Dark Enchantment (21 page)

Among Caleb’s kind, sexual desire was a most natural and enjoyable appetite: One meant to be freely explored, freely sated. Quite different, he allowed, from the perception of most mere mortal women, who colored such intimacy with a near-spiritual reverence.

A valid point for them, Caleb allowed, given the natural order of things for them, respective to procreation. For unlike females of his own race, who controlled conception by strength of their will alone, their mere mortal counterparts were at risk of pregnancy with every encounter.

The precise reason—though he’d his tongue in her mouth, his hands freely roaming her warm, yielding flesh—he vowed not to renew, here in the physical realm, the fiery mating the two of them had shared within the Imaginal.

He kissed her forehead, her nose, releasing her slowly to slide down the front of his body. Her cheeks were flushed, lips moist and swollen. “You know, we can’t do this,” he told her, his voice like tires over gravel. He reached out, pushed open the door to her rooms. “’Twould be a deadly game of Russian Roulette we’d be playing.”

“The blood thing.” Her voice was a breathless whisper, angel blue eyes blind with wanting. A frown marred the slender arch of her golden brows. “There has to be some way—”

“There is not.” His tone was harsher than he’d intended. “Now, go.”
Save yourself.

She forced a deep breath and stepped back. She lowered her eyes, as if she were embarrassed, as if she felt he was rejecting her advances.
Bloody hell.
Didn’t the woman know he’d give anything to take her in his arms and finish what they’d started? She turned and walked into her room. The door slowly closed.

Cursing himself for a fool, Caleb made his way to his own apartments. There, he paced the floor of his study until he was sure he’d worn a deep tread in the thick piles of the Persian rug. Aching and hard as the ancient stones at Newgrange, he railed against the untenable position fate had cast him in.

“’Tisn’t natural for a man to be denying himself this kind o’ way,” he muttered to himself, dragging a hand through his hair. What he needed, he decided, was a distraction. A little uncomplicated physical release with one of his regular partners. One of his own kind.

A woman not at risk of dying by virtue of his spilling his fertile seed inside her.

He pulled his mobile from the holster on his belt and dialed. “Brona, it’s me, Caleb.” He sounded edgy, grim. Just the way she fancied him. “Are you up for company tonight?”

At the soft, feminine purr in the affirmative, he slid the phone shut. Grabbing his jacket off the hall tree by the door, he quickly left the keep.

But, bloody damned
eejit
that he was, he would not be going into town. Why? Because raven-haired Brona wasn’t the fair-haired temptress of his dreams, the woman he desired above all others. The one for whom his lust burned and bubbled, bright and hot as molten lead. So he called Brona back and canceled their date.

Bollocks.
His short bark of laughter was without humor as he considered the irony: That the little mortal had somehow enchanted
him
with magic of her own.

So, instead of a willing female, he found himself in the stables, mounting his prized black stallion, Aughisky, named after the fabled water horse. The magnificent animal, with a temperament as bloody-minded as his owner’s, had refused to be broken. He was as wild and free today as when Caleb had purchased him six long years before.

“Still, we’ve come to a bit of an arrangement between ourselves, haven’t we, lad?” The stallion snorted, raised his massive head and nodded, as Caleb patted his withers.

‘Twas true; man and beast had promptly settled the question of who would be master. And yet, Caleb reckoned the horse’s submission to his hand had as much to do with the animal’s intrinsic respect for the magic in his blood, as it did for his skill as a horseman.

From the paddock, he took the stallion on a slow trot along the leaf-strewn path that twined past the fishpond and, from there, branched off to the north. Soon, the trail intersected the oak grove that household staff referred to in whispers as a faerie rath. And hadn’t Caleb assured them time and again that there was nothing mystical about that maze of trees.

Not
that
maze….

Nevertheless, the groundskeepers tended to leave a wide berth around the area whenever their duties forced them to that particular spot on the property.

Now, with the animal properly warmed up, Caleb leaned forward, his muscled thighs tight against the saddle. Heels down, the subtle shift in body weight signaled his desire to change pace. And with a soft-spoken charge, using words not of men but of the Ancients, Caleb tapped his heels into the stallion’s powerful flanks and spurred him on to a gallop.

Man and horse broke free of the wild thicket of shrubs and trees, moving like a dart through a splash of silvery moonlight. Flying, as swift and sure as if the splendid beast had sprouted the wings of his magical namesake, they moved as one, soaring over the drumlins, the stony ridges that zigzagged across the open parkland. Over heath and bog, they bounded. Through meadow and vale, they raced through the frigid air as if hellhounds were nipping at the wildly galloping hooves. The echoing crush of frozen earth and the crash of waves against a distant shore eclipsed the eerie stillness of the night.

Slowing only marginally, to round the monolithic boulders marking his ancestor’s ancient gravesites and the mausoleum his father had built, he urged his mount further westward, reigning in, at the very last minute, at the verge of the cliff. The animal reared, his front legs pawing at the air in fearful anticipation of the deadly descent before him. And then he began to pick his way carefully down a narrow, gravel path leading to the sea below.

And with the ocean roaring to their left, horse and rider flew through the turbulent wind, through the long, dark hours of the night. Head tossing, eyes rolling, the stallion kicked up sand and foam as he galloped through the mist and moonlight. Strong northwesterly gusts tore at Caleb’s hair, the icy blast of arctic air like a knife slicing through the leather of his jacket. But the wintry chill did nothing to cool his ardor, or to dampen the flames of hell licking avariciously at his loins.

As brush strokes of dawn painted the ebony sky in pastel shades of mauve and purple, he gathered in the reins and turned the lathered animal toward home. Back in his room Caleb tore off his clothes and collapsed into his bed, naked and spent.

And still tormented by his desire for the one woman he knew he could never possess.

Chapter Twenty-two

A
fter chucking her cleaning supplies beneath the sink, Arianna stood staring out the kitchen window at the back yard she used to play in as a small child. It was Saturday, the weekend before Thanksgiving. Her friends were due in tomorrow, and she was still chasing down a few last minute details. Thankfully, the work crew would be finishing up later this afternoon, just in time for their arrival.

For almost three weeks now, she had been living an idyllic faerie tale existence; one she would be leaving tomorrow to return to life in the real world. She had been savoring the stolen hours of the last few evenings, her time with Caleb growing increasingly bittersweet.

Not that they wouldn’t be seeing each other after she left the castle, she hastened to assure herself. Still, it wouldn’t be the same. No more eating breakfast and dinner together. No more quick calls throughout the day just to touch base. No more living together like a married couple.

Married without the sex.

Caleb continued to treat her like a cloistered nun, convinced that his lovemaking would kill her. Unbelievable. He had even nixed her suggestion of using protection. “Wouldn’t work,” said he.
Wouldn’t work?
Why?
As usual, no explanation had been forthcoming, which left her swimming in supposition. Was he too big? Was his semen so acidic that it would dissolve the latex? But no, he had said the problem was blood incompatibility, not plumbing.

This, of course, sent her spinning off into a whole new area of speculation. Now, the man sure as heck wasn’t a priest. Nor did he claim to be celibate—or, at least, he hadn’t been until she came to stay with him at the castle.

“So, what do you do?” she had asked one evening as they snuggled together on a burgundy leather chesterfield, watching a movie.. “Insist every woman you sleep with undergo a “safe-sex” blood test first?” And not to check for an STD, but for ‘compatibility’.
Whatever the dickens that was supposed to mean.
“Fine, then. I’m up for a little jab in the arm, if it will prove to you that there’s no danger in our being together.”

He had spun toward her, gripping her shoulders so abruptly that Torann, curled up and snoring at their feet, growled irritably and slunk away. “Don’t be lulled into a false sense of complacency with me, Arianna. Things are not a’tall as they appear. You are in grave danger from me,
a ghrá
.” The softness of his voice was more menacing than if he had shouted and roared. “It’s best you remember that and not push me beyond what I’m able to endure.”

Which was exactly what Arianna intended for their final evening together.

As she turned from the sink, one of the workers appeared in the kitchen. “Hi, Joe.”

He acknowledged her with a nod. “Just fetching a bottle of water out of the fridge.”

“Help yourself. So, how’s it going up there? Still on target for completion today?”

“Just sorting out the electrical. Another couple of hours, tops.” He took a long drink as he left the kitchen.

They were nice guys. And the contractor had done a bang-up job.
Too good
, she reflected. Because, no matter how she crunched the numbers, the company had to have been losing money big-time. A quick tally of the man-hours alone revealed a serious deficit.

Was it possible Caleb had agreed to pay part of the cost? Or was something else going on here? Something that would account for the way those big, burly workmen clucked over her like a pair of old mother hens. Caleb continued to drop her off and pick her up, to save her the treacherous drive down the mountain; however, about a week ago, she had insisted upon renting a car so that she could run local errands during the day. And yet, every time she would tell the crew she was popping into town, she would be flooded with minor emergencies that required her immediate attention.

Always by the time she had attended these
emergencies
, she would have been distracted from whatever errand she had had in mind. Now that she thought about it, she realized she was never left alone. Not for a minute, from the time Caleb dropped her off in the morning until he arrived back at the end of the day to take her home.

Was she totally nuts to think he had hired the work crew to double as personal security?

Maybe. Even so, she had to admit it had been a comfort having them here—especially at first. She would never forget the sick horror she had felt as she crossed the threshold the day after the burglary. And so what if her presumptuous, domineering, mule-headed Irishman had arranged it so she wouldn’t be alone? Didn’t that just prove he cared for her? That there was more between them than lurid waking dreams and a sexual attraction so intense it was driving them both insane?

Ready to wrap things up, Arianna surveyed the completed work with a sense of relief. The sooty residue that had coated every surface was gone. The walls had been restored to their former eggshell color. And from beneath mountains of rubble and impossible acres of dust and grime, the warm, rich wood of the floors and furniture had reappeared.

She took a deep breath, inhaling the clean, fresh scents of lemon cleaner and wet paint, which had exorcised the dank, musty smell of destruction.

Her cell phone rang.
Caleb
. “Hiya. How’s things?”

“Just finishing up now.”

“Brilliant. It’s about half-two. Will I come collect you?”

Arianna needed to run to
Super Valu
to pick up some groceries and by the green grocer to stock in fresh produce for Michaela, whose latest
ism
related to vegetables. But with Caleb’s OTT obsession with her being in mortal danger, she knew he would give her grief about going into town alone.

“Joe said they wouldn’t be wrapping things up for at least another couple of hours.”
Well, he
did
say that.
“So just pick me up at four, as usual.”

“That’s grand. I’m around town, so give me a bell if you want me earlier.”

“Will do.” Arianna disconnected the call and, without alerting her
keepers
, slipped quietly out the front door.

Her errands completed with time to spare, she headed for home. On the way back, she got caught in a gridlock from a traffic accident. No problem, though, because even with the delay she was back at the cottage by three o’clock.

She swung past the hedgerows and into her driveway. She glanced in the rearview mirror and swore vividly. A black Land Rover was pulling in behind her.

“Those
rats.
”

For an excruciating minute or two, she and Caleb sat in their respective vehicles, neither of them acknowledging the other. When she finally sneaked a peek at him, her gaze collided with his caustic one and she immediately lowered her eyes. Heart pounding like a tom-tom, she pretended to be searching for something in the glove box.
Coward!

“The man has no right!” she muttered aloud. Her stomach felt jittery, her knees weak and shaky, like when she was a kid and Da was about to give her a dressing down. “Well, I’m not a child, and I refuse to be treated like one.”

Her chin jutted out in defiance, she climbed out of the car. Leaning back in, she grabbed a couple of bags off the passenger seat. She wondered now whether she had endured the embarrassment of one of those purchases for nothing.

Giving a casual wave as if nothing were amiss, she went inside. Would he let it go? Come into the house while she was putting the food away and make nice?
Not a chance.

As she stomped out of the kitchen, what she really wanted to do was storm upstairs and give “the lads” a good piece of her mind. But Tara and Michaela were arriving tomorrow. She sure as heck didn’t need them getting pissy and pulling out on the job.

Good sense overruling temper, she called up from the foot of the stairs. “Hey, Joe, I’m leaving. Just lock up whenever you’re finished.”

She heard his grunt of acknowledgement as she pulled the door closed behind her.

Avoiding eye contact, she walked around the front of the vehicle and climbed inside. And ran smack into one of Caleb’s cold, forbidding stares. She cleared her throat. “
What?
I had to run into town.”

Features hard as flint, he didn’t reply. Just looked over his shoulder and proceeded to back out of the driveway.

Arianna heaved a frustrated sigh. Once, twice, she felt his brooding glance touch her.
God
,
the man knew just which buttons to push.
Shifting in her seat, she drilled him a look. “Enough with the silent treatment, okay?” she bit out. “My friends are flying in tomorrow and I had to get food in the house.”

His head turned and he considered her, his green gaze unfathomable, irises nearly swallowed by the angry black of his pupils. Fear twisted her stomach at his unspoken rebuke. She had seen it before. The ancient power that resided in the deep, dark depths of his eyes. A look that warned of magic and monsters, of maniacs howling at the moon. Of demonic entities dancing in the veil of night.

A wild and reckless part of Arianna thrilled to the thought of provoking that dark and unknown peril. What would happen if she poked at the savage creature he fought so hard to contain? What if she taunted it, drew it out? Quenched her obsession with the heady menace that had enticed and intrigued her since the night they had met? And before.

Caleb’s foot hit the brakes. Arianna’s hand flew out to brace against the dash. His long arm shot toward her. She gasped and flinched at the unexpected movement.

His mouth thinned, eyes froze over at her reaction. Then he followed through with the movement, hooking her seatbelt with his hand and dragging it across her lap. The loud click of the lock engaging reverberated in the strained silence.

As he pressed again on the accelerator, Arianna cursed him under her breath. “That was just a reflexive reaction, Caleb. I did NOT think you were going to hit me.”

Maybe if he tried acting more like a prospective lover, and less like an overprotective parent, they would get along better. She was frustrated, both sexually and emotionally. And while he was Michelangelo’s
David
gorgeous, he was undoubtedly the most arrogant man she had ever encountered. Not to mention pig-headed, over-bearing, and temper-prone.

And, oh, yeah, did I mention arrogant?

So, why the heck did she love him like she did?

Simple. Because he could also be sensitive, understanding, and supportive. And while loath to admit it, she had discovered that, more times than not, whenever he was stubborn about a thing, in the end it would turn out he had been right.

Of course, there
was
that seething black temper of his. So violent, so volatile, she shuddered to think of the seismic repercussions if he ever allowed it to fully erupt. But, of course, the almighty Caleb never lost his temper, which he kept locked behind a will of steel…along with his sexual appetites. Personal experience had taught Arianna that the more aroused he was—or alternatively, the more angry and incensed—the more controlled and subdued he became.

Like now. When a good fifteen minutes had passed without him uttering a single solitary word. Arianna swiped a finger idly through the condensation on her window.
Probably a result of the steam that was pouring out of his ears.

“Caleb, we need to talk.”

Silence.
Except for the engine’s nerve-wracking roar as they began the steep ascent to the castle. “Ah, get over yourself already,” she muttered, loud enough for him to hear her.

By the time they pulled up in front of the keep, she was cruising for a good knock down, drag out. Get it all out there. Clear the air.

He engaged the hand brake, switched off the engine and turned to her. “I’ve paperwork to catch up on this evening, so I’ll not be joining you for dinner.”

Without another word, he got out of the Discovery and shut the door with a thud. He climbed the steps to the keep, not giving her so much as a backward glance.

The depths of pain she felt at his callous rejection took her by surprise. She had believed he cared for her, might even be coming to love her. Arianna had planned to seduce him tonight, to give herself to him. Stupid, stupid. Building castles in the clouds, she thought.

The irony wasn’t lost on her.