THE RISK OF LOVE AND MAGIC

by Patricia Rice

  Magnus nodded approvingly. “We make up a fictional Malcolm identity, chat about how our kid bends spoons or whatever, and his people will pounce. If the general sends scouts to check us out, what’s he going to find? He can’t get past neighborhood security. He’ll have to either try to lure us out or make an appointment to meet us in person. People who live in places like this won’t accept talking with anyone except the owner of the Academy.”

  “Jo-jo usually doesn’t deal directly with his victims, but he spies on them when he has the chance,” Nadine said, puzzling out details. “If we make the fictional kid look really good and make Jo-jo feel secure, he might take the bait. He’ll like this place.”

  “What will you do if the general shows up at the guardhouse?” Dorrie asked.

  “He’d have to make an appointment, and we’d be waiting for him,” Magnus said with assurance.

  Nadine could drive a space shuttle through that logic, but she bit her tongue. She was starting to grasp the advantage of staying in one place and having Jo-jo make the first move.

  “He’ll trace the dog here,” Conan argued. “Won’t that look suspicious?”

  Magnus shrugged. “Just means we performed due diligence by checking out the school first. If we picked up a stray in the process, it means nothing.”

  Vera looked up eagerly. “Then Nadine could keep Mr T with her?”

  Nadine could think of a dozen reasons why this was all wrong, but if the goal was to lure the general away from Vera . . . It might work, if she just didn’t think being blown up was a bad thing.

  “Wealthy people would take a stray to the vet,” Magnus said. “The vet would check out the microchip. Let’s start there. I don’t want to be watching our backs and a dog, too.”

  Well, at least the dog would be safe.

  Eighteen

  “I think we ought to find some way of making certain those kids are unharmed,” Nadine insisted out of the clear blue sky.

  Itching to be on the road, knowing he was stuck here baiting the damned trap, Magnus nearly dropped the glass he held when Nadine spoke his thoughts aloud.

  “Yeah, and we need to dig scientists out of underground bunkers, too,” Magnus retorted, irritated that everyone else was leaving while he had to sit on his hands. “World peace after that.”

  She was across the kitchen loading glassware into the dishwasher and could do no more than glare at him. “They’re helpless children!”

  “Nadine and I survived,” Vera said pragmatically, accepting the dog’s farewell lick before handing it over to Conan to take to a vet. “We have no way of knowing what was in that grave. I was behind trees when I saw it, but we’d have to go into the open area near the school for a closer look. If we go in like storm troopers, people might get hurt. Jo-jo’s teachers were hard-nosed, but I can’t believe any teacher would torture a kid.”

  “What if I can find out what kind of security they have at the school?” Nadine insisted. “If I can take it down, can we go in?”

  “On what basis?” Magnus asked, unable to believe he was actually interested. He was all for storming the school and bunkers, getting everyone out, and smashing the general into tarpaper, but even he knew the down side of that. “We have no legal right to do anything. We have no evidence of wrongdoing.”

  Nadine twirled a curl around her finger—a certain sign that she was ready to go ballistic. Magnus crossed the room, crushed her hand in his, and dragged her toward the pool. If he could do nothing else, he could keep La Loca out of trouble. “Say good-bye. We’re going for a swim.”

  “I am not going for a swim. I need to get back to the computers.” She tried to shake him off.

  “Send those items I requested,” Magnus told Conan, pretending Nadine hadn’t said anything. Keeping her safe meant plugging his ears and going la-la-la so he didn’t fall into her tempting traps. “I’ll enhance the house’s security in payment for our use of the place.”

  “Will do.” Conan saluted while eyeing them with interest. “Need chains and handcuffs?”

  Dorrie pinched her computer genius fiancé’s arm and turned toward Magnus. “We’ll use your fake ID and this address at the vet’s. I assume if the general picks up on the microchip, he’ll have people down here soon enough. Enjoy yourselves while you can.”

  “I’ll be fine, Nadine,” Vera said more softly, reacting to Nadine’s furious struggles to escape Magnus’s hold. “Really. Luring the general is what we need most, and you know his triggers better than anyone. Once he’s out of the way, the experts can handle the school situation. By next week, maybe, this will all be over and you can come visit me.”

  Magnus let Nadine go long enough to hug her sister, but he didn’t let her out of his sight. He’d been around her long enough to know that by now, she was a walking IED.

  The instant the door closed on their guests, Nadine made a break for her computer.

  Magnus blocked her way. “Let’s try the Jacuzzi before all hell breaks loose. There isn’t anything else you can do that we haven’t already tried.”

  “There has to be something,” she insisted, practically jumping up and down. “We can’t just sit here like bumps on a log.”

  “Want me to drive over and spray the school with automatic fire?” he asked with just an edge of frustration. “You can’t be everywhere at once. We have to prioritize, and catching the general is our first task. Just because it doesn’t involve your computer, doesn’t mean what we’re doing isn’t important. Just be happy that you’re free now to do it. Enjoy this brief space where no one is pressuring us.”

  “You’re a fine one to talk.” She spun around and headed for the door to the pool, then halted. “I don’t own a bathing suit.”

  “And? That matters how?” Magnus quirked an eyebrow.

  Her eyes widened. Magnus appreciated the mercurial swiftness of her mood change as she realized what he meant. Accepting the challenge, she raced out to the heated pools. They steamed in the chilly air. She eyed the smaller one, found the buttons for turning on the jets, and smiled in delight.

  Without an ounce of hesitation, she stripped down to her underwear, tested the water, and slid in. “Ohhh, I want one of these!”

  Magnus eyed her breasts bobbing on top of the water, visible through the sheer fabric, and agreed wholeheartedly. If he ever had a house, it needed a Jacuzzi. Following her example, he stripped to his knit boxers and eased in slowly so as not to splash her. “It pays to take an occasional time out.”

  “To think things through?” she suggested.

  “Was that a jab?” he asked without anger. “I do what needs doing when the opportunity arises. Until then, I wait.”

  She ran her toes up his leg—not far enough. “So, you’re not thinking things through? You’re just sitting there, steaming yourself?”

  “Pretty much,” he agreed, reaching for the clasp of her bra. “Steaming, definitely.”

  “You see yourself as a mechanic, a man of action, not competing with your brainy brother,” she concluded as her bra drifted away. “Using your hands does not preclude thought.”

  “Action works for me,” Magnus agreed, unruffled by the comparison. “Did you decide to be a nerd because your sister is more outgoing?”

  She splashed her foot but the jets caused more commotion than her small toes. “I’m an introvert. Look up the psychology sometime. I like computers that don’t require small talk. I’m energized by being alone. Everyone gravitates toward things they’re good at.”

  “And avoids what they’re bad at. Case closed.” Magnus ran his foot up her thigh, coming much closer to his target than she had.

  “Mind closed,” she accused. “That’s what happened to Jo-jo, I’m betting. Po-po died tragically. He closed down his grief and focused all his energy on her work, without considering consequences. Obsessive, like you.”

  “If we’re doing petty psychology—you’re trying to insult me and push me away because you’re afraid to get close to anyone.” His toe
brushed the slip of silky fabric between her thighs.

  She retaliated by wrapping both her legs around his and casually stroking his thigh with her foot. The erotic jolt nearly brought him out of the water.

  “If we can’t find Jo-jo and stop him, I have to leave the country,” she said while his mind evaporated. “What’s the point in getting close? Besides you just want sex.”

  She damned well had that right. “If the sex is good, why not?” He slid deeper so her toe could reach his burgeoning erection. Even hot water couldn’t steam the starch out, but he wanted her enough to take his time. “Did I hurt you last night?”

  “Yeah, a little,” she agreed, apparently incapable of dishonesty. “Sex is probably another of those things I’m not good at.”

  Max blew a sigh of exasperation. “You know prodigies who are good at everything the first time?” Oops, he probably shouldn’t have revealed his conclusions since she hadn’t mentioned her inexperience. He waited for fireworks of denial.

  Nadine didn’t even blink. “Sex takes practice?” she asked in disbelief.

  Max dug his fingers into the side of the pool to prevent reaching for her. Wet, her dyed hair clung to her fragile skull, accenting softly rounded cheekbones and high forehead. He tried to focus there and not on all the pale, lush curves beneath the water.

  “Even animals require practice,” he told her, applying more pressure with his foot until she squirmed. “What we had last night was a thousand times better than most couples ever achieve. We’re good together.”

  Her big green eyes widened in the fading light. “Really? I mean, it was worth the pain and all, but I just don’t see the need to repeat it.”

  He nearly expired of the pain knowing he’d hurt her . . . and fearing he’d never have her again. Then he worried that he was in over his head if he wanted her this much. This was why he was lousy at relationships. He was clueless.

  “Go easy, and there’s no pain,” he promised, remembering why doing was better than thinking. “All you have to do is tell me to stop, and I’ll adjust my position. Or you can adjust yours. Practice. Like learning to fly a plane.”

  He thought he might internally combust just talking and not doing, especially when she was looking at him as if he’d just offered her the world’s biggest chocolate cake. With raspberry ice cream on top.

  “It’s just mechanics?” she asked, climbing to her knees, her breasts rising above the water like ripe grapefruit.

  She’d said she was good with mechanics. “Mechanics, yeah.” Magnus couldn’t resist cupping a dripping breast.

  She purred and crawled up his leg, letting him caress both breasts. “Teach me.”

  “Oh, yeah.” Cupping and caressing, he encouraged her to lean forward so he could kiss her. She tasted of honey and sunshine and something deep, urgent, and sensually sinful.

  He was in danger of needing her too much.

  She caught on to the eroticism of tongue play quickly. She almost undid his formidable restraint with a slow, exploratory probe. He encouraged her with his hands, cupping her butt, lifting her closer, and claiming her mouth until they were both mindless.

  “Can you teach me in here?” she murmured, running her hands over his chest, locating his over-sensitized nipples.

  Magnus ripped off her panties in reply.

  Just in time, he remembered condoms. He reached for his jeans, soaked them fumbling with the pockets, while she continued kissing and teasing. She nipped his shoulder, and he finally located the foil packet.

  “Boy Scout,” she murmured approvingly, leaning down to kiss his chest while he yanked off his briefs and threw them out of the pool. “Be prepared. Take care of others.”

  “Obsessive,” he growled, donning the latex with difficulty while ripe bare flesh squirmed above him.

  She laughed low in her throat and continued exploring with her mouth.

  He stroked between her thighs, and she cried out loudly enough to set coyotes howling. He didn’t stop stroking.

  “Oh, yes, I like that. How do I do that to you?” And she proceeded to explore where he needed her touch.

  Magnus thought he might expire of relief and need at the same time. “You are the most amazing woman I’ve ever known.” He meant it. He wasn’t given to charming compliments. He took her hand and showed her how to stroke him. Her touch alone had him hard and ready. Her cupping and squeezing nearly brought him out of the pool.

  He suckled her breasts in return. That was all the incentive she seemed to need to dare lowering herself over him.

  “We just don’t fit,” she murmured in disappointment, rocking back and forth against his tip.

  “Mechanics.” He licked her ear, caressed her erect nipple, and adjusted his position slightly, so he was just inside her. She was as slick and wet inside as out. “Keep moving. It’s okay. I can’t break.”

  “Oh . . .” She squirmed until he was a little deeper. “ . . . my . . .” She shifted until she’d taken more of him. “ . . . ohhhh!” She sank onto him fully with a sigh of awe.

  He needed no more encouragement than that. Satisfying her breasts until she rocked demandingly against him, Magnus grabbed her bottom, pushed, and she responded by taking him all the way. He pulled back, thrust again, and she eagerly met him.

  Barely holding back, he let her lead, let her find her own release. With a cry of enlightenment, she contracted around him, rocking with the intensity of her orgasm. Taking advantage of her abandonment, he thrust high and hard, guiding her to another level of release before he finally and at long last surrendered his restraint. He exploded inside her so hard and fast that it left him lightheaded.

  She collapsed against his chest, half-sobbing, and let him hold her.

  “That took thought,” she whispered below his ear. “Don’t tell me otherwise.”

  “Action, baby,” he muttered. “I’m all about the action.”

  She poked his side as he lifted her from the pool. “You’re just too stupid to know what thought is.”

  Magnus laughed.

  Nineteen

  Moonlight poured across the bed from the French doors of the balcony. Restlessly, Nadine curled her arm across Max’s muscled chest and crossed her leg over his big thigh. He snored lightly and cuddled her closer.

  She took every opportunity he offered to savor the fascination of flesh against flesh. She hadn’t been this close to another human since infancy, and she needed to explore the experience.

  He was rough and hard all over, with bristles on his jaw and crisp curls on his chest, and scars in mysterious places. She might never have another chance to know a man like this, and that saddened her, but she was thrilled to find one who understood her as Magnus did. Maybe she was a machine after all, and that’s why he got her.

  They’d had beautiful, miraculous sex again when they’d finally made it to bed.

  Despite losing her mind several times, sex wasn’t enough to quiet her brain—or her roiling emotions.

  She wanted to smack Magnificus Magnus for opening her up to sensations she’d never experienced—and might never experience again. She wanted to kiss him all over in gratitude. She’d never suffered such internal turmoil and didn’t know how to handle it.

  Thinking was simpler than feeling. Lucky man if he didn’t have to think or feel.

  She unraveled from the cocoon of blankets, arms, and legs, and inched to the far side of the bed. She’d never shared a bed before. Maybe that wasn’t helping. Magnus rolled over on his side and returned to snoring.

  The air was chilly as she tumbled out. She pulled on one of his big shirts and her hoodie and jeans. Locating her laptop in the dark, she carried it downstairs to the room with the gas fireplace. She turned on the logs and settled on pillows in front of the fire.

  She checked the news sites to see how hard the police were searching for her.

  Interesting. Apparently someone—possibly Oz with his media connections—had tipped off journalists. While the police reported they�
��d been unsuccessful in locating the two missing young women, reporters informed their readers that the stepfather of the missing women was unavailable for comment.

  Looked like news conferences with the police had become a question and non-answer session about the secretive general. Apparently Jo-jo had used his Palm Springs address to report the crime, and journalists had staked out the estate—without success.

  Surprise, surprise, their neighbors told the reporters they hadn’t realized anyone even lived in the house. They’d thought it was someone’s holiday residence. Perfectly logical since even the few days he was there, he spent underground.

  Her stepbrothers—who were old enough to be her middle-aged uncles—remained taciturn when caught and faced with questions. Feng Chang stuck to the party line and said Nadine was a loyal worker and happy family member who would never run away. Feng Jin hinted that she was a dangerous lunatic who needed to be found before she harmed herself or someone else. Neither said much about Vera. They barely knew Vera existed since she had no gift and had never worked with them.

  The news reports were starting to cast doubts on the existence of the general’s daughters. But the cops were still looking for them, which was what mattered.

  Nadine dug a little deeper, hacked a few news bureaus just to see how far they might go in trying to locate Jo-jo to get a story out of him. Would he hurt reporters? Stupid question. He didn’t differentiate between intruders.

  One industrious journalist had matched a license plate number to the general’s Escalade from the time he’d been at the police station. Someone had spotted the SUV at the Palm Springs estate just yesterday. The reporters hadn’t verified the general was in it, but Nadine knew the possibility was good. He liked his chauffeured limo. He was arrogant enough not to feel particularly threatened yet. He’d want to keep in touch with the police if he hoped to find her.