“Um, Rowan…he’s naked.”
With dread-tinged excitement, she switched places with Meaghan and met his sharp, green gaze. Swallowing heavily, she said, “You’re still here.”
“I won’t leave until my purpose for being called for has been fulfilled. I have questions, and I need answers.” She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, he added, “From you.”
“I’m not really comfortable letting you into my house.”
He arched a chestnut-colored brow as he stared at her. “I think we both know that if I wanted to hurt you, I would have done it already.”
“Did you leave out important details?” Meg whispered harshly from behind her.
“Look, it’s almost two in the morning. I’m tired. You’re…naked.”
A wicked grin curved his lips. “Normally, that would lead to a pleasant way to greet the dawn, but you’ve already expressed your feelings on that, too.” The rumble of his voice lodged in her center, turning her insides to liquid.
“You did leave out details!”
Rowan fought the urge to roll her eyes at her friend and kept her gaze on the man—god, she amended—in front of her.
With a wave of his hand, he set the leaves in her back garden swirling around him. With a dull flash of light the vegetation transformed into jeans and a cotton, button-down shirt worn over a T-shirt that stretched snugly across his muscular chest.
“Ho-lee shit,” Meaghan breathed behind her. “I’ve seen a lot of stuff…but nothing like that. Tea isn’t going to cut it. I’ll put on a pot of coffee.”
With trembling fingers, Rowan slid free the chain and slowly opened the door.
He stepped through the doorway and stood mere inches from her. “Thank you, Rowan.”
Another flutter of desire riffled through her at the sound of her name crossing his lips. Forcing herself backward, she led him into the kitchen and gestured for him to sit at the small, wooden table. Meaghan circled the table, staring at him in awe. She reached out and touched his shoulder.
He glanced at Meaghan’s hand then pointedly up at her face.
She snatched back her hand and took a few steps away. “It feels like normal fabric,” she muttered, looking at Rowan. “This is crazy.”
Crazy didn’t begin to cover it. Rowan sank into the chair opposite Gwydion. For some reason she couldn’t explain, having him dressed and sitting across from her in her kitchen was more unnerving than having him pin her to the loamy earth while naked. She nervously wet her lips, unable to take her eyes from his face.
Meaghan, seeming somewhat more in control of her faculties, set the plate of cookies in the center of the table. “I’m gonna go ahead and assume you can eat human food?”
He gifted her with a staggering smile and nodded. “Thank you, wench.”
Meg frowned, slightly. “It’s Meaghan. Not wench.”
He bowed his head slightly and the light glinted off the faint golden strands in his brown hair. “My apologies. Thank you, Meaghan.”
He turned his attention back to Rowan. She clenched her hand under the table to keep from reaching out and stroking his hair to see if it looked as soft as it felt.
Gwydion picked up a cookie and bit into it, his groan of pleasure filling the small room. Rowan shifted in her seat, the sound dampening her panties. She met Meg’s gaze as the other woman mouthed, O. M. G. behind his head.
“What is this?” he asked, finishing the first one and picking up another.
“A peanut-butter cookie.”
“I would have more. They are delicious.”
Meaghan poured a glass of milk and set it in front of him. He swallowed, grimacing. “What is wrong with this milk?”
Rowan checked the date. It wasn’t expired. She lifted the glass to her face and sniffed. It smelled normal. “I’m not sure what you mean. It smells fine to me.” Needing to put some distance between herself and the man at the table, she moved to the sink and filled a glass of water before returning to her spot and sliding it toward him. “Maybe this will be better.”
She watched as he lifted the glass to his face, his nose wrinkling as he sniffed the liquid. He took a tentative swallow and scowled. “Are you trying to poison me?”
Rowan grabbed the glass and drank from it. “It’s stuff they put in the water to purify it and make it safe to drink.”
“You people have polluted the earth to the point where your only recourse is to purify the water.”
“Pretty much,” she said.
He frowned, his eyes clouding with anger.
“Well, we didn’t do it personally,” Meaghan rushed to add. “This has been going on for years.”
Rowan wasn’t sure, but she thought she heard him growl under his breath.
He smelled the water again before taking a sip and grimacing. “What is it tainted with?”
“Chlorine and god knows what other chemicals.” Moving to the chair in front of the laptop, she pulled it closer and opened the lid. Bringing up a new search page, she Googled water purification. Gwydion scooted his chair closer and watched her intently, his gaze darting between her fingers tapping at the keys and the information scrolling across the screen.
Paging through the links, she found one that seemed promising and clicked on it. Gwydion’s eyes remained glued on the screen.
She cleared her throat and began to read. “Due to the proliferation of—”
He shot her a withering glance. “I can read.”
“Oh.” She turned the computer toward him. “Sorry.”
If the guy could appear at will and direct the actions of plant life, she supposed his ability to read shouldn’t be a surprise. He was, after all, a god. Apparently. She still couldn’t quite get her head around that. But she also couldn’t deny what she’d seen.
She smothered a yawn with her hand and glanced at the clock. It was nearly three in the morning, and she had to work at nine.
Gwydion had stopped reading and gazed at her, his eyes blazing. He gestured impatiently toward the screen. “There is more.”
She stared at him blankly for a moment until she figured out what he wanted and showed him how to scroll down the page. He continued reading, his eyes narrowing occasionally. She assumed it was due to the unfamiliar words and chemical compounds listed in the article. When he finished reading, he sat back in his chair. “I would know more.”
Turning the laptop toward her once again, she showed him how to use the search function before laying her head on her arms and closing her eyes.
“Don’t you have to work in the morning?” Meaghan asked.
Rowan nodded sleepily.
“Go to bed. I’ve got the day off tomorrow. I’ll stay up with Gwydion and help him if he needs it.”
“Nah, it’s okay. I need to study anyway.” Forcing herself to sit up, she pulled a botany textbook from the backpack hanging off the back of the chair and placed it on the table. Propping her head on her hand, she tried to focus on the text. But more often than not, her attention drifted to the man—god, she corrected herself—sitting at in the chair kitty-corner from her.
His brow furrowed in concentration as he continued to scan the screen in front of him. Through her drooping eyelids, she watched him frown as he switched to another page. Meaghan set freshly brewed cups of coffee in front of each of them along with sugar and creamer. The comforting scent and the promise of a caffeine jolt helped Rowan shake off the fatigue as she sweetened her drink.
Gwydion, she noticed, sniffed experimentally at his cup before taking a sip. From the look of bliss spreading across his features, this appealed to him far more than the milk or water. He nodded briefly at the other woman before returning his attention to the computer. “My thanks, wench.”
“It’s Meaghan.” Glancing at Rowan, she rolled her eyes but couldn’t quite suppress the smile that threatened. “If you guys are all set, I’m going to go catch up on the shows I DVRed this week.”
“We’re fine. And thanks for the coffee.
”
“No prob. And I’ll be in the next room if you need anything.”
Rowan suspected that last comment was more for Gwydion’s benefit than hers. A way to let him know that she wasn’t sure she quite trusted him. However, it seemed to be lost on him as he continued to sip his coffee and stare fixedly at the computer.
Rowan turned back to her textbook, fighting to keep the words from swimming before her bleary eyes. Balancing school and work had never seemed so daunting. Of course, she’d never had a distraction like Gwydion, either.
As she drank the coffee as quickly as possible, she couldn’t keep her attention from straying to his large, strong hands and trailing up his forearms. It was impossible not to remember how his touch had felt as he’d traced her lips, the weight of his body pressing her into the earth. She closed her eyes imagining the caress of his mouth…the taste of his lips.
* * * *
Gwydion had lost track of how long he’d stared at the endless streams of information. It was long enough that the sky had begun to lighten and his eyes burned with strain. He’d forgotten how cumbersome it was to be tied to a physical body that required sleep and nourishment. He wasn’t the only one in need of rest. Rowan had fallen asleep, her open book an uncomfortable-looking pillow.
Standing, he stretched his cramped muscles and moved from the table where he’d spent the night trying to find out all he could about the poisoned water. The floorboards creaked under his feet, and she stirred slightly. A flash of guilt prodded him, and he bent forward, slipping an arm beneath her legs and another around her back. She needed to be in her bed. Lifting her into his arms, he ignored the stirring of his cock at the thought of climbing into her bed with her.
She shifted in her sleep, nuzzling his chest with her face and hooking her fingers into the neckline of his shirt, the warmth of her hand seeping into his skin. He could still smell the damp earth and leafy scent that clung to her hair. And he couldn’t forget the feeling of her squirming beneath him, her lush curves cradling his body.
Willing aside his body’s reaction to her, he carried Rowan into the next room. Her friend looked up, eyes wide.
“Where are the sleeping quarters?”
Meaghan led the way down a darkened corridor to a room at the end and pushed open the door. Through the window, moonlight shown on an ornate, brass bed. Meaghan darted ahead of him and pulled back the covers, and he laid Rowan in the center of the mattress. As her weight shifted, she clutched at his shoulders murmuring unintelligibly in her sleep, her lips brushing his neck.
It took every ounce of his self-control not to follow her down onto the bed. Carefully, he tucked the covers around her and followed Meaghan from the room. He needed to find out more about the time in which he’d landed.
Chapter Three
Rowan startled awake to the sound of her alarm clock blaring in her ear. Thrashing, she batted at the offending technology and blinked against the bright glare of the morning sun. She kicked off her covers and struggled into a sitting position, stretching uncomfortably. How the hell had she managed to fall asleep in her clothes?
She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and it all came rushing back. The spell gone oh so wrong. Gwydion. The vines around her wrists. His body above hers. The tingling sensation of need she’d experienced last night was back and stronger than ever. That still didn’t explain how she’d ended up in bed with her clothes on.
Pushing herself from the bed, she left the room. The house was quiet, and Meaghan was crashed out on the couch. Moving into the kitchen, Rowan half expected to see Gwydion at the table, still intently poring over the info on the computer screen, but the room was empty. She quietly made her way through the rest of the house searching for him and unable to explain the keen disappointment that tightened her stomach when she realized he was gone.
He’d been so upset at the state of the environment. Not that she could blame him. It was part of the reason she’d performed the protection spell in the first place. She couldn’t stand the thought of the orchard behind her house being turned into yet another over-priced, cookie-cutter subdivision. And even worse, it was her family’s company slotted to do the build.
She’d tried to talk to her dad and brother about leaving the orchard as it was, but they’d been able to get the land cheap. Nothing short of the discovery of a cache of natural resources or endangered species would stop the destruction of the environment. And since Michigan didn’t have much in the way of hidden oil pockets, the natural resources angle was unlikely at best. It was equally unlikely that the nearly extinct animals and insects would make a sudden, inexplicable comeback.
But she’d had to try something. The site was due to be inspected at the end of the week, and there was no way they wouldn’t be given the go ahead to build. Since she didn’t have a legal leg to stand on, magic had been her only option. And that had been a huge fiasco. Not only had she failed to protect the area, she was now miserably aroused.
Maybe she shouldn’t have dismissed his idea of “sacrifice” as quickly as she had. But it was too late for that. Who knew where he was now and if she’d ever see him again? Maybe he’d discovered the world was too big of a mess to even attempt fixing. Maybe he’d given up and gone back to wherever he’d been before she’d summoned him. Burying the seeds of disappointment, she quickly padded toward the shower. If she didn’t hurry, she’d be late for work. Again.
* * * *
Rowan pushed a heavy rack of lingerie toward the sleepwear section at the back of the store. The noise from the busy mall faded as she made her way down the aisle. She’d arrived three minutes late. It had been more than late enough to piss off her boss, and now, Rowan was stuck unpacking and pricing clothes for the rest of her shift. She wasn’t about to admit it to the other woman, but that was fine by her. She had a screaming headache from lack of sleep, and she was distracted by wondering what had happened to Gwydion.
The creaky wheels of another clothes rack approaching pulled her from her endless speculation about the man who’d appeared out of nowhere and had disappeared just as quickly. She turned to find her friend and co-worker, Beth, heading toward the sportswear aisle.
Beth peered around the rack and grinned at Rowan. “So what did you do to piss off the Queen of the Damned today?” Beth asked.
“You mean other than existing?”
“Breathing doesn’t count. She’s always mad that we’re still doing that.”
Kathy, their boss, had a seemingly endless supply of bitterness and anger. In fact, Rowan wasn’t sure she’d ever seen the other woman smile. Ever. Right now, she glared at them from behind the cash register, her lips twisted into a scowl.
“I was late,” Rowan admitted.
Beth rolled her eyes. “Careful. That’s hanging offense as far as she’s concerned.”
Rowan laughed then quickly stifled a yawn.
“Late night?” Beth asked, as she tore the plastic off a shipment of yoga pants.
“Way late.”
“Well, I hope it was at least because of a date.”
“Not exactly. Incoming,” she muttered quietly to Beth as Kathy approached.
Arms crossed over her chest, she scowled at Rowan before turning to Beth. “As soon as you finish putting out that merchandise, you can both move to the storeroom. It needs to be cleaned.”
Both women rolled their eyes as their boss wandered back toward the front of the store. The day dragged endlessly, but it gave Rowan time to think. It was impossible to keep Gwydion from her thoughts. On the one hand, she wasn’t entirely convinced that she hadn’t imagined the whole thing. But the cups he’d used had been sitting out on the table when she’d gotten up. Apparently, gods couldn’t manage to put dishes in the sink when they were finished with them any better than mortal men could.
“Hey. Distracto chick.”
“Huh?” Rowan turned toward Beth, blinking at the storeroom floor she was supposed to be sweeping.
Beth grinned. “What’s going on wi
th you? It’s like you’ve already checked out for the day.”
To be fair, she pretty much had. She couldn’t keep her thoughts off Gwydion no matter how hard she tried. His deep voice had rumbled through her body, waking places in her that hadn’t responded to a man in longer than she cared to admit. There was something about him—the feral glow in his eyes, the sure touch of his hands, the passion for a world that was being destroyed. Of course, if he was so passionate about it, where the hell was he? Had he just decided that the earth was too far gone and ditched the whole planet? It wasn’t inconceivable, she supposed. He’d vanished from the world before. Some nature god he was.
Rowan shook her head and focused her attention on her friend. “I know. I’m a total space case today.”
Beth looked as if she were about to say something else when a familiar voice sounded beyond the partially open storeroom door.
“I would speak with the wench Rowan.” Gwydion’s voice drifted back to her from the front of the store.
A startled laugh escaped Beth. “Wench? What did I tell you about picking up guys at the ren faire?” She craned her neck around the door to catch sight of him.
Nervous excitement tumbled through Rowan’s stomach. He hadn’t left. Of course, right now, he was making a scene at her workplace, but worse things could happen.
Beth stared open-mouthed as Gwydion moved into view.
“You know what?” she muttered. “Ignore what I said about renaissance festival guys. If that’s where you found that one, I’m totally hitting the next faire that comes to town.”
“It’s a long, long story.” She told her friend and stepped from the storeroom and into the main part of the store.
“I’ll be waiting. Desperately. For the details.”
Kathy stepped in front of Gwydion, effectively halting his progress. She turned to look at Rowan, her watery blue eyes narrowed. “You’re not due for a break for at least an hour. Don’t even think about leaving that room. I’ll fire you so fast your head will spin.” Kathy whirled and to face Gwydion again.
Sensuous Summoning Page 2
