She nodded and stroked her fingers along his jaw line, down to his chest. “If I truly was the first for you, then I’m glad about it.”
“Of course you are. I don’t lie.”
“Wow, it must be an elf thing.”
He slid his arm around her and brought her closer to him. “What are you saying?”
“It’s a compliment, Miles. You were amazing.”
He gave a sigh of relief. “I pleased my lady, which is all I’d hoped I could do. Would you like a little more wine?”
Her stomach rumbled before she spoke.
“Perhaps something to eat, too?” he asked.
“Please, I’m starving.”
He sat up and glanced to the alcove next to the hearth. A table laden with food and wine appeared, along with a cushioned love seat, so they could sit together. He’d confessed what he was, no point in pretending different, he might as well make use of the talents he’d honed over the years worth of longest nights while he waited for her. “We shall sit and eat. You can tell me about your world if you wish.”
“I’d rather find out about yours.” She glanced across to the table. “Anything I should know about eating elf food?”
He laughed as he got up from the bed and offered her his hand. “Nothing other than it will satisfy your hunger tonight.”
“Do you have a robe or something I can use?”
His sigh echoed around the chamber as she rose from the bed, naked but for the glossy pale stockings. “Are you cold?”
“No. It’s warm enough in here.”
“Then may I look at you while we eat. I shall feast on your beauty far more than on the food.”
A tiny smile lifted the edge of her mouth. “No one has ever said things like that to me.”
He slid his arm around her smooth waist and held her to him. “Then the world of men is as I have always suspected.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Full of fools, bright angel. Come, let me pour you some wine.”
“I’ll just visit the bathroom first.” She edged away and walked across the room.
He did just as he’d said and captured every second of the delicious vision for his memory.
The heavy peal of the church clock bell invaded the silence and he counted as it struck ten.
This night, longest of the year as it was, would never last enough for him, but he had no right to claim more from his exquisite lady than she might be prepared to give.
Chapter Eleven
She rinsed off quickly and was glad of the cool water against her warmed flesh. Her bag, which she’d left downstairs, now sat in the space of the middle shelf of his toiletries. Only he could have brought her things upstairs, somehow, maybe by magic. She opened the bathroom door a crack and called, “Thank you.”
Astonishing. The whole idea of him, his abilities, was wild, wonderful, and something she’d never have imagined. Was this one night thing for real? Couldn’t she find a way to make sure she could return tomorrow night, or next month or the month after? Might she be able to stay?
She gazed in the mirror and wasn’t surprised at the glow in her features. Miles had lit something inside her, right now she smoldered but it wouldn’t take much for the embers to spark afresh. No one had ever made her feel like this.
Love?
She shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair to get rid of the tangles. Love at first sight, first touch, yes, she did believe that could happen. But to her? Reapplying the gloss to her kiss swollen lips only made her doubly conscious of his mouth on hers, tender and soft, ravaging and hard and she’d loved every second of it. Maybe after they ate there would be time for more. She screwed the lid on the lip gloss shut. Yes, there would be time she’d make sure of it and she’d get to tease that majestic cock until Miles begged for release.
Putting her bag on the shelf she opened the door and stepped through. The view made her pause. Light from the candles and hearth glowed on his hair so the silky strands looked like liquid fire. He sat with the cup in his hand but looking her way. She knew he’d fixed his gaze on the door until she came through it. The sheer impact of his physicality stilled all the other thoughts except she stood naked but for stockings, and she stood this way because he wanted to look at her. She lifted her chin a little and walked over to the table. She didn’t rush and his smile as she approached made her glad she hadn’t hurried.
“Your wine.” He put the cup in her hand as she sat beside him and once more his thumb grazed against her lower lip. “I like the shimmery stuff.” He bent and kissed her so gently each of her nipples glowed hot. He backed off from her mouth and licked his lips. “Tasty too. But now you shall eat. You must be hungry.”
He smiled, and the expression tugged at her heart.
Carefully he put food on the platter that she realized must be silver not pewter as she first thought. All the finger food included favorites of hers, and each nibble tasted utterly delicious. She shared and swapped bites with him, while she nestled against the smooth muscles of his chest, and let him lick crumbs from the base of her throat every time he insisted she’d spilled something.
He dipped his finger in his wine cup. Firelight glossed the gleaming droplets he let fall on her nipple. He teased the red runnels with his tongue, licked the swipe of wine from her flesh.
“Oh, God.”
“I could eat you,” he murmured.
“Not yet.”
He glanced up, one eyebrow raised as he smiled. “Soon.”
Her gut twirled with a fresh upsurge of desire. As though now she’d tasted him and her body knew what he offered her flesh prickled with the greedy need for his touch. “Very soon.”
“Taste this,” he said offering a sliver of ripe peach.
She opened her mouth, accepting the fruit and his lips a second after. His tongue tasted with hers before she swallowed and still his mouth stirred her passion so she groaned.
“I can’t wait, my lady. I must have you now!”
She sucked in a massive gulp of air as he swept aside all on the table, lifted her in the same breath and placed her where the food had been. He hooked her knees with his arms, lifted them and spread her thighs wide. He prodded with the head of his cock and slid inside a little so she mewled in pleasure.
“I won’t take long, angel. I want you too much.” He thrust inside.
Somehow she managed to lift her body so she could hook her legs tight around his waist and help him as he drove into her. Each return stoked her pleasure until her cries echoed and reverberated around the room.
Orgasm silenced her because she could scarce breathe in the blissful wave.
Chapter Twelve
If she were a cat he’d have said she was purring. He moved a little and reluctantly eased back from her.
She opened her eyes. “Don’t leave me, not yet.”
His heart echoed the words so they reverberated through him, chilling his delight in her. One night would never be enough. If she left in the dawn for her human life, for certain after he’d do as the vile wizard he’d crossed once swore.
“Your arrogance will lead you to beg for death, rather than face life without the one you love.”
The bitter curse had held him fast for so long. He could scarce hope for the freedom to love her for all his long life. He traced a finger against her cheek, down to the hollow of her throat and still he held her in his embrace with the other arm. “Thank you,” he whispered in her ear. “You have given me a taste of heaven.
“Miles, please, don’t look so sad.”
Hauling her up with him from the table that promptly vanished he crushed her against him. The bell ringing out one sent a fresh chill through him. “I’d not thought it would be like this.”
“Like what?”
“You are precious to me, more beautiful than anything I’ve ever seen or heard tell of.”
“It’s the one night thing, isn’t it?”
“Would you wish for more, angel?”
> “Of course!”
He swallowed hard scarce believing what she might mean. “I cannot lie to you and say it would be easy. If you wish for more nights there would be a cost.”
Her eyes widened. “You charge?”
A ripple of laughter caught him by surprise and he couldn’t stop it echoing around the chamber.
“How much?”
He shook his head. “No, you misunderstand. I’m not a harlot.”
“Then what do you mean?”
“If you chose to stay then you must remain for a year and a day before you could again be free.”
“Remain here, with you?”
“Yes, but there is more.”
She tightened her grip about his shoulder. “Explain.”
“All the others would never return. If you stay you will free them.”
“Others? You said I was the first!”
“You are. The others are the shades of all those who failed the challenge of the box. Tonight they leave for the short time it takes for a new candidate to be tested. No one else has ever passed the test, but I was counseled if one ever did, then the others would be set free.”
She nodded.
He carried her to the bed, set her down and once again admired the perfect beauty of her form.
“Miles, why is it important that the others leave?”
“Because tonight is my one night to use magic and to be free with the skills I learned in my youth. Tomorrow no matter how hungry you might be, we would have to wait for food to be cooked.”
She wrinkled her nose and as he settled beside her he placed a kiss on the tip, and then on her lips.
“I just don’t get why these others are important.”
“They serve in the house, clean, scrub, cook and sew. Without them I would need—”
“A housemaid!”
“I would not wish you to be that.”
“Too darn right, but my friend Kelly, she knows the owner of a company who hires people out. I can organize a cook and maid easily.” She clicked her fingers. “Now, just so I have all the information, what happens if before the year and a day are up I want to leave?”
“You couldn’t. If you tried to leave you would become a garden ornament. Your beautiful body would set solid as stone before you left the grounds.”
She pursed her lips, a luscious temptation he couldn’t ignore, and before she could tell him he was a fiend or a wicked monster he kissed her.
“Wait,” she said as he released her mouth. “Can you ever leave this house?”
He shook his head. “No, I am doomed to exist here until I find one to love who will love me in return, not just for a night, not even for a year and a day but always. Only that will release me and allow me to leave, to once again use the magical skills I have whenever I wish.”
The expression in her eyes sent a jolt of hope, hot as a livid coal the truth seared into his body.
She reached out to the drape by the side of the pillow. “I think we might have a solution.”
“What is it?”
“There’s something that’s been bothering me since we came in here.” She traced her finger over the smooth silky cover.
“What, my angel,” he reached across and swept a kiss over her cheek. “Whatever it is, tell me and I will right it for you.”
“It’s the sheets.”
He raised one eyebrow. “In what way?”
She snuggled against him and his nipples tingled with the sheer pleasure of her touch.
“When I looked in the box and saw us making love, the sheets were grey. I distinctly remember, grey, like the ones I bought, with the embroidered letters.”
He shook his head. “Grey, but these are—”
“Blue, my perfect elf, all blue.”
“Oh.” He rose to sitting, twisted from her to peer at one of the familiar bed curtains and then the next, before he turned back and discovered her enormous smile. “I’m so glad,” he whispered. “My heart is so full of you. I couldn’t bear to let you go.”
“I don’t want to leave, not tomorrow or ever. Have I solved the problem?”
“Yes. It was already solved as soon as we entered the bedchamber. You didn’t see tonight in the box, but tomorrow night, or perhaps the night after or all the nights there are.”
“I can stay with you?”
“If it is you wish to be my love. My heart is yours.”
“Yes, Miles. Love with you is all the magic I’ve ever hoped to find.”
The candles flickered. A log in the hearth broke, the firelight dimmed and then flared. On the shelf a soft sigh sounded, followed by the chink of gems hitting wood. No longer bound to the box they formed a glistening stack. One round pearl dropped to the floor and he didn’t move from where he lay. The curse was done.
He held her tight, closed his eyes to relish the softness of her skin, the warmth of her breath against his throat, the heat of her breasts pressed tight to him and the promise of love. “We can be together for as long as you wish.”
❄ The End ❄
Meet Daisy Banks
Daisy Banks writes sensual and spicy romance in the Historical, Paranormal and Fantasy genres. An obsessive writer Daisy is passionate about her stories. Her focus is to offer the best tale she can to readers. Daisy is married, with two grown up sons. She lives with her husband in a converted chapel in Shropshire, England. Antiques and collecting entertain Daisy when she isn’t writing, she has also occasionally been known to make a meal that doesn’t stick to the pan.
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Other Titles by Daisy Banks
A Gentleman’s Folly
Your Heart My Soul
Timeless
Fiona’s Wish
A Matter of Some Scandal
CAGING THE WOLF
❄
Sofia Grey
Jessie’s plan was simple. Go home after a year of travelling, start working for the family business, and finally catch Jack Harper’s attention. Her plan unravels when a wolf-like dog asks for her help, and in a moment of craziness she frees him from the pound.
Now she’s dreaming nightly about Levi, the hottest, most perfect guy ever, who just happens to have the same name and brilliant blue eyes as the wolf-dog.
Her old life has changed, and she’s not sure she likes the new one, but how can she move on when the man of her dreams only exists in her imagination?
Chapter One
“You have got to be kidding me.”
The nearby guy’s voice rose, alarm rippling through his words, and then I heard a yelp. There must be a problem with one of the dogs, but I guessed in a pound this big, it was to be expected.
I shuffled the box in my arms and tried not to fidget. It was bulky rather than heavy, but I’d been waiting nearly ten minutes. If the girl didn’t come back soon, I’d just leave it on the floor.
“No.” Alarm had risen to panic. What was happening? “No, please don’t. Don’t put me in there.” Ice snaked down my spine at his shout, and I glanced around, wondering why nobody was doing anything.
“Help me. Somebody, please help me.”
Instinct battled with common sense. This was a dog pound, not a torture chamber. It was probably just someone messing around.
As I thought that, a man in a white coat appeared in the doorway. “Sal?” He shouted. “He’s down.” His eyes sharpened when he noticed me. “Can I help you?”
Footsteps pounded down a hallway, approaching us in the tiny front office. I shuffled the box some more. “I’m, uh, Jessie. I’m dropping off some bedding.” His eyebrows dipped and I hastened to explain. “I’m moving out, and I don’t need it any more. The girl I spoke to on the phone said you were always in need of blankets and quilts, you know, for the stray dogs.”
I was babbling, like I always did when I was nervous. And for some reason I couldn’t quite put my finger on, I felt very uneasy.
“Right.” He nodded, but his attention leapt to the young woman w
ho burst into the room. It felt distinctly crowded now. “We’ve got him, Sal.” A grin broke over his face. “This is the one. Get on the phone. Call everyone.”
I could have been invisible. “Should I just leave my stuff here? I’ve got some more in the car.”
“Yeah, sure.” They were already heading down another corridor, leaving me alone. I could hear the excited rumble of their voices and I puzzled over his words. This is the one. Call everyone.
None of my business. I dumped the box on the floor, next to a teetering stack of dog food cartons, and pushed out through the door. My car was around the corner, parked in my usual haphazard fashion, and I’d left it unlocked. I grabbed the second cardboard box from the back seat, and straightened up. I’d be back in a minute, so I left the door open. Nobody would steal this piece of junk.
To my right was a side door into the pound. It didn’t say keep out, or private, or staff only, it was a lot closer than the main office, and this box was particularly heavy. Fuck it, I’d give it a try.
I tried the door handle and it opened. I peered through the gap. A long, grey-tiled corridor stretched away from me, animal pens on both sides, and most of them empty. It didn’t look as though anything was running free, and so I slipped through the door, box in my arms. It stayed open behind me; I’d have to come back and close it.
The only dog I saw lay on its side in a cage way too small for its size, and I felt outraged on its behalf. It didn’t even have room to stand. Was this really the best place for me to donate my stuff to? I’d left it too late to find anywhere else, and I wished I’d spent more time thinking this over. It’d been a last minute idea, something I excelled at.
I stood there, battling my indecision, and the dog lifted its head. Brilliant, sapphire-blue eyes stared at me.
“Please help.”
That voice again, the guy I’d heard earlier. I looked over my shoulder, but the corridor was empty. The only other voices were in the distance, high and excited. My heart thudded against my ribs. Where was he?
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