by Elena Gray
I cupped her face and brought it closer to mine. “Roark told you none of us could fall in love with you, but he’s wrong. You can’t choose who you fall for—and believe me—I’ve fallen for you.”
Her brows drew together. “Roark said it wasn’t an option. I can’t jeopardize your position with your people or the council.”
I silenced her with a tender kiss. As much as I wanted to take it further, I knew I needed to say more. “You’re not jeopardizing anything. Listen, I can’t explain Roark’s reasoning, but I can assure this. I don’t share his point of view.”
Her eyes widened. “You don’t?”
“No. I believe what your Nona told us.”
For a brief moment, I saw her smile, but it faded just as quickly. “Which part?
“The part about fated mates.” I eased back long enough to join my hand with hers and lift them high enough that she could see our laced fingers. “Your Nona said I needed to link my soul to another that would help me carry the burden of my heritage. I remember her specifically saying this person would ground me more than my earth element.”
“Are you saying that I’m that person?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I am. The bond we share is strong, but it’s so different from the one I shared with Samara. I never held Samara in my arms, or kissed her lips, or desired her to the point I couldn’t focus on anything but her.”
“But that’s the problem. Roark said none of you could get distracted by your feelings for me.”
“Again, I can’t speak for Roark and he sure as hell shouldn’t be speaking for the rest of us. What happened with Samara, it’s messed with his head. Our relationship with her and our relationship with you are two completely different things.”
Part of me expected her to be relieved by my admission, but she still wouldn’t look at me. I refused to get discouraged. Roark screwed this up. Now I had to repair the damage.
I lifted her chin again, forcing her to meet my gaze. “Maybe we should test our connection.”
“What do you mean?”
“I have magic flowing through me, just like you do. Mine is dark, but it’s magic nonetheless. We can test your Nona’s theory that I need someone to balance me.”
She placed her hand against my chest and shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. What happened at the bar was a fluke.”
Convincing her wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought, but it didn’t mean I’d give up.
“You’re wrong. Whether you want to believe it, you have a way of grounding me. Let me prove it to you. If things get out of hand, you could try kissing me again. Or you can grab Roark and Quinn to snap me out of it, but I really would rather have you kiss me.”
The rosy shade returned to her cheeks. The only way this would work was if she believed in herself. I needed her to have the same confidence that she had in the bar.
“Are you ready to start?” I asked.
“No, Jax. It’s too much of a risk. I appreciate your faith in me, but I’m not willing to chance it.”
I refused to waste any more time trying to convince her. At this point, I knew nothing I said would change her mind. As much as I hated to do this, I had to push her to use her powers. I believed in her. Now, I needed her to believe in herself.
Kat gasped when I drew upon my magic, but I wasn’t about to stop what I’d started. The energy coursed through my body, but unlike my earth element, which usually caused a strong, steady vibration, dark energy chilled me to the bone. My soul slowly gravitated toward the coldness, and a black mist formed inside my hands. I spun them slowly, allowing the magic to morph into a sphere.
When I glanced at Kat, her hand covered her mouth. “Your eyes…they’re black again.”
She slowly reached out and touched my cheek. Inside me, the battle between the light and darkness continued, and I wasn’t sure which side would win. I only hoped Kat could pull me back. If she didn’t, I’d just made the worst decision of my life.
“Jax, come back to me.”
My soul leapt at the sound of her voice. So did my heart. My dark magic swirled throughout me, trying to hold me back. It didn’t want to release me from its icy grasp. I fought it, focusing every thought on my bond to Katarina. Her energy found a way past the corrupt magic churning inside me and fused with it. Then her lips were on mine.
Everything shifted. My nerve endings sizzled like a bolt of lightning had struck me and the ground beneath me shifted. The earth’s energy filtered around me, strengthening my connection with my element. It pulsed at a rapid pace until the darkness receded.
When I broke the kiss and pulled back, Kat gazed at me and smiled. “There are those gorgeous green eyes I adore.”
“I knew you could bring me back.” I cradled the back of her head and, returning my mouth to hers, I kissed her again. Every swirl of her tongue spoke of the relief and the need burning within her.
Fisting her hair, I tugged the top of her shirt and drew it lower. Kat’s warm skin teased my lips as I raked my teeth down her neck. The moan leaving her throat vibrated against my mouth. She rolled her hips toward mine and pressed against the bulge in my pants.
Unsure of how far to take this, I eased back to look in her eyes. “What do you want, Kat? Tell me what you need.”
Her chest heaved up and down as she stared at me. Her lips were swollen from our kiss. “I need you, Jax. Just you.”
That was all I needed to hear. I tugged her pants down. Kat lifted her hips so I could slide them off her legs. Her panties quickly followed. She reached for the waist of my pants, but I grabbed her wrists and pulled them above her head, pinning them against the post behind her.
My wings unfolded and curled around her body. I lifted her up onto the gazebo railing, making her the perfect height for me to slide right in.
She cried my name as I filled her in one swift thrust. Every inch of me was encased in her wet warmth. She throbbed around me, making my dick grow harder. I tried to be gentle, to take this slow and easy, but I couldn’t. I needed her just as much as she needed me. We’d spent too much time fighting our connection.
I released her wrists and pulled her shirt over her head. The clasp on her bra opened with ease. I slid the straps down her arms until it fell to the ground. Cupping each breast, I thumbed over her nipples. Her teeth grazed her bottom lip as she arched into my palms.
On the next thrust, I delved deeper. Kat cried my name and wrapped her legs around my waist, her heels digging into my ass. As she met me thrust for thrust, her mouth clashed with mine.
Lifting her from the railing, I pressed her back against the pillar and focused on the sensitive mound of flesh at her apex. The harder I rubbed against her, building friction, the tighter she held on to me. Her legs clenched my sides as her tongue swirled with mine.
I broke our kiss and stared at her. Slowing my pace, I withdrew to the tip and slid back in. Her eyes closed as she tipped her head back and moaned.
I stopped and cupped her face. Her eyes snapped open. “What’s wrong?”
“I want to look in your eyes when you come for me.”
Her breath hitched. I ignored the sound and wrapped her arms around my neck. Then I grabbed her ass. “Hold on.”
With each thrust, I drove into her. She grew wetter, tighter, until the pressure became too much and I felt her clenching around me.
Kat kept her eyes locked on me as she cried out. It was all I needed to hear to push me over the edge. With one final thrust, my seed released, spilling into her core as I tightened my hold on her. I continued to move as she milked every ounce of me until nothing was left.
I planted a series of soft kisses across her chest, working my way up to her lips.
No sooner than our lips touched when a throat cleared behind me. I kept Kat’s body wrapped in my wings as I looked over my shoulder. As soon as I made eye contact, my face heated in disbelief.
“What the hell are you doing here, Samara?”
“Am I interrupting?”
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There was humor in her voice and her eyes burned bright with amusement. It looked like this was payback for all the times I’d walked in on her and one of her boyfriends. At least Kat and I were finished, but it didn’t make it any less awkward. It was like my little sister had just caught me having sex.
“Hell yes, you’re interrupting. Would you mind coming back in a few minutes?”
“I’m trying to find Kat. For some reason, when I searched for her, my soul was summoned here. Do you know where she is?”
I stammered for a response and looked at Katarina who was still hidden behind my wings. She bit her bottom lip and nodded at me. I lowered my wing enough so Samara could see her face.
“Oh!” Samara’s eyes widened when she realized it was Kat. Who else would she expect? I hadn’t dated anyone in over two decades.
She had to have sensed the sexual tension between all of us. It was kind of hard to ignore. But then again, it wasn’t long ago that she had accused me of never having experienced love. We were fighting over her risking her life by being with a human. She had argued that it was worth fighting for. Even dying for. It wasn’t until now that I understood what she’d meant. That realization was like a hammer to my chest. Could I really be in love with Kat?
Samara’s laughter cut into my thoughts. “Well, at least I don’t have to search for you now, Kat.”
“Is something wrong, Samara?” Kat asked.
The smile fell from my former ward’s mouth and she looked at us with a somber expression. “I have news to share, and it can’t wait.”
Chapter 4
~Slade~
My cell door slammed shut just as my hands and knees hit the cement floor. I waited until the footsteps faded down the hall before I pulled myself up on the cot. Only days ago, I would have stayed on the floor until they came to retrieve me again. But over the past few days, I’d been feeling some of my strength return.
I was nowhere near my full capability, but some of my wounds were beginning to heal. I had to keep this concealed from my captors. They couldn’t know I was getting stronger. I had to play along until my brothers and Samara came for me.
“Slade?” Rose’s raspy voice came from next door.
“I’m okay, Rose.” It was the same response I gave to her every time I was dumped back in my cell.
“You were gone so long this time, I was worried you weren’t coming back. The shifter they took away before you still hasn’t returned.”
I scrubbed my hand over my face. This was the third shifter that hadn’t returned. I knew there was no chance that they had been released. Either they were in a med bay, which was doubtful, or they were dead. I couldn’t tell Rose this. While she was holding it together fairly well, if she found out they were killing prisoners, it would break her. I hated to lie, but what choice did I have?
So I said, “I overheard them say that they’re moving some of the prisoners to another wing.”
Silence greeted me from the other cell. Did she know I was lying? I needed her to stay strong. She needed what I now had. Hope.
“Rose?”
She exhaled, then responded, “How much longer can you take the torture, Slade? I don’t know if I can survive here without you. Natasha barely talks anymore.”
My muscles protested as I pushed myself off the cot and limped toward the door. Bracing my back against the cold cement wall, I slid down, sitting with my legs stretched out in front of me. I had to make sure no one overheard what I was about to tell her.
“Rose,” I whispered. “Come sit by your door.” Fabric rustled as she moved across her cell. Then a light thump sounded when she must have sat on the ground.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Someone came to me the other day. At first, I thought it was Samara. I felt the tug on our bond, but it was someone else. She knew who I was. Hell, who knows. Maybe I was hallucinating.”
“You felt her through your guardian bond? That doesn’t make sense.”
“Like I said, maybe I was hallucinating. I haven’t seen her since.”
Rose released another sigh before she cleared her throat. “What about the connection? Does that feel any different?”
“Yes. Until she reached out, I hadn’t felt anything. Not with Samara and not with my brothers.” I rubbed my thumb over the tattoo. The faded black had darkened a little since the vision of the woman.
“Slade,” Rose said carefully, “did you know Samara was using old magic?”
Shit. I dragged my fingers through my hair and tensed when they got stuck in the blood and grime hardening the strands. I could only imagine what I must look like. I resisted the urge to dump what was left of my water over my head. If I was going to keep up the facade of being beaten, cleanliness would be the farthest thing from my mind.
“Slade?” Rose prompted.
“I knew she was holding something back from me,” I finally said. “She said the ancestors started talking to her. It had to be because of the old magic. When you and Natasha disappeared, Samara thought the council wasn’t doing enough to find you. I wouldn’t doubt that she would use old magic to track you as a last resort. Where did she find the spells for it?”
“Her Book of Shadows. It holds spells that had been handed down from generation to generation. Her family refused to destroy them. Her mother and grandmother argued over how it had no place in their lives. In the end, her grandmother won.”
“I wish she had trusted me enough to confide in me. I would never have gone to the high priestess with that information. She knew that we put her above the coven’s wishes.”
“It wasn’t that she thought you would tell, it was that she didn’t want you to be disappointed in her. Well, more than she thought you already were.”
When I saw Samara again, I was going to have to set her straight. I could never be disappointed in her. I admired her for her stubbornness and her dedication to her coven. She stood by her beliefs, even if others didn’t understand them.
“So who do you think spoke to me?” I asked.
“What did she say?”
I would never forget those words. Since the moment I’d heard them, I’d played them over and over in my mind. Through the torture, in my sleep. She was my guardian angel. I was so used to being a guardian, I didn’t know what it felt like to have my own.
“She said…” I cleared my throat as I tried to conceal the tremor in my voice. Since my capture, I’d spent my time believing my family was dead because I’d failed them. The woman had given me hope. “She said, ‘Hang on, Slade. We’re coming for you.’”
Rose was quiet for a minute and when she responded, her voice sounded strained. It was as if our conversation had been too much of a strain on her. “Maybe the ancestors were helping Samara connect with you?”
That would explain why I could feel the connection to my brothers. It was barely there, just enough that I knew they were alive. It was the connection to Samara that didn’t feel the same. That was what worried me the most. What if she was still hurt? Maybe she was too weak to connect with me and the ancestors were intervening.
A gasp and movement in Rose’s cell had me on alert. When the scent of blood hit my nose, I vaulted to my feet and gripped the bars on my door. “Rose? What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing.” Her voice sounded nasally and muffled like she was covering her mouth.
“I can smell blood. What happened?” If it weren’t for my heightened senses, she would have kept it hidden from me. Rose never talked about what they did to her when they took her from her cell. I never saw physical marks, but whatever happened while she was gone, left her sobbing for hours. How much longer until she ended up like Natasha and became a shell of herself?
“It’s just a nosebleed,” she finally answered. “It’s already stopped.”
“How often have you had them?”
She hesitated before responding, her words still softened by whatever she held to her nose. “Just a few times.”
I gripped the bars tighter. They must have happened when I was unconscious. I’d lost so much time after the beatings. What else did I miss while I was out of it? What the hell were they doing to her? She was dealing with her own shit, and yet she always worried about me.
I believed in Samara and my brothers. I knew they would do whatever it took to find me. The only problem...time was running out. If they really were killing prisoners, how much longer until we were next? I needed to find a way out.
I reined in my temper before I punched the wall. I had to keep my shit together for Rose and Natasha. “Rose, I know you don’t want to talk about what’s happening to you. I get it. When you’re ready, I’m here. I just need you to take care of yourself and hold on a little longer. Can you do that for me?”
“Yes.” Her voice sounded stronger than it had in days. Whether she was digging deep or trying to appease me didn’t matter. I’d make sure she kept fighting until we escaped.
“Why don’t you try and get some rest?” I suggested. “We can talk later.”
“Slade?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m glad you’re here with me. I mean, I’m not glad that you got caught, I’m just glad that you’re next to me. I don’t know if I would have made it this far without you. Even worrying about you helps give me something else to focus on.”
Footsteps scuffed the floor of her cell and then her cot creaked a few times until it was quiet. I swiped the tears off my cheeks with the back of my hand. Rose’s words hit me hard. I’d known her for years, but I had never really talked to her. I was always so busy keeping Samara out of trouble. Rose may not be my ward, but I would still guard her with my life.
I released my hold on the iron bars, my fingers stiff from how hard I’d been clenching them. I flexed them as I crossed the room to my own cot. Lying back, I folded my hands behind my head. I should try to get some sleep, too. I needed to reserve my strength, but my mind wouldn’t let me relax.