by Cecy Robson
I needed him anyway I could have him. And even though I still want him, he won’t feel the same the moment I change back.
He adjusts himself in bed, further away from me, reminding me how little I matter to him, even now. I doubt he’d pull that with Vieve, and not just because of her ranking among the supernatural elite. No, she means more to him than that.
“There’s only one woman I kiss,” he’d said.
I fooled myself into thinking it was me. But considering it didn’t take him long to change his mind, I’m wondering if those kisses come to anyone willing to gratify his beast.
As that familiar tinge of jealousy wraps around my throat and gives a tug, I whip around and head toward the door. Jealously leads to hurt, and I’m done feeling all this pain.
“Where are you going, Taran?”
I freeze in place with my hand on the knob. I don’t turn around right away. But when I do it’s like my jaw unhinges. Christ. If this were a Looney Tunes cartoon, I’d have rug burn on my chin.
He huffs, pushing up on his elbows. “Give a wolf credit for recognizing his mate, no matter what ridiculous form she takes.”
“You . . . how could you?” It would be cool if I could form a single sentence right about now. “You didn’t think it was so ridiculous last night,” I finally snap.
“You’re right,” he says, keeping his tone and expression deadpan. “Come back to bed.”
“Bed”. The way he says it carries as much lust as the steady pound of his hips. As it is, my puny nipples are pointing to where he’s waiting, just in case I missed his naked body sprawled across the bed.
“No,” I manage.
He stalks forward, hardening with each step. “Come back to bed,” he repeats, punching each syllable with all the passion circling us.
The space dissolves between us. He’s not holding me, but the way his body is pressed against mine, it’s like he’s already clutching me and we’re already making love. “Do you think I could forget the way you look at me when we make love?” he asks. His fingers trail down my arm to circle my palm. “Or how it feels to have you touch me?”
“When did you know?” I ask, wishing he didn’t make it so hard for me to speak. “We didn’t make love right away, and I barely touched you before we did.”
“The moment you walked into the bar,” he answers gruffly. “My wolves latched onto your presence and it was all I could to keep them in place.”
Somehow, I manage to pry my eyes off him. “You lied to me,” I say, tripping over my words, because right now, considering what’s poking my belly, I have nothing better.
“And what do call what you did to me?”
“I didn’t lie to you,” I say, meeting his face.
“All right, would you prefer connive, scheme, conspire. I have other words if lying doesn’t work for you,” he tells me, his voice growing louder. “Whatever you call it was meant to deceive me.”
“No. It was meant to deceive Celia.” I square my shoulders. “You just happened to be in the way.”
“How was I in the way?” He spins me so abruptly, I barely register my breasts sliding against the wall.
Slowly, he presses his hard front into my all too willing back. “Like this?” he murmurs.
My body shudders, and so does his. I should be pissed that he lied and fooled me and—and—
I moan when his lips find the back of my ear and he tugs down my panties. Without thinking, I spread my legs open, angling my chin to welcome his lips.
When he kisses me, it’s not in that demanding way he did last night. His sweet lips pass over mine like they used to, full of a yearning that carves its way into my soul.
I love you. God, I love you.
He deepens our kiss, my body quivering as he bends his knees and prepares to enter me. But as he pushes his way in, and I shudder again, I feel his abrupt withdraw.
He swears, releasing his grip to my waist and smacking his hands against the wall.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, the need for him to merge us, making me sound desperate.
We’re both breathing fast, but as I look to where he’s staring, I realize his feelings don’t stem from the desire I feel. My arm alternates in shades of dark to light, attempting to push through the spell.
I turn to face him. It’s easy, he’s given me plenty of space.
“I see,” I tell him, all the love I felt dissipating in the air between us.
He wrenches his gaze from my arm back to my face. “No, you don’t,” he fires back.
“Don’t I?” I yank on my panties and motion to his dwindling erection. “You could have fooled me.”
He grabs my left arm when I reach for the door. “That’s not what this about.”
“Spare me,” I say, fury making my head pound. “I’m done with your lies and your fucking pity.”
I pull away, tucking my arm as I stomp down the hall. By some mercy of God there’s no one in the elevator when I reach it. I take a few calming breaths, almost crying as I cradle my arm.
I stroke it, trying soothe it, and me. I don’t expect it to respond to my touch, yet as the elevator begins its descent, the skin resumes the dark tone of my borrowed half.
My heightened emotions—this time love of all things!—triggered my arm to react. It makes sense, hours have passed and the spell is weakening.
My hands fall away when I catch my reflection against the doors. I shouldn’t be surprised at the amount of hickies taking residence along my exposed skin. But even in the blurry image I can tell I’m covered with them.
For the love of all, I might as well be holding a sign that says Walk of Shame in Progress.
I’m bra-less, barely dressed, and my hair screams that I’ve had a crazy amount of sex (and loved it!).
I step out of the elevator, trying not to groan when the woman walking toward me yanks her child away from me. Her husband on the other hand inches closer. That’s awesome. So are the looks I receive from everyone returning from brunch because clearly, I’m not feeling trampy enough.
I shove my hand in my purse and pull out my phone, cursing when I realize my battery is dead even though I’d turned it off. I can’t call Paula, Merri, or Fiona. I don’t know their numbers by heart.
But I do know my sisters’.
The concierge’s eyes widen when I approach. “Good morning,” I say, forcing a smile. “May I borrow your phone please?”
His stare travels to my neck and a little further south. I shove my phone in his face to keep his attention away from me and on task. “My battery died.” Without another word he passes me the phone and steps away.
Celia answers on the third ring, her sleepy voice clueing me in that I wasn’t the only one up all night. “Hello?” she says.
“Hey, Ceel. It’s me, Taran,” I begin.
At first I think the line went dead, the silence on the other end so profound it’s like a physical force being shoved against my ear. “Ceel, are you there?”
“This isn’t Taran,” she snaps, her voice lowering with anger. “You’re that stupid tramp from last night.”
It’s times like this where I’m reminded how good my sister’s memory is. “No. It’s Taran. I’m in disguise.”
“You’re in disguise?” she repeats, her tone mocking. “Honey, you’re messing with the wrong person.”
I hold the phone away at her growl, speaking fast. “Ceel, last night, it was me getting a rise out of you and Aric.”
“You’re disgusting and a liar,” she tells me.
“You don’t have to be mean,” I say, growing defensive. “Look, I’ll prove it by telling you something only Taran would know—”
“If you’ve done anything to hurt my sister, I’ll kill you. Do you hear me? I’ll tear your skin off in ribbons and tie them into little bows.”
Holy. Shit.
“Okay, I’m going to stop you right there, Ceel.” I glance around to make sure no one is within hearing distance. “Right now, you’re tired from
being up all night having hot make-up sex with your mate, Aric. The fact that you’re even speaking to me means he’s probably at the Den, getting what he needs to get done, done, so he can return to you and finish making it up to you for not stopping Gemini from sleeping with me, even though it was me. I’m at the lodge. Come get me. You’ll be back in bed, waiting for Aric before you know it. Oh, and you like bacon. Like, a lot.”
There’s a brief pause. “I’ll be there in ten minutes,” she says.
She disconnects. Okay. So far one thing went right today. A little old man who’s been watching me shuffles forward. “How much?” he asks me.
I stare down at his little spotted head. “How much for what?”
He smiles bashfully. It’s then I’m torn between smacking him upside the head and feeling sorry for him. Lucky for him, I err on the latter. He’s old and probably lonely.
I reach for the pad and pen on the desk and scribble Mrs. Mancuso’s number.
“She’ll take care of you,” I say with a wink.
I strut across the lobby, trying to hang on to what little dignity remains when more lascivious stares trail my way. Damn it, it’s not like I forgot my panties.
Celia can’t arrive fast enough. She rolls Aric’s black Explorer to a stop in front of the lodge, but she doesn’t disengage the lock. I almost break a nail when I try to open the door and the handle slaps back.
Okay, now I’m annoyed.
“Are you going to let me in or what?” I ask. She watches me briefly, hitting the button to unlock the door .I throw it open, slumping into the front driver’s seat and tossing my purse on the floor. “You’re not going to believe my fucking night,” I tell her, slamming the door shut and clicking my seatbelt in place. “It was totally hot, wicked, and awesome. I swear if angels had flown out of my vagina, I wouldn’t have been surprised.” I pause when I realize she’s gaping at me.
“Oh, my God,” she says barely above a breath. “It really is you.”
“Of course it’s me, Ceel.” I throw out my hands. “And here I was certain you’d figure me out.”
Her stare travels from my out of control hair to my lap. “No way. I didn’t have a clue.” She shakes her head. “But why?”
“It’s something I can’t talk about, but something that will allow me back into coven hell.”
“I see,” she says, the nostrils of her small nose flaring. She grimaces, cringing slightly.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
She swallows hard. “I can smell you.”
I sniff on my clothes, thinking I need deodorant or shower. “No,” she says, swallowing again like she’s trying not to be sick. “I can smell you and him.”
Based on the way she’s looking at me and how I feel the color drain from my face, I know what she means, but ask anyway. “You don’t mean our natural scents, do you? The ones we always carry.”
She covers her eyes and shakes her head. “God, Taran. It’s one thing to scent this aroma on Aric, it’s another thing when it’s on my sister.”
“Yeah, I totally get it,” I agree.
My words cut off as Gemini plops into the back seat.
Guessing by Celia’s reddening face when he shuts the door, she gets another whiff of us. I suppose doubling the sex fiends, doubles the aroma.
“Celia,” he says.
“Ah, hey,” she answers, rolling down the window and pulling away from the curb.
“Wait, where are you going?” She doesn’t answer me. “You can’t take him with us.”
“I can’t just leave him here,” she says. “Aric needs him at the Den.”
“The hell he does!” I insist. “I’m not riding in the same car with him.”
“Taran, you need to get back to the coven, he needs to return to the Den. What do you want me to do, throw him out of the window?”
“It would be a start,” I answer, smiling.
“You’ll have to forgive my mate, Celia,” Gemini says. “She’s irritable when she hasn’t had any sleep.”
“I’m not your mate,” I snap, wishing he didn’t go there.
“You’re wrong,” he adds.
“And I had sleep!” I add because I have nothing better.
Gemini doesn’t seem riled, keeping his tone easy. “You needed sleep considering what happened between us.” He pauses. “Or should I say what didn’t.”
I veer on Celia who’s shrinking in her seat. “Can you believe this shit?”
Her hands tighten on the steering wheel. “Please leave me out of this,” she begs.
I whip around to face him. “Yes. Leave her out of this. Do you think my sister wants to hear how you bent me over on the bed?”
And over the sink.
And against the wall.
And in the shower.
Oh, and the closet too—but that was an accident seeing how we fell into it when we were up against the wall.
My girl parts sing Halleluiah at the memory, and the way he gripped my ass when he threw my legs over his shoulders and—
“Oh, God,” Celia moans, rubbing her face when she stops at a light.
My body heats as I watch his skin flush. His short dark hair is slightly mussed and his stare carries that familiar glaze it did when he yanked my hair back and pounded into me. But he doesn’t look hot.
Not at all.
Okay. Maybe he does.
Celia punches the gas, racing toward Squaw Valley as fast as she can go. By now, she has all the windows down and she’s practically driving with her head sticking out.
“You want to talk about last night?” Gemini asks.
“No,” Celia and I say at once.
He ignores us both. “While this isn’t something I’d normally discuss with others present, I think I should take advantage of this situation, seeing how you’ve spent months ignoring me, blocked my number, refused my calls, and rejected any attempt at cordial communication.”
“The only thing you took advantage of was me. Last night.”
My comment makes him smile. A really sexy smile. God damn it.
“Did I approach you?” he asks. “Or was it the other way around?”
“I just needed a place to sit—near Celia because she was my target. I didn’t even know you were going to be there!”
“There were other seats,” he reminds me.
“You mean with those other weres? The ones who couldn’t keep their eyes off me when I walked in? Or by the bouncer who asked me to his room the moment I arrived?”
He stops smiling then.
I nod thoughtfully. “Yeah, looks like you weren’t the only one who noticed me last night. I wonder what would have happened if I did sit somewhere else.”
“His heart would have landed beside you when I ripped it from his chest,” he adds, the viciousness and truth behind his words immediately erasing my smile.
“Why?” I ask.
The intensity is his stare halts the world from spinning and time from moving. I no longer feel the road as Celia barrels up the mountain. I only see him. “Because you’re still mine,” he says. “Even though you choose not to be.”
I turn around, facing the front, love and hate warring inside me and making my motions jerky. He had go and say something like that. Even though I’m not the one to blame.
He pulled away from me and my touch. So, he can say what he wants, but we both know it’s not true.
I swipe the stupid tear that manages to escape, stopping when I catch Celia wipe away her own sadness. She knows what I’m feeling maybe a little too well. But the difference is Aric isn’t going anywhere. Not anymore. And even though Gemini sits directly behind me, I don’t think he’s ever been so far away.
None of us speak the rest of the way, but I know we’re all reacting. Well, at least me and Gemini are, seeing how Celia continues to maneuver the large vehicle with her face partially out. She scents the tension and guilt, and maybe some of the heartbreak, too.
But she also scents more than any of us would
like.
She grimaces as the image of my thighs lowering on either side of Gemini’s head pops into my mind and sends an extra dose of lust seeping into the air. Poor thing, I’ll probably have to make it up to her with a bacon basket or perhaps some nice bath salts. Yeah, she’ll like that.
“Thank you, Baby Jesus,” she mutters when we finally reach the Den.
Tall wrought iron gates part on either side of the stone fortress that surrounds the property. The were on guard lifts his radio to his mouth, likely informing Aric of Celia’s presence. Yet as we pass, his stare hones in on me. He doesn’t know who I am, and in his opinion, I shouldn’t be allowed in. But with his Leader’s mate at the wheel, and the Second in Command in the rear, he knows better than to question.
Acres of lush green grass cover the mountainside and a thick stand of trees spread along the perimeter. Like Camp Coven, this place is fortified with magical defenses strong enough to prickle my skin. The combo of were and witch make it an on odd blend, at least from my perspective. But since both are natural and of the earth, they complement each other like a seasoned orchestra with a world renowned soprano. It’s another thing about the witches I envy, they and the weres are a perfect union of magic. Gem and I are not. It seems odd to admit as much, since I never would have believed it before. But unlike with the witches, my magic and the Pack’s clashed, resulting in an arm that wants me dead.
I should be mad at it, and maybe hate it too, as I’ve often done. But I find myself stroking it once more. More than anything, I wish we could be right together.
Just like I wish me and Gemini could be right together, too.
I catch sight of weres in their animal forms tearing through the wooded tree line: cougars, wolves, bears, and even a lynx, as Celia continues down the road. They’re probably engaged in some activity to teach them to track and hunt, while the weres directly ahead of us wrestle and tumble along a large grassy field in human form.
Celia slows her speed as we reach the main road, where two and three story mountain villas, serving as residences, office space, and classrooms line either side. It wasn’t too long ago this place was almost destroyed. But some things you can’t keep down for long. And those things include weres.