Kathryne Kennedy - Everlasting Enchantment

The knight sucked in a breath, staring up at her as if he’d never seen a naked woman before. Ha. Surely he had seen hundreds, perhaps thousands. Millicent growled, confused that the thought made her furious. She shook her head, black strands of hair flying about her face, across her shoulders. Nothing mattered but this moment. She would not think beyond that.

“You are beautiful,” he murmured, gliding his fingers up her hips, to her waist. “Did you know your eyes glow like your cat’s?”

Millicent blinked. She knew her human eyesight held some of her beast’s strength, but no one had ever mentioned that they glowed. The thought made her smile.

Gareth gripped her waist, as if he suddenly feared she would flee. Or as if he sought to hold on to her forever. “I want you, Millicent Pantere. Let me show you how much.”

She would not allow him control. This was her decision, her choice… not his. She would never fall prey to the thought that he had used her. “No.”

And she clasped his hands, brought them up over his head, beside his golden hair. Sadness glittered in his eyes for a moment. But only a moment. For Millicent knew what went where and how—she had not lived with her mother without learning such things. She adjusted her hips, felt the hard length of him slide between her legs, and leaned forward, catching the tip, encasing him with her warmth, impaling herself quickly, with a half growl from her beast.

He murmured her name.

Millicent froze for a moment. It hurt. She had forgotten it was supposed to hurt the first time. But her beast did not care. It urged her to move, to find a rhythm. And before she knew it, the pain had faded to be replaced with… ecstasy. Shivers of pleasure that flowed from her inner core to the very tips of her fingers. Gareth moved beneath her, somehow finding new areas of pleasure inside her.

She let go of his arms to sit up, to arch her back. Yes, it drove him deeper inside her, to a new wealth of feeling. He filled her completely, became a part of her. She had not expected that. Had not expected warmth to flow from him to her heart. Her eyes burned, and it took her a moment to realize that tears caused the sensation.

Tears of happiness.

With his hands free, Gareth sought to touch her everywhere. His callused fingertips felt like hot brands of fire, but like a flame they only licked her body, gently, softly. He created new sensations to add to the heady mix. She arched her breasts into his hands, tingles of heat spreading outward from his touch. He made her throb even harder, until she leaned forward again and tried to press her nub against his skin, hoping to slake that need along with the one already raging inside her womb.

He knew what she needed. Of course he knew. His hand delved between them, those fingers of fire finding the exact place where she needed to be caressed. Millicent fought a scream, her were-beast settling for a gasping mew as her rhythm atop him turned into a mindless frenzy. She did not know what she wanted; she only knew it was just beyond her grasp, just over the yawning precipice before her…

And she fell.

Spinning and twisting, pleasure wracking through her entire being. An overwhelming explosion of sensations that Millicent had never experienced before, had not even known existed. She heard Gareth cry out, felt his body tense and release in time with hers. The beast inside her growled with satisfaction, as if it had instinctively known exactly what would happen.

But she had not known it would be this… rare and wonderful thing.

She collapsed on top of him. Spent. Elated. Confused. And Gareth wrapped his arms around her, easily accommodating her weight, just as he had managed her were-strength.

Such a remarkable man.

Such a pity she would never see him again after tonight.

Gareth awoke a few hours later, a smile curling his mouth as he glanced down at Millicent’s tousled head, her body wrapped around his as if she would never let him go. She had been more magnificent than he had ever dreamed, more beautiful and fierce than he could have ever hoped for. By all that was holy, he thought… he thought he might be falling in love with her. He loved her rough exterior that hid a vulnerable heart, and her devotion to Nell despite her need to protect herself. He even loved her other half. The beast that skulked inside her, acting on instinct, offering a dangerous side to her that no other woman could match.

He could not fathom why this woman seemed so different than all of the others he’d met over the centuries. Gareth only knew he had never felt this way before.

His heart skipped a beat.

Could it be possible?

Was this what Merlin had foretold?

His feelings for Millicent felt much different than what he had thought he’d once felt for Vivian. The decades trapped inside the relic had given him some wisdom, at least. Merlin’s lover had been forbidden fruit, a conquest his youthful arrogance had felt compelled to pursue. He had fooled himself into thinking he was in love with Vivian, had twisted lust into love until he was blinded to the truth.

But Merlin had known. And had cursed Gareth to find his true love, a thing more rare than one of Merlin’s relics.

Millicent sighed and rolled over. He allowed her to unwrap herself from around him, and sat up, blinking in the dim light. He had spoken the truth to her. He had not thought of the curse when he’d asked to make love to her. But he could not help thinking of it now… could not help hoping…

Would these feelings for her break the spell? He knew his heart to be true, for this tenderness that swelled within him could not be denied or mistaken. Surely…

He rose, lit a candle, the light seemingly brilliant for a moment, the burgundy walls and furnishings and bed coverings making the very air appear tinged with red. Millicent had thrown out one arm, the other curled next to her cheek, the bed covering twisted about her, revealing tantalizing glimpses of bare skin. Gareth ignored the impulse to reach out and touch her, and instead forced his attention on looking for the band of silver about her wrist.

He could not see it.

But he did not know what might happen to the relic when the curse was broken. Would it stay firmly on her wrist, proof that Millicent would be his one true love? Or would it dissolve into a thousand bits?

Gareth strode around the bed, his eyes searching, his breath shallow and erratic. He pulled back a corner of the silk sheet, exposing Millicent’s bare arm, the relic lying a few inches away from her bent elbow. The gleam of milky opalescence winked at him, the moonstone gem mocking all of his hopes. The bracelet had loosened from her wrist. He could still feel his soul bound to it. His feelings for Millicent had not broken the spell.

Fury welled up inside of him. He had been fooling himself. Whatever feelings he thought he had for Millicent weren’t strong enough. He thought he might have been falling in love with her… but after all these centuries, did he even know what true love was? Aah, the relic twisted his thoughts, made him doubt himself.

And it still bound him; he could almost hear it now, calling to him. Wanting to choose another woman, to tighten the metal about her wrist and shackle her to him. But Gareth wanted to explore these feelings he had for Millicent. He did not want to leave her yet.

His anger faded as quickly as it had come, settling within him to be replaced by grief. He should not have hoped. It always failed him. Perhaps it had all been a lie. The spell would never be broken. He would be trapped inside the relic forever, doomed to watch Millicent grow old and die, and forced to live on without her.

Gareth collapsed on the bed, holding his head within his hands, fighting the despair. He could not give up. He must believe that Merlin would not be this cruel. Perhaps… perhaps only a woman’s love would break the curse. Perhaps she must love him. His shoulders slumped. Verily, that would be harder than anything he had ever thought possible. For Millicent feared love too much to fully embrace it.

“I told you I wasn’t the one.”

He glanced up. She looked lovely, with her midnight hair spilling about her creamy shoulders, her amber eyes glowing like beacons of golden-etched flame.

His heart lifted at the sight of her, and he straightened. “I thought my love for you would be enough.”

Her eyes widened. “Love? You think you’re in love with me?”

Gareth frowned. “I thought so… I think so. The relic has me all confused. But… I do know that I don’t want to leave you. That I’d like to explore these feelings I have for you.”

“And give up your quest for freedom?”

Gareth hesitated to tell her about his theory that perhaps it would take her love to free him. Millicent already felt unequal to the task. “I am tired unto death of dancing attendance on Merlin’s curse. And I think your firebird gave me good advice.”

“Nell? What did she say?”

“That I should follow my own heart. Make my own path.”

She picked up the bracelet, weighing it in her hand. “So what do you want me to do with this?”

Gareth stretched toward her, laid his head in her lap. She started, but a throaty purr sounded in the back of her throat. “What do you wish, my lady?”

He would not force himself on Millicent. The relic had forced him on so many women, that he could not stomach the thought of doing the same. He felt her eyes on the length of his body, and he instantly hardened, bringing a flush to those pale cheeks.

She hid behind a scowl. “Well, I certainly will not turn the relic over to Selena. Despite her sudden overwhelming devotion to you, she’ll still go along with whatever evil plans the duke manages to come up with.”

Gareth had a lovely view of the underside of her breasts. “Then shall you turn it over to another? Whom will you choose to bed me next?”

Her purr turned into a low growl. “I will not… I cannot… What have I gotten myself into?”

He smiled. He had so hoped she would object to relinquishing him to another, but with Millicent, he could never be sure. “Perhaps you might keep it.”

She gripped the relic in one strong hand, but reached down with the other to gently smooth the hair away from his face, to run her fingers through the tangle. His eyes half-closed from the pleasure of her touch.

“How is that possible?” she breathed. “Lady Chatterly said it will remain on a woman’s wrist for only one night, and then choose another after… you know.”

Gareth found her hesitancy to say the words rather charming. Such contradictions, his Millicent. He sat up, took the bracelet from her. “Does it matter whether it fits your wrist or not? Why should the enchantment always choose whom I should be with?” He shook his head. “Nay, it is time for me to choose. And I choose for you to keep it if… if you will have it.”

She looked uncertain, and hesitated to do his bidding, the circle of silver held poised over her hand. “If I continue to wear it, you will not be able to find the woman who can release you. I cannot condemn you to your prison, even if the thought of another woman touching you makes me want to tear her apart with my claws.”

Gareth smiled at the possessiveness in her voice, the weight of eternal sadness he always seemed to carry inside of him suddenly easing its grip. “This is my choice, my lady. And I choose to stay with you.”

She sat silent for a time, and finally murmured, “I will keep it on just until we are away from this evil place. Then I will let you go.”

“Will you?” Gareth reached up, stroked the underside of her breast, and felt her shiver.

“I have to. You deserve to find your true love.”

He did not argue with her. He had lived too long, had too much experience with women, to succumb to the temptation. She loved him a little, or at least thought she did. If he had learned one true thing about women, it was that they would not take someone to their bed unless they thought they were in love.

She would realize soon enough that she would never let him go.

He would not allow it.

She slipped the bracelet over her wrist, and the band of silver tightened. He felt her recoil, as hesitant at being trapped as he. “What just happened?”

Gareth stared at the bracelet. “I… I am not sure. I did not know it would tighten about your wrist… I have never asked a woman to keep it before.” His heart soared. Could it mean he had a chance? That Millicent had the potential to be his true love? Damn Merlin and his enigmatic curse!