by Steph2
“So…you met Sal?”
He nodded, his gaze steady. “Briefly. Interesting guy.”
Blessed Goddess, he’d met Sal and hadn’t run screaming. But then she’d known John had a strength of will most men didn’t. It was part of the reason she loved him so much.
And another little four letter word kept trying to creep into her heart.
Hope.
She wanted to ask him flat-out why he was still here but couldn’t get past the fear that his answer wouldn’t be what she wanted to hear.
So she stuck to neutral ground.
“Did we get anything out of Grace Bell?”
His gaze narrowed just the slightest bit, as if he knew she was avoiding the elephant in the room. “Kyle and Dane have been questioning her since this morning. They haven’t gotten much out of her but when I spoke to Kyle a few hours ago, he said they had to let her see her son because she’d been nearly incoherent. Kyle said he’s gonna give her a couple of hours to stew then go back at her. He’s pretty sure whatever Grace Bell was looking for, whatever experiments she was doing on my sister, it had to do with a cure for her son. So far that’s all they’ve been able to get out of her. Dane’s been talking to the kid but he hasn’t been able to get much out of him, either.”
Kaine nodded, knowing she should care about this, knowing it was important to John and Evie. But tension made her head hurt. The answers she wanted all dealt with him. She wanted to know why he was still here with her. Why he’d been lying in bed with her.
Tinia’s teat, she had so damn many questions and no idea how to ask them. She couldn’t get a read on what he was thinking, couldn’t—
“Christ, Kaine.” He rolled off the side of the bed to stand beside it as she carefully rose to a seated position. “Don’t look at me like that. If you want me to go, all you have to do is ask. I don’t want to but I will if it’ll get rid of the fear in your eyes.”
She blinked in shock. “You think I want you to go?”
“Don’t you?” His voice held a bitter edge. “You couldn’t even wait for backup to go after Grace, you want me gone so badly. I appreciate everything you’ve done for Evie but if you want to get rid of me, all you have to do is ask. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to go willingly.”
Her head must still be screwed up because that made no sense at all. “What are you talking about?”
“You want me gone as fast as possible. I get that.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Are you serious?”
His jaw set in a hard line but his gaze burned. “Hell, yes, I’m serious. Now that we’ve got Grace Bell, the faster Evie’s cured and the faster I’m gone.”
Blessed Goddess, could he really be that clueless? He certainly seemed serious and she didn’t know what the hell to say.
His arms crossed over his broad chest and his mouth took on a stubborn. “Well, fuck that, babe. I’m not leaving you this time so you might as well get used to me.”
A warm ball of joy blossomed low in her body and began to spread. “So…you don’t want to leave?”
He stopped, his eyes narrowing. “You don’t want me to leave?”
She shook her head slowly. “I never thought you’d want to stay.”
He stalked back to the bed, wrapped one hand around her nape and bent to take her mouth.
If she’d been standing, his kiss would’ve made her weak in the knees. As it was, it stole her breath and caused her to go still with shock.
But his lips were hot and hard against hers, seeking a response she couldn’t help but give him. Her arms lifted to wrap around his shoulders, her hands splayed against his back, pressing him closer.
He came willingly, his arm encircling her waist to lift her into him.
Where she only ever wanted to be.
She opened her mouth and let her tongue slid into his, loving the sound he made as she did. They battled for position but eventually she let him win and he followed her back, stealing her breath, making her heart pound and her thighs clench.
Pushing to her knees, she arched until her breasts flattened against his chest. The thin cotton gown she wore soaked in the heat of his body but it was a barrier she wanted removed. Lowering her hands, she shoved them beneath his shirt to get to bare skin.
Goddess, she loved the feel of his skin against hers, warm, silky, the muscles beneath sleek and hard.
He groaned, the rumble of it starting an avalanche of sensation in her body.
Heat pulsed between her legs, wanton desire pushing out all conscious thought. She needed him. She wanted him.
He’d already told her he was staying and would fight for her.
Nothing could’ve made her happier.
Except getting his clothes off.
She shoved his shirt up his body then leaned back to draw it over his head. But when she reached for the waistband of his sweatpants, he trapped her hands against his stomach.
The thin line of dark hair that arrowed down to his groin brushed against the backs of her fingers and she longed to follow that line and wrap her fingers around his erection. She glanced down to see the thick bulge pressing against the thin material of his pants, making her mouth water with anticipation.
“I want you, Kaine. Make no mistake. I want you so badly I can’t see straight. But are you really in any shape to handle it? Because what I want to do to you… I don’t want to hurt you, baby.”
Her smile widened. “Believe me, this won’t hurt. The only way you could hurt me would be to leave.”
He stilled completely for a brief second before his hands tightened on hers and his eyes narrowed.
“I already told you, I’m not going anywhere. You better be damn sure what you want, Kaine, because if you decide later that I’m not the man for you, you will break my heart.”
The absolute sincerity in his voice made her breath catch in her throat. “I know how that feels. When you left the first time…”
She’d wanted to crawl in a hole and stay there until it didn’t hurt to think about moving, about getting up the next day and not seeing him.
His eyes closed for a brief second as if he were in pain as he threaded one hand through her hair. “I had to do it. For Evie. I thought… I truly believed it was the only way she’d be able to move on. I didn’t think she’d be able to handle any of this.”
“And now?”
“Now she’ll make up her own mind. I fucked up the first time. If I hadn’t been so stupid, maybe she wouldn’t be in the trouble she is now.”
She dropped her gaze but he tugged on her hair to make her look up again.
“How many times do I have to tell you what happened with Evie isn’t your fault? If it hadn’t happened with you, if it’d happened at another time and no one would’ve been there to help her, she might’ve died.”
“I thought you couldn’t handle what I was. What I am.”
“You are the most amazing person I’ve ever met. And I would never want you to live without your wolf.”
“You wanted me to get it back?”
“It’s part of who you are. I love you. Not just pieces of you.”
Goddess, she wanted so badly to believe that. “What about my job? I’m sicari. It’s what I am, John. I’m an assassin.”
His expression never changed. “From where I was standing, the guy deserved it. He would’ve done the same to you. Kaine, honey, you’re strong and brave and I think that’s sexy as all hell.”
Her smile began to return as his hands loosened his grip on hers. Sliding down, she let her nails scrape against his skin until her fingers caught in the elastic waistband of his sweats.
“Sexy, huh?”
She dragged the cotton down, making sure she didn’t catch his erection and cause him any pain. She had plans for that piece of his anatomy.
One hand tightened in her hair as the other reached up to caress her jaw. “Extremely.”
Pushing the pants past his muscular thighs, she let them fall to the ground and foun
d her mouth only inches from the fat tip of his cock.
“Did I tell you how absolutely fine I’m feeling right now?”
“No, I don’t think you—Fuck.”
Her mouth closed over the head of his shaft and she sucked him in, slicking her tongue around the hot flesh. His groan made every nerve in her body light up like a Christmas tree.
She loved this, loved making him groan, loved the taste of him in her mouth, the sense that she gave him more pleasure than he’d ever had.
His hand in her hair gave a tug and the slight burn only increased the heat sliding like lava through her veins. Her pussy burned for him but the ache was a good one.
And when he slid his finger under the thin gown she wore and stroked up the outside of her thigh, she moaned around him and sucked him deeper.
Pulling up, she let him slip from between her lips only to suck him back in quick and to the root. And as she swallowed, she felt his fingers slide between her wet lower lips and pierce her in one smooth move.
Yes. Gods, yes.
She wanted this. Needed him.
“God damn, you’re wet. And your mouth is killing me. Jesus, Kaine.”
She loved the way his voice went husky and deep. It made her clench around his fingers as they teased and destroyed her.
“Just a little more, baby. I don’t want to come in your mouth. I want to be deep inside you when I come.”
Every word he spoke made her hotter, every stroke of his fingers pushed her that much closer to orgasm.
His hips began to move, to fuck her mouth slowly when she would’ve pushed him higher and faster. The hand in her hair ensured she couldn’t go any faster than he wanted her to.
But she needed to go faster. Lust pounded at her, pushed her farther.
When he drew away, she whimpered and tried to hold him to her but he had a firm grip on her hair.
“No way am I coming in your mouth. Lie back, baby.”
She obeyed without question then held her arms out to him with her own demand. “Now. I can’t wait.”
He followed her onto the bed, spreading her legs with his knees. Then he knelt between her thighs and put one hand on her mound. “You’re so fucking beautiful. Perfect.”
His words drew a smile from her even as he leaned over her, one hand guiding his cock to her entrance. He slid the tip through her slick folds, in preparation for entering her.
She arched her back, trying to capture him, entice him to thrust hard and fast inside her.
But he pulled back. “Oh, no. The second I get inside you, I’m going to lose control. And you deserve better than that.”
“Don’t you know that’s what I want? I love to make you lose it, John. I love knowing I do that to you.”
His eyes closed and his expression went tight, desire making his skin flush. “You’re a witch, you know that?”
“No. I just love you. Please, John. Take me now.”
His eyes flew open and the tenderness in that green gaze made her breath hitch in her chest. He didn’t say anything in response, though, as he positioned his cock and began to sink into her.
Her eyes drifted shut as she absorbed him, felt every ridge, every sleek inch tunnel into her.
He took his sweet time about it but time had no meaning at the moment.
Only the feel of him taking her held any significance.
When he’d finally seated himself completely, he held there, just breathing. His chest rose and fell against hers and when he leaned closer to nip at her earlobe then string kisses along her jaw, she felt the control he was using to remain still.
“You feel like silk around me, Kaine. Tight, warm, wet. So fucking good.”
Lifting her arms, she wrapped them around his shoulders, her hands spreading over his back to stroke him, pet him, then reached down to grab his ass “I’m glad you think so. Now fuck me, John.”
“Ask me nice, baby.”
“Please.”
“Please what?”
“Please make love to me.”
As her eyes opened, he lifted his head until only centimeters separated their mouths. “Always. I will always love you.”
His mouth covered hers as he began to move. His tongue mimicked the motion of his cock until he had to break away so they could breathe.
But he continued to take her with a steady rhythm that built in intensity. Her legs climbed higher around his waist with each thrust. Her hands clutched at his shoulders, nails digging into his flesh.
Her sheath clenched around him as he pushed her closer to orgasm with each thrust. He surrounded her, heated her, made her yearn for the release only he could give her.
And when she came, when he thrust that final time and groaned her name, when she felt his release inside her, triggering her own, she knew she’d only ever want him.
Epilogue
“Evie, take a deep breath, hon. I swear, everything’s gonna be okay.”
Evangeline Simmons tried to listen to her brother. He’d never steered her wrong before.
Then again, he’d never gone off the deep end before. That’d always been her specialty. Which might explain why she thought he’d said the word “Magic.”
Oh, he’d said a hell of a lot more than that one word as he’d tried to explain what the hell had been going on the past few days.
She’d listened to everything he’d said without interrupting him but what it all really boiled down to was the fact that she was magic.
Or rather, she could control magic.
She must have finally done it. She must have cracked because her Navy SEAL brother would never believe in magic. And never in a million years would he tell her she could control magic.
Maybe she was still dreaming.
Maybe she only thought she’d woken in this strange room with John sitting by her side. Maybe she really was still asleep. This certainly felt surreal.
But now she wanted to wake up in her own bed, in the apartment they’d rented a few months ago.
“Evie.” John squeezed her hand, drawing her attention back to the present. “I know it’s a lot to take in—”
“No, it’s not. Because this is a dream. When I wake up, none of this will mean a thing.”
The little muscle in John’s cheek started to throb and she swore she felt walls snapping into place around her. She tried to take a deep breath but it got caught somewhere in her throat.
“You’re not sleeping, Evie.”
“Yes, I am.”
“No, you’re not. Everything I’ve told you is true. We’re going to be staying here for a while. You’re going to need help figuring things out. You now have…abilities you didn’t have before. You need to learn how to control them.”
He looked so serious but then John almost always looked serious. He’d lost the ability to have fun a very long time ago.
“Are you honestly telling me you believe I have magical powers?”
He nodded. “Yes, I am.”
Okay, now she knew. This wasn’t her brother. He looked like John and he sounded like John but John never would believe any of the weird-ass crap he’d just told her.
Magic. There was no such thing as magic.
At one time she might’ve believed there was. But she’d believed a lot of things when she was younger. She’d actually believed killing herself had been a viable option at one point because the crushing depression had been too much for her to bear.
Without John, she would have succeeded. He’d been her anchor, her sanity.
Now he was telling her she had “power.”
And you know he’s right.
No. No, she didn’t know that.
Yes, you do.
The light bulbs blowing, the furniture moving when she got upset or frightened ever since she’d been kidnapped. Ever since the tests.
No.
“I want to go home.”
John shook his head. “You need help.”
Fear and a healthy dose of anger rose up from her gut. Her bo
dy temperature rose as she stared at the only family she had left.
“I want to go home.”
The window across from the bed shattered outward, the sound of the breaking glass like an explosion.
“John, what the hell’s going on?”
A man burst into the room. Tall, dark-haired. A man who seemed strangely familiar.
He rushed to her bedside, staring down at her with concern in his dark eyes.
“Evie, you need to calm down.” He spoke in a low tone, a soothing tone.
But Evie wasn’t going to be soothed. Not with this wild energy running through her body.
“John? What’s happening?”
“It’s going to be okay, Evie.” John squeezed her hand even tighter. “Dane, what the fuck?”
“I don’t know. Evie, I need—”
Dane froze just as his fingers brushed against her arm.
Then, in a sparkle of light, he was gone.
No, not gone. In his place stood a dog. A huge dog that looked like a wolf.
Evie started to scream.
Evie’s story continues in MOONLIGHT TEMPTATION
STEPHANIE JULIAN
Stephanie Julian has been a daily news reporter, a freelance feature writer and a movie, theater and music critic but what she loves most is writing heat with heart. She’s happily married to a Springsteen fanatic and is the mother of two sons.
She loves hearing from readers. You can connect online through these sites:
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