Impractical Magic Part 16

"I wish dragons were real," the boy said with a sigh. "It would be totally awesome."

"Oh, s.h.i.t," Rose muttered.

Before Brand could question her change of att.i.tude, the reason became clear. A small dragon appeared on the gra.s.s near them, gleaming gold and green in the sunlight, its scales brilliant, its eyes luminescent. Fortunately it was only the size of a husky and appeared as surprised to be there as they were to see it.

"Mom, look at that!" the boy exclaimed.

"Oh, Lord, how do I explain this?" Rose whispered.

"I'll handle it." Brand stepped forward. She didn't have to be alone with her magic any longer. "Allow me to introduce myself," he said to the mother and child. "I'm Brand Goodfellow, magician. The dragon you think you see is merely an illusion I'm working on."

"An illusion?" the mother echoed.

He nodded. "Appears real, doesn't it?"

"For sure," the boy said.

Hearing Rose snort behind him, Brand glanced at her. "What?"

Mischief danced in her eyes. "Your illusion just set a trash can on fire."

Brand pivoted to see the dragon sneeze, emitting a single stream of flame that thankfully disintegrated before it reached anything flammable. "I'm going to tackle it." He couldn't allow the creature to run loose.

"I'll help." Rose placed herself opposite him as they circled the dragon.

"No magic left?" Brand had to ask, though he already suspected the answer. After all, the boy had wished for a dragon. Receiving a miniature version was enough to show the diminishing strength of Rose's power.

"Not for wishes." She grimaced. "I'll have to use my magic myself."

"Look out." Brand leaped on the dragon as it charged toward Rose. Wrapping his arms around the thick neck, he hung on as the creature fought with the fierceness of a bucking bull. Unfortunately, Brand was a magician, not a cowboy. He flew from the dragon, skidding across the gra.s.s before he finally crashed into a bush.

Rose rushed to his side. "Are you all right?"

The concern in her voice mirrored that in her face, and Brand's chest tightened. This woman was definitely doing things to him. "I think so." He tested each limb before climbing to his feet.

"Are you sure that's an illusion?"

Brand jerked around as the mother spoke. d.a.m.n, they were still here. He forced a smile. "Just working out the bugs. Stay back now."

"Need help?"

At the already too familiar accent, Brand focused on Ewan as he appeared beside a tree. The faery dressed more like them now in jeans and a T-shirt, but he still looked Fae. Nothing could change that bone structure or those penetrating eyes. "Ewan." The joy in Sequoia's voice alarmed Brand. The last thing he neede was his a.s.sistant getting mixed up with this crazy faery.

She stepped toward Ewan, then paused. "Can you help?"

Ewan bowed with a sweep of his arm. "It would be my pleasure." He murmured a few words, and the dragon vanished from where it was munching on a bush. Brand released a sigh of relief in tandem with Rose, and they grinned at each other. Ewan could come in handy when he wasn't being annoying.

Hearing applause behind him, Brand whirled around to see his audience hadn't left. Producing his most charming grin, he pulled two tickets for his show from his pocket- a habit he was glad he'd formed-and handed them to the mother. "Thank you. It needs work yet, but you can see what else I'm doing by coming to my performance tonight."

"That would be wonderful. Thank you." The mother eyed the tickets with delight. "We'll be there."

The boy asked a few more questions, but soon they left, enthusiastic about coming to the show. "You do good work, Brand," Rose said, coming to his side. "And you, too, Ewan. Thank you."

Ewan nodded his head once in acknowledgment. "Cute fellow, that dragon. I always seem to run into the nasty full-grown ones."

Rose's eyes grew wide as she asked the question in Brand's mind. "They're real?"

"In the magical realm." Ewan eyed her with a thought-fulness that twisted Brand's gut into a knot. Was he planning to use this to lure Rose there? "They live in the mountains."

"Wow, real dragons," Rose murmured.

"I could take you to see them," Ewan offered.

Dismay crossed Sequoia's face, and Brand curled his hand into a fist. Let the faery try.

But Rose merely twisted her lips in a wry smile. "I'm sure you could, but I don't think so."

Ewan frowned. "I don't understand you."

That was an understatement. Brand had been trying for years.

"Good." Rose took a step toward the hotel. "Now that Sequoia feels better and my magic is drained, let's get some breakfast. I'm starved."

Brand shook his head but fell into step with her, his own stomach rumbling in response. "Are you always hungry?"

She shot him an impish grin. "Of course not. It only appears that way."

Glancing over his shoulder, Brand noted Ewan and Sequoia had remained behind. He was not about to leave the two of them alone together. "Coming, Sequoia?"

She hesitated, then nodded. "Join us, Ewan?"

As if hearing Brand's unvoiced command to refuse, Ewan shook his head. "I will see you later."

He disappeared, but that didn't bother Brand nearly as much as the look that crossed Sequoia's face. d.a.m.n, she was involved with him. Or wanted to be.

Brand had enough trouble in his life with Rose. He definitely didn't need his a.s.sistant longing for a faery, too. When she joined him, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Better to keep her close at hand for the remainder of the day and away from Ewan.

When it came to protecting himself from wanting someone unattainable, Brand was lousy, but he would do his best to save Sequoia from what had to be ultimate heartache.

When dealing with the Fae, there was no other alternative.

Sequoia entered her room, surprised her morning headache hadn't returned after a terminally long day. With the evening performance finally over, she could turn her attention to Ewan's reappearance. Why had he come back? She hadn't seen him since this morning. Would he return? Dealing with him was going to take careful planning and control of her emotions. And finally she had the time to do that.

She turned, then gasped when she found Ewan behind her. "What the heck are you doing here?" she demanded, her pulse leaping into overdrive. For a long minute he didn't say anything, but the intensity of his gaze created the same reaction as if he'd touched her. Her skin warmed and the yearning for him that never quite went away flared.

"I want you," he said finally, his tone flat.

Sequoia's heart added an extra beat, but she managed to keep her expression bland. "What if I don't want you?" Not that she didn't, but what if? He took a step closer, his body heat mingling with hers. "It doesn't matter. I am Fae. If I want you, I will have you." She dropped her jaw. Did he realize what he was saying? Did he mean it? "It doesn 't matter"! Boy, you really do come from a different world, don't you?"

His eyes darkened. "You cannot resist me."

Narrowing her gaze, Sequoia released a harsh laugh. Obviously, he didn't know her very well. "Watch me."

She bent her knees slightly, ready to shift her weight, and waited for him to make the next move. This arrogant faery was due a rude awakening. When he reached for her shoulder, she swept her right foot behind his knees, grateful for the years of kickboxing lessons. She might be small, but she was plenty tough as other-more mortal-men had discovered from time to time. Ewan crashed to the floor with the grace of collapsing scenery. While he was trying to regain his breath, Sequoia flipped him to his stomach, then sat on his back and twisted his arm behind him.

'That hurts!" he cried.

"It's supposed to hurt." She wrenched his arm a little harder and retained her seat when he tried to buck her off.

"I can destroy you." Anger sizzled in his words, sending a tremor of unease through her.

He probably could, but if he tried, he wasn't worthy of her love, that was for sure. "You're welcome to try." She kept her hold on his arm. "But first you're going to listen to me, Mr. Macho Fae. No man-mortal or Fae-threatens me like that. If I share my body with you or anyone else, it is because I choose to."

"There will not be anyone else."

She sighed. "Are you even listening to me? I'm not some stupid bimbo who's going to be grateful simply because you want to have s.e.x with me."

"No, you're not." He sounded resigned, but before she could question him, he disappeared and she fell to the floor with a thud, her legs splayed.

"Ow." She swung her legs beneath her so she could stand.

"You're very different from Fae women."

She twisted around to see Ewan standing across the room. His eyes blazed with an otherworldly quality-a contrast to his very tight jeans and T-shirt. He was so devastatingly handsome, he made her chest hurt. The trick was to not let him know that.

She eyed him warily. Was this round two? "Why are you here, Ewan?" She spoke with a calmness she was far from feeling. "Really."

"I missed you," he said, his gaze holding hers.

Darn, but he knew the right thing to say. "Did you?"

"You're a mortal. I should not want to be with you. I should not dream of making love to you."

He sounded so disgusted with himself that Sequoia had to grin as she stood. "You say the sweetest things."

"I did not want to come back here."

"Oh?" She stepped closer to him, enjoying the gleam that appeared in his eyes. "Then why did you?"

"I could not return to the magical realm without Rose."

Her heart sank, but she kept her smile in place. "I see."

"And you have not yet taught me what this human love is."

"True." His words said one thing, but his eyes displayed more emotion than he probably realized. He might be closer to learning about love than he thought. "I guess you need to come with me to the hospital tomorrow."

"Perhaps I will."

She stopped in front of him, her insides knotting. Was he just here to make love or was it something more? Was she reading more into his turmoil than there actually was? "I missed you, too, Ewan." He touched her cheek. "When I am with you, life seems more vibrant, more interesting." Her throat closed so that she could barely talk. "Welcome to the mortal world." Dipping his head slowly, cautiously, he kissed her with such tenderness that tears sprang to her eyes. For all of his macho nonsense, he was still the one she loved. She drew back and cupped his face between her hands.

"I'm going to make love to you." She'd known that from the moment he first appeared. She kissed him quickly. "With your permission, of course." He wrapped his arms around her, molding her to his muscular frame. "Permission granted." She eased out of his hold and placed his hands by his side. "No touching allowed until I say so. I'm going to make love to you first."

His eyebrows lowered. "That is not the way it is done."

"Humor me." She slid her hands under his shirt. "I intend to have you begging me for more before I'm done."

He straightened. "I am Fae. I do not beg."

Sequoia only smiled and lifted her lips to his. He really did have a lot to learn.

And later-much later-he begged.

Fourteen.

There she is. Brand caught sight of Rose leaving the hotel elevator and headed for her. d.a.m.n. He swiped his damp palms on his pants. This was ridiculous. He had nothing to be nervous about.

"Rose." He linked his arm through hers, not giving her a chance to escape. "Eaten yet?"

"No, I-"

"Good." He steered her to the hotel's restaurant and secured them a table. "I want to talk to you."

She eyed him warily as she sat. "What about?"

Drawing in a deep breath, he sat across from her and waved away the waitress who approached. "Actually I want to apologize."

Rose lifted one eyebrow. "This I definitely have to hear."

"It's about the other night, the things you said." Things that still ate at him even two days later, no matter how much he tried to ignore it. Her amus.e.m.e.nt faded. "Then I need to apologize, too. I wasn't myself. I lit into you pretty hard."

And how. Brand quirked his lips. "You evidently needed to get it out." "Yeah." Rose glanced down at the tablecloth, drawing designs with her fingertip. "Losing your friendship still hurts after all these years. Stupid, but true."

Brand reached across to cover her hand with his. "I never meant to hurt you. I know that's hard to believe, but I was more concerned with me." When she glanced at him from beneath lowered lashes, he gave her a wry smile. "Hey, give me a break. I was thirteen and so jealous I couldn't see straight, let alone think straight."

"We were both young and stupid." Rose turned her hand so that her fingers linked with his, her expression serious, her gaze haunted. "But we're neither now." Brand glanced at their clasped hands, unable to deny the surge of desire that simple touch created. "What do you say we start over?"

"I'm not sure we can." Rose squeezed his hand, then drew hers away. "I still have magic and you still want it."

"I also want you." No matter how many times he tried to explain his attraction away rationally, he couldn't deny the need to touch her, the fire in his blood when he was near her.