Moonlight and Magic

by Rebecca Paisley

  She’d seen pistols in them twice, but now...now they curved gently over his elbows. What, she wondered, would they feel like traveling down the length of her body? Would they touch her firmly, strongly, or would they trickle down her skin like water droplets? Would her flesh ripple, or would it warm and become pliant beneath his touch?

  She squirmed in her chair, and looked down at her needle. Such deep, hot feelings were swirling within her, and Sterling had done nothing but stand in front of her while she’d stared at his fingers! He’d said nothing to her, he hadn’t touched her, hadn’t even looked at her.

  But she felt touched. All over. Her body, as if it already knew a man’s touch, was shaking for him. But how could that be? she wondered, the needle becoming a silver blur to her eyes. What strange, pleasurable magic was this?

  She laid her sewing aside and looked back at him. He was watching her. Her heart, like hot wax, melted within her chest, and she felt as if it were dribbling to her toes and splashing to the floor. “Woodshed,” she whispered. “Are you really going to build one?” She stood, her sewing falling at her feet, and as if in a trace, she walked to him, her eyes never leaving his, her lips parted, her heart still melting within her.

  Sterling let his arms fall to his sides as she approached. The heat of her body as she inched closer to him warmed his own. He looked down at her. Yes, he would build a woodshed for her, but how many other things he built depended on how fast Apache babies grew. He needed something to do while here anyway, he’d already decided. If boredom set in, he’d be as batty as Chimera.

  “Sterling?” she prompted absently, lost in the wonder of his silver eyes.

  “A woodshed.” He nodded. “A new barn, fences, and I’ve got to do something with this house. I can’t figure out why it hasn’t collapsed just as the barn did. It—”

  The feel of her arms, as they opened for him; her body, as she pressed it against his; and her cheek, as she laid it softly against his bare chest, silenced him. Gently, he drew her into his embrace. When she remained quiet, so did he.

  From beneath her ear Chimera could hear his heart beating. She thought it surely the biggest heart heaven had ever made, for though her magic had certainly brought him to her, she suspected it was Sterling’s kind heart that had ultimately kept him with her.

  She closed her eyes, allowing herself to enjoy the soothing rhythm for a while longer. A cleansing peace washed over her, and she gave herself up to her warm and magical emotions. Totally content, she sighed and contemplated the slumbering strength she felt embracing her.

  When her sigh whispered across his chest, Sterling bent to bury his face in her hair. It smelled of fire. Not fire smoke. Not fire ashes. Fire flames. He moved his face toward her neck and caught the faint scent of cinnamon. Cinnamon.

  Flames. Cinnamon fire. He liked the fragrance. It was sort of mystical. Magical.

  “Chimera,” he said softly, “I’m only one man, estrellita. I’ll try to do all you—”

  “‘How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world.’ Shakespeare.”

  Her gratitude warmed his heart as her nearness had his body. He drew her closer to him and felt a strange emotion wash over him. It was so simple, what they were doing now, holding each other. There was no urgency. No desperate rash to go any further than a sweet cuddle. Yes, he felt the passion, but there was something else too, something that made him subdue his desire.

  He felt tranquility. The cabin was cozy, the gentle flames in the hearth the only light in it. He could hear only the leisurely cadence of their breathing and the occasional crackle of the fire. Chimera was so small, so soft, so undemanding in his arms. It was a new experience for him, holding a woman who wanted nothing more than his arms around her. He liked it. He did want to make love to her, but found himself hoping things would continue going slowly for a while. The unfamiliar thought brought him such peace, he decided to tell her how he felt. “Chimera, I—”

  “I know, Sterling. You’re worried about all the hard work, but I said I’d help you.”

  “Chimera—”

  “And somehow we’ll manage Everett too.”

  Sprague. The reminder of the bastard took all the tranquility from the moment. “Chimera, we defeated them today with pepper and a skunk. How many times do you think we’ll be able to get away with such outrageous defense?”

  “‘Faith consists in believing not what seems true, but what seems false to our understanding.’ Voltaire.” She tilted her face upward and smiled at him. “One day at a time, Sterling. We’ll take just one day at a time.”

  Her smile was not one of gaiety, Sterling realized as he pondered it, nor was it one of mischief. It was a slow hinting smile. Her lips were tilted not in merriment, nor in impishness. They invited.

  She wanted him.

  Suspicion tainted the earlier contentment he’d felt in her arms. Dammit! What was she up to? What did she believe their lovemaking would accomplish for her? By offering him her body, did she hope to receive even more from him than she’d already asked for? Dios mio, was marriage her goal? His eyes narrowed. Whatever it was she wanted, she was willing to sacrifice her virginity to get it, for he knew full well she’d never known a man.

  Chimera wondered about the skepticism in his darkening eyes. “Sterling, have I done or said something wrong? I—aren’t you going to kiss me?” she asked bluntly, and tilted her chin higher. “Don’t you feel the magic between us?”

  He stepped out of her embrace, awash with tremendous disappointment. And anger. For a few precious moments he had allowed himself to believe that the simple, unseeking embrace they’d shared had been as pleasurable for her as it had been for him. But apparently she hadn’t been satisfied with it. Just like every other damn woman in the world, she wanted more. And she wanted it fast so as not to lose the opportunity to get it.

  He felt the familiar sadness rise from the emptiness inside him. It almost choked him, but he forced it down.

  Chimera watched the swirl of emotions float through his eyes. Doubt. Anger. Then a strange sorrow. Or maybe it was fear. Sweet heaven, what on earth was wrong with the man? She decided to remind him about the kiss. In light of all the mysterious thoughts going on behind his beautiful silver eyes, perhaps he’d forgotten. “Sterling...the magic. I wanted you to kiss me.”

  His brow rose. He could rebuff her, deny her his magic, he realized, but he decided to play her along instead. However innocent she was, she possessed a female mind. Passion, naturally, was a game to her, for women were born knowing how to play it.

  But he would show her she was playing it with a master. He would bring her desire to the highest summit, make her beg for fulfillment, and then deny her. Just because she—and every other female—wanted him it didn’t mean he was theirs for the taking..

  “Sterling, you’re supposed to want to kiss me back.”

  “Do you get everything you want, estrellita?”

  “Since my wants are not all that much, yes, I usually do. Why don’t you want to kiss me?”

  He gave her the slow-spreading smile that he knew devastated women. “Has there ever been another man in your life who has kissed you?”

  “Ah, I begin to understand,” she said, and straddled a chair, her arms resting upon its back. “You only like to kiss experienced women. But how do you expect me to become experienced when you won’t give me the experience? What am I supposed to do? Go out and find another man to practice on and then come back to you fairly bursting with know-how?”

  Despite his decision to teach her a lesson, he couldn’t prevent a soft chuckle. “You’d never do that.”

  “You know me that well, do you?”

  “At this moment, Chimera No Name, better than you think.”

  “Oh, really?”

  “Really.” He sauntered over to her, and hooked his thumb under her chin. “I know for example, that you are a bit warm right now. There’s an ache inside you. You believe a kiss is the cure for
it. But, Chimera,” he said, his thumb smoothing across her lower lip, “I think, perhaps, a kiss will only make you ache more.”

  She watched his silver eyes twinkling down at her. Set against his dark skin, they gleamed like stars in a night sky. The ache he’d spoken of sharpened. “Fantasy,” she whispered. “You were once my fantasy. But you’ve come true. Magic has brought you out of the realm of wishes. Be that fantasy come to life, Sterling. Kiss me.”

  Without the slightest warning, razor-sharp desire stabbed into him. Dios mio, what an effect the little witch had on him! “No.” He ambled away from her, needing to put space between them before his traitorous body delivered him into her ready hands.

  Chimera watched the muscles in his back stretch and rest in pace with his movements. “So you’ll resist the magic. You think you’re more powerful than the mystical spirits.”

  “It isn’t some rhyming incantation that has brought about your emotions, Chimera. It’s a sort of magic, all right, but not the kind you do.”

  She was in no mood to defend her witchcraft. Her mood tonight was a different one altogether, one that did not include quarreling. “Magic is magic, Sterling. It makes no difference what you call it. And the magic tonight is making me want to kiss you. Is there something wrong with that?”

  “One kiss, and I suspect we’ll want more.” Yes, my lovely lunatic, he told her silently, you will definitely want more. He almost laughed.

  There was an odd tone in his voice, she noted. It sort of quivered. She concentrated on it for a very long while, comprehension finally coming to her. “Sterling,” she said very softly, “it’s all right. I understand.”

  He heard the compassion in her voice and turned to look at her. “What do you understand?”

  “It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” she said reassuringly as she walked to him. “Most especially with me.”

  “What do you think I’m ashamed of?”

  “It’s a case of,” she began, and smiled sweetly, “the blind leading the blind. And whatever the magic brings to us, we’ll learn about it together. Surely if we help each other, it won’t be so difficult. You’ve no need to be afraid. We’ll just let Mother Nature do what she will and let our instincts guide us.”

  “Afraid?” His eyes widened. She thought he was as much of a virgin as she! He lapsed into astonished silence.

  “We’ll start with a simple kiss,” she coaxed him patiently. “I’ll just put my arms around you like this,” she said, and slid him slowly into her embrace. “I’ll tilt my face to yours,” she said, and did just that, “and you kiss me.” When he made no move to do as she wanted, she brought her hand to the back of his head and tried to bend him down to her. “Sterling, don’t be nervous. You kissed me last night, and nothing terrible happened to you. I know now that the success of that kiss was just a stroke of luck, but since we can’t always rely on luck, we have to understand this magic between us. The only way to do that is abandon ourselves to it.”

  Dios mio! No woman he’d ever known had believed him innocent. Never having been in this situation before, he found he didn’t know quite what to do. “Chimera, I...”

  “One kiss, and we’ll leave it at that,” she promised. “It’s probably better to go slowly, anyway. Yes, I’m sure it’s wise to be prudent. Charles Colton said, ‘In order to try whether a vessel be leaky, we first prove it with water before we trust it with wine.’ I’m not afraid of this magic, so I don’t think I’m leaky, but we have to see if you are. If you make it through another kiss like the one we shared last night, we’ll know you don’t leak, and then, soon, we’ll pour in the wine.”

  “Leaky?” Tremendous laughter rambled silently through him.

  She felt his body shake. “Oh, Sterling, you poor thing. You’re so afraid, you’re trembling.” She reached up and smoothed her palm across his cheek.

  Her attempt to put his mind at ease was hilarious, and the temptation to see just how far she would go with it was too much for him to resist. “Swear it’ll be just the one kiss?” he asked, and was hard-pressed to keep his laughter from escaping.

  “I swear,” she promised, and puckered her lips.

  “Well, I guess since it will only be one...”he relented, and looked down at her, his lips twitching. “I don’t know much about this, but I think we should make the kiss a soft one at first. Then we could deepen it slightly, and—”

  “Fine. Just do it.”

  “After a while of that,” he ventured, “you might part your lips a bit, and—”

  “Yes, yes, I’ll part them. Now go ahead.”

  “When they’re parted, I could—”

  “Why don’t you show me what you could do?”

  “Well...” he hedged with feigned anxiety. “It’s just that I’m so new at this. What if I do it wrong?” A great guffaw rose within him.

  “You didn’t do it wrong last night,” she assured him. “And it’s just one kiss, Sterling. If you do it wrong tonight, I won’t get mad at you. I know you’re learning, and I’d never tease you over your kiss, no matter how sloppy it might be.”

  He had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. “Well, all right. But remember your oath. One kiss and nothing more. I want to take my time with all of this. Chimera. There’s no sense in rushing things we know so little about.”

  She nodded. Poor man, she thought. He was such an innocent. Of course, so was she. But at least she was willing to begin exploring the land of the unknown. Sterling balked at even setting foot in it. “Sterling, just relax. One simple kiss. Agreed?”

  His contained laughter threatened to tear him asunder. She was about to have her first real lesson in the magic of passion and would soon know that emotions such as the ones she was about to feel were none too easily controlled. He would definitely be the winner of the game. “Agreed.”

  He brought her closer to him, merriment dancing through him when he heard her quivering sigh. And his smile broadened when he bent his head and saw her eyes flutter closed. Gently, he touched his lips to hers and forced down laughter again when she shivered at the so very slight contact.

  “Do you think this is the way it’s done?” he asked.

  “I think,” she purred, “you’re supposed to kiss me a bit harder now.”

  He ignored her suggestion and continued to brush his lips lightly across hers, barely touching them at all. He felt her try to press them closer to his and raised his head so she couldn’t quite reach them. She then stood on her tiptoes, and he heard her hiss of aggravation when he stood on his.

  “Sterling, don’t be afraid. I’m not going to bite—”

  A deeper kiss silenced her, and she felt languid warmth seep into her. His mouth now covered hers completely, and her lips softened and molded to his. She parted them for him and waited in breathless anticipation for him to satisfy the growing longing inside her, savoring everything she sensed from him, relishing the tender heat of his mouth, the sweet flavor of his lips, the gentle sound of his breathing, the intoxicating scent of his body...the feel of a man, a powerfully masculine man. Her fingers curled into his night-black hair, her nails raked his neck softly, and she moaned with this strange need she felt for him.

  In answer, Sterling pressed her tightly to him, allowing her to feel his own need. He thought maybe she’d pull away at his actions, but dismissed the thought promptly when her tongue flickered across his lips. “I think,” he whispered, smiling, “we’re doing it right.”

  His kiss lightened with his grin, and Chimera thought she would surely burst with the want that was pulsing through her. She strained upward, every part of her searching for the succor she instinctively understood was within reach. And when Sterling finally thrust deeply into her mouth, her entire world spun until everything was blurred and racing with the ravenous desire his kiss evoked.

  Sterling supported her, for she had become almost limp in his arms. But though she was weak with her newborn desire, he gave her no quarter. He kissed her thoroughly, leaving no curve, no
valley of her mouth unfound, unexplored, unconquered. He kept one hand tightly against the small of her back, and the other, ever so slowly, ever so gently, edged toward the side of her breast. He never touched more than its side, and that only with the tip of his thumb. He had to tighten his hold to keep her from falling, and felt an answering response in his loins.

  Chimera swayed with the profound ache she realized only Sterling could appease. Her breast seemed to swell and try to find the rest of his hand. She could only imagine the pleasure that could be had would he but hold it fully, smooth his palm upon it, slide his mouth across its rigid peak. She understood now exactly what he meant when he said he suspected they would want more. Oh, how she wanted...something...more. “Yes,” she whispered against his mouth. “Sterling, yes.”

  “No,” he whispered. With great effort he stepped away, breaking the spell that had almost bewitched him, too, his arm still around her back. “Your oath. Would you break it. Chimera?”

  She blinked twice to bring him into proper focus. But her emotions were still racing inside her, and the sight of him was little more than a filmy, darkened image. Every part of her was throbbing with some sort of excitement. She trembled for the end, the grand finale of whatever it was that had built to such heights within her. Oh, how she wished Sterling knew more about the magic that held them captive! “Is...that all?” she asked so quietly Sterling had to strain to hear her.

  “I think there’s probably more.”

  “So you feel the hunger too?”

  He hung his head as if ashamed. “Yes. But—it’s late. This kiss...we agreed on one kiss and nothing more. Now I’m going to check on Gus, and I suggest you go to bed. Goodnight.” He walked out of the cabin, the loose porch board groaning. Shutting the door behind him, he grabbed the porch post. Silent laughter erupted from him, making his shoulders shake so hard, the post he was holding began to sway. Staggering out in the yard, he laughed the whole way out to where Gus was tied.