by Sadie Hart
What the Heart Haunts
SADIE HART
***
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2011 Sadie Hart
Cover Art Designed by Sadie Hart
No part of this book, or portions thereof, may be reproduced in any form.
Author’s Note: This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, and events are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual people, places, or events is purely coincidental.
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All rights reserved.
***
What the Heart Haunts
Chapter One
Nalla didn’t do blind dates. Especially not on a night where the Hunt was riding her strong. They’d run tonight, she could feel it all the way down to her toes. She clenched her fingers around the beer in her hand and tried not to remember the thrum of magic pulsing down her spine, the wild bays of Hounds filling her ears. She blew out a sharp breath and wished, not for the hundredth time, that she had a god to pray to for strength.
She was tired of fighting it all alone.
But Herne would no more accept her prayers. She lifted the bottle and drank a deep swallow, trying to let the alcohol burn away the call of the beast inside her. Her Hound had never understood, never would. Exile didn’t sit right with a dog who’d happily curl back up at her master’s feet.
“Nalla, right?” A tall, bushy haired man said as he slipped into the booth across from her; brown hair fell across his eyes in waves. It hung nearly to his chin, messy. Scruffy.
And a dark knowledge curled up her spine at the sight of him. His eerie gold eyes were the same flash of a wolf’s at midnight, with nothing but the moonlight reflecting in that haunting gaze. A Hound of the Hunt. She knew it by the dog-like rumble of his voice, the answering wild in his eyes. The way her beast clamored in her breast, trying to break free. Run, run, run, it screamed at her, in deep, baying barks that told her she’d been banished from the sky for too long if her control was this far gone.
Her lips pursed and she fought the urge to get up and walk out of the bar, leaving him sitting there alone. She should have known this was a set up. “And what would you have of me?”
He looked startled, gold eyes flashing slightly as he glanced around. Finally, his focus settled back on her. “You are Nalla Underwood, right?”
Nalla froze, her breath locked tight in her chest. He didn’t know. Oh. She exhaled on a rush. Her fingertips itched to reach across the table and run over the strong line of his jaw, down his neck, to press that black shirt against his chest and feel the muscles she knew she’d find there. He was a Hound, an actual Hound of the Wild Hunt, sitting in front of her. She’d never thought she’d see that again. She bit down on her bottom lip and held herself back.
Why had Herne sent a clueless pup down to her? Or was this one nothing but a stray?
Either way, tonight she could have what she hadn’t had since her exile. The thought made her wet her lips, moisture pooling between her thighs. It would be the closest thing to a true Running that she’d had in a good, long while.
“I am. I’m guessing you’re my date?” Nalla tipped her beer up at the waitress as the woman passed, “I’ll take another.” Nalla flicked her gaze to him.
He shook his head. “Just water for me.”
“So your name is?”
“Uh. Khost. Khost Wylde.”
She almost smiled. He had to be from Herne; she hadn’t heard that last name passed around in awhile. Normally, if a Hound was sent down to bargain with a human, they used that name. It wasn’t something a pup that had wandered loose from the pack would know. Khost. She let the name roll around in her brain. Ethereal. Breathy. Like the wind unleashed on a night made for a good Hunt.
Nalla wondered if he would miss running with the Hunts, because he wasn’t going back. Not after tonight.
She let the barest hint of a smile curve her lips. “Pleasure to meet you. You’ll have to forgive me, I don’t normally do the blind date gig.” He blushed a little and she laughed. Yeah. She hadn’t taken him for much of a dater either.
Then again, Herne never had liked his Hounds courting...well anyone.
Hounds of the Wild Hunt couldn’t have mixed loyalties and sex had a tendency to cloud judgment. She’d know. After all, it was that particular sin that had gotten her lover beheaded with Herne’s axe and her sentenced to exile among the mortals. It’d been a hellish four hundred years too. Alone in a world where everyone else died.
Nalla shook her head. Khost had to be new. She didn’t recognize him and he obviously hadn’t been running long enough to be able to sense when another Hound was in his presence. She leaned over the table, elbows braced against the lacquered wood. “So Khost...do you really want to sit around a table all night, or would you rather take a walk with me? Live a little on the wild side.”
A grin slashed over her face, purely predatory. She made sure to put some magic behind her words. Herne had sent her a pup and she’d make sure that immortal bastard realized his mistake. After she’d wrung his Hound out and had the pup straggling after her like a dog for a bone, she might send old Herne a tip. If he wanted something from her, he should come get it himself.
Nalla let her voice turn sultry as she whispered, “So whaddya say?”
***
Khost shifted in the booth, watching her. She seemed off. Edgy. Wild. He had to roll his shoulders at the last thought. The whole night felt wild to him. Alive. Sweet Herne, but he wanted to run. Not be sitting down here to try and track down some valuable his god had misplaced. He just wanted this to be done and over with.
Don’t let her know what you are, Cissy had whispered, when she’d begged him to do this. He won’t miss you, not tonight. You’re too far down in the pack for him to notice.
But she’d misplaced the hunting horn a few centuries ago and apparently, with the winter solstice on its way, and the correct alignment of the ether-realms...she needed it back or Herne was going to have Cissy’s head on a chopping block. And this woman here was supposed to have it.
She’ll keep it close to her, so all you have to do is make nice.
And apparently go for a walk with her. The thought of stepping outside into the wind, feeling the fresh air in his lungs and Khost wasn’t sure he could keep it together. He shivered. His skin was damn near twitching off the bone. This was the last place he wanted to be. But he’d seen what happened to a Hound that displeased Herne; their god didn’t take nicely to failures and he really didn’t want to see Cissy’s head rolling over a cloud covered field.
Khost leaned back, one hand raking through his hair as he blew out a breath. One walk couldn’t hurt. Then...what? Fuck, he didn’t know how to do this. Make nice? What did that even mean? Maybe a walk would give him time to think. “Yeah. That’d be good.”
Her smile widened enough to flash teeth. With one last tip of her beer, she swallowed another gulp, tossed a handful of bills down on the table and eased out of her seat, sidling closer to him. Heat scalded up his arm, raising the hairs as every muscle in his body jerked to attention. Run, his body screamed. Khost gripped the table to keep his hands off her. If he didn’t watch himself he was going to grab her and haul her after him for miles as he shook off the urge to be running loose in the sky.
Herne might not m
iss him tonight, but Khost was sure as hell going to miss the Hunt.
He stood up, edging away from her. She just shook her head, wavy blonde hair bouncing around her face, and she led him out the front door, the bells chiming behind them. The cool touch of the night air was like a drug, his reaction instant. Every nerve in his body came alive, burning hot and heavy. Khost staggered a step, drawing himself up short before he could bolt off into the darkness.
“Let me just snatch my jacket from the rig, then we can go.” She tossed him a look over her shoulder, her steps light, fast. Short, quick strides took her straight towards the semi at the edge of the parking lot. A forest stretched out behind the truck, the rumble of a highway nearby the only sound in the darkness.
She jerked open the front door and grabbed a leather jacket, shoving her arms into it before yanking it up onto her shoulders. One handed, she dug her hair out from under the collar, then reached down and tugged on a small gold chain, freeing a necklace that had been hiding under her shirt.
Cissy had to be shitting him. Fucking shitting him.
How the hell was he supposed to get the horn when it was less than two inches tall and hanging from her freaking neck?
Nalla cocked her head. “You cool?”
“Yeah.” His gaze dropped to the gold necklace dangling over her shirt, just a hair higher than the dip between her breasts. The symbols spelling out the Hunt were etched in the side. This couldn’t be a coincidence, a human female wouldn’t know. Damn. A witch, maybe?
“Well, then let’s go.” She swerved into him, her shoulder bumping his and he staggered, anticipation flaring through him. He felt the Hound inside him leap at her touch, felt the dog want to play and he was ready to race after her, barking into the full moon sky.
But she didn’t take off into a sprint. Of course she didn’t. She wasn’t a Hound and humans and witches didn’t have a mad longing to kill themselves by running blind in the woods at night. Khost stuffed his hands into his jeans pockets and playfully knocked back into her, keeping his breathing even. Play along. Wait for an opportunity to snatch and grab.
Pine needles broke under his shoes as he followed her into the forest. Her steps were light, quick, as if she were fighting back a jog. That or it was his imagination. His instincts were screaming at him full tilt. Run, he wanted to shout at her. Shivers trailed through every muscle in his body and his bones ached with the need of it all. Nalla reached up and snapped a branch off a tree, waving the twig in the air.
“I love nights like this. So...feral.”
She rolled the word off of her tongue and Khost closed his eyes, clamping his jaw shut to stave off a howl. His head tipped back and the muscles in his throat constricted, but Khost held the sound back. Nalla moved closer. Her leather jacket brushed his stomach. Her breath was hot against his neck. Khost automatically went to step away, to put distance between him and her, when she caught him by his shirt and pulled him closer.
She curved a hand around the back of his neck, pressing his head down as she stepped into him. “Khost?” she whispered against his lips, making his name sound like a sigh of the wind. An ancient howl, sounding deep, lost in time. Faint.
He trembled. His throat worked twice before he managed, “Yeah?”
“Sorry about this.” Then she closed the distance between their lips and kissed him.
***
Chapter Two
Nalla felt him tense against her, his breath hissing out between his teeth. His muscles bunched as if he were ready to bolt, and for a second she thought she’d misjudged him. But when her palms slid to cup his face on either side, holding him to her, he broke. A staggered gasp spilled from Khost as his hands found her hips and dragged her flat against him. His whole body shook, but he didn’t run.
There was power in his hands, strength. An answering wildness she hadn’t felt in so long. A keening whine spilled out of her lips. She shouldn’t...this poor man didn’t have a clue. Didn’t stand a chance. She was going to ruin him, for one night, for a chance at revenge, but when she swept a tongue at the seam of his lips and they opened, Nalla couldn’t stop herself from slipping inside. He tasted sweet, like cinnamon and spun clouds, and sweet Herne, like a wild night of running through the sky. It’d been so long since she’d tasted stars and moonlight that she didn’t want to stop.
Nalla stepped into him, shoving him against a tree. Khost gave a low grunt, his arms winding around her hips as she pressed herself tighter to him. Loving the way the muscles in his stomach clenched when her hips touched his, loving the shiver that trailed through his thighs. Nalla broke the kiss and nipped over his jaw. The ache to run pouring out of her. It’d been so long since she’d had anyone else.
Khost sucked in a hard, ragged breath, his head falling back to rest against the tree. He was fighting, shaking and she did the only thing she could think to do. She slipped her hand up his stomach and pressed her lips back against his mouth and whispered, “Catch me.”
Fire flashed in his eyes, a wild blaze that nearly consumed him, then Nalla was gone, sprinting over the ground. She pelted through the woods, the thud-thud of her shoes against the forest floor, the crash of her breaking through heather and thicket. Behind her, she heard Khost give chase.
Nalla sank into the effort of moving, pumping her arms, her breathing suddenly steady. Khost growled behind her, impatient. He was gaining on her. His strides longer, stronger. Unlike her, he hadn’t been grounded for the last four hundred years. His Hound would be filling every vein in his body. It wouldn’t be long before he careened off into the sky, running wild in a way she couldn’t anymore.
And she should let him.
Nalla squeezed her eyes shut, trying to ignore the rip in her heart at the thought of watching him bound into the sky, as the hound-body over took his so he could run for the stars without her. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t watch him Change and leave her standing here on two legs, while he ran through the sky on four. She wasn’t that strong. I’m so sorry, Nalla thought as she turned, staggering backwards and opening her arms to catch him around the waist.
Khost slammed into her and she took him down, leaves dusting up from the impact of their bodies slamming into the dirt. He grunted and flipped her, his body suddenly sprawled out over every inch of her. Nalla surged forward and kissed him again, dragging his bottom lip between her teeth. Khost gasped, his hands fisting in the leaves around her head, his kiss almost frenzied. Control snapping dangerously close to the end of its leash and then suddenly he was gone. One minute Khost was draped over her and the next, he was standing against a tree, staring down at her, shaken.
He swallowed. “I, uh, I can’t do this.”
He shook his head and shoved a hand back through his hair, pausing as his fingers curled into his hair. “Shit. I’m sorry.”
No, no, no, no. Nalla rolled to her feet, trying to keep herself from screaming. She couldn’t stand this anymore. She stepped towards him and Khost jogged away from the tree, away from her. “Wow. Not going to bite you.”
A wince flashed over his face. “I’m sorry.”
She let a smile touch her lips, but it was fake. She wasn’t going to let him go. The only good thing she had left in her, was that she wasn’t going to force him. Herne, even if she’d wanted to, she wouldn’t have been able to. One look at all those muscles under his shirt, the taut energy radiating off of him, and she didn’t even begin to have the physical strength needed to pin Khost.
Still, Nalla stepped closer to him, letting her smile turn sad as she stretched up to touch her lips against his. Her hand slid under his shirt, reveling at the smooth touch of his skin. It twitched under her hand, his whole body a bundle of raw nerves.
“It’s okay.” A shudder jerked through him and she ghosted another kiss over his mouth. Tasted his lips with her tongue. “You don’t have to do anything.”
She stepped back from him and let her jacket fall from her shoulders. It hit the ground in a soft whoosh of air. Crossing her
arms in front of her, she caught the hem of her shirt in her hands and tugged it up over her head in one fluid motion and tossed it aside. Khost’s face turned pained, desperate.
Pain snagged at her heart. Oh, this she understood. Whatever he might have been when he was human, no matter how many woman he might have had then....since Herne had taken his life and Changed him into another Hound of the Hunt, Khost would have known nothing but the wild night air against his skin.
No kisses, no touches, outside of maybe a crack of their master’s whip. She wet her lips with the tip of her tongue and his eyes tracked the movement. She wanted to ask him how long he’d been running with the pack. Couldn’t be over two hundred years, he’d have recognized her in an instant for what she was. But a hundred years? That sounded about right and her instincts were rarely wrong.
And a hundred years of celibacy? Nalla leaned forward a little on the balls of her feet. “You can go at any time, Khost.” The corners of her lips hitched up in a half grin. Impish. “I can do this by myself.”
She undid the button on her jeans and pulled the zipper down. He trembled, his gaze tracking every movement. Nalla remembered standing on the edge, just like him, watching as Malek had dragged off his pants and tilted back his head, offering. A tempter in a world with a god who wouldn’t forgive them. But Khost was down here, Herne couldn’t kill him for this.
Guilt nibbled at the edge of her mind and she paused, hands on her hips, ready to pull her jeans down and toss them aside. She’d never regretted her choice. She’d loved Malek; her loyalty to Herne and the Hunt had already been compromised in Herne’s eyes. The sex had just been the final straw and as much as she missed running...she missed Malek more.