Circle of Desire (28 page)

But then, deep down she’d always known there was something more than just sex happening between Ethan and her. At least on her side.

He sighed. “Kat, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“Yes, you did.” She stared ahead, determined not to let the hurt show. But anger crept past her guard to roughen her voice as she added, “And I guess it’s easy for you to think that because that’s exactly what I’ve been with you.”

He touched her knee. “You’ve been nothing short of wonderful and—”

“Yeah, I guess sex on tap is a wonderful thing for a werewolf in the midst of moon fever.”

She ignored his touch, ignored the way it made her feel inside. What did it matter? He would obviously never settle for someone like her, even if she could get
him to admit he was capable of feeling something more than friendship.

He didn’t say anything. Nor did she expect him to, given his continuing insistence that there was nothing more than sex between them. They drove in silence until the motel came into view. He stopped near the manager’s office, and she climbed out, went inside, and got them a room and some extra towels.

“I’ll call Gran if you want to grab the first shower.” She unlocked the door to their room and tossed him the towels as she walked across to the phone.

There was a certain amount of wariness in his expression—as if he wasn’t quite sure what he should do or say. “You need to warm up more than me.”

“I also need to call my grandmother.”

She turned her back on him and began dialing Gwen’s number. He moved away, and a few seconds later she heard water running.

“About time you called,” Gwen said into her ear. “I was beginning to get worried.”

“We had a few problems.” Which was the mother of all understatements, but Gwen didn’t need to know the details until they’d gotten out of this mess safe and sound.

“Did you find the kids?”

“Yep. But they were too well guarded, and by that time, we had nothing much left in the way of weapons.”

“So why are you calling rather than coming back?”

“Because we’re being followed by a hawk shifter.”

“
Damn
.” Gwen paused, then added, “Where are you holed up?”

“At a motel near the main highway. We’ll wait for the attack, then come back.”

“I have a bad feeling about this, Kitty-cat.”

So did she. Especially given that the soul-sucker had already shown she wasn’t averse to using some form of explosive. It might be a case of third time lucky. “We really have no other choice.”

“I doubt whether that shifter will be hanging around once he thinks you’re stopping. Maybe you should just drive back here.”

“He knows what car we’re driving. It would be easy enough in a town this size to find it again.”

Gwen sighed. “True. And right now, when we’re so close to snatching the kiddies back, I don’t want to run the risk of letting the mara know she’s not only facing a wily young witch, but an old one, too.”

Kat’s smile felt tight. Right now, she didn’t feel particularly wily. Just cold, wet, and annoyed. “I’ve got warding stones, so I can use those. Just make sure you’re doing the same, in case this is all a ruse of some kind.”

“I’m sitting in a circle now, and it’s primed against magic and evil. I’ll be okay. Just make sure you call me when the attack is over.”

“Will do.”

She hung up the phone and listened to the patter of water as Ethan showered. She had a sudden image of water rolling down the taut muscles of his stomach and legs and closed her eyes, fighting the desire that surged through her. She might be annoyed by the man, might be hurt by his words and his continuing determination to walk away, but she still wanted him so intensely it hurt.

In love for sure
, she thought grimly. But she could never let him know. Just as she could never let him know she might be pregnant. While she wasn’t so convinced he was telling the truth when he said he didn’t want kids, she was sure he meant it when he said he would hate anyone who tried to trap him that way.

But even if that hadn’t been the case, she wouldn’t have told him simply because she wanted him to stay because he loved her, not out of a sense of honor or duty. And if she couldn’t have his love, she didn’t want anything else.

She walked across to the window and watched the rain come down, feeling in it an echo of the tears she refused to shed.

E
THAN PULLED A COVER OFF THE BED AS
K
AT PADDED
naked out of the bathroom.

“Wear this.” His voice was a little rough as he tossed the blanket her way. “Your clothes are still too wet to put back on.”

Her gaze scooted down his towel-wrapped body, arousing him even more than he already was. Then she quickly wound the blanket around her. Obviously, she both sensed and saw just how tenuous his control was right now. Dusk was closing in fast, and the moon fever was beginning to rage in his blood. With the full moon a night away, his need for her was incredibly high. Yet right now he couldn’t afford to sate that need. Not when an attack could come at any moment.

He clenched and unclenched his hands, but it did
little to ease the tension riding him so hard. He watched her emptying the contents of her jeans pockets onto the table but found his gaze drifting to her blanket-wrapped breasts. Suddenly his feet were carrying him closer.
Not good
. He swung around and strode across to the window instead. The chill of the storm eddied past the windowpane and caressed his fever-touched skin. He took a deep breath, but all he could smell was the soapy cleanness of freshly washed skin and the heat of feminine wanting. She ached as badly as he, but for an entirely different reason.

He closed his eyes, trying to ignore the little voice slyly suggesting he was kidding himself, that there was very little difference in the cause behind her desire and his.

Which was stupid. He was caught by the moon, nothing more.

He let his gaze roam across the parking lot. He had no doubt that the mara knew he was werewolf. No doubt that she would wait until night had well and truly ignited the moon fever in his veins before she attacked. Which gave them maybe a half hour to prepare themselves.

Footsteps echoed in the silence as Kat walked back into the bathroom. Frowning, he glanced over his shoulder. When she didn’t reappear, he gave in to curiosity and followed her.

“What are you doing?” He stopped in the doorway and tried to ignore the way the blanket curved enticingly around her rear as she bent over.

She didn’t look up. “What does it look like I’m doing?”

“Placing stones around the bathtub.”

“Precisely.” Her voice was vague, and there was a fierce look of concentration on her face.

“What for?”

“Circle of protection.”

What she was creating was more a rectangle than a circle and encompassed not only the bathtub, but a good portion of the floor. But he guessed the intention was the same. “In here?” He couldn’t help the skepticism in his voice, and she glanced up.

“Well, the bedroom is certainly out, isn’t it?”

He didn’t bother telling her it wasn’t the location that posed the danger to his control, but her closeness. “So why not set it up in the living room?”

“Because the bathroom has one door and no windows. Easier to defend. Plus, we’re traveling light this trip, so we only have small stones with us.”

“And that makes a difference?”

She nodded. “The smaller the stones, the smaller the protection circle.”

That made sense. Or as much sense as anything involving magic could ever make. She laid the last of the stones on the floor, then reached for the silver chains sitting on the vanity. These she carefully placed around the perimeter of the stones, hard up against the walls and across the doorway.

“Silver stops magic,” he said, clenching his fingers against the urge to reach out and pull her close as she raised up, her face only inches from his.

“And, hopefully, will be our first line of defense.”

Her breath was warm and quick across his face, her pupils dilated with desire. He forced himself to step back, freeing her from the aura of the wolf. She licked
her lips, drawing his gaze to her lush mouth again. It took all his strength to remain still.

“Why don’t you go get some bottled water in case we’re here for a while? I need to finish this.”

He nodded and swung away. He put on his still-damp jeans, then collected two bottles of water and a couple of chocolate bars and headed back. She was sitting cross-legged in the bathtub and motioned him to sit opposite her.

“Thought you might need some chocolate,” he said, placing his collection close to her knees.

Her smile broke loose. Something clenched deep in his gut, and he suddenly found himself wanting to wake up to that smile not only tomorrow, but the day after that and the day after that …

“Trying to get into my pants again, huh?”

“I’m a werewolf, and it’s one night away from the full moon.” His voice was a little harsher than necessary, and her amusement faded. For that alone he was sorry. “What do we do now?”

She took a deep breath. “Now we must complete the circle. Hold my hands.”

He placed his hands in hers. Energy seemed to surge between them, an electric touch that pulsed in time with the ache in his groin.

“Close your eyes.”

He did. And saw her naked, panting with need for him. Her fingers clenched against his. “Concentrate.”

“I’m trying,” he ground out.

“Then try harder.”

He bit back the urge to swear and forced the image from his mind.

“Breathe deeply. Draw breath until it seems to fill every pore in your body.”

Her voice was a monotone. Soothing. He did as she asked and felt the tension begin to slip.

“Now, I want you to raise your body energy by tightening your muscles. Start at your toes and work your way up. Imagine the energy as a mist … squeeze it up through your body until it reaches our hands.”

He had no idea what she meant, but as he methodically tightened his muscles, the air around him began to crackle with energy. When their fingers clenched against each other, it felt like the air was burning.

“Now, imagine that energy leaving your fingertips and fanning out in a clockwise circle around us. Imagine the two of us encased in an orb of mist. Feel the power of it pulsing through you and out into the night.”

As he imagined that orb, she began murmuring. The air seared his lungs with every intake of breath, and energy vibrated through his limbs.

Then the noise died, the energy died, and an incredible silence wrapped around them. He opened his eyes. The air seemed to shimmer above her head.

“Evil and magic cannot enter this place.” Her gaze met his almost challengingly. “Not for as long as we touch.”

“Touching how?” He edged a little closer so that their knees rubbed and was suddenly glad he still had condoms in his jeans pocket.

“Hands on hands. Hands on body.” A smile touched her lips. “Not sex, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Well, damn.”

She raised an eyebrow, her expression amused.
“Sex magic raises an altogether different type of power. I don’t think you’re quite ready for that yet.”

He stared at her. “You’re kidding.”

She shook her head. The energy that zipped around them caught her hair, standing strands of it on end. “No. Sex magic raises a very strong energy that can be used in spells, but it’s not particularly reliable when it comes to protection spells.”

“Have you ever tried sex magic?” Even as the question left his mouth, jealousy surged through his veins. The thought of her with another man made him want to hit something, which was totally irrational, especially given her history and the fact that he could lay no claim on her. Not now, and certainly not in the future.

“My history?” Her green eyes narrowed dangerously, and anger touched her voice. “Shall we compare notes when it come to lovers, Ethan?”

He smiled grimly. “No. I’m a werewolf. I have had as many lovers as there have been full moons.”

“Then let’s not talk about
my
history. I’ve only had as many lovers as I have fingers.”

If she was counting him as one of those lovers, that was still nine too many in his estimation. He frowned at the thought and wondered if in helping her create the protection circle, he’d somehow short-wired his brain.

“So,” he repeated, “have you actually tried this sex magic?”

She hesitated. “Yes. And it was damned amazing.”

He released one hand and touched her mouth, running a finger across the warm lips he ached to kiss,
then down the long line of her neck. “As amazing as what we’ve shared?”

Her full lips opened slightly, as if she couldn’t drag in enough air. “Yes.”

He ran his finger around the outline of one pebbled nipple. Saw the tremor run through her. “You sure about that?”

“Yes. It’s just sex with us. You said that yourself.”

That he had. But he’d been lying, and they both knew it. What they had went beyond just sex. How far beyond, he didn’t know and would probably never find out. But one thing he did know. He’d never experienced this level of desire and need before. Not in all the long years and many lovers he’d had since Jacinta.

Maybe not even with Jacinta.

He tugged the blanket loose until it fell to her waist and allowed her wonderful breasts to spill free. He cupped one, brushing his thumb across her nipple.

She shuddered, but her gaze darted to the door. “They come.”

“Can they see what we’re doing?”

“Not with this type of circle, no. They’ll just feel its presence when they try to get in here.”

“And as long as we’re touching we’re safe?”

She nodded. “I think we’d better keep one hand joined, though, just so it doesn’t venture too far into sex magic territory.”

He smiled. He had no intention of going that far, but he did have every intention of exploring what he could one-handed. He leaned forward and captured her lips. It became a long and tender exploration that did strange things to the rhythm of his heart and made
him want her more fiercely than he’d ever dreamed possible.