He could not see it.
But he did not know what might happen to the relic when the curse was broken. Would it stay firmly on her wrist, proof that Millicent would be his one true love? Or would it dissolve into a thousand bits?
Gareth strode around the bed, his eyes searching, his breath shallow and erratic. He pulled back a corner of the silk sheet, exposing Millicent’s bare arm, the relic lying a few inches away from her bent elbow. The gleam of milky opalescence winked at him, the moonstone gem mocking all of his hopes. The bracelet had loosened from her wrist. He could still feel his soul bound to it. His feelings for Millicent had not broken the spell.
Fury welled up inside of him. He had been fooling himself. Whatever feelings he thought he had for Millicent weren’t strong enough. He thought he might have been falling in love with her… but after all these centuries, did he even know what true love was? Aah, the relic twisted his thoughts, made him doubt himself.
And it still bound him; he could almost hear it now, calling to him. Wanting to choose another woman, to tighten the metal about her wrist and shackle her to him. But Gareth wanted to explore these feelings he had for Millicent. He did not want to leave her yet.
His anger faded as quickly as it had come, settling within him to be replaced by grief. He should not have hoped. It always failed him. Perhaps it had all been a lie. The spell would never be broken. He would be trapped inside the relic forever, doomed to watch Millicent grow old and die, and forced to live on without her.
Gareth collapsed on the bed, holding his head within his hands, fighting the despair. He could not give up. He must believe that Merlin would not be this cruel. Perhaps… perhaps only a woman’s love would break the curse. Perhaps she must love him. His shoulders slumped. Verily, that would be harder than anything he had ever thought possible. For Millicent feared love too much to fully embrace it.
“I told you I wasn’t the one.”
He glanced up. She looked lovely, with her midnight hair spilling about her creamy shoulders, her amber eyes glowing like beacons of golden-etched flame.
His heart lifted at the sight of her, and he straightened. “I thought my love for you would be enough.”
Her eyes widened. “Love? You think you’re in love with me?”
Gareth frowned. “I thought so… I think so. The relic has me all confused. But… I do know that I don’t want to leave you. That I’d like to explore these feelings I have for you.”
“And give up your quest for freedom?”
Gareth hesitated to tell her about his theory that perhaps it would take her love to free him. Millicent already felt unequal to the task. “I am tired unto death of dancing attendance on Merlin’s curse. And I think your firebird gave me good advice.”
“Nell? What did she say?”
“That I should follow my own heart. Make my own path.”
She picked up the bracelet, weighing it in her hand. “So what do you want me to do with this?”
Gareth stretched toward her, laid his head in her lap. She started, but a throaty purr sounded in the back of her throat. “What do you wish, my lady?”
He would not force himself on Millicent. The relic had forced him on so many women, that he could not stomach the thought of doing the same. He felt her eyes on the length of his body, and he instantly hardened, bringing a flush to those pale cheeks.
She hid behind a scowl. “Well, I certainly will not turn the relic over to Selena. Despite her sudden overwhelming devotion to you, she’ll still go along with whatever evil plans the duke manages to come up with.”
Gareth had a lovely view of the underside of her breasts. “Then shall you turn it over to another? Whom will you choose to bed me next?”
Her purr turned into a low growl. “I will not… I cannot… What have I gotten myself into?”
He smiled. He had so hoped she would object to relinquishing him to another, but with Millicent, he could never be sure. “Perhaps you might keep it.”
She gripped the relic in one strong hand, but reached down with the other to gently smooth the hair away from his face, to run her fingers through the tangle. His eyes half-closed from the pleasure of her touch.
“How is that possible?” she breathed. “Lady Chatterly said it will remain on a woman’s wrist for only one night, and then choose another after… you know.”
Gareth found her hesitancy to say the words rather charming. Such contradictions, his Millicent. He sat up, took the bracelet from her. “Does it matter whether it fits your wrist or not? Why should the enchantment always choose whom I should be with?” He shook his head. “Nay, it is time for me to choose. And I choose for you to keep it if… if you will have it.”
She looked uncertain, and hesitated to do his bidding, the circle of silver held poised over her hand. “If I continue to wear it, you will not be able to find the woman who can release you. I cannot condemn you to your prison, even if the thought of another woman touching you makes me want to tear her apart with my claws.”
Gareth smiled at the possessiveness in her voice, the weight of eternal sadness he always seemed to carry inside of him suddenly easing its grip. “This is my choice, my lady. And I choose to stay with you.”
She sat silent for a time, and finally murmured, “I will keep it on just until we are away from this evil place. Then I will let you go.”
“Will you?” Gareth reached up, stroked the underside of her breast, and felt her shiver.
“I have to. You deserve to find your true love.”
He did not argue with her. He had lived too long, had too much experience with women, to succumb to the temptation. She loved him a little, or at least thought she did. If he had learned one true thing about women, it was that they would not take someone to their bed unless they thought they were in love.
She would realize soon enough that she would never let him go.
He would not allow it.
She slipped the bracelet over her wrist, and the band of silver tightened. He felt her recoil, as hesitant at being trapped as he. “What just happened?”
Gareth stared at the bracelet. “I… I am not sure. I did not know it would tighten about your wrist… I have never asked a woman to keep it before.” His heart soared. Could it mean he had a chance? That Millicent had the potential to be his true love? Damn Merlin and his enigmatic curse!
“It cannot possibly mean—”
“I do not know what it means, my lady. I seem to always have more questions than answers.”
“Well… just don’t get your hopes up. I am not some heroine from a fairy tale, whose sweet nature and kind heart can break a curse. I am sure it will fall off once we make love again.”
Gareth’s heart skipped a beat. Aah, she was already thinking about making love to him again. He leaned forward and buried his face in her sweet-smelling hair. “We should not wait a moment longer to find out—”
“Shh. Did you hear—?”
Her gaze snapped towards the door, and Gareth turned toward it, but he did not have her animal-senses, and could hear nothing but silence. Silence? Nell had been snoring but a moment ago, the sound loud enough to penetrate the thick plank of the bedroom door.
Millicent shifted so quickly that Gareth flipped over at the sudden increase of mass. He expected her panther to leap for the door, to attack whatever intruder her keener senses had detected. But instead, she opened her massive jaw and went for his throat. Thank the Lord for centuries of experience, for his body reacted without thinking, twisting to avoid her attack, then leaping for his sword that he’d left lying next to the bed.
When he rose to his feet, he stared at the weapon in his hand. At the bristling fury of the black panther now facing him amid the rumpled silk sheets. He could never harm Millicent—or her beast. His hand loosened on his sword, and he was about to drop it when the door burst open.