by Claudy Conn
“Oh, yes, please, and if he gives you a hard time…don’t pay attention,” Jacie said, and smiled warmly at him. Retaal, in spite of the hurt he had caused her, was still everything she remembered, kind, gentle, thoughtful, dear…all those things, and if she wasn’t careful, she would fall for him all over again.
“Right, so at the right moment, I mind-link with the Cumas who I know have portal power. Then I go in and get as many into the portal as I can, but we need a diversionary tactic for the guards.”
“Nope. If I am going to blow my cover, and Dog is safely in Devos…I’ll just put the guards to sleep. Now that I can do, as I have practiced it a good part of my life. Fun spell.”
He chuckled. “Right, Celine and the other two can do that witch smoke and transport themselves out as soon as they know we have their coven safe, so it will only be the supernaturals I will have to portal out as a group.”
“Great plan, and all we have to do,” Jacie laughed, “is get Celine’s coven to safety.”
“She lets her wards down—we shift in, unshackle them…they are surrounded by salt and fire, so we disperse both and shift them out,” Retaal said.
“Brilliant…but first, I need to confer with her witch, who is with Niall’s team.”
“Not today. He put his offer to you. Let him stew. It might make him more amenable to making a deal without too many demands,” Retaal said.
“Agreed,” Jacie said.
“You know, Niall would think nothing of killing the humans he takes on and would prefer not to use magic to put them to sleep. We don’t work that way.”
“Which brings me to what is troubling me. This witch of Celine’s…working with Niall? Why doesn’t she work to save her coven and release Celine and the other two?”
“She probably can’t get to the coven with the salt and fire blocking her,” Retaal suggested. “Can you?”
“Yup, Apollo’s magic that he instilled in me over the years. I am immune to both salt and fire,” she said absently.
He suddenly took her in his arms. “Ah, Jacie…my witch wonder.”
“Yes, yes, excellent, but if we can, we must come up with Plan B.”
“I don’t see a Plan B in the works, but maybe something will come to mind.”
“Well, I am liking plan A quite a bit,” she said thoughtfully. “Although it will be tricky regarding the timing.”
“It will make us use all our best skills,” he said quietly.
Their eyes met and she said softly, “We will invade the Lower Planet, and at some later date, we destroy it.”
“And our magic. We have a great deal between us, and now we don’t have to hold back, do we? We should be able to pull this off,” he said.
“Damn, but I can’t wait to get started.” Retaal was more than excited.
She laughed. “Well, we have to wait since you won’t let me march upstairs and demand to see my fellow coven witch. I wonder if I know her. I was young, but I remember most of my parents’ coven members. In the meantime, since we are going to blow my cover and that means Dog’s cover, I want to go ahead and send him and his mate, Reena, to Devos. We have time and I won’t risk using the cell. I’ll mind-link with him. He hates it, so I don’t use it generally, but this is an emergency.”
He laughed out loud and sat with her before he took her shoulders in his hands. “You amaze me, little one.”
She eyed him. “Are you hungry? I can heat us up something.”
“First, tell me more about Niall,” he said. “How long was he here…you said he kissed you.”
“Yes, he is a very good kisser, but don’t want him to do it again.” Jacie smiled saucily. “Now, are you hungry?”
“Damn his eyes!” Retaal grumbled.
She laughed. “Are you hungry?”
“Yes, hungry,” he said low and deliberately.
She felt a shiver shoot up her spine. His voice got to her in a way that made her want to tear off his clothes.
She hurriedly moved into the kitchen. He was right behind her. She turned her head to look over her shoulder and up at his face. Mistake. His silver eyes burned with emotion and she felt her body sizzle as he pressed in close behind her.
Jacie trembled as his hands slid down her arms and found her hips. He was so damn close, making it difficult to think. All her senses zapped her nerve endings into high alert mode.
“In fact, I am very hungry…” His delicious voice was low and husky and fueled her burn.
“What are you doing?” She spun around fully and found herself plastered against the granite counter. “Just what are you doing? Ret, are you daring to flirt with me?”
Every inch of her body wanted his touch. Her blood was on fire with a sudden need. She knew that if she were honest with herself, she really did want his hands to roam over her flesh. Her libido again demanded she throw him down and mount him. Clearly that part of her mind was on one track and couldn’t think of the consequences. Consequences? Did there have to be any? Yes, there were always consequences, and she damn well wasn’t about to allow her body to govern her actions.
Oh, but hot damn, she was ripe and ready.
He was confusing the hell out of her. One minute treating her like a sister he wanted to banish to the safety of Devos…away from him, and the next looking at her like she was a meal he wanted to devour. Well, she would have none of it.
When he finally answered her, his voice was sexy as hell as he whispered against her earlobe, “Yes, flirting with you.” He drew her in for a kiss. It was only a light touching of his lips on hers.
She hadn’t meant to allow this to happen, and had no idea why she molded herself to him and parted her lips for his tongue, but that is just what she did. His kiss infused her body with a wild, unmanageable desire.
As before, sparks shot through her system. She could actually hear the sputter and hiss of her nerve endings as they shouted for more.
Holy hell, but that tongue of his set her on her toes.
She was lost, completely lost in his kiss, and found herself giving as good as she got. She tasted him with a fever that engendered one in him. She knew it, felt his frenzied ardor mount. She felt his hard-on against her belly and his passion in his roaming fingers.
Jacie knew he had only meant to give her a light kiss. She knew, some instinct told her, he hadn’t meant it to go this far.
Inside her head, she smiled.
If you play with fire, be prepared to get burned, a small voice whispered in her mind.
That’s right, and getting burned this way was okay with her. She made up her mind. Damn the consequences. She was going to have this moment with Retaal.
And then, all at once, he stepped away, and she nearly collapsed.
“Forgive me, Jacie, here I am warning you about others and doing the very thing…forgive me,” he said, and walked away, went to the door and slammed out of her apartment.
~ Eight ~
RETAAL HEARD THE DOOR SLAM at his back and stopped short. What the fuck was he doing?
He closed his eyes. He had done exactly what he promised himself he wouldn’t do. He had moved on her. He had actually taken advantage of her during her most vulnerable moments. Who was he? Why had he done that?
Just what was wrong with him?
Jacie. Jacie was what was wrong with him.
He had watched her growing up and had always adored her young fresh mind. She had always, even as a child, made him laugh, made him think, made him feel outside of himself.
When he saw her—all grown up, inside the Dank part of the prison, he had received a flush hit.
She was a woman, fully developed and full of fire. She was even more beautiful than he had ever imagined a woman could be.
He knew she was there to rescue him and the others, but immediately was blasted with one thought—to get her home and safe. She was his Jacinta, his to protect, not the other way around.
And then he was in her apartment and she was ranting at him for having left her
without a word all these years and he realized just what he had done.
Jacie had a way of making him see things beyond his pragmatic ideals. She had a way of opening the world up with her imagination…and now, now she got to him in ways he couldn’t deny.
Her shining red locks hung to her waist in torrents of waves, and that waist was small and inviting. Her smile caught his gaze and kept him staring at her lips, full and lush…ready for kissing.
Her nose, pert and adorable, her violet eyes full with emotion…her thoughts, open and honest, spilling from her delicious looking mouth…
He couldn’t stop staring at her figure, a figure that had blossomed from skinny and youthful to full breasted. Her ass was ski-sloped and alluring, and he couldn’t do anything about the hard-on in his pants. It was there and it called for only her.
Desire raged in him as a new sensation. He had never felt this primal, hungry need for anyone ever before.
His heart shouted out mine whenever he looked at her, whenever he thought of her, which was all the time now.
He kissed her last night because he couldn’t stop himself, and he left in the morning, promising himself he wouldn’t do that again.
All night, he had relived that kiss. All night, he tossed with thoughts of her under him, over him, with his hands on those luscious breasts—all night.
Finally, he slept and when he awoke, it was with a promise to leave her be…to absolutely not try to touch her…kiss her…
Bloody hell, what the fuck was happening to him? As soon as he saw her, he lost all control. It was as though her eyes turned his mind into one big dish of pudding.
He was going down hard. Really hard.
She wasn’t just a female…a woman, she was Jacie.
He hadn’t had a woman in his arms for months. He had been in a cage…trying to muster up enough power to open a portal and take his brethren to safety.
When he brought Jacie into his arms for a kiss just now, his heart had stopped—literally stopped. When the beat returned, it was to pound a hard rockin’ song in his chest and in his brain that said only her name.
Something in her violet eyes…a whisper of her essence, had seeped into his soul and demanded he kneel before her. She was his warrior goddess, strong, smart, and stunningly beautiful.
Something in her smile, something he could not deny, told him she was his mate and that he could not, would not be satisfied with any other female ever again.
This sudden knowledge made his world stop.
He couldn’t do this to her. She was so young. She needed world experiences. Pain filled him as he thought of her…with someone else.
How could he bear it?
But…she should be free…she should…? No. He couldn’t bear to think of her with another.
He paced in the hallway in front of the open elevator.
He told himself he had to send her home, that it would be for her own good, but he knew that wasn’t true. He wanted her home for his own peace of mind.
He just couldn’t think clearly at all.
Last night’s impulsive kiss swept his mind clean and took over. He felt a fireball of passion he couldn’t control. It wasn’t just because of desire, it was desire for her, for only her.
If he let her go…she would meet others who could never love her as much as he…wait!
What was that word?
Love? Was he saying that he loved her? He thought of her as his mate…and now that word, that dangerous four letter word—love?
Fuck! He was fucked.
He could not deny that Jacie was his one. She owned his heart. How had that happened?
He had to leave. If he didn’t leave…he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from making her his and his alone. He was on fire. He knew now that he wanted her more than life itself.
Selfish—he was being selfish. He had so many experiences, she had none. How could he expect her to commit herself to him? Should she? Fuck yes! He could not allow any other male to have her. No other would be right for her. He and Jacie had always been meant.
He had buried that knowledge in the past as he watched her grow up. He had loved her heart—her mind, from the start…and now, now he had the chance to be all that he could be for her—just for her.
Was he the right mate for her? Insecurity took a moment to weave itself through his mind. He knew how he felt, but he didn’t want to take advantage of her infatuation with him. Was she simply still infatuated with him?
No, the spark between them was a mutual thing. She was his mate. He knew it beyond a shadow of a doubt. Should he go in and show her what he felt for her?
Hell yeah! By all that he was, he would make her happy. He would never give her any cause for regret.
He turned on the spot, opened her loft door and strode inside, long purposeful strides that brought him to tower over her.
Aw fuck, but she melted his soul and remolded it with her name!
* * * * *
Jacie had been left standing in bewildered disbelief when Retaal slammed out the door.
One minute, he was kissing her as though he could never get enough and in that one moment she felt as though, finally, he might be hers.
Swoosh! And then he was gone.
How could he do that to her? How dare he do that to her?
She stood in shock and then as her witchy senses kicked in, she realized that Retaal was still outside in the hall, standing at the elevator door. He had not left.
Should she go out there and slam him into the wall? Damn straight she should. Would she? Doubt assailed her. No. She sensed strong emotions weaving through the atmosphere. Her inner senses reached out to touch the magic and it was laced with indecision. He stood, undecided outside her door. What the hell?
Okay, this was his problem, not hers. He was going to have to figure it out all on his own. Even so, she couldn’t stop herself from reaching out and touching her loft door with her palm. She could feel the air infused with his essence. He was in a whirlwind of blatant feelings.
All at once, the door flew open, and she got out of the way just as it banged off the wall so hard she thought it would come off its hinges.
It was wide open. He hadn’t bothered to close it as he strode purposely towards her.
With a thought, she closed and locked it, all the while watching him as he came to a full stop and ran a frenzied hand through his hair.
They stood, neither one speaking, staring into each other’s eyes. His silver eyes glittered and sparkled with a red hot flame as he resolutely came at her.
Her shoulders were in Retaal’s large hands as his voice came strained and husky, “Jacinta…how can you ever forgive me?”
“What? Forgive you for what—kissing me? Or are you asking me to forgive you for kissing me and then leaving me with a snap of your fingers…just like that?” She snapped her fingers and then added, “Tell me, Ret, what shall I forgive you for this time?” Hurt welled and receded as her heart absolutely told her he wanted her. She put up her palm and stepped backwards from him. “Go on…tell me.”
“I…I…” He hesitated as he searched for words.
Fury took Jacie over. “What is it you want from me? Ah, I get it. You have been incarcerated for a few months…so you are looking for a little throw-down hot sex? Is that it? Do you want me to tell you it is okay, sure, take a little…no strings attached? Is that what you want?”
“Don’t!” he shouted. “Don’t ever think I could feel that way about you. What is between us is real. We both know it. You know who I am and this isn’t about a little throw-down…this isn’t a one-night stand.” He took her waist in his hands and drew her in close. “Jacie…you must know that.”
“Do I, Ret, do I know that? How, what have you done to show me what…” her finger moved between his chest and her heart, “this between us really is?”
“I haven’t done anything to make you believe me, I know, but…” He took her hand and put it over his heart. “Do you feel that? It is
beating faster than it ever has…for you. It beats for you. Jacie, something beyond my wildest imagination has happened to me because of you.” He cried out her name again, “My own Jacinta.”
He lifted her legs and positioned them around his waist. “This thing between us may be more than either one of us ever bargained for, but I’ll be damned if I ever walk away from you again. Trust me now as you used to.” He kissed her hard and long, explored her tongue with his own in a way that told her, in that moment, that he was telling her the truth. His aura pulsated with passion and truth, and it was that truth that beat down all her defenses.
Jacie hung on, reveling in his delicious, hungry kisses, kisses that covered her mouth, her face, her ears. He suddenly broke away and pulled up his T-shirt. “I want your flesh on mine,” he whispered.
She helped him get the thing off and fling it to the ground.
He chuckled. “Ah, my witch…my hot witch.” With one free hand he had her blue tank top off and it joined his T-shirt on the floor.
He held her up and walked them to the bedroom.
Jacie was sure she was dreaming. This was all so much more than she had ever known or imagined it could be. Like a tsunami rushing and taking over, she had no power against the force of it.
He set her down on the bed and they rid each other of their remaining garments before he joined her on the bed and took her naked body up against his for a kiss that left her breathless. His lips traveled over her body, nibbling, licking, and then he took her nipple with a suction that made her wild with desire. He fondled one breast while he suckled and grazed the other with his teeth.
His machinations caused her to arch and moan with pleasure. His mouth moved to her other nipple, leaving that hand free to roam to her belly, further to the tuft of hair before he cupped her and moved against her sweet-box with a hard pumping thrust of his hand.
His hand worked her apex until she was filled with so much sensation all she could think of was getting relief.
With his finger, he looked for and found her pleasure spot deep inside, where she was wet and hot for more. He whispered, “Baby…you are so beautiful. I can’t get enough.”