especially when your magic conjures something so majestic.”

  She had misunderstood the growl, but indeed he had not frightened her. While her words warmed him and made him stand taller, he still itched to run with the utmost urgency. Watching her beautiful, genuine curves walk to the door of the villa, he almost transformed back to take her. These two needs did war within him. Yet, when she opened up the door to the outside world, the animal took over. He fled past her, finding his stride only a few steps out the doorway. The trees went past him, blending into one another, the greens and browns all one blur. The capability of this body, to swerve around the trees and crush the small plants that stood in his way, astounded him. Throwing underbrush in all directions, he made an abrupt turn to go back to her.

  When he got to the villa, she stood, naked and free, at the door. Her eyes sparkled as she watched him come toward her. He stopped long enough to let her run her hands down his back before taking off again. The man in him felt the need to show off a bit for his lovely mate while he was still in animal form. She must have understood. He could hear her laughter carried over the slight wind despite the distance he gained.

  This time he took a different direction, wanting to spread his authority over the entire island. A mile from the shoreline, unfamiliar voices hit his ears. Stopping with an abrupt halt, throwing dirt and plants from all four paws, the survival instincts of the man and the animal combined within him. He stalked to the end of the tree line with his heart beating wildly.

  Two men stepped out of Ger O’Lawton’s boat. In comparison to Ger’s hulking size, these men stood tall but lanky. From the looks of their attire, they'd been garishly garbed even before the weather hit them. While both their greatcoats appeared tattered, one of the men seemed as if he had outgrown his. Panic overtook his momentary relief at seeing Ger. With his eyes darting back and forth between the two of them, he tensed to fight.

  Confound it all, Mother!

  “Are you sure you dropped off The Marquess of Dalysbury on this wasted piece of land?” the frailer of the two men asked of Ger.

  “Aye,” Ger offered back.

  He knew from his short travels with the man he'd most certainly never be called a conversationalist, nor did Ger like to be imposed upon even when money dangled before him. That is why he figured his mother had to be involved. Two such thief-takers as these men could sorely be held accountable to catch petty thieves to earn a wage, let alone sport the funds it would take to get the journeyman to bring them here.

  “Surely, he is dead by now,” the other men laughed. “We shall search anyway for the ungrateful son. Lady Dalysbury promised us a sizable sum for his return. Do you suppose she will lessen it if we return only his dead body?”

  “The Lady best not even try. I will have my fortune whether he is breathing or not when I hand him to her. Gads, we have come all this blessed way risking life and limb for this. Wagering if he lived or died was ought part of the deal.” He slurred his words as if foxed.

  Edmund, even as the wolf, smiled. The men’s sick sense of humor had not awoken such a response, but the idea his mother had been so desperate to find him that she had sunk to the level of employing these two buffoons, most probably corrupt Bow Street Runners who had sunk to the base of making a living any way they could find.

  Looking down upon his two furry front paws, he realized that in this form he stood the distinct possibility of the men shooting at him. Wolves may not exactly be something one expected to see on a deserted island, either. Would the man inside the beast die if the animal was killed? He squelched the passing thought by imagining Aubrey alone.

  He sprinted to get back to her. She'd said something before about the island needing to be protected or hidden or something. Being much distracted at the time, he had not heard her clearly. He had expected Ger back later today, and had wanted to use the time to ensure Aubrey would begin the return journey with him.

  Seeing her at the door this time, naked and smiling, brought out his protective instincts. He focused momentarily on transformation and became a man mere steps from where she stood. She flew to him, wrapping her body around his nakedness. He growled, unable to keep all that burned inside him at bay even when his thick member met with her soft skin.

  “While I wish you would have waited for me before trying such an elaborate shift, I do think your shifting gets my color up, too,” she whispered in his ear before kissing it.

  Wishing he could take her up on her obvious offer, he reined in his lust gaining a feeble hold on the urgency of his news. He held her tightly while he caught his breath before scooping her up in his arms. She had been too busy kissing his neck for him to tell her at first, and his manhood spoke for its own distraction.

  “Aubrey, we can discuss my shift later. I have urgent news that I must tell you posthaste. We have a sizable problem, although one I hope not to be insurmountable with your magic. Two men have landed here with Ger to try to find me. They are quite empty-headed rakes if that helps us any.”

  “What?” Her mischievous grin soured as what he said sunk in. “What are we going to do? They cannot discover this place is habitable. Men who only care for money…”

  “Would not know of magic if it bit them. They find this place deplorable. I heard them speaking of it.”

  “I need to speak with Ger to make sure he comes back soon to get me. I should have known not to trust she would do nothing. She cannot be stopped!” He caught the glower which overcame her countenance, and he held onto her despite her struggles to wrench free from his arms. “Let go of me! You must stumble out of the woods so they find you, but you will have to make up a story about how you survived here. Make sure to tell them the isla
nd is deserted just to be sure. Tell them you never found me,” she rambled on, panic stricken.

  “No, I will not leave you! Ger has already confirmed I am here for them, as I guess their price outweighed mine. I heard no mention of you. My mother is so foolish and desperate she can not see her own errors anymore.”

  “I bought his silence. You obviously did not think to do so also. I will be off the island soon. Please, show yourself to them.”

  “No!” he yelled louder, incensed that she acted like nothing had changed between them. “I will not leave you now. Is there not some magic we can do so they will not find us? Those two are dumb enough to disbelieve Ger if they do not find hide or hair of either one of us. If she finds us, she wins again.” His mind raced through options.

  “Such a mess, always…” she stumbled.

  “Can’t you shift them, too, like you did me?”

  “Ger will be thrilled to learn we are witches. He will not take us back then! In fact, he may send others to get us if he does not kill us himself. People still fear us, remember?” A spark like fire came off her skin, and his body reacted by flinching. To his dismay, this allowed her time to flee his embrace.

  He stood watching her run from him, without a stitch of clothing on, into the villa. Voices came faint on the sea breeze. The men already combed the small island. His mind whirled around what to do. Damnation! I need to get these ruffians off this island and ensure Ger will come back for us. I still need time to convince Aubrey to return to England with me and be my wife.

  Rage wound around him, made him jumpy, taking his brain to worst case scenarios, as it stirred up the gentle air until it hissed through his ears. If his mother stood in front of him now, his wrath would combine with his new powers to result in her death. She was not a mother. She was the black spy in England.

  About to calm himself and go to Aubrey, he found Ger lurking around the villa as if he had already been there before. He quieted his temper and crouched beside a tree to watch. Ger’s mouth moved, but Edmund’s ears still rang too much for him to make out what the journeyman said. Something was going wrong in his head. He could not gain control of it.

  Despite the piercing pains ripping through scull now, he kept his unfocused eyes on the villa. Weak, limbs made of jam, he leaned against a tree to keep his body upright. His muscles ached as if he had been running for days. The hammer in his skull prevented him from deciphering his urges. He knew not the why of his current condition. He could hear Aubrey’s voice in his ears, warning him of the dangers of mixing magic and anger.

  Then, he saw Aubrey open the door to the villa and usher Ger inside. When the wooden door closed off his view of them, Edmund lurched forward on the fortitude of his fury alone. He half expected himself to shift into a ball of flames. The rush of heat, though unbearable, moved him forward. He feared himself mid-transformation, but he knew not to what.

  A few paces away, he could see through a window. Ger had Aubrey pressed up against a wall. Edmund’s angle allowed him a view of their sides. He could see her lips moving. Ger’s mouth was turned up in a sneer. When Ger’s hand reached out to touch Aubrey’s arm, Edmund wondered if they’d had some type of relations prior. The way the man caressed over her skin spoke of familiarity.

  I may have been a damned fool, but you will not touch another cursed inch of her skin, journeyman, without having to answer to me! He had intended the words to come out of his mouth, but he feared they did not. The pain which assaulted his head pushed forward behind his eyes. He tried to yell out her name, and everything went black.

  Chapter Twelve

  Aubrey had stormed the structure she called home with such a whirl of emotions she experience none at all. On that score, her mind sentenced her to reliving the past. A similarity between how she felt in this moment and to how she felt back in her room in England with the roses scattered on her floor mounted. It seemed, will she or nil she, Edmund and his mother made her a pawn of their fate. That is to say, they handed her the option of suffering no matter what their current agenda held for her. Mere subterfuge was all her trip here had been.

  She had let herself hope that on this sacred ground she would be free of the constraints upon her due to her lack of societal standing. Were the dreams of being able to control whom she loved, where she lived, or even to have a say in what she wore, such a fantastic notion?

  In her current circumstance, so much destruction lingered around her that there remained nothing for her to take out her wrath upon. Heavy footfalls broke her stupor, and she pulled herself from her bed, preparing to fight with Edmund again. She bristled when she saw Ger coming upon the cabin. He posed a grand reminder of how Lady Dalysbury would always win. After a moment of holding her breath, she decided herself as safe as she could be in approaching him. She had heard neither hide nor tail of the other two men. When she instinctually reached to straighten her skirts as a way of puffing up her courage, she realized her nakedness.

  She had only time to pull over her head the first article of clothing she came upon. The thin shift settled over her body seconds before Ger let himself in. He shouted her name faintly so it came out as a hissed command. Obviously, his back was up from having to listen to the two rakes that had paid him.

  She took a deep breath and walked into the kitchen where he stood. With each breath, she hoped Edmund would not find them this way. She had no idea where he had gone after she had pulled herself from his arms. Although far from the eyes of those who would judge by such blunders as a curtsy too shallow, her current level of impropriety at being with a strange man alone, while indecently dressed to boot, weighed upon her. A heathen, she was not.

  “Ger,” she said, trying to gain modesty by crossing her arms down over the front of her body. She then thought to feign surprise. “What in the world are you doing here? Did we not settle upon an agreeable date for you to fetch me?”

  “You are a popular lady. Now I can see why so many have come here in search of you.” His smile grew too forward for her comfort. The large sailor stalked toward her, and she garnered her energy up in case she needed to protect herself again. He cornered her abruptly. His beefy hand ran down one of her arms. She granted him leniency only because she needed him to get her off this island.

  “Listen. I have not time for such games.” She shook her head and gave into the will of the truth. “I know you brought men here to find us. They were sent to kill us. So, I query you to please let me make you an offer beyond whatever they have paid you. Edmund is quite flush in the pockets. I am sure you know this fact from whatever coin he gave you to bring him here. Can you come up with a way to get them off this island and then come back for Edmund and I as soon as you can? If you take them back, making up some likely story or excuse, we will give you double the chink they did when you come back for us.”

  He grunted, and she supposed that all the confirmation he'd offer. The voices of the men came closer quickly, and she inched her way past the giant to peer outside. It was then she saw Edmund lying on the ground unconscious.

  “What have you done to him?” She rounded in haste upon Ger.

  “Done to who?” she heard him say, but she's already run out the door. Her prior concern of the consequences of the sunlight and her thin shift abandoned her mind.

  She ran her hands over him, faint in her relief of finding no indication of wounds. With danger afoot, she moved quick to assess. The residue of anger hovered perilously over his fatigued body.

  “I did not do this, my Lady, but they are coming. I will help you, but you both best pray you have the funds to appease me once I come back for you. I am not a man to be trifled with, and I have had about my fill of you and yours.”

  She merely nodded her assent as Ger hefted Edmund up over his shoulder with little regard for his person. They trudged back into the villa. To her delight, with his ease of manners, Ger went back out the same way after depositing Edmund on the bed.

  The three men argued once Ger cut off the ruffians’ pr
ogress. She did have the privilege of hearing him silence their dim-witted mouths by merely stamping his foot upon the ground. Out of sight within minutes, she turned to Edmund.

  To see him lying there so pale and precariously placed, he looked almost frail in spite of his bulking form. She had a mere few days to heal him and make him ready for the journey back to England. She hoped she would have their future all figured out and him convinced of it by then, too. Incapable of finding fault with him in his state, once again her thoughts formed something of a contradiction. How she could manage to heal them both, she could not surmise.

  As she sorted through the herbs available to her, she wished she had access to rosemary. Knowing she must go forth without, she heated the water with the herbs she did have. She had already laid him out in a more comfortable position on the bed and covered him up. After lighting a candle, she began chanting and anointing his body with the herbed water.

  “With the healing properties of these herbs, baneful energies are now purged.”

  She dripped the water over his forehead, taking care to rub it over his temples. While continuing the chant, she went about in the same manner over his entire body. She could not help but appreciate the muscles that rippled over his arms and stomach and legs. For any negativity would counter the effects of the spell, after all. Not able to help herself, and sure he wouldn't mind, she ran her fingers lightly over his staff, watching it come to life even as he slept.

  With sexual energy building in her core, she thought to care for herself as well. “I ask that the healing energies of these herbs take from me my baneful thoughts and return them as they were. As I will, so mote it be.”

  She removed her shift and anointed herself with the water as well. Several wayward thoughts went through her mind as her hands rubbed water on her lower stomach. She hesitated, then thinking the energy build could only help them, she let her fingers fall between her folds.