“Well then we’re even because you’ve already done that to me.”
“I guess we balance each other.”
“We do,” he says, and squeezes me in a little tighter.
“So what sort of gift are you offering anyway?” I ask, now completely under his spell and not willing to give up the security of his arms for anything. I lean my head back against his shoulder and just breathe. Then I send out a silent plea to the gods. One more hour. Is that too much to ask?
“It’s something I haven’t done with anyone since I was thirteen years old.”
“Are we about to play a game of I’ll show you mine if you show me yours?” I say, teasing, but part of me hopes that is exactly what we’re about to do.
“Sort of,” he says with a hint of hesitation that I can’t quite interpret.
I peek up at him from over my shoulder. His eyes are full of emotion and the grin I thought I would see on his face from my suggestion isn’t there.
“Close your eyes again,” he says.
I face forward once more. At first, uncertainty keeps my gaze trained on the forest at the edge of our little clearing, but I trust him completely and even though I could see something in his eyes that I’m not used to seeing there, I let my eyelids drift closed. Then I feel his palms gently cupping my face and covering my eyes so the world darkens.
“Wait,” I say, and reach up to remove his hands. I turn to look at him again. After being together for a little over half a year, I understand that I still don’t know everything about his powers, just as he doesn’t know all of mine. Magic is a complicated business. Throw in the human condition and it can easily take a lifetime to know the complexities of someone’s magical skills and abilities. At twenty-five, I’m still learning new things about myself all the time.
His hands rest on my shoulders as I watch him, looking once more for that wary signal I thought I saw in his eyes. It’s there.
“We have nothing, if we don’t have trust,” he says.
Rook is absolutely right and I’ve always felt I could trust him. My gut feeling about people is rarely ever wrong.
I settle back against his chest and he places his palms over my eyes.
The images come flooding in. It starts with birds. I’m not surprised to see the blue jays, magpies, sparrows and orioles. Rook isn’t named Rook for no reason. He has a connection with the aviary world and his parents understood it from the very beginning. Rook told me there was a nest of newborn crows outside his window the day he was born and the mother crow watched over him like he belonged to her. His parents had no choice but to name him after the bird that adopted him. The family of crows stayed with Rook as he grew up and he says, still live on the estate back in Devonshire, England. Birds seem to recognize him as one of their own. It’s not as strange as it may sound. In our world of magic users, there are much stranger things than being adopted by another species. Perhaps this is the reason I knew I could trust Rook as soon as I met him. My specialty is being able to work with animals. Did that make me more attractive to Rook? I don’t know. I don’t know if I want to know. Animals and I have been friends since I first opened my eyes and saw my aunt’s cat staring at me in the crib. Then Twinkle had to learn that he couldn’t sleep on my face, and I learned that cats aren’t always a witch’s best friend.
The birds circle the clearing and images begin to fill the meadow. It’s a vision and I know this isn’t the inner workings of my mind. My boyfriend is showing me his thoughts. He’s connecting us by placing his hands over my eyes. It’s surreal and not exactly disturbing, but definitely a bit unsettling. People should not place thoughts inside your head. His magic surprises me once again.
In the vision, we’re standing near the stream and a house appears. The mixture of Craftsman and classical architecture is so much like Rook that I instantly know he designed it and we’re looking at his future home in this very same field. The home is gorgeous with its covered front porch and rich stained wood. The stone foundation matches the stone of the two-story chimney. There’s a roof deck where I can see the top of Rook’s telescope stretching up to the sky and there are two crows sitting in a young cherry tree planted in the yard.
In the front garden, lavender bushes and Russian sage compete for space with the coneflowers and daisies. The reflection of the flowers in the front windows gives the illusion of the garden extending inside the house itself. There are so many windows covering the home that every room must have an extraordinary view of the forest, the ocean, or both. They beg me to peer inside and see what this magnificent home looks like within. I’m about to do just that when Rook takes my hand and leads me around to the back. His imaginary house isn’t extravagant, or anywhere near being a mansion, but it’s beautiful and looks comfortable. There would be plenty of space for a family, but no one would be rattling around, or feel like they could get lost in the attic or basement. That’s how I always felt growing up in the Morgan house.
The vision continues, and as real as it all seems, I know we’re still sitting on the picnic blanket in the meadow. I walk with him excited to see more, and the back of the property doesn’t disappoint. There’s a large sunroom and all the windows are thrown open to catch the fragrant air. I take in the flagstone patio and the stone paths leading to a fenced garden and glass greenhouse. It’s the yard dreams are made of. I can see more of my favorite herbs and perennials growing everywhere. The chamomile and poppy blooms are bursting with color and life, while hollyhocks lean against a trestle, and the sunflowers crowd a corner of the garden. Bunches of blue flax sway in a light breeze and the delphiniums alone make me want to take up residence and never leave.
Rook doesn’t speak in the vision, but I begin to hear the sounds of this place. Always the birds are chattering and singing, but then I notice the buzz of bees and the clicking of grasshopper wings as they hop from one patch of grass to the next. The call of the raven turns my attention to the south and I see the well-marked trail leading away from the backyard and off through the trees. He leads me in that direction next.
The small barn, a workshop, and Rook’s truck parked next to a tractor all scream at me as being home. This is the home I have dreamed of all my life. The place that would never exist in reality. Then Snowdrop rounds the corner of the barn and approaches the paddock fence looking at me for his molasses oats, a carrot, or some other favorite treat. As I near the barn, I see Perry grazing in the pasture beyond.
“What are you doing?” I ask as I slip out from Rook’s arms and climb to my feet.
“Showing you our future,” he says and stands to meet me face to face.
I take a step back. This part is going to hurt. I can already feel it starting to burn inside. I cross my arms over my stomach with the need to protect myself.
“How were you doing that? Can you manipulate anyone’s mind?” I hear the accusations in my tone and I hate the sound. This is where I become the person I loathe. The heartbreaker and the crusher of hopes and dreams. Not only my own, but those of the unsuspecting men I love.
I was in love once before, or at least I thought I was. It was years ago, but I’ll never forget the misery and soul-crushing heartache of breaking up with someone I care about.
“Aspen,” Rook starts. He looks ruffled to say the least. Confusion furrows his brow, and there’s a line of tension in his jaw that isn’t normally there. “I wasn’t kidding when I said I haven’t shared this with anyone since I was thirteen. The visions I have are real. They don’t come often, but I know when one is true.”
“You didn’t have a vision of me when you were thirteen,” I say with disbelief. Even if he actually did, I don’t want to hear about it. I can’t have a long term relationship. It’s not in the cards for the Morgan witches. The witches of Lane County are cursed, and even though no one says it aloud, everyone knows it’s true.
“No. That isn’t what I meant.”
He sounds frustrated as he rubs the back of his neck with a work roughened hand.
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“I haven’t shared one of my visions with anyone since I was a teenager and this is why. The last person reacted about the same way you are right now. Being inside someone else’s head isn’t a grand idea. Showing them the future is an even worse one. I thought you would like it. I mistakenly thought you would be as excited as I am. My visions have never been wrong.”
“You’re wrong this time,” I say while staring at my riding boots.
“I wanted to show you before I have to leave on this internship. Today is perfect. You and me and the horses, here on my land. I knew from the day I was born that I would not live on the family estate in England. I’ve always felt that I was searching for something. I’ve traveled all over and studied the heavens and the stars and now, finally, in this northwest corner of the world I feel like I am home. This place is not for me alone. I know you are part of it.”
“But I’m not, Rook. You may have found your piece of ground here, but I will never be able to live with you.”
“You saw your garden and your horses. It’s only a few miles from your family. Why do you keep insisting that you won’t marry me? Why are you so afraid? You know as well as I do that we were made to be together. The stars align for a love like ours only once every few centuries. We both feel it and don’t deny it to my face.”
He sounds more than frustrated now, and as cold-hearted as it sounds, I can handle anger a lot better than sadness. Fury and resentment toward who I am is always much easier than the devastation of knowing I have no control over my future or my fate.
“You may be the more sensitive one, but you can’t control my actions. Just because you can plant pretty pictures in my head doesn’t mean you know what my future looks like.”
“I do. I don’t know how we get there exactly, but I’ve seen the truth.”
“You’re messing with my head and I don’t appreciate it,” I say, and set my jaw.
“I’m doing no such thing. I could if I wanted to, but I don’t hurt those I love, which I can see isn’t a policy you subscribe to.”
“Don’t accuse me of things when you don’t understand what I have to deal with.”
“Why don’t you tell me so we can sort it out together?”
I ball my fists at my side wanting to scream it in his face, but that’s part of the problem. I can’t tell him. The silence is part of the curse. I can’t speak of the curse with anyone but a direct female descendant of the Morgan family.
“You’re pushing me toward a future I don’t want,” I lie.
He sees straight through me and sorrow settles on his face. A shadow clouds the light in his copper eyes. “You’ll even lie to yourself to place a rift between us, but I know how you feel about me and I know what I was shown. We’ll be married one day, Aspen Morgan, and you’ll be happier here than you have ever been in your entire life.”
I turn away from him and train my eyes on Snowdrop. His head is down as he nibbles on the meadow grass. My horse has been the one true constant in my life that always brings contentment. I’m going to need his daily soothing presence in my life again very soon. Letting Rook distract me so much these last seven moons was a mistake. The last time I had my heart broken, it took a year to stop thinking of my ex every day. The depth of feelings I have for Rook is a thousand times more intense than before. This breakup is going to cause a chasm of pain that even Snowdrop may not be able to fill. “I’m sorry, Rook,” I start, and then steel my resolve at what I have to do. “You’ve made a terrible mistake by dating me, and you don’t know everything about me. I don’t want to live here with you. I don’t want to have anything to do with you anymore and I’m glad you’re leaving for a year. It should make this easier on us both.” I swallow, blink three times and turn to look him in the eyes. “Please don’t come see me anymore.”
I move toward my horse, intending to ride back to my barn alone. I have to be by myself now. Maybe I can go camp on the beach for a few days so I won’t have to face the aunts and their knowing sympathetic glances.
He’s fast. Too fast for me to realize and slip out of his grip. He takes my hand and reels me in so I’m standing right in front of him. A wave of his natural cologne washes over me in a cloud of warm cedar and redwood mixed with the faint trace of leather saddles and soap. He guides me in closer to his body and then raises his free hand. The muscles of my back tense and I struggle to keep up the charade of anger. He raises his thumb and gently wipes away the tear at the corner of my eye.
“Why?” he asks.
“Because I can’t be who you want me to be.”
“I don’t want you to be anything but you. I love you exactly as you are and I always will.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying, Rook. I’m not the girl for you and I’ll never marry you. Ever.”
That did it. I broke him. The pain in him from my simple declaration is as clear as the cloudless sky overhead. Of course I would choose the perfect day to make myself perfectly miserable.
As if he flips an emotional switch, Rook all at once shifts and expertly covers his pain with a mask of challenge. I try to pull away but he holds tight.
The tip of his tongue moistens his lower lip. “I see we’re starting something new between us,” he says as if he’s figured me out.
“Let me go. I need to leave. I don’t want to see you,” I say, not liking the sudden change in his behavior and the challenge rising like the tide.
“Just one moment.”
With that he leans forward and places his lips against my forehead. “You’ll never be able to forget me, Aspen Milan Morgan.”
His lips travel over to my temple and then down to the edge of my jaw. I shove against his chest, but he’s unyielding. The warmth of his lips meets my pulse. I feel my body, and my resolve, melting. I’m sure he can feel the blood pounding through the delicate skin. Rook lingers there, teasing my sensitive neck with his teeth and lips.
“Don’t you dare put a spell on me, Rook Avesbury,” I say, even though at this point he can do pretty much whatever he wants. Goddess, I am such a wimp when it comes to his kisses.
The tingling heat from his mouth penetrates deep into my body and I’m filled with effervescence, like tiny champagne bubbles are dancing through my bloodstream. Damn. This kind of sexual attraction should be illegal. He sucks lightly on the nape of my neck and I stop resisting. The point of no return lies in that one magical spot of skin. I whimper and run my fingers along the side of his ribcage and then grip the muscles of his back. He takes my roving hands as a cue and moves his lips to my mouth. A purring growl rumbles out of his chest as he claims me as his for at least the thousandth time. Is it fair to have this much desire and longing for another human being? No. It’s not. Fairness flew out the window the day my many times great-grandmother decided to curse everyone in her family tree. Would it really be so bad spending our final day together satisfying our physical needs? Every day after today is going to hurt worse than I can even imagine, so why not have one last hour to love him and let him love me?
My overcharged thoughts turn to super-charged currents of lust and I realize that we’re sinking to our knees, bodies entangled. Rook lowers his mouth to my collar bone and I arch my spine, giving him room to maneuver over every exquisitely tender inch of skin.
He murmurs, “You know I would never do anything against your will, you cursed woman. I’m the one who should be wary of you and all your magical ways and crazy talk.”
I stiffen. What did he just say? Cursed woman? Has he put it together? The real reason I can’t marry him even though our souls long to be together in every way, physically and spiritually.
His hand glides down my spine sending maddening shivers right to my core. He palms my ass and pulls me in tight against him, his hips grinding into me. There’s no telling where the source of the heat pulsing between us emanates from. It’s him, it’s me. It’s the connection keeping us locked together.
“No! We can’t keep doing this.” This time I shove him hard e
nough away that he tips to the side and I’m out of his arms and back on my feet before he recovers.
“This!” he says with shock and hurt in his eyes. He rises, steps forward, and then rakes his fingers over his scalp. “We’re making love. The kind everyone wants and nobody finds. What is the matter with you today?”
“I don’t have to explain myself other than to say we’re through. I love you, but it’s not enough!” I feel the wind pick up with my rage. My already untamable hair flies about my head and I’m sure I become the witch of fabled nightmares. That is if the damned sun wasn’t so glaringly ideal today. Where are the lightning bolts and claps of thunder when you need them?
“You’re truly magnificent when you’re being irrational. Just look at yourself, darling,” Rook says, his hands on his hips and awe now sparkling in his copper-tinged eyes like he’s just discovered a new and wondrous species. “This is the woman I’ve been searching for,” he exclaims while holding his open palm toward me and staring up at the universe.
And maybe he has found a new variety of female, but he really doesn’t want to find out that this kind of wild woman rips your heart out, stomps on it, spits on it, and then sets fire to it and watches it burn until there is nothing left but ashes.
“I’m breaking up with you,” I say in cold monotone. If I keep letting my emotions show, I won’t be able to make it back to my house. I won’t be able to do anything because I know I’ll collapse right here in the meadow where Rook saw our future house with the perfect garden, and the perfect barn, and the unbelievably beautiful life that we will never know. I can’t have one more moment to feel him beneath my hands, to feel him inside of me until we are one soul soaring through the heavens of sexual bliss. This ends now.
He tips his head to the side, watching my face, looking for my cracks.
I won’t crack. This is for him! I want to scream it. To shout it out loud that we can’t have a future because he won’t survive the Morgan curse. Instead I take another step back, putting more space between us. The grass crumbles under my boots. The earth knows what I’m doing and is dying along with my love for Rook.
Unwrapping Treasure: A Granite Lake Romance Novella Page 8