by Kiki Howell
Outside now, with the sunlight caressing her face, she barely noticed her surroundings, though she looked right at them, so conscious of Jacob standing beside her. Greens, browns, grays, cars, trees, whatever, it could have been a parking lot full of angry drivers or the world's most beautiful garden, and she'd have paid it no mind. What she cared to look at she didn't dare to, so she kept him in the corner of her eye. The rest blurred before her, a victim of her thoughts.
"Are you sure you are feeling alright, Ms. Samantha? Ian said you needed some fresh air, and you are looking a bit pale," he said, his voice deep, creating a buzz deep into her core that her stomach coiled around moments later.
Her eyes darted his way, and she hadn't thought, or been cognizant enough, to keep her emotions out of them apparently.
He quickly followed with, "I'm sorry, Miss, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or offend you. You look beautiful, as always," his work voice said before it mellowed a moment, "In fact, today you look exceptionally stunning, if you don't mind me saying so." After a slight hint of a smile turned up the corners of his mouth, it brightened his dark eyes only a second before his demeanor went back to work mode. "Please, don't tell my boss I admitted that. I don't think he'd take kindly to me complimenting his girl in such a fashion. I've stepped beyond the bro code for sure, and should probably just stop talking now."
"I promise to keep your secret," she got out. "I am fine. Just a lot of drama in there. Lots of people. Us witch's can be susceptible to other's emotions."
Not a lie, she stood up a little straighter having come up with the line. She'd been a victim of her own emotions in there. Shit, not emotions though, rather hormones, hell...lust. She wanted this guy for a nice romp in the hay. That had to be all. Given the chance to get him out of her system, she could prove that to her trembling heart that kept skipping beats when he stood close, dared to talk, to her or anyone else. Maybe she couldn't risk the sexcapades either. Never had lust affected her heart. She just didn't work that way. She wouldn't work that way, end up a victim of love like her mother. Plus, growing up her size, magic or not, even with the threat of turning a guy into a toad or worse, nothing protected her from some of the cruelty of boys, later men, who only wanted twigs to date. So, she'd hardened herself.
"Are you sure you are okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Just being stupid. I think I let all the drama in there get to me too much. I started reliving old wounds at the hands of love, well, not love, dating, existing. Anyway, I'm fine. Thank you for caring. You are very good at your job."
"If you are insinuating I am being nice to you out of duty, because Ian asked me to watch over you, then you are mistaken. I am offering more here than small talk, I think, though I am not known for my conversational skills. I apologize."
"No apologies, and I am sorry that I insinuated such a thing. Maybe I am more out of sorts than I thought. I'm usually better at reading people, and on the other end, usually better at not reading large crowds. So, I thank you for caring, and for saying that I look stunning."
Yes, she thought, that all sounded good. Blame the party drama rather than her own for her state of mind, or lack of it. Currently the sensations, the random tingles, the few jitters in his presence, along with the increasing heartbeat, and all, were all due to him, standing too close, as in the same room, apparently. What the hell Sam?
"You do look stunning. I meant that, and please don't tell Ian, especially now that I have said it twice."
"Well, thank you," she said, looking down at his shoes.
"You don't believe me, do you?"
"What?"
"I gave you a compliment, and you thank my shoes. You don't believe me. Why is that? Sorry, maybe it isn't my place to ask. No, I'm sure it isn't my place to ask. Please, forgive me, I rarely talk this much, maybe because I screw it up so much."
"So, why are you?"
"So, why am I what?"
"Talking so much. To me?"
"I don't know. Something about you puts me at ease. But then, you are a witch. Must be a spell. I don't think I've talked this much to a woman in a long time."
"And, why would that be?"
"Let's go with blaming the parents. Mom ran out when I was young. No female role models in my life. An arrogant father that I cut ties with years ago raised me. Well, on my end anyway. He's part of the same pride so I have to see him, but inside I broke that bond, or he did, long ago. Wow, listen to me go on. My sincere apologies for dumping that on you. Please tell me you have cast a spell that makes everyone around you spill their guts." He chuckled, trying to cover up the obvious nervousness he felt.
Ignoring his joke, she cut to what she wanted to know.
"But, you don't seem arrogant at all, if you fear that, in fact..." she stopped, realizing she'd read that in him and revealed what she'd done. "Well, you just don't," she finished quietly, needing him to hear it anyway.
"I'm not. I made a promise to myself long ago that I would not be that bastard," he growled out, the tone in his voice showing her he hadn't caught on to what she had done being so caught up in his own issues.
"Oh. I see. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I've always had the pride, and in it Ian and his family. So, what old wounds were you talking about? I shared mine."
"Old wounds?"
"Yes, old wounds, the ones you said were at the hands of dating, existing, I think."
"Oh, that. Well, just the way I look. Never having been a twig, haven't had the best experiences with men is all. Maybe that's why my mother has made it her mission to set me up with as many guys as she can. Is that enough for you? Sharing, I mean."
"Then those guys were idiots," he said, spitting the words out through clenched teeth. She noticed his hands were clenched into fists now, a flush spreading up his neck. "You are so beautiful, so much so, that I would go with the word magical, as if you can cast a spell...and I should stop talking. I have so crossed some lines here to the point of hitting on my best friend and boss's date, I believe. Honestly, I'm not that guy. Really I'm not." He looked at his shoes now, his embarrassment evident.
"I believe you. There isn't a dishonest or bad vibe about you, Jacob."
"You are reading me?" He looked back at her sharply, his complexion having taken a sudden turn toward ashen as his muscles seemed to tighten, the veins and tendons in his neck stood out, his pulse becoming visible.
"I try not to. Honest. Don't get mad. I'm not invading, reading your thoughts and emotions. I'm not trying to. But, some things, they show through, in your aura."
"Oh. I see. I guess," he said, his voice lighter a second before he rushed on, "So, your mother, is that how you ended up with the whole Sylvia and Ian set up, too."
"Yes," she managed, still reeling from his compliments.
Could he really think her beautiful, or was he just one of those stand up guys that had to make a sad woman happy again? Could he really be hitting on her, or just trying to divert her attention from her sadness?
"Ian's a great guy. You two seem to be getting along well."
"Yes. He is a very nice guy."
Their conversation ended there, abruptly, letting him get back to scanning, as if at any moment an assassin with a gun could jump out and try to shoot her.
"Is it dangerous to date Ian?" she asked, her insides flailing with the silence.
Also, she had wondered at the way all of his numerous bodyguards, all muscle bound, so anyone could be the man Sylvia had deemed savior, often looked. Each of them were always so intense, doing their job as if danger always lurked.
"You are safe, Samantha."
Him saying her full name in that deep, gravely voice of his made her toes actually curl in her heels. A nearly impossible and painful feat. She moved her hands to cover her stomach, trying to stop all the butterflies that suddenly seemed to be fluttering around in there.
"Okay. I believe you. It is just...he has so many guards. And, you are all so focused. It makes me wonder what the level of threat
is."
"Ian makes enemies in his line of work. Not that there are daily attempts on his life or anything, in the physical sense, but he does get verbal threats, so we need to be vigilant in case that ever changes. It is not only our job to keep him safe, but we are pride, it's a brotherhood, alpha thing."
"Ian is your alpha?"
"That doesn't fit with your ideas about a pride?" He said, a laugh coming to surface, making her heart skip a beat.
"Sorry, guess not. And, I hate stereotyping. My apologies. But, back to this tons of bodyguards thing, you think someone, one day, might actually do something to try to hurt him?"
"It is always possible, and so, he employees us to take our job seriously. I would give my life for his, as would any of the others He knows that, and I think it just gives him peace of mind in a crazy world."
"I see," she said, moving her hands up in front of her chest, her fingers now fidgeting with each other.
She'd not have noticed it, but he put one of his hands on hers, covering them, igniting little sparks visible to the untrained eye. So close to her chest, her nipples hardened, practically reaching out for him to graze them. However, before that could happen, he pulled his hand back as if he'd been burnt, though she knew that impossible of the magic.
"Sorry, just my magic. Guess I am on high alert as well. Guarded. I didn't harm you," she stated rather than asked.
"No, just surprised me. You have many enemies then, Ms. Morgan?"
"Oh, no, just an emotional thing. Putting up barriers between me and all the other emotions swirling around this room. Weddings can be nasty family reunions."
"That's a rather negative view of such a blissful event, but if being honest, I would have to agree. And, to what end do these events serve anyway?"
"Exactly. My mother fell in love, did the wedding and kids thing, and then my father left us, too. Though not by choice as your mother did. Still, gone is gone, and why risk it. Love, I mean. We will lose enough people we love in our lifetimes with parents and family and friends, why add the love of your life to the list."
"I couldn't agree more."
At the moment, she served as her own worst enemy, talking too much, getting him talking. Nothing good could come from any of it. To her relief and disappointment, this guy, Ian's employee and friend, hell pride mate, would never date one of his girls anyway. He'd just said so. So, that was that, she figured, heart a dead fish in her stomach, holding back the audible sigh as Ian walked back up to them in a rush.
"I'm sorry, Sam, but we have to go. I don't mean to sound harsh, but quickly."
As he took her arm in arm, making her stumble her first step before she realized how fast he intended to walk, he whispered something in Jacob's ear she couldn't hear as a flood of his bodyguards rushed toward them. In no time at all, they fell into step around them, a wall keeping them safe. They'd not brought this many with them, so while she wondered where they'd come from and why, what the issue was, the assurances of safety Jacob had just given her went out the window.
With a short on words, rushed apology from Ian, four guards took her in one car, getting them on the move as her door closed, while the other group, maybe six, took Ian somewhere else.
As soon as she'd arrived safely home, she planned to call Sylvia, and complain about this date, and more, before informing her that she was out. O-U-T, out! As the world whizzed by her at high speeds, she contemplated only whether to have a shot before or after she made that call. She decided upon both before returning her gaze out the window. Green blended into gray as she fought to regulate her heartbeat.
Chapter Four
Cueing her students through pranayama, counting through the inhales, exhales, and pauses, Sam's lungs stopped working as she looked over fourteen women seated in lotus pose, their eyes closed, and watched a cloud of dark magic move into and throughout her room. The magic so strong and swift, she had no time to alert anyone before each student fell unconscious, like ragdolls to savasana, too soon, her shocked brain surmised. Hoping the magic hadn't hurt them, she began to rise, to tap into her own magic to counter. Only, up into a crouch, her hands out in front of her, nothing happened. The darkness swirled closer, grew more opaque, as if draining hers. She found her powers stifled.
Seemingly out of nowhere, a hand cupped firm over her mouth. Her hands instinctively met the arm of the stranger, clutching the thick, roping muscles and veins along the limb. A half second later, though time appeared to have been set to slow motion, another arm snaked around her waist. A meaty hand gripped her hip, as it pulled her back in a swift, graceful movement several steps toward the wall that had been at her back.
She clenched her body, her instincts screaming, fighting the steps, the speed too fast to not slam into that wall. Instead of impact, as they went beyond the wall her breath pulled from her lungs. All reason felt suspended during a moment that lacked explanation, and thus panic set in, as she found herself forced into a seated position.
She spotted a hole she'd not known there, cut into the wall, shimmering around her for the briefest of time. Before she could contemplate this oddity, the wall closed in front of them, blocking her from whatever was happening in her studio. Shaking uncontrollably, her fingernails dug into, as much as they could, the steely arms around her like a vise. She may have whimpered, she wasn't sure, as a cold sweat broke out all over her body.
Forced to sit, her back against more rock hard muscles, she couldn't help but note the large male organ pushing into the cleft of her ass either. Not that the guy was hard, but he'd been gifted. The thought seemed so out of place in the moment, until another wave of panic erased it, as the body restricting hers prevented her need to squirm. The effort too much, her vision blurring, she stopped, if only to focus on the light that had appeared in front of her face. As it came into focus, she realized it to be a phone, not having realized the hand at her middle had disappeared. She resumed squirming in this small space, her legs immobile thanks to the wall, her arms bumping whatever was on both sides of her. She barely had room for her lungs to expand in the crouched position she shared.
The thought to flee built in her muscles only to be stopped by the vision of Ian's face appearing on the screen. The phone disappeared a moment as the man holding her captive shoved it into her ear. It didn't hurt, but the automatic flinch showed her she had slim chances of getting her head out of this guy's grip, as he kept his hand firmly cupped over her lips. To say he hurt her, she couldn't even tell at this point, her body blended into the dark surrounding, something, who knew the hell what, touching her at every angle, as dust and must filled her nose.
Ian's voice filled her ear, jolting her into a state of paralysis. It took a moment for her brain to catch up, that whomever held her had her had put an earphone in her ear.
She sat stiff as a board, her brows knit, her body taking over and making her labor for deep breaths as she listened to the message. The sound of Ian's voice, the sight of his face, gave her a moment's pause for hope. For a desperate minute, she pleaded with the universe that the man holding her was one of his bodyguards, that this had been a rescue rather than a kidnapping. She wanted this man to be her savior rather... Her thoughts dropped off at the possibility of Sylvia's savior being literal. Panic already high yet increasing still, she forced herself to focus on Ian's words. So far, he'd only apologized profusely.
"Listen to me carefully, Sam. Jacob has you. I employed him today as your savior."
Uh, that word again, she thought. Her body fought between a sense of solace and another deluge of hysteria, both continuing to interfere with her normal breathing pattern, as well as her heartbeat. The ache in her chest so profound, she fought to concentrate.
"Again, I am sorry that you became a target," Ian rattled on, the message obviously recorded, which would have been more cause for concern if she hadn't already been shaking enough. She had to work at maintaining consciousness in the dark room with only the light of a phone that held a friendly face and the grip of
a man she didn't know how to deal with.
Ian's voice sounded flat in the small space. "My enemies, having seen you with me so much over the past weeks, must have assumed that I care for you deeply. While you are a wonderful woman, we both know the circumstances of our connection. Anyway, in their lack of knowledge of this fact, they surmised that going after you was a way to hurt me. I'd heard the rumors of an impending attack. Not knowing if or when the attack would come, I had Jacob and a few of my men utilize the space in the wall around the furnace system as a failsafe, to get you out if need be. Forgive me for not wanting to alarm you if the threat had been fake, but I still had to set up a means to protect you.
"I've had you under constant surveillance while we set about preparations to safeguard you against an attack. The other night my men cut a secret door to get you out unseen if my enemies, another pride, came after you. Knowing you are a witch, I did hear that they had thought themselves smart in hiring a witch themselves. My security team has been one step ahead of them, though, hearing the chatter through strategically planted connections. So we assumed the attack, if it happened, would be magical, which stood to our advantage in saving you."
She attempted to process all of this information, her body not yet responding to the part where she was being saved. She couldn't help but worry about her students, or if these enemies of Ian's would find her anyway.
As if he'd read her thoughts, Ian answered, "I'm sure you are worried about your class. From what we know, they have only been spelled to sleep. They intended to make you sleep as well, we assume, to kidnap you, use you as ransom. But, again, one step ahead, I used my own witch connections. I had him stifle your magic so they couldn't sense you where you now hide. You may have to wait there for some time until Jacob gets the message that it is safe to take you out.