"You go on inside, princess. This is man's work."
"I won't have you fighting on my doorstep on Christmas Eve. Now you stop it."
"Just let me send him to the North Pole. Just for an hour or two. It's only fitting."
"You'll do no such thing." She stepped out and put a warning hand on his shoulder. "Now go inside and behave, or I'll have Morgana deal with you."
"Bah! I can handle a witch half my age."
"She's sneaky." Ana pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Please, Papa. Do this for me."
"Could never refuse you anything," he muttered. Then he turned glittering eyes on Boone. "But you watch your step, mister." He jabbed out a plump finger. "You mess with one Donovan, you mess with them all." With a sniff, he went inside.
"I'm sorry," Ana began, fixing a bright smile on her face. "He's very protective."
"So I gathered." Since he wasn't going to have to defend himself after all, he could think of nothing to do with his hands but shove them in his pockets. "I wanted to-we wanted to say merry Christmas."
"Yes, Jessie just did." They were silent for another awkward moment. "You're welcome to come in, have some wassail."
"I don't want to intrude. Your family-" He offered what almost passed for a grin. "I don't want to risk my life, either."
Even the faint smile faded from her eyes. "He wouldn't really have harmed you. It's not our way."
"I didn't mean-" What the hell was he supposed to say to her? "I don't blame him for being upset, and I don't want to make you or your family uncomfortable. If you'd rather, I could just-" He turned slightly, and the sign on her lawn caught his eye. His temper rose accordingly. "What the hell is that?"
"Isn't it clear enough? I'm selling the house. I've decided to go back to Ireland."
"Ireland? You think you can just pack up and move six thousand miles away?"
"Yes, I do. Boone, I'm sorry, but dinner's nearly ready, and I really have to go in. Of course, you're welcome to join us."
"If you don't stop being so bloody polite, I'm going to-" He cut himself off again. "'I don't want dinner,'' he said between his teeth. "I want to talk to you."
"This isn't the time."
"We'll make it the time."
He backed her through the doorway just as Sebastian came down the hall behind her. Placing a light hand on Ana's shoulder, he sent Boone a warning glance. "Is there a problem here, Anastasia?"
"No. I invited Boone and Jessie for dinner, but he isn't able to join us."
"Pity." Sebastian's smile glittered with malice. "Well, then, if you'll excuse us, Sawyer."
Boone slammed the door behind him, causing all the ruckus inside to switch off like a light. Several pairs of eyes turned their way. He was too furious to note that Sebastian's were now bright with amusement.
"Stay out of my way," Boone said quietly. "Each and every one of you. I don't care who you are, or what you are." More than ready to fight a fleet of dragons, he grabbed Ana's hand. "You come with me."
"My family-"
"Can damn well wait." He yanked her back outside.
From her perch under the Christmas tree, Jessie stared wide-eyed after them. "Is Daddy mad at Ana?"
"No." Happy enough about what she'd seen to burst at the seams, Maureen gave the little girl a squeeze. "I think they've just gone off to take care of another Christmas present for you. One I think you'll like best of all."
Outside, Ana labored to keep up. "Stop dragging me, Boone."
"I'm not dragging you," he said as he dragged her through the side yard. "I don't want to go with you." She felt the tears she'd thought she was finished with stinging her eyes. "I'm not going through this again."
"You think you can put up a stupid sign in your yard and solve everything?" Guided by moonlight, he tugged her down the rock steps that led to the beach. "Drop a bombshell on my head, then take off for Ireland?"
"I can do exactly as I please."
"Witch or no witch, you'd better think that one over again."
"You wouldn't even talk to me."
"I'm talking to you now."
"Well, now I don't want to talk." She broke away and started to climb back up.
"Then you'll listen." He caught her around the waist and tossed her over his shoulder. "And we're going to do this far enough from the house so that I know your family isn't breathing down my neck." When he reached the bottom, he flipped her over and dropped her to her feet. "One step," he warned. "You take one step away and I'll haul you back."
"I wouldn't give you the satisfaction." She struggled with the tears, preferring temper. "You want to have your say. Fine. Then I'll have mine, as well. I accept your position on our relationship. I deeply regret you feel it necessary to keep Jessie away from me."
"I never-"
"Don't deny it. For days before I left for Ireland you kept her at home." She picked up a handful of pebbles and threw them out to sea. "Wouldn't want your little girl too near the witch, after all." She whirled back to him. "For God's sake, Boone, what did you expect from me? Did you see me rubbing my hands together and croaking out, 'I'll get you, my pretty-and your little dog, too'?"
His lips quirked at that, and he reached out, but she spun away. "Give me some credit, Ana."
"I did. A little later than I should have, but I did. And you turned away. Just as I'd known you would."
"Known?" Though he was getting tired of the choreography, he pulled her around again. "How did you know how I'd react?
Did you look in your crystal ball, or just have your psychic cousin take a stroll through my head?"
"Neither," she said, with what control she had left. "I wouldn't let Sebastian look, and I didn't look myself, because it seemed unfair. I knew you'd turn away because-"
"Because someone else had."
"It doesn't matter, the fact is you did turn away."
"I just needed to take it in."
"I saw the way you looked at me that night." She shut her eyes. "I've seen that look before. Oh, you weren't cruel like Robert. There were no names, no accusations, but the result was the same. Stay away from me and mine. I don't accept what you are." She wrapped her arms tight and cupped her elbows for warmth.
"I'm not going to apologize for having what I think was a very normal reaction. And damn it, Ana, I was tired, and half-crazy. Watching you lie there in bed all those hours, and you were so pale, so still. I was afraid you wouldn't come back. When you did, I didn't know how to treat you. Then you were telling me all of this."
She searched for calm, knowing it was the best way. "The timing was bad all around. I wasn't quite strong enough to deal with your feelings."
"If you had told me before-"
"You would have reacted differently?" She glanced toward him. "No, I don't think so. But you're right. I should have. It was unfair, and it was weak of me to let things go as far as they did."
"Don't put words in my mouth, Ana. Unless you're, what do you call it-linked? If you're not linked with me, you don't know what I'm feeling. It hurt that you didn't trust me."
She nodded, brushing a tear from her cheek. "I know. I'm sorry."
"You were afraid?"
"I told you I was a coward."
He frowned, watching the hair blow around her face as she stared out at the moon-kissed sea. "Yes, you did. The night you came across my sketch. The one of the witch. That upset you."
She shrugged. "I'm oversensitive sometimes. It was just the mood. I was-"
"About to tell me, and then I scared you off with my evil witch."
"It seemed a difficult time to tell you."
"Because you're a coward," he said mildly, watching her. "Let me ask you something, Ana. What did you do, exactly, to Jessie that day?"
"I linked. I told you I'm an empath."
"It hurt you. I saw." He took her arm, turning her to face him. "Once you cried out, as if it were unbearable. Afterward, you fainted, then slept like the dead for more than a day."
"That's part of it." S
he tried to push his hand away. It hurt too much to be touched when her defenses were shattered. "When the injuries are so serious, there's a price."
"Yes, I understand. I asked Morgana. She said you could have died. She said the risk was very great because Jessie-" He could hardly say it. "She was gone, or nearly. And you weren't just fixing some broken bones, but bringing her back from the edge. That the line is very fine, and it's very easy for the healer to become the victim."
"What would you have had me do? Let her die?"
"A coward would have. I think your definition and mine are different. Being afraid doesn't make you a coward. You could have saved yourself and let her go."
"I love her."
"So do I. And you gave her back to me. I didn't even thank you."
"Do you think I want your gratitude?" It was too much, she thought. Next he would offer her pity. "I don't. I don't want it. What I did I did freely, because I couldn't bear to lose her, either. And I couldn't bear for you-"
"For me?" he said gently.
"For you to lose someone else you loved. I don't want to be thanked for it. It's what I am."
"You've done it before? What you did with Jessie?"
"I'm a healer. I heal. She was-" It still hurt to think of it. "She was slipping away. I used what I have to bring her back."
"It's not that simple." His hands were gentle on her arms now, stroking. "Not even for you. You feel more than others. Morgana told me that, too. When you let your defenses down, you're more vulnerable to emotion, to pain, to everything. That's why you don't cry." With his fingertip, he lifted a teardrop from her cheek. "But you're crying now."
"You know everything there is to know. What's the point of this?"
"The point is to take a step back to the night you explained it all to me. The point is for you to take another chance and open yourself up. For me."
"You ask too much." She sobbed the words out, then covered her face. "Oh, leave me alone. Give me some peace. Can't you see how you hurt me?"
"Yes, I can see." He wrapped his arms around her, fighting to soothe while she struggled for release. "You've lost weight, you're pale. When I look into your eyes, I see every ounce of pain I caused you. I don't know how to take it back. I don't know how your father kept himself from cursing me with whatever was in his arsenal."
"We can't use power to harm. It's against everything we are. Please let me go."
"I can't. I almost thought I could. She lied to me, I told myself. She betrayed my trust. She isn't real." He kept a firm grip on her arms as he pulled her away. "It doesn't matter. None of it matters. If it's magic, I don't want to lose it. I can't lose you. I love you, Ana. All that you are. Please." He touched his lips to hers, tasting tears. "Please come back to me." The shaft of hope was almost painful. She clung to it, to him. "I want to believe."
"So do I." He cupped her face, kissing her again. "And I do. I believe in you. In us. If this is my fairy tale, I want to play it out."
She stared up at him. "You can accept all of this? All of us?"
"I figure I'm pretty well suited to do just that. Of course, it might take a while for me to convince your father not to do something drastic to my anatomy." He traced his fingers over her lips as they curved. "I didn't know if you'd ever smile for me again. Tell me you still love me. Give me that, too."
"Yes, I love you." Her lips trembled under his. "Always."
"I won't hurt you again." He brushed away tears with his thumbs. "I'll make up for everything."
"It's done." She caught his hands. "That's done. We have tomorrow."
"Don't cry anymore."
She smiled, rubbing her fists across her cheeks. "No, I won't. I never cry."
He took those damp fists and kissed them. "You said to ask you again. It's been longer than a week, but I'm hoping you haven't forgotten what you said your answer would be."
"I haven't forgotten."
"Put your hand here." He pressed her palm to his heart. "I want you to feel what I feel." He linked his free hand with hers. "The moon's almost full. The first time I kissed you was in the moonlight. I was charmed, enchanted, spellbound. I always will be. I need you, Ana."
She could feel the strength of that love pouring into her. "You have me."
"I want you to marry me. Share the child you gave back to me. She's yours as much as mine now. Let me make more children with you. I'll take you as you are, Anastasia. I swear I'll cherish you as long as I live."
She lifted her arms to him. Hair like sunlight. Eyes like smoke. Shafts of moonglow shimmered around her like torchlight.
"I've been waiting for you."
Epilogue
Alone on a wild crag facing a stormy sea stood Donovan Castle. This dark night, lightning flashed and shuddered in the black sky, and the wind set the leaded glass to shaking in the diamond panes.
Inside, fires leaped and glowed in the hearths. Those who were witches, and those who were not, gathered close, waiting for the indignant wail that would signal a new life.
"Are you cheating, Grandda?" Jessie asked Padrick as he perused his cards.
"Cheating!" He gave a merry laugh and wiggled his brows. "Certainly I am. Go fish."
She giggled and drew from the pile. "Granny Maureen says you always cheat." She tilted her head. "Were you really a frog?"
"That I was, darling. A fine green one."
She accepted this, just as she accepted the other wonders of her life with the Donovans. She petted the snoring Daisy, who rested her big golden head in Jessie's lap. "Will you be a frog again sometime, so I can see?"
"I might surprise you." He winked and changed her hand of cards into a rainbow of lollipops.
"Oh, Grandda," she said indulgently.
"Sebastian?" Mel hustled down the main stairs and shouted into the parlor, where her husband was sipping brandy and watching the card game. "Shawn and Keely are awake and fussing. I have my hands full helping with Ana."
"Be right there." The proud papa of three months set down his snifter and headed up to change diapers.
Nash bounced one-year-old Allysia on his knee while Donovan sat in Matthew's lap playing with his pocket watch. "Be careful he doesn't eat it," Nash commented. "Or make it disappear. We're having a little trouble keeping him in line."
"The lad needs to spread his wings a bit."
"If you say so. But when I went to get him out of his crib the other day, it was full of rabbits. Real ones."
"Takes after his mother," Matthew said proudly. "She ran us ragged."
Allysia leaned back against her father and smiled. Instantly Daisy woke and trotted over. Within seconds, every dog and cat in the house was swarming through the room.
"Ally," Nash said with a sigh. "Remember how we said one at a time?"
"Doggies." Squealing, Ally tugged gently on the ears of Matthew's big silver wolf. "Kittycats."
"Next time just one, okay?'' Nash plucked a cat off his shoulder, nudged another off the arm of the chair. "A couple of weeks ago she had every hound within ten miles howling in the yard. Come on, monsters." He rose, tucking Allysia, then Donovan, under his arms like footballs. They kicked and giggled. "I think it's time for bed."
"Story," Donovan demanded. "Uncle Boone."
"He's busy. You'll have to settle for one from your old man."
He was indeed busy, watching a miracle. The room was scented with candles and herbs, warmed by the fire glowing in the hearth. He held tight to Ana as she brought their son into the world.
Then their daughter.
Then their second son.
"Three." He kept saying it over and over, even as Bryna settled an infant in his arms. "Three." They'd told him there would be triplets, but he hadn't really believed it.
"Runs in the family." Exhausted, elated, Ana took another bundle from Morgana. She pressed her lips gently to the silky cheek. "Now we have two of each."
He grinned down at his wife as Mel settled the third baby in the crook of Ana's arm. "I think we need a b
igger house."
"We'll add on."
"Would you like the others to come up?" Bryna asked gently. "Or would you rather rest awhile?"
"No, please." Ana tilted her head so that it rested against Boone's arm. "Ask them to come up."
They crowded in, making too much noise. Ana made room in the big bed for Jessie to sit beside her, then placed a baby in her arms.
"This is your brother, Trevor. Your sister, Mauve. And your other brother, Kyle."
"I'm going to take good care of them. Always. Look, Grandda, we have a big family now."
"You do indeed, my little lamb." He blew heartily into his checked kerchief. He wiped his runny eyes and looked mistily at Boone. "Just as well I didn't flatten you when I had the chance."
"Here." Boone held out a squealing infant. "Hold your grandson."
"Ah, Maureen, my cheesecake, look at this. He has my eyes."
"No, my frog prince, he has mine."
They argued, with the rest of the Donovans throwing their weight to one side or the other. Boone slipped his arm around his wife, held his family close as his son suckled greedily at his first taste of mother's milk. Lightning flashed against the windows, the wind howled, and the fire leapt high in the grate.
Somewhere deep in the forest, high in the hills, the faeries danced.
And they lived happily ever after.
The End
--4 Enchanted (10-1999)--
Prologue
Dark as the night and fleet of foot, the wolf raced under a hunter's moon. He ran for the love of it, and he ran alone, through the grand tower of trees, the purple shadows of the forest, the magic of the night.
The wind from across the sea spewed across the pines, sent them singing songs of the ancients and spilling their scent into the air. Small creatures with eyes that gleamed hid and watched the sleek black shape bullet through the lacy layer of mist that shimmered down the beaten path.
He knew they were there, could smell them, hear the rapid beat of their blood. But he hunted nothing that night but the night itself.
He had no pack, no mate but solitude.
A restlessness lived in him that not even speed and freedom could quell. In his quest for peace, he haunted the forest, stalked the cliffs, circled the clearings, but nothing soothed or satisfied.
Books by Nora Roberts Page 290
