Free The Beltane Witch (Cloudburst Colorado) by Siobhan Muir

control, he’d been a boy of twenty years. At two hundred and eight, he expected more decorum from himself.
    The bracing cold and manual labor should do the trick. He gathered the stepladder and his cloak before they all trouped outside, the girls running through the patchy snow with exuberance. Darius took a deep breath, hoping to cool his arousal as they set to work, the girls shouting instructions in between gathering little sticks for the fire.
    Sabrina’s cheeks turned rosy in the frigid air as she worked and the weak sunlight peeking through the clouds sparkled off her hair. Instead of dousing his ardor, his mind filled with images of warming her up beside the fire and teasing her with hot tea or chocolate. His cock saluted to the idea and strained the seams of his pants.
    Dammit, she’s just a human witch. Whom he liked, admired, and respected. He thought again of Tansy’s explanation of Tommy and his fury rose to engulf his arousal. At least my cockstand has retreated. But the idea of someone leaving a woman like Sabrina prompted an old anger. A rage he kept burning for the man who’d left his mother with three sons.
    And what makes me any different?
    Darius had never committed to a woman and promised to stay. He’d only had one night liaisons with the lasses to avoid such entanglements. He wanted the pleasure without the concern of breaking a promise like his father had broken to his mother. Darius didn’t believe in celibacy, but he did believe in commitment, and he’d never give his until he found the one woman he couldn’t live without.
    And it’s not bloody likely . The only commitment he needed from Sabrina concerned the rituals. Afterwards, they’d be free of each other.
    He resolutely ignored the hollow feeling following his thoughts.

Chapter Six
     
    Sabrina finished the supper time dishes and hung her apron on the hook in the pantry as she thought over the day. It had been productive with the Beltane preparations. The girls had been delighted to have Darius’s help, and Sabrina had to admit she enjoyed it as well. He’d helped tie the ribbons to the May Pole, chop vegetables for the crock pot stew, and decorate the house with pine boughs filled with dried flowers.
    But the best part had been when he chopped the wood for the fire.
    Sabrina gripped the edge of the sink as she closed her eyes in remembered pleasure. Darius had removed his shirt as the day warmed and the pale sunlight glistened on his shoulders. Sabrina had forgotten what she’d been doing when he swung the axe. Each motion made the muscles of his back, shoulders, and arms ripple in the light and she damn near swallowed her tongue.
    No man should be so beautiful.
    The grace and power in his body as he chopped the wood sent juices flooding to her pussy and she’d wished for a moment to see him naked, proudly erect, and hot for her. She had to shove her hands into the snow to keep herself from overheating or reaching out to stroke his back.
    You’re just overreacting to being celibate for so long . Still, the rumble of his voice filtering through the house as he spoke to her daughters before bed sent pleasure skipping through her. She dried her hands and followed his voice to Holly’s bedroom where he read her a story.
    Sabrina paused on the threshold, reluctant to interrupt the tableau before her. Darius read a llama rhyming book and Holly giggled in delight at the funny pictures. Sabrina’s heart melted, aching with the wish for his presence to be reality instead of temporary.
    What’s wrong with me? I’ve never needed a man before and I won’t start now.
    But when he kissed Holly goodnight on her forehead and tucked the blankets up to her chin, Sabrina’s throat closed and she had to look away before she cried.
    “Mom my, Darius read me the Mama Llama book and he did funny voices.”
    “Funny voices?” Darius jammed his hands on his hips and gave her a mock glare. “I’ll have you know mah accent doesna change jest ta