Darkest Nyte Read online

  The world swayed precariously and she felt as though she were going to fall. His arms came around her and the heat that raced through her body shocked her.

  She couldn’t be feeling this for Rand!

  His lips moved persuasively on hers and she felt a growing need build inside her.

  This was outrageous!

  She didn’t want to hurt him, but she couldn’t let this go on. She pushed him away, gently but firmly.

  "Rand, I--"

  Midnight eyes stared into her own. It was Nyte, not Rand, who held her in his arms.

  Her eyes widened and she gasped. "Nyte!"

  She glanced around and realized she was in her own living room. "How did I get back here?" She felt certain Rand had not returned her, especially at that particular moment.

  His eyes darkened to onyx hardness. "You thought it was Randalph kissing you?"

  She hesitated, confused feelings swirling through her head like colored leaves caught in an autumn breeze. Rand had kissed her. Rand wanted a different kind of relationship with her. The kind he thought they were supposed to have had all along.

  "I thought he was just a friend," Nyte demanded.

  "I never said Rand was just a friend." The words came out even and flat. She knew she should be bristling at his proprietary tone, but shock still gripped her at Rand’s suggestion.

  Nyte’s eyes flashed. "Why was he kissing you?"

  Indignation broke through the shell encasing her. She pushed out of his arms. "That’s really none of your business."

  "Considering what we were about to do when you disappeared, I’d say I have a right to know."

  She saw the intense emotion in his eyes. He deserved an explanation. She just didn’t know how to give it.

  "Nyte, you’ve got to understand. Rand is my mentor and he believed ... we both always thought...."

  "That you would form a Love Bond with him?" he demanded.

  Her eyes widened.

  "You know about that?"

  He grasped her shoulders, a little too tightly.

  "Believe me, Lucinda, you are not meant to bond with him. You are meant to bond with me. You know that but for some reason you’re fighting it, lying to yourself."

  She shook her head.

  "I don’t know what to think anymore. Nothing works right with me. I had a textbook mentor relationship with Rand, except for the fact there was no spark between us. Now with you...." She glanced at the mesmerizing intensity of his ebony eyes.

  "You can’t deny we have the spark."

  She pulled out of his grasp, then stepped toward the couch.

  "How can I trust that? Nothing else about this mentor relationship makes sense."

  She leaned on the back of the couch, her fingers digging into the plush upholstery. The weight of her dilemma felt planetary in scale. She didn’t want to hurt Rand. She didn’t want to hurt Nyte.

  And she didn’t want to be hurt.

  His hands stroked over her shoulders, squeezing gently with reassurance, his thumbs pressing on her muscles with a firm, circling motion. Stress eased from her a little.

  "It doesn’t have to make sense." His words whispered across her ear. His hands slid along her shoulders and warmth radiated through her. He drew her back against him. "Just feel." His lips caressed her temple and she felt energy dance along her spine.

  It would be so easy to just surrender. Turn into his arms. Give herself over to the need boiling inside her.

  But she didn’t want to make a mistake.

  "No." She sidestepped out of his reach.

  "You were already a wizard when I found you. I was only intended as someone who would help you back on your feet, to teach you what you’d forgotten. Once you get your memory back, you won’t need me any more."

  "That’s not true."

  Her fists clenched by her side and she turned to face him.

  "Nyte, I know you believe we are meant to be together." She paced. "With your amnesia, you don’t remember, but ... you were bonded to someone else."

  Nyte’s face curled into a scowl.

  "Randalph has been filling your head with lies." He tugged her around to face him. Anger rippled from him in waves. "Don’t you understand? He dragged you out of here to seduce you into his bed, to convince you that you belong to him--"

  She thrust her chin up. "I don’t belong to anyone."

  With a fierce expression, he grasped her shoulders. "Yes, you do. You belong to me."

  "No," she denied even though her body seemed to pulse at his closeness.

  He sucked in a deep breath and softened his voice. "And I belong to you." He stroked her cheek, a gentle caress despite the raging feelings she sensed surging through him.

  "Lucinda, I was born long ago, just as Randalph told you." Turbulent emotion stormed through his eyes. "Something went wrong. I was not ... available when you were born, so Randalph was called in my place. Just as you were called to help me when I reappeared. Our bond is real."

  Emotions bubbled within her like fizz in a shaken pop can. She felt like she would explode any minute. She broke away from his hold. "How can you possibly know that?"

  He dragged her into his arms. "When you’re an adult wizard who has been denied your life mate, you feel a deep, dark emptiness that you know will only be filled when you join with that special person. You feel a rightness between you that transcends understanding. You anticipate a sense of completeness that will echo through the chasm of time and heal your innermost scars." He cupped her face between his hands, his touch tender yet potent. "Listen to your body now."

  His lips joined with hers and the swelling tide of desire that rose in her crushed the breath from her. She backed away from him. Somehow, he’d found a way to put into words exactly what she’d been feeling.

  Frightening emotions churned through her and began falling into alignment. The pattern they formed disturbed her. She shook her head, trying to shake the thoughts into some comprehensible order.

  "You feel it, Lucinda, I know you do, but you’re fighting it. Listen to your heart."

  Her heart? It told her to throw herself into Nyte’s arms, but maybe it wasn’t love that drew her to Nyte, but a basic, physical need. Lust could drive away common sense. It could lure her down the wrong path. A path filled with pain.

  Nyte watched the confusion spiraling in Lucinda’s eyes. He wanted to drag her into his arms and kiss her until she surrendered to the need that held them both captive. But he needed her to accept the rightness of the situation. And more, he wanted her to want him.

  The hazy look in her eyes crystallized and she turned to meet his gaze. A disturbing sense of distance chilled him. He stepped forward, intent on closing the gap.

  She held up her hand and he stopped. "I-I need some time. To think about all of this."

  His gut clenched painfully. "You’re going to go to him, aren’t you?"

  Guilt cracked the edges of her composure. She linked her hands together in front of her and started to pace.

  "Try to understand, Nyte. He and I have known each other a long time. He’s very important to me. I need to discuss this with him. He’ll help me sort it out."

  Her sense of loyalty to Randalph was fierce.

  For the first time, Nyte understood the immense power she controlled, for only a very strong wizard could block herself from the overwhelming force of a Love Bond.

  She was too damned strong for her own good, and his. And she allowed Randalph to influence her too much. If she went to Randalph, he would confuse her further, delaying her from accepting her true destiny. To be by Nyte’s side.

  He would not allow Randalph that power.

  Chapter 12

  "I’ve got to go, Nyte. Please understand." She concentrated on Rand’s living room, then raised her hands and flicked them down her sides, a little flourish she always used while teleporting.

  Nothing happened.

  Stunned, she glanced around and saw she still stood in the same place.

&n
bsp; "You aren’t going anywhere." Nyte’s words cut across her confusion. A look of dark determination shadowed his taut features.

  She scowled, then tried again, with the same lack of results.

  A chilly thought quivered through her. Her magic had been blocked at Delphi, now again here, and she didn’t like the feeling. She tried again. When it still didn’t work, her breathing tightened. What was happening?

  "I won’t let you go to him, Lucinda."

  Her eyes narrowed as she stared at him. A sick feeling coiled deep in her stomach. Nyte was blocking her? To do that, he must have regained his powers. And that meant....

  "You have your memory back?"

  He sighed heavily. "Yes."

  Alarm skittered through her. If he could block her teleportation spell, he must be very powerful. In fact, much more powerful than her. Her hands started to tremble and she clasped them together.

  She had to get control of herself.

  "Why didn’t you tell me?"

  "It happened this afternoon. That’s why I left. I needed time to think."

  She nodded. "I see." Anger shot through her. "So now that you have full use of your powers again, you decided to exercise them by imprisoning me in my own house?"

  At least he had the grace to look guilty. "I can’t allow you to go running to Rand every time you have a question about our relationship. He is determined to poison your mind against me."

  She glared at him. "You can’t allow?" Her fists clenched tightly at her sides, her fingernails digging into the heels of her hands. "You have no right to keep me here."

  "You’re right. I have a better place in mind."

  Anxiety crept through her as he grasped her arm and she felt the pull of space yet again. Damn it! She was starting to feel like a yo-yo!

  Pressing her hand against her chest, she took a moment to take a breath and look around her surroundings. It was very modern. Open and airy. Like something right out of a magazine.

  High ceilings. Soft, rainbow colors. The delineation between the large living and dining room was a sunken floor rather than a wall.

  A profusion of greenery filled the rooms with a natural, revitalizing energy: a huge fern in a stand beside the buffet, spider plants hanging in the corners, and bright, flowering fuchsia spraying across the surface of a side table by the wall. All plants Merlin would love to munch on.

  Then her gaze caught on the view.

  As lovely as the inside was, the whole thing seemed background to the enormous window overlooking a glittering ocean, with white beach stretching as far as she could see.

  "This is somewhere you’ll be safe," Nyte said.

  She tugged her arm from his grasp. "From whom?"

  "From Rand. He can’t influence you here."

  "Do you mean he can’t contact me?"

  "He can’t contact you and he can’t steal you away. While you’re here, he won’t be able to interfere."

  She stared at him warily. "Interfere. With what?"

  "I intend to convince you that we’re right for each other."

  She jammed her hands on her hips. "You’ve dragged me off to some secluded hideaway to seduce me?"

  "I didn’t say I brought you here to make love, although--" He curled a lock of her blond hair round his finger.

  She snatched it away. "You had no right to bring me here."

  His eyebrows slanted downward. "But Rand can drag you off any time he wants?" His voice sounded low and dangerous. He seethed with barely suppressed anger.

  So what? She was pretty mad herself.

  She twirled away and strode across the room. "I won’t stay here."

  "I know you’re not used to anyone being able to stop you," he said, patience stretching his words, "but you’ll have to get used to the idea that I am stronger than you."

  The thought absolutely terrified her, but she shoved the fear aside. She grasped the filmy curtains tied at the sides of the window and stared out at the crashing waves.

  "This is how you try to convince me we’re meant to be together? First you bring me here against my will, and now you’re threatening me?"

  "I’m not threatening you. I’m simply stating the facts."

  She turned and glared at him. "Let me go this instant!"

  He folded his arms across his chest. "No."

  She let out a sharp breath.

  "I am leaving!"

  If she couldn’t teleport, then she’d walk. She stomped across the room to the door and twisted the knob, but it would not turn. She focused her energy and attempted to unlock the door with magic, and when that didn’t work, she tried to break it open with a burst of energy. Nothing.

  She seethed as she glared at him on the way to a window a few feet to the left. She grabbed the handle and tugged upward, but it didn’t budge. Neither did magic move it. She stomped to the high table behind the couch, grabbed a lamp, and flung it at the picture window. No luck. It simply bounced off the glass and landed on the carpeted floor, intact.

  "You’ll tire yourself, Lucinda."

  She spun around to face him, and flung a lightning bolt in his direction. His eyes widened, but the bolt whizzed past him and struck the wall. She hadn’t aimed at him. Well, not directly, though she had wanted to scare him.

  And judging from his pale cheeks, she had succeeded. She didn’t take time to analyze why knowing that gave her no satisfaction.

  Her intent had been to inject a hole through the wall, hoping Nyte had only thought of reinforcing the normal exits with magic, but the bolt of electricity hit the wall and flared into a shower of harmless sparks.

  Just her luck--he was very thorough.

  Lucinda felt drained. It seemed that every time she tried to use her magical energy, she felt the power surge through her as usual, but seemed to lose it before she could shape it to her needs. It was as though it were being siphoned off.

  Lucinda realized she was getting tired. Every attempt to use magic seemed to drain her even more.

  She turned to him, her fists clenched at her sides. "How are you doing this?" she demanded.

  He shrugged. "You are very strong, Lucinda, but I am stronger."

  Damn him. At a loss as to what to try next, she glanced around aimlessly. Anxiety made her stomach churn. She had never felt this helpless before. It must have shown in her face because Nyte’s expression turned to one of concern and he stepped toward her.

  "Lucinda--"

  She swung towards him and cried out, "Why are you doing this to me? I tried to help you. Why do you want to hurt me like this?" Her voice sounded strained and near the breaking point. She sucked in some air and tried to calm herself.

  Gently, he grasped her shoulders. "I’ll never hurt you." His voice was soft and persuasive.

  She wanted to believe him, but how could she? He’d made her a prisoner. He had the strength to overpower her--and would use it. Panic quivered through her, stealing her breath.

  "Then let me go!"

  His touch, his closeness, sent her way off balance. She tried to move back but he held on.

  "No. I need to convince you that--"

  "You won’t convince me of anything holding me prisoner here, except that Rand is right about you."

  The softness in his eyes burned away to glittering, granite hardness. "That’s the way it will always be, isn’t it? When it’s his word against mine, you’ll believe him every time."

  She shuddered at the scrutiny of those cold eyes. "I’ve known him for a very long time and I trust him."

  "And you don’t trust me?"

  She held his gaze evenly. "You haven’t given me any reason to, have you?"

  The air shimmered with his suppressed anger.

  "I suggest you get some sleep, Lucinda," he said through gritted teeth. "We’ll talk again when we’re both calmer."

  She felt that very familiar push again and found herself in a spacious bedroom. With a locked door, she soon discovered. Another door she couldn’t open with magic.

  "I
can walk you know!" she screamed, then kicked the door.

  She glanced around the large room. A huge four poster bed with the bedclothes and canopy in a pattern of rich jewel tones dominated the room. Sapphire. Jade. Amethyst. A white marble fireplace stretched along one wall and a dresser with a large beveled mirror on another. A sitting area of two blue love seats, covered with throw cushions the same pattern as the bedclothes, and a huge bouquet of assorted flowers on a low square table occupied the far end of the room.

  She flopped onto the bed, more exhausted than before. Sleep was the best thing for her. It would recharge her batteries. Tomorrow, she would devise a plan to escape from here, but right now it was too much to even contemplate. Thinking required way too much energy.

  She tried to conjure up some sleepwear but even that didn’t work. Sighing, she pushed herself off the bed and glanced around the room. The dresser caught her attention. Maybe she’d find something in there.

  She searched through all six drawers, but found nothing even close to her favorite oversized grey sweatshirt. She returned to the second drawer, which was full of lingerie. She lifted pieces out, one by one, and quickly discarded them. Staring at the skimpy, scraps of satin and lace littering the top of the dresser, she wondered if Nyte had found her Frederick’s of Hollywood catalogue.

  Finally, she picked up a slinky royal blue number, the most conservative of the lot, and changed into it. The bodice was a slightly stretchy fabric which conformed to the contours of her breasts like a second skin. Very sexy. If she wanted to seduce a man, this was the kind of thing she’d wear.

  But she didn’t. She slid under the covers and pulled them up to her neck.

  She’d gone years without any man showing the least interest in her and now all of a sudden two wanted her. She was still in shock about Rand. How could she convince him they weren’t right for each other without hurting him?

  Despite her roiling emotions, she fell asleep within minutes. She dreamed of a dragon climbing into bed with her which turned into Rand who was then pursued by Death who turned into Nyte.

  Then Nyte was kissing her and nothing else mattered. His hands awakened her body, his kisses illuminated her soul. Naked skin to naked skin, she found a depth of meaning to life she’d never known before. A feeling of completeness approaching bliss. When he took her to those dreamy heights of star bursts and comets, she cried out his name.