by Bonnie Vanak
A duty that did not include Gabriel Sanders in her life.
Drained, she pulled away.
He lightly squeezed her shoulder. “You’ll get used to my touch again. Go take a short nap while I fix dinner. After we eat, I have something to show you.”
“It had better not be you serving me dessert naked,” she warned.
He threw back his head and laughed, such a rich, full sound that the darkness inside her shrank.
“Never thought of that. Though we did have fun with the coconut oil that first time.”
His minty breath feathered over her cheek as he dipped his head. The smoldering look in his eyes echoed her own desire. “I’d rather taste you, darling. Whipped cream on your breasts, slowly licked off, and then I’d part your legs and put some on you there, and lick it off slowly, so slowly, until you screamed. And then screamed again. Maybe after five orgasms, I’d let you taste me.”
Her mouth watered. Sienna was fascinated by the vision.
“Would you like a demonstration to trigger your memory?”
Sienna drew back. Two could play this game. Gabriel was sexy and dangerous, but she also held power.
“You keep talking about getting naked. Maybe I don’t want to see you nude after twenty-five years. Maybe things have changed.”
Gabriel’s expression did not change. He unzipped his jeans, kicked them off and shed his shirt. Fully naked, he stood silently, his heated gaze locked to hers.
Oh. Boy.
“Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy,” she whispered, staring.
Gabriel’s mouth quirked ever so slightly. “That’s right. I am a boy.”
His right hand dropped down to his impressive, half-erect sex. “In case you were wondering…”
Sienna swallowed hard. He was magnificent, all male muscle and hardness, sleek and smooth. No other male had the ability to make her burn with sexual desire she could barely control.
“You’ve still got it.”
The words were a whisper. Gabriel tilted his head. Then he cupped his sex. “I hope so. Haven’t lost it since we last made love, in case you were worried.”
For a moment, she stared. But he kept grinning that sweet smile full of arrogant pride and charm. Sienna laughed, the amusement bubbling up from her stomach, tickling her throat and bursting out of her like helium from a balloon. Then she clapped a hand over her mouth, pain stabbing her stomach from the darkness inside her.
His grin dropped. Gabriel yanked up his jeans, zipped them. Then he was at her side, rubbing a thumb over her hand. The pain vanished.
Pressing his mouth against her temple, he kissed her. She felt an odd sensation, as if sinking into a warm bath.
Gabriel drew back. “Now try to laugh.”
Sienna tilted her head. “Why?”
“Just try it. I fixed it so you won’t have any more pain when you have a happy thought. Imagine having sex with me. Now there’s a very happy thought.” Gabriel winked.
“I’m supposed to be attentive to my duty.”
“It’s permitted to think about sex around here, Sienna. You don’t have to stand on protocol with me, or any of us. Let it go.”
His deep, husky voice reminded her of their first time together when she’d been petrified of the new, exciting sensations filling her body. He’d whispered into her ear and she’d finally climaxed. Her body had sung in perfect harmony to the melody he’d created. The memory of his lovemaking made her feel wet and swollen and wanting.
Oh, so wanting him.
“Sex with me, Sienna. Think of it. Remember how it felt,” he murmured.
A shiver raced down her spine.
“It was better than eating chocolate,” he bragged.
A small smile touched her mouth. Fearing the pain, she tried to keep a straight face. “Nothing tastes better than chocolate.”
Gabriel considered. “What if I put chocolate on my dick?”
Her insides tightened and she laughed. Sienna stopped, fearing the pain. But this time there was no ache, only an uplifting feeling of joy.
“Wow.” She pressed her palms against her stomach. “The pain is gone when I laugh.”
“Good. Now you can laugh all you want. Enjoy yourself. You did last time.”
But that had been a lifetime ago, and she was not the same foolish Elf. Sienna shook her head. “I’m here for a reason. I need to get cleansed of this darkness.”
“Trust me, pixie,” he murmured. “I’m going to take very good care of you.”
But she did not dare trust a naked, sexy panther, especially one who wanted to seduce her. “I’m going to bed.” At his wide smile she added, “Alone. “
“I’ll leave you to rest. This time.”
Gabriel winked, sending a blush curling through her body as he bent over to retrieve his clothing, his sex dangling between his legs like her favorite, tempting fruit. Sienna headed for the bedroom, feeling the heat all the way down to her toes. How the hell could she resist him, and be the good Elf she longed to be when every bone in her body was crying out to be bad?
Chapter 4
She went to bed, but did not rest.
She dreamed of their first time together. Gabriel, taking her hand and leading her to the bed. After she’d undressed, feeling shy and uncertain, he’d kissed her, his mouth warm and firm upon hers. And then he’d laid her on the bed, the sheets soft beneath her warm skin, and spread coconut oil across her stomach, her breasts, her thighs. He’d rubbed the oil into her skin until she writhed and moaned with want. Then slowly, he’d licked it off with his long cat’s tongue, taking extra time with her nipples until she felt ready to burst.
Then he’d parted her legs and rubbed oil there, too. He kept stroking until she’d screamed and shattered.
And then he’d used more oil on his hand and slathered his rigid cock, positioning it right at her entrance…
It had stung and she’d cried. And then as she finally obeyed his whispered command to relax, the pain faded and it felt like heaven. Gabriel’s muscled body had slid across her oil-soaked skin as he gazed down at her intently. He’d loved her long and slow, and made her come again and again…
Waking up was cruel. Sienna rubbed the dream out of her eyes, feeling sexually frustrated and needy as hell, Sienna splashed cold water on her face. Lots of cold water.
Then she joined him in the dining room. Gabriel glanced up from setting the table.
“You look flushed.”
“I had a dream. It’s nothing.” Sienna rubbed her arms.
“Ah.” He gave her a meaningful look, then picked up a glass bottle from the table and shook it. “Care for some ….oil with your salad?”
Heat spiraled through her, flushing her from head to toe. Sienna shook her head.
Dinner was a fresh pasta salad tossed with raspberry vinaigrette, the tiny cherry tomatoes bursting with flavor, and the greens crisp and green. Gabriel had baked a carrot cake with cream cheese icing. He poured two glasses of chilled Chardonnay.
Sienna dug into the meal, hungrier than she had been in days. When they finished with dinner, he cut her a large slice of cake.
She ate it with relish. “You haven’t lost your touch. You’re such a great cook. Nice house, good business. How do you cope with all the development out here?”
“I partnered with a man who was a contractor, and built my own development.”
Sienna nearly choked on a bite of cake. “You? What, did you decide if you can’t beat them, join them and grab the money?”
His gaze darkened. “No, I sold land the county wanted to preserve as a heritage park. And with that money, I took other land I owned and built homes for Skins, each tract with an acre of land, solar panels and plenty of trees. And drainage ponds to attract endangered birds, so that they’ll adapt to urban life.”
Respect filled her. Gabriel had adapted, using his resources.
“You decided to beat them at their own game. You haven’t changed as much as I thought.”
He sipped hi
s wine and leaned back. “You haven’t changed much either, Sienna. Except you’re a little…darker.”
Such teasing remarks were part of his charm. “It happens in my profession.” She picked up her wineglass, took a huge swallow. “Job hazards.”
Gabriel studied her with his remarkable green eyes. Panther eyes, she thought dimly. “What happened after you left me?”
A fist squeezed her insides. Suddenly her appetite faded, leaving her cold. “I returned to court. Resumed my responsibilities.”
After living with the consequences of her behavior.
“What did the Enforcer do to you?”
His voice was deep and husky, but his expression remained smooth. The shifter knew how to play his hand.
“Nothing more than I deserved. It’s the price for being a Shadow Guard.” Then remembering, she inadvertently flinched.
“What did she do?” Gabriel repeated.
“Lana didn’t do anything. She judged me and then had the Crimson Wizard deliver the punishment.”
Mouth tightened, he studied her. “Because she’s a heartless bitch who passes herself off as a good Elf.”
“You’ve had some dealings with her?” Sienna felt confused.
“I’ve watched her in action. I told you, I’ve visited the king’s court before. Now tell me. Did she order you beaten before kicking you out for a few days, a few weeks, a month? Leave you to fend for yourself?
Sienna shrank back, trembling. Her buttocks squeezed and sweat popped out on her forehead. “The Crimson Wizard removed all my magick and then stripped me naked and whipped me. After that, I was sent to live in the woods alone for two months.”
Hard anger flickered in his eyes. “Bloodied and beaten, no powers, no means to defend yourself.”
“I survived.” She shook her head, the remembered humiliation hurting worse than the pain.
Gabriel sat and drank more wine. When he set down the glass, he wiped his mouth with the back of one hand. “Cael is a cruel bastard of a king and Lana is a coward. I could strangle them both for hurting you.”
“He is a just ruler and I deserved it,” she protested. “It was the price I paid…”
For sharing your bed. The unspoken words hung there between them.
“I knew it was wrong to have sex with you.”
“There’s nothing wrong with making love,” he said tightly.
“There is when you’re a Shadow Guard and vowed to be celibate.” Pushing back her plate, she picked up her wineglass and drained it. “It was delicious, but I’m full. Are you still growing organic?”
“As much as I can, though I buy vegetables from the market instead of using our stock.”
“Because you want to sell what you grow?”
“Because I don’t want our dinner attacking us.”
Sienna blinked. “My hearing must be poor. Your dinner attacking you? As in heartburn?”
His expression grew grim. “Attack as in the tomatoes choking you deliberately.”
“Gabriel, vegetables don’t attack…”
“A local deer shifter died after eating a radish from the garden. It turned to acid and ate through his throat.”
Sienna’s stomach churned. “Your garden? The garden where you grow organic vegetables for Skins?”
“Odd thing, the vegetables don’t affect Skins, only Others.”
Dread curled down her spine. She looked at him, her skin growing clammy. She’d thought to visit, use the spring and leave.
“Have you called Cael about this?”
“No.” He grew very still. “That bastard is the last one I’d call upon for help. I’m not indebting myself to him, not after what he did to you.”
“But he can help you.”
He leaned forward. “I’ve found a way to cope on my own. Do you think I’m the type of guy who’d buddy up to the royal who hurt you?”
“You didn’t know what happened to me.”
“I suspected as much. And it was only because you never answered my letters or my phone calls that I didn’t come charging up there to throw you over my shoulder and take you away from all that.”
His chivalry touched her. Sienna shook her head. “I couldn’t let you do that. It’s my life and I made the decision.”
“And the good bitch Lana provided the punishment, courtesy of the Crimson Wizard.”
Alarmed at his simmering anger, she decided to steer the conversation in another direction. “Tell me what’s going on with your land. Attacking radishes? Mangroves beating snake shifters? Snake shifters wanting to attack me? How bad is this?”
Gabriel clasped her wrist. “Come with me.”
Suddenly, she was afraid. She didn’t want to see, didn’t want to get involved. She’d spent the last 25 years not getting involved and keeping to her duties to king and clan.
The solitary life hurt, but better lonely than banished forever from her people. Her people, not a clan of shifters like Gabriel.
He seemed to notice her reluctance. “What happened to the brave, spirited pixie I knew? The Elf who feared nothing?”
She got lost in the woods after being punished for violating her vow of celibacy.
But she followed him outside. As they followed the dirt path snaking through the trees, Sienna’s chest tightened. The fresh smell of earth, trees and swamp faded, replaced by something darker and tainted.
She’d scented this around Terithen before he’d gone nuts and attempted to destroy everything. Dark enchantment.
As they drew closer to the swamp, the dark power inside her surged. Sienna fought the urge to release it. She clenched her fists, silently chanting a light spell. Pain speared her palms.
She opened them and saw them bloodied. Her fingernails had dug into her skin.
Gabriel stopped and turned, his nostrils flaring. “I smell blood.”
Then he saw her hands. He took one, examined it. Then he stroked a thumb over her injured palms and the lacerations healed. Sienna stared at him. “How did you do that?”
“I told you. I have enhanced power. But it’s not enough to defeat whatever the hell is causing this.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Later. Come on, we’re almost there.”
If something had invaded the Everglades, she had an obligation to help him defeat it. But how could she even try when the darkness inside her itched for freedom?
The pathway cut through a hardwood forest bordering the Everglades. Soon they entered a large campground. A circular driveway linked together several campsites occupied by travel trailers and large tents. A thicket of mahogany, gumbo limbo and live oak trees surrounding the glen shaded it with protective covering. But Sienna sensed these trees guarded it as well.
Cook fires blazed before each campsite. Sitting near each trailer in outdoor chairs or on the ground were about forty Others. Sienna’s heart beat faster. Though they were in Skin form, she knew their scents. Red-shouldered hawks, boar, foxes, small black bears and deer. All of them, both predators and prey, shared one common element.
They looked scared to death.
“Dear goddess of the Light,” she breathed. “What happened to them?”
Gabriel said nothing, but squeezed the shoulder of a tall, lanky teenager on the ground, his arms hooked around his knees as he rocked back and forth.
“Tom is a fox shifter who came here to visit the beach and decided to run wild through the ‘Glades. He got caught in the water and attacked by sawgrass.”
Sawgrass attacked him? “You mean he got tangled in it and it cut him.”
“I mean what I said. The sawgrass attacked him. Just as it did to Rex. You saw it, Sienna.”
Mouth dry, she stared at the assembled shifters. They looked at her with such beseeching looks in their eyes that her heart twisted. “Why are they here?”
“I own this campground and rent it during the winter season to tourists. It brings in a little income and helps me educate Skins about the importance of the Everglades. This is the onl
y safe haven for these shifters. I warded the area with magick and it seems to be working.”
Gabriel shoved a hand through his hair, his expression bleak as he regarded the little group. “They’re here because they lost the territory where they can shift and run free. They’ve been shot at, trapped, and pushed aside. I set up temporary housing for them in the development I told you about, but they’re too scared to venture into the Skin world. They refuse to leave my land. So I rented trailers and tents for them.”
“What the hell is happening, Gabriel?” She touched a tree trunk, found it pulsing with strong shifter magick. His magick. “Why didn’t you inform Cael?”
“Because I don’t trust your king not to storm down here with his Elven forces and take over my turf.” He scowled, looking over the campsite. “You’re the only Fae I trust to tell about this, Sienna.”
“I want to investigate closer.”
“It’s dangerous five feet beyond the campground leading to the Everglades.”
“I’ll be careful. I need to check this out.”
“Not alone. I’ll go with you.”
But then one of the shifters called to him. Gabriel looked at her. “Five minutes and I’m coming after you. Don’t leave the pathway and don’t get close to the water. Whatever you do, do not touch the bald cypress tree on the path’s right side. Take the footpath through the trees to the water.”
Sienna jogged along the path. Five feet out from the campground, the sandy path turned to black soil. A heaviness settled on her spirit as she continued, seeing dead brush and hearing no sounds of animal life. Her Elven senses warned this place was toxic as a chemical plant.
The path ended on the banks of the swamp. Sienna’s eyes gushed as she stared out at the Everglades.
Barely two feet deep, the water held a cloying sweetness of burnt sugar, twined with raw sewage. No birds waded here. The swamp had turned black as charcoal, decayed as a rotting corpse.
What the hell had caused this?
Sienna crouched at the water’s edge and studied the cypress tree guarding the water.
