Mystical Seduction

by Dorothy McFalls

  Unfortunately, their nice, normal life would have to wait until after he tracked down Manelin, and discovered why the bastard wanted the both of them dead.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Horace dragged himself from the bed early the next morning. He slipped on a pair of khakis and nothing else. Faith didn’t move. She still slept deeply, which didn’t surprise him. They’d been up most of the night worshiping each other’s bodies.

  His muscles ached. He could only imagine how sore she’d be when she finally did awaken. Since she was human, she had to work harder to match his stamina. He needed to be more careful with her.

  She rolled over and wrapped her legs around a long silk pillow. It was one hell of a seductive sight. Horace dragged in a deep breath and fought an urge to crawl back into the bed. He couldn’t, though. He’d put off investigating the murderous Manelin long enough.

  Besides, he’d probably kill both her and himself if he crawled back into bed with her so soon after that last time. His head was still spinning from the impact. No woman had affected him so completely, like he’d been swept off a cliff and into the ocean. It frightened him.

  He needed the time away from her and the drugging desire he felt whenever she was around him. He needed time away so he could think.

  He stumbled down the long staircase to the café. The shop was quiet this early in the morning. He heard the muffled sounds of pans clattering around from the direction of the kitchen. The heavenly smell of fresh pastries perfumed the air.

  The only patron at this pre-dawn hour sat at a small round table near the back of the Café. Stone. He glanced up from the newspaper he’d been reading.

  “Have you found out anything?” Horace asked.

  Stone had an uncanny knack of knowing when to be in the right place at the right time. It used to bother Horace, but this morning he was glad to find Stone waiting for him.

  “Sorry, no leads. No one asking around for you. Nothing,” Stone said. He handed Horace a fresh cup of coffee. “And we haven’t found anyone in the city going by Manelin or any derivation of that name. There are several Mannys, but they don’t match our description of a prince with murder on his mind. They are ordinary men leading ordinary lives.” He took a sip of his own cup of coffee. “How’s the honeymoon going? It’s been what, a week and a half now? Her family has filed a missing person’s report, you know.”

  Horace felt his face heat. He hadn’t realized he’d kept Faith locked up in the guest bedroom above the café for so long. She’d complained that he’d used his powers to keep her in a constant state of arousal. He wasn’t doing anything of the sort. If anything, she was the one turning his life upside down.

  “I’ll make sure she visits her parents today. It should be safe enough.”

  “Don’t let her go alone.”

  He wouldn’t. He couldn’t risk letting her too far out of his sight. Just thinking about spending time away from her made him feel fevered and a little out of control.

  “I do need to spend some time investigating on my own today, though.” His fingers curled into a pair of tight fists as he remembered how close he’d come to losing Faith. “Manelin, whoever the hell he is, won’t get away with threatening Faith’s life.”

  Brendan and Dallas, both dressed for the office, entered the café on the heels of that hotly made vow. “Does this mean you have your powers back?” Brendan asked. “Or do you plan to take on this unknown entity using nothing more than brute force?”

  “I’ll do whatever it takes,” Horace said, an empty boast. Brendan was right. While Horace had some ability to control Faith, he still couldn’t call upon his powers to do anything useful.

  Brendan’s relationship with Dallas had enhanced his friend’s abilities. Being with Faith seemed to be doing the opposite to Horace’s. Which was one more aspect of this relationship that scared the hell out of Horace.

  He set his coffee cup on the table without taking much more than a sip. A shame, too. He could use the caffeine and a cold shower. Drawing in a deep breath, Horace took a step back and held out his hand. Levitation had always come easily.

  He focused on the plain white cup.

  It refused to budge.

  It didn’t even wobble.

  He drew another breath and tried again. He really concentrated this time.

  Almost immediately, the cup flew into the air and smacked against his hand, sloshing half of the steaming coffee onto his bare toes.

  “Good to see I’m wrong,” Brendan said with a laugh. He banged his and against Horace’s back. “Not executed with your normal finesse, but damn, there was a great deal of power behind it.”

  Yet Horace knew his powers hadn’t called the cup to him. He slowly turned toward the back stairs and found Faith leaning against the wall about halfway up. She gave him a wry smile.

  The sight of her caused his body to stir to life. She wore nothing more than a pink satin robe that she must have found in the closet. Her lips were still swollen and red from their pre-morning tumble in the sheets. A pink glow brightened her cheeks. And when she pushed away from the wall, her movements were stiff, like she’d been spending too much time on the back of a horse.

  One look at her and no one would doubt what they’d been doing for the past week and a half. She had the unmistakable glow of a woman well-loved.

  “I didn’t mean to spill your coffee,” she said sweetly.

  “You shouldn’t be down here. You know I didn’t want you to leave the bedroom without my permission,” he scolded, for all the good it did him. She was stubborn to the core. And she didn’t seem to understand the grave danger they faced.

  “You’re not going anywhere without me,” she said. Her voice, thick and sultry, carried one hell of a mind push. Good God, she thought she could use his powers to push on his mind, to try and turn his will?

  “Stop that.” He shook his head, willing away the compulsion to give into her. “I won’t let you put your life in danger.”

  “Horace, did I tell you that I like her?” Brendan said, laughing again.

  “I like her, too.” Dallas crossed the room to the back stairs and put her arm around Faith’s shoulders. “Look at what he’s done to you, you lucky girl. I bet you could probably sleep for a week.”

  “I won’t let Horace lock me away while he goes charging after Manelin,” Faith said with the ferocity of a lioness, even though she allowed herself be led to the closest table. Dallas pulled out a chair for her. Faith winced as she sat down on the hard wooden seat. “He won’t tell me anything, but I know what he’s planning. He wouldn’t have...you know...with such determination this morning and then slipped out the moment I fell asleep otherwise. I’ll not let him do it.”

  “Of course not. We can’t let the men bully us. Horace, he’s a Leo, which makes him prone to taking the reins.”

  “I’m a Leo, too. Our birthdays are on the same day.”

  “Oh, dear.” Dallas flashed Horace a pitying look. “That must make for some pretty interesting...um...”

  “Fireworks,” Horace supplied.

  Okay, so maybe things weren’t perfect between him and Faith. She sapped his powers and made him cross barriers that he’d once thought unbreachable. But the world hadn’t come crashing to an end. And he’d always liked challenges. Life wouldn’t be worth living if it came at him too easily.

  “I don’t remember seeing you look so content, so happy,” Brendan leaned toward Horace and whispered. “She’s good for you.”

  “That’s why I need to keep her safe. Will you help me?” Short of tying her to the bed again, he doubted he’d be able to keep her from following along with him.

  “Don’t you dare try it,” Faith said. She was halfway across the café and still she’d seemed able to hear his whispered words. Or had she read his thoughts? He’d started to ask, but stopped himself.

  He really didn’t want to know.

  “I think we all agree,” Stone said before Horace had a chance to really stoke Faith�
��s temper by telling her he’d not only tie her to the bed, but also put guards at the door, if she refused to obey him. “We need to find and confront Manelin. We can’t risk letting him strike again.”

  No one argued with that.

  “I won’t let you go looking for Manelin without me,” Faith said. “You need me.”

  “I don’t need anyone,” Horace grumbled under his breath and folded his arms over his chest. He’d never needed anyone. Very few had helped him before the Protectors had found him, and he’d done just fine. No matter how sexy or alluring, he couldn’t let Faith start changing his life.

  This relationship would be so much easier if she’d simply follow his orders.

  “You’re my servant,” he said, using all of his powers to push against the mental barriers she’d been trying to build up against him. “You have no choice but to do as I command.”

  The fire dimmed from her beautiful summer blue eyes.

  She slowly rose and turned to face him. The movement looked mechanical—tense.

  Good.

  That meant she’d fallen under his control. He preferred her submissive. She’d be safer that way.

  “You will go back upstairs and wait for me there. You will not leave that bedroom until I come for you.”

  “Your servant?” she whispered through clenched teeth. “That’s all I am to you?”

  Horace crossed the room and put his hands on her shoulders. “You will obey me,” he pressed the command into her thoughts. “You have no choice. I am your master in this and in all things.”

  Tears sprang to her eyes. “The hell you are!” she spat. But her feet moved her toward the stairs. He could tell she fought his power with every step.

  This was the only way to keep her safe, he told himself.

  The only way to keep your heart safe, another voice—one that was tiptoeing through his thoughts without his permission—scolded.

  “Brendan, don’t whisper your thoughts in my head,” Horace warned.

  “What?” The startled expression on his friend’s face couldn’t have been faked. Not a good sign.

  If not Brendan, who had popped into his head with him? And what in the hell would that person know about keeping his heart safe?

  Faith had reached the stairs. She put one foot on the bottom tread then stopped. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She curled her hands into a pair of fists and strained against the compulsion to obey him.

  “I wish I’d never met you, Horace West,” she choked out. And then with an amazing burst of power, she broke free of his spell and charged toward the glass door.

  She ran like a doe in a field, swift and graceful. He almost didn’t catch her before she’d managed to blast her way out onto the street. He spun her into his arms just as the glass in the door shattered.

  “Not again!” Jake cried as he rushed out from the kitchens.

  Horace ignored the commotion behind him. He pulled Faith tight against his chest while she beat her fists against his chest. After suffering several wicked blows, he finally managed to trap her arms.

  “What were you thinking?” he shouted. “You’re not dressed! You don’t even have shoes on!”

  She squirmed and kicked him several times in the shin. Though his leg hurt like the devil, he refused to turn her loose.

  “You can’t leave me,” he shouted. “I won’t let you leave me.”

  “If you won’t let me help you, I’ll find this Prince Manelin myself. You don’t need me? Well, buster, I don’t need you, either. I was doing just fine without you!” She kicked him again.

  “Dammit, that hurt!” He tossed her over his shoulder and clamped one arm over her legs.

  Did she really not need him? His heart tightened at the thought.

  “You’re a danger to yourself, Faith Summers. I’m going to lock you up. And if you hit me again, I just might stuff you into a very dark closet.”

  “You try it and I’ll singe your eyebrows off,” she growled. She’d started to glow again. Not a good sign. “I can do it, you know. Thanks to your dumping all your mystical powers on my head, I can strike you down with a bolt of lightning if I wanted.” Everyone in the café took a broad step away from Horace and Faith. “Whether you like it or not, I’m going to track down Manelin and find out what he has against us. You can come along with me, or I can go by myself. Your choice.”

  “You fight me and I’ll bare your lovely ass in front of everyone and spank it until it’s as red as a cherry.”

  “Neither of you will be doing anything of the sort,” Stone interrupted. He didn’t shout. He didn’t need to. No one disobeyed Stone. He’d honed his ability to command into a formable art form. “Horace, you will take Faith to see her parents. They don’t deserve to be left worrying.”

  “My parents?” Faith immediately stopped struggling.

  “Yes,” Horace bit back, refusing to loosen his hold on her. “They’ve filed a missing person’s report.”

  “Oh,” her tone softened. “Oh! How careless of us, Horace! I need to call them. They worry. I’m their only child, you know. I hate to imagine how frantic they must be right now thinking I’m missing. And Kimmi, I’ll have to call her. She’ll be worried, too. And for no reason. I’m not missing, I’m right here.”

  He didn’t look forward to facing her parents, or explaining what he’d been doing to their daughter. The dynamics of families were a mystery to him. From the outside, the strings that held a family together appeared so precious, so fragile. He didn’t want to be responsible for breaking them. He’d much rather face down a killer than face Faith’s family.

  But unfortunately, Stone had a made a good point. Taking Faith to visit her parents might be a way to keep her from playing superhero, which left him no other option.

  He’d take her to see her parents...after he carried her upstairs and dealt with the little problem of her glowing again.

  ****

  “I’ve never seen Horace violent like that.” Dallas sank into the nearest chair and cradled her trembling hands in her lap. “I was scared he’d hurt Faith. He’s usually so calm and easygoing. What do you think has gotten into him?”

  Brendan massaged her tight shoulders. “He’s in love. And it terrifies the hell out of him.”

  “Why? Falling in love isn’t a bad thing.” Her voice grew clipped, like she was preparing for the courtroom. “Besides, with us as his friends, he has the best role models for a blissful union right under his nose. How can he be worried that his relationship with Faith will be any different?”

  “It’s all about control,” Stone offered. “Horace has always had a need to be in control. And so does Faith, I suspect. Just look at Horace’s life. He’s the owner of his own business. He went deep into debt to buy a condo so he wouldn’t have to rent. And he swore he would never have a relationship with a woman.”

  “Now he has one.” Dallas was beginning to understand.

  “Right. His ego is getting in the way. He can’t admit that he was wrong about not wanting to get involved with anyone. And at the same time, his life is spinning out of control.”

  “I’m sure he blames that on Faith as well,” Dallas said, feeling more and more worried about Horace and his future.

  “Don’t forget that his powers aren’t his own anymore,” Brendan added. “That is a sharp blow to his ego as well.”

  “Exactly,” Stone said.

  “Then what do we do?” Dallas asked. “I’m not about to let Horace ruin the best thing to ever happen to him. Anyone with any sense can see that Faith and Horace are meant to be together.”

  “There’s not much we can do, love. Horace wouldn’t appreciate our interference.”

  Stone nodded in agreement. “But we do need to keep an eye on them. We need to make sure they don’t kill each other before they come to their senses and accept what is inevitable. They are partners and that means that they need to learn to work together.”

  “I still don’t like it,” Dallas said. She dropped her he
ad into her hands. “They’re bound together. I just wish they weren’t so...so...damned stubborn. They’re only making everything harder for themselves.”

  “If they don’t learn to work together,” Stone said, “they’re not going have a future together, and they will end up getting themselves killed.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  The late afternoon sunlight slanted through the windows of the long, narrow kitchen. Horace leaned against the red tile countertop and watched dust motes dance in the golden light while Faith’s parents gushed over their beloved daughter. Every now and again, Faith’s mother or father would slide Horace a slow, calculating glance. Were they plotting to murder him and dump his body into a shallow grave in the backyard?

  It didn’t help that Faith had decided to dress like a damned schoolgirl. Seeing her smile innocently at her parents and offer demure apologies for not contacting them sooner, made him feel like the very devil.

  What parent would be happy handing their young, bright daughter—currently dressed in a short, lavender and blue, plaid skirt, matching white twin-set sweaters, patent leather shoes, and her hair pulled back into a ponytail—over to a brute of a man who’d lived nearly half his life on the street? His life had been too different from hers for this relationship to work. Yet it was too late for second thoughts, wasn’t it? Thanks to him, they were going to be together forever.

  Forever.

  The thought of being with Faith until the end of time should have made his blood run cold. Instead, thinking of Faith made Horace’s blood race and had him glancing around for a bed...or an alley wall.

  He felt like a feral animal watching Faith as Judy and James took turns, hugging their daughter tightly.

  That they cherished her didn’t surprise Horace. As much as he wanted to keep himself from liking Faith, he kept finding it more and more difficult to keep his feelings for her under any kind of control.

  She’d embraced his friends. Gave freely of herself in the bedroom. And promised to never give him a dull moment. Faith Summers was special.