“I’m trying to apologize,” he said softly, closing the distance between us. “Why won’t you let me be kind to you?”
“Because something about the way you feel frightens me.” It was the truth, though I’m not sure why I admitted it to him. I’m not in the habit of telling people when they make me uncomfortable, let alone admitting to my fears.
“Let’s see if we can’t fix that.” Before I could react, he kissed me. It wasn’t the harsh press of lips I would have expected, but gentle. And despite who was doing the kissing, it wasn’t entirely unpleasant. He was trying to be nice and I tried to relax, but couldn’t shake my unease. He growled, the sound vibrating low in his chest. To my surprise I liked it. I was terrified, but there was something in his kiss, something that begged me to look deeper, to see the man and not the beast. I put my hands against his chest. He was burning through the thin white t-shirt and before I knew it I was running my hands underneath the fabric. Then, the strangest thing happened. My fears melted away as I touched his hot skin and I moaned, surrendering to his kiss.
He moved his hand to my waist underneath the coat, and drew back with a hiss.
“What the fuck?” He looked up, noticing the wolfsbane above the door and growled. “Is this what you think of me?”
The glove in my back pocket must have touched his skin. Damn it, you did have to touch it to their skin.
“Michael, I—”
Before I could say anything, a flash of green flew past me and attached itself to Michael’s thigh. He yelped as Percy dug in his fangs and drew blood.
“What the fuck?”
He ripped the snake off his leg and flung him against the wall. He was about to stomp him when I put myself in the way.
“Stop it!”
I hugged Percy to me, afraid to think about how he didn’t move.
“Get out of here.”
“You put up wolfsbane and what appears to be your pet snake attacked me, and you’re treating me like the villain? Un-fucking-believable.”
Strangely enough, his words hurt. Why did I feel guilty?
“Is there a problem, Raina?”
Had his kiss really been so good that I hadn’t heard Al drive up with a trailer in tow? I suppose it had. My face was still flushed from his touch, even as I wondered if he’d killed my best friend. Surely my life couldn’t get any more complicated.
The wizard stepped up onto the porch, his long hair blowing in the cool breeze. He didn’t even look real. He looked like a god or a devil of some sort. He was taller than the werewolf by a few inches and when he came to stand beside him, his eyes flashed a brighter blue. I knew I wasn’t mistaken this time. For just a second, they had glowed.
At this point, Michael released his bleeding thigh and turned to the wizard. “I came by to apologize to Raina about something and her snake attacked me.”
“He’ll live,” Al said.
“He will?” Michael and I both asked. I was surprised to hear he cared.
Not one to be pushed around, Michael stood his ground, staring the other man down with eyes that had now become amber. “Who are you?”
“Aleric. I’ll be staying here for a while.”
“Well, I’m Michael,” he said. “And I’ll see you around.”
Chapter Five
“Is the pissing contest over now, because I’d really like to take Percy inside?”
Michael was driving away and Aleric was watching him leave. Deep down I had known his name all along, but to hear him admit to it made me a little shaky. I gathered Percy tighter in my arms and took him to the spare room upstairs. Here he had an assortment of pillows he normally slept on. He wasn’t visibly harmed, but had been knocked out cold.
I stroked his head for a minute or two, waiting for him to come around.
“Is he sssick?” he asked groggily.
I was so relieved to hear him speak that it took me a minute to think about what he’d said.
“What do you mean?”
“Michael, did I make him sick?”
“No. I’m sorry.” He looked so disappointed. “Maybe you’re just not poisonous to werewolves?”
My suggestion seemed to cheer him up. “Well, if you were poisonous to werewolves, he certainly had time to get an overdose.”
I stood up so fast that I dropped him on the floor. “Ow.”
“You asshole. Do you realize I put myself between you and an angry werewolf today?”
“A werewolf that had no intention of harming you.”
We both turned to see Aleric standing in the doorway. His words were such a shock that I just stared at him for a second.
“You think I’ve been lying to you?” I was furious at the very thought.
“No,” he said calmly. “I think that you are in danger, just not from Michael. At least, not in the way you may have suspected.”
“Then please enlighten me, Aleric. What do you think? And why the hell have you been showing up in my dreams?”
He glanced down at the snake. “Would you like to discuss this alone?”
“Sure,” I answered at the same time Percy said, “Hey.”
A few minutes later, Aleric stood propped against my kitchen counter. I watched as he unbuttoned the cuffs on his sleeves and the black vest.
“Don’t stop on my account.” Holy shit! What had come over me?
He smiled and I sincerely wished he’d heed my request. “You said I had been showing up in your dreams. How?”
I poured a glass of red wine and he accepted the offer with another dazzling smile. I decided to skip the fact that he looked like my missing statue or that he had appeared with wings.
“You said you were here because of my ancestors, to protect me.” Okay, best skip the glowing eyes business for the moment too. “And you told me your name was Aleric.”
He looked thoughtful as he took a sip of wine. “That could easily be a foreshadowing.”
“But it isn’t.”
“Perhaps,” he said, smiling. “Why don’t you tell me why you let Michael kiss you if you’re so afraid of him?”
“Why don’t you tell me why you didn’t charge for your services?”
This time his grin was definitely wicked. “Who says I didn’t charge? I just didn’t charge you. The account was paid and it was done by a relative of yours.”
“What?” This was all too much. “So, a relative of mine paid you to come and protect me? You can’t be serious.”
“I am. I can’t tell you all the details now. You wouldn’t believe me if I did. Don’t worry,” he said, taking another sip of wine, “eventually you’ll know everything. But you didn’t answer my question. Again. Tell me why you let Michael kiss you. And I want the truth.”
I took a deep breath and a big gulp of wine. Just the memory of his kiss made me take off my coat. “All right. I should tell you first that I’ve known Michael for a long time. We both grew up here and I’ve never been afraid of him before. We weren’t close, but were always on friendly terms. It was only recently that I started to get this vibe from him.”
“Get to the kiss.” Did he have to look so in control? I probably would have told him anything he’d asked.
I took another deep breath and closed my eyes, remembering Michael’s body pressed against me. “At first, I was terrified. But then I touched his skin.” I had to pause, wiping my sweaty palms against my jeans. “I ran my hands underneath his shirt and the fear went away. I wanted him. I felt something I hadn’t expected in his touch.”
“Desire?”
“Kindness.”
“Hmm.” Aleric finished his wine and placed the glass on the counter. “I think I should start with the first spell tonight.”
He walked into the foyer and I followed. “That’s it? You aren’t going to say anything?”
He turned abruptly and I ran into his chest. I can’t say I wasn’t happy to be there. I put my palm against his stomach to steady myself, enjoying the contact.
“I did say some
thing. I said I think I should start with the first spell tonight.”
I sighed. “You know I meant about Michael. I just told you what it felt like to kiss someone who until this afternoon I was terrified of.”
He smiled. “And I thank you very much for that, but I’m not sure what it all means. It took contact with his skin to erase your fear. You’ll most likely be afraid when you see him again, unless you touch him.”
“So your suggestion is that I continue to touch him?” I laughed, unable to believe how this conversation was going.
Aleric crossed his arms and looked down at me. His look would have been scolding except for the way one corner of his mouth turned up just a hint.
“That’s not what I said.”
I met his challenging look for a minute before announcing, “I’m going to start dinner.”
“Fine. I’m going to start the spell.”
I laid out the salmon and started gathering seasonings. While I rinsed the asparagus my thoughts drifted back to that kiss. And to the way I knew what Aleric looked like naked, thanks to my dreams. My emotions were in a giant, snarling knot. It had never occurred to me that Michael might not be the cause of what I felt when I was near him. As a matter of fact, anything I might have thought of him before had been sort of erased after this odd fear settled in. I was, until this afternoon, irrevocably convinced that he was out to do me harm.
I had just placed the fish on the grill top when I decided to check on Aleric. I walked in just in time to be shocked once again. He was standing in front of my door, which was engulfed in flames. Only they weren’t burning the wood. He moved his hands in a fluid, almost Tai-Chi, way. And he spoke what sounded like Latin. I had never seen magic like this before. There was something strange about Aleric, that was for certain. How did he know magic that I had never even heard of?
He made a gesture toward the door as if he were throwing something. The flames burned brighter for a moment and then vanished. He turned to me with a smile, covered in sweat, his already well-fitted clothes clinging to his body.
“Your front door is safe,” he said. “I’m going to take a quick shower.”
I was still staring at both him and the door like an idiot. “Sure. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes.”
Aleric went to the trailer outside that I assumed carried all of his supplies. It wasn’t strange that he’d brought the trailer. It was strange that it looked like one of those wagons you’d expect to see in a gypsy caravan. When he drove up earlier I did notice this, but admittedly I was too distracted to give it my full attention. The black truck wasn’t overly interesting, but the wagon I couldn’t figure out.
He came back in with two black leather bags and went straight for the guest room. I was just finishing dinner when he came in wearing nothing but a dark blue bathrobe. I was so busy staring at his glistening chest that I failed to notice he was also holding Percy.
“He followed me into the shower,” Aleric said, dropping the snake on the floor.
I laughed. “I’m sorry about that. Percy, what the hell is wrong with you?”
The snake made a gesture with his tail and I bent down so he could whisper, “I was trying to look for magical tattoos.”
“Oh.”
He shook his head and I took it that meant he hadn’t found anything.
“I got a really good look from the front,” he blurted out.
I knew Percy well enough to know he was trying to embarrass Aleric. To my surprise, it wasn’t working. Aleric was obviously comfortable in his own skin. I was just about to apologize again when he waved off the snake’s comment.
“I hope you don’t mind me being so casual?” he asked.
“Are you kidding? It’s not every day I have a half-naked wizard in my house.”
He laughed and sat down at the table. “You must be kidding. How is it possible naked men aren’t lining up to get in here?”
“Not that many people around here are comfortable with witches.” I thought about the priests doing their research in town and remembered the word Father Dantes had used—“maneater”. It bothered me to think someone might really believe that.
I set the food on the table and we started helping ourselves.
“Except werewolves,” he pointed out.
Why did he have to keep reminding me about Michael?
“Even some of them are uncomfortable. Most shifters stay in the closet unless they’re in bigger cities. It’s easier that way.”
While we ate, we talked about anything and everything. It was as if I had known him my whole life. Long after dinner was finished we sat at the table, polishing off a bottle of red wine.
“Do you really make enough money to live on performing spells?”
“I do all right. My uncle William is really responsible for my good fortune. My house is paid for, I own the land.”
“How did he manage that?” he asked, taking another sip of wine.
“Bill was a gigolo.”
Aleric laughed so hard he almost choked.
“I can’t believe I just said that. It’s true though. When Bill retired and decided to move to Europe, he left me everything he had in the States. I’ve been living in this house for ten years now, since I was seventeen. That was about the time my mom moved to south Florida with my grandmother. The statue I told you about stayed with me.”
Aleric looked around at the house and his smile widened. “Apparently he was very good.”
“I think he used magic on them,” I said, laughing. “Nobody’s that good.”
He raised one eyebrow and crossed his arms, studying me. I wondered if he was trying to find a way to tell me I was wrong. Or perhaps he wanted to show me. Either way, I was feeling tipsy and decided it would be a good idea if I did the dishes rather than contemplate what he might be thinking. When I rose from the table, Aleric followed me. Neither of us spoke again until everything was clean and in its place.
I wanted to say something and I could sense that he did too. But when he moved close to me again, all he said was, “Good night, Raina.”
“Good night.”
* * * * *
Sleep was a tease that stayed just out of my reach. I tossed and turned for what felt like forever before taking a look at the clock. It was almost midnight. I’d been trying to fall asleep for an hour and a half.
“Shit.”
I tossed back the cover and slipped on my robe. I couldn’t hear Aleric downstairs, but I knew he wasn’t asleep. I could feel the energy coming from his room. Maybe he was working another spell. Whatever he was doing, his energy called to me. It was as if he were pulling me closer to the door. The next thing I knew I was running down the stairs. It didn’t matter if I was quiet or not, because I knew I’d find him waiting.
His door was open. Aleric had his back turned and was covered from head to toe in a long, flowing robe that trailed onto the floor behind him. Symbols were embroidered around the edges with a silver thread and as I drew closer, they glowed. His room was lit by candles. The dark brown comforter on the bed looked black. The only things clearly visible in the room were a few cream-colored pillows, white candles and Aleric.
I moved closer and my eyes adjusted a little more. I was almost in the open door now. Incense was lit at his feet, the smoke curling up around him in a most unusual way. I looked closer and realized the smoke rose in the shape of hands, caressing him on their way up his body.
He was speaking softly, whispering words into the darkness. Even though I couldn’t understand him, I could feel his power and a chill ran through me. I had a clear view now, my eyes fully adjusted to the darkness. Aleric was clearly visible, the room bathed in candlelight. I knew the instant I crossed the threshold that my decision to enter here could not be taken back. So I stood there, wet and panting, knowing that entering the wizard’s bedroom would change my life forever.
“Come in.” His voice echoed throughout the room as if he were using a microphone.
I took another step
forward and jumped when the door closed behind me. Obviously it was his power that had drawn me here, but why?
The moment he began to turn toward me I felt my heart stop before pounding furiously back to life. His blue eyes were glowing again and this time he did nothing to hide them. He also did nothing to conceal the fact that he was naked beneath the robe that opened wide as he moved. I fought the urge to look at the rest of him, savoring the moment even though I knew from my dreams what I would find. His eyes were ringed with dark liner and he wore an amulet around his neck. The jewel on the necklace glowed the same blue as his eyes. Long strands of dark hair clung to his neck. His full lips parted as if in anticipation as he took in my appearance before offering me a lustful smile.
Chapter Six
“Why have you called me?” I asked.
“I think you’ve got that backward,” he said, his deep voice casting a spell all its own. “I want to make you an offer.”
I took another look around the room. The candles smelled wonderful. The floor was the same dark, beautiful wood as the rest of the house. Only here, it was covered in a mixture of dried herbs and rose petals.
Then there was Aleric, standing in the middle of it all. A circle of salt surrounded him and the table where he’d been working. Smoke drifted up lazily from the incense at his feet and curled around him, still forming the shape of ghostly hands as it moved over his body. Though I knew he was naked beneath the robe from the glimpse I’d gotten before, when I looked down, the lower half of his body was in shadow. The candlelight revealed all the marvelous curves and valleys of his chest as if to make up for the loss. I found myself moving forward involuntarily at the sight.
“As you most likely have figured out, I’ve bound the spells to me,” he said.
“I thought as much. What offer did you want to make?”
The barest of smiles graced his lips. “Lend me your power as I consecrate these ingredients and be bound to me as well.”
My heart leapt and even though the night was cool, I could feel myself starting to sweat.
“What makes you think I would do something like that?”
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