Her disquiet only grew when she found no sign of him downstairs either. The eerie silence of the house was deafening, and she tried her best to keep the building panic that was bubbling up in her stomach at bay. It wouldn’t serve any purpose for her to freak out until she knew exactly what was going on.
She stopped suddenly and listened, swearing that she heard something coming from the front of the house. It was almost like a whistle.
She took a breath to steady her nerves and held it, making her way towards the sound on knees that were beginning to shake slightly. Opening the door, she stepped out onto the front porch and scanned the area, looking for anything out of the ordinary.
Nothing. Not a damn thing.
She let out the air she had been holding from her lungs and turned to go back inside, her unease growing with each second that passed.
Something was very, very off.
“Hello, Wynter.”
Wynter spun back around at the sound of the familiar raspy voice coming from behind her, and almost dropped to her knees when the man stepped from the shadow of the trees and walked over to stand at the bottom of the steps. He gave her a grin that was much more of a snarl than anything else, and everything came flooding back to her in one swift, massive swoop.
Her name was Wynter Clarke, and she was a green witch who had been out gathering herbs when she had slipped and fallen into the river. The man standing there, staring at her as if she were a piece of meat in a butcher shop window was Nico Black. Alpha. Wolf shifter. And, all around asshole.
Her body instantly tightened up.
Just what in the hell was he doing here?
She wasn’t anything to him. They weren’t even friends!
He was nothing more than a thorn in her side and had been for years. Why on earth would he have taken the time or even have made the effort to find her?
He was an arrogant, entitled shifter who thought he was God’s gift to just about every damn thing on the planet, and she could honestly say that she detested everything about him with every fiber of her being.
Wynter unconsciously lifted her fingers to her temples as a shot of searing pain slammed through her head and wrapped around her brain in a vice-like grip. Her head began to pound from just the sheer force of everything that was suddenly rushing back to her.
She shut her eyes and winced, willing the throbbing to ease before opening them again and glaring at the shifter.
“What do you want, Nico?” she snapped, not liking the way he was looking her up and down at all. It made her feel dirty. “You have no business here.”
She was doing her very best to sound confident, but who in the hell was she trying to kid? She was failing miserably. It was hard enough to digest everything that was hitting her all at once at the moment without being leered at by some asshole wolf.
He took a step closer to where she stood, and her senses snapped on high alert. She immediately took one back, edging her way back toward the front door and silently wondering just where in the hell Maddox had gone.
She knew it wasn’t his place to protect her from this waste of flesh, but it would have been nice to have had just a little back-up. Especially since it was damned late for a social call from a snake like Nico Black.
If she had learned one thing in the years that he had been coming around, it was that Nico always had an ulterior motive for anything he did. He was cold and calculated and so self-absorbed that he couldn’t see anything else.
“You are my business, Wynter,” he informed her, his tone low and menacing, and she just wanted to spit. “I was nice enough to come and check on you after the storm, like a concerned mate would, and saw that you were gone,” he whispered, inching closer with each word that he spoke, and Wynter could feel her skin beginning to tingle as the hair at the nape of her neck lifted.
By the pricking of my thumb, something wicked this way comes…
And…there it was.
That must have been why she couldn’t get that damn rhyme out of her head! Somewhere, deep down in the far recesses of her subconscious mind, her witch senses must have known that he had been close by. That had to be it!
“Okay, you’ve seen that I made it through the storm unscathed, and that I’m fine. Thank you, Nico, for your attention, but I am not your concern nor am I your mate, and the sooner you realized that, the better off we’ll all be. So, if you would be so kind as to please leave…”
“Waiting for your dragon to come back and save the day?” He laughed, his eyes narrowing slightly as he watched what had to be her look of complete surprise. “Or, night as the case may be?”
Wynter felt her stomach flip.
Dragon?
“I must say, Wynter, whoring yourself out to a dragon is beneath even you,” he hissed, the humor of just a moment before completely gone now, and she could see the malice in his expression.
Now, this was the real Nico Black.
He took the first step up, and she countered it with another one back.
“But, I’ve decided that I’m willing to forgive and forget. Just come along now and let’s get this whole mating business over once and for all. You have really been trying my patience of late with your stubbornness and willful way. Not to mention, you should be falling at my feet with gratitude that I’m even still willing to take you on now that you’ve soiled yourself with his kind.”
Wynter slowly reached behind her, her fingers whispering across the cool brass handle of the door just as an enormous shadow passed overhead, blocking out the moonlight for a fraction of a second.
On reflex, she made the stupid mistake of forgetting about the asshole slinking towards her, and looked up, her mouth dropping open in wonder as she caught sight of the magnificent beast gliding overhead so majestically. It’s silvery scales glinting like the most precious of metals and reflecting the moonlight in a multitude of color, like the prisms of a crystal. It was a sight that was awe-inspiring. It was magnificent. It was…
Maddox.
She knew in an instant it was him. She could feel it with her entire being. That strange vibration that he always seemed to cause in her belly whenever he was near hit her like a punch to the gut.
Besides, Nico had said Dragon.
She remembered the asshole in question a second too late, and before she had time to react, she was pulled roughly into Nico’s grip.
He wrapped his forearm across her chest like a steel band, making it nearly impossible for her to breathe as he yanked her back against his body in what felt like a death grip.
“Play time,” he snarled against her ear, his hot, fetid breath puffing out and hitting her nostrils, causing her stomach to lurch. All she wanted at that moment in time, was to scratch the filthy bastard’s eyes right out of his miserable face!
She fought for all she was worth to break free as he pulled her down the steps of the porch and out into the yard, just on the edge of the thick pine, and the scent filled her nose as they crushed the needles beneath their feet. Usually the scent of pine soothed her, but now it was almost sickening. It stung her nose and burned her throat with the acrid stench of doom.
She tried in vain to suck enough air back into her lungs to call out a warning, but Nico’s arm moved with lightning speed, and his hand covered her mouth. Effectively silencing her, and she could taste the blood from where her teeth had cut her lip from the pressure.
“I wouldn’t do that,” he cooed, nipping at her earlobe and sending a shudder racing through her. “We must be quiet. It wouldn’t serve us to give him any advance warning.”
She knew in the depths of her soul that he had planned all of this out carefully. If nothing else, Nico Black was a dirty, conniving bastard who didn’t care what it took to get what he wanted. And he definitely didn’t play fair.
Her eyes filled with tears as she realized how scared she suddenly was. Not for herself. But for Maddox.
Realization dawned on her like a lightning bolt in one swift strike. A boom that positivel
y shook her to her core. She was falling hopelessly in love with him, and would gladly give her life to keep him safe. She would do whatever it took to keep him out of harm’s way.
She tried to turn her face to tell Nico that she would go with him. She would do whatever it took to keep Maddox out of this, but he only chuckled and lifted a very large knife up in front of her eyes, and her heart leapt into her throat.
“Be patient, my sweet,” he snarled. “I’m only beginning to have fun.”
Wynter choked back a sob as they stood there in the shadows.
Waiting.
Maddox slipped through the back door of the house, his body on full alert as he entered the eerily silent kitchen. He grabbed the jeans he had left on the chair and yanked them on, knowing that something was very, very wrong.
He was certain that he had caught sight of someone standing on the front porch, but it had only been for the briefest of moments, and he couldn’t be sure if it had been Blondie or just a play of the light.
Regardless, his senses were screaming at him, telling him that something was amiss, and that he needed to act fast. He passed the staircase leading upstairs and headed straight for the front door, his warning bells blaring at him to hurry.
He burst through the door and out onto the porch. His eyes searching the woods until they locked on the two figures standing in the distance, just on the outskirts of the tree line, and he knew in an instant—wolf shifter.
Nico moved his hand away from Wynter’s lips and slid it down her body, taking his time as his fingers skimmed over her, only to wrap around her middle, holding her firmly in place against him.
She greedily sucked in big gulps of air, her heart pounding so hard inside her ribcage that she feared it would explode.
“Go ahead,” Nico urged quietly. “Ask him to join the party.”
“No,” she croaked out, more defiantly than she would have thought possible. “Nico, leave him out of this. I’ll…I’ll go with you. I’ll do whatever you want,” she begged, and felt his hot breath whisper against her cheek as he chuckled darkly.
“Indeed, you will,” he agreed, the snide humor lacing his words impossible to miss. “But, first…I think your dragon should be taught to keep his filthy claws off of other people’s property. It’s bad form, really.”
Wynter again tried to pull away from him, but the bastard was much too strong, and she let out a tiny yelp of pain when his grip on her only tightened, and she swore he was going to break her ribs.
“Maddox, please go back inside,” she squeaked out, and heard Nico laugh.
She met Maddox’s eyes from across the yard and could see the fury glowing in them. Even in the darkness, his rage was undeniable. He was practically vibrating with it.
“I don’t know just who in the hell you are,” he growled, taking the few steps down off of the porch and stepping out into the yard. “But, I would suggest you let the lady go.”
“Nico Black,” the wolf shifter replied, bowing slightly, and Wynter wanted to slap the stupid out of him. Arrogant ass!
“Let me rephrase that then, Nico,” Maddox responded, his voice icy. “I don’t give a flying fuck, who you are, really. What I do care about is that you have some small amount of intelligence in that thick head of yours. At least enough to realize that you should let the lady go. Now.”
“Wynter and I were just leaving, but she’s insisted on expressing her gratitude for the hospitality that you’ve shown her.”
Maddox walked closer to where they stood, so confident and self-assured.
Wynter held her breath. This was not going to end well. She knew it as surely as she knew that sun would rise.
Wynter.
So, at least now he had a name. Maddox smiled. It fit her like a glove.
Lovely.
He had no idea just who in the flying hell this jack-off of a wolf shifter was, but from the terrified look on her face, he was most definitely not a friend.
“How about I make you a deal. You let her go, and then we can all move the hell on,” he suggested, knowing in his gut that the bastard was most likely not the kind to listen to reason. His bravado and arrogance were absolutely suffocating, and Maddox found himself wondering how the puffed-up prick hadn’t ended up roadkill by now. “And if you just run along now before things get ugly…I’ll let you keep your spleen, Nicky,” he finished, a muscle in his jaw twitching dangerously.
He met and held Wynter’s gaze, giving her a reassuring wink only a moment before he caught a flash of light then felt the searing pain slicing through in his abdomen.
Damn it! He had let his guard down!
He heard her soul-shattering scream as he dropped to his knees, all the strength in his body rushing out of him in one huge rush.
He glanced down at the iron dagger protruding from his stomach. The liquid fire of the metal flowed through his veins like bubbling lava as it did its dirty work almost instantly.
Dragon shifters were pretty much indestructible. Their only true weakness was iron forged by a shaman who knew the ancient words used to curse the metal and make it deadly.
Not many other supernatural beings knew of this, but obviously the coward standing in front of him now had done his homework.
He tried to stand, but his legs just wouldn’t seem to cooperate, and he fell forward, bracing himself up on his hands as his arms began to shake violently, rattling him to the very marrow of his bones.
He could hear Wynter struggling to get to him, cursing and screaming to be let go, and a half-smile touched his lips as the thought that he could have really fallen for the feisty little witch flitted across his mind.
With that thought in his head, he fell to his side and over onto his back as he stared up at the night sky. The stars above swimming before him only a moment before the darkness consumed him.
Wynter felt Nico laughing against her hair and was suddenly aware an insurmountable fury bubbling up inside of her, the likes of nothing she had ever experienced before.
It was raw. It was volcanic. It was powerful.
She was aware of the sudden vibration running through her body and she closed her eyes, listening to the sound of thunder as it began to rumble ominously off in the distance. She heard a sharp crackle and pop of what sounded like electricity, and Nico spit out a string of curses as he jumped away from her, and she realized with a start that she had been the source of the sound.
She was doing this!
Her eyes snapped open and she turned slowly, glaring at the shifter who had by now gone deathly pale as he stared back at her in stunned silence.
She could feel the wind picking up and spinning around her with an almost cyclone-like velocity and smiled as the trees around them whipped back and forth wildly from the sheer force of it all.
“Bastard,” she snarled, taking a confident step toward him, and the coward looked ready to bolt.
Before Nico had the chance to take off, the sky opened, and she watched with humor and just a bit of pride as hail the size of robin’s eggs and snow rained down on him with such force that it knocked him to his knees.
Wynter raised her hands above her head and it felt as if the temperature plummeted to well below zero in a millisecond. She grinned as he shivered from the sudden blast of intense cold as the booms of thunder increased, growing louder and louder as the ice continued to pelt him.
With an ear-splitting crack, the night sky lit up in a flash of brilliant white as a jagged bolt of lightning shot from above and hit Nico square in the chest, disintegrating him in an instant.
Wynter fell back, landing squarely on her ass in the dirt as everything went completely silent. The only trace of the maelstrom from a moment before was the smoking pile of ash that was once Nico Black.
She sucked in quick, jerky gulps of air, tasting the ozone left on the air as she tried to figure out what in the holy hades had just happened.
Had she actually controlled the elements? Holy shit!
Maddox would—
When she dropped down beside him, she was more than just a little relieved to see that his chest was moving up and down, but it was erratic and labored, and she knew she needed to act fast.
There was not a second to waste.
She pulled off the t-shirt she wore and readied it before carefully sliding the knife from his stomach. His entire body shuddered as the blade eased out, and she held her breath. She threw it away from her and pressed the cloth to the wound, applying pressure to hopefully quell the bleeding as she racked her brain on what she needed to do.
He groaned softly as she slid her arms under his, then began to drag him towards the cabin. Surprised that she was able to move him at all considering the differences in their sizes, but she knew it was largely in part to the adrenaline that she could feel coursing through her veins.
She would not lose him.
No frigging way!
“Don’t you dare give up on me,” she ground out stubbornly as she struggled to pull him up the steps, scooting up them one at a time on her ass. When she reached the top of the porch, she stood and carefully dragged him through the door and over to the sofa, feeling the sweat beading on her brow from the effort.
She knew that lifting him wouldn’t be an option, she had used up what strength she had dragging him into the house, so instead she grabbed a few of the pillows off of the couch and placed them under his head, being extra careful not to hurt him.
She spotted a blanket and gently covered him with it before rushing upstairs and recovering her backpack from beside the bed. She came barreling back downstairs and immediately set to work, instinctively knowing what she had to do.
Fate…the God’s…her crazy-assed great-great-grandmother…someone had been looking out for her that day when she had discovered her haul of herbs and mushrooms.
Wynter's Kiss ( A Paranormal Romance) Page 6