Spring Magic

by T. M. Cromer

  “You don’t owe me anything other than to take care of my niece should you two decide to make a go of it. Try not to break her heart.”

  Knox nodded at the stern warning. If he could help it, Spring would never feel unloved a day in her life. He only needed to figure out how to set to rights the wrongs of the past. One of the things he wanted to put to bed was his childhood. Until he understood why things had gone down the way they had, he’d never find peace. “What happened that night? I know my father tried to help Lin capture you, and I know he failed.”

  Alastair studied him for a long moment. “Are you sure you want to know?”

  “Yes. I trust you to tell me the truth.”

  With a heavy sigh, the older man walked to stare out of the large window overlooking the drive.

  “If you’d rather not…” Knox experienced a keen sense of disappointment. He’d hoped Alastair would be honest in all things.

  “I’m taking a moment to gather my thoughts, son.” Alastair faced him and perched on the edge of the window sill. With an elegance lost to modern-day men, he crossed his ankles and shoved his hands into the pockets of his slacks. “Your mother adored your father. Marianne was obsessed with Robert and would do anything for him. I don’t think he held one ounce of affection for her. If he did, he hid it well.”

  Knox remembered much the same. He nodded and remained silent.

  “It was right after the war between the witches and the Désorcelers. When the new war took place only in Lin’s mind. When vengeance was his bedfellow. Robert was broke. He’d blown through all of Marianne’s money and had decided his new payday would happen when he turned a Thorne over to Lin. He convinced your mother to help him.”

  Alastair looked up from studying the tips of his brown leather Salvatore Ferragamo shoes and met Knox’s gaze head on.

  “Marianne didn’t care that I was with Aurora. She set out to seduce me. That night, I agreed to meet her. Not to take advantage of what she was offering, but to help her. I intended to try to convince her to get away from Robert and the damaging influence he offered.

  “You were there, sitting silently in a corner with a book that seemed too adult for one so young. For that matter, you seemed too adult for a child so young. Your solemn little face broke my heart.”

  “I remember you conjured candy, using a sleight of hand.”

  Alastair gave him a half-smile. “I did. And although you accepted the treat, you remained serious.”

  “Why can’t I recall you after that moment?”

  “Your mother put you into a deep sleep. I guess she had a slight bit of maternal instinct after all. She didn’t want you to see anything you shouldn’t.”

  “That makes sense.”

  “Anyway, I ignored Marianne’s overtures and tried to get her to see reason where Robert was concerned. He arrived with Lin hot on his heels. They had intended to trap me, but I was able to teleport before their plan came to fruition.”

  “The arguing woke me. My mother screamed my father’s name, and then a gun went off. I’ll never forget Lin’s face as he stood over my father. He was so smug, so satisfied by what he’d done.” Knox tried to wrap his brain around the sequence of events. “But you got me and my mom out. How did you manage that?”

  “I teleported back within minutes with a few members of the Witches’ Council as backup. We had hoped to get the drop on Lin, but he managed to escape. Your mother was forced to face the Council, and you were placed in Phillip’s and Keira’s care.”

  “I never had the chance to thank you for what you did. But I’m grateful. I want you to know that.”

  “I know, son.” Alastair walked to Knox and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I get the feeling you’ve always questioned your worth. You shouldn’t. Your parents didn’t deserve you. Without a doubt they dishonored the Goddess when they mistreated her gift of a child. If I didn’t believe you were worthy, I wouldn’t send you with Spring.”

  “Thank you.”

  Instead of teleporting, Knox decided to walk home through the glen. The need to clear his head was strong. As the cool night air wrapped around him, he lifted his face to the sky and breathed it in.

  Tomorrow, he’d start his journey with Spring to recover Thor’s Hammer. It wouldn’t be easy. Nothing in his life ever was. But at the very least, he could provide the protection Spring needed, whether she believed she needed it or not. He’d keep her safe or die trying.

  Once they returned home with the prize, he intended to turn up the heat. To make her understand he was crazy about her. Make her understand his reasoning more fully for rejecting her advances until now. Make her see him as the flawed individual he was instead of the god on a pedestal that he wasn’t. And maybe help her to understand the threat that had been associated with him until now. When she did, he intended to be certain she understood how much he loved her.

  In the meantime, Knox had plans of his own to make. He picked up his cell and punched in a pre-programmed number. When the man on the other line answered, he said, “I have a job for you.”

  7

  The early dawn light, filtered by the curtains that graced Spring’s five-feet tall windows, was relentless in its quest to wake her. She’d been awake half the night as she mulled over the last two days’ events. As a result, she was a wee bit groggy and irritable despite the lovely golden light of dawn.

  A shadow shifted in the corner of her room. She bit back a scream at the split-second she recognized the shape of the man gliding toward her. How could she not? She’d made a study of everything about him.

  “Knox! What are you doing here?” She sat up and rested her back against her heavily upholstered headboard.

  “I couldn’t sleep.” He sat sideways on the bed, one leg bent with his foot hooked behind the other leg. Although he rested an arm on the bent knee with a casual grace, he exuded an air of restlessness.

  His inability sleep shouldn’t have been cause for him to invade her privacy. If he did so, knowing how much of a stickler Knox was for the rules, he’d have done it with great deliberation. He was here for more than a casual chat. “Why? What’s going on?”

  “I’m not sure. I feel as if something is off.” He sighed and scratched his day’s growth of beard. “Alastair mentioned he felt the same last night. Since then, I can’t seem to shake this odd sensation.”

  “You and my uncle are worriers by nature. Everything is going to be fine,” she stated with a confidence she didn’t feel. In truth, she felt off, too. It was as if the Goddess was gearing up to battle Fate for Spring’s future. Maybe she was being fanciful, but she sensed a disturbance in the Force. She drew her legs up and wrapped her arms around her blanket-clad knees.

  “I don’t want you to go.”

  The scab covering her wounded heart was ripped away, leaving nothing but a raw, oozing opening. She tried to ignore the ache. Tried to tell herself his reasons for wanting her to stay home might have nothing to do with why he’d rejected her in the past. When she couldn’t take another second of his brooding silence, she asked, “Why?”

  Knox seemed surprised by her question. “Because you might get hurt. I don’t think I could stand it if anything happened to you, sweetheart.” He traced a finger along the arch of her brow.

  Appeased and more than a little relieved, Spring halted his hand’s trajectory down her cheek by turning her head. When he dropped his hand, she said, “You can’t protect me from injury, Knox. As you’ve pointed out, Lin came to our town to cause trouble. The only safe place is our own properties or the clearing, and I refuse to be held captive to fear. Being held prisoner would be the one thing I could never tolerate.”

  His eyes made a quick study of her face as if he was judging her earnestness. His mouth tightened in frustration. “I know, but I also don’t think you should take unnecessary risks.”

  “You’re never going to see me as a grown woman, are you?” The question needed to be asked. Spring needed to hear the final nail driven into the coffi
n of her DOA unrequited love.

  “Sweetheart, if you don’t know the answer after that day in the clearing, then you are living in denial.”

  A shiver of awareness went through her. The deep, husky quality of Knox’s voice had the ability to reach in and caress her nerve endings. She wanted to curl against him and purr whenever he was close or spoke to her in those raspy, knowing tones.

  Perhaps her sister Autumn had been correct months ago when she suggested Spring should’ve found another guy to relieve her of her pesky virginity. Until nine months ago, she had wanted that someone to be Knox, but now she understood that in holding onto her girlhood dreams and expectations her own actions had been a deterrent for him. It was only when she confessed to making out with guys that he’d become interested.

  This new realization made her sad. “I’m tired, Knox. I think you should go so I can catch a few more hours sleep. We can meet up and discuss it later this morning.”

  His mouth twisted in a wry smile. “You grew up when I wasn’t looking.”

  “I suppose so, but when were you ever looking other than to see me as some young, innocent pest?”

  Again, he frowned. “Confession?”

  She nodded.

  “I’ve always seen you as someone desirable. That was part of the problem. I feared if we formed a relationship while we were both teens, you would never have a chance to experience life. You deserve more than what I can give you, Spring.”

  “In your mind, the times you purposely rejected me were for my own good?”

  “It sounds stupid when you say it aloud, but yes, that was my thinking.”

  She shook her head in wonder. “For someone with an IQ off the charts, sometimes you’re dumb as a rock.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  She cupped his face but waited for him to pull away. When he didn’t, she said, “If you truly cared about me, treating me like crap and shoving me away was never the answer, Knox. You might have done irreparable damage before we could form any type of lasting relationship.”

  “Have I?” he questioned hoarsely.

  “Are you saying you want to form a lasting relationship?”

  “I am.”

  She dropped her hands and sat in contemplative silence for a moment. Had he done irreparable damage? She didn’t know the answer. All she did know was her ability to trust his motives was nil at the moment. What if she committed to him and he decided he didn’t want her once again? She didn’t think she could stand the humiliation a second time around.

  “Would you be mad if I said I need time?”

  “No, never.” He smoothed a stray lock of hair from her forehead. “You take the time you need. I’ll be waiting.”

  “And what if my answer is no?”

  His expression tightened and turned watchful. “I’ll have to respect your decision, won’t I?”

  “Thank you.”

  “Does that mean you’re saying no?”

  “I still want time to think. Let’s get this thing with my mother out of the way and return to normal before we make any life-altering decisions, okay?”

  “Fair enough. One more question; may I kiss you before I go?”

  “Hell, yes!”

  * * *

  Knox laughed at her enthusiasm, but when she straddled his lap, he was no longer laughing. Kissing Spring was no joking matter. It required his utmost attention. Their gazes locked, and in Spring’s eyes Knox could see trepidation. She honestly feared he’d reject her again. But he wasn’t sure he had the ability to deny his baser instincts any longer. He’d already touched her. Tasted her. And now he had to have her.

  Spring said she needed time, and Knox intended to give her whatever she required. But he also held onto the hope that Thorne family legend rang true, and he reserved the right to try to change her mind if she decided she no longer wanted him in her life.

  “You are, hands down, the most beautiful creature on the planet, Spring Thorne. One wicked look from your mischievous eyes, one smirk from those delectable lips, or one sassy comeback makes me want to drag you to the bedroom and thoroughly ravish you.”

  She gasped at his candor. When she would’ve spoken, he placed a finger over her full lips. He reached for her hips and held her in place as he shifted his pelvis.

  “Do you feel that?” He dipped his head and lightly brushed her lips with his. “When I’m around you, it never goes away. You were always too inexperienced to tell.” He kissed her more fully. When he pulled back, he said, “I can’t ever imagine a day when I won’t want you. And one day, when we are old and gray, I’ll still be chasing you around the bedroom as fast as my walker will allow me to go.”

  Spring’s smile brightened the still-darkened room. Or maybe it only seemed so, but she beamed her delight at his words. With a not-so-subtle shift of her hips, she said, “You won’t need to chase me, Knox.”

  He growled low in his throat and captured her mouth, plunging his tongue into its warm depths. Spring gave as good as she got. Her fingers wove their way into his hair, and she gyrated her body against his.

  He fell back on the bed and allowed her to take the lead. He intended to stop her before things went too far and she did something she would potentially regret in the morning light. But for the moment, he was dog enough to enjoy the sensation of her body flush against his.

  He ran the tips of his fingers along the smooth skin of her spine at the same time he pushed a low burst of power from his hands to her back.

  She broke their kiss to stare down at him in wide-eyed wonder. “What is that? I feel it all the way to my…” The blush coloring her cheeks delighted him. “Is it normal?”

  With a suggestive grin and a quirked brow, he slowly shook his head.

  “Can you do that again?” she asked breathlessly.

  “I can, that and more, but I thought you wanted me to go.”

  Indecision was written on her face. Clearly, she wanted to experience the pleasure of magic while making love, but she was still torn about her feelings for him. With a deep sigh of regret, she climbed from atop him and flopped on her back.

  Knox rolled on his side and slid a hand under her shirt to caress the full cup of her left breast. “When you’re ready, we’ll spend a week in bed. I’ll show you every trick I know, and we’ll make up more as we go along. We’ll eat bonbons and drink champagne. We’ll make love in every position imaginable.”

  With one last, lingering kiss, he pulled her shirt down to cover her chest and rose to his feet. “I’ll see you later. Try to get some rest, sweetheart.”

  “You, too,” she said softly.

  Knox let out a small bark of amusement. “I’m not getting sleep. Not after what just happened here. Besides, I have horses to feed in another hour.”

  As he stood to leave, Spring stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Knox? Why now?”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “You said you were purposely trying to push me away. Why do you want me now when you didn’t before?”

  “I can’t answer other than to say that seeing you with Tommy triggered some sort of primitive, possessive gene within me.” He couldn’t tell her about his other reasons. Maybe one day he would, but for now, all was as it should be. Or it would if Spring decided to give him a second chance.

  The solemn look in Spring’s eyes bothered him. Instinct told him to press the issue, but she had already pulled the blanket up to her chin and snuggled down into her pillow.

  “Sleep well, sweetheart.”

  “Bye, Knox.”

  True to his word, Knox stayed awake after he left Spring’s room. Unease had taken over and refused to let him get a quiet moment. A sort of rapid-fire warning repeated in his brain throughout the morning as he cleaned stalls and tossed hay to the stock. As mid-morning rolled around, he concluded that he needed to convince Spring to stay home. The Goddess wouldn’t send him these vibes for no reason.

  8

  “Why are you being stubborn, Spring?” Knox demand
ed.

  Spring sat with her legs curled under her and calmly sipped tea as six feet plus of enraged male paced like a caged tiger in front of her. Knox had regurgitated the same argument for the last twenty-three minutes with no success. Indeed, she had no intention of staying behind. Her goal was to get the damned artifact, plant the near-extinct species she’d been growing for a future trip to Colombia, and get the hell out of South America as quickly as possible.

  He paused and glared down at her. “Well?”

  “I’m not being stubborn, Knox. I’m being practical. My reason for going is two-fold, as we’ve discussed, ad nauseam. You just refuse to believe your way is not law.”

  “I had magical warning bells ringing in my head all night. All. Night!”

  “So you’ve said, repeatedly.”

  “And yet you still refuse to listen.” He swore under his breath. “Of all the stubborn, irresponsible—”

  She surged to her feet. “Enough!”

  A look of surprise flashed on his face before his lips tightened against whatever additional points he wanted to make.

  “Knox, I’m going. You are wasting time and irritating the hell out of both of us by trying to persuade me otherwise. Enough, already,” she said on a more gentle note. “Please.”

  He took the cup and saucer from her hands and placed them on the coffee table beside him. Then, he tugged her closer. For a long moment, he stared at their joined hands. “I’m sorry. I know I’m being overbearing. I can’t seem to help myself where you are concerned.” He glanced up, and his mouth twisted in a small semblance of a smile.

  “You have to trust that I can handle myself. I’m not some fragile flower that needs to be kept under glass in a hothouse somewhere. I’m stronger than you think.”

  “I know, but it doesn’t calm my worry or make me feel any less inclined to protect you.”

  She loved him for his protectiveness. Not that she’d ever say as much, but it added to her already long list of reasons to love him. “This is going to be easy peasy. You’ll see.”