by Mina Carter
His cock jerked and pulsed as her body clenched around him. Jacob gritted his teeth.
“Not a Wraith, Tori…” he ground out, a gasp leaving him as his balls tightened.
He couldn’t hold on much longer, and as soon as he came they’d whisk him back through the veil. “Jacob…my name is Jacob…but they call me Isskal. Tori, you gotta help me.”
Her sweet body clenched around his in a death grip, milking his cock for all it was worth, and Jacob couldn’t hold on any longer. With a mingled roar of triumph, pleasure and frustration, his climax washed over him in a tidal wave of sensation. His body stiffened over hers as, inside her tight channel, his cock pulsed and bathed the neck of her womb with his seed.
That second, in that heartbeat, Jacob wanted to be human, wanted to be mortal, so it would have a chance to take root. An image of Tori heavily pregnant, her belly swollen with his child, filled his mind. Longing hit him and left him gasping.
He’d never known what he wanted before.
He’d just drifted along, treating women like rubbish until giving the wrong woman a love charm instead of the luck charm she’d wanted had gotten him cursed.
Now, though, he knew. He wanted Tori. He wanted a family, and not just because it would release him from his curse.
“Love you…” he said as the veil wrapped around him and dragged him away from the woman he realized now owned his heart.
* * *
The shudders of pleasure had barely finished and the afterglow of good sex hadn’t even started as he began to fade out.
“What…no. Wait, come back!” Tori demanded, trying to hold onto him, but her arms closed on empty air. “Sonofabitch! Isn’t that just like a guy? Cut and run as soon as it’s over…” Tori lay back and ran a shaking hand through her hair. Then it hit her.
He’d spoken. Wraiths didn’t speak. Ever.
At least, she’d never heard of one speaking and something like that would go around the Fae community like wildfire. He’d said he wasn’t a Wraith though. He’d asked her to help him.
“Jacob.” She tried the name on for size. It felt right, rolling off her tongue. It suited him far more than the other name he’d given… Isskal. Tori sat bolt upright in bed. “Of course!”
She flung the covers off and scrambled out of bed. Naked as the day she was born, she raced across the room and grabbed the scroll off the altar. Even though she knew the words by heart she scanned them again with wide eyes. “I didn’t say Isskath the first time, I said Isskal… I called him by name.”
You gotta help me…
Quite what she was supposed to be helping him with she didn’t know, but whatever it was, it was bad. She’d never seen so much emotion in a guy’s eyes as she had in Jacob’s. A slow smile spread over Tori’s face. She’d called him once so she could do it again, and this time, she would make sure it was for keeps.
* * *
“I knew it, I just knew it!” Miknris declared in triumph as Jacob was hauled into the hall of Justice by two burly guards. On his short journey from the summoning chambers, he’d been bounced off enough walls to black his eye and split his lip. Under his clothes other bruises and swellings were beginning to form.
Jacob didn’t blame them. They were born Wraiths so all their lives they’d been fed horror stories of what would happen if the “normals” found out the truth. Faced with the man who’d just let the cat out of the bag, he doubted it would have gone any other way.
“You just couldn’t keep your dick in your pants, could you, Isskal? I forbade you to have anything to do with the mortal woman. For hell’s sake, you’re on the domestic register now. You can’t jump into bed with any mortal you feel like…”
They didn’t know. They didn’t know he’d spoken. The sense of relief that hit Jacob was staggering to say the least. He thought he was being dragged in here to face a fate worse than death for telling Tori his name.
Shrugging off the guards’ hold, Jacob stood tall and fixed Miknris with a steely glare. He might be little better than a slave now, but he hadn’t always been. They’d told him his power had disappeared when he’d died and become a Wraith.
They’d lied.
The last few hours with Tori and banishing the shade had told him that, so there was no fear in his eyes as he locked gazes with the prune-faced old crone in front of him.
“No?” Jacob laughed. “How do you plan on stopping me? Because the way I feel about Tori, you’re going to need something pretty damn impressive up your sleeve, old woman.”
Miknris’ smile was soft, but it sent a shiver of fear through Jacob. He was missing something. Miknris was too calm, way too calm. What wasn’t he seeing?
“Oh, how sweet. He even knows her name, not just her bra size. Isskal, I don’t need anything impressive to stop you. I really didn’t want to do this… Boys, hold him, please.”
Jacob had been a sorcerer, not a fighter, so when the guards lunged for him at Miknris’ command it took them less than a minute to quell his rebellion. Half choked by a brutal headlock, all Jacob could do was glare at Miknris as she approached.
“You can let him talk. Actually, breathing would be a good start. I want him conscious for this,” Miknris snapped at the guard who held Jacob.
The brutal pressure on his throat eased up a little, and Jacob dragged gulps of air into his burning lungs as Miknris carried on. “You see, my handsome young friend, all I need to do to stop you is be able to undo a simple buckle. Nothing impressive at all, is it?”
Jacob felt the blood drain out of his face. If she removed his collar, his essence would be absorbed by the witching, and with the amount of magic he’d wielded when he was alive, it would be fast, like falling into a pool full of piranhas.
“You can’t do that. That…that’s murder.”
“Oh, I can, Isskal, and given your complete lack of ability to abide by our rules, I would be neglecting my oath to keep our people safe if I didn’t.”
She reached for his collar. Jacob struggled, planting his feet and straining against the guards’ hold. It was enough to hold his neck out of her reach.
“What about my redemption? All I need is for Tori to say she loves me and I’m gone, free, sayonara.”
This time it was Miknris who laughed. “Really? So why has she already called Denaris? Sorry, handsome, you just weren’t…” Miknris’ eyes wandered down Jacob’s body, a look in them which made the sorcerer feel sick. “…stud enough for her.”
“You’re lying.”
Tori wouldn’t do that to him, would she? And with Denaris? Of all the Wraiths on the sex circuit, Denaris was the only one Jacob worried about with Tori. He had the face of a dark angel, and Jacob had seen the guy raise a woman’s blood pressure with just a crook of his finger.
“Thnall terantis Isskal.”
The words were just on the edge of hearing. So faint that Jacob wasn’t sure whether he was actually hearing it, or whether it was just wishful thinking.
“Am I?” Miknris shrugged. “Believe what you like, makes no difference to me.”
“Heran juris gerath…” The ghostly words reverberated in his head. Jacob shook his head to try and clear his ears. They must have hit him harder than he realized because he could swear he was hearing a summoning ritual.
“Ceris teranis anak.”
Elation filled Jacob as he recognized the voice. It was distorted and warbled by the veil but unmistakable. Tori had figured it out and was performing a summoning ritual.
Miknris frowned. “What is it?”
Jacob fought to hide his grin. “Oh, nothing. So, let me guess…no one in my situation has ever won their freedom, have they?”
“Heran Koras go-gothian totalis.”
Miknris beamed with malevolent pride. “Not in all my eight hundred years as controller. You’ve all suffered for your crimes or have passed into the witching.”
I’ll bet, Jacob thought snidely, with just a little help on the old collar there.
“Why?”
“Aranath gosita terabi!”
Jacob pursed his lips and blew her a kiss as the witching wrapped around him.
Her shriek of fury was the last thing he heard as he was pulled back through the veil into the mortal world.
* * *
The last word of the incantation echoed around the room and died away. Tori nibbled her lip as she waited in expectation. Everything was perfect, if a little hastily put together, but it should work. She’d gotten the incantation right for sure this time.
Hell, she’d even run it through an online Fae translator to make sure she was getting the words right. She just hoped like hell the program was up to scratch. Using pidgin Fae would be bad when so much hinged on this.
She felt the pressure build up in the center of the room, a warning that something magical was about to happen. It was the usual indicator that a Wraith was about to arrive. It felt like the feeling when she needed to equalize her ears during take-off on a plane.
Tori scrambled to her feet and moved forwards, her eyes darting about the room as she tried to guess where Jacob would appear. In her hand she had a pendant, another one of her grandmother’s, but one she’d never had a use for before now. It was a binding pendant. Tori had never needed to use such heavy duty magic, nor found anyone she wanted to bind to her before. Now she did, not to bind him to her, but to bind Jacob into the mortal realm.
The magic popped behind her and Tori whirled on her heel. A tall man stood behind her blinking and looking a little unsteady on his feet. Tori recognized him in a heartbeat; she’d know that tall, lean build anywhere. “Jacob!” She flung herself at him with all the exuberance of a toddler and threw the pendant around his neck. He grabbed at it—and her—like it was a lifeline.
“Tori, thank God. You figured it out.” His voice was low and melodic, a sexy timbre in it that shot a thrill straight through her body. Placing a finger under her chin, he tipped her head up so he could look into her eyes. “Thank you, you just saved my life.”
He smiled, the expression creasing the corners of his eyes endearingly, and looked down at the pendant. “Binding charm…resourceful. Very resourceful.”
Pressure started to build in the room again but not once, twice and then three times. Three different areas surrounding them. Jacob’s eyes turned serious.
“They’re coming. I don’t have much time, Tori. I need more, babe. This isn’t going to stop them when they come for me.” He lifted the pendant and let it drop against his broad chest. “I broke all the rules coming to you twice…”
Tori cut him off with a quick gesture. She might not have known him long and most of that she’d thought he was a mindless magical creation… No, that wasn’t entirely correct. Somehow, deep inside, she’d known from the beginning there was something special about him.
“Just tell me what I need to do. I’ll do it.”
His eyes flicked over her shoulders. The other Wraiths were already forming and even half-formed Tori could tell these weren’t the domestic Wraiths she was used to.
These looked more like she imagined soldiers to look…
Jacob looked uncomfortable for a second, almost unsure of himself. “Well…oh Christ, I can’t believe I’m actually asking this.”
“Asking what?” Tori almost shrieked, her eyes on the men forming around them.
She could see their faces now and although she knew Wraiths weren’t supposed to harm mortals, “supposed to” and what they actually did were two different things.
“Come on, spit it out. They’re almost here!”
“I need you to say…that you love me.”
Tori looked up at him in surprise. “What? That’s it?” she asked. Then, she couldn’t help it, she started to laugh. “You’re kidding me?”
Frustration chased over Jacob’s face. “That’s it? That’s it? I’m glad you think this is so funny. It’s not like it’s your ass on the line.”
Tori made an attempt to plaster a serious expression on her face.
“Oh yeah, that’s way better. Come here.” Jacob pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply. It was a kiss of possession and promise, a question and a goodbye all in one. “I love you. Have since the moment you called me with that hacked domestic summons.”
He leaned his forehead against hers and let out a deep sigh, as though steeling himself for what was to come. “Take care of yourself, Tori—”
Tori had heard enough. Grabbing his jaw in one small hand, she made him look into her eyes. “Where do you think you’re going, mister? I summoned you, if I recall right, and until I’m done with you, you aren’t going anywhere. In fact, I’ll probably insist you marry me at some point. But only after…oh, about a month in bed?”
He smiled slowly, an unsure look in his eyes. “Does that mean…”
Tori drew him down for a kiss. She hadn’t realised it, but her search for Mr.
Right had been futile because she’d been looking in the wrong place. “I love you, you idiot.”
Jacob’s face was a picture. A masterpiece of surprise and relief that almost started Tori chuckling again as she pulled away from his lips. “You what?” he asked, shaking his head as though he couldn’t believe his ears.
“I. Love. You. Simple enough for you? Or do I need to break it down even more?”
The Wraiths appearing around the couple were ignored for a moment as they stared into each other’s eyes. Slowly a smile spread over Jacob’s face. “Well, I’m a little hard of hearing, you know. It’s this woman I met. Has me at her beck and call, you know, wearing me out. You’d better say that again, just so these good gentlemen can hear it.”
Tori drew closer to Jacob as she looked around at the forbidding faces of the Wraiths surrounding them. Until today she’d never seen Wraiths so solid. They looked just like normal people—thugs, yeah, but human thugs.
“I love him. I love you, Jacob.” An uneasy laugh escaped her lips. It all seemed crazy, all so quick, but deep down in her heart she knew it was right.
“You hear that, lads? She loves me. Now fuck off.”
They didn’t speak, just looked from Jacob to Tori and back again. The threat of violence hung in the air like heavy incense as the Wraiths considered them. Tori held her breath. Her fingers curled into Jacob’s shirt as she waited for someone to move. Her heart thudded in her chest so loud it was all she could hear as the world shrank to this small room and the standoff within.
Then the Wraith at the front nodded, his green eyes amused as he looked at Jacob. Tori could swear he was laughing, something that was borne out when Jacob started to chuckle. The tension in the room disappeared as though it had never been as the green-eyed Wraith bowed, and in the blink of an eye they were gone. Tori exhaled on a shudder as relief hit her.
“Okay, what am I missing?” she asked, not at all sure what had just happened.
Jacob’s grin was still on his lips as he turned her to face him and dipped his head down to kiss her. “Let’s just say I gave him a message he’s very much looking forward to delivering. Now, can we get back to the sex part?”
Tori blinked, struggling to follow the abrupt topic change. Jacob’s eyebrow crawled up toward his hairline. “This month in bed I seem to recall you promising me?”
Tori’s smile was pure wickedness as she pulled his lips down to hers again. “Oh, yes…oh, hell yes. I do hope you’ve got enough stamina because, baby, I’m gonna put you through your paces and then some.”
“Oh, I’ve got all the stamina you want, sweetheart. Do your worst…”
The End
Hitting on the Hooker
by Mina Carter
Chapter One
She’d been stood up. Unbelievable.
Fern Morgan checked her watch, a thin gold affair that always ended up with the face on the underside of her wrist, and wrinkled her nose. Yup, forty minutes late and no message. Greg had stood her up. Great. No doubt he’d had a better offer. Story of her life. Her love life wasn’t just DOA, it had be
en MIA for at least the last couple of years.
Checking out the level in her glass, she abandoned any pretense of being a lady and downed the drink in one swallow. She grimaced. Wine had never been her favorite. Since it seemed her date wasn’t going to show his face, the next round would be whatever the hell she wanted.
“Vodka and lime,” she ordered when she had the bartender’s attention, ignoring his pitying look at the fact that she was still alone. He’d probably seen it all, so there was no point bluffing. A woman didn’t sit at a bar—on her own—for almost an hour for kicks and giggles, not a high class one like this. No, this was date territory, a venue classy enough to make that all-important first impression. Which meant the décor was first class, as were the prices of the drinks.
Greg had picked it. Bastard.
“Vodka for the lady.” The bartender slid the glass in front of her, the ice inside clinking together as it stopped. “Can I get you anything else?”
Sensing he wanted to hang around and chat, she shook her head. After a long week at work, and the disappointed anticipation of a not-date with Greg from Acquisitions, she wasn’t in the mood. All she wanted to do was commune with her drink, get happily buzzed, and head on home to seek consolation in the tub of ice-cream she kept on reserve at the back of the freezer.
Looking up after the bartender moved off, she caught sight of herself in the mirror behind the bar. The wrong side of thirty, her shift-dress covered a figure with a few more curves than she would have liked. Whatever she did, no amount of sweating it out in the gym or starving herself would get those last few stubborn pounds to move, so she’d given up.
Her hair was short and sleek, a neat bob that framed her face, the dark color natural. Thank God. She couldn’t do the whole once a month ordeal some women at the office went through to stay blonde, or black, or whatever color they’d decided they wanted to be.
Her face was made up, but in the subtle style she preferred. A slick of lippy, a quick flick of eyeliner a la Audrey Hepburn, some mascara, and she was done. No false lashes here, thank you very much. She’d tried them once, and ended up with the bloody things stuck to her cheek like damn caterpillars. Never again.