Without limits ssion and.., p.45
Without Limits: A BWWM Collection of Passion and Desire, page 45
Not that he hadn’t been. Everyone had noticed their connection, marking her early on as a favorite. That scene the other day when they’d found the hot spring and he’d invited her into a cove for a little tête-à-tête, which the camera had captured every moment of. Just the thought of her nearly naked wet skin pressed up against his had him hard as the rock they’d sat upon. It was on a nonstop loop in his head.
All the women had beautiful bodies, but it was Serissa, with her caramel skin slightly darker from their time in the sun, wet and glistening, whom he couldn’t take his eyes off. God and Goddess be praised his Ma had found a way for them to walk in the light so he could see her like this. He couldn’t wait to show her the loch near his home, and finally, blessedly have this past them and be alone with her. To show her who he really was.
The women were already in the water when he’d shown up with his swim trunks on. He walked along the edge to their cat calls for him to come in and play with them. “Plenty of time for that, lovelies,” he’d called back.
He paused to catch Serissa’s eye and winked, but Karen stood next to her and must have thought he winked at her because she winked and grinned back. She’d already taken one step forward like she was getting out of the water.
He shook his head to bring his thoughts back to the present. Serissa was the reason he was here to begin with. Well, that and he needed a diversion in his life. And boy did he get it. Maybe more than he’d bargained for. At least he was no longer bored.
Still, as much as he was sure Serissa was the one, something about her gave him pause, something not quite right, he couldn’t place. She was human, but he sensed an innate energy to her more than a normal human should radiate. Yes, she had natural shields so he couldn’t read her thoughts. Perhaps that’s all there was to it. He’d come across a rare few like that in his years on earth. In truth, her humanity troubled him more, but he wouldn’t allow it to stop him from getting closer to her. He’d lived alone for too long.
Women were a means to an end and he’d had no interest in any of them for a good while. After the years he could barely remember any of them. He’d remember Serissa for the rest of his long life. Even if he only had a few years of her human life span to be with her, it would be worth it to know for a short period of time there was someone special in his life. Serissa.
The women lined up once again. This time only one Jeep sat behind him. The one that would carry him, three of the women and their gear to meet his family. They’d been told they were going to a leased manor the producers got for this segment and would meet his family there. In truth, yeah the production company rented it, but it had been in his family for a few hundred years. Oh, it had been changed many times over the ages. Central heating and air had been added twenty years ago, and now they even had Wi-Fi. He was taking the final three to this ancestral home—one of them—the castle he’d save for his bride.
Four backpacks rested at his feet. Earlier that morning the women had used markers to pen their names on the front flap. Karen’s had her name ending in a heart with his name in it. Bridget had likewise drawn a heart on hers but his name wasn’t drawn in. Jax liked Bridget but they were more like best friends than lovers. Maybe in another time, but not this one.
Avery he just liked period. She was a good friend to Serissa. Since he was going to do everything to get Serissa to want to stay with him, short of controlling her, he had no problem with Avery sticking around for a while too. Especially if his brother was going to be home. He could keep Avery occupied.
Jax frowned. Declan had also been restless of late, perhaps he’d like Avery or Bridget. He never thought of himself as a matchmaker but then again, he never thought he’d ever be on a reality TV show. But boredom drives you to do strange things. Immortality was great in theory. In reality…well, it got him here to this point.
He smiled as Kevin got everyone’s attention and got the ball rolling. As he’d been coached, he spread things out, building the suspense and anticipation. He even enjoyed it a little. It was almost over.
He called Avery first.
“Avery,” he said as he handed her backpack to her. “This would not be the same without you. What say you continue with me?”
Avery grinned at him as she took the backpack. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world.” She hugged him and took a seat in the Jeep, in the back. They’d managed to have a private conversation a week ago where she’d asked him to send her home because she didn’t want to cause her friend grief. Jax liked her even more. He’d made the cameraman turn away when he replied to her.
“I know we’re just friends, okay, but I’d like to keep you around awhile longer so Serissa will have company.” Avery had high-fived him then and they’d worked together to get him time to spend alone with Serissa. Avery would run interference when any of the other girls went looking for Jax. She’d tell them she spotted him in the other direction.
Next, he called the lady herself. Her eyes sparkled with joy, and he couldn’t resist her. Jax pulled her in a little close and whispered, “Stay with me.” She nodded her head in reply and he gave her a quick kiss before handing her into the front seat of the Jeep with her backpack. He’d be driving.
Well, now they were down to Karen and Bridget, with only room for one more. Davis, the producer, stood behind the women out of sight of the camera range and gave him the thumbs up. He called Karen next and took her hands as he’d done with the other women. She looked up at him smiling, confidence evident in her stance and gaze she’d be getting on that Jeep.
“Karen, love, you and I have had a connection from almost the beginning,” he tried not to choke on that. “But…I’m afraid I’ve a stronger connection to others here. I’m sorry. This is it for us.”
She pulled her hands out of his before he could finish and if a nose could breathe fire, flames would have been coming out of hers. Her eyes narrowed, gleaming in the sunlight with hate. The words out of her mouth confirmed it, just in case he missed it in her gaze.
“I hate you for that. You’re making a big mistake. We would have been happy for an eternity.” She bent down and picked up her pack, stomping off to the side where Kevin waited. She stood with her arms folded across her chest and glared at him.
Jax suppressed a frown. He’d swept her mind and found nothing but darkness. A blind man could tell she hated his guts right then, and he’d felt a flare of energy. She’d let her guard slip. The darkness within her mind bothered him, but it didn’t matter. He was just glad to be rid of her. After all, what could she do? He decided to finish the show.
He could see the two producers shaking their heads at him but nothing they could do now. He called Bridget forward and kissed her cheek, inviting her to join him on the next ride. While he kept a smile for the cameras, his mind kept going back to Karen’s words. She was just sprouting bullshit. No way she could know he was a vampire. Satisfied with his conclusion, he got behind the wheel and started off again.
The end was almost in sight.
The driver had picked Karen up from the heliport, but instead of taking her to the airport as she’d thought, he’d handed her a cell phone. It was Davis from the show. They didn’t want her gone quite yet and planned on springing a last minute change. She’d have one final shot after the family home visit to convince Jax to take her back, but the decision would be up to Jax. Karen agreed and smiled. The car took her to a hotel where she’d stay until they were ready for her.
“Not so fast, Jax,” she whispered as she laid her head back against the soft leather. It should have worked. She used a love spell on him that had worked twice before. As a witch of the way, who traveled a more daring path, some might call it dark. She called it powerful, he should not have been able to resist her.
Something was off here. Karen opened her eyes and frowned. She’d find out what, and now that she had another shot at him, make a few adjustments. He was, after all, a rather large man, and strong willed. No way was she walking away from a million bucks plus whatever else he had she could squeeze from him.
Unlike those other ninnies, she’d done her homework. Jax was practically Scottish royalty and he was loaded. She planned on making him husband number…?
Karen paused to consider. She would be sixty next month and didn’t look a day over twenty-five. Number five. She’d had four husbands and lost track of the number of lovers. But Jax she might actually keep—for a while.
Chapter Seven
Jax looked forward to moving things along with Serissa. Taking her home was the second step. The first had been following the stray thought that led him to where they were now. Something made him glance up. Jax caught her staring at him as he grabbed his bag out of the SUV and winked.
As soon as he closed the car trunk, the door to the manor house flew open. They’d only be there for two days, which was fine. His mother thought it best and he agreed that they use the manor and pretend that it was their home, which it was. They did spend time here. It wasn’t the castle, but it would do, covering four thousand square feet and two floors.
The Hall, as his ancestral home was called, was a castle another mile up the road but trees and the hillside blocked the view. It even had a short moat and the main building was some seventeen thousand square feet. Twenty-one bedrooms, three kitchens and he forget how many other rooms. There were also two separate apartments on the premises not connected to the main building.
Later for the final show they’d use the castle as he’d promised the producers. He’d bring Serissa back and show her his real home, the place where he was born and where he died. He’d tell her the truth and give her the choice of joining him. Something he never would have thought he’d ever offer to another, but with the daylight serum it was possible for them to live normal lives—albeit immortal ones. But if she decided not to let him change her he was fine with that too. When she left this earth, he wouldn’t be far behind.
“Jax!”
He turned at the sound of his Ma’s voice. He’d moved in her direction as she started down the stairs but once she’d reached the bottom, she froze. Her eyes were no longer on him but on the three women getting out of the Jeep. He turned to stare at his mother again and she glanced at him, then back at the women. Unsure what was going on and conscious of the cameras still rolling, he raised his arm and motioned for all three women to stand beside him.
His mother came down the rest of the stairs and they embraced quickly, he felt her stiffness. He introduced the women one by one leaving Serissa for last. His mother smiled and briefly shook the hands of all the women, but when she got to Serissa, she did an odd thing. She grasped Serissa’s hand to shake with both hands and turned her wrist slightly so she would see the pentagram on Serissa’s wrist. Almost as if she knew it would be there. Jax frowned. He couldn’t read his mother’s mind nor could she read his, which was too bad because his was yelling, “What the hell is going on?”
But his mother, ever the hostess, gathered everyone inside and had them all comfortable to the point he thought he’d imagined the stunned expression on his mother’s face. He’d have to wait for an opportunity so he could speak to her in private. That moment couldn’t come fast enough. He was close to just freezing everyone so he could chat with his mother.
His Ma must have seen something in his expression because she squeezed his arm briefly as if to calm him then turned to everyone else. She directed the women to the rooms set aside for them. They’d have a chance to take a shower and dress before dinner.
“Ladies,” his mother said to the two cameramen and the producer, who’d followed them into the sunroom. They needed to see the set up in there so they’d be able to film the chat he and his mom were supposed to have after dinner about the women he’d brought home.
Davis looked around. “This looks great Mrs. Buchannan, if I didn’t know this really wasn’t your home I’d say you made yourself right at home here. It’s perfect, right down to the coat of arms on the wall there.”
Little did the producer realize it was actually their coat of arms.
Davis continued. “When you talk to Jax just relax, it’s just a mother’s talk with her son when he brings home the love of his life, in this case, three of them.” They all chuckled.
“Not something that happens every day,” his ma said.
“Just make the appropriate positive and negatives of all three, say if you like them all and tell him it’s his choice. Or if you have a favorite say so.”
His mother smiled. “I think I can handle that. If that’s all…”
“That’s it.”
“Good!” She met Davis’ eyes and her green ones became more intense as she snared his mind, then she turned to the other men in the room, did the same thing to them. Without a word, they picked up their things and left with Davis following them out.
Jax watched them go then turned to smile at his mom. No answering grin sat on her face. He couldn’t even begin to read her expression, but then she spoke.
“Are ya daft? That’s a witch you brought home, son.”
“What? Who?” But he knew. He knew. It was the missing piece, what had him perplexed, the reason he had such a hard time reading her and the sense of strong energy from her. “What the hell!”
“Yes. Serissa. But that’s not all, son; someone’s been working a love charm on you. I can smell it.” Without another word, he jumped up and headed for the door, ignoring his mother’s voice as she called his name. Her hand on his arm got his attention as he grasped the door handle. “Wait! I’m not sure it’s Serissa. I only sense white magic in her and witches that follow that path would not use such a thing on ye.”
“Then who else the hell would have?”
His mother removed her hand from his arm. Jax yanked the door open and stormed out into the hallway. He ran into Kevin who was coming to get him. The women were ready to be taken in to have a chat with his mother one at a time. He turned to look at her; she nodded. She’d get to the bottom of this. Yet, Jax didn’t know what hurt more: the thought Serissa bespelled him or that what he’d begun to feel for her wasn’t real.
He found his younger brother, Declan, in the main room with the women. He’d been chatting them up. As soon as Jax entered the room all three women glanced up at him and smiled. His brother walked over to him and slapped him on the back. “I take it all back. This was a damn fine idea.”
Kevin took Declan’s arm and led him in the direction of the sunroom where their mother waited, leaving him with the women before the assistant producer called the first one in. Avery and Bridget sat on the stools in front of the bar. Serissa sat in a chair large enough for two beside them.
He couldn’t look at her. Instead he headed over to stand beside Bridget and joked with her for a minute. Then Kevin came out and called Serissa first. His heart hurt and the air left his lungs at the thought she was not as she seemed; the connection between them a lie.
As soon as Serissa saw the aura around Magaidh, Jax’s mother, she knew something was different about her. Besides the fact she had a 30-year-old son but didn’t look a day over 40. The dark red of her hair as vibrant as any 16-year-old’s, but the woman also carried the same aura as Jax. She was a vampire too and apparently one who could go about during the day.
His brother, Declan, was likewise one, but since he hadn’t shown up until sundown she wasn’t sure if he could walk in daylight or not. But there was something else about the mother. The hairs at the nape of Serissa’s neck had stood up on end when the woman had touched her hand. Then when she spied the tattoo on Serissa’s wrist, recognition flashed in her gaze for a split second as their eyes met.
Could she perhaps understand the meaning? Study the craft too? Or just recognize the symbol in a broader sense? That was probably it. The Highlanders even today can be superstitious, and since they were vampires they’d have reason to be wary of a witch among them. Yet she was sure Jax hadn’t understood the significance of the symbol, but judging from the way he’d avoided her gaze after his chat with his mother, she must have clued him in to its meaning. That would be the only explanation as to his withdrawal from her.
Serissa would just have to deal with it and hope it wouldn’t hinder what was happening between them. By the goddess, if she could accept that he was a vampire then he should accept that she was a witch who practiced white magic.
When Kevin returned from the study, Serissa was glad he called her first to have her chat with Jax’s mother and brother. She didn’t like the tension between them. Standing in front of the closed door, Serissa took a deep breath. Conscious of the camera filming her, she knocked and waited for someone to say enter.
The door opened instead and Declan stood there, grinning from ear to ear. About the same height as his older brother and with enough similar features, there was no doubt they were brothers. But Declan’s eyes always seemed to sparkle with some joke only he knew. Oh, not like he was making fun of anyone but that he found joy in everything. He reminded her of Avery in that respect. The slight crinkles around his mouth told her he smiled a lot, and his aura, while red like the others, had strong threads of yellow running through it. There was nothing hidden about Declan, unlike his brother just now who showed a trace of shadow.
