The Nymph's Curse: The Collection

by Danica Winters

  “I’m a horse trainer from Arizona. That’s it.” She looked back to the horses, hiding her face.

  “We both know you’re lying. Why can’t you just give me something? You know more about me than I know about you, and I’m not the one who needs help.”

  She dug the toe of her boot into the snow. Ever so slowly, she looked up. Her sapphire eyes glistened with tears. “I’m afraid, okay? I don’t know how I’ll survive without Natalie. She’s my best friend. She’s my life.”

  The wetness threatened to spill over and slip down her cheek. He could hardly stand it, his gut ached. Why had he pushed her for answers? He should have known that she was just worried.

  He stepped toward her, careful to not drop the horse’s lead rope, and pulled her into his arms. She didn’t resist and she pressed her face to his chest. The warmth of her body melded with his as he breathed in her sweet scent. His body quivered to life. “I’m sorry, Aura. I didn’t mean to upset you. I … I just care about you.”

  What had he said? What was wrong with him? Why couldn’t he keep his mouth shut?

  Aura leaned back and looked up at him with her shimmering sky blue eyes. “You do?”

  The way she questioned him made him wonder if she’d ever heard anyone say those words to her before. The thought saddened him. Had she never been truly loved? He’d been with Angela, she’d never loved him, but she’d cared, up until …

  He dropped his hands to her waist. “Of course I care about you.”

  Aura reached up, ran her fingers through the back of his hair, and wrapped her hands around his head. He yielded to her as she pulled him down to her lips. The soft skin of her lips tasted like honey, her sweetness melted in his mouth, filling his mouth with her flavor. What would her nipples feel like in his mouth?

  His pants grew tighter as he hardened. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop imagining taking her down to the ground, snow or no snow, and making love to her. Would she moan? Cry out? There was no one around, only the horses. He could make her cry out with passion and no one would hear.

  She pulled at his lip, sucking gently. A groan escaped his lips and he pulled her in tighter to him, showing her what she did to him. Her hand slipped from his back and she moved back just enough to let her fingers trail down the front of his pants. The sound of his heart beating was almost deafening, the world swirled around him, and he couldn’t think straight. He could only feel her hand pressing against him. The horse’s lead ropes slipped from his fingers and dropped to the wet ground.

  • • •

  Aura mentally reprimanded herself. She shouldn’t be doing this. It wasn’t the right time to get involved with a man … and not just any man, but the man heading the investigation. But he was asking so many questions. For once it seemed easier to let her nymph desire take the lead.

  His pulse raced under the palm of her hand as she stroked over the top of his pants. The tips of her fingers made little circles as she pulled her hand slowly upward, teasing him, making him want her more with every passing second.

  She sucked softly at his full bottom lip and then let go. As a reward for the pain, she used her tongue to caress his slightly swollen lip. His tongue met hers, soft at first, but then, as if he could no longer control the hunger within him, he let his kiss hasten. He pressed his lips against her with a passion so fierce it surprised her. It was as if he feared her escape.

  A snowflake fluttered down and landed on her nose, chilling her skin. She pulled back, breaking the kiss. Dane looked down at her with a lust-glazed look upon his face. His kiss-dampened lips pulled into a full smile. He reached up and softly took her face in his hands. Ever so gently, he ran his calloused thumb over the tip of her nose and wiped off the melting snow.

  “I know I’ve said it before, but you are so goddamned sexy. I feel like I’m eighteen again.” He leaned in and gave her a light kiss. He pulled back slightly, but their lips still touched. “I don’t understand this … You … ”

  She leaned in and claimed his lips, stopping him from saying another word. She couldn’t make this any more than a fling. Too much was at stake. Not only the investigation, but if he fell in love … his life would be in danger — the curse of the nymphs would strike him down. She couldn’t risk the curse coming true — she couldn’t love him or he would die. If she cared for him at all, this could only be a physical thing. She couldn’t let her heart get involved and neither could he.

  Dane let go of her face and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her close. She drew back. “If we do this, it’s a one-time thing.”

  Rejection flickered in his eyes. “What do you mean?”

  She reached up and ran her finger over his bottom lip, gently flicking his skin, not letting him forget what it felt like to kiss her. “Only once.” Her fingers dropped from his lips. She ran them down the front of his jacket and to the top of his jeans.

  Dane threw back his head and he moaned as her fingers weaved under his shirt and touched his hot flesh. The button flipped out of the hole and she inched the zipper down, one tooth at a time. He let go of her and moved to touch his zipper, as if she was moving too slow.

  “No.” She batted his hand away with a wicked smile.

  He groaned and his body shifted hungrily beneath her hands. Her spell was working.

  The zipper met the bottom of its trail, but she barely noticed. Dane was a boxers man. She ran her hand in between his jeans and the black cotton of his underwear. He leaned into her hand as she wrapped her fingers around him. With a confidence that came to those of her kind, she stroked him just hard enough to make him so he could be no harder, but light enough that the cloth wouldn’t take away from his enjoyment.

  She knelt down, letting her knees drop into the wet snow, but she didn’t care.

  Aura tugged at his pants, pulling them down from his hips, exposing the top of his boxers. She looked up at him. He was looking down at her with a light in his winter honey-colored eyes. His lips quivered as if he wanted to say something, but there was a need in his eyes that she was sure was reflected in her own.

  His pants hung to his muscular thighs and she softly ran her fingers under the waistband of his underwear, letting her fingertip gently caress the tender flesh of his sensitive head. She pulled down his boxers, exposing him to the wintery air. Goosebumps covered his warm flesh, but that was the only indicator of the cold temps.

  Taking him in her hand, she sat up and opened her mouth.

  “Stop. No.”

  What? No man had ever turned down what she was offering.

  He stepped back, but she didn’t let go. Dane reached down and put his hand over hers, tapping her fingers to make her let go. “Wait.”

  The horses nibbled at the grass that stuck out of the snow. Just to the side of the trail there was a small clearing. Pulling up his pants, he stepped to the clearing and kicked away the snow. He turned to her and smiled as he stepped to the horse and opened the saddlebag. He pulled out a red and blue striped blanket and laid it down on the ground as if setting up a picnic. “Come here.”

  Aura stood up and stepped over to him. She let him lay her down on the ground upon the scratchy wool blanket. He smiled down at her as he sat down on his knees beside her. She reached up for him, but this time he pushed her hands away. “No.” His smile was that of a man who had a delicious plan.

  He opened her jacket and slid up her shirt, exposing her belly. He moved between her legs and ran his hands over her exposed flesh, teasing her as she had mercilessly teased him. His smile disappeared as he moved to the top of her pants. Without saying a word, he unbuttoned them and pulled them free of her body.

  She lay exposed, open to receive. Dane sat back and sucked in a breath as he slipped his coat off. He balled it up and laid it under her head. She was careful to not let him see the tattoo on her neck that so closely resembled
that of Angela’s.

  Sitting back, he ran his hands down her naked thighs, making goose bumps rise to her already chilled skin. His hands moved upward, to the intersection of her thighs and over her folds. She closed her eyes as his fingers moved in agonizingly perfect circles.

  His pants rustled and he slipped them off. His body moved on top of hers. She tilted her hips up and he slid inside her. She bit back a squeal of delight as he moved gently, letting her body receive him.

  Reaching down, she grabbed his round, firm ass and drove him deep. The fever took over and their bodies melted into each other. Both without end, each movement met with the perfect response, as if they were of the same thoughts.

  No man had ever been so good.

  Dane slowed and he ran his fingers down the sensitive skin of her neck. His lips trailed up to her ear, his breath hot and wet against her earlobe. He sucked in a harsh breath and drove himself deep. A groan escaped her lips and fluttered out into the timber. He pulled back and she pushed his ass down hard again.

  “Faster,” she whispered in a ragged breath.

  His body pounded against her, fast and hard. Stars filled her eyes and she could feel her end nearing.

  He buried his face in her neck. “I’m going to come.”

  She nodded, but she couldn’t speak. The stars in her eyes became fireworks as her body quivered and shook. Her impassioned cry penetrated the air as Dane groaned and his heat filled her.

  Her breathing came in hard gasping breaths. Dane sat up and looked at her. There was a look in his eyes she could recognize, the one look she feared — love.

  No …

  Chapter Twelve

  Zeb slammed the door to his pickup as he got out. Aura tried not to cringe as he strode out of the shadowy early morning sky and into the well-lit stables. From the look on his face, he wasn’t happy to see them. “What in the hell were you two thinking?”

  Aura’s cheeks burned with embarrassment. It hadn’t made any sense to stay out all night, but they had been so tired after they’d made love …

  Dane glanced over at her and gave her a wicked grin.

  “You had no business taking my horses.”

  “Ryan said he had your permission,” Dane said, his voice in between apologetic and defensive, almost as if he wasn’t sure what line he should draw with his brother.

  Aura opened the stall and led Dancer in.

  “That’s bullshit.”

  She stepped back out, closed the door to the stall, and slid the lock into place. Aura turned to Zeb; she didn’t want to have a fight with this man, but it seemed unavoidable. “How were we supposed to know he didn’t really call you?”

  “You … Well, he … ” Zeb jabbed his thumb at Dane. “He should’ve known I would have never let him touch anything of mine.”

  He sounded like a spoiled child, too headstrong and selfish to share his toys.

  “We needed to get to the top of the mountain. My sister has been missing for over a week. The mountain’s the last place we had her cell signal. We believe whoever is behind Angela’s murder might also have something to do with my sister’s disappearance.”

  There was a flash of pain on his face, as if he suddenly remembered Angela’s murder. “I’m sorry to hear about your sister. I really am, but that doesn’t mean you have any business using my horses and staff to get back there.”

  “Don’t worry about it, Zeb … we won’t do anything like that again. We didn’t find her and the only evidence we found — ”

  Dane shook his head, motioning her to stop speaking. “We only found evidence of some wolf activity up on Shirley Mountain. You had any problem with them coming down and getting into your livestock?”

  Zeb stepped back, almost like he was stepping away from the fight, at least for a moment. “We lost one of the new fillies we picked up from the sale last month — we were pretty sure it was a wolf kill. You didn’t see the devils, did you?”

  Aura glanced over to Dane. Was he going to tell his brother the truth? Or was their distaste for each other going to taint even the investigation?

  “One attacked us. We didn’t see any evidence of wild game … no elk … no deer … hell, not even a squirrel track to speak of.”

  “They’ve killed everything. Now all they have left is my livestock.” Zeb shook his head. “Those damn liberal environmentalists. I told Fish, Wildlife, and Parks officials about the horse, but they said to just keep an eye out for the wolves and they’d send someone out. I haven’t seen hide nor hair of them. Now it has to come to this.”

  “Well, there’s one less for you to worry about now. When it attacked us, Dancer kicked one and sent it over the cliff. That’s one hell of a horse … ”

  Zeb stepped over to the stall and called for the horse. Dancer picked up his ears, but ignored the man’s calls. He stepped back farther into the shadows of the hay-covered stall. His body told her that he hated his owner. He must have known that this was the man that had allowed Pat’s mistreatment. “He’s stubborn, that’s for sure.”

  “He’s upset.” Aura stepped over to Zeb’s side and made a clicking sound to Dancer.

  The horse looked over to Zeb then back to her and then shook his head. He huffed like a boy who didn’t want to obey, making Aura laugh. The horse was a special one. He had such a personality; it came through in everything he did. Dancer was strong-willed, maybe a little anti-social, but his distrust was well-justified — he was like her in so many ways.

  He didn’t deserve to live here, penned up in a stall most of the time, and the rest of the time having his spirit beaten down by Pat’s whip. “Come here, baby. Don’t worry about Zeb, he’s just a — ”

  “Pain in the ass,” Dane said, finishing her sentence.

  “Hey, now.” Zeb turned to face his brother. “Don’t you forget for a second that I could charge both of you with theft and Aura with trespassing.”

  Dane’s shoulders squared and he stared daggers at Zeb. “And don’t forget whose wife it was that you stole … And everything I’ve done for you.”

  “Both those things were your choice.”

  “You think my wife cheating on me with you was my choice?”

  “If you wanted her, you should have fought for her. You gave her up at the first sign of trouble. Long before I started sleeping with her.”

  After their moment of shared passion, Aura wanted to hear exactly what had happened between Dane and Angela. Yet, she didn’t want to know … at least not like this or right now. If Dane wanted to tell her what had transpired between him and his ex-wife, he could do it in private, not prompted by his brother’s narcissistic rampage.

  Dancer pranced around the stall nervously as the brothers raised their voices. Dancer hated the confrontation just as much as Aura did.

  “Knock it off.” Aura slammed her fist down on the stall’s half door. “You are brothers. Stop fighting. You are both acting like children. Besides, you’re scaring Dancer.”

  Dancer stuck his head over the door of the stall. She ran her hand down from his soft forelock to the tip of his nose. His nostrils flared as he took in her scent. His eyes softened and he leaned into her hand as she reached around and scratched behind his ear.

  “You seem so goddamned worried about that horse. Why don’t you buy him from me?”

  “What?” Had she heard Zeb right?

  “He won’t work with Pat and he’s nothing but another horse to feed over the winter. I don’t see why I need him.”

  She eyed him with distrust. “How much do you want for him?”

  Zeb crossed his arms over his chest and stood silent for a moment, thinking. He eyed her like he was assessing exactly how much she was worth, and how much she would be willing to pay. “How about this … You and Dane find whoever killed Angela. When you do, I will sell him to yo
u for five thousand.”

  Five thousand? She ran her hand down Dancer’s neck, letting her fingers feather through his thick mane. He was worth more than five thousand as a rodeo horse, but she didn’t want him for that. She wanted him as a friend, a horse that she could saddle and take on long trail rides with Natalie in her horse form at their sides.

  Something about the offer struck her as fake. This was a man who loved the best things in life, from his brand new camel color boots to his pristine, fresh-off-the-lot truck — what was Zeb hiding? Did he think that they’d never solve the crime? That they’d never find the killer? Or Natalie?

  She dropped her hand and turned to Zeb. “What happens if we don’t find whoever is behind Natalie’s disappearance?” She hated to say it. She even hated to think what would become of her if she didn’t find Natalie, but she hated the thought of Pat beating the horse as well.

  “Then there’s no deal.”

  Aura stuck out her hand. “You have yourself a deal.”

  Zeb smiled as he took her hand and gave it a firm shake. He looked back over his shoulder to Dane. “I was going to send that little bastard to the meat auction anyway.”

  She dropped his hand and stepped back. The man was an asshole. How could he even be related to Dane? They seemed so different. Dane was strong, spontaneous, sweet, and caring. Zeb was strong, but in another way — almost as if his show of outer strength was only a cover for his inner weakness. Was he attempting to make up for his poor decisions by being arrogant and condescending? Was it his way of ridding himself of guilt?

  What was he guilty about? Was it only his feelings of guilt for taking Angela away from Dane or was there something more? Could Zeb have had something to do with her death? With Natalie’s disappearance?

  If that was the case, why would he offer her a reward?

  Dane suddenly pushed past her, toward the large stack of hay bales that sat at the end of the corridor. “What is this?” he growled as he pointed to the blue tarp that covered the top layer of hay.