A Witch in Time Read online

Her feet, though still tender, weren’t quite as painful as they had been before. Yet she kept a hand on his arm. “You speak in riddles, my lord.”

  “It is for your protection, Jillian. It is best that you don’t know the truth.”

  “How dare you say that? I deserve to know all there is to know about the man I’m to marry.”

  Colin turned away from her and headed for the edge of the woods. “Come. I will see you to your house.”

  “No!” She stomped after him and tugged him to a halt. She didn’t continue to speak until she’d gained his attention. “Tell me about your brother.”

  He opened his mouth, and then snapped it shut again. His gaze lit upon her abandoned bucket and he appeared relieved to have found an excuse for a distraction. “Is this yours?”

  She waved her hand dismissively. “Leave it. What use is scrying when my entire future is in jeopardy?”

  “Scrying?” His green eyes flashed fire as he stared down at her. The generous curve of his lip tightened into a thin line. “You are a witch!”

  She wanted to slap her forehead. The principle rule in the Coven was to not reveal one’s powers. How had she forgotten the most important commandment? She attempted to backtrack. “Don’t be silly. Of course I’m not a witch. Besides how would you know that unless you are familiar with the Dark Magics yourself?”

  “Familiar? Yes, I guess you could say I am.”

  Her mind raced. What did he mean? Was he a witch or had the Coven sent him to spy on her? Her heart fell at that thought. “Why did you seek me out?”

  He pretended innocence. “I did not seek you out. I merely happened upon you.”

  She gave him a look of patent disbelief. “The path to the stream isn’t an easy one. You came here with a specific purpose in mind. Tell me what it is.”

  He shrugged his massive shoulders. “I suppose it doesn’t matter now. I did seek you out. I wanted to discover for myself what drew my brother to you. Are you or are you not a witch?”

  “Why?”

  He took her by her shoulders and spoke urgently. “It’s utterly important that you tell me the truth.”

  Every rule of the Coven forbade her from announcing herself as a witch, but she fell under the spell of Colin’s hypnotic green gaze. In his eyes, she found compassion, urgency, and honesty. He was trustworthy. She’d stake her life on it. In fact, if she answered in the affirmative, she very well may be. “I am.”

  “Does my brother know of this?”

  “I’m not sure. As I’ve never spoken to him, I certainly haven’t told him. You must tell me. Why would my position of witch affect my marriage?”

  Colin began to pace, his mouth forming words that were too low for her to detect. He stopped and gave her a hard look. “Now it makes sense.”

  “What makes sense?”

  “Percy and why he wants to marry you. He needs a witch to increase his powers.” Colin slapped his thigh and cursed loudly. “Why didn’t I think of it before? If Percy mates with a virgin witch, he would be practically indestructible.”

  Jillian’s mind reeled with his rapid fire conversation. “What sort of powers does your brother have?” She knew a few male witches, but none seemed inclined to pursue her, even with her virginity intact. It was no secret that she’d been forbidden from participating in the mating rituals, so it couldn’t be from a lack of awareness of her untouched status. “What exactly is your brother?”

  Colin’s green eyes seemed fathomless. “He’s a warlock.” He came forward and gripped her arms. “You cannot marry him. If you do, he will never be stopped.”

  She didn’t think it was possible to be any more stunned than she already was, but her stomach leapt into her throat at Colin’s proclamation. A warlock?

  The rumors were true then. The earl’s evilness must know no bounds if he’d sold his soul to the devil. Some believed that all witches did, but it was not so. Only the ones who craved power and destruction gained warlock status. She’d been warned numerous times by the Coven to steer clear of any and all warlocks. How could she do so if she was married to one? Visions of the prophecy foretold by the mating of a warlock and virginal witch made her skin crawl with terror.

  She straightened her spine and gave Colin a determined look. “What do I have to do?”

  *

  The moonlight gleamed in Jillian’s hair, burnishing her red locks with a copper sheen. Her green eyes were lit with determination, but beneath her bravado lurked a sense of desperation. He had no idea how long she’d dabbled in the craft, but she had to know the dangers a warlock could pose, especially one as powerful as Percy.

  Colin wasn’t sure exactly when his previously lighthearted brother had sold his soul to the devil. One day, Colin had woken up and realized that the brother he remembered from his childhood was no more. In his place stood a young man who thrived on the misery of others. Colin didn’t want Jillian to suffer at Percy’s hands.

  “My brother obviously had trouble finding you since he’s been on the lookout for a wife for two years. Now that he’s found you, he won’t be satisfied until you are his. We have to make you undesirable in his eyes. That’s the only way to protect you.”

  “Undesirable?” Her hand lifted to her hair and she gave him a perplexed look. “How do we do that?”

  Even with the seriousness of the situation, he laughed. “Calm yourself. We do not have to do anything so horrible as cutting your hair or marring your face, dear Jillian. I’m afraid that wouldn’t stop my brother anyway. No, we must rid you of the one thing that he truly wants. Your virginity.”

  If it was possible for a person to go white, she did. Her mouth gaped and her green eyes appeared overly dark in her pale face. “How do we do that?”

  He coughed to clear his throat. “The normal way I suppose.”

  “And you will be the one to help me?”

  His cock twitched at the thought. Since He would be lying if he said he hadn’t thought of being with her. It would be no hardship at all to rid her of her virginity. He carefully kept his face devoid of eagerness. “Unless you have someone else in mind?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “There’s no one else.”

  He reached for her hand and enveloped her slender fingers with his own. “Do not be frightened, Jillian. I won’t hurt you.”

  She gave him a look that clearly said the idea hadn’t occurred to her. In fact, damned if she didn’t look intrigued. “You are a virgin, are you not?”

  “Yes.” She lowered her chin and a long strand of red hair fell forward to caress her cheek. “I was forbidden from the rituals.”

  “The rituals?”

  He knew a little bit about the craft, but not enough to discern her meaning. “Which rituals?”

  “The mating ones.” She boldly met his gaze. “I do confess I’ve been eager to learn more.”

  He was struck by a bolt of lust so strong it was a wonder he didn’t fall off his feet. She’d just confessed her desire to have sex with him. He couldn’t remember the last time a woman had been so straightforward. It would be a joy to bed her, even if it was merely to save her from Percy.

  He tugged on her hand until she moved close enough for him to wrap his arms around her waist. “What happened during these rituals you speak of?”

  Her cheeks turned pink, but she gave him a mysterious smile. The juxtaposition between nervous virgin and worldly woman was intoxicating. He breathed in her scent, not surprised to learn that she smelled of the outdoors. Her hair carried a hint of rain mixed with fresh grass.

  Her voice was quiet, yet steady, as she spoke. “Couples were paired to each of the four corners. No one knew who they would be paired with beforehand. The bodies were cleaned with water and then anointed with oil before the mating could occur.”

  “And you watched all this?”

  She nodded. “Yes. I wasn’t allowed to take part, but I convinced the Elders to let me witness the rituals.”

  He caressed her lower back with one hand and she
arched into his touch. She was definitely responsive. Good, it would make things much easier for her. “And you liked what you saw?”

  Her lids were half-mast and her cheeks filled with color. “Yes, very much so. I envied the women in the rituals.”

  Colin could imagine that watching four writhing couples would be arousing. He put one hand to her breast and squeezed lightly. She was firm, yet soft, in his hands. Her nipple immediately puckered and pressed into his palm. Yes, she was definitely ready.

  He lowered his head and placed his lips near her right ear. “We can do this quickly or we can take it slow. There’s no reason we both can’t enjoy ourselves in the process.” He pressed a tiny kiss to the lobe of her ear. “Which will it be, dear Jillian?”

  She turned her head the tiniest bit. Her lips brushed the corner of his mouth. “Either sounds fine to me.”

  He moved the final inch it took to seal their mouths together. Her lips opened under his, her teeth lightly scraping his tongue as he surged forward to claim her. The thought of why he was doing this disappeared. All that was left was the wonderfully erotic woman in his arms. An unskilled virgin, but not completely unschooled. She’d seen enough to not be frightened of him, but just enough to be enthralled by what he did to her.

  A niggling voice in the back of his head told him that he should tell her what he truly was. Like his brother, Colin wasn’t what he seemed. He ruthlessly ignored his conscience. Unlike Percy, he didn’t mean her any harm.

  His being not-quite-human should bear no significance on their mating.

  Chapter 2

  Jillian was on fire.

  In all her years of watching the rituals, she’d never guessed that a single kiss could set her skin aflame. Colin’s tongue dueled with hers, wrapping around and stroking as if he had all night to kiss her. She was wet between her thighs. Her nipples were hard and pressed against his chest, so he had to know that she was aroused. And she would have to be a fool to not recognize the firm length against her belly. He wanted her, too.

  She wrenched her lips from his and fought to catch her breath. “I want to see you,” she gasped. “All of you.”

  His breeches disappeared as quickly as his shirt had earlier. He stood there in the moonlight completely nude and let her look her fill. His skin was dark, yet the light lent him a silver sheen that made him appear as something out of a fairy tale. His dark hair was damp with a fine mist that had begun to fall sometime during their kiss.

  She lowered her eyes to the part she craved the most and licked her lips in anticipation. He was even longer and thicker than the boy from the village. She encircled him with one hand just to see if her fingers could wrap all the way around the head of his cock. They could, but just barely.

  He touched her wrist, yet he didn’t remove her hand. “Careful, Jillian. You don’t want the game to end too soon, do you?”

  She stroked him once, then twice, before releasing him reluctantly. “I suppose you are right.” But she couldn’t help sneaking another look downwards. His cock arched upward toward her belly, the tip wet with a droplet of moisture.

  Her skin was still on fire. Her coarse linen nightgown was rough against her breasts and abraded her overly sensitive nipples. She drew it up and over her head in one smooth motion. She heard Colin’s quick intake of breath and knew that she’d surprised him. She was nude underneath. Her breasts were proud and high, the area between her legs covered with a light dusting of curly auburn hair, just a shade darker than that on her head.

  His green gaze swept her body and she watched as a muscle flexed in his cheek. “Do I please you, my lord?”

  He nodded without moving his gaze from the curls shielding her sex. His nostrils flared. “Very much so.”

  Suddenly nervous for some unknown reason, she retreated to the banks of the stream. Cool water rushed over her toes and she shivered, yet she continued to back into the water until it swirled around her thighs and lapped at the petals of her wet sex. She’d bathed in this water a hundred times, but she’d never felt the sensations she now experienced. The water felt like a tongue licking around her sex. She spread her legs and the sensation increased. She bit back a moan and focused on the man who stood on the bank watching her.

  She put her hands to her breasts and toyed with her nipples. Her spine arched and the ends of her hair dipped into the water, the wet strands caressing her backside. The triple combination of water against her sex, her hands on her breasts, and the teasing strands of hair on her backside made her come in a violent rush. Her knees went weak and she sank deeper into the water.

  Before her head slipped beneath the surface, he was there. His lips covered hers as he followed her underwater, their mouths dueling in a wildly violent dance. Water filled both their mouths, but she continued to kiss him as if there was no tomorrow. Her bottom brushed the sandy bottom of the stream and her legs brushed his hard arousal. Moments later, she bobbed to the surface and broke the kiss only long enough to draw a much needed breath.

  Water dripped into her eyes and she blinked to clear her vision. Colin stood beside her, his dark hair plastered to his forehead, droplets of water clinging to obscenely long eyelashes. His voice was rough as he spoke. “I will be damned if I let my brother possess you. You are mine, now.”

  “Yes. Yours.” She would’ve agreed to anything at that moment. Even after bringing herself to climax, she wanted him with a fierceness that should frighten her. She had no idea why she was so attracted to this man, but not even God himself could tear her away before she experienced the feeling of him deep inside her.

  She lifted one leg and draped it around his hip. His cock brushed the inside of her thigh and her inner muscles tightened in expectation. Just a few more inches and he would be inside her.

  Colin’s large hand gripped her other thigh and he guided it around his waist. She was wrapped around him, her face level with his, as the blunt head of his cock began to enter her. She bit her lip to hold back a cry of distress. He was too large. He wouldn’t fit. Just as she was about to work herself into a flurry, he slid completely inside. She cried out as he tore through her maidenhead, but then he kissed her and her senses reeled.

  Once he was inside, it was as if he’d lost control. His hands clamped on her waist, lifting and bringing her up on his hard cock like a man possessed. He was rough, but she liked it. The pleasure bordered on pain and her passion doubled. This was nothing like she’d expected. It was better. More energetic, more liberating, more…everything. The walls of her sex felt like they were being stretched beyond repair, a fullness that she’d never experienced. He was warm and hard inside her. She could feel the ridges of his cock as they brushed back and forth along her sensitive tissue. All her senses came alive and centered on what happened to her body. She experimentally rolled her hips. It felt good, so she did it again. She ground down towards him as he stroked her.

  “Wait,” he gasped. His fingers clenched on her hips to hold her still. His hands slid to her bottom and he lifted her free of his cock.

  She cried out in distress. “No!”

  “Just a moment, Jillian.” He strode toward the bank and placed her on the wet dirt. The ground felt deliciously rough against her back as he lay upon her and began to feast upon her breasts. She felt empty inside where he’d previously been. She spread her legs, silently urging him to complete their mating.

  “Colin,” she pleaded, her voice little more than a whisper of breath. “Please.”

  His fingers moved to the swollen petals of her sex and he toyed with the tangled curls there. His finger tested her, easily sliding inside to stroke her clit. “You are no longer virginal, my dear. You’re safe from my brother.”

  Her eyes, which had closed moments before, suddenly popped open. She sat up and gave him a baleful look. “If you mean to…”

  “Calm yourself, Jillian.” He flicked his tongue over her nipple and she shuddered. “We’re not finished yet.” He gently pushed her onto her back and pressed his lips to
hers. “I only wanted to point out this is no longer about protecting you. Just pleasure.”

  A second finger slid inside. “Does this please you, Jillian?”

  He had to feel how wet and hot she was. She widened her legs further and openly invited him to take more, all of her. “Yes. Don’t stop, Colin.”

  He removed his fingers and she cried out again. “Shush.” He licked her lips and gave her a wicked smile. “I want to taste you.”

  He moved back down her body, placing tiny kisses everywhere he could reach. She giggled when his hair brushed the sensitive underside of her belly, and then gasped when he suckled the swollen nubbin at the top of her sex. “Colin!” Her hands dug into the wet dirt beside her hips, her fingers clawing at the moss and pebbles. His tongue flicked her clit, then boldly parted the lips of her sex and thrust inside. Shivers wracked her from head to toe. Surely this was a sin! If it was a sin, she’d gladly burn in hell to experience it to the fullest.

  Colin lifted his hand and gave her another grin. “More?”

  She tore her hands away from the dirt and cradled his face. She got mud all over him, but he didn’t seem to mind as she pulled him up for another kiss. He threaded his fingers through her hair, holding her steady for the onslaught of his tongue. His pull on the strands tugged her scalp, almost to the point of pain. It was odd how the small sting increased her pleasure. She wondered if he thought the same. She nibbled on his bottom lip and then gently sucked it into her mouth. Her teeth nipped him and she was rewarded with a deep throated growl. He did feel the same.

  She did it again, this time clamping down a mite harder. Not hard enough to draw blood, but enough for him to know her purpose. He responded with a nip of his own on her upper lip. He roughly parted her legs and guided himself back into her body. There was the exquisite fullness she’d known so briefly. This time, he moved completely inside with ease.

  He rolled his hips, his sac bouncing against her thighs from the movement. Her head arched back against the sand and her eyelids fluttered. It was too much! She was going to explode.

  Then she did. The force of her climax sent her shattering into a million pieces. Her body went limp, yet still lovingly cradled Colin as he sought his own release. As she recovered, he continued to move within her. She watched his expression as his movements grew shorter and stronger. His brow furrowed and his jaw clamped into a hard line. He made a sound halfway between a purr and a growl, and then a rush of wet warmth filled her.