A hand grabbed her again, and she squeaked. Irene felt herself being lifted and plopped down on someone’s lap, and she looked up in shock to find Nikolai there. She attempted to struggle, but his hold was firm as he pulled her closer.
Then he was embracing her, filling her with warmth and shock and everything she didn’t want to feel, but was still feeling anyway.
“Nik…?”
“I’m sorry.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry they hurt you like that. I’m sorry everyone judged you. I’m so damn sorry I judged you, Irene. You deserve better than this.”
“Nik…”
“I’m sorry. Come here.”
He pulled her even closer, breathing her in.
And the dam burst.
The tears fell, and her body shook with it. Whatever sob she’d been trying to hold back flooded out of her with a bang, and sounds came out of her throat. She didn’t mean to, but she was clinging to him, holding on to the comfort he offered as his hands moved and tried to reassure her. It was scary how someone could make her feel like this so fast and so easily, but she didn’t care—not at this moment, not when it wrapped around her like a safe blanket and made her not want to let go.
Irene didn’t know how long she cried. It might have been minutes. It might have been hours. But he was there all the way, just holding her, not saying a word, and it was everything she could ever ask for. Her heart ached, and her chest hurt, and she felt so, so empty. Her magic leaked, uncontrollable—but instead of hurting him, he absorbed it, like wind absorbing the storm and flowing along with it.
Her storm eventually calmed down, her shakes turning into shudders before settling down. She hiccupped, and a whispered assurance came out of his mouth and traveled to her shoulder. She finally looked up, watching his closed eyes slowly open.
“Don’t be too nice to me,” she finally said after a while. “I can’t stand it.”
“I’m not being too nice to you, not when I have a motive.”
“What’s your motive?”
His jaw tightened. “Your magic’s everywhere right now. It’s leaking all over you, and I can feel it.”
“I know.”
“Good. Now let’s try something.”
Before she could ask, he was leaning down and closing his mouth over hers. Her mouth opened in surprise but didn’t move as he cajoled her into a soft, slow kiss this time—more a test than anything. Her energy surged up, wrapping around them, and his lips…they tempted him just as he did. Lust shot in between her legs, and she ached so badly that all she could do was kiss him back again and let her magic soar. His body absorbed it, and it only made him kiss her harder until what was slow and intimate turned hot and feverish.
Frantic, she broke the kiss again. He didn’t seem to mind as his mouth cruised down her shoulder, where he breathed and stayed.
“That was…” Wonderful. Dangerous.
“Yeah,” he murmured.
“Has it…” She hesitated before plunging on. “Has it ever felt like that for you? With others?”
“No. Never.”
She heard the ring of truth in his voice, and her heart skipped a beat.
“Oh.”
“So let me get this straight.” He looked up. “Those men’s cocks have been inside you, but that’s it? There was no actual act of sex?”
The point-blank way he asked it made her cheeks hot. She nodded. “Yes. I’m not a virgin, if that’s what you’re getting at.”
“Actually, that’s not what I’m getting at. And that’s not what I’m thinking. Do you want to know what I’m thinking, Irene?”
No. No…
“Yes?”
“That I’m going to be the next man inside you.”
Her breath hitched in shock, but he wasn’t done speaking.
“And it’s not going to end there, because I’m going to make you orgasm like you’ve never done before. It’ll consume us both, Irene, and we’re both going to drown in the pleasure. I’ll pleasure you with my mouth, my hands, my cock…and no one’s going to die.”
Before she could respond, he was kissing her cheek. Then he was sliding her off his lap, where she realized he was hard as a rock. She stared at it now, watching the large ridge tenting his jeans before his throat-clearing had her eyes flying up.
Those chocolate eyes darkened. “Go to sleep. We both need it.”
And he was strolling out of there and leaving her more confused and aroused than ever.
Chapter 11
“Failed again.”
The frustration in her voice couldn’t be missed, especially when she capped it off by throwing her hands in the air for good measure. Beside her, the demon—the one she’d been trying to transfer her energy to like her altered creatures—slumped on the floor inside its cage, obviously drained from all the spells and magic she did on it.
Except none of it worked.
It was always the same thing each time: Irene using her energy on it, bit by bit and slowly, until the struggling creature stilled and calmed down enough for her to transfer some more. She even managed to make its eyes glow, ensuring that it would stay within witch territory. Then, just when she was about to urge it to follow her will, the hold would snap. The glowing eyes would disappear, and whatever stillness the demon had would disappear along with it, turning it into a mindless, cruelly violent creature all over again. It scratched her twice already in his week-long stay at her place, and she still had marks on her arm because of it.
Now, a new wound joined it on her other arm as she tried to scramble away. Blood poured down, but she barely paid attention to it until Nikolai handed her a cloth to clean it up.
“I don’t like how it keeps hurting you,” he muttered.
“It comes with the job,” she muttered back, eyes on the demon. She shook her head, white-blond strands flying out of the braid she put her hair in. She looked exhausted.
The sight made him want to take her away from here and protect her, but he knew they both needed to hang on to this and keep doing it. Every day, she tried, meeting up with the witches as they planned and worked on their defense strategy. Every day, he also went to work, where he found that more of the charred spots appeared all over town without warning. The witches tried to contain it, but they could only do so much, and whatever relaxation people had before now turned tense again as everyone just waited it out and armed themselves. It made for some heated moments as impatience rang through, with the police force trying to rein in what they could.
Every night, he returned to her house to have dinner with her, then watched as she continued with the demon and grew frustrated each and every time. He also tried to keep his desire in check, because it was the last thing she needed in her preoccupation.
Not as easy as it sounded, and he was a ball of nerves just waiting to explode. But he was no barbarian, and he wasn’t going to force this on her no matter what.
When she swayed as she tried to stand up, he reached out and helped her. Then he steered her out of there before she could try it again, ignoring her protest as he navigated her into her kitchen and had her sit in front of the kitchen counter. Her eyes widened when she saw the chocolate cake sitting there.
“Bought that from Mrs. Cruz’s pastry shop,” he said, getting a fork and giving it to her. “She makes great chocolate cakes. Eat up. You need your energy.”
She turned to stare at him, those big eyes drawing him in. Then a smile bloomed on her face, one that was grateful and had his chest tightening. Without a word, she dug in with gusto, offering him some as she ate to her heart’s content.
It was safe to say that the sugar rush got to her after she finished half of the huge round piece, revving her up to give it another go. They went back to the cage, and she tried it again, the energy swirling in her body forming into…something that got bigger and bigger. He sensed it, just as he always had, and it amazed him that such a small body could contain that much. Hazel was a powerful witch, and a do
ctor at that, but Irene…she was on another level altogether, and it amazed him how nonchalant she was about it.
The deaths of the men she mentioned were confirmed as he looked through the records, along with the note that she’d killed them out of spite. Because that had been years ago and he hadn’t really caught up to the news, he hadn’t really paid attention until now. Most of those he asked subtly also didn’t remember much other than the vague details, but they did know one thing—that the hermit was dangerous, and they wouldn’t be touching her with a ten-foot pole.
He watched that dangerous hermit now as she knelt beside the demon again, muttering things under her breath. She closed her eyes and lifted her hands up, and the magic that singed there had him fisting his hands as he felt it in every bone of his body.
His body went hard as he braced himself for it. His cock followed, stirring slowly before it turned hard, too. It was the most bizarre reaction there was, but he couldn’t control it, and all Nikolai could do was ignore it as he focused on watching her do her thing.
The process took a while because unlike her furry forest animals, the demon had a thicker hide and much darker disposition. But she held on, her energy steady but shaking every now and then as the demon struggled once her magic touched it. It hissed, trying to claw at her and the floor, which was already full of scratch marks. But she ignored it and so did he, and she eventually transferred enough energy to get the creature to calm down and return the glow in its eyes.
“Lift your head up,” she said to the creature, her voice steady.
The demon did. Shock filled Nikolai as it stared back at her with no malice whatsoever, patient as a cat. Slowly, Irene stood up, and the demon watched as she reached out to open the cage, not attacking her.
“Irene?” he asked softly, suddenly unsure if this was a good idea.
“I can do it,” she replied, just as softly. They might as well be whispering. “You have to trust me.”
“I trust you.”
Her gaze steady as she didn’t take her eyes off the demon as the cage was finally opened. She asked the creature to step out, then to make one full round in her house. It crawled on the wall and on the ceiling, and Nikolai’s body tensed when it was directly on top of him. But it crawled right back down and returned to her, and she reached out to touch its scales before she asked the creature to return to its cage.
The moment the cage was locked, Irene covered it with the black cloth and took a step back. Her shoulders slumped, and he felt the energy floating in the air recede instantly, as if she sucked all of it back in. She wobbled on her feet but tensed her body to hold it in until she was standing straight. Her shoulders shook, and the worry hit him that she was crying from being so tired.
“Irene…” He took a step forward, turning her around. “What can I...?”
Surprise filled him when he saw her face and how she wasn’t crying as at all. Her hand was over her mouth, and her shoulders still shook as she tried to hold her laughter in. Nikolai’s brows rose as she removed the hand and grinned fully at him, her aquamarine eyes sparkling.
“I did it,” she whispered, her voice giddy.
It was so infectious that he found himself slowly grinning back. “You did it.”
“I can’t believe it.”
“I can. You just needed time.”
If anything, that only made her grin wider. Her magic leaked again, which he realized happened when she was excessively happy. It filled the air with warmth, and he breathed her in.
“Oh, God.”
“Let it out,” he prompted. “That was a huge step.”
“I can’t believe it!” she finally exclaimed out loud. Then she was running for him and throwing her arms around him, the force of it almost knocking him back. His arms automatically took her in, pulling her close as she vibrated excitedly and chattered about how that was the best feeling in the world. “Did you see that? Did you see how amazing that was?”
“Yes. I saw everything.”
“It feels so good. So good! Like…my energy just went out and caught the demon and took over. The control feels so good. It’s like a drug, and I’m addicted. I didn’t know I could do it. It had so much power, but I wrestled it off.”
“Yes.”
“Now I have so much energy, and I don’t know what to do with it,” she muttered, hugging him again. He hugged her back, their bodies pressing together. “I don’t know what to do with it, Nik.”
“I know what to do with it,” he murmured. He eased her back, gazing into her and letting her see what he was feeling—each and every little thing. Her smile turned down a bit, surprise filling her gaze. Then her eyes darkened, desire flashing.
But he stayed where he was, not making a move.
“I guess I can just exercise,” she said. “Yoga is good for the body and all.”
“Right.”
She cleared her throat, stepping away. Cleared her throat again. “I’ll do it in my room.”
“Okay,” he rasped.
Silence filled the space.
And it was Irene who made the move first as she stepped forward and yanked his head down.
Then she was kissing him with every fiber of her being.
Chapter 12
Kissing someone who was caught off guard was probably the most spontaneous thing she’d ever done with a man in her life, and Irene supposed that said a lot about the state of her dating life in general—non-existent. But she wasn’t after dating here, and really, the only reason she kissed him was because her energy was all over the place.
And he was there, looking so damn hot and irresistible that she couldn’t help herself.
He tasted as he did in their last kiss: musky, just a hint of spicy, and so deliciously male that she wanted to gobble him up whole. She gave in to temptation for a bit, opening her mouth and tasting him fully as he kissed her back. She even let her tongue out for a little peek, licking his lower lip and reveling in the way his soft groan reached out to her.
Her stomach pulled, liquid hot. Her control started to unravel as something burning sparked in her belly, and it was the jolt she needed to break the kiss.
Fear kicked in right after as she backed off, watching him in horror. But his hands were on her elbow, firmly keeping her in place as he looked down at her with equal parts intensity and hunger.
She shook her head, then stilled when that tempting mouth slid down her jaw. The kiss he gave her there was like a whisper promising more, and she bit her lip.
“We can’t,” she blurted out.
“You don’t want to?”
Was he kidding?
“I want to,” she admitted. “I want it more than anything. But I’ll hurt you.”
She made a move to back away again, but those hands pulled her in until her body was pressed against his once more. She gasped at the hardness of every bit of him, then tried to take a deep breath when she felt his erection against her stomach. His hands moved to her hips, and his mouth kissed her throat until she was floating.
“You won’t. I absorb your magic, remember?”
“Nik…”
That mouth came up to kiss hers again, and she was so lost in the moment that she let him. They both came up for air, breathing erratic. “I trust you, Irene. Do you trust me?”
There was a moment of suspended silence before she was nodding her head.
And she knew when he kissed her next that there was no turning back.
*****
They wouldn’t have made it into the bedroom if Nikolai hadn’t lifted her up like she weighed nothing and carried her inside. Then he was pressing her against the wall and kissing her more hurriedly now, no longer holding back as he made her drunk with pleasure. She didn’t hold back, either, kissing with fervor and releasing years of ache from her body.
And it was freeing.
Their tongues tangled, teasing and tasting and challenging. Something tore, and Irene only realized it was her clothes when a hand cupped her bare bre
ast and another teased her nipples. Then his head was there, his mouth closing in on her stiffened bud, and whatever pleasure she felt doubled and gathered until she was hot and heavy all over.
He didn’t stop there. That skilled mouth kept going lower, touching on every bit of her skin that was exposed until she was writhing against him. Sounds came out of her mouth, and approving groans came out of him as he continued removing her dress, then her panties. The way he looked at her core in between her legs had her holding her breath, which she released in shaky moans when his fingers started touching her there.
Then his mouth was there—delving in, tongue licking, and she had to bite her lip to carry herself through the intensity of it. Her hands slipped through his hair, and her energy surged and leaked out of her, the magic soaking the air. She heard raspy murmurs from his deep voice, and it wasn’t until a few minutes in that she managed to catch what he was saying.
“Let it go, Irene. Let me taste your magic.”
“Nik…” she moaned.
“Trust me. I can handle it.”
And she trusted him. She trusted him with everything she had, which was why she found herself releasing whatever she was holding back as she threw her head against the wall and let the pleasure take over.
His mouth and fingers moved in rhythm, and there was nothing she could do against it. All Irene could do was let herself feel it, and she did. The ball of pleasure grew in her stomach, building and building, right until she could no longer take it anymore.
She exploded, and he sucked every bit of it in as she tightened her hands on his hair and tried to hold on.
Irene’s knees wobbled after, but they were suddenly off the pressure. Belatedly, she realized Nikolai was carrying her. By the time they were on the bed, she was on his lap, and he had no shirt on, his pants just in the process of getting removed as he kicked them off. But he didn’t make any move, and she realized he was waiting for her to take the lead.
Bear Guards: A Paranormal Romance Page 27