by Helen Scott
Cin’s eyes were wide. “You didn’t think maybe it was a good idea to tell me about this power before?”
“Sorry,” Thad said, looking away before he was drawn in by her beautiful hazel orbs as he had been at home. If she knew magic, he would have sworn she had put some kind of spell on him. The spell was just her existing and him being unable to resist.
He shook his head, clearing the unnecessary thoughts. “Ready?” He glanced at Cin, and after a quick nod from her, he looked back at his target.
He called the water in the area to him and sang the incantation for it to form shapes so they could see the echoes of what had been. The longer he sang, the further back in time they could go. He heard Cin gasp as he watched as the mist in front of them began to form shapes. People hovering over empty barrels. Furtive glances as people exchanged drugs and money. A beating. Then finally, a car sitting, waiting.
“What do you think? This our car?”
“I’d be willing to bet yes.”
“Can you see the license plate?”
“Got it!”
Thad watched as she typed the plate number into her phone. He sang, and the visions kept going backward in time, except now they were going so fast, it was hard to keep up. She knew what he was looking for, though. He wanted to make sure the same car that was there to take Cin earlier was the one that had taken Aster.
He stopped at the first glimmer of a car, only to see another person being shoved into the back seat.
“Same license plate?”
“Yeah.” Cin sounded defeated, as though it had only just hit her that they had done this to more people than just her sister.
Thad sped through again, and the next time he stopped, he knew he had the right time. Cin let out a heartbreaking cry. The noise strangled as she tried to contain it.
Aster was standing there, looking exactly like the photo Cin had given him. Her long blonde hair fell in soft waves around her face, and she had big doe eyes that he knew from the photo were a dark brown. She smiled at the driver as Norman guided her to the car. She happily got in and waved goodbye to Norman like everything was completely normal.
“I’m going to kill him.”
“Who?”
“Norman. No, wait, Preston. Ah hell, I’m going to kill both of them.”
Thad looked over, slightly shocked by the venom in her voice, only to see her eyes had become deep black holes and the shimmery outline of something around her. Her snake tattoos were crawling all over her body. Thad shook his head and closed his eyes. She was just frustrated with the situation, right?
He had enough energy to get them home before passing out. Thad knew this, but his body apparently had other plans. When they jumped into his living room, a vision overtook him. It could have been brought on by any number of things—traveling the way he did, using so much magic when he cast back through time, being vulnerable, anything. All he knew was that one second he was standing in his house next to Cin, and the next he was waiting in this strange fractured image for the vision to start. It was like something stalled the vision and his brain was still waiting for it to download.
“You’re screwing up.” Aster’s voice echoed around him. “I still see my sister dying. I know you haven’t distracted her enough to forget about coming after me.”
“Aster, where are you?”
A form materialized in front of him. “Right here.”
“Look, I’m sorry, but this is bigger than Cin coming after you. We know what they are planning to do with you and that they have done it to many people besides you. We can’t let this stand.”
“Cin is innocent—”
“No, she’s not. She has powers like you do. They just haven’t shown themselves yet.”
“I don’t believe you.” Aster crossed her arms and glared at him.
“Look, I know it’s hard to believe, but Cin has some kind of magic running through her. I’ve caught her eyes changing color a couple times now, but I don’t know what it means. At least, not yet.”
Aster shook her head, and the blonde waves spun around her like she was dancing. Finally, her big brown eyes opened again and found his.
“I don’t want my sister to die for me. Do you understand?”
“I do, but I can’t stop her from coming after you. That wouldn’t be fair, and she would hate me for it. I’ll be there to protect her, and I’ll rope my brothers in as well, if I have to. We’re damn near indestructible.”
“I keep seeing her dying.” The pain that haunted Aster’s voice made Thad’s heart ache. She began to lose her form around the edges, so it looked like she was fading into nothing. Her hair became a shimmering gold in the light. The fractured vision was coming together again.
“They’re back. Tell Cin . . .” Aster shimmered out of existence—at least, in his vision.
Thad’s heart was heavy as he watched the vision form before him. This time Aster was the one who was dead and Cin was pain personified. The scene before him was hard to glance at, let alone watch. Cin’s pain cocooned her, keeping her at arm’s length from everyone as she grieved for her sister. Their relationship fell apart before it even had a chance to begin, and Cin fell into a spiral of self-pity and self-destruction. Thad knew he couldn’t let that happen.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, the vision rewound, starting from further back than he had seen before.
The hacker was there again. Her red hair was a fanned flame around her face as she stood between Cin and a man in a suit. Norman was there. Anger burned through Thad’s veins. He didn’t know what the vision was trying to tell him but thought that this must be a pivotal event. The vision faded as the guy in the suit manhandled the redhead. The last thing Thad saw was Cin launching herself at them, a feral snarl on her face.
Chapter 17
Thad awoke some time later. The soft feeling surrounding him could only mean that he was in bed. He cracked an eye open to verify. He was in his own bed. Cin was there too, her blue-and-purple hair spilling across the pillow like a waterfall. Reaching for her, his hand seemed to act with a mind of its own.
He hesitated.
How long had he been out? What if she had only just gone to bed? She rolled toward him as though she could sense the disturbance, her T-shirt riding up her stomach, her full lips slightly parted. It was too much for him. He reached out and tugged the T-shirt down, fighting the desire to skim his hands over her skin.
Her eyes fluttered open, grazing him with a sleepy stare. “Hey there,” she said as she scooted toward him.
Thad wrapped his arms around her as he tilted her head up. “Hey yourself, gorgeous.”
She pushed up ever so slightly and kissed his cheek. When she went to pull away, his head turned instinctively, and his lips brushed hers.
They were pillowy and soft, the kind of lips women pay crazy amounts of money to achieve. His lips felt rough in return. It was his turn to pull away, but when Thad did, Cin just followed him until she was on top of him.
Blood pounded in Thad’s ears as it rushed south. Her face filled his vision, her hair circling them like a curtain, blocking out the outside world. For a moment, it was just the two of them staring at each other. Nothing else existed. Nothing else mattered.
Thad’s heart gave an almost uncomfortable thump when the thought of a future with Cin skittered across his mind. Then she kissed him, and all conscious thought stopped.
Her kiss was like a drug. One hit and he was an addict. She pressed into him, an exquisite kind of torture. His hands began roaming her back, slipping under the T-shirt she’d worn to bed. Her skin was as soft as velvet under his rough hands. She rolled her hips, and he almost blacked out from pleasure.
Gods. How was he going to please this woman who stirred the most intense emotions and sensations he had ever felt?
Thad pushed the T-shirt higher and marveled as Cin sat up and whipped it over her head. The woman was a goddess; she had to be with a body like that. Her breasts were more than a handful,
and he loved it. Their dusky pink tips perfect for sucking and licking. A moan escaped her as he rolled a nipple between this finger and thumb. Her hands pressed down on his shoulders as she sat up out of reach of his mouth.
When she rolled off the bed, Thad was more than a little concerned. He started to ask what was wrong, but Cin shushed him and stopped his question with a kiss. Her fingers hooked into the sides of her panties and pulled them down.
She was a vision. Thad’s mouth went dry as she stood naked before him. All he wanted to do was worship her, show her these strange new feelings that were building in him, show her how beautiful she was, and show her that she could have whatever she wanted.
She climbed back into bed and sat on top of him, her hot core pressing against his erection in a way that was bound to drive him insane.
Cin relished every noise that escaped his lips. The rough fabric of his boxers moved against her in a delicious way as she rolled her hips. Thad’s head dropped back onto the pillow and his eyes closed.
“Sleepy?” she whispered as she nipped the shell of his ear.
“Not quite the word I would use right now.” Thad’s voice was low and thick with need.
“What would you use?”
“Impatient. Turned on. Lustful.”
“Well, I’m not sure what I can do to help.” She grinned at him and sat back on her hips.
“Cin, I don’t know how much more I can take.”
She fell serious for a moment. “We forgot to get condoms while we were out.”
Before he had a chance to respond and ruin the moment like she almost did, she bent down and traced a circle around his nipple with her tongue. It caused Thad to stutter, like he was still trying to get the thought he had out, which she enjoyed immensely.
Finally, she relented enough for him to speak. “Bought some yesterday.”
Cin froze. Excitement flowed through her like a river down a mountain. The heat in her center increased as she rolled off Thad.
“Then by all means, please don’t let me stop you.”
Thad tangled himself in sheets and batted away pillows as he awkwardly got out of the bed. His erection was tenting his boxers as he wandered to the bathroom, almost as though he was in a daze.
He returned a moment later and smiled at Cin, letting a strip of condoms roll down from his hand.
“This should be enough, right?”
“We’ll see.” She smiled wickedly at him.
This man lit a fire in her that she had never experienced before. She watched with wide eyes as he pushed his boxers down and took his own T-shirt off. His body displayed before her looked mouth-wateringly good. The tattoos on his ribs made her want to trace them first with her fingers and then with her tongue.
The ridges of muscle that had been carefully hidden under his clothes were once again on display for her, and she loved every second of it. His manhood proudly protruded from his body, and she couldn’t wait to have it inside her. She ached for it. She couldn’t actually remember paying any attention to it before. They had been in the shower, and he had distracted her with his magic fingers.
Now she was definitely paying attention to it. She glanced at his cock, and her eyes widened. It was huge. She wasn’t sure what she had been expecting, but this was much bigger than that. She licked her lips and looked up at Thad again. She could almost feel the heat of his gaze as it bored into her own.
Reaching out, she took it in her hand, the silky skin of his cock sliding against her own skin. She sat up in bed and scooted over until she was facing him. Her hand ran up and down, circling slightly as it went. Rising on her knees, she kissed right over one of his tattoos, working her way down his stomach.
She opened her mouth and licked the tip of his cock. His whole body twitched at the contact, and she couldn’t suppress her smile. She loved that she was making him react this way. Slowly, Cin moved her head up and down over and over again, sucking and licking as much as she could. Her hands joined her mouth and gently cupped his balls as she stoked the flames of his desire higher.
“If you don’t stop, I’m going to come. And I want to be buried inside you when that happens,” Thad growled. The ferocity in his voice made her shiver.
Cin slowed her movements and pulled her mouth away from his cock, licking her lips. Her hands kept working. She smiled sweetly up at him as she lay back on the bed, beckoning him to her.
“Gods, Cin, I don’t know how long I can last,” Thad gritted out as he rolled a condom on.
“Then you better hurry up.”
Thad smiled at her as he spread her legs apart. Her breath caught at the way he was looking at her, like she was something to be revered and he was about to worship.
She felt his cock nudge at her opening. She held her breath in anticipation. Inch by inch, he pushed into her, filling and stretching her. She gasped as he kept going, past what she thought she could take, and danced the line of pain and pleasure.
His name escaped her lips again and again, almost like a prayer, as he slowly began thrusting into her. Just when she thought he was in all the way, he would press further, making her gasp.
“You feel amazing,” he gasped.
Cin moaned as he slid into her again, his delicious body kneeling over her as he held her hips at the angle he wanted. All thoughts left her mind as the rhythm he set consumed her, pushing further and further each time. Finally, she could feel his hips meeting her own as he sheathed himself fully inside her.
The feeling of it made her almost dizzy with pleasure. Her hands gripped his hips, her need becoming urgent as he continued to set a steady pace. She needed him to go faster; she needed him to go deeper still. This all-consuming need took her over, and she pulled him toward her, his weight settling on her like a blanket.
“Faster,” she breathed in his ear, nipping his earlobe.
“As my lady commands,” Thad responded.
He wrapped one hand under her and held her in place by her shoulder. The other hand held her hips at a higher angle than she could herself. His tempo increased, and so did her gasps and moans. When he started grunting in her ear, Cin lost control. The orgasm took her by surprise and ripped through her like a hurricane. She screamed his name as her body clenched around him. His hands found her nipples as she rocked against him, and as he played with them, her orgasm kept going. Wave after wave of pleasure crashed over her.
He slowed his thrusts as her body finally came down from the high of the orgasm.
“Welcome back,” he growled.
Cin wrapped a hand around the back of his neck and was about to pull him in for a kiss when she remembered how unaccustomed to kisses he was. Instead, as she pulled him down, she kissed a line up his neck and nibbled his earlobe.
“Thanks,” she whispered as she felt a shiver run down his spine.
She grabbed his shoulders and hooked her feet around his, pushing him over so she was on top again. The surprised grunt from Thad was the icing on the cake. Cin sank down on his cock ever so slowly, earning a low moan from him as his head tipped back against the pillow, his curls spread around his head like a halo. Once he was completely inside her, she rocked back and forth, giving her body time to adjust to his size in this position before she started moving.
He filled her so completely. She loved it. Her hands rested on his chest as she began to ride him. The pleasure was on the edge of pain, but she picked up the pace anyway. She wanted to feel him as much as she possibly could. Her head fell back, and she let herself get lost in the motion as a sensation began to build deep within her.
Thad’s breathing changed, and she looked down at him to see a v shape had formed between his slashes of eyebrows and his eyes closed. She wasn’t ready for him to finish yet. Cin slowed her pace down, focusing on rocking back and forth instead. When his eyes cracked open, she could tell he was right on the edge. She slowed even further as she watched his reaction.
His hand came up, and his thumb sought out her clit. He danced around it fo
r a moment before making contact. When he did, it was like lightning went off behind her eyes. The rush of pleasure was exquisite.
As she rocked back and forth, he circled her clit with his thumb. An orgasm began to build in her. She rode the edge of the orgasm for as long as possible, like a surfer on a wave. All she wanted was to bring Thad along with her.
Her rocking became more unstable as Thad’s stroking drove her over the edge of the orgasm. She could feel Thad begin to move underneath her, but the pleasure wracking her body left her unable to respond.
His cock began pumping into her at a speed she would never be able to achieve on her own. Suddenly hands were supporting her, and Thad’s breath was in her ear, his grunts the most erotic thing she’d ever heard.
The sounds he made became more desperate and the pumping more frantic as he neared his own orgasm. He reached between them and tweaked a nipple, hard, causing another wave of pleasure to crash over her.
She heard herself screaming his name. Her muscles tried to contract around his cock, only to find there was no room to do so—he had filled her too completely. As the orgasm continued to pulse through her, she heard him call her name as his hips slammed into hers once and then twice more.
Thad’s body went rigid under her, and she felt his cock jerking inside her, which almost sent her into another orgasm. He opened his eyes and stared up at her like she was a rare jewel.
“Cin.” He breathed her name as she almost collapsed on top of him.
“Thaddeus.” She said his name and loved the way it felt coming out of her mouth.
“Was that good?” he asked, glancing down at their joined bodies, his cock twitching again inside her, which made her smile.
“That. Was. Phenomenal,” she said, kissing her way up his neck after each word.
His hand came up and brushed her hair back from her face. “For me too,” he whispered before leaning in to kiss her, his mouth brushing against hers.