by Jade White
Mason growled at her again, a clear warning. “Leave.”
“Why don’t you make me,” she said, low and sultry-like. “I’d really like to see you try.” She started towards him again, swaying her hips back and forth.
“I will.” Mason pushed to his feet. He widened his stance towards her, his body engulfing hers. He wrapped his hand around the back of her neck, looking her up and down.
“Oh!” Katherine’s eyelids lowered, and she looked at him with a sort of take-me-to-bed sort of gaze. Those pink lips pulled into a decadent smile. She nibbled on her bottom lip. “I like it when you play rough with me.”
Mason dropped her, she never broke eye contact with him. “Get out, now,” he said. He needed to be away from her, before she pulled him back in. He needed to finish accepting what is, and what would not be changed.
“Fine,” she said, brushing a kiss over his lips. “But you’re coming down for breakfast. I slaved away for hours to make you all a big enough meal. You’re going to come and enjoy it.” She put her hands on her hips, and marched out of the room, closing the door behind her.
Infuriating woman!
Lovely wife. His beast purred.
*
Katherine had plans. She was going to woo him. She was going to show him the type of wife she could be. She was going to do everything in her power to make sure her husband was satisfied. The quickest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.
She never spent much time cooking, however, she learned it very quickly. It took Katherine a few tries before she made the perfect pancake, and even longer to learn how to get the bacon just right. She didn’t stop there though.
As much as it was against her nature, she did occasionally hunt. Katherine managed to kill a few pigeons, and roasted them with some vegetables. She made a fruit smoothie from what was left in Mason’s trees, and some scrambled eggs. It was the most tiring work she had ever done, but she still hadn’t cleaned up her mess.
Right now, she was watching the men devour the food. They looked like they hadn’t eaten in ages by the way they were stuffing their faces. Everyone was enjoying the food, except for Mason.
He didn’t even bother to make himself a plate. He just sat there with a liquor glass, drinking a gin spiked orange juice. Not once did Mason make eye contact with anyone. Not once did he ask his friends to pass him any food. He just sat there, looking as angry as can be.
Katherine didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t force him to eat. She knew he would eat on his own―eventually. She’d just have to wait. “Are you all still hungry?”
“That depends if you have any more food in the kitchen,” Torrent said with a full mouth. Never before had she seen a more satisfied look. Then again, she had yet to look over at Kane.
“I made some cookies. I was going to save them for you all to snack on, but I can bring them out now.”
“You cook, and you’re beautiful. The only thing you’re missing is a twin so there’s two of you around this house,” Kane said. He took a sip of his smoothie, shoveling in the last bit of pigeon―on his plate―into his mouth.
“I have two sisters, but they don’t like me.”
“You have to eat,” Erik said calmly. Unlike his friends, he was eating slowly, savoring the food on his plate. He appeared to be the only one with class.
“Not until all of you have eaten, and the kitchen is cleaned up.” She smiled at them, brushing her hands on her flour covered apron. God, how she hoped she was doing the right thing.
Katherine had never been a wife before. She didn’t know what they did. She didn’t know how they should act. At this point, she was winging it. She only hoped Mason approved, but she couldn’t tell. He was so difficult to read.
She could smell the liquor he sweat. She could hear his heart and liver crying out for a break. What had she done to him. So stupid.
So selfish. The phoenix corrected her. You’re married. Think about how your actions will affect him now. How could she though? Katherine wasn’t good at looking after other people. As much as she liked to help, she wasn’t good at making sure others were happy and healthy.
“Thank you,” Kane said, walking past her with his plate, and several others in his hand. He gave her a kiss on the cheek, chuckling as he went into the kitchen.
“Mason still has to eat.” Katherine reached for one of the plates.
“It’s better if you waste it on us, than him. He’s not going to eat. He’s too moody.” Torrent slid by her like a whisper, leaving behind no trace that he had ever eaten.
Katherine looked at Mason. He was still slowly sipping his orange juice, and it was frustrating. She folded her arms over her chest. “Mason, come with me,” she said with a crook of her finger.
She didn’t bother to make sure he was following her, she could sense him though. He was hot on her heels as she led him into the kitchen. Kane was inside, washing the dishes. She shook her head at him. “Leave. I will take care of the mess.”
“And you clean!” He sounded even happier than before. Kane walked towards the exit, and gave Katherine another kiss on the cheek.
Mason growled at him, his green orbs turning black as night. “Mine.” His nostrils flared at Kane as he slowly passed from the kitchen to the dining room.
She cleared her throat at him, and his eyes turned back to their original color. Her heart began to race. “You have to eat,” she calmly said to him. “I made breakfast for all of you. That was including you.” She took off her apron, hanging it up on the hook beside her. “Don’t come to me later saying you’re hungry.” Katherine put her hands on her hips. “I put a lot of work into that breakfast.” She locked eyes with him. “What you did was extremely rude.” This had been the most amount of courage she’d ever had. Katherine could only wonder where it came from.
He nodded. “I’m not hungry.” His voice was dry and tired.
“That’s a load of bullshit! Your friends say you haven’t eaten for two days. You’re hungry!” She felt her blood boiling. Calm down. Calm down. The last thing she needed to do was set the kitchen on fire. She already did that to one room―and a few trees.
“Are you going to make me?” He cocked a brow at her.
“I will. Even if I have to tie you to a chair and force feed you.” That was an idea. She could always do that. At least he would eat.
He scrubbed a hand down his face, shaking his head. “There’s no need for that. Just calm down,” Mason sighed walking around her. “Stubborn woman.”
Katherine scowled at him. “You don’t get to call me stubborn. You haven’t seen stubborn yet!” She folded her arms under her breasts, and she could have sworn she caught him watching her actions with lust in his eyes.
He’ll be yours if you keep this up. The phoenix praised her cheerfully.
Mason had a hard time controlling himself around her. At every turn, she brushed up against him, rubbing her scent all over him. He didn’t know if she was purposely doing this, or if it was just a mere coincidence. He hoped that it was a coincidence. Mason couldn’t take another round with the crazy female, as wonderful as she had been.
His friends took a quick liking to her after she made a feast for breakfast. Mason was foolish enough to skip out on breakfast, though she warned him to eat. He was hungry, and needed to eat. He tried for the fruit of one of his trees around lunch time, but Katherine had picked all of them. Every single fruit, from every single tree.
She had been sitting close to his fireplace, manipulating the intense flame inside. He watched as the fire changed colors, and listened to her explain what each one signified. Though he was sure she was new to her powers, she knew an awful lot about the element.
His friends sat back, watching her with hungry eyes. She was making something, but she refused to tell them what it was. They were frustrated about it.
Time had come and gone by so fast, by the time she served dinner, Mason and his friends had forgotten they were hungry. They had gotten so caught up in
hearing Katherine talk about the many feats of her people, the idea of eating slipped their minds.
Now, as she set the table for dinner, she seemed to force a smile on her face. Katherine was trying so desperately to be something she wasn’t, and it was angering Mason. It angered him even more when she swallowed Kane’s overly affectionate actions towards her. He wanted to choke the life out of the man.
She managed to get herself back into the kitchen without Kane trying to get into her pants again. Mason could sense her tenseness around the man. He wanted to do everything he could to ease that.
She is not yours. His beast reminded him with a very stiff growl. She can handle her own. Mason knew she couldn’t though.
“It’s nice to see you eating for once,” Lucca said. He was still recovering from their last encounter. Mason didn’t mean to hurt him, but he overstepped his boundaries.
“We thought we’d have to help her shove a few spoonfuls of bread down your throat,” Torrents said jokingly. “We’d have to hope you wouldn’t choke though.” As much good as he meant, Torrent was a very sick and twisted man.
Katherine came back out of the kitchen, a plate of cookies in her hands. “I hope you boys are hungry for dessert.” She walked around Kane’s chair, trying get away from him as fast as possible, but she was not fast enough.
“Nothing could be sweeter than you,” Kane said, pinching her butt.
Katherine dropped the plate of cookies on the ground. She locked eyes with Mason, and he watched a darkness stir in the depths of her eyes. Those crackling embers in her grey eyes came to life, practically pouring down her cheeks.
Mason gripped the edge of the table, about to stand up. Katherine stopped him with a soft motion of her hand. She picked up the remainder of the plate and the cookies then walked back to the kitchen, fire practically following every movement she made.
Mason locked eyes with Kane, and he growled at him. “Don’t do that.” He felt a muscle twitch beneath his eye.
“I’d like to see you stop me. She’s fair game after she lef―” He was cut off.
Katherine pulled him out of his chair and pinned him on the floor. She straddled his waist, wrapping her hand around his throat. “I understand you’re desperate for a taste of me. You better be careful. If you play with fire, you’re going to get burned.” A small flame sparked at the ends of her fingertips, burning through Kane’s flesh. She never broke eye contact with him.
That darkness that was in her eyes was now dancing all around her in a black, deadly flame. Of all the things she had to say about fire, only one thing stuck with Mason. Black flames could only mean death.
“Kat!” Mason yelled.
Her head shot up, and she eyed him. “He deserves it. He needs to learn.”
“This is not who you are. You don’t like hurting people.” Mason got up from his seat. He took slow steps towards her, trying not to make her do anything haste.
“You misunderstood. I’m not going to kill him, yet. I’m going to play with him first.” Katherine turned her attention back to Kane. With one swift movement, she pressed her lips against his, holding him in place by his throat and shirt.
His blood boiled, even as he watched the flames around her drastically change in color. Mason wanted to kill him. Worst of all, he wanted to mark Katherine so they knew she was his. This wasn’t acceptable, and he was more than happy to show it.
Mason picked her up off of Kane, and looked her up and down. He scowled at her before placing her back on her feet. “Room. Now!” He felt his beast shifting beneath his skin.
“No. I’m not done.” She stomped her foot on the ground, pouting. “I still want to play with him.”
“You’re done with him. I will punish you when I get up there. Now go to my room!” His voice was inhumane. It echoed with a ferocity and an edge of violence.
“Aren’t you just a party pooper,” Kane said stumbling to his feet. “If the girl wants a bit more fun than what you have to offer you can’t blame her. After all, I am more of a beast in bed.” He winked at Katherine, and she blushed.
His beast shifted again, stretching for release. Black eyes surfaced over his green ones, and a snout begged for freedom. Kill.
Torture. Mason suggested, grabbing Kane by the scruff of his neck. He dragged him out of the dining room and into the living room. He tossed him onto the pool table, and grabbed one of the pool sticks.
He had a few ideas of what he could do with the pool stick, but none satisfied him more than impalement.
CHAPTER SIX
It wasn’t her intention to drive a wall between the two men. Her phoenix had insisted it was for the best. Mason ignored her most of the day. Despite every subtle touch, and erotic brush up she gave him, he managed to keep her at bay. Her last resort was making him jealous.
Her phoenix had given her the new-found confidence she needed. Of course, that confidence gave her nothing but trouble. She challenged the friendship between two men, and nearly went against her own nature. From now on, she was done playing with fire. She’d go back to her normal push-over-self if it meant keeping everyone alive.
All she could do was sit back in horror and watch them. Mason ordered Katherine to her room, and like a stupid little girl she obeyed him. Now she watched both Kane and Mason from a window, brawling and shifting in and out of their animalistic forms. Never before did she think a fight between a giant bear and a menacing lion could be so interesting, then again she had yet to meet those men.
Mason had stabbed Kane several times with a wooden stick, not even bothering to remove the weapon. He consistently nudged it here and there to weaken Kane even more. When he had had enough, Kane pulled it from his body, and began beating Mason over the head with it.
None of the other men bothered to do anything about them fighting. Lucca had already gotten his ass handed to him and was still healing from broken bones. Torrent and Erik were busy making bets on who would win, and the only one who seemed to care was the girl who was too terrified to stop the two of them.
If you want them to stop, get in between them. Her phoenix suggested.
No. I’m not taking any more suggestions from you again. Katherine shut the beast out, returning her attention back to the fight.
They were gone. All five of them had disappeared, and Katherine couldn’t even begin to think where they went. There was a wall that kept everything inside or out. If they came inside the house, she’d be able to hear them fighting. It was very difficult not to hear the roaring between two beastly men.
Katherine threw herself onto the bed, groaning. She pulled a pillow up over her head, screaming into it as hard and loud as she could.
It had been a few hours, and there was still no sign of the men. Katherine decided to take a long, hot shower to try and relax, but that only made her tense. Every soft stroke she made to clean her skin, made her wonder how it would feel if it was Mason’s hands. She stopped her shower before she started to think anymore.
Katherine brushed her teeth with a new toothbrush she found in the bathroom cabinet, and scrubbed her face until it was raw and dewy. She dried her mouth, and wrapped herself in a towel. Feeling clean enough, she exited the bathroom, feeling relieved and cleaner than ever before. She closed the door behind her.
Before she could take a step from the bathroom, she saw him. He was sitting there at the edge of the bed, bloody. He had a giant gash above his eyebrow that was beginning to scab. There were bite marks all over his shoulders, blood oozing from each fresh wound. Sweat trickled down his forehead.
Mason stared at her, his black orbs still in control. She could see his beast just below the surface, clawing at him for freedom. He stood up, quickly closing the distance between the two of them, pushing her against the door. “Is this what you wanted?” His voice was demonic, and too unreal.
“What are you talking about?” She whimpered, turning away from him. Katherine fidgeted against him. She could smell blood all over him, the coppery scent heaven and
hell all in one.
“Is this what you wanted? Did you want me to nearly murder my friend? Do you want me to be the monster everyone wants?” His nostrils flared at her.
She didn’t know what came over her, but she slapped him across the face. Hard. “You’re one to talk. You wanted me to be a phoenix so badly. The moment I started acting like one, you lost your shit,” she snarled. Calm down. Breathe. Katherine took in a deep breath.
His subtle green eyes returned, his expression softening. “Kat.”
She pushed him away, trying to give herself some room to breathe. “All I wanted was to heal. To accustom myself to my new environment. My people sold me to slavery, and I ended up here, with you and your strange friends. I wanted a few days to breathe, and you started to treat me the same way my people did. You wanted me to become a weapon,” Katherine paused. She took in another deep breath.
“Katherine.” Mason tried to get closer to her, but she gave him a threatening look.
“I tried to do what you wanted, and I killed someone. Yes, I wanted to get away from you. I tried so hard to leave, but I couldn’t. It was like I was drawn to you. So I stayed, and tried to do everything in my power to show you that I was here because of you. For you. You’re so stupid and blind, I had to resort to making you jealous.” She took a step towards him. “I want you. I’m afraid that I want you as much as I do.” She took a few more steps towards him.
A low, seductive smiled pulled his lips attentively. In that moment, he looked like everything she could ever want. “All the cooking?”
“It was to impress you. I’ve never even picked up a mixing bowl until today.” Katherine looked down at her feet.
He forced her to look up at him. “I would have never known.”
“I know you wouldn’t have. Now just shut up and kiss me.” She bit her lip. “Please,” Katherine added on.
“I’ll do more than kiss you, baby girl.” He pressed his lips against hers, and for the longest, most pleasant moment, she felt like she could fly.