She nodded, sniffling. She could deny him nothing, because as he’d said, she was his. “I love you.”

It was out there before she could stop it. The first time she’d ever said it, she’d barely been out of girlhood. The declaration had terrified her, because she’d realized it was more than infatuation, a young woman’s crush. The all-powerful sorcerer was a charismatic part of him, but it was the man, Derek Stormwind, the one who liked to swim with her at the beach, who didn’t like raisins but loved oatmeal-raisin cookies, who preferred riding horses to driving a car, the one who got cranky if she tried to elicit dialogue more complex than grunting before he had his morning coffee…. That was who she truly loved.

Even more remarkable, he’d said it first. And he saw all parts of her the same way. Though he’d told her she had tremendous potential as a witch, when it came to this, it was more basic than that.

At the end of the day, doesn’t matter who or what you become. It won’t change how I feel. We’re just two people doing our best to figure out each other’s hearts, and that takes more lifetimes than even I have. But I’d spend every one of them with you trying to learn. Trying to make you happy.

But what she’d become could change how he felt. She knew it. “I love you,” she whispered again, her voice broken with the weight of all the knowledge she now held about love and loss.

“I know that, girl.” He put his jaw alongside her temple. His hands cradled her breasts gently now, his body a reassuring bulwark. “Though it’s nice to hear.”

She closed her eyes. She shouldn’t have said that, even here in this fantasy world. It was time to end it. “Will you turn off the lantern? I want to sleep with you in the hayloft.” Touch you in the dark.

“I’m sure I could conjure a saddle blanket or two to make that happen, protect this pretty, soft skin of yours. Hold on.” His hands slid away, though one lingered on her buttock, gave it a firm squeeze before he moved to the table, leaned over the lantern. She turned her head to savor that one last look at him before the fantasy was gone. It was good she was going to be leaving tomorrow. She needed to put some distance between her and this room. She’d never, ever use it again. She’d make Raina promise not to let her.

He was studying her in almost the same way, as if memorizing the way she looked. She imagined what he was seeing; her in the red corset, tied up for him, his seed still damp on her thighs.

Leaning down, he cupped the top of the lantern, blew it out.

Chapter 5

SHE WAS AGAINST THE WALL, EXACTLY WHERE SHE’D started, except at some point she’d slid down to sit, her legs folded up in front of her. She was still fully clothed, though her panties were soaked, telling her she’d actually had the intense orgasm she’d experienced in the fantasy. The skin between her shoulder blades was sore and throbbing, as if the brand had marked her in truth. That bit of information startled her, but not as much as what was directly across the room from her.

Braced against that opposing wall, though still standing, Derek stared at her. Between them, next to the candle and pedestal, the branding iron lay on the floor. The residual magic was still sparking off it.

She was sure she lost all color in her face, because when she shot to her feet, she swayed, uncertain of her balance. Fumbling for the latch, she flung the door open and fled into the hallway.

The room was on the second level. Though she knew navigating the steep winding staircase of an antebellum house when one was reeling from universe-altering climaxes and complete panic was inadvisable, she hit it at a run. As a result, she stumbled on the third step. Grappling for the banister, she lost purchase, flailed.

In that harrowing moment, when she teetered on the brink of physical catastrophe, she wasn’t too worried. She’d given Raina the most important instructions, after all. Dying might deal with all of it, and wherever she ended up, Heaven or Hell, she wouldn’t have to face this. She wouldn’t keep making the wrong choices, over and over.

“Ruby.” She fell against a dense wall of air, one that caught her at a forty-five-degree angle before she could pitch down the stairs. True to a sorcerer’s nature, he pulled that power right from the closest elemental, the sturdy old oak of the stairs. For a second, as that energy surrounded her, she could feel the last day of the oak’s life, the recipe of a summer day; warm wind, animals foraging and hiding among the full greenery of the trees, the intent heat of the sun.

She struggled against it, the unique, seductive touch of his magic, but it held her as easily as a butterfly in a net, easing her upright without damage. Unfortunately, it also gave him the needed moment to catch up to her. Heedless of their precarious perch, she tried to shove him away. In answer, he seized her arms, swung her to face him, one foot braced on the stair above hers, the other just below, caging her against the railing. It also put them almost eye level despite the significant difference in their heights. “Slow down, damn it.”

“You son of a bitch. You had no right. No right.” She punched at him. “Let go of me. Let go of me now.”

Catching her wrists, he set her down hard on her backside. He put himself on the step just above, clamping her between his thighs as she struggled. She snapped at his arm like a rabid coyote before he pulled her wrists out from her body, taking his flesh out of reach.

“Calm down. It wasn’t him.”

Ruby’s gaze jerked to the base of the stairs where Raina leaned against the rail. Though it was her usual provocative pose, the woman’s gaze was hard, her mouth tight. “He had no more idea than you did. I gave him the choice of using it, just like I gave it to you.”

No one blames the Devil…. They make the choice.

It took a full minute for her to process it, to believe it, and when she did, what swept through her was devastating. If Derek hadn’t made her sit, her legs would have buckled. “Raina…. why would you do this? You’re supposed to be my friend.”

Try as she might, Ruby couldn’t keep her voice from breaking. Derek’s grip eased, registering her distress. She wouldn’t look at him, though she couldn’t push away from the strength flanking her when she didn’t seem to have any of her own.

“I am your friend,” Raina said sharply, though she’d gotten a little whiter. “And you never asked if anyone would be sharing the room with you.”

“Oh, Raina. That is total bullshit.” Ruby fought to rein in her emotions. It was like trying to call back a flood after the dam had shattered, but she had contained a lot worse than this, right? She had to pull her shit together to get Derek to let her go. Though it was painful, she made herself look up at him.

At least Raina was telling the truth there. He looked as floored and pissed as she felt, but there was speculation in his gaze, too. That quick mind was reviewing what had happened, what the magic had revealed about her true state of mind. Panic gripped her anew. “Let go of me, Derek. Please. I’m not going to fall now. I’m going to go to the bottom of the stairs and kill Raina.”

“As much as I’ve dreamed of hearing you say that, now’s not the time.” His jaw flexed. “Maybe this opens some things up. Things we need to talk about.”

“No, it doesn’t, and no, we don’t.” She extricated herself, relieved when he released her, though he rose with her, his alert expression showing his readiness to catch her again if she started to fall. It made things hurt, made her want to scream and rage further. Instead, she bottled it up like a potion, put all those incendiary feelings under pressure and stalked down the stairs.

She ignored the fact her body was still trembling from what she’d experienced with him. Not only that, but it now wanted the real thing, merely from sitting that close to him. Her shoulder hurt. What the hell had happened there? Reaching back awkwardly, she clawed down the neck of her shirt. Nothing. The skin was smooth, but the nerve endings were acting as if the skin had been seared by that brand.

It was probably one of the perks Raina offered. The client got a souvenir, a magical hickey with an intensity and placement appropriate to one’s deepest needs. It would probably linger in nerve memory for several days, drawing the mind back to that room like a lemming to a cliff edge.

Raina held her position. If she’d suspected the state of Ruby’s mind, she would have run. Or maybe not. From the flash in her gaze, Raina looked like she was spoiling for the fight. It made the ache in Ruby’s gut worse. She reached the bottom step.

“Why would you do this to me?” she repeated. “Why, Raina?”

“Why would you lie to me for three years? Use fucking soul magic on me?”

That panic frog jumped in her throat, but it also triggered shut-down mode. Her emotions closed up like slamming doors. Ruby couldn’t say she was sorry, couldn’t take it back, so she simply went wooden. “This was about payback?”

“No, damn it. You’ve been tapping Dark magic.”

Ruby tightened her hand on the banister, suppressing the knee-jerk reaction to look toward Derek. It didn’t matter. Raina scoffed. “Yeah, he knows, too. He picked it up the first second he saw you at your shop. Messing with Dark forces is like being strung out on drugs, dove. It gets harder and harder to hide the addiction, and it’s starting to show on you, big-time.”

Derek had come farther down the stairs. Ruby was sure those dark blue eyes were as keen as the blades he usually carried. “You can turn off the lights,” Raina continued. “Hide all you wish, but that room proved what you want is still in there, still haunting you in the dark. If you don’t think forcing you to see that is what a friend does, then you don’t know what friends are. Something is eating you alive, and if you don’t figure out a way to let it out, to let us help, it’s going to swallow you right up.”

Ruby stared at her. Every muscle was rigid from hurt and betrayal, but she couldn’t really blame them. They didn’t understand. They would never understand. It already had swallowed her right up. “Did we actually….”