Lacey knew what she was doing. She knew what the consequences would be.
She understood that Teo needed a release and she was willing to provide him with one. He needed somewhere for the power, the fury created by the amentia to go. She wasn’t exactly sure what amentia meant, other than the fact that it translated into madness in Latin. But Teo was terrified he would hurt her because of it.
And she knew he wouldn’t.
His muscles shook under her hand, the intensity of his emotion transmitting through their touch, calling her own lust to the forefront.
Teo groaned. “Lacey, baby, please. Get the hell away.”
“I’m not going anywhere. You need me, Teo.” She moved closer, pressed her front to his side. He shuddered, his entire body undulating against her. “Let go.”
His eyes closed and she heard his knuckles crack as his hands clenched into fists.
For a brief second, she thought he was going to push her away and despair made her breath catch. She didn’t want to lose him—
Then he exploded into action.
She felt magic burst from him in a flash wave, calling to her own, making her blood boil with desire. As she gasped, her moisture drenched her sex and Teo grabbed her shoulders. He fell on her like a ravening beast, his mouth devouring, his hands all over her body at once.
His lips crushed against hers with a force that demanded she concede, that she give in and allow him to consume her. Her querciola blood rose up, feeding the fuel of his desire.
One hand cupped her breast, roughly kneading the soft flesh, sending bolts of sensation straight to her womb. The other hand slid down to her ass, fingers sinking in before sliding around to reach between her legs.
Yes, she needed him to touch her there, needed his fingers to rub her clit, make her come. She moaned into his mouth, her hands sinking into his hair, grabbing handfuls and yanking. The harsh groan Teo emitted sounded so close to pain she worried she’d hurt him. Until he released her mouth to lick a path to her ear and whispered, “More,” in her ear. His harsh words made her shudder and her womb clenched painfully.
As she panted, his teeth closed on her lobe, making her cry out. “Sweet Gods, Teo. I’m burning.”
“Not enough. It’s not enough.”
His mouth laid a path of stinging kisses down her throat to her collarbone. When her shirt got in his way, he grabbed the neckline and ripped it down the center. Her breasts, free of a bra, rose and fell furiously, her nipples hard and pointed.
Teo stared at her chest, his expression hard. For a full minute, he watched the mounds quiver, made her breasts ache for his mouth. When he finally cupped her breasts in his hands, she cried out in relief. And when he closed his fingers on her nipples, she needed him to make it hurt just a little.
“Harder. Harder, Teo.”
He granted her demand, pinching the tender flesh between his thumb and forefinger, making her arch toward him and cry out for more. Her eyelids fluttered shut but he tweaked her hard and they flew open.
“Look at me, Lacey. I have to see your eyes or I’ll be lost.”
The flecks of green and blue in his eyes gleamed in the dark brown depths, his mouth a hard line. She wanted him to put that mouth on her breasts and bite but she couldn’t articulate the words.
Instead she reached for his waist and tried to pull him closer.
With a snarl, he grabbed her hands as he twisted their bodies and backed her against the wall. She hit hard, her head banging into the wall but Teo didn’t stop. He lifted her arms above her head and held them with one hand, forcing her to arch her back.
With her breasts thrust out, he lowered his mouth to enclose one nipple in wet heat. He sucked hard, drew her in and ran his rough tongue over the sensitive flesh. Heat shot in a line of quicksilver from her nipple to her womb. The fierce ache already pulsing there intensified, made the muscles of her sex tighten and convulse. She needed him to fill her pussy, to cram something in and fuck her. His cock, his fingers—hell, his whole hand might be enough.
She tried to arch toward him but his free hand gripped her waist, holding her against the wall so she couldn’t move her hips.
After a few minutes of torture, he pulled away from the breast he suckled, biting down at the last second and catching the tip of her nipple between his teeth just before he released her. Pleasure and pain combined and her head fell back against the wall.
Now he moved to the other side and repeated his ministrations—sucking, biting, weakening her muscles until she couldn’t hold herself up any longer.
Her knees gave out and she hung in his hand, surrendering to him.
But Teo didn’t want surrender. He wanted complete domination.
Releasing her hands, he dropped to his knees, releasing her nipple at the last possible minute, dragging it with him until he had to release her or take the skin with him.
She’d never wanted anything more in her life than for him to make love to her. Every nerve ending screamed for it, for him to take her. So many years, so much sex and she’d never craved it like she did now.
Her hands fell to his shoulders as his mouth opened on her rib cage. He sucked on the flesh there before he bit his way down to her bellybutton. As his tongue flicked inside the tiny indentation, delight shivered through her.
He didn’t linger there. His mouth continued its downward path, teeth nipping until he reached her naked mound. She moaned when he pulled away, her hands sliding into his hair to hold there. Instead, he used one hand to grip her waist and push her harder against the wall while his other hand landed on her mound in a soft slap.
A fleeting convulsion tightened her pussy and she almost came. Sweet Goddess, she wanted to come, needed to come. When his hand reached between her legs, she nearly wept at the thought that he was going to let her. Instead, he made a vee out of his fingers and spread her folds to reveal her clit.
His warm breath blew across the tiny bundle of nerves before his tongue flicked out to take long swipes at her clit. Twice was all it took. She cried out as if in pain but it was the most exquisite pleasure she could imagine.
As she shuddered, Teo continued to work her with his tongue, alternating between licking her clit and dipping into her slit. He drew out her orgasm until her legs quivered and folded.
He caught her as she fell and laid her out on the floor. While her sheath continued to pulse, he kneeled between her legs, lifted her hips and thrust into her.
Arms stretched over her head and legs too tired to close around his waist, she closed her eyes as her arus rose up to meld with his.
Magic enclosed them in a cocoon of sensation, heightening the power of his thrusts, making his cock thicken and her sex tighten until his every movement created sheer bliss flowing through her.
She heard him groan, felt him shift until he was spread out on top of her. Planting his elbows on either side of her head, he let his hips pound into her, his head dipping down until his chin rested on top of her head.
She felt surrounded by him, skin melting together until they became one body, one motion. One heart beating.
He came without warning, cum shooting out of his cock as the magic broke apart and thrust them both into screaming orgasms.
Chapter Nine
When he could finally move, Teo groaned and rolled off Lacey, surprised when she tried to hold him there.
She had to be uncomfortable. He was so much bigger, she probably couldn’t breathe.
Rolling to his back, he drew her into his side. She came without hesitation, her arm draping limply across his chest. Her sigh whispered along his skin.
“Lacey. Are you okay?”
She sighed again and he felt her lips move against his skin. He thought she smiled.
Tinia’s teat, why was she smiling? She should be pissed off at him or at least want to get as far away from him as she could.
“I’m fine. More than fine.”
“I shouldn’t have…”
He paused and felt Lacey
shift beside him.
“Shouldn’t have…what?” she asked.
God, there were so many answers to her question, he didn’t know where to start.
But he knew what he needed to do now.
His arms wanted to tighten around her but he steeled himself against the impulse and sat up.
“I need to call Sal,” he said, looking around for his cell phone. Anywhere but at Lacey. “Find out what happened. Your sister—”
“Blessed Goddess, I nearly forgot about Cara.” Her tone caught his attention and he turned to see a startled look on her face. “I can’t believe I did that.”
Something else to lay at his feet. Still, it gave him a better excuse to find the phone. It only took a quick frisk of his jeans to find it in his pocket and speed-dial Sal.
Who picked up on the second ring.
“Damn, that was fast, Teo.” Sal sounded the same as he always did. “Everything okay?”
“No—yes, everything’s fine. Lacey’s fine.” He was another story and he wasn’t going there now. “Lacey wants to know how Cara is. That was her, right?”
“Yeah and she’s fine. She and the babe are just fine. What about you, Teo? Are you okay?”
He wanted to ream Sal for sending Lacey home with him. Rage about how he could have hurt her. But he didn’t want to do it in front of Lacey. “We’ll talk later. Lacey wants to talk to her sister. Just…transport her there now.”
“Teo, I don’t think—”
“Vaffanculo, Sal, I don’t need you to think for me. Just do it.”
Turning, he found Lacey staring up at him with those big blue eyes. He couldn’t decipher her expression. Was she angry? Sad?
Didn’t matter. She needed to get out of there. Away from him. He needed time to think. Needed to clear his head.
Even though he was thinking pretty clearly at the moment, which was something else he needed to think about.
Usually it took him days to come down from one of his rages. Today, all he’d needed was Lacey.
Still, he could have hurt her. Could have killed her if something had gone horribly wrong.
“Teo, are you still there?”
Sal’s voice brought him out of his thoughts and he tore his gaze away from her. “Yeah, I’m here. She needs to see her sister. We’ll talk later. Tell her what you need.”
He held out the phone to Lacey. She took it without touching him, staring into his eyes with a steady gaze. “Hello, Sal.”
He forced himself to stand there and watch as she made arrangements to leave him.
He knew it was for the best. Hell, he’d practically pushed her out the door.
And now he wanted to cry the blues?
He really was an asshole.
“All right, Sal,” she said. “I’m ready. Just…give me one minute.”
Lacey disconnected the phone and handed it back to him. He took it. And faced the full weight of her gaze on his.
“Are you really going to let me go? Knowing I may have to leave?”
Damn, she didn’t pull her punches. He should have expected that.
He started to shake his head. “Lacey—”
She stuck her index finger into the air, silencing him. “Don’t. Unless you’re going to apologize for pulling away the second you were finished, and ask me to stay, don’t say anything at all.” She paused and her mouth tightened at his continued silence. “Fine.”
She took the few steps that brought them within touching distance, stopping a hairsbreadth from him. His body reacted to her scent and her proximity, his cock hardening and lengthening. Teo tensed against the return of the amentia.
And was shocked when he felt no trace of it.
“Goodbye, Teo. Maybe I’ll see you around sometime.”
“Lacey—”
He didn’t get to finish. He felt Sal’s spell brush against him, seeking out Lacey to translocate her to Sal’s home.
He wanted to say something, anything. But her stoic expression tore at his heart and he couldn’t force the words from his mouth as she disappeared.
His feet felt rooted to the floor yet his brain was screaming for him to move. To run after her.
Fuck. What had he done?
No. This was for the best. He needed to figure out what was going on with him and he couldn’t think while Lacey was anywhere in the vicinity.
* * * * *
Lacey rematerialized in someone’s altar room. She assumed it was Sal’s.
She couldn’t care less.
Teo had let her go. Her heart felt like he’d stomped all over it.
She wanted to hate him, wanted to scream and curse him.
But she knew why he’d done it.
He’d been so scared, scared he’d hurt her. He’d lived with the amentia for so many years, allowed it to rule his life.
Did he realize it was different with her? That they needed each other? That they completed each other?
“He’ll come around.” Sal stood behind her, arms crossed over his chest. “He’s got issues but he’ll come around.”
She wished she could believe that. She felt too raw to talk about it now. And she needed to talk to Cara.
As if he’d read her mind, he motioned to the door. “She’s in the next room. Try to keep an open mind, babe. She needs you.”
An open mind. About her sister and the baby she’d had with a Mal.
She nodded, not sure what she was agreeing to. Sal moved to the side so she could pass. Her feet felt like lead, her head hurt and she thought she might throw up.
At the next room, she stopped before the open door and caught Cara sitting with her back to the door, nursing the baby. Her sister hadn’t seen her yet. Neither had Michael, leaning against the wall behind her, angled so he could watch the door and the windows.
The Mal watched Cara with an inscrutable expression. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he looked like a man in love.
Blessed Goddess, this situation was so screwed up.
Michael’s gaze flashed to hers and held. He stood, his hand reaching for Cara’s shoulder but stopped short of touching her. Instead he gripped the back of her chair. He bent to whisper in her ear, waited for her to nod, then moved to the door.
He nodded to her, his gaze steady on hers. He wanted to talk. Alone. She swallowed hard and walked to the end of the short, narrow hall, trying to control her instinctive shiver when the man closed the door behind him and drew close to her.
“Are you okay, Lacey? Cara’s worried about you.”
She didn’t answer right away, trying to get past the fact that this man was part of the evil that made her and her sister’s life a living hell. Still aching from Teo’s rejection, she was having a hard time taking that leap of faith to trusting this man.
“I’m fine. I want to know what’s going on with you and Cara. What’s your angle? How do we know the child’s really yours?”
His mouth quirked into something not quite a smile. “I understand why you can’t trust me, Lacey. And I don’t blame you. But we don’t have the time to debate this. We need to talk. I want to leave Cara here with you so I can make it safe for you both.”
It took a second for what he’d said to sink in. She stared at him, as if she could read his evil intentions in his eyes.
“She doesn’t know what I’m planning to do,” he continued. “Sal said Cara and Aron are welcome to stay with him. He said they’ll be safe here and I’ll draw the Mal away, make them think you’re both long gone.”
He sounded sincere, like a man determined to do the right thing. If he was telling the truth, it could give her and Cara some breathing room.
If he was lying… If he was lying, it wouldn’t matter where they went. He’d be able to find them. If Aron truly was his.
Hope tried to light in her heart. But she couldn’t tell if her desire to remain in Reading, close to Teo, had more to do with that than her intuition that she could trust this man.
“How do I know you won’t betray us?
”
He shrugged. “You don’t. And I understand your fear. But I will never turn Aron or Cara or you over to the Mal. I need you to know that, needed to say the words. I’ll be leaving as soon as I say goodbye.”
He turned and walked away before she could say anything, entering the room where her sister waited and closing the door behind him.
She stared at the door, her mind too chaotic to allow rational thought. She didn’t know how long she stood there but she was still standing in the same place when Michael left the room again. He never looked back as he headed toward the stairs.
His departure unstuck her feet from the floor and she hurried to her sister.
Cara’s quiet sobs broke Lacey’s strong hold over her own emotions. Squeezing onto the chair beside Cara, she put her arms around her sister and cried along.
* * * * *
“You know you’re an idiot, right?”
“Go the fuck away, Cam. I’m not in the mood.”
Teo didn’t bother to look away from his acute examination of the wall of his house on North Eleventh Street. He really needed to paint.
“Fuck that.” Cam walked over and stood directly in front of him, arms crossed over his chest, arrogant look on his face. “We have work.”
Teo sneered and went back to staring at the wall. “I don’t work for you.”
“You do now. Get off your ass. We’ve got protection duty.”
Damn, his brother was starting to piss him off. “Fuck you, Cam. You’re not my boss.”
“Yeah, well, I think you’re going to want in on this one. It involves two women and a baby.”
Lacey. It had to be Lacey and Cara.
Conflicting emotions rose up to choke him. “Cam—”
“Shut up and listen, little brother.” The harsh note in Cam’s tone cut through the fog in Teo’s brain and he looked up into his brother’s eyes. “She needs you. And you need her.”
As a child, Teo had believed Cam had an answer to everything. Then Teo had been infected with the amentia and Cam didn’t have the answer. Teo had been too angry with himself to realize Cam was almost as distraught as he was. His big brother had spent decades trying to find a cure. And continued to look, long after Teo had given up.
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