by M. L. Briers
His body was already working hard to heal him- shifter blood made him quick to heal, and all that was left now was the need to work on his pride.
“Where’d you learn to hit like that?” He eyed her. With the loss of his ability to scent her- he was also at a loss to discover her true self.
“Kindergarten,” she hissed back at him.
Maverick couldn’t help but chuckle at her plucky attitude. The woman had balls, he’d admit that, maybe not to her- his pride was still recovering.
He guessed that he kind of deserved that punch, considering his attitude. The spying, the glee, the tormenting her with staying under the water too long and making her think that he wasn’t coming back up. Yeah, his bad, he told himself, binding his time until his nose was fully healed once more.
Up close and personal she was so much more than he’d initially thought. That long mane of golden hair had started to dry in the warm summer sun and was moving away from her head, and the silken strands drew his attention more than he liked. His fingers practically itched to reach out and test it between his finger and thumb to see if it was as silky as it looked.
Her blue eyes were still fired with annoyance- sparks of anger flashed there like warning signs that didn’t bode well for his physical health. But a broken nose here and there seemed like a price worth paying to get to know her a little better.
“Stop staring at me,” she hissed- wrapping her arms back around her body and making sure that she was as submerged under the water as she could get to hide her body from his gaze.
“I didn’t realise I was,” he gave her a cocky grin that made her eyes flare, and noted that she didn’t seem to like that one. He was running out of smiles to tempt her, and that was never a good thing, especially when this woman enthralled him so.
“Well, you are,” she took a small step back as her eyes flicked around the pools in search of an easy escape roots away from him. It was funny, but he didn’t want that to happen.
“Well, I guess I can’t help myself,” he shot back and watched her brows try to knit together on a scowl- even that enticed him, and he wanted to reach out to her and brush the pad of his thumb over that skin above her nose to sooth the ridges back out.
“Go suck a lemon,” she twitched her nose in annoyance. Adorable to say the least. It made him smile.
“And what if I said I was allergic?” He wasn’t.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she took a moment to look sympathetic to his possible plight, “go suck a lemon.” Her eyes narrowed and then fired with mischief.
“Double ouch,” Maverick’s eyes were still full of amusement, but he offered her a look of disbelief. “Harsh.”
“You don’t know the meaning of the word when it applies to me- yet.” It was a not-so-subtle warning that he took on board. She could certainly throw a punch, and he had to wonder what else she could do.
A she-demon wrapped up in the body of an angel. Tempting- so very tempting… He’d more than love to explore every inch of those curves.
He didn’t have a type, but if he had it would have been her. He loved all women- they were a pleasure to watch, to scent, to be around, and to get to know a whole lot better, but nobody had ever enthralled him the way this one did.
Maverick felt a deep itch within his nose before his sense sprung back to life. He lifted his chin and scented the breeze…
Talk about harder than damn steel- every muscle in his body locked up tight. There was a twist in his guts like someone had plunged a knife within him, and his length took more than its fair share of his lifeblood, it ached, and ached so badly that it had him questioning his sanity…
Witch- check- Smells so damn good, like peaches and summer sunsets- check- Mate… double check…
Mine.
His beast growled, clawed, and demanded action- assuring him of one certainty in the midst of his sudden madness- her true nature. No wonder he couldn’t take his damn eyes from her… No wonder his mind was full of erotic images that threatened his sanity… and no wonder she enthralled him so.
“Witch,” he tipped his head to one side and regarded her through fresh eyes. This was his woman- his soul mate- damn, but he considered himself a very lucky man.
“Shifter,” she didn’t sound too happy about that…
“Wolf,” he offered back and saw her top lip twitch at that revelation. Then there was a small unimpressed pout to those ruby red lips that he kind of liked- it was as if she was puckering up to kiss him, and his length twitched under the water…
He take her lips on his body no matter where she wished to bestow them. His length moved like an eel, desperate to seek her out- wanting to be balls deep within her body…
“Figures,” she replied with a slight sideways nod of her head and another pout. From her attitude, he guessed that she would have liked to have folded her arms across her chest at that point, but he could see that she held herself ready for his next move- she just didn’t know what it was yet.
“I’d really like to take your scent.” Like was an understatement; his damn wolf was scratching and clawing in its demands for it. Up close and personal as it should be- his lips just barely brushing the skin of her shoulder before he turned to scent her neck, just below her ear… he was tormenting himself with that image.
“I’d really like to punch you on the nose again,” Janette offered with a twist of sweetness to her voice that was mixed with an acidity that he wasn’t quite used to hearing from a women- they were usually much more receptive to his charms, but then none of them knew what he truly was- she did, and she didn’t look happy about it. “We can’t always get what we want.” She delivered what she assumed to be the final nail in that particular coffin…
Oh, how wrong could a girl be?
“Funnily enough,” he said as he took a simple step towards her and saw her flinch, readying herself for his next move. “I do usually get what I want.” He grinned again- this time showing her those perfectly white, perfectly straight teeth up close and personal, and her eyes flicked down to see just how much of his fangs he was willing to show her- not a jot.
She would have admitted to herself at some small level of disappointment- and yet she couldn’t quite bring herself to do it, because that would mean she was receptive to his charms- and here she was denying like crazy that he had any.
“I’m guessing that you haven’t run into any witches before.” She tried to keep her breathing as even as possible even with her heart hammering against her ribs and the sound of blood rushing in her ears.
Now wasn’t the time to let her guard down- she’d already done that once today, bathing naked in a damn pool in the middle of nowhere, and now she was in a right royal pickle…
Standing naked in a rock pool with a damn shifter- and not just any shifter but a wolf, and everybody knew just what shifters were like- over brazen- over confident- and over sexed. She wasn’t some simpering fool that was going to just drop her knickers for him- if she had of been wearing knickers to begin with. No. He could just toddle off and find his next victim at some bar or another…
“I like to give witches a wide berth- it saves me the complication of having to get my-”
“Butt kicked?” Janette delivered that jibe with a small innocent smile, but her blue eyes flashed with glee, and he had her number.
Maverick leaned his upper body in towards her as if he was about to share a secret. Her eyes narrowed and her top lip twitched again in anticipation, and he could practically see the cogs turning within her mind.
“Fangs out,” he said simply and she blinked hard- just once- as if he’d reached out and flicked the end of her nose or something.
“Don’t you threaten me,” she hissed back at him. That sweet smile was long gone from her kissable lips, replaced by a look that could possibly have turned him to stone had she thrown a little magic behind it.
She seemed ready to do just that, but was she able?
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Maverick announced.
He wasn’t one to turn and run from a fight, and this was hardly that, yet. But far from retreating, he was usually the one leading the charge. He weighed up the situation at hand as he saw it, and right then he wanted to sidestep this confrontation, unless of course, she offered him little choice.
Maverick eased into a lopsided smile that made her eyes flick down to his lips, flared, and then back up again. The tell-tell sign of her shifting her weight under the water- the way she caught her breath a little- she was either getting ready to attack- to run- or she liked that smile.
He noted it for future reference, and moved on.
“Do you have a name or I should I make one up for you?” he asked, changing the subject and trying to distract her from all that had gone before.
It took Janette a long moment for his question to sink in to her fuddled brain. The situation that she found herself in aside, there was just something not quite right about this man. He was a shifter, yes, but the way that her shields were reacting to his presence was more than distracting, it was downright annoying.
“I’m not telling you my name,” she twisted her face in disbelief.
What witch in her right mind just handed her name over without thinking through the consequences of that action? That was akin to inviting anyone who knocked on your front door into your house without the very real consequence of knowing whether or not they were a vampire… Pah!
“Oh, that- right. You witches seem to think that names have some sort of power,” he nodded thoughtfully.
“They do have power-”
“But, I don’t do magic. So where’s the harm?” He shrugged those broad shoulders, and they’d looked wide before when he was up on the rocks, but up close and personal, she could see just how built like an outhouse this guy really was. It was almost intimidating- almost- she had her magic to protect should he try anything.
“Back off and let me get out of the water.” She’d had more than enough of this. She was the one at a disadvantage here, and that needed to come to an end.
As for where was the harm? The harm seemed to be having him this close and the strange effect that it seemed to be having on her body. Even through her shields she was still getting that damn tingling feeling that denoted and warned her of his supernatural nature, and yet it was stronger than she’d ever felt before.
She wanted to take a big step back and put a little more distance between them, but there was the problem of having nowhere to go. With a waist high bank behind her, she wasn’t about to take another step and trap herself between him and that muddy wall.
“Be my guest,” Maverick gave another shrug, before he folded those big muscular arms across his equally muscular chest, and tossed her another one of those lopsided grins. He watched and waited to see if her eyes flicked back down- yep, they did, down and flared a little- that was smile that she liked alright.
“You really don’t believe that I’m going to flash my goodies for you, do you?” Janette held her ground when all that she really wanted to do was run like the damn wind- clothed, of course, in the opposite direction from him. He leaned forwards again and she resisted the urge to pull her upper body back from him.
“Newsflash, I’ve already seen them,” he whispered and she gasped in disbelief.
Gentleman- not. He didn’t have to bloody well rub it in!
Maverick’s eyes flashed wide with surprise the moment that she unleashed her magic towards him. The sting of her anger had been unexpected and it felt like a whip against his naked skin. He yelped, dropped his arms to his sides, and took a step backwards, losing his footing on the slippery rocks, and almost totally submerged, he took in a mouthful of water as he scrambled to regain his footing.
When his head shot up from the water and his body followed; his eyes locked with hers, and he got the feeling from the twinkle of mischief that resided there- that made the blue practically luminous- that she’d more than enjoyed that. The growl that rumbled in his chest pierced the air, and there wasn’t a damn thing that he could do, or wanted to do, to stop it.
“Whoops, mind how you go the rocks are as slippery as hell,” she shrugged happily- the smile on her lips bowing them upwards at the corners. Yeah, enjoyment was an understatement.
“Noted,” Maverick bit out. Planting his feet with care as he took another step back towards her.
Her hand came up and her index finger seemed to hold him at bay as her eyes narrowed on him…
“Not another step,” she hissed, but she didn’t realise the kind of challenge that her actions had sparked within him.
“How about two?”
Maverick was in front of her before she could bat an eyelid. One large hand had captured the wrist of her outstretched arm, taking it down and backwards behind her body, and the other had palmed the small of her back, yanking her against his body, and making her head snap back on her neck so that she could glare up into his eyes.
What she saw sent her blood pressure soaring…
Hunger- need- desire- and a lopsided smile of victory that took her breath away. The heat of his body warmed her- not just warmed, but sent a wave of heat rushing out inside of her that was unexpected in its magnitude.
“I win, you lose, time to take your scent.” Maverick didn’t hold back that hungry growl that rumbled in his throat- dipping his head- he nuzzled between her shoulder and her neck, and breathed in the truest scent of her body, allowing it to wash through him.
“Oh no you don’t.” Janette let loose with her magic like an electric eel- as if he wasn’t hard enough already, every muscle clamped down, caging her in a vice like grip as he jumped back, and the both of them went under the water together…
Janette could do nothing to break free of his arms. Helplessly locked to his body; she had no choice but to release him from her magic and hope for the best…
She wasn’t like him, she could only hold her breath for so long, and if he didn’t get a grip, and not the kind that he had on her, and soon- then she was in danger of drowning.
~
CHAPTER THREE
~
Maverick’s mind was in shock as much as his body had been. One moment he was languishing in her scent and the next his body was not his own to control- locked up tight, and with his mate in his arms as his backside hit the rocks at the bottom of the pool.
He knew one thing for certain- he needed to shake off the paralysis that had gone through him in order to let her go. He could hold his breath a damn sight longer than she could, and time was ticking by as he forced his muscles to unlock- feeling her body squirm out from the cage of his arms- rubbing against his damn length as she went- until his eyes saw her break the surface through the water.
Janette was still gasping in the air when she fisted his hair and yanked his head up above the water- allowing him to do the same as his body started to become his own again… His eyes locked on his hers with a certain fury that in some ways she guessed that she deserved. She just hadn’t thought that one through.
“Just how stupid are you?” He growled out, and watched her snap to attention. The next moment he saw the rush of anger within her and she dunked him back under the water again…
“Stupid is as stupid does,” she bit out- feeling the pressure of his body push back up as he regained control of his limbs, the urge to zap him once more washed through her but she forced it away- it had worked out so well the last time.
Janette let go of his hair a moment before she turned to hightail it away from him…
“Oh no, you don’t!” He growled out, reaching out one strong arms and wrapping it around her waist as he hauled her body back against his.
Her hands were clawing at the water as if to get away, and her legs were kicking out, but he was sure of one thing- she was going nowhere… He dipped his head to her ear and silenced her movements with just one word…
“Mine,” he growled and felt her body lock up in the way that, moments earlier, his had just experienced. Only he ha
dn’t used magic to do- just one simple word. There was a slow sound like a deflating balloon that came from her lips, but other than that- nothing.
“Wolf got your tongue?” he whispered the taunt beside her ear- his lips brushing her skin, and felt her whole body snap to life.
Janette was back, mind and body from the state of complete denial that she’d found herself in, and she was determined to try to put some distance between them again- unfortunately for her, he didn’t share that sentiment.
“Witch got your balls?” She snapped out- letting another blast of her magic free and getting him right where it hurt.
Yes, it was a dirty trick, but the important thing was- it did the trick. He let her go, both hands cupping his crown jewels as he howled with pain- and she took the opportunity to scamper towards the muddy bank, uncaring about her lack of attire as she wrenched her naked body out of the water, and hightailed it for her clothes.
With a look back over her shoulder, she noted the pain etched into his face- the tears that streaked down his cheeks- from eyes that were still locked onto her, and getting lost in the droplets of water from his earlier dunking.
She felt a rush of guilt that twisted something inside of her… but that wasn’t enough to stop her from wrenching on the thin, floaty summer dress that clung to her wet curves, and discarding her bra and panties as she snatched up her backpack and sandals and hightailed it out of there.
Running from your mate was not exactly the prescribed wisdom from the school of thought from the elders, but she didn’t give that a moment’s thought as she retraced her steps through the woods as best she could to come back around on the car that she’d left at the side of the road not an hour earlier.
“Mate my curvy backside!” She bit out as she wrenched open the driver’s door and tossed her body into the seat behind the wheel.
Her hands found the keys that she’d left in the ignition and she was more than grateful for her trusting ways as she turned them and the engine roared to life…