The Witch's Thief (9 page)

Julia kissed him again. He moaned softly, deep in his throat. She smiled, encouraged. She darted her tongue out to taste him. His body tensed, but he didn’t pull away from her.

She took him into her mouth.

“Oh, Julia!” he whispered and moaned.

He tasted salty. She liked the feel of his hardness encased in such silky softness. She licked him, wrapping her tongue around him, suckling him. But, she only enjoyed him for a moment before he pulled away.

“Oh, my love, you are too much for me.”

Heat flamed Julia’s cheeks. Had she read his body wrong? “You did not like…?”

He drew her face up to meet his for a kiss. When his lips came away from hers, he whispered, “I enjoyed it all too much, my dear. I wish to show you the pleasure a man is meant to give a woman. If you continue pleasuring me, I might not have the strength to show you.”

Julia smiled with relief.

He turned her onto her back. He parted her legs, exposing her womanhood to his hungry gaze.

“You are so beautiful,” he said. His fingers smoothed down and up her legs until his thumb found her bud. She was swollen and wet. She gasped when his thumb circled over her. Her eyes drifted closed, and she turned her head into the pillow.

He stopped. He pulled her chin back to look at him.

“Open your eyes,” he said. She did. “I want to see your eyes when I take you.”

Her heart pounded in her chest. The heat swelling in her belly lit her body on fire. She writhed with want, need.

She needed him.

Only him.

“Yes,” she whispered.

With one hand he lifted her derriere, placing her entrance against his member. The tip of his hardness brushed against her opening.

Slowly, he entered her.

The corded muscles of his shoulders and neck tensed. She watched in amazement as he pushed into her a bit and pulled out. He pushed further in, easing into her, stretching her muscles to accommodate. He did this a few times, and she writhed beneath him, never taking her eyes off of his. Then he thrust all the way.

A slight pain tore her, but he moved again, and the pain turned to pleasure of the most agreeable sort. His rhythm increased, and soon he pumped into her. Her breaths came in gasps. He rocked his hips faster. Her fingers found her breasts, caressing her nipples in the way he had done.

He groaned as he watched her.

Her eyelids drifted closed. Her heart pounded. She gasped for air. A pressure built within her, similar to what she experienced with him on the floor. He coaxed her towards release with each thrust.

And then she was calling his name over and over. Her muscles clenched around him, squeezing him. He cried out, and with one last thrust, his seed spilled inside her. And stars burst beneath her eyelids.

****

The startled sound of a shocked feminine gasp woke Julia. The first thing she saw when she opened her eyelids was her face buried in a pillow not her own. A peculiar musky aroma tickled her nose. She jerked her head up. A masculine groan rumbled from under the sheets beside her.

She turned her head to the right and blinked, certain she was dreaming.

Basil Merriweather lay stretched beside her, a tantalizing view of his naked chest peeking out from under the sheets. Julia tore her gaze from his chest to his face to confirm he still slept.

So, what noise woke her?

“Julia!”

Julia turned to her left to find her sister standing not two feet away, hands on hips, her expression turning from shocked surprise to outraged anger and back again. She was at a loss for words as she lifted a hand to point first at Basil and then to herself.

“You…and he…” she said, clearly trying to articulate, but finding it difficult.

Julia sat up, pulling the sheet with her to cover her bare breasts. The sight perplexed Marianne further.

“Julia!” she exclaimed, her cheeks now flushing scarlet. From anger or embarrassment, Julia could not discern.

“Keep your voice down,” Julia whispered, glancing back at Basil. But, he slept undisturbed.

“I won’t wake him,” Marianne sputtered. “How could I?”

“Oh, yes. Force of habit that,” Julia said with a rueful smile.

“
Julia!
”

She sighed. “Yes, dear, I know my own name. Would you please get past the ‘Julia’ part, and tell me what you want to say.”

Marianne clenched her fingers into fists.

“What. Are. You.
Doing
?” she asked, pausing with each word. She added with a nod toward Basil, “With him?”

“I don’t see how it’s any of your business.”

Her sister did not take this statement well. Not at all.

“None of my business?
None of my business?
”

But, now was not the time for this particular discussion. Basil stirred beside her. If she kept up a dialogue, he was bound to wake.

While her sister ranted, Julia slipped with slow and quiet movements out of the bed and searched the dimly lit floor for the remnants of her dress.

Lucky for her, Marianne woke her. It was not yet dawn so the servants were still abed. No one would notice her slipping back into her own bedchamber.

Despite her past relationship with Basil, Julia did not want the world to know she had consummated said relationship. She couldn’t even imagine what his aunt might say if she ever discovered Julia’s indiscretion. Julia did not wish to trap him into marriage, nor did she wish to be sent packing.

As these thoughts and more tumbled through Julia’s passion-sated, sleep-fogged brain, Marianne followed her, waving her arms in wild demonstration as Julia crept across the floor, picking up the pieces of her clothes.

“How could you say this is none of my business. You are my sister! He is…
Basil Merriweather
! Julia, how could you let this happen? This wasn’t supposed to happen. You’re placing yourself in a precarious situation as it is!
Fornicating
with your old beau is going to complicate things further. Did you not think on that? Did you not take one moment to think what this will do to him when he finds out?”

Julia’s brow furrowed, and she flashed her sister a dark glance. “He will not find out.”

Marianne stopped her tirade.

“You will not tell him?”

“I cannot. You know I cannot.”

“There are ways besides speech,” Marianne said. “Perhaps he might help us.”

Julia shook her head fiercely. “He cannot help us. I do not wish to involve him.”

“He knows where to find it, Julia. He
can
help us.”

But, Julia shook her head again, refusing to even consider the thought. She bit her lip to hold back any shouting that might burst from her lips as she told her sister there was no way for Basil to help her.

She did not wish to wake him, however, so she quietly finished gathering her clothes. She made a quick effort to re-attach them to her body in some semblance of her former appearance.

With one last glance at Basil, who continued to sleep soundly, snoring ever so softly, Julia waved for Marianne to follow her. She and her sister quit the room.

****

The corridor outside Basil’s bedchamber proved no better for conversation, so Julia instructed her sister to maintain silence as they hurried from his room to Julia’s chamber. They said not a word until Julia closed her bedroom door.

After the click confirmed they had privacy once again, Marianne continued on with her tirade, and Julia continued to gainsay her.

“The spell, Julia,” Marianne said. “Did you find it yet?”

She shook her head as she sat on the edge of her mattress and stared at the floor. Her stockings hung askew, and her boots were on the wrong feet.

“I found the secret compartment over the fireplace in the drawing room,” Julia said. “The books were stashed neatly inside. There were six of them, but the seventh is missing.”

“How do you know there’s a seventh?”

“
He
told me.”

Julia did not need to voice his name since Marianne knew only too well of whom she spoke.

“Where is the seventh grimoire?”

Julia lifted her gaze to stare pointedly at her sister. “I’ve searched the library and all the rooms where books are placed. It cannot be out in the open. There must be another secret compartment, but I cannot think of where it might be. I’ve searched and searched. Have you found anything?”

Marianne shook her head. “It does not help when I cannot touch anything.”

Julia sighed, rubbing her face with her hands. “It must be here somewhere.”

“We’re running out of time,” Marianne said in an oddly timid voice. “Perhaps if we ask Basil…”

Her back stiffened. “I told you, no.”

“Still, he, of all people, would know where to look. He’d know what to do especially when dealing with Drake.”

Shivers slid down her spine at the mention of his name. “I told you not to speak his name. I do not like the sound of it. The mere mention makes me feel as though he is watching us.”

Marianne let out a sad sigh, though she did glance around the room as if he might appear at any moment.

“Julia, we need help.”

But, Julia turned a deaf ear to her sister as she stood and paced the carpeted floor. She needed a plan, something that would help her and save her sister.

****

Julia stood in front of the full-length mirror, holding a tiny mound of bluish powder in her palm. She studied her reflection, staring into the tired eyes of a woman who was out of options. A woman about to bargain with the devil.

Again
.

Her stomach tightened with dread, but she gritted her teeth with determination. She needed more time. He must give it to her.

Softly, she blew the powder onto the glass of the mirror. Then she picked up the piece of paper Drake had given her and read aloud the words he scribbled there. After she finished the incantation, she took a step back and waited.

And waited.

It took several minutes.

The glass of the mirror shifted. The flat hard surface mutated into liquid, liquid that remained on the wall. It rippled and danced liked waves on a lake. She watched, mesmerized until an image began to form in the mirror.

The image of a man.

His hair looked like the wings of a raven, and his blue eyes pierced her soul with icy fire. He held his head high, staring at her with a regal tilt to his chin. At one time, Julia thought him a handsome man, until she discovered the evil that twisted within him.

She shivered as Drake appeared fully.

“You have it?” he asked, his voice deep and powerful.

Julia shook her head. “I need more time.”

“Your time is nearly through. I need that spell. You promised to have it by the end of the full moon.”

“I promised to
try
to find it,” she corrected. “I’ve done my best. I’ve discovered several Merriweather grimoires, but none contain the spell you seek.”

“Then you must try harder.”

“I need more time,” Julia said. “I’m having some…difficulty. I must take care how I search so as not to be discovered.”

Drake sneered. “One old lady and a few house servants will not detain you. I’m certain you may find a way to search without revealing your true intentions.”

“It’s not that. There’s been…” Julia hesitated. Dare she tell him the news? She did not know how Drake would react. And she feared this man for what he had done to her family.

“Spit it out, woman!”

“Someone else is here,” she said finally. She took a deep breath to still her trembling. “I cannot conduct as thorough a search as before since he is certain to take notice of my actions.”

“Who?” Drake leaned closer. “Who has arrived?”

Julia bit her lip. She could not tell him. What would he do? She did not want this man to know Basil had returned to England. Though Drake had no reason to hurt him, Julia feared for Basil. She wanted to protect him from the evil in the world.

But, Drake would find the truth out other ways, she was sure. She learned over time Drake would find a way despite all she did to stop him. Drake had methods of discovering things. His spies were everywhere; the birds, the insects, the trees. Who knew what other supernatural creatures he commanded?

“Basil Merriweather.” The moment she spoke his name she cringed.
Betrayal!
A knife wrenched in her heart.

“Basil?” Drake repeated, his eyes widening. “Basil? The prodigal son.” A slow upward curve of his lips revealed the hideous replica of a smile. “He’s the one,” he whispered, his eyes seeing naught being lost in deep thought.

Julia gasped. This is what she feared. Drake’s attention now focused on Basil. What would he do to him?

“What?” she asked. Her startled cry drew Drake’s attention. He nodded, as if answering to someone she could not see. There was not much in the background other than shadowy darkness. She could nearly feel the coldness from his castle through the mirror’s portal.

“Yes, he knows where the book is hidden. He will find it,” Drake said. “You must seduce him. Use your womanly spells on him. Make him tell you where to find the book.”

Julia shrank back. “No, I would never! How could you suggest such a thing?”

She did not tell him about the mutual seduction last night. It still confused her whether or not she seduced Basil, or he her.

“It matters not to me how you obtain the book, woman, only that you obtain it. Find the spell. Bring it to me. The spell I cast over Marianne will only last so long. After that, your sister is lost to you, forever.”

Julia sat speechless while the image of the horrid man faded, and again she looked into her own eyes. Eyes red from weeping.

Marianne appeared behind her. Julia had banished her from the room when she decided to contact Drake.

“What are we to do?”

Julia fought the tears that again threatened. “We will search again. The book is here, and we will find it. Without Basil’s help. I do not want him involved.”