by Anna Edwards
“Jessica,” she addressed the witch next.
“Yes.”
“Are you able to create fire?”
“Fire, ice, wind, you name it.”
“Burn this place to the ground.” Isobel faced her father as she spoke through gritted teeth.
“Izzy.” He stepped forward.
“No. He ends up with nothing he can use to come after us again. He can crawl under a rock and die, for all I care.”
“Isobel,” her father pleaded with her. He was a broken man on the floor, and she was trampling on the cause of his downfall.
“No, you’re dead to me, now. Let’s go.” Isobel took Zain’s hand. Emma and Teagan pulled Jett to his feet and threw him at the senator. Isobel placed her other hand on Kingsley, and Jessica teleported them all out of the room with one hand and launched a fireball with the other.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Isobel watched as Ethern and Jessica worked together to heal her brother, tears streaming down her cheeks. His hand was mutilated with a finger missing. His beautiful tattoo of a dragon ruined from the flesh carved away from his side. He’d not woken since they had come to Hunter Windsor’s land in Kansas. Kas had deemed it wasn’t safe for them to return to Glacial Blood lands until he’d looked into the consequences of what had happened in her father’s laboratory. Kas informed them that the building had indeed burned to the ground with all data and samples lost. Her father and all his men had escaped without injury. The only casualty had been the doctor, shot by her father’s own hand. All Kas knew about the incident, at the moment, was that the government was keeping it all hidden from the wider public. The burning of the building was being reported as a result of faulty wiring. He believed a line of communication between the Shifter Council and the US government was on the verge of being opened up, though. The world for shifters and humans was about to change. Nothing could prevent it, now. Too many people knew of their existence to keep it hidden. Evidence existed, no matter what she had destroyed in the building, or the cyber attack, which Tyler was currently launching on the server.
Zain entered the room. He’d showered and changed.
“How is he?” her lover asked.
“Still unconscious.”
“I’m sorry,” he apologized, and she looked up at him from her seat by the window overlooking the forest outside.
“Why?”
“I didn’t do as they asked the first time. This was done to punish me for not giving them the information they wanted.”
“No, this was done on my father’s orders. It’s not your fault at all.”
“Izzy, your father…”
“Is not the man I thought he was,” she interrupted. Her father had broken her heart. She’d always been a daddy’s girl, but to know he’d treated the people she loved in such a despicable way had destroyed that. She’d never forgive him. He was dead to her. She wanted nothing more to do with him ever again.
“But he’s still your father,” Zain kneeled in front of her.
She shook her head.
“You need to grieve for him, if you’re going to give him up.”
“No. I can’t. The anger is still too raw. He lied to me. He never loved me.” A tear dripped down her cheek. She wiped it away. She wasn’t going to let herself cry for that man.
“Even with everything he’s done, I don’t believe that. I think in some misguided way, he thought he was doing the best thing for you. He just didn’t listen to what you wanted, in the end.”
“He’d have killed you. He’s nearly killed Kingsley. It’s his right hand, Zain, that’s his writing hand: the one he uses to tattoo. My father knew exactly what he was doing when he ordered it to happen. He knew he was destroying my brother. It will affect Kingsley emotionally. My father’s evil.”
“Even if a lot of his evil is due to ill-conceived beliefs, I can’t deny that.”
Zain brought her into his arms and cradled her against his chest.
“This isn’t over, is it? He’s going to be a thorn in our side. He won’t stop until he gets rid of shifters. I’m scared.”
“I don’t know. Kas delivered a good threat, and if communication is opened between the shifters and the government, then your father could be told to stand down. But I fear this will become a personal vendetta although I wish I could say it won’t. What I do know is that I’ll fight for you to the death.”
Kingsley groaned from the bed. Isobel was on her feet and at his bedside in an instant.
“Kingsley,” she whispered.
“Izzy,” he groaned.
“I’m here.”
“Where’s here?”
“Kansas.”
“Kansas, always wanted to go there.”
“How are you? Are you in pain.”
“A little.” He moaned again and tried to shift in the bed.
“Try to keep still, Kingsley,” Ethern ordered. “We’ve fixed the skin as best we can, but your body is fighting an infection.”
Kingsley's eyes sprung open.
“My finger?”
Isobel swallowed.
“It couldn’t be saved.” She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her brother’s cheek. “I’m sorry we didn’t get there sooner.”
Kingsley went quiet.
“It’s ok, sis. It’ll be a talking point with the ladies.” Her brother closed his eyes again as though just keeping them open exhausted him. “Is he still alive?”
“Yes.” She didn’t need to ask who he meant. She could tell just by the strained expression on her brother’s face.
“Shame, mind you now I can kill him myself.”
“No, no more violence. You’re to stay away from him. I’ve made it perfectly clear we want nothing to do with him anymore.”
“I’ll not argue with you over it, at the moment. I’m too weak. Is everyone else alright? Zain?”
“I’m here.” The bear placed his hands on her shoulders.
Kingsley’s eyes fluttered open again.
“Wish I had your super shifter healing powers.”
“Jessica and Ethern are helping you along. You’ll be fine tomorrow.”
“Promise.” Kingsley laughed then groaned. “You should’ve let him take more fingers. You shouldn’t have told him anything.”
“That wasn’t ever going to happen. I’m just sorry you lost one.”
“I’ll adjust.” Her brother closed his eyes again.
“I think we need to let Mr. Ross rest.” Jessica placed her hand on his head.
“No Mr. Ross, please, just Kingsley,” her brother cut in.
“Sorry,” Jessica offered. “Zain, you need to rest as well. Your body’s been through a lot. Why don’t you and Isobel get a few hours sleep.”
“I want to stay with Kingsley,” Isobel replied without thinking about her answer.
“Sis, I just want to sleep. I’m sure there are enough people who will sit with me. I’m liking the idea of the witches staying here with their magic mumbo-jumbo. It’s better than a morphine high. Go take that man of yours and sleep. No offense, but from the little I’ve been able to see, you look like shit.”
She snorted. “Thanks.”
“Honestly. Any change and we’ll come and get you. I don’t expect to have to, though. I’ll sit and listen to him snoring,” Jessica reassured her.
“Hey, I don’t snore.” Kingsley frowned.
“You’re a man. In my experience, they all snore.” The witch laughed.
“Go and rest.” Ethern stepped up this time. His skin had returned back to its normal color, and she knew it meant he was in his human form. “If he tries to do anything he shouldn’t, I’ll turn into an elephant and sit on him.”
“You can do that?” she exclaimed.
Ethern wiggled his nose, and it started to grow longer and longer and turned into a trunk.
“Show off.” Jessica rolled her eyes and flicked a little energy ball at the trunk. It hit, and Ethern sneezed with such force he trumpeted out a loud call
. The door banged open, and Hunter ran into the room.
“What the fuck?” His mouth fell open when he saw the human with a trunk.
Isobel looked over to Kingsley. He hadn’t even flinched during the commotion.
“Come on.” She took Zain’s hand. “Let’s get you to bed. Hunter, I think you need to watch these two with my brother.” She winked, and Zain led her from the room.
The weight of the day’s events felt heavy on her shoulders. She wanted nothing more than a shower and sleep. Zain opened the door to the room they would be sharing. Hunter’s home was palatial and modern, which was a stark contrast to the Glacial Blood mansion. His pack had money, and lots of it. Something to do with oil, but she wasn’t sure what. The room was minimal with white walls, oak furniture, and a king-sized bed. It was wonderfully inviting.
“Shower?” Zain asked.
“Please.”
“I’ll turn it on. You get undressed. There’s a robe in the wardrobe for you.”
“Thank you.” She watched Zain disappear into the bathroom and heard him turn on the shower. She removed her clothes and placed them neatly on a chair in the corner of the room. It suddenly hit her that these were the only clothes she had in the world. Everything she owned was back at her father’s home. She had nothing: no mementos of her childhood, or her adult life. The pictures she had of her and Zain growing up, and the ones with Kingsley holding her as a baby, were all in her bedroom. Would her father ever allow her to get these things? She clutched her chest. It hurt. Zain came back into the room carrying a toothbrush.
“Hey.” He placed it down on a set of drawers. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t even have any clothes to change into?”
He looked to where she’d folded her belongings.
“We can get you some, don’t worry.”
“But they won’t be mine?”
He bowed his head.
“I can send Jessica and Ethern in to get them if you want?”
She shook her head.
“No, we need to all stay away from my father. It can be a new start. I can ditch the geeky librarian clothes. Maybe go for something a bit edgier. I don’t have to play the respectful senator’s daughter anymore.”
“You don’t, but it will always be who you are, Izzy. I love the person you are. You’re kind, honest, helpful, and a little bit of a geek just like me. It’s why we fit together. It’s why I love you.” He bent down and kissed the tip of her nose. “What happens now is going to take a lot of adjustment, but we’ll do it together. You were right when you said we’d wasted too much time when we could have been with each other. I’m not going to waste another minute. I could have died today, and I would never have seen you again.”
“No,” she whimpered. The thought of him dying made her heart hurt even more.
“A new life together.” He placed his hand over her heart. “You and I against the world as it was destined to be. Nobody can get in our way again.”
She moved her hand to entwine her fingers with his.
“You called me your mate back in the laboratory. Is it like marriage?”
“It’s better than marriage.”
“I don’t understand.” She cocked her head in confusion.
“Mating’s stronger than marriage to a shifter. Marriage can be broken, but mating can’t. It’s about leaving your mark on your mate. Everyone will know you're taken. A shifter will smell me on you.”
“Can’t they do that anyway after we’ve….you know?” She blushed.
“Fucked?”
“Yes.”
“They can, but it is different. I want you in both the human and the shifter way, Isobel. I want you as my wife and my shifter mate. The wedding may have to wait a little bit until we can sort out the details. I want to give you a lavish ceremony, but the mating, we can do it tonight if you want. I know I don’t want to waste another second without you being intrinsically linked to me.”
“Neither do I.” She didn’t need to think about her answer. Her heart beat only for Zain. The fact that she could have lost him today almost killed her when she allowed herself to think about it. She dropped her hand from where it was entwined with his over her heart, and led him to the bathroom. She’d been naked the entirety of their conversation, but it didn’t feel odd. It felt natural. She let go of him and stepped into the shower. She watched him the entire time as she washed her body and shampooed her hair, and he didn’t take his eyes off her. Even their blinking must have been in sync because she didn’t see him close his eyes once. She turned the water off when she was clean and stepped out. Zain held a towel up for her and wrapped it around her.
“You’re beautiful.” He bent down and pressed a kiss to her lips.
“Make me your mate,” she uttered, breathlessly.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Zain allowed the towel to drop down her body and pool on the floor. She stepped over it and permitted him to lead her into the bedroom. He helped her to lie down on the bed and proceeded to remove his t-shirt. His jeans followed next, and as he pulled them down his toned thighs, his cock bobbed out already thick and long with his erection. He stroked his fist up and down the length a few times, and she watched, completely mesmerized.
Zain lay over her on the bed. He kissed her lips; his beard tickling her smooth skin. She shut her eyes and allowed the sensations of him exploring her body to take over. He kissed down her neck and took a nipple into his mouth, sucking it to a hard point. She mewled at his expertise in playing her body. He took the other nipple and wrapped his tongue around it, flicking until it peaked. He lowered himself farther down her body. Butterfly kisses prickling her sensitive flesh as he went. She kept her eyes shut to focus on the feelings cascading over her body. Zain gently pushed her legs apart, and she heard him take a deep inhalation of her scent. She should be embarrassed, knowing his sense of smell was superior to hers, and she was so wet that it must have been overpowering, but she wasn’t.
“All for me,” he reassured her. “And all perfect.”
“You sure that telepathy thing you have isn’t allowing you to read my mind.”
“No, just your body. I’ve read it since the moment I was first inside you. I knew then you were my all, and I was yours forever.”
She opened her eyes and popped her head up.
“You only knew it then? I knew it the moment I first laid eyes on you all those years ago when we were babies.”
“I’m a man….takes me a bit longer to catch onto these things.” He shrugged with a wicked grin on his face, dipping his head down between her thighs to lick the length of her slit.
“Fuck,” she groaned.
“Babe,” Zain stuck his head up again. “I know it’s a bit cliché, but do you mind if I use some honey?”
“What?” Zain reached over to a drawer next to the bed and opened it. “Seems Tyler packed a couple of small jars for me just in case.” He pulled out a jar of honey. “Honey for my honey?” He winked.
She put her head back and laughed, any tension in her body dissipating. Today had been the day from hell, but at this moment, she knew all the decisions she’d made had been right. Zain was her life, her forever, and there was only one answer she could give to his insane question.
“Of course, you can.”
Zain opened the jar and dipped his finger into the pot. He carefully placed the jar on the bed and dripped the sugary nectar onto her nipple. He sucked the delicious treat into his mouth and moved to her lips to allow her to taste it as well. Sweet and delicious.
Next, he took some more and trailed it over her mound. She felt it trickle slowly down. Zain flattened his tongue and, agonizingly slowly, licked her clean. He came up to her lips again, and this time, she tasted herself mixed with her lover’s favorite food.
“Honey and honey,” she mouthed.
“Fuck, yeah. The best taste ever. I’m going to have this for breakfast every morning.”
“Every m
orning?”
“Yes, and maybe for dinner on Saturdays as well.”
“Why only Saturday?”
“Because that’s my day for treats.” He laughed and traveled back down her body. The reverberations sent shivers through her as her whole body heated up.
“Zain?” she moaned.
He pushed a finger inside and hooked it up to her inner sensitive place.
She groaned his name again, and he pushed another two fingers into her. His mouth met her clit again, and he sucked and flicked at her sensitive bud.
“I’m going to come.” She felt the powerful explosion soaring through her body, a few seconds later. He’d played the right keys and was eliciting a powerful melody from her body.
“Give me everything.” He pressed his fingers in and out of her faster and faster. It felt as though a brilliant white light flashed around her, and she came so hard she was sure she’d died and gone to heaven, such was the feeling of floating that washed over her body.
Zain withdrew his fingers, and she was vaguely aware of him stroking himself quickly a few times before positioning his cock at her entrance. He thrust forward and settled himself balls deep inside her. Her flesh was still sensitive from her orgasm, and she hissed at the intrusion. Everything was ignited again, and she came around his dick without him even moving.
“My god.” Zain could barely get the words out. “You’re gripping me like a vice. Fuck, it feels amazing.”
He felt massive inside her, stretching her body to breaking point.
“Move, please,” she begged through gasping breaths, her head still spinning from her second orgasm. Zain pulled back, and her body lamented the loss of him until he pushed hard back into her. His pace quickened, and her body reacted to it, again. She was on the verge of her third orgasm in a short space of time. Zain had been the only man she’d ever slept with, but when she’d found perfection the first time, why did she need anyone else? He knew her inside and out. He loved her and worshipped her, and she returned everything he gave with more loyalty and emotion than anyone else could. They were soulmates.
“Can you come again?” Zain asked. His rhythm faltered for a second as he tried to control the onset of his own orgasm. Sweat covered their bodies. The honey made them both sticky, but she didn’t care. This was primal and natural. Maybe the man she’d called her father was right on one score: Zain was a savage animal but only in bed. He found his rhythm again, and she felt her toes starting to curl with the onset of her next orgasm.