Edge of Darkness

by Cherry Adair

  “I know.” Serena felt a shiver of foreboding travel up and down her spine. “Duncan won’t risk breaking the Curse. His powers are too important to him. I know that only too well.” Serena met Lark’s eyes. “When did everything get so freaking complicated?”

  Lark materialized a full silver tea service replete with steaming teapot and flowered cups. She picked up the pot. “Five hundred years ago when your great, great, ridiculously many greats, grandmother, Nairne, foolish girl that she was, put a Curse on Duncan’s great, great, et cetera, grandfather, Magnus. Tea?”

  Duncan fell through space to land on all fours. He was in a narrow, dimly-lit hallway. The space smelled faintly of jasmine. His heart leapt. Serena.

  He’d been teleported to her New York City apartment. Convenient, because she was the only person he wanted to see right now.

  Two Tests and he hadn’t won either of them, he thought with disgust. He had one more shot at it. It had never occurred to Duncan, not once, that he wouldn’t win the Master Wizard’s Medallion. Not that he was out of the running, but the fact that Trey and Serena had each won one was a grim reminder that he couldn’t always win just because he wanted to.

  And that applied to both the Tests and Serena.

  Water from his saturated clothing pooled around him. Cold all the way through to his marrow, adrenaline still racing through his system, he started to get to his feet to look for her.

  Tying the belt of a long silk robe, Serena suddenly appeared in an open doorway. Her eyes went wide. “Duncan. Thank God!” She fell to her knees beside him, wrapping her arms around him tightly, her rapid breath hot against his cold skin.

  “Where are you hurt?” she demanded. Her soft gray eyes darkened with worry as she searched his face, and her hand shook visibly as she stroked his face. “Thank God you’re alive. I’ve been out of my mind terrified. Where did you disappear to—” Her words tumbled one over the other, interspersed with frantic kisses that landed on his head, face, or shoulder. Her slender hands skimmed his body looking for injury.

  Duncan grabbed her hands, doing his own visual inspection. She looked breathtakingly lovely with her cheeks flushed by emotion, and her fiery hair like a mantle around her shoulders. An intense, almost overwhelming emotion grabbed him by the throat as he looked at her.

  “I’m fine,” he told her thickly, skating his thumb along the petal softness of her lower lip. “Were you hurt?”

  She shook her head. “I was so damn scared that I’d—” Her eyes welled. “God. I thought I’d k-killed you.”

  He bracketed her face with both hands, and kissed her. Her mouth was sweet and hot, eager beneath his. Trey must’ve won the damned Test. But right now Duncan didn’t give a shit. Serena was safe, and here, where she belonged. In his arms.

  “I’m so sor—”

  He pressed a finger against her trembling mouth. “Don’t.” He caught her upper arms to steady her as they staggered to their feet in the narrow hallway. “The only thing I give a flying fuck about is that you weren’t injured in any way. We need to talk, but first I need a hot shower. How about y—”

  Grabbing the front of his shirt, she twisted the wet fabric in her fists, pushing him against the wall. “This,” nipping his shoulder with sharp, white teeth, “will warm us up.” She pulled his shirt up his body and over his head. “Twice as fast.” The shirt plopped onto the carpet. “Right.” Leaning forward she licked his nipple. He jolted with pleasure as her lips closed over the cold peak. “Here.”

  “I’m soaking wet—” It was a half-assed protest. There was nowhere else he’d rather be than with Serena. He didn’t care where or how. This was another memory he could store.

  Not realizing what intense emotion was feeding his hunger, her smile was wicked. She ran the flat of her hand down his abs, following the line of hair to his waistband. “And I’m getting there,” she murmured against his throat. “I love how you taste,” she teased his skin with her teeth. “I love how you smell. I want to absorb you. I want—I want you inside me. Now.”

  Hell. This insanity with her was so going to bite him in the ass sooner than later. He knew it was. But until then, until that last second when he had to tell her good-bye—

  Unbuttoning his pants, she brushed cool fingers beneath the fabric. His penis pulsed and came to attention as Serena pushed the fabric out of her way. Duncan grabbed her wrist.

  “Audience participation?” he asked, his breath strangled. “Or do you want to take this one?”

  She cast him a sassy glance. “If you can keep up, participate by all means.”

  He slid his hands beneath the thin silk of her robe to cup the globes of her breasts. Her nipples responded instantly to his touch. Duncan skimmed his hands down her midriff, over her hips, and down to grip her bottom. Lifting her, he carried her to the narrow table against one wall.

  Serena wrapped her arms about his neck and drew him closer, her long legs wrapped around his waist. “How many seconds this time, do you think?” she murmured against his mouth as her robe glided off her shoulders to pool around her hips on the table.

  “We have all the time in the world,” he lied, lowering his head to trail a string of kisses down the long, elegant line of her throat. Serena combed her fingers through his hair as his mouth traced the satin smooth skin of her left breast. His lips closed over the hard peak of her nipple, and she sighed, tightening her legs around him.

  Aroused to the point of madness, he wanted nothing more than to plunge into her welcoming body. But he wanted to make a lasting memory, and to do that he needed to take his sweet time.

  “I have to tell—Oh, God, I love when you do that. Do it again.”

  Closing his teeth gently around the aroused bud, a little harder this time, Duncan caressed the smooth skin of her inner thigh, loving her wholehearted response to his lovemaking.

  Sliding his hands over the cool silken skin of her hips, he cupped her rounded ass and slid her forward, impaling her on his shaft. Her slick heat made him shudder, and when her internal muscles closed around him like a fist he groaned against her throat.

  Serena whimpered, tightening her strong legs around his waist. “Duncan. I won. The. Position.”

  They cried out their release at the same time.

  Instead of collapsing against him, Serena took his face in her hands. “Did you hear what I said?”

  “You love when I suck your nipples?”

  “Yes, I do. But that wasn’t what I meant.” Her eyes were serious as she searched his face. “Duncan, I won the Council position.”

  “Good for you,” he said mildly, pushing her long hair over her shoulder, then dropping a kiss to the silky skin he’d bared. There’d always been the possibility that he wouldn’t win. But amazingly, Duncan was fine with not winning the coveted position. “You’ll make a superb Head.”

  She frowned. “You’re pleased for me? But this is something you’ve wanted your entire life.”

  “There’ll be other opportunities. I’m only thirty-three, sweetheart.” It stunned him that he was not only okay with her winning, he was pleased and proud. Was this what love did to a man? Made him want was what best for the woman he loved, no matter what the cost to himself?

  Apparently so.

  “Thank you for that. I was so worried that you’d be—”

  “What?” He smiled, loving the twin lines of concern between her eyes. “I’d freak out?”

  “I’m not sure. I guess because it’s always been such a big deal, I was afraid that you’d be…strongly disappointed.”

  He smiled. “Strongly disappointed, huh? Mildly disappointed, maybe, but damn pleased and proud that you got in. You’re exceptionally well qualified. I also know that you’re smart, resourceful, and fair. I have complete confidence in you, sweetheart. The Council will be better with you in charge. Really, Serena, you’ll do a fabulous job and if it couldn’t be me, then I’m completely thrilled that it’s you. Honestly.”

  “Wow. How mature of you.”
She grinned. “Thank you. I’m certainly going to do my best. Now I want a shower, and then I want us to make love slowly. In a bed.” Her voice was throaty as she trailed kisses across his jaw. “How’s that sound to you?”

  Duncan slid his hands up her back, drawing her against his chest. He dropped a kiss on top of her head. “Give me five minutes to recover.” His breath was still ragged. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  “You’re going to have to carry me, I can’t move—Your pocket is ringing.”

  Grinning at her put-upon tone, Duncan shimmered the ringing phone out of the pocket of his wet pants, which were on the floor, to a convenient position between his shoulder and ear as he lifted Serena and whisked her into the bedroom.

  Lark, he mouthed. “What do we have?” Serena motioned to be put down. He complied. He wouldn’t put it past Lark to have freaking X-ray eyes.

  Lark didn’t bother with a greeting either. “They just discovered Peter Blaine’s body in Mexico City. Same MO as the others. From what was left of him, our forensic people guesstimate he’s been dead for at least forty-eight hours.

  “Blaine managed an upscale art gallery in the Boston area. He might have been in Mexico looking at artists, but if that was the case we’ve seen no evidence of it. Nor was he booked into any of the hotels.”

  “Don’t tell me.” He watched Serena straighten her robe and tie the sash around her slender waist. Her skin shone through the thin material, making it look like mother of pearl—

  Jesus. When he started waxing poetic about a woman it was time to…Time to what? he thought blankly. It had never happened before.

  “No airline ticket either.” He dragged his attention away from the way the thin fabric clung to the slopes of Serena’s breasts, and the long length of her legs as she indicated she was going into the bathroom to give him some privacy. He held up a hand for her to wait, but she shook her head, sending him a Mona Lisa smile.

  “Teleported before or after he was murdered.” While he was talking to Lark, he was admiring the rounded curves of Serena’s rear as she slipped into the adjoining room. She closed the door behind her. He frowned. When the fuck had he ever been distracted by anyone or anything while in mission mode?

  Never.

  He needed to address the Serena problem. And soon. Instead of diminishing with propinquity, his attraction to her was growing until he could barely think of anything else. Before this veered off into uncharted and forbidden territory, he was going to have to—to…do something.

  “Dumped there in the hopes that it would be a while before his body was found,” he hypothesized, forcibly dragging his mind back into the game. “Family?”

  “Two exes. No kids.”

  “Christ. He was that close to all of us at Gabriel’s yesterday, and we didn’t know it.”

  “It would appear so. Watch your back, Hot Edge. Nobody is who they appear to be.” The line went dead.

  No shit, Duncan thought with annoyance. Culver for one.

  Add to that that they now had four dead wizards, and no fucking clues. He put in a quick call to Juanita to have her contact the rest of his team to fill them in on the latest murder. One thing at a time.

  “What’s the satellite situation?”

  “All of them are lined up like ants at a picnic,” she told him. “China shifted into a new orbit to join them.”

  China’s satellite too? What in God’s name was everyone gathering for? Duncan’s radar was on red alert. “Any closer to Schpotistan?”

  “No. But not further away either. And no activity at the warehouse or the factory,” Salazar added before he could ask.

  “Call me if anyone so much as takes a leak.”

  “You got it.”

  Duncan snapped his phone closed and placed it on the bedside table, then hesitated. Things were heating up. Another wizard murdered, another satellite added to the odd mix of shifting orbits. And while he doubted the two had any correlation, he needed to keep ever vigilant on both. This was no time to be thinking with his dick.

  And he’d keep believing his dick was what he was thinking with, he thought, striding toward the closed bathroom door. Because if this wasn’t just about sex, he was in way the fuck over his head. Nairne’s Curse played in his head. Like watching a damned car wreck, he knew he was heading toward disaster. Knew it with every cell in his body. Loving her wasn’t a possibility. He could deal with his known emotional flotsam and jetsam, but he was damned if he’d allow Serena to be hurt. The fucking Curse had nothing to do with her.

  He was going to have to start backing off. Easing the path for her. Duncan’s gut clenched. He’d rather rip out his own heart out than hurt Serena.

  He pushed open the door and strode into the steam-filled bathroom. The shower stall was disappointingly empty. Fortunately the enormous bathtub across the room was full. Of a mountain of fragrant bubbles. And Serena.

  He groaned. “I’m going to smell like a sissy girl.”

  Her face lit up when she looked up and saw him standing in the doorway. The pressure inside him felt as though someone were stabbing him through the heart.

  Serena laughed. “You could never smell like anything but a man, trust me.” She held up an arm encased in white foam, and wiggled her fingers. “Come and get warm.”

  “I’m plenty warm.”

  “And happy to see me.” She shot him a provocative glance from under black spiky lashes, and dropped her arm back into the water with a little splash. “Fine. Wait for me then. I shouldn’t be too long.”

  “Have to do the environmentally correct thing, right? I mean, you’re the humanitarian.” He stepped into the hot, jasmine-scented water. “This tub’s too big for one person. Conservationists would be horrified that you’re wasting water by bathing alone.” He settled his knees on either side of her hips.

  “Horrified?”

  He nodded. “Appalled.”

  “Can’t have that.”

  “Nope.”

  Protected in the circle of Duncan’s arms, Serena closed her eyes, her cheek resting on his chest, an arm and one leg flung over his body. Duncan had conjured up soft jazz and candlelight, and her bedroom was cool and dim. Neither of them had any desire to talk, and Serena was enjoying the aftermath of some spectacular lovemaking. Duncan was lazily playing with her hair, his breathing deep and even beneath her ear, his large body relaxed. She should also be feeling relaxed and well-loved; instead, it was almost as though she were waiting for another shoe to drop. Silly really. She knew what that shoe would be. This crazy interlude with Duncan had to draw to a close. And soon. She knew that with every fiber of her being. As much as she’d always wanted it, there was absolutely no chance of any kind of meaningful relationship with Duncan Edge.

  Either she took the initiative, or he would. It wasn’t a case of if they would part, but when.

  Serena would prefer to be the one to walk away.

  It would be wonderful to forget everything. Just for a few more hours. To pretend that she was the woman he loved instead of the woman who’d deceived him from the get-go. To forget everything but the magic of being with him. But that wasn’t reality.

  Nairne and her Curse stood between them.

  Nothing was going to change that.

  She might have taken the Council position away from him, even by winning it fairly. But she refused to be the one responsible for lifting the Curse and making him lose something he prized even more than the job of Head of Council.

  His powers.

  She wasn’t sure how she felt about his calm acceptance that she’d won. The Council position was something she knew he’d wanted all his life. Serena wasn’t sure what kind of response she’d expected, but that hadn’t been it. She’d known him long enough to believe that his congratulations had been heartfelt and genuine. But would he feel the same way days and weeks from now, when the postcoital glow was a distant memory?

  Once her appointment was official, would his loss pierce him deeply? Would her beating him h
urt him on a deep, fundamental, masculine level? To think that she’d thought him too hard, too violent…She breathed in the scent of his skin, feeling his chest rise and fall as he rested. It killed her knowing that she was going to bring him pain. He’d been the one who had wanted it, not her.

  She’d be a good Master Wizard, she was sure. But in her heart of hearts she knew that Duncan would’ve been just as good. He’d be great. Exceptional, actually. They were fairly evenly matched in every area save one—Duncan didn’t conjure rain, hail, thunder, or lightning when his emotions were taxed. Serena cringed, imagining the Council chamber flooding in mid session because a person or issue made her lose control. It wouldn’t be the first time.

  The first time she’d met Ian’s sons, she’d drenched them and everyone else in the restaurant and had been forced to call on Caleb Edge to reverse time. But that memory paled in comparison to knowing that her time with Duncan was limited. Had to be limited.

  Lying here in his arms, anticipating how he was going to feel, and how she was going to feel—afterward—was damn stupid. They had now. She dropped a kiss to his very nice chest. “Who was that on the phone earlier?”

  Duncan could almost hear Serena’s brain working a mile a minute. What was going through her mind? She was only pretending to be relaxed. “Lark.”

  He sifted her damp hair through his fingers. Christ. He couldn’t get enough of her. It didn’t matter what the hell part of his anatomy was in charge. “She called to tell me Peter Blaine was killed.”

  Serena tilted her head to look up at him, her gray eyes sympathetic. “I’m sorry. Who was he?”

  “A level two.” He stroked her arm with the pads of his fingers. Her skin was incredibly smooth and soft. “He wasn’t that likable a guy, but he didn’t deserve to die.

  “Blaine makes the fourth wizard murdered in less than two months. I don’t know the extent of his special powers, Lark’s checking into that, but whatever they were, the killer has assimilated them. Speculation is that Blaine was killed before yesterday’s meeting. The killer morphed into Blaine in order to attend the meeting, blending in seamlessly with the rest of us.” Duncan frowned. “We had no fucking clue.”