Pyromancist (33 page)

Clelia smiled up at her lover as he made an
effort to recompose himself. His fingers tightened on the flesh of
her shoulders and in a swift movement, he pulled her up and lifted
her back into his lap, crushing their lips together in a kiss that
soon had her swooning. When he finally released her, his eyes were
almost back to their normal color.

He turned a lock of her hair around his
finger. “Have you ever done that before?”

“No. Why? Did I do it badly?”

He closed his eyes briefly and squeezed her
against his chest. “Good. I’m glad. I’m very possessive, Clelia.
And no, you didn’t do it badly.” He let out a big puff of air. “On
the contrary.” He suddenly regarded her with concern. “I think we
should go inside.” He glanced at the clouds. “It’s getting colder.”
His thumbs brushed over her knees. “And I’ll have to attend to
these,” he said, frowning as he traced the few scrapes she had
gotten from standing on her knees on the hard stone terrace.

“That’s nothing.” She hadn’t even noticed.
Her mind was too occupied elsewhere.

“I hate to be the reason for scarring your
body. You need to take better care of yourself.”

She moved to get up but he held her back.
“Clelia, you never did tell me where you got the bruises from.”

“What bruises?”

“The ones I treated in my old house.”

“Does it matter?”

“It matters to me.”

“I told you, I didn’t wear the right shoes in
a field and I stumbled. It wasn’t anything big.”

“Where?”

She lowered her eyes. “Close to where I
worked.”

“Why?”

Clelia fumbled with the buttons on his shirt.
When she didn’t answer he said, “It was in the standing stone site,
wasn’t it? The night I was going to–”

She put her finger to his lips. “Shhh.”

He looked grim again. “I thought so.” His
voice turned urgent. “Clelia, that night ... did I hurt you?”

She frowned. “Why would you have hurt
me?”

“I was drunk and not myself. I was desperate.
I cannot remember all that had happened, except for your face and
your kiss. I know myself, Cle. I’m a bastard at best. Did I hurt
you in any way?”

“Oh, Josselin. You always cut yourself too
short. You’re not the monster you make yourself out to be.”

“Still, I’m sorry to have dragged you into
it.”

“You didn’t drag me into anything. I came
from my own free will.”

He blinked once, slowly. “I wish it was true.
But we both know it was me who was hunting you.”

“Maybe we were chasing each other,” she said.
“Because you were definitely haunting my dreams.”

“Giving you nightmares.”

“Stop it, Joss. I love you. We need to move
forward from here, not back into the past.”

“Josselin,” he corrected softly.

“Josselin,” she said, and then she kissed him
deeply.

* * * *

After finishing their breakfast, Josselin
made a fresh pot of coffee, and despite her protests, put an
ointment on Clelia’s knees. It was almost noon when they drove out
to Larmor-Baden. From there they took the bridge to the Island of
Berder. The nearer they got, the more nervous Clelia became. She
felt Josselin’s hand on hers as he steered the car down the dirt
track over the hill.

He squeezed her fingers. “I’m sorry that you
had to run, Cle.”

She glanced at him. “It’s not your
fault.”

“If I hadn’t chased you, you wouldn’t have
had to give all of this up.”

“You know that’s not true,” she said sternly.
“I had to run. Erwan told me to. And that was before we knew you
were going to come after me.”

“If it had made you hate me, it would have
killed me.”

“I’ve never hated you, Josselin.”

“I know.” He glanced at her, his expression
pained. “That made it worse.”

Before the cottage came into view, Josselin
stopped the car and booted up his ePad. After several seconds he
said, “It’s safe. I’ve connected to our satellite tracking.”

Barely able to wait now, Clelia moved forward
on the seat. As soon as they rounded the hill, she saw the figure
of a white canine in the distance.

“Snow!”

The wolfdog lifted his head and twitched his
ears when the vehicle approached. Even before Josselin had parked
the car, he was at the house, standing guard with Thunder, Cloud,
and Rain.

What used to be her normal life now felt like
a dream. Clelia exited the car in a haze, looking around with
nostalgia. Snow approached her immediately, his bark loud and his
tail wagging furiously.

Clelia went down on her haunches. The big
animal jumped and almost knocked her off her feet. She laughed as
he licked her face, nudging her with his snout while she scratched
his ears.

Tears mixed with her laughter as she hugged
one after the other of her dogs. Aware of Josselin watching them
with his shoulders hunched, his hands in his pockets, she blinked
her tears away and glanced up at him.

“I missed them so much. Thank you for
bringing me here.”

He dropped his gaze to the ground. “I’m going
to check around. I need to make sure everything’s all right. Don’t
go inside until I tell you it’s clear.”

He didn’t wait for her response. Clelia
looked at him with a small frown. She couldn’t decide if he was
still blaming himself for her separation from her home, or if he
was already contemplating her sadness at the second separation they
both knew had to follow, when they would leave for New York. Clelia
turned her attention back to the wolf hybrids. Tomorrow was another
day. Right now, she was here. Cuddling Snow, she waited impatiently
outside until Josselin put his head around the door.

“You can come in now, Mrs. de Arradon.”

She got up and stood on tiptoe to kiss him.
“No monsters or dragons lurking inside?”

His eyes remained serious. “Don’t joke.”

She slipped past him and felt his hand brush
over her buttocks. Before, Josselin had always touched her, but in
stolen moments, as if he had tried hard to hold himself back. Now,
he often caressed her freely, and she loved it.

Inside, she looked around the kitchen. It
didn’t look like a house that had been abandoned for six
months.

Josselin hugged her from behind. As if
reading her mind, he said, “I had it cleaned on a weekly
basis.”

She leaned into him. “Why?”

“I knew it would be important to you. I
didn’t want you to come home and find it neglected. Besides, Erwan
could have returned at any time. At least he would have found it in
a livable state.”

“Thank you,” she whispered.

He placed a kiss on her head. “I know this
was your home once.”

Clelia stilled. “You know I want to be with
you more than anything.”

He turned her to face him. “But?”

“But I’ll have a hard time leaving my
animals.”

“We’ll take them,” he said quickly. “I’ll
have them all flown in. I’ll organize everything. Don’t worry,
angel.”

There was something else that bothered her.
“What about Erwan?”

He took her hands, intertwining their
fingers. “We’ll find him. If he wants to come with us, we’ll take
him. Your family is mine now.”

She touched his cheek, moved by his kindness.
“I so badly need for Erwan to know that I’m safe, to share our
news. I can’t stand thinking that he’s worried for me, or
suffering.”

“You don’t know where he went?”

“No. He only said he’d go into hiding, live
on some of the abandoned islands, but he could be anywhere.”

Josselin nodded his gaze pensive. “There are
a million and one places out here to hide. We need to show you off
around the village, spread the word of your return, but not before
you’re ready to face Lupien.”

She nodded. “I understand.”

He kissed her hand. “I promise to do
everything in my power to find him.”

“He sacrificed so much for me, for trying to
protect me.”

“You never told me how you managed after
jumping from the yacht.”

He sounded tense and Clelia knew that he was
contemplating the ‘what if’s’.

“It’s a long story. Let’s not talk about it
now,” she said.

“I have time. And now is as good a time as
any.”

Clelia saw the obstinate set of his jaw. He
wasn’t going to let her off the hook.

“How did it happen?” he urged gently.

“Do you really need to know?”

“Yes.”

His voice had that uncompromising tone, the
one she knew by now.

“Harping on things we can’t change isn’t
accomplishing anything.”

“Humor me,” he said with narrowed eyes.

Josselin wasn’t going to give up.

“All right,” she said slowly. “When Erwan
asked me to go into hiding, he had already buried a box on Île aux
Moines with a false passport and money. He must have always known
that the day would come that my mother’s past and mine would catch
up with us, that danger would come. When the yacht you kept me on
passed near a clearing in the reef, I jumped and swam to the
island. I’ve been diving for oysters there with Erwan, so I knew
where it was safe to jump. The box was buried where Erwan said it
would be.

“I was going to board a trawler, but it
wouldn’t pass for another two days, so I walked to the tourist area
on the harbor and bought a change of clothes. Because it was peak
season, I was able to blend into the hordes of holidaymakers on the
quay and not attract attention with my attire and bare feet.

“The first night, I slept in a boat that was
anchored on the beach. I used public restrooms to clean up early in
the morning, and for the rest of the day, I hid in the woods,
watching the boats to see which ones were not being used. The trick
was to get to the mainland to catch the trawler without being
spotted. The second night, I stole one of the boats at the harbor
that wouldn’t be missed and took it out into the open sea. I spent
the night there.”

Josselin’s eyes were wide, his voice dark.
“You navigated a boat in the dark and spent the night on the open
sea?”

“Josselin,” she placed her hand on his arm,
“you forget what a good skipper I am.”

He seemed to control himself with much
difficulty. “Carry on.”

“At first light, I anchored in a hidden bay
on the mainland and followed an unused path through the forest to
the harbor. The trawler was already there. The captain is a friend
of Erwan. These fishermen share a sacred bond. I knew he’d help. He
agreed to take me to South Africa.”

She smiled grimly, remembering the hard days
that had followed. “After going ashore in Hout Bay, I got a ride
with a truck driver who robbed me of my money. It wasn’t always
smooth sailing from there, but I managed to find a job at a bar and
an affordable room.” She shrugged. “The rest you know.”

His silver gaze became gray. “Did you
suffer?”

“I was fine, Josselin.”

His eyes pierced hers. “Did you ever go
hungry?”

She didn’t want to upset him, but she also
never wanted to lie to this man who she loved more than herself.
“Only at first, until I got a job.”

His fingers tightened on hers. “How many days
did you go without food?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t count,” she said
evasively.

His expression became darker by the minute.
“That many, eh?”

“I hardly remember it now.”

“Were you ever cold?”

“Sometimes.”

“When?”

Clelia sighed at Josselin’s relentless
interrogation. “When I went ashore after jumping from the yacht, it
was almost dark. I was wet, so naturally I was cold. When I arrived
in South Africa, it was winter. It was raining. I was cold then.
But I had bought a jacket before the truck driver robbed me.”

She watched him process the information and
saw hurt and pain reflect in his eyes.

“It wasn’t your fault,” she said gently.

Ignoring her attempt at soothing him, he
said, “Did anyone ever hurt you?”

She looked away. “Please, Josselin. It’s
over. It’s in the past.”

He turned her back to him. “Did anyone ever
hurt you?”

She lowered her eyes. “The owner of the bar
where I worked. It wasn’t serious, though.”

“What did he do to you?”

The coldness of his voice pulled her gaze
back to his. His expression was calculated, murderous.

“Please, Josselin, what does it matter
now?”

“It matters to me. What did he do to
you?”

“He slapped me. It wasn’t even very
hard.”

His eyes narrowed. They were pure ice. “Where
did he slap you?”

“Josselin...”

“Clelia, don’t make me repeat every question.
Where did he touch you?”

“Across the face. I dropped a tray of glasses
and he was very upset.”

“I should have stayed longer to kill the
fucking bastard.”

She placed her hands on his shoulders.
“Please don’t get upset about things you can’t change. Let’s just
focus on the things we can do something about—focus on the now.
We’ve both suffered, but it’s over now. I don’t want to think
about—”

Before the last syllable had left her mouth,
he grabbed her to him, lifted her legs around his waist and claimed
her lips while he moved forward. He pushed her against the wall. He
kept one hand on her buttocks while his other went to her hair,
pulling her head to the side to expose her neck. His tongue and
mouth were all over her throat and shoulder. She could feel him
suck and nip at her skin as if he had an urgent desire to mark her,
to show the world who she belonged to. With his teeth in the soft
flesh of her shoulder, she had no choice but to remain still,
sensing his need to reassure himself of her presence, that she was
safe with him.

Clelia gasped as his hands left her body to
rip at the front of her dress. His knee moved between her legs,
holding her up while his body pressed her to the wall. With frantic
movements, he pushed the sleeves over her shoulders and the
neckline down to expose her breasts. He didn’t give her any time to
react. Clelia’s breath was chasing. He flipped her bra up, exposing
her skin, and immediately her nipples puckered for him. He sucked
her breast into his mouth with an urgency she had never seen in
him, working her into a frenzy with his mouth. Balancing her on his
bent knee, he pushed her body down gently, letting her ride him
while his hand slipped underneath her dress and into her underwear.
He stroked her folds and cupped her sex, but he didn’t touch her
clit. Almost at the point of release, Clelia wanted to beg him to
take her, but as abruptly as his caresses had started, they
stopped.