Mysteria Nights

To Gyna Snowater

with love from P. C. Castwater.

We rock when we team up, baby!

One

“All right, we’re going to start a new unit, so get out your folders and get ready to take notes,” Summer said in what she liked to hope was her best Teacher Voice.

“What’s the new unit, Miss S.?” called a male voice from the rear of the class.

Summer frowned. Was it disrespectful to call her Miss S.? Oh, Goddess! Another question she’d have to ask her sister on the phone tonight. She cleared her throat and tried to look severe and ten years older. “Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.”

The girls in the class sighed and looked dreamy. The boys groaned.

“Hey, I hear there’s sex in that play,” came the same voice from the rear of the class.

“Well, yes. Actually it’s a play about star-crossed lovers whose families won’t let them be together,” said Summer.

The girls smiled. The boys rolled their eyes.

“So that means there’s sex in it. Lots, actually,” Summer said before her mind caught up with her mouth.

“Cool!”

“Of course, it’s all written in Elizabethan English,” she hastily amended, reconnecting with the excellent control she usually had over everything she said or did.

“Sucks fairy butt,” said a surly voice from the other side of the room.

“So we won’t get it?” asked a cute blonde in the front row who wore a short, pink cheerleading uniform with FIGHTING FAIRIES emblazoned across her perky bosom.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you get it,” Summer said.

“Awesome!” chorused several annoying male voices, accompanied by giggles from the girls.

“Hey, Miss Smith, can we watch the movie?” asked the cheerleader.

“The one that shows Juliet’s boobs!” called the irritating male voice. Which kid was that, anyway? Maybe she should move him up closer. (As if she wanted the annoying child closer to her? Ugh.)

“I’ll think about the movie,” Summer said firmly. “What we are going to see is an art exhibit of Pre-Raphaelite paintings that features Ford Madox Brown’s famous Romeo and Juliet balcony scene.”

The classroom went dead silent. Finally a pleasantly plump redheaded girl who sat smack in the center of the class smiled up at Summer through extra-thick glasses and a face full of unfortunate zits and said, “You mean we’re taking a field trip?”

“Yes, we’re taking a field trip. Tomorrow.”

There was a general class-wide sigh of relief and several high fives accompanied by murmurs of “Dude! That means no class tomorrow!”

“Okay, don’t forget to work on the Shakespearian vocab I gave you at the beginning of class. It’s due the day after tomorrow, and then we’ll begin—” Summer was saying when—thank the blessed Goddess—the bell rang that signaled the end of the period as well as the end of the school day.

“High school sucks,” Summer muttered to herself as the last pubescent boy filed out of her classroom, almost running into the door frame as he tried to keep his eyes on her cleavage as long as humanly possible. When the coast was clear, she dropped her head to her desk, and with a satisfying thud began to bang it not so softly. “I’m not a fool for teaching high school. I’m not a fool for teaching high school . . .” she spoke the litany in time to her head banging.

“Oh, honey. Just give up. We’re all fools. That’s one of the things that makes a truly great teacher: foolishness. The second thing starts with a W.”

Summer looked up to see a tall, slender woman dressed all in black. Her acorn-colored hair was shoulder length and wavy in a disarrayed I’m-so-naughty style. She offered her hand to Summer with a smile just as the door to her classroom opened again.

“What?” The tall, slender woman whipped around, skewering the hapless teenage boy with her amber eyes.

The boy’s eyes flitted from the scowling woman to Summer, and back to the scowler again.

“Mr. Rom? Isn’t that your name?” asked the slender woman in a no-nonsense voice.

The boy nodded nervously.

“And what is it you wished to bother Miss Smith with?”

The boy’s mouth opened, closed, and then opened again. “I have my journals to turn in. The ones that were due yesterday,” he finally blurted.

The amber-eyed woman glanced down at Summer. “Do you take late work, Miss Smith?”

Summer swallowed. “No. I mean, isn’t that the English Department’s policy?”

“Of course it is.” The slender woman raised one arched brow at the boy and trapped him with her sharp gaze. “No. Late. Work. Means no late work. Now, go away, child, before you truly anger me.”

“Y-yes ma’am!” the boy’s voice broke as he backed hastily from the room and then scampered away.

“How in the world did you do that?” Summer said, gaping at the tall, young woman.

She smiled and held out her hand. “I’m Jenny Sullivan, your across-the-hall neighbor and fellow English teacher, as well as a Certified Discipline Nymph. Sorry, I would have introduced myself last week at the beginning of the semester, but I was on that delicious staff development trip to Santa Fe.” Summer blinked blankly at her, so Jenny hurried on. “You know, Discipline in the Desert 101. Goddess! There are just so many applications for desert discipline in the high school classroom.” She shook herself. “Anyhoodles, just got back today and heard that you’d taken your sister, Candy Cox’s, place on our staff, and thought I better welcome you.” She paused and glanced at the closing door after the student. “I see I arrived just in time.”

“What’s the thing that starts with a W?” Summer asked.

“Whips?” Jenny said hopefully.

“Whips? We can use whips here? Candy never told me that.”

“Wait—wait. I think we’re having a communication difficulty. You asked me for a W word and, naturally, I thought of whips.”

“Okay, no. Let’s start over. You said foolishness and something that starts with a W make us great teachers.”

“Oh!” Jenny brightened. “Sadly, the answer to that is not whips, though it should be,” she finished under her breath.

“Then it’s . . .” Summer prompted.

“Whatever.”

“Pardon?”

“The other thing. It’s the Whatever Factor. Honey, I can already tell that your problem is you give a shit too much about what the hormones and germs are thinking.”

“The hormones and germs?”

“Aka teenagers.”

“Oh.”

“Darling Summer, you need to understand that teenagers rarely think.” Jenny patted her arm. “Come on, let’s lock up, and then I’ll treat you to a drink at Knight Caps.”

Summer started to grab her keys and her purse, then her eyes flitted to the clock on the wall. “Uh, Jenny. It’s barely three. Isn’t that too early to drink?”

Jenny hooked her arm through Summer’s and pulled her toward the door. “When you teach high school, it’s never too early to drink. Plus, rumor has it you ate lunch in the vomitorium. You’ll need a good healthy dose of martini to cleanse your system of those toxins.”

“Vomitorium?” Summer asked as Jenny took her hand and led her toward the door.

“Just another word for the cafeteria. And, yes. You should be afraid. Very afraid.”

“Wow. Teaching is so not like I imaged when I was in college.”

“Darling, nothing is like you imaged in college. This is the real world,” Jenny paused and then snorted. “Okay, well, Mysteria isn’t actually part of the real world in the reality sense, but you know what I mean. College is college. Work is work. Teaching is work.”

Summer sipped her sour apple martini contemplatively. “Teenagers are a lot more disgusting than I thought they’d be.”

“Preaching to the choir here,” Jenny said.

“I mean, Candy told me to change my major to anything that didn’t involve teaching, and I just thought she was, well . . .” she trailed off, obviously not wanting to speak badly about her sister.

“Here, let me help you. You thought Candy was just old, burned-out, and disgruntled. And that you, being twenty-some-odd years younger and ready to take on the world, would have an altogether different experience with touching the future.” Jenny said the last three words with exaggerated drama while she clutched her bosom (with the hand that wasn’t clutching her martini).

“Yeah, sadly, that’s almost exactly what I thought.”

“Until your first day of real teaching?”

“Yep.”

“And now you want to run shrieking for the hills?”

“Yep again.”

Jenny laughed. “Don’t worry. A few short lessons in discipline from an expert—that would be moi, by the by—and another martini or two, mixed with one of Hunter’s excellent five-meat pizzas, which I’ll split with you, will fix you right up.”

“Okay, except I never have more than one martini, and, well, I’m a vegetarian.”

“One martini? Sounds like you’re a little tightly wrapped, girlfriend.”

“I like to think of it as maintaining a healthy control.”

Jenny rolled her amber eyes. “In my professional Discipline Nymph opinion, I might mention that ‘healthy control’ is often an oxymoron. And you’re a vegetarian? Really?”

Summer chose to ignore Jenny’s comment about control and said, “I’m really a vegetarian. I don’t eat anything that had a face. Makes me want to throw up a little in the back of my throat even to think about it. So get my half with cheese and veggies.”

“Cheese and veggies on your half it is.” She motioned for one of the fairies to come take their order and then frowned when the pink-haired, scantily clad waitress ignored her and instead giggled musically at something a werewolf at the bar had said. Jenny lifted one perfectly manicured finger and started swirling it around in the air. “Looks like girlfriend over there needs a little discipline lesson. She needs to learn it’s best not to ignore me when I—”

Summer grabbed Jenny’s finger. “Do. Not. Use. Magic!”

Jenny yelped in surprise and put her finger away. “What gives?”

“Did Candy never mention what kind of, ur, magic I have?”

Jenny’s frown deepened. “Well, no. Candy didn’t have any magic, or at least she didn’t until she hooked up with that handsome werewolf of hers. I think she felt kinda weird that everyone else had some sort of magic, so she didn’t talk much about it. Plus, you know school’s supposed to be a Magic Free Zone. There was no need to go into it much. Why? What’s your magic?”

“Opposite.”

“Huh?”

Summer sighed. “My magic is opposite magic. Any spell worked around me instantly turns opposite, or at the very least becomes totally messed-up and twisted around. That’s another reason I decided to teach.”

“To really fuck with the teenage mind by screwing up all the furtive little magics they attempt at school?”

“No, though that does sound like it might be a fun by-product. The truth is that I wanted to get a job back home in Mysteria. I really like it here. While I was in college, I missed . . .” She hesitated, trying to decide how much to say. “Ur, I uh, missed the people who live here,” she finally decided on. And it was true. She had missed the people—some of them more than others. Actually, one of them more than others. “Anyway, I wanted to live in Mysteria, but I didn’t want to constantly be messing up people’s magic.”

Jenny’s expression said she knew there was more to the “Ur, I uh, missed the people who live here” nonsense, but the only comment she made was, “Oh, I get it. So working in the high school, a Magic Free Zone, sounded perfect.”

“In theory,” Summer said, mournfully sipping her martini.

“Hey, cheer up. It could be worse.”

“How?”

“You could be teaching at the grade school. At that age they touch you and pee in their pants.” Jenny shuddered. “Yeesh!”

Summer sighed. “This might fall under Emergency Procedures and require one more drink.”

“Of course it does, and of course you do. I’ll get it and order our pizza.” Jenny slid her lithe body from their booth. “I’ll go to the counter and order it. Although I do wonder what would happen if my kick-the-flirting-waitress-fairy-in-her-lazy-ass spell went opposite.”

“You don’t want to know. It’s always a true mess and—”

A gale of giggles and the door opening caused Summer to lose her train of thought and glance over her shoulder at the entrance to the bar. Then she sucked air. Her face blanched white and then flushed a bright, painful pink.

“Oh, Goddess!” Summer whispered. “It’s Kenneth.”

Two

“Yeah, it’s Kenny the Fairy. So? What’s the big deal?” Jenny was saying when the gaze of the tall, blond, male fairy in the middle of the new group of laughing girl fairies lighted on Summer and, smiling, he hurried over to their table.

“Hey, Summer! You’re back!”

“Hi, Ken,” Summer said, managing to stiffly return his hug. “Yeah. That’s me. Back. For a week.” And she blushed an even hotter shade of pink.

“Come on Kenny-benny! You promised to buy us mushroom pizza and those fizzy blue hypnotic drinks,” pouted a pair of identical twin silver-haired, gold-winged fairies.

Kenny gave Summer an apologetic smile. “Sorry, gotta go. I’ll call you later, okay? Is your number still the same?”

“Yeah. The same. Still.” Summer tried to smile, but her face ended up looking more like an enthusiastic grimace.

“Oh, no no no. This is so damn sad. You have a crush on Fairy Kenny,” Jenny said when they were alone again.

“Shhh!” Summer hushed her. “He might hear you.”

“Oh, please. He’s too busy with the slut sisters and their trampy friends. Hang on.” Jenny turned, faced the counter, and nailed the giggling pink waitress with her stern gaze. Her voice carried easily across the bar, slicing through the chattering fairies like a saber through a butterfly-infested flower garden. “Esmeralda, we need another round of martinis and a veggie pizza. Now. And do not make me repeat myself.” The waitress gulped, nodded, and scampered off to place their order. Jenny briskly brushed her hands against one another, as if pleased at a job well done, then she sat back in the booth, turning her full attention on Summer. “Okay, give. Why did you turn into the Incredible Cardboard Woman the instant Kenny-benny spoke to you?”

“I like him,” Summer whispered, upending her martini and patting on the stem as she tried to coax the last of the liquid from the glass.

“Yeah, so? That doesn’t explain the stiffness.”

Summer sighed. “He and I grew up together. We were best friends, or at least we were until we hit puberty and I realized how gorgeous and perfect he is. Since then things have been kinda awkward between us.”

“Kenny’s been through puberty? Who knew?”

“Stop it! He’s cute beyond belief. Don’t you think he looks just like Legolas?” she said, shooting furtive glances at Ken.

“I guess so, only gayer. If that’s possible.” Jenny shrugged. “But whatever floats your boat.”

“He definitely floats my boat,” Summer said.

“Does he know that?”

“Huh?”

“You said you guys grew up together, and then things changed when you started crushing on him. Maybe you should let him know why things changed.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that. I’m not very good at—”

“Here are your drinks, ladies. Your pizza should be right out,” gushed the waitress as she sloshed their new martinis down on the table in front of them.

“Thank you, Esmeralda. How kind of you to finally show us special attention.”

“I—I just didn’t realize it was you, Jenny,” the fairy said. “Discipline Nymphs always get special attention at Knight Caps.”

“As well they should,” Jenny said smoothly, bowing her head in gracious acknowledgment of the fairy’s apology.

The waitress hurried away, and Jenny turned her gaze back to Summer. “So, you need to let Kenny know you have the hots for him.”

“Ack!” Summer sputtered, mid–martini sip. She swallowed, coughed, and said, “Jenny, like I was saying, I’m not good at, well, the guy-girl thing. It’s just so—I don’t know—unpredictable.”

“Oh, please. Kenny-benny isn’t a guy. He’s a fairy. And they’re really predictable. They frolic—they flirt—they scamper.”

“I happen to think there’s more to Kenny than that, but as I said, I’m not good at the social interaction thing.”

“You have issues with guys.”

“No, just with guys I like.”

“Okay, fine. Just with guys you like. What are you going to do about it?”

“Huh?”

Jenny snorted. “Darling, you’re definitely old enough to take the bull by the horns. Figuratively and literally.”

Summer took another drink of her martini. “You’re right. I know you’re right. But knowing and doing are two different things.”

“Look, you don’t seem especially tongue-tied right now. Actually, you’ve been rather amusing, so you’re definitely not conversationally impaired. Just talk to the fairy.”

“I’m only conversationally impaired when I have to talk to someone I want to sleep with. I like you, and you’re attractive and all, but I definitely don’t want to sleep with you.”

Jenny preened. “Nice of you to notice I’m attractive.” Then her arched brows went up. “Hang on—you want to have hot, nasty sex with fairy boy?”

“No, I’d like him to make tender, slow, amazing love to me,” Summer said, blushing again.

“Are you sure?” Jenny studied her carefully. “I’m getting the need-to-have-it-uncontrolled-and-hot-and-hard vibe from you, and I’m rarely wrong about my vibes.”

“Jeesh, I’m sure. I don’t do uncontrolled. Enough already.”

“Okay, okay. You two are friends, right?”

“We were.”

“You can still play off that. Hey, aren’t you living in your sister’s cabin at the edge of the woods?”

“Yeah.”

“So, invite fairy boy over for dinner. You know,” she winked, “for old time’s sake. Then jump his bones,” Jenny paused, rolled her eyes, and added, “slowly and tenderly.”

Summer chewed her lip. “I don’t know . . .”

“Take it from me. When dealing with men, fairy or otherwise, it’s always best to be in charge and direct. Plus, you like control, and you’ll definitely be in control if the date’s on your turf.”

“I’ll think about it,” Summer said, her eyes moving back to where Ken was perched in the middle of the group of fawning fairies at the bar.

“What you should think about is taking another gulp of that martini, putting on some of this nasty red lipstick, fluffing your hair, and marching yourself right over to that bar and extending the big invite to fairy boy.” Jenny fished in her purse until she pulled out a tube of lipstick called Roaring Red and tossed it to Summer. Then she gave the giggling fairies a contemptuous glance. “You’re cuter than those pastel pansies; don’t let them intimidate you. Female fairies would lust after a snake if you put jeans on it and called it Bob. Everyone knows how easy they are, and no one takes them seriously.”

“I guess I could.” Summer gnawed her lip again. “I mean, we are old friends.”

“Exactly.”

She took a big drink of her martini, letting the alcohol burn through her body. Another gale of giggles erupted from the fairies, and Summer seemed to shrink in on herself. “I can’t. I just can’t. It’s so . . . I don’t know . . . unplanned.”

“Girlfriend, life is unplanned. Get used to it. Okay, how about this deal: if you ask Kenny-benny over for dinner, I’ll take my class on the field trip to the gallery with you tomorrow and be sure the hormones and germs act right.”

Summer sat up straighter. “You’ll come with me?”

Jenny shrugged. “I’m getting ready to start Romeo and Juliet with my freshmen, so I might as well. Plus, your students will probably behave dreadfully and need an ever-so-firm disciplinary hand,” she finished with a gleeful smile.

“Promise?”

“That I’ll jump squarely into your students’ shit? Absolutely.”

“Not that. Do you promise you’ll come with me if I ask Ken out?”

“Yep.”

“Even if he says no?”

“Don’t put that negative energy out there. Of course he’ll say yes, and of course, regardless of the fairy, I’ll go with you tomorrow. Now gird yourself and go ask him out.”

“Fine. Okay. I can do this.” Summer gulped the last of the martini, ran her fingers through her curly blond hair, and in two quick swipes of Jenny’s lipstick completed the transformation from Nice New Teacher into tipsy Discipline Nymph Trainee.

Just before she stood up, Jenny motioned for her to lean across the table. “Here, this will help.” She deftly unbuttoned the top two buttons of Summer’s blouse. “That’s better. I’d do a quick make-yournipples-hard spell, but what with your opposite magic, I’m afraid of what would happen.”

“Don’t even think about it,” Summer said. She stood up and tossed back her hair.

“You are beautiful and powerful and desirable. Just keep telling yourself that.”

“Okay. Okay. Okay.” Nodding woodenly, Summer made her way to the bar.

“Kenny-benny, sweetie-weetie! You have a glob of cheese on your lip. Want me to get that for you, baby?” One of the twin fairies cooed.

“No, let me!” said her sister, using a tip of her wing to push her sibling out of her way so she could angle her lithe body closer to Ken.

“Girls, girls—settle! I can wipe my lip myself,” Ken said, laughing.

“We know you can, honey-bunny!” said one twin.

“But it’s so much more fun if we help you!” trilled the other twin.

None of them noticed Summer. At all. So she drew a deep breath, closed her eyes, and told herself, When I speak, I’m going to pretend to be Jenny. She opened her eyes, lowered her voice, and said, “Excuse me, I need a word with Ken.” Summer almost jumped at the strong, stern tone she had (somehow) used. All of the fairies, including the ditzy waitress who was carrying their veggie pizza from the oven, turned to stare at her. I’m Jenny . . . a Certified Discipline Nymph . . . beautiful . . . powerful . . . desirable . . .

“Hi, Summer,” Ken grinned at her. “Do you want me?”

“Y-yes, I do,” Summer stumbled briefly, but then she straightened her spine and lifted her chin. “Could I speak with you? Privately?” She didn’t let herself look at the scantily clad, beautiful fairies.

“Okeydokey!” Ken said. “Hang on, girls. I’ll be right back.” He took Summer’s elbow and moved her to an unoccupied spot down the counter. “What’s up?”

“Ken, I’d like to . . . um . . .” She swallowed the lump that had suddenly risen in her throat and made another attempt. “What I mean is would you want to—” Thankfully, a fit of ridiculously loud coughing from Jenny interrupted Summer’s babble and gave her a chance to pull herself together. “Ken, would you like to come over tomorrow night and have dinner with me?” she finally managed to say.

“Yeah, sounds cool. Are you living at your sister’s cabin?”

“My sister’s cabin. Yes.”

“Great. So, I’ll see you about eight?”

“About eight. Yes.”

“Want me to bring something to drink?”

“Something to drink. Yes.”

“Okay, see you tomorrow at eight!” He smiled again and went back to his seat at the bar.

“Okay. Yes. Yes. Okay,” she told the air as she moved back to their table.

“Here, have the rest of my martini. You look shell-shocked. Are you okay? What did he say? How did it go?”

“Yes. He said yes.” Summer said and then gulped Jenny’s martini.

Three

“Hangover. Ugh, I sooo have a hangover.” Summer shakily sipped the sludge that almost passed for coffee she’d gotten from the teachers’ lounge.

“I’m usually not a big proponent of control, but three martinis was probably one and a half too many,” Jenny said. She studied Summer with a critical eye. “Good thing you’re young. Only the very young can still look as good as you do this morning and deal with a wicked hangover.”

“You keep talking like you’re so much older than me, but you can’t be over thirty,” Summer said irritably.

“Oh, girlfriend, don’t be silly. I’m two hundred and thirty-five. And a half.”

Summer choked on her coffee.

“Discipline Nymphs are some of the most long-lived of the nymphs. It’s because discipline is good for body and soul.”

“I had no idea,” Summer said.

“Well, girlfriend, you do now.”

“Hey, speaking of stuff I’m confused about, would you please explain to me why a Certified Discipline Nymph is so roll-your-eyes about my control issues? Isn’t control pretty much just another word for discipline?”

“Oh, my poor, deluded young friend. Let Ms. Sullivan help you. Discipline is what you have to be good at so you can release control. Girlfriend, you’re too tightly wrapped. Flex those discipline muscles, relax that snoreable übercontrol you carry around with you, and you’ll be amazed at the results.”

“I dunno . . .” Summer said doubtfully. “But I can tell you I never thought of discipline as the antithesis of control before.”

“Gives you a whole new outlook on discipline, doesn’t it?”

“You’re right about that. I can tell you that I’m going to start flexing my discipline muscles with the hormones and germs in my class. Like you said last night, I’m only going to call them by their last names, miss or mister whoever. It’s much more formal; much more disciplined.”

“Well done, you!” Jenny smiled encouragement. “I knew you’d be a quick study. Speaking of the germs and hormones, let’s round them up. I do believe I see the field trip bus waiting for us out there.” As they herded the students onto the bus, Jenny called, “You did clear this with Barnabas, the gallery owner, didn’t you?”

“I sent him an e-mail saying that I’d be bringing a busload of kids to view the exhibit today. I got a reply saying that would be fine.”

“Good. I was worried for a second, because I thought I heard that Barnabas had left for a vacation to France. The nymph gossip said that the poor gay vampire took off to France because he was inconsolable about Hunter Knight falling for Evie Tawdry instead of him.”

“But Hunter’s not gay,” Summer said as they followed the last student on the bus and took their seats near the front.

“Moxie, we’ve got them all,” Jenny called to the short, squat, greenhaired bus driver.

“Moving out, Ms. Sullivan,” Moxie growled, let loose the emergency brake, and pulled the bus out onto the street.

“What is she?” Summer whispered. Eyes focused on the back of Moxie’s green hair, she was sure she saw one of the thick strands move of its own accord.

“Mox? She’s a troll. They make the best bus drivers. They don’t put up with shit.” And then, as if she literally had eyes in the back of her head, Moxie’s head turned almost all the way around and she barked, “Sam Wheeler! Get your big, nasty boots off my bus seat. You are not at home. Put them up there again, and I’ll take those feet off at the ankles. I’d much rather clean up blood than pig crap.”

“Yes ma’am,” Sam said sheepishly.

“See? Trolls know their discipline. Anyway, where were we? Oh yeah. No, Hunter’s definitely not gay, as everyone, including Barnabas, knows. But I feel kinda sorry for the poor gay vamp anyway; unrequited love gets me right here.” Jenny fisted her hand over her heart.

“Really? I wouldn’t have pegged you for the sentimental type, Ms. Discipline.”

“I’m not sentimental. I’m romantic.”

“A discipline romantic?”

“Girlfriend, you have so much to learn. Romance is best with a healthy touch of discipline. Especially if it involves whips and handcuffs. And since we’re on the romance subject, what’s on the menu tonight with Kenny-benny?”

“I really wish you wouldn’t call him that.”

“Sorry. I’ll be good. Promise.”

Summer noted that Jenny’s sparkly eyes said she was the opposite of sorry, but she decided not to say anything. Plus, she really did want to go over what she was going to cook for Ken. She was going to cook for Ken! Just the thought had her stomach rolling with nerves. She cleared her throat. “Okay, I thought I’d make a nice salad, with lots of lovely greens, and then have spaghetti with tofu and, of course, garlic bread, and maybe finish up with a big slice of peach cobbler. What do you think?”

“I think I was asking about your lingerie and not about dinner.”

“But you asked me what was on the menu tonight.”

“Yes, and I expected you to say something like, ‘Why, Jenny, me and my lovely black panty and bra set are definitely the first three courses.’” At Summer’s blank look, Jenny’s eyes got big and round. “Oh, Goddess! When you asked him over for dinner, you really meant dinner.”

Summer frowned. “Of course I did.”

“Oh, um. Okay, well, tofu spaghetti sounds just dandy then.”

Summer seemed not to have heard her. “Ohmygoddess! Do you think Ken thinks I’m on the menu, too?”

“Let’s hope so,” Jenny said.

“No!” Summer gasped. “That’s not what—I mean, I wasn’t thinking that. Exactly. Or at least not on our first date. That’s isn’t in accordance with my plan. We weren’t going to have sex until the third date.” She chewed her bottom lip. “Jenny, have I messed up?”

“Are you kidding? Kenny-ben—ur—I mean, Kenny isn’t exactly Mr. Forceful. If he comes on to you, and you don’t want to do him, just say no.”

“I might want to do him,” Summer whispered.

“Okay, then just say no nicely.”

“But that wasn’t what I was planning.”

“Oh, please! Would you loosen up? If you want to have sex, then boink the fairy. If you don’t, then wait until the third or even the thirtieth date. Whatever.”

Summer fanned herself. “I’m never going to be able to do this.”

Jenny peered down her nose at her as if she were an unusual specimen under a magnifying glass. “Darling, didn’t you date at all in college?”

Summer’s cheeks flushed pink. “Yeah, of course I did.”

“And?”

“And nothing. If I liked the guy, I decided when we’d, well, do it, and then we did it.”

“Always according to your well-controlled plan,” Jenny supplied.

“Always.”

“Oh my Goddess! You’ve really never been swept off your feet by hot, sticky, steamy, raunchy sex.”

When a couple of the kids sitting closest to the front of the bus gasped and laughed, Jenny turned her narrowed eyes on them, instantly quieting their tittering.

Summer frowned and lowered her voice. “No, and I don’t think I’d like what you just described. It sounds so . . . so . . .”

“So out-of-control?”

“Yes. Exactly. And I’m not particularly good with out-of-control.”

“That is shameful,” Jenny said.

“Well, it’s the way I am. And there’s nothing wrong with the way I am,” Summer said, more than a little defensively.

“Oh, girlfriend, I don’t mean to make you feel bad about yourself. It’s just that you’re missing so much.”

Summer shrugged. “I don’t know. I had fun in college.”

“I don’t mean frat banging and one-night stands. I mean love.”

“Huh?”

“Girlfriend, don’t you know that love can’t be controlled and planned and prepackaged or hermetically sealed to be taken out when it fits into your schedule?”

Summer chewed her lip and thought about Ken. When she spoke, her voice was so soft that Jenny had to tilt her head toward her to hear her. “I was kinda thinking that Ken would be the guy I let myself fall in love with. You know, college is over. He’s here in my hometown. He’s literally the boy next door.”

“I don’t know. It just sounds so clinical. And love is definitely not clinical.” Jenny shook her head. “No. This will never do.” She tapped a long, manicured red fingernail against her skintight black slacks. “What if I did a spell on you—one that I meant to be the opposite of what I really cast?” Before Summer could protest, she hurried on. “I could cast a control spell on you. That should get zapped by your opposite magic and allow you to relax with him tonight. Then what happens between you can at least happen naturally. Right?”

“Jenny, you can’t ever, ever cast any kind of spell on me. It won’t work like you expect. I guess the opposite magic isn’t exactly the right way to describe what I have. It’s more like opposite squared. It doesn’t just make the spell reverse; it also makes it wacky.”

“Define wacky.”

“Okay, here’s the perfect example. When I was in high school, Glory Tawdry thought she would help me out. It was right before our senior homecoming dance, and I didn’t actually have a date with Ken, but I’d told him that I’d meet him there and would save all the best dances for him.”

Jenny shook her head. “This has been going on between you two for years, hasn’t it?”

“This?”

“Waffling. Unfulfilled romance. Missed opportunities. All because of your insane need for control.”

“Yes. And my need for control is not insane. Anyway, as per usual for my high school days, overnight I grew the biggest, nastiest zit right in the middle of my forehead. No amount of makeup would cover it. It was like I had a third eye.”

“Yuck.”

“Yeah. So I asked Glory to cast a zit spell on me.”

“Goddess! There’s such a thing as a zit spell?”

Summer nodded. “She got the spell from her sister, Evie. You know she’s a vengeance witch.”

“Oh, that’s right. Okay, go on.”

“Well, it should have been simple enough. I wanted the zit gone. I have opposite magic. Glory casts a spell to fill my face with zits, which should have totally cleared my face of zits.”

“It does sound simple enough.”

“It didn’t work out that way.”

“What happened?”

“It cleared my face. Of everything.”

“Everything?”

“Absolutely everything. I had no gigantic zit, but I also had no eyes, nose, or mouth.”

“Shit! What did you do?”

“Freaked out. I knew it was bad, because I couldn’t see anything, but when Glory started screaming, ‘Oh great Goddess help! Her face is gone,’ I lost it. I tried to scream with her, couldn’t, so I did what any normal girl would do when scared shitless and utterly blind.”

“You ran?”

“Yep. And promptly fell over my cool fuchsia beanbag chair, smacking my head on the corner of my very large and very metallic stereo cabinet, which negated the spell. Thank the Goddess.”

“So your face came back?”

Summer nodded. “Along with the Cyclops zit. See, that’s what happens when I think I’m smart, take a chance, and let my opposite magic do its thing. It never works exactly opposite. It’s more like sideways, around-the-corner, upside-down magic. And the spell only goes away if something major happens to me.”

“Like smacking your head.”

“Like smacking my head.”

“Okay, I get that that was bad, and your control issues are making more and more sense, but have you ever tried to control your magic instead of controlling yourself?”

“Huh?”

“Think about it. You have weird magic, fine. Besides that, you have strong weird magic. How you’ve dealt with it is to clamp down major control over everything else in your life, but maybe all you have to do is to take control of your magic—you know, show it who’s boss—and make it act right.”

Summer shook her head. “You’re nuts.”

“I’m just sayin’ discipline can be a good thing.”

“Sure, for someone who is comfortable with it,” Summer said.

“So get comfortable with it.”

“Easier said than done.”

“Maybe you just need the right incentive,” Jenny said. “Want me to give you a quick dominatrix lesson or twelve? It’d be fun.”

“Thanks, but no thanks. I think I’ll just bumble along as I am, which means no ‘helpful’ magic spells from you or anyone else. Okay?”

Jenny held up her hand like she was taking an oath. “Promise.” Then she added, “Guess it looks like you’re going to have to get a handle on your übercontrol issues and your bizarre magic.”

Summer sighed. “Sadly, it looks like it.”

“Well, never fear. You have a Certified Discipline Nymph on your side. Plus, Kenny-benny may surprise both of us and take forceful control of your date tonight and ravish you properly.” Jenny giggled and then, at Summer’s frown, cleared her throat and sobered up. The bus lurched to an awkward halt in front of Dark Shadows, Mysteria’s only art gallery. “But before anyone gets ravished, we will edify and educate the masses.” She winked at Summer, stood up, smoothed her hair, and faced the bus full of teenagers. “Touch anything and you will have to deal with me—before school in the boy’s restroom with a toothbrush, a can of Comet, and a collection of Shakespearian sonnets.”

“What’re the poems for?” whispered a voice from the silent, staring students.

“To clean your minds out while your hands—your gloveless hands—clean out the urinals,” Jenny said sweetly. She turned around and, to a chorus of gagging sounds from the students, grinned at Summer. “Let’s go, shall we?” Jenny sashayed from the bus, leading the way into the gallery with Summer and the well-disciplined students following close behind her.

Summer thought entering the gallery was like leaving one world for another. Inside the spacious building it was cool and dark. Even from the foyer she could see that instead of the usual plain white expanse of gallery walls, Dark Shadows had been painted in unyielding black, broken only by spotlights trained on each painting so that the entire exhibit gave the impression of floating dreams poised on the surface of a dark, sleeping sea.

“Wow, it’s been years since I’ve been here, and I’d forgotten how dramatic the black walls make this place,” Summer told Jenny in a hushed voice.

“Yeah, Barnabas told me that he hadn’t planned the effect. He’d painted everything black only because it’s easier on his vampire senses. The weirdness of it was just a happy by-product.”

“Well, vampires gross me out with their definitely non-vegan diet, but there’s something about this place that I like, even if it is a little creepy and—”

“Ladies, how may I help you?”

At the sound of the deep voice, Summer jumped guiltily and looked up . . . and up . . . and up into the face of a god of a man. He was standing just inside the shadowy entrance of the gallery, and even though it was dark and cool within, he was wearing mirrored sunglasses. As she blinked at her own reflection in those glasses, the man slowly reached up and removed them, revealing eyes so dark they looked black. His gaze locked with hers. Gorgeous, dark, dangerous were the descriptive words that flitted through her mind. “You’re not Barnabas,” she said abruptly.

One black brow lifted. “Astute observation, ma’am.”

“Oooh, you must be Colin, Barnabas’s older brother. Tell me I’m right, handsome,” Jenny demanded, flipping her hair coquettishly.

“You’re right.” His eyes sparkled playfully when he turned to Jenny. “And you must be a Certified Discipline Nymph.”

“Smart and handsome—my second-favorite combination,” Jenny said.

“Your first favorite?” Colin asked with a sexy smile.

“Smart, handsome, and bound by the wrists,” Jenny said.

Summer felt the urge to roll her eyes. Instead, she cleared her throat and said, “High school field trip—students—right behind us. Remember?”

Jenny shrugged, barely glancing at the wide-eyed students. “I’m just being friendly. But you’re right. We should get down to business.” The purr in her voice said that she’d rather go down on Colin than get down to any other business.

Summer frowned at Jenny and then stuck her hand out to Colin. “Hello, I’m Miss Smith. I sent the e-mail several days ago reserving the gallery for the field trip this morning. I’m assuming that’s still okay, even though your brother isn’t here?”

Colin took her hand in his, and Summer had to force herself not to gasp. His grip was strong, but she’d expected that. He was, after all, a very big man who had very big hands. It was the temperature of his skin that shocked her. Being touched by him was like being touched by an awakened statue. His hand was smooth, hard, and cool. Their eyes met again, and Summer was jolted by the dark intensity with which he was studying her—as if she was, at that moment, the most important thing in his universe. She’d only known of one species of Mysteria’s creatures who could spear someone with such intensity and whose skin felt like molded marble . . .

“You’re a vampire!” she blurted, pulling her hand free of his firm grip.

His smile was slow and knowing, not in the least bit ruffled by her statement. “I am. Both of my brothers and I are vampires. It runs in the family, you know,” he said smoothly.

“Does it?” Summer made herself not wipe her tingling palm down the side of her slacks.

“It does when you’re all bitten by the same master vampire,” he said.

Summer noticed that when he spoke to her, the playful sparkle that Jenny seemed to automatically evoke in his eyes changed . . . darkened, and even though he was no longer touching her, he was still studying her with that uncomfortable intensity. Feeling weirdly light-headed, Summer spoke more briskly than she’d intended. “That’s interesting. Maybe we can talk about it later. Right now I think we should start our field trip. If that’s okay with you—or your brother. Is Barnabas really not here?”

Colin cocked his head and looked down at her, a small curve of amusement shadowing his full lips. “Barnabas is in Paris drowning himself in wine and young Frenchmen so that he can forget being jilted by Hunter Knight.” The vampire shrugged one of his broad shoulders. “Foolish of him to become so obsessed with a straight guy. I tried to tell Barnabas that Hunter’s as gay as I am.”

“Which is to say not at all,” Jenny chimed in.

Colin’s grin was almost a leer. He answered Jenny, but his eyes stayed on Summer. “Yes, ma’am. You’re right about that.”

“So, does that mean the field trip is off?” Summer said, wondering why Jenny’s flirting with Colin should annoy her.

“Not at all. The reason I moved to town temporarily from my ranch is because Barnabas asked me to babysit this special exhibit. The field trip is definitely on. Besides, you just got here, Miss Smith. I’d hate for you to leave until we’ve gotten to know each other better.” Colin’s dark eyes trapped her gaze, and she felt her breathing deepen.

Is he making me dizzy? Is he working a vampire mojo on me? Summer mentally shook herself. She was being ridiculous. Magic didn’t work on her. Or if it did, it went way wrong. Her overactive imagination and hormones were the only things working on her. What was probably happening was she was displacing her excitement about the impending dream date with Ken. No way was she interested in this vampire! He definitely didn’t fit in with her well-thought-out plan for her future. “Excellent. Let’s get started. The students have really been looking forward to this field trip,” she lied.

“I hadn’t been thinking much about this field trip at all.” Colin lowered his voice so that it seemed to brush against Summer’s skin. “At least not until I saw who was leading it. Now I do believe it’s going to be a very interesting experience. It is good to meet you, Miss Smith.” He tipped an imaginary hat to her in a cowboylike move that appeared to be second nature to him. Then he raised his voice so that the waiting students could hear. “Come on in and check out the art. And, yes, there are some nudes.”

There were spontaneous high fives given in response as the students filed into the gallery.

“Ladies, if you’ll follow me, I’ll give you a more personal tour,” Colin said. Though he spoke to both women, his eyes rested on Summer’s face hungrily. He strode into the main gallery, giving Summer plenty of time to take in the faded jeans that snuggled his firm ass and the broad shoulders that strained the fabric of the black, long-sleeved shirt he wore. And were those cowboy boots? On a vampire? Sweet Goddess, gay Barnabas’s brother was a sexy cowboy vampire!

“Damn, Summer! Are you secreting some kind of come-fuck-me! hormone? Tall, dark, and vampire is clearly hitting on you.”

Summer pulled her eyes from Colin’s muscular body and managed to scoff. “Oh, please. I’m so not interested in him.”

“Really? That’s not what your nipples are saying. Better check your control, girlfriend.”

Horrified, Summer glanced down to see the outline of her very obviously aroused nipples pressing against her cream-colored blouse. Hastily she crossed her arms over her chest and muttered, “It’s just cold in here,” as she hurried into the gallery with Jenny’s knowing laughter following her.

Four

“All right! Move away from the nude, and no one gets hurt!” Jenny snapped, and the group of gawking teenage boys shuffled reluctantly away from the full frontal nudity of George Wilson’s The Spring Witch.

Colin waited until the three of them were alone before saying, “Wilson was a big fan of Dante and William Blake, so he liked the poetic and romantic subject here.”

Summer blinked in surprise up at Colin. The tall vampire actually seemed to know something about art.

“Huh!” Jenny snorted a little testily. “I don’t see anything terribly romantic about witches. Sexy—maybe. Wanton—for sure. Romantic? Nah.”

“The subject isn’t a witch as we know them in Mysteria,” Colin explained, his eyes on the nude painting. “It’s actually Persephone as she emerges from the underworld. See the pomegranate in her hand?”

“Oh, well, that makes more sense. Goddesses are definitely romantic,” Jenny admitted.

“What do you think of her, Miss Smith?”

Colin’s question, as well as the intense gaze he shifted from the painting to her, caught Summer unaware, and she automatically said what was foremost in her mind. “I think I like her body better than most of the other women in the exhibit. They look too manly.”

Colin’s brows lifted. “I agree with you, Miss Smith. The Pre-Raphaelites tended to give their female models masculine characteristics. I like my woman to look like a woman, and not like a man in drag.”

“As if that matters to the germs and hormones,” Jenny said, eyes lighting on a group of laughing, jostling teenage boys clustered around the huge, colorful, and seminude painting of Toilette of a Roman Lady. “Excuse me for a sec. I’m going to kick some boy butt.”

As she hurried toward the students, Summer called, “Herd them back into the main gallery in front of the Romeo and Juliet painting. I’m going to give them their topic for the essay assignment.”

Jenny’s teeth flashed white as she grinned over her shoulder. “Oh, good. They’ll hate that.”

And, just like that, Summer and Colin were left completely alone for the first time.

She didn’t have to look up at him to know his eyes were on her. Again. She could feel his gaze—against her skin, inside her blood. It heated her body, arousing her nipples and making her inner thighs tingle, and her woman’s core became hot and wet and needy . . . needy for his touch, which wouldn’t be sweet and gentle and loving, as she’d fantasized about Ken’s touch being. Colin’s touch would be like his body: hard and strong and sexy. No, Colin was nothing like Ken.

“What are you thinking about?”

His deep voice came from very close to her. When had he stepped into her personal space? She looked up at him. Those eyes! They’re so intense—so sexy. He was close enough that his scent came to her, and it, too, was a surprise. Instead of smelling like the grave or worse, like a carnivorous, bloodsucking monster, Colin smelled as sexy as he looked. His scent was man mixed with something spicy, like cinnamon or even more exotic, like cloves and darkness and cool nighttime breezes sifting over love-dampened skin.

She stared at him and breathed the unique scent that was Colin distilled by his own skin. Nothing like Ken, who smells like lemons and laughter, and who I’m supposed to be having a dream date with tonight! “My date tonight,” Summer finally managed to answer.

Colin’s dark eyes narrowed dangerously. “You shouldn’t lie to me. You know vampires can smell lies.”

Summer took a step back and put up her chin. She was damn sure not going to let this overbearing, way-too-masculine creature intimidate her, no matter how yummy he smelled. She was a college graduate and a professional teacher!

“Then you should sniff again. I was definitely thinking about Ken,” Summer said with finality.

“Ken?” his dark-chocolate voice was heavy with amusement. “As in Barbie’s boyfriend?”

“No. Ken, as in my boyfriend.”

With a movement too fast to follow with her eyes, Colin grabbed both of her arms and lifted her so that he only had to bend a little to fit his face into the soft slope of her neck. He inhaled deeply and then let his breath out slowly, caressingly, so that it brushed against her sensitive skin and caused her to shiver.

“You may have been thinking, briefly, of him. But you do not have a boyfriend.”

“What makes you say that?” she asked breathlessly.

“If you belonged to a man, I could scent him on you, and you smell only of yourself: sunlight and honey and woman.”

He let her go as abruptly as he had grabbed her, and Summer stumbled back a couple of steps.

Her head was spinning, and her breath was coming short and hard. It was like he’d filled her mind with the white noise of the inside of seashells. All she could think to say was, “I smell like sunlight and honey?”

“Yes.” Colin ran one cool finger down her heated cheek and the side of her neck. “Warm honey on a golden summer’s day. You draw me to you like a field of lavender draws bees. Will you let me taste you?”

“Hey, Miss Smith! Miss Sullivan says we’re all waiting for you, and we need you now. Uh, you better come, ’cause she seems kinda pissed.”

Colin’s hand fell away from her face, and Summer turned to see the little blond cheerleader standing in the doorway to the main gallery.

“Y-yes. Okay. I’m coming. Now.” Without looking back at Colin, Summer hurried from the room.

She could feel him following her. She thought it was like having a dangerous but darkly beautiful panther stalking her. He wanted to taste her! Summer shivered and crossed her arms concealingly over her breasts. Again.

“There you are, Miss Smith. The students are ready for their essay assignment.” Jenny told her, then her eyes snapped over the group of milling students. “I said get your notebooks out. Now.”

Book bags exploded as kids hurried to do her bidding. Summer could only watch in awe. How the hell did Jenny do that? She hadn’t even raised her voice. Soon the entire room (which included one dark and brooding vampire) was looking expectantly up at her.

Summer cleared her throat. “The topic of your essay is this: a Pre-Raphaelite art critic wrote that this painting of Romeo and Juliet by Ford Madox Brown was ‘splendid in expression and fullness of tone, and the whole picture is gorgeous in color.’ I want you to be a modern art critic and tell me in your essay what you learned about Romeo and Juliet from Mr. Brown’s painting.” Summer paused, narrowed her eyes, and did what she hoped was a believable impression of Jenny’s firmness, then added, “No, that does not mean that I want you to tell me Romeo is wearing a gay-looking red outfit, and Juliet’s boobs are showing. What I want you to tell me is what this painting says about them as a couple. Questions?” She didn’t give them time to ask any but hurried on. “Good. I’ll let you have about fifteen more minutes here in front of the painting to take notes and start getting your ideas on paper.”

A hand went up. It was one of Jenny’s students, so she said, “What is it, Mr. Purdom?”

“Does your class have to write the essay, too?”

“Yes. I suggest you get busy,” Jenny said smoothly.

There were a few muffled groans, but most of the kids settled down to studying the painting and taking notes.

“I’m going to go tell Moxie to bring the bus around. Do you think you can handle it by yourself?” Jenny’s tone made the pronoun semi-suggestive. The sultry glance she sent Colin made it fully suggestive.

“Yes, definitely. No worries here,” Summer said.

Jenny met her eyes before she left the room and blinked a couple times in surprise before her face practically exploded in a smile. “You like him!”

Summer felt her cheeks warm. “I don’t like him. I don’t even know him,” she whispered.

“Okay, maybe I should have said you’re hot for him. Well, go ahead, girlfriend. He’s clearly more interested in you than me.” She winked at Summer and disappeared out the front door.

Summer sighed and turned back to the room of sullenly writing students. Thankfully, Colin was on the far side of the room standing close to the painting. She could see that he was busy answering questions about it for some of the students. Good. That should keep him occupied. It also gave her an opportunity to study him. Goddess, he was handsome, but not in a typical fashion. What was he like? He reminded her of someone, and she couldn’t quite—

Then, with a little jolt she did remember who he brought to mind. Her favorite fictional hero, Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre. Yes, that dark, powerfully masculine look of Colin’s would definitely fit in as master of Thornfield. You know you think Rochester is the sexiest of all fictional heroes, as well as your favorite, her mind whispered. No, she told herself sternly, Ken is really my type—all blond and sweet and gentle. He’s what I planned for my future. The Rochester type needs to stay where he belongs—in the pages of fiction.

But she was still staring when Colin looked up from the student he’d been helping and met her eyes.

Come to me . . . The words filled her—mind, body, and soul. Before she realized what she was doing, she was making her way around the group of students and heading for the vampire.

Summer was only a few feet from him when she stopped and shook her head, breaking the stare that had locked their eyes together and getting control of herself. Oh, hell no! What was she doing? Imagining his voice in her head and then obeying that imagining? Had she lost it? Had the stress of trying to teach teenagers cracked her already?

And then, not far behind her, she felt a too-familiar prickle up her spine. She knew even before she heard the whispered singsong words of the quickly uttered spell that one of the asshole teenage sorcerers-to-be had thought he’d be clever and whip up a little magic to see if he and his girlfriend could skip out of the assignment. Summer whirled around in time to hear the last stanza of the incantation. She opened her mouth to yell, No! Stop! Backing as quickly as she could away from the kids—and right into an impossibly hard, cold body she knew had to be Colin. She wanted to warn him. She wanted to do something—anything. But instead, the magic was already grabbing her, robbing her of speech.

Me and my bitch get in the picture, yo!

Somewhere our teacher can’t go!

Where school and stupid essays ain’t no mo’!

And it’s cool to get with your ho!

Completely helpless, she did the only thing she could do. Summer closed her eyes, wrapped her arms around the pillar of strength that was Colin, and held her breath as she felt their bodies being wrenched, lifted, and tossed.

When everything was still again and the nauseating sensation of wobbly, opposite magic lifted, Summer slowly opened her eyes.

And looked straight into Colin’s dark gaze.

“What the—” he began, and then his eyes widened in sudden fear. “The sunlight! I have to get out of . . .” The vampire’s words trailed off as he realized he wasn’t bursting into flame. Completely confused, Colin gazed down at Summer. “What’s happened to us? It’s day. I’m outside in the sunlight, and my skin is not burning.”

“It’s, well, because of my magic and that kid casting a spell. If I’m close enough to magic, it always messes up, and—” she began, and then her words broke off as what her eyes were seeing caught up with her mind. They were, indeed, outside. Actually, it wasn’t full daylight, just a lovely morning dawning in the east. They were on a balcony, surrounded by a perfumed profusion of flowering rose vines. Colin was there with her, but he wasn’t dressed in his jeans, black shirt, and cowboy boots. Here he was wearing an amazing crimson-colored outfit, rich as a king, or maybe even a god. She glanced down at her own clothes and gasped. She had changed, too, and was wearing only a soft, transparent chemise, which was cut low to expose her breasts to the nipples. She could feel Colin’s eyes on those nipples as she looked up at him. “Uh-oh,” she said. “I think we’re inside the Romeo and Juliet painting,”

Five

“By the Goddess, I think you’re right! How could this have happened?” Colin said, gazing around them while he shook his head in disbelief.

“It’s me,” Summer said miserably. “It’s because of me that we’re here.”

His dark eyes rested on her. “How could this possibly be because of you?”

“It’s my magic. Or maybe my nonmagic would be a better way to explain it.” Summer sighed. “One of the students cast a spell in the gallery—something about getting inside the Romeo and Juliet painting so that he and his ho,” she wrinkled her nose in distaste at the word, “could get out of the essay assignment.”

“But what does that have to do with you? Other than it being your assignment?”

“I was close enough to the stupid teenager when he cast the spell to have my own magic work on it. And my own magic is opposite magic—kind of. Actually, it’s more like sideways, opposite, totally screwed-up magic. The bottom line is that my magic messes up all other magic around me. So here”—she made a sweeping gesture, taking in the balcony and the pearly morning—“we are.”

“In the Romeo and Juliet painting.”

She nodded. “In the Romeo and Juliet painting.” Summer smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.”

Colin shook his head in amazement and lifted his hand so that the red velvet sleeve slid back to reveal his muscular arm all the way to mid-bicep. The morning light gilded his skin so that for that moment he looked tan and unexpectedly young.

“Incredible!” he said. Then he bared his other arm to the morning light, threw back his head, and laughed. “Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve felt the sun on my skin?”

Summer couldn’t answer him. She could only watch as he transformed from intense and brooding to vibrant and amazing. He laughed again and, with one swift motion, ripped open the buttons on his linen undershirt. Colin faced the rising sun, arms spread, face open. He’d been handsome before—all Rochester-like and mysterious. But here he’d transformed into a man whose beauty went beyond his height and hair and bone structure. This new Colin was so incredibly full of life that he seemed to vibrate with it.

“You did this?”

He turned the force of his full smile on her, and Summer thought that the heat he radiated would melt her. She nodded a little weakly and managed a “Yes.”

With another laugh, he lifted her in his arms and spun her around the balcony. “I knew you were special from the moment I touched you.”

“It’s just my weird magic. I’ve been wishing I could figure out how to get rid of it or control it for years,” Summer said a little breathlessly as he finally released her.

“Get rid of it? No way! And, take it from me, control is overrated. No! You’re perfect just as you are—and so is your magic.” He took her hand in his and, with dark eyes sparkling mischievously, he bent gallantly over it. “Thank you, my lady, for granting me a reprieve from unrelenting night and bringing me sunshine again.”

Colin kissed her hand. As his lips met her skin, Summer felt a jolt of sensation that rushed through her body. His lips weren’t the cool marble of a vampire! They were warm and soft and very, very much alive. She gasped, “You’ve really been changed. You’re not a vampire here.”

He didn’t release her hand. Instead, he lifted it and slid it inside the open front of his shirt so that it rested over his heart. Summer could feel the beating of that heart under the warm, pliant skin of his chest.

“I don’t know how long this magic will last, but I’m going to enjoy every moment of it.”

“You’re . . . you’re so different here,” Summer said, having difficulty concentrating on words with her hand pressed against his bare chest.

“Different?” Colin smiled and shrugged. “I suppose right now I am more like I used to be.” He looked from her to the morning sky. “I think I’ve lived so long in darkness that I’d forgotten what it is to feel really alive.” His eyes met hers again. They were full of the emotion reflected in the deepening of his voice. “You brought me the sun.”

“On accident,” Summer whispered. “I didn’t really mean to.”

“I smelled it on you when we met. Remember? I said you reminded me of sunlight and honey.”

“I remember,” Summer said softly, completely lost in his gaze.

“You drew me to you even then.” He touched her cheek caressingly. “What is your first name?”

“Summer.”

His smile was brilliant. “Summer! Perfect. Let me taste you, Summer. Let me breathe in your sunlight . . .”

Summer knew she shouldn’t. She should step away from him and take control of this ridiculous situation and then fall on her head or whatever it took to break the spell. Instead, she felt her face tilt up to him as he bent to her lips. But he didn’t kiss her—not at first. Instead, his mouth stopped just short of hers. She could feel his warm breath as he seemed to inhale her. Colin nuzzled her cheek and whispered into her parted lips, “You are sunlight and honey, my sunlight and honey.”

Summer shivered. One of his hands still pressed hers against his chest. The other slid down her back, holding her close to him. She molded to him; only the transparent material of the thin chemise separated them, and she could clearly feel every part of his hard body.

“Do you want me to kiss you, Summer? Do you want me to taste you?” He breathed the words against her lips as he inhaled her scent.

“Yes,” she whispered back. “Yes.”

“Summer,” he moaned, and then he claimed her mouth. His kiss wasn’t gentle. It was rough and demanding. He possessed her lips, plundered her mouth, tantalized her tongue. His kiss engulfed her. It was the kind of kiss she’d always imagined she wouldn’t like. It would be too filled with unbridled lust, too overwhelming and uncontrolled. So it was with a sense of utter surprise that Summer felt herself responding, body and soul, to Colin. She wrapped her arms around him and met his passion with her own. White-hot lust speared through her as the kiss deepened even more, as she gave herself completely over to him and—

—And Summer fell so hard on her butt that the wind was knocked out of her and she saw little speckles of light dance in front of her eyes.

“Thank the Goddess! You’re back!” Jenny’s hands were patting her as if she was checking for broken bones. “Are you okay? You had me so worried!”

Summer sucked air, blinked rapidly, and managed to nod.

“Is she hurt?” a deep voice asked.

“Colin? Oh, good. You’re back, too,” Jenny said briskly. “I think she’s just had the wind knocked out of her. Here, help me get her to her feet.”

Strong hands lifted her, and Summer realized that it felt familiar and somehow right that he was touching her again, even though his skin had lost the flush of sun-kissed warmth and was cool and marblelike again.

“Are you really all right?” Colin’s voice came from close above her.

Summer looked up, finally blinking her vision clear. He was still holding one of her elbows, and he was watching her with the same dark intensity with which he’d studied her before they’d been magicked into the painting.

“I’m fine,” Summer said. “At least I think I’m fine. I feel kinda—”

“Let’s get you on the bus and back to school where the nurse can check you out,” Jenny interrupted. “Colin, keep hold of her.” And she marched off, leaving Colin to support Summer as they headed to the door.

Summer glanced up at the tall, silent vampire. He was Rochester again, with his broody expression and his dark intensity. Had it just been moments ago that he’d been laughing openly and so full of life and joy and passion? Especially passion.

“I’m sorry,” she blurted, although she wasn’t sure what it was she was apologizing for.

His gaze met hers as they came to the front door. “Don’t apologize. I don’t want to know you’re sorry about what happened between us.”

Summer frowned. Well, she was feeling dazed and confused, but she hadn’t meant that. “No, I didn’t mean—”

Jenny threw open the door, and a bright shaft of sunlight filled the entryway of the otherwise dark gallery. Colin dropped her arm and moved hastily back into the shadows, pulling his mirrored sunglasses from the pocket of his shirt and placing them on his nose so that he completed the metamorphosis from the charismatic man who had been seducing her on the balcony to the tall, silent vampire.

“Colin, I—”

“Come on. You still look terrible.” Jenny’s hand replaced Colin’s on her arm, and the Discipline Nymph pulled her firmly from the gallery.

Over her shoulder, Summer could see Colin turning away as the door closed on the bright afternoon.

The kids were suspiciously quiet on the ride back to school. Jenny kept shooting them slit-eyed looks.

“Detention does not begin to describe what Mr. Purdom is going to be serving for a solid week,” she muttered. Then her gaze shifted to Summer. “Do you think you’re okay? You’re still looking pale.”

“I feel fine. I guess.” She lowered her voice and tilted her head to Jenny’s. “What did it look like to you?”

“Well, I was just coming back into the gallery when the girls were screaming bloody murder, saying you and Colin had disappeared. I was trying to figure out what had happened—by the by, Purdom and his buddy, McArter, were looking guilty as hell, so I knew the little turds had something to do with it—when that damn nosy girl . . . oh, what’s her name? You know, blond, chubby, thinks she’s way cuter than she is, and her mom’s a witch with a B?”

“Whitney Hoge.”

“Yeah, that’s her.”

“So Miss Hoge was pointing at the R and J painting with her mouth wide open, unattractively, mind you. I took one look at the picture, saw you two in place of the originals, and hustled the kids out of the room. I briefly chewed out Purdom’s ass—will do a more thorough job of that later—and ran back into the gallery at about the time you landed on your butt in the middle of the floor.”

“So no one watched us inside the painting?”

“Nope. No one was inside the gallery.” Her brows went up. “Was there something to watch?”

“Sorta.”

“Oooh! Nastiness?”

“Kinda.”

“Sorta and kinda are not answers. They are especially not answers with details.”

“I know,” Summer said, and closed her mouth.

A sly expression made Jenny’s face look decidedly nymph-like. “If I remember correctly, and I have an excellent memory—it’s part of the whole discipline thing—anyway, if I remember correctly, you said that the way your opposite magic gets broken is by you being shocked. Right?”

“Right,” Summer said reluctantly.

“Okay, then what shocked you so much the spell was broken?” Summer chewed her lip.

“Look, you can tell me. I’m a professional.”

“A professional what?”

“Certified Discipline Nymph, of course. We wear many hats: classroom disciplinarian, workout disciplinarian—yes, I’m hell in the gym—and, most especially, sexual disciplinarian. So, give. Details, please.”

“It was his kiss,” Summer said.

Jenny blinked in surprise. “Colin’s kiss shocked you so much that it broke the spell? Jeesh, was it that bad?”

“No,” Summer said softly. “It was that good.”

Six

“No, Summer, I don’t have your purse. Sorry. I’ll bet you dropped it when that kid zapped you into the painting,” Jenny said.

“Ah, shoot. I must have left it at the gallery.”

“Could that have been a Freudian slip? Perhaps something that would give you a reason to see Colin again? You know you could just cancel the date with Kenny-benny, and go back there tonight,” Jenny said.

“First, stop calling him that. Second, no, I’m not canceling my date. I’ll go get my purse tomorrow or whatever. As I already explained, this thing with Colin was just a fluke. He’s not my type, and he doesn’t fit into my plan.” A vision of Colin on the balcony, arms outstretched, head flung back, laughing his full, infectious laugh flashed through Summer’s mind, but she quickly squelched the memory. That wasn’t really Colin. The real Colin was much more subdued and uncomfortably intense, not lighthearted, fun, and happy. “The whole Rochester thing doesn’t work for me in the real world,” Summer blurted.

“Huh? Who’s Rochester?”

Summer sighed. “You know, Jane Eyre’s Rochester.”

“Oooh! He’s yummy. What about him?”

“That’s who Colin reminds me of, and he is definitely not my type.”

“You, my friend, might be insane.”

“There’s nothing insane about wanting a guy who’s lighthearted and happy and fun. And blond,” she added.

“You forgot ‘and easy to control,’” Jenny added, then she hurried on, talking over Summer’s sputtering protestations. “Girlfriend, just because a man is intense doesn’t mean he’s not happy and even fun sometimes, too. Plus, you might want to consider that lighthearted could mean light-headed, as in the guy might not have enough sense to be serious,” Jenny said. “And what the hell’s wrong with tall, dark, and handsome?”

“Not believing you about the whole broody-could-equal-happy thing,” Summer said stubbornly, completely ignoring the obvious reference to Ken’s brains or lack thereof. “And I happen to prefer blonds, lighthearted blonds in particular.”

“Did you prefer them when Colin had you in a lip-lock?”

“Yes. I still preferred them. I was just surprised, that’s all.”

“Which brings us back to my main point. You were surprised because it was so damn good. If it’s so damn good, you might want to consider revisiting the scene of the crime.”

“You want me to get back in the painting?”

“No, I want you to get back on the vampire.”

“Jenny, I am going to get ready for my date. With Ken. The guy I’m really attracted to. So I’m going now. Bye.”

“All right, all right! I hope you have a good time, and I want all the details.”

“Good-bye, Jenny.”

“Jeesh you’re grumpy when you’re sexually confused. Bye.”

“I’m not sexually confused,” Summer told the dead phone. She glanced at the clock. “Shoot! I am late, though.” Putting Colin out of her mind, Summer rushed into the kitchen and threw the tofu spaghetti sauce together to simmer.

She also put Colin out of her mind while she showered. The warm water running down her naked body did not remind her of the warmth of his hands through the ultrathin material of the chemise.

“His hands aren’t even warm. Not really,” she muttered as she put on just a hint of makeup.

And she definitely didn’t think about him while she picked out the ever-so-cute peach lace bra and panties set and then slid on the breezy, buttercup-colored skirt and the creamy, V-neck pullover that made her look and feel like a fresh spring wildflower, basking in the sunlight, just waiting to be plucked by a tall, dark—

“No!” she told herself, and marched into the kitchen. Summer was stirring the pot of sauce when the jaunty shave and a haircut, two bits knock sounded against her front door. She patted her hair and hurried through the living room.

“Hey, Sum! I couldn’t figure out what kind of wine to get, so I got, like, three colors. I figured the more the merrier.” Ken grinned boyishly and presented the bag that, sure enough, held a bottle of cheap Cabernet, cheap Chardonnay, and cheap white Zinfandel.

Summer returned his smile and motioned for him to come in, squelching her disappointment that there wasn’t a bottle of nice Chianti in the mix. It wasn’t like Ken could have known they were having spaghetti and that she preferred Italian wine with it. She’d just let him know next time. “How about we open the red? It’ll go great with the spaghetti,” she said.

“You made spaghetti?” He took off his jacket and dropped it over the back of the couch before she could ask him for it.

“Yeah, I hope you like it.”

“Spaghetti’s awesome! Hope it’s almost ready. I’m starving.”

She opened her mouth to tell him all she’d have to do is to boil the pasta, but he didn’t give her a chance to speak.

“Hey, want me to come to the kitchen with you and open the wine? A drink would be awesome.”

“Sure, come on back,” she said and then led him to the back of the cabin and her sister’s spacious kitchen.

“Wow, this is a great kitchen,” Ken said appreciatively.

“Yeah, Candice loves her gourmet cooking.” She sent Ken a shy look as she handed him the corkscrew. “Hope you’re not disappointed that she got most of the cooking genes in our family.”

“Nah, as long as it’s hot and full of meat, I’m cool with it.”

“Uh, Ken, didn’t you remember that I’m a vegetarian?”

He looked up from opening the wine. “Huh? A what?” Then he glanced at the simmering pot on the stove. “Oh, you’re worried I won’t like your spaghetti.” Grinning, he grabbed the big stirring spoon and ladled himself a generous taste test. “Yum! You don’t have anything to be nervous about. This sauce is awesome!” he said through a full mouth.

“Oh, uh, good.” Summer stirred the bubbling pasta. What he doesn’t know won’t kill him, she decided. Or at least she didn’t think fairies were allergic to tofu.

While Summer put the finishing touches on their meal, Ken sat on her sister’s pristine butcher block island, drank wine, and talked. And talked. And talked.

“Hey, Sum, so you actually made it through college.”

“Yeah. It’s funny—I didn’t think I’d like the academic part of it, but once I got into my lit major I—”

“Man, I don’t know how you stayed away from Mysteria for four whole years. No way would I want to do that. The mundane world is no place for fairies.”

“Well, I did miss Mysteria, and, well, lots of the people here.” She smiled and felt her cheeks get warm when she added, “Especially certain fairies. That’s one of the reasons I came back.”

“Of course you missed fairies. The world just isn’t the same without them!” He jumped off the counter and bowed to her with a big flourish before pouring himself more wine.

He looked so boyish and carefree that she had to smile at him. “Then I should feed you so we can be sure you don’t expire. I know how much fairies love food.”

“That we do!” He hurried into the dining room where she had two places already set with intimate candles and her sister’s beautiful china, leaving her to carry in the spaghetti and the sauce. He had thought to bring the bottle of wine with him, though.

So they ate, and Ken talked. And talked. And talked.

At first Summer just listened to him, commenting now and then (although his exuberant “conversation” really didn’t require much participation on her part), and thinking about how cute he looked in the candlelight. His blond hair was thick and a little shaggy, but it looked good on him, and it glistened with a sparkle of fairy magic when the candlelight caught it just right. His blue eyes were big and expressive, his face completely animated. He really was a cute guy. And the direct opposite of dark and broody and intense and sexy . . .

No! Ken was sexy. She’d always thought he was sexy. After all, she’d had a major crush on him since they were teenagers. And she also—

“Sum, did you hear me? I said that you’ve really grown all up. It’s kind of a surprise. Not that you don’t look awesome,” he hurried to add. “But it’s a grown-up awesome. You’ve changed.”

“Oh, uh, thanks. I think.” Summer took a sip of wine. “You haven’t changed at all,” she said.

“Thanks, Sum! You know how fairies are—young for years. Good thing, too, ’cause the party planning and supply business isn’t for the old and serious.”

“So you’re going into your family’s business?”

“Of course! I love parties, and I especially love fireworks.” He sat up straighter, clearly proud of himself. “You’ve been gone, so you probably don’t know this, but I’ve been put in charge of the pyrotechnics for Fairies 4 Fantastic Festivals, Inc.”

“That’s great, Ken. I’m really proud of you. Your dad must be—”

“Yeah, it’s awesome! Just wait till you see what we’re planning for Beltane this year. It’s gonna be super cool with . . .”

Summer smiled and nodded while Ken talked. And talked. And talked. She also studied him. She hadn’t been exaggerating. He really hadn’t changed in the four years she’d been gone. He was wearing a T-shirt that said this way to the gun show with arrows pointing to his biceps. Summer had to stifle a giggle. His biceps were like the rest of his body, young and cute and lean. They were definitely not “guns,” loaded or otherwise. And she definitely wasn’t comparing them to Colin’s muscular arms.

She mentally shook herself while Ken paused in his monologue to jog into the kitchen to snag the bottle of Chardonnay. He came back in the room, still talking about the plans for the “awesome” fireworks show that would be the climactic event of Mysteria’s Beltane festival. She saw that his faded, baggy jeans were fashionably shredded over both knees, and he was wearing bright blue Skechers.

Nope, he definitely hadn’t changed since high school.

It was about then that Summer began to wonder if dinner would ever end.

“Dang, Sum, sorry about your headache,” Ken said as she handed him his jacket and walked him to the door.

“I guess I’m just tired from teaching all day.”

He stopped at the door she’d opened and turned to face her. “It was great to see you again. I’m really glad you’re back, Sum.” Ken rested an arm over her shoulder nonchalantly as he slouched in the doorway. His blue eyes sparkled with another smile. “Dinner was totally—”

“Awesome?” She provided the word when he hesitated.

“Yeah, it really was. And you’re awesome, too.” Slowly, Ken bent to her. His kiss was sweet and questioning and very, very gentle. In other words, it was everything Summer believed she’d wanted in a kiss from the man she’d been fantasizing about for years.

She didn’t feel a thing in response.

Give him a chance, she chided herself. This is what you decided you want. He fits in the plan. Summer leaned into Ken and put her arms around his neck, returning his questioning kiss with an exclamation mark.

She felt the surprise in his body, and then he parted his lips and followed her lead, kissing her deeper, longer. Summer thought he tasted, weirdly, like wine and lemonade. She wondered vaguely why he always reminded her of lemons—not the tart kind, but the supersweet Country Time Lemonade lemons, with lots of sugar. Lots.

Ken was still kissing her, softly and sweetly, while Summer’s mind wandered. She was thinking about what she was supposed to teach her sophomores the next day as she absently looked over his shoulder at the dark edge of the forest. She thought she saw something move there, just inside the boundaries of her yard, and wondered what it was. The moon was high and insanely bright and almost about full. Could it be one of the town’s many werewolves?

And then it hit her; she was thinking about school, and werewolves, and the moon while Ken was making out with her. That just couldn’t be right. When Colin had kissed her, she hadn’t been able to think of anything except him. His touch. His mouth. His taste. His kiss. Ken’s kisses made her want to compile a shopping list or maybe fold some laundry.

No. This definitely was not going to work. Time to change the plan.

Instantly she pulled away from him. He gave her a sweet, boyish smile. “Sorry, Sum. Did I get carried away?”

“No, Ken, honey.” Summer patted his cheek gently. “I got carried away. I think it’s best if you and I stay good friends and don’t mess that up with trying to be more than that. Do you know what I mean?”

Ken’s smile didn’t falter. “Sure, whatever. That’s fine with me. Hey, do you think I could have some of that awesome spaghetti sauce to take with me so I could snack on it later?”

“Sure Kenny-benny,” Summer said and, laughing, made him up a quick to-go package, patted him on his head, and said good night. Before she closed the door, she heard the distinctive giggles of several female fairies who had obviously been waiting to escort their Kenny-benny home. Or wherever.

She was still shaking her head at herself while she cleaned up the dinner dishes. “Jenny was right. I might be insane.” Ken was so not the man for her. Actually, if she was being totally honest with herself, Kenny-benny was so not a man yet, and clearly, he might never be. Rinsing the dishes, she laughed out loud. She should be upset at having her fantasy of the Perfect Man blown to pieces and her future plan messed up, or at the very least she should have been disappointed, but she wasn’t. She definitely wasn’t.

Her hands slid through the warm, soapy water making her think of slick, naked skin sliding against slick, naked skin . . . of heat . . . and passion . . . and a kiss that could seem to stop the world . . .

No! She couldn’t want the vampire.

And then, while washing Kenny-benny’s very empty plate, she looked up at her reflection in the dark window above the sink. Her face was flushed, and her eyes were big and dark with desire.

“Am I absolutely positive that I can’t want the vampire?” she asked herself.

Yes, you’re absolutely positive, her reflection seemed to reply.

“But his kiss was—”

Reason one you can’t want him, her refection interrupted, is that he is a carnivore, and that makes you want to throw up a little in the back of your throat.

“I don’t have to eat what he eats. Oh, Goddess, I don’t, do I?” Did one share one’s blood with a vampire, or did one’s vampire eat solo?

Reason two, her reflection continued, his flesh is cold, dead, hard . . .

“Well, what’s wrong with hard?” she argued with herself. “Plus, he touched me before we were in the painting, and it really wasn’t that bad.”

Reason three, he’s not your type!

“Okay, look,” she told herself sternly. “Up until about ten minutes ago, I thought Kenny was my type. Maybe I need to change my type!”

Reason four—her conscience ignored her—he makes you feel out of control, and you don’t like feeling out of control.

“Well, that’s because he was unexpected. He’s expected now, so I won’t have a control problem. I left my purse at his gallery.” Silently she thanked the Goddess for that slip, Freudian or not. “I have to see him one more time.”

“Yeah, so, tomorrow I’ll just swing by the gallery after school and pick up my purse,” she talked around her toothbrush to her reflection in the bathroom mirror. “No big deal. No enormous ulterior motive,” she lied. “Just getting my purse, saying a quick hello, then coming home. There won’t be any more kissing. None at all. It wouldn’t even be appropriate. Really.”

Summer crawled into bed, thinking about the difference between Ken’s kisses and Colin’s kisses. What a difference . . .

Why had she ever thought passion and heat were bad things? Okay, she knew the answer to that, even if she didn’t like to admit it. She was scared of too much passion, that it would cause her to lose control, and if she lost control, she’d get burned. Summer had learned that lesson well with her stupid out-of-control magic. Maybe it was smart of her to be scared. Was playing with a vampire like playing with fire? Or ice?

Fire, she decided as her body heated the cool sheets. Colin’s passion had been exactly like fire. Her hands touched her lips, remembering Colin’s caress, and then slid slowly down her body, pausing to cup her breasts. Her nipples ached. Summer squeezed them, gently at first, and then she craved more, and her touch got rougher as she teased her ultrasensitive nipples. She moaned. Almost as if she couldn’t stop the impulse, one of her hands moved down between her legs. Summer gasped at the slick heat she found there. She was liquid with desire. She closed her eyes and stroked herself. As her orgasm built, Summer imagined hands on her body and lips against her skin, and when her release came, it was Colin’s intensity that she was thinking of and his touch she yearned for.

Seven

Colin had never felt like such an utter fool. What in all the levels of the underworld was he doing walking through the moonlit forest carrying a purse? I know exactly what I’m doing. I’m being a gentleman, he thought. I may be dead, but chivalry isn’t. Summer left her purse at the gallery, and I’m returning it. A woman’s purse was a sacred thing. Goddess knows what all was kept in one; Colin would almost rather take a long walk outside at noon than actually look in the damned thing. Thankfully, it was zipped closed, but he still held it gingerly, like it might explode if he handed it too roughly. There wasn’t much he could do except return it. The sooner the better. Sure, he could hang on to it and wait for Summer to realize where she left it and then come claim it. But she’d been through a lot. It might take her a day or two, hell, even three, to get around to it. Until then, what about all that important stuff inside the purse? The only thing he could do with a clear conscience, was to return it to her right away. Or at least that’s how he rationalized his overwhelming need to see her again—immediately.

The package carefully wrapped in the gallery’s chic, black, hand-pressed paper was a damn sight tougher to rationalize away.

Or maybe not. Colin shrugged his broad shoulders. Why hide behind rationalizations? He was courting a woman. That was nothing to feel foolish about, even if it meant carrying her purse through the woods while pink love petals fell from the sky and fairies giggled annoyingly as they played naked hide-and-seek among the trees. Goddess, fairies were irritating!

Colin glared at a silver-winged, pink-haired fairy who had frolicked close to him and given the vampire a coquettish smile that was a clear come-hither invitation.

“Not interested,” he said firmly, giving the naked creature a dark look.

Not at all offended, she shrugged her smooth shoulders and scampered off.

Colin scowled after her. Fairies had never interested him. Actually, now that he was thinking about it, it had been a long time since any woman had caught his interest. Were he completely honest with himself, he would admit that no woman had affected him as this one had. And it wasn’t simply because she was beautiful and interesting. Summer had brought him sunlight!

Summer . . . Colin felt the urge to laugh aloud. The name fit her perfectly. Sure, he knew she’d said the whole sunlight thing had been because of how her magic worked on spells, but she’d been wrong. He’d smelled sunlight on her, felt it in her touch, since the moment he’d taken her hand.

After living in darkness for so long, there was one thing he definitely recognized, and that was the touch of the sun. He had to have more of that touch. So he was going to woo her until he won her.

“You’re so different here,” she’d said of him on the balcony, and she’d seemed to like the difference. Colin had been different. He’d been himself again—or at least his prevampire self. Unending night had worn on him until he’d become as dark as his surroundings. Even his ranch had become a black place for him. He’d never been able to go out on his land, work his horses, or care for the cattle in the daylight. He hired hands to do that for him. But for decades he’d found solace in roaming his land at night—in chasing the last rays of sunlight as day reluctantly gave way to night, and then, in turn, giving way to the sun as it inevitably reclaimed the sky. Not so recently. Recently his life had seemed nothing but unending darkness, his beloved ranch not freedom and open space, but just another gilded cage where night continued to imprison him.

Living a life of shadows had worn on him and darkened Colin’s personality as well. But that wasn’t really him. It was what this damn vampire curse had turned him into. Summer could change that; Summer could change everything, and he wanted her to. He wanted to be the Colin who laughed and lived and loved again.

So he’d put in an overseas call to his brother who was still sleeping his way around gay Paris, and Barnabas had told him Summer was staying in her sister, Candice’s, cabin, which sat in a clearing at the southern edge of the pine forest surrounding Mysteria. Which is why he had just trekked through said forest with Summer’s purse and a gift for her and why he was now standing just inside the edge of trees facing the brightly lit little cabin with its homey, wraparound porch.

Colin drew a deep breath. Sunlight and honey—he could scent her from there. She had to be home. He started forward, telling himself that the jittery feeling in his stomach wasn’t nerves, it was just anticipation. Which was only natural; it had been decades since he’d been interested enough to actually consider courting a lady. He just needed to remember that he used to be good with the ladies. Charming—that’s how they used to describe him. Out of practice he may be, but he’d dig deep and put back on that old charm, and Summer would see that—

The door to her cabin opened, and Colin came to an abrupt halt when a man’s body was silhouetted clearly in the doorway. Summer joined the guy, and Colin’s gaze focused on her, blocking out the man and the night and everything but this amazing woman who was, to him, a waking dream.

He loved what she was wearing. The skirt was soft and feminine, and coupled with the creamy yellow of her shirt and the gold of her hair, she looked just like she smelled: like a vision of sunlight and sweetness. He wanted to take her in his arms and mold her softness to his body and inhale her fragrance until he had to fight with himself not to explode.

Then the guy moved, blocking his view of Summer. With a growing sense of horror, Colin watched the jerk nonchalantly drape an arm over her shoulder. Another scent came to him then: one of lemons and laughter and . . . and . . . fairies?

The asshole who was trying to steal his sunshine was a fairy? His jaw tightened, and it felt like someone had slammed a sledgehammer into his gut when the Goddess-be-damned fairy bent and began gently kissing Summer. For a moment Colin stood, rooted into place. Then, with a small sound of disgust, he turned and melted back into the darkness of the forest.

Just beyond vision of the cabin, Colin paced . . . and paced . . . and paced. He had the urge to throw her purse into the branches of the nearest pine and break the carefully wrapped package into a million little pieces, but he managed to control himself, although just barely.

Summer had said she had a boyfriend, but he’d scented her then and hadn’t smelled even a hint of another male on her. He had most definitely not smelled that fucking blond lemon drop! Yet the fairy had been there—in her home—with his lips all over her.

All right. Fine. He should have expected a woman as attractive as Summer to have other suitors. He would just have to step up his game. He was more than a match for the lemon drop. Fairies, even the wingless male variety, were all fickle sluts. Didn’t Summer know that? Maybe she didn’t. His brother had said she’d just moved back after being away for most of her four years of college. Maybe she didn’t have much experience with adult male fairies. Colin’s jaw clenched again, and his hands fisted. He’d crush that damn lemon drop into a little yellow speck if he did anything to hurt her.

By the time he’d paced off his temper and returned to Summer’s cabin, the lights had been turned out. The scent of lemon fairy had also been extinguished, which helped to calm him. The damn lemon drop hadn’t stayed the night. Colin left his offering on the porch just before dawn.

The morning was gorgeous. It was weird how getting rid of an old crush had cleared her vision. Her plan had been flawed, but that didn’t mean she shouldn’t get busy on a new one . . . a new one that might just be tall and dark and handsome. She really shouldn’t obsess so much about being in perfect control. And, anyway, she could handle the vampire. She’d certainly handled the fairy. She was definitely interested in Colin, or at least she thought she might be interested in him. Well, she was going to stop by the gallery on her way home from school to get her purse. She’d see then if there really was any attraction going on with the vamp and take it from there.

Summer felt amazingly alive and happy as she slathered black raspberry jam on a piece of toast and munched on it hurrying out of the cabin on her way to school—and almost tripped and fell face-first over the heap of stuff in front of her door.

“What the—” Summer rubbed the knee she’d landed on, looking back at the pile of . . . “My purse,” she murmured. Sure enough, her purse was there. Right in front of the door. Sitting next to it was a package wrapped in expensive black tissue paper. There was a simple ivory card taped to it that just said For Summer in an old-fashioned-looking cursive script. Intrigued, she fingered the card and then opened the package carefully, so she didn’t mess up the beautiful paper.

Summer gasped and oohed in pleasure. It was a copy of the Romeo and Juliet painting, reproduced in oil on canvas and framed in an exquisite gold-painted wood frame.

“Colin,” she whispered and felt a thrill of pleasure thrum through her at the sound of his name.

“That might be the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard,” Jenny said over the barely edible lunch they’d bought from the vomitorium, aka the school cafeteria.

“It has to have come from him. Right?”

Jenny rolled her eyes. “Of course it came from him. Hello! He brought back your purse, and—now, correct me if I’m wrong, but I do believe he’s the only vampire you got zapped into the R and J painting with.”

“Definitely the only one.”

“The vamp is wooing you,” Jenny said smugly.

“Wooing? Is that even still a word?”

“Yes. And that’s what he’s doing. So prepare yourself.”

“For what?”

Jenny shook her head sadly. “Oh, you poor child. I would imagine that a rough ballpark on your vampire’s age is probably at least two hundred.”

Summer blinked. “He’s not my vampire.”

“Yet,” Jenny said.

“Two hundred,” Summer said as if she hadn’t spoken. “As in years old?”

“Yep.”

“Wow.”

“And as that very tasteful, expensive, and sexy gift shows, men used to know how to do some wooing.”

“Wow.” Summer considered Jenny’s words as she tried to chew her soyburger. “I’m going over there,” she said decisively.

“To the gallery?”

“Yes. I’m going to thank him for the painting. And for returning my purse. Plus, uh, I’d, well, like to make sure there’s no misunderstanding about anything he might have accidentally seen last night.”

“You lost me on that one.”

“Ken kissed me good night last night.”

“So? You said you decided you’re totally not interested in him.”

“I did, and it was his kiss that sealed my decision. But first I thought I should give him a chance, which meant I kissed him back.”

“Again, so?”

“Well, I was kissing him and looking over his shoulder and thinking about the moon and lesson plans and stuff, and I thought I saw something—or someone—outside by the edge of the woods. Then the next morning I found my purse and the painting on my front porch.”

“Wait, back up. Kenny was kissing you, and you were thinking about lesson plans and crap like that?”

Summer nodded.

“That’s a damn shame. I don’t know what the hell’s wrong with fairies these days. Kenny-benny doesn’t ring my bell, but damn! He’s a fairy, a fey being who practically has sex and frolics for a living. He should be able to hold a woman’s attention with a kiss.”

“Don’t be so hard on him. I’d just been kissed by Colin, and the comparison was not good for Kenny.”

Jenny rolled her eyes. “Yet you were going on and on about how you weren’t interested in the vamp and how he wasn’t your type and how he didn’t fit into your control-freak plan.”

“I’m not a control freak, or at least not all the time. Anyway, Colin might not be exactly what I’ve thought of as my type, but he’s definitely a better kisser than Ken.”

“Big surprise there,” Jenny said.

“Be nice,” Summer said.

Jenny rolled her eyes again.

“Like I said, I’m going to swing by the gallery after school. This time it’ll be just me and not a busload of germs and hormones. Maybe sparks will fly again between us, maybe not. But I’m going to give him a shot.”

“Good idea. And speaking of germs and hormones, I’m not done deciding on that damn Purdom kid’s detention for that bullshit spell he cast yesterday. I’m still looking into the he-had-an-accomplice angle.”

“You might want to interrogate McArter; they’re buds. Oh, and remember, don’t tell him about my magic,” Summer added quickly.

“I got it the first hundred times you told me to keep quiet about it. Don’t worry; I think it’s hilarious that they don’t know about your magic. Makes them think their magic is totally screwed up, which serves them right. They shouldn’t be using magic at school or at a school event. Brats,” Jenny said, eyes flashing.

The bell rang, and both women sighed. “Back into the fray,” Jenny said.

“Do you think it’s possible to Shakespeare freshmen to death?” Summer asked.

“One can only hope,” Jenny said.

Eight

Summer checked her lipstick in her car’s rearview mirror and smoothed her hair, feeling insanely thankful that the day was bright and clear and humidity-free, which meant she was having a good hair day. She glanced at the front of Dark Shadows. There were no other cars parked close by, and she mentally crossed her fingers that three o’clock was too early for evening visitors and too late for lunchtime visitors, so it would be empty. Well, except for Colin, that is.

She could do this. She could go inside and smile and thank him for returning her purse and leaving such a great gift. She could figure out a way to let him know that Kenny was history. And maybe, just maybe, she could see if that amazing sizzle that sparked between them yesterday was more than just a magical fluke. Then she could consider revising her future plan to include him.

Before she could chicken out, Summer forced herself to get out of the car and enter the dark, cool gallery.

Her first thought was that her hunch had been right; the gallery appeared deserted. Her second thought was that it was very uncomfortable to be standing there all by herself with only the feeling of being watched to keep her company.

The feeling of being watched?

Definitely. She definitely could feel eyes on her: dark, hungry, intense eyes. Almost as if he drew her gaze, she turned her head and looked deeper into the shadows of the gallery. Sure enough, Colin was standing there, his gaze locked on her.

“Good afternoon, Summer,” he said.

His voice reminded her of dark chocolate and wine and sex.

“Hi,” she blurted, hating how nervous she sounded. Then she cleared her throat and got control of herself. “I hope you don’t mind me just dropping in like this.”

His lips tilted up slightly. “It’s a gallery. The idea is for people to drop in.”

“Then I’m glad I have the right idea,” she said, tilting her own lips up.

“And I’m glad you came by. I wanted to see you again. Would you like to come back to my office?”

“Yes, yes, I would.”

Summer’s smile increased as she followed Colin, getting another excellent view of his tight butt as he led her through the room with the Romeo and Juliet painting, back to an inconspicuous door that opened to an ornate, fussily decorated office.

“This is definitely not you,” she said, running her finger down the back of a gilded Louis the Something-or-Other chair. Then her gaze flew up to him as she tried to gauge if she’d just offended him.

He simply shrugged and said, “You’re right. This is Barnabas’s office, and it’s definitely him. He likes pomp and circumstance and lots of gold.”

“And what do you like?” Summer heard her voice asking the question that had flitted automatically through her mind. She clamped her mouth shut. She usually had more control than speaking her thoughts aloud, but she found herself being temporarily glad of her lack of control when his gaze went dark and intense as he answered her.

“If you mean what kind of decoration, I like it more masculine, although I don’t think a house is really a home without a woman’s touch.” The vampire blinked, obviously surprised at his response, and then he smiled almost shyly at Summer. “I think that’s the first time I’ve admitted that to myself.”

“Admitted that you like a woman’s touch?” she asked softly.

His gaze trapped hers. “Admitted that I need a woman’s touch,” he said. “But I shouldn’t be surprised. You affect me oddly, Summer.”

“Is that a good or a bad thing?” she asked.

“For me, it is a very good thing,” he said.

They stared at each other until Summer became uncomfortable under the heat of his scrutiny. “Thank you for returning my purse to me,” she said, trying to temper the electricity that was building between them with words. “And I absolutely love the Romeo and Juliet painting. Thank you for it.”

“I’m glad you like it. I wanted to give you something that might make you remember what happened yesterday.”

“It’s been kinda hard for me to forget,” Summer said.

“For me, too.” Colin moved closer to her. “Yesterday meant a lot to me. I haven’t felt the sun on my skin in many decades. It’s not something I want to forget.”

“You know I didn’t do it on purpose. I can’t bring you the sun again.” Summer was finding it hard to think rationally with him so close, but her mind was working enough that she wanted to make it perfectly clear to him that she couldn’t just zap them back into the picture; she couldn’t make the sun shine for him.

Colin touched the side of her face. “You’re wrong about that.”

Summer shivered. His touch was cool, but her skin beneath his fingers came alive with heat.

You are my sunshine.

Summer jumped when his voice sounded inside her head.

“You heard that, didn’t you?” he said.

“Yes,” she whispered. “I also heard you call to me from across the room yesterday.”

That dark intensity was back in his eyes, and he spoke with such emotion, such passion, that Summer’s heartbeat quickened, and she felt her breathing deepen.

“You don’t know me, and I don’t know you, but there is something between us that I’ve not experienced until I touched you yesterday. You say you can’t bring me sunshine again, yet to me your skin, your breath, your hair, even the summer-sky color of your eyes—all of you is light and shining to me. It is as if, somehow, magically, you are literally my summer, my sunlight.”

“I—I don’t know how that could be. I’m just me.” Summer couldn’t help leaning her cheek into his hand. His scent and touch were intoxicating, and she wanted nothing more at that instant than to get closer to him.

“I don’t know how it could be either, but you are an unexpected gift that I plan to cherish. If you’ll let me. Will you give me a chance, Summer?” Colin lifted her chin. “I realize I’m not what you’re used to—not the kind of man you would consider a boyfriend.” He ground the word out. “And yesterday you said you were already seeing someone.”

“I’m not,” she said.

“Not?”

“Not seeing anyone.” She stared up into his dark eyes, utterly mesmerized by his closeness.

“But last night . . .”

“Was nothing. There’s nothing between us. Ken isn’t my boyfriend.”

“I saw—” he began.

“You saw him kissing me. It was just, well, basically a test. I wanted to see if he could make me feel what you made me feel.”

“And did he?”

“No,” Summer said, staring into the vampire’s eyes. “Not even maybe. That’s one of the reasons I’m here. I had to see if it was still there,” she said softly.

“It?”

“The sizzle between us.”

Colin smiled. “It’s still there. Let me taste you, sunshine, and I’ll prove it to you.”

“Yes,” she whispered, already leaning into him.

Colin didn’t claim her mouth right away. Instead, he drank in her scent and touch, mingling breath with breath. “I want you more than you can know.” He spoke the words against her skin. “When I touch you I’m alive again. I can feel the sunlight on my face.” He nuzzled her neck and then buried his hand in her thick blond hair and breathed in the scent of sunlight and honey that clung to her.

“Kiss me, Colin,” she murmured.

With a strangled sound, his mouth finally met hers, easily erasing any lingering memory of Ken’s soft, sweet, boring kisses. His skin didn’t have the heat it had the day before, but it didn’t matter. It was still him, and Summer craved his taste and touch like she’d never wanted anyone or anything before in her life.

When they finally broke apart, it was only to stare dazedly at each other. “What is it between us?” Summer said. “It’s crazy. It’s like you’re my human version of catnip.”

His smile took away what was left of her breath. “I’m your catnip; you’re my sunshine. I think we make an excellent pair.”

“But I don’t even know you. You’re practically a stranger.”

Colin took her hand, threading his cool fingers through her warm ones. “Can you say we’re strangers when we’re touching?”

Summer looked down at their linked hands. His was so pale and large and strong, and hers was tan from working in her sister’s flower beds. They seemed direct opposites. He was the opposite of everything she’d believed she wanted for so many years. Yet he was right; when they touched, something was there, and it was something that hadn’t been there with any man before him.

“Colin, we have to slow down. I have to think about—”

The buzzer that signaled the opening of the front door of the gallery made both of them jump. Colin threw a dark look over his shoulder. “I’ll get rid of them and close the gallery; then we can talk.” Like an amazing old-time gentleman, he kissed her hand before he started out of the room, but he stopped in the doorway, glancing back at her. “You were right, Summer. You don’t really know me, and I don’t know you. But what I do know is there is something special between us. I’ve walked this earth longer than you—a couple hundred and some odd years longer.” She gaped at him. Was everyone a zillion years older than her? Colin’s smile was sad and his eyes haunted with loneliness as he continued. “I can promise you that in all the long years of my life I haven’t ever felt what I do when I so much as breathe in the scent of your skin. If you feel even a fraction of what I feel, how can you not give us a chance?”

“What if this is all just because of my messed-up magic?” she asked.

“What if it isn’t?” Colin said.

Then he turned and left the room.

Summer’s knees felt wobbly, and she dropped down into the closest gilded chair. What was going on with them? One thing was sure; the attraction between them was still there, in spades! She wiped a shaky hand over her brow. He was right. She’d never felt anything like what Colin made her feel just with the touch of his hand on her face, let alone his lips against hers. What would happen if their naked bodies pressed together? A thrill of anticipation sang through her. Could she handle such passion, and if she couldn’t, what happened then? Was it worth taking a chance on? What was it the ancient Greek playwright, Euripides, said about too much passion . . . something about a lion loose in a cattle pen?

Plus, she really didn’t want to be in love with a vampire. Besides the whole vegetarian/carnivore issue there was the day/night issue. She loved daylight and sunshine and all that went with it. Wouldn’t she have to give that up to be with Colin?

Her head was starting to ache when the voices that had been drifting to her from the outer gallery began to register.

“Yeah, man, we didn’t mean for nothin’ bad to happen,” said one male voice.

“For real. We were gonna come by today and say sorry, even if Ms. Sullivan hadn’t made us,” added another.

Summer snorted a little laugh. That had to be Purdom and one of his partners in crime. Jenny had been right. There was more power behind that spell than one kid could have conjured.

“That Ms. Sullivan is one mean woman,” said the first voice.

Summer smiled. Yep, Jenny had definitely known it.

“Yeah, but she’s so fiiine,” said the second, she now recognized as her student and Purdom’s bud, Blake McArter.

She heard Colin’s deep voice answering them but couldn’t quite make out what he was saying. She attempted to sit still for a minute more, then curiosity killed discretion, and she walked quietly to the doorway of the office.

“We thought we’d make up a little thang for ya,” said Purdom.

“Like, to make up for what we did,” said McArter. “Okay with you if we bust out with it?”

“Sounds fine with me,” Colin said.

This time she could hear Colin’s voice more clearly, and the good humor in his tone made her smile. Her feet seemed to move of their own accord as she continued walking soundlessly down the hall. After all, she’d been a victim of Purdom’s magical stunt. He should apologize to her, too. Well, again, that is. Naturally, Jenny had made him grovel appropriately at school earlier that day. But still, more groveling never hurt, plus the other kid was here, too, this time. She crept slowly into the gallery until she came to the room that held the Romeo and Juliet painting, aka the scene of the crime. The two boys were standing in front of the painting with their backs to her. Colin was facing them, so he could have spotted her, but his attention was focused, with an amused lift of one of his dark brows, on the boys as they started making the ridiculous rap noises that always reminded Summer of a mixture of farts and messed-up engine sounds. As McArter did the sound effects, Purdon rapped their song.

We come to apologize ’bout the other day.

See, we didn’t know you and Miss S. would go away.

We was just tryin’ to get in some play.

We sorry you had ta dress all gay.

And then Miss S. and you almost went all the way.

Those brats! They did know Colin and I had been in the painting! At that point there was a “musical” interlude in the rap, and both boys mouth farted and popped around looking silly and semicharming at the same time. Summer had just decided she’d been entertained enough and had started forward again when her eyes went to Colin, and she froze in place. He was watching the boys and laughing with the youthful joy of a man filled with light and promise. And Summer once again saw the happy, open man who had shared the painting, and his passion, with her.

He was completely and utterly captivating.

It was then that the question of whether she should risk getting entangled in a life of passion and darkness became moot. She was entangled with him already. Somehow within this dark, brooding vampire there lay the man she’d fantasized about and longed for all these years. It wasn’t a question of fitting him into her future. Colin was her future.

Summer must have made an involuntary sound, because Colin’s gaze instantly went from the boys to her. The smile didn’t leave his face; on the contrary, when their eyes met, his joy seemed to blaze from him to her.

“So we be here to make yestaday okay,” rapped Purdom.

“Yea, we got to give you somethin’ ’cause Sullivan says we got to pay,” intoned McArter.

“And she’s scary—even though I’d like to tap that play.”

The fart noises came to a crescendo, then Purdom went into the closing lines of the rap.

“We thought ’bout what we could do that would stay.

And come up with a magic spell to melt our dissin’ ya away.”

Magic spell? Those words broke through the smoldering look she was sharing with Colin at the same time she noticed that the little shivers going up and down her spine weren’t just because she was hot for the vampire. The rap was really a spell the boys were casting! Then four things happened simultaneously.

Summer opened her mouth to scream at the kids to stop.

Colin moved toward her with an inhuman speed that blurred his body.

Purdom finished the rap/spell with the line, “Dude, we give you a future bright as the sun’s ray!”

And as the vampire’s body slammed into Summer, she realized the magic catastrophe was unavoidable, so she closed her eyes and braced herself, sending out one concentrated desire: This will not mess up Colin and me. Then the area around her exploded with light.

Nine

When Summer opened her eyes, she was in a strange bed in a room she didn’t recognize. It was nice—she noticed that right away. Actually, it was freakishly like her dream room: huge, antique iron bed piled with rich linens in soft blues and yellows. The furniture was simply carved oak, well made and expensive but not fussy. The floor was glossy pine wood, dotted here and there with thick butter-colored area rugs. The walls told her she was in a log cabin—a damn big one at that. There was a fireplace along one wall. The others held several incredible original watercolor paintings of landscapes that all had one thing in common: they were bright and beautiful and painted in the full flush of summer days.

Then her eyes caught something on top of the long, low dresser. Was that her jewelry box? She climbed down from the mountain of a bed and realized two things: One, she was wearing her favorite style of pajamas: men’s boxer shorts and a little matching tank top. Two, it was, indeed, her jewelry box sitting on top of the dresser. Actually, as she looked around the room more carefully, she saw that the jewelry box was just one of several items that belonged to her. Over the ornate beveled mirror hung one of her favorite scarves. The Kresley Cole book she’d been reading was on the nightstand beside the bed, as was her favorite honeydew-scented candle. Feeling surreal and very Twilight Zone–ish she opened the top drawer of the nearest dresser and, sure enough, inside was a neat row of her bras and panties.

“What the hell is going on?” She cried, and then, wondering how she could have been stupid enough to forget, memory flashed back to her, and she recalled the two boys and their rap that had become a spell and the terrible light that exploded just as Colin had grabbed her.

Light? Colin?

Light! Colin! The two definitely didn’t mix. Where was she, and where was Colin? Summer hurried to the window and peeked out. The sun was setting into the mountains, painting the lovely landscape around the cabin in hues of evening. She was definitely in a cabin, out in the woods. But it wasn’t her sister’s cabin. She tried to calm her freaked-out mind. Think—I have to think! The kids’ spell finished with something about Colin having a bright future. Goddess! Did that mean he was trapped in the dark somewhere? And if so, why was she here in this pretty cabin? It didn’t make one bit of sense.

“Okay. Okay. You’re a college graduate. You can figure this out,” she told herself. “This room looks like it could belong to you, so . . .” With sudden inspiration, Summer went back to the bedside table and, sure enough, plugged into the charger, just as it was in the bedroom in her sister’s cabin, was Summer’s cell phone. She grabbed it and dialed the first number that came to mind.

“Summer! Where are you? Are you okay?” Jenny’s voice was uncharacteristically frantic.

“I’m fine, I think, and I don’t know where the hell I am. Where’s Colin? Is he okay?”

“Other than having lost his damn mind worrying about you, your vamp’s fine. And what do you mean you don’t know where you are?”

“What do you mean he’s lost his mind?” Summer and Jenny spoke their questions together.

“I can’t tell—” Summer began.

“He’s freaked completely—” Jenny said.

Both women paused. “You start,” Jenny said. “Why don’t you know where you are?”

“’Cause I’ve never been here before. I’m at a gorgeous cabin and, weirdly enough, it’s not just decorated exactly how I would have decorated it, but a bunch of my stuff’s here. Now tell me what’s up with Colin.”

There was some unintelligible noise in the background and then Jenny said, “I’ll do better than that. I’ll let Colin tell you himself.”

Summer could hear her passing off the phone, and then Colin’s deep voice was in her ear. “Summer? Are you hurt? Where are you?”

“Colin! Are you okay? What happened?”

“I’m fine; don’t worry about me. Are you okay?” he said.

“Other than not understanding what happened, I’m fine. Especially now that I know you’re okay.”

“I am okay, sunshine.” She could hear the smile in his voice. “Now that I’m not scared into my second death. Don’t ever disappear like that on me again.”

“Disappear? Is that what happened? All I remember is a bright light. Are you sure you’re okay? I know the whole light thing isn’t good for you.”

“I didn’t see a light. The kid finished the spell just as I grabbed you, and then an instant later my arms were empty, and you were nowhere.” His voice lowered. “I don’t like my arms being empty of you.”

His words made warm, fluttering things happen in the pit of her stomach. “Yeah, I know,” she said.

“Where are you? The sun’s setting. I’ll come to you.”

“I wish you could. I don’t have any idea where I am. I woke up in this beautiful iron bed in an amazing room that, weirdly, has a bunch of my stuff in it.” Summer walked to the bedroom door while she kept talking. “I peeked out the window, and I’m somewhere in the mountains—great view, by the by—in a big cabin. You should see this place. Your brother would definitely appreciate the quality of the watercolors on the walls, and they’re all of summer landscapes. I haven’t gone out into the rest of the house yet, though.”

“Does the bedroom have a large, wood burning fireplace in it?”

Summer nodded. “Yeah, it does.”

“Go out into the rest of the cabin, and tell me what you see.” His voice had a strangely excited tone to it.

“What’s going on, Colin?”

“I have a hunch. Just leave the bedroom, and I’ll know if I’m right.”

She took a deep breath and opened the door. “Okay, this is definitely my dream home,” Summer said.

“Describe it to me, Sunshine,” Colin said.

“I’m on a landing looking down at an incredible living room. The furniture is all leather, but it’s not too testosteroney because it’s mixed with antique end tables and thick, furry rugs. Oh, Goddess! I hope it’s fake fur.”

Colin’s deep laugh was in her ear. “I’ll bet it is now.”

“Now? What do you mean?”

“First, go down the stairs and into the living room and describe to me the painting over the fireplace.”

“Okay, it’s kinda freaking me out that you know this place.”

“Don’t be scared, Sunshine. Trust me. All will be well.”

She loved the tone of happy excitement that filled his voice and hurried down the stairs. Sure enough, there was a huge painting over the fireplace, and when Summer realized what it was, she laughed aloud. “It’s the Romeo and Juliet! Goddess, it looks like it’s the original.”

“It is, sweet Sunshine. Stay right where you are; I will come to you.”

“You know where I am?”

“I do, indeed. You’re home, Summer.”

“You’re home, Summer” was all that Colin would say before he hung up. What did that mean? But she didn’t have time to worry and wonder, because all of a sudden a dark mist began to spill into the room. Wordlessly, Summer watched it surround her and thicken and then change, elongate, and solidify until Colin was standing in front of her.

He looked around them, and his handsome face blazed with a triumphant smile. “I knew it! Makes me really glad I didn’t eviscerate those boys.”

“Colin, would you please explain to me what’s happened?”

“We’ve happened,” he said, still smiling. “This”—he swept his arm around them in a smooth motion—“is my home. Only it’s been changed. A woman’s touch has been added. You’ve been added to my home, Summer.”

Summer stared around her in amazement. “This is your home?”

“It is.”

“How did this happen?”

“The boy said that he was giving me a bright future. His spell, mixed with your magic, has gifted me with you.” Colin closed the space between them and took her in his arms, inhaling her scent and touch. “Let me show you how much we belong together.”

“Colin.” She spoke his name like a prayer and reached up to touch his face. The instant her hand met his cheek, the vampire gasped and jerked as if she’d zapped him with a jolt of electricity. Summer pulled back, afraid she’d hurt him, but what was reflected in his dark eyes wasn’t pain, but wonder.

“Touch me again, Summer.”

Before she could respond, Colin took her hand and pressed it back against his cheek, and this time Summer saw the glow of light that came from her hand and felt what was happening beneath her palm. The vampire’s cool flesh shivered and then flushed and warmed.

“What’s happened?” she whispered.

“You’re bringing light to me again, my darling. Only this time your magic is calling alive my flesh.” He turned his face so that his lips pressed against the palm of her hand. She felt a tingle of heat pass through her hand, and then his lips were on hers. They were warm and insistent and very much alive. Speaking only her name, Colin lifted her into his arms and strode from the living room up the stairs, kicking open the bedroom door and gently placing her on the bed.

When he bent to kiss her again, she pressed him gently away from her. “Wait, I have to see . . . I have to touch you and know . . .” she murmured.

Slowly, carefully, she unbuttoned his shirt, pulling it apart so his muscular chest was bared to her. Then she lifted her hands and, pressing her palms against his skin, began at his shoulders, sliding her hands down his chest in a slow, thorough caress that spread light down his body. Against her glowing skin his flesh warmed, and she watched in awe as his carved marble skin and muscles shivered and then, as long as she touched him, flushed with health and life. When her hand reached the place over his heart, Colin moaned—a sound part pain, part pleasure—and he pressed his hand over hers, stilling her caress.

“Ah, Goddess!” Colin said. “My heart beats again!”

“I can feel it. Oh, Colin! I can feel it beating.”

“Don’t stop touching me, Summer. Don’t ever stop touching me.”

Light-headed with the swirling emotions of passion and awe and desire, Summer looked into Colin’s dark eyes and saw love and life and her future there. And then she closed her eyes and bowed her head, breathing deeply while she tried to calm her turbulent emotions. I will not lose control and cause this to end! I will not!

Ten

“Summer, what is it?” Colin’s voice was filled with worry.

She opened her eyes and met his gaze. “I’ll never stop touching you, Colin. I promise, but you have to let me be with you on my own terms.”

His expression only became more confused, and mixed with that confusion Summer saw hurt and withdrawal. “I know that my being a vampire is hard for you. I understand you might not want to bind yourself to someone like me.”

“No, no I didn’t mean that,” she explained quickly. “It has to do with my magic. I have to maintain control of my emotions, because if they surge too much and I lose control, the spell will be broken and the messed-up magic, along with all of this, will end.”

“Sunshine, this isn’t as simple as a spell or magic. What’s happening between us is real.”

“I hope so,” she said. And then she drew her hand down his arm again, watching as the glow under her palm warmed his cool flesh. “But this is definitely magic, and I don’t want this to end for you.”

“As long as I have you, I’ll have sunlight—magic or no.”

“You have me, Colin,” she said, but still Summer controlled her breathing and kept a firm hold on her emotions as, never taking her hands from his skin, she undressed him. First she pushed off his shirt, skimming her hands down his arms until she threaded her fingers through his, staring into his eyes as her touch brought his skin alive.

“Summer,” he moaned her name. “I never imagined I could feel like this again.”

“How do you feel, Colin?” Summer asked breathlessly as her mouth moved down his naked chest.

“Like a man, Sunshine. You make me feel like a man again.”

His words sent a thrill through her body. Summer caressed Colin’s waist, reveling in her ability to give him such pleasure. She unzipped his jeans, and he stepped out of them. She stared at his naked body and imaged that she knew what Pygmalion felt as his sculpture of Galatea came to life.

Calm and slow, Summer reminded herself as she pulled him down beside her on the bed. Focus on giving him pleasure. When his eager hands reached for her, she allowed Colin to pull her into his arms. Her mouth met his as she pressed her body against his nakedness. Separated by only the thin cotton of her boxers and tank, it was an exquisite sensation to feel her heat warming him, her flesh bringing him alive.

His hardness pressed low and insistent against the softness of her stomach, and while their tongues met her hips shifted, bringing him fully against her core. He moaned against her mouth as she thrust against him, sliding him the length of her wetness.

When her head started to spin, she broke the kiss. Concentrating on controlling her breathing and trying to find calmness within her again, she rolled over on top of Colin and held his wrists, stilling his roving hands, which had been kneading her aching breasts. “Let me touch you,” she said, regaining her breath. When he started to protest, she stilled his words with a kiss, then whispered against his mouth, “I don’t want the magic to go away, Colin. Help me keep the magic.”

“Sunshine, I’ve been trying to tell you that you are the magic.” His voice was deep and rich with desire.

“Humor me,” Summer said with a smile and then began to move down his body, kissing and caressing. When she reached his cock, she took him in both of her hands, loving the textures of him, the hardness sheathed in such soft skin. Still stroking him, she glanced up and met his gaze. “You’re wrong, Colin. It’s you who’s magic.” And then she bent and let her tongue flick out around the engorged head of his cock. He moaned her name as she licked the length of his shaft, discovering how exciting it was to be able to bring him such intense pleasure so easily.

“Do you want me to take you in my mouth?” she asked huskily.

“Oh, Goddess, yes!” he gasped.

Summer swallowed him. He was too large for her to take all of him in her mouth, but she stroked his shaft with her hand, squeezing while she tasted him, loving how his cock heated and pulsed beneath her touch. She cupped his heavy testicles, and another moan was torn from his throat as his hips lifted to give her better access to him.

“Your body is so beautiful,” she murmured against his skin, teasing the head of his cock with her tongue. “I never knew a man’s body could be so beautiful.”

Then she swallowed him again. “Summer!” Colin gasped her name, his voice rough with barely controlled lust. “I can’t stand much more. If you don’t stop, I’m going to come in your mouth.”

Summer loved that she was evoking this response in him. She felt gorgeous and sexy and very much in control. “Then give in to it,” she purred, imagining for the first time in her life that she was the Marilyn Monroe type, the kind of woman men dreamed about. “Give in to me.” She laved his engorged head with her tongue while she ran her hands down his thighs, feeling his muscles tremble and warm under her hands.

Summer heard a ripping sound as his hands gripped the thick comforter while he struggled to maintain control, and then he moved with a vampire’s preternatural swiftness, and suddenly his hands were lifting her, and she was on her back looking up at him.

“Colin, wait, I need to do this my way!”

“Sunshine, lovemaking is something best done together, rather than controlled by one. And I have to have my turn.” She started to protest again, but the dark intensity of his gaze caught her. “Trust me, Summer. Trust that I’m telling you the truth when I say that what’s happening between us is more than an accident of magic.”

“I trust you,” she said softly, but I’m still going to stay in control, she added silently to herself.

His smile had a sexy, feral glint as, with one flick of his powerful hands, he ripped the cotton tank off her. Colin cupped her breasts, running his thumb lightly over her already sensitized nipples. She gasped and bit her bottom lip.

“Since I saw these beautiful nipples, aroused and pressing against that sweet teacher’s blouse you had on yesterday, I’ve thought about doing this over and over again. His head dipped down, and he took her nipple into his mouth, sucking and licking gently. She threaded her fingers through his thick, dark hair and pressed him more firmly against her. “Harder,” she whispered, and then all her breath left her body in a rush as he went from gentle to forceful, pulling on the nipple with his teeth while he lifted his hard thigh between her legs so that her hips could lift and grind against him.

Control . . . control . . . she reminded herself frantically. Summer breathed deeply, letting the pleasure wash in waves over her but not allowing herself to drown in it.

Colin shifted his attention to her other breast, and she closed her eyes, feeling the desire that was building inside of her but keeping it banked just enough that it didn’t engulf her.

Then his mouth followed the edge of her rib cage down to the soft indentation of her waist. He hooked his fingers in her shorts and quickly skimmed them down her body, leaving her naked before him. She felt a moment of embarrassment, but it passed when she saw the expression on his face and heard his husky, “Sunshine, you’re even more exquisite than I dreamed you would be.” He kissed her stomach reverently, gently, before letting his hands glide down her body to cup her buttocks. He positioned himself between her legs as he lifted her to his mouth.

Summer stopped breathing completely when his tongue parted her folds and dipped within.

“You taste just like you smell: like sunlight and honey,” he murmured against her intimately.

When his tongue found her clit, her hips buckled against him. She squeezed her eyes closed, fighting against the cascade of pleasure. She wanted too badly to let loose, to allow him to make her come against his mouth. But what would happen then? How could she bear it if she was suddenly transported, midorgasm, back to her cabin—alone?

“Colin, come here to me,” she said, reaching to pull him up to her. When he only intensified his caresses, she added, “I have to feel you inside me.”

That got through to him, and he raised himself over her. She took him in her hand again, lifting her hips so that she could position the throbbing head of his cock against her wet opening. Summer was already getting her breathing back under control, and she’d keep that control while he spent himself inside her—at least she hoped she could. That Colin could turn her on was abundantly apparent, but being turned on and actually orgasming were two very different things.

This would be for Colin. She’d bring him light and life and love. She’d let him bring her to completion another time, when she was sure her emotions wouldn’t cause their whole world to disappear. So her plan was to take him inside her and just maintain her sanity this once. She’d worry about next time the next time. Everything would work out in the future when she—

“Look at me, Summer.”

His voice brought her attention back to the present. She looked up into his expressive, dark eyes.

“I want to look into your eyes while I love you, while I make you mine,” he said. He thrust into her with one powerful plunge, filling her completely.

Summer gasped as the pleasure spiked through her. Her hips lifted to meet his as her legs wrapped around him. Colin braced himself on one arm, raising up so that he could continue to look into her eyes. The vampire impaled her. They moved together, slick and hot.

Summer felt her body gathering itself, and she fought against it, even though the pleasure was so intense that it bordered on pain. But she maintained control—she did it. Until Colin reached between them and began rubbing his thumb rhythmically against her swollen, slick clit.

“Colin!” she gasped. “Oh, Goddess, I can’t—”

“Shhh,” he whispered. “What we have is beyond magic. If you trust me, give yourself completely to me. I can prove it to you. Will you trust me?”

“Yes,” she said without hesitation. “I trust you, Colin.”

“Then I make you mine, truly and completely.” He bent his head to her neck. Summer felt his lips, his tongue, and finally his teeth. At first they just grazed her, then she felt him gather himself, and Colin bit her, puncturing through the soft skin above her pulsing vein.

The pleasure she felt at his claiming was as sharp as the bite, and she couldn’t fight against her desire any longer. Summer felt the wave begin within her and knew it would utterly, completely overwhelm her. She grasped Colin’s shoulders and, for once in her life, completely gave up control to a man, body and soul. As her body shuddered in orgasm, and he joined her in release, she felt the familiar tingle of her magic becoming active. This time instead of running, or bracing herself against it, or fighting it, Summer released her magic, instead choosing to hold on to Colin and his promise that there was more between them than smoke and mirrors.

The flash of light against her closed lids had Summer opening her eyes in surprise. Colin jerked back from her neck as if her blood suddenly burned. And then he was burning as the light that had been focused in Summer’s hands surged from her into him.

“Colin!” Summer cried, trying to pull away from him, trying to stop the transfer of light.

“Trust me, sunshine,” Colin ground the words out between teeth clenched in pain. “I accept any price I have to pay to be with you, and it will not separate us.” At his words the light intensified until it bowed his body. The vampire screamed, and then he was knocked from the bed. He landed on the floor, limp and unconscious.

Summer was sobbing when she rushed to him, touching his face, calling his name, praying to the Goddess to please let him wake up . . . please, she’d do anything . . . just please . . . please . . .

Colin drew a deep breath and then exhaled, coughing painfully. Summer helped him sit up. “Colin! Goddess, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” his voice was raw, as if he hadn’t spoken in centuries. “I’m fine,” he repeated, after clearing his throat. He started to take her in his arms but suddenly froze. “Blessed Goddess!” He sounded utterly shocked.

“What is it? Maybe I should call someone. A vampire doctor?”

Then Colin completely surprised Summer by jumping to his feet, throwing back his head, and laughing with uninhibited joy.

Still on the floor, Summer looked up at him, utterly confused. “Colin?” Was he hysterical? Is this how vampires acted when they’d been mortally wounded?

“I don’t need a vampire doctor, Summer, my sunshine, my dream, my love. Somehow, someway, you and your magic have made me human again!”

She stared at him, this time really seeing him. He was still a tall, handsome man, but the marble cast of his skin was gone. It had been replaced by the healthy flush of a living, breathing man.

And she wasn’t touching him at all. He was truly alive.

“It’ll go away,” she whispered. “It won’t last.”

“I think you’re wrong, Sunshine,” he said, pulling her to her feet. “Have you ever given up trying to control your magic before tonight?”

“No,” she said slowly. “I’ve always fought it or run from it. And it’s not just my magic I gave up control of tonight, Colin. It’s my life. When I trusted you, I had to give up being in total control of myself.”

“I think there was something about your decision to trust me that drastically affected your magic.” Colin cupped her face. “All these years you’ve believed your magic was flawed, messed up. I don’t think it was. I think it was pure light—the pure energy of sunshine—and when you gave me your complete trust, when you relinquished control, you also gave your magic to me.”

“It should have killed you. You’re a vampire; you can’t stand the light.”

“Perhaps, but I’ve never loved the light until I loved you. I desired it, coveted it, yearned for it, but never really loved it until you.”

“So my light didn’t kill you.”

“No, Sunshine. Your light burned away the darkness of my past and saved me.”

“So now you think we can make love and I can orgasm without worrying about us being zapped apart.”

“Over and over again, Sunshine,” he said, smiling.

“Sounds like a perfect happily ever after to me.”

“Me, too, Sunshine. Me, too.”

Colin took her back to bed and, as the Certified Discipline Nymph Jenny would say, ravished her thoroughly for many passion-filled, out-of-control years.