Roused (Moon Claimed) (5 page)

ELEVEN

Later that day Erin found herself on the terrace behind the main cabin carving out pumpkins. Sawing, reaching in with her hand to rip out seeds and
flesh was exactly the kind of work she needed to feel better. The sun had fought her way through gray clouds and warmed the air, birds were singing, colorful leaves rustled in the breeze, and the table Erin used was covered with an old waxed tablecloth and smeared with pumpkin innards, the disemboweled bodies lying at her feet.

Nathan came out the back of the cabin and walked up to her, a smile in his eyes
as he saw Erin dig her hand into the next poor pumpkin. “I wanted to ask whether you need a hand, but it doesn’t look like you do.”

“Nope. Got everything under control.”

His lips twitched. “You know, I would have thought you’d be following my every move and breathing down my neck every moment of your stay here. I don’t know whether to be relieved or worried that you aren’t.”

Erin smiled at the honesty and looked up at him. “Don’t worry I would have done exactly that if not for your brother.”
She shrugged. “I still have eyes though and can see the changes in Tess.”

His eyes were serious when he asked, “Do you consider them good ones?”

“I do. My sister loves you so much it makes her glow. And it makes her stronger. More confident. I was surprised and really liked seeing that. I still think you two are rushing it but…”

“I love her, Erin. I could list you all the reasons why; the fact that I love the way she looks at me, the way she always smells of herbs and sunshine, the way she laughs, the fact that she thought of you and your reaction the moment I asked her to bond with me, the fact that family comes above all else even though I know you two never really had one. I could tell you all this and go on even longer, but only one thing matters…I love her.”

Jesus. It wasn’t just the words that hit her, no, it was the look on his face, the seriousness and strength and utter love in his eyes that brought tears to her own. “I know. That’s another reason why I’m not breathing down your neck.” Taking one step, she hugged him and whispered, “You got my blessings.” She pulled back and laughed at seeing his surprised shock. Shoving a finger into his face, she warned, “But if you hurt her, if I see so much as
one
sad tear, then help you God.”

“I know.”

“Good.”

Erin was giving
him one last warning look when Joanne suddenly came out and joined them. “Nathan, could you go to Seth? We need more straw for the decoration inside.”

“Sure. See you later, Erin.”

“Later.”

Joanne watched Erin
, who had returned her attention to her pumpkins, silently for a while, a smile playing at her lips. “You do know that you need to give them faces as well, right?”

“I know. That comes later when I’m in the mood for it.”

“Okay, sweetie. Spill it. What has you so in knots?”

“Your son.” It just shot out of her mouth before she could stop it.
“Dammit.”

Joanne’s eyebrows shot up.
“Okay. Let’s sit down.”

Erin pulled her hand
out of the pumpkin she’s was gutting but didn’t look up at Joanne as she nodded. “Okay.”

Joanne sat down on a bench close by and motioned for Erin to do the same. “
I assume you’re talking about Seth and not Nathan. What’s going on?”

Instead of answering the question directly, Erin decided to sidestep. There
was something else that worried her. “I know Tess had dreams before she came here. Does every witch have them?”

“Do you have dreams?”

“Only once, last night,” she admitted.

Sensing that Erin needed some form of distance, of privacy, Joanne
closed her eyes and held her face up towards the sun. “The answer to your question isn’t simple. You have to decide whether your dreams are just dreams or something more. But to answer it anyway, yes, witches
and
wolves have dreams to help them find their true mate. When those two mates are separated by a great distance for instance, be it geographically or emotionally, the dreams are meant to guide them. They are nothing to be afraid of, though. They show us what we secretly long for.”

Erin had feared as much. Was she secretly longing for Seth as a mate? Was he her wolf? Or was it just that fate t
hought he was hers? Could they be wrong?

Now she understood what Seth had meant when he called fate a nasty bitch and that he wanted to be able to choose.
Erin didn’t like some higher power dictating her life, especially not her love life.

“I know what you’re thinking,
sweetie. That stubborn streak of independence – which is what you two like in each other, by the way – is telling you to rebel against the idea of magically designated mates. Piece of advice?”

Erin looked at her, one eyebrow raised in curiosity.

“Don’t.” Joanne moved her head to look at her. “Take a risk and open yourself up. I know you think there is no such thing as real love, which is rather funny given the fact that you jumped onto a plane and into a car to be with your sister because you
love
her. Anyway, take a risk and enjoy it. Make the most of it. I’m not saying there won’t be trouble along the way…what I’m saying is, it’s totally worth it.”

The words meant a lot to her, the fact that someone like Joanne would offer them to her meant the world to her and Erin let it show in her eyes, but said jokingly, “Jesus. I already agreed to go to the party with him.”

Joanne’s laughter was loud and as clear as spring.

TWELVE

Erin checked her reflection in the mirror, her heart stupidly thumping in her chest as if she was a teen again and preparing for her very first date. The long dress she wore was a deep bluish green that matched both her eyes, with long sleeves covering her arms and a slit that reached to her hip on one side. Her short blonde hair was sexily tousled pixie style and a choker with a dark blue stone adorned her throat. A pointed hat and black broom completed her disguise. Erin laughed. Was it even a disguise when she really was a witch?

When the knock at her door sounded through the cabin, her breath caught and her heart sped up some more. Groaning at her reaction, she shook her head and went downstairs to open the door.

He was devastating. Dark hair slicked back and all that yummy muscle covered by a black suit. Oh boy. She’d never been the kind of woman to turn into a puddle of hormones at just the sight of a guy…but that was before Seth Hawkins.

Hoping she wasn’t drooling openly, she commented on his outfit, “Let me guess,
James Bond meets Dracula?”

Broad shoulders shrugged. “Don’t really care, as long as I’m halfway presentable and at least
look
as if I deserved to accompany the woman before me.”

Oh d
amn, that guy was good.

His eyes darkened with heat
and pure want as they slowly traveled the length of her, up and down and up again, raising shivers and goose bumps in their wake. Her breath caught as their gazes locked again. “You look… beautiful and sexy as hell don’t even cover it.”

Erin bit her lips
as she slipped into her coat but it didn’t stop the ear-to-ear smile from spreading across her face. Feeling her cheeks redden for probably the first time ever since she left junior high, Erin nearly ducked her head to get away from his piercing gaze that was always so focused and intent on her.

Smiling a lovely
but a bit smug smile of his own he held his arm out to her which Erin accepted. Together they walked towards the brightly lit main cabin from which laughter, music and chatter was already pouring out onto the yard and street. Night was quickly falling, spreading like a cold but diamond dusted blanket across the sky. The mountains were dark and silent around them, guarding the houses and bursting life within their valleys.

Was there a place she’d rather be? No, Erin thought
as she looked at the brightly lit windows and saw people talking and laughing inside, there wasn’t. Right here, right now, felt good. Even when they stepped inside and were greeted by mini-monsters squealing and nearly knocking them off their feet. Erin laughed as Seth growled playfully back at them, exposing fangs she wasn’t sure were fake, and made them scream in delight.

After Seth took her coat he placed
a hand at the small of her back and guided her towards the back of the house where they joined Tess and Nathan, standing near the buffet. Tess was dressed as a witch as well, but in a dress the color of autumn, bringing out the coppery hint of her blonde hair. She looked beautiful and shot worried glances towards the children that showed too much interest in the ‘adult’ buffet.

“You’re definitely the good witch of the two of us,” Erin said to her.

It was then she saw Joanne coming towards them and nearly burst out laughing. Joanne had gone all black, warts bloomed on her nose and another at her neck, her fingers seemed gnarled, her nails incredibly long. “Okay, okay, you win. You’re the evil witch. But what am I then?”

Seth put an arm around her
waist, the hand on her hip hot, and pulled her close to whisper in her ear. “The sexy witch, of course.”

A shiver ran down her spine. God, she loved it when he brushed her ears, with his breath or his stubbly
cheek. She swallowed.

Joanne shrugged. “Someone has to uphold the cliché. Especially with you two beauties out and about.”
With a little dry humor she added, “They’re supposed to be scared of us, you know.”

The evening went on and when most of the buffet had disappeared and the guest had moved on to more liquid and intoxicating nourishment, Joanne announced that it was time for a little witchy fun. She invited her guests to follow them outside and the crowd spilled onto the terrace
where jack-o-lanterns, torches and the flickering flames in fire baskets chased away the cold of the night while Erin, Tess and Joanne moved to stand a bit farther away, closer to the edge of the woods.

To the sisters, she said.
“God, I love Halloween. It’s the night we can get away with everything. Human minds are so convinced it’s all just trick or treat most of them don’t even consider any other possibilities.” Joanne rubbed her hands in glee.

Then it was time for a little magic.

Joanne threw her arms into the air and called upon the wind, using strange words and a deep, evil voice for the audience’s benefit. The nightly breeze around them picked up, slowly but steadily until leaves whirled around them like lost butterflies and the wind screeched ghostly through the tree tops. The sound was eerie.

Tess made the trees move, their bare arms reaching to the sky, their trunks groaning and adding to the unearthly and spooky atmosphere Joanne had started to create. Then it was Erin’s turn. Closing her eyes she welcomed the magic in her blood and smiled as she imagined dozens of ghost lights, pale light
s flitting and zig-zagging through the trees behind her. Floating on the mysterious winds, begging for souls to get lost. Fog covered the ground, wafting, tendrils swirling

The audience was under their spell, riveted.

On a silent command the three witches clasped their hand, looked one last time at the crowd and vanished as a wave of fog suddenly rose around them.

The guests gasped and were still wondering
‘what and how’ when the three of them flew past them on their brooms, their fake unholy laughter riding on the wind with them.

Erin looked at them from above and saw Seth grinning at her. She grinned back, unguarded and not caring what her eyes might show. She was happy and magic was flooding her, buzzing through her veins and her every cell. Yes, All Hallows Eve was going to be her favorite day of the year as well.

When her feet touched ground again, their audience was clapping and cheering. And then Seth was there, pulling her to him and kissing her breath away. His taste flooded her and made her moan. His tongue swept her lips, his teeth tugged and then he nibbled his way along her jaw. “I couldn’t resist. You were breathtaking.”

So was he.

He took her hand in his, their fingers entwining on their own, and led her away from the crowded terrace. Erin’s heart had calmed down as they reached the edge of the forest, where she could see her ghost lights still hover in the air.

They walked side by side in silence as the night
quieted around them, the air cool and damp once more and not buzzing with the heat of magic. She was surprised and grateful he had thought of her coat as he helped her into it.

“Why did you panic the other day?”

She knew exactly what he was talking about. When she ran away, leaving him alone in the meadow. “It was nothing.”

He stopped and faced her.
“That’s a damn stupid lie and you know it, Erin.” Seth stepped closer, their bodies touching from chest to thigh. “Would you have sex with me?” Those intense silver eyes of his didn’t miss a thing. “Your eyes say yes, so does your body.” He grabbed her wrist, his fingers gently stroking her as he watched her. “Would you blow me? Ah, there it is. No need to hide it. I saw it, that flicker of panic.”

Her jaw clenched.
“So?” When he didn’t answer and just kept looking at her without pity in his patient eyes but with that cursed
something
inside them that pulled at her, she stepped back and threw up her arms. “What do you want me to say? Yes. I panic at the thought of oral sex. Yes, I panic at the thought of having a guy in my mouth ever since an asshole of a foster parent forced his dick into my mouth when I was a child.” She was in his face the next moment, desperate fury scalding her veins. “Do you have any idea how that annoys the hell out of me? I want to be able to do that. To have this kind of control over a man. To be a woman who can bring a man to his knees. To be …a woman.”

His voice was deep and strong, an anchor.
“You already are.”

“What?”

“A woman who can bring a guy to his knees. That you feel restricted by your reaction, that it annoys you…those are only the first steps in fighting the trauma and the hold it has on you.” One hand cupped her jaw as he stared into her mismatched eyes, a fierceness that made her shiver glowing brightly in his own. ”You’re already fighting your way to recovery and don’t even realize it.”

Erin was once again speechless, eyes wide
, her heart a painful, swelling pressure in her chest that just wouldn’t let her breath. But breath and speech didn’t matter. In a swift move she pulled him down to her and slammed her mouth on his.