Taken by the Wind

by Serenity Snow

  She wouldn’t say all dark breeds were evil because that would be a lie, and Whiteall coven was connected with plenty of philanthropic deeds. Still, coming on the heels of an attack by a dark breed, their attempt to form a tie with Juliet didn’t set well with her.

  “Yes. And your mother wants you to hand-fast with him?” Aria asked meeting Juliet’s gaze.

  “She wishes,” she muttered. “My grandmother despised them even though they’ve never been anything but nice to us.”

  “Why didn’t she like them?” The grandmother had been human, but she’d probably heard enough demon stories from her mother to know most of the breed couldn’t be trusted on face value.

  Juliet shrugged. “She said they were pretentious, and she forbad any of the coven to associate with them,” Juliet said softly as she stared unseeing and a frown furrowed her brow. “They tried to get close to us from the beginning, but even my father didn’t want them around.”

  “Your family spends time with them?” Now, the opposition was dead. Was that coincidental or had the deaths been engineered to get close to the wind stones?

  “Not really, but they are witches of power and you know how witches are. We marry for lineage more often than love.” She made a face. “Begets powerful children and protects old bloodlines.”

  “You’re interested in that?”

  “If it’s with a woman,” she said low and leaned just a little toward her and Aria drew in the scent of her perfume, getting drunk off it. “But my best friend is, and she’s dating one of Whiteall’s members. She screwed up her face and leaned on the center island. “So, are you feeding me anything?” Juliet grinned. “I mean besides this.” She held up the white box.

  “I’m glad to hear that,” Aria said giving her a wicked grin. She wouldn’t allow the connection. “Dessert?”

  Juliet laughed. “Wine is so cliché.”

  Aria grinned. “And you’re anything but, baby.” She turned to open a drawer. Not even as a damsel in distress was she common.

  The air in her had watched for a minute, waited and could sense Juliet’s fear, but she could see that she’d been preparing to attack. The only reason Aria had intervened was because the demon was stronger than the witch.

  And she’d been smart enough to run rather than sticking around to see how things ended.

  “Of course, I’m going to feed you, pretty baby,” Aria said and arranged the flowers in the goblet before facing her. “You were smart to run last night.”

  “What do you mean?” Juliet frowned.

  Aria smiled cryptically. She would have been wise not to even walk back into her life. Aurai weren’t given to emotional attachments so when they did form them, dislodging them from your life could be impossible.

  There was never a “divorce” with them. A union was for life or the partner’s death even if that was at the hands of the aurai.

  Life partners held their hearts, gained their trust and eventually learned their secrets. They could never allow some secrets to become public knowledge.

  So they killed anyone who got close enough to break their hearts and leave them.

  Chapter Twelve

  “The dark breed would have overpowered you and killed you,” she said at last.

  “I guess I owe you a thanks and an apology for just leaving you.” She looked repentant and Aria chuckled.

  “No, Juliet. I had it covered.”

  “I admit my response time was slow, but my head was a little not in the game if you know what I mean.” She flushed.

  Aria grinned. “Come on.” She jerked her head to the kitchen door. “Let’s go out back.”

  “You’re grilling?”

  “Hell, no,” she muttered. “I don’t go near a grill if I can help it. All that smoke, and I almost singed my eyebrows off last time I tried to light one.”

  “I know what you mean,” Juliet said. “My mother’s boyfriend loves grilling though.”

  Aria’s hand glided up gracefully and sprinkles of color that looked like streamers glowed in the near darkness. “Oh, my goddess! That’s so beautiful.”

  Aria smiled and put the flowers on the table. “Have a seat. Would you like some iced tea or lemonade?”

  Juliet blinked at her. “Iced tea.”

  “I don’t want to cloud your mind with too much alcohol,” she murmured. “Have a seat.”

  Juliet sat down on one of the pillows and looked up at her. Between the streamers of color, she caught Aria’s eyes and Aria caught her breath.

  Keeping any kind of distance and taking things slow wasn’t going to happen. Their souls were already joined. Resisting the tug was futile.

  ****

  Juliet shivered and heat crept over her skin. She was looking into storm-gray eyes set in a face surrounded by long black curls. There was a scar on her cheek, but her eyes sparkled with love that made her stomach flutter.

  “What happened?” she demanded and reached to touch Haven’s cheek.

  “Nothing. It was just a minor incursion in Crecy. Ares was upset that I refused to allow his forces to slaughter the English. Though it doesn’t matter. The English will never defeat the French.”

  “I fear for you on the battlefield,” she said. “What will I do if I lose you, my love?”

  “You can’t lose me Eliza,” Haven murmured. “My love is forever. Our souls have been bound.”

  “Haven.” She took her love’s left hand and kissed her knuckles, and a tiny scar next to a shard of black tourmaline caught her gaze. A nearly invisible line of black led from wrist to the ring finger.

  She turned her hand over to find fine shards of watermelon tourmaline circling her finger. On each side of a black tourmaline stone was a tiny gold heart. Around them was a shimmer of green making the hearts look like shoulders embraced by a cloak.

  “You see? One heart is you and the other is me. Ours were joined the moment you accepted my gift.”

  “Juliet?” Aria’s voice cut into her reverie.

  She shook her head as if trying to shake the vision away. Aria’s stare was filled with concern.

  “Do you believe in reincarnation, Aria?”

  Aria nodded slowly. “Yes,” she said softly. “Were you having a past-life memory?”

  “I’m not sure. I’m not a post-cognitive, but—then there was the dream last night. I dreamed I was an Englishwoman in the middle ages.” She looked down at Aria’s hand searching for proof that the woman in the vision was her, but her skin seemed translucent brown, showing nothing, not even the normal lines marking fingers.

  “Have you had these dreams and visions before?”

  “I’ve had dreams, but never visions.” Those dreams had probably been the reason she was still single. She was so captivated by that woman and that love. “The dreams started when I was sixteen, and three or four times during the year, but recently I’ve been having them more often.”

  “Then, perhaps your past life is trying to send you a message,” Aria murmured. “Are the dreams and visions of the same things?”

  “They’re about a young woman and her lover. I think the lover controls the winds. She’s this demi-goddess of war and love,” she said and then laughed nervously. “It’s crazy though, right? Demi-goddesses are the things of myths and legend.”

  Aria shrugged. “Perhaps not.” She lifted the lid on a container. “For your dining pleasure, I’ve prepared a few dishes, milady.”

  Juliet laughed and turned her attention to the meal that was slowly uncovered for her inspection, but she couldn’t shake off the feeling that Aria was right. Her past was trying to tell her something and Aria had changed the subject much too quickly.

  Maybe, she knew something about this past which was one they might have shared.

  Her gaze drifted over Aria’s hand and a scar on her finger caught her attention. The skin was nearly a translucent brown with the faintest hint of black ink on her wrist, but it led nowhere, and her skin was devoid of the shards of crystals.

  �
��Go ahead and taste,” Aria urged.

  Juliet tore her gaze from Aria’s skin, heart beating fast, and picked up a fork from the colorful napkin. A glimmer of hope still shone inside her that this might be her dream woman, her princess charming.

  “Now, you were going to give me your best pitch,” Aria said.

  “Would it matter if I said you were under a spell?” Juliet asked.

  “You know doing a lust spell could end up being more than you can handle.”

  Juliet glared at her as she speared an asparagus. “What makes you think you’re all that?”

  Aria gave her a slow smile as she piled food onto Juliet’s plate. “Couldn’t tell I had mad skills by you, could I?” she drawled. “You ran from me like a bat out of hell, yet you caught fire for me. And you smelled so damn good, baby, I could have howled at the moon.”

  The heat in Aria’s eyes and low tone of her voice made Juliet cream her panties and her breath quicken. Her palms dampened as she set the fork down to survey the chicken snuggled next to a bed of veggies.

  “Smell?”

  “My senses are advanced enough to know you’re getting aroused just thinking about last night,” she murmured and Juliet flushed, her cheeks and neck burning.

  “That’s how I want you, Juliet,” she said softly. “Burning for my touch, eager for my kiss, and wet for me.”

  Juliet’s lips parted, and she looked away. She ran a hand over the back of her neck. Goddess Aphrodite, she was suddenly wearing too many clothes.

  “What are you trying to hide from, Juliet? Me, yourself, or the desire you conjured up?”

  Juliet’s head swung around, the wisp of hair on her forehead dancing a little. “I’m not hiding,” she muttered. “I was just wondering if you could be any more arrogant.”

  Aria chuckled. “I like this side of you, too.”

  Juliet cleared her throat. “Well, I don’t understand why you’re being so stubborn about the dress. Did you tell my mother you’d do it?”

  “Not at any point. Two people from Hartspun contacted me, and I instructed my secretary to decline participation both times.”

  “Then, where did she get the idea you’d do it?” Juliet frowned wondering about her mother. She never took leaps like that. Her mother was the kind of woman who lined her ducks up before counting them.

  Alice had probably been in charge of lining up the designer since she’d pitched the idea as her own after Juliet had mentioned it to her. When she’d failed—what a shocker that must have been—Juliet had gotten stuck with the job. That had probably been Alice’s idea, too.

  “You should ask her, but I’ll do this under one condition,” Aria said.

  “I know and I’m willing to go along with it providing you don’t plan to just use me for sex.” She had thought about this all day and sitting next to Morgan earlier had made her think about it even more.

  “You want to be my lover not just my girl toy?” Aria asked as she reached for a carafe to pour them both some drinks.

  She focused on the colorful fruit for a moment as she considered the implication of Aria’s tone more than her words. She didn’t sound like a woman used to being in a relationship.

  Juliet waited until Aria set the carafe down and then sought her gaze. Aria looked at her over the rim of her glass.

  “Is that a problem?”

  “You’re not out, are you?” Aria took a sip of her drink.

  “No, but I want to change that now that it seems so pointless,” she said angrily. “I’m tired of being someone else. I want to be me.”

  “Coming out could hurt your relationship with your mother,” Aria warned.

  “I’m not happy pretending to be straight,” she said. “I’m not asking for forever, Aria. I just want now until the day after Mid-Summer, remember? It’s barely seven days away.”

  Aria set her glass down and leaned across the low table toward her. “What if that turns out not to be enough?”

  Juliet leaned toward her. “Then it’s not,” she murmured and brushed her lips against Aria’s lightly even as she looked into her eyes. The white flecks moved like currents of air and a light breeze blew over her. “Could you give me more?”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Voltaire headed back to his study satisfied the spell would be done right. He had spent the last twenty years learning from Necron how to create potions and do spells. He respected some of the arts of witch magick and thought he might need to employ them as he and the demons who served sought to fool not only the dark breeds he brought into the coven, but the good witches.

  He feared the spell wouldn’t be as effective considering the power the girl should have inside her. Then, there was Morgan. He’d seemed reticent about winning Juliet over.

  The fact that he’d said he hadn’t been able to get a true reading off her was problematic too. If Morgan was truly unable to read her, Morgan would be off his game. He operated best when his clairvoyant abilities were on.

  “I was just looking for you.”

  Voltaire turned in the corridor of the two-story house he’d bought to use as the covenstead, to find Kevin, the investigator strolling over to him. “What do you have for me?”

  “I’ve confirmed that Carrel was at the Sand Bar and Grill last night. She danced with Hart and had drinks with her at the bar.”

  “And?” Voltaire closed the distance to his study and went inside, feet moving soundlessly over the dark carpet.

  “Hart left with someone, a woman who frequents the place with another. The other woman is Andi. She’s often in the company of Brees.”

  “The aloof bitch from the club?” Voltaire asked, thinking of Aria Brees. She was friendly in a cool sort of way and had no problems opening her wallet for a good cause.

  Kevin chuckled. “She’s never there with a man, so it’s probably safe to say that she’s gay, but I can’t put her at the motel. The motel manager gave us all he had. I’m almost certain his mind was altered, but to what end I can’t say.”

  If Juliet was gay, Morgan wouldn’t have a chance in hell of affecting her feelings and no love potion would help for long. Morgan would have to addict her to him.

  “Do you want me to take action against Brees? She’s obviously a witch, but according to our source inside Sam’s camp, Brees and her sister aren’t registered and lived here before Sam joined the Council and insisted on registration.”

  “So, she left them alone?” he asked with a frown. He’d been forced to register after Sam’s rise to power, all covens had been. So how had this one escaped?

  “There is a notation that they’re practitioners.” Kevin gave him a look indicating his doubt. “No mere practitioner could have taken out Carrel.”

  Practitioners were humans who dabbled in the craft but had no real power or lineage.

  “We need as much information as possible before acting. This could have been as simple as Brees having stumbled upon the confrontation and decided to render aid.” Or Brees could be

  an aurai out to bring Juliet into the sisterhood. He’d have to kill her before that happened whether he got the stones or not.

  “I’ll dig up as much info as I can on Brees and her sisters,” Kevin told him. “In case they’re a threat we have to deal with quickly.”

  ****

  A ghost of a smile played over Juliet’s lips the next morning as she sat behind her desk. The building was all set for next weekend’s event and so was her date for tonight.

  She was under no illusions about what might or might not happen with Aria. In fact, she was just set on one thing—having a hell of a time for a change. No hiding, no lying, and no sneaking around.

  The phone on her desk rang, and she leaned forward to pick it up, expecting the lawyer with a new change.

  “Hello?” she asked in as pleasant a tone as possible to keep from gritting her teeth.

  “Good morning, Juliet.” The warm voice was low and sexy as it streamed into her ear.

  Juliet shivered and he
r smile widened. “Good morning, yourself,” she said softly.

  “You sound like you went to bed well pleased,” Aria murmured. “I can imagine how sexy you’re going to sound after spending the night in my bed.”

  Juliet laughed. “Is sex all you ever think about?”

  “Hmm,” she said as if considering the question. “Only when I’m not thinking about work, but all that thought gives me plenty of time to fantasize about all the things I haven’t done and will do to a woman.”

  Juliet’s heart kicked. “Are you thinking about what you’re going to do to me?”

  “I want to take you against a tree at the club tonight,” she murmured. “I want you dripping wet around my fingers with a ball gag in your mouth to keep you from screaming. Those screams are mine alone.”

  “Someone might see,” she said nervously.

  “Would that turn you on, someone watching?”

  “No,” she said breathlessly, her nipples were already peaked and hunger was an ache in her belly. “I just want you to see me.”

  “Be bold for me?”

  “I—”

  “Wear crotchless panties tonight,” she cut in. “I want quick and easy access to your pussy when I fuck you against that tree. I’m going to bear your nipples to the air so I can suck them while you come.”

  A whimper escaped Juliet as her now hard clit throbbed and she creamed. “Aria,” she said in a pleading tone.

  “I never said I was good, Juliet,” she murmured softly. “When I take the time to play, I like to fully enjoy the woman I’m with.”

  And right now, she was the flavor of the moment.

  “So play with me, baby,” she urged softly.

  “I’ll think about it,” Juliet said breathlessly. Everything in her screamed to do something different, something hot, but was she really capable of stepping outside her safe zone?

  “I called to give you an answer,” Aria said.

  “An answer?” Her brows furrowed.

  “I won’t design the dress until the winner is selected, and I’ll let her dictate what she wants within reason. Does that work?”