Shadows and Stars

by Becca Fanning

  His face was stunned as he lifted his body into a sitting position. “How the hell did you do that?” he asked, rubbing at the back of his head. “For someone as tiny as you, you pack a wallop, Katen.”

  She winced. She hadn’t meant to throw him to the ground along with herself, but that woman… Katenia shook her head. “Who was that witch?”

  He snorted out a laugh as he got to his feet, then reached down to help her up. “I think the word you’re looking for is ‘bitch’.”

  Her brow furrowed in confusion. “I thought the term was ‘witch.’ One who practices witchcraft.”

  He stared down at her as if she’d started speaking a different language. “I’m sorry.” He shook his head again, still looking dazed. “What the hell are you talking about? She’s not a witch, she’s my ex-fiancée.”

  She threw her hands in the air. “I don’t know what that means, but I am telling you, that woman is evil, and she wants you in a bad way.”

  He nodded once. “Alright.” He moved in before she could protest and lifted her by the waist. Without a word, he carried her to the kitchen counter, set her on it, then took two deliberate steps back. He started to nod, until his gaze dropped to her breasts. He growled quietly and took two more steps away from her, crossed his arms over his chest, and planted his feet. “First, you’re going to explain to me what the hell you are talking about, and then we’re going to talk about your habit of putting yourself in front of me whenever someone raises their voice to me.”

  “Then they need to stop raising their voice to you,” she snapped, “or you need to just stop angering them.”

  He blinked at her. That was it, he just stood there, blinking at her, as if she was the one who was not right in the head. Finally, he dragged a hand down his face. “Fair enough, but believe it or not, baby, I can handle myself.”

  Katenia bit her lip. She really didn’t want to argue with him when he already looked close to strangling her, but she didn’t have a choice. She shook her head, pleading with him to understand. “Not against magic, Nathan.”

  “You keep saying that,” he ground out through gritted teeth, “but why do you think Rhiannon is a witch?”

  “I could feel her magic.” Because that apparently didn’t make him feel any better, she shook her head, and just blew out a breath. “Magic has a feel. White magic, good magic, is warming, enlightening. She felt wrong.”

  He stared at her for a heartbeat, before he dragged a chair away from the table and dropped down into it. “So you’re saying that when she ‘cursed’ me for breaking off our engagement, she meant it literally?”

  Katenia nodded, and hoped to the gods he couldn’t tell how nauseous she was. If Rhiannon was as strong as she’d felt, the chances were whatever curse she’d put on Nathan was a doozy, and Katenia didn’t have the kind of magic to undo it. But she blew out a breath and nodded, because he already looked ready to kill something, and witch or not, she knew he’d never forgive himself for killing a woman. “Probably.”

  FOURTEEN

  NATHAN NODDED SLOWLY before he got to his feet. He grabbed her off the counter, wrapped his hand around her upper arm, and dragged her with him to the bedroom.

  “Nathan.”

  His brain twitched. Whenever she said his name, whatever came out of her mouth next was guaranteed to confuse the hell out of him, or make him want to kill something. He shook his head as he snagged her borrowed clothes off the dresser and shoved them at her. “Get dressed. We’re going out.”

  Her teeth caught at her plump lower lip as she took the clothes from him, and continued to stare up at him with wide eyes. “Nathan.”

  “No. I don’t want to hear it. Just get dressed.”

  To his surprise, she didn’t argue with him. She dropped the jeans and shirt onto his bed, then pulled off the borrowed shirt she wore, leaving her standing there in front of him, gloriously naked.

  He groaned as he felt his willpower literally drain out of his brain and straight into his cock. Fucking hell, the woman was gorgeous. Her white-blonde hair fell in loose waves all the way to her lower back, framing a body that was all soft curves. Full breasts, softly rounded hips, slender legs, small, delicate feet. She didn’t seem to have a shy bone in her body as she crossed to him and went up on her toes. He didn’t realize he’d bent down until she wrapped her arms around his neck and skimmed her lips over his throat.

  “You’re afraid,” she murmured.

  “No,” he lied as he wrapped his hands around her slim waist with the intention to push her away. Instead, he let out a low groan and pulled her into him. She was so small his arms could have wrapped around her twice, and instead of making him feel like a careless giant around her, all he felt was a desperate, rising need to protect her. She was too vulnerable, too good for his world. He nibbled at the sensitive spot behind her ear. “You’re using your body to distract me.”

  She laid her head against his shoulder and nodded. “A little. You had the look in your eyes that Chaela gets whenever she gets scared someone is getting too close. She usually finds a way to ruin it.” She lifted her eyes to his. “I don’t want you to ruin this.”

  He closed his eyes for a moment before he did what he’d meant to do all along. He set her away from him, and forced himself to shutter his emotions. “The deal was that I protected you until you were steady enough to be safe on your own. I can no longer protect you. If Rhiannon is a witch, then you are not safe with me.”

  Her eyes narrowed on him, and to his surprise, instead of hurt it was temper flashing in their bright green depths. “What, exactly, was the curse?”

  “No one I love will ever live long enough to love me back.”

  Her brow winged up as she studied him for a moment, long enough to make him feel like a bug under a microscope, before she turned and sauntered back to the bed. He forced himself to roll his tongue back in his mouth as she bent to pull on the skinny jeans she’d borrowed from Hope, but when she started to shimmy into them, it was too much for the little control he possessed where she was concerned.

  He grabbed a pair of jeans and a plaid flannel from his dresser, and went into the bathroom to change. When he came back out, she was dressed and sitting on the edge of his bed, bouncing. He cleared his throat to cover the chuckle wanting to escape, because despite the childish movements, she looked serious.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “This bed. I like it.” She smiled up at him. “It’s almost as comfortable as my plant. When I have my own new home, will I have a bed like this?”

  Nathan managed not to snort. He’d paid an astronomical amount for it, but if it made her happy, he’d buy her one as a housewarming gift. “Sure.”

  He was rewarded with a smile that lit up her face. She got to her feet and moved over to hug him. “Good, then this human thing might not be so bad.” She pulled back and grabbed his hand, leading him to the doorway. “Where are we going?”

  * * *

  “You need clothes and food, first, then we can work on finding you a job.” The words were barely out of his mouth when her stomach rumbled, and he cursed himself for not thinking about feeding her sooner. He hooked his arm around her neck and led her out the front door. “Food first it is.”

  An hour later, Katenia was near tears. Again. For about the tenth time that day. Because of her incident with the witch, they hadn’t been able to use Nathan’s private metal box to carry them down to the street, and though he’d tried the same distraction technique he’d used on her the night before—which meant kissing her senseless—the constant stopping to let other people on and off had thrown her off. While Nathan was big and scary enough to keep people at a distance, there had been too many people in the small box at once, all talking loudly, trying to hear themselves or each other over everyone else. When the frustrated tears had burned her eyes, she’d pressed her hands to her ears and tried to make herself as small as possible, but there was too much movement, and not enough air. By the time Natha
n had scooped her up and pulled her out, the tears had been free-falling down her face as she tried to drag in enough oxygen to keep from passing out.

  He didn’t set her down until they were clear of the building, and even when he sat with her still curled up on his lap, she was too overwhelmed and afraid of what she’d see to open her eyes.

  He finally shifted her on his lap until she was facing him, her knees on either side of his thighs. His hands were gentle as he brushed the hair out of her face and tucked it behind her pointy ears. “Hey,” he murmured, as he brought her brow down to rest against his. “No more metal boxes, alright?”

  She sniffled, and hated how pathetic she sounded. “I’m sorry, Nathan. I tried…”

  “Stop.” He growled the word with so much force, her spine snapped straight in shock. “We have to get you acclimated to this new world, but that wasn’t the way to start your initiation.”

  Her nose wrinkled as she swiped angrily at the tears still leaking down her face. “Christ Jesus,” she snapped, borrowing his phrase, “I don’t know what that means.”

  To her surprise, he wasn’t offended by her temper. Instead, one corner of his mouth lifted in a cocky grin. “It means, we find somewhere else to stay for the next few nights.”

  Her eyes narrowed on him. “No more metal boxes?”

  He shook his head. “Not until you’re ready to try it again.” When her shoulders slumped in relief, he chuckled quietly and leaned in to kiss her nose before standing up again. He set her on her feet, turned her around, and hooked his arm around her shoulders. “Now let’s see about food.”

  She looked up at him and smiled. It occurred to her that he would make a wonderful life-mate to some woman someday. No matter what was wrong, or how out of the ordinary it was, he always found a way to help her, and make her feel better.

  When his hand slid down to wrap around hers, Katenia couldn’t block the urge to move in a little closer to his side. She knew he wasn’t hers, and she couldn’t keep him, but she knew he was perfect for her. Everything about him touched something inside of her, reaching places deep in her soul she’d never realized were empty.

  She wanted him to be hers. She wanted it so badly that if she could have found a way, even some tiny idea of a way, she’d have fought dragons to be able to keep him.

  But he wasn’t hers, and if she didn’t find a way to help him break the witch’s curse before he finished helping her, he’d be doomed to loneliness for the rest of his life.

  “Hey.” He stopped walking and crouched in front of her, ignoring all the other humans walking by and around them. His eyes searched her face. “Why are you crying now? What happened? Did something scare you?”

  She closed her eyes, and because there was nothing she could tell him that wouldn’t ruin everything, she just walked into his chest and held on. He wasn’t hers, but damn if she wouldn’t fight until the end of time to find a way to make him happy.

  FIFTEEN

  NATHAN HAD to admit as he pulled his car into the mall’s parking lot and found himself an out of the way parking spot that he was not looking forward to this. After the earlier elevator disaster, he was not sure Katenia in public was something he was ready for yet.

  He turned the car off and looked at her. It didn’t make him feel any better to see that she looked as nervous as he felt. He’d come damn close to turning into an over-bearing, over-protective jackass to the people who’d unwittingly sent her into a meltdown in the elevator, and the last thing he needed was for something to freak her out in a crowded mall, and him lose his shit.

  One of her delicate eyebrows lifted as she turned in her seat to face him. “Nathan.”

  He considered baring his teeth at her. Instead, he clenched his jaw and forced out, “What?”

  “This was your idea, so why do you look so miserable?”

  “Because,” he snapped, “I am not looking forward to a repeat of earlier.”

  She paled. “Wait, you said no more metal boxes!”

  He cursed at the panic he’d caused, and shook his head. “No metal boxes,” he said quietly as he popped his door open and slid out of the car. He rounded the hood and opened her door, then because her eyes were still wide, he crouched in front of her. “I promise, baby, just lots of people.” He made a face, and winked at her. “You know, humans.”

  The fear faded from her eyes and this time, they widened in mock horror. “Oh no, not humans, Nathan. Please, please take me back to the metal—” her voice cut off as he leaned in and closed his mouth over hers. Her body went pliant on a soft sigh as he took absolute possession of her mouth. “Mmm.” She tangled her hands in his hair and pulled him closer. “What are you doing?”

  “Shutting you up.” He grinned when she fell against him as soon as he broke the kiss. “How’s it working?”

  She was laughing when he plucked her out of the seat and set her on her feet. He wrapped his hand around hers. “Not bad.”

  He brushed his lips over hers. “Just stay with me,” he said. “Okay?”

  She nodded as they walked across the parking lot. Her eyes widened again as he opened the door and let them inside the mall. She looked around, before blowing out a shaky breath and tossing him a shy grin. “What smells so good?”

  He relaxed slightly when he saw that she wasn’t panicking. The large building had a domed roof made of glass, bringing the sunshine in, and there were large hanging plants strategically placed on the support beams. “The food court. Come on,” he murmured, tugging her toward the escalator. “We’ll get something to eat.”

  She stopped suddenly, her eyes narrowed as she watched the people on the escalator. “Nathan.”

  He sighed, aware she was going to piss him off. “What?”

  “I have no idea how to do this.”

  He grit his teeth and hooked his arm around her waist. When she smiled and automatically turned into him, he dropped his head against hers. “Take one step forward and up, then stop when I do, alright?”

  She bobbed her head, her eyes locked on his as he got them onto the escalator. He tightened his arm when she started to sway, not used to moving up without moving, and kissed her gently. A moment later, he helped her off, and grinned down at her. “Not bad, huh?”

  “We need one of those in your building.”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” he laughed.

  When she had no idea what to try in the food court, and he had no idea of what to feed her or if there were any dietary restrictions he didn’t know about, he finally led them to a gourmet hamburger place. He settled on cheeseburgers and French fries for both of them, and not sure he could handle her on a caffeine rush, ordered two bottled waters for them.

  He had to admit a few minutes later, after finding them a clean table and watching her trying not to gag on her first bite of fries, he loved just watching her beautiful face. While she hated the fries, it amused him to see her keep eating them anyway, so absorbed in people-watching and trying to take in everything going on around her, that he doubted she realized she was doing it.

  With his own burger demolished, Nathan leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest, just watching her. He was aware of the stares she was getting from males and females alike, but she was so oblivious to it all it amazed him. She smiled at everyone who caught her eye, and offered to share her food more than once—though, he wasn’t entirely certain that wasn’t just so she didn’t have to eat anymore.

  He finally stood up and grabbed their trash, tossing it into the garbage, then held his hand out for hers. She grinned up at him as she linked their fingers, and moved in closer to his side. “Now what?” she asked.

  “Now,” he murmured, trying to keep the grimace out of his voice, “we shop.”

  Ten minutes later, Katenia’s eyes were about to pop out of her head as she stared at Nathan and grabbed his arm. “What is wrong with you?” she hissed. “You can’t threaten to have me turn someone into a gnat!”

  His grin was all kind
s of cocky, but there was pure steel in his eyes as he stared down the large, dark-haired woman who looked to be about Hope’s age. “Sure I can.”

  She ground her teeth together and pulled on his arm. “Nathan—”

  He cut her off with a frustrated sound. “Look.” He leaned down toward her until their noses were touching. “I warned her she was going to piss me off if she kept trying to attack you with that makeup brush, and since I won’t hit a woman, this is the next best thing.”

  She sighed, aware the woman was still watching them. “She thinks you’re off in the head.”

  “I am.” He dropped his gaze to her, dismissing the saleslady, and groaning when he saw the pretty dress she wore. “Jesus, Katenia, are you trying to kill me?”

  She took a deliberate step back from him. “Keep your hands to yourself, Nathan,” she muttered. “Just tell me if you like it or not?”

  He didn’t answer her question, instead snapping out, “You’re going to get me arrested, damn it.”

  Before she could try to translate that into something that made sense, he’d moved forward, grabbed her hand, and was leading her back toward what he’d called ‘dressing rooms.’ As soon as he had her in the one she’d been using, he backed her into the wall, caging her in, and was sinking his hands into the front of her dress as his mouth ravaged hers.

  It was terrifying, Katenia thought, how quickly her need for him could spiral up and out of control inside of her, as if it was trying to burn her alive. Managing to get her hand between them, she undid his pants and shoved them down. Her body bowed back on a scream as he drove into her in the next heartbeat. He clamped his hand over her mouth to muffle the moan that would have followed, and buried his face in her throat as he pounded her into ecstasy. And when he would have roared his own release, Katenia reared up and covered his mouth with hers, loving the rush that came from him losing himself so completely inside of her.