Moon Bound

by Leisl Leighton

  Bron couldn’t even make herself smile at that. ‘Adam’s gone for a run to get rid of the excess energy Shelley fed into him.’

  Jason sat down next to her. ‘I know.’ He took her hand in his. ‘It’s not your fault. You didn’t know what would happen. None of us did. But you had to try.’

  Bron pressed her lips together as they trembled. It took a few moments to answer him and when she did, her voice was tight with the tears she refused to shed. ‘I wasn’t certain. I shouldn’t have done it until I was certain.’

  ‘None of us can be certain about any of this. It’s new territory. Even Cordelia says there’s no mention in their Pack Diaries of anything like this. But unless we try, we can’t learn.’

  She pierced him with a glare. ‘But why is River the one to suffer? Why did the power rebound on him and not me?’

  Jason shook his head. ‘I don’t know. I wish I did, but I don’t. What I do know is that River won’t thank you for exhausting yourself by sitting here with him and getting no rest. In fact, I’m pretty sure he’ll rip through me if I let you ignore your need for rest.’

  ‘I’m not ignoring it. I don’t need it. Ever since the energy transfer, I’ve been on a high.’

  ‘Yes, but all highs end with a crash.’

  ‘Then I’ll crash. But I’m not leaving River until I do. And nothing you or any of the others can do or say will make me forsake my vows as a healer. I’ve done damage here. I must be the one to make amends in whatever way I can. And if sitting vigil is the only thing I can do, then I’m going to do it.’

  ‘One of the pack will sit with him at all times.’ Jason stood and held out his hand. ‘I promise.’

  ‘Not good enough.’ She stared up at him, not caring that her eyes were full of unshed tears. ‘It has to be me.’ She let her gaze drop back to River. ‘I don’t know why, but it has to be me.’

  He sighed. ‘I think I know.’

  She looked up, questioning, but he shook his head. ‘It’s not my secret to share. When he’s ready, he’ll let you know.’ Leaning over, he kissed her on the forehead. ‘Is there anything I can get for you?’ he asked as he straightened.

  ‘You can bring me another diary.’

  He nodded. ‘I’ll bring a few more up.’ His handsome features and lightning blue eyes were full of empathy. She was so glad her friend had found such a good man. They deserved each other.

  She pored over the diaries he brought up, but after hours of reading and struggling to understand the crabbed, ancient writing, she’d found nothing. ‘This is pointless.’ She snapped the diary shut and pushed it off her lap, uncaring that not only was it precious to the Were, but as a document that was nearing five hundred years old, it was priceless. Pulling her feet up onto the chair in front of her, she buried her face in her knees and gave in to the tears that had been threatening since the day before.

  ‘Bronwyn?’

  Her head snapped up. ‘River?’

  His eyes, tired and red-rimmed, were open and looking at her as if he was a starving man and she was a feast. ‘Bronwyn,’ he whispered again, his hand reaching out towards her.

  She leaned forward to take his hand so fast she lost her balance, tumbled forward off the chair to sprawl on top of his chest.

  ‘Bronwyn,’ he whispered, his breath playing over her cheek, gaze falling to her lips, hand buried in her hair. ‘Bronwyn.’

  He tugged her slightly and more off balance than her little fall could account for, she softened into him. His lips met hers. Soft. So soft. And warm. They pressed against her lips, moulding to them, a sweet glide over super-sensitised skin. His fingers curled in her hair, pulling her more firmly against him, holding her in place.

  Not that she could move. Or wanted to. Not with this warmth flooding through her. She’d been so cold since yesterday. Cold to the bones. But now, with River’s mouth on hers, hot breaths mingling, his tongue running along the seam of her lips, once, twice, enticing her to open, sliding into her mouth when she did, she felt warm. Warmer than she’d ever remembered feeling in her life.

  She groaned as his tongue stroked over hers. His head angled to go deeper. The kiss changed from languid and warm, to fast and hot. So hot. The burn of desire, sudden and unbidden, raced through her veins. She groaned. His mouth shifted from hers, and she clutched his shoulders as he worked a path of fire down her throat to secure over the juncture of her neck and shoulder, his teeth biting down into the soft flesh there—a tang of pain followed by the lush lap of his tongue over the sting.

  ‘River!’ she moaned as the impact of what he was doing flooded through her system. ‘Touch me. I need your hands on me. Touch me.’

  River stilled with a suddenness that made her breath catch in her throat. For a terrible moment it reminded her of the night before when she’d touched him and he’d become as still as death just before the seizure had started.

  But then he moved.

  Bron spilled onto the bed, bouncing on the mattress as River lifted her off him and sprang away to come to a hunter’s crouch on the far side of the room. ‘Bronwyn? What are you doing?’ His eyes were wary as he looked at her. ‘What happened? What are you doing in my bedroom?’

  Bron sat up slowly, cautious. ‘Don’t you remember what happened? What just happened?’

  He uncurled from his crouch, but his body posture still screamed of tension. ‘I was having a dream. You were there. We were …’ His eyes widened and he sucked in a breath, his gaze raking over her sprawled on his bed. ‘We weren’t … I didn’t … I … Oh fuck!’

  He swung away.

  Bron’s heart clutched in her chest. ‘You were dreaming?’

  ‘I was … I didn’t mean …’ He turned, looked at her with an expression that was so full of self-hatred, she felt lashed by it. ‘I’m sorry. I was dreaming about … I was confused. It shouldn’t have happened.’ He turned, grabbed his jeans, jerked them on and before she could say anything, was at the door to the balcony. ‘I’m sorry,’ he muttered. ‘Please forget that happened. I’m going to try to.’ Then he was gone. Out the door and over the balcony.

  With a cry, she raced forward to see him running through the garden and out the gate into the park. Another shadow followed him—Iain. He’d make sure River didn’t get into trouble.

  Legs shaking, Bron sank down to the floor of the balcony and wrapped her arms around her legs. What had happened? River’s kiss had been so unexpected, and maybe if she’d been thinking straight and hadn’t been so upset, she would have pulled back, would have noticed that he wasn’t with her, sharing the passion she had felt so readily. He had seemed embarrassed, and now, so was she. She was nowhere near a prude, and was fully in touch with her sexual appetites, but no girl liked to think a man kissed her by mistake.

  That’s what he’d said. He’d been dreaming. Probably thinking about someone else entirely. Then she’d gone and fallen on him and he’d reacted as any man would who was having a dream about someone they were attracted to. He’d kissed her.

  What he wouldn’t have expected was that she had so readily kissed him back. And then he’d woken up and realised he was kissing his twin’s best friend, his Pack Healer, the woman who was trying to heal him, and of course he’d been embarrassed. Not just embarrassed. Horrified. She’d never forget the expression on his face when he realised what they’d been doing.

  Goddess! She’d never disgusted a man before. Freaked some out with her frankness and with what she did for a living, but never disgust. Her shoulders slumped as everything her mother and father had ever said to her about her life choices shouted for pre-eminence in her head. She’d been so cocky yesterday, thinking she was ready to open her business again, thinking she could figure out how to help River and to harness her power so she could be a worthy Pack Healer. How wrong could she be?

  She couldn’t even kiss a man worth a damn and make him want to stay with her.

  She banged her head against the balcony wall. She was such an idiot. How on earth was she goi
ng to face him again? She was just going to have to make certain he knew it had been a mistake for her, too. Something that wouldn’t happen again. An accident.

  Who kissed by accident?

  She banged her head again. Think! Perhaps she could make him believe she’d been half asleep too; that she hadn’t really been thinking straight because she’d been exhausted? Yes. There was a chance he’d buy that. But one thing was certain—she couldn’t stay here berating herself when he was out there, embarrassed, hurting and confused.

  Pulling herself up, she shoved her feet into her ballet flats and raced downstairs and into the kitchen. Skye and Adam were standing in the kitchen chatting as Adam mixed something with the blender. They looked up at her, startled. The blender stopped.

  ‘Adam, where’s River?’

  Skye tensed. ‘Upstairs in his bed.’

  Bron shook her head. ‘No. He woke up and I fell on him and we accidently kissed and then he got embarrassed and jumped off the balcony.’

  ‘What?’ Skye raced out onto the patio, as if she expected to see him splattered all over the lawn in the garden.

  ‘You fell on him and accidently kissed him?’ Adam asked, knocking the blender blades against the side of the bowl, a wide grin on his face. ‘How does someone accidently kiss?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘It just happened.’

  Skye came back from the window. ‘He’s not out there.’

  ‘Of course he’s not out there,’ Bron snapped. ‘He ran off. We have to find him. I have to explain. Apologise.’

  Adam laughed. ‘No man needs an apology when a good-looking woman kisses him. Although, I suppose it depends on how well you did it.’

  ‘Adam!’ Skye barked. ‘Can you be serious for once?’

  He tipped his head as if to consider. ‘When it warrants being serious, yes. But I’m yet to hear something to give me any concern. You kissed him, Bron. It’s not a crime.’

  ‘You didn’t see his face.’

  His grin widened. ‘He’s probably never been kissed before and you shocked him, which was why he ran off.’

  ‘Oh shit,’ Bron said, burying her head in her hands. She hadn’t even thought about that.

  Adam laughed. ‘It’s not the end of the world. He’ll get over it and will most likely be back for more. Mark my words.’

  ‘I don’t want to wait for him to come back. I have to find him now. He’s very fragile at the moment and I don’t want to make his condition worse by chasing him away.’

  ‘Fragile, my arse. He’s a Were. We’re hardly what you would call fragile.’

  ‘I don’t mean physically, you moron. I mean emotionally …’ Her eyes narrowed. ‘You’re trying to piss me off on purpose. Why?’

  He shrugged. ‘Being angry is better than being embarrassed, worried and afraid.’ He cocked his head as if listening to something, and then waved out the window. ‘Iain says he’s out in the park watching Tom ride his new bike.’

  ‘That connection between the Alpha and lieutenants sure comes in handy. Thanks,’ Bron said.

  ‘I’ll come with you,’ Skye said before Bron had chance to move.

  Adam put his hand on Skye’s shoulder, stopping her. ‘No. There are some conversations best had alone.’

  Bron didn’t wait to hear Skye’s argument. She ran out the door and down the steps into the garden. She wasn’t be surprised by Adam’s intuition. It was becoming apparent to her that there was more to the Trickster designation than the name implied.

  She ran down the sloping lawn and let herself out the back gate and into the park. Her feet pounded, sending up little puffs of dust on the gravel path that meandered through the wide open spaces of fields and woods.

  She hadn’t got more than fifty metres from the house when she saw River jogging up the path towards her, Tom in his arms, Iain close behind him carrying the bike over his shoulder. Suzie, a young maternal Were who was studying childcare and was Tom’s nanny, scurried along beside him, a helmet in her hands.

  ‘What’s wrong? What’s happened?’ Bron cried, running towards them, her attention split between the sobbing boy and the man who held him.

  ‘Tom had a spill,’ Suzie said. ‘He’s hurt himself.’ She gestured to the two large grazes on his knees, watery blood dribbling from them. Patches of blood on River’s shirt where the little boy was clasping him told her he’d injured his palms too.

  Bron’s empathy surged and she had to stop herself from wincing as she felt the stinging pain of Tom’s injuries. She moved towards River and the little boy and said, ‘Oh, poor sausage. I’ve had plenty of spills off bikes in the past. It hurts, doesn’t it?’ The little boy nodded, his lip quivering, tears making tracks through his dust-stained face. She ran her hand over his head. ‘You’re being so brave.’ She turned his hands over. ‘You’ve already cleaned these?’

  ‘Yes. Suzie had some water and we tipped it over the sores to get the gravel out.’ River’s eyes didn’t quite meet hers.

  Crap. He was embarrassed. She knew he would be. She wished she could address the kiss right now, apologise and just get past it, but with Tom watching them with big, wet eyes and Iain and Patrick there for the show too, she bit her tongue on the words she needed to say and concentrated on the issue at hand. ‘Shall we get him up to the house and see if Shelley is back from her shift? If she’s not there, I’m sure we could find some bandages and things in the house to treat the wounds until she gets back.’

  ‘That won’t be necessary, Bronwyn.’

  River’s eyes were burning with an intensity that made her shiver. ‘But he needs to be healed.’

  ‘Yes he does. I wasn’t bringing him to Shelley to do that, though. I was bringing him to you.’

  Her hand jerked. Her gaze flew to Suzie and then Iain, not wanting them be witness to her worry. To her failure. A faint smile curled the corners of Iain’s mouth, but he turned and gestured to Suzie. ‘Come on. Bron doesn’t need us watching.’ Suzie looked like she was about to argue the point, but a stern look from Iain made her snap her mouth shut and follow along behind him as he stalked up the path towards the house.

  Relieved he’d seemed to understand her dilemma, she turned back to River and leaning close, whispered, ‘I can’t heal him, River. You know I can’t.’

  His gaze flickered up and met hers. ‘Yes, you can. You need to forget about what happened yesterday.’

  What happened today.

  She heard the unspoken words and frowned, confused by the apology in his eyes. He didn’t need to apologise. She was the one at fault for the kiss. ‘I can’t do that. I need to talk … Apologise.’

  ‘There’s nothing to talk about and nothing to apologise for. But there will be if you don’t start healing again. And you can start with Tom.’

  Her fingers clenched to still their shaking. ‘You know I’m not the best person to do that at the moment,’ she whispered.

  ‘But you’re our healer,’ Tom said simply. ‘Who else will heal me?’

  River’s brow rose. ‘Out of the mouths of babes. You healed Adam’s scar yesterday.’

  ‘That was different.’

  River shook his head. ‘I don’t think so.’ He knelt down on the grass beside the path, settling Tom on his knee. Then reaching up, tentative, he took her hand and pulled her gently down to kneel beside him. Placing her hand over Tom’s knee, he held it there for a moment, the warmth of him seeping into her so deeply she felt it even when he let go of her hand. ‘You asked me to trust you, now I’m saying you have to trust yourself. You’ve fallen off the horse. Now it’s time to get back on.’

  ‘I don’t know if it’s safe for me to ride again.’

  ‘You won’t know if you don’t try.’

  ‘But is this the safest way to test your theory?’ She glanced at Tom, who was looking at them curiously.

  ‘You won’t hurt Tom.’

  ‘You don’t know that.’ She didn’t understand his certainty, his confidence in her, particularly after what s
he’d done to him.

  He smiled at her. ‘Yes I do. I’m certain of it because this is what you do. It’s who you are. Look.’

  For the first time, she noticed the warm tingle in her palm. He’d distracted her from noticing, but when he’d placed her hand over Tom’s wound, her healing instincts had kicked in and she’d begun to heal his wounds without even thinking about it. ‘Oh,’ she breathed.

  Tom smiled up at her, then took her hand, guiding it to his other knee. ‘Do the other one, Bronny. It kind of tickled.’

  Her breath an excited puff in her chest, Bron sent the healing warmth tingling into her palm. Tom giggled and wriggled.

  ‘Stay still, Tom, until Bronwyn has finished.’

  ‘Okay.’

  He sat still, and when she moved her hand away, there was only a slight pinkness of skin, like the wounds were weeks old and almost fully healed. Bron swallowed hard. ‘I’ve never healed like that before. It’s amazing.’

  ‘No,’ River said, his voice a whisper. ‘You are amazing. Now Tom, hold your hands out so Bronwyn can heal them.’

  The little boy held them out, palms up, his face serious and hopeful. She put her hands over his, careful not to touch River, and concentrated on healing the gashes on Tom’s hands. Moments later, she lifted her hands. Tom wriggled his fingers and laughed. He stood, spilling off River’s lap, and gave Bron a hug. ‘Thanks Bronny.’ He kissed her cheek and then he took off up the path, shouting to Iain and Suzie, who had stopped by the back gate, watching. ‘Iain. Suzie. Look what Bronny did.’

  Bron couldn’t help but smile at his exuberance as Suzie put her arm around him and bundled him inside and Iain followed with the bike. She allowed the joy of it to wash over her, strengthen her for what needed to be said now they didn’t have an audience.

  River stood. Bron scrambled to her feet beside him, careful not to touch him despite the fact he held out a hand to help her. ‘How did you know?’

  River almost groaned. How could he not know? He could feel her desperate need to heal. It was a burning ache inside him. But he couldn’t say that to her. ‘You’ve just lost confidence in it because your magic feels different now. But it’s not really different, it’s just …’ He frowned, trying to think of the right word to explain what he could feel coming off her in waves. ‘More. It’s just more.’