The wolf. The wolf had done something to her! He had been looking for her, too. He had to be the one who had scared Divina.
Rori sprang to his feet. The wolf had lost her, too. He had claimed her and lost her. Was he forcing Divina—Rori’s Divina—to mate with him against her will? That fucking prophecy had robbed him of Divina. Perhaps it had robbed her of Rori, as well. He wasn’t about to stand around when she needed him.
Rori growled.
Divina had reached out to him, and he would go to her. All hope wasn’t lost. She hadn’t chosen the wolf over him. She hadn’t chosen witches over him. She had run from the wolf and the witches. Divina could still be his. Rori’s chest swelled with newfound purpose. He’d be damned if he would let her down. Again.
Determined, Rori stuffed his phone in the pocket of his jeans. Walking back into the hotel room, he realized he faced an immediate obstacle—Jonas.
There was no way Jonas would help him in this mission, considering his purpose was to report Rori’s actions back to vampire advisors. There was no way in hell he would let Jonas see Divina. He wanted to keep her out of anything related to the vampire court. Rori slipped on his white-collared shirt and left it unbuttoned while he searched for socks.
With his failure to lose Jonas the previous night fresh in his mind, he needed a new strategy. Sure, he could go where he wanted, and for the most part had managed a private conversation with Esmine. However, Jonas had followed him and had all but said he permitted Rori to do so. He needed to outthink Jonas if he was going to get to Divina without his little shadow.
“So who screwed up?” Jonas asked while Rori tugged on his socks.
“My progeny,” Rori lied easily, slipping one foot and then the other into his tan boots.
Jonas cocked an eyebrow skeptically. “You don’t have a progeny.”
Rori glanced in his direction with a smirk. “That you know of.”
“Vampire court knows everything about the ones with heartbeats,” Jonas countered smugly.
Rori pulled at his laces. “Apparently not.”
Jonas shifted uncomfortably. “The court has been watching you since the day you got your heartbeat.”
Rori paused. They’d been watching him? How would they have known when his heart would quicken? His composure faltered, but he didn’t respond. Instead he attempted to appear busy tying his boot.
Focusing on getting dressed, Rori hoped his purposely flippant responses would cast doubt on what Jonas thought he knew of him, maybe even have Jonas scurrying back to court to do more research. That would buy some time, all right.
Clearing his throat, Rori finished with his shoes. “My progeny and I had a falling out before I met the witch.”
Jonas’s smug expression fell. He lowered his eyes and seemed to scan the floor for answers.
“As this has nothing to do with the vampire court, I would appreciate some privacy.” Rori rose to his feet. Crooking his finger into the collar of his vest, he took it from the desk and slung it over his shoulder.
Jonas narrowed his eyes. “I can’t do that.”
“I plan on fixing whatever mistake she’s made and fucking her into oblivion as payment. Or punishment for pulling me away from my plans,” Rori proclaimed with his chin in the air and a devious smile on his face.
Jonas winced.
“I don’t think it’s in the interest of the vampire court that you witness my sexual conquests,” Rori elaborated.
Jonas frowned and shook his head. “No.”
“Would it put you at ease if I let you know where I was going?”
“Yes.”
Rori rattled off an address near to the one Divina had given him, which he’d quickly punched into the phone’s GPS app. It was the next town over, far enough away for privacy, but close enough that if Jonas followed, they would be on the same path for a while.
Satisfied he had outsmarted Jonas, Rori pulled open the app on his phone and called for a taxi. Making his way out the door, he glanced over his shoulder. “I’m going to the bar. I’ll need my energy for this evening.” He chuckled at Jonas’s groaned response.
CHAPTER 22
“Who did you call?” The pained expression on Aric’s face crushed Divina.
Turning away shamefully, she tried to hide behind her hair. “A friend,” she responded vaguely.
“I can fix this. Why did you go to someone else?” he implored from across the small bedroom.
Aric had taken her to a house only a few blocks from Sonia’s. Divina had noted the front porch had recently been repaired, and that for the most part it was built along the same plans as Sonia’s, but with a large addition on the back to add more rooms. It looked like it also had more land since it butted up to some woodland. Inside had been the two men who had come to Aric’s aid outside Sonia’s.
As uncomfortable as Divina was then, it didn’t compare to the discomfort of being in a room alone with Aric. Static crawled over her skin with his proximity. Her core ached for him. A persistent flush started in her sex and radiated down to her toes, setting her body at war with logic.
He paced and ran his fingers through his hair. His muscles tightened, and his chest rumbled a lot. Nervous energy radiated off him, and she couldn’t predict what all that would mean if he knew she’d set the bad part of the prophecy in motion.
“I don’t want it to be fixed your way,” Divina said without looking at Aric.
She didn’t want to see another hurt expression. She didn’t want to see that she had somehow speared his ego yet again with her words. Though she didn’t have to see it to know.
“What is my way?” he asked in a growl.
That wasn’t the response she had anticipated. “I saw the way you looked at him.” Divina whirled around to face him. Narrowed eyes, red cheeks, and a frown met her. “You wanted to rip his head off,” she accused.
“He manhandled my mate and was threatening your safety,” Aric snarled in annoyance. “My job is to protect you. My job is to destroy anything that threatens your safety.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“Then why are you calling in reinforcements?” Aric waved toward her phone. “Aren’t I reinforcement enough?”
“I don’t know you!” Divina blurted.
The air in the room stilled. Regretting the words immediately, she covered her face with both hands in the silence that followed. Taking a moment to catch her breath, she slid her hands down and saw Aric’s blank expression. Meeting her gaze, golden eyes flashed as his face twitched and rage filled his expression. Though an intimidating sight, Divina did her best to hold her ground. She wasn’t backing down.
She balled her hands into fists, her hair whipping around her with the energy tingling in her body. Wind picked up in the room as if a small tornado was blowing through. Every muscle in Divina’s body tightened as she glared daggers at him. She would not be intimidated. Sure, she had screwed up. Sure, she had outed herself to a human. It would be easy for that human to just “disappear” and her problems would be over. But Divina couldn’t live with his blood on her hands. She needed another way.
“You can’t do what he can,” Divina shouted over the increasing winds.
Aric’s eye twitched, and he cocked his head to the side. “Who?”
She didn’t want to answer and admit who she’d called. Aric didn’t like vampires, and he didn’t like Rori in particular, despite not even knowing him. The bite on her neck and his reaction to it gave Divina all the information she needed to know about those two. It would be best to keep them apart.
“I don’t want Ted dead,” Divina explained, dodging the question. “This is the only way I know to prevent that and still keep the secret. You yourself said humans can’t be trusted with them, so this way, I can be sure it stays a secret.” As she attempted to reason with Aric, the jolts of energy pulsing through her subsided. The air around them stilled as she calmed.
With quick, long strides, Aric closed the gap between them. As
he towered over her, his large callused hands cupped her face, his soft hazel eyes boring into hers, making her knees weak. The gold was gone from his eyes. For a moment she scanned them for traces of it. Nothing. Caught off guard, her breath caught at the tenderness she saw there.
Flutters in her stomach met with a flash of anger. Despite being in the middle of an argument, her body responded to him as though he had just given her roses and treated her to a romantic dinner. It didn’t make sense.
The heat from his body warmed her own, centering at the apex of her thighs. Memories of their night together flashed through her mind, and she bit her lower lip. It had been too good. He had been too good.
“You’re my mate,” he whispered and pressed his forehead to hers with closed eyes. “I have to protect you. You have to trust me.” The softness in his voice held a raw emotion that fully disarmed Divina.
When his nose grazed hers, she tilted her head up farther. Her instincts pushed her toward kissing him. The urge to do so, the pull, the ache, the need—it was too much. A small voice in the back of her head reminded her to be mad at him. Giving in to the seduction now wouldn’t be good.
“I want to,” she admitted, more to herself than to him. Her hands came up and covered his.
Taking her invitation, Aric grazed her lips with his soft ones. Not quite a kiss, more a tease, it taunted her, as she knew full well the force with which he normally kissed. It stimulated the longing within her. The need for more of him sang through her core and pulsed between her legs.
“What can’t I do?” Aric whispered through their joined lips as he pressed his hard body against hers. The steel column of his erection pushed against her belly.
“Erase his memory,” she said without thinking.
Aric jerked back. Still cupping her face, he put an arm’s length between them. The cool air shocked Divina’s heated system, and she brought her eyes back into focus as she peered at him in confusion. Soft hazel eyes roved her face for understanding. He moved his hands and ran one through his hair.
“A vampire?” Aric asked in disbelief. “You don’t trust me to handle this, but you trust a vampire?” He turned away from her.
As though she needed comfort, Divina wrapped her arms around herself. Did she trust Rori? Part of her did, or wanted to. It wasn’t that he had proved himself trustworthy over the years—he’d done the opposite, actually. There was just an unexplainable part of her that wanted to believe he was worthy of trust.
“I didn’t know who else to go to.”
Aric whirled around at her. “Me!” He thumped his hand against his broad, muscular chest. “Me, Divina. You come to me. I am your mate.” The rumbled tone dipped below his normal speaking voice, creating a deep baritone that set Divina off balance.
She opened her mouth to respond but no sound came out.
Mates.
He kept throwing that at her like she was supposed to know what it meant to be a mate. She hadn’t the faintest idea. Not to mention he hadn’t exactly given her a choice in all this mating stuff.
Aric paced in front of her, both hands fisted in his hair as he growled in frustration. “So, you trust a predator whose main prey is humans. Like, his sole survival is based on eating humans. You trust that over me, your mate?”
Divina shied away. She couldn’t look at him. The betrayal on his face felt like a knife through her heart. She couldn’t handle it. “He doesn’t kill people.” The absurdity came from her in a low voice. Her cheeks heated with her own foolishness, but she believed it.
“Is that what he told you?” he countered with a scoff. “Oh, that’s fantastic. Let’s take the word of a creature whose entire existence is based on manipulation.”
“Stop it!” she shouted. Her eyes welled with tears. “You don’t need to make fun of me.”
Aric stopped in his tracks and glanced in her direction, his expression softening. Once more he crossed the short distance between them and gently placed his hands on her arms. Peering down at her with concern, he scanned her face as though assessing her. “I’m not making fun of you.” Affection echoed in his tone. He ran his hands up and down her arms, offering comfort. “I don’t trust vampires.”
Looking up at him with wide doe eyes, Divina asked, “Do you trust me? You keep telling me I have to trust you because we’re mates. Do you trust me? Doesn’t it go both ways?”
Aric’s jaw ticked as he clenched his teeth. He searched her eyes.
She stood her ground, her arms over her chest and her brows lifted expectantly.
“I trust you,” he said through gritted teeth, “but I will never trust a vampire.” He was quick to add, “I’m going with you when you meet him.”
“That doesn’t sound very trusting,” she shot back.
Throwing his hands up, Aric let out a growl, then turned and fisted his hair as he took the three steps away from her.
Watching him fidget with his back to her, she inhaled audibly. “How far away can we be from one another before this pain thing makes it so we can’t breathe?”
He paused in his movements, his shoulders tensing. Looking over his shoulder, he regarded her with that tenderness again that made her stomach flop. “Fifty or so feet.”
Biting her lips into a thin line, Divina considered the distance. She’d be useless with Rori if she couldn’t actually speak to him. Aric had to be there. It wasn’t about trust; it was about practicality.
“You trust him?” Aric asked in a low rumble.
Meeting his gaze, she shook her head slowly. “I did once.”
Nodding, Aric came back toward her. One hand went to the back of her head, the other resting on her arm. He pressed his forehead to hers. “Can I be there? Only as backup. I won’t say or do anything unless it looks like it’s going south.”
Based on the crack of his voice, the sincerity in his eyes, he needed this. He needed her permission to accompany her to talk to Rori. As bad of an idea as she thought it was, she nodded. “Okay.”
CHAPTER 23
The earthy scent of moss and forest was thick in her hair. Her scent, one like no other. Aric buried his nose into the mess of tangled black and inhaled deeply. He could get drunk off her scent. His wolf danced circles within him, the animal over the moon to be so close to their mate again.
The beast in him had no regard for all the shit going on. He was a singularly focused being. That focus was squarely on Divina.
Aric’s arms tightened around her of their own accord, pulling her closer to him. He couldn’t get enough of the feel of her soft body against his. Her curves teased him, and he fought the urge to explore them.
Heat grew between their joined bodies. His clothes irritated his skin. Never had he felt so uncomfortable in a soft cotton T-shirt and jeans. They practically burned. He also found her attire offensive. Still wearing another man’s T-shirt. Aric remembered his vow to shred it from her body.
Despite himself, he groaned into her hair. Blood rushed toward his groin, and against his instincts, Aric attempted to turn his pelvis away. The human portion of him felt she wouldn’t appreciate his hardness. However, his animal side wanted to throw her down on the bed and claim her over and over until the two of them were a useless pile of limbs.
Divina pulled back in his arms so she could look at him. He hadn’t realized how long they had stood there, embracing one another. However long it had been, it wasn’t enough for Aric’s liking, though he loosened his grip to allow her to separate her chest from his.
She tilted her face up. The emotion in her eyes wasn’t the same as before. She didn’t look fearful. She wasn’t pleading with him. She wasn’t angry. No, there was something else in her eyes.
Unsure how to respond to it, Aric studied her. He wanted to learn her expressions, to know what each look meant. She seemed hungry, and not for food. The air shifted in the room, and the faintest of aromas stirred. It wasn’t saturated with the arousal of a woman on the verge of orgasm. No, it was subtler than that. Something in Divina wan
ted Aric, and he could smell it, but he wouldn’t take it. He’d done enough taking from Divina without permission. Just because her body reacted to him didn’t mean her mind did. He wanted all of his mate, not just her body.
Before he could ask, she lifted onto the balls of her feet. Their height difference was glaringly obvious when they were in bare feet so close together. Closing his eyes, Aric dipped to meet her mouth. The softness of her lips stroked his own, and his wolf howled within him for a completely different reason than the mate ache. Aric slipped his hand from around her and rested them on the flare of her hips. He dug his fingers into her flesh as he tilted his head. Her mouth opened to him, and Aric speared his tongue inside. He swiped it against Divina’s teasingly. She moaned into his kiss, and Aric’s cock twitched inside his jeans. He wanted his female.
Divina slid her arms from around his middle and went up his stomach toward his chest. Her palms grazing the tightened nubs of his nipples beneath his shirt spawned Aric’s groan. Sparks trailed the path her hands took, sizzling his skin and thickening his already-throbbing cock. Aric clung to his control. He nipped at her bottom lip, and she stepped into him.
Aric traced his hands down over her hips and cupped her ass cheeks. Kneading her flesh, he then pulled upward. She squeaked into their kiss as he lifted her, and she wrapped her legs around him. The feel of her thighs over his hips taunted his need for her, testing him. He walked carefully, yet quickly, to the wall, stopping when her back hit it with a gentle thud. Careful not to bump her head, he didn’t break their kiss. He devoured her mouth, claiming her lips, her tongue. He took want he wanted from her, and she submitted to him. She gave him all he wanted and more.
She snaked her arms back around his neck, slipping her delicate, almost dainty soft hands up into his hair. She tightened her hold to fist her hand in the wavy brown locks and pulled him back. Tingling trailed down his spine, over his skin, and shot through his stiff erection.
The Wolf of the Prophecy Page 15