by Bonnie Vanak
Ella drove him nuts. Frustrated him. Made him want to rip off her clothing and mount her and then release his wildest impulses.
Instead of stopping at a local ice cream parlor, he drove to the supermarket. Ella bounded out, telling him she’d meet him at the ice cream section.
He waited a minute before getting out of the car, and adjusted his cock inside his trousers. Wouldn’t look right cheerfully traipsing up and down the aisles, some happy homeowner shrieking as she saw the tent pole in his pants. Or worse, some smartass Skin teenager snapping a photo and putting it on social media.
Ella purchased two half-gallons of mint chocolate chip as he bought a bag of ice to douse the raging fire in his poor, unused genitals. As he placed the ice cream on the conveyer belt, he glanced over at Ella, her face shining, her long dark hair spilling over her shoulders, her full breasts ripe as melons, the nipples clearly hard beneath her Hello Kitty t-shirt.
He envisioned placing mint chocolate chip on each breast, slowly running his tongue over the cresting nipple, teasing her into full sexual arousal…
POP! The cashier snapped her gum. “Hello? $12.99, mister.”
Kieran paid with cash, muttered an oath beneath his breath and snagged the ice as Ella walked outside with her plastic bag filled with ice cream, her curved hips swaying with grace. Oh yeah, those hips, perfect for clutching as he bent her over in the moonlight and drew her near…
Cursing, he placed one ice bag over his groin, cooling his ardor.
They drove back and Ella gulped down her ice cream. Then, realizing Darcy would soon arrive, he opted for a walk in the moonlight.
Walking always helped him think.
Ella kicked off her sandals and placed them on the sand, and waded ankle-deep into the Gulf of Mexico. “It’s so warm! Feels great,” she called back to him.
For a moment, he wished she would turn into a mermaid. Or a fish. Maybe then his jaguar wouldn’t feel this crazed need to kiss her senseless.
As he gazed at her in the moonlight, bending over to pick up a shell in the water, he called forth all his discipline. As a warrior and a royal bodyguard in the Winter Kingdom, he must have control.
And then Ella rushed over, laughing with delight. “Look! Isn’t it pretty?”
She opened his palm and placed the shell in his hand.
Awareness surged through him at the feel of her soft, warm hand touching him. For a moment he stood gazing at her, fighting the savage impulse to tear off her clothing and claim her.
Mine.
But she was not his. She was destined to become a great warrior herself. A warrior who would remain here, in the Skin world he hated and feared. Sex with her could prove dangerous. Already he felt possessive, ready to rip apart any male who looked twice at her.
Kieran handed her back the shell. “Let’s go back. Darcy should be here soon.”
Ella went to slide her hand into his, but he pulled away and jammed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. Touching her was dangerous, like sticking his finger into an electrical outlet.
Her tiny, wistful sigh tugged at his heart. Kieran wished he could remove every threat, every sad thing from her life. He wanted to see her happy, wanted to hear the delightful gurgle of her laugh, see the sparkle in her eyes when she smiled.
Dear goddess, was he falling in love with his charge? Not good. He steeled his resolve. Having had his heart broken by the loss of his family, he wasn’t about to risk it again. Sex was sex.
Love was not in his future. Certainly not with Ella, who was too important to the survival of their kind.
At the house, a sleek, red motorbike sat in the driveway. Kieran frowned and raced up the steps, Ella behind him.
Darcy stood in the kitchen, eating mint chocolate chip ice cream straight from the tub. Clad in black leather, black biker boots and black fingerless gloves, she looked completely different.
“If this is a disguise, it’s a good one. Biker chick?” he asked.
Darcy scowled. “I got tired of being the straight and narrow gal.”
He snatched the tub away from her, which Ella immediately picked up. She hunted in the drawer for a clean spoon.
“Darcy, stop feeding your face. Too much sugar isn’t good for your shifting,” he chided.
“Listen pal, I’m exhausted and hungry. I’ve flown from Denver to Tampa on a plane with a cranky toddler kicking my seat and it was a miracle I didn’t turn into a mosquito and bite his chubby ass. The only rental cars were big, bulky and not fast, so I had to spend money on this bike because I’m not going to get stuck in a car that drives slower than a colicky horse. And, because of you, I’m in the same geographic area as an alpha Lupine who wants nothing more than to get me into his bed, permanently, as his mate.”
She released a breath. Kieran folded his arms, not budging an inch. “That’s your job. Stop whining, you pussy.”
“Pussy! Stop calling me a pussy.” Darcy drew herself up.
“Gosh, you two sound like you’re related,” Ella murmured. “Darcy, there’s cooked salmon and fresh milk in the fridge. I wasn’t sure what you liked. I mean, what your human form liked.”
“Skin form,” both Darcy and Kieran said at the same time.
They looked at each other, and Kieran shrugged. “Whatever. Human, Skin, same thing. Tell me what you found out about Adrian.”
“Forget about what. How did you find out?” Ella ran her tongue over the spoon and Kieran wanted to die as he imagined her doing that to his interested cock.
“What did you shift into to spy on them?” Ella continued.
Darcy grinned. “A blackbird. You can glean a lot of information from eavesdropping as a bird. I had to be careful, though. Adrian can’t stand birds.
“He moved his pack from North Carolina last year. He bought a 12,000-square-foot McMansion in a wooded development about ten miles away. The pack lives in the ‘hood. Each house has about an acre.”
Ella paused in licking the spoon and Kieran felt a rush of relief. Finally. “You mean there’s such a thing as wealthy werewolves?”
“Most of them are, the ones here, anyway,” Kieran told her. “They’ve lived for a long time, accumulated wealth.”
“Adrian hasn’t.” Darcy’s expression turned rapt with interest. “He acquired his wealth when he took over his former alpha’s pack. He is quite ruthless.”
“Sounds as if you admire him,” Kieran teased.
“Oh, he’s powerful. And smart. And really sexy.” Darcy gazed at the wall, as if trying to recall something. “His former alpha had an impressive collection of priceless jewels. Adrian sold some to invest the money into taking care of his people, but he still has one. It’s a ruby crystal ball filled with magick.”
Ella perked up. “What kind of magick?”
Then she shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m talking about magick being real. Last week I would have said you were nuts.”
“Last week I was your cat,” Darcy pointed out. “The crystal is a globe, like a crystal ball. It’s one of Adrian’s prized possessions. It might pinpoint the location of the crystal of Calmach.”
Hope rose inside him. “Then arrange to have us meet this Adrian. Will he let us borrow this crystal ball?”
“I don’t know. But I’ll retrieve it.” A sigh fled Darcy. “He’s been chasing me ever since we met ten years ago. If I’m clever, he’ll never miss it.”
“Darcy, don’t get into trouble. Stealing is wrong. And dangerous,” Ella warned.
Her former cat grinned. “Tell me about it. I found out when I swiped all that catnip from your stash. Gave me the runs for a full week.”
Leaving Darcy and Ella talking in the kitchen, he stepped out to the porch overlooking the sand and the Gulf of Mexico.
Perhaps he could not influence Ella’s dormant wolf to emerge. But a full-blooded Lupine pack? Being around other Lupines would nudge her into shifting. She was ripe, ready for the transformation. He only had to find a way to coax it out.
&n
bsp; When Ella went to bed, he told Darcy to join him on the porch.
Sitting in one of the wicker chairs, he glanced at her as she paced up and down the porch. “I don’t like this, Kieran. Ella’s far too vulnerable in her Skin form. And you’re telling me she can’t shift?”
“Won’t shift. Not yet. She needs a wolf influence.” He caught her hand. “I need you to contact Adrian, have him arrange a Wylding ritual.”
Darcy’s hand trembled in his own. “Oh shit, Kieran, seriously? You know that will do to Adrian? The wolf is horny enough as it is.”
“He’s Alpha, he can control it.”
“Not if I’m there. And I know you, you’ll want me there.” Darcy yanked her hand away. “I was going to sneak into his house and borrow the ruby crystal ball. Not contact him in person.”
“If Adrian starts getting feral, shift into another form and leave. I need this for Ella. I can’t get her to shift and she must protect herself.” He sucked down a trembling breath. “I will not allow her to get hurt like Kiera did.”
Darcy crouched down, squeezing his hand. “Hey, big cat, calm down. It’ll be okay. No prob. I’d do anything for Ella. I’ll call Adrian and have him arrange it. You just focus on those translations so you can find the crystal of Calmach.”
Giving a gruff nod, he pulled his hand away. Darcy, with her fierce sense of loyalty equaling his own, reminded him of his own family. Duty and honor first before your own personal comfort.
Too bad he was the only one of his kin around to remember that code. But it was reassuring to know there were Others who embraced the same values.
His throat tightened with grief as he remembered Kiera’s stubborn streak, adhering to the family honor. It had gotten her killed.
Now was not the time to think of the past, but to push forward to save the future.
“Thanks,” he told her.
They had to find the crystal before the Dark Lord’s followers did. Because if those bastards found it, there was no telling what kind of chaos they would release upon the world. Chaos that would chase him into the Winter Kingdom.
The Brehon would call upon every Fae from both Summer and Winter Kingdoms to fight the gathering evil.
He could only hope they’d be safe here, and nothing stalked them to Florida.
Long after Darcy retired to bed and the moon had started to sink into the sky, he remained on the porch, listening to the distant splash of water upon the sand, the hum of insects in the air, and the faint, distant cry of something wild and wicked prowling the night.
10
She could almost think their time in Florida was a vacation, except for the fact that Kieran kept insisting she was a werewolf and Darcy insisted the same.
Not only that, but Kieran had begun what he called her “training.”
The morning after the park incident, he told her to get dressed in workout clothing. Then he took her to the ground floor of the house, which served as a small gym. Kieran selected a long pole from the rack on the wall and tossed her one.
“Watch me,” he told her. “And then, we’ll fight.”
Fight? She’d rather watch. In his tight gray t-shirt and running pants molded to his powerful thighs and calves, cupping his very impressive dangly parts, Kieran was fluid male beauty in motion. He went through a series of maneuvers with the pole, explaining to her that these were basic moves she would find useful.
“Let’s try it. I’ll go slow.”
When it came to any kind of self-defense, she was clueless. Useless as an air conditioner in a snowstorm.
But to her shock, she found herself twirling the pole, a perfect mimicry of his earlier move. With cat-like grace, he sprang forward and attacked.
Ella blocked his move. Again. And again. Stunned at her own speed, she lowered the pole.
Whack! He hit her on back of the knees, sending her toppling to the ground.
“Never lower your guard. Ever. Control your emotions in battle or you will die.”
She took the hand he offered and stood. “Battle? Are we going to war?”
Sweat beaded on his temple. He wiped his face with a towel, and then threw her a fresh towel to do the same. “Everything is a battle, Ella. You must be prepared to fight at all times, because the enemy can attack at any moment. Evil is all around us, ready to infiltrate. My father taught me that from the time I was young. ”
“Sheesh, you must have had a fun childhood,” she muttered, throwing the towel aside after drying her perspiring face.
“I did.
They sparred for another hour, until she begged for a break. After, she cooled off with a swim in the turquoise pool. Kieran dove beneath the water and swam close to her. In his navy swim trunks hugging his lean hips, he was gorgeous. She could watch him for hours.
“I didn’t think cats liked water,” she told him, splashing him.
Water beaded in the dark hairs of his chest and his inky lashes. Kieran grinned. “Jaguars love to swim.”
Ella regarded him thoughtfully. “Kieran, I don’t know how to fight. How come I didn’t turn into a complete klutz? I nearly failed phys ed in high school because I’m not athletic.”
Wading through the water, he stood near her, and traced a line down her cheek. Ella shivered with pleasure from the contact.
“You are coming into your true nature, Ella-mine. The wolf will not be denied. The wolf inside you will always know how to fight.” He smiled. “And your beast is no ordinary Lupine.”
“Lupine? Not werewolf?”
“Lupine is the politically correct term.”
She splashed him again as he grinned.
After showering, Ella sat down with her laptop in the living room. Prepared to work, she called up a file she’d copied from the secret archives in the college library.
Sitting beside her at the dining room table, Kieran scribbled notes on a paper as he helped her with the translations of the scrolls.
“The crystal is key to freeing your mother. Xavier told me I’m to help retrieve it for you.”
“This is hard to believe.”
“Once you activate the crystal, you will be enormously powerful, Ella. Almost as powerful as the Brehon, the council of wizards like Xavier and Gideon.”
“I’m still struggling with the idea I can turn into a wolf.”
“Believe it,” he said quietly. “Xavier is real. The entire Brehon is. And that thing that tried to hurt you back in Colorado is quite real.”
Evil was real and everywhere. The thought depressed her. Life had been somewhat normal last week, her biggest worry centering on paying bills. Now she knew her concerns had been trivial compared the larger picture of the world Kieran presented.
Work helped. “Where can we find this crystal? Give me some info.”
“It will be hidden in plain sight. It must be tucked away from view of Skins, otherwise, they’d have taken it years ago.” Kieran leaned forward. “Let’s start with Xavier and his personality. It will narrow our search.”
Her depression vanished. He’d given her a task, and Ella was goal-oriented.
Ella began to type. “Xavier is a wizard. The Crystal Wizard.”
Leaning over her shoulder, Kieran added, “He is a terrible dresser. Loves lime green, electric blue.”
“Vibrant colors,” she typed. “What about his relationship with Ciara? Is there anything special that marked their time together?”
Kieran leapt up onto the table, making the laptop shake. Squatting down, he rubbed his face. “This will take a full century. Xavier has known Ciara from his past—and her past lives. They first met when he was an apprentice wizard in Europe.”
“When was their next meeting?”
“In the 1950’s in the Midwest.”
“More timely, but still too distant.”
“Maybe they shared something back then that is a clue,” she suggested.
Kieran rubbed a hand over his day beard. “Xavier told me they used to meet in an ice cream parlor. She liked comic b
ooks. They danced to Elvis music for their first song.”
Ella beamed at him. “It has to be Elvis. But what? Something Elvis that only a jaguar can retrieve.”
He stood on the table and paced. “Terrific. That narrows it down. There are dozens of items that could be connected to Elvis. What am I supposed to do? Look in every record store in town?”
“There are no more record stores,” she told him. “Not really. And get down. People eat on this table.”
“I’m a cat. I like to jump on tables. And my feet are clean.”
But he jumped down, and went to the sliding glass doors to stare out at the beach. “It has to be here, some place on the beach. This beach holds great meaning for Xavier. Stop thinking like a Skin and start thinking like your true nature.”
“Fine,” she snapped. “Maybe it’s buried with a peanut butter and banana sandwich. Go find one.”
He drew himself up with dignity. “I do not eat peanut butter and bananas.”
“What do jaguars do that tigers, lions and other big cats are loathe to accomplish?” Ella craned her neck upwards. “Climb trees.”
Kieran shot her an exasperated look. “Woman, do you not think that Skins would notice a jaguar climbing a palm tree and report me to the authorities? I do not relish being put in a Skin zoo. There must be another clue we are missing. Unless this Elvis liked to climb trees as well.”
“Fine.” Ella slammed the laptop lid shut. “You figure it out.”
He glanced at the sky outside. “Go cool down. You are much too agitated and worried about your mother. I can smell it in the air. Go for a swim with Darcy. And then return and shower, so we can go shopping. We have a formal party to attend.”
A party? She shook her head. “I’m not in a partying mood. What kind of party?”
She didn’t like his mysterious smile. “You’ll see. And when it is over, you will believe in the power of your wolf.”
11
Today, their fifth day after her mother had been turned into ice, Ella spent the morning pouring over the digital files of the scrolls to try to find a clue where the crystal was hidden. Every morning she and Kieran combed the files for hints. Every afternoon, they came up with nothing.
