Jo felt her cheeks heat at the warm look in his eyes but she tried to push the attraction away.
“You shouldn’t give up your dreams,” she told him. “It’s important to do what you love.”
“Well, I haven’t completely. Look . . .” Reese got up and went into the other room. He returned with a framed diploma and showed it to her.
“A bachelor’s degree in ancient history!” She looked up at him, surprised.
“It’s only from an online university.” Reese shrugged self-deprecatingly. “But it’s a good one—I did plenty of research before I enrolled. And I’m thinking of taking classes for a master’s degree next.”
“You should! Reese, this is really impressive. I knew I saw a band of intellect in your aura. I couldn’t figure it out at first.”
“Yeah, a mechanic who likes to read.” He grinned. “Go figure, right? Well . . .” He took the diploma back from her and stretched. “Think I’ve had enough reading for one night. It’s time to let my Fox out to roam around some.”
This was something he did every evening, about an hour before bedtime. He’d explained to Jo that his other half enjoyed spending time with her too and it was only fair to give the Fox a chance to see her at least once a day.
Jo felt a wide smile spread over her face at his words. She loved his Fox to pieces—the little animal was so frisky and cuddly. Just hearing his sharp little yip and seeing him tear across the living room to jump into her arms made her bubble over with happiness. Plus, sitting on the couch and stroking his lithe, furry body just before bedtime ensured that her sleep wouldn’t be interrupted by the pounding in her temples coming back before she woke.
“Good,” she exclaimed. “I can’t wait to see the little guy.”
“Sometimes I think you like my animal half more than my human half,” Reese said dryly, but Jo could tell he was only partially joking.
“Of course I don’t, Reese,” she protested, getting up to go to him. “You know I love, um, spending time with you . . . talking to you.”
She could feel her cheeks getting hot as she spoke—her body yearned for his and she wished they could do a lot more than talk. But she tried to push the need she felt away and went on.
“Your fox is just so cute and cuddly,” she told Reese, “Nothing like those huge, ferocious dire wolves that chased me after I left Avalon.” She shivered at the memory. “Goddess, I’m so glad you don’t turn into anything like that.”
“Uh, yeah. That would be a real shame,” Reese muttered. He looked like he wanted to say something, then he just shook his head. “Guess I’d better let him out then.”
He turned away but Jo couldn’t ignore the hurt look she’d seen in his brown eyes.
“Reese,” she said, stepping forward and putting a hand tentatively on his arm. He was wearing a t-shirt and she saw his bicep tense and knot at her light touch. She hadn’t reached out to him—hadn’t touched him voluntarily—until now. Other than the kiss on the cheek she’d given him that first day at Fiona’s, she hadn’t touched him at all—it was always him touching her.
“Yes, darlin’?” he asked, turning back to her, his voice dropping into a lower register—almost a soft growl. “What is it?”
“I . . . I just wanted you to know . . . wanted to say . . .” Jo tried to think of how to put it.
He raised an eyebrow at her, waiting, which made her even more nervous.
“I want you to know I like being with you—like spending time with you,” she heard her voice saying. “I . . . I like it too much. So much it makes me . . . uncomfortable sometimes when I’m near you in your human form. That’s all.”
She pressed her thighs tightly together, trying to ignore the throbbing which got worse any time she was near him. His hands on her body . . . his mouth on her breasts . . . his fingers between her legs . . . No!
Goddess, she had to stop thinking of their erotic encounter after she’d cast the spell! The lust was messing with her head, making her think of doing things she hadn’t desired in years. Why couldn’t she just turn her libido off, the way it had been the entire time she’d lived in Avalon?
She hadn’t desired a man’s touch in over twenty years, but now, sometimes when she was close to Reese, she thought she would go crazy if she couldn’t have those big hands roving over her body . . . making her naked . . . making her his . . .
“Being near you makes me uncomfortable too, you know, darlin’,” he said matter-of-factly. “You smell so good it drives me crazy. Half the time I’m with you, your Juvie scent makes me so hard I ache.”
“I . . . I’m sorry.” Jo took a step back from him but he followed her and reached out to stroke her cheek lightly with the back of his knuckles.
“Don’t be,” he murmured. “It’s worth it to be near you. Even if I want you so badly I can hardly see straight. It’s a kind of torture but . . . a sweet torture, if that makes any sense.”
“Yes,” Jo whispered. “It . . . it feels that way to me too.”
“Then why are we torturing ourselves, darlin’?” he asked softly. He cupped her face in his big, warm hands and leaned down to look into her eyes. “Why can’t we stop playing this game?” he murmured.
Jo’s heart pounded and she wanted to pull away from his soft touch, but somehow she couldn’t. He was so close . . . close enough to kiss and his breath smelled sweet and a little spicy, like the apple pie she’d baked for dessert. She knew his mouth would taste of cinnamon and cloves and hot, aroused man and Goddess, she wanted so badly to taste that—to taste him.
“See, this is why I like your Fox form,” she said breathlessly, not answering his question. “Because there’s none of this . . . this tension when you’re the Fox. I can touch you as much as I want without wanting to do more . . . to go too far.”
“How far is too far?” Reese murmured. He hadn’t released his light hold on her and somehow Jo couldn’t make herself pull away. His touch seemed to send electrical tingles though her entire body.
“I . . . I don’t kn—” she began.
Before she could finish, Reese took her mouth in a sweet, urgent kiss. Soft, yet demanding, his mouth covered hers.
Goddess! Jo felt like she was melting. Throwing her arms around his neck, she returned the kiss, opening her lips to his, welcoming him in, finally giving in to the lust that had been burning inside her for what felt like forever.
Reese gave a low groan and crushed her to him. His big body, hard and hot, was pressed against hers from chest to groin and Jo felt the solid ridge of his shaft pressing insistently against her thigh.
Come on, baby, whispered a voice from her past. I just want a little kiss—c‘mere and give me a kiss . . .
With a gasp, she broke the kiss and pushed away from Reese. What was she doing? What was wrong with her? She had to get away—to get out of here before she did something she’d regret—before he took what she wasn’t willing to give.
“Jo?” Reese looked at her uncertainly, clearly wondering why she’d pulled away from their passionate embrace so abruptly.
“I . . . I’m sorry.” Jo shook her head, her long red hair whipping around her face. “I can’t—I just can’t. I have to go now.”
Turning, she fled up the stairs to the room Reese had given her. She locked herself in, threw herself on the bed, and shook and cried, trying to push away the past. Trying not to think of how badly she wanted Reese . . . and how badly she didn’t want to want him.
It was awful and made all the worse because no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t seem to stop the feelings welling up inside her for the big Shifter.
At last, though, she felt she’d cried herself out. Sitting up, she wiped her eyes with the clean but faded patchwork quilt that covered her bed and took a deep breath. There had to be something she could do—some way out of this mess.
There is, whispered a little voice. You know there is—you just have to be brave enough to do it.
Biting her lip, Jo considered her option
s. Just that day she’d found a recipe for a love spell reversal potion in the back of Miranda’s book of shadows. While perusing the book, she noticed that two of the pages seemed to be stuck together. As she carefully separated them, the potion recipe had been her reward.
At first Jo had been elated—it was exactly what she needed! And the list of ingredients and accoutrements needed seemed to be all things she had on hand or could get at Fiona’s pharmacy. But then the last thing on the list had caught her eye and her heart had lodged in her throat.
“Cestrum nocturnum, sometimes called night-blooming jasmine,” the list read. This tender perennial blooms from spring until fall, but it must be gathered in the wild under the light of the moon to be effective.”
Gathered in the wild . . . just the thought made Jo shiver. She knew where she could get some night-blooming jasmine. She’d seen some in the forest as she made her way through the trees. Finding some, even this late in the season, should be no problem . . . except for the fact that she’d have to go into the woods to get it.
Just thinking of that—of entering the forest when the shadow creature might be waiting for her—made Jo feel like she’d swallowed a pound of ice cubes which were sitting in the pit of her stomach refusing to melt. And yet, what else could she do? There was no other way to get the jasmine she needed—no other way to make the potion to break the lust spell that was driving both her and Reese crazy.
I can probably grab the jasmine and be out of the woods in no time, she told herself, trying to nerve herself up. And besides, I haven’t seen the creature lately—haven’t sensed its presence. Maybe it realized that I’m protected now—that I’m safe—and it decided to give up.
She hoped she was right because tonight she had reached her breaking point—she was damn well going to go into the forest and pick herself some night-blooming jasmine. She needed to brew that potion, no matter what the risks were.
Jo sat up straighter and took a deep breath. Okay, fine—she was going to do it—she was determined. But how could she get out without alerting Reese? After the passionate kiss they’d shared, she didn’t want to tell him she was going to try and eliminate all the passion and desire between them. He might feel offended and insulted, and that was the last thing Jo wanted. No, she had to get out of the house without Reese realizing she was gone.
Taking stock of the situation, Jo looked around the room and saw the window, opened just an inch to let in the cool night air. It was right beside a huge old oak tree and Reese had told her how his little sister Meggie, whose room this used to be, had always snuck out the window and climbed down the tree to go meet her friends when she was grounded.
Jo would never have dreamed of climbing out a second story window and down an oak tree in her forty-one year old body. But now that she felt nineteen or twenty again, the idea wasn’t daunting at all.
Lifting the window sash as quietly as she could, she measured the distance to the nearest tree branch and then to the ground. A chill wind rustled the trees and Jo shivered.
Going to the closet, she pulled out an extra warm, cable-knit sweater and pulled it on over the thinner sweater she was already wearing with her jeans. Then, sending a short prayer to the Goddess for protection, she slipped out the window and disappeared into the night.
* * *
Reese paced up and down, running his hands through his hair, cursing himself for a fool. Why had he done that? Why had he kissed her when he knew she had a past, knew she was frightened of being with a man? It was her Juvie scent driving him crazy, making him want her so badly he couldn’t see straight . . .
That’s no excuse and you know it, Reese told himself. You’re a full-grown man and an Alpha. You ought to be able to keep your hands to yourself!
But he couldn’t help thinking of that one moment when Jo had allowed herself to kiss him back, the way her arms had slipped around his neck and she’d pressed herself against him, giving in for just a split second to the need they both felt.
And then she’d pulled away and went running up to her room.
The desire was a palpable thing between them—a presence that pressed down on both of them like a huge, heavy hand whenever they were close enough to touch. It was suffocating . . . distracting . . . a burning thirst he couldn’t slake. It made him so frustrated at times he had to get away—yet he couldn’t bear to leave her. That was where his Fox form came in.
Reese knew Jo needed his touch and also knew she wouldn’t or couldn’t ask for it. He also wanted desperately to be near her without being constantly overwhelmed with desire. So he’d fabricated the idea that he had to spend time as his Fox every night.
When he was the Fox, he didn’t have to feel the desperate desire that made his cock so hard it ached when he looked at Jo and couldn’t touch her. And as the Fox, he could and did touch her as much as he wanted to. Reese looked forward to Shifting every evening, despite the pain it entailed. It was a relief every night to take his other form for an hour—to be close to her without wanting her so badly it made his whole body clench with need whenever she was near.
He thought of Shifting to his Fox right now and going up to scratch on Jo’s door. She would probably let him in as the Fox, even if she was upset with him as a human. Though she knew cognitively that he and the Fox were basically the same entity, it still hadn’t quite sunk in for her yet on an emotional level. She seemed to trust the Fox in ways she couldn’t trust him as a man.
It made Reese sad . . . made him wish she could trust his human form as much as his animal one.
He was just about to Shift when he stopped himself. Shifting right now would be a cop out. He had to talk to Jo—had to apologize for kissing her, for pushing too hard. Damn it—he’d been trying to keep his hands off her, trying to gain her trust. He supposed he might have destroyed that now—all his effort washed way in that one, intense kiss.
Sighing, he mounted the stairs and went to stand in front of Jo’s room. Taking a deep breath, he called through the door.
“Jo? Jo, can we talk? I know I was an ass down there—I shouldn’t have pushed you. I’m really sorry.”
No answer.
Frowning, he tried again. “Jo? Are you all right?”
Still no answer and his sensitive Shifter senses didn’t pick up her heart beat or any sounds of breathing either. A surge of worry shot through him. What was going on?
“Jo?” He knocked on her door, which wasn’t very securely latched, and the wooden panel swung inward.
The room was empty.
“Jo? Jo, where are you?” Fighting the panic that wanted to overwhelm him, Reese came into the room. He looked everywhere but didn’t sense her presence, though her maddening Juvie scent still hung faintly in the air.
Then his eyes lit on the window. Jo normally slept with it cracked because she liked the spicy scent of the leaves and the slight chill of the autumn air. But now the window wasn’t just cracked—it was wide open. Jo was gone.
Reese ran over to it, looking out into the darkness, hoping to find her still in the tree or in the backyard but it was no use—the little witch was nowhere to be seen. She had run away in the dead of night—probably to get away from him.
Great going, Reese—you drove her away. Your kiss scared her so badly she’d do anything just to get away from you!
He wanted to kick himself. He shouldn’t have pushed her, shouldn’t have kissed her, no matter how badly he wanted her and sensed that she wanted him. He shouldn’t have—
And that was when he heard it. Out in the forest, lost in the trees and shadows, a woman was screaming. The short hairs on the back of his neck stood up and a low growl rose in his throat as Reese recognized the voice.
It was Jo.
Chapter Ten
At first it seemed like getting the night-blooming jasmine would be easy. Jo slipped across the back lawn in her little white tennis shoes as quiet as a cat. Lady Moon was waxing—she was over three quarters full by now—and shed plenty of light on this c
loudless night.
Jo reached the edge of the woods at the border of Reese’s backyard, and stood there, listening and watching. She couldn’t hear or see anything but the moonlight on the branches and the soft rustling of the wind in the trees. The Shadow Creature was gone—Jo didn’t even feel a hint of malice in the chilly night air.
All right. So far so good . . . Now she just had to find some night-blooming jasmine and get in and out of the forest with it and back to the house without Reese seeing her.
Closing her eyes for a moment, she pointed her face into the wind and took some deep breaths. The scent of night-blooming jasmine could extend for as much as twenty to thirty feet around the plant itself. It was going to be a matter of following her nose . . .
Soon a sweet, heady aroma came to her. Jo opened her eyes and took a step toward the scent. She peered through the branches of the trees and again, saw no sign of the Shadow Creature. Another step and the scent got even stronger.
It must be close—really close. Looking deeper into the woods, she thought she saw a glimmer of white—like moonlight on a cluster of flowers. That must be it! All right—here goes nothing.
Taking a deep breath to nerve herself up, Jo dashed lightly into the forest. Bobbing and weaving around the branches, her feet crunching on dry leaves, she ran as fast as she could, intent on grabbing just a handful of the greenish-white bell-shaped flowers and getting back to the yard as quickly as possible.
She was reaching for them, the little waxy blossoms brushing her fingertips—when a hand grabbed her arm.
Jo shrieked in surprise as someone terribly strong gripped her wrist.
“All right now, none of that,” a rough, masculine voice said as a hand was slapped over her mouth.
Jo kicked and struggled, her past rushing up to swallow her whole as terror coursed through her, sharp and jagged as lightning. She bit down on the hand over her mouth but it was covered in some kind of thick, black glove and her teeth only sank into the rough, suede fabric, making no impression.