Kate Daniels 02 - Magic Burns

was muscled like a martial artist or a soldier accustomed to running: lean and hard. And he smelled…he smelled like a man, the way young fit men sometimes smell of sweat and locker room and sun.
    Somewhere far an owl hooted and her cry lingered over the pitch-black water. “What is this place?”
    â€œMorrigan’s refuge. It’s her home.”
    â€œShe’s here?”
    He nodded. “Just not watching at the moment. She sleeps.”
    â€œDoes Morrigan ever come down to Earth?”
    â€œWhy won’t you sleep with me? Afraid of your Rambo boyfriend?”
    â€œRambo is a character in a story. Not real. You didn’t answer my question.”
    He put his arm around me. “Kiss me and I promise I’ll talk.”
    I took his arm off of me. “I don’t think so. That would be a slippery slope.”
    His hand stroked my arm. “Ahhh, so you want me?”
    â€œMaybe a little bit.”
    He smiled.
    â€œI’m still not sleeping with you.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    I thought of Saiman dancing in the snow. “I have a friend who can change his shape. Imagine any body and he can transform into it. He’s invited me into his bed.”
    He frowned. “Can he do a girl?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œI might like to watch that.”
    Men were still men, even if they lived in the mist.
    Bran sat up, pulled the carcass off the fire, and stuck the spit into the ground. A knife flashed and he offered me a half-charred leg. “Here. Might as well feed you since you’re telling me a story. Don’t want to be inhospitable.”
    â€œThanks.” I pulled a shred of meat off the legs and chewed. Sweet aftertaste. Rabbit.
    â€œSo what is it with you? Saving yourself for marriage?”
    I guffawed. “Too late for that.”
    â€œWhy won’t you play nice with your friend then? Seems to me, the man’s working pretty hard. How long has he been after you?”
    â€œAbout a year. He just keeps switching bodies like they were outfits, but no matter what body he wears, I know it’s him.”
    â€œDon’t like him that much, yeh?”
    I shrugged. “He doesn’t do anything for me. There were times when he came at me with something that might have been fun, if it weren’t him. But in the end, I always remember that he isn’t interested in me. If I was thrilled, he wouldn’t be happy with me; if I was on the verge of suicide, he wouldn’t care. I might as well sleep with a blow-up doll. He’s only interested because I said no the first time.”
    â€œThat’s why all men are interested.”
    â€œTrue, but with him it ends with my body. Normal men eventually look for companionship.”
    He shook his head. “No. Women look for that. Men look for bedsport.”
    I smiled. “If it were so, why did you invite me to sit by you?”
    â€œI figure I’ll change your mind.”
    â€œYou won’t.”
    â€œSo you say.”
    â€œWhen was the last time you had a dinner like this with another person?”
    He shrugged. “I don’t remember.”
    â€œSo you just eat by yourself? All alone?”
    â€œWhat’s it to you?” His voice cut with a hostile edge.
    â€œNothing, just curious.”
    He poked at the coals with a long stick.
    I finished my meat and lay on my back, stretching my feet to the fire. It’d been a long day. I lost Julie and I still had no clue where her mom had gone. At least Andrea didn’t die.
    I became aware of Bran watching me. Our stares connected and he went down for a kiss, but I put my hand onto his lips. “I don’t want to headbutt you a third time. Trust me, if I change my mind, you’ll be the first to know.”
    He sat up, picked up a twig and snapped small pieces off of it, throwing them into the fire one by one. “I don’t understand you. I used to be good at this. Good at women. Now…You have a forward manner about you.”
    I frowned. “I don’t think I’m that forward.”
    â€œYou are. Most women are now. Used to be that if a woman sat next to you like this and you fed her, it was understood she would lie on her back for you. Otherwise, why bother? Women now, they are brazen. Forward. They will sit there and they wear tight clothes, but they won’t sleep with you. They want to talk. What is there to talk about?”
    I sat up and hugged my knees. “Bran, I