by Billi Jean
She squeezed his arms and jumped up and down, too thrilled to hold it all inside. “You are so—wait, but what about what about normal? Kids, a family, your mom and dad?” she reminded him.
He tilted his head and scanned the room, and she followed his gaze. The room was more in focus now, as if Arawn had lifted the mist shrouding them. Almost every one of their friends was coupled. The matches were strong and solid. Each of them shared something so precious it sometimes hurt Hunter to witness their love. But they also had their lives, normal, sometimes bizarre but still lives. And children.
“Whatdaya say, baby? Wanna make me an honest man forever?”
Rick Kincaid. Forever?
She glanced at Arawn and saw his knowing smile, but it was Rick’s kidding grin that made her butterflies soar and sealed the deal. She pulled him close by his shirt and kissed him once.
“Only if you promise to do that thing you do,” she whispered against his lips. “Every day.”
“I can do it twice a day, if you want,” he whispered back. “Little Rickie’s like that.”
A throat cleared behind them.
“Yes, we can do that, on one condition,” Rick said, slinging his arm over her shoulders again and facing Arawn. “Let’s talk.”
Epilogue
“I still can’t believe you,” Hunter said into Kincaid’s shoulder. She kissed him there and he tried hard to keep his mind on their conversation. It shouldn’t have been hard. Little Rickie was one happy camper, and he was right alongside him on that happy camping trip.
“A man has to bargain. That’s all. It’s a guy thing,” he said, earning a muffled laugh as his woman went under the covers with her kissing.
“Oh? And of all the things you could choose, you pick warlock?”
“Sure.”
“Why?”
Her question came out muted by the blankets but he didn’t mind, not with her heading south with that amazing mind of hers. She stroked along his chest and sides, using her mouth to drive him crazy along his ribs, but as with everything else she did to him, he loved it.
“Rick?” she prompted when he lost the ability to speak.
He grunted at a sharp bite and focused on her question. “I kinda thought we’d make an amazing dynamic duo.” He bit his lip as she slid over a sensitive spot along his hip, then sneaky-like, she tickled her fingers over it. “Hell!”
She giggled and came up, breathless, happy and so beautiful he couldn’t take his eyes off her. Her blonde hair was even longer now than it had been back in Alaska. Long enough he could gather it up and tug her closer with it.
Against his lips she whispered, “I think you chose mage so you could have all this time with me, learning spells, and of course”—she leaned in and pressed her fabulous breasts to his chest as she pressed her slick pussy to Ricky—“teaching me so many new techniques.”
“Yeah, about that, I still think I can give you some more pointers,” he managed before she kissed him, shutting him up for a good long while. He didn’t mind. Hunter loved to kiss, and he was the man for the job. When she finally eased back to meet his eyes, hers were glowing with such love that his throat tightened.
“Damn I love you, baby.” She meant so much to him he had a hard time getting more than a foot away from her. The other immortal couples they knew had told him it was the bond they shared. Hunter felt it too, and would often seek him out if he moved to another room, which didn’t happen often.
So far everyone, even Gray, had been happy for them. Jack was already planning a new mission for them, but Hunter had stopped that with a clear warning that Kincaid needed to be trained. Kincaid had just smiled and shrugged. He knew when to let her have the last word.
Markee had given them an intricately carved wooden chest he’d said he’d made himself. It was cool because he’d also loaded it with some amazing weapons. Silent ones—like swords and shit.
Jaxon had slugged him in the arm and said he should have asked for Vampire, not mage, because then he’d have found out what a real wild ride was.
Hunter didn’t seem to agree, but had kept her thoughts on the subject for his ears alone, and of course, their own version of a wild ride.
He was stronger now, something he’d worried over at first, but after a few months he’d realized he was never going to hurt her.
“I love you too, Rick,” she whispered. “More each day,” she added shyly. “It’s almost like my life before simply didn’t exist, or it did,” she said and settled more on top of him, “but, like it’s a blur, maybe?”
“Good. I want us sharp and in focus, and everything else can take a back seat.”
“Not your mom and dad, though.” She shared her worries easily now.
“You gotta stop fretting over that. We have years with them before we have to do something about that. Let’s focus on here and now. Besides, they love you like crazy. They won’t notice we don’t age for a good bit, right?”
She lifted a cute eyebrow. Sometimes he got caught up just staring into her blue eyes, something he’d have laughed his ass off if someone else had ever admitted to such sissy shit. But he’d almost lost this…her. He wasn’t going to ever let her go.
“I guess not, but are you sure? I mean, they are your parents,” she went on, still troubled by his folks.
“They’re both our parents now. Let’s not worry over something that’s years down the road. This is our honeymoon,” he reminded her. “So no worries, just fun and more of this.” He squeezed her lush, bare butt.
She laughed and hugged his neck tightly.
They’d tied the knot in Vegas with his folks there and, of course, their friends. All his dad had said was that he was one lucky guy and better keep her safe. Now he could. Easily, he hoped. He patted her butt and smiled when she did.
“What’s on our agenda for the rest of the day?”
“Well, you did good with your spells, so…walk the beach, swim, you can barbecue some of that fish you caught, I’ll make the salad and drinks, then you can give me a nice long bath.”
“Oh? Is that so?” He loved giving her baths. She’d been teaching him how to manipulate water, and so far it’d gone well. They’d also worked on arching, a technique she said would join their powers in a shield of sorts. With their new life, Hunter had discovered that she could work her magic much more easily. They weren’t clear why, but she had confided in him that it was as if a block had been lifted from her spells and now was gone. She also had shared she thought it was because of him. He was just happy she was happy.
“Then, you know, after that you can do that thing with Rickie.”
His grin grew and he tipped her to her back, kissing her neck the way he knew she loved. They’d already made love after their lesson, but like everything about Hunter, he never had enough.
“Baby, I can do that right now, then do an encore performance after dinner, or during…”
“Oh, yes, I like that idea. You have been a good boy with your lessons. At this rate, we’ll have to go join the next crew.”
“Heck, why didn’t you tell me that before? I can slow way down,” he teased, and earned a delighted laugh from his woman.
She did that more now, so much more naturally that he could barely remember a time when she didn’t. They’d cleared her name of all charges, and bonus, gotten the Red Dragon coven in deep shit for killing her mom and kidnapping her, as well as siding with the Vampires and Vamp-Wolves in the monster making.
“Oh, you are so bad, Mr. Know it All.”
“I don’t know it all,” he assured her, positioning Little Rickie for their wild ride. “For example, when are we going to start mind talking? That shit is annoying when everyone else does it, but I think it would be cool.”
She wrapped her silky legs around his hips and he slid forward, taking her nice and easy. She felt so good, so warm and welcoming against him and around him. He swore sometimes he could stay like this, holding her as he joined them. It was insane, but he didn’t feel
right without her in his arms.
“Hunter.”
“Rick,” she moaned his name and lifted her head from where she’d been kissing his neck. There, in her eyes, he watched the fire blaze, and looked deeper to where he could see the love they shared swirling in the blue. She ground down on him and pressed her breasts tight to his chest. Of course that got his attention focused on her amazing body. He clenched his hands on her super-sexy ass and smoothed them up her back and along her ribs until his thumbs were under her lush breasts. He lifted them and bent to brush his lips over the warm flesh.
Hunter moaned louder, but he didn’t speed things up. He tasted every inch of her, finding that spot she loved under the heavy weight of each globe, tantalizing her with light nips and harder sucks until she was going wild. Only then did he tip her back and drive into her.
“Oh yes, please.” She stretched her hands above her head and arched her back, making him insane. Each pump of his hips drew them both closer to climax, but he resisted the urge to lose control.
He still sometimes went wild man on her. It was the craziest thing, but she always climaxed intensely when he did, so he was banking on that being some odd side effect of their bond.
Her breasts quivered, jiggling more with the increased pace of his thrusts, and he couldn’t hold back from sampling her nipples.
Surprising him, she grabbed his head and lifted it to capture his lips in a wild kiss. “I want to see what’s inside of that dirty mind of yours,” she whispered, wrapping her smooth legs around his hips. His control slipped a notch or a hundred.
He laughed as her words registered past the pleasure rocking through every inch of him.
“Baby, I tell you everything that’s in my dirty mind—or nearly.”
Torque had said the mind speech might come with time. And of course, he’d hinted it would blow Kincaid away. No doubt it would. Hunter was an amazing woman. To know her soul like that…
He took her deeper, encasing every inch of his cock in her tight heat. Holding himself there, he waited. He was breathless, close to coming himself, but so was Hunter. Sure enough, she gasped warmly against his chest. A second later her silky body began to tremble and she cried out in surprise at her climax.
“Love you, baby. Love you so much,” he murmured, stroking her hair and kissing her neck the way she liked as she continued clenching down on him.
“Rick,” she whispered, her tone so filled with passion he had to draw deep breaths to keep the wild man thing down.
She cried out again, that shocked sounding gasp that drove him into supernova pleasure every time. Unable to stand it, he bucked his hips, stroking his cock along her clenching body until, with a shout, he came unglued. Pleasure stole his breath along with his ability to move as his climax roared down to his toes. Like always, Hunter came with him again, this time digging her nails into his ass to give him a shot of hell yeah, along with the lust already burning him to the point of meltdown.
By the time they could talk again, the sun was low over the ocean and he knew Hunter wasn’t in any shape to walk. But that was cool, because he knew she’d keep her promise and they’d walk tomorrow, and the next day, and for millions of days after that.
“I love you, Rick Kincaid.”
“Good thing, baby, because you promised to love me forever, Hunter Kincaid.”
Her delighted laugh sounded as wonderful to him as her passionate cries. Maybe even better, he thought, and brushed kisses to her sweaty brow.
“Of course, a promise made is a promise kept,” she whispered, sounding so content his own happiness tightened his throat.
“Forever,” he vowed, getting the last word on that by taking her sweet mouth again in a leisurely kiss.
Also available from Totally Bound Publishing:
Sisterhood of Jade: Gambling on Trouble
Billi Jean
Excerpt
Chapter One
This is trouble, Jack. Walk away, just walk away.
Even as he thought it, Jack knew he’d never be able to walk away from helping someone if he could. But, he had a feeling the warning was spot on.
A dropdown gorgeous woman, dressed in black, facing off against a pack of guys all of whom were three times her size.
Less than twenty minutes out of the state pen and he was about to make a bad decision.
I have a plan, and it doesn’t include damsels in distress.
The reminder didn’t work. Sometimes a man just had to take a gamble in life and dive in head first. But is this one of those times?
She didn’t look like a damsel in distress. In fact, the petite redhead buffed her nails on her shirt, blew on them as if bored, then gave the guys an amused smile.
Two of the men moved in closer. She held her ground. A head shorter than both, she tossed her head and he thought she laughed. One snarled and motioned for her to come with them.
She shook her head and said something, but he was too far away to hear the conversation. Not that he needed to. Whatever she said made the men angrier. Obviously she wasn’t going with them easily, if at all. That meant she was outnumbered.
That makes the plan past tense. I had a plan and it was lame.
Get out. Get drunk. Get laid. Check in to find out why the hell he’d been pulled off years of undercover investigating right when he’d managed to take down the biggest Russian mob bosses. But yeah, compared with the woman in black, that all took a back seat.
Get her out of here. Find out what the hell she was thinking. Then maybe take her out to dinner.
Yeah, the new list sounded better. He dropped his duffel bag and shifted his shoulders under the leather jacket. His muscles were tired from a long day, but he relaxed his posture in preparation for the fight.
The guys circled like a pack of wolves and his little beauty appeared not to notice. Or maybe she just didn’t care. He walked in, taking his time to make sure they heard him.
No one glanced in his direction. So, whatever they were doing, it doesn’t matter if they’re caught. Or they aren’t doing anything and I can go. All a misunderstanding, thank you, and see ya soon.
“Really, boys, this is just so not cool. All you against one little woman? Am I such a badass?” the beauty called.
The men she spoke to lowered their heads like bulls and he swore they all cracked their knuckles.
She had to be some kind of millionaire or model, dressed in her designer black jeans and a sexy tank top. Her hair glowed a bright, deep, burgundy with shots of lighter fire throughout. If she was armed, he wasn’t sure exactly where she’d hidden her weapon, since her jeans were so low he could see her amazing hipbones and the shirt was really just a black silky shift, not a real shirt at all. There wasn’t room anywhere on her to hide even a knife, let alone the firepower she’d need to back up her tough talk.
Still, she surprised him by repositioning herself so her side was to him, but she could still keep an eye on the men facing her. It’s something he would do if he were faced with an unknown.
Good girl. Keep all your enemies in view. Not that he was an enemy. Not with a woman like this. She tossed her hair and revealed the delicate line of her slender back, completely bare, except where thin lines of black silk crisscrossed and tied the shirt on, he assumed. Damn, sexy didn’t even come close to describing her.
She didn’t look at him, but it didn’t matter, he knew her face was going to be as beautiful as the rest of her.
“Who the hell are you?” one of the men demanded.
“Just calm down, I’m nobody, but guys shouldn’t corner a woman. What’s the deal?” Jack said, trying to calm the situation.
“What’s the deal?” she repeated with an award-winning amount of sarcasm. “The deal is, this isn’t your concern.”
“I guess I just made it my concern,” he argued.
She faced him at that and man, oh man, he’d known she was going to be a knockout, but her eyes were the darkest shade of green in the world And—bless her little he
art—she wore porn star makeup—the bright blue kind with dark black eyeliner and thick lashes around her big, now narrowed eyes.
Sweet Jesus, her face was even prettier than he’d imagined.
Not that she seemed as impressed with him. She waved her hand off to the end of the alley and frowned at him dismissively. “Go, because I can’t protect you.”
Well, hell, that wasn’t expected. He laughed and drew himself up to his full height. “Hey, now, I thought I’d possibly be protecting you—”
“Enough!” the first guy snapped, drawing his attention off her and back where it needed to be. “Hand it over, witch, we’ve had about enough of this.” He cracked his knuckles to prove he’d watched way too many mobster movies. “He can’t protect you, and you know it.”
He indicated the messenger bag she wore with a nod of his chin. “We paid for The Eye, it’s ours.”
The Eye?
“You paid for something, to someone who ripped you off. I made that clear when your boss called me on my cell phone, a no-go by the way. I don’t like my number out there, you know?” She tossed her head again as if to say whatever. “Lookit, I’ll educate you for a brief ten seconds. If it was yours, I never would have been able to touch it. Now, back off before you piss me off even more than you already have,” she said, lowering her voice to one hell of a sexy growl.
He was impressed. The men facing her weren’t.
Their spokesman’s scowl deepened. “This is your last chance. Hand it over, or I willnae be responsible for any pain you suffer.” He certainly knew how to lay down a threat. He included Jack in on it with a smirk. “You’re limited now, witch. You know the rules.”
The rules?
“Oh, please,” Miss Sexy said, giving them a cute little tinkling laugh so out of sorts with the dark alley, big guys surrounding her, and the tension in the air, that Jack wanted to groan.