As You Wish (11 page)

Cool lips kissed her collarbone.
He’s here with me now.
A hand skimmed up her calf and towards her thighs. Not being able to see where he would touch her next added a new level of terror to her predicament.

“Karis, you are so beautiful,” he said softly, pulling her robe free once again.

No matter how hard she willed her body to react to her demands, she could not move.
Oh, God, Mother, he’s touching me.
She couldn’t hide the terror in her voice.

Reach out to Vander, Karis and I will join with you. Together we’ll be able to show him where you are. Do it now!

Her panties were ripped away with one sharp tug, and Karis gritted her teeth as his splayed fingers slid down through her soft, ebony curls.

She pooled all the energy she had within her body to connect with Vander and hoped he’d find her in time to save her from her worst nightmare.

* * * *

The glass in Vander’s hand fell to ground.
Karis?
He could feel her so strongly it knocked the air out of his lungs. He closed his eyes and fought to block her overwhelming emotions of panic and fear to pinpoint her location.

Where are you, Karis? I need to know where you are. What’s around you, any details you can remember, just tell me what you’ve seen.

The strength and intensity of the connection pulling him to her surprised him. Within seconds, crystal clear images of the forest hiding the secluded castle where she was being held flooded his mind.

Fury and adrenaline spiked his pulse as visions of the long walkway leading to where she’d been taken and the room she was now in were revealed.

A second later he was gone.

* * * *

She could move her hand, but the tiny movement was not enough to stop the animal opening her thighs.

“You bastard!” Lona cried.

“Lona, it’s not what you—”

“Shut up!”

Karis heard glass shattering and Rue’s violent curse as droplets of hot soup sprayed on her legs. She wiggled her fingers and toes as she tried to open her eyes.

“Are you crazy?” Rue roared somewhere close by.

With great effort, she slowly opened her eyes in time to see Lona hurl the glass of water intended for her at Rue.

“Crazy enough to believe you would ever change. This whole thing,” she gestured towards Karis, “stops here, Rue.”

She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to move her legs, but there was little reaction. There was no way she could attempt to escape with Rue only a few feet away from her.

“Nothing stops, Lona. I still want access to those portals, with or without you.”

Karis squinted in Lona’s direction. The pain in the other woman’s eyes was evident.

“I won’t let you continue to do this to her and her mother,” Lona said, straightening her back.

“You won’t be able to stop me.”

Horrified, Karis watched as a butcher knife flew through the air and into Lona’s hand. With a bloodcurdling cry, the agile beauty charged forward as Rue lifted his hands. In a flash of light, Lona shifted from her female form to that of a cat.

An inaudible gasp escaped Karis’s lips as the brown feline arched its back and hissed at Rue.

“Careful, Lona, or I’ll make it so you never use your own two legs again.”

His statement worked. She retreated with a hair-raising wail and simply stared at him. “That’s more like it.” He turned away from the petulant cat and walked straight towards Karis. “Now where were w—”

Karis felt the shift in the air temperature seconds before hearing the sickening sound of a fist connecting with bone. Her eyes flew open as Rue howled with pain.

Vander!
Somehow, he had found her. Tears of joy filled her eyes as he slammed his fist into the other man’s face and abdomen. Rue fell to the ground and grunted as Vander landed another solid kick into his side. The injured man rolled away from him, shifting in motion from human form to the gigantic grey wolf.

“Coward!” Vander roared, pulling free the knife at his side.

Karis watched him advance on the snarling canine and shivered as the huge animal let loose a wild howl before bolting from the room. She managed to turn her head as Vander ran to her side.

“You found me.” Tears flooded her eyes, sliding down her cheeks in a steady stream. She met his intense amber gaze, overcome with emotion.

“I promised you I would find you.” He gently wiped away the wet tracks on her face. “Let’s get out of here.” He bent down and kissed her forehead.

Her body reacted the instant his warm lips touched her skin. Shudders of relief racked her frame as the brown cat began to meow.
Lona!
She couldn’t leave her here. What if Rue returned? She would be at his mercy, if it had not been for her…

The feline jumped up on the table beside her with a noisy meow.

“Let’s go,” Vander said, bending to pick her up.

The cat, bring the cat.
She didn’t have the energy to speak.

Vander frowned as he glanced at the animal. “Really?”

Yes.
Even answering him in her mind seemed a momentous task. Her eyelids began to droop as he placed the purring feline in her arms.

Can you hold the cat?

With the slightest nod of her head, she cradled the cat against her body as he lifted her into his arms.

* * * *

Karis heard the chime of her mother’s cuckoo clock and knew she was safe in her own home. She cradled against Vander’s ultra warm body, snuggling closer as she rested her face on his chest. The steady beat of his heart echoed in her ear as she breathed in the familiar scent of his skin. His arms tightened around her as she opened her eyes. She lifted her face to see his beautiful smile.

“You’re finally awake.” He touched the tip of her nose.

“Vander,” she whispered, unable to control the tears filling her eyes.

“Don’t cry, Karis. You are safe now.”

“My mother…“ She struggled to get up, surprised at how much effort it took to move and articulate what she wanted to say.

“She’s fine…just sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up,” he whispered, smoothing down the wild curls around her face.

“Thank you,” she managed to say as her heavy eyelids closed and she drifted back to sleep.

Rue’s hands were all over her body. She struggled to move away from his increasingly bold touch, but there was no escape. A wail of terror rose up out of her throat as the stark realisation she was powerless to stop what was happening overwhelmed her.

“Karis, it’s okay.”

She saw Rue’s wicked smile in her mind as her eyelids fluttered open. Vander’s concerned face cleared away the nightmare and she relaxed as he moved to her side.

“You are with me now. Nobody is going to hurt you again.” He rubbed the goose bumps on her arms.

She welcomed his touch, unable to speak as her heart slowed down from its galloping pace and her breathing returned to normal.

“Water,” she whispered, wanting nothing more than to wash away the horrible taste in her mouth.

Vander moved immediately, revealing his nakedness as he pulled on loose linen pants. “Hang on.” He returned minutes later with a glass and offered it to her with a gentle smile as she started to sit up.

“Where are my clothes?” she asked furiously, realising she was naked as she tucked the sheet around her breasts and reached for the water.

“You were practically naked when I brought you here and so cold, I wanted you to feel my body heat while you slept.” He watched her drink the entire glass in record time. “More?”

Karis shook her head and wished she could just as easily sweep the cobwebs from her head as she had the metallic taste on her tongue. She sucked in a breath and looked up at Vander in horror. “My mother! Rue still has her. She helped me reach you and I left her there. How could I do that?” she asked, covering her face with her hands.

“Karis, slow down.” He sat beside her. “You were in no condition to help her when I got to you.”

Devastated, she shook her head. “She was there somewhere. I could feel her but I couldn’t tell exactly where she was, Vander. Rue will hurt her now that I’ve escaped. I know he will,” she whispered.

“Don’t do this, Karis. We will find her. You still need to rest.” He cupped her face with his hands. “She needs you to be strong and so do I.”

A small, hesitant meow coming from the doorway, led their attention to the cat sauntering into the room.

“The cat!” Karis sat up. “I almost forgot about Lona.” She reached for her silk robe lying across the bed and put it on.

“Lona?” Vander got up from the bed. “She was there with you?”

Karis lifted her finger and pointed to the feline, inches from their feet. “She’s here, now.”

Nothing could have prepared Vander for hearing Karis utter his ex lover’s name. He frowned as he tried to make sense of what she was saying. “What are you talking about?”

Karis pointed to the stretching feline on the carpet. “That’s Lona.” They both stared at the cat now sitting on its haunches before them. “Rue changed her somehow when she tried to stop him from…“

Her voice trailed off and Vander swore. He knew exactly what she was about to say and he hated the frightened look on her face. It was difficult to wrap his mind around the possibility the one woman who had broken his heart, now lay at his feet in the form of a fluffy, brown fur ball.

“I didn’t want to leave her there.” He heard Karis say as he stared into the sienna hued eyes of the feline.

Could it be Lona?
Over the years when he had allowed himself to think of their relationship, he’d thought about what he would say to her. Imagined the words he wanted to hear from her and now here she was before him.

“Can you help her?”

He looked away from the silent cat to Karis. “Rue used genie magic and I can undo it.” He turned his attention back to the cat, aware of Karis staring at him as seconds went by.

“Well, are you going to change her back?”

“Did she have anything to do wi—”

“No!” Karis took a deep breath. “She was disgusted by Rue’s actions.”

Vander nodded. “Very well.” He outstretched his hands towards the meowing animal and brilliant purple lightening flashed from his palms. He heard Karis gasp as the cat morphed before their eyes, changing and shifting, taller and more human by the nanosecond, until Lona stood in front of them.

She had not aged and if anything had become more beautiful with the passage of time. He had expected nothing less with Rue’s ability to keep her young. When they had first met, her beauty had taken his breath away, but now he simply waited for her to speak as they held each other’s gaze.

“Are you all right?” Karis asked with wide eyes.

Lona looked away from him, to glance at Karis. “I’m fine. Thank you for bringing me here. I’m so sorry. I never should have gone along with Rue’s plan,” she said, her voice trembling.

“Whoa.” He moved to help Karis who was attempting to stand. “Easy, you’ve still got trace amounts of the drug he gave you in your system.” He wrapped his arm around her waist and wished they were alone so he could hold her body close to his own. What would he have done if he hadn’t gotten to her in time? The thought terrified him.

“I should be thanking you.” Karis moved unsteadily from him to embrace the other woman. “If you hadn’t intervened and if Vander hadn’t gotten there when he did
¼
“

Lona shook her head. “I know. The man I loved seems to no longer exist.” She turned to face him. “Vander, forgive me for being a foolish girl so many years ago.”

The words he always wanted to hear from her lips now hung between them.

“The past is the past, Lona, you don’t need my forgiveness.” He sensed Karis watching him as Lona looked down. Lustrous ginger strands, falling to her waist hid her face from view. “But you have it.”

Lona lifted her head. “I do?”

“Yes.” And she did. The moment he spoke the words, Vander knew he meant it.

She offered him a hint of a smile. “Thank you for releasing me from Rue’s feline glamour. I never would’ve made it as a cat, I detest seafood.”

“I’m just glad you got away from him now. The High Council will not rest until he and his associates are found.”
If I don’t find them first
, he thought grimly, as Karis sat back down on the bed.

“He’s hell bent on having access to those portals and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to get what he wants.” Lona tucked her hair behind her ears. “Now, that he doesn’t have her,” she gestured towards Karis, “I’m afraid he’ll force Nadine to find another portal again and I don’t know if she can handle the energy loss.”

“No,” Karis whispered, clutching the sheets.

“We’ll stop him.” It was a promise he intended to keep, no matter the cost.

“He will try again tomorrow night. I’m almost sure he will take Nadine to the clearing in the forest. He will be heavily guarded by his men, but I know others who will join us in taking him down.”