Temptation Unleashed

by Kari Thomas

  The Evil was gone.

  As the power ball shot out from their joined hands, Kira swayed and valiantly tried to stay conscious. She knew someone needed to watch Warren to make sure he stayed where she’d trapped him with a temporary binding spell. But her efforts proved useless.

  The last thing she heard, before falling to the floor in a faint, was Aiden’s rough-edged voice rumbling from his chest, ordering Gavin to get the women to safety.

  “I’ll deal with Warren. Just make sure you lock the door on your way out.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Five days later

  The coroner, who was also the funeral director, was a shape-shifter known as Finley.

  Dr. Warren Douglas’s death was registered as a fatal heart attack and Finley’s staff took care of all the arrangements. No one asked any questions when, at the family’s insistence, it was a closed coffin service.

  Lena was grateful her father’s good deeds had been remembered at the service, his memory left somewhat intact. Although she hated him for what he’d done, she couldn’t bring herself to mar his reputation. She and Kira had made a family promise to keep quiet since any derogatory comments they made might have brought up questions no one, especially them, wanted to answer.

  After the funeral, Lena and Riana left for Montana to stay with Douglas relatives. It took a lot of persuading on her part to Gavin and Aiden because her relatives were a strong coven of witches. The coven ran a healing compound in the mountains and adhered to unbreakable oaths and covenants. After talking with Lena’s grandmother, Aiden reluctantly agreed. Lena hoped their special powers would help Riana regain her shape-shifting ability. It was Riana’s heritage, her birthright, and she wasn’t sure she could live as a mortal human for the rest of her life. They all knew a possible restoration was a long shot, but it was Riana’s only hope.

  Gavin hadn’t been comfortable with the thought of their sister being in the midst of so much magic, even if Lena was proving that all witches weren’t evil. He had insisted on going with them, had it stuck in his head they needed a bodyguard ─ despite all their protests.

  The night before they left, Lena had shared with Kira that she couldn’t help wonder if it was because Gavin felt that he still couldn’t trust her. After what her father had tried she couldn’t blame him, and she did understand his uncertainty about her witch heritage. After all they had gone through to get Riana out of that basement…alive, you couldn’t fault the guy for wanting to keep her safe.

  Magic had brought his family nothing but grief.

  Kira decided to stay behind, claiming she needed time to recover. In truth, it was because she felt damaged, dented. As if something had been taken from her during her ‘possession’. That something pure, something once bright and hopeful, had been scarred.

  Ruined. Lost forever...

  She knew Lena was worried about her, commenting that since the ‘incident’ she had been withdrawn. And she’d tried to shake it off.

  To make her cousin happy, and to settle her doubts, Kira promised to allow herself time to heal. She had agreed to close the shop and take care of the house for as long as she was needed.

  She was thankful to have this time alone since she really wasn’t ready to face anyone.

  Especially Aiden.

  Kira locked the deadbolts on the front door of the Venus Poppy with a heavy heart. As she entered the empty house, the stillness was strange, almost eerie. Though she hadn’t felt Sonia’s spirit since that horrible day, she couldn’t help wondering if Warren’s soul had stayed around. Lena mentioned that though she hadn’t wanted to know exactly how her father had died, she did have a touch of morbid curiosity about what had gone on between him and Aiden. She had mentioned, in passing, that Riana had offered to share the gruesome details that her brothers had related, all in an attempt to eradicate her fading nightmares.

  Though Kira had been surprised when Lena had emphatically stated that her father had deserved everything he got, the devoted daughter damning her father, she’d had to agree he deserved whatever form of ‘justice’ Aiden had meted out. But she had absolutely no interest in asking anyone for the details. She simply didn’t want to know.

  Just thinking about what Aiden might have done to him… Kira shuddered at thoughts of what he would have been willing to do in the name of his justice. I don’t think I want to know.

  Ever.

  She knew Warren’s death had been violent, could feel the aftermath, and prayed the residual ‘emotions’ would dissipate with time. She still had a hard time replacing her memories of a patient, loving uncle and father with the insane monster she’d faced in that basement. The idea that another person would torture then kill another, regardless of the fact the victims had the ability to become another creature, was abominable.

  Callous and obscene.

  She’d been ready to kill Warren if he’d pushed her, given her no other choice. When the ‘darkness’ had tried to take control she’d relished thoughts of destroying him, of turning him into nothing. It had tortured her with visions of Kyle and Sonia’s deaths, of what Warren had planned for the rest of the shape-shifters, the Calhoun family – including tiny Marissa, as well as her…eventually. It had been her sense of self, and the knowledge that there were people who cared about her, that had stopped her from annihilating him.

  The final realization that, deep down, she didn’t have it in her to kill.

  But...Aiden did. And he’d had every justification. She knew that and knew she only understood a small part of what he’d been feeling when he faced Warren; the two of them together, alone in that basement.

  After what Warren had done to members of the Calhoun Clan, not to mention almost killing Riana, he had deserved a slow and painful death. Add to that the heartless experimentation and the fact he’d almost succeeded in releasing an immortal evil into the world, one that would have eventually destroyed them all, and she was hard pressed to find a legitimate reason for letting him live.

  Stripping Warren of his powers, banishing him somewhere far from any form of civilization, making sure he couldn’t harm anyone again…that would have been her solution. But no one had asked for her opinion…and she wasn’t sure she could have given it if they had.

  She barely remembered Gavin carrying her upstairs. Lena had helped her get undressed before she crashed into a healing sleep that had lasted two days.

  Her last vision of Aiden had been his face, concerned for his sister as he turned back to face Warren, becoming stoic, hard, unforgiving…merciless. Even Lena had commented that Aiden’s solution had been simpler.

  More direct and final. Kill Warren and finish it forever.

  He’s part beast. Warren’s taunting words constantly fought with her more logical, knowing inner voice: but a loving beast…when he wants to be. She prayed he would forgive her family one day, if only enough to allow her to see Marissa every once in a while without recrimination. She had seen how he acted with those he loved, how he cared for them, and about them.

  Though she knew she would never see that part of him…ever again

  A noise, as though something had been knocked over or had landed on the floor, pulled Kira out of her depressing thoughts. She peeked cautiously into the living room and heard a floorboard squeak down the hall. It sounded like it came from her bedroom. She picked up one of the crystal vases sitting on the entryway table and cautiously moved down the hallway. She kept her fingers crossed and hoped the noise was nothing. The last thing she wanted was to use witchcraft to protect herself.

  She still suffered from the aftereffects of helping destroy the Evil.

  She reached the open doorway of her bedroom and softly gasped at what she saw. Aiden, in cougar form, sat at the foot of her bed, a well-worn shirt dangling from his mouth as if this visitation was an everyday occurrence.

  They each stared at the other, eyes locking, neither giving ground.

  Deciding someone needed to do something, Kira asked dryly, “What are
you doing here?”

  She almost fell over when she heard Aiden’s voice answer in her mind, “I came back for my shirt.” His matter-of-fact response, offered in a human voice tinged by a distinctly feline rumble, was the last straw. It was too surreal for her to handle, especially after the events of the last week.

  It began with a loud snort then a snicker. She tried to stop the process and quickly lost her battle. She broke into peals of what might be described as hysterical laughter…that accelerated into genuine roars of humor. Once she started laughing at the humor of the situation, there was no stopping it.

  She laughed so hard she cried. And she welcomed the tears.

  Sweet, cleansing tears, life’s release over the ‘ridiculous’ things that can happen, were always far sweeter than bitter ones from guilty grief.

  Her legs, too wobbly to hold her, sprawled in front of her as she slumped down the wall onto the floor. She sat there and wrapped her arms around aching ribs, hiccupping so hard she had difficulty breathing. Once she was able to catch her breath, her hiccups subsiding, she nodded towards the drooping shirt and remarked, “Favorite shirt, huh?”

  “Yeah.” Aiden stared at her, his feline eyes unblinking, daring her to say otherwise. “It holds a special memory I want to keep…safe.” His explanation gave her pause, a moment of reflection. She didn’t want to assume there was something significant about his words but thought carefully about his cryptic comment, wondering what he might…or might not…have meant.

  She knew what that night had meant to her, and the thought that it could have meant more to him than he wanted to admit…well, it made her breathless. Deciding to do or die, she boldly asked, “Why? Why now? “She couldn’t stop her hurt feelings from creeping into her voice. “I thought that night meant nothing to you. What did you say…oh, yeah…I remember now…’We’re both adults. Nobody made any promises’. Sound familiar, cat-boy?”

  He was silent for so long that she wondered if he’d ever answer her. About to tell him to leave her alone, to get out and never come back, he knocked the breath out of her lungs, froze her with his answer.

  “This is what I am, Kira. A shape-shifter. A cougar. I can’t change who I am, nor what I am. And I don’t want to. Ever. He paused before adding as an afterthought, And it isn’t exactly something you bring up on a date…especially not with your phobias.”

  Kira knew that much of what he said, about her past reactions, had more than a ring of truth. She lowered her eyes, her mind racing as she thought of first one thing and then another. She knew that, depending on her next words, their conversation could quickly go down hill. Too quickly...

  “I never asked you to change. Not ever. Not even when you were being a royal horse’s ass.” She grinned at the thought. “Hmm. That one I might have asked you—”

  “Not funny, Kira.” Aiden growled low. “You know what I mean. You didn’t handle the idea very well, that other night in the garden.” He wanted her to have all the facts, to understand all the issues, before this went any further. Even though the little witch made him crazy, he vowed he would slit his own throat before he ever put that look of fear on her face again.

  She looked at him, not caring her heart was in her eyes. “Look around…have I run screaming from the room in terror? Pitched anything at you? Though it’s not like you haven’t deserved that to happen more than once or twice.

  “I’m not asking you to stay in your ‘human form’. I realize full well it’s a part of who you are. Just like being a witch is part of me. Those are parts of each of us that we are both going to just have to accept.”

  Aiden blinked in surprise at her words, so calm, so logical. He started across the room but paused mid-stride when she suddenly shivered. He stopped, rigidly still, his muscles rippling with his tension. “See? You are afraid. Do I repel you, Kira, looking like this? Are you afraid of what I am? What I’ll do? He sighed. I’m worried that it will always be hard for you to see me like this, in this form.”

  Kira took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, centering herself. She was not afraid, not really. It was just he was so…so…big! His being furry wasn’t what caused her goose bumps.

  Fur or skin, this male had the same effect on her.

  She crossed her legs and leaned forward, moving her upper body unconsciously closer while her hands remained clasped in her lap, intent on explaining her point of view. “I could ask the same of you, Aiden. Do you find my heritage, my witchcraft, makes me less attractive? With everything my family has done to yours, you have every right to despise me rather than find me...appealing. Can you ever accept me for a magic user, for being different? For not being a shape-shifter, one of your kind? Or am I ugly to you?”

  She paused before asking, “Do I disgust you?”

  “Hell, no.” He moved closer, stopping a short distance away. He stared deeply into her eyes, emphasizing his words with twitching ears and flickering tail. “Usually you just leave me frustrated as hell. You tempt me every breathing minute. Drive me lust-crazy with every thought of you. Mesmerize me with just one look. Haunt my nights and torment my days. Half the time I don’t know whether I want to shake you, or just kiss you senseless.”

  “Kissing me senseless sounds nice.” She didn’t bother hiding her grin while she watched his whiskers twitch.

  He emitted a low frustrated growl, “Licking you senseless sounds more tempting.”

  Kira didn’t think she had ever seen a cougar…leer…before, and it was a tad unsettling. Still, her heart soared with his words.

  He didn’t hate her!

  She would have sworn on all she held dear that he detested her for what she’d done to Riana and she had to know the truth, hear it from him.

  “Aiden, that day…in the lab…I didn’t mean to hurt Riana. You know that, don’t you? It was the only way I could save her life. You do believe me, don’t you?”

  “I will always remember that day, Kira, but not for the reasons you believe. You were willing to sacrifice your life for hers. For mine. I’ll never forget that. How could I?” His warm breath softly blew the curls of her hair around her face as he sat on powerful haunches, just in front of her lap.

  She reached up, tempted to touch his face, and stopped, unsure of whether or not her touch would be welcome. “So, where does this leave us?”

  Aiden leaned his head over her lap. “Touch me.”

  “What?” Kira wasn’t sure what he was asking, wasn’t sure she had heard him correctly. “Touch you? But—”

  “If you can touch me…like this – while I’m in cougar form – and not shake with fear, then I’ll answer your question. Come on. Touch me, Kira.” Aiden didn’t dare blink, pray, move, or breathe, as he waited for her decision. A decision he knew would either free them both, or trap him in a lifetime of despair and heartache.

  As Kira realized that he truly thought she feared him, feared his animal-self, she was astonished and her joy bubbled up in tiny delighted giggles.

  She reached up and cupped his feline face with both hands, hands that caressed so softly Aiden wondered if he was dreaming as his large body inched closer to hers. At first her touch was tentative, as if uncertain where to hold, or...caress and he moved closer to the floor, making himself less intimidating.

  Making up her mind to grab life with both hands and hang on tight, she pulled his head toward her, causing him to lay closer to the floor. Without the slightest hesitation, lacking any thoughts of shivers, or quivers, of fear, she kissed him smack on his soft feline lips.

  He rumbled a growl; long, rough, sputtering slightly in unexpected pleasure. This was followed by an escalating purr as she moved her fingers to playfully scratch behind his furry ears, pinching the tips before her hands moved back to her lap to fold innocently together, as if her touch had not caused his heart to feel like it would pound out of his chest. He pulled back when he felt his body heat, a pre-change warning.

  Kira sat with her back against the wall and watched his form blur, shimmer an
d change. Mere moments passed and she saw…a different part of her heart – Aiden, in human flesh, kneeling in front of her.

  Delightfully, stark naked.

  She wasn’t sure it was fair that he had such a head-start and sensed that was all going to be changed in just another minute. She was learning that she had no limits when challenged and she was sure this male would always be a challenge!

  He pulled her to her feet and swung her into his arms before carrying her over to the bed. He bounced her on the mattress then came down on top her. “I don’t know if you noticed, or not…,” He commented with a decidedly wicked grin, ripping her buttons off her blouse with one quick flick of a nimble wrist, “…but shape-shifters still…uh…retain…some of their animal characteristics, even after changing back into human form.”

  She shrugged her shoulders, helping him remove her blouse while she worked at the fastenings of her jeans. “I did notice,” she answered with a pleased smile, kissing his broad shoulder. “But, just in case…because I could have missed some important detail…would you mind showing me…everything there is about a shape-shifter? Step-by-step...”

  His growl was low and sexy as he nibbled on her neck. “Let’s start with the licking. We can work our way up to the more complicated stuff.”

  Kira couldn’t help it. The words had to be said. She couldn’t hold them in any longer. “I love you, Aiden.”

  He leaned down and gently kissed her lips, rubbing his hard body against her, marking her as his very own for all time. “You’d better, little witch. I love you too much to take the chance of ever losing you. I’d go to any lengths to keep you happy and mine. You know…I’d even beg Lena for a love potion if I thought that’s what it would take to keep you with me forever.”

  “No potion needed,” she whispered against his lips, tasting his truth, sharing their desire.

  After all, love has its own kind of magic …