by Tasha Black
Nuzzling her neck, I moved down her body, caressing her shoulder, cupping one breast in my hand.
Kendall stilled, holding her breath.
I licked her nipple into my mouth, reveling at the delicious texture as I fed on her gently.
Her cry echoed off the cave walls.
Losing myself, I nuzzled and licked her other breast, rolling the pad of my thumb over the first.
But her hips were lifting involuntarily, as if she needed more, and faster.
I trailed kisses down her belly, over her hips.
Kendall moaned and tossed her head as I brushed my lips along her inner thighs.
Her scent was intoxicating. I never wanted to leave the cove of her thighs. I wanted to live here, orbiting the hot center of her desire.
But her hands were in my hair, and her cries were growing more frantic.
20
Kendall
The world slowed and paused as I trembled, on the edge of the precipice.
The only sounds were the spray of the spring water at the mouth of the cave, and the rasp of Jared’s breathing against the pound of my heartbeat in my ears.
My hands tangled in his hair of their own volition. I wanted his mouth on my sex, but even that seemed like it might not be enough to feed the hunger that threatened to consume me.
The first touch of his lips sent me reeling. I lost track of my own sounds as he fed on me, pushing me closer and closer to the edge.
I wanted all of him, every piece of him. I would have merged our bodies if I could have.
And there was something more than physical happening. I could feel my magic flowing into him, nourishing him, and then flowing from him back into me, like a circuit.
His mouth worked me faster, and when he slid a finger up to toy with my opening, I lost the ability to think about anything else.
I screamed, frantic with need as the sound echoed around us.
I was supposed to be silent, but I couldn’t remember why. There was only his clever mouth and the desperate need of my helpless body.
He surrendered and gave me the pace and pressure I needed.
The pleasure was building, carrying me out of myself, blinding me.
Jared groaned against me as I splintered into pieces, pulsing around his fingers and tongue as if the ecstasy would never stop.
But instead of slowing, he softened his touch and continued.
Before contentment could embrace me fully, I was bucking and searching for more release.
“Please,” I whispered shamelessly.
He gave me what I wanted, and I fell apart again, this time the pleasure more acute.
“Jared,” I murmured.
I could feel him smile against my thigh. He pressed a kiss to it and crawled up to cage me in his arms.
I could feel his desire, rigid against my stomach even through his jeans.
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I lifted my face to kiss him, tasting myself on his lips.
His kiss was long and slow, I could taste his own hunger as well.
I slid one hand down the planes of his chest and abs.
But he lay beside me, circling my wrist in his hand.
“Don’t you want…?” I whispered.
He shook his head. “Not when you want me because of the magic.”
“I don’t only want you because of the magic,” I told him.
“You barely know me,” he chuckled. “And I can’t fully claim our bond without the panther. I’m not going to take advantage of your… situation.”
“But I want you,” I moaned, pressing my body to his.
“Well, want me when you haven’t been doing magic, and we’ll talk about it,” he said.
“You don’t really want me,” I realized out loud. “You were only helping me.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Kendall,” he said.
“You felt sorry for me,” I told him. “You don’t have to do that stuff for me. I never had anyone to help with it before, and I don’t need you now.”
I tried to move away from him, but he still held my wrist.
“I’ve never wanted anything as much as I want you, Kendall,” he growled. “Every night in that cell I burned for you. I nearly died every time the moon was full. They would take turns watching me, taunting me, so that I couldn’t even try to find relief on my own.”
I stopped struggling, listening.
“Can you imagine what it’s like for me right now?” he went on. “I’m holding you, touching you… I want you so much it feels like I can’t breathe. But I won’t take satisfaction with you. Not until I know you want it for the right reasons. Let me do this for you.”
I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. It wasn’t that he didn’t want me. He was trying to respect me. He was making a loving sacrifice.
It was a sacrifice I didn’t want him to make, but that didn’t make it any less noble.
I relaxed and let him pull me into his chest.
“Let me hold you,” he murmured. “This is enough for now.”
I pressed a chaste kiss to his heated skin and laid my head on his chest.
Though he said the panther was gone from him, and that we could not form a mate bond without it, I swore I could feel something tightening between us, pulling me into his unfathomable depths.
“Good girl, sleep,” Jared purred.
I smiled against his chest and relaxed.
He curled his body around mine, nuzzling my hair and making a sound of contentment in the back of his throat.
He really was a big cat, I thought to myself as sleep crept in and began to take me. Surely, the panther would return to him and make us whole.
21
Jared
I sensed prey for the first time in years, the thrum of a small heartbeat in a body rich with nutrients. My muscles ached for the chase. It was close. I could taste that savory meat, feel the blood jetting down my throat. I needed to run, to pounce…
I awoke suddenly, heart pounding.
As the sense of the nearby prey drifted away, I wondered if it had really been my panther so close to the surface, or just the remnants of a cruel dream.
Kendall slept beside me, curled into my chest, her golden hair splayed out around her like she was a helpless fairytale princess, instead of the badass witch I knew her to be.
She looked even younger in her sleep, and she was young to begin with. I felt a pang of remorse for dragging her into this.
But I hadn’t done that. The Order had.
They had taken her from her school, and they had taken my panther from me. We were both bereft.
The scent of prey drawing closer distracted me from my thoughts.
So, it hadn’t been just a dream after all.
I closed my eyes and called to the panther, wild hope pounding in my heart.
The coolness of his thoughts slid into my mind for a moment, and I felt his presence again - feral, magnificent - before he slipped through my fingers.
Please.
I reached for him again, offering him control. He could never resist taking physical form. How many times had I restrained him over the years? And now I was begging for him.
But he was gone. I was calling out to nothing.
I let out a roar of frustration.
Kendall made a small sad sound from her place on our makeshift bedding as she stirred into wakefulness.
“I’m here,” I whispered, returning to her.
She stretched, driving me wild with the sight of her bare body.
I turned away. We had to get moving, or I would lose what little control I had. I needed to get her back to safety before that happened.
“Let’s get dressed,” I suggested softly. “We can cover a lot of ground today if we start early.”
“Quick shower on the way out?” she suggested, pointing to the spring water spray over the entry of the cave.
“Sure, but me first,” I told her. “I want to make sure the coast is clear.”
“Perfect,” she said, sitting back, clearly eager to watch me remove my clothes.
“Wrap all the clothes up in a bundle,” I told her as I unbuttoned my jeans. “I’ll try to get them out of here as dry as possible.”
She did as I told her, and I undressed slowly so she wouldn’t miss the whole show.
I loved the way her eyes got wide as they slid down my body. My shifter side had always given me a tremendous physique. I’d never thought to be proud of something I never had to work for. But ever since the Order began draining me, I’d been forced to maintain my body the old-fashioned way, with a lot of sweat and hard work. I’d done it to stay sharp, and improve my chances of escaping. But I was glad if it had the side effect of bringing her pleasure.
“Got ‘em?” I asked, holding my hands out for her clothes.
She tossed me the little bundle, and I added my jeans and tucked them into my chest.
Taking a deep breath, I curled my body around the clothes and moved through the waterfall as quickly as possible.
The spray of frigid water was so cold it was almost painful. But I managed to keep our clothes mostly dry. I put them on a rock and finished rinsing myself off as quickly as possible.
“Okay,” I yelled to her. “You’re not going to like it.”
She shrieked as she hit the water and I stood back and smiled, watching her.
Though Kendall’s face was pinched from the cold, she was still unspeakably beautiful, droplets sailing off her like diamonds when she shook out her hair.
Too soon, she was stepping out, with rivulets of water sliding off her curves.
I wrenched my eyes from her, forcing myself to dress quickly. I would curse myself if they caught up to us because I was too busy ogling her.
“Which way?” she asked when she was dressed beside me.
“Let’s climb up a little,” I told her, pointing to the bluff. “Hopefully, we can get the lay of the land from there.”
Kendall nodded and we headed up to where the rocky cliffside softened into a grassy bluff.
“They’ll be expecting us to follow the river,” I explained to her. “People who are lost in the woods are told to stay put and find water. They’ll also expect us to move downhill, that’s typical behavior psychology.”
“How do you know all that?” she asked.
“The guardians are basically park rangers,” I explained. “Though not many people explore the preserve Primrose Castle was built on, we do see some campers and tourists in the more easily accessible areas. We have to have the same training as any ranger.”
“That’s handy,” she said.
“Hopefully,” I told her. “They took us so far, I’m not sure I’ll be able to see anything familiar from up here. Besides, it’s been… a long time since I explored the woods. I don’t know how much has changed.”
She nodded, not making me repeat how lost I felt without my panther.
I expected she would feel much the same if her own magic were gone from her.
We climbed on in silence for a while as the going got steeper.
At last, we reached the peak. The breeze blew stronger up here, as if we were in the middle of a storm. But the sky was clear and gray - a typical November day in Pennsylvania.
Below us, I could see the area with the cave we had come from and the spring rolling down the rocky surface.
Across the valley on the other side of the bluff stood another ridge, this one not quite as tall. A familiar shape peeked out of the trees near the top.
“My God,” I murmured.
“What is it?” Kendall asked.
“That’s Ranger Station #17,” I told her. “I can tell by the A-frame roofline.”
“Will someone be there?” she asked.
“It’s unmanned most of the time,” I told her. “But there will be blankets and food, and a way to contact the outside world. We’re still a long way from home. But this could be our shot.”
“We’re a long way from the station too,” Kendall pointed out.
She wasn’t wrong. We would have to traverse the valley and make our way all the way up the opposite ridge without being spotted.
“Sooner we start, the sooner we get there,” I told her, with a bravado I didn’t feel. “What are you looking forward to most? Canned beans? Or scratchy flannel blankets?”
She grinned at me and quirked an eyebrow. “I’m just hoping to get to know you better when I haven’t been using my magic.”
A jolt of desire shot through me, and I grinned back at her like a lovelorn fool.
She was looking forward to sleeping with me, more than food or shelter. We had that much in common.
It was the best motivation for survival I could think of.
“Let’s do this,” I told her, and started the final leg of our hike.
22
Kendall
Sliding down the other side of the bluff proved to be both harder and easier than it looked.
On the one hand, with gravity on our side, it took almost no effort to move extremely quickly.
On the other, I took a couple of tumbles and even slid down part of it on my butt, much to Jared’s amusement.
By the end, he had slung me over his shoulder to finish the descent, effortlessly, as far as I could tell.
As much as he mourned the loss of his panther, I couldn’t help but think its agility and strength were still a big part of him. Or maybe he was just surefooted and strong from his years scouting the woods.
“When you patrolled, did you do it as a man or a panther?” I asked him as we headed across the valley toward the ridge.
“Depended on the situation,” he told me. “But normally, we all stayed in human form most of the time. Except for Reed. He’s almost always a bear.”
“I guess I didn’t get to know him until he and Cori got together,” I said. “He came to the claiming ceremony as a bear, but since then, I haven’t seen him as a bear much.”
“He came to the ceremony as a bear?” Jared echoed incredulously.
“Yeah,” I said, smiling at the memory. “At the time, it was freaking terrifying. But looking back, it seems exactly right.”
“Why would that seem right?” he asked, chuckling.
“Cori,” I said, shrugging. “She always used to do everything a little bit backwards at school. It was part of why I liked her.”
“You took her under your wing,” he guessed.
“You could say that,” I laughed. “I was her friend, but I teased her a lot too. All in good fun.”
At least that’s what I always told myself. Recently, I’d begun to wonder if maybe Cori wouldn’t have seen it that way. In a way, it was probably for the best that she couldn’t remember those days anymore. At least with Cori I knew I had a clean slate.
He nodded. “And now your friendship has suffered because she found a mate?”
“It’s more complicated than that,” I told him.
“We’ve got nothing but time to fill, and I want to share your burdens,” he said softly. “But you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
I glanced up at him.
But he wasn’t messing with me. He meant what he said.
If he was supposed to be my mate, it made sense that he wanted to hear my problems. Maybe he could even help me solve them.
Suddenly I thought of Declan.
He had always been a great listener. And I hadn’t thought of him once since laying eyes on Jared. For all I knew, the warlocks had captured him, too. Or worse, since they probably wouldn’t waste time capturing someone with no magic to drain.
He could be face down in a ditch back at the park where we were supposed to meet.
I was a pretty horrible person.
“Kendall?” Jared said, snapping me out of my dark thoughts.
“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “I kind of feel like if you get to know me better, you’re not going to like me as much.”
“Try me,” he said with a hal
f-smile that made me feel warm all over.
Something in that look made me think it might actually be okay to share some of the details with him. He didn’t seem like the judgmental type.
“Where do I start?” I asked.
“Wherever you want,” he told me.
I thought about it for a minute.
“I’m what’s known as a legacy at Primrose,” I said. “Do you know what that means?”
He shook his head.
“It means that I’m not the first generation of women in my family to attend the school,” I explained. “It also means I was part of a group of girls at Primrose who believe we’re better than anyone else.”
“Do your powers grow generationally?” he asked, looking puzzled.
“Not even a little bit,” I told him.
His eyebrows went up, but he didn’t say anything.
“The legs are pretty much jerks to everyone else,” I went on. “Even to each other, most of the time. But I got a dorm assignment with a bunch of other girls, all first-gens.”
“What was that like?” he asked.
“At first I hated it,” I admitted. “But then I met Cori and Bella and my roommate Anya, and a couple of other girls in Bellwether and I realized what I had been missing out on.”
He nodded and waited.
Walking made it easier to talk about this stuff. It was better if I didn’t have to meet his eyes.
“They’re… nice to each other,” I told him. “Like, they genuinely have each other’s backs. When Bella was chosen by Luke, they didn’t ostracize her. They supported her.”
“They sound like a better fit for you,” Jared said. “Maybe things happen for a reason?”
I shook my head. He was only saying that because he didn’t know me yet.
“After Bella was chosen, the shit really hit the fan with the Order,” I went on. “They tried to steal a book from the school library. There were hellhounds, and it all got really scary.”
“They want to bring back the Raven King,” Jared said softly.
“Yeah, we did figure that out,” I said. I didn’t ask how he knew, but when he didn’t volunteer, I continued. “Anyway, we all had to do some things the school wouldn’t have approved of. And everyone did them, selflessly, without even a second thought.”