Circle of Desire (Damask Circle 3)

ETHAN PULLED A COVER OFF THE BED AS KAT PADDED naked out of the bathroom.

“Wear this.” His voice was a little rough as he tossed the blanket her way. “Your clothes are still too wet to put back on.”

Her gaze scooted down his towel-wrapped body, arousing him even more than he already was. Then she quickly wound the blanket around her. Obviously, she both sensed and saw just how tenuous his control was right now. Dusk was closing in fast, and the moon fever was beginning to rage in his blood. With the full moon a night away, his need for her was incredibly high. Yet right now he couldn’t afford to sate that need. Not when an attack could come at any moment.

He clenched and unclenched his hands, but it did little to ease the tension riding him so hard. He watched her emptying the contents of her jeans pockets onto the table but found his gaze drifting to her blanket-wrapped breasts. Suddenly his feet were carrying him closer. Not good. He swung around and strode across to the window instead. The chill of the storm eddied past the windowpane and caressed his fever-touched skin. He took a deep breath, but all he could smell was the soapy cleanness of freshly washed skin and the heat of feminine wanting. She ached as badly as he, but for an entirely different reason.

He closed his eyes, trying to ignore the little voice slyly suggesting he was kidding himself, that there was very little difference in the cause behind her desire and his.

Which was stupid. He was caught by the moon, nothing more.

He let his gaze roam across the parking lot. He had no doubt that the mara knew he was werewolf. No doubt that she would wait until night had well and truly ignited the moon fever in his veins before she attacked. Which gave them maybe a half hour to prepare themselves.

Footsteps echoed in the silence as Kat walked back into the bathroom. Frowning, he glanced over his shoulder. When she didn’t reappear, he gave in to curiosity and followed her.

“What are you doing?” He stopped in the doorway and tried to ignore the way the blanket curved enticingly around her rear as she bent over.

She didn’t look up. “What does it look like I’m doing?”

“Placing stones around the bathtub.”

“Precisely.” Her voice was vague, and there was a fierce look of concentration on her face.

“What for?”

“Circle of protection.”

What she was creating was

more a rectangle than a circle and encompassed not only the bathtub, but a good portion of the floor. But he guessed the intention was the same. “In here?” He couldn’t help the skepticism in his voice, and she glanced up.

“Well, the bedroom is certainly out, isn’t it?”

He didn’t bother telling her it wasn’t the location that posed the danger to his control, but her closeness. “So why not set it up in the living room?”

“Because the bathroom has one door and no windows. Easier to defend. Plus, we’re traveling light this trip, so we only have small stones with us.”

“And that makes a difference?”

She nodded. “The smaller the stones, the smaller the protection circle.”

That made sense. Or as much sense as anything involving magic could ever make. She laid the last of the stones on the floor, then reached for the silver chains sitting on the vanity. These she carefully placed around the perimeter of the stones, hard up against the walls and across the doorway.

“Silver stops magic,” he said, clenching his fingers against the urge to reach out and pull her close as she raised up, her face only inches from his.

“And, hopefully, will be our first line of defense.”

Her breath was warm and quick across his face, her pupils dilated with desire. He forced himself to step back, freeing her from the aura of the wolf. She licked her lips, drawing his gaze to her lush mouth again. It took all his strength to remain still.

“Why don’t you go get some bottled water in case we’re here for a while? I need to finish this.”

He nodded and swung away. He put on his still-damp jeans, then collected two bottles of water and a couple of chocolate bars and headed back. She was sitting cross-legged in the bathtub and motioned him to sit opposite her.

“Thought you might need some chocolate,” he said, placing his collection close to her knees.

Her smile broke loose. Something clenched deep in his gut, and he suddenly found himself wanting to wake up to that smile not only tomorrow, but the day after that and the day after that …

“Trying to get into my pants again, huh?”