by N. R. Larry
I spun around right as he ducked back down the hatch. When I was alone, I turned back into the wind and closed my eyes trying to rid myself of the building sexual energy. I wouldn’t even know how to do it anymore. It has been over five years since I was with anyone, and my memories of it weren’t exactly thrilling.
Without wanting to, I pictured how it might be with Ty. Those strong hands all over me. The animal coming out of him without him having to shift. My mouth started to water when another siren went off, shocking me out of my fantasy.
I stared out into the night to see a projection against the dark sky. It was the mayor of Birmingham. He started to speak, and the pounding of my heart drowned out everything he was saying.
A picture of me holding a bow and arrow flashed across the screen. I was wanted, dead or alive. That I could have dealt with. Ty’s picture flashed across the screen as well, and lastly, Douglass.
We were all wanted, dead or alive.
I caught only the tail end of what he was saying. “Lawrence Kincaid is to surrender herself within twenty-four hours, or else her friends will pay the price.”
Then there they were. Katie and Zed. Not in Camp Death, but being held as property within the mayor’s household.
The mayor smiled and ran a hand through his silver hair. “Don’t worry, Lawrence. I am a forgiving man. I’m willing to drop the charges against those that are aiding you—but make no mistake about your situation. You will not get out of this alive. Either you die alone, or all of you will die. You have twenty-four hours to make your choice.”
The picture zapped out of the sky, and I stood there alone, shivering.
“Well, that sucks.”
I jumped and then turned around to face Ty. He was holding a bundle of rope in his hands. I had to stop myself from shaking. I nodded. “Yes, this is about as bad as it gets.”
He stepped closer to me, his eyes steady and determined. “I can forgive a lot of things, Lawrence, but if you hand yourself over to those people…. That, I can’t forgive. And you’re the first person I’ve believed in for a long fucking time. You can make a real difference here.”
I stared at him, my heart almost ripping in two. “What do you expect me to do, Ty?” The question came out as a hiss. “Let my friends die. Let you die?”
He came even closer, his eyes sparking passion. “I expect you to fight,” he said in a voice that seeped through my skin and settled into my bones. “I expect you to fight with me, to the death if necessary so that there will be something worth dying for in the future.” He held up the bundle of rope. “So, what are you made of, baby?”
I stared at the rope, then glanced at him. I sighed. “What do you want me to do?”
* * *
Minutes later Ty had me tied up so tight I could barely move. I stared down at him bent over, securing a knot around my ankles. When he stood up, he peered at me through narrow eyes.
“How does that feel?”
I gave him a look.
“Can you move?”
I widened my eyes and made a show of trying to move my arms and legs.
He smiled. “Good.” Then he walked up behind me. His fingers slide down the skin of my neck and grabbed the chain holding my crystal. “What does this mean for you?” he asked in a soft voice against my ear.
I opened my mouth and shivered. He chuckled. Inhaling deeply, I said, “It binds my magic.”
He walked around so that he was facing me. “I’ve seen you do magic with it on.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Not very powerful magic.” I sighed, trying to think of a way to explain it. “It’s more like it focuses my magic to a single point so that it doesn’t run crazy through my body.” I bit the corner of my lip before adding, “What it really does is keep the Anchor at bay. Keeps it from taking over when I’m casting a spell.”
He nodded his understanding. “It makes you feel safe?” he asked, inching toward me and placing his hands on the back of my neck. He leaned in so close our noses were almost touching.
Staring into his eyes, I had a hard time drawing air into my lungs. His intensity had always flustered me, but being this close to it was almost impossible. I finally managed to nod.
“Okay, well, we’re gonna get rid of it.” He laced his fingers around the clasp on my chain.
My eyes popped wide open in panic. “Wait,” I said, breathing heavier. “You can’t. I haven’t been without it for…” I shook my head. “I can’t remember ever being without it.”
The corner of his mouth turned up into a crooked smile. Locking gazes with me, he slowly, almost painfully, undid my clasp. His fingers traced the back of my neck as he did so, punching energy into every corner of my body. Waking me up to possibility.
“I’ll put it in a safe place,” he said softly as he finally removed the crystal and slid it into his pocket.
I bit my lip and he grinned. “God, you’re sexy when you’re nervous.”
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“And when you’re pissed.”
I stood stone still. I could feel it now. The Anchor. Sensing opportunity. I wrinkled my nose and gritted my teeth.
“How do you feel right now?”
I started deep breathing. “Scared,” I said right away. “Terrified.”
He nodded. “Good, that’s good.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “How much experience do you have training people?”
“A lot. I’m an alpha.”
I nodded. “Leader of your pack.”
“Yes. I once trained a gang of twelve-year-old wolf shifters to control their shifting in half a day.”
I pressed my lips together. “Wow. Respect.” While I wasn’t a shifter, I knew a good deal about other magical races. I knew young shifters, especially in their teen years, were the most difficult to train.
Still, he’d never dealt with the Anchor.
Nobody had ever dealt with the Anchor.
“The first thing I want you to do is stop calling the shit ‘the Anchor.’”
I frowned. “I already explained that to you.”
He nodded, hands on hips. “Yes, and I explained to you my thoughts on that.”
I frowned.
“Listen.” He placed his hands on my shoulders, making it hard to focus. “You can’t call it the Anchor. Because you are the Anchor.” His eyes narrowed as he gazed at me. “I need you to take control of this with your words first.”
I stared at him for several moments. “What do you think I should call it?” I finally asked.
He shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t think you should call it anything.”
I blinked.
“Call it you. Lawrence Kincaid. You are the Anchor, baby.”
I started to shake my head, and his hands moved from my shoulders to the sides of my neck. “I know I’m telling you to fight against something you’ve believed your entire life, but you have to try. Magic doesn’t go where it doesn’t belong. And Spirit isn’t anti-magic, it’s the source of all magic.” He half smiled. “It’s you. And it’s beautiful.”
It shouldn’t have been so easy to believe his words, or at least, to want to believe his words. He offered them up with such sincerity and belief that it made me question everything I thought I knew. The strange part was, I hardly knew him, and yet, I felt like I knew him better than I knew anyone else.
I figured it couldn’t hurt to at least try on his faith and see how it felt. I nodded my head. “I am the Anchor,” I said in a low voice.
Backing away, he lifted his eyebrows. “Did you mean that?”
I stared at him for a second, and then lifted my gaze to the sky. Stars were starting to blink into the darkness. Seeing them made the Anchor—no, the magic inside of me want to burst out. It was almost as if, something inside of me related to those stars.
In that moment, I felt like stardust. Like all the matter in the universe.
A shudder ran through me. “I think so.”
He moved toward me, and this time I studied him, really studied him. His movements were so graceful, so determined. He always moved with purpose, like he was always supposed to be where he was.
Reaching out, he placed his hands over my heart. It sped up as if his hand carried with it some electric charge. He placed his other hand on the small of my back and leaned forward. “Try to control your heart rate.”
I wanted to laugh. “I’m trying to.”
His gaze lowered slightly. “Is something making it race like that?”
I stared at him, but in a fond way. “Are you really flirting with me right now? Kind of unprofessional.”
He lifted his gaze. “I never said this would be easy for either one of us.”
Nodding, I took a series of deep breaths. Slowly, my heart beat fell to its regular pace.
“Good,” he said to me in a husky voice that made me ache for him. “That’s good.” He licked his bottom lip. “Say it again.”
I stared at him because at first, I had no idea what he was talking about. I took another deep breath. “I am the Anchor.”
He licked his lips again and shook his head. “No good. Your heart is racing.”
I slowed it down again. “I am. The Anchor.”
He shook his head.
My body started to go rigid with frustration.
“Don’t do that,” he said. “Don’t lose focus. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Just… try truer words.”
I stared at him, considering his words.
He stared at me, considering Gaia knows what.
His eyes almost worked to hypnotize me. The words floated to the forefront of my mind, simple and easy.
I stood straighter, which was hard, given I was still bound. “I am Lawrence, and I am aligned with the element of Spirit.”
He smiled. “Lawrence, the spirit witch.” His eyes narrowed. “How does it sound when I say it?”
I tilted my head. “It sounds true.”
“Good.” He stepped back and his hands dropped to his belt buckle. “Now. I want you to tune into me when I shift.”
And with that, Ty-Von began to take his clothes off, much slower than he needed to.
Chapter 16
He stood in front of me with his belt loose and his shirt on the ground at his feet. I followed his movement as he stuck his thumbs into his belt loops. I could feel his gaze on me. Whatever he was doing, it wasn’t going to be conducive to anything productive.
Well, not as far as magic was concerned.
Actual magic, not that magic people make when their bodies move together in…
I shook free those thoughts. “What are you doing?” I demanded in a shrill voice.
He wasn’t surprised. With a half smile, he said, “I’m taking my clothes off.”
I bit my bottom lip. “Well, I can see that. But why?”
He rocked back and forth on his feet, and then kicked off his shiny, white shoes. “So that I can shift.”
“You have to be naked to shift?”
“Not at all.”
“Then why?”
He smiled.
I tilted my head to the side and stifled a smile.
“It does have a purpose,” he finally assured me.
I lifted an eyebrow.
“I promise.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Remember when I said I wanted you to be uncomfortable?”
I nodded.
“Sexual tension plays that role very nicely.”
“Ah.”
“May I continue?”
I looked at him. “I don’t know how to answer that. This isn’t exactly an everyday situation for me.”
He winked.
Swallowing the excess saliva in my mouth, I finally nodded. “We’re keeping this professional.”
“Always.” His hands were back at his belt. “You confuse me.”
My gaze followed the movement of his belt riping away from his pants and falling to the floor. “Why?”
“You’ve never been uncomfortable with nudity before. In fact, you gave me shit about it.”
I met his gaze. “It’s different now.”
He inched his trousers down his muscular legs to reveal form fitting boxer briefs. I tried not to stare at the package, but I’m only human, I couldn’t exactly help it.
“How is it different?”
I stared at him through a fog. My mind was starting to go in circles. I wanted to rip these cuffs and restraints off and straddle him. The Anchor—no, the magic swarming through me beat against my skin, begging to be let out. I clenched my jaw as sweat formed at my temples. “You know why—” I huffed. “It’s different.”
He nodded, his eyes telling me the sexual energy zipping between us affected him too. Strolling around me, he whispered, “How are you feeling now?” He pressed himself against my back.
For a moment I thought I might beg him to let me go. Then my power rushed through me like a mini storm. You don’t need his permission, it whispered. You can get out of these restraints anytime you want.
I beat down my spirit magic. Air burned as it moved into and out of my lungs. “I feel like. I might. Explode.”
“Good,” he whispered against my ear. He moved behind my back, and when he came around to face me again, he was naked. Not only that, the gray had been lifted from his hair, and his face was once again his own. For a moment, I was distracted by that.
I shook my head. “What the hell?”
“I’m a shifter. I took back my human form,” he said in a husky voice.
I locked my gaze onto his, determined to keep it there. The desire to drink him in with my eyes left me shaking. That, and the power. I was right at the edge of it, about to fall off.
“I can see the struggle on your face,” he said. “Don’t fight it.”
I clenched my jaw and shook my head. “I’m afraid.”
“Good.” He started to pace. “That’s a good start.”
I snorted, grateful for the distraction. “How is fear good?”
He turned to me and my knees almost went out. “Because, beautiful, fear is always there.” He sauntered over to me with those unsettling, graceful strides. “It’s always around some corner, in some dark alley. People get in trouble when they forget what to do with it.”
By then I was shaking so hard the metal on my cuffs rattled. My body was coated in sweat, and not in a sexy way. “What do you do with it?”
He smiled. “You don’t try to get rid of it, or pretend it isn’t there.” He inched closer to me, took my arms, and stilled my shaking. “You accept the reality that it’s there and then act anyway.”
I felt so weak I had to lean into him. “I hate this,” I said against his shoulder.
“What do you hate?”
“Being the girl that needs the guy.”
He held me upright so that he could look down at me. “You think it makes you weak?”
I gave a weak laugh. “Look at me.”
He shook his head. “All I see is strength.” He pulled me closer and rested his lips against his ear. Now I wasn’t only at the edge, I had one toe over the line. “And there’s nothing weak about needing someone. Especially if you can admit it. And why haven’t you considered the fact that I need you a hell of a lot more than you need me? This doesn’t make you a damsel, Lawrence. It makes you—” He shook his head. “You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever met.”
I stared at him and then smiled. “Hey, what’s your last name?”
He looked surprised.
“I feel closer to you than anyone in my life, and I never asked your last name.”
He grinned. “Gary.”
“Two first names,” I said.
“Yes. Are you ready for this next part?”
I took a deep breath. The power inside me was still storming around, leaving me breathless. I was afraid of it. I tried in that moment, to look into that fear and own
it.
“Yes.”
He backed away from me. “Look at me.”
I did. I looked at all of him. Every inch. I had never felt more alive. The power inside of me began to shift into something else. Fear mixed with desire. I wanted to do things with him I’ve always been afraid to do.
“Okay,” I said in a shaky voice.
“Now.” He placed his hands behind my back. “Feel me. With your magic.”
I nodded.
“Shifting is like trying to hold onto running water. If you can manage to grab even a drop of it, you can turn it into something else.”
“Just like magic,” I said.
“Just like magic.”
I homed in on his energy. The air rippled. My hair was blown back. And then that beautiful, ripped body began to shiver. To quake. To break apart. I studied his face as his bones cracked and separated. As his body bent over and fur rippled across his skin like a rising wave.
I focused all my energy on him. On feeling him. Then there was a moment. A moment when he let go of everything that made him human. A peace washed over me, which meant that a peace had washed over him. It was beautiful, and then I was staring into the yellow eyes of his panther form.
I gasped. “That was amazing.”
His long tail whipped behind him, and then he prowled toward me as if on the hunt. A deep growl came from his throat. Then the air charged with electricity again and Ty was standing back in front of me, clothed and all.
I shook my head. “You’re beautiful.”
A faint blush painted his cheeks.
I was shaking again, but for a different reason. The crystal and magic were far away from my thoughts. “Do you still want to kiss me?”
He kind of grunted. “Lawrence, I think about kissing you almost every second of the fucking day.” He growled it at me like the panther he had been only moments before.
I took a shuddering breath. “Well, I’m inviting you.”
He swept toward me so fast I almost fell backward. Placing two fingers under my chin, he drew me toward him. “God.” He licked his lips. “That’s tempting.”
I closed my eyes.
“I don’t want you to invite me yet, though.”
My eyes popped open. “Why?”