Michael almost drowned in the onslaught of hysteria spewing out of his sister. “Hold up, just a second,” he said, trying to block her feelings. “Who exactly are we trying to save this time?”
Melinda had no other answer other than, “All of us, Michael. All of us.”
CHAPTER NINE
William, guilt ridden, paced the study. He should have heightened security at the mansion long ago. He should not have written down the location of the power source. Even a potential location.
How could he have been so stupid? He needed to right this wrong but he didn’t want to leave the mansion. He had promised Charlie he’d stay in just in case he had the sudden desire to sleepwalk again. It was a problem they needed to get the bottom of.
But the more he thought about it, he decided that getting the diary back was more important than Charlie’s midnight strolls. He trusted the ring was not letting Charlie come to hard, or harm anyone else. But the blood under Charlie’s nails was not his own…
He darted up to Charlie’s room and peeked inside. He was fine. Asleep in his bed. William trusted that the ring would work, and not allow Charlie to hurt anyone, or himself. Whatever was happening, he could not be harming anyone. Even with someone else’s blood on him. There was a logical explanation, and they’d figure it out.
But not tonight…
He walked by Michael’s bedroom and heard him on the phone with Emily.
He stopped at Melinda’s door, almost opening it but stopping himself. Was she still upset? He didn’t hear her crying anymore.
He could not comfort her. Not anymore. She had Riley for that now, and her brothers. He’d already come to this conclusion before, but needed to enforce it now. He needed to keep his distance. It was better this way.
It would also be helpful to have some space between them, especially if after this crisis was over he decided it was time to leave the Isle and allow the Howards to take full responsibility for their lives. And heritage.
For tonight, they were safe.
He had a job to do. A wrong to right.
William raced out of the mansion scouring every street on the Isle, trying to piece together where this alpha/shifter would go to, or hide out. He wanted this nightmare ended, once and for all.
##
Charlie awoke in a haze. He’d fallen asleep after hours of tossing and turning, his head filled with strange dreams, none of which he could remember upon waking. But all leaving him with a deep sense of foreboding.
He sat up and blinked, the haze sitting at the front of his brain refusing to lift. Was he really awake? It was more like a waking dream. He dragged himself out of bed, staring into a mirror. He saw himself dressed only in a pair of tight fitting boxers, and felt like he was awake, yet there was something blocking him from feeling fully alert.
He went down to the kitchen for a glass of water, but instead peered at the back door. He walked over, opened it, stepped outside and sucked in the cool salty night air.
This was where Charlie wanted to be. Not confined to a house. Out in the open, running free. The salty air washed over his body inviting him to come and play. He stepped out onto the grass letting it squish between his toes. He knelt down, rubbing his hands across the blades.
His head bolted upright, his blue eyes dissolving into the bright silver of his wolf. He sniffed into the air a pleasant scent catching his nose. A deep growl started in his belly and wound its way up his throat.
He ran with determination to locate the scent. This desire took over every sense.
He needed to find it. He needed to devour it. No other thoughts crowded his mind. No other desire or concern.
Darkness gave him cover as he ran.
Closer and closer to his desire.
No.
It was behind him now. Following him.
He stopped, his breath coming out in ragged pants.
It was taunting him. Playing with him.
A voice echoed into his mind.
“You can only have me, if you catch me, Charlie.”
He leapt into the woods, giving chase. The wolf inside him snarled, thrilled by the run. The simple freedom of the act. The air, filled with so many different smells. Earth. Pine. Maple. Moss. And animal… another wolf. A female wolf. The source of the smell he sought. The smell that called to him. Enticed him to come out and play under the moonlight.
He came to a stop. A light step, just to his right. The flash of golden eyes between trees. “You’re making it too easy,” Charlie growled. He sniffed the air, taking in the smell of his prey. Wolf. Female. Feminine. Hungry. A mixture of both animalistic and human desires.
Charlie licked his lips, his tongue needing to taste her. To slather over her skin in order to mark her. Teeth needing to penetrate her delicate shoulder to claim her as his.
The golden eyed female spun around and ran into the darkness of the woods. Charlie snarled and followed. Her scent lingered, enticing and drawing him in. But if he wanted to catch her he needed to run faster. His legs picked up their speed, his nostrils soaking in every smell. His heart thudded hard in the anticipation of his catch.
The trees became less thick. Waves crashing in the distance. He grinned darkly. She had nowhere to run to unless she decided to swim in the ocean. He slowed, her scent stronger. She was close. Just out on the beach but out of sight, hiding in the shadows.
Charlie stopped, crouching down to the ground. A silky nightdress in the sand. He growled in displeasure. He preferred to remove it with his teeth, piece by piece.
“Does it make you angry?” a voice taunted. He stayed in a crouch, searching out the female wolf.
“You know it does,” he snarled in reply. His head flicked to the right. A wisp of white… he lunged, landing into a half crouch. Silver eyes ravaged the area around him. He stood up straight, a wry smirk on his face.
Warmth, behind him. She was so close. Just an inch away, but not touching him.
“I made you angry. Are you going to punish me now, Charlie?” Her voice held an edge that was both seductive and primal.
He turned with deliberate intent, eyelids at half-mast in a dark warning. “Eva…” it rolled off his tongue in a guttural sigh.
Under the moonlight, her white hair cast a halo around her thin frame. Her eyes looked like liquid gold. She lifted a hand to his chest, running an elongated nail from his throat down to his abdomen. She dug in just enough to draw a hint of blood. He grabbed her hand, then her other hand, and held them behind her back.
“Don’t think for a minute you’re in control.” Charlie gripped her arms tight, just at the brink of pain. She got to her tiptoes and reached for his lips with her own, not quite able to get there. He denied her, curling his lip in a snarl.
“Please, Charlie. Please. I need to.”
Her voice went from seductress to beggar, her body and voice pleading for him to give her what she wanted. He spun her around, still imprisoning her in his arms.
“What you need is to get on your hands and knees and submit like the bitch you are.”
Eva’s breath caught, the gold in her eyes turning to flame. “Yes. Please, let me.” Her body begged him to let go so she could obey him. “I need that too.”
Consent. Though Charlie was out of his mind with desire, and planned on the female wolf submitting to him, he still needed to hear her say she wanted it. Although Eva didn’t need to say it aloud, he could smell it all over her. She needed him to claim her. Fill her. Mark her.
She wiggled underneath his firm grip.
Charlie leaned forward and nuzzled the hair off her shoulder. His tongue slathered along her skin up to her neck. She opened for him with a shudder and a whimper. “Please Charlie. Don’t make me wait.” She squeezed her thighs together, barely able to contain the needy ache throbbing there.
Charlie growled. He needed her to submit, but he needed to fill her as much as she needed to be filled. His wolf was hard. Demanding release.
He kneeled down, his wolf teeth c
atching the edge of her thong; her only remaining piece of clothing after already removing her nightdress. Eva gasped as his sharp teeth pinched into her side and he snapped the thong in two. It slid down her body until hitting the sand.
“Get on your knees,” he ordered her. She did, turning her head to see him.
Charlie got back to his feet and slinked out of his shorts. He fell back to his knees pulling Eva into him. He yanked the hair away from her shoulder and pressed his lips into the crevice of her neck. His teeth raked down to her shoulder.
“I’m going to mark you,” he stated. He wasn’t asking permission.
Eva’s breath hitched. Somewhere deep in the recesses of her hazy brain something told her to fight this. Not to give in. That she was not his bitch.
But then it was forgotten.
Charlie had his teeth firmly on her shoulder and bent her over in the sand in front of him. He branded her entrance, throbbing and teasing her. She opened, splaying herself in attempt to feel him against her. She was so small in front of Charlie. His thick arms and legs ensured she’d never get away from him.
She let out a moan of frustration.
“You’ll have me soon enough…”
His teeth bit into her shoulder. Not deep. Just enough to hold her in place, like the submissive wolf he needed her to be.
She cried out in pain. Out of instinct, one hand remained on the sand in front of her, the other reached back and took a swipe at his arm. She got him with three of her fingernails, leaving behind a trail of bloody scratches.
He snarled and bit harder, forcing her arm back down to the ground to support her upper body. He pushed her downward so her head was on the ground. She didn’t fight him. This was how he needed her.
“You will obey me, or you won’t get what you need.”
“Yes. I’ll stay. I’ll obey.”
Charlie released his teeth from her shoulder.
He nudged inside of her.
“Yes, please,” she both cried and pleaded.
With a thrust that burned and electrified her insides, Charlie filled her.
His right arm slid down her backside, a reminder of her rightful position.
His left hand gripped her thigh.
He took her then.
Hard. Fast and unrelenting. Pounding into her without mercy.
Eva gasped and cried out, her body jerking underneath him. Each deep charge igniting her core. Shooting intense spasms into every nerve. He took her over and over, breaching new depths with each thrust.
Pressure built, he wouldn’t last much longer.
A vibration shook through Eva, powerful eruptions ricocheting through her. “Charlie,” she gushed out.
He groaned and jetted into her, filling her completely.
He slowed, breath intent and heavy. He wasn’t done yet. The game was just beginning.
He bent over and slathered his tongue along her back, tasting the damp lust covering her body. It recharged him instantly.
Eva wiggled in front of him, lifting her head to see him. Desire swimming in her fiery golden eyes.
He growled, pulling out of her.
“Did I tell you to pick up your head?”
Eva feinted fear and folded into the sand, rolling onto her back. She saw the scratches she’d left on his arm and grinned wickedly. She rolled to her knees and started to crawl away in deliberate movements. Pretending to flee. The entire time taunting him. Flaunting herself at him. Trying to anger him. Daring him to force her into submission again.
“You’re mine,” Charlie snarled in warning.
Eva turned, facing him. “So claim me.”
It took one lunge for him to envelope Eva and pin her on her back. His snarling mouth found hers and she grabbed his tongue, nipping it. She let go after a thrilling pain made her gasp and arch into him. Charlie had his fingers around her beaded peak pinching and pulling at it. He devoured her lips, licked her chin, licked over the wound he’d given her when biting her shoulder. He shoved his tongue across it, sending a painful reminder that he was in charge.
Eva hissed, threatening to bite him with her own teeth. He let out a snarl and drew her arms over her head, pinning them against the ground. His thick thigh nudged her center open.
“You are not in control, Little Wolf,” he reminded her.
She retracted her teeth from her attacks. “No. I’m yours.”
“Good.” He was pleased with her answer. He leaned his head down and grazed her hardened peak with his teeth. “You obey, you get what you want.” Disobey and Charlie would taunt and tease, but never satisfy. Leaving her empty and unfulfilled.
His teasing grazes were not nearly enough to satisfy the jolts of heat surging through her. She needed pain. She needed him inside her. “I’ll be good, I promise.”
He nipped and bit, and nipped and bit, one side then the other until she heaved out a moan, her body arching into the length pressing into her stomach.
“Please,” she cried out. “I need all of you.”
He breached her entrance, shoving inside until he hit bottom. Her breath stammered.
Charlie may have been in control, but her need for him to fill her was too much. Desire and lust seeped out of her skin, a scent so all-consuming Charlie sucked it in, his nostrils, tongue and throat bathed in it. It seeped into his blood, shooting power into each thrust.
He freed her arms, his hand slapping against her thigh, gripping it so tight he would leave indents with his nails that would need time to heal. Eva gasped, the world in front of her eyes bursting with colorful splotches of light.
He rammed into her, knees digging into the sand with each thrust.
His wolf stirred, awake and ready to burst out of his skin. It wanted to be free. To play. To run. To devour the little female wolf pinned underneath him. To shed their human skin and be in their true forms.
“Charlie.” Eva’s body convulsed, an intense spasm claiming her breath. Fiery pulses ignited inside her, sending him over the edge. He lifted his head into the air, silver eyes ravaging the darkness. He pushed out a howl that echoed into the night.
He thought the wolf would burst out of him. Break free. But it did not. It calmed. Slipping beneath the surface.
He pulled out of Eva, spent. She moaned softly, but was no longer empty; it had been replaced with a blissful contentedness. Charlie leaned down next to her, kissing her softly on the cheek.
His eyelids grew heavy, suddenly impossible to keep open.
“So tired,” Eva whispered. He rolled onto his side in the sand and drew her tiny frame into him, throwing a leg over her hips to keep her safe.
“Sleep now, Little Wolf. Sleep.”
Charlie and Eva closed their eyes. Asleep under the stars.
CHAPTER TEN
Sunbeams warmed Charlie’s skin. He shifted, feeling comfortable and content. He leaned his head in sucking in a sweet scent. His lips touched skin. He nuzzled it, softly kissing it, hearing a contented purr in reply.
Charlie opened his eyes. Suddenly alert and aware.
Who was he kissing? And who was responding?
Charlie felt cool lips trailing across his chest, followed by a coo. He liked it, but didn’t know who those lips belonged to. Last he remembered he’d gone to bed… alone.
He saw hair. Lots of it, stark white, hiding a small trim body underneath its strands. A naked body he was holding securely against his own. Legs unwrapped themselves from around his torso. Firm rounded breasts rubbed against his chest. Sand chaffed below.
He wasn’t at home in his bed. And he was not alone. Somehow he’d done it again.
Left the mansion in the middle of the night and awakened outside, this time on a beach. Naked. And there was a woman adorning his body. His breath caught in his throat. He was pretty certain who was wrapped around him.
The body stirred, waking. A face stretched and looked up at him.
Eyes met eyes.
Gasps choked out.
Followed by flailing limbs at
tempting to free themselves.
“Charlie!” “Eva!” they called out together.
Both freed themselves and slid away from each other, making their way to their feet.
Charlie remembered he was naked and swung his hands down to cover himself. Eva could not do so as easily and fanned her white locks to cover herself the best she could.
“What the hell is this?” she asked him. She noticed bruises on her arms and thighs and reached up where a trickle of blood had dried mid dribble down her neck. In the same location she’d been bitten before. A new bite mark in its place.
Charlie stared, unable to speak. Had he done that to her?
Shit. I bit her… Oh Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
He glanced down at his ring. Why would it have allowed this? He’d bitten her. She’d have to live with his curse now. He had turned her into a werewolf. How would he tell her this? That her life was ruined.
He noticed his boxers on the ground, along with a nightdress he assumed belonged to Eva. He grabbed them and tossed the dress to Eva, slipping into the boxers. No longer completely exposed, he stood up straight, searching for the right words. Collecting his thoughts. Figuring out how to tell her she was a werewolf now.
So this is how he’d been spending the nights he was forgetting. With Eva Jordan. How did he not know this? How could he not remember? And he’d hurt her. Apparently, she’d gotten in a few jabs herself. He’d had a couple nasty gashes, ones he wasn’t sure how she did herself. She was just a woman. Trim and shapely, but a woman.
He saw remnants of bloody marks on his arm. Almost healed now thanks to his wolf healing. She must have scratched me… I deserve so much more.
Eva leaned against a tree, a look of relief washing over her.
“I didn’t understand,” she said, her voice sounding unexpectedly calm. “I thought I was going crazy.”
“This has happened to you before then?” confirmed Charlie, his voice weak.
“I’m assuming to you too.”
He nodded. “How badly did I hurt you?”
A Nightmare to Remember (Wicked Good Witches Book 5) Page 13