somehow he suspected it.
If I did anything to confirm those suspicions, I feared his calm restraint might crumble. I didn’t want to know what could happen if it did, especially if it involved more physical contact.
Or maybe I did. No...no definitely not.
I steadied my breathing and forced my face into a calm mask of indifference before making eye contact with him again. “I’m more than happy to help you locate that letter," I began, “but I don’t see why you should need me after that.”
“I can’t locate the other spelled artifacts without your help.”
“Why? If power is what you seek, you simply need to marry and join powers with another female of your coven.”
He shook his head. “The spelled artifacts are guarded by spirits of my father’s associates from the revolutionary war. Each spirit will need to be dealt with by a medium such as yourself.”
That posed more questions I felt anxious to frame, but I couldn’t be deterred from my first line of questioning.
“Then you don’t need a wife, you simply need a spirit guide.”
“I need both,” he evenly replied. “You may not have any understanding of the power you possess, but yours is the only power compatible with mine. A yin to my yang, so to speak. That’s why my magic reached out to you. It recognizes its match and wishes to join with yours.”
I had no way of verifying that, so I moved on.
“And once we locate this talisman and return it to your coven...then what? We live happily ever after?”
The smile he gifted me softened the chocolate brown of his eyes. “Is this not what everyone wants? A happy ending?”
“Is that our future or just wishful thinking? Do I have to stay married to you afterward?”
His eyes narrowed. Irritation laced his next question. “You would wish to end our marriage once the talisman is recovered?”
“Wouldn’t you? Don’t you want to be free to pursue the right woman?”
My question seemed to break away any and all restraint he had placed upon himself. In a blur of movement, he was standing before me, reaching for my shoulders and jerking me upright.
“ You are the right woman. You’re the only woman I want, the only woman I’ll ever want,” he growled. He attacked my lips with a passion that threatened to consume the both of us.
This time I’d steeled myself for the possibility of any more contact with him, but I had to admit that I was loath to push him away again when what I really wanted to do was explore the feelings that burned so brightly between us. I finally shoved him back in order to gasp for some much needed oxygen.
“For heaven’s sake,” I said in a seriously pissed off voice. “You have to stop doing that. Do you realize that’s the fourth time you’ve kissed me without my permission? Just grabbed me like you would a slab of meat in a low end grocery store?”
He didn’t look the slightest bit penitent as a mischievous smile spread across his face.
“Are you saying you don’t enjoy my advances?” He tried closing the small distance between us.
“Irrelevant!” I pressed a hand against his chest to prevent him further access to my lips. “You can’t kiss me, you can’t hold me, you can’t marry me, and don’t you dare look at me like that.”
“Like what?” He pressed forward, undeterred by my protests.
“Like you’ve been wandering in a desert for five years without a single woman in sight.”
I found myself circling backward toward the door because moving toward the bed...well, if that didn’t flash some major warning signals in my brain, nothing else would. I frantically searched the room for another means of exit. I had my hands firmly pressed against his chest, but the pressure I applied made little difference as he backed me up against the door and rested both hands, palms flat, near either side of my head.
His eyes smoldered in their intensity, and he bent his head until we were almost nose to nose.
“I’ve been wandering this earth
If I did anything to confirm those suspicions, I feared his calm restraint might crumble. I didn’t want to know what could happen if it did, especially if it involved more physical contact.
Or maybe I did. No...no definitely not.
I steadied my breathing and forced my face into a calm mask of indifference before making eye contact with him again. “I’m more than happy to help you locate that letter," I began, “but I don’t see why you should need me after that.”
“I can’t locate the other spelled artifacts without your help.”
“Why? If power is what you seek, you simply need to marry and join powers with another female of your coven.”
He shook his head. “The spelled artifacts are guarded by spirits of my father’s associates from the revolutionary war. Each spirit will need to be dealt with by a medium such as yourself.”
That posed more questions I felt anxious to frame, but I couldn’t be deterred from my first line of questioning.
“Then you don’t need a wife, you simply need a spirit guide.”
“I need both,” he evenly replied. “You may not have any understanding of the power you possess, but yours is the only power compatible with mine. A yin to my yang, so to speak. That’s why my magic reached out to you. It recognizes its match and wishes to join with yours.”
I had no way of verifying that, so I moved on.
“And once we locate this talisman and return it to your coven...then what? We live happily ever after?”
The smile he gifted me softened the chocolate brown of his eyes. “Is this not what everyone wants? A happy ending?”
“Is that our future or just wishful thinking? Do I have to stay married to you afterward?”
His eyes narrowed. Irritation laced his next question. “You would wish to end our marriage once the talisman is recovered?”
“Wouldn’t you? Don’t you want to be free to pursue the right woman?”
My question seemed to break away any and all restraint he had placed upon himself. In a blur of movement, he was standing before me, reaching for my shoulders and jerking me upright.
“ You are the right woman. You’re the only woman I want, the only woman I’ll ever want,” he growled. He attacked my lips with a passion that threatened to consume the both of us.
This time I’d steeled myself for the possibility of any more contact with him, but I had to admit that I was loath to push him away again when what I really wanted to do was explore the feelings that burned so brightly between us. I finally shoved him back in order to gasp for some much needed oxygen.
“For heaven’s sake,” I said in a seriously pissed off voice. “You have to stop doing that. Do you realize that’s the fourth time you’ve kissed me without my permission? Just grabbed me like you would a slab of meat in a low end grocery store?”
He didn’t look the slightest bit penitent as a mischievous smile spread across his face.
“Are you saying you don’t enjoy my advances?” He tried closing the small distance between us.
“Irrelevant!” I pressed a hand against his chest to prevent him further access to my lips. “You can’t kiss me, you can’t hold me, you can’t marry me, and don’t you dare look at me like that.”
“Like what?” He pressed forward, undeterred by my protests.
“Like you’ve been wandering in a desert for five years without a single woman in sight.”
I found myself circling backward toward the door because moving toward the bed...well, if that didn’t flash some major warning signals in my brain, nothing else would. I frantically searched the room for another means of exit. I had my hands firmly pressed against his chest, but the pressure I applied made little difference as he backed me up against the door and rested both hands, palms flat, near either side of my head.
His eyes smoldered in their intensity, and he bent his head until we were almost nose to nose.
“I’ve been wandering this earth
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