A slow smile spread across her lips. “I know.”
Lowering his head, he covered her mouth with his in a savage kiss that slowly turned gentle, intimate, arousing. She moaned deep in her throat as her body responded to his kisses. A moment later, their clothing disappeared and his hands were beneath her, lifting her hips to receive him as his tongue plundered her mouth. And there was no more room for thought as pleasure rippled through every fiber of her being, driving every other thought from her mind but the need for this man, for his mouth on hers, his hands caressing her, until the world exploded between them and she floated slowly back to earth.
~ * ~
Elowynne screamed her frustration as another of her enchantments failed to produce the results she sought. Damn and blast!
She hurled her wand across the room then stared at it. Had she lost her magic? No, that was impossible. She summoned her wand to her hand. Something was blocking her spells, but what?
Was it possible Saintcrow was strong enough to repel her dark magic? She shook her head. That was impossible. He didn’t possess any magic. She had never heard of a vampire who could repel magic without help. The witch in the Everglades could no longer protect him. Had that witch in New Orleans worked somesort of charm on Saintcrow to shield him? The thought made her frown. It was, she supposed, highly possible for another powerful witch to produce a protection spell that would thwart her own magic.
Perhaps she would have to destroy the New Orleans witch as she had the other one. Killing Alara had filled her with a great deal of pleasure. Taking Alara’s heart and drinking her blood had magnified her power.
Murder and revenge were always the answer.
A sly smile twisted her lips.
First Saintcrow’s woman.
And maybe Jake Kincaid and the New Orleans witch, as well, for good measure.
And then Saintcrow.
The best for last.
Chapter Twenty-One
Kadie sat at her computer playing her fifth game of Gin Rummy. She had lost the previous four, probably because she wasn’t really paying attention to the game. She couldn’t stop worrying about Elowynne’s next move. She had killed Alara. Was Izabela next? Or Rylan? Or Kincaid? She shivered as a cold chill trickled down her spine. She had done nothing to Elowynne but what better vengeance could Elowynne have than to destroy the woman Saintcrow loved? Kadie frowned. If she was out of the way, was the witch twisted enough to think Rylan would turn to her for comfort?
Kadie smiled as Rylan came up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders.
“Kadie, love, why are you sitting here worrying about the wicked witch?”
She leaned back, resting her head against his broad chest. “Why do you think? She’s not going to stop until one of you is dead. Doesn’t facing her worry you?”
Bending down, Saintcrow kissed the top of her head. “Of course it does. But worrying won’t help. As for Izabela, she can take care of herself.”
“Are you sure?”
“As sure as I can be.” He ran his tongue along the side of her neck. “Let’s forget about Elowynne for a while,” he said, threading his fingers through the silk of her hair.
As always, his touch drove everything else from Kadie’s mind. “What did you have in mind?” she asked in a throaty voice.
“Just what you think, darlin’.” Lifting her into his arms, he carried her to bed and spent the rest of the night making slow sweet love to her.
Kadie blinked back her tears as pleasure uncurled deep within her, unable to shake the feeling that their time together might soon be over.
~ * ~
The next few days passed without incident. The waiting was making Saintcrow restless. Kadie knew he wanted to find Elowynne and butt heads, vampire-style, but she dreaded the time when the two of them would meet. Only one would walk away and while she was almost certain Rylan would win, she still worried because he had never tangled with an ancient vampire who was also a powerful witch. She had always believed that good was stronger than evil. And if that was true, then Lanzoni’s exorcism should protect the man she loved. She refused to consider any other option.
She had to admit, the waiting was getting on her nerves, too. It was hard to think about anything else. No doubt the witch was gloating as she waited for just the right time to strike.
And then letters addressed to Saintcrow started arriving, one every day for the next two weeks. They were from Elowynne, describing, in vivid detail, what she intended to do to Kadie once she had defeated Saintcrow. A few of the notes were truly horrendous as Elowynne threatened to hang Kadie from the bridge with a noose made of silver. Of course, doing so wouldn’t kill her, although the silver around her neck for a long period of time would be excruciating. The witch sent a color photograph of a disemboweled corpse and wrote Kadie’s name across the top. She sent photos of bodies being burned at the stake, being dismembered, and pictures of every other gruesome way to inflict slow, painful death.
At first, Saintcrow refused to let Kadie look at the letters or the photos, but she insisted she had a right to see them and, in the end, he relented.
“She’s awfully sure of herself, isn’t she?” Kadie asked as she tossed the most recent message into the fireplace.
