Double Booked (8 page)

“You were spying on me?”

“Not spying. I was trying to determine how you contacted the spirits you helped. My father sent our coven signs of your birth long ago, but up until today, I still wasn’t certain I’d found the right medium simply because I’d never witnessed your process.”

“It’s a shame you missed out on all of the trips I took to the hospital as a child. That might have cleared up my process for you.” I said it more to gauge his reaction than anything else. I wanted to know just how long he’d been spying on me.

He looked surprised and then thoughtful. “Yes, I suppose your parents were given countless scares when you were a child. That information would have been incredibly useful, but I didn’t discover your whereabouts until you were sixteen.”

That long? Miguel Galvez had been observing me for over ten years?

He inched slightly closer. “Then there was that time when you helped a young couple find their daughter’s body after she’d been missing for several days.”

I closed my eyes at this. Uncovering her body had given her parents closure, but I’d resented the fact that I’d been powerless to prevent her death in the first place. Due to her virginal state, she’d fallen victim to a blood sacrifice by a band of witches seeking eternal life. I could still see that young teenager’s face, completely devoid of light.

“I’m willing to help a few normal spirits track down their loved ones, but I’m finished with witches.” A slight hitch in my throat revealed a crack in my stoic demeanor.

He rounded the bed and stood facing me. “Why?”

Heavens he was magnificent. I had this inappropriate desire to close the distance between us and ruffle my fingers through his jet black hair.

“They’re dangerous, crazy, power hungry and deadly. All valid reasons for avoiding them like I would a rabid Rottweiler.” I moved over to the dresser and reached into the top drawer for the rest of my unmentionables. I felt him swiftly move into position behind me and place his hands atop my shoulders.

“Not all of us are like that.” His magic reached forward, giving me a soft caress.

I shrugged him and his magic off, but he remained right behind me.

“You can’t leave, Analise. I’ve waited far too long for certain events to be set in motion. We need your help.
I
need your help.”

I turned to face him. His proximity nearly unnerved me to the point of speechlessness. I took a deep breath, one meant to settle me, but I unintentionally got a whiff of his aftershave. Geez, he smelled delicious. Why did he have to smell so good?

“I am
not
going to help you. I’m not getting myself involved in witch business, and I’m certainly not going to spend another moment in this room with a stranger who’s been stalking me for twelve years. It’s creepy!” I considered his stance and then eyed the distance to the door. “I’m assuming you’re the one who sent that letter to my editor?”

“I thought you might reject the idea of helping me, and I needed to get you here where you could at least meet my father and listen to what he had to say.”

“Well, your subterfuge worked like a charm, and now I’d like to leave.”

He smirked at me. “As I mentioned before, I can’t let you do that.”

“You can’t keep me here against my will.”

His face took on a threatening gleam. “I’m a fairly powerful Basque warlock, from the Nevarre coven. There isn’t anything I can’t do, nor anything I won’t do, in order to get you to stay with me.”

He was a Basque warlock? This situation had just gone from dangerous to suicidal. Basque witches were ruthless in their pursuit of power, and the one coven from Spain I’d hoped never to run into. I wasn’t going to survive the outcome of this no matter how nice I played. I should have felt fear, but my outrage at his threat overrode my logic.

“You’re going to cast a spell on me?”

He looked uncertain for a moment, but then firmed his jaw and appeared to be steeling his resolve. “I’d rather not do anything like that. If you willingly disclose the location of the letter, and aid me in my quest, the need for spells and incantations will be obsolete.”

I folded my arms across my chest while formulating a plan. “I’m afraid disclosing the location of the letter is impossible.”

He let out a frustrated grunt. “You refuse to tell me?”

I shrugged. “I can’t give you information I don’t have. Your father refused to give up the location.”

Miguel looked floored. “I don’t believe it. Why on earth would he do something like that?”

“He won’t give me the location of the map until you and I are married. He seemed to think you’d dropped the ball on that one. I didn’t stick around after he threw out that particularly highhanded ultimatum.”

Miguel threw his head back and let out a delightful sounding laugh. I cursed the goose bumps that rose along my arms and neck.

“You are too much. So full of life, so feisty in nature. I must admit, in the beginning, I did not like the idea of an arranged marriage with someone so young, but after having an opportunity to get to know you, I am looking forward to sharing our lives together.”

My eyes widened in surprise. I couldn’t believe his cavalier attitude about this. Marriage wasn’t a casual commitment. It certainly wasn’t something I took lightly. I narrowed my gaze as he continued to chuckle.

“Yes, I can imagine that marrying a woman a good two-hundred years your junior might be a bit off putting. But you should be considerate enough to view this from my perspective. Who wants to marry an old fart like you? How long before your immortality spell wears off and I’m changing your diapers and spoon feeding you chicken broth?”

Miguel collapsed backward on the bed in a fit of laughter. “Oh, you are good for me, querida. I never have any idea what you might say next.” He looked up from his position on the bed and laughed again. “You must understand, precious little surprises me or fills me with joy after more than two hundred years of living upon this earth, and yet you have managed to do both.”

No wonder this guy thought he could order me around and expect that I would marry him without question. He was ancient. His views on women’s rights were more than a little archaic. I bet he thought it my duty to accept the first offer of marriage afforded me by someone as handsome and powerful as he.

His eyes alighted on my form and he stood. I noticed a change in his demeanor as a determined look set in. Oh, I did
not
like this. He looked as if he might grab me, throw me over his shoulder caveman style and carry me to the nearest courthouse.

I inched away from the edge of the bed. “Happy to be so entertaining, but you seem to have come to the mistaken conclusion that I’ve agreed to marry you. Allow me to clear up the confusion.” I walked two paces away from him toward the door, turned around to face him and planted my hands on my hips. “No!”              

He stilled at my bold declaration and determined stance. A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, alerting me to the fact that I had done little to deter him. I suspected he wasn’t told “no” very often.

“Few people have ever had the courage to tell me no, especially women.” 

Surprise, surprise.

I was so not interested in knowing the number of women who had said yes.

I’m pretty sure I wasn’t, anyway.

I’d been willing to take a backseat to his ego, allowing him to think the over-the-top flirting and obvious attempts at seduction were actually working on me. He could think his machismo reigned supreme and after a week, I would most likely never see him again.

Now that he was giving me little choice in the matter, he was about to get a taste of my more independent girl power side. I am woman, hear me roar….or at least watch me walk away from your arrogant derriere.

And it was such a nice derriere, too.

Pity.

“Well, since a defiant woman is obviously a novelty for you, allow me to repeat myself. No! Absolutely no! I’m not marrying a stranger. I’m not getting sucked into a marriage that’s convenient for you and your current situation, while simultaneously becoming a major
in
convenience for me.” 

The shock on his face made me smile in satisfaction.

“You think that’s all this marriage is? Convenient?” He took a step forward and then stopped as I inched back. “Our union will benefit you also, and it doesn’t have to be a marriage in name only. There is chemistry between us. You cannot deny this.”

I pointed a finger at him. “Don’t for one second pretend that any of this is in my best interest. I’m just a pawn in this game you and your father have been playing for so long now.” I put my hand up to warn him off as he took another step closer.

His eyes flashed a bright gold. “You are
mine
, querida, and I will have you, one way or another.”

Well, that statement sounded egotistical, bossy, downright annoying and more than a bit high handed in nature, not to mention wonderfully promising.

Gah!

I needed to distract him before he decided to make good on his threat.

“Why do you keep calling me querida? What on earth does that mean?”

His eyes turned hungry as he took a step forward. “It means beloved.”

My heart nearly leapt out of my chest when he said it.

Okay, so epic fail on distracting him. He was now more focused than ever, and I was more than a little flustered by it.

I wasn’t sure if his eyes had cast some type of spell on me or if my inability to move could be blamed on the connection we’d made every time his lips touched mine. I couldn’t tear my eyes from his or take a single step toward the door.

His smoldering look heated me from within as his deep breaths accentuated the breadth and width of his chest and shoulders. There was a promise in his look, one I was scared to acknowledge, but I knew the moment he had me in his arms, he would never willingly release me.

He’d never let me go.

It took me everything I had to force my eyelids closed and blink away his hypnotic pull. I licked my dry lips and took one step backward.

“As romantic as that marriage proposal sounds, I think I’ll pass.”

He moved another foot forward, readying himself to grab for me.

“You take another step toward me, Miguel, and so help me I will take that power you’ve been throwing at me for the past two days and mentally tie it into several unbreakable knots, castrating your magical powers and rendering them completely useless.”

He couldn’t have looked more floored—or amused—than if I’d told him I planned on being a career woman instead of staying at home with our future children.

“What are you talking about? I haven’t attempted a single spell on you.”

“Please, do you really expect me to believe that? I’ve felt your magic reach out to me on several different occasions. At the registration desk you kept using your power to calm me down, allowing it to embrace me as if that might make me more trusting of you.”

“Incredible.” His eyes probed my being as he took another step forward and asked, “What did you do when my magic embraced you? How did you react?”

“I shoved it as far away from me as I possibly could. Every single time you pushed it on me, I shoved it back.”

He looked astonished. “You rejected it? That’s rather impressive, considering you’ve never been trained as an actual witch.”

“I don’t know about that, but I refused it just as easily as I’m refusing you and your bossy proposal.”

He got on the defensive. “I’m not being bossy. I’m simply telling you what must be. You’re the one threatening to magically castrate me.”

“With good reason!”

“Querida, your ability to even sense my magic proves that this union between us is meant to be.”

This guy could not take
no
for an answer.

My next movements were brash and impulsive, born from a desperate need to get the hell away from Miguel before
I
dragged
him
to the courthouse. I dashed to the door, deciding I could buy a whole new wardrobe once I returned to New York. I had hoped to at least get the door open before Miguel became aware of my intent, but I didn’t even manage to reach it before his strong arms wrapped around my waist, pulling my back roughly against his chest.

Okay, so it hadn’t been a brilliant plan, but I’d had very little to work with.

“You’re not playing fair, Analise.” His breath on my ear left a trail of goose bumps along my neck. I had to get away from this guy before I forgot my reasons for running and purposely flung myself into his arms. I stamped on his foot as hard as I could, but with bare feet, my attack had very little effect.

“Look who’s talking. You’re the one around here who wields magic. I’m just trying to escape this confrontation with my life intact.”

He flipped me around fast, gripping my arms and holding me against his chest. He looked surprised. “Why do you think you’re going to die?”

“You don’t actually expect me to believe that you’ll keep me alive after this, do you? Your coven is known for its secrecy, its cruelty and ruthlessness. Your flirtatious behavior is just an act. Once I accomplish whatever goal you’ve tasked me with, I’ll be disposed of to make certain there are no loose ends, no links that tie back to you or your coven. The fact that you’ve told me who you’re affiliated with is a sure sign that I’ll be dead once your goal is reached. You people never reveal your identities.”