He released the ties, removed his hands, and slipped her nightgown down over her shoulders to her waist. He wasted not a minute. His hands immediately went to work on her muscles, kneading, ma.s.saging, and forcing them to surrender.

Sarina thought for certain that his hands possessed magic, for she hadn't expected anything to work on her warring muscles. She thought herself doomed for days until the muscles finally wore themselves out and surrendered.

She sighed and a yawn followed.

"I a.s.sume that means my touch pleases you?"

Her reply was a simple, "Mmmm."

Margaret soon appeared with the moist, hot towels and informed Dagon she would return shortly with

breakfast for Sarina.

"Mmmm," was again heard when Dagon applied a hot towel to her neck and shoulders.

"Is that all you can say?" he teased, ma.s.saging her lower back while the towel worked its magic.

Sarina turned her head slowly so her reply would be clearly heard. "You would make a wonderful

mate."

His question came before thought. "And do you look for one?"

Her response came on a whisper. "A special one."

He wondered what she considered special. What were the qualities she looked for in a mate? "How

special?" "One special enough to accept who I am and not allow it to trouble him. One special enough to be there for me no matter what the situation, and one special enough to rescue me even from myself."

"Rescuing you alone would keep him awfully busy," Dagon said teasingly.

She laughed softly in return. "Yes, he probably would have his hands full, though I would richly

compensate him."

"How?" he asked curiously.

"I will love him with a love that is rare. A love he has never experienced before and even thought to

exist. A love born with the dawn of time, encompa.s.sing s.p.a.ce and the heavens above. A love that fills dreams and creates fantasies. A love that he will feel in my every touch and kiss. A love that will be uniquely ours."

Dagon sat speechless, his hands stilled at her waist. A rare love . He had often wondered if such a love existed and she was right. It was a love born of dreams and fantasies. One forever searched for but rarely found.

Was that why in his search for a mate he had not considered love? Did he favor a rare love and believing it impossible to find did he decide on a more practical choice? Was he settling for less because he thought he would not be able to find more?

A rare love.

Was it possible?

Dagon looked down at the b.u.mbling witch asleep in his bed and shook his head. He removed the now

cool towel and she shivered. He immediately replaced it with another hot towel, spreading it farther down her back, and she sighed and snuggled her head farther under the pillow.

He peeled the corner of the towel back to check on the abrasions she had suffered. The scratches needed more ointment and should be covered with a bandage. He would see to that after he finished applying the compresses.

He brushed her hair away from her neck and gently ma.s.saged the muscles. How had she managed to invade his senses? He still didn't understand it. Never had a woman infiltrated his emotions so easily. Never had he allowed one to. But Sarina gave him no choice. She charged full speed ahead, and in her chaotic entrance she bridged his defenses and captured his emotions.

He leaned down and kissed along the back of her neck.

"Mmmm," once again filled the room.

She always responded to him without hesitation, without thought, with complete candor. There was no need for surrender, for she surrendered before they touched or kissed. Her capitulation was there in her eyes and in all honesty it was he who surrendered to her and with an eagerness that alarmed him.

He kissed her neck once more, and her predictable response filled the room.

Was it possible?

Rare love.

Did it exist?

Rare love.

He wanted to know.

Nine.

"His private chambers?" Sarina asked for the third time. It had been three days since the chimney incident and she was feeling her old self. A few aches here and there, but nothing that would keep her from doing her ch.o.r.es. So she had asked Bernard for her new a.s.signment.

"Yes, his private chambers," Bernard confirmed with a touch of annoyance.

"He knows you are a.s.signing me there?" she asked incredulously. Dagon was all too aware of the damage her clumsy skills could inflict. Why would he ever want to take the chance with her in his private chambers?

Bernard smiled. "He insisted."

She nodded, though wondered over his motive. She supposed she should be grateful for the chance to be nearer to him. How was she ever going to break the spell if she kept her distance? But his bedroom? That was moving things along a little too rapidly.

"You will not be starting your duties there until tomorrow," Bernard informed her. "You have one more day of recovery."

"But I feel fine," she protested.

"Perhaps, but His Lordship specified three full days of recovery time before you were allowed to return to partial duties."

"Partial?" she asked.

"He wishes you to return to your duties slowly, and since he has so instructed that is what you shall do," Bernard said in a tone that warned he would not argue the point. "Now go and rest, tomorrow will be soon enough to discuss your new duties."

Sarina wanted to scream. She had rested more than enough. She needed to be active, and she intended to do just that. There must be something that needed doing in the castle, and she intended to find it.

An hour later she walked out the kitchen door and headed toward the mermaid pond. No one would allow her to do anything. They all but chased her away, shooing at her as if she were a pesky fly.

The exquisite pond that always managed to catch her eye and give her pause did not interest her today. She walked right past it and toward the woods. She needed to be in her element, needed to feel the energy of the wood spirits surround her.

She heard the small pitiful cry before she entered the dense woods. She stopped and looked around, but heard nothing. Before she took another step, the tiny pleading cry reached her ears again.

This time she glanced up, and there on a bough huddled in the branches of the large spruce was a tiny kitten. If she hadn't been a ball of white fur, Sarina would have never seen her. She thought of Lettie, her own cat and a remarkable intelligent tabby. She had found her nestled in a rotted old stump when she was a mere baby. They had been together ever since.

She sighed, shook her head and looked with a smile to the kitten. The little ball of white fur released a moanful meow that tore at Sarina's heart.

"I guess I have no choice but to rescue you," she said, approaching the bottom of the tree. "I must warn you that I am usually the one being rescued."

The kitten meowed softly as if rea.s.suring her.

"I'm glad you have confidence in me, because I certainly don't."

Sarina stared in awe at the towering size of the giant spruce. At least the kitten wasn't too far up, and there were enough low branches that she could use to pull herself up. She looked down at her slim skirt, hose, pumps, and the white cardigan she wore over her blouse. Not exactly clothes for tree climbing.

The kitten's meow sounded more urgent, and when Sarina looked up she could see from her position that the kitten looked about to take flight higher up into the tree. She would never be able to rescue her then.

She spoke softly to the tiny creature attempting to win its trust and keep her from moving. No time to run back to the castle and change. It was now or never, and she couldn't think of the little kitten spending the night frightened and alone high up in the tree.

She extended her arms up and jumped for a low hanging limb, missed, and fell on her backside.

She laughed at herself. "Good start, Sarina."

Her hands brushed at the pine needles stuck to her skirt, and then she dusted her hands off before attempting another jump. She missed again and stubbornly returned to her feet. Two more times and she finally made it, catching on to a low branch. Now all she needed to do was pull herself up, climb the other few branches, and grab the kitten.

She pulled on the branch and felt the tug in her sore muscles.

The moanful meow of the tiny kitten reminded her of her presence and her courageous reason for dangling from the tree branch.

Sarina smiled. "What's a little exercise after being stuck in a chimney?" With much exertion, a tear in her stocking, pine needles protruding from her disheveled hair, and her face smudged with dirt, she worked her way up toward the kitten.

Dagon sat in his study at his desk reading a report he had just received on the computer. His investments were going remarkably well, his businesses successful, and he had a major business deal pending that looked quite favorable. Not that there weren't problems to deal with, but he employed top-notch people who did exceptional work, and any problems were usually handled professionally, quickly, and accurately.

He wished he could say the same for his present problem. Sarina simply defied solving. He had contacted several witches, and while a few had heard of her, none could verify her age. One thought she was barely one hundred, another thought her closer to three hundred, and one fool thought her over eight hundred years old. One witch knew of the area in which she came from, but wasn't certain of an address. She had told him it was around the Aberdeen area, a beautiful and mystical land.

She had also remarked that Sarina was one to keep to herself and chose her friends carefully. She seemed more at home with animals and the woods than with those of her own kind, though she did have a few mortal friends.

It made him wonder why she led what seemed like a solitary existence, and how strange it was that she should leave that life to seek a servitude position. If she was young she should be in training, and that would explain her present position here in the castle, though Bernard balked at employing neophytes. He preferred that they be at least somewhat schooled in the craft.

She could be older than he thought, though if that were the case then, she should certainly possess significant powers and wisdom. Then there would be no reason for her to be here.

He turned away from the computer frustrated and stretched his arms above his head. "This is insanity."

"Sir?" Bernard queried from the doorway, holding a silver tray with tea and sandwiches on it.

Dagon dropped his arms and motioned for him to enter. "Talking to myself."

Bernard entered and walked to the table by the window. "Something I have found myself doing much too much of since Sarina's arrival."

Dagon stood and joined Bernard as he arranged the pot of tea and plate of sandwiches on the table. Dagon s.n.a.t.c.hed a tuna sandwich, unable to resist Margaret's special tuna spread.

"How is Sarina?" Dagon asked before taking a bite. He had limited his contact with her in the last two days. After tending to her in his room and admitting he was more than simply attracted to her, he thought it best if he kept his distance. He didn't need an intimate involvement with a staff member, especially when he had plans of meeting with the Ancient One. It wouldn't be fair to Sarina to have a brief affair with her when he had other, more permanent plans in mind. Not that he wasn't tempted and not that he didn't dream of her naked in his arms and not that he wasn't interested in finding out more about her and not that he stopped thinking of rare love.

Bernard's voice finally intruded on Dagon's overwrought mind. "So, sir, I ordered her to rest for the day."

Dagon realized he had missed most of what Bernard had said to him, and instead of appearing the fool, he simply nodded his head.

"I will start her in your quarters tomorrow, though limit her duties until the end of the week."

Dagon understood Bernard was seeking his approval and he gave it. "Sounds fine to me, Bernard."

"Good, then-" Bernard's mouth dropped open and the teapot would have smashed down on the table if Dagon had not set it right with the quick point of his finger. "Good lord!"

Dagon followed Bernard's wide eyes and his own mouth followed suit. Both men stood staring out the window at Sarina. They watched her grab twice for the tree limb and twice land on her backside. She finally grabbed hold of the branch and hung there as if deciding on her next move. It was when, with much difficulty, she pulled herself up and disappeared into the trees that Bernard commented.

"Whatever is she up to now?"

Dagon shook his head and dropped the remainder of his sandwich to the empty plate. "I don't know, but I intend to find out."

Dagon resembled a mighty witch approaching the woods. He wore all black from his wool trousers to his knit sweater to his flowing wool overcoat that had been left unb.u.t.toned, the belt hanging to the sides. A chill autumn wind blew his unrestricted hair away from his face, and his blue eyes blazed with frustration as he approached the tree that Sarina had disappeared up in.

He stepped beneath the large outstretched pine branches and glanced up. "What are you doing?"

Sarina sat straddling a branch. Her skirt was bunched up to her hips, her stockings torn, and pine needles protruded from her white sweater.

"I am trying to rescue a kitten," she said, her voice sounding much calmer than she felt.