Mystical Seduction: full-length sensual paranormal romance (The Protectors) (14 page)

It seemed odd to have her parents living in the house
full-time now, or about as full-time as you could expect from a pair of
renowned and overly active anthropologists.

Her mother, Faith soon discovered, had been heading to the
grocery store. But Judy Summers took one look at her daughter and decided the
shopping could wait. She took Faith by the arm and led her into the
leather-appointed study where James Summers worked on his latest textbook.
Boxes of loose papers and moldy old tomes were stacked up all around his desk.

“Daddy,” Faith said, tears filling her eyes. “I’m in
trouble.”

While Faith started to tell them what had happened on the
night of her birthday, Judy pulled out a magnifying glass and studied the
frightening glow encircling her daughter’s head.

Faith tried tell them everything.

Honestly, she did.

Oh, she could tell her parents about all the embarrassing
parts, such as how she felt safe and cherished when she was around Horace—she’d
been such a fool. And she’d been able to tell them how she’d been intimate with
Horace and the marks he’d made on her body—which made her cheeks fiery hot.

But whenever she got to the truly unbelievable parts—the
parts about the otherworldly gunman and the sometimes-there-sometimes-not café,
her head started to pound. The harder she tried to make her tongue work, the
sharper the pain that attacked her.

She gave up after she almost threw up.

“It’s a mystery, sweetie,” her dad said. He lifted his
glasses off his nose and set them on the top of his head. The wire rims quickly
got tangled in his brown curls. “I wish you could tell us more about this new
boyfriend who did this do you. Why would he want to control you?”

“Because—because—”
He’s not human!
she tried to shout
but her tongue refused to cooperate.

She sank into her father’s leather armchair and rubbed her
temples. “I’m afraid they’re controlling me. Even now, my thoughts are bound up
because of them. Because of what
he
did to me.”

That made her parents frown.

“I’m calling the police.” Her mom picked up the phone and
started to dial. “I suspect they’ve drugged you. Perhaps I should call Dr.
Banks, too.”

Faith tried to tell them that it was magic, not drugs, but
those words wouldn’t come to her lips either. And the glow around her head grew
brighter.

“Horace,” she breathed, feeling more than a little
desperate. She wondered if he could hear her. “Horace, please don’t do this to
me.”

Horace held out his hand and tried to will the newly
refilled teacup Jake had placed on the café table to slide over to him. It
refused to budge.

Most of
the Protectors
had left The Oblique Café. Many
had returned to their daily routine. Being magical didn’t pay the bills. Nearly
all of them led normal lives with normal jobs that couldn’t be neglected. Stone
had sent those with flexible schedules out into the streets of Chicago to see
if there had been any reports of odd occurrences.

Most mystical creatures were terrible at blending in with
the humans. Perhaps
the Protectors
succeeded where the others failed
because, unlike the immortals flitting in and out of this realm,
the
Protectors
had been raised alongside human children and had learned early
on the nuances of society rules. Whatever the reason, mystical creatures, at
least the ones who did attempt to blend, often ended up sticking out like sore
thumbs. Not that the humans ever noticed. When you knew what to look for, it
was easy to find some pretty odd creatures out there living with the humans. Several
of the creature from the mystical realm masqueraded as celebrities, where
outlandish behaviors were the norm.

But
the Protectors
knew the truth. And they all
agreed that they needed to track down Ballou and confront him before he got the
chance to regroup and plan another attack.

For the past several hours, Stone had received regular
updates from the street-by-street search. So far, no one had found anything
more notable than garden gnome that had gone wild in an elderly woman’s
courtyard garden.

Horace had wanted to join the search, but Stone had stopped
him.

“You’d just go looking for Faith,” Stone had pointed out,
which had been the truth.

While Horace was glad for the distance from her—he didn’t
need Faith in his life, and he certainly didn’t need her sapping his powers—he
couldn’t seem to stop thinking about her and what he would do with her when he
got his hands on her again.

He blamed her for binding their souls into a tangled knot.
She’d pursued him with a single-minded determination and had teased him
mercilessly. What was a guy to do? Oh, he knew what he’d do when he got his
hands on her again.

He’d grab her wrists and hold them above her head. She’d
struggle against him. Maybe she’d be a little frightened. Good. He wanted her
to use some caution around him in the future.

He held out his hand and focused on that damned teacup
again.

She’d fight him. Curse him. Bite his lip. He’d bite her
back. And that would only serve to enflame her. Their lips would battle, and
she’d press her body against his. Through the layers of her clothes, he’d take
her breast into his mouth. Her nipple would be hot and aching for him. He’d
lick, suck, and tease until she moaned his name.

The blasted teacup didn’t even wobble.

But she’d eventually surrender. Her tight, compact body
would meld with his. Her curves fit so deliciously well with his, especially
when she wrapped her legs around his waist. She’d bite her lower lip and smile.
She had a mischievous smile that made his chest ache. Seeing it would make him
want to kiss her again. She’d make a little grunting sound in the back of her
throat as he ravished her mouth. He liked it when she did that.

And her light blue eyes would grow smoky with lust.

He narrowed his gaze and gritted his teeth, hoping that
would help focus his powers so he could slide the cup across the table.

With a wave of his hand, her cloths would be torn from
her body. There was no need to hide his powers from her anymore. So why not use
them to his benefit? And hers. After he put that third mark on her body she
would belong to him.

Forever.

Nothing would stop him from taking her. Their desires and
hungers would be merged.

The cup shuddered, but remained exactly where Jake had set
it. Horace drew in a deep breath and tried again to visualize the cup moving
toward his outstretched hand.

He’d worship her. He’d feast from her honey-scented body,
taking pains to make sure she’d be as lost in the bliss of their lovemaking as
he surely would be. He’d make love to her with his tongue and bring her to the
brink of madness. She’d be shouting his name before he was done. He’d make sure
she’d never regret loving him.

Horace leaned across the table, picked up the cup, and took
a sip of the tea Jake had fixed for him.

“I’ve never lost control like this before,” he admitted to
Brendan, who slouched in a nearby chair with his arms crossed over his chest.

“The power is still there,” Brendan said as he watched
Horace through heavy-lidded eyes… “You’re just too caught up with other…um…thoughts,
to be able to focus.”

“Other thoughts?” Brendan wouldn’t have been eavesdropping,
would he?

His friend raised a brow and had the decency to blush.

“I’d appreciate it if you’d stay out of my head. My feelings
toward Faith are private.”

“I wish I couldn’t hear them.” Brendan stretched and crossed
his legs at the ankles. “It’s worse than watching pornography. I’d appreciate
it if you could tone it down. Dallas isn’t around to help me out, you know.”

“Try harder. I’m sure you have something better to do than
sit in my head. Perhaps you could go help look for Ballou.”

“This isn’t her fault, you know,” Brendan said. “You
shouldn’t blame her.”

“I don’t want to hear this.”

Brendan didn’t seem to care what Horace did or didn’t want
to hear. “She didn’t take your powers. You still have them.”

“Then why couldn’t I even tip over that damned teacup?”

Brendan shook his head. “The silvery thread that connects
you to the universe, the source of your powers, is still there. And it’s
shining pretty brightly right now. I think you’re inadvertently funneling all
that power over to Faith.”

It was a commonly held belief among
the Protectors
that they didn’t have any innate powers of their own. They were able to tap into
the universe and focus the energy that was everywhere and everything at all
times.

It took years of training and careful practice to learn new
ways to direct that energy. New skills just didn’t pop up overnight. Well, not
usually.

“I’m not convinced she’s tapping into my powers or that I’m
somehow sending them her way. Don’t forget, she healed me.” Which was one of
the most difficult skills to learn. Only a few among them were naturally
inclined to learn the complicated process involved with saving a life.

Horace wasn’t one of them.

“The bond I have with Dallas enhances my natural abilities
and I enhance hers. Perhaps it is the same with you and Faith.”

It couldn’t be the same. Faith was human. Horace closed his
eyes and shook his head. “I just want it to all stop.”

“What’s happening to you doesn’t have to be bad.” Brendan leaned
forward and put his hand on his friends shoulder. “Two halves of the same whole
coming together…it’s a beautiful thing. There’s nothing wrong with finding your
mate.”

But Brendan was wrong. Horace needed to remain alone. Why?
The answer pulsed against the barriers in his mind, trying to get out, trying
to warn him.

Loving Faith would bring the both of them nothing but
danger.

He had to stop this. For both their sakes, he had to figure
out how to stop his heart from wanting her so fiercely.

* * * *

Much to Faith’s horror, sparks lit up her father’s
leather-appointed study. The bursts of energy flickered as they cast an
alarming green glow on the books crammed onto the shelves that lined all four
walls. Faith took a deep breath, trying desperately to control whatever Horace
had done to her.
Horace!

The room suddenly lit up like a fourth of July celebration.
During the grand finale, at that.

Faith’s mother gasped.

Faith would have gasped, too, but since taking a deep breath
had only made the sparks brighter, she thought it might be safer to hold her
breath.

“Honey, are you okay?” he dad asked. His voice sounded
strange. Distant. “Honey?”

Faith looked up at him and blinked. She could see his lips
moving and hear the words, but she couldn’t seem to put the two together.

She looked down at her hands. They’d started to glow now,
too.

“You’d better not touch me,” she warned. She remembered how
she’d had knocked Horace’s friend to the ground with a very similar kind of
spark when he’d tried to keep her from leaving the café. And she hadn’t
forgotten how she’d broken the wine glass without even touching it. “I don’t
know how to control this. I don’t know how to stop it.”

And her heart ached.

What the hell was wrong with her? Despite everything that
had happened and continued to happen to her, she still wanted Horace. She
wanted to feel the strength of his arms around her and the press of his lips
against hers. She wanted to share her life with him, to simply love him. And
she wanted him to love her back.

Wanting couldn’t be a bad thing, could it?

She needed Horace. At this point, he seemed to be the only person
who could help her.

But she couldn’t trust the jerk. He’d already brought too
much chaos into her life.

She didn’t dare risk getting near him again. If she got any
more of his powers, she would probably explode.

“Why can’t I have a relationship that is as easy and
straightforward as the one you have with Mom?” she cried.

“Easy?” James tossed a loving glance over his shoulder to
his wife. “We’re talking about your mother, right? The queen of having her own
way?”

“Hey!” Judy protested lightheartedly. “You aren’t so perfect
yourself, professor.”

“Love is never easy,” James warned. “But why would you want
it to be? It’s the challenges that make life interesting.”

Faith wanted to believe what her father was telling her, but
her heart hurt too much. What she wouldn’t do to trade this pain for a nice,
boring
relationship. Compared to glowing and breaking things, dull looked pretty darn
good.

Judy twined her fingers with her husband’s. “Sometimes we
hurt each other without even realizing it.”

“But-but—” Faith sputtered.

Her parents’relationship worked. They honored each other.
Trusted each other.

“I’m not saying you should trust Horace,” Judy said.

“But perhaps you should trust what your heart is telling you,”
James finished.

“What if I don’t know if what I’m feeling right now is real?
What if these emotions are all a lie?”

“Look deep,” James said. “You’ve always been good at sorting
difficult things out. Heck, out in the field you were always able to keep my
mishmash of files organized. If you can handle that, you can certainly sort out
whatever is tugging at your heart right now. Don’t worry, Faith. You already
know the truth.”

“You’re right, Dad.”

“As usual,” Judy said with a grin.

Faith shook her head. “What my heart is telling me scares the
hell out of me, though.”

“Most hard decisions do,” James said. “What is it telling
you to do?”

Faith drew another careful breath. “I should go to him.”

“No!” Judy shouted. “Have him come here. You should confront
him on your terms, not his.”