Unraveled: A Zodiac Shifters Paranormal Romance: Capricorn (Dark Khimairans Book 2)

by Decadent Kane

  The little vial of liquid sat on the sink. Sadie's stomach somersaulted. If this worked, it would be the very first time she had ever seen herself without horns. With shaky fingers, she picked up the vial and uncorked the top. The pink liquid sloshed a bit up the sides of the glass. The container wasn't huge, more like something a human nurse would draw blood into. Sadie put two fingers over the opening and flipped it quickly upside down, then righted the glass. The liquid slipped a little between her fingers, but didn't drip anywhere. It felt like some kind of oil and had a bitter smell. Sadie dabbed one horn and then the other, then carefully rinsed off her hands with soap and water. Her hands started to tingle but she shook them out and they stopped. She focused on the mirror and swallowed hard. What if it didn't work? What if it never would? Perhaps the whole potion idea for her shifting and horns wasn't the best idea. It could backfire in her face. It could cause more problems than fixing problems she already had. If it didn't work she would have nowhere else to turn to correct any of it.

  Sadie squeezed the sink counter and closed her eyes, forcing herself to exhale. When she looked again, the bottom portion of her horns, where the ointment had touched, began to fade away, at least in color. It made her horns look as if they were floating above her head. Sadie gasped, and in her excitement, decided more would be needed in order to fully make her horns vanish. They were cumbersome, and surely a few drops weren’t enough to make all of them disappear. Sadie opened the vial and sloshed enough on to cover the entire horn on each side, then corked the vial and washed her hands again. Within seconds, her horns were gone.

  Her vision blurred as tears streamed down her cheeks. She was beautiful without her horns...she couldn't even tell they were there. She could only see her hair and the back wall, in all its white glory. It was such a sight to behold. Sadie's legs wobbled as she stepped back. She had to reach out and steady herself. She would be able to walk out in public without anyone staring at her now. Sadie tried to imagine what that would feel like as she opened the bathroom door. She needed to find Levi and thank him. This was such an amazing gift, and Sadie hoped that with the great results on her horns, his next concoction would be as effective on her double animal shifting issue.

  The walls in the hall seemed to lengthen as she walked out into the cool air of the house.

  "Levi?" Sadie called out, hoping she wouldn't have to go far to find him. She stumbled into the bright kitchen. A horrible screech echoed in her ears, and she covered them looking around. Levi cocked his head at her and one side of his cheek started peeling away. "By the gods! You’re hurt!" The screeching hit her ears again but was less horrible sounding, more muffled. Sadie ran over to Levi. He fell to the floor with a solid thud. "What happened?" Sadie reached for Levi's face. She could easily heal him but couldn't figure out how he managed to hurt himself.

  "The creature I'm after is here." Levi's voice cracked through the screech in her ears.

  "Is that the terrible sound? Lie still. I can help." But Levi kept rolling away from her. What the hell did he think he was doing?

  "It's here. Stop and listen Sadie..." Levi's gaze pleaded with her and she found herself drowning in a pool of those beautiful eyes. Darkness surrounded her. She felt a warmth slide over her shoulders before she remembered Levi was hurt. Sadie shook her head and looked at his face again. More of his skin peeled away.

  "Levi, what's causing your face to do that?" Sadie's hands gently reached for him, even though they shook so badly she could barely contain the movements. She willed her healing power to come forward, to use her as the vessel she was and help the Khimairan in need. Sadie tried to close her eyes and focus, but everything spun. She gulped back bile burning the back of her throat as her stomach rolled over inside. She glanced down at her arms, and her skin turned a deep red, blistering almost instantly. Had Levi touched something that could have been passed over to her with skin-to skin-contact? The whole room tilted as panic sat on her chest. She fell to the floor on her knees as she watched her skin slowly peel away. Sadie again called on her healing power. But she couldn't feel the familiar warmth through her body or fingers, only an intense stinging pain everywhere the skin peeled from her body to reveal blood and muscle. Her vision blurred.

  "Sadie..." her name sounded so far away and was said so slowly Sadie almost didn't understand it. The voice was distorted. Was it the beast?

  "Why can't I heal us?" she asked, the words flinging from her mouth. Her lips went numb, and darkness circled her vision as if she were looking down a deep, dark tunnel but instead of light, only more darkness consumed her vision. Sadie struggled through the blackness and called on her change. She would shift into something that could see in the dark, but when nothing happened, a strangled sound came from her lips and again she felt a warmth around her shoulders before a chill raised gooseflesh on her skin and sank deep into her bones. A small oval object pressed against her lips; she swallowed it as darkness consumed her.

  Chapter Eleven

  Levi picked up Sadie's slumped form and carried her to the guest bedroom. She had completely freaked out, most likely hallucinating from the oil he gave her. Belladonna was a fickle substance to use, but he was sure her Khimairan healing abilities would counteract any of the adverse side effects. He would chalk it up to a learning experience. This was exactly the reason he liked to know everything he could about a person before giving them his potions or tinctures. He would rework the oil without the belladonna.

  He slipped her an activated charcoal pill to pull the toxins from her system, which, in theory, should make her Khimairan powers kick in. His oil had somehow suppressed her abilities. He'd watched her try to heal or shift but nothing happened. Her body pretty much overheated or over-energized, and then she passed out from the amount of oiled herbs going through her system. She crashed hard and fast.

  Her breasts, covered in black lace, pressed into him, and he reluctantly set her on the bed. She had to have added too much of the oil mixture to her horns creating some kind of high like effect. Sadie didn’t seem like the type to just randomly walk around in undergarments. He avoided his very male urge to help her and claim her. Sadie’s hair sprawled across the white pillow case, and her cheeks were red from exertion. Her chest heaved, drawing his attention to the lace covering her top half. Her fleshed marked with her Khimairan celestial sign of Capricorn, which really just looked like an embellished letter n with a little loop on the end of the letter. His mouth watered to taste the cleavage displayed before him, tempting, mounds of flesh. His eyes roamed down her flat stomach, lingered on her lacy panties before he banished the dirty thoughts of her without her undergarments on and stepped away from the bed.

  His hands shook from desire. He lengthened to full attention no matter how much he told himself taking her was not something he would do when she was high on oils. His balls ached with want, and Levi clenched his jaw together. He should be more worried for her but the zodiac mark on his chest throbbed with the same pulse of his member. He needed to walk away. Levi glanced at the top of her head, purposely avoiding any bare areas of her body. Her horns were slowly coming back. He let out a breath then walked out of the room sure her abilities would take over and begin healing any damage internally. After all, he wouldn't be able to kill her, she was immortal like the rest of his kin, only the blade could do any real harm. She would be embarrassed when she woke, he was sure of it, leaving her to her own devices, to come to terms with what happened was the best course of action. She didn’t need him making the embarrassment worse. Females were odd creatures who thought far too much about the small stuff.

  Levi headed back to his lab through the kitchen. He'd already grabbed the herbs he needed and put them and the damn heart, left by the chameleon he was sure, in the lab. He hoped a spell on the heart might help him track the killer, but nothing he'd done to it had helped him in any way. He couldn't even figure out why the heart was left on his doorstep. Who kills animals, leaves their bodies untouched, and then delivers the heart
later? And why? Was it all to kill his business? Did he really have a bad enemy who wished him ill will? Was this a lame attempt at witchcraft or something? Humans did weird things when they had something set in their head. Did the humans around him not want him here?

  When he'd heard Sadie calling out for him, he'd headed for her, already frustrated with his failed attempts with the heart. On the positive side, the crystal was ready now. He'd successfully poured the herbal infusion over the quartz, and the two bound without cracking. Levi pushed the image of Sadie's flushed form from his mind as he zeroed back in on the quartz. He moved the crystal from the UV area and set it on a stainless-steel pan beside the UV lighting. He took his chisel in one hand and his rubber mallet in the other and gave it a light tap.

  It fell apart beautifully with all the crystal infusions still adhered to the actual quartz. Levi smiled, pleased with his abilities. At least one thing had gone right. He pocketed the smaller pieces and then focused on a new potion for Sadie. This time he left out the belladonna. Maybe removing it would be enough if he infused the magic more securely? Levi concentrated on the tincture as it boiled, letting his magic flow from his hands around the beaker. Sweat broke out along his brow as he continued to push a little more with every breath. He wanted to make up for her going through such a horrendous experience, wanted to help her feel relief without coming to harm. He let that flow into his magic, that feeling of hope. Hope was such a powerful thing for the mind. After two more deep breaths, he let the magic fade and carefully poured the potion into another vial for Sadie. He glanced quickly at the heart. He could have sworn he saw it take a beat as he headed to the kitchen, but when he looked back, it lay as still as it had when he found it.

  Levi shut the door to his lab and moved to Sadie's room. The activated charcoal should have kicked in enough to allow her natural abilities to take over. The immortal healing would clear her system pretty fast with the charcoal there to help absorb.

  When Levi walked around the corner to the bedroom, his heart skipped a beat. Sadie was stretching against the mid-day sunlight. The golden rays of the sun glowing around her as if she were an angel in the human bibles. Her horns were beautifully half circled in the light, with her breasts jutting forward in that tempting lace bra. It was a sight he would not soon forget. His internal beast came to attention, his hard-on back in full salute. But the image faded all to soon as she noticed him and the angelic reverie faded.

  "Like what you see?" Her voice came out husky, almost beckoning.

  He could ignore her and give her the potion. He could turn and walk out like a gentleman. Hell, he could even just change the subject. Instead of doing any of those things though, his body moved and he stood before her, over her, watching as her breath hitched and a pink color tinged her cheeks. "Yes." Levi bent over and kissed her. He hadn't meant to, but she seemed to hold some kind of power over him, or perhaps it was the zodiac bond coming out. Either way, he had no intention of stopping unless she told him to.

  As his lips met hers, softly at first, she opened up. Levi put his hands through the long locks of her silky hair and pulled her up to stand as he kissed her with more force, allowing his tongue to sneak past those perfect lips, tasting her. Heat rose between them, and Levi ground himself against her stomach. She moaned. He wanted to hear the sound forever. He pulled her hair back, arching her into him, rubbing her against his shaft, and he groaned into the kiss. He broke away first. "I want you."

  "You barely know me." Her breathless words met his ears, and he nearly took her mouth again.

  ***

  Sadie tried to control her body but she shook as Levi held her against him. She adored how he wrapped himself around her, his hands in her hair, his hard body pushing against her. Sadie wanted him just as much as she guessed he wanted her. But completing the bond with a near stranger...

  "I know enough. We can learn more about each other as we go."

  "Bonding is permanent." Sadie looked up into his hooded eyes.

  "We don't have to say the words... we could just..." His fingers slid down her shoulder, over her bra, lightly pressing past the hardened peak of her nipple. "Explore what's here. If we like it we can move forward."

  Why did his idea sound logical even though she knew she'd made a fool of herself earlier? She couldn't be completely sure what had gotten into her but then she remembered his flesh. "Oh God. How did you get healed? I almost forgot your injuries." Sadie feverishly looked him over, inspecting his skin for what she'd seen. There were no marks, no sign anything had happened to him.

  "Shh. It's okay. You were actually overdosing on my tincture for your horns. You were imagining it."

  Sadie blinked a few times as her cheeks heated. She had put quite a bit on her horns. Embarrassment soured in her stomach. "I'm sorry. So..." she swallowed, "you weren't hurt?"

  "Sadie, look at me." She glanced up to meet his gaze. "I'm fine. Don't apologize. We had no idea what it would do to you." Levi gave her a sweet smile, a reassuring kind of smile, one meant to calm her.

  Truth was the grin that played along his face put her mind right back to wanting him and what he might be able to do with that mouth. If he didn't want her to apologize, then she wouldn't. It happened, life moved on, and she was throbbing between her legs with such a pounding force. Sadie rose up on her tip toes and kissed his lips, urging him to take her, to claim it, to accept her.

  And he did.

  Fiercely.

  He wrapped his hands into her hair again and tugged her gently but firmly to him. His tongue danced with hers, taking control of the kiss. Then he broke away.

  "Is that a yes?"

  Sadie raised her brow. "No bonding words?" She wasn't sure how she felt about bonding with him, but by the gods, she did want him, between her legs, deep inside her, and if their chemistry could work out... then maybe after things settled with her shifting, she might think about the bonding.

  "I won't say them if you won't." He claimed her lips again and moved her backward until her knees met the bed and bent with the pressure. He carefully laid her on the mattress without breaking their kiss. His tongue slipped between her lips, swirling, exploring, and she enjoyed his fresh minty taste. She wiggled beneath him, wanting that friction between her legs, rubbing against him like a cat in heat.

  Levi groaned and pulled her hair back until she was forced to break their kiss with her neck completely exposed to him. His manhandling of her body was so damn hot. Her panties were wet for him. One hand slid down her neck so slowly the touch nearly tickled. A finger pulled at the edge of her bra and she arched forward more, urging him to kiss her there. To move the material from her heated flesh and taste her nipple. The mere thought of it made her moan.

  "You wanton little thing." Levi's words were low, throaty. "I wonder how wet you are..." His hand trailed farther down, fingers slipping over her ribs, her stomach, and beneath her panties. Cool against the heat of her core, sliding over her sweet spot, lightly touching, but not staying long enough to do much. Sadie bucked against his hand, wanting to feel those damn fingers inside her. She grabbed his wrist when he tried to pull his hand back up, and pushed it down, hoping to encourage him to keep going. "You are so wet, Sadie." His hot words whispered against her throat. But he didn't move his hand back down to her dismay. She pushed, but he pushed back, twisting his wrist so he grabbed hers instead and forced it up above her head. "I will do what I want when I want. Do you understand?" His words caressed the flesh of her breasts making her stomach flutter at the prospect.

  "Yes." Was that her husky, needy voice? She was surprised her voice could sound so low and tempting even to her ears.

  Levi let go of her hair, and she slowly moved her head down to a normal position, catching his line of vision. It had settled on her bra. When his gaze finally came up to hers, he said, "Both hands above your head."

  Sadie's stomach fluttered as she moved her arms up. What would he do with her? Her fingers brushed the sides of her rough horns and, for a brie
f moment, she had forgotten they existed. She instantly moved her arms lower and looked away from Levi, sure he'd notice her horns again too and not be as into her as she wanted.

  "Did I tell you to lower them? Did I tell you to look away from me?"

  Sadie's eyes snapped back to him. His jaw clenched, and his eyebrow had risen on the right side.

  "Hands right against those perfect horns of yours." Sadie looked away as she moved her arms back up until her fingers set against her horns. His warm fingers lightly touched her cheek before his grabbed her chin and moved her face back to look at him. "Don't look away again." His stern voice went right through her, desire pooling between her legs. Why did she like this so much, being manhandled? Told what to do. She wasn't completely a missionary kind of girl, but she hadn't expected to react to being...dominated like this. Was that what he was, a Dominant in bed? Should she ask? Was she actually what was it...submissive? Did she want to be submissive? She knew about the human kinks, but hadn't really explored many of them. She'd had lovers, but with the lights off, where her horns couldn't be seen. Meaningless sex to alleviate some frustration or have a bit of fun. None of it ever felt like this. Like a strong pull or connection. Could it just be the bond encouraging her to complete it?

  Sadie didn't open her mouth to ask anything, deciding to see where this would go. She could say no at any time. Instead, she held his gaze as he moved back from her a bit, the heat of him letting the cool air of the room slide over the areas he'd been pushed against. Gooseflesh slid down her bare thighs. Levi tugged at the button on his jeans and pushed them down. He broke eye contact once as he moved his shirt off his very lean, muscular body. He stood at full attention before her. Sadie licked her lips.