He climbed onto the mattress. "With an emphasis on the buff part."

"Yeah." She grinned. "I haven't noticed that you have any problem getting naked."

"No." He caressed the slope of her breast. "But I kind of like my undressing to be confined to groups of two."

"So do I." She leaned closer and pressed her mouth to his neck, where she began trailing kisses from there to his collarbone. "I haven't been naked in a crowd for years. Not my thing. I'm not part of a coven, either. I'm what you call a solitary witch."

Her explanation eased some of his anxiety. Besides, they'd spent more time on the subject than he wanted to give it. He slipped his hand between her thighs and discovered her hidden springs rising to the surface. "You seem pretty happy to be entertaining company tonight."

"Mm." She moaned softly as he probed her dampness with his fingers. "You're reminding me of my hostess duties."

"Is that right?" He hoped she'd remembered her promise.

"Uh-huh." Wiggling closer, she reached around him and opened the bedside table drawer.

He could have her wiggle and reach all day, considering how the movements caused her to rub her b.r.e.a.s.t.s against him and open her thighs to give him more access for his fingers.

Apparently she had a purpose other than that, though, because she produced a condom that she held between two fingers right in front of his nose. "You'll need this for the next stage," she murmured, her voice turned husky by his caress.

He loved that he could affect her that way. But he positively adored the way she rolled to her stomach, even though she dislodged his fingers in the process.

She more than made up for that when she pushed herself to her hands and knees and glanced sideways at him. "Whenever you're ready, Jasper."

If he hadn't fallen in love with her before, her saucy behavior now would have done the trick. He couldn't get that condom on fast enough or find his spot behind her soon enough. Then, sweet heaven, he was living a fantasy.

In the light from a host of flickering candles, he took her in the most basic, primitive fashion. If ever a s.e.xual position was designed to emphasize s.e.x and only s.e.x, this was it. Yet by offering herself to him this way, she'd triggered that emotion he'd nearly revealed earlier tonight.

His need for her was raw and hungry, no doubt about it. But threaded through that urgency was a tenderness that prompted him to lean forward, even in the midst of his rampant l.u.s.t, and kiss her shoulder.

"Thank you," he whispered against her skin. Then all rational thought evaporated in the surge of s.e.xual excitement as he grasped her hips and pounded into her. The rhythmic slap of his thighs against hers filled the room. The candlelight seemed fitting, as if they were in a cave deep in the earth.

For this moment she was his mate and he was hers. Her back arched as she tensed beneath him. He reveled in the music of her cries as she came, and only then did he allow himself the release he craved. At the moment of o.r.g.a.s.m, he knew without a doubt that he loved this woman with a fierceness that shook him to his core.

But he wouldn't tell her. She'd made it clear that she wasn't ready to hear it.

They tumbled to the mattress and lay, panting and covered with sweat. He put his lips close to her ear. "Do you fly on that broom, Anica?"

"Yes," she murmured. "Yes, I do."

"Is it as good as this?"

Her laughter was breathless and filled with the satisfaction of good s.e.x. "Not even close."

He smiled. Maybe the magic wasn't so threatening, after all.

Anica woke with a start. She hadn't meant to fall asleep. She would bet Jasper hadn't meant to, either. He'd planned to go through her magic books in the time he had left and search out more clues for breaking the spell.

But they'd decided to cuddle for a few minutes and she'd nestled into the curve of his body, spoon fashion. She'd been asleep before she took three breaths.

That was irresponsible on her part. She knew better than to fall asleep with candles burning, but all was well. She'd been asleep only an hour, and the candles were in protective holders. She'd lost a precious hour with Jasper, though. He was within five minutes of his changing time.

She started to turn toward him to see if he was awake, but before she could do that, his arm tightened around her and pulled her close.

"I know," he said. "I know."

"Did you sleep, too?"

"No." He nestled his beard-stubbled chin against her shoulder. "I didn't think we should both sleep with all these lit candles."

She was mortified that he'd had to take over the job that should have been hers. "I lit them, so I should have put them out. I can't believe I just fell asleep like that, as if I had no responsibility."

"I'm glad you did. I'm sure you were exhausted. And I covered for you."

"Thank you." She seemed to be depending on other people a lot more recently-first Lily and now Jasper. It was a novel and not altogether comfy feeling to give up that control.

"My pleasure." He gave her a squeeze that was more friendly than s.e.xual, which was wise considering the ticking clock. "I liked lying here with you, watching the candles flicker while you slept. Gave me time to decide something."

Her pulse rate picked up. "Oh?"

"I'm going to take a guess about the spell. I was afraid to waste one of my three in case I'm wrong, but on the other hand, I don't want to waste an entire day, either, in case I'm right."

Her chest tightened with fear and she hoped he couldn't sense it. "You're sure? I thought you wanted to do more research first."

"Don't worry." He laughed. "If I'm not right, I won't make another guess until I've read every d.a.m.n book on your bookshelf."

She was impressed that he could laugh when the stakes were so high. He had more courage than she'd given him credit for. And they were almost out of time for him to make that guess. "What is it, then?

"That I gain minutes every time I do a good deed."

Relief flooded through her, and she rolled over to pull him into a fierce hug of triumph. "You're right." She nearly choked on the words, she was so excited for him. "Oh, Jasper, you guessed it!"

"Thank G.o.d!" He hugged her back so tightly that her spine popped. Then he kissed her hard on the mouth before scrambling out of bed. "I have to leave."

"Jasper, it's okay! Please don't feel as if you have to leave when you-" She stopped talking, because he was gone. She could follow him, of course, but he obviously didn't want that.

She lay there staring at the candles. Now he knew. Now they could talk about it. Now she could help him lift the curse. It was wonderful, wasn't it? Why should she be worried?

The answer wasn't pretty. Right now, while he was still partly a cat, he needed her. He stayed in the apartment, stayed with her, because he had to have a safe place to live when he returned to his cat status.

Anica had told both Lily and herself that she hated having his fate in the palm of her hand. She was ashamed to admit that maybe she secretly liked having that much control over him. Once he managed to transform himself back forever he wouldn't need her anymore. Her control would be gone. He might be gone, too.

Chapter 22.

Jasper barely made it to the kitchen before the change hit him. He'd learned to go with it instead of resisting, which made the crossover ten times easier. He'd be glad when this didn't happen to him every night, but he wasn't horrified the way he had been the first couple of times he'd changed back into a cat.

And this change was the sweetest of all, because now he knew the secret for lifting the spell. Soon he'd be in charge of his life again. He'd already decided it wouldn't be the same life, though.

Living as a cat, he'd come to appreciate some things he'd never paid much attention to before. He'd been too busy rushing from one thing to the next, going for the big score in the market, making sure he had tickets to opening night of whatever play was hot that season, hurrying to the gym and staying on the phone the entire time he was working out.

He'd never bothered to stop and enjoy whatever was right in front of him because he'd been too busy looking ahead to the next great thing, which was bound to be so much better than what he had going on at the moment. He knew now that nothing could be better than making love to Anica in a room filled with candlelight and then lying quietly, watching over her while she slept.

Staying with her all night would be a bonus, though, and he wanted to get to that point ASAP. When he was fully transformed into a cat, he trotted out to the living room, hopped on the desk chair, and turned on the computer. Typing wouldn't be nearly as smooth as it had been four hours ago, but there were compensations. Cats didn't get carpel tunnel or stiff necks. At least he hoped cats didn't.

Now that he knew he'd be changing back permanently, he could allow himself to appreciate the good things about his feline self. He could leap to heights five or six times taller than he was. Even Michael Jordan hadn't been able to do that.

He was now a champion nap-taker, too, and he had to acknowledge that naps lowered his stress levels. He also had meditation skills to rival the Dalai Lama and the patience of . . . well, of a saint. As a man he used to sit and drum his fingers on the desk while his computer booted up. Now he simply sat and waited.

Would any of his cat skills transfer to his human self? Not the leaping ability, of course, but he had hopes for a calmer approach, a more in-the-moment philosophy once he returned to his other life. He realized with some surprise that there were things he'd miss about being a cat.

Not the lack of opposable thumbs, though. Computers were designed for people and he struggled whenever he had to use this one. Yet he'd learned how, and the computer could be one of his main sources of salvation now. He signed on to the Internet.

As he was calling up the animal rescue site, he heard soft footsteps and knew Anica was up. Her scent drew nearer as she approached the desk, and the rustle of silk told him she'd put on a bathrobe.

He'd learned to depend on his cat senses and had missed them during those times when he'd transformed into a man. Consequently he'd learned to compensate by paying better attention. He'd like to hang on to that tendency, too.

"I heard the computer boot up." She yawned. "I thought I'd come out and see what you're doing."

Jasper opened a Word file so he could type a message to her. He clicked on the lock function and typed in U NED SLP.

She laughed softly. "You know, that last word could be slap instead of sleep. I might need a slap more than I need sleep, come to think of it." RUIN2 S & M He didn't think that at all, but he was feeling good and wanted to tease her a little bit.

"Nope."

GD.

"But I have a confession to make, Jasper. A part of me has enjoyed the past few days."

PRT OF ME 2.

"That's nice of you to say."

MY DCK.

She hooted with laughter, and he was proud of himself for making her lose it. That was another thing he wanted that had largely been missing in his human life. He wanted more play. Naked play with Anica would be even better.

"Okay, Jasper, my hoo-ha has certainly enjoyed the past few days, but I've also discovered that I've enjoyed the control I've had over this situation, which is not good. I'm going to work on that, which would be especially important if I'm about to get my magic back."

YES.

She took a deep breath. "Yes. s.e.x with you is a good practice ground for giving up control."

NCE.

"It is nice. Very nice." She paused. "Jasper, I . . ." He waited, wondering if she would choose this moment to reveal the depth of her feelings. Now wouldn't be the best timing in the world, when all he could do was type his response. But he'd take the words whenever he could get them.

Telling him how she felt about him would be the ultimate loss of control, though. She might not be there yet. He'd just been mentally bragging on his increased patience, so this would give him a chance to test it.

"I should let Orion out of the closet," she said at last.

With a little sigh, Jasper minimized his Word file and went back to the animal rescue site. If only he knew the amount to give that would do the trick. He didn't seem to be getting hours in proportion to what he was giving.

Other factors must be at work, and he was still holding out hope that each o.r.g.a.s.m he gave Anica counted. That would be sweet. His e-mails to Sheila, Kate and Deb might do something for him. At least he hoped they were in the good-deed category. He'd meant for them to be.

Still, the animal rescue site offered the most clear-cut opportunity for good works. His American Express was a no-limit card, so theoretically he could put anything he wanted to on there. He'd have to pay it next month, though, and he'd rather not empty his IRA and savings to do that. The condo didn't have much equity yet.

He might strike gold at work, but the market was like a temperamental lover. Whenever he tried too hard to woo her she turned into a b.i.t.c.h. So no guarantees from that corner.

He was talking about his freedom, though. He had five hours, and he needed nineteen more to make a whole day. Logic said to charge whatever amount he thought might buy him nineteen hours and worry about how to pay for it later.

Yeah, but what would that amount be? He didn't want to overshoot it by thousands. He'd never know whether he did or not, which would be frustrating in itself.

Anica's footfalls were almost noiseless on the carpet, but Jasper could smell that combination of sugar and spice coming closer. The scent of male cat came with her this time, which meant Orion was out of the closet.

"What has you so mesmerized, Jasper?" She paused to glance at the screen. "Aha! You're going to make a donation. Smart."

Jasper didn't feel all that smart. He'd love to talk to that witch and wizard and find out if they could be more specific about how this worked. If he knew for a fact that nineteen grand would buy him nineteen hours, he'd probably just do it. But he didn't know that, and he would have a h.e.l.l of a time paying that money back.

"I would help you navigate the computer." Anica crouched down next to the desk so she could stroke Orion. "But I'm afraid if I did the typing for you that might counteract the value of your good deed."

He sure didn't want that happening, especially because he was toying with the idea of giving ten grand. Even if it didn't take him all the way, he should get a huge chunk of time for that. If he transformed early enough in the day, he might be able to use those extra hours to do more good deeds.

Still, ten grand was a lot of money. He could probably get an equity loan for that amount, but that would add significantly to his debt load. Of course, if he didn't transform back into a man soon, he could kiss his job goodbye and then he'd be in real financial trouble.

And if the worst happened and he never completely made the transition, he would have far bigger problems than being in debt. He typed in the numbers before he lost his nerve.

Behind him, Anica gasped. "Jasper! That's a small fortune! It's a good cause, but I'm sure you don't need to give them that much." She reached around him and tried to grab the mouse.

He batted it away, something he was especially good at.

"Jasper, behave. I'm sure that lifting the spell doesn't require that you spend ten thousand dollars." She reached for the mouse again.

But he had cat reflexes. Leaping to the desk, he threw himself on top of the mouse. Growling, he gathered it underneath his body.

"Don't be crazy." Anica began pulling on the cord connecting the mouse to the computer. "Let me have the mouse before you do something really dumb."

He stared at her while gripping the mouse with the claws of his back feet. Too bad he couldn't talk. He'd tell her that she hadn't quite given up that habit of hers, the one where she wanted to control things. He was a grown man-well, at least for a few hours every evening-and he had the right to donate whatever money he chose to whatever cause he chose.

She pulled harder on the cord, and he growled a warning. He didn't want to scratch her, but she was messing in his business.

"You're being incredibly stubborn. Tomorrow night we can brainstorm ways you can earn minutes. Now that you know how the spell can be reversed, I'm free to help you strategize. I'm sure we can come up with things that don't require some ma.s.sive infusion of money."

Little did she know. He'd already given $4,700, and his five hours of being a man wasn't all due to that donation, either. He didn't think $10k would even be enough, but it was the amount he could give away without hyperventilating.