The Mating Game: Werewolves of Montana Book 8

by Bonnie Vanak

  Ciara bravely faced him. “I want my ring back.”

  He wore it upon his pinkie. It was delicate band of silver with whorls that represented waves.

  The wizard blinked. “This was your gift to me.”

  “I want it back.”

  “I cannot give it back. I’ve worn it too long, and it has become infused with my power. I will get you another.”

  “I don’t want anything from you. Only what belongs to me.” She reached for his hand, but he jerked it away.

  “It no longer belongs to you, and it is too powerful for you to use. The magick it holds is dangerous and unpredictable.”

  “I don’t want your magick.” True enough. Palm shaking as she held out her hand, she stared into his mesmerizing, gray-blue gaze.

  Once she had stared into his eyes while he’d made love to her and scrambled all her senses, making her drown in pleasure.

  His voice went dangerously soft. “It matters not why you want it. You cannot have it. If you have it, the consequences will be…terrible. Do not question my powers, Ciara, or invoke my wrath. Do you remember how I vaporized the Trolls?”

  Wide-eyed, she nodded. But she was not a Troll and had committed no such crime. “They were going to boil and eat a little boy! All I want is my ring.”

  “And the ring contains my power, and it is strictly forbidden for anyone else to have any of my magick, unless the goddess Danu grants permission.” His expression grew grim. “I do not wish to see you get hurt, Ciara, though you think little of me now.”

  “I promise I won’t use the magick.”

  “Promises aren’t enough.” His broad shoulders visibly tensed. “Do not force me to destroy you.”

  “You wouldn’t!”

  “The magick the ring now contains amplifies your own powers, and it will be your downfall. Your sexual nature will increase to the point where you burn with constant desire. Your punishment will be sexual in nature.”

  “Why should I believe you?”

  Stepping forward, he seized her chin with one strong hand, and she stared into his eyes, drowning in his mesmerizing gaze.

  Currents of sexual energy crackled in the air, tendrils threading between them. He stroked a thumb over her skin, each sensual caress making her crave him like a drug, needing him naked atop her all over again. Her nipples hardened to tiny pearls, and he gave a slow, dangerous smile, as if he knew exactly the power he commanded over her body.

  Sex with others was nothing compared to Xavier. With a single touch, he was creating licks of fire between her legs…

  “You burn with desire.” His voice was deep, low, and smoky.

  Helpless to resist her body’s craving, she shook her head. Her mind was still all her own, and she had to resist this crazed need for him. He would tear out her heart and toss her away as he did before.

  “Do not deny it, Ciara. Your body tells me what your mind protests.”

  How could she resist this powerful wizard, who could see into her thoughts and create an erotic friction that resonated down to her toes with a single stroke over her pulse? It was like trying to outrun the wind.

  Xavier stepped even closer. The hard press of his strong body against hers made her sex tingle even more. He bent his head, warm breath feathering against her cheek and making her shiver with anticipation. A moan tore from her throat as he licked her earlobe.

  The tingling became an unbearable ache. Hot desire pooled low in her groin, so powerful she wanted to beg and scream for relief.

  Xavier blew against her throat and licked her skin. His tongue was warm and wet, and it felt as if he put his mouth directly on her clit. Long, slow strokes between her legs, just as she liked. “You feel me now, inside you, all around you. My hands on your body, my mouth upon your breast, my cock, hard, deep inside you…”

  He kissed her neck and then very lightly bit down.

  She exploded, the tension in her groin snapping like a rope. Xavier caught her in his arms, sheltering her from view, murmuring to her. Ciara could not form a single coherent thought.

  He had given her an orgasm here, in public, with a gentle nip of his mouth upon her trembling skin.

  Dear Goddess, she was in trouble.

  Then he set her on her feet again and, when she shoved a hand at him to move away, stepped back. The wizard’s own pulse galloped, and he breathed heavily. Whatever sexual spell he’d cast over her had affected him as well. The knowledge gave her a semblance of control over her badly shaken composure.

  “I can make you burn with such need you will crave me constantly, Ciara. You will lose all sense of self, and become so filled with lust, you will never be satisfied. That is the punishment delivered to Nymphs who break the rules. I do not wish to harm you. But you can never have this ring.”

  So his magick worked to crank up whatever powers the Other possessed. With the Trolls, he had burned them as they wished to boil and burn the innocent tot. With her, it was sexual.

  But she had not spent the lonely months without him being a victim of her own desires. Ciara drew in a deep breath, forced a tight smile.

  “They make vibrators for that.”

  A brief quirk of his beautiful mouth, and then his gaze narrowed. “Do not trifle with me, Ciara.”

  “I’m not afraid of you,” she challenged.

  “You should be.” His eyes began to glow an eerie white. “You will never have this ring back, Ciara. And if you attempt to use the magick it contains and you use it to harm another, you will do more than lust after me. You will go up in flames and die in pain and terror.”

  He waved a hand, and an image appeared in her mind—her hair on fire, her skin shriveling and blackening, her lungs gasping for air and breathing in only toxic smoke…

  Horror filled her, her pulse galloping once more, feeling the agony as the fire consumed her…

  Unsmiling, he waved a hand again, and the vision vanished.

  “You heartless bastard,” she breathed. “You’re supposed to be a mighty wizard who delivers justice, not revenge!”

  Xavier’s gaze turned normal again but flat and hard. “Those are the rules, Ciara. The goddess Danu made them, and I cannot change them.”

  Ciara’s heart raced, and panic squeezed her chest. The vision of going up in flames had vanished, replaced with sheer, practical need. Only with the ring could she save her mother, enslaved by the witch, Viola. The ring was her only bargaining tool, and before she had given it to Xavier, it had been infused with her special magick. Her mother was withering, growing older and frailer by the minute. Soon, she would turn into a shell of herself. Perhaps even die from lack of sunshine.

  The witch was leeching power from her mother and had tortured Carlina. Viola had hinted that if Ciara handed over her Nymph ring, she might free her mother.

  Ciara had been a fool to give her ring to a wizard who cared not one bit for her feelings. A powerful wizard who could turn her into ash with the flick of his hand.

  “I must have that ring, Xavier.”

  “Why?” He stepped forward, and she inched backward, a little fearful of his enormous power.

  “It’s my legacy, and it will free my mother. She’s being held captive by a powerful witch.” Gathering all her courage, she lifted her face to his. “If you will not return my ring, then free my mother and keep the damn ring. But I will get my mother free from the witch Viola.”

  Xavier’s expression changed subtly. He lifted his head, as if listening to something far away. “Carlina will not die.”

  “No?!” She wanted to scream. “Each day she is being threatened with death!”

  His gaze turned hard and cold. “That is what the witch wishes you to believe. I am forbidden from interfering. There is another whose duty it is to free your mother.”

  Duty? “My mother is screaming each day the witch puts leeches on her skin to draw out her blood and her magick, and you talk of duty?”

  Xavier’s gaze softened. “There are things you cannot understand, Ciara,
and fate holds a delicate balance. Tip the balance, and chaos happens. Your mother will be free and the witch dealt with, but now is not the time.”

  Now was the time, for her mother’s screams echoed in her mind. “You bastard,” she said between clenched teeth.

  Something flickered in his gray-blue gaze. “You must trust me on this, Ciara.”

  “Trust you? I’d sooner trust a Troll with herpes.”

  “I cannot interfere in another’s free will or change their destiny.”

  “Then give me back my ring, dammit!”

  His gaze went hard. “No. Now give me the billfold you stole.”

  Ciara bit her lip. She handed over the wallet with her right hand. Xavier took it, his long fingers brushing against hers. A jolt of pure energy leapt between them, a current of sexual chemistry so potent that it was more powerful than the sex she’d had with other lovers.

  Xavier drew in a deep breath. After he pocketed the wallet, she took his hands into hers, feeling the long, elegant fingers, remembering how they had stroked slowly over her flushed skin…

  A pulse beat wildly at the base of his neck, but he stood straight, tall, and distant. Xavier tugged his hands out of her grip. She understood the gesture. It was one thing for the wizard to touch her and make her lust after him. But Xavier would not lose control.

  He wielded a power strong enough to deliver orgasms with a slow lick of his tongue.

  Pride rose inside her. “You’re right. You have your life and your world, and I have mine. In fact, there’s a cougar shifter I’ve been seeing lately, and I’m thinking of settling down. We would make cute cubs together.”

  For a split second, she saw anger and regret flicker in his eyes. Then he shoved his hands into the pockets of his trousers. “Congratulations. Goodbye, Ciara,” he said gently. “I am sorry it must be this way between us.”

  “I have only one thing to say to you, Xavier.” She reached into her vest and pulled out the thick wad of money she’d removed from the billfold. “Fuck you.”

  Tossing up the bills into the air, she fled into the crowd as delighted bystanders grabbed at the cash. Pulse racing, throat tight, she ran down the aisles until she reached the dirt parking lot. Ciara opened her car door with a shaking hand and turned on the ignition.

  Only then did she dare open her left hand.

  The glittering circle of silver rested there, winking in the sunshine.

  I am a very good thief, you bastard wizard.

  As she raced away in a cloud of dust, she finally surrendered to the tears burning her throat.

  11

  The Crystal Palace, Xavier’s home in Tir Na-nog

  His ring was missing.

  Xavier’s throat tightened. Rules were rules. Punishment for stealing power from him was no mere tap on the wrist. All the wizards had failsafes built into their magick. Power was freely given and could not be stolen.

  But objects infused with a wizard’s power proved dangerous, for even droplets of that magick could turn jagged mountains into anthills, dry raging rivers, or obliterate an army within seconds. It was the very reason why Xavier had refrained from giving gifts to his lovers, unless they were harmless trinkets.

  The ring was no harmless trinket. It contained enough of his magick to wipe out a small town, leaving nothing behind but dirt.

  And Ciara now possessed it. She had managed to find a very large chink in the armor that protected both him and her.

  He worried more about her. If she gave that ring to the witch holding her mother prisoner…

  Xavier groaned and buried his face in his hands. His little nymph had turned into an expert thief.

  Regret filled him. He had dared to make love to her, and in doing so, forgotten his personal rule when he became the Crystal Wizard.

  Duty and power before all else.

  Never relinquish control to someone else, especially in matters of the heart.

  But he’d gone and lost his head, and his heart, to the lovely Ciara. Something about her had made him forget all sense of self, made him forget the staggering duties facing him.

  Power meant everything, and his position as the Crystal Wizard meant power used wisely to administer justice to his charges and punish evil. There was no room in his life for attachment, not even if he felt a magnetic pull toward Ciara, as if she had meant much more to him in the past.

  Longing for connection battled with practical need to guard his emotions. Ciara must never know she was his only weakness.

  But he had to find a way to save her from her own damnable stubbornness. Keeping his ring endangered her, the tempting lure of pure power breaking the strongest will.

  He rose, went to his enormous library, and pulled an ancient tome from the shelves.

  When he’d first become the Crystal Wizard, he’d memorized the entire book, for these were the laws governing Others.

  All laws have loopholes. Xavier turned the pages and took a seat in the plush, leather chair near the window.

  There must be a loophole so he could spare Ciara. Barely had he started reading about punishment for Nymphs who stole power when he heard a summons from Tristan that could not be ignored. Xavier dematerialized, appearing in the kitchen of the Mitchell Ranch.

  Facing a demon from hell…

  Hours later, Xavier paced the rooms of his Crystal Palace. They had defeated the demon, but Tristan, the Silver Wizard, had been on the brink of death. Xavier had done the unthinkable.

  He broke the absolute rule set down by the goddess Danu and shared his powers to Tristan, giving life back to the wizard. Cadeyrn, the Shadow Wizard, and Gideon, the Crimson Wizard, had done the same.

  The price they would all pay for sharing power and saving Tristan would be dear.

  The goddess didn’t “fart around,” as one of his Trolls had once said.

  Dread snaked down his spine. He still must deal with Ciara stealing back her ring. Life sure was going to hell in a hurry.

  Gideon materialized in his living room. Xavier didn’t even chastise him for not knocking. He was too filled with anxiety.

  “What do you think Danu will do to us?” The Crimson Wizard began to pace alongside him.

  “Whatever she plans for our punishment, it won’t be pretty.”

  Gideon stopped pacing. “Then it’s best to be prepared. Have you drunk the potion yet?”

  Xavier glanced at the calendar glowing above the fireplace mantel, which reminded him to drink the Bloodmoon flower potion every six months. The potion, which was only made in Tir Na-nog, fueled his powers and allowed him to maintain his immortality.

  “Not yet. I have a cup in my kitchen. I’m not due for another three weeks.”

  Gideon made an annoyed sound. “I swear, X, you’re a procrastinator. Drink while you still can.”

  The potion was like medication for Skins. He had to drink it in order to maintain his powers and his immortality. Otherwise, he would slowly turn mortal then age rapidly and turn to dust.

  “I will.” He hated the taste of the potion and how it made his skin crawl and his insides burn, as if his very body fought against the potion’s magick powers.

  It didn’t make sense, either, for none of the other Brehon complained about the potion. It seemed he was the only one who wanted to retch each time he drank it. So he’d kept quiet about that little fact, not wanting to appear weak before the others.

  Bad enough already that they considered him the baby of the Brehon.

  Feeling a familiar tingle in his belly, the pull of power, he did not fight it. He blinked and found himself in a green meadow with his fellow wizards.

  He was standing on a bed of the softest emerald-green grass in a field. Purple and blue mountains dotted the horizon. Tristan and his mate, Nikita, were there as well.

  With a soft pop of air, Cadeyrn and Gideon appeared next to them.

  “What is this?” Tristan asked.

  “Reckoning day,” Cadeyrn said grimly. “The goddess called us here.”

&n
bsp; And then a brilliant flash of light illuminated the air, and the wizards dropped to their knees.

  He was barely aware of the conversation Nikita had with Danu, only watched Tristan’s mate turn into a wolf and join a wolf pack that roamed through Tir Na-nog.

  The goddess studied the wolf pack a moment with a soft smile. When she turned back, her smile vanished.

  “Uh oh,” Xavier said softly. “We’re going to get it now.”

  “You broke an ancient law I warned you never to break, my wizards. You, Tristan, gave Nikita all your powers as the immortal wizard.” She turned to him. He looked her in the eye.

  Xavier winced as the goddess delivered Tristan’s punishment—removing part of his powers. Then she turned her attention to the rest of them, and his heart raced.

  “The rest of you also will suffer the consequences of your actions. Though you did it for noble reasons, you were forbidden from draining your magick without permission, leaving yourselves vulnerable as when you were mortal.” Her gaze turned emerald hard. “Vulnerable at a time when you are most needed and I had not the sentinels in place to cover for your weakness.”

  She turned to Xavier. “You were the first to do so, Xavier.”

  “My lady,” Xavier began. Maybe he could reason with her.

  “All of you must suffer the consequences.” She smiled gently. “This is not to be cruel but bring you to a greater lesson and to what your heart desires the most, which will make you whole and even stronger for the times to come.”

  Xavier looked at the other wizards, confused by her words.

  She lifted her hand. “Xavier, my Crystal Wizard, you shall lose what is dearest to you: your memory. You will walk the earth as a wizard, with all your powers but with no recollection of your true identity.”

  Xavier felt a flicker of real fear for the first time in centuries. To lose his memories, all he cherished.

  “No,” he whispered.

  And then he blinked and remembered no more.

  12