The Beltane Witch (Cloudburst Colorado) (6 page)

Darius tilted his head and reached out to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. A small smile curled his lips as he cupped her cheek with his hand and drew her to him.

Darius brushed his lips against hers and her arousal hit the ceiling. He tasted of crisp autumn mornings
, her favorite time of year, and she wanted to fall into his sweet flavor. She would have kept kissing if she hadn’t heard the furnace rattle and the girls loudly discussing who would put which wreath where. Reality intruded and Sabrina jerked back, her face hot.

Darius wore a similar dazed expression and they stared at each other for a few moments, trying to recollect their thoughts.

What’s wrong with me? He’s a seductive player, a gigolo, and all he wants from me is to do the rituals. None of this is real.

“What are you doing?”

****

What
am I doing?

Darius hadn’t meant to kiss Sabrina, but the image of her celebrating Easter with her daughters, dyeing and hiding eggs,
filled him with a yearning he’d never experienced before. She’d looked so happy and relaxed, and he couldn’t resist tasting her joy.

The rattling furnace and her children’s voices had startled him, but he would have kept kissing her if she hadn’t pulled away. She tasted of fresh jam and sweet tea, and he’d become addicted in those few moments of touching her lips.

What is wrong with me? She’s a human witch and I’m the Chamberlain of the Summer Court.
The odd yearning must have been a remnant of his memories of celebrating Beltane with his family. It had to be. The idea he might be falling for this little witch after knowing her a total of two days stretched the boundaries of belief.

“Forgive me, L
ady Foxglove, I don’t know what came over me. Please accept my profound apologies.”

She ran her fingers over her lips and his cock flexed with interest. Those lips had tasted so sweet and he resisted the urge to lean over and take them again.
Calm yourself and focus on the task at hand.
The reprimand lost power when another voice reminded him such actions could influence her cooperation in performing the rituals of High Beltane.

I
still could.

“If you think you can sleep your way into getting me to do the rituals, you can tuck your cock right back into your pants, buster, ’cause sex has never swayed me.” Sabrina rose from the table, her breakfast unfinished.

Anger surged, only because she’d hit the truth dead on, but he smothered it. His motives strayed far from pure and even the Summer Queen had suggested he seduce Sabrina’s cooperation.

“Wait, L
ady Foxglove.” He caught her wrist as she tried to pass. She stopped and stared down at him, anger swirling in her lavender eyes. “I never intended to coerce you with the use of intimate relations. As I said, I don’t know what came over me. Please, come back and sit down. You need your strength.”

“For Beltane, I know.”

“No, for running your own household.” He gave her a half smile. “You strike me as a woman who rarely takes a break from her hectic schedule. Please.” He stood and pulled out her chair. “Come back and finish your breakfast. Food and rest are the best for fast healing. Please.”

He’d never said please so much in his life, but he’d never wanted anyone’s company as much as he wanted Sabrina’s
. In just two days, he’d grown attached to her and found himself wanting to help her more than do his duty.

And therein lies trouble and despair
.

Sabrina hesitated, her expression suspicious, but she returned to her chair and picked up her fork. Darius breathed a subtle sigh of relief.

“Why are you here, Darius?” Sabrina grasped her tea mug and held it like a shield in front of her.

“To help you.”

“Yeah, but why? What is your motivation? Do you think making my children like you will convince me to do your bidding?” Her expression remained flat and he hoped he hadn’t walked into a trap.

“
I’d never use your children against you.” The idea curdled his stomach. Even he’d never sunk so low.

“Then why? You hardly know me. I’m sure you’ve met hundreds of single mothers. What makes me different from all of them?”

What, indeed?

“I don’t think I can explain it to your satisfaction.
Duty requires me to convince you and I’m nothing without my duty.”
And the threat from the Summer Queen
. “However, I respect your reasons for choosing not to do the rituals, and your persistence in declining the honor.”

“I hear a monumental ‘but’ coming.”

“Not at all. I won’t coerce you into doing the rituals.”

“You won’t?” She raised an eyebrow.

“No, but I won’t give up trying to convince you.” He winked and grinned. “I’m convinced you must do the rituals. You’re convinced you won’t perform them. We shall see who wins the battle of wills over the next few days.”

“And if you don’t convince me?”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” In truth, his gut clenched in concern at the idea, but he nodded gamely and hoped for all involved she’d agree to his request.

“Mom
my! I wanna hang my wreath on the back door, but Tansy said she’s gonna put hers there.” Holly’s wail preceded her appearance in the kitchen, her face creased in a scowl.

Sabrina sighed and swallowed some of her tea. “Do you remember what Darius said, girls? He said the Goddess would make it very clear where each wreath should go.”

Darius’s chest tingled with pleasure and he rubbed the warm spot between the muscles in surprise.
Don’t be ridiculous. If course she remembered what I said.
But the pleasure remained.

“But, Mom…”

“Don’t ‘but, Mom’ me, Tansy.” Sabrina plucked the wreath from her eldest’s hands and stopped in the center of the kitchen, closing her eyes. “Hmm. I think this one should go on the back door to the yard because the cones will ward off dangerous spirits.” Tansy lifted her chin and gave her sister a superior smirk.

“
That’s not fair,” Holly grumbled.

“And your
s, Holly, I think should go on the door to the garage so it’s the first thing we see when we get home and the last thing we see as we leave. All those cheery ribbons will definitely be good luck.”

Darius admired the way she’d pleased both girls and deflected an argument. Not unlike the efforts he often had to make among the courtiers at Court.

“Let’s hang these on their hooks.”

“Does mine go on the sucker hook?” Tansy asked
, marching toward the sliding glass door.

“Suction, and yes. We’ll hang it there. Did you attach a hanger ribbon?”

Darius cleared the table as Sabrina helped the girls hang the wreaths on the doors. When Holly complained her wreath hung wrong, Sabrina lifted her up so she could rearrange it to her satisfaction. Darius enjoyed watching Sabrina work with her children and the yearning returned stronger than before. He wanted this, to be part of a family again, complete with squabbles and intrusions. While the Court offered a similar experience, the smiles meant less than nothing and promises broke like spider silk. He could depend on few, and truly trust no one. Particularly not with his heart.

“Do you like it?” Holly’s voice broke Darius’s reverie.

“Sorry?”

“Do you like it, Darius?” She dragged him over to the garage door and proudly pointed at the garish wreath.

“I think it’s perfect, Miss Holly.” The little girl beamed and he swore some ice melted off his heart.

“All right, who’s up for making Deviled Eggs?” Sabrina called.

“Meeee!” Holly raced back into the kitchen and joined her sister and mother at the table.

Darius watched in amazement as Sabrina organized the girls into specific tasks. Holly got to crack
and peel the eggs while Tansy crushed the hard yolks with a fork. The girls laughed and chattered all the while and by the time Sabrina spooned the yellow concoction into the egg white halves, Holly’s fingers matched her wreath.

“Go
wash your hands, Holly.”

“Mom, I have egg on my hands, too.” Tansy scowled at her gritty fingers.

Sabrina sighed as she finished the last of the Deviled Eggs. “
Wash your hands in the kitchen sink.”

“I can’t reach it.”

“I’ll help you, Miss Tansy.” Darius steered the girl to the sink by her elbow then lifted her until she could reach the faucet.

“I like having you here
. You’re nice to me and my mom and my sister.” She smiled up at him as she scrubbed her hands. “Not like Tommy.”

“Who’s Tommy?”
Darius tried to keep his tone casual.

“He lived here before Mom
brought Holly home. I’m glad he’s gone, but Mom was sad.” Tansy shut off the water.

“Is she still sad?”

“Sometimes, but not as much as when Tommy left. I’m glad he did, though.”

Darius held back a growl and gently set Tansy down to dry her hands. “Tommy
didn’t treat you well?”

“No,
he didn’t play with me at all. And he liked to drink stinky water a lot.”

“‘Stinky water
?’ What’s that?”

“I don’t know, but it comes in
a tall bottle and has a pirate on the front. It looks like ginger ale, but it doesn’t smell like it.” She wrinkled her nose and stuck out her tongue. “Tommy used to drink it all the time.”

Darius didn’t know the libation Tansy described, but he suspected it had to do with the common love of alcohol amongst the humans. The Elves tended to swill wines of various types, but eschewed the other forms of fermented liquids.

“Do you drink the stinky water?” Tansy waited for his answer with a serious expression and Darius hastened to reassure her.

“While I’m not familiar with
that particular beverage, I don’t believe I drink such things.” He smiled at the relief playing across her face. “I do like apple cider and grape juice, though.”

“Really? Me, too!”
Tansy darted back to the kitchen table. “Mom, Darius likes apple cider and grape juice just like me.”

Sabrina glanced up from sprinkling the eggs with paprika. “Does he?
That’s wonderful, sweetie.”

“I like him a lot better than Tommy. He does stuff with us.”

Resignation filled her lavender eyes, but she smiled at her daughter. “I like him better, too, Tansy.”

An unreasonable amount of joy and prid
e washed through Darius and he resisted the urge to preen under her praise. Instead, he surveyed the platters covered in red, gold, and white eggs, daunted by the sheer number of them.

“What more needs to be done here?”

“We’ll cover them with plastic wrap and throw them in the fridge.” Sabrina pointed to the long narrow box on the table as Holly returned far less colorful.

“C
an we do the May Pole ribbons now?”

“Yep,
it’s the next thing.”

Darius wanted to ask more about the man who’d been in Sabrina’s life before, but
the moment disappeared before the excitement of picking out the colorful ribbons for the pole. While her children argued the merits of each color, Sabrina measured out the proper lengths for the pole in her backyard.

“How many are we gonna do this year, Mom?” Tansy asked as she surveyed the different colors.

“Well, we need one for each of us, one for Darius, and one for the Goddess.”

Holly grabbed
a brilliant yellow ribbon. “I want yellow.”

“Very well done, Miss Holly.” Darius examined the ribbon. “A fine choice.”

“Are you really going to dance around the May Pole, Darius?” Tansy picked up a summer green ribbon.

“If your mother invites me, I’d be honored.” He reached for a navy blue ribbon and glanced at Sabrina. “Am I?”

“We’d love to have you at our Beltane celebration, Darius. Which color would you like?” Sabrina grasped a coral pink ribbon and measured it out.

“Navy for the vast night sky.”

“Oooh, pretty.” Holly set it next to the length of yellow. “Look, Mommy, it looks like a bumblebee. What color do you want?”

“I think I’ll take this lovely pink one, and…” She picked up a lavender ribbon. “This one will be for the Goddess.”

Darius had a sudden vision of Sabrina dancing before the bonfire wrapped in nothing but her rich hair and the ribbons from the Pole. Her hips and breasts swayed seductively and his cock thickened with joyful anticipation. Oh, to be her mate for the night of glorious celebration. The yearning returned full force and he pressed his hand between his pectoral muscles.

“Are you all right, Darius?”

Good heavens, could she see the swelling in his trousers?

He cleared his throat and tried to smile. “Yes, of course. Shall we affix the ribbons to the Pole?”