Jinxing The Alphas: A Paranormal Werewolf Romance (Hex My Heart Book 2)

by Talina Perkins

  So intense. Challenging. As if he dared her to defy his wishes to keep her close. Right then, she couldn’t think of a single reason to say no. Still, she placed her palms out to stop them from helping her. Any resolve she might have summoned dissolved the second her palms met firm muscles. All rules and promises of never breaking the law again were instantly nothing more than a puff of smoke.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  So tempting. No.

  She needed to forget the way Luke’s body felt beneath hers, how Evan’s fit snug against her rear. The way they both took her, claimed her that night.

  She tried to break his gaze, but Luke’s iridescent glow stared back as if lit from within, holding her steady.

  She took a calming breath and forced her gaze to her hands where they clutched Luke’s pecs.

  She willed them to release the man, but she was like a kid with a new shiny toy. Unable to resist. She had a treacherous will that went against her better judgment when it came to these two.

  Ambrosia tossed out the second thing she could think of. The first would only land her in more trouble and the goddesses knew she didn’t need more. Besides, she already knew they wanted a repeat session. “How did you find me?”

  “I told you. There’s not a place on this earth you could go where we wouldn’t find you and you’ll soon learn both Evan and I keep our promises.”

  Luke’s words reach into her and gave a soft pet to her libido. She swayed on her heels. Every particle of air that surrounded her grew heavy with their scents. Pine with a mixture of leather. They’d ridden their bikes here. Stripped, shifted, then hunted her down.

  Wait. “The circle’s boundary. How’d you get through?”

  “Walked right in. Haven’t you heard? Our mate needs us. Not even your strongest spell will keep us away.” Evan’s lips brushed along her jaw, over the shell of her ear until she could barely breathe. It was just like him to infuse every word with enough heat to make her wet. He stroked a finger down the length of her neck and pushed aside her hair to reveal her bare shoulder before continuing his caress along her ample dips and curves.

  This was not happening. Yes, it is.

  She caught herself before angling her head to the side to give him more access.

  Evan’s fingertips glanced against her thigh. “You still crave my touch, don’t you? The way your eyes close, your soft sighs. You’re greedy for us even when you don’t want to admit it, sweetheart.” Evan whispered words coaxed her deeper into his embrace. She didn’t have to answer him. Every move she made gave away her secrets. He knew she was acutely aware of the meaty girth of his shaft resting against her backside, Luke’s pressed against her front. Both pulsed, teased her.

  Icy resolve. Remember. Icy fucking resolve.

  “You shouldn’t…,” she stammered out. Caught between them, Luke’s luminous gaze raked over her face, down her throat, and stopped on her nipples. Heat flushed, causing her silk-covered peaks to pebble beneath his heated look, before he brought his attention back up to her face.

  “Should what? Stop?” Tic tic. Taut muscle bunched, then released with every flex of Luke’s jaw.

  No way she’d answer that minefield of a question. But she had a hundred other questions to ask. Like what had taken them so long? Why the hell did they listen to her and stay away? And did they know how deadly they were to her plan?

  But still. The how made her just as curious. No one could come unbidden into a witch’s circle once cast. The slightest disturbance left the offender flat on their ass or worse, depending on the intentions.

  Ambrosia squeezed her eyes shut and silently counted to five. Five seconds. That’s all she needed. Her darkened world began to spin. Her knees gave and both shifters tightened their grip.

  Evan snaked an arm around her waist, his warm lips against the dip of her neck a tender reminder of their last encounter. “Oh, sweetheart, what have you done?” Worry laced his rough baritone. She needed distance. Anything to get him to stop. “Actually, you know what, I’ll settle for knowing what you’re doing here.” She tried to force the words out with a stern tone but barely managed to sound anything but weak.

  Eyes wide and focused, she took a step back.

  Palm facing out, she waved a hand in a counterclockwise circle to form a shield. Nothing. Just flipping great.

  “Slow down, little witch.” From in front of her, Luke cupped her face and placed a kiss to her forehead. The moonlight caught the corner of his eyes and for a brief second the golden amber flashed a bright crimson.

  She squinted through the haze in her vision and looked closer, his face a whisper away from hers. Banked need resided in their depths, but no light effect caused that. Amber-tinged irises faded to a ruby red right before her eyes.

  She gasped. “Hellz bellz.” She stumbled out of their arms, her legs wobbly. This was so not happening. Nope. “I don’t know what the hell’s going on here, but the last time your eyes were red, a one-night stand turned into a helluva lot more.” She shook a finger between the three of them. Evan watched with a hooded gaze.

  “It’s why we’re here. We’re not going to let you push us away anymore, Ambrosia.” Evan stepped closer, the shift from his usual sensual tease to determined alpha acted like a dagger to her resolve. Of which she apparently didn’t have enough of. One more step and she’d let him wrap his arms around her. Sink into their warmth and forget all about magick, laws and anything that took her away from them.

  Her vision created a blurred mirage of sexy alphas. Blood rushed through her veins, spiked with a charge of adrenaline that pushed a low growl from her throat and… and were they both smiling? At her? She angled her head closer and squinted.

  Hellz…both men crossed their arms, their shafts all but begging for her to take them in hand.

  She let her gaze linger. Various scars marred their bodies. Probably collected over the years as alpha and second-in-command defending their pack.

  She worked the corner of her lip between her teeth. No denying the full erections they sported or just how badly she affected them. How could she resist when they looked like moondrenched gods sent here just for her pleasure? Was it possible the sexy wolf shifters had gotten sexier since her last time with them?

  Evan and Luke closed the distanced she’d stolen for herself and locked hands with her. Evan flashed a brazen smile while Luke gave a tilted half-smirk that left no room for argument. Both meant they were about to get their way.

  Oh, yeah. She was in way over her head with these two.

  She bit the inside of her lip. Anything to help clear her head.

  “You need to leave, or you won’t like what happens next.” They didn’t need to know her magick went AWOL.

  “Seems like our sweet little witch has bite, Luke.” His voice. Goddesses help her. Deep. Raw and filled with just enough promise to pique her inner vixen.

  Moisture slipped from her folds to wet her panties. Damn him. Evan gave a single nod in her direction as if he knew how having them so close affected her.

  Squared shoulders and a stubborn stance did little to hide their effect on her. Both sniffed the air, the heat in their gazes shot from smoldering to molten in an instant. If they wanted bite, well…

  Nerves set aside, she dragged her gaze up to their faces and angled a brow, infusing her body with a heavy dose of cool, calm, and collected. Never mind the lust-soaked air between them.

  On the inside she melted, panted, and held the reins taut to keep from jumping them both right here just to see if they tasted like the same delicious males she remembered.

  That was her problem, one she would handle later. “Bite I may, but I came out here to break the hold you have on me, and now that I finally managed…”

  “Ah, little witch,” Luke countered with a soft chuckle that made his eyes shine brighter with the otherworldly glow of his wolf. His features shifted until she could see the beast then molded back to the man stretched tight with tension. It rolled off him in waves, permeated t
he air and collided with Evan’s, amping up the electricity linking them. “You should know better. There’s no running, not after our wolves got a taste of you. Not anymore, not ever.” Luke drawled out his words with a deep raspy grind that made her shutter.

  Evan took that moment to distract her with feather-light kisses starting at her wrists and working his way up until he’d closed in. His heat all up in her personal space. Goddesses, this man. Breathe, Ambrosia. Goose bumps peppered her skin. Their duo assault to her senses almost worked. Nice try.

  “So I’m jinxed with…” She wrapped her fingers around her throat. Air. She needed air, “…with wolf magick? Forever?” She threw her free hand out to stop Evan when he moved to answer.

  “How do you know that’s what I want?” Her attention flitted between both men.

  Luke arched a brow, his jaw muscle dancing a fast beat. “You would have found a way to break the bond sooner. Instead, you kept us at bay with promises of your demise should we try to properly claim you as our mate. You didn’t think that would work forever did you?”

  Well, yeah.

  She mentally checked off the little white lies she might have let slip and cringed. Embellishing on the truth of what was really at stake gave her a little breathing room until she could figure a way out of the mess she’d created. But honestly, if she lost her powers as a witch, then what was she? Who was she?

  “Too late, boys? I’ve already solved the problem.” The proof sloshed around in her stomach and was already burning through her veins. Unfortunately, she didn’t know for sure if it had worked. Devil in the details and all, but what they didn’t know…

  She dragged in a lungful of air and ignored the little white dots dancing along her vision. “So let me get this right. You thought you could hunt me down, throw me over your shoulder, and whisk me away to your pack palace?” Hands raised, she threw up air quotes that earned her a hard glare from Luke. Frustrated with them or not, the idea gave a jolt to her inside.

  Both of them wrapping their large arms around her, their hands so close to her pussy… her vision clouded.

  Reclined in Luke’s embrace, her legs splayed wide over Evan’s shoulders, his mouth devouring her. Not a drop of liquid wasted. Yum.

  Her body flushed, giving away her little trip down fantasy lane. If not, her treacherous nipples pebbled against the confines of her gown did.

  “Or we could bend you over our knees right now and give your plump, delectable ass a good spanking.”

  Damn Evan. Hellz bellz, he knew how to play on her weaknesses.

  Their erections pulsed and pre-cum glistened along the bulbous tips.

  Mmm. One taste. It would be enough to get her through the rest of her life. Right? She wet her lips.

  “Your choice,” Luke added as he edged closer to run his knuckles along the edge of her jaw. With a single finger beneath her chin he titled her gaze to his. His lips close enough to kiss, he growled, “And tell me, little witch, is that what you call what happened between the three of us? A problem? Something to be fixed and forgotten.” He repeated her words with a layer of disgust she hadn’t implied. “Maybe I made a mistake. I shouldn’t have let you so close.”

  His brows pinched and his mouth hardened into a thin line the way he did when something bothered him. “I’ve shared more with you than anyone else besides Evan. To hear you call it a mistake… damn.” Luke stepped back from her and flicked his attention to the moon then back to her as if he needed a dose of supernatural guidance.

  And for a single heartbeat the hurt her words inflicted shined back at her through half hooded eyes. He blinked and it was gone except for the fine lines along his brow that creased.

  “He’s right.” Evan gathered her necklace between his fingers and stroked the smooth rose quartz. They’d given it to her as a gift on her last birthday a few months back and she’d worn it every day since.

  On a heavy sigh he retreated a pace, letting the stone rest against her skin, and raked his hand through his hair. Loose finger-length locks of hair feathered across his forehead, tempting her closer like everything else about the man.

  His wolf eyes, a couple of shades lighter than Luke’s and fused with a crimson color, locked on her. Everything faded to the background.

  “You knew I would be here?” She angled her head. Only her sisters knew her plans so the nosy shifters must have done a mighty fine job of getting information out of them.

  Evan shifted closer. “Ember called, filled us in on what you were up to with the elixir, and figured we could help you. Or stop you, more like it. She sounded in the middle of something, so I didn’t have time to ask too much.”

  “We broke about ten traffic laws getting here, and we’re ready to break more than a handful of your High Council’s laws to round out the night.” Arrogance coating every word Luke dropped between them. “I believe her last words were, and I quote, ‘You fucking dog pricks, if she gets hurt I’ll kill you with the worst black magick spell I can find. And I know how to make bodies disappear. Comprende?’ unquote.”

  “That about sums up Ember.”

  She would figure out how to thank her sister for having her back later. Right now she needed to get out of here, away from them and their intoxicating presence and back to her world before anything else happened. She should have known the one night she played rebel would backfire in her face.

  She couldn’t deny one thing though. In their arms the weight of the world shifted from her and for the first time in months she could take a deep breath. She was the witch, but it was the shifters who harnessed the magick in their trio.

  She had one more question. Two, actually. “What are you going to do next?” She took a step back from them, then another, steeling her legs. The other question burned on the tip of her tongue, but she held it. If she asked who would do the spanking, she feared they might answer.

  How far was it to her sister’s bar? The moment she stepped outside her circle winter would crash down on her with a vengeance.

  “I think you know.” Evan’s voiced dipped low as he eyed her altar and the discarded bottle that held the elixir. “A good spanking for putting yourself in danger sits high on our list.”

  Both men followed her step for step.

  “But that is only one of your offenses, little witch.”

  “Seriously?” Oh, was that her breathy voice? She wiggled her toes, her legs still shaky. She knew when to pick her battles and when to hightail it. But could she run?

  Their glowing eyes narrowed on her. Pure panic spiked her blood. She slipped her hands free of theirs.

  Only one way to find out.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Ambrosia swiveled on her heel, bolted forward and raised her hand, calling on her powers, and ran like the devil and all of Hades knew her name. She didn’t even have time to blink before the wall of her circle shimmered before her in warning.

  It all took half a heartbeat, but her feet were buried in cement.

  If she let them touch her, just once more, her world would collide with theirs, the rules binding her as a Council Member be damned. And the price… steep.

  Ambrosia shoved that all aside.

  Shifters moved fast and these two didn’t suffer from the effects of the elixir. The barrier of her circle crackled, holding steady. Shit, this was going to hurt. No slowing down. Lungs clenched and eyes closed, she jumped.

  Cold energy brushed against her with an electrical pop. Bare feet met cold snow, shooting shards of pain into her soles. She winced, gritting her teeth, but didn’t slow. Blinking past the tears, she focused and summoned a shield of heat to surround her feet. Barely. Magick faded and fizzled around her until every other step was full contact with the snow.

  “Ambrosia, you know we’ll find you.” Evan. The dark promise sent an explosive shock of desire straight to her clit. Hellz bellz!

  Her vision dimmed with a dark, gauzy fade around the edges and the weight of the bond pulled on the invisible threads which, despite a
ll her efforts, still connected them. Well, that answered that. Ember and Honor would be miffed to hear their elixirs turned out to be big fat duds. But how long before the after effects wore off?

  A strong urge to turn around gnawed at her insides. If she fell into those gorgeous jeweled eyes and warm arms, there would be no turning back for her.

  Because of her royal blood, fate had doomed her long before her conception had ever been a thought.

  An angry growl clawed through the darkness, slipped past her defenses, and hit her straight in the heart. She faltered. This close to them, she could feel their emotions as if they were her own. Could they feel hers? Why didn’t they just let her go? She hiked her knees higher.

  Another half mile. She had a few medals under her belt in track—she had this in the bag.

  “There’s no hiding, little witch. Our wolves are hungry. Don’t be scared.” The only thing she feared out here was being alone with them another minute. Still, Luke’s warning weaved through the trees.

  Suddenly, as if the goddesses conspired against her, she hit a deep section and face-planted. She threw out her arms but still ended up with a mouth full of snow.

  With lightening quick reflexes she rolled over and pushed, but yelped when her foot didn’t budge. Rough bark scraped against the inside of her ankle as she flexed her leg and pulled.

  Buried roots entangled her, locking her in place. “Hellz fucking bellz!” So help her…

  On the verge of tears, she pounded a fist into the snow, but it didn’t help lessen the frustration eating at her. It seemed like everything that could go wrong tonight did exactly that. What the fuck!

  Fast-paced footfalls brought her head around. “Need a hand?” Evan and Luke stalked forward, their pace swift, stealthy.

  Crimson reflected moonlight and for a brief second, flecks of amber sparkled in the depth of their gazes. Like a moth to the flame, she leaned in. Their promise—or warning—teased her mind until she shook her head clear. Her heart pushed for the delicious burn of their palms across her ass. Her brain threw on the brakes and slammed into reverse, pedal to the metal.