by Judith Leger
Her gaze narrowed. “You said all this on purpose. Testing my limit.”
Fury drenched her in fire. She didn’t like his games. And she didn’t like the rules he’d set. Did he think he could say and do whatever he pleased without any consequences?
Without another thought, she stepped toward him, hand raised, determined to slap the grin off his face. One second she swung with all her anger and frustration, the next, he’d grasped her hand. He tugged, and she landed against his chest. His free arm banded her waist, holding her still. Her gaze locked with his, and her rage turned to liquid heat. The depth of the desire surging through her amazed her. Confused, she silently tried to deny what her body screamed.
“Sweet Caitlyn, push the limits in your heart and free the magic in your soul,” he murmured before his lips touched hers. Soft, tender, a gentle brush of skin over skin.
He raised his head, and she moaned. “What are you doing to me?”
“Calming you,” he whispered. “If I release you, will you promise not to slap me?”
She nodded and tried to shake off the lethargy gripping her. “I promise.”
With his help, she eased down onto the sofa. He sat next to her. Swallowing, she frowned at him. “Are you a hypnotist?”
Shay chuckled low, shook his head and shifted to face her. “Afraid not. I’m a simple illusionist.”
He reached out and slipped the hair from her cheek with one hand, while with the other, he clasped her fingers on the sofa between them. “Feel better?”
After a deep breath, she nodded. “Are you going to tell me the reason behind what you just did?”
“I had to know how far you could be pushed.” He stared at her fingers, brushing the pad of his thumb over the knuckles. “Do you understand what door you’re opening with this interview?”
Frowning, she shook her head. “What do you mean?”
“Once it’s known I asked you to interview me, all the sleazy reporters and photographers will crawl out of their holes and bombard you. I was nice. They won’t be. They’ll start rumors, swear I asked for you because we’re lovers, demand to know my sexual preferences and who knows what else they’ll come up with. Are you ready for it? Can you deal with it?” His gaze held hers, and her heart twisted at the deep concern in his eyes.
“I’m not normally defensive,” she said with a small smile. “So much has happened today with the news of the interview, I suppose my nerves are overstretched. Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself.” She squeezed his hand for a second.
He raised an eyebrow. “Can you? They’ll pick you to the bone, Caitlyn. You’re moving into the big league. It’s not fun. They’ll find out everything about you. Even some things that aren’t true.”
She opened her mouth to argue his point, but stopped. She’d never considered the negative changes this assignment would create in her future. Was she ready for them? Professionally–yes–but would her confidence and personal life withstand the publicity?
Refusing to consider defeat, she lifted her chin and said, “I’m not passing this up. I understand how crazy it’s going to get, but the opportunity is too good to ignore. My future career depends on this interview. This is my chance for a spot at a major network. The only way I won’t do the interview is if you change your mind, and I’m hoping you won’t.”
His gaze lingered on her for several seconds before he nodded. The light in the room seemed brighter, centralized on him as he issued soft, mesmerizing words. “Let darkness and light guard that no one intercede. From this moment on, your fate has been decreed.”
Caitlyn frowned at his sing-song rhyme. It sounded medieval and out of place, but he was serious. His pupils had dilated to twin black pools. While she stared into them, she swore low chimes tinkled and the room filled with the rich, earthy aroma of wildflowers.
She shook her head and smiled as she asked, “What does that mean?”
His grin flashed. “Nothing. I’m a fan of ancient manuscripts. Always thought I would impress the ladies with my eloquent and poetic phrases, but it didn’t work out. You’re the only one in a long time that hasn’t looked at me like I’m nuts.”
“If you do it very often, I’ll think the worst. Might even call the men in the white coats to come pick you up.” She couldn’t stop smiling at him.
His eccentricities were minor compared to his overall charm. And as long as she kept the interview, it’d be nothing to overlook his poetic phrases and rambles. Just additional information she needed to help uncover the real man beneath the performer’s facade.
His gentle behavior fueled her curiosity. She needed to survive the next two weeks without falling in love with him. Now, after meeting him, seeing him face-to-face, talking to him, she stood on the edge of the unknown feeling called love. He wound his net tighter around her emotions, binding her to him.
“Well, Caitlyn, I’ve enjoyed your company, but time is running out. I have a plane to catch. Rhys will have my head if I make him wait.” He stood, unfolding his lean body from the sofa and pulled her with him.
Their bodies brushed, and her breath caught. She reacted to him like a school girl with her first crush. No, this was like a bee attracted to rich nectar. She couldn’t remember the last time she had fresh honey. The memory of the sticky and sweet flavor had her mouth watering. So appealing. Just like Shay Evers.
With her heart pounding against her chest and legs weakening, her one thought was to press against him. She forced her body to stiffen and step to the side, glad to put distance between them. “Until tomorrow. Have a safe flight.”
“You, too. I’m looking forward to seeing you again.”
His gaze on her face sent warmth through her. He escorted her to the door. She aimed a pasted-on smile in his direction. Once through, she didn’t look back. She needed to leave, now. Reaching the elevator as she pulled her cellphone from her pocket, she punched in Marcy’s number. After three rings, her friend answered, her voice husky and low.
Caitlyn didn’t give her a chance to say anything past the greeting. “Where are you?”
“On my way to my apartment. Why? Where are you?”
Static crackled over the receiver.
“You left me?” Caitlyn raised her brows, staring hard at the lighted elevator button.
“Why not? Last time I looked, you were with Evers right before you two disappeared. I figured you were in very capable hands. Well, how was it?” The question held a definite twinge of heat, jealousy evident. The reason behind the wicked look Marcy had given her was so obvious now.
“Nothing happened,” Caitlyn muttered. “We talked, that’s all. Listen, I’m going to get a cab and go home. Try to stay out of trouble, okay?” She didn’t wait for Marcy to reply. The doors whisked open, revealing her avenue of escape.
* * * *
Shay studied Caitlyn until the elevator doors shut. He considered his earlier assessment of her. Dull, plain? No, he’d been wrong. She possessed a vibrant aura along with exquisitely beautiful features and form. A fire burned beneath her cool, collected veneer. At his touch, the fire had flared to life.
This would help him, even though he found he wasn’t prepared for it. His own reaction to her surprised him. Rhys’s voice soothed him, but touching Caitlyn filled him with such peace. Temptation to hold her and never release her came over him.
He sighed. Impossible. Until she returned home to her family and solved the riddle, thus breaking the curse binding her magic, she didn’t have a future. Neither did he.
Shaking his head, he motioned to tell one of his bodyguards he was ready to leave. Surrounded by the protective barrier supplied by the men, he exited the party through a private door and traveled down a secure elevator to the basement floor.
The limousine waited at the end of a ramp sloping up from the basement. To avoid lingering fans waiting to mob him, Shay sprinted toward the vehicle. His guards kept up and one passed him, and when he reached the limousine, opened the back door.
&n
bsp; Shay ducked through the opening and stiffened as he settled in the seat. Rhys sat where he had earlier, calmly waiting. Shay refused to break the mounting silence.
“She is like her mother,” Rhys commented, his tone soft and contemplative. Shay shot a glance at him. The tender expression on Rhys’s face hardened the second he turned to him. “Well, what do you think?”
Shay lowered his gaze. The silence grew for several moments while he wrestled with an answer. He’d learned patience in the last twenty-four years. Patience and silence had been constant companions, so the lengthy seconds did not weigh on him.
“I believe there is hope,” he finally murmured. “She’s not as shielded by the curse as I assumed.”
“Excellent. So you shouldn’t have any problem enthralling her so she will feel comfortable when she returns to the Sidhe,” Rhys said. “I don’t want her to believe she is insane. She must be kept calm through all this.”
Shay shook his head. “It’s not so simple. I didn’t sense any belief in her. I can’t guarantee she will accept the magic in her. She’s been too long in this world.” He sensed his friend’s gaze as he waited for a response.
“You are a muse,” Rhys said. “A court muse. Your magic is joined with Caitlyn’s because of your part in her kidnapping. If you do not think you are capable of helping her, then you will return to your prison. Do you wish this?”
The hard tone in his words entered every pore and cell of Shay’s body, making his joints hurt and his flesh sting. “No. I don’t. You should be prepared if my powers don’t work. It has been long since my true abilities were released, and even now I have held much back because I fear I cannot control them.”
“Cease. What you cannot control, I will aid with. The one thing in which I have confidence in is your power. Gwyneth understood this also. ’Tis why she chose you to help her,” Rhys added, his expression hard and unforgiving. “Enough of the past. When will you attempt to reach Caitlyn?”
Shay turned and stared out the window. The landscape sped by without him seeing it, a blur of dull greens and blacks with the brighter lights reflecting off metal. “Tonight. When we are on the plane.”
“Will the distance affect you?”
“No. I touched her, and I placed a spell on her which will keep her from changing her mind about coming to me. No matter what happens tonight,” Shay replied with a smile.
He didn’t know all the details of how he would go to her, but he had to try. Perhaps through the television, radio. Any form of electric equipment would work, as long as it brought him into her mind. Once her consciousness focused on him, he would call her to him, and his mission would start.
Chapter 9
Caitlyn inserted Shay Evers’s newest DVD into her player. She didn’t want to watch the video after seeing him in person, but needed to for reference. Tonight’s show gave her some insight on how he worked, but she needed more. Remote in hand, she moved to the burgundy-colored sofa and sat, curling her legs under her. The soft fleece material of her pajamas soothed her skin, warming her against the loft apartment’s constant chill.
Two hours after leaving the party, exhaustion still gripped her. After arriving home, she’d taken a long hot soak in the tub, but it had done little to relieve the tension running through her body. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Releasing the air in slow degree, she reminded herself once more how much she wanted to do this interview.
All of the magazine covers, televisions, and billboards with his face on them were nothing but coincidences. Just as if she’d bought a red car, and boom!, all of a sudden there was a red car on every street corner. As famous as he was, it was normal to see all those things a lot. They hadn’t increased in numbers since this morning. She was just more aware of them after receiving this assignment.
Meeting Shay tonight had thrown off her usual equilibrium. He had baited her on purpose in order to test her. That meant he doubted she was ready for the publicity ahead of her. She cared little for the method he used, but at least she knew he wasn’t a total jerk.
Soft guitar notes drifted from the television. Caitlyn focused on the picture and smiled. She liked this song. Calmness drifted over her, saturating her mind and relieving aching muscles.
On the television screen, Evers strode toward the camera. When he began to perform his illusion, she felt as though she were a part of the act. Her pulse quickened, and she shifted on the sofa, so focused on the man performing, her apartment faded from her awareness, until nothing existed but Shay.
The act ended. She sat on the edge of the sofa with her fingertips pressed against her lips. She jerked upright and stood. What had just happened? The entire performance was lost to her. As she strained to remember the video’s details, she could only see Shay and his penetrating gaze.
“This is nuts,” she muttered, heading to the kitchen. A tall glass of ice water would definitely cool the sudden heat stifling her senses.
Feeling a little better, she returned to the sofa with her drink and settled down again to finish viewing the DVD.
After an hour, numbness started in the tips of her toes and moved up her body. The longer she watched the DVD, her eyelids drooped, heavy with sleep. She slid a throw pillow beneath her head and stretched out, fighting to stay awake. She accepted defeat, removed her glasses and shut her eyes.
* * * *
Caitlyn opened her eyes. Her exhaustion had evaporated. Still lying with her head on the pillow, she gazed about. Deep purple midnight surrounded her. Stars twinkled everywhere. Sitting up, she blinked at their brilliance.
“I’m dreaming,” she whispered. “But it’s so real.”
She lifted her hand and dusty sparkles followed the movement, leaving behind a trail like a shooting star. Such a strange dream. Instead of fear bubbling inside her at the unknown surroundings, the glittering darkness encircled her. It embraced her with a soothing ambiance. She felt secure in the twinkling silence.
Footsteps moved toward her, and from the purple blackness before her, Shay Evers appeared. Her heart skipped a beat. Blood pounded in her veins. The slow long-legged stride so unique to him brought him to her side. He knelt and smiled.
“Hello, Caitlyn.” Amethyst eyes shone with an inner light.
She smiled, joy overriding everything else. “I’m dreaming.”
He grinned wider. He lifted a hand and laid it over her heart. “Are you? A sweet dream?”
“Oh yes,” she sighed, leaning forward. Her fingers itched to touch him and see if he was real. She reached out and laid her palm flat on his chest where his shirt gaped open and found solid warmth. “Oh.”
A low chuckle brought her gaze to his, and her breath caught at the gentle glow in his eyes. “Do you like?”
She shifted to her knees. With a slow caress toward his jaw, she brushed her thumb across the satiny flesh of his full bottom lip and sighed once more. “Yes.”
They came together as one and touched lips–soft, tender, their breaths exchanged for an instant. “Close your eyes and look to your heart.” The accent flavoring his voice was stronger than she remembered. Beautiful and lyrical, she listened to each layer of it. “Look deep, past all barriers, to the center. Find what you’ve lost and you will be free.”
“Only if you stay with me,” she whispered against his mouth and slid her fingers into his hair to hold him.
His hands encircled her throat, his thumbs under her chin, tilting her head. She captured his lips and deepened the kiss, opening her mouth and crossing the threshold of his with a gentle probe of her tongue. He tasted of cinnamon, her favorite spice. She moaned as heat climbed from the soles of her feet to inflame her body.
“I’m dreaming, and I never want this to end,” she whispered when the kiss ended, arching her back as his lips moved over her jaw to her neck. Warm breath slid across her skin.
An angry voice broke through her lustful haze.
“Shay.”
The voice reminded her of Rhys’s. He repeated Shay’s n
ame twice. Caitlyn opened her eyes, gasping. Her loft apartment sprawled about her.
She looked around in an attempt to explain what had occurred. Nothing helped as she sat there, stunned at her loss of memory over the last few moments.
The clock on the DVD player told her a little over an hour had passed since she’d sat down, yet it seemed longer. She tried to understand what her dream meant, but found no logical reason why Evers walked through her mind. The whole incident had been so real. Her fingertips tingled from the feel of his skin and her lips throbbed from the touch of his.
Heat raced to her face. The confines of her apartment threatened to smother her. She needed cool air. She stood and stumbled to the terrace door. One tug down on the handle opened the door, and she stepped out into the cold night. Two steps more and she grasped the banister. The metal chilled her palms as she curled her fingers about it.
She pulled in several deep breaths, trying to wash away the heat accumulated from her dream. Imagination, she thought. Meeting him tonight was messing with her mind. She was positive the concerned way he’d spoken to her at the party, and his kiss, triggered his appearance in her sleep.
The depth of desire Shay had stirred in her brought the blood to her face and warm tingling throughout her body. She had wanted him in a way she’d never wanted another man. Didn’t think she’d ever want a man. The slow throbbing between her legs brought a moan to her lips. She squeezed her eyes shut, fighting to regain control.
All the other men in her life were either father figures or business associates. There had never been time for any type of relationship. Until now, she hadn’t realized she possessed an ounce of passion. But if her reaction to the dream was any sign, well, she definitely had an overabundance of the emotion.
Several minutes passed before calmness came to her. Her gaze wandered over the building’s facade across the street. She searched for something, anything to distract her thoughts. Her foster mother had often made her count to not only control her temper but also to help her focus. She concentrated on the building in front of her. Following a line of windows, she counted the frames to the bottom floor.
