A Witch in Time Read online

  He collapsed atop her and she rubbed her hands down his perspiring back. “You’ve saved me. Thank you.”

  He lifted his head and his gaze sought hers in the darkness as a cloud drifted past the full moon. “Don’t thank me just yet.”

  His eyes gleamed, reminding her of the panther she’d seen. Even his pupils appeared catlike. It was obviously a trick of the light. She shook her head to clear it, but when she looked again, his eyes still gleamed. Could it be? It was a bit too much of a coincidence that he’d appeared right after her encounter with the panther. Had she escaped one monster only to be caught by another? She immediately wanted to kick herself. How had she let herself get so carried away?

  “What are you not telling me, Colin?”

  He slid free of her body and helped her sit up. He averted his eyes as she struggled into her nightgown and shakily got to her feet. He remained nude; his body still much too distracting for her own good.

  “I’m a shifter.”

  Even though she expected them, his words took her by surprise. She plopped back to the bank, her bottom connecting with the ground with enough force to rattle her teeth. She put one hand to her forehead and keened. “Please don’t tell me that I’ve just granted you powers by having sex with you.”

  He bent down, his spread knees and cock right in her line of vision. A thrill went through her. Even knowing what he was, she was still attracted to him. “Calm down, Jillian. I meant you no harm. I did what I had to do to protect you from my brother. Our mating has not affected you, or me, in any way.”

  It was a relief, yet she was disappointed by his casual review of the situation. Had their mating not meant anything to him? Was it not as spectacular for him as it was for her?

  “What do we do now?”

  He took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. “First, we inform my brother that you are no longer a virgin. Then we hope we can withstand his anger.”

  She wasn’t nervous by nature, but even so a frisson of fear trickled along her spine. An angry warlock was not a thing to be trifled with. She could only hope her powers and those of Colin were enough to protect themselves.

  “What of my family? Will he harm them?”

  “No.” Colin shook his head firmly. “Percy, no matter what he has become, will not harm them. His anger will be solely directed at us. Namely me, in fact.”

  She crawled closer and put a hand upon his thigh. “Oh, Colin. Don’t tell me you have endangered yourself to save me.”

  “I had to.” He cradled her face. “You deserve better than my brother. His lust for power has damaged his sanity. You shouldn’t have to spend your life shackled to a monster.”

  “It is a fate I’d gladly suffer if it meant that you will not put yourself in harm’s way.”

  “Shush. Don’t talk like that.” Colin tenderly kissed her nose. “I will not let you sacrifice yourself.”

  “I’m not afraid of him.”

  “You are brave, my dear, but I fear you are no match for Percy.” He got to his feet and helped her do the same. “Tomorrow, at the betrothal ceremony, act as if nothing has changed. Leave everything to me.”

  She wasn’t used to following the dictates of others, but in this case she had no choice. Colin probably knew best how to proceed. She didn’t know why she trusted him so implicitly, but she did. It was unexplainable the draw he had for her. Surely it was Fate? She could only trust that he wouldn’t get them both killed.

  * * * *

  The breeze from her open window signaled that a thunderstorm was brewing. The mist that had begun during her and Colin’s time at the stream had increased during their trek to the house. A rumble of thunder told her that she was right. A storm was coming and it wasn’t just one caused by the weather.

  She turned her attention back to the basin of water in front of her. Candles burned low and cast strange shadows across the surface. She ran her hazel branch over the rim, carefully listening to the sounds on the wind. She closed her eyes and shut her mind to everything but hearing what the water had to say to her.

  Nothing.

  With a curse, she tossed aside the branch and gripped the rim of the basin. She was just about to toss it aside when she caught sight of a shadow in the water. She peered closer. It looked like a lightning bolt. Was it a warning? How could it be anything but?

  Her skin prickled as a gust of wind blew in a chilling sheet of rain. She pulled the window closed, but couldn’t shake off the cold the vision had given her. She had to see Colin.

  She knew his room was on the opposite wing of the house, with the rest of the Earl’s party who had arrived earlier that evening. It didn’t take long to reach it. She stood outside the oak-paneled door and debated the wisdom in coming to him. His brother’s room was just across the hall. What if he sensed her presence?

  Before she could talk herself out of it, she turned the knob and stepped into a room filled with darkness. Colin lay upon the bed, the covers rumpled haphazardly around his legs as if in a disturbed sleep. She stood over him, content to merely watch him as he slept. Her gaze traveled his handsome face, slipped across his defined pectorals, and then lingered on his now limp cock. In repose, he still portrayed a masculine vitality that would make any sane woman swoon.

  She wondered how he would taste. What would he do if she took him in her mouth and laved him with her tongue, much as he’d done to her? Her fingers could trace the hardness of his shaft and toy with the soft sacs beneath. She pulled back the cover to expose more of his body to her avid gaze. His thighs were taut with muscle and dusted with a sprinkling of hair the exact shade of his panther shape. When they’d mated, she hadn’t had much of a chance to examine her lover.

  She did what she truly wanted to. She touched his cock and urged it to a hardened state. His size was impressive when he was aroused. What had previously seemed unassuming now took on great dimensions. She bent forward and put her lips to his head. His taste was salty, much like her own taste, which she’d discovered when he’d kissed her after licking her sex. She opened her mouth and took as much of him as she could.

  Colin jerked awake and his hands lifted to tangle in her hair. “Jillian,” he breathed. “What are you doing here?”

  She made a popping sound as she released his cock from her mouth. “Pleasing you.”

  “Yes, you do that very well.” He pulled her face up to his. “But it’s dangerous for you to be here.”

  She refused to let go of the grip she had on his cock. “We can be quiet.”

  He pulled her across his body and underneath him in a swift motion. He spread her legs and entered her. She moaned and his hand immediately clamped over her mouth. “Quiet. Remember?”

  She bit his palm and then laved it with her tongue. She couldn’t speak, so she used her eyes to communicate how well he pleased her. Colin buried his face in her neck and she felt a rush of warm air as he exhaled heavily. The bed creaked from his movements and he stilled.

  “This won’t work,” he whispered, then pulled her to the side of the mattress. “Lay on your stomach. Slide your feet to the floor.”

  She did as he asked and waited as he got to his feet and came to stand beside the bed. “What now?”

  The edge of the mattress pressed against her sex and her bare bottom was exposed, shivering in the cool night. He placed a hand between her thighs and urged her legs to part. She balanced on her toes and opened herself for him. She glanced over her shoulder and was nearly burned by the heat in his gaze as he stared down at her damp sex. His finger slipped higher and toyed with her clit. He used her body’s moisture to ready her. His thumb joined his finger and he spread her juices higher, even going so far as to coat the hole between the cheeks of her bottom.

  “Colin?”

  He used his thumb to tease the muscles of her hole apart. The simultaneous motion of his fingers at both openings to her body was delightful. Her fingers curled into the sheets and she arched her lower body into his touch.

  “Do you l
ike this, Jillian?” His thumb moved a bit deeper.

  “God, yes!” she moaned and buried her teeth into the bunched covers beneath her chin.

  She grew wetter, her moisture coating the lone finger inside her sex and dripping to his wrist.

  “Would you like me to replace my hand with my cock?”

  “Yes!” She forgot to be quiet and fairly shouted the word. “Take me, Colin. Now!”

  His fingers disappeared, and then she felt his cock brush her buttocks as he positioned himself between her legs. He slid forward, impaling himself between the damp lips of her sex. He thumb returned to her other hole and he continued to tease it as he moved back and forth. One day, she would like to know how it would feel to have his cock there, but right now she needed him to bring her release.

  She lifted her hips and pushed into his thrusts. With each parry and thrust, he moved deeper and deeper until it felt he touched her womb. She bit the cover again to keep her keening moans at bay.

  “Christ, Jillian, you feel perfect.” He uttered the words in a growl.

  “Just take me, Colin,” she groaned in response. “Ease this ache you’ve given me.”

  She knew she was close. She bit into the cover again and crested the waves of passion. He circled her hole with his thumb then roughly pushed inside at the same time he flexed his hips and went deeper than he ever had. Her spine arched and only the wad of material in her mouth kept her scream from echoing off the walls.

  He came immediately after her. Her muscles milked his release and they both slumped face down on the mattress.

  Now that she’d found him, Jillian didn’t know how she would let him go. But what sort of future could they have? She was a ruined witch and he was a shifter. An affair between them couldn’t last.

  She turned her head and gave him an exhausted smile. He brushed her hair away from her face and kissed her tenderly.

  Or could it? Stranger things had happened.

  Chapter 3

  “To my daughter, Jillian Abigail, and her future husband, Lord Percival Donegal, the Earl of Evansdale.”

  Seated beside his brother, Colin had no way of getting out of raising his glass in salute to the toast. He drained his wine in one gulp and set the glass aside. His brother, as always, was immaculately dressed and looked inordinately handsome in unrelenting black. To look at him, few would recognize the evil that flowed in his veins. Even Colin’s eyes sometimes betrayed him.

  Like now, as he watched an unfamiliar softness enter Percy’s eyes as he smiled at Jillian seated on his other side. Their hands were clasped and lifted for all to see. Jealousy burned inside Colin’s gut. It should be him beside Jillian, giving her a fond smile and serving her food. He’d not come here to find a new lover. His only hope had been to discover the reason behind Percy’s fascination with the young daughter of a practical nobody.

  “You are brooding, Colin. Are you not happy for your dearest brother?”

  Colin ignored the false sense of concern in his older brother’s eyes. “Happiness is objective, dear brother.” He cast a meaningful look at Jillian. “She appears to be an innocent.”

  Percy smiled, but it lacked any humor. “Appearances can also be objective.”

  Colin wondered what his brother’s reaction would be when he learned his future bride was no longer pure, that she’d been well and truly fucked by him the night before. He hadn’t been able to resist when she’d turned to him a second, then a third time during the night. He’d finally convinced her to return to her room right before sunrise.

  “What if you find she is not to your liking?” Colin knew he toed the line between daring and foolhardy, but he had to know.

  Percy’s dark eyes flashed. “It would be a simple enough matter to rid myself of an unwanted wife.”

  Colin’s own eyes narrowed with malice. “If you harm her…”

  Percy threw back his head and laughed. The sound drew the attention of everyone in the room, including Jillian, who gave them both a worried look.

  “Settle down, Colin. I merely meant that I could ship her to one of my many estates.” He leaned over and his hand landed heavily on Colin’s shoulder. “Tread lightly, dear brother. I’ll not stand idly by while you ruin my plans.”

  “And exactly what plans are those?” But Colin already knew the answer. Percy sought immortal fame. He longed to be a legendary power and to do that he needed a virginal witch.

  Percy lifted a haughty brow and turned away without answering his question. Colin tossed aside his napkin. He’d lost his appetite.

  He got to his feet, made his apologies, and strode from the room. He’d barely cleared the door before footsteps chased after him.

  “Colin! Wait!”

  He turned and relished the sight of Jillian in her white gown, her cheeks flushed with exertion and her eyes sparkling with concern. “You should not have followed me.”

  She rushed up to him and gripped the front of his shirt. “Please. You cannot leave me with him.”

  “You are safe, Jillian. Even my brother, evil as he may be, wouldn’t dare harm you in front of a roomful of strangers.” He covered her hands with his own. “I will return before dinner is finished. You will not have to be alone with him.”

  “Yes I will! My father has promised him that he may take me for a drive to the village.”

  Colin’s gut clenched with alarm. Percy must be desperate indeed if he was moving this fast. He pulled her close. “Whatever you do, find a way to get out of the drive. Pretend to be ill if you must. I will come to you.”

  He left her in the hall and hurried to his room. Underneath his bed was the small vial he’d obtained from a Coven near London. The witch Elder who’d given it to him promised that it would destroy Percy, if it came to that. Colin clutched the vial in his hand and closed his eyes. The last thing he wanted to do was murder his own brother, but Percy’s madness had gone unchecked for too long. It was up to him to ensure that no one else suffered at his brother’s hands.

  Most especially Jillian.

  He returned to the dining room only to find that the dishes had been cleared and there was no sign of any of the guests. He flagged down a passing servant and questioned him about the family’s whereabouts.

  “Mister Welch and Lord Evansdale are in the music room. Miss Welch pleaded a headache and retired to her chambers. The rest of the guests have departed, my lord.”

  Colin nodded his thanks. He had two options. One, he could find Percy and end this once and for all. Or two, he could go to Jillian and make sure that all was well. It really was no question.

  He held the vial and strode back to the stairs. He took them two at a time and hurried down the hallway to Jillian’s room. He hadn’t been inside yet, but she’d told him which one was hers. He pushed open the door and quietly slipped inside.

  “Colin!”

  She stood at the window, but when she saw him she ran toward him with outstretched arms. He saw the danger too late.

  “No, Jillian. Wait!”

  She collided with his chest and he heard the terrible sound of breaking glass as he lost his grip on the vial when he tried to stop her and it crashed to the floor. Jillian gasped and pulled away from him.

  “What in the world, Colin?”

  He unbuttoned his jacket and tossed it to the floor, covering the smashed glass. “It was a potion that I meant to use on Percy.”

  She lifted a hand to her mouth and her eyes mirrored her regret. “I’m sorry, Colin. I didn’t know.”

  “No matter. Now we’ll just have to use our wits to defeat him.”

  He looked at her, really looked at her, and winced. Her eyes were shadowed from lack of sleep and her expression strained. His heart melted at the sight of her distress. “Come here.”

  She flew into his arms, her hands tightly locking about his neck. “I’m sorry.”

  “Stop apologizing to me. I’m only sorry you’re being forced to take part in this farce.”

  She lifted her head and g
ave him a tiny smile. “Some of it has been quite interesting.”

  He put his knuckle under her chin and tipped her head back for a soft kiss. “That it has, my dear.”

  “Traitor!”

  One bellowed word was all the warning he received before a jolt of energy knocked him and Jillian off their feet. Colin rolled to the side to avoid another of his brother’s deadly lightning bolts and sprang to his feet. He took one look in his brother’s crazed eyes and knew that nothing he could do in human form would be enough to stop him. He crouched to all fours and prepared for the Change.

  He could feel his muscles rearranging into a new shape as he glared over his shoulder at Jillian. “Stay back,” he commanded a moment before his new shape took over.

  In panther form, he was agile and quick. But was he strong enough to deal with an enraged warlock? He sprang toward his brother, but another bolt caught him off guard. He slammed into the opposite wall with enough force to make his ears ring. He shook his head and waited for the stars to disappear from his vision. Damn, that hurt.

  “You!” Percy pointed a shaking finger at him. “How dare you seduce her under my very nose? What sort of brother are you?”

  Colin wished he could talk in his cat form so that he could ask Percy exactly what sort of brother he was. What sort of person preyed on an innocent female to gain power? Why did he relish the pain of others? What had happened to the sweet boy Colin once knew?

  “Have you fucked her?” Percy growled.

  Colin gave a feline smile.

  “Bastard! I will tear you limb from limb!” Percy visible shook with anger. Even his aim was off as he tossed another lightning bolt in Colin’s general direction, but missed.

  “Stop! It wasn’t his fault. I seduced him!’