Down the Rabbit Hole

It wasn’t tenderness she craved now. It was a release from the fierce passion that was building, fighting to be free.

Lungs straining, hearts thundering, they began to move, to climb. Pleasure, bordering on pain, began to build, until at last, locked in a fierce embrace, they soared to the very center of a star-filled universe. For the space of a heartbeat they paused, then stepped into the unknown. And soared.


*

For the longest time they lay, still joined, unable to move as they waited for their world to settle.

Against her throat he muttered thickly, “Forgive me, sweet Bethany. I was rough.”

“You weren’t.” She touched a finger to his lips to still his apology. “You were . . . amazing.”

He managed to rouse himself enough to lift his head. When he did, he caught the glint of moisture on her lashes. “Tears, my lady? I hurt you . . .”

She pressed a kiss to his lips to silence him. “These are tears of joy. I’ve never known anything like this before.”

“Nor I.” He gave a long, deep sigh of relief. “What we have found is something rare and special.”

She couldn’t help smiling. “Isn’t that what men always say to women after lovemaking?”

“Is it?” He sounded genuinely surprised.

“Are you telling me that you’ve never said such a thing before?”

“Never, my lady. You are my one. My only.”

He rolled to one side and drew her into the circle of his arms.

As she snuggled against his chest, she found herself believing him. Colin Gordon was unlike any man she’d ever met. A truly honorable man. Of that she had no doubt.

She ran a fingertip up his arm, lingering over the ridge of muscle that was oddly comforting. This man was a warrior. He would know how to defend himself against whatever evil scheme was brewing.

Though she hated to shatter this tender mood that held them in its grip, the time had come to warn him about what she’d overheard.

She touched a hand to his face, as though to soften the blow of her words.

“I’ve tried so many times to warn you about the danger that threatens. Now, Colin, you must listen.”

He went very still. “Say what you must, my lady.”

As quickly as possible she told him about the voices she’d overheard outside her balcony.

“They were little more than whispers, and I can’t identify the voices, but I’m convinced that they were plotting to kill you. And now that I’ve seen Ian’s anger, and his sister’s attempt to cover it up, I believe both Ian and Edwina want you dead.” She paused, wondering just how much to reveal. But after what they’d just shared, there was no reason to hold anything back, no matter how difficult it would be to explain.

“There’s more, Colin. I know it will sound crazy, but I need to be completely honest with you, no matter what you may think of me when you hear it.”

He ran a hand gently down her arm. “You can tell me anything, love.”

Love. It was the sweetest word she had ever heard.

She took in a deep breath. “Ever since coming here I’ve seen odd things. Things I have never seen in my world.” She paused for only a moment before saying, “Several times the women here turned into geese.” She looked up at him, then away, before going on quickly, so she wouldn’t lose her nerve, “I know it’s crazy. But it truly happened. And the men turned into animals. I’m not saying they merely reminded me of birds and animals. They actually turned into them.”

She waited for him to laugh, or to insist that she’d been dreaming. Instead she felt him draw slightly away before he asked solemnly, “What animal did I become?”

“A deer. A very large deer, with huge antlers.”

He gave her a sad smile before nodding. “Aye. A stag.”