He reached in and ran his hand along the burn on my stomach, to the edge of my breast and back down toward my thighs, his featherlight touch a direct contrast to the rage pulsing through him.
“Dane,” I whispered, unsure what to say to him. Clearly, fine wasn’t going to cut it.
“Shhh,” he answered, cutting the water off as he wrapped a towel around me. He patted me dry, careful for any red mark. His hand hovered over the clothes he brought, but instead he grabbed a dry towel, dropping the one he’d dried me off with, and placing the new one around my shoulders. He guided me to bed, where he’d already pulled back the covers and sat me down.
His hand hovered over the burn on my mouth, his eyes conflicted as he considered what he had to do.
“I trust you.” I managed to whisper, moisture pooling in my eyes. His eyes drifted closed and he pressed his hand over my mouth.
The cooling sensation was almost instantaneous. The heat from the burn seemed to be absorbed by his skin and left mine unmarred. He slowly pulled his hand from my mouth, gazing at me uncertainly. It was clear he hadn’t been convinced it would work, but his desperation to heal me had forced him to try. I quirked my eyebrow at him as he inspected the smooth, perfectly healed skin around my mouth.
“See?” I replied, trying my best to avoid the words, “I told you so.” His expression told me he heard them without my needing to say it. To distract him, I held out my arm where the jerk had grabbed me, that being the next worst burn. He used his left hand this time, cupping the handprint formed on my skin and gently pressing down. Again, the relief was instant, the pain disappearing as coolness replaced the heat of the burn.
He gazed down at his hands and then back up to me.
“I have no idea how.”
“Can’t say I do either. I’m newer to all of this than you.” I joked, trying to tuck the skimpy towel around me better. I was hoping he would forget the other red marks since they seemed to trigger his rage. I knew he wouldn’t hurt me, but it was better for everyone if he wasn’t reminded of the attack.
“Yeah, but you knew I healed you.” The vague accusation in his voice made me smile.
“Because I don’t have any preconceived ideas?” I offered. “I mean you’re the one that told me there was magic. Opens a whole new world of possibilities. Anything could be possible.” I paused, thinking about that and then asked excitedly, “Does that mean vampires and werewolves exist too?”
“No,” he said dismissively and then caught sight of my crestfallen expression. “Not everything is possible, but I have heard tales that some witches have guardian wolves. They can communicate and everything.”
“No way.” I gasped. “How freaking cool would that be? Your own wolf guard dog. Is communicating like basic animal commands or we talking sentient beings here?”
“Um, I have no idea. It’s a tale I grew up with. But from the stories, they act more as a companion. So, full conversations I’m guessing?”
“That’s way cool. But I guess I don’t need one.” I commented, settling back against the headboard. The towel slipped, baring the top of my breast and Dane’s gaze flickered down for a second.
“What do you mean? You might need one more than any witch I’ve ever met.” He reached over and tugged the towel up higher to preserve what little modesty I had remaining.
“I’ve got you.” I attempted a nonchalant shrug as I said it, but the words came out a little too intense for it to be believed.
“Some would say I’m not doing a very good job.” He swallowed tightly, his jaw clenched against the dark emotions raging behind his eyes. I stroked the line of his jaw, feeling a hint of stubble.
“I would politely disagree with them.” He snorted at the understatement and I grinned.
“If by politely disagree you mean go after them shrieking like a shrew.”
I gasped dramatically, “Me? Shriek like a shrew?” I shook my head in mock disappointment even as I said, “You know me too well, sir.”
“I do, just like I know you’re hiding the rest of those burns from me in the hopes I’ll forget they’re there.”
Caught.
“Hide?” I said lightly, trying to ease the tension emanating from him. “More like out of sight, out of mind.”
“Not for me.” His jaw worked as he gritted out, “I want every trace of his touch removed from your body.”
Apparently, there would be no glossing over this. I loosened the knot I’d tied to hold the towel up and spread it open. I’d like to say he was distracted by my nude body, but it would be a lie. His eyes focused immediately on the red burns that trailed from the underside of my breast to the apex of my thighs.
My bra had protected the tender skin of my breast, but as Dane rested his fingers against the burn underneath my breast he seemed to know the man had groped me. I heard him make a low sound, one of incoherent rage, but his touch remained gentle. He brushed the edge of his knuckles against my breast and the throbbing pain announcing the coming bruises disappeared.
He traced the path of the burns with the tips of his fingers, and I watched as the red faded under his touch as if it had never been there. This time the cooling sensation was followed by a flicker of heat of a different nature. My breathing came a little faster, and I couldn’t stop the puckering of my nipples. It had been over a year since he’d touched me so intimately and while there was nothing sexual about it now, it didn’t seem to matter to my body.
His touch evoked a visceral reaction in me, one I had never been able to control. There was no such thing as no when he touched me. No denial, no pretending, our bodies couldn’t lie to one another and now was no different.
As he reached my thighs, they parted of their own violation. I heard his breath catch as he stroked his hands over my thighs where the would be rapist had tried to force his way in. The last red mark disappeared and he gripped both of my thighs firmly with his hands. The touch wasn’t painful or rough, but more an internal argument we both knew he’d lose.
He lowered his head to my stomach, the barest brush of his lips against my skin causing every muscle in my body to clench. I cupped the back of his head, resisting his attempt to pull away. He gave in, his lips moving a slow path from my stomach, to between my breasts, and followed the line of my collarbone. Gentle kisses lead to my ear where he whispered, “This wasn’t my intention.”
A soft laugh escaped me as I glimpsed the glowing red of the alarm clock sitting on the night stand. Two AM.
“I’m surprised we lasted twenty-four hours.”
He lifted his head to study me and my hand dropped from his head to his neck. He wasn’t checking to see if I was sure, or gauging my emotional state after a brutal attack. He was memorizing me, his eyes drinking in every single change a year had wrought in me. I did the same, absorbing the faint line that had formed on his forehead, noting how his blond hair had grown shaggy, and the new seriousness that never seemed to disappear from his light green eyes.
“We need to talk about what happened last year, but this…moment. Right now. This is forever.” I nodded, unable to speak past the lump in my throat. I knew he was right. We did need to talk about what had happened, what we hadn’t been able to face, and what had eventually pushed us apart when nothing in the world seemed like it could.
But not now.
Not tonight.
Tonight was our chance to set it right.
My nod broke the last bit of his control and his mouth crashed down on mine. The familiar touch sent a shudder through me and my fingers dug into him. I couldn’t get close enough to him and it didn’t help he was fully dressed next to my nakedness. I nibbled along his jaw, and my teeth nipped the skin at his neck. He groaned, the rumble vibrating against my nipples and I gasped.
I wrapped my legs around his hips and he shifted me further up on the bed as my hands slid under his shirt, pushing it up until he finally reached over his head with one hand and pulled it off. The touch of skin against skin made us frantic as o
ur hands tangled as we shoved his jeans off, and he tilted my hips, sliding inside of me with zero fanfare, my body as ready for him as he was.
He anchored himself against the bed and rocked his hips, knowing exactly what would send me spiraling over the edge of orgasm in seconds. I gasped and cried his name, wanting it to last and knowing it wouldn’t, couldn’t, it had been too long and the need that had coiled inside of me over the long year erupted, sending bliss shooting to every single cell of my body as I felt him shudder against me as his own orgasm hit him as quickly as mine had.
His weight on me felt like a warm cocoon and I snuggled into it. My lips pressed against the salty skin of his chest and a second release washed over me. This time the release was emotional as relief flooded through me. We were together again. The realization was euphoric and the pure joy of it had laughter spilling out of me.
My mood was contagious and I felt the rumble of his own laughter as he hugged me to him and shifted us under the covers. His lips pressed against the top of my head and my eyes drifted shut, sleep coming easily in his arms.
Hours later, I jerked awake, uncertain what woke me, but knowing it was important. The window showed a dark gray sky indicating dawn wasn’t far off, but it didn’t ease the restlessness I felt. We needed to do something, but what?
My gaze traveled around the room, taking in the general uniformity of a hotel room before falling on his phone. I jabbed Dane in the side, forcing him awake.
“What? Is something wrong?” He came awake much quicker than I would have expected on less than three hours of sleep.
“You need to call your mom.” I told him, knowing that was what had woken me as I said it.
“Huh?” He rubbed his eyes as he shifted from fight mode to ‘call your mother’ mode. “That’s why you woke me up?”
“Yes. You need to call her right now.” I leaned over him and grabbed the phone from the stand and pressed it into his hands. “I can’t explain it any more than anything else that’s happened, but I know you need to call her right now. She’ll answer.”
The urgency in my voice cut through any protest he was considering and he dialed her number.
“Dane!” Relief and fear reverberated through the room as his mom answered on the first ring.
“Hey, Mom. Is everything okay?” His voice switched to soothing as he gave me an enquiring look. I shrugged, having no idea what was going on or why I’d felt so strongly about calling her, but knowing it was what had woken me up. Whatever was going on there involved us and somehow his mother was a part of it now.
“No, it’s not. Sweetie, I don’t know how to tell you this…” She broke off with a choked cry and Dane blanched at her obvious upset. “It’s Quinn.” We heard her take a deep breath to tell him what I wasn’t sure because he chose that moment to let her know I was right there.
“She’s with me.”
Chapter Seven
The silence seemed to go on forever as his mom was struck speechless by Dane’s revelation. He finally said, “Mom?”
Gasping sobs were his only reply.
“She’s fine. We’re both fine. Mom, you need to calm down. Is Grandma there?” He gave me a worried glance to which I replied with a helpless shrug.
“Margaret, it’s okay. We’re safe.” I hoped hearing my voice would snap her out of the crying jag, but when she started to hiccup along with the shuddering gasps I was worried it had the opposite effect. “Seriously, please talk to us. We’re getting worried.” I pleaded, clasping Dane’s hand in mine.
“Mom,” he added, his own voice low as he held my hand so tightly it turned white.
“Thank God.” One last shaky sniff and then, “Why the hell didn’t you answer my calls? Do you know how worried I’ve been? After what happened at Quinn’s house? Her parents? You didn’t think to tell me she was with you?”
“Mom.” Dane attempted to interrupt but his mom was on a roll now.
“And your grandmother! Do you have any idea of what this has done to her? She thought Quinn had been taken by dark magic. Dark magic the likes of which we’ve never seen.” She paused for a breath, but before we could say anything she was off again. “We both did. Oh my God. Does Quinn know about her parents? Oh my Lord, sweetie.” The soft concern in her voice had tears springing to my eyes and I knew she didn’t want to have to tell me.
“I know!” I jumped in before she could castigate herself over fussing at Dane when my parents were dead. “I was there. The man…” I took a deep breath of my own at the memory of his cold, uncaring expression. My life had meant nothing to him beyond what he wanted from it. “He killed them to get to me. He was going to kill me, but…” I stopped there, hesitant as how to describe what happened next.
“Mom.”
“Dane?” Uncertainty laced his mom’s voice as if she suspected whatever we had to say would alter everything.
“She’s a witch, Mom.”
Our only response was a thud, and as we glanced at each other we both exclaimed in unison.
“Mom!”
“Margaret!”
“It’s okay. I just dropped the phone. I thought I heard you say Quinn was a witch.” A shaky laugh came over the line as if the thought was so unbelievable it was laughable. “My goodness, the last twenty-four hours have been crazy.”
“Mom,” Dane hesitated and we heard her suck in a breath, preparing herself for what she didn’t want to hear. “She is a witch.”
“Where are you?” The sudden switch in topic had us both blinking, but the urgent tone had Dane answering.
“Some Midwestern state. I’m driving back with her. She needs protection.”
“Okay, good.” The soft relief we heard hardened as she commanded us, “Don’t come here. Do you understand me? Do not come home.” Steel rang in her voice and it was the first time I’d ever heard her speak so harshly.
“Mom.” Dane held the phone away from him, as surprised as me by the sudden about face.
“Sweetheart,” she forced her voice to soften, and I could hear the effort she put into it, but it didn’t ease our concern. “I didn’t mean to be so sharp. It isn’t safe here. When I went into the Montgomery’s house, I felt dark magic. Blood magic. Extremely dangerous magic. I also detected traces of light magic, which must have been Quinn. How did you escape dark magic like that?” She paused and I was about to answer when she continued. “Wait, don’t answer. There’s no time. Go to your grandmother’s. I’ll call her, let her know you’re coming. She’ll be able to draw protection spells before you get there. I don’t want you anywhere near here, okay?”
“Okay, but, Mom, are you safe?” Her fear had infected both of us instantly. The idea that the danger was so great we couldn’t even return home shook me. I had assumed I would be safe with Dane and his family, but it sounded like I’d brought danger to them instead.
“I’m safe.” Sincerity rang in her voice and loosened the knot in my chest before tightening right back with her next words. “But it isn’t safe for Quinn. You said the man was after you?”
“Yes, something about my blood increasing the power of their coven.” Her sharp inhale had me pausing, but she encouraged me to continue, needing to know what I knew. “He said something about me being chosen, something about a trinity, and a man named Mitchell?” Dane cast a sharp look toward me when I said Mitchell. I mouthed an apology having forgotten it until just now. “He didn’t look like a murderer. He looked like a businessman.” I added, the incongruity of his looks still bothering me. He hadn’t been a random hoodlum who had broken in and killed my parents for money or fun. He’d done it simply to get to me and part of me thought he should look like a thug, not a man like my father who wore a suit to work every day.
“Anything else?”
“Umm, no. It’s kinda of a blur. It happened so fast.”
“That’s fine. You’ve told me enough.” She cleared her throat and Dane straightened up. “I know there’s much more to this story, but my main concern is gettin
g both of you to safety. Dane, you need to go straight to your grandmothers. Don’t stop except for gas and food, do you understand me?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I’m sending your sister to your aunt’s house in Vermont.”
“What?” Shock held us both still. Victoria was a year younger than me and we’d always been friends, but she was best friends with her mom. Those two were inseparable and when Dane’s grandmother was around it was even worse. I now suspected it must have been because they were all witches. Dane had always skated on the peripheral of his family, not an outsider, but not one of the inner circle either and I could see now it was the lack of magic that had caused the division.
But to send Victoria away?
This was far worse than I’d thought.
“I won’t risk her. She can stay with her aunt. The situation…it’s too volatile. She’s inexperienced.”
“But Mom,” Dane protested. He wanted as many witches around to help protect me as he could get, even if it was dangerous.
“NO.” I jumped back at her violent reply. “You don’t understand. I’ll attempt to explain when you get to your grandmother’s, until then you have to trust me. If Quinn heard the name Mitchell…Well, that changes everything.”
“Okay. We’ll leave now. Hopefully, we’ll get there around this time tomorrow morning.”
“I love you, Dane.”
“I love you too, Mom.”
“Quinn,” her voice grew quiet and I waited. “I’m so sorry about your parents and about the past year. I should have reached out.” I tried to interrupt but she pushed on. “No, I should have. You were hurting and hindsight is 20/20, but I am truly sorry for my own actions.” Dane lowered his eyes and I knew we really needed to talk about what had caused him to demand a break. I had a feeling I was missing key pieces of the story. “I want you to know I love you. I never stopped. You’ve always been another daughter to me and I’m ashamed I haven’t treated you as such. You and Dane…. you scared me. Such intensity of emotion is frightening to anyone who hasn’t experienced it and you were both so young. You still are, but that’s beside the point. You need one another and the past cannot come between you now. Do you understand? You must stay together if you hope to survive.”
The Trinity Sisters Page 38
