The Tribe Boxed Set: A Shapeshifter Paranormal Romance

by Terra Wolf

  “So, I finally get to meet the mysterious Ivy Grace.”

  “Me mysterious? Seems like you’re the mysterious one, since you know who I am and I have no idea who you are. Although, I know you work with my brother, or so you claim,” I teased.

  “I’m surprised Ian hasn’t mentioned me. Really?” He paused. “He hasn’t said anything?”

  I shook my head. I would definitely ask Ian about him after the ball.

  “I like working with your brother. We have a lot in common. We’ve worked a few cases together. I thought he might have brought it up.” Finn looked puzzled.

  “Nope, not a word.” I tipped toward him slightly on my toes.

  I liked the effect the champagne was having on my body. I felt light and unbound, like I could float around the rooftop. I looked down at my glittery shoes to make sure I was still standing. Finn stirred the energy beneath my skin. I had met him only a few minutes ago, how could he do that?

  “There’s something I want to do.” He winked at me before resting his glass on a nearby bench.

  He traced the outline of my mask with one hand, and with the other, he reached behind my head and untied the ribbon holding it in place. The simple gesture shot a thrill through me. I walked backward a step at a time, until my back rested against the brick wall overlooking the city below. The night was warm on my skin. Finn peeled the mask from my face. He reached behind his head, unlacing his. He tossed them both to the floor.

  I studied his high cheekbones and the perfect symmetry of his face. He traced the curve of my throat around to the back of my neck, grabbed a handful of my hair, tugging slightly, and pulled me closer so that his mouth was on mine.

  His lips were warm and urgent, bringing me closer to him. My hands had a life of their own and found their way inside his jacket. I worked through his shirt buttons and succeeded in pulling back his shirt to feel his smooth, muscular chest. Everything about him was intoxicating.

  His mouth pressed into mine harder, sending a moan from the back of my throat. This was the single most dizzying kiss I had ever experienced. His fingers eased the zipper on my gown along my spine. I felt it start to melt off my shoulders while his mouth traveled along my neck and pushed the gathered fabric away.

  He whispered against my neck. “Damn, you’re sexy. I wanted to kiss you as soon as I saw you at the bar.”

  He breathed into my throat as his palms pushed on my hips, working my dress to the floor. I gave myself an inner high five when I remembered luckily this was one of those occasions I had worn my all-matching black lingerie.

  I shivered from the heat of his breath. It was doing all kinds of things to me, like making me forget we had just met, or that only a few floors below us were hundreds of people. None of that seemed to matter as my hands traced his sculpted abs.

  There was just enough light for me to make out the vertical characters inked on his stomach. This wasn’t the time to ask what it meant; I only knew it was the hottest tattoo I had ever seen. My hands roamed lower until I reached for his zipper. I stopped.

  “Wait, wait.” My chest heaved and I lowered my head to avoid his piercing stare. I pulled my dress over my hips and slipped each arm through the designer cut straps. “Sorry, we can’t, we just… I’m sorry.”

  I had almost let him seduce me into my first one-night stand. And not just any one-night stand. On a rooftop. Part of me wanted to keep going. I had never been so reckless, or so turned on in my life. But the other part—the sensible me—stepped in.

  He held my face with his palms. “Shit, yeah, you’re right. This is going too fast. Way too fast.”

  He rested his forehead on my shoulder. It seemed he needed time to catch his breath as much as I did. We took a few minutes to straighten our ball attire, flatten out any extra crinkles, and do some more deep breathing.

  “We should probably head back to the party. I still need to make my donation tonight. I have my eye on a spa package in the silent auction…or maybe the shoes.”

  The combination of champagne and Finn’s kisses made my head spin. I didn’t think I could complete a sentence. I adjusted the delicate strap on the back of my heels as if that would help me regain some sort of balance.

  Finn grabbed my hand to help steady me. “Before we go back downstairs, there is something I want to show you. It’s the real reason I brought you here.” He winked at me. “Although, I liked kissing you.”

  The heat in my cheeks started to rise again. I thought we had established we were going to take a breather, but if he asked, I wouldn’t pass on another chance to see him without his shirt again and that super hot tattoo. I wanted to kiss every square inch around it and his washboard stomach. He led me over to a bench on the side of the rooftop and sat next to me.

  “Don’t worry. It’s a surprise. I think you’ll like it.” He straightened his jacket and then held his palm straight out into the air. “Illuminate.”

  The familiar glowing orb I had formed so many times hovered in his palm, lighting a small area on the roof. My eyes darted between the orb and Finn.

  “Surprised?” He winked again.

  The illumination orb floated over his hand, casting a glow on his face and bobbed over to me. In that moment, neither my brain nor my mouth formed a single word. My body reacted to him and to the magic that was drifting between us. My mind was no longer guiding me, only my body. I raised my right hand and barely touched the top of the orb with my palm, pushing on the glow, flattening the light.

  “Extinguish,” I whispered. “You’re a magix?”

  “I’ve been called worse things.” He grinned.

  “But…” I didn’t know what to say. Only, I gave up on words.

  I wrapped both my arms around his neck and my mouth found his. My hands urgently moved from his face to his neck and down to his chest, pulling on his buttons. I tugged on his lower lip with my teeth and playfully bit him on the neck.

  I realized the magic had drawn me to him, and now that he had shared it, I couldn’t fight it. Why hadn’t I noticed it in the looks he gave me, or the way my skin heated under his fingertips? Every part of me gravitated toward him as if we were meant to fuse together in some predestined spellbinding way.

  He grabbed my waist and picked me up so I was on top of him, straddling his hips. I didn’t protest or try to slow him this time. I wanted him. I wanted to feel every ounce of our magic intertwined and dancing through our bodies.

  His hand cupped my face. “I want you.”

  “Shh.” I quieted him with a kiss.

  We didn’t need words. There was something between us that was thick like humid summer nights. It glowed like lightning trails. I could see it and feel it.

  Being with Finn felt like suddenly everything I had been looking for was right in front of me. He was gorgeous. He was sexy. And he was making my head and heart spin with every touch.

  The quiet of the roof hushed my inner good girl warnings and peeled away my inhibitions. I stood in front of him and tugged on my zipper until my gown was a heap on the ground. I kicked it to the side.

  A wicked grin flashed across his face. He met my stare.

  He pointed at the open space on the roof next to my dress.

  “Voila,” he commanded.

  A cloud of glitter disintegrated over a bed. He literally made a bed appear out of thin air. No human boyfriend of mine could have come close to that level of seduction.

  As quickly as the bed appeared, Finn wrapped his arms around me and lifted me on the mattress. Electric heat spread through my body, and I surrendered to his touch, his mouth, and those piercing, irresistible eyes.

  I tried to steady my breaths as he stripped the black lace panties from my legs. My body pulsed like it never had before when I realized the only thing I was still wearing were my sparkly heels.

  As if he could read my mind he reached for my ankle and planted a kiss just above the strap of my shoe, followed by another on my calf, and an exquisite one behind my knee. His eyes shot to mi
ne, and I lost all hope of not drowning in this man. I wanted him to take me under. I wanted to lose my breath. My body. My soul.

  “My heels,” I managed to whisper.

  “I think you should leave them on,” he growled as he lined my stomach with kisses.

  I don’t know if he was able to suspend us in time, but it felt like it as he explored every inch of me with slow and devouring strokes.

  His magic was powerful. I could feel his strength every time he kissed me. The sparks jumped from his body to mine.

  I watched hungrily as he shed the last remnants of his tux. I was eager to feel him pressed against me, into me, filling me with heat and magic. I had fallen under his spell and thrown all sensibility off the roof.

  “Ivy,” he whispered as I arched toward him.

  I wanted to know what this would feel like, two magix consumed by each other. He was my first magix. I had always wondered what sex would be like with magic coursing through two bodies. So far, it was as if a raging dam had broken free inside my veins and I was flowing with desire.

  His hand slid between my legs, and his fingers circled rhythmically until I was on the brink of giving in to the building need.

  “You’re glowing.” He smiled at me as his hand dipped into the sweetest spot.

  I could barely make out the words; it felt so good. “I am?”

  “Hmm…mmm.” He added another finger. “I think it’s because I’m doing this.” He swirled his fingers and I clung to the bed, not wanting to levitate off the roof. “It’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

  I gripped his back as he parted my legs with his knees. My skin radiated as it touched him, and I saw iridescence wherever my fingertips trailed his body. If we were already glowing, what would happen when we actually possessed the other? Would our magic be too much? Could I handle the lightning between us?

  Finn laid a kiss on my lips. He hovered then pushed inside me, fusing our magic together. I bowed off the bed, trembling from the rush.

  “Oh, God.” I clutched him tighter.

  I wanted to scream and laugh or just collapse like my heap of a dress. It felt so overwhelming. It was pure bliss. And the light—we glowed and sparkled every time our skin touched.

  Finn reached for my hands, threading his fingers through mine as our bodies moved together. His palms melted into mine like strands of electricity were binding us together. He stole kisses and pleasure while he slid into me. I had never craved anyone like this. Never reacted like this.

  It was as if I needed him for my next breath. The magic and the electricity surged through us until finally the waves of release consumed us into a quivering, burning, divine haze.

  Chapter Fifteen

  There was no way we could head back downstairs with our freshly sexed look. I looked at Finn’s hair sticking out and saw a scattering of his buttons on the floor. My dress zipper was torn and my hair no longer looked quite so put together. Fortunately, I knew I didn’t have to hide my usual bag of tricks.

  I pointed at our clothes. “Remedy.”

  The repairs were made within seconds.

  “Hey, thanks. That’s a cool spell you have,” Finn complimented.

  “No problem. It comes in handy.”

  Now for the rest of me. “Glamour,” I whispered.

  I felt my hair go into place with my flowing curls hanging loosely on my shoulders, and a renewed tightness on my skin let me know my makeup was no longer smeared and faded.

  Hugging my dress to my chest, I turned and looked at Finn.

  “Sorry, I don’t know what got into me. I don’t…I mean, I’ve never done that. I’m not really into...” The man had set fire to my body, and I was suddenly shy. “I just mean, I’ve never had a one-night stand before.”

  I was secretly thankful the shadows on the roof concealed my embarrassment. I had completely undone my no one-night stand record. If I had to break it, I couldn’t think of a better initiation. My skin still tingled from his kisses.

  “You don’t have to explain. It was hot. Don’t apologize.” He leaned down and pressed a rough kiss on my lips. “It was fun. But who said it was a one-night stand?”

  “It wasn’t?” I questioned, not knowing what it was we had experienced together. There wasn’t a word for it.

  I wrapped my arms around his neck, drawing his mouth back to mine. I realized I could kiss him all night on this rooftop or anywhere else he wanted. My palm flattened against his chest. The glimmer from the touch sparkled around my hand. My eyes lifted to him.

  “I don’t want it to be. Something that powerful is meant to happen again.” He grinned.

  Was it insane that I felt this way about someone I had only met tonight?

  “How about breakfast? Would you let me take you out for breakfast? I think there’s a waffle shop around the corner that’s open all night.”

  He held out his hand to guide me from the bed.

  I considered our exit. “We’re going to have to walk past my parents. And Ian. But if you can handle that, yes, I’d love to have waffles with you.”

  I would try to act normal, as if I hadn’t just let a stranger make me glow on the museum roof.

  “I don’t think that will be a problem. Most people think I’m pretty charming.” There was the killer wink again.

  “Even a family of magix?” I eyed him.

  “Your brother and I are friends. I think I can handle the parents.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, I don’t want to hear what Ian’s going to say about this.” He would give me a hard time. That’s what older brothers did.

  I wanted to look over the roof once more before we joined the masquerade ball. Finn stood next to me, straightening his tuxedo jacket while I peered over the side.

  I felt it. The draw to him. The connection we had. I knew there was more than magic woven between us, but I couldn’t think clearly enough to figure it out. Just looking at him took my breath away.

  “What is it?” He turned his head. “Something wrong?”

  “I-I...” I didn’t want to overanalyze it. I didn’t want the night to be about anything other than the perfection of how our bodies fit together. Of how I glowed under his fingertips. Of how I let the magic speak for me.

  “What is it, Ivy?”

  “It’s just. I have this feeling.” I leaned against the rooftop railing. “Your magic…it’s different.”

  “You like different don’t you?” His eyebrows waggled.

  The corners of my lips twitched. He was a professional flirt. I knew that in the first five minutes I met him.

  “I like your kind of different.” I dusted off the last bits of glitter on his tux lapel. “Let me guess, you have a pretty wicked charm spell.”

  “Me?” He laughed.

  I flattened the jacket to his chest. God, no one looked like this in a tux. I looked in his eyes, wishing it wasn’t so dark on the roof. The flecks of blue were irresistible.

  He reached for my hand. “Maybe we should talk before the waffles. Before we go downstairs.”

  “What is it?” It felt like his playful mood had changed.

  “You’ve seen my magic.” He smiled.

  “Yes.” I nodded. “What else is there?”

  “There’s a little more to me than that.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “I’m a Guardian.”

  I stared at him. “You’re a Guardian?” Holy shit. This was huge. “Impressive.”

  His sex appeal had suddenly skyrocketed. I didn’t think that was possible after what he had just done to my body. Holly and I used to talk about Guardians like they were knights in shining armor. Finn was the first one I had met. Maybe knights wore tuxedos and drank champagne instead of armor and ale.

  He nodded. He had been gifted with the power of protection. There were only a handful of Guardians in the world. They were elite and mysterious. And I had just slept with one of them.

  “Is that why you’re magic is so strong?” I asked. I desperatel
y wanted to figure it out. Figure him out.

  “Part of it.”

  I swallowed. “Part?” What else could there be?

  His fingers threaded through mine. I felt our skin start to tingle again. God, would it be like this every time he touched me? He walked me back toward the bed and we sat.

  “There’s more,” he stated.

  “There’s more than being a rare, powerful magix?” I couldn’t imagine anything could top that.

  He held his breath and suddenly I was nervous. My mind raced, trying to anticipate his response.

  “On top of that…I’m a shifter.”

  “Shifter?” My voice squeaked.

  “Yes.” He waited for me to say something. His blue eyes locked on me.

  “You’re a shifter. You shift.” I tried to calm the rapid beating of my heart.

  “Yes. I’m half shifter, half magix.”

  “How is that even possible?” I asked. I was a pure magix from a pure magical bloodline. There were no shifters in my family tree.

  He shrugged. “I never knew my parents. I can’t answer that.”

  “Oh.” My voice grew quiet. “Can I ask what kind?” I had no idea what the protocol was for the shifter world, but I had to know.

  “I’m a jaguar.”

  My mind spun. Why didn’t I ask any questions before I slept with him? Why did I give in to the magic? I just let it take over as if I had no say.

  But sitting next to him, on the bed he had conjured with a spell. With my skin still glistening from the friction of his body. With my heart still racing from his words. With my lips still warm from his kisses. I knew it wouldn’t have mattered if I had known.

  Every part of me still wanted every part of him. Jaguar, magix, or man.

  “Ok,” I whispered.

  “Ok? That’s all you have to say?” He tucked a curl behind my ear, and I searched his eyes.

  “No, but I don’t want to ruin it.”

  “I don’t think that’s possible.”

  “Is it why the magic is so powerful between us? Because you’re a jaguar shifter and I’m a magix?” I asked. “Is that it?”