M&L03 - SS

by Stacie Simpson

  This time I shuddered for a completely different reason and moved forward slowly until I was pressed against her backside. She shivered as I skimmed my hands down her arms and inhaled deeply taking in her scent. She smelled like black raspberries and vanilla, but underneath that, she smelled like Renee, warm and seductive.

  “I’ve missed you so much,” I whispered in her ear, wrapping my arms around her. It felt unbelievably good to hold her in my arms even if it was only a dream.

  She sagged against me and sighed. “I’ve missed you too, but you shouldn’t be here.”

  I spun her around to face me, keeping her close, holding her tight. “Why shouldn’t I be here Renee?”

  A single tear slid down her cheek and she said, “Because he promised me the spell would keep you from finding me.”

  Before I could ask what the hell she meant by that she was gone and I was left alone in her bedroom unable to wake up. I raged for a while throwing things and shattering windows but eventually I calmed down and tried to think rationally. Lying in her bed, I inhaled her scent and tried to understand why she would want to keep me away.

  Had she somehow discovered we were mates? If she really didn’t want to be my mate, then it would make sense that she wanted to stay away from me, but why wouldn’t she have talked to me about it on the phone. And for that matter, why in the hell would she ask another sorcerer to put a spell on her? Hadn’t I told her often enough how dangerous magic could be?

  No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t wrap my mind around any of it - not why she left me, why she didn’t want to be my mate, or why she would resort to magic to keep me away.

  Before she left, Renee and I had a very intimate relationship. It wasn’t sexual, we never even kissed, but we never thought twice about holding hands or caressing each other. And a day rarely went by that we didn’t curl up together on a couch or in a bed at the end of the night. Sometimes we watched movies or read books, but countless other times we just fell asleep in each other’s arms.

  Holding her in my arms for that brief moment before she disappeared had been a revelation. I’d thought the lack of sex over the past six months was torture; that I might die without it, but now I knew I’d been missing something even more vital. Now I realized that I couldn’t live without Renee’s touch, even if it never did become sexual in nature.

  Of course, the fox didn’t like that idea. He thought we needed to claim our mate in the most primal way, and we needed to do it as soon as possible. I knew that wasn’t going to happen though. When I finally saw Renee in person, I would have two choices. I could touch her and trigger the mating frenzy that would eventually have us ripping our clothes off with mindless sexual hunger, or I could take the time to make her see me as a man worthy of her body and her heart. I knew which option I should choose, but I wasn’t sure how long I could override the animal clawing at my insides to get to his mate.

  Chapter Three

  ~ Solomon ~

  I awoke in the pitch black of my bedroom to the sound of loud banging on my front door. Covering my head with a pillow, I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.

  The banging finally stopped only to be replaced by Doyle’s voice. “Good morning sunshine; time to get out of bed.”

  I groaned, wondering why I ever gave him access to my apartment.

  “None of that now, we’re supposed to spring Josephine on our way to Rook’s for the game. If you don’t get moving we’re going to miss the kickoff, and it’s the first game of the season.”

  Damn, I must have slept all day and into the next evening.

  I sat up, tossed the pillow aside and immediately wished I hadn’t done either. Doyle must have flipped the light switch on when he came in the room. The bright light combined with my new upward position was enough to send shooting pains through my skull and make my stomach feel like it was doing summersaults.

  Doyle laughed. “That’ll teach you. Here, Claire said this would help.” He tossed me a tiny bottle, which landed on my bed when I missed catching it.

  Claire was our resident psychic. She was Dragon’s mother and the former Dragon Queen. Once I retrieved the bottle, I drank the potion inside and immediately felt better. Sometimes I truly loved having a psychic looking out for us.

  “Better?” Doyle asked.

  “Yeah. Give me a few minutes to take a quick shower then I’ll be out.”

  Doyle left me alone and I hurried to get ready so we wouldn’t be late.

  Once I was dressed, we headed over to Josephine’s apartment. Josephine was Serafina’s mother. She’d come to live at the resort shortly after Dragon and Serafina mated six months ago. We’d been slowly introducing her to our world and a few weeks ago when she decided to become a nightshifter, she asked me to be her sire. She’d been confined to her apartment since her transformation but I was confident that we no longer needed to take that precaution.

  Along the way to Josephine’s place Doyle asked, “So how did your experiment go last night?”

  I took a deep breath then told him everything that happened in the dream.

  He stopped dead in his tracks and asked, “What are you going to do now?”

  I shook my head rubbing the back of my neck. “I don’t know. We’re all supposed to leave for Supernova two nights from now, but I think I might just head over there tonight after the game and try to talk to her.”

  “Any idea who might have worked the spell for her?” Doyle asked when we started walking again.

  “None, but when I find out I’m going to kill the bastard,” I answered just as we reached apartment number 513.

  We knocked and after a few moments Liam, a member of the security staff, answered the door then stood aside for us to enter. I quietly let him know his services would no longer be needed and he agreed to notify his supervisor of the change in security protocols.

  Josephine rose from her chair to hug us when we came into the living room. She was about five-five with mahogany hair spiraling down her back and a surprisingly fit body for someone in her mid-forties who’d recently been human. If it weren’t for the gray hair peeking out near her scalp, she’d look more like Serafina’s twin than her mother.

  “What brings you by to see me?” Josephine asked as we took our seats on the cream-colored sofa.

  Doyle smiled brightly and replied, “We brought you a get out of jail free card.”

  Her eyes flew to mine and brightened when I smiled. “I think it’s time to set you free. You’ve shown exceptional control over your fox and your thirst for blood. We still need to work on your mind control abilities a little, but that isn’t any reason to keep you isolated.”

  “Oh thank you Solomon,” She gushed coming over to hug me again. “And thank you so much for agreeing to be my sire.”

  “I was honored when you asked me, and I’ve enjoyed helping you adjust to being a nightshifter,” I told her honestly when she pulled back from the hug with tears in her eyes.

  “Enough of this mushy stuff,” Doyle said. “We’re going to Rook’s to watch the game. There’ll be a bunch of people there. Why don’t you go get some shoes on and come with us?”

  Her hand went to her head and I knew she was thinking about the gray hair that was only visible because she’d been under house arrest since becoming a nightshifter. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a silver ring and started chanting. A minute later, I handed it to Josephine who eyed me curiously.

  “Put it on and look in the mirror, then hurry up and get some shoes on. We don’t want to miss the kickoff.” She started to argue but I said, “Trust me,” and motioned towards the bedroom with my hand.

  Once she was gone, Doyle asked, “What was that all about?”

  I shrugged. “She told me once that she felt self-conscious when people see her gray hair. As long as she wears that ring, nobody will ever see a gray hair on her head again.”

  Doyle rolled his eyes. “The things women worry about...”

  We arrived at Rook’s place a
bout half an hour before kickoff and found almost everyone already seated in his living room. There were several recliners and small sofas all arranged for easy viewing of the ginormous TV mounted on the wall. To my surprise, Josephine joined Serrano, the Food Facilities Manager for the resort, where he was sitting on a small couch near Lucien, the Myths and Legends IT Manager, and his new mate Liliana. Dragon was sitting opposite them with Serafina lying across his lap and Claire was with Kalen, an Elder time demon, to their left.

  The kiss Josephine and Serrano shared and the way Claire was wrapped up in Kalen’s arms made me wonder what I’d been missing the last few months while I was cooped up in my apartment.

  Sitting alone in a corner was Jasper looking like he’d rather be anywhere but here. Since this wasn’t his usual crowd, I figured Rachel must have invited him. Jasper was a good kid and even though he was only a few decades younger than me, his maturity level made the tall, blonde wolf shifter a perfect match for Rachel. He’d been a young boy when we were cursed so he’d had almost no experience controlling his wolf until six months ago when it ended. Going by his early twenties appearance, he was most likely changed into a vampire sometime during his forties just as I was.

  I wondered for a moment why everyone was staring at their phones but quickly realized they must be looking at their fantasy football apps.

  “I can’t believe you have Adrian Peterson and Arian Foster on your team,” Serrano complained to me after he finished greeting Josephine.

  I smirked knowing he had good reason to worry and replied, “At least you have Drew Brees.”

  “Yes, but you also have Peyton Manning along with those two great running backs,” Rook added shaking his head.

  “Don’t worry Rook, it’s only the first game of the season,” Dragon tried to console him. “Players get hurt, trades get made, it doesn’t always matter who has the best players on opening day.” He was idly rubbing Serafina’s belly which was twice the size it had been only two weeks ago, making her pregnant state glaringly obvious.

  The banter continued while I glanced around noticing some differences since the last time I’d been there. Rook and Angela were recently bound as anai, which was the time demon equivalent of a shapeshifter mating bond. Since their mating, Rook’s apartment had apparently been undergoing some remodeling.

  “You mind if I take a look around?” I asked Rook.

  “Not at all.” He waved his hand in a go-ahead motion and I strolled over to the dining room that had never been there before.

  As Dragon’s blood-bonded Guardian, Rook’s life was dedicated to keeping Dragon and his mate safe. Dragon lived on the top floor of this building and as a security measure, Rook occupied the entire floor beneath that. Most of the floor was still unfinished so there was plenty of room to expand his and Angela’s living space.

  Doyle, who followed me from the living room commented, “I’m glad the big ass TV and recliners are still here; football season just wouldn’t be the same without them, but I can’t believe Rook gave up the bar and his stripper pole.”

  I nodded towards the back corner of the dining room where the bar now sat. “I don’t think Rook would give up his stripper pole either, it’s probably just been moved somewhere more discreet than the living room.”

  “Are you willing to bet on that?” he asked with a smirk.

  Doyle and I used to bet on everything from what would be served for lunch in the cafeteria to how many blonde women would walk into Mystique from nine to ten. But as my sexual frustration grew over the past few months, I slowly pulled away from everyone including him.

  “Sure, the usual amount?”

  “Yeah. Let’s go find Angela and make her cheeks turn red.” Doyle grinned shamelessly heading for the kitchen.

  We found Angela removing a pan from the oven. She was tall for a woman, about my height, but that made her perfect for Rook who was six-six. The contrast between her fair skin with white blonde hair and Rook’s dark complexion with black hair was almost startling when they were together. Yet just like salt and pepper, they complimented each other perfectly and I couldn’t imagine one being without the other.

  “So Angela, was it your idea to get rid of the stripper pole in the living room?” Doyle asked.

  As predicted Angela’s cheeks turned bright red but she didn’t have a chance to respond because Rachel, who was loading the dishwasher, chimed in with, “They didn’t get rid of it, they just moved it to the bedroom and Mom’s been taking dance lessons from Serafina.”

  “Rachel some things are private.” Angela scolded as Doyle handed me a twenty-dollar bill.

  I hadn’t known about the dance lessons but I knew Rook wouldn’t have given up the stripper pole. It wasn’t a surprise however, that the only woman he’d see using it from now on would be Angela. The two of them were so in love anyone could see it.

  “Would you two mind taking some of these trays into the dining room?” Angela asked pointing to several trays filled with various finger foods. “Everyone can fill their plates in there and the bar is fully stocked with beer and soft drinks”

  “No problem.” Doyle and I said together then got to work.

  We had just enough time to get everyone settled in right before the kickoff. Sitting front and center with Doyle, I tried to forget about Renee for a few short hours but even with everyone cheering and talking smack about their fantasy teams, it was impossible to get her out of my mind. I wondered where she was and what she was doing, but most of all I wondered how she could deny our mating.

  Mated couples were supposed to be two parts of a whole, as if one wouldn’t exist without the other. If that was true, how could Renee turn her back on me so easily? Of course, we weren’t actually mated yet and if Renee had her way, we never would be.

  When the game was over Dragon stood in front of us. “Two nights from now we will be heading to the annual tournament at Supernova. Unlike previous tournaments, this one will include participants from groups that may or may not be our allies. In addition to the usual grudge matches, there will be a lot of political maneuvering as we prepare for the upcoming interracial summit. With demons and vampires present, that will likely lead to backstabbing in the literal sense. So watch your backs and keep your eyes and ears open for any signs of trouble. Now, if you don’t mind hanging out for a few more minutes Rook has something he’d like to say before we all go our separate ways.”

  Dragon went to sit with Serafina and Rook took his place holding a small velvet box in his hand. “A while back Dragon and Doyle were discussing this upcoming tournament and something they said helped me save Rachel when she was addicted to Oblivion. Claire should be given some credit too, since she was the one who sent me to see them in the first place.”

  Claire inclined her head to him from where she sat snuggled up against Kalen on a sofa. I thought they made a great couple, but going by the way Dragon was scowling at them, he wasn’t very happy about their relationship.

  “Anyhow, since the River of Time was freed I’ve been learning how to use my new abilities and I managed to retrieve something from the past that I think Lucien might be interested in.” Rook stepped forward and handed Lucien the small box.

  Lucien was dressed in his usual T-shirt, jeans and Converse and I was surprised to see Liliana wearing similar attire. The fashion magazine owner usually wore nothing but the best designer clothing.

  Lucien opened the box and stared at its contents. After a moment, his finger stroked whatever was inside then he closed the lid. With tears in his eyes, he stood and bowed to Rook with his hand fisted over his heart. “Thank you. I will never be able to repay the debt I owe you for giving this back to me.”

  “You don’t owe me anything at all, I was happy I could do this for you,” Rook said bowing in return.

  Lucien took his seat again and, sensing his new mate’s confusion through their bond he explained, “This ring was stolen from me ten years ago when the tournament was last held at Supernova. Some people c
all it my lucky ring because I never lost a marksmanship competition while I wore it. I lost the competition that year and have failed to come in first place every year since.” He shrugged. “Maybe it’s lucky, maybe it isn’t. It was a gift from my mother. Whoever stole it put a replica in its place, but I’ve always known it wasn’t my ring. When I hold this ring in my hand,” he held up the box, “I feel my mother’s love for me and a sense of peace fills my soul.”

  Liliana caressed the side of his face. “I wish I could have met her. Just feeling what that ring makes you feel tells me all I need to know about her. She must have been a wonderful woman and a caring mother.” She leaned forward and kissed him briefly on the lips.

  Rook sat back down by Angela and I took his place in front of the group. “I have a gift I’d like to present as well, something that might help put all our minds at ease,” I announced, producing a silver ring from my pocket and handing it to Rachel.

  “What does it do?” Rachel asked, having seen my magical rings before.

  “It’s a transportation device, a homing beacon and a health monitor all in one.”

  “Huh?” She turned the ring around looking at it from all sides while everyone else sat up with interest.

  “Supernova is not located here in the human realm. We say it’s in Europe because it has several permanent portals that lead to various European cities, but it’s really in an alternate dimension. There’s a lot more magic in the air there, which makes for better shows, but it also enhances all supernatural powers from strength and speed to mind control. You will likely be the only unmated human there. As long as you wear that ring, you will be able to see and move through portals without any of us helping you. I will also know if you are in mortal danger and I will be able to find you no matter where you are.”

  The look on Jasper’s face when I said the word unmated clearly said he thought of Rachel as his whether she was his mate or not. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the kid. Rachel was having a good time with him for now but I was sure she hadn’t made him any promises of fidelity and one day soon, she would likely break his heart.