His laugh made the hair on her arms stand up. “You were nothing but a fool, and still are. And if I go back you shall come with me!” George lunged for her and Rose tried to bolt, managing only a half-turn before getting tangled up in her petticoats.
And then George froze, his head slowly swiveling to look over his shoulder at his desk. Rose followed his gaze while she plucked at her skirts. The biggest black panther she had ever seen crouched atop George’s papers, clear green eyes centered with feral intensity on her husband. The muscles beneath that silky dark fur vibrated with powerful menace, and it crouched to spring.
It held George’s spirit-grass ward within its deadly jaws.
Rose’s blue-gray eyes widened in dawning comprehension. “Drake?” she whispered.
George’s body flickered, as if he shifted in both planes of reality at once, and then he screamed and lunged at her again, catching her arm in a cruel grip. Rose felt her spell consume them both when he touched her. He had not been lying when he said he could take her with him.
And then the panther sprang and George tried to use her body as a shield against the animal. But the demon was not quick enough. Rose saw a flash of black, felt the circle of spirit-grass settle over her head. And then her arm was nearly torn from its socket when the panther slammed into George’s body.
Her husband’s scream was quickly silenced as his body shimmered like flame and disappeared. The panther snorted and spun, his lethal claws splitting the air as he searched for his enemy. He finally stilled and the ridge of hair on his back flattened as he turned to stare at Rose.
“Thank you,” she murmured in awe. The enormity of what just happened had not quite penetrated her senses yet.
The panther blinked its crystal green eyes at her and then shimmered, shifting back into the dangerously handsome Mister Drake Pann. He took two hesitant steps, and then a quick third as she swayed on her feet, reaching out and folding her in his strong arms.
“Are you all right?” he whispered into her hair.
“I…I think so.” Rose pulled away and glared at him accusingly, rubbing her sore arm. “You’re a shape-shifter!”
Drake frowned at her. “I thought you knew.”
“No. Manda never mentioned you were a shape-shifter. She just said you lived near them…good heavens!” Rose searched his handsome face. “If you--then that means--you are immune to magic.”
He grinned, those captivating dimples appearing in his cheeks. “I thought that’s why you came to me for help.”
Rose felt her knees wobble. Mister Pann Drake was immune to magic. Which meant that the love spell she had cast on him would have no affect whatsoever. Which meant that…“Kiss me.”
His eyes lit with emerald fire and he complied without hesitation. Rose melted in his arms, while at the same time an inner fire built within her. Heaven help her, but she had misjudged a man again.
But this time she was astonishingly grateful.
When he finally allowed her to breathe, he pulled his head back and looked deeply into her eyes. “I think I would like to continue the discussion we had earlier. Something about a chance for a different life?” He flushed, looking uncertain and a little vulnerable. “With you, perhaps?”
Rose took a deep breath. Could she ever trust her instincts again? And yet, Drake had never purposely deceived her. Indeed, he had acted true to his nature since the moment they had met. She just had not seen the truth.
Rose wavered in indecision.
Drake kissed the tip of her nose. “Have I yet told you how adorable your freckles are?”
Rose started. “No.”
And when he began to kiss each and every spot, she suddenly knew. It had taken a path through hell and back, but she had finally found her soul mate.
About the Author
Kathryne Kennedy is an award winning, best-selling author critically acclaimed for her world building and blending genres to create groundbreaking stories. She’s lived in Guam, Okinawa, and several other states within the U.S., and currently lives in Arizona with her wonderful family—which includes a Yorkie and a part-Chihuahua rescue dog. She loves to hear from readers, and welcomes you to visit her website where she has ongoing contests, sample chapters, newsletter sign-up, and purchase links to her books at www.kathrynekennedy.com
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Moon Dancer (Beneath the Thirteen Moons) Page 6