Hot Magic
Page 30
She wiggled one of her white-feathered wings at him, discreetly trying to pull her hand out of his. “As a matter of fact, yes.”
“I bet you could take me to Heaven.” His lips curved in a boyish grin.
The man had more lines than a Tolstoy novel. “I don’t know about that, but I can definitely take you to Hell.”
James frowned. Then his good-natured face beamed a smile, as if she were joking. He stepped closer, still holding her hand firmly. He jerked when a crack of thunder shook the air directly above them.
Julie quickly reclaimed her hand and looked up at the star-studded sky.
“That’s odd.” James shrugged and reached for her elbow. “Maybe we should head inside and find a drink.”
The moment he touched her, a bolt of lightning arced through the sky and struck the ground at his feet. Several people screamed. James jumped backwards and fell in a hairy heap. The back of Julie’s neck tingled at the electric power charging the air.
Cindy Lui, sleek in her Catwoman costume, appeared in front of them. She helped James to his paws. “Are you okay?”
He rubbed his head. “I think so. That was too close.”
“We all better go inside until this lightning storm passes.” Cindy raised her voice and began to direct the crowd toward her patio doors. She looked pale, shaken by James’s near miss.
James turned to Julie, and she waved him toward the house. “I’ll follow in a minute.”
“You shouldn’t stay out here,” he argued.
“Go,” she ordered. He walked toward the house without another word.
When she was alone in the yard, she turned back toward the tree. Harry leaned against the trunk, ankles crossed, his white shirt gleaming in the shadows, blond hair messed as if he’d been running his hand through it.
“He’s an ass,” Harry observed in a mild tone of voice.
“Actually, he’s supposed to be King Kong.” Her heart beat too quickly. “You could have hurt him.”
“Yes. I could have. I have excellent aim with lightning.” His lip curved in a decidedly unsettling way. “If he had touched you one more time, he would have been Queen Kong.”
“Ha-ha.” Her throat closed on her attempt to lighten the atmosphere. He regarded her silently. She took a step toward him, trying to see his face. He obliged her by turning his head slightly so the faint glow from a pumpkin light caught his cheek and brow. Deadly anger glittered from his eyes.
“Are you upset with me?” Her voice went an octave higher in surprise.
“No. Definitely not. Upset is too bland a term.”
She paused, waiting for him to elaborate. He didn’t seem in a big hurry to speak. She cleared her throat, more intimidated than she would have admitted. Power seemed to crackle around him. “I know this is an awkward situation, Harry, but how am I supposed to find someone else to bond with if you emasculate the possible candidates?”
He folded his arms across his chest. His eyelids lowered, partially shielding his expression. “That’s an excellent question.”
“Thank you. And the answer is?”
“Obvious. You don’t.”
“Harry.” Suddenly his behavior made sense. “You’re worried I might be the One from the prophecies, aren’t you? You’re determined to stay bonded with me to ensure I don’t cause chaos and tear the Triad apart.” He would do anything to preserve the balance, to preserve the Triad.
Harry’s arms dropped to his side, and he straightened. “You think I want to remain bonded with you because I’m a bloody hero?” He laughed, a short, bitter sound. “I’m not a hero. I’m a selfish bastard. I know you’re not the one in the prophecy.”
“How do you know I’m not?”
“Because I know who is,” he said, impatient. “Why did you leave the Council room so suddenly?”
“There was nothing to stay for.” And she didn’t want him to see her cry.
He stiffened. “My mistake then.”
She searched his face. “Why are you so upset? You want to break the bond. I forced it on you. I’m a liability.”
“You’re fucking blind.” He rubbed a hand across his eyes. “I told the Council I won’t break the bond. They removed me from my position as Balance.”
Her brain took several seconds to process his words. “You did what? No! The Triad needs you. You need the Triad.”
“I need you.” He took a step forward. “What I don’t know is if you want me.” He studied her, face impassive. “You called me family. You told me I was yours to cherish and protect. Then you left me.”
“I thought the best way to cherish and protect you was to leave.” She whispered the words, her throat tight.
He moved, framing her face with his hands. “Understand this. Marguerite’s curse was my blessing. It brought me to you. Before I met you, I was damned near empty. Aside from my friendship with Bas, being Balance was all I had, all I knew. Now I have you—and with you comes Tasha, your mother, Dorie, a whole host of demons and who knows what else. You fill me, Julie. You take away the empty spaces.” His jaw firmed. “Tell me what I need to do to make you stay with me.”
Her legs started shaking. “I don’t want to screw up your life.”
“Then don’t. Stay with me.”
She tried to say something but her tongue wouldn’t work. The flash of vulnerability in Harry’s eyes released her voice.
“Shhh.” She put a finger against his lips when he started to speak. “You had me at ‘you’re fucking blind.’” She didn’t just say that, did she?
He gripped her hand and held it against his chest. “I probably should have just said hello.”
Wait a minute. “You’ve seen Jerry Maguire?”
“Tom Cruise, Renee Zellweger. I liked her better in Bridget Jones’s Diary.”
“You saw Bridget Jones’s Diary?” She couldn’t quite picture Harry at a chick flick.
“Tasha let me borrow your DVD collection while you were in custody awaiting the Council judgment.” He didn’t meet her eyes. “Watching your favorite movies made me feel connected to you, closer to you.”
He’d watched chick flicks to feel closer to her. Oh. My. God. “You love me.”
“Of course. That is not the issue under discussion.” He spoke calmly, but beneath her hand, his heart pounded.
“There is one thing that you need to do if you want me to stay with you.” She met his gaze, her face serious.
An eyebrow arched. He watched her intently.
She went up on tiptoe and spoke against his ear. “Just breathe.”
As she said the last word and brushed her mouth against his ear, his hand cupped the back of her head, positioning her with gentle force so that her lips covered his. His kiss effectively kept them both from breathing. Okay, so maybe he didn’t need to do anything to make her stay with him. Heat exploded inside her—tiny, internal fireworks. The taste of him loosened her muscles and pleasure spilled into every cell. Harry. Finally, the world felt right.
The next moment she was in her house. In her bedroom. On her bed. Flat on her back. Naked.
Harry, also naked, crouched over her, knees on either side of her hips. His hands began a slow, firm journey from her waist up her ribcage. She groaned as his fingers moved to cover her breasts. His palms brushed her nipples in an intoxicating rhythm. Her body arched into him.
A brief knock sounded on the door. “I’m coming in!”
“Mom!” Julie yelped, pulling Harry down on top of her. “Go away!”
“Dorie thought you’d be in here! Honey, the comforter on that bed wasn’t cheap.” The door cracked open and an arm appeared. Jean tossed a large, shiny silver blanket across the room to them. Harry managed to snag it and drape it over his back in one smooth motion, covering them both.
“Use that to sleep on,” Jean said, her head briefly appearing. “It’s made of a special fire-retardant material. Should keep the smoke detectors from going off all night.” She winked and ducked back out. “The Balance i
s almost as hot as Paul Newman,” she commented to someone, hopefully not Tasha, as she shut the door.
Julie groaned. “Welcome to the family.”
Harry lowered his forehead against hers. Laughter rumbled in his chest. “I’ll have to remember to lock the doors.”
She smiled, and then cupped his cheek. “Harry, about the Council, what will happen, who will take over?”
The laughter stilled and then he gave a small shrug and lowered his head to rest his cheek against her breasts. “There are several people who could serve as interim Balance. That will be decided by the Council in the next months. Regardless of who leads, the Triad needs to rebuild and remember its mission. I intend to be a part of the process, though I don’t know yet what my role will be.”
She threaded her fingers through his hair. “One more question. You said you know who the person foretold in the prophecies is.”
“So do you if you think about it.” He nuzzled her nipple, making it hard for her to think at all. “‘A daughter shall be born in light and shadow, a guardian who rises out of evil. Wild power circles her and chaos will follow her footsteps.’”
Julie grabbed his chin and tugged, so she could see his eyes. “That sounds like me except….”
“You’re not a guardian. The Penumbrae are the guardians and you have no Penumbrae blood.”
“So who has both Dancer and Walker blood—light and shadow—plus has Penumbrae blood and rises from evil, which I assume is demon blood? Do you know anyone like that?”
Harrison lifted himself over her, and his mouth brushed hers. “No, but I hope to know that child quite well, eventually.”
Julie’s eyes widened. Warm joy bloomed inside her. “I have a feeling I should be more nervous about this than I am. Wild power, chaos? God help us.”
Harry’s lips found her collarbone. “He will.”
Fireworks danced along her nerve endings, and cheers and clapping rose from Cindy’s party as the colored lights lit the night sky. Julie pulled Harry even closer. “So much for my quiet middle years.”
~*~
Countdown to a Kiss
(A New Year’s Eve Anthology)
Countdown to a Kiss is available for your Kindle at Countdown to a Kiss .
Acknowledgements
This book would never have been published without a lot of powerful magic. I don’t personally know any Walkers, Dancers or Penumbra, but in my life the Brown-Eyed Girls wield some wicked energy. Colleen Gleason, Mara Jacobs and Liz Kelly—I wouldn’t be here without you. Seriously. And life would be nowhere near as fun. Thank you for your friendship, support and wisdom.
Editing a book requires focus, attention to detail and the ability to turn off the brain’s auto-correct mechanism to see the errors that are on the page. In other words, editing is crazy hard. Erin Wolfe made my part of the process fun. Her sidebar comments kept me laughing. Thanks also to Ann Mooney for reading through the manuscript and for being so enthusiastic about it, even though she doesn’t usually read romance. And thanks again to Liz and Mara for their final eagle-eyed read through. Any errors that remain are totally on me.
Lyndsey Lewellen has true magic. She took a few tidbits of information, focused her amazing creative energy and designed the perfect cover. Working with her was a joy.
And finally, this book would not have been the same without the men in my life, Scott, Ben, Sam and Jacob. They’re intelligent, honorable, opinionated males who know how to love with their whole hearts. Is it any wonder I write romance?
Holli Bertram grew up in Detroit, Michigan. She most often had her nose in a book, lost in the magic of a good story. She solved crimes with Nancy Drew, rode the Black Stallion to victory, and cried for three days when Rhett frankly didn’t give a damn. Holli eventually discovered that real life holds its own magic. She attended the University of Michigan, found her own true love and has three wonderful sons.
Holli has previously published a novella "Kiss of a Lifetime" in the New Year's Eve anthology Countdown to a Kiss. Holli’s second novel in the Magic Destiny series, Lost Magic, will be available in early 2014.
Visit Holli at Facebook and her Webpage.
Table of Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Other Books by Holli Bertram
Acknowledgements
Author Information