Kat kneeled in front of the old woman’s pallet. “What do you mean?”
Hetty’s eyes darted around the kitchen before finally landing on Kat. “Would you like to raise a family with those beasts around?”
Kat laughed. “You imply I won’t be able to shake them.”
“I’m implying nothing of the sort.” Hetty huffed. “I’m telling you, they could be here to stay. Better get used to dodging them or find a way to live with the things.”
Kat sat back on her heels, heart thudding, and the blood roaring in her ears. How naïve had she been to think reaching Brightcastle could protect her from the danger of the night hounds?
Four days after seeing Katrine at the castle, James was still no closer to visiting her. He had set out several times, but on each occasion, something held him back. Some force made him question if he should have any more to do with the enticing lady and her wild magic. It was foolish of him to even contemplate a life with her. She had never been in his plans and was totally unsuitable. She would only bring chaos into his world.
He was so confused about the whole issue, he decided to take a ride to clear his head. He collected Lightning from the stable and headed for the meadow. James had often ridden there when in the city. It lay north of the castle, and the ride was pleasant. In summer, the roads were edged in all manner of wildflowers, and the meadow itself was a favorite haunt for picnics and archery practice—preferably not at the same time.
However, in winter, the wonders were not so numerous. A light fall of snow covered his tracks as he made them but at least there was no breeze to make the trip even colder. Besides, Lightning needed the exercise, cooped up as he was in a stable most of the time. As James rode, he weighed up the two women in his life, though Katrine could hardly be called his woman. Melanis expected him to make their betrothal formal any day now, yet he couldn’t make himself visit her either. She offered so much. Before Katrine, he had yearned for the stability Melanis offered. Their worlds could merge without as much as a breath of disturbance. Once he had yearned for such predictability, but now something deep within shied away from it like a horse confronted by a snake.
And Katrine! She was anything but predictable. She was wild and spontaneous, and he was drawn to her more than he had ever experienced with anyone. They struck sparks together, and nothing would ever be boring. And the physical connection they shared eclipsed his relationship with Melanis. He couldn’t get the fiery sorceress out of his thoughts or his dreams. He needed to speak with her and judge if there could ever be anything permanent between them. Just contemplating her as a mate left him confounded!
Mind swirling with uncertainty, James arrived at the meadow just as a sizzling noise attracted his attention. A fireball the size of his chest smashed into a tree ten paces to his right, and Lightning reared. James tightened his hold on the reins and spun the horse in a tight circle once his four hoofs were back on solid ground, patting him on the side of the neck. The beast trembled, his eyes rolling wildly, but James stayed in the saddle in case Lightning should try to bolt.
Katrine skidded to a halt in front of the horse, almost sending the beast into another panic. “James! I didn’t see you! Are you harmed?”
He dismounted, and Katrine grasped his elbows, her starry eyes awhirl. He warmed under the heat of her examination. “I’m well, Katrine. No thanks to you and your…magic.”
“Thank the Goddess! I inverted the spell, so the hounds wouldn’t be drawn, but it interferes with my control.” She chewed her lip. “I must make it work.”
Her dark hair lay in wild waves over her shoulders, her breasts pressed against the fabric of her tunic and she was still wearing those skin-tight breeches that left too little to the imagination. He tried to look away with little success. “No harm done, but do you think you should be causing an exhibition where anyone might see and hear?”
She sighed. “I needed to get out. I’ve been cooped up with Hetty for days. And I had some thinking to do. I find being out in nature helps.”
“Thinking?”
She turned and walked away from him toward the closest archery target. Drawing a knife from her boot, Katrine flung it at the target, hitting dead center. She pulled another knife from her other boot and one from her sleeve. The results were the same—three knives all in the bull’s eye.
“Impressive,” James said. He tied Lightning to a branch and joined her.
“Is it? Perhaps it doesn’t mean anything that I can throw a knife and cast a fireball. Perhaps I’m on the wrong path.”
James approached. “Why doubt yourself now?”
She turned to him, and he ached at the raw pain in her eyes. “I’m a freak. If I embrace my talents I’ll have to turn my back on everything other women hold dear—husband, family, friends.”
James grabbed her hands. “Katrine, you’re not a freak. You’re beautiful, and passionate, and so talented. I can’t stand to hear you call yourself names.”
Kat glanced at their hands. “You turned your back on me after... after…”
“It wasn’t a rejection of you.”
“What else could it be?” Her gaze searched his. “That night changed my life.”
He brushed his knuckles down the softness of her cheek, and her eyes fluttered closed. “I’ve not been able to forget how you looked,” he whispered.
The hope that flared in her brilliant orbs nearly undid James. He had the power to lift her up or crush her. Which would it be? He couldn’t even begin to guess, and he lowered his lips to hers, drawn by the passion swirling between them. What started as a gentle exploration was met with fire and desperation from Katrine. Before James could blink, she slammed her body against his, her hands threaded up into his hair. Each touch of her nails on his scalp threatened to send him crazy.
He pulled back, uncertain of what he wanted, of what Katrine needed. Their eyes met, and, in them, he had his answer. At least he saw she wanted him with a desperation he had never imagined. Need swirled in his gut, driving his lips back to hers. He relished every inch of her body as it molded itself to him, her leg sweeping up to wrap around his buttocks as though to open herself to him.
“Finish what we began the other night, James,” she breathed.
Those words were all he needed. This wasn’t about clear thinking; it was about need, and lust, and deep driving hunger he was no longer capable of fighting. He cast around for a suitable space and found a small clearing in the trees with a log at one end. James led Katrine over to the snowy space and laid his cloak on the ground, then pulled her down beside him.
He opened her cloak, his eyes fixed to hers, so he would see any doubt she possessed. He saw only passion and desperation in her fiery expression. His fingers fumbled on her tunic buttons as he anticipated their union, but she brushed his hands aside, and soon her tunic and shirt hung open. James bent to lick her nipples, first one then the other, sucking as hard as he dared. She groaned, and the sound went straight to his groin. He was so hard it was painful.
“Take me, James. Now. I don’t want to wait.” She pushed him back against his cloak and undid his breeches, pushing his shirt and undershirt high and leaning down to kiss his abdomen, all the way up to his nipples.
Katrine stood and removed her boots and breeches, revealing long shapely legs. She allowed him to look, and he couldn’t believe he was fortunate enough to have this goddess ready to give him her most precious possession. He knelt and grasped her thighs then licked her slick folds, his tongue piercing where no man had ever been. She screamed with the fury of her climax. James held her, his face buried in her, his tongue slicing in and out of her as she trembled and quaked.
Instead of coming down slowly, Katrine seized his shoulders and pushed him backward, freeing him from his loosened breeches and straddling him. She impaled herself on his rod with one quick movement, her eyes widening as it speared her core. She uttered another primal scream and started to move, her fingernails scoring his chest.
James
was gone in an instant, her savagery sweeping aside his pledge to take her gently. It was too late for tenderness. Katrine had pushed him over the edge, but damned if she would dominate him as she wanted to. He gripped her buttocks and sat up, flipping her underneath him and thrusting back into her. She took all of him, her head lolling back, moans rocking her body. Her fingers seized the folds of the cloak beneath her, and she screamed his name as she thrust against him. James had her breasts in his hands, pinching the nipples as he thrust once, twice, and sent himself over the edge into oblivion while she stiffened beneath him.
He came back down from a place he had never been. Glory and savagery had met in one blinding episode of lust and love that should not have existed. James glanced down at Katrine and saw wonder in her eyes. In that moment, James realized he would never forget her. Katrine Aranati was extraordinary, and he wanted her with every beat of his heart. He kissed her gently, reverently, but she responded with fire, clutching his head and thrusting her tongue into his mouth.
Before he could think, they were moving again in the dance older than time. It was sinful to want more of what they had shared, but he did. He knew that beyond any doubt. His desire mounted, matched by hers and soon their scorching heat consumed them, and the clearing rang with the screams of their union—fierce, hot, and indescribable.
Kat floated back to the reality of a cold clearing in the forest, James still sheathed within her. Despite the chill, their union felt right, a completion, as though her whole life had been building to this moment. She looked into his eyes and watched as contented desire turned to horror.
“Don’t you dare regret what we did,” Kat said as he pulled away from her. She drew her tunic and shirt over her naked breasts, gulping down the fear that so quickly replaced ecstasy.
“What have we done?” James stood and pulled on his discarded shirt then re-laced his breeches. He helped her up and shook the snow off his cloak before throwing it around his shoulders. “This was never meant to happen,” he said, gesturing between the two of them. “And now you might be with child, your life changed forever by one careless coupling.”
Kat held up her hand. “Two! And stop it right now. I’ll take the herb mix to prevent conception if it is what you want; only please…no regrets. It was the most wonderful moment of my life.”
His eyes softened, and he stepped closer to sweep his fingertips over her cheeks. “You must forget this and move past it, Katrine. You and I were never destined to be together. Take the potion just in case and leave this in the past where it belongs.”
Kat couldn’t believe she was hearing those words after the passion they had shared. “How can you turn your back on us? Was this merely lust for you?”
“There is no ‘us’, Katrine. I told you that once before.” James didn’t meet her eyes but completed dressing and fetched his horse. “Now dress so we can return to Brightcastle before someone comes along.”
She stared at him, willing him to look at her, so she might determine if he spoke the truth. She wasn’t imagining the depth of their connection—she wasn’t. He kept walking away, and Kat had no choice but to pull on her breeches and tidy herself up. She retrieved her cloak and stalked to her horse, stowing her knives in their holders as she went.
When she pulled herself up on Demon, James was already on the road back to the city.
Chapter 12
James saw Katrine home and turned his horse in the direction of Lady Stenmore’s manor house. It was past time he gave her an answer, and now he knew what it would be. His body still hummed with the passion he had found in Katrine’s arms, a moment in his life he would never forget. But he could not allow Katrine to hope for a life with him. He was all but engaged and while he and Melanis were perfectly suited, Kat was not what he needed in a life partner. Equally, James could not foresee a world in which a spymaster could join his life with a witch. She didn’t need him in her life like a millstone around her neck. She needed to be free to be herself, a sorceress of rare talent, even if it must be in secret.
He shook his head, trying to dispel the fever that fired his blood. Katrine Aranati would not be easy to leave behind, and he already accepted he would never forget her. However, it was time to move forward, to give Melanis her answer, and get on with making the future. The thought gave James comfort as he negotiated the frosty streets. By the time he arrived at the Stenmore mansion, he was calmer than he had been in a long time. Perhaps it was proof his decision was the correct one?
James was shown into the parlor by Roth, only, this time, Melanis was already present, seated in her favorite chair before the fire. He crossed the room and took her hand, bringing it to his lips for a fleeting kiss.
Her jaw tightened at his gesture. “You do keep a lady waiting, James.”
“Yes,” he said, his gaze sweeping over her. She looked tired, as though the wait had aged her. “I’m sorry, but I needed the time to get my head settled.”
“I hear you met your dark-haired traveling companion at the palace. I also hear she is stunning.” Melanis squared her shoulders. “Have you come to tell me it’s over between us?”
James had thought he was ready for this moment, but the memory of Katrine, as she screamed in completion below him, made him hesitate. Melanis pounced.
“I don’t care if you throw us on the scrap heap, James.” She looked away, into the fire. “I’ll find another. Perhaps not in time to have children, but, nevertheless, I will have a worthwhile existence.”
James watched as she tried to come to terms with a life without him. He remembered all the times they had shared, the love they had made, the plans, the joy in each other.
“I want to make our engagement official, Melanis.”
Katrine let herself into Hetty’s home, still lost in a world where James told her he would love her forever. It would happen. She could make it true. She squared her shoulders and steeled herself to face Hetty.
As she entered the kitchen, Hetty turned from the hearth and froze.
“Whatever is the matter, child?” She placed the pot on the table and hurried to take Kat’s hands. “You’re frozen, and you look as though you’ve been rolling in the forest.”
Damn the woman! She was always so observant. “Don’t be silly, Hetty. Demon and I enjoyed a gallop back from the meadow. We may have hit a few branches on the way.”
“Something happened, and you will tell me what!” Her eyes scooted all over Kat. “Someone has taken advantage of you. Tell me who!”
She shook her head. “I tell you it’s nothing like that.”
“I have eyes in my head, girl, and can see the signs. You went out a girl and returned a woman.”
Kat huffed out a breath. “You are so dramatic, Hetty. I am well, and you are imagining things. Now drop this, or I will …” To Kat’s horror, tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. Damn it! She couldn’t even control her own body!
Hetty drew her to the chair by the fire and made her sit, then pushed a cup of tea into her hands. “Drink, Kat, and then you will tell me everything.”
She closed her eyes, desperate for composure. She drew in long gulps of the honeyed tea, enjoying the warmth that spiraled down her body. Eventually, she was ready to speak.
“The man I traveled here with arrived at the meadow when I was practicing with my fireballs. And, before you start lecturing, I inverted the spells. No hounds were drawn to me.” She closed her eyes, reliving the life-changing moment when she welcomed James into her body. How could she explain to Hetty the exhilaration she had experienced at his hands? Or the desperation when he rejected her?
When she opened her eyes, Hetty’s stare trapped her, compelling her to speak.
“We talked. It’s complicated. There is something holding him back from me, and I’m not sure what it is. We kissed, and, before either of us realized it, we had coupled. It was the most wonderful experience of my life.” No need to tell Hetty she had attacked James like an animal. Her face heated at the thought.
Hetty hissed. “You may be with child. I must mix the medicine.”
Kat held up her hand. “There will be time later. That’s not what has me upset.”
“It’s not? You said it was wonderful. What else happened?”
She sighed. “He wants nothing more to do with me.” Her tears spilled again as Hetty paced back and forth across the kitchen.
“I will soon find this man and teach him not to fool with young ladies,” the old woman said. “I suppose now you have given him what he sought he has cast you off?”
Kat stood. “It’s not like that at all. He loves me, I’m sure he does.”
“Funny way of showing it,” Hetty muttered.
“I just have to get past his reservations.”
“Which are what? How dare he take your virginity and then disrespect you? I’m not without power in this town. Princess Alecia could make his life difficult indeed.”
Kat threw her hands up. “Stop! I must resolve this on my own. Promise me you won’t interfere.”
She knew the stubborn look on her friend’s face meant trouble. “I mean it, Hetty. You must let me work this out. I know I can convince him to take a chance with me.”
Hetty screwed up her face, her whiskery chin quivering. “If you have to convince him, how much of a catch can he be, girl?”
“He’s handsome, and smart, and so talented. He’s a gentleman and terribly loyal to his friends. James is all I ever dreamed of in a husband, but he holds the belief that our worlds can never meld. My magic unnerves him, and I think he had a very different life mapped out than the one he would have with me.”
“It’s a lot of man you have there, young Kat.” Hetty said, fixing her with a sympathetic eye. “Are you sure what you feel for him is real? Have you considered what I said about the life of a sorceress? It seems to me this man of yours may have a point. And if so, he had no right taking your maidenhead.”
Kat grabbed both of Hetty’s hands in her own. “Stop saying that! It doesn’t matter. I gave it to James freely and would do so again in a heartbeat. You place too much importance on my being a virgin, Hetty. If you expect me to live the life of a sorceress, what does it matter?”
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