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Eventually, ferociously smug triumph formed along the planes of his handsome face when he recounted his daring escape, his remarkable transformation and his impromptu, clumsy flight. “I was no’ used to having wings,” he told her, as though needing an excuse for not being perfect at the get-go.
Who would be? She couldn’t even imagine…one moment being irrevocably bound by the laws of gravity, a caterpillar inching along in the world, then suddenlybam!A butterfly rips into the world.
Orik believed the shot of pure venom from his fangs had slowed his pursuer—Rathmort, a name suited to such a despicable being—and ultimately contributed to his escape. She asked how long witches could live. “Surely the witch who marked me couldn’t be the same.”
Orik informed her they could. “They weave spells to extend their lives. Could live long as a dragon.”
Finally, he lit up with pure love and joy when he spoke of being taken in by his adoptive family. How they’d helped him heal from his ordeal and cope with his loss. When he finished, she wanted to wrap her arms around him and kiss his pain away, but she suddenly felt very much like a witch in front of a man who’d been tormented by them.
Was she a mirror reflecting memories of his trauma? Did he see the faces of his captors when he looked at her?
She recalled some of his earlier behavior when he’d realized she was a witch, and even before that, when he’d simply been suspicious of her. It bore the characteristics of post-traumatic stress disorder. Her father had suffered from PTSD, though he’d staunchly tried to hide it from her. He’d had help from his peers and therapists and medication. Orik had his family, and his revenge.
“It’s no wonder you grew up to become The Destroyer,” she remarked.
“I’ll no’ deny a large part of me craved retaliation. I hunted my captors to every corner of this land, finding and eliminating all but the one I most wanted.”
Rathmort, she surmised.
“But a larger part of me had developed an obsessive need to protect my family, and that meant clearing our land ofanythreat.”
“Such as lemas?”
Orik darted a glance at Phoenix, slumbering peacefully in her lap. “If I was no’ convinced she is your familiar, I’d have dispatched her while you were unconscious. You’ve no idea the damage one like her can wreak. They can be exceedingly vicious, territorial, and inconceivably fast.”
Jessie recalled watching Phoenix zoom through the trees, her movements a blur. “Familiar?”
“An animal companion, from what I gather. Possibly a servant or guardian. They’ve been known to protect their witch counterparts fiercely. If this lema is yours, I find myself glad of it.”
Jessie’s lips spread into a wide grin. “Admit it. She’s growing on you, isn’t she?”
He harrumphed and rolled his eyes.
“You want to snuggle her and give her Eskimo kisses, don’t you?”
“What’s an Eskimo kiss?”
“When it’s so frightfully cold you don’t want to let your lips touch for fear of getting frozen in that position, so you rub your noses together instead.”
“Let’s not push the rodent too far. She barely tolerates me as it is.” He stood and headed for the door. He wanted to check in with his men, but first assured her he wouldn’t be long. The sun was long past setting. Before he left, he drawled in a dry tone, “Try no’ to get into any trouble while I’m gone.”
She gave him a military salute. “I’ll do my best.” Then he was gone.
Leaning back against her pillow, she let her mind churn over all that she’d learned. She admired Orik’s strength. Though the scars were still there, the hate and resentment still present, he’d pushed past it to make something of himself when it might have been easier to crumble under the heavy weight of self-pity.
After knowing his adoptive family only a short time, she admired them for taking him in and giving him the love and support he’d needed.
This new knowledge colored the memories of her past interaction with Orik as she viewed their history from his perspective. There had been times when he’d been perfectly at ease with her, even showing interest, and then something would cause him to go rigid and tense. Even without her knowing it, she must have inadvertently been giving off witch-like pheromones.
Her heart broke for his loss, which in many ways was similar to her own. She’d been close to his age when her mother had died. The difference being she was not hunted down and executed with a cold disregard for life. She’d been killed by a thoughtless drunk driver.
Thinking of her mother now made her suddenly feel as if she was forgetting something. Though much of the accident was a blur, she had little snippets to draw from: the car jolting violently, the crunch of metal against metal, her mother’s dark hair thrashing in odd directions as the world turned kaleidoscopic, tipping and twirling in ways that made no sense to her tiny, stunned brain, a blinding bright light.
Before all that chaos had been unleashed, she thought she and her mother had been singing along with the radio, both of them being loud and silly. For the life of her, she couldn’t recall the song.
After ushering Phoenix to her bed, Jessie turned out the lights and slipped into bed. The day’s activity had taken a lot out of her, and sleep came quickly. At some point during the night, she felt Orik slip into bed beside her and wrap his arms around her. His heat soaked into her back and she fell into an impossibly deep slumber.
In the morning, he curled his arms around her and kissed her awake. Kissing turned to petting, and petting to carnal pleasures. After their first orgasm of the day, they were barely sated. Could scarcely keep their hands off each other on the way to the shower, where he took her up against the wall as warm water beat down on their overwrought skin. Every touch was exhilarating, heart-pounding, feverous. And yet, something forlorn hung in the air around them. Their passion seemed to hold a different energy today, a marriage of urgency and desperation. The odd combination of excitement and an aching grief settled into the pores of her bones. Was it because their night of pretending that she wasn’t a witch and he wasn’t The Destroyer was over? Would today bring their inevitable separation?
