A knock on his bedroom door had him pulling away from her with a curse. It seemed as though every time they got close, something or someone intervened.
“Your father has asked to see you,” Robert announced softly once Roman pulled the door open. “He’s awake,” he added.
“The Scroll,” Josephine gasped and rushed toward Roman. “I need the Wolf Scroll; I can translate it for the doctor.”
Roman reached inside his vest and pulled out two scrolls. Handing them to her, he padded over to his closet and began removing his battle gear.
It took every ounce of self control to pull her eyes from the gloriously naked body of her mate in order to study the documents. Within a few moments, Josephine had a tentative spell translated.
“I have it,” she announced proudly. “I’ve translated the ritual to lift the curse from your father.”
Roman emerged from his bathroom, a puff of steam hot on his trail. Apparently, he’d found time to shower while she’d been lost in her own mind.
“Would you like to change while I gather the necessary items?” Roman asked and motioned at her t-shirt and cotton pants.
“Oh, yes,” she agreed absently. She left the documents lying on Roman’s bed and raced off to her room.
Once they were seated in the town car with Leo driving, Roman explained that his father was in a private estate they’d retrofitted as a hospital. The doctor who cared for him lived there so that he could be in close proximity to his patient.
She also learned that the doctor happened to be a very close family friend of the Williams bear clan as he, himself, was a bear shifter.
After offering these few explanations, Roman fell into a contemplative silence and Josephine chose not to disturb him. Pulling both the Bear and the Wolf Scrolls from her bag, she opened the Bear Scroll and began deciphering the cuneiform texts.
Even though she knew deep within her heart that Roman’s dad would be saved, she also wanted to be prepared should Roman ask for the other ritual. Luckily the Bear Scroll didn’t ask for anything other than the two participants and a simple chant to sever their ties.
“Where did you get the ingredients for the Wolves’ counter-spell?” Josephine asked as the thought suddenly occurred to her. The Wolf Scroll called for the blood of the original caster as well as blood from the victim’s sire in order to successfully lift the curse.
Roman shifted uncomfortably in the seat next to her and produced a small pouch from his inner jacket. Offering it to her, he gave a small shrug and waited for her to study the contents.
Inside she found two vials: one, containing Rafe’s blood and another one, unlabeled. Holding the unlabeled vial up before her, she arched an eyebrow in question.
“Blood and other samples are taken when one of us joins the military,” he explained. “Just in case situations like this arise. That’s my grandfather’s blood,” he added with a nod at the second vial. “We keep them all in cold storage.”
She carefully placed the vials back into the pouch and handed it to Roman. She wanted to question him as to what ‘other’ samples would’ve been taken, but didn’t feel that it was an appropriate time.
They pulled through the main gates and Roman barely waited for the car to stop before rushing up the steps and disappearing into the house. Leo shifted the car into park and lumbered out, offering Josephine his hand through Roman’s open door.
“Allow me to escort you in Ms. Baxter,” he offered with an apologetic smile.
Taking his hand, she followed Leo into the house and down a series of hallways until they reached Mr. Williams’ room. The moment she laid eyes on the pale, sunken body in the bed, she wondered if perhaps they weren’t too late to save him after all.
Numerous tubes and I.V. lines were connected to his body and machines beeped quietly from various points in the room. One large tube ran to his open mouth and she inhaled sharply when she realized it was a ventilator. Mr. Williams was no longer able to breathe on his own.
“We don’t have much time,” Roman murmured as he bent over the bed and took his father’s hand in his.
“What happens if we sever your ties and your father lives?” Josephine asked softly.
Roman bowed his head and sighed. “The answer is complicated,” he admitted. “But essentially, his shifter genes will decrease and gradually, over time, he’ll become mortal. By severing his ties from me, and thus the Clan, he’ll no longer have that connection to his own bloodline. That’s the down side to using magic.”
“If the ritual causes him to become mortal all at once, will the Wolves’ curse kill him before the doctor can cure him?” she asked, wanting to make sure everyone understood the pressure they placed on her shoulders.
“He’ll still be a shifter,” Roman answered hoarsely. “It’ll take years for his DNA to convert. I wouldn’t suggest doing the ritual if I thought it could potentially kill him.”
Josephine nodded. She couldn’t blame Roman for his insistence on performing the severing ritual. He wanted to protect his Clan and his father and this was the only way he could do both.
“Is there a way for him to re-enter the Clan?” she prompted. She refused to believe that the only way to save the man was to condemn him to a mortal life and death. Having been immortal all his existence, how would he handle being simply human?
Roman lifted his head and studied her through narrowed eyes.
“I’m sure a genius like you can figure out a way,” he said and then smiled. “If you’ll stay on as my historian, I’ll give you full access to all my mother’s research and anything else you may need.”
Josephine’s heart swelled with so many emotions, she almost felt like she would burst.
“Shall we get started?” Roman prompted.
Standing solemnly over his father’s unconscious body, Roman took a small scalpel and gently pulled it across the flesh of his wrist. After doing the same with his father’s wrist, he pressed the two bleeding wounds together.
A palpable weight shot through the room and Roman doubled over in visible pain. When Josephine started toward him, he thrust out his hand to keep her at a safe distance.
“It worked,” he panted and pulled his wrist free of his father’s. The doctor stepped forward and wrapped Mr. William’s wound before turning to tend to Roman’s who simply waved the man away.
“Mine’s almost healed,” he explained and then turned to face Josephine. “Let Dr. Hemp have the Wolf Scroll and translation. He’ll have to do the rest on his own.”
Doing as she was told, Josephine offered the parchment to the doctor and then allowed Roman to lead her from the room.
Chapter Fourteen
How long did it take to save one life?
After hours of pacing the hallway before Mr. Williams’ room, Leo suggested they go back home. Since they were both pretty exhausted from the night’s events, Roman agreed.
Now they simply waited on the call from the doctor. Robert had begged for them all to eat dinner, but nobody could manage to take a bite while they awaited news.
It seemed childish that she expected everything to immediately be fine, but now they had to wait until the doctor gave them the results. Magic was difficult and often slow when it came to healing.
Josephine escaped to the library and began her research on how to keep Mr. Williams’ bear shifter genes alive. She knew she had time to figure things out, but she had nothing else to do besides wait. She refused to think about what would happen should he not make it.
Roman found her, hours later, buried beneath a mountain of books and various documents. She raised dry, bloodshot eyes to his and couldn’t stop the flood of tears as they rained down her cheek.
“I can’t focus,” she admitted shamefully. “I’ve always found peace and comfort in my work, but now, I just can’t concentrate.”
Roman clucked his tongue and gathered her into his arms where he began murmuring words in some other language. A large part of her wanted to dissect the language, i
dentify it and then analyze it, but her brain was too tired to do much more than allow herself to be coddled.
“Everyone is gathered in the parlor,” Roman murmured against her temple. “Why don’t we join them? Robert has a fire going and he and Leo are playing chess. I can have him fix you something to eat,” he offered.
“No,” she refused softly. “Let’s just go and be with them. I’m too tired to do much more than breathe.”
“As you wish,” Roman agreed, lifting her into his arms, he carried her down the hallway and into the parlor. Neither Robert nor Leo glanced up as they entered, their minds too occupied with the game of strategy and wits.
Roman gently lay her on the lounge chair seated before the fireplace and then lowered himself to sit on the floor at her side. He laid his head back against the velvety material and Josephine couldn’t help but run her fingers through his hair.
Finally, the phone rang.
Roman jumped and raced across the room, snatching it from the receiver.
“Hello?” he barked.
She, Robert, and Leo all waited with baited breath as Roman remained silent as he listened to the voice on the other end. He nearly dropped the phone when he whirled around towards them.
“He’s going to live!” he exclaimed with a relieved laugh. “I can’t believe it. He’s going to live,” he breathed and nearly collapsed against the table. “My father is going to live.”
“Roman,” Josephine cried as she went to embrace him. He hugged her tightly against him. They’d spent all day waiting for news and the sun was now dropping past the horizon outside. In the last hours of the day, Roman’s father had been saved. Even though they now faced a new dilemma and possibly a difficult quest, the William’s family would continue and The Midnight Den would survive.
“Let’s give them some privacy,” Robert whispered to Leo as the men ducked out of the room with knowing smiles.
Roman’s warmth felt comforting against her. Soon, the room was cloaked in darkness. She approached a lamp to turn it on, but he pulled her back against him.
“We can find a way to reverse this,” he told her, touching the bite. His desperate eyes searched her face. “You don’t have to be connected to me if you don’t want to.”
She took a deep breathe, the tense air of the room nearly suffocating her. “Roman, I’m not sure that we need to do that…”
The seconds passed between them like hours as she saw him processing her answer. Even in the darkness, she felt like her face was flustered before him.
“I mean, what I’m saying is...Would it be alright if we stay like this for a while?” she asked softly as her hand went to cover the bite. His breath tickled her ear as he leaned towards her.
“You’ve helped me save my father,” he reminded her. “You can have whatever you want.” Her heart jumped nervously.
“Does that include you?” The question was out of her mouth before she could help it. Heat swirled around them. He let out a rumbling laugh as he leaned into her.
“Only if I can have you,” he countered in a hoarse voice. “All of you.”
She squeaked in pleasant surprise when he pounced. His rough hands moved against her body as if they were making music on her. She moaned and pressed her lips against his. He pressed her against the table behind them with a primal growl, a delicious sound that made her blood heat.
When he rubbed himself against her, she captured his bottom lip to nibble it. His tongue pressed against her attack and he ravaged her mouth. They broke apart, panting. Her chest rose up and down, the hardened nipples peaking beneath the thin fabric of her shirt. His fingertips found them and she threw her head back to moan as he caressed her breasts.
“Josephine!” His growl made her tremble as his hands made quick work of her clothes. Her fingers desperately tugged away his own clothing. She moaned in sweet agony as his hardness brushed up against her slick entrance. He pulled her into a hard kiss. She arched her back and pressed up against him with a satisfied groan.
“I can’t wait any longer,” she whispered in a hoarse voice. The outline of his member against her spiked every lustful nerve within her. She wanted him. She needed him. To feel his love as he thrust into her.
They pressed together. Savagely, a primal urge thundering between them to touch skin against skin. Even in the dim light, she felt his hesitance. She grabbed his hand with a firm reassuring squeeze. He nodded against her, his tongue playing with the bite, earning a gasp of pleasure from her.
He grasped one of her legs to hook behind him. Her skin was melting in bliss while he positioned himself at her entrance, yearning for him to fill her. With a light touch, he barely pushed himself into her while his fingers began to work magic just above her entrance. She gasped with pleasure and whined, writhing beneath him.
“Please!”
“I love you,” he said. Slow and soft, before he thrust inside of her with a husky groan.
“Again,” she begged him. He was quick to follow her lead, thrusting in and out of her. She felt the pressure building in her as she began to respond to his movements with her own rhythm. Their breaths became quicker together as the starlight began to cloak them in a dreamy haze.
“Fuck,” he groaned. His pace quickened. She felt a sudden rocketing in pressure as her muscles squeezed around him, a sensation that brought her to her peak.
“Roman!” She cried out for him and threw her arms around his neck. She needed to feel the deep rumbling of his chest as he growled against her. He threw his head back with a deafening roar as their pleasure peaked together.
“Josephine!” he screamed her name as they rocked against each other into blissful ecstasy. They collapsed against one another, the desk cold beneath them.
“Bed?” she suggested weakly. He nodded, sweaty forehead slick against her naked chest. He grabbed her in his arms and carried her down the hall to his room. He dropped her gently with a grin on the soft bed. She moaned gratefully as she buried her face in the fabric and felt him lay down beside her. His hands trailed her sides.
“You can continue to research the Midnight Den,” he said. “I can help you prepare documents. We just need to leave out certain parts.”
“I wasn’t planning on revealing the bear magic,” she teased with a smile. His dazzling eyes seemed to glow in the faint moonlight.
He smirked. “Do you remember what I told you in the beginning?”
She furrowed her brow. “What?”
“Not to fall in love with me,” he said slyly as his hand want to cup her face. “Here you are, though.”
“I don’t see you complaining,” she pointed out as she propped herself up on her elbow. His wicked grin fell to her naked breasts, exposed as they slipped from beneath the sheet.
“No, I can’t complain. Not even about my mother’s trickiness.”
“What do you mean?” she asked with a frown.
He pulled her into his arms as they rested against the pillows together. She listened to the steady beat of his heart as he played with her hair.
“Her craftiness caused some stress,” he admitted. “But, it did lead to some valuable discoveries.” When his handsome eyes rested on her face, she blushed.
She’d discovered more than she thought possible too. The journey to discover the secrets behind the Midnight Den had led her to love. Strange, unpredictable love that was worth discovering for years to come.
THE END
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Stolen Bride: A Second Chance Romance
Chapter One
“He’s been ordered to take a mate,” Elder Seraphina’s soft-spoken words punched Jasmine like a gust of gale force wind. She turned and studied the older woman, praying the “he” in question wasn’t the one she feared.
When sad, apologetic eyes met her gaze, J
azz gasped harshly, her knees going numb with shock. She folded her arms around her middle and squeezed in an effort to find some comfort. She felt like her heart had been ripped from her chest with a rusty spoon.
Right now all she wanted to do was flee to her special Eden and pour her misery into the bluish-green depths of solitude.
Jazz had virtually grown up under Sera’s tutelage. Her own parents died when she was just a baby, so the Elder’s had decided that since Sera’s own daughter was around the same age, she would take the infant child and raise her as her own. So to Jazz, Sera wasn’t just an Elder, she was also an adopted mother.
They both belonged to faction of Water Elementals and since Sera made her home a reclusive estate at Mayfield Falls in the Parish of Westmoreland Jamaica, it was the perfect locale for a young dragon to harness her element. The warm Caribbean water was like manna to their Faction. But not many inhabited the area. Water Elementals stayed close to their element, but surprisingly few lived near Jamaica.
Aside from the fact that all landowners in the area fought for the tourists’ attention, Sera’s estate was surrounded and guarded heavily as to deter any unwanted visitors. It wasn’t as much a compound as it was a safe haven for dragon-kind. The beautiful lush lawn ended where a small waterfall pooled into a massive collecting pond.
But not even her beautiful home could offer solace for the torment raking her insides.
Her soul mate and long, lost love had been ordered to take a mate. Since Jazz’s father had been the Crown Prince’s advisor, she and Damien had grown up side-by-side, under the same roof. It hadn’t taken long for them to fall deeply in love. They’d found a connection that most people only dreamed of. They knew they belonged to one another, forever.
His Takeover: An Enemies to Lovers Romance Page 85
