by Marcel, Zoey
Cameron paused long enough to tease her swollen clit. “Come for me, baby. Just let go and trust me.”
After a few seconds of tickling, the plump bud exploded with pleasure and she had to trust him to hold her up on that car while she convulsed against the hood beneath him, crying out with rapture. He grunted at the spasms sucking his cock.
“Oh, Hilary, baby!” He plunged into her cunt hard and deep as he threw his head back with a savage cry and emptied himself into her body.
Hilary couldn’t remember a man ever looking so good in the throes of abandon. She only knew she never wanted this to end.
Callie must know this kind of pleasure with him.
Hilary licked her lips when the steamy thought occurred to her how hot it would be if they all rolled around in a large bed together in the buff. He could fuck one pussy and then fill the next while they played with each other’s tits. She desperately wanted that triad relationship he talked about. This town might be accepting of it, but Nex had other plans for her—the cold, dead and buried-in-the-ground kind of plans and eternal torment in hell afterward.
Cameron’s arms shook with exertion, seeming jarred by his orgasm. “I never knew it would feel like that. Wow.”
She smiled and ran her fingers through his dripping-wet hair. “Thank you for making me your first. I’m sorry you weren’t mine.”
He shook his head, trying to catch his breath. His exhale came out in a tiny puff of fog. “It’s all right, just as long as I’m your last…man, that is. You can sleep with Callie. That’s fine.”
“You too.”
He grinned. “Thanks.”
“Please don’t let me fall, Cameron. Not now,” she pleaded. If he did it would hurt her much worse. What she felt for him was a hell of a lot stronger than the feelings she once had for Clyde.
Cameron looked into her eyes seriously and brushed a wet strand of hair back from her face. “I swear to you.”
Chapter Eight:
Showdown
Cameron couldn’t keep his eyes and hands off Hilary as she drove home. He tried not to distract her from driving, but it proved rather difficult after the earth-shaking encounter they’d just had. He lost his virginity to the woman of his dreams. His spirit and brains soared on cloud nine, but he tried to behave himself enough to focus on giving her proper driving instructions to ensure they arrived home in one piece and weren’t pulled over by a cop on the way there.
Once they arrived home, Callie wasn’t there. Cameron checked the rooms but couldn’t find her. “That’s weird. I could have sworn she had the day off. I’ve got to get ready for work and go open up the shop here soon. What’s that?”
Hilary’s concern vanished and she put on a smile that seemed somewhat phony to him as he took the note from her. “Callie just went to get some things from the store.”
“Whoa, what language is that? You think she would have used English to make it easier for us to understand. You can read that?”
She nodded and headed toward her bedroom, seeming distracted by her thoughts. “It’s Gaelic.”
“I didn’t know Callie girl spoke Gaelic. Maybe that’s her second language.”
“I’m going to start some laundry. Would you hand me that blanket in there and I’ll wash it for you?”
Cameron knelt to retrieve the blanket from his cage. All of a sudden he was shoved from behind by a force that seemed too strong to come from Hilary unless she used magic to move him. The door slammed shut and she locked him in. “Hey, man, what the hell?”
“I’m sorry to do this, but I need you to be safe. Callie’s in trouble.”
“What? What the hell did that note really say?”
“Nex has her and he’s going to kill her if I don’t rendezvous with him.”
“Hilary, don’t go! He’ll kill you. Let me rally some guys together and we’ll take care of him and save Callie. You stay here.”
She shook her head sadly, looking so worried and scared he wanted to hug her cares away. “I can’t. I’m supposed to go alone.”
“No! That’s what he wants! He’ll kill you! Let me out of here!”
She picked up his cell phone. “Wait five minutes and then you can call Dexter or somebody to come let you out of there. I’ll leave the key under the mat for him. Just lock up before you leave.”
“Fuck that! I’m not waiting five minutes. I’m calling him now.”
She turned his phone off and approached the cage. “It might take a minute to boot up for you.”
He glared at her. “When are you going to realize we’re a team? You don’t have to do everything yourself. I can help, damn it.”
“There is something you can do for me. Once you’re free, go talk to Eversor for me.”
“Who?”
“I’m sorry. Jack, he’s a dire wolf shifter.”
“Oh, you mean Jack Dillinger, the alpha of the small pack that lives over at that ranch?”
“Aye, he used to be good friends with Nex back when he was evil. Find out what you can from him about Nex—weaknesses, whatever.”
“Fine, but then I’m coming after you.”
“You don’t know where I’m going.”
“I’ll have those wolves track you.”
She smiled weakly. “Good-bye, Cameron.”
“Hey, not good-bye, I’ll see you later.” He banged the cage to get her attention.
Her eyes looked misty. “I love you, Cameron.”
“No, don’t say it like that. You’re going to make it. I’m going to save you from this.”
“I would really like to hear you say that to me just once before I go.”
He was sorely tempted, but she meant it as good-bye and when he said it to her it would mean forever. “No. Not like this. I’ll say it to you when I have you safely in my arms again and not just once but an infinite numbers of times.”
A droplet trickled down her face. “I hope you get to.”
“I swear to you I will.” His spirit panicked when she walked out. “Hilary, stop! Come back!”
He turned on his phone and called his best friend, Dexter. It seemed like forever before the beaver shifter showed up but was probably only a few minutes in actuality.
Dexter grinned when he saw him. “Dude, what did you do to piss her off?”
“It’s a long story. Callie’s in trouble, Hilary went to save her and she wanted me out of the way so I don’t get hurt.”
“Aw, that was nice of her.”
“It’s freaking irritating. Get me out of here, will you? The key’s on the dresser over there.”
Dexter got right to it.
“Do you know where the Dillinger-Montego ranch is?”
“You mean the werewolves that run that horse ranch? Yeah, I know where it is.”
“Good. I need you to do me a favor and drive over there. Ask Jack as much as you can about a man named Nex.”
“Nex? Okay. What are you going to do?”
“I’ve got to talk to the owners of The Gothic Angel. Meet me outside there when you’re done.”
“Why are we meeting at a sex club?”
Cameron cringed inside, recalling how Hilary had pegged him the other night in that bed and mimicked Dexter’s voice. If that had been humiliating, standing in the same room with Dexter now was a million times more embarrassing. “I just need to ask one of the owners a few questions. He might be able to help.”
* * * *
Dakarai let him in through the back door.
“What did Hilary come to see you about last night?” Cameron asked. “Did it have something to do with Nex?”
“She had been having nightmares of him and wanted to know if he was behind them,” Dakarai replied calmly.
“Was he?”
“Yes, he was.”
“Why did she come to you and not ask me for help?”
He hesitated. “I have abilities which extend beyond human capabilities.”
“She looked terrified when I got here. What did you do
to her?”
“I put her under a deep sleep and got into her dreams to help her find the answer. Nex was there inside her mind.”
Cameron paced anxiously, fearing for the lives of the two women he loved. “He abducted Callie and Hilary went after him by herself. He left this note. It’s in Gaelic. Do you know what it says?”
Dakarai didn’t even glance down at the piece of paper. “I do not know Gaelic. I’m sorry I cannot help you.”
Cameron followed him when he went around behind the bar. “Wait. You’re some kind of supernatural thing with powers. Tell me how to kill him.”
“I cannot tell you that.”
“You don’t know?”
Dakarai wiped the bar, looking groggy as if he’d just woken up. “I do, but I won’t tell you.”
“Why not?” Cameron demanded, ready to pop some sense into the much taller and brawnier male.
“Because it’s not what Hilary would want.”
His eyes narrowed. “How the hell would you know what she wants?”
“I was inside her mind last night. She doesn’t want to be responsible for another life. She wants to end this as peacefully as possible.”
“Yeah, well, Nex doesn’t seem to want peace, so it’s not going to happen. You can’t stop a homicidal maniac with superhuman strength without taking his life.”
Dakarai looked thoughtful for a minute and glanced at a pot of some kind of herb on the windowsill. A light came on in his midnight eyes. “Maybe you can.”
“Come again?”
“There is a spell—”
“I don’t have time to peruse those thick, ancient texts in the magic shop. Hilary and Callie are in trouble now.”
Dakarai’s exhale sounded loud. It might have been a sigh. “Go to the toy store and buy a stuffed tiger.”
“I know you’re tired, but this is no time to take a nap with a snuggle toy.”
Dakarai stared at him calmly for a minute, the final thread of patience stretched thin across his face. “I know a curse to turn the animal into a voodoo doll. You will also need to stop by the lingerie store.”
“What do panties have to do with—”
“And ask the owner, Angelina for some red dust and gold dust. She is the faery equivalent to Eros.”
Cameron bounced up and ran toward the back door. “One quick question. Instead of a tiger, shouldn’t I be buying a Ken doll or can’t you conjure one that looks like Nex, since he’s a man?”
“Nex is a were-tiger.”
* * * *
Hilary followed Nex’s voice in her head until she came to the place he directed her. Oxbow Bend near the Grand Tetons. The snow-dusted mountains did themselves proud serving as the regal lords over the kingdom of green, gold and pumpkin orange below. The natural rhythm of the Snake River provided calming background music for birds and the occasional sound of what Hilary had been told before belonged to elk. The sagebrush beneath her feet crunched lightly while the taller grasses rustled when she brushed through them.
Nex told her he would be waiting near a tree. No kidding. Evergreens and color-changing aspens surrounded her. Which bloody tree did he mean?
“Hilary,” he whispered eerily in her mind.
She took a deep breath and concentrated, allowing herself to enter his mind as he had hers. He would be behind her in a moment. She turned to see him standing in the clearing with her, half of him hidden in the tall grass.
“Where is Callie?”
Nex smiled and glanced up and over to the left. Hilary turned and looked up to see Callie tied to a large tree branch high off the ground. She was gagged and would likely fall to her death without the ropes holding her secure to the tree limb.
“Let her go.”
“She is safer up there, I can assure you,” he said darkly.
A wolf howled in the distance. Nex listened closely and sniffed the air.
Hilary took a baby step backward.
“I told you to come alone.”
“I did.”
“Then why is Eversor on his way here?”
“I thought he was your friend,” she said innocently.
“He was centuries ago, but he has a soul now. I can smell the humanity and goodness permeating from him. It sickens me.” Nex shoved her to the ground, eyes flashing with aggression and retaliation. “You’re not going anywhere. I haven’t eaten yet and you have a debt to repay.”
Hilary screamed when he turned into a tiger and roared at her. She summoned a neon-green ball of energy and hurled it at him when he pounced and she was pleased he turned into a plant. Now she must contain him. The plant growled at her and leaped at her before becoming a tiger again and knocked her to the ground. She tried to fight the gnashing teeth and slashing claws off as he endeavored to maul her.
Barking and growls sounded as four giant wolves, one black, one gray, one red, and one white, all threw themselves onto the blood-crazed tiger. The beast roared and got off her so he could fight his lycan assailants.
Hilary got up and dusted herself off. All at once her head went back and she felt her eyes change. Someone or something possessed her and she felt compelled to do as the force dictated. She didn’t even recognize the language she uttered. Her arms outstretched and the four wolves were thrown from the tiger and kept floating in the air. They seemed pissed off and kept yapping to get free and continue their combat.
Nex turned and locked eyes with her. He let out a throaty growl and charged toward her. She held the tiger’s gaze and his golden-amber eyes seemed to grow black with possession. A bed of catnip appeared from nowhere and sprouted up in the distance between them. The big cat flipped and rolled head over heels in the euphoric herb, purring and flailing like a cuddly house cat.
A fountain of lavender-colored liquid appeared in the center, sprinkling onto him. He batted at the flyaway drops and shook them off. His face went into the strange liquid and he drank. The catnip and fountain disappeared and the tiger snapped out of the hypnosis. He eyed Hilary, who was still in a trance, and bolted toward her.
“Hilary!” Cameron’s voice sounded distant.
Something large came shuttling down the hill where his voice came from. A coffin slid and came to rest at the bottom of the hill between her and the beast. Nex snarled and sprinted toward Cameron before slowing down and yawning. He fell over onto his side just as Hilary snapped out of her drugged haze and gently set the wolves back on the ground.
What the hell just happened?
“Hilary! Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. I don’t know what happened.”
“It was Dakarai. He turned this stuffed tiger into a voodoo doll and cursed Nex with it. He made the toy roll in a pot of catnip and drink this coma-spell concoction so Nex would have to as well. I had Dexter send the wolves after you, but I guess Dakarai must have kept them at bay to see if the spell would work. He said you didn’t want Nex dead.”
“He was right.”
“Where’s Callie? Is she hurt?”
Hilary pointed to the tree Callie hung from. Her brown eyes were wide like saucers.
“Oh my god, my poor girl! I’ll get her down.” Cameron hurried over to free her.
Hilary remembered to breathe again as her knees shook from the letdown after the rush of adrenaline.
The wolves disappeared into the trees and returned a few minutes later with their clothes on and in human form.
“We were trying to help you!” Quinn Montego scolded her. “Were you trying to get yourself killed?”
“I’m sorry about that. I wasn’t in control of myself. I think Dakarai had a spell over me or possessed me.”
“It’s all right. You didn’t want Nex dead. I understand,” Jack Dillinger said.
“I don’t,” Mark Montego admitted.
“I just didn’t want to take his life. He used to be a tiger and I’m the one who made him human. I gave him a soul to keep him from killing, but it wasn’t his choice. He lost his soul again and I sent him to hell,”
Hilary explained.
“You did that to protect the Scottish people. That was a good thing,” Quinn said.
“I know, but I’ve seen hell. I was in a mild part, but I sent him to a worse part,” Hilary said sadly. “Jack changed so much when he got a soul and found love. Maybe someday Nex can too, but I’m not the one to change him. He needs a reason to change. He has to want to. Maybe someone can give the desire to him and be his reason.”
“I hope so,” Jack said quietly. “I know the spell Dakarai used. I’ve seen it done before.”
“How does it work exactly?” Cameron asked, walking up with his arm around Callie. Her head rested on his shoulder and she looked relieved to be on the ground again.
Hilary squeezed her tight in a lung-crushing embrace.
“It’s a long-term coma spell that can only be broken if the victim comes into contact with or catches the scent of their true mate,” Jack explained.
“Oh great, so there’s a chance he could wake up?” Mark complained.
“What? Dakarai didn’t tell me that.” Cameron looked annoyed and concerned.
“He’s a soulless being in a small town,” Callie reminded him. “What are the odds that his soul mate is going to just walk right into town and wake him up?”
“You’re right.” Cameron smiled and squeezed her tight. “I just want you girls safe. Thank you, guys, for your help. I really appreciate it.”
“Don’t mention it.” Quinn waved him off with a friendly smile.
Damon stood near his husband, Quinn. “Hilary helped us get Jack back to normal. We had to return the favor.”
Hilary walked over to the sleeping tiger and knelt to stroke his fur.
“I’m sorry I sent you to hell,” she whispered. “I hope someday the right woman comes along and shows you heaven.”
“So what should we do with the body?” Cameron asked. “Man, that sounded creepy.”
“The pack and I will put him in the coffin and take him to the club. Dakarai is a friend of mine. He’ll take good care of Nex,” Jack assured them.
Hilary came back over to the rest of the group. “Thank you. How is Morrigan doing?”