At first, Colin felt silly for getting caught talking to the cow, but then he saw desire blossoming in Darby’s eyes and his body answered with a blast of pleasure. That was all it took to restore some of his much-depleted confidence, and he flashed her a smile, then went back to whispering to Mable. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her struggle to catch her breath, her face turning the shade of pink he loved so much.
He wondered what was going through her mind, hoped it was the same thing going through his, then nearly laughed when she could barely talk. Pleased with his effect on Darby, he silently followed her out of the barn and around back to what looked like a little house. Already planning his seduction, he wasn’t prepared for the sight that greeted him when he ducked inside.
Perched all around him were chickens, their eyes locked on him. They were clucking and making so much noise, he could barely hear Darby when she said, “They’ll quiet down in a second.”
He wrinkled his nose at the new smell and was tempted to pull his shirt up over his face but saw the look on Darby’s face and stopped himself. When the noise had settled to a low murmuring, he asked, “How many of them are there?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Probably more than there should be, but I’ve gotten attached to a couple of them,” she said, reaching out to stroke a large hen sitting on a nest next to her.
When she slid her hand under the chicken, it ruffled its feathers but didn’t move. “If we’re going to have eggs in the morning, we need to gather some,” she said, pulling her hand out and holding up an egg. “I haven’t done it for a few days, so there should be at least a dozen. When you’re done with that, fill that bucket up and spread it out in front.”
Colin stared at the egg, then looked over at the bucket sitting next to a big bin of food. “Do they bite?” he asked, stepping back when one of the chickens next to him ruffled its feathers.
“It’s more like a peck, and it doesn’t hurt that much,” she said, grinning at him. When he didn’t move, she said, “Okay then, I’ll let you get to it. I’m going to go inside and start dinner.”
When he finally stumbled into the house, a dozen eggs balanced between his shaking hands, he was bloody and had far more respect for Darby. He found her in the kitchen and handed the eggs over, then collapsed into a chair, holding his arms up for her to see. Her eyes got big, and he could tell that she was trying not to laugh at him again, but this time, instead of making him mad, he saw the humor in the situation.
“Those were more than little pecks,” he said, a grin on his face. “I’m not sure who won: me or the chickens.”
Darby grinned at him; her eyes sparkled with laughter, and then it burst out of her, and his body responded with a burst of desire. “They get better once you get to know them,” she finally said when her laughter died away. “If it helps any, we’re having fried chicken for dinner.”
Colin burst into laughter. “Serves them right,” he managed to say.
When their laughter died down, they were still looking at each other, and the air in the room began to change. Darby turned back to face the stove, her face turning pink, and another burst of desire took his breath away. He got to his feet and crossed the room in two giant strides, grabbed her and turned her around, then lowered his mouth to hers.
She tried to pull away from him, but he threaded his fingers through her hair and held her there until, with a sigh, she wrapped her arms around his neck and opened her mouth to him. He kissed her, tasting and teasing, making her moan deep in her throat, and her nipples harden where they were pressed up against his chest. When she pushed him away for the second time, he reluctantly let her go.
“I think you should go take a shower,” she finally managed to say, her eyes still locked on his.
“Why, do I stink?” he asked, grinning at her.
“No, but a cold shower might not be a bad idea,” she said. “I told you I wasn’t going to sleep with you, and I’m not.”
“We’ll see about that,” he said. “And just so you know, a cold shower doesn’t help; there’s only one thing that does.”
Darby’s face turned pink, and it was his turn to laugh at her. “Are you really that innocent?” he asked, planting a kiss on her nose.
She turned away from him. “The chicken is going to burn.”
He was still smiling when he got out of the shower and put on the clean pajama pants, he found on the bed. Realizing that Darby had changed his sheets, he felt a little guilty, especially now that he’d spent a day working on the farm. It was beginning to set in that he was pretty helpless, that he didn’t know the first thing about how to get along in the real world, that left on his own, he’d probably die.
Gratitude sprang to life in his chest; it filled him, and for a moment, he thought he was having a heart attack, then he understood what he was feeling. Slightly off-center, he headed back to the kitchen, hoping that a good meal would help him clear his head. But when he saw Darby, the feeling was back and even more intense than before.
“I know I probably haven’t said it, but thank you for letting me stay here,” he said, feeling much better for having said the words.
She turned from the stove and smiled at him. “I think that’s the first time I’ve heard you say thank you; it’s nice to hear,” she said. “Now I think dinner is ready if you want to eat.”
“And I think those are the sweetest words I’ve ever heard,” he said. “Can I help you put the food on the table?”
***Darby***
Darby wasn’t sure that this was the same man who’d kissed her just a few minutes ago, and she was getting tired of trying to keep up with his personality changes. Her attraction to him made little sense to her, but after that last kiss, there was no denying that he’d awoken something in her no man ever had.
She desperately wanted to explore the feelings he invoked, wanted him to kiss her again, to feel her body pulsing with pleasure when he touched her. But she didn’t want to get hurt, and even though she was trying not to, she was starting to like Colin. He’d worked hard that day, done things he’d never done before, taken his own failures in stride, and she’d gotten a glimpse of the man he could someday become.
But she couldn’t forget that he was the prince, and she was a commoner, anything lasting between them was impossible. Their worlds didn’t connect and never would. No amount of passion or even love could change that; it was the way things were in Ballentine. That combined with the risk that Colin would bring unwanted attention to the farm should have been enough to help her send him on his way, but instead she was sitting down to dinner with him.
They’d been eating in silence for a few minutes when Darby finally asked the one question that had been plaguing her since she talked to Eli. “Why did your parents kick you out of the castle?”
Colin looked up at her, then set his fork down. “You didn’t see the paper last week?” he asked, slightly surprised.
Darby shook her head. “I don’t have time to read the paper.”
“You didn’t hear people talking about me?”
“I was really busy getting ready for opening day last week,” she said. “But I have heard things about you.”
He sighed. “Yeah, I haven’t exactly been the poster child for good behavior, but only about half of what you heard is true.”
Darby thought about that for a second, then said, “Even half is pretty bad, but what did you do that pushed your parents over the edge?”
She could tell that he didn’t want to tell her, but she waited him out. “I rode my horse naked down Main Street in the middle of the night.”
A picture of him riding through the center of town naked popped into her head, and she couldn’t stop the laughter that bubbled up. “You really like to be naked, don’t you?” she asked, then burst into laughter. “That must have been some front page. Now I wish I’d seen it.”
He grinned at her. “I’m sure that could be arranged, but you’ve got the real thing right here,” he said.
“I’d be happy to strip for you any time you want.”
Darby felt herself blushing and knew that the conversation had gone in the wrong direction. “So, your parents kicked you out for that?”
The amusement disappeared from Colin’s face. “Well, it was a little more than that. They said that I’m not ready to rule, that I’m a spoiled brat who doesn’t appreciate what he has,” he said. “I’m beginning to see that they might be right.”
Darby felt her heart opening up to the man sitting across from her, who was clearly stricken by his own words. She reached out and patted his arm. “I bet they would be glad to hear you say that,” she said.
He looked over at her, his eyes sparkling with moisture, and she was sure that he was going to say more, but instead, he looked down at his dinner. “Enough about me,” he said. “Tell me about you. How did you end up with this farm? You seem pretty young to have all this.”
Darby bristled at his words, an automatic reaction since she’d been hearing that since her parents died. “My parents were killed by a bear in the woods between here and town when I was thirteen. I worked my butt off to keep the farm and build my business, and no one is going to take it away from me,” she said.
Colin held his hand up. “No one was talking about that. I just wanted to know.”
She felt the blush rising on her cheeks. “I’m sorry, I know that’s not what you were thinking, but you wouldn’t believe how many people wanted this farm and how far they were willing to go to get it,” she said.
“You haven’t had it very easy, have you?” he asked, his eyes filling with compassion.
It took her a second to answer. “It hasn’t been easy, but I haven’t been alone. I had my grandmother until last year, and Eli has been there almost from the start,” she said.
She could have told him about the help her father had given her, but she wasn’t ready to share quite that much yet; he had to already be wondering about how she’d healed him. Then as if he’d read her thoughts, he set down his fork and studied her for a long time.
“Darby, how did you heal my wound?” he finally asked. “I’ve been thinking about it, and if it was black magic, then only white magic could have healed it.”
Rattled, she got up from the table and took her plate to the sink. “I think that’s a discussion for another day. It’s late, and we have to be up early in the morning. Why don’t you go on to bed and I’ll take care of the dishes?”
She thought that he was going to protest, but he just stared at her for a little longer, then got to his feet. “I think I’ll take you up on that offer,” he said. “I am kind of tired.”
A stab of disappointment hit her hard, but she ignored it, knowing that she was safer if he didn’t know the truth about her. “I’ll see you in the morning then,” she said, turning back to the sink.
Chapter Twelve
***Colin***
Colin walked away from Darby a little rattled. In his sheltered life, there had been no good and evil, no black or white magic, only stories told to him as a child of epic battles fought and demons vanquished. His ancestors had long ago outlawed the use of magic and witchcraft in Ballentine, but he’d never thought much about it, never considered the possibility that it might still exist.
The question had been floating around in the back of his head, but tonight, he’d blurted it out, then wished he hadn’t when he saw Darby’s reaction. When he got to his room, he didn’t get into bed. Instead, he walked over to the window and looked out into the night. He tried to sort through the emotions tumbling around inside him, but at first, the barrage of feelings was too much for him to take, so he closed his eyes and took several deep breaths.
Darby is a witch, he thought, trying it out in his brain, and finding not fear or revulsion, but a little thrill of excitement. The more he let that rattle around in his brain, the more it made sense. It explained her blushing and shyness about sex. It explained how she’d saved his life, and maybe it explained his intense attraction to her. Shocked to be thinking what he was, he put it out of his mind. There was no way she’d put a spell on him.
But the thought wouldn’t leave his mind, and as he dreamed that night, he played out one scene after another with her as his temptress. When he woke in the morning, he was still aroused and very frustrated, and it took him several minutes to realize that he had only been dreaming. Darby hadn’t been teasing him, dressed in nothing but a lace bra and panties all night; it had all been in his mind.
When he walked into the kitchen, she was standing at the stove dressed in jeans and a tank top, and his body responded with a wave of desire that left him a little breathless. Going to the coffee pot, he poured himself a cup, barely able to keep his eyes off her butt in the tight jeans, or the gentle curve of her breast, until he felt the sting of hot coffee pouring over his hand.
Cursing and setting the cup down on the counter, he rushed over to the sink and turned on the cold water. “I don’t think I’m ever going to get that right,” he said, grinning at her as the cold water washed over his burned hand.
“Well, good morning to you too,” she said, smiling back at him.
His heart leaped in his chest, and he forgot the burn on his hand. “I think I made a little mess again.”
Darby rolled her eyes. “You know where the mop is; breakfast is almost ready.”
Colin cleaned up the floor, using a paper towel instead of the mop, then sat down at the table with Darby, feeling as nervous as he’d ever felt in his life. Their conversation the night before was still hanging between them, he could feel it in the air, and he wanted to tell her that it didn’t matter, that he didn’t care if she was a witch. But he couldn’t find the right words, so he just kept eating his breakfast, not looking at her.
Finally, Darby sighed loudly and said, “About last night, I don’t usually...” her words trailed off, and she looked uncomfortable.
“You don’t have to tell me,” he said. “I already figured it out, and it think it’s great. I’ve never met a witch before.”
“I’m not a witch, Colin,” she said, setting down her fork. “I just have a little more magic than most Fae.”
He felt oddly disappointed. “So, you’re a Fae, not a witch?” he asked, studying her some more.
Darby shrugged. “I’ll explain it to you someday, but I’m definitely Fae. Sorry if that disappoints you.”
“Oh, I’m not disappointed. In fact, it does clear one thing up for me,” he said, grinning at her. “Now I know that you haven’t put me under a spell.”
“Under a spell?” she asked, clearly confused.
“I’d almost convinced myself that I want you so much because you put a spell on me,” he said, waiting for his words to sink in.
Darby gasped and quickly got up from the table. “Don’t start that already today,” she said, going to the sink and turning her back on him.
He picked up his plate, crossed over to the sink, and leaned over her to put it in the sink, whispering in her ear. “Maybe I’ll finish it today.”
She shivered and quickly backed away from him. “Stop that, Colin,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. “I’m not going to sleep with you today or tonight, and we’ve got work to do.”
Shrugging his shoulders, he turned on the sink. “I think I’ll try washing the dishes again while you get ready for work,” he said.
She sighed. “I don’t have to open up today; there’s a storm off the coast so the boats can’t make their run.”
He grinned at her. “So, we have the entire day to spend together. I vote we go back to bed: your bed or mine, it doesn’t matter to me.”
***Darby***
Darby wondered what Colin would do if she agreed but wasn’t brave enough to even joke about it. “Neither,” she said instead.
He turned from the sink full of sudsy water and looked at her. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re no fun?” he asked, but she knew that he was teasing.
“A very good friend of mine t
ells me that all the time,” she said, her heart going haywire in her chest.
“We’ll have to see if we can do something about that,” Colin said, wiggling his eyebrows at her. “You do know that I’m an expert on having fun.”
Darby laughed. “Work first, fun later,” she said, wagging her finger at him.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, and turned back to washing the dishes.
True to her word, they worked hard that morning, finishing the cutting in the lavender field with enough time to hang the bundles up to dry. Colin worked alongside her as if he’d done it his entire life, and she couldn’t help but wonder why fate had given her a glimpse of what her life could be like only to snatch it away, and for an instant, she considered giving in and letting Colin have his way.
It might be her only chance to experience the kind of passion that had sprung to life between them, and she wasn’t sure she was willing to miss that opportunity. As unfair as it was, Colin was the man who had finally been able to melt the ice in her veins, and she ached to know what else he was capable of making her feel. A morning of accidental touches had told her only that desire could almost be painful, and that Colin was skilled at seduction.
Her body humming with desire, she escaped to her room as soon as they got in the house, needing a few minutes to recover. But when she came into the kitchen a little later, her calm was destroyed when she saw that Colin had made lunch, complete with tall glasses of iced tea.
“It’s only sandwiches, but I thought it was my turn,” he said, smiling at her and sliding out a chair. “Join me?”
Butterflies erupted in her stomach as she sat down, warmth spreading through her when he leaned down and said, “I’m counting this as our first date,” then slid her chair in.
There was a rose in a vase in the center of the table, and she felt her resistance beginning to fade, the romance of the moment making her breathless. “You aren’t going to give up, are you?” she said, not sure any longer if she wanted him to.
The Fae Prince: (Fae of Ballantine) Page 7