The Witch's Protector [The Protectors 2] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Doris O'Connor

  “I had them burned.” Henry’s ominous words made her open her eyes and look at him. He’d let go of her hair, and placed one hand on her leg instead. Heavy and hot it branded her through the thin linen covering it, yet she couldn’t bring herself to shake it off either. It felt almost comforting having him touch her like that, as though it was his god-given right to do so.

  “Burned?” Her voice came out as shrill shriek, and he winced, raised an eyebrow, and gave her a look that wouldn’t have been amiss having come from her foster mother. Talk about making her feel like a recalcitrant three-year-old.

  “There’s no need to shout, woman. I’m sitting right here.”

  The disapproval in his voice made her want to squirm, but she fought the impulse, and instead forced herself to glare at him. Not an easy task when all she wanted to do was drown in the azure depths of his eyes that bled into the softly glowing ones of his beast. It was utterly fascinating, and she imagined she could almost see his beast prowl under his skin. Sure enough when he smiled at her, his elongated canines were clearly visible and she swallowed hard. Oh my, that really shouldn’t turn her on more, should it?

  To hide the effect he was having on her, she shrugged her shoulders.

  “There is every need when you take it upon yourself to burn my clothes, and I wake up half naked in your bed. I don’t know who you think I am, but I’m not the sort of girl who is used to that, so excuse me if I shout.”

  Henry didn’t respond, but the most curious, almost guilty look flitted across his face, before he masked it and his grin deepened.

  “Of course you’re not, little red, but the fact remains that you are in my bed, half naked, as you put it, and if you don’t stop giving me grief, I’ll be mighty tempted to tie you to the bedposts and proceed to spank your ass.”

  A curious shiver went down her spine, and his expression grew…well, wolfish. Joanne was reminded of the childhood fables of the wolf in sheep’s clothing, and while she sensed no malice from him, she nonetheless had nervous energy course through her veins. Especially as she seemed utterly unable to summon her powers and give him what for. What in all the heavens was that about?

  Maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea to go after him, and heal him, regardless of what her hormones were screaming at her.

  “You wouldn’t dare,” she said, all too aware that her breathing had sped up, and her cheeks had heated. Damn her fair skin and the propensity to blush.

  “Oh, I would very much dare, my little witch, and from the way you’re growing wet for me just hearing me talk about that, I’d hazard a guess that you would rather enjoy it.” He ran a hand through his shoulder-length hair and Joanne’s gaze snared on the play of muscles in his forearms as he did that. He noticed, of course, and the hand on her leg tightened, and she winced as his claws ran out. Pinpricks of pain they just added to the curious spell he had her under, and she bit her lip to stop herself from moaning.

  “I would not,” she said. “I’m not a child, and if you tried that with me, I… well, I'll turn you into a toad.”

  Goodness, is that the best you can come up with?

  Henry burst out laughing, and Joanne crossed her arms over her chest, and glared at him. Really, it wasn’t that funny.

  When the infuriating man finally stopped laughing at her, he let go of her leg at last, and Joanne immediately missed the contact.

  “Has any witch ever actually done that?” he asked, and Joanne shrugged and searched her brain for an answer.

  “They must have,” she said, having drawn a complete blank, and Henry chuckled. It was such a low, sexy sound that Joanne was glad she was sitting. Her legs would never have supported her.

  “Seems an awful waste of resources to me, if they did.” Henry sobered, and her heart beat faster at the intensity in his gaze. Try as she might she couldn’t tear her gaze away from him.

  “What you did…the powers you have…thank you for using them to save me. I owe you my life.”

  An awkward silence fell between them, until Joanne couldn’t stand it anymore, and she made a great show of shrugging her shoulders.

  “Yes, well, I couldn’t exactly leave you to bleed to death. I help people. Not to do so would go against everything I believe in and stand for. It just wasn’t an option.”

  Joanne chose to not mention the fact that the connection she felt to him hadn’t, in fact, made leaving him an option. Somehow she didn’t think she would have been quite so willing to follow anyone else into the forest on All Hallow’s Eve.

  She glanced at his midriff and bit her lip.

  “Are you really fully healed? May I see?”

  Henry inclined his head, and pulled his shirt up, exposing a hair-roughened six pack and nothing but smooth skin.

  “Of course, little red,” he said and when she didn’t make a move he smiled, grasped one of her hands and guided it to his side where the huge gash had been.

  A low growl erupted from him, when her fingertips made contact with his skin, and Joanne gasped as sparks of awareness shot up her arm. They heated her blood and sent darts of arousal into her pussy that meant she squirmed on the bed.

  “You feel it, too, don’t you?” It wasn’t so much a question, as a statement, and there was no mistaking the possessive growl of his wolf in those few words. Joanne closed her eyes and concentrated on her powers instead. Much to her relied they flowed easily through her fingertips, as she mapped out his torso to satisfy herself that he was indeed fighting fit. None of his previous injuries remained and the sickly black sludge that she’d had to yank out of him had left no trace. His muscles tensed under her silent exploration, and she was all too aware of his breaths growing heavy. Hot little puffs of air they ghosted across her face, and made her lean in closer. Heat flooded her cheeks when she brushed against his groin, and his cock pulsed and jumped under the brief contact.

  She hastily withdrew her hands and opened her eyes to see him watching her from under hooded lids. Joanne wasn’t at all surprised to see his toothy grin. His wolf seemed ready to pounce on her at any given moment and the man had grown tense. Sexual awareness pulsed between them like a living entity, and she cleared her throat to get the words she had to say past her parched throat.

  “I’m glad to say you are fully healed.”

  She risked a glance up at his face, and then dropped her gaze. Unfortunately it landed right on his groin, and try as she might she couldn’t tear it away from the rapidly growing bulge there.

  “I know, I am, thanks to you.”

  Henry nudged her chin up with his knuckles until she had to look at him, and he smiled.

  “Don’t worry about the state I’m in. That—” He waved a dismissive hand toward his groin, making Joanne’s blush deepen even more. “That has a mind of its own around you. It doesn’t mean I am going to jump you. Not unless you agree to my rules. Now, I’m sure you’re thirsty and hungry, as am I, so let’s eat.”

  He released her and then reached across to hand Joanne one of the sandwiches that had been left on a covered tray. When she shook her head, his expression firmed and eyebrow raised he waited until she took the cold meat sandwich from him.

  “Good, girl, now that wasn’t so hard, was it. Eat that, or I shall be forced to feed you it.” He tempered that outrageous statement with a wink in her direction, but Joanne got the distinct impression that he would follow through on that threat. Henry bit into his own sandwich, and the next few minutes passed in companionable silence, as he made short work of half a dozen slices of bread and passed her another one. Once they had drunk their fill and Henry seemed at long last satisfied that she had eaten enough, Joanne latched onto that ominous mention of rules.

  “What rules?” she asked, and Henry sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

  “I’m not sure you’re ready to hear them yet.”

  Joanne narrowed her eyes and flicked her fingers in an effort to give him a little jolt, but nothing happened. It was beyond frustrating. It seemed she could use
her powers to heal him, but not use them against him in any way. Funny, how she’d had no such problems with Olaf. Her heart gave a suspicious little lurch as it dawned on her what this meant. The letter had warned her of this. When she found the one, he would release the full extent of her powers, but she would never be able to use them on him, nor to actually harm someone, or she would slide into the deep black hole of forbidden magic, from which she would never recover.

  A shiver went down her spine, and she was beyond grateful to Henry, when he got up, threw some more logs on the dying embers of the fire and threw a thick woolen blanket round her shoulders.

  “There, little red, see, you’re definitively not ready to hear about that side of me. The mere mention has you shivering like a leaf. Let me go and get you a hot drink and I—“

  “No, please, stay.” Joanne interrupted him and grasped his hard arm to stop him from leaving. “I would very much like to hear about your rules. They can’t be any worse than the thoughts swirling in my head now.”

  At his puzzled look she shook her head, and blinked back tears.

  “I’m in so much fucking trouble.”

  Chapter Six

  Henry’s wolf whined at the distress he sensed in his mate, and Henry slid onto the bed next to her, until her body was lined up against his. She was so very cold, and so pale, he’d worried she was going to pass out on him again. Putting one arm around her he drew her in closer and after just a moment’s hesitation Joanne snuggled into his shoulder with a little sigh.

  It was torture and heaven all rolled into one, having his mate so trustingly curled into his side, and he waited for her to speak—a moment that never came as her even breathing told him that she had fallen asleep again. Henry shook his head and smiled. Sleep was probably for the best. He was pretty shattered himself, and he slid them both down the bed until they lay flat. It was rather awkward with her still wrapped in the sheet like a mummy, and him on the outside of the covers, but he daren’t risk get underneath the covers with her. His wolf was far too agitated for that, and knowing how little she wore under that sheet, getting that close to her, would make it impossible to rein the fucker in. As it was he was prowling to and fro, determined to sink his fangs into his mate’s soft skin and cement the bond between them.

  While deep down he knew that Joanne felt this connection between them, too, they had too much to sort out yet, before he could do that. Besides, while she would no doubt be with him in the moment, there would be hell to pay once she came to her senses, and he had no wish to incur her wrath, nor to rush this thing between them.

  With his mate curled into the crook of his arm, Henry closed his eyes. He would just snooze here, until she woke up again.

  A shuffling noise woke Henry up hours later, and he squinted in the sunlight that streamed through the half open curtains. Hot damn, he couldn’t remember the last time he had slept that soundly. Joanne’s scent hit his nostrils, as he lifted his nose. At least that explained why his wolf hadn’t woken him up in a panic, but seemed perfectly happy to watch the show.

  Show?

  The last remnants of sleep evaporated from Henry’s mind when he realized that Joanne was trying to get dressed. She had just finished putting on the bra LaVida had left her, and Henry had to smile at her frown. He could almost hear her thoughts. She had to wonder where her own was, and his cock responded with predictable efficiency as he recalled taking it off her the evening before, when he washed her down.

  A see-through slip was next, and she paused and drew in a sharp breath when she smoothed it over her thighs. Joanne lifted one leg onto the chair of his writing desk, and inspected her inner thigh. His wolf grinned and the man winced as she traced his bite mark there. Her pale skin was so sensitive that the half-moon indent was clearly visible, and she looked far from happy over it. Henry decided it was probably best to announce the fact that he was now awake, rather than continue to watch her. She would be annoyed enough with him as it was. He didn’t exactly fancy being flung across the room by her, as Olaf had been.

  “Going somewhere, little red?”

  Joanne shrieked, hastily lowered her leg and snatched the dress up to hold in front of her. Heat stained her cheeks and she glared at him from under her naturally long eyelashes.

  “How long have you been awake, you… you… oh. Look away so that I can get dressed.”

  Henry suppressed a grin at her outrage and dutifully swung his legs off the bed and faced the other wall.

  “Better, sweetheart?”

  “I’m not your sweetheart, and if you had anything to do with…err, well…” Her voice trailed off and Henry chuckled. Something hit him hard between his shoulder blades and he bent down to pick up her black pump.

  “Safe to turn around yet?” he asked and when she just made an irritated sound in the back of her throat, he turned to find her glaring at him. With her arms crossed under her breasts and her bare foot tapping away, he was half expecting the furniture to come flying toward him.

  He took a step toward her, holding her shoe in his outstretched hand like some form of peace offering, and she snatched it out of his hand. Normally speaking she would have earned herself a punishment for that, but they hadn’t established that dynamic yet. Oh, how his fingers itched to put her over his knee, however.

  “I’d have thought you blast me with your powers rather than throw a shoe at me, and I’m not entirely sure what I’ve done to deserve such treatment.”

  He knew he was goading her, to see how far she would go, and if she would mention his mark on her thigh, but Joanne just mumbled under her breath and hopped to put her shoe on. Henry grasped her by the elbow to help steady her, and she shot him a semi-grateful glance before she wrenched her elbow out of his grasp.

  “You’re welcome,” he said and she lost some of her feistiness.

  “Thank you.” The way she said those two words sounded more like an insult, and Henry chose to be amused rather than annoyed. His little red had sure woken up in an ornery mood.

  “So, tell me what has put you in such a foul mood, and why not use your powers? You sent Olaf half ways across the room after all.”

  A shadow crossed her expressive features, and she mumbled something else that he couldn’t quite catch.

  “Speak up, girl, I can’t hear you.”

  “I said nothing. I just need to get home, that’s all.” She glared at him, and Henry stared her down until she dropped her gaze to the floor and worried her bottom lip with her teeth.

  “I understand that, and I will take you home shortly, after—“

  “No,” she interrupted him and her head shot up. She looked so adorably flustered that he let that interruption go, too—for now. He would have to keep a tally of all those infractions.

  “Yes, I am,” he said, dropping his voice to that deep cadence he used to make a sub squirm. Sure enough, her inner struggle hit him square in the gut, and he suppressed a grin, when she looked up briefly, frowned, and then found the study of the floor boards most interesting.

  “Look at me when I’m talking to you, girl,” he said and her head shot up again.

  This time he read confusion in her eyes, and he smiled at her whispered,” I just want to go home and I can take my bike. There is no need to put yourself out for me. You must be busy.”

  “I’m not that busy that I can’t do my job,” he said. “And besides, your bicycle’s front wheel is all bent out of shape. The boys will fix it for you, but it’ll take them a day or two, so you and I have a date with my Vincent Black Shadow. Don’t look so shocked. It’s got two seats, and you’ll be perfectly safe. I’ll even hunt out an old helmet for you. They’re not pretty, but it’ll protect that hot head of yours.”

  He smiled at her predictable response, when she frowned at him.

  “I’m not a hot head,” she said and screwed her nose up at him in the most endearing fashion when he raised an eyebrow at her. “Well, only, if people annoy me. And then they deserve it, as far as I am concerned.
And if you think for one minute that I am getting on the back of any motorbike with you, then you have another think coming. Apart from anything else I’m hardly dressed for the occasion. I’ve seen you roaring about on that thing. I’ve no wish to show my whereforalls to the entire village. I’ll walk, thank you.”

  “Finished with your tirade, woman?” Henry asked, and he knew his wolf’s growl showed in his voice, because she blanched and took a step away from her, and another. He matched her retreat easily until the wall stopped her and she swallowed hard when he put his hands flat on the wall either side of her head and used his body to crowd her in against the wall.

  Indulging his inner beast, he bent his head and inhaled deeply against the rapidly beating pulse point in her neck and a whimper of need escaped Joanne. She put her hands on his chest as though to push him away, but instead curled her fingers into the fabric of his shirt, when he dropped a light kiss on her earlobe. Henry flicked his tongue along the shell of her ears, and then proceeded to kiss along her jaw until he reached her mouth. Panting for breath and eyes firmly shut, Joanne went on tiptoes to close the distance between them, but he grasped her hands and in one swift movement pinned them up above her head.

  Her eyes flew open in surprise and he smiled, while kissing her nose.

  “You’d do well to remember who’s in charge here, little red. I am going to take you home, and you will be on the back of my bike, but I will concede that you have a point re your dress. While the thought of having your naked thighs wrapped around me rather appeals, I will rustle you up some trousers to wear.”

  He released her as abruptly, as he’d grabbed her, and turned to leave.

  “Meet me out front in ten minutes. I’ll have some trousers brought up for you, and little red?” He paused with his hand on the door handle. “When I kiss you, and make no doubt about it, I will kiss you, it will be on my terms, and my terms only.”

  He shut the door on her outraged gasp and chuckled as something hit the door hard.