The dive bike roared through the front gates and the baron dropped his vintage pre-war teacup in shock. It was the girl. His fucking niece. She’d run off with that goddamn skinny pirate after all. He felt twice as justified in putting the deathmark on Farid now, even if he had lied to the man about the cargo.
Lucia sat astride the dive bike, her legs splayed like a whore. She’d cut her hair and swapped her proper robes for leathers of some kind. The girl smirked at him, as if he was the one who looked ridiculous.
“Uncle,” she said, looking up at him.
He decided to stay on the balcony. The better to look down at all the trash.
“Niece. Good to see you’re back. Lotta work to be done around here,” he growled. He could feel the darkness in his blood roaring at him. Just like that night so long ago with his wife.
Lucia smiled. “Just stopped by to tell you to cancel the bounty you put on Avar’s head is all.” With one hand on her hip like a cocky asshole, she was the spitting image of her mother.
“You screwing him now? Is that what this is? After all the effort I put in to raise you, this is how you repay me. By spreading your legs for a slimy little cock like him?”
“Yeah,” Lucia said. “I didn’t think you’d listen to reason. I told them you wouldn’t, but they wanted to try talking first.”
“First?” The baron laughed. “Are you actually threatening me? Do you know how many armed men I have here right now?”
“If Quinn and Postie are doing as they were instructed, then you have ten fewer than you did when we started talking.”
The baron’s skin went cold as he realized he couldn’t see any of his guards in the field.
“You made my life hell, you know?” Lucia removed her leather gloves, folding them over the top of her stolen dive bike. She flexed her fingers, the sun reflecting off her elongating claws blinding the baron momentarily.
“I fed you. I clothed you. I kept you safe.” The baron spat over the balcony. “That’s more than most get.”
“Yeah, well, I can see talking won’t do too much good.” Lucia sighed, shaded her eyes with her hand and scanned the property. “How many people have you killed, Uncle? Why hasn’t anyone ever stopped you? An operation like this, seems like the Suzerain would be all over it.”
Did she know? How could she know? He was protected, from on high. An old deal struck in the middle of the night. Palms sliced and bleeding into each other. A blood oath to protect blood. It seemed fitting. A child was taken in and in return, no interference. A free hand. Whispers in the ears of local authorities to stay out of his way. A minor empire of dust and rock and raw ore, balanced on the head of one small child. Was it over now?
“I’ve only killed one person in all my life,” he shouted down to his traitorous niece. “And I regret that every morning and every night.”
Lucia nodded as if he’d been rambling about the weather like a doddering old man.
“I’m not going to kill you today, Uncle. But I am going to free your slaves. I’m going to take whatever of my things are left in the house and, well, anything else I want from you. If you or any of your murderous nitwits try to stop me,” Lucia trailed off, waving one clawed hand in the air.
“So you learned to shift your fingers!” he roared in response. “Big deal! I shifted once, too! Look at the whore, come back home to show off her new clothes and the sleazy pirate that slithers between her legs.” A noise behind the baron drew his attention. Turning, he saw the largest wolf shifter he’d ever seen. The man had to duck to clear the doorway onto the balcony. He had silver fur and a wide calm face.
“It would be better for you if you did not speak of her that way,” he said, his voice oddly musical.
“Is she spreading her legs for you, too? How many cocks did she have to suck to get her way?” The baron leered at the wolf man, searching for that kernel of lewdness he knew all men hid.
“I would do anything for her,” the wolf said. “And today that means I spare your pathetic, disgusting life.”
The baron spat in the wolf’s face. He was big, sure, but big didn’t mean shit. Not when you had a bolter on your hip and an army at your fingertips. “Fucking cowards. No wonder she fell in with you.”
The huge wolf sighed and shook his head. “How can a man such as you and a woman such as her be related?”
The baron shrugged, but before he could answer the wolf had him in his hands, held tight, and then the baron was flying, toppling end over end, to land hard on his ass on the parched ground. One of his legs snapped in the fall. It’d be a bitch to get it set properly before it healed at a bad angle.
Sitting in the dust, snarling, a shadow fell over the baron.
“Don’t let me hear about you hurting anyone else, Uncle.” Lucia looked down on him, a pitying expression on her face. The pirate and the giant wolf man stood on either side of her, protectively.
“In case you were wondering, Lawson, I’m not going to pay you.” Farid shrugged, his smirk as irritating as ever.
“That deathmark will follow you to the grave, boy.”
“Then it shall wait a very long time, you ignorant oaf,” the white werewolf growled.
Lucia sighed, as if destroying his life was something of a letdown. “C’mon boys, lets get these miners back to civilization.”
“Who do you think you are?” the baron howled at her back. “The fucking law? There’s no law out here! Just wolves and men, teeth and blood. The strongest makes the law!”
“Well,” she said, tugging her gloves back on. “Guess I make the law now.”
THE END
Thank you for reading The Wolf, The Witch, and The Wasteland by Jacqueline Sweet. If you’ve enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review on Amazon or wherever you may have purchased it.
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Books by Jacqueline Sweet
Taken by my Shifter Billionaire Stepbrother and his Motorcycle Club (of Vampires)
The Ghostwriter: Billionaire Blackmail - Book One
The Blackmailer’s Secret: Billionaire Blackmail - Book Two
The Billionaire’s Bride: Billionaire Blackmail - Book Three (coming soon)
* * *
A Moment on the Lips: The Reluctant Succubus - Book One
Succubus Kissing Booth: The Reluctant Succubus - Book Two
Succubus Academy: The Reluctant Succubus - Book Three
The Making Out War: The Reluctant Succubus - Book Four (coming soon)
* * *
Tempted by Blood
The Lipstick Curse
Seduced by the Dragon
Taken by the Wolf God
Fifty Shades of Gay Tentacles
Down Deep Down
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About the Author
Hi, I'm Jacqueline Sweet. I love to write sexy, thrilling stories. My stories are either paranormal, or contemporary and steamy. I love to write about werewolves, succubuses, witches, dragons and everything else that has magic pumping in its veins. Broadly speaking, my stories are either centered on the paranormal community of California's Bay Area, or take place at my sexy, dangerous Penrose Academy, a university for wizards too dangerous or odd for the better wizarding schools.
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Stay up to date on my new releases at my blog: therealjacquelinesweet.wordpress.com
A Moment on the Lips
“The darkness is a part of you now.”
Sarah is in love. She’s also carrying a few pounds, and is so afraid that the man of her dreams won’t look her way that she’l
l do anything to lose them.
When a demon arrives at her door and promises a miracle, Sarah grabs the supernatural opportunity with both hands, only to find that there is a price.
But the deal summons a succubus into Sarah’s home. She’ll have to think hard and fast or spend eternity as a succubus’ plaything!
A Moment on the Lips is the first part of the Reluctant Succubus series. It is a 7,500-word story of dark bargains, twisted riddles, and hot demon sex.
This first installment in the series is FREE on Amazon.
Taken by my Shifter Billionaire Stepbrother and his Motorcycle Club (of Vampires)
There’s a curse on my family. We don’t talk about it with outsiders.
I've lived my life flitting from man to man, unable to spend more than one night with any of them. I never really wanted to, until I met Duke.
He's rich. He's gorgeous. He's a werewolf. But our personal relationship has been complicated by a recent wedding.
After one night together, I need more. I'll risk the curse to get what I crave. But Duke has a better idea. We can be together--maybe forever—But only if I'm initiated into his motorcycle gang of vampires.
Get it on Amazon for $0.99 or Free with Kindle Unlimited.
The Ghostwriter
Curvy, sassy Jessica Hart is a ghostwriter for the rich and powerful. She'll do whatever it takes to get the real story and satisfy her client. But her new job has a twist—her publisher wants her to destroy the billionaire this time.
Logan Grant is a financial whiz, a stock market genius, and handsome, too. Every moment of his life is planned and controlled, except meeting Jessica. She gets under his skin in ways no other woman has. If only he could trust her . . .
Jessica will do anything to unlock Logan's mystery, even if it means playing a risky sexual game with the billionaire. But some lines once crossed can never be uncrossed.
The Ghostwriter is the first book in the exciting new Billionaire Blackmail series. It features explicit sex, BDSM, and the world's most powerful vibrator. Mature audiences only, please.
This first installment in the series is FREE on Amazon.
The Wolf, The Witch, and the Wasteland (a paranormal post-apocalyptic romance) Page 18