Christmas Present Part 5

His brain sent scrambled messages. Take her.

Leave her alone. Take her.

Her pelvis lifted and undulated, trying to ease its aching heaviness. Threading her fingers through his damp hair, she held his head to her breast. Sensation after searing sensation scored through her body. She wanted out of her jeans; she wanted to wrap her legs around his hips and have him thrust into her, she wanted...

Take her. Leave her alone. Take her. Burke Delaney...

With an almost inhuman effort he jerked away from her. And for a few moments all he could do was lay his head against the steering wheel and pull in deep, gasping breaths.

Bria closed her eyes. She was in pain and didn't know how to deal with it. She lay against the door and tried to fight the impulse to reach out for Kells. He had made a sound as he had pushed away from her; it rang in her ears. The sound had been filled with anger and a strange kind of agony. Her body was throbbing for him, and she had to believe that had they continued, she would have welcomed him into her body. But he didn't want her.

"Briar'

She opened her eyes and looked at him. His expression was harsh, dark, forbidding. "What?"

"Put on your jacket. Your dad is going to be worried if we don't get back."

She nodded. "Whatever you say."

A muscle in his jaw moved. "Whatever I say? You don't think we should leave?"

She straightened, put on her jacket, and zipped it up. "I think we should leave," she said woodenly.

He drove his fingers through his hair. "Dammit Bria. Why did you ask me to come up here with you?"

What an excellent question, she thought. Had it really been an experiment to check out the veracity of the mirror? Or had she unconsciously used the mirror as an excuse to be alone with him again? Was it possible she had wanted what had just happened between them? Lord help her, she was beginning to think it was.

When she didn't answer, Kells shoved the gearshift into first and started the Jeep down the mountain.

The storm continued on into the night, hurling its fury against the big house, pounding Killara with its strength. In her bedroom Bria sat in front of a roaring fire.

In spite of the fire, she was chilled. Because in remembering what had happened between her and Kells on that storm-blown mountain, she had suddenly been struck by the thought that the first kiss they had exchanged there had been the kiss she had seen in the mirror. When she had looked into the mirror she hadn't seen the surroundings, only herself in his arms, his hand beneath her sweater, her arms around his neck.

She drew two conclusions: Sooner or later the things she saw in the mirror came true.

And if the mirror didn't drive her crazy, Kells Braxton surely would.

Li his room Kells paced in front of the fire that burned brightly in the fireplace, cursing, and thanking the G.o.ds that he didn't know where Brians bedroom was. Because if he did, there was no doubt in his mind that he would go there and finish what had been started between them in the mountains.

4.

Bria tossed and turned most of the night, and when she finally fell asleep, she dreamed of Kells. It was as if he had slipped under her skin and was becoming a part of her. She couldn't escape him. She could feel his touch on her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, his mouth on her lips. She could almost feel him inside her...

She awoke to a clear, cold day. And the first thing she did was to place a call to Shamrock.

"Hi, Uncle Rafe."

"Mornin'. How's my favorite niece?"

The laughter that was natural in his voice wanned her. "I'm your only niece. Uncle Rafe."

"Oh, that's right. Why do I always forget that?"

Bria grinned at the running gag between them. "Senility?"

He sighed. "When are you going to learn respect for your elders?"

"Any day now. I feel it coming." "We'll all celebrate, I'm sure."

"I'll let you know when to set off the fireworks. And switching right away to another subject, has Dad told you about the mirror?"

"Sure has. I can't wait to get there and see it."

Bria had never hesitated to ask her uncle a question before, but now she found she was stalling, afraid of his answer.

"Bria?"

"Yes, I'm here. I was just wondering..."

"What?"

"You've read all our family journals, haven't you?"

"Why are you asking me a question you already know the answer to, darlin'? You know I have."

Even though he didn't have an accent, there was a rhythm in his speech that made a person think of Ireland. Bria smiled.

"Yes, well, I was wondering if there was any mention in any of them about the mirror."

"Not a thing. Why?"

She had been afraid it was too much to hope that one of the journals would hold a clue to the mirror.

"Just curious. Do you think you have all the family journals? I mean, could there be more journals somewhere else?"

"I have all that we know about."

"That's what I thought. I was only wondering. Well, I'll let you go."

"Are you sure you don't want to talk to me for a little while longer? I could give you a few clues about your Christmas present."

She giggled. Her uncle Rafe had always had the ability to make her giggle. "And, if I guessed correctly, Aunt Maggie would shoot us both."

"Naw. I'm not that good a clue giver, and you're not that good a guesser."

She giggled again. "What you really mean is that you'd lie if I guessed correctly. Thanks for the offer, but I really do need to go now."

"You were a lot more fun when you were a little girl, Bria Delaney. Whoever it was who told you there was no Santa Claus did you a grave injustice."

Right, she thought. Now she believed in a mirror. "Bye, Uncle Rafe."

"Bye, darlin'."

She stared at the phone for a few minutes, considering.

Okay, so all of the known Delaney family journals were at Shamrock. But she had found a magic mirror in the old part of Killara's attic, a mirror no one had known existed. Maybe she could also find a letter or a note up there that would give her the explanation she needed. It was certainly worth a by.

Several hours later Bria had found a great many interesting things, but not what she was looking for. She checked her watch and discovered it was almost lunchtime. She uttered a mild oath. If she didn't show up, her mother would come looking for her. Reluctantly she left the attic and went to her room to change out of her dusty clothes.

She slipped into a fresh pair of jeans and an ivory silk blouse, all the while telling herself that she wasn't going to look in the mirror.

But the mirror held a strong fascination for her. For some reason, she was the only person it showed anything to. It was wreaking havoc with her life, but...

The mirror, still resting on the chair seat, teased, beckoned-and infuriated her. Taking a defensive stance in front of it, she put her hands on her hips and glared down at the mirror. Her own image glared back at her.

"Oh, come on. Is that the best you can do? Surely you have a surprise for me today. Something that will push me that much closer to complete craziness. Come on. Where's your spirit? Do your worst."

Almost immediately another image appeared.

It was her, with Kells standing behind her. His arm was fastened around her waist, his mouth was at her neck, licking, kissing, biting. She was naked from the waist up, and his hand was squeezing one breast in an erotic caress. Her head fell back against his chest and ecstasy suffused her expression.

She was shocked and utterly riveted. The images she had seen until then had been short flashes; this one seemed to last and last. In the mirror she suddenly turned to Kells and he lifted her into his arms. Then the two of them disappeared, and the mirror's surface was once again smooth, reflective.

She chopped to the edge of her bed, hot, shaken, and breathing hard. She had challenged the mirror, and it had responded with a knockout. The scene couldn't have been more clear-she and Kells were about to make love.

Bria forked a bite of something she had found on her plate and brought it to her mouth. For a brief moment she wondered what she was eating, then her mind quickly returned to the searing image she had seen in the mirror. The memory had her nerves strung so tight, they were almost shrieking in protest.

She couldn't meet Kells's eyes, but she could feel him willing her to look at him. Beneath her lashes she saw his long fingers close around a water goblet, and she remembered how those same fingers had made her feel the day before in the mountains and how they had looked in the mirror as they had caressed her breast. Where touching her was concerned, he was a magician. He could make her feel sensations she hadn't known were available in the entire universe.

She pulled her gaze from his hand and switched it to the low, elegant arrangement of creamy-white poinsettias, glittery gold pinecones, and gold pearl sprays that graced the center of the table. No matter what Kells had made her feel up to this point, he had made it abundantly clear he wasn't interested in anything else happening between them. But she had already learned that what she saw in the mirror came true, and she had seen him lifting her into his arms as if he were about to carry her to bed.

What would it be like to have his powerful body drive into her, she wondered. Immediately the answer came to her. It would be like having undiluted ecstasy pumped straight into her veins.

The conversation whirled around her, but she could focus only on the image of what their two bodies would look like writhing naked on a bed. Desire crept through her body. And all the while, Kells's will pulled at her. Li the end she had no choice. She gave in and looked at him.

His face was hard, his expression questioning, his eyes dark with growing anger. She knew she was acting peculiarly and that he wanted to know why. Desperately she searched her mind for something that would help her.

"Bria? Darling?"

Startled at hearing her name called, she turned to her mother. "Yes?"

"Don't you like the fish?"

She glanced at her plate. So that was what she was eating.

She pushed her plate away and sat back in the chair. "Mom, do you have anything you need in Tucson?

I think I'll fly back there for a few days."

Burke's dark brows rose. "You don't plan to return to work, do you?"

"No, of course not. It's just that Mom doesn't seem to need my help with the house-"

"Honey, I didn't invite you home early to work here. That was just an excuse."

"I know, but I really need to finish up my Christmas shopping." An ever-increasing tension emanated from Kells, and she could see objections forming on her parents' faces. She told herself that she didn't care about Kells's tension. And she was old enough not to need her parents' permission, but she loved them and didn't want to cause them any concern. She hurried to play her ace. "I had planned to wait until Patrick gets back so that we could do our shopping together, as we usually do, but you know how he enjoys buying everything in one long marathon session. I've decided if I stretch my shopping out over a few days, I won't get so tired."

"Will you be able to rest there?" Burke asked, obviously still unconvinced.

"Oh, absolutely." She had no doubt that being away from Kells would increase both her appet.i.te and the number of hours that she slept.

"Maybe it would be a good idea," Cara said slowly, gazing at Burke. "And there are a few last-minute things I do need."

Bria could almost read her mother's silent message to her father. In Tucson, Bria would be away from the mirror.

She envied her parents the strength of their love that allowed them to read each other's minds. She knew true love existed because her parents were such shining examples of it. Their love was deep, complete, and without reserve. She had always hoped for the same kind of love for herself, but so far true love remained out of reach.

Burke slowly nodded his head. "Okay, then, if that's what you want to do. When are you thinking of leaving?"

"This afternoon. The sooner I can get the shopping done, the sooner I can get back. In fact, I think I'll get ready now." With a smile for both her mother and father and a nod in Kells's general direction that barely satisfied propriety, she left the table.

It was all Kells could do during the hour that followed lunch to be civil to Burke. His host was being most congenial, showing him the two-level Baroque-style library. It was a large room, and the thousands of bound volumes it contained were extremely interesting, but slowly, surely, Kells began to feel suffocated.

Maybe being on Killara was getting to him more than he had thought it would, he reflected. Spending time with Burke Delaney was proving to be an irritant, provoking Kells's impatience and anger. And the muscles in his jaw were beginning to ache, a result of his continually clenching them.

He smiled pleasantly at Burke, but didn't hear the man's words. Bria was leaving on some trumped-up excuse; she hadn't even been able to meet his eyes at lunch. What in the h.e.l.l was going on?

There was a pressure building inside him, strengthening, intensifying, becoming rapidly unbearable. Suddenly he opened his mouth and words he had given no thought to came out. "You know, Burke, Bria has given me an idea."

"Oh?"

"It might not be a bad notion for me to do a little shopping while I'm here." The statement astonished him, but the minute he said it, he knew it was absolutely the right thing to do. "I have several people on my Christmas list who would love a uniquely southwestern gift." He laughed. "Actually anything from the States would go over big."

Burke nodded his understanding. "It doesn't matter what kind of great things you can buy where you live, gifts from other places always seem more special."