When our bodies parted, it felt like one soul ripping in half. The intensity of it sent alarms off in my head. I was in love with Derek, so why did I feel so drawn to Blake?
"Please, stop. I can't—"
He moved himself off of me and sat up, still close, but no longer touching me.
Fighting the urge to throw myself at him, I scooted back and pulled my sweater over my head. Exhaustion threatened to take me under after such a drain of power. "How? How is this possible? You should be dead from that."
"I don't know, exactly. But Rose, I've always believed we were meant for each other. If you'll just give us a chance, I think you'll see that, too."
I wanted to, I really did. But could I?
Ocean would say I had to try. "What if I can't love you like you want?"
"I'm willing to risk it. We don't have to rush it. Just, let me take you out on a date. No strings, no commitments, just a date. Get to know the real me. Forget everything you think you know about Blake Parker and get to know the me I am now."
My hand inched toward his, and I pulled it back. "No strings?"
His lips curled up, and I wanted to bite one. "No strings."
I bit my own lip instead. "No pressure?"
"Not unless you ask for some."
Oh, God. "Okay, one date. But we can't do this tonight. I'm in a vulnerable place, and now there's so much I have to think about. I need time. And space."
He nodded. "I can leave. It's okay."
"No, I'm not sending you out in that. I'll just spend the evening in my room."
"It's too cold in there. Stay here tonight, and I'll sleep in Ocean's room. I promise I won't bother you."
The thought of him just a few feet away all night tortured me with what could be, but I agreed and watched with warring emotion as he chose a few extra blankets and locked himself in Ocean's room.
I stoked the fire, and it blazed back to life.
The spot he'd stroked between my legs still ached, wet with need and unfulfilled release.
I glanced at Ocean's door, making sure it was closed securely, then slipped my hand into my jeans.
When my fingers found that swollen nub, I had to bite back a moan. My imagination carried me far away to my lover's bed. I tried not to focus on the face, afraid of whose face I would see, so instead I imagined the hands touching me, stroking me, taking me past my pain and into ecstasy.
I came quietly, the explosion ripping through my mind, and lay panting on the bed that still smelled like Blake.
The orgasm gave me temporary relief, but did nothing to give me real answers.
I could choose a man I loved, who didn't want me.
Or a man I wanted, whom I couldn't yet love.
ELEVEN
What Angel Wakes
BLAKE
What angel wakes me from my flowery bed?
—William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream
SUNLIGHT, MADE BRIGHTER by the white world that lay outside, filled the cramped bedroom as I straightened the covers on Ocean's bed.
I hadn't slept a moment last night, imagining Rose as she'd looked under me, lips swollen from my kisses, eyes glassy with lust.
Her power simmered in me, dissipating by morning, but fed by the demon inside. It didn't weaken me. On the contrary, I felt energized by it, as if I could use that power to stay longer in this flesh, before a greater sacrifice was required.
I had relieved my own sexual frustration to the sounds of her quiet moans in the next room. If she hadn't poured her energy into me, I would have suffered much more without feeding properly. As it was, I could endure the need until she was ready.
At least she'd agreed to a date. Now, I would need to find a way to dampen my seductive powers so she could see the real me clearly, without overactive pheromones clouding her mind.
I knew of a spell that would work, but I'd need the right ingredients. As much as I loathed being around Rainbow, the witch might prove useful in helping me woo her daughter.
There were matters of business we needed to discuss regardless, now that I had a renewed purpose in staying in this form.
Rose slept peacefully on the blankets in front of a dying fire, her chest rising and falling as steadily as the snow had last night. With lips slightly parted, she inhaled deeply, shifted to her side, and fell back into her dreams.
I pulled a fallen blanket over her and stoked and fed the fire to keep her warm.
The electricity had come on in the night, and I made sure the heat was on before I left to dig her out of her icy prison.
While I worked on the property, freeing cars and clearing lanes with the snowplow we had, the county workers cleared the roads beyond our property. The sun burned hotter than anyone expected today, melting away the blizzard that had surprised us all.
With work out of the way, I went in search for the coven leader and found her in the kennel with a newly born litter of pups.
Her cold eyes sliced through me as I walked in. "Where have you been?"
"How and where I spend my time is none of your concern."
Her lips tightened into a straight line. "Then why are you here now?"
"I need a few supplies for a spell, and I need an update on our timetable for the ceremony. This body won't last long otherwise."
I handed her a list of ingredients to collect for me.
She scowled. "So now I'm your lackey?"
"You are if you want the power you've been lusting after."
Shoving the paper in her jacket pocket and pulling out a key, she walked to a locked storage space and opened it.
An assortment of bottles filled with strange concoctions lined the shelves. She began puling them down and dumping them into a canvas bag hanging on the wall. "We're on schedule. Everything is worked out, as soon as you acquire something that can give us an edge against the Druids."
I ticked off the list in my head as she chose from the bottles, making sure she didn't forget anything. I needed this to work if I was going to seduce Rose honestly.
The only way she'd ever recover from Derek long enough to fall in love again, was if it really was love and not magically induced lust.
"What about the sacrifice?" Falling in love with Rose had changed something inside of me, as much as possessing Blake's body had changed him. The blood required for demon magic to work never fazed me before. However, I no longer wanted to go through with the sacrifice, but I had to if I wanted to stay with Rose.
But if she ever found out what I'd have to do to keep this form, she'd never love me.
"Who have you chosen?"
Rainbow thrust the bag at me. "Why does it matter to a demon which human will be killed to give him life?"
Dark magic rose in me, spilling out of my eyes as I stared her down. "This is not a ritual to be taken lightly. Everything must be perfect. The sacrifice must be chosen with care, or it will not work, and we will all lose that which we want most."
Her lips curled into a sinister smile. "Oh, don't you worry. She is well chosen."
"And she is pure?"
"As pure as that snow was before you defiled it."
I stepped forward, fear stirring in me. "Who is she?"
"Why, Rose, of course. Who else?"
Blood filled my ears, and fire filled my eyes. "I forbid it. You may not use her for this."
"We have no other choice. Her powers make it impossible for her to be with a man, thus ensuring her purity for the ritual. Because of her, you will stay human forever, and I will be the most powerful witch in the world."
"She is not the only virgin to walk this plane. Find someone else. I won't perform the ritual if you use her."
There would be no point. Without her in this world, I may as well go back to my own prison. If I could be with her in any other way, I would. If there were any loopholes to this ritual, I'd know of them, but there weren't. It always required a human virgin sacrifice.
Always.
And so we had to find a different virgin, so
meone who didn't have Rose's laugh and beauty. Someone who didn't make me want to be a better version of myself, just so I could come closer to deserving her.
"Why are you so intent on protecting one human?" When I didn't answer, she continued. "I have other reasons for choosing her."
"Such as?" She didn't need to know the depths of my feelings for Rose.
"There's much you don't know about my history, and about how Rose was conceived and who her real father is."
I stood in shock as she revealed Rose's darkest secret, a secret even Rose didn't know.
"So you see, she is the fitting choice."
Before I destroyed this evil bitch for using her own flesh and blood this way, before I ripped her apart and fed her to the demons of hell where she belonged, I turned and walked away.
Fists clenching, breath ragged from rage, I weighed my choices.
If I followed through with my plans to seduce Rose slowly, to gain her trust and her love without my own magic, I risked losing her forever.
But with my powers, I could seduce her on our date. By tomorrow, she'd no longer be a virgin, and her mother could no longer use her for the sacrifice, regardless of anything else.
Rainbow wanted this as badly as I did. She'd find someone else to take Rose's place. Maybe the gain wouldn't be as great, but it would still work.
I tossed the bag of potions in the trash and went back to my room to prepare for that night.
Whether Rose loved me or not, tonight I would make love to her. I would give her the most incredible sexual experience she could ever have, and, in the process, I would save her life.
TWELVE
A Dream Past the Wit of Man
DEREK
I have had a dream, past the wit of man to say what dream it was.
—William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream
IF I BELIEVED in cosmic retribution, I would have thought the storm my punishment for slipping into my old ways and trying to forget about Rose.
Needless to say, that never works.
"Nothing happened, not really," I told my sleeping brother, hoping he could hear my confession. "I had a few drinks, and this chick hit on me. Just the type of girl I would have gone home with before, but last night she didn't appeal to me."
The monitors beeped, low and steady, as Dean breathed in and out, but he gave no indication that he could hear.
"I just wanted to go back to when it was simple and I didn't have to choose between family and love. So, I went home with this girl, and we made out for a while, but I couldn't even get hard for her. Finally, I blamed it on the alcohol, which had long since worn off, and made it back here just in time to avoid the storm. If I'd stayed, I would have been stuck with her all night."
Outside, the trees dripped off the remnants of the snowfall as the sun melted the world back to its proper colors, shedding off the white cloak of winter.
Inside, everyone in my family kept to themselves, locked in their own private journey as they struggled to find a way to free Dean and neutralize the threat the witches posed.
I paced the bright room, tossing out flowers that had died while Dean slumbered on, unaware that there had been any flowers here at all. We'd of course tried using the roses in every possible way we could think of to break him free, and while that gave his skin a healthier glow, it did nothing to revive him.
Modern medicine had failed us.
Magic could not help us.
Neither our ancient wisdom, nor massive wealth, could buy this answer, and so we were lost.
I sat on the side of his bed and held his hand. "If you can hear me at all, Dean, squeeze my hand. We need you back, Bro."
My eyes shifted into the eyes of a hunter, wolf-like and powerful as I sent my Druid energy into him through our physical connection, willing him to life, willing him to give me some clue as to how to bring him back.
Time ticked by in a crawl, his hand limp and cold in mine.
I relaxed my fingers and was about to pull away, when his fingers twitched.
I gripped his hand, my body shaking with emotion. "Dean, can you hear me?"
His consciousness slammed into my mind, and I saw everything.
Violence reigned supreme in Dean's prison. He only half existed, non-corporeal but still trapped behind bars, his soul shut out from his body. The agony was total and constant, like having a limb ripped off every second of every day forever. The only balm to offer any kind of solace came from his family as they held him, talked to him and read to him. The rose elixir they fed Dean had strengthened his connection to his physical form, allowing him to be more aware, to escape the hell of this place.
He became a less enticing meal for the demons, who clearly fed on fear and pain. They circled another soul, a girl who had been here before. She looked beyond broken, and Dean wondered if she still had the capacity to feel anything.
Trying to communicate with Derek was like trying to walk through a blaze of fire while covered in gasoline, but he couldn't give up. Derek had to know the truth.
He had to know what had really happened that night.
He had to know about Rose before it was too late.
When Derek touched Dean with his shifting powers, Dean pushed back, forcing a bit of himself into his body, forcing memories into Derek's mind.
Dean read the text one more time. "I'm willing to talk, but come alone and tell no one."
He knew the witches were up to something and had been secretly investigating them since he overheard his parents talking about them being back in town. His mom had been upset, not jealous because Dad had dated the coven leader before they met, but worried that she would come after them like she had before.
The news had stunned him, so he did his research. Over twenty years ago, David O'Conner had dated a young, beautiful witch named Rainbow Wintersong. The relationship had been high profile as he was just establishing himself at Rose Botanicals and had garnered media attention for his products. When they broke up, Rainbow stalked him, threatened him, and broken into his house. He filed a restraining order against her and had even bought her a large piece of property in Washington so she'd have somewhere to live.
She'd eventually left Washington, but had come back a few years ago. Recently, she began publically accusing them of terrorizing her coven, breaking in and vandalizing them, and worse.
Dean had always been good at making peace with people. He had a gift for diffusing escalating emotional situations and thought that if he could talk with her, they could sort this all out before his family was hurt.
So he'd made contact, and when she said she'd meet, he'd gone.
He arrived on the property late, as instructed, and met her at the kennels. She invited him into her private living area and offered him tea. Believing this to be a peace offering, he accepted and sipped it as they talked about what she wanted and how they could resolve the differences between their families.
The tea didn't affect him until he'd finished it, and by then it was too late. Not only did it force him to shift and stay in wolf form, but it confused his mind, making everything fuzzy and larger than life.
Panic had filled him, his fight or flight instincts taking over, only she wouldn't let him leave. She used a Taser gun on him to keep him where she wanted him.
Pain and rage and confusion undid him. He howled, growled, wanted desperately to get away.
She spoke of plans to take their roses, how he would be a sacrifice, how this would make them stronger, but she needed her daughter to play her role. She knew Rose wouldn't act without provocation.
"I had to stage this for her benefit, you see. I do apologize for any inconvenience to you. But don't worry, someday she'll suffer for her role in your demise," she'd said, her eyes cold, like dead fish.
When Rose came in, she didn't want to act. Dean smelled her fear, her uncertainty, her utter revulsion at having to harm any life.
Rose hesitated, and Dean knew she wanted to find another way, but Rainbow sent a jol
t of power to Dean, and the pain made him howl again.
Rainbow screamed that she was being attacked, that Dean would kill her.
Rose acted in fear, in defense of, and at the pleas of her mother.
Dean was now trapped in the demon plane, and the coven leader had a sinister force working with her.
But through the whisperings, Dean had learned something important. Rose could reverse this, if she learned to control her powers.
Only Rose could save him and save his family.
And Dean had one other message for Derek.
"Her heart is pure, Derek. Go to her."
The visions faded out, leaving me shaking with a throbbing head and pounding heart. "Mom! Dad! Tammy!"
My voice echoed through the house, and they came running.
My mother arrived first, fear in her eyes. "What happened? Is Dean okay?"
Dad and Tammy followed her into the room, surrounding me as I continued to hold Dean's hand.
"He communicated with me."
My mother sank into the chair, leaning her head against Dad's leg. Tammy sat next to me on the bed, and I moved so she could be closer to her twin and hold his hand.
I told them everything, from beginning to end, of what I'd seen, felt and heard.
Everyone, including me, had tears in their eyes when I finished, joy that there was indeed hope to rescue Dean, and grief that he was in so much pain.
Dad looked up at me. "What are you going to do, Son?"
"I need to go to Rose and figure out how to help her control these powers."
He nodded. "Are you just seeking her out to save Dean, or do you still love her and want to be with her?"
My heart constricted. "Is it bad that I still love her? That I couldn't move on, even knowing she hurt Dean? That I've never stopped wanting her?"
My mother stood and embraced me. "We have all known your feelings for her. You are not betraying Dean or any of us by being with her. She's not our enemy, and we don't judge a person by their family."
Seduced by Pain: A New Adult Paranormal Romance of Shifters & Witches (Rose's Trilogy, #2) (The Seduced Saga) Page 5
