Enchanter (20 page)

Brandon broke the kiss and pulled back slightly. I opened my
eyes and watched as his head lowered. Before I could even ask what he intended
to do, I felt his lips on my bare skin. The contact startled me so much I
jumped up a little. Embarrassed, I sucked in my lower lip and held my breath as
he planted soft kisses up and down my navel.

“You’re beautiful, Leah,” he murmured, taking a break from
worshipping my skin. “So beautiful.”

He tried his luck further up, slowly kissing a path to where
my shirt was bunched up, just under my breasts. I wanted him to touch me
everywhere, but Brandon would not do it, not unless I asked. He was that much
of gentleman. He could do anything to me that he desired, and even though he
probably knew that I would not protest, he still would not reach up to caress me
unless I asked him to.

“Brandon…” I reached for his tee and pulled on it to get his
attention. “I want to see you without this.”

He wasted no time complying.

Brandon pushed up on his knees and pulled the shirt right
off before tossing it aside. The second I got full view of his well-sculpted
chest, my heart skipped a beat. The right side of his torso was covered in those
strange tattoo-like markings that made him look even more exotic. They covered
almost half of his front side and quite possibly the back as well. The black ink
reached up to his lower neck and expanded as far down as his right wrist.

Oh, dear lord! Brandon is beautiful!

Despite the foreign symbols, I could easily make out the
hard muscles underneath. My hands moved up to his chest and caressed each
ripple. As if they had a mind of their own, my fingers traced each Celtic-like
tattoo, deliberately drawing circles up and down his pectorals.

Brandon tensed, moaned, and threw his head back. With each
feathery touch of my fingers I could see his neck muscles tense. His hands gripped
the comforter with such force the knuckles turned white.

“That feels so unbelievably good,” he muttered, and I could
not help but smile at the sound of his voice. He could not hide exactly how
much my light touch affected him.

As my fingers continued to glide up and down his thick
muscles, I openly admired his physique. So much so that I would have been
contented with lying there all night, staring up at his male beauty and my eyes
would never tire of the sight of him.

 “Why did you get such an elaborate tattoo?” I asked as I
continued to explore his torso.

“I didn’t.” His voice was hoarse and filled with desire.
“Those aren’t tattoos. At least not like normal tattoos.”

“What?” They sure looked that way to me.

“They are the marks of my people. Every male Enchanter had
them. That’s what makes us obvious to our enemies. One look at these tattoos,
and they knew what we are.”

“All the males had the same tattoos?”

“No. Each family carried a different pattern, one which
identified one bloodline from another,” he added, without moving so much as an inch.

“Is this why you cover yourself all the time?”

“Yes.”

My fingers traveled down to his belly button and drew
invisible patterns.

“But didn’t you say that soul devourers hide during the
day?”

“Yes, but we have other enemies out there.” He groaned when
my fingers traced the outline of every abdominal muscle. “There are demons,
witches, and others who would do just about anything to get a hold of my
abilities.”

“Can’t you disguise the appearance of these?”

“I can, but the spell lasts about an hour, two at the most.”

“Well, I’m sorry to hear that. Although, I have to admit,” I
pushed my body up enough so that I could plant a kiss just below his left
nipple, “they’re amazing, and you look hot with them.”

As if my words were too much for him to handle, Brandon
opened his eyes, pushed me back down on the bed and eagerly devoured my lips. I
squeezed my eyes shut and allowed my body to drown in the sensations overflowing
my system. With his upper body now bare, I was free to explore every crevice
and ripple of it. Determined to have my fill of him, I allowed my hands to
glide over his muscled back as he continued to assault my mouth with his
tongue.

When Brandon began to grind against me I nearly swooned. My
body immediately began to draw my attention to an area which had been dormant
up until Brandon’s kisses and soft caresses taught me what true desire felt
like. His kiss became more demanding, more intense, more passionate. Instead of
feeling fear, I welcomed the transition.

I arched my back and gave into the feeling he was causing.
Overwhelmed with desire, I moaned and held him closer to me.

God, this can’t possibly get any better!

In an instant, Brandon stopped moving and placed his hands
on my pants. I knew he intended to lower them and I was ready for it.
Unfortunately, just as quickly as everything started, it ended. Brandon pulled
away from me and growled softly before murmuring, “No. I can’t, Leah. I’m so
sorry.” His voice forced my eyes to open at once.

Stunned, I could only look up as he started to pull away.
Once he was on his knees before me, he covered his face with both hands and sighed
heavily.

“What do you mean, you can’t?”
Damn, is that my voice?
It sounded so foreign even to my own ears.

“I really want to,” he started, “but I can’t.”

His body shook nearly as much as his voice did.

“I don’t understand.” Was I being rejected?

“There’s nothing I want more than to make love to you, but
if I do I’ll lose my gift, my powers. I’ll lose it all.” Brandon moved his
hands away from his face and gazed at me. His expression was filled with pain
and mortification.

“You mean that if you… if we…?” By this point I had no idea
what to say. “What exactly do you mean?”

Mortified by what we had done – or, what we almost did – I
sat up in bed, pulled on the hem of my shirt so that it covered my midsection,
and waited for him to explain.

“My people, the Enchanters, were always born in pairs. If a
boy was born in one household, a girl was born to another family on or around
the same time. The pair of children who were closer in age was usually selected
to mate as adults—”

“And no one had a problem with this?” I interrupted, feeling
a little bereft with everything that was going on. I mean, I was not a total
idiot. I knew that back in the day parents married off their children without
their consent, but Brandon’s explanation was still a bit much.

“No. Those meant to be paired up felt linked together in
some unexplained way. As they matured into adults, their fondness for each
other grew.”

“So you mean to tell me that they were practically in love
since they were kids?”

“You can call it that.”

“What does this have to do with you losing your abilities?”

“As a precautionary measure – and this was done because my
people were already few to begin with – the elders cast an irreversible spell
over the first generation of Enchanters so that our bloodline would remain
intact and pure. If any of them had a deep physical relationship with anyone
who wasn’t an enchanter, they would lose their abilities.”

The meaning behind those words hit me like a slap to the
face. “Since my people lived apart from the human world and only visited their
hometowns when we were needed for healing or to destroy a soul devourer who had
taken residence amongst them, our kind was virtually safe from temptation.”

I was about to ask him what that meant exactly when he
opened his mouth and continued on with his tale.

“This cycle continued on for well over fifteen hundred years.
Unfortunately, there came the day when my ancestors were attacked and nearly
annihilated by a demon named Lasher and his minions. By the time they were done
with our village, most had died and those who survived scattered and took
shelter in different human settlements throughout the area in order to hide
their presence.

“The attack unbalanced our natural order because about half
of the unpaired young men and women were killed during this raid, leaving their
future partners without a mate. Those of adult age ended up falling in love
with humans.”

“Didn’t they know about the spell?”

“They knew, but when you love someone that much…” Brandon
looked at me then, his eyes reflecting several emotions at once.

I knew what he wanted to say but stopped short of. When a
person loves another that much, the rest seems relatively unimportant.

“Not all broke that general rule of course, otherwise I
wouldn’t be here.”

If he was the last one left who had retained his abilities,
that meant he had never gotten physically involved with anyone. That certainly
made me feel a lot better. However, something else was bothering me, a lot.

“And you’re the last
male
Enchanter left with his
abilities?”

He caught my meaning right away. “Yes.” Brandon turned his
face away even before the next words slipped out of my mouth. “What about a
female Enchanter? Is there one who is still out there somewhere?”

“There is.”

“And she’s meant for you, isn’t she?” My heart constricted
forcefully in my chest as I considered exactly what that could mean.

“Yes.”

That admission was equivalent to having a bucket of cold
water poured on me.

“Why didn’t you tell me before?” Frustrated, I scurried off
the bed and started pacing the floor while he watched me.

Hurt did not quite describe what I felt. Betrayed was more
like it.
Why did he wait so long to tell me? Why would he confess his love
for me and then tell me he was meant for someone else? Men! Damn them!

I would not say that I was in love with Brandon, but I was
hoping that perhaps that sentiment would blossom and grow as time passed. The
past few days with him had taught me a valuable lesson about life and
especially about how judgmental I had once been. And now it felt as if getting
to know Brandon was a big waste of time.

He was practically engaged to a woman who was beyond
special. She was an Enchanter, like him, which made her more valuable than I
could ever hope to be, because, let’s face it, I had been selfish and
inconsiderate all my life. This girl was probably the complete opposite of me.
Just like Brandon was the complete opposite of me.

My conversation with Duke came to mind. Brandon’s heart
belonged to someone else, Duke had said as much.

“Were you even sincere when you told me that you love me?”

Brandon’s eyes widened. “Of course, I would never lie about
that.”

“Are you in love with her too, then? Because you said that the
pairs are linked and that even at an early age they have feelings for each
other.”

“No. I don’t love her, Leah. I don’t even know her.”

“What?” Now I was even more confused.

“I know that there is one girl out there, but I have no idea
who she is. According to my parents, she is one of the Givers of Life, a small
group of women who can give life. With just one touch of their fingers they can
resuscitate someone who’d just been killed by a soul devourer, but first they have
to battle the soul devourer who fed on that person’s essence and reclaim his or
her soul before it is completely lost.”

“You’re giving me a headache with all these legends.”

“Whether you want to believe in them or not, they’re all true,
Leah,” he said as he rose from the bed and ambled toward me. “If my parents
were right and such a girl exists, then it’s my job to protect her, because she
is already extremely rare amongst a group of people who have always been
uncommon to begin with.”

Why you? Can’t she protect herself? Doesn’t she possess
the same abilities that you do?
I wanted to shout, but came short of doing
so. Even now I was being selfish, wanting him to stay with me and not go in
search for
her
.

Brandon reached out for me and pulled me close.

“I understand that,” I murmured, although it was far from
what I really wanted to say to him.

“Leah, I love you. I’ve always loved you. That has never
changed, and I sincerely doubt it ever will.”

I could see the truth in his eyes. Unfortunately, our
relationship would end even before it started.

Brandon is destined for someone else.

“You forgot to mention this secret of yours from the very
beginning.”

“What was I supposed to say?” He wrapped both arms around my
waist and held me tightly against his hard body so that I could not move away.
“All these years I’ve been aware of your complete disregard for me, I could see
it in your eyes. Despite what your friends and you thought, I’m not blind, nor
am I deaf. I could hear you all murmuring things about me, but I ignored it. In
spite of all the condescending comments, I still hoped that one day you’d look
at me like you do now.

 “I can honestly say that I never imagined that you would
ever give me the time of day, much less touch me, kiss me, caress me, or show
any desire for me in any way.” His lips were everywhere, planting soft kisses
over my cheeks, forehead, jaw, nose, and finally my lips. He pulled away only
so that he could continue talking, “Never in a million years did I think that
we would end up spending as much time as we are now. How was I supposed to know
that this week was going to change my life forever? How was I supposed to know
that I would finally get to hold you this close and even kiss you?” He used his
left hand to lift my chin up so that our gazes met and he took my lips with
his. For a few heart-stopping moments, he kissed me. And when I say kiss, I mean
his mouth made love to mine. As his demonstration began to escalate in
intensity, he withdrew and looked down at my eyes. “Having you as a partner for
this assignment was like a dream come true. Even when your attitude annoyed me,
I was still looking forward to spending some one-on-one time with you.”