The Beltane Witch (Cloudburst Colorado) (18 page)

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Darius sighed at the look of horror on Sabrina’s face. As a fertility celebration, Beltane promoted a renewal of life, and with the attendance of the Summer Queen, he suspected the potency to be increased. Sabrina’s expression chilled his blood straight down to his bones. She’d told him point blank she didn’t want another child, and he doubted she’d want one from him. But this gave him the perfect opportunity to find a way to leave the Court for good.

He
wanted a family of his own, one uncorrupted by intrigues of the Fae. His soul cried out for change, but recoiled at the dismay painted across her face. He’d fought against his attraction for the little human witch, but she’d enticed him with nothing more than her fierce protection of her children and her enduring courage in the face of her attacker’s enmity. She’d breached the defenses around his heart as she took up the challenge she had no interest in pursuing.

And then she
’d offered her sweet body for him to taste last night.

Her lack of interest in sharing the ritual with him hurt
more than he cared to admit.

“If you get pregnant, I will take care of you.”

She made a rude sound, grimacing. “Baloney. You have your position at the Summer Court, and I live here. I won’t take my children into the wolf’s den for anything, and you can’t just tell the Summer Queen you’re taking a sabbatical.”

Sabrina looked away,
anger tightening her shoulders. “This is exactly why I said I wouldn’t do the rituals again.” She swung back to him, pointing at his chest. “Men say they’ll take care of everything, but they only want the sexual part of the ritual. When there is responsibility and work afterward, they run or find someone else and give some other excuse why they can’t pick up their end of the deal. You’ll be no different, except you have a legitimate excuse. You’re not even from my world!”

“Sabrina,” —h
e strode to her side and grasped her shoulders—“look at me, please.”

Slowly she raised her gaze to meet his.

“If we are blessed with a child from this ritual, I would move heaven and earth to stay with him.”

Sabrina
shook her head.

“Peace, little witch. I speak the truth.” Desperation and
hope leaked through his voice. “I would wish for no other to be the mother of my child. I could only hope I’d be a worthy father. I’d be delighted to be your husband.” Where were these words coming from? “And the father to your daughters.”

Her eyes opened wide and scanned his, her disbelief clear.
“Have you been listening to Marty and his buddies? I don’t
need
a husband.”

Darius gritted his teeth. “This isn’t about need, Sabrina. This is about want.
I
want
to be your husband.”

“Why?” She
frowned. “You don’t even live here. You live in the Fae world with the Summer Court.”

“But I could live here. With you, and Tansy, and Holly. And…” He caressed her soft cheek with one hand. “Our child.”

“Why?”

She searched his face for an answer, her eyes flicking back and forth. Darius tried to put all his sincerity into his
gaze, hoping she’d see his heart as well. He had to convince her because to walk away from her would gut him.

“I know how hard it
was for you to raise your daughters alone. I don’t want you to have to do it again.”

Her lip curled. “
That’s it?
That’s
why you want to stay here? To protect me?” She jerked out of his hands. “No thanks.”

“What?”

“I’ve done it before, I can do it again, Darius. I don’t need a man to make it better for me.”

Despite the hurt in his chest, he bit back his angry retort. “I said this isn’t about need,
my lady. What do you want?”

Sabrina
bit her lip as she turned away from him and he ached to pull her back into his arms. She wrapped her own arms around herself, her shoulders hunching as if to stave off some heavy burden.

He stepped closer with caution. She looked so vulnerable and
everything screamed at him to make it better. But he knew she had greater strength than she showed.

“Tell me what you’d choose if you could, Sabrina. What’s your heart’s desire?”

“Oh, please. I don’t live in a fairytale.”

He chuckled. “I beg to differ
. The Fae will be here tonight. I can’t think of any way you could be closer to a fairytale.”

As he’d hoped, he drew a laugh from her. “Tell me what you want, Sabrina.”

She took a deep breath and bowed her head, exposing her neck and tempting him to kiss it. He laid his hands against her silky arms and breathed in her feminine scent. It ricocheted through him, flooding his mind with illicit thoughts and visions of more of her skin exposed to his sight. His cock hardened and he resisted the urge to rub it against her firm buttocks.

“I want
…”

“What do you want?” He brushed his lips against her neck and her breath hitched.

“I want a partner…a friend I can always depend on.” She let loose a low moan as he kissed her hair. “I want someone to love me for me, not because I’m a witch or a chess piece on the world board. I want a lover for more than just sex.”

He could be
such a man. He could easily take the role and more if she’d just accept him for himself.
And who are you, Darius?
The question came out of nowhere and he wanted to thrust it aside, but it hovered in his mind until he had to acknowledge it.

Who
was he really? Could he be her partner, her friend? Could he love her for the woman she’d become, the mother she was, and the witch she’d abandoned?

Yes.

“If you’ll let me, I can be all those things, Sabrina.” The words surprised them both, but he met her gaze steadily as she twisted to face him in the circle of his arms.

“Why do you want to?”

“Because I love you.” Darius leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers, begging her to believe him.

“What?”

“I love you, Sabrina Foxglove. Let me be your partner, your friend, and your lover.” He ached to slide his hand down her back and grasp her ass, but he suspected she’d expect it of the lothario she thought him. He couldn’t deny her claim, but being a man who’d had many lovers, he knew when to hold back to coax his lady.

“How can I believe what you say, Darius?” She pulled far enough back to search his eyes again
. “You have probably said it to hundreds of women over your lifetime. And you’re still single.” She grimaced. “Plus, I’ve only known you a few days.”

She spoke the truth
, except he’d never said his words with such sincerity and conviction before. For the first time in the decades of his life, he meant them with all his heart. Sabrina had made him care, made him want, made him feel something other than lust. Her stubborn determination to take care of herself and her children without help had impressed him. It made him want to help her, if only to ease the worry lines on her face and the tightening of her shoulders.

You’re safe now, I’ve got you.
The words he’d spoken on the bridge to
Tír na nÓg rang in his head, and he wanted them to be true. He wanted to have her back, support her in the difficulties she faced. He could conceive of no greater service.

“I cannot change the past, Sabrina
, I can only go forward from here.” He offered her his honesty. “I want to take the path with you.”

“What about the Summer Court?”

The Queen’s command echoed through his head:
Convince the witch to do the rituals or you shall lose your longevity, your sword, your honor, and the Winterbourne name shall be stricken from our records
. He smiled. The threat no longer worried him. Not only had Sabrina decided to do the rituals on her own, but he didn’t care to return to the Fae. If he stayed with Sabrina, he’d be content for his remaining years.

“Let me worry about the Summer Court. If our coupling during the ritual results in a child, I would rather stay here and raise our son or daughter with you.” He ran the backs of his fingers over her cheek. “Nothing would bring me greater joy than to see you holding our child.”

“Darius, I don’t want another—”

“Shh, peace, Sabrina. Please.” He didn’t quite know what he
asked for, but he had to stop her from destroying his dream. Whether she chose to complete the rituals or not, he wanted to stay with her when the sun rose after Beltane. “Please say you’ll perform the rituals with me, and if I should get you with child, you’ll at least give me a chance to stay with you. I beg of you.”

She stared at him a long time, each moment measured in heartbeats as she studied him.
Emotions moved through her eyes as the breeze ruffled the trees of the sacred grove around them. She seemed to gather herself, squaring her shoulders as she raised her chin, her eyes sad.

“I said I’d do the rituals. I’ll even do them with you. But if I get pregnant, you don’t have to stay. I don’t expect it of you.”

He growled and thrust his fingers into her hair. “Expect me to stay! I
want
to, Sabrina. I want you in my life after Beltane.”

“But the Queen
—”

“Let me deal with the Queen. It may take me some days to resign and
prepare my replacement, but I will not be staying in the Summer Court.” Darius met her gaze, his heart pounding with excitement. “Please say you’ll wait for me and trust I will return to you. Tell me you’ll allow me to be part of your life as your partner, your friend, and your lover. Please, Sabrina.”

Darius’s
blood thundered as she took her time deciding. He’d never felt so desperate in his life, but he forced himself to be patient. The importance of her answer meant too much to him to push.
Oh, Goddess, let her see the truth in my words.

“All right, Darius.” Sabrina gave him a tentative smile. “I’ll trust you. Do you really want to stay here, in this dilapidated homestead
with more rodents in residency than most granaries, with me and my children?”

“
Our
children. And yes, I want to stay.”

She shook her head. “They’re mine, and you might have to work hard to convince them otherwise, especially when they become teenagers. Goddess help us both, then.” She shuddered, but smiled. “
But I think we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves. We still have to perform the rituals.”

Darius wanted to wrap her in his arms, lift her up, and swing her around in jubilation. She’d said
she’d wait, and he wouldn’t betray her trust. Tamping down his enthusiasm, he contented himself with a grin and nodded.

“Let’s start by practicing the energy merge between us. We must be in tune to allow the wards to be strengthened.”

“What do we need to do first?” She eyed the windswept ritual circle. “We don’t have to get naked yet, do we?”

His cock hardened with the thought of her lithe body shrouded in nothing but sunlight, but he shook his head. “No, first we dance.”

“Dance?”

“I’m sure you’ve heard of it. Two people moving together in a synchronicity of motion?”

Sabrina gave him a dry look. “I know what dancing is. Why do we need to do it?”

“During the
ceremony tonight, we’ll be dancing to the chants before commencing the rituals. We need to practice connecting to the energy and each other while in motion.”

“Oh.
Right.”

Darius held out his hands and waited for her to step into the circle of his arms. Sabrina took his hands in a classic
waltz pose and time stopped. She fit him perfectly as if they’d been built for one another.
It took me two hundred years to find the one woman who fits?
He didn’t have time to wonder at the Goddess’s plan before Sabrina crooked an eyebrow.

“Are we going to move or are you just going to stand there, staring at me?”

Darius laughed off his hesitation. “I could spend all day staring at you, but we should really get moving.” He sidestepped, pulling her along gently. She moved with him in a gentle waltz step, her movements in sync with his. Each brush of her thighs against his tightened his groin and he prayed his cock would behave itself long enough to complete the rehearsal.

Too bad it’s not a dress rehearsal. Or rather, undressed rehearsal.

“You’re a pretty good dancer, Darius.”

“I’ve had a little practice.”

“Oh, I’m sure.” Sabrina grimaced and he tried to find something to say to take her mind off the multitudes of women he’d danced with over the decades. “Now what?”

“Can you sense the energy of the circle while we dance?”

He’d been feeling the rise in power as soon as they started to move. The sacred site responded to their presence as if recognizing those who could secure it. Power flowed like air currents, brushing against his mind with gentle tendrils of energy.