Chapter 14

Harper finished eating, patted her lips dry with the napkin and poured another cup of tea. She set the tray outside, not desiring another visit from the witch.

Retiring to the armchair before the fire with her tea and her phone, she stared into the flames.

This castle was large, lonely and dark. Shadows danced in the corners. The demon Jared mentioned lurked out there, waiting to pounce.

Harper shivered, wishing she could see Jared. But no, he was too busy to spend time with her.

Suddenly feeling very alone, she clicked onto the bookmark for her online birding group. The chat option remained on the sidebar. She hadn't masked her appearance so anyone in the group could see she was online. Tempted, she stared at the chatbox when suddenly a message popped up from Darkbird1790.

"Are you there, Rockstar?"

For a minute she considered not answering. He'd been rude in ghosting her and she didn't want to give him power over her. But their past friendship made her type the words.

"I'm here."

A cautious rope tossed into the void, testing the frozen waters. Staying icy seemed like a good idea. At least she wouldn't get her feelings hurt again.

"I'm so sorry for abandoning you. I had company arrive, unexpectedly, and then had pressing matters. It was terribly rude not to get in touch. Please forgive me."

Thawing a bit, she typed back, "It's okay."

At least he'd apologized. Probably had a date or something, but what did it matter?

"I need your advice, Rockstar. You shoot birds with a camera, and I've thought about acquiring one. What do you recommend? I'm new to photography."

Cynical Harper questioned if he expressed an interest in order to open a new convo topic with her. The lonely Harper who hated the late-night silence as vast as the castle's interior perked up at the thread.

"If money is no object, buy a Canon. With the mountain ranges and habitats of birds in Peru, you need a good telephoto lens."

Darkbird1790 wrote back, "What kind of lens?"

"Try a Canon Mark 3, has fast frames per second for shooting wildlife in action. Get a 70-200 mm lens or even a fixed 400 mm. But you're in Peru. You can order online from a good camera shop in New York I use, just that it will take time to ship."

"Money and time no object. I'd rather get the right equipment. Thanks."

Silence for a moment and then he typed, "U ok?"

Harper felt a lump in her throat. No one asked her that in a very long time. Not her professors, nor her small circle of friends, and certainly not her parents. Only Jared, perhaps, had indicated a slight concern.

Darkbird1790 actually asked the question and even if it wasn't sincere, it was there in black letters on the white screen.

Wiping away a stray tear, she smiled. "Yeah. In a bit of a pickle thanks to this guy, but I'll pull out of it."

"What guy?" he typed back. "Is someone mistreating you? Tell me and I'll deal with him for you. You deserve a champion, Rockstar."

Having never had a champion, Harper felt her heart swell with unexpected emotion. Now a single tear welled up, rolled down her cheek.

But, reminding herself Darkbird had ghosted her for a time, she knew to keep the intensity down.

"I'm fine. I can take care of myself."

"You can. But if you need me, I'm here for you. Even if I'm far away."

"Hard to punch someone from far away," she joked.

"A champion isn't someone who fights for you, Rockstar. It's someone who believes in you, wants great things for you. Someone who knows your strengths and won't exploit your weakness. Someone who is willing to stand with you through life and your struggles, and wants to see you become the best person you can become."

Her eyes widened. She touched the words he'd written in the chatbox, marveling at such a profession of wisdom and faith in people.

"Thank you," she typed back. "I wish I did have a champion."

"I could be yours… if you wish. A champion does all those things and more. A champion supports your passion."

Deeply touched, she typed back, remembering how he'd ghosted her. Best to remain cautious. "I once thought I knew my passion, now I'm not so sure. "Where does your passion lie?"

A few winking emoticons. "Usually in bed."

"Oh," she said aloud, feeling heat rise to her cheeks. "With anyone special on your mind?"

"Yes. You."

A pause and then a tentative question. "Does that shock you?"

"No." Taking the plunge, she added, "I've thought about it as well."

"You do not know what I look like. I could be hideous."

Harper thawed totally. "I doubt it."

"Why?"

"You have a kind heart."

Several shocked emoticons followed, by, "No one ever told me that."

"Maybe it's time they did."

"Ah Rockstar, how you touch this cold stone I call a heart."

Emboldened, she typed, "Maybe I'd like to touch something else of yours… something that would fulfill your passion."

"My dear Rockstar, are you fantasizing?"

An eggplant emoticon followed. She smiled. "I do have fantasies and they aren't about bird watching."

To her shock, a dildo materialized on the elegant side table next to her teacup. Heart hammering, Harper set down her phone and picked up the sex toy with trembling hands. Had she done this?

The dildo was ribbed, not terribly long, perhaps six inches. Thick and hard, like a man's shaft. Harper ran a finger along the underside, imagining it was Darkbird's penis.

Her phone buzzed a message. She glanced at the chatbox.

"Rockstar? What happened?"

"Something I can't explain. I have to go. Good night."

"Meet me online tomorrow night after midnight?"

Harper traced a line over the screen. "I'll try."

"Good night." Then a smiley face. "Enjoy your fantasies."

Shutting down her phone to conserve the battery, for Serena had neglected to give her a charging cord, she carried it and the dildo over to the nightstand by the big bed.

Harper undressed and then slid between the sheets nude. She reached over and fingered the dildo. Her magick must have conjured this sex toy. How else had it appeared?

Her body throbbed and ached, needing relief. The chat with Darkbird had stirred all her naughty fantasies. What did he look like? Was he cute? Tall? Short? Geeky?

Shutting her eyes, dildo in hand, she tried to conjure an image of Darkbird but only Jared came to mind. Jared with his powerful body, his black hair and penetrating gaze, and sheer sexuality.

"I can't do this," she muttered. As much as her body ached for sex, for satisfaction, she wouldn't do it here in this bedroom.

With a grunt of frustration, she slipped the dildo into the top chest of drawers and then returned to bed, sliding under the cool sheets.

She dreamed.

Jared stood before her bedside, clad only in a black satin robe. His tall, muscled body tensed as he studied her.

"Do you know why I'm here, Harper?" The deep timbre of his voice made her shiver with anticipation.

Oh, she knew why he was here, in her bedroom.

Sitting up, she slid her arms around his lean waist. Jared joined her on the bed and kissed her. His tongue stroked inside her mouth with languid grace, arousing every nerve. Making her melt with need as he staked his claim.

When he pulled away, his dark gaze wild and smoldering, she had no ability to resist him.

"I'm going to fuck you until you scream my name. Until you can't walk and when you finally you do, you'll feel the memory of me between your legs, hard and thick inside you. I'll make you come so many times you'll never want another man in your bed. Only me."

He pushed her backward as he stripped off the robe and suddenly she was naked as well, watching him, so gorgeous and wild, the incubus who knew how to deliver erotic pleasure and do it over and over…

When she awoke, her sex was throbbing, but with the ache of a recent orgasm. Languid with pleasure, she laid back.

What the hell was happening to her?

Jared drummedhis fingers on the black screen of his tablet. The meeting with Xavier had not assuaged his concern about Harper.

She wasn't going to like what news he had for her. He thought about what the wizard had told him.

She needs you, Jared. As much as you need her.

Bull.

You need to set aside this damnable pride and humble yourself. Open yourself to love and being loved.

More bull.

No one, not even Harper with her innocence and strength and belief in goodness in the world, even him, could love a beast like himself.

I'm too far gone.

But what if there was a chance?

"I need a champion of my heart much as Rockstar does," he whispered aloud to the cold castle walls. "Someone who believes in me, and not what I am, but who I can become."

He touched the tablet, reflecting on his latest chat with Rockstar. At least she seemed to have forgiven him. He'd been thinking about sex, and hoped she had as well. Because if she had, she'd find a sizable gift from him manifested through his incubus powers.

Sure hoped to hell she enjoyed it tonight.

If only Rockstar was his champion. Yet he knew if she saw his beast, she would run away shrieking. Was she a fantasy herself? Sometimes he wondered, and didn't want to find out.

He had Harper here, imprisoned in his castle. King here, he could do with her as he pleased and no one, not even the damnable wizards, could stop him.

Harper could come crawling on her hands and knees to him if he so desired.

No, not as a slave to his arousal, though easy enough to seduce her. Ravish her again and again until he felt sated. Though she might resist with her mind, her body would yield to him willingly. Jared had seen the red-hot desire swirling inside her, the passion she thought deeply buried in her chest. It flickered there, fire he could detect with his incubus powers.

He felt as if they lived in two sharply divided worlds. He existed in the shadows and she was the light. The barrier separating them too thick, too impenetrable to breach.

Soul mates? It was a farce Xavier had presented in order to feed him scraps of hope, keep him in line.

Yet with Harper he felt more alive than he had in years. Decades, even.

When she fell into his arms, crying, he only wanted to dry her tears. Give her reason to stop crying.

Now with the news of how her parents had died, he knew he would make her cry again.

Jared tossed aside the tablet. "Son of a bitch."

The grandfather clock in his immense bedchamber struck twelve. Not that he needed a clock to warn of the midnight hour.

He could feel it in his bones, his skin, his very soul that flickered there like a warning light.

The change came first to his internal organs, setting them on fire as they twisted and turned, his entrails shortening, his heart shriveling. Fur emerged on his naked limbs, his arms, his chest. So much dark fur covering him his privates were hidden from view.

The horns next, and then the hideous teeth intended to snap and tear and terrorize.

Jared threw back his head to howl. Only a snarl emerged.

Running his hands over his face, he felt familiar dread and despair.

No one could love him. Who could love such a monster?

Not even sweet Harper.