Everlasting Enchantment (9 page)

Nell hurriedly spoke from behind her. “The duke’s minions were watchin’ the pub.”

“I know.” Millicent smoothed her petticoat and corset cover. She might have passed for a streetwalker above, but down here she looked positively elegant. “Those baronets—the lions and tigers and wolves that are following us—are spies for the Master of the Hall of Mages. And they want the relic just as much as the duke.”

“Ahh. And they are from above. They wouldn’t dare enter the city.”

Millicent raised her voice as she stepped into the crowded room, skirting tables and wandering hands. “If they make it through the crystal cavern… Yes, I rather imagine they
will
follow us to the city, Nell. A predator doesn’t give up his prey so easily.”

The smart old woman answered with a cackle. “And ye’re hopin’ the Undergrounders will finish ’em off fer us?”

“Aye.”

“Finish who off?” growled Bran, his finger in a tankard of honey, his long brown hair flowing over his broad shoulders onto the bar. He took in her borrowed clothing, Nell’s rattier-than-ordinary appearance, with only a raised brow. A large man, with a tendency to think before speaking, and speak his words slowly when he did, he was one of the few predators in the Underground who managed to run a profitable pub.

Millicent stepped up to the bar. “I’m in a bit of trouble, Bran.”

“When aren’t ye?”

“That’s unfair,” piped up Nell, her red head barely managing to clear the stained counter. “She’s a good gel, is our Millie.”

Bran ignored her and kept his gaze fixed on Millicent. “Ye took off with nary a word. I’ve had thirteen fights I’ve had to break up meself since ye been gone. Annoying, that.”

Millicent nodded. She didn’t have time to argue. “The Duke of Ghoulston took Nell, and I had to… acquire something to get her back. And now I… I can’t get rid of it, and I’ve got half the world chasing after me. From below and… above.”

Bran slowly licked a sugary finger. “Half the world, eh? That’s a fair amount of enemies fer a gel who usually minds her own business.”

Millicent breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t appear too angry. He seemed to understand that none of this was her fault.

“Abovegrounders, ye say? And I suppose ye led ’em right here?”

She grimaced and shrugged.

“Well now, at least it’s a fight I won’t be minding havin’. Be good to have some competition fer a change. I suppose it’s best if ye two take the back way out.”

Before Millicent could utter her thanks, the door to the pub flew open. She felt surprised to see the baronets in the doorway, for she had counted on the duke’s minions to make it here first. At least the predators looked decidedly worse for their adventures, their fur scraggly with blood and more than a few sporting splinters of crystal.

Bran raised his bushy brows as he stared at the intruders. “Lions and tigers! Crikey, ye’re full of surprises, gel.” And before his patrons could notice the threat at the door, he turned to a narrow-faced man and said, “Hey, Joseph. Thomas Weezel called yer mother a whore.”

Millicent grinned. Thomas sat slumped over the back of a chair, so deep in his cups she doubted he felt the fist that knocked him out of it. But he managed to shift quickly enough, his face elongating into a weasel, his retaliating strike so fast that Joseph barely managed his shift to jackal before Thomas struck. Both shape-shifters crashed into the table next to them, and the chaps sitting there erupted from their chairs, indiscriminately swinging their fists.

“Too easy,” muttered Bran as he launched his bulk over the bar into what now looked like the usual Saturday evening brawl. The baronets pushed their way into the midst.

“Idiots,” muttered Nell for the second time that day.

“Just out of their element,” replied Millicent. “Let’s go.”

As they made their way out the back door, she watched Bran direct the fight at the abovegrounders like a man orchestrating a symphony. The small tavern soon became a seething mass of fur, teeth, and fang. Nell cackled a laugh, took a step out the back door, and a creature of green slime and knobby limbs caught her up in its vine-like arms.

Millicent glanced back. A lion swatted a weasel aside, his golden eyes intent on her and Nell. The beast took a step toward her, hampered again by the weasel, who had wrapped his sharp little teeth around the lion’s leg. She turned and faced the duke’s men, far less appealing to the eyes, but if she had to choose between two evils, she preferred to choose the one she knew.

“Don’t hurt her,” she ground out between clenched teeth. It frustrated her to give up so quickly. But Nell already looked blue in the face from the monster’s tight grip. “I’ll come along without a fight.”

They dragged her and Nell back to the duke’s lair. Oddly enough, Ghoulston barely gave them a glance as he ordered Selena to take them back to the burgundy prison. The duke appeared preoccupied, which bothered Millicent more than if he had been furious by their attempted escape. He also allowed Nell to stay with her, and as Millicent fell asleep on the perfumed bed, she wondered if that might portend something even worse for her dear friend. And to her chagrin, found herself worrying about Gareth, as well.

***

He came to her at night, while sleep still shadowed her thoughts. Millicent could hear Nell’s snoring from the other room, even through the closed door. The perpetual twilight that lit the Underground filtered through the open window of the duke’s castle, outlining Gareth’s golden hair with a halo of half-light. He wore the clothing she’d first seen him in, his sword at his side, his body healthy and whole.

“You are alive,” she breathed, relief making her voice tremble.

He sat on the bed, rustling the burgundy-silk covers. He smelled of fresh linen and moonlit nights. “Did you doubt the strength of the curse?”

“No.”

He lowered his face to hers, waves of gold strands falling down his forehead, across his cheeks. “Alas. Could it be possible that you worried for me?”

“Yes—no. Nell said you would be fine.”

“The ladybird is more than she appears, I think.”

She could feel his breath on her lips, the warmth of his body through the thin silk sheet.

Millicent trembled.

He frowned, shadows playing across his straight nose, his full lips, the angles of his cheeks. “I would never harm you.”

“I—I’m not afraid of you.”

“Then you will not fear if I do this.” And he pressed his mouth against hers, gently, hesitantly, as if he touched some delicate object that would shatter with the slightest pressure. Millicent’s eyes drifted shut as all of her senses focused on that caress. On the warmth of his mouth and the sweet slide of his tongue across her lips. She knew the moment she saw him standing nude in the pond that she wanted him, no matter what arguments her mind managed to conjure. Because of her mother’s habits, Millicent had seen many a naked man, and not a one had caused such a response within her body.

Gareth groaned and pressed closer to her. She could feel his muscles tremble as he fought to keep his touch gentle.

Millicent buried her fingers in his hair and showed him she would not break. Perhaps… perhaps the moment she had truly known she would make love to him was when she had thought he’d died. When she had felt such an overwhelming grief that she would have blindly rushed forward to save him if it hadn’t been for Nell reminding her that he was immortal.

Or was he?

Millicent easily pulled his face away from hers, heard him catch a breath at the reminder of her were-strength. “I cannot break your curse. I do not have enough love in my heart to do such a powerful thing.”

“I do not care.”

“So you said. But what if… what if it were possible? Will time catch up with you and turn you to dust?” Her voice cracked, betraying her emotions, her fear of making the wrong choice.

His eyes looked like twin pools of midnight, the light blue barely discernible. “I do not care.”

“I will lose you either way.”

“Are you sure you want to keep me?”

“I—” Millicent frowned. She did not know what she wanted beyond this moment.

He slid his finger across her cheek. “Merlin’s spell be damned. I will make love to you for no other reason than because I want to… because I have to… because I need to make you a part of me, if only for one night.”

And Millicent’s beast, who had lain strangely quiet within her, sensed her weakness and suddenly rose up, demanding this man for her mate. She could not stop the low growl that sounded in the back of her throat. Could not help but pull his face to hers once again, kissing him with a fierceness she feared would startle him.

But Gareth only moaned, met her fierceness with his own, pushing her back against the bedding, his tongue tasting the inside of her mouth, his hands roaming over the silk, exploring, kneading, demanding.

Millicent did not know how he managed to keep her senses overwhelmed and remove his clothing at the same time, but within moments she felt his naked body slide next to hers, his skin warm and smoother than the silk. He felt perfect, his muscles molding against hers, as if they somehow fit like a puzzle into one form. And yet… a flutter of anxiety twisted through her, and she fought the urge to push him away. She wanted him, yes, but feared him all at the same time.

Her beast growled, chiding her for being a coward. But the animal lacked the vulnerabilities of a human heart, acting on instinct and need alone. Her beast had always been a part of her, even in human form, and she had used that side of her nature to save her life and sanity more than once. But she had always controlled the inclinations of the were-cat.

Until now.

Millicent twisted her body on top of Gareth’s, almost tumbling both of them off the bed. The silk sheet flowed off her as if made of water, revealing her nude body to the twilight.

The knight sucked in a breath, staring up at her as if he’d never seen a naked woman before.
Ha.
Surely he had seen hundreds, perhaps thousands. Millicent growled, confused that the thought made her furious. She shook her head, black strands of hair flying about her face, across her shoulders. Nothing mattered but this moment. She would not think beyond that.

“You are beautiful,” he murmured, gliding his fingers up her hips, to her waist. “Did you know your eyes glow like your cat’s?”

Millicent blinked. She knew her human eyesight held some of her beast’s strength, but no one had ever mentioned that they glowed. The thought made her smile.

Gareth gripped her waist, as if he suddenly feared she would flee. Or as if he sought to hold on to her forever. “I want you, Millicent Pantere. Let me show you how much.”

She would not allow him control. This was her decision, her choice… not his. She would never fall prey to the thought that he had used her. “No.”

And she clasped his hands, brought them up over his head, beside his golden hair. Sadness glittered in his eyes for a moment. But only a moment. For Millicent knew what went where and how—she had not lived with her mother without learning such things. She adjusted her hips, felt the hard length of him slide between her legs, and leaned forward, catching the tip, encasing him with her warmth, impaling herself quickly, with a half growl from her beast.

He murmured her name.

Millicent froze for a moment. It hurt. She had forgotten it was supposed to hurt the first time. But her beast did not care. It urged her to move, to find a rhythm. And before she knew it, the pain had faded to be replaced with… ecstasy. Shivers of pleasure that flowed from her inner core to the very tips of her fingers. Gareth moved beneath her, somehow finding new areas of pleasure inside her.

She let go of his arms to sit up, to arch her back. Yes, it drove him deeper inside her, to a new wealth of feeling. He filled her completely, became a part of her. She had not expected that. Had not expected warmth to flow from him to her heart. Her eyes burned, and it took her a moment to realize that tears caused the sensation.

Tears of happiness.

With his hands free, Gareth sought to touch her everywhere. His callused fingertips felt like hot brands of fire, but like a flame they only licked her body, gently, softly. He created new sensations to add to the heady mix. She arched her breasts into his hands, tingles of heat spreading outward from his touch. He made her throb even harder, until she leaned forward again and tried to press her nub against his skin, hoping to slake that need along with the one already raging inside her womb.

He knew what she needed. Of course he knew. His hand delved between them, those fingers of fire finding the exact place where she needed to be caressed. Millicent fought a scream, her were-beast settling for a gasping mew as her rhythm atop him turned into a mindless frenzy. She did not know what she wanted; she only knew it was just beyond her grasp, just over the yawning precipice before her…

And she fell.

Spinning and twisting, pleasure wracking through her entire being. An overwhelming explosion of sensations that Millicent had never experienced before, had not even known existed. She heard Gareth cry out, felt his body tense and release in time with hers. The beast inside her growled with satisfaction, as if it had instinctively known exactly what would happen.

But she had not known it would be this… rare and wonderful thing.

She collapsed on top of him. Spent. Elated. Confused. And Gareth wrapped his arms around her, easily accommodating her weight, just as he had managed her were-strength.

Such a remarkable man.

Such a pity she would never see him again after tonight.

Gareth awoke a few hours later, a smile curling his mouth as he glanced down at Millicent’s tousled head, her body wrapped around his as if she would never let him go. She had been more magnificent than he had ever dreamed, more beautiful and fierce than he could have ever hoped for. By all that was holy, he thought… he thought he might be falling in love with her. He loved her rough exterior that hid a vulnerable heart, and her devotion to Nell despite her need to protect herself. He even loved her other half. The beast that skulked inside her, acting on instinct, offering a dangerous side to her that no other woman could match.

He could not fathom why this woman seemed so different than all of the others he’d met over the centuries. Gareth only knew he had never felt this way before.

His heart skipped a beat.

Could it be possible?

Was this what Merlin had foretold?

His feelings for Millicent felt much different than what he had thought he’d once felt for Vivian. The decades trapped inside the relic had given him some wisdom, at least. Merlin’s lover had been forbidden fruit, a conquest his youthful arrogance had felt compelled to pursue. He had fooled himself into thinking he was in love with Vivian, had twisted lust into love until he was blinded to the truth.

But Merlin had known. And had cursed Gareth to find his true love, a thing more rare than one of Merlin’s relics.

Millicent sighed and rolled over. He allowed her to unwrap herself from around him, and sat up, blinking in the dim light. He had spoken the truth to her. He had not thought of the curse when he’d asked to make love to her. But he could not help thinking of it now… could not help hoping…

Would these feelings for her break the spell? He knew his heart to be true, for this tenderness that swelled within him could not be denied or mistaken. Surely…

He rose, lit a candle, the light seemingly brilliant for a moment, the burgundy walls and furnishings and bed coverings making the very air appear tinged with red. Millicent had thrown out one arm, the other curled next to her cheek, the bed covering twisted about her, revealing tantalizing glimpses of bare skin. Gareth ignored the impulse to reach out and touch her, and instead forced his attention on looking for the band of silver about her wrist.

He could not see it.

But he did not know what might happen to the relic when the curse was broken. Would it stay firmly on her wrist, proof that Millicent would be his one true love? Or would it dissolve into a thousand bits?

Gareth strode around the bed, his eyes searching, his breath shallow and erratic. He pulled back a corner of the silk sheet, exposing Millicent’s bare arm, the relic lying a few inches away from her bent elbow. The gleam of milky opalescence winked at him, the moonstone gem mocking all of his hopes. The bracelet had loosened from her wrist. He could still feel his soul bound to it. His feelings for Millicent had not broken the spell.

Fury welled up inside of him. He had been fooling himself. Whatever feelings he thought he had for Millicent weren’t strong enough. He thought he might have been falling in love with her… but after all these centuries, did he even know what true love was? Aah, the relic twisted his thoughts, made him doubt himself.

And it still bound him; he could almost hear it now, calling to him. Wanting to choose another woman, to tighten the metal about her wrist and shackle her to him. But Gareth wanted to explore these feelings he had for Millicent. He did not want to leave her yet.

His anger faded as quickly as it had come, settling within him to be replaced by grief. He should not have hoped. It always failed him. Perhaps it had all been a lie. The spell would never be broken. He would be trapped inside the relic forever, doomed to watch Millicent grow old and die, and forced to live on without her.

Gareth collapsed on the bed, holding his head within his hands, fighting the despair. He could not give up. He must believe that Merlin would not be this cruel. Perhaps… perhaps only a woman’s love would break the curse. Perhaps
she
must love him. His shoulders slumped. Verily, that would be harder than anything he had ever thought possible. For Millicent feared love too much to fully embrace it.

“I told you I wasn’t the one.”

He glanced up. She looked lovely, with her midnight hair spilling about her creamy shoulders, her amber eyes glowing like beacons of golden-etched flame.

His heart lifted at the sight of her, and he straightened. “I thought my love for you would be enough.”

Her eyes widened. “Love? You think you’re in love with me?”

Gareth frowned. “I thought so… I think so. The relic has me all confused. But… I do know that I don’t want to leave you. That I’d like to explore these feelings I have for you.”

“And give up your quest for freedom?”

Gareth hesitated to tell her about his theory that perhaps it would take her love to free him. Millicent already felt unequal to the task. “I am tired unto death of dancing attendance on Merlin’s curse. And I think your firebird gave me good advice.”

“Nell? What did she say?”

“That I should follow my own heart. Make my own path.”

She picked up the bracelet, weighing it in her hand. “So what do you want me to do with this?”

Gareth stretched toward her, laid his head in her lap. She started, but a throaty purr sounded in the back of her throat. “What do
you
wish, my lady?”

He would not force himself on Millicent. The relic had forced him on so many women, that he could not stomach the thought of doing the same. He felt her eyes on the length of his body, and he instantly hardened, bringing a flush to those pale cheeks.

She hid behind a scowl. “Well, I certainly will not turn the relic over to Selena. Despite her sudden overwhelming devotion to you, she’ll still go along with whatever evil plans the duke manages to come up with.”

Gareth had a lovely view of the underside of her breasts. “Then shall you turn it over to another? Whom will you choose to bed me next?”

Her purr turned into a low growl. “I will not… I cannot… What have I gotten myself into?”

He smiled. He had so hoped she would object to relinquishing him to another, but with Millicent, he could never be sure. “Perhaps you might keep it.”

She gripped the relic in one strong hand, but reached down with the other to gently smooth the hair away from his face, to run her fingers through the tangle. His eyes half-closed from the pleasure of her touch.

“How is that possible?” she breathed. “Lady Chatterly said it will remain on a woman’s wrist for only one night, and then choose another after… you know.”

Gareth found her hesitancy to say the words rather charming. Such contradictions, his Millicent. He sat up, took the bracelet from her. “Does it matter whether it fits your wrist or not? Why should the enchantment always choose whom I should be with?” He shook his head. “Nay, it is time for me to choose. And I choose for you to keep it if… if you will have it.”

She looked uncertain, and hesitated to do his bidding, the circle of silver held poised over her hand. “If I continue to wear it, you will not be able to find the woman who can release you. I cannot condemn you to your prison, even if the thought of another woman touching you makes me want to tear her apart with my claws.”

Gareth smiled at the possessiveness in her voice, the weight of eternal sadness he always seemed to carry inside of him suddenly easing its grip. “This is my choice, my lady. And I choose to stay with you.”

She sat silent for a time, and finally murmured, “I will keep it on just until we are away from this evil place. Then I will let you go.”

“Will you?” Gareth reached up, stroked the underside of her breast, and felt her shiver.

“I have to. You deserve to find your true love.”

He did not argue with her. He had lived too long, had too much experience with women, to succumb to the temptation. She loved him a little, or at least thought she did. If he had learned one true thing about women, it was that they would not take someone to their bed unless they thought they were in love.

She would realize soon enough that she would never let him go.

He would not allow it.

She slipped the bracelet over her wrist, and the band of silver tightened. He felt her recoil, as hesitant at being trapped as he. “What just happened?”

Gareth stared at the bracelet. “I… I am not sure. I did not know it would tighten about your wrist… I have never asked a woman to keep it before.” His heart soared. Could it mean he had a chance? That Millicent had the
potential
to be his true love? Damn Merlin and his enigmatic curse!

“It cannot possibly mean—”

“I do not know what it means, my lady. I seem to always have more questions than answers.”

“Well… just don’t get your hopes up. I am not some heroine from a fairy tale, whose sweet nature and kind heart can break a curse. I am sure it will fall off once we make love again.”

Gareth’s heart skipped a beat. Aah, she was already thinking about making love to him again. He leaned forward and buried his face in her sweet-smelling hair. “We should not wait a moment longer to find out—”

“Shh. Did you hear—?”

Her gaze snapped towards the door, and Gareth turned toward it, but he did not have her animal-senses, and could hear nothing but silence. Silence? Nell had been snoring but a moment ago, the sound loud enough to penetrate the thick plank of the bedroom door.

Millicent shifted so quickly that Gareth flipped over at the sudden increase of mass. He expected her panther to leap for the door, to attack whatever intruder her keener senses had detected. But instead, she opened her massive jaw and went for his throat. Thank the Lord for centuries of experience, for his body reacted without thinking, twisting to avoid her attack, then leaping for his sword that he’d left lying next to the bed.

When he rose to his feet, he stared at the weapon in his hand. At the bristling fury of the black panther now facing him amid the rumpled silk sheets. He could never harm Millicent—or her beast. His hand loosened on his sword, and he was about to drop it when the door burst open.

Selena strode into the room, the long sleeves of her black gown flapping behind her like the wings of her were-bat. Her black eyes went from his sword to Millicent’s furry hide, and she smiled, exposing her dagger-sharp teeth. “So, you have still been unsuccessful in seducing her, Sir Knight? I am sorely disappointed in you.”

She tossed a bundle of clothing at the foot of the bed, ignoring Millicent’s growls. “Put these on, she-cat. His Grace wants you to join him, and he will not tolerate anything less than a lady at his table.”

Gareth breathed a sigh, giving Millicent a long look of admiration. She had orchestrated this little tableau so Selena would draw the proper conclusion. The duke would still think the bracelet could not be removed. But didn’t the little minx realize he could have hurt her? His reflexes had been honed—

Millicent shifted to human, pulling the sheet up over her breasts, making the other woman smirk. “What does he want?”

Selena shrugged her shoulders, taffeta rustling with the movement. “How should I know? And I wouldn’t tell you if I did.”

Millicent glanced from the other woman to Gareth, her forehead creased with puzzlement. “My, my, how you have changed, vamp. What happened to your devoted love for Sir Gareth? You are as fickle as the wind.”

Selena frowned for a moment, turning to stare at him. He realized the glazed look of love in her eyes had faded, and she seemed as bewildered by her change of heart as Gareth had been when she’d professed her love for him.

“I still want him,” snapped the were-bat, a bit sullenly. “I can remember how it felt, but not… never you mind. Just hurry up and get dressed, or I’ll send in the guard to carry you down wearing what you’ve got on.” She gave Millicent one last malicious grin before she spun and left the room.

Gareth pulled on his clothes while Millicent dug through the garments the other woman had left. He dressed as quickly as he managed to disrobe, so he took up the laces of a linen corset and began to tighten them for her.

“What do you make of it?” he murmured.

She let out a breath as he tugged. “I swear she was madly in love with you a few days ago. She still wants you, of course, but how could her feelings have changed so dramatically?”

“I do not know. I’ve had many women fall in love with me, but not so mercurially as all that.”

Millicent put on the ruffled petticoats, and Gareth picked up the gown: a golden velvet trimmed with black lace. He buttoned up the back, and when she turned around, he decided the duke had exquisite taste. The gold fabric brought out the color in her eyes, and the black trim matched her jet hair. She slipped into gold brocade slippers while he searched a mahogany vanity laden with enough bottles of perfume for a thousand overnight guests.

“The duke treats his prisoners quite well.”

“I shudder to think whom he has kept in these rooms—and why. What are you doing?”

Gareth ran his fingers through her hair, separating the strands. “I’m going to fix your hair. Now hold still.” He didn’t need to repeat the command as he started brushing, for her shoulders relaxed and she started to purr.

“I imagine you have quite a bit of experience at this.”

She sounded annoyed.

Gareth smiled. “There are many ways to seduce a woman, my lady.”

“Hmph.”

“However”—he expertly twisted her hair up into a knot, securing it with the hairpins he’d found next to the brush—“you are the first woman I ever seduced by teaching her how to fight.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel special?”

He stuck one final pin in the coiffure to secure it and spun her around. “No, this is.” And Gareth kissed her breath away, until he felt her melt in his arms, until the impulse to drag her back to the bed and ravish her actually made him ache. Verily, he had never wanted a woman as much as he wanted Millicent.

Nell’s strident voice penetrated through the door, and Millicent stiffened, pushed him away. “You make me forget the rest of the world exists. I find it extremely annoying, Sir Gareth.” And she spun her golden skirts and left the room.