Fate’s Embrace
Tracey H. Kitts
Raina’s spell accidentally awakens her guardian wizard, Aleric, who has been preserved as a statue for three hundred years. He brings with him a hot body, great sex and enough magical knowledge to protect Raina from the danger she’s facing. She thinks that danger is Michael, the alpha werewolf who wants this sexy witch as his mate. But she might be wrong. Especially when both Aleric and Michael let her know they don’t object to sharing.
Between a hot wizard, a talking snake and a werewolf—and an evil mage out to steal her soul—Raina has her hands full.
Ellora’s Cave Publishing
www.ellorascave.com
Fate’s Embrace
ISBN 9781419932496
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Fate’s Embrace Copyright © 2011 Tracey H. Kitts
Edited by Raelene Gorlinsky
Cover art by Syneca
Electronic book publication 2011
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Fate’s Embrace
Tracey H. Kitts
Dedication
To Jamie, for helping me to get off my butt.
Chapter One
The ritual was complete. Sweat covered me. I’d never performed such an intense spell before. Or perhaps I’d never put as much energy into one. Percy grinned at me, his long, forked tongue slithering past his teeth. Watching a snake grin is always a bit unnerving. But Percy wasn’t always a snake. He’s a cursed wizard who wandered into my garden and nearly made me pee in my pants. He still hadn’t let me live it down, but I thought that under the circumstances I handled myself quite well. That was five years ago; he’d lived with me ever since.
“Sssskyclad rituals are always such a treat,” he hissed.
With the tip of his long, green tail Percy handed me a towel. He’s a pervert, but there was still a lot of power in his serpentine body, despite his curse. And he added that power quite willingly to my spells. He was the best familiar a witch could ever ask for.
“All of this just to tell someone you’re not interested,” Percy said. “Humph.”
“It’s about more than that,” I said. “For weeks now I’ve felt like something was wrong, like there’s something out there waiting for me. This business with Michael just makes it worse.”
Percy looked at me as if I was an idiot and he was thinking of using smaller words to explain himself. “But it’s a protection spell. I hardly think wanting to have sex with you is harmful.”
“It is if I’m not interested.”
He sighed. “My point is that if Michael isn’t looking to hurt you, your protection spell is moot. Why not just tell him you’re not interested?”
“I feel threatened by his presence. Why would I want to start a conversation?”
Percy clicked his forked tongue in disapproval. “This spell, without evidence of foul play makes about as much sssense as those two priests and their snooping around.”
At that I couldn’t help but laugh.
“What did you say they were doing again?”
“Research. They’re writing a book about small town life and how it affects people. You know, that isn’t really so strange.”
Percy shook his head. “Boring. Who the hell would read a book about that?”
“Get to the point, Perc, I want to take a shower.”
He looked wounded, but I knew him well enough to know he was faking.
“My point is, they don’t know that such a boring book is necessary and yet they’re writing it anyway. You don’t even know if you need protecting from Michael or something else.”
“So I should just sit on my ass until something bites it off?”
He snorted. “You should just tell the man you aren’t interested.”
“Michael knows I’m not interested. I’ve made that clear. This,” I said, gesturing to the tools used to perform the protection spell, “is to make sure he stays away.”
Michael was an alpha werewolf who had somehow gotten it into his head that being mated to a witch would make him more powerful. He was probably right. He wanted my magic mixed with his bloodline so that his family could regain control of the local wolf pack. What he couldn’t seem to comprehend was that I wanted no part of him or his bloodline. Sure, he was good-looking. But Michael was bad. There was a darkness in him that I could feel without him even touching me.
I rose and stepped out of the circle, leaving the candles to finish burning. I draped the towel over my shoulders, covering my breasts as I neared the statue in the corner.
“I wish he was real,” I sighed, placing my hand against the hard marble of its chest.
“Ssweetheart,” Percy said, slithering up the statue’s leg, “you should go for someone a little less…cold. Don’t you think?”
I smiled at the snake’s comment, but my mind remained on the angelic figure before me. He was magnificent. And completely naked. The statue had been passed down in my family for generations. I was the most recent in a long line of witches to gaze upon his perfection. The statue was well over six feet tall and if his wings had been fully spread, he would not have fit into the corner where I’d placed him.
His hair was long, falling over his shoulders and down his back. Though the statue was pale gray, I’d always imagined his hair would be black. When company came over I had a loincloth that I tied around his waist. Other than that I left the statue as it was. I’d been looking at what he had to offer long before I understood what I was seeing. Maybe that’s why I was so comfortable with nudity.
I’d always thought of the angel as my protector and often dreamed of what it would be like if he were real. I’d never wished for that more than I did lately. I had the distinct impression that Michael wouldn’t tolerate my continued refusal.
Percy followed me into the bathroom and slithered over the knobs on the tub, his coils turning on the hot water.
“A glass of wine and a hot bath and you’ll feel better,” Percy said. “The protection spell will work. And if Michael comes around here, I’ll take care of that fur bag.”
I laughed. “How do you plan to do that?”
His body flopped up and down in what was most likely a shrug. “Have you seen how people react to a six-foot talking snake? I’ll scare the shit out of him and then bite whatever I can reach.”
I laughed again
as he insisted, “I might be poisonous, who knows?”
“How can you still be so human?”
He gave what looked like a shrug again. “Mankind is really not that different from snakes. They’ll all bite each other if necessary. Even if it’s just to get someone out of the way. Sssome bites are poisonous, some wound, some kill, and some leave a scar.”
The truth of Percy’s words haunted me as I drifted toward sleep that night. I’d always been able to take care of myself. However, I’d never been more aware of being outmatched. I was not strong enough to take on an alpha werewolf. I blinked heavily. The last thing I saw before falling asleep was the statue in the corner. In my drowsy state, it looked like he winked at me.
The face before me was one I had dreamed of all my life. He was devastatingly, heartrendingly beautiful. His eyes were like fire. They burned, not because of the color, but the intense passion behind them. In my dreams I knew him, I always had. And now more than ever I knew I had to find him.
If ever I needed a reason to pursue my dream it was this—the world would be worse off for having missed this vision. I could feel his hand on me just as if he were flesh and blood. His smile did things to me I hope to be able to someday put into words. He was the most gorgeous thing I’d ever seen, and he didn’t speak a word.
I awoke with a start, the image of his sapphire eyes burning in my mind. It was morning and the night had passed in what felt like a few moments. Something was wrong. I looked around and found my statue missing, my balcony doors open wide.
“Percy!”
Neither of us could figure how someone had gotten into my room and stolen something so large without waking me. All day I was tormented by thoughts of someone watching me as I slept. What if their intentions had been worse than theft?
“So much for my protection spell.”
“You don’t know it isn’t working,” Percy said.
I was getting ready for bed and ready to kick the snake out of my room. As always, he offered to stay, but I wanted privacy. Watching me shower was one thing, watching me sleep was another. Or maybe that’s just because I knew him well enough to know the naughty things he might be thinking while watching me sleep. I don’t necessarily mean naughty in a sexual way. The last time I let him stay in my room, I woke up with a mustache. The bastard used permanent marker and no potions would wash it off. I wore the damn thing for two weeks.
“How can you say that?”
“They didn’t hurt you.”
Technically he was right. Whoever they were they had taken something precious to me and for that I despised them. After checking to make sure my balcony doors were locked and that Percy was out of my room, I sat down at the vanity and poured myself a glass of wine. I was exhausted, but too upset to rest. Still, I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew my balcony doors swung open and a cool autumn breeze touched my skin.
Normally fall smells like apples, coffee, spices and burning leaves. But there was something different on the wind tonight. I moved toward the open doors as if in a trance, my thin silk robe billowing about my legs.
I can’t describe the scent exactly, but I can describe how it made me feel. Warm despite the cold, welcome, and most of all, safe. There was something so familiar in the touch of the wind, in the embrace of the night. I stood there a moment just enjoying the sensations. And then I saw him.
As I beheld him there in all his dark glory, arms and wings spread wide, the only word that came to mind was hallelujah. It was a broken word of praise, stolen from my lips before it was complete by a man who looked like one of the Fallen.
As he kissed me I knew one thing for certain, he was no angel. Dark wings enveloped me along with his arms, pressing me against the length of his body. His naked skin burned me through my thin robe. I reached up, running my fingers through his long, dark hair as his tender kiss stole my breath and my heart.
“When did I fall asleep?” I asked breathlessly.
His smile was all the proof I needed that this was a dream. No one could make me feel this way with just a smile.
“Raina.” My name sounded like a caress when he said it. “You’re not asleep.”
I took a step back, admiring the body I was so familiar with. Only now he was flesh and blood and there was nothing cold about him.
“If I’m not dreaming, then who are you?”
His eyes glowed in the darkness and I fought to keep my heartbeat steady. When he spoke again I nearly swooned. There was magic in his voice, unlike anything I’d heard before.
“I’m your guardian, preserved for centuries by your ancestors, waiting for your call. My name is Aleric.”
“Guardian? Like a guardian angel?”
He laughed softly and I gasped as he pulled me close again.
“Not even close.”
I ran my hands up and over his chest, savoring the feel of every curve beneath my hand, waiting for him to turn back to stone. Surely I would wake up soon.
He leaned in close, his breath warm against my lips. “You have only to accept my protection and no harm will come to you.”
“What are you?” I gasped.
His eyes flashed blue as he replied, “I’m exactly what you asked for.”
Chapter Two
“Shit.”
I sat straight up in bed. I was covered in sweat, my thin gown clinging to my body. Apparently I’d slept on top of the covers. The last thing I remembered was him. What the hell was going on?
“I’m getting sick of this bullshit.”
“What’s wrong?” Percy came slithering in from the hallway. When I gave him a questioning look he added, “You screamed.”
“I did?”
The snake laughed as he wound his way up my bed post. “You did. You cursed and screamed and I came running.” At the word “running” he looked down at his long green body. “Well, I came,” he said.
I couldn’t help laughing. Percy always cracked me up. Even under the circumstances his humor was most welcome. I stood up, pulling the soaking gown over my head.
“I saw him last night, Percy.”
“Saw who?” he asked, sliding along behind me. “You’re not making any sense.”
I hesitated, but decided to tell him the truth. “I saw the statue. Only he was real and he was in my bedroom.”
I turned on the shower before turning back to the mirror to brush my teeth. Percy watched me, his tongue darting out a few times while he thought over what I’d just said.
“You’re under a great deal of stressss.”
“Percy,” I said around a mouthful of toothpaste.
He held up the tip of his tail to silence me. “Just hear me out. I think that perhaps the loss of something dear to you has made the problem much worse. You were already so concerned about Michael, and now this theft.” He paused, tapping his tail against his teeth like someone might do with their fingernail. “I think it was all just too much for you.”
I spit into the sink and wiped a hand across the back of my mouth, not bothering with a towel. “You think I’m delusional?”
He grinned. “Darling, you’re talking to a snake.”
“Oh, fuck you.”
He laughed while I attempted to brush my long hair. It’s not exactly blonde and not exactly red. I believe the name for my hair color is strawberry. Either way, it stayed tangled thanks to my natural curl. I needed to get out as many tangles as I could before washing it.
“Sseriously,” Percy said. “You might just be overwrought.”
Overwrought. That sounded like I was hanging above some sort of iron fixture. Even though he didn’t believe me, I continued to tell Percy what happened. I wasn’t sure how to refer to the incident except as a dream.
He followed me into the shower while I spoke and I scooped him up, placing him in his usual basket beneath the shower nozzle.
It’s a contraption I had specially made. The basket is about four feet long and two feet wide. I’d bought a special showerhead that extended
far enough that I wouldn’t bang my elbows on Percy’s basket when I washed my hair.
Percy didn’t always get in the shower with me, but it happened often enough. He liked the water. Ever since he was turned into a snake he said it felt different against his skin. Apparently different was good in this case, because he always went outside in the rain too. At first I thought he just wanted to see me naked. He probably does. He’s most likely going out in the rain to keep me from catching on. Oh well. Who gives a shit if a perverted snake wants to watch me shower? I had bigger things to worry about. Like a six-foot werewolf who wanted to get into my pants. A snake in the shower? No biggie.
“So what happened after he kissed you?”
“I have no idea.”
Percy had been scrubbing my back with a loofah sponge. He dropped the sponge and whacked me with his tail.
“Ouch! What’s wrong with you?”
“What do you mean you have no idea?! A strange man with wings appears in your bedroom, makes out with you, and you’ve got no idea what happened next?”
I turned back to face him, hooking the loop of string on the sponge over the tip of his tail again. “I thought you didn’t believe me, that I was overwrought.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t believe you. I said that whatever you saw might be a result of stress.”
I shrugged. “Same thing.”
Percy pouted while I washed my hair. When I started to rinse he climbed down and scooted over to the corner, complaining about me hitting him in the face with my hair.
“I suppose you don’t want to hear his name then?”
“What?” The snake perked up and moved closer to my feet. “You never said you knew his name.”
“Aleric.”
He looked disappointed. “That’s it? No last name?”
I slid the glass door back and stepped out of the shower. Percy flopped wetly onto the tile. I threw down a towel so that he could crawl over it and dry off.
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