To Wrangle A Witch (Southern Sanctuary Book 3) (4 page)

“But
it won’t end there Vaughn.  Sek and Mot are still out there and they need
a witch’s blood… my blood since I’m the only one they know.  So even if
you succeed in killing the vampires, won’t they just send more assassins?”

“Let’s
just eradicate the current threat first… we can discuss what we do next to
protect you once your strength is back.”

Serena
gritted her teeth, damning Vaughn and his calm logic.  “Fine.  But
I’m staying here.  I can help.”  She gave him her best mutinous look
that in the past always had him backing down.  She knew exactly how to
play the female card against the Maat warriors so they were putty in her
hands. 

Vaughn
gave her an exasperated look, followed by a reluctant nod.  That’s when
Serena heard Hadleigh, Vaughn’s new wife, sigh in obvious disgust. 

“Honestly
men, you can be such push overs.”  Shoving back her chair Hadleigh strode
around the table, coming to loom over Serena. 

The
woman was fierce, gorgeous and as far from the petite little home maker Serena
had imagined Vaughn hooking up with as could be possible.  He’d found
himself a six foot six, red headed warrior woman, who looked far more
comfortable with a weapon in her hands than she ever would a kitchen
implement.  Well, unless she was using the kitchen implement as a tool to
gut someone. 

“I’ll
tell you what.”  Hadleigh’s grey eyes were startlingly clear this close
up. 

Serena
automatically flinched back in her seat.

“I’m
not going to hurt you.”  Hadleigh assured gently.

“Says
the Amazon looming over the sweet innocent Earth Witch.”

Hadleigh
chuffed a soft laugh.  “Innocent?  Sweet?  Have you seen the
life sized posters of you in the tiny sparkly short-shorts?”

“Sparkly?” 
Came Locke’s intrigued amused tone.  “Short-shorts?”

“Shut
up Locke, I’m trying to prove a point here.”  Hadleigh rested a hand
gently on one of Serena’s thin shoulders.  “All you have to do is stand
up.  If you can do that you get to stay.  If not, you go with Locke.”

“Seriously,
don’t I have any say in this plan at all?”  Locke sounded peeved and more
than a little frustrated.  “I have a job you know, a very demanding one at
that.  And as I recall our agreement was for one rescue. I have delivered
said maiden, my work here is officially done.”

Earth,
the man had already made it crystal clear he wanted nothing more to do with
her, did he have to go on and on about it?  Serena swore she’d show Locke
Valhalla… she’d show them all she was perfectly capable of looking after
herself.  Planting her feet firmly on the expensive carpet, she gripped
both sides of the armchair and heaved upwards with gritted teeth. 

A
minute passed and then two.  High colour flooded Serena’s cheeks and her
breathing started to come in heavy pants.  She hadn’t moved a single inch
and she was pretty darn sure Hadleigh hadn’t exerted even a smidgeon of her
strength to keep her seated.  How humiliating.

“Uncle?” 
Hadleigh queried softly, not a trace of mockery in her tone.  “Before you
hurt yourself?”

Serena
collapsed back, chest heaving, waiting for the wave of dizziness to pass. 
“Uncle.”  She managed to murmur between gritted teeth.

“Best
two out of three?”  Locke quipped.

“Don’t
be an ass Locke.”  Hadleigh reprimanded.  “It won’t be for long, a
few days... a week.”

“Easy
for you to say Kitten.”  Locke smiled as Hadleigh winced at his new term
of endearment. 

“You
work from home anyway.  Plonk Serena in front of the gardening channel and
you’ll hardly know you have a house guest.”  She grinned watching her
brother visibly flinch.  He never had house guests.  To her knowledge
his frequent lady friends never stayed the night.  His home was his
personal fortress, Goddess she’d only been inside a handful of times herself
and each time Locke had followed her around with a hand held vacuum cleaner at
the ready. “Just keep her on the down low.  Get Nell in to check her over
but that’s it.  You know how gossip runs through our family.  If
anything happens… anything at all, I can be there in less than three minutes.”

Locke
huffed out a loud audible sigh.  Turning to look at Vaughn he suddenly
grinned.  “This goes beyond blackmail now.  You’ll owe me big time,
you know that right?”

“What
do you want?”  Vaughn rolled his golden eyes.  Family, they could be
such a pain in the rear.

“I’ll
get back to you on that one.  I wouldn’t want to make any hasty
decisions.”  Locke got to his feet, smoothing down his creased suit as he
mentally squared his shoulders. 

He
could do this.  He could take one gorgeous little witch with hypnotic dual
coloured eyes and a bee stung mouth that begged to be kissed home to his
fortress of cleanliness and solitude.  She’d stay in one of the spare
bedrooms that had never been used.  He’d work.  Except for meal times
he wouldn’t even know she was there.  A few days, the crisis would
pass.  His life, his home, all would return to nice quiet normality. 
Yeah no problem.

“Ready?” 
He looked towards Serena, huddled in her borrowed blanket looking worn out but
resigned to her fate.

“Sure.” 
She reached over scooping up the african violet pot plant she’d insisted they
save from the mental facility, flowering so manically now it had more blooms
than leaves.

Right,
just him, her and a container full of dirt… no recipe for disaster there. 
 

Chapter
Five

Between
one inhalation of breath and the next they stood not in the Maat Towers bedroom
closet they’d entered but a heavenly smelling, intimidatingly neat, linen
closet.  Though it was like none Serena had ever had come across
before.  For one the linen closet was the size of a small bedroom, the
floor to ceiling open shelves on either side of them full of the most gorgeous
rioting colourful silk throws, crisp white sheets and begging to be touched
rugs, afghans and blankets.  All folded in absolute precision and stacked
according to colour, type and Serena was guessing size.  She would have
happily made a small nest in a corner of the closet and spent her recovery in
this cavalcade of comfort, but Locke hardly paused a beat before exiting. 

“Moon
and Earth, Locke.”  Her eyes feasted on her new surroundings, Locke’s
home.  “This place.”  She took a deep breath, enjoying the spicy
clean scents that assailed her. “This place is amazing.”  She itched to
explore every inch of it. 

Even
in the dim light provided by the last rays of the setting sun she could
appreciate the honey coloured wooden floors, the ridiculously high ceilings and
spacious rooms he carried her past.  Finally he came to a halt in the main
living room where expensive but comfortable looking large cream couches took
centre stage, decorated with a series of colourful cushions and silk throws in
a mixture of creams, golds, yellows and saffron.  The lighting was
discreet and kind of quirky, were they gold pineapple lamps?  Groovy, and
the artwork, she was dying for a closer look but something more immediate
caught her attention.

“Why
is the sun setting?”  She eyed the floor to ceiling glass doors that made
up the inner wall of the room.  Was that a courtyard out there?

“Because
you’re not in Kansas anymore Dot.  This is Australia, Queensland to be
exact.”

“It
really is beautiful Locke.  Is that a…”  She was so overwhelmed at
the idea she could barely form the words.  “Is that a garden?”

“Yes.” 
He strode across the living room floor to a nearby panel.  “Press 2.”

She
complied and soft golden muted lights in the garden flickered to life. Locke
really did have an inner courtyard, the look reminiscent of architecture you
would find in Morocco or Istanbul. 

A
series of arches, supported by aged stone columns edged the square courtyard,
providing a shaded inner veranda that would no doubt help keep the house cool
throughout the hot Australian summer.  In the very centre of the large
moonlit courtyard was an ornate fountain, burbling water as stone maidens
skipped and frolicked over the three tiers.  Surrounding the fountain were
large slabs of gleaming white sandstone whilst around the very edges, snug up
against the columns was a garden.  Bougainvilleas climbed several columns,
their leaves a rich green though few colourful flowers were in evidence. 
Delicate ferns, their fronds dipping and swaying in the night breeze looked
under developed to Serena’s knowledgeable eyes.

She
couldn’t imagine having all that space and only allowing a narrow strip of
garden to exist around the very edges.  It bordered on sacrilegious. 

“You
need to put me down.”  She instructed Locke, her eyes never leaving the
courtyard.

“How
about I put you to bed and get the doctor?”

“I
need to go outside.”  She started to struggle in his arms, leaving Locke
no choice but to place her down, hovering over her ready to catch her if she
crumbled.  But she didn’t, making her way slowly and steadily over to the
glass wall.  “I need to get out there.”  She placed her hands on the
cool glass, resenting the obstacle.

“I
really don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Please.” 
She turned, sending him a beseeching look.

Her
well deep need hit Locke almost like a punch to the gut, conceding, he hit
another button on the panel and the glass slid away.  Oh Earth. 
Serena took in a deep lungful of warm night air laden with the intoxicating
scents of the earth.  Almost as if hypnotised she took a step outside, the
sandstone slab beneath her feet cool and solid.

“Should
I..?”  Locke wasn’t sure how he had intended to finish his sentence, not
when Serena leant over, placed the african violet on the ground and then
commenced calmly and with absolutely no explanation to strip naked.  Okay
this was unexpected… in a really… really good way.

He
bit back a groan as she kicked the drawstring pants away and stepped towards
the centre of the courtyard completely nude, her bare arms raised to the night
sky.  In response the moonlight glistened off her pale skin making her
hair appear the colour of rare white gold.  Her back grew straighter with
each step, her stance more confident… stronger.  Around her the sounds of
the night changed, the burble of water, the swish of ferns in the breeze and
the far off cooing of settling birds intermingled like notes becoming a
song.  And just like that she began to dance. 

Locke
had never witnessed anything so pure... so innocent… so completely hot. 
What little blood he had left in his upper body when Serena had first begun to
disrobe checked out leaving him light headed, the throbbing in his cock louder
than his heartbeat.  Frozen in place he was unaware of the passage of
time, she could have danced for minutes or hours.  Not once did she look
towards him or give any indication she knew he watched, but there was a tension
that hung in the air between them, a sensuality… a challenge.

The
temptation to join her out there under the stars was overwhelming.  He
knew instinctively she’d welcome him.  That she would move into his arms
as if she belonged there and they’d make love under the moonlight in the
garden, a testimony to life and renewal.  The act just another note in the
song she was dancing that would help her to reconnect with the earth following
such a long absence.  He recognised the truth and it almost overwhelmed
him. 

Bloody
manipulative Mother Nature! 

He
grabbed the wall to keep from moving forward.  He refused to be a tool of
the Gods.  He was stronger than that.  Biting back another groan as
Serena turned and her gorgeous rose tipped breasts were suddenly clearly framed
by a blast of moonlight.  He was a breath away from caving in when Serena
abruptly turned away from the fountain and danced over to the edge of the
courtyard.  Running her fingers across the sparse ferns and greenery
planted there.  With no warning she stepped into the garden proper, knelt
and then lay down, rolling in the dirt.  And just like that Locke’s
ravenous desire to join her evaporated. 

Ick,
his stomach rolled.  Even in this dim light he could see the smile of pure
sensual pleasure on her face.  Cripes, he needed a shower just watching
her.  No, he revised, even appalled as he was, he could have stood there
watching her all night but thankfully the overwhelming… dare he say it,
supernatural need, to join her out there had dissipated. 

Whatever
bewitching magic she’d tried to snare him with was no match for his complete
abhorrence for dirt and mess. Still as she writhed, a languid arm reached up
pulling a feathery fern frond down to caress her body he had to acknowledge the
truth… he still wanted her… dirt and all… Goddess help him he needed a drink
and he needed it now.

*
                                    
*
                                 
*

“Where
do you think you’re going?”

Serena
froze.  Her dreamy eyes, more purple than blue under the night sky. 
Smiling she gazed at Locke, who stood glass in hand contemplating her from just
inside the living room.  He still wore his suit, not a button out of place
and his tie she noted was still tightly knotted.  He should have looked
uptight, but to her eyes he looked enigmatic and ridiculously attractive. 
Just the sight of him made her tummy clench and her nipples tightened. 
Not a reaction she could hide given she was wearing nothing but the caress of
the cooling night breeze. 

Poised
under the stone arch of the veranda she knew she created quite the frightening
sight; covered with dirt, naked, weird content smile plastered on her
face.  She wasn’t embarrassed to be naked in front of Locke; she was an
Earth Witch after all.  “You have no idea how good that felt.” 

“To
each their own.”  Locke smiled, raising his glass in her direction in a
silent toast before taking a drink.  “So this is what an Earth Witch does
is it?  Runs around nude, frolicking in gardens? Your neighbours must love
you.”

Serena
laughed.  “We prefer the term skyclad.  And if I wished it, no one
would see me.”  For just a second moonlight sunk into her skin and she was
suddenly gone from his sight one moment and then back the next.

“So
you wanted me to see?”  Locke mused smiling, lifting an eyebrow in query.

Earth
Serena, she hadn’t really thought that through before she’d given her little
demonstration.  He must think her the most brazen of creatures.  “I’m
not exactly back to full strength yet.  I can assure you my dance was not
meant for your eyes.” 

Her
words rang flat to Locke’s ears. She lied.  But he didn’t know why. 
Was it because she’d tried and failed to include him in her little reconnecting
to the earth ritual?  Or some other as yet unknown reason?  Only time
would tell and he would need to be on his toes to resist her wanton witchy
ways.

“Skyclad
huh?”  The very word made him smile.  “That’s witch speak for nude is
it?”

Serena
raised her arms to lift a heavy hank of her hair back over her shoulder, noting
that instead of watching her front and centre raised breasts Locke’s eyes were
fixated upon the shower of dirt that fell loose from her locks. 

“We
didn’t arrive in this world wearing three piece suits.  This is as Mother
Earth intended us to be.  You have a problem with it?”  Seriously was
he upset that she was uncovered? That would be a first for the male of the
species. 

Locke
shook his head, sighed, placed his glass down on a nearby side table and
pointed back into the courtyard proper.  “Go stand over there.”

“Why?” 
Serena moved to stand where he’d pointed; he was her host after all.  A
host who was now holding a hose, the nozzle pointed her way.  “What are
you going to…”  The rest of her words were lost in a surprised shrill
scream as a deluge of cold water hit her right in the face.