Wynter's Kiss ( A Paranormal Romance) Read online

  He had been showing up more and more of late, and it was beginning to unnerve her. What he must have considered to be some form of common decency in his sick, twisted, testosterone addled brain, seemed to be wearing very thin of late, and he was becoming increasingly more boorish by the day. He didn’t even bother to try and pretend to make small talk with her anymore. He would merely show up out of nowhere, make a few piggish remarks about how beautiful she had become and blatantly leer at her… almost as if she were his next meal and he was a starving man.

  Wynter shivered straight down through to the marrow of her bones.

  The wolf leader positively made her skin crawl, and she was getting desperate to rid herself of his unwanted attention once and for all. She couldn’t explain it, but he was beginning to frighten her, and she just wanted to be left alone. Was that too much to ask? He had several other wives. What in the hell did he need with her?

  She decided that she needed a break from all of this for a bit. She needed to clear her head. She walked over to the window and looked out. From the look of the sky, a storm was brewing in the distance, but there were still a few hours of daylight left. She might as well blow off a bit of her pent-up energy with a short hike-slash-herb-gathering expedition. That always seemed to invigorate her mind and soul, and maybe it would help her to figure out the writing.

  She shrugged into a light jacket and slipped on her hiking boots. Grabbing her backpack and a bottle of water, she headed out, feeling her entire body relax as soon as she sucked in the cool mountain air.

  Mother Earth at her best, she thought with a smile touching her lips. She loved the peace that seemed to embrace her the moment that she stepped outside and her feet touched the dirt.

  This was where she got her strength from. Not from the woman who had simply given birth to her, or her phantom of a father…or that slime ball alpha wolf!

  At twenty-six years old, Wynter Clarke was a fighter and she’d be damned if she was going to stop now.

  Chapter Three

  Rebecca rapped once on the door of Elsbeth’s cottage before slipping through, finding the old woman sitting in her rocking chair in front of a blazing fire. She turned as Rebecca rushed in and graced her with one of her infamous, near toothless grin, her rheumy blue eyes shining.

  “I take it from your visit, that your strapping son didn’t take to kindly to the news,” she rasped, and Rebecca winced.

  Now that was putting it mildly.

  She walked over and sat down in the small wooden chair opposite of where the seer sat contentedly rocking back and forth as if all was right with the world.

  Rebecca couldn’t help but feel the tiniest bit of frustration at the old girl. How in Hades could the woman be so calm?

  “He was positively livid,” she admitted, and pursed her lips with distaste when the old crone cackled in amusement.

  Sometimes Elsbeth could wear on a person’s nerves faster than nails on a chalkboard, Rebecca thought, then instantly berated herself for being unkind. The seer was as old as dirt. She had her eccentricities, and that was to be expected. She had seen a lot in her many years, not to mention that it was just who she was.

  Rebecca realized that she was just on edge because of her encounter with her mule-headed son.

  “He stormed off to the cabin after insisting that we stay out of his life,” she informed the old woman, shaking her head.

  Elsbeth stopped rocking and leaned forward, her gnarled hand reaching out and laying itself on Rebecca’s knee.

  “All is as it should be, child,” she responded prophetically, which did nothing to ease Rebecca’s mind in the least. “Let the gods do their will, and all shall end as it is intended.”

  Rebecca nodded, knowing that deep down the seer was right. As much as she hated to admit it, she couldn’t control her children. She and Blaine had raised them to be strong and independent. She just hadn’t realized how that would come back to bite her in the ass at the end of the day.

  “I know,” she conceded with a tired sigh. “But sometimes that boy can be infuriating.”

  Elsbeth burst out laughing, the sound very much like that of a crazed wort-hog. “He is far from being a boy,” the seer snickered. “He is a man, who is as strong-willed as his father!”

  “Believe me, Elsbeth, I am painfully aware of that,” Rebecca agreed as her lips began to twitch with the beginnings of a smile.

  She knew that she needed to just let go a little; but since that horrible day she had lost Blaine, she couldn’t help but feel as if her children were all that she had left of the love of her life. The pain was deep, and it was constant, and seeing her children happy and mated would hopefully ease that just a bit. Besides, she wasn’t opposed to chasing a few dozen grandchildren around.

  “All right,” she sighed, nodding her head. “I’ll trust in the fates.”

  Elsbeth gave her knee a reassuring little pat before leaning back and continuing to rock slowly back and forth…back and forth.

  After what seemed to be an eternity of silence to Rebecca, the seer took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

  “The wheels are always in motion, my dear,” she whispered right before Rebecca heard the faint drone of her beginning to snore softly.

  “Well. I guess that’s that,” she chuckled softly, shaking her head with a smile. She stood and headed for the door, silently repeating to herself that the gods would take care of what was meant to be.

  She sure as hell hoped the old bat was right.

  Wynter walked along through the thick foliage, humming lightly as she went. Her hike had proven to be more prosperous than she had hoped, and she giggled softly at the thought of the trove of treasures she had found.

  She had been lucky enough to have stumbled upon an enormous stash of Arrowroot and Mud wort growing wild in a part of the forest new to her, and she felt her excitement growing as she had gathered up the herbs. She didn’t know if it was the coming storm and the electricity in the air, or her find, but she was feeling energized and rejuvenated, and all thoughts of Nico Black had been pushed to the far recesses of her brain with a mighty shove.

  The sound of thunder rumbling off in the distance caused her to snap out of her musings and she looked up at the darkening sky.

  Ah, crap.

  The storm was moving in faster than she’d anticipated, and she stopped, looking around to get her bearings. She could hear the comforting sound of the rushing water of the river off to her left and sighed. It would be much faster to follow the bank back home. The last thing she wanted today was to get soaked to the bone wandering through the damn forest in the middle of a thunderstorm.

  She cursed under her breath as she pushed her way through the thick brush and headed toward the sound of the river, silently saying a prayer that she hadn’t wandered farther from home than she had intended, but she had been lost in her thoughts and hadn’t paid much attention to where she had been going.

  She came through the foliage and groaned. Damn it! She was above the river on an area of steep cliffs. She was going to have to make her way back the way she came and head east if she wanted to end up on the bank.

  “Shit and hell’s fire,” she grumbled, turning to go back into the forest. She stopped short with a joyful gasp as she spotted what looked to be a cluster of morel mushrooms on the edge of the embankment.

  Score!

  Morels only grew in early spring and were one of the rarest and most expensive of the wild mushrooms, not to mention a coveted ingredient in a number of different spells and potions that she had been dying to try, so the chance of getting rained on was well worth the risk.

  What was a little water anyway? It wasn’t as if she would melt, for God’s sake.

  She hurried over to the edge of the cliff and dropped to the ground to gather her cache, her excitement growing with each mushroom she found.

  The day was turning out to be pretty darned fabulous after all. Who would have thought?

  She snagged the mushrooms,
humming softly to herself as she did, her smile widening so much that it was beginning to make her cheeks ache, but she didn’t care. She had just hit the jackpot.

  She shoved them into her pack and slung it back over her shoulders. She was just about to head back when she spotted an enormous plump morel growing off the side of the ledge. It was huge, and she couldn’t stop the squeak of delight that slipped past her lips, thinking of how she would dry them and have enough morels for years to come. She had lucked out and hit the mother lode!

  She leaned forward, stretching to reach the treasure.

  Beneath her, the dirt shifted, began to crumble and give way. She tried to scooch back, but it was much too late.

  A frightened scream burst from her as she tumbled head first down the ravine. Her body rolled head over feet down the dirt and stones of the embankment and toward the river below.

  She hit the bottom with a mighty thud, slamming her head on what could have only been a very large river rock with such force that it caused bright white stars to flash before her eyes before she rolled into the icy river, sucking in a mouthful of water as the violent current pulled her out and under as if she were no more than a fishing bobber.

  Wynter fought for all she was worth and broke the surface, but the raging currents were much too powerful. Dizzy and disoriented, she gasped for air before sinking below the surface yet again.

  Something flashed in the water below.

  Maddox stretched his enormous wings as he slowed to a gentle glide, and turned his massive head, his silver eyes searching the white water beneath him carefully.

  There it was again!

  A woman’s body broke the surface only to be pulled under yet again. He dove downward, reaching out, using his talons to pluck her from certain death.

  His silver scales reflected the light of the sudden bright flash of electricity that cut across the sky as the on-coming storm arrived, and hit in earnest. The sky opened up as if the Heavens had decided to dump everything it had on them all at once, and he soared back upwards.

  Holding her small, lifeless frame cradled in his claws as if she were the most delicate piece of glass, he turned and headed east, the torrential downpour slamming against his muscular frame with a vengeance. He landed in front of the large cabin and gently set her down before shifting to his human form and lifting her up in his arms and rushing inside.

  Maddox slammed through the door of his cabin, out of the violent storm booming around them, and laid her down on the sofa, immediately leaning over her and beginning to perform mouth to mouth, silently praying to the powers that be that he wasn’t too late.

  Good God! Just what in the bloody hell was she doing out in the woods alone?

  She was deathly pale, her exquisite face showing no sign of life whatsoever, and he snarled with defiance.

  “Come on,” he growled with determination before lowering his mouth against hers once more and sharing another breath. “Breathe for me, damn it!”

  He finally felt her body jerk before she erupted in a wet fit of coughing, and it seemed as if half the river was suddenly being expelled from her lungs. She choked and coughed for what had to be a full five minutes before falling back against the sofa and laying still once again. But, at least she was breathing.

  Maddox slipped off her boots and pulled her backpack from her shoulders, setting them aside before rushing upstairs to grab some towels. He carefully dried her off as best he could, before gently covering her with a blanket and going back upstairs to his bedroom to throw on some clothes.

  He was pretty sure she was going to be out for some time.

  Wynter sat up with a desperate gasp as she tried to catch her breath. Her lungs burned as though she had swallowed fire, and it felt as if there was a cement block sitting on top of her chest and she fought with everything she was worth to get it off. It was making her feel claustrophobic.

  “Easy, there.” The deep, husky voice that filled the air around her caused her to snap open her eyes, only to find an enormous hulk of a man sitting in a chair beside the bed she was laying in; his large hand reaching out to gently touch her shoulder, almost as if to reassure her.

  She flinched and moved away from where he sat, pushing herself over to the opposite edge of the bed, not having any idea where she was or what had happened to her. All she knew was that it felt as if she had swallowed an entire lake’s worth of water and her head was pounding ferociously as it spun dangerously to the point of her feeling like she was about to toss her cookies.

  “I’m not going to hurt you,” he reassured her quietly, his piercing grey eyes gentle as they seemed to twinkle from the light glowing beside the bed, and she couldn’t help but believe him. His expression was kind and concerned, and he didn’t seem to pose a threat. At least not one that was obvious.

  “Can I get you something?” he asked, and she watched him silently, not sure what she should do. “I’m Maddox Westbrook, and I was fortunate enough to be the one to pull you out of the river. You must have taken quite a tumble,” he went on, his mouth turning up in a grin that began to crack the wall she was hiding behind just a bit.

  His teeth were incredibly straight and perfectly white against his chiseled, tanned face, which was strong and confident with just a smattering of five o’clock shadow kissing a near perfect jawline. His dark hair was cut short and was unruly in a way that gave him a sexy, bad boy look, yet his expression was soft and almost gentle.

  Holy crap, she thought with an audible gulp, the man was damn easy on the eyes.

  He seemed to be watching her in anticipation, and she realized that he was waiting for her to return the nicety and tell him her name. She opened her mouth to reply, but snapped it shut only a moment later with a painful clack of her teeth when she realized that…she didn’t know what her name was! It was a complete blank.

  She could feel her eyes welling up with tears as she stared back at him in stunned, silent horror, not knowing what to do or say exactly. Why couldn’t she remember her name? Or what had happened to her.

  He leaned forward a bit, his brows furrowing, and she couldn’t help but think that he looked slightly wounded, almost as if she had hurt him.

  “Did I say something to offend you?” he asked, the concern in his words and tone more than evident, and she suddenly felt like a giant ass.

  She shook her head from side to side miserably, feeling the tears beginning to slide from her eyes and wet her cheeks as they ignored her valiant attempt to stave them off.

  “No,” she somehow managed to husk out, painfully aware of how pitiful she sounded and feeling as if she might be sick. “I just…I…” she broke off, a large, painful lump forming in her throat and cutting off her words as she tried to gain some semblance of composure. She couldn’t let this stranger know how frightened she really was. At least not until she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he could be trusted.

  She couldn’t remember a single thing of who she was before opening her eyes-only moments before, and the very thought brought on another round of pure terror.

  Oh, dear Lord. What was happening?

  Maddox watched as the stream of emotions flitted across her face like a tsunami. She turned deathly pale, and her lip began to quiver, giving her a stricken, vulnerable appearance that instantly made him want to protect this tiny being.

  He wouldn’t have guessed that it was possible for her already almost translucent skin to become even more transparent, but it did. She looked absolutely terrified, and he had the overwhelming desire to pull her into his arms and comfort her, but knew that it would only frighten her more. He needed to take it slow with this one. She had taken a nasty tumble, not to mention practically swallowed half a river’s worth of water and had almost drowned. He didn’t need to be scaring the shit out of her by taking her into his arms.

  No matter how much he wanted to.

  He knew that he shouldn’t be thinking it, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself from noticing how incredibly beautiful she
was. Small, yet curvy where a woman should be, with thick blonde hair and eyes the color of turquoise sea glass. Only now, her pale skin was taking on an almost deathly pallor, and he was worried she was going to pass out.

  What could have frightened her so?

  Was it him?

  He knew that he could be intimidating on his best day, and was trying extremely hard not to give off that air with her. He just wanted to find out what had happened to her and who she was.

  “What can I get you?” he asked, being extra careful to keep his tone as gentle as possible. Not a demand, just a simple question.

  “I can’t seem to remember my…my name,” she sniffled miserably, her voice no more than a raspy croak, and Maddox let out the breath he had been unconsciously holding.

  At least she was finally speaking. That was something.

  He pulled his chair a bit closer to the bed and very cautiously took her tiny hand in his, thinking that hers looked so lost in his.

  “You took a nasty fall,” he explained gently, his eyes lifting slightly to glance at the angry knot on her forehead. It was now about the size of a large egg and was beginning to turn a deep nasty purple in color. He had made sure to clean away the blood and to ice it once he’d gotten her settled in, but for all his effort it hadn’t stopped it from swelling up like a damn balloon. He really couldn’t say that he was at all surprised that her memory was muddled at the moment. Christ, the woman had very nearly died. “Just breathe,” he instructed her. “It may take a bit, but your memory will come back.”

  She nodded, swiping the hand that he was not holding across her eyes with the cutest little sniffle, and he knew that she was fighting hard to stop her tears from flowing. They sparkled like diamonds, and he found the sight absolutely captivating.

  “Just breathe,” she repeated, almost as if it were some sort of mantra, her voice not much more than a small, husky whisper.