by Kate Douglas
He squeezed her shoulder, then slid his hand up and down her back. “She sounds like a hell of a woman.”
“She was. She was my best friend and she was just . . . beautiful inside and out. Alex has his father’s green eyes, but the bronze skin and dark hair are all Jaya. His face is even a male version of hers.” She grinned, finally able to meet his gaze as all the good times streamed through her mind. “Alex was just like her.”
“Alex?” The doubt was plain in Merek’s voice. “The kid is intense, yeah, but not—”
“Fun? No. Not anymore, anyway. He was there when she died. All I know is that Ivan and Jaya fought that day. A big, rip-roaring shouting match and total relationship meltdown. It was a full moon that night.” She seesawed her hand through the air. “Alex and Ivan completed the shift and Jaya . . . didn’t. Change can be so unpredictable, and wolf magic fluctuates so much at full moon. More than most Magickals would guess, and far more than I realized before I started my research. Though some werewolves maintain control better than others, anything that throws a wolf off-balance can be the difference between controlling the full moon shift and not. Jaya’s getting into a fight . . .”
“What did they fight about?”
“I don’t know. That’s all I’ve ever been able to drag out of Alex. He and his father never talk about her. Absolutely never.” Her voice broke on that last sentence, and she cleared her throat. “It’s a shame, really, because she was so wonderful. Her life should be celebrated. She should be remembered.”
Merek sat down beside her, his hand still warm and solid on her back. “You remember her.”
“Yeah. I do.” She gave a small smile and sighed. “I hope Alex gets to the point that he can ask about her someday. It’d be criminal if the only thing he ever associates with her is fighting and a horrible death.”
He pulled her close, tucking her against his chest. “If anyone can help him get there, it’s you.”
“Thanks.” She half laughed, half sighed. He had more faith in her than she did, but she let herself lean against him and absorb some of this strength. Just for a moment, she’d allow herself the weakness. The desire to touch him and taste him was eclipsed only by the need to let him comfort and care for her. The feeling was powerful enough to scare her, so she did the only thing she could do—she ripped herself free of his arms and hurried to her closet to grab a Seattle Seahawks baseball cap she hadn’t worn in years.
He reached for her again when she tossed the hat into her suitcase, but she flinched away. Her hormones were rioting, and she didn’t trust herself to get near him. Not again. His expression flattened, and he stood to glare down at her. “What’s going on, Chloe?”
What was going on was that she wanted him so badly her hands shook like an addict looking for a fix. She fisted her fingers at her sides. They were going to have to play nice for the next few weeks or months or however long it took Luca to wrap up this case with Smith—and she refused to think that he might never catch the guy—so she might as well lay her chips on the table. Alex didn’t need a tense environment to live in, and his comfort and safety were more important to her than anything else. She met Merek’s gaze squarely. “Look, we’re going to be stuck together for a while, so you should know your bodyguard job duties don’t include being a gigolo. I appreciate your doing this for Alex and me, and I’m not going to jump you again like I did at the safe house. Your virtue, or whatever’s left of it, is safe with me. Not a single seduction spell will I cast.”
“Well, that’s a shame.” He moved around behind her, his breath ruffling the hair at her temple.
She shuddered, snapped her suitcases closed, and lifted them off the mattress. Merek reached around her, took the bags, and dropped them on the floor. Then his hands were on her, turning her to pull her to him, trapping her between his body and the bed.
“I thought I made this clear last night, but if not, allow me to reiterate.” His hands slipped up to cup her face, his eyes a stormy gray. “I want you. I have wanted you from the second I laid eyes on you. I fucked you at work, for gods’ sake. The only reason I didn’t fuck you at the safe house when you pressed this sweet, soft little body against me was that you’d been tortured, and we were in an exposed position. Even then, it was a damn close call. Because I want you, and I have wanted you since the moment I met you. And every single moment since, I’ve still wanted you.”
“Me, too.” She swallowed, her pulse pounding in her ears as the simple, stark truth spilled from her lips. “I—I dream about us, about that first night. All the time.”
He groaned, his fingertips caressing her face, sliding along her cheekbones and down to her chin to force her to meet his gaze. “We have about a half an hour before Alex, Millie, and her chauffeur / bodyguard / gigolo get here.” She huffed out a laugh, and he stepped even closer, his fingers cupping the back of her neck. “That’s not as much time as I’d like, but I’m willing if you are. I’m willing to continue this thing between us for as long as we’re together on this case.”
The half smile that tilted his lips melted any protest she might have made. She sighed. As if there would have been any protest anyway. The temptation to touch him whenever she could had been irresistible from the first.
“I’m willing,” she breathed. If he was, she was. She swayed toward him to close the negligible distance between them. Her breasts flattened against the hard wall of muscle that was his chest.
He leaned down and brushed his lips over hers, a soft caress after the rough claiming in his office. She pressed closer, tempted beyond reason, beyond caution, beyond logic. His lips molded hers, sipping small kisses until she moaned and deepened the contact herself, sweeping her tongue into his mouth. He tasted the same, like warm honey and hot man.
His hands settled on her hips, pulling her tight to his groin to fit her against his thick cock. She arched closer, trying to get his erection right where she needed it. Frustration twisted inside her at the barriers of their clothing. She wanted his hard dick pushing into her. Right now. Her flesh burned, her core melting until she was wetter than she’d ever been in her life. His tongue twined with hers in a sinuous dance, their kisses growing wilder, rougher, but it wasn’t enough.
Balling her fingers in his shirt, she tried to communicate her urgency. He sucked her lower lip between his teeth and bit her gently. It did nothing to assuage her. Her nipples hardened to tight peaks, and she wanted his mouth on them, wanted him touching her bare skin. She broke her lips away from his and let her head fall back. Her fingers still fisted in his shirt, and she wanted it gone. “Naked.”
The word was more a ragged expression of utter need than a conscious spell, but the golden sparks of her magic answered anyway. Their clothes fell away, dropping to the floor at their feet.
“How the hell did you—” He choked on a startled laugh, but groaned when she rubbed her breasts against the crisp hair on his chest.
Her heart pounded in her ears, her blood rushing so fast she felt faint. “Touch me, Merek.”
“I am. I will.” His lips moved down her throat until he could bite down on the sensitive tendon that connected shoulder and neck.
A strangled cry broke from her, need fisting her insides. She captured his hand and slipped it down her torso. He followed her lead, his palm sliding obediently over her skin until he dipped between her legs. “No, I mean touch me.”
“Gods,” he breathed. He pulled back to meet her gaze, his eyes heavy-lidded and molten silver with lust. The heel of his hand rubbed her clit, making her nerves jump at his touch. Both of their fingers pierced her core, stretched her. His voice became guttural. “You’re wet for me.”
“Yes,” she whispered. Her body arched into their hands, and she guided their movements within her drenched pussy, hot magic from both of them ratcheting up her pleasure. She was going to come; she could feel the clench and release of muscles deep within, building and building until she quivered on the edge of orgasm.
She snapped her
fingers around his wrist and jerked his hand away. His eyes widened in surprise when she shoved him onto the bed on his back. After the pain and chaos of last night, she needed to be in control, needed to take, to ravish, to make him groan her name in that deep voice of his.
He seemed to understand because a slow, sexy smile curved his lips, and he licked her cream from his fingers before he tucked his hands behind his head. “I’m all yours, sweetheart. Enjoy.”
“I’m going to.” She let a fingertip drift down the centerline of his chest. “I hope you will, too.”
“Oh, I guarantee it.” The heavy muscles in his arms, pecs, and abs flexed as he settled back against the pillows.
Gods, he was gorgeous. She wanted her hands on him, her body rubbing against those hard angles, her sex filled by his long cock. Grinning, she leaned forward to lick his flat brown nipple. It tightened against her lips, and he hissed out a breath.
Hot power rushed through her that she could make this man react to her so strongly, that he was willing to let her use him for both their pleasure. It was headier than any magic she’d ever known. A shiver rippled along her nerves, and her pussy clenched in a helpless spasm. She grazed his nipple with the edge of her teeth and he jerked beneath her, groaning. The sound vibrated through his chest and against her lips.
Her hands moved over his skin, her fingers toying with his other nipple until it was a hard little nub like the one she teased with her mouth. Her other hand slipped down his stomach, her nails scraping a light circle around his navel that had him cursing between clenched teeth.
She hummed in pleasure at his lack of control. Not enough, though. She wanted more. Stroking over his muscular thighs, she touched him everywhere but where she knew he wanted. His hands came down to fist in the sheets, but he made no move to stop her, to take control away from her.
Glancing up at him, she saw that his eyes were pinched closed, a flush of lust running under his tanned flesh, his skin stretched tight across his sharp cheekbones. His teeth were bared in a grimace of what could have been pain if it weren’t for the harsh sound of need that ripped from his throat.
She followed the path of her fingers, kissed her way down his chest, sliding her tongue along the hard ridges of his abs, swirling around his belly button. He sucked in a sharp breath, and she nipped at the taut flesh beneath his navel. His body went rigid, a shudder rippling through his muscles.
Beads of pre-cum slipped down his hard shaft. The ragged sound of his panting echoed in the room. She smiled against his skin, and finally put him out of his misery. A delicate lick at the head of his cock made him strangle on a choke, and the salty flavor of him burst over her tongue.
Her fingers curled around the base of his dick, stroking the soft flesh and the hardness within. She sucked him into her mouth, relaxing her throat to take as much of him as she could. Working him with her hand and her mouth, she had him gritting out swear words, his big body arching into her. It turned her on even more, made her breathing almost as rough as his. The scent of him, of her, of sweat and sex, intoxicated her. She didn’t know how much longer she could last—her own wetness slipped down the insides of her thighs, her pussy fisting on emptiness she wanted filled.
“Chloe,” he groaned, and the grin that tugged at her lips was smug.
She let him slip from her mouth, then blew a cool stream of air on his moist skin. “Yes. That’s my name.”
“Chloe!” His body jerked upward, and she heard the sheets rip in his hands.
“Say it again.”
“Sweetheart, at this point I’ll beg if you want. Fuck me. I want to be inside you right now.” His voice strangled when she licked him from base to crown, pulling him between her lips, scraping him lightly with her teeth. “Chloe!”
She could almost hear his self-control snap. His hard hands bit into her hips as he jerked her into place over him. His cock pressed for urgent entrance, and she pushed down as he shoved upward. They cried out as he was seated exactly where they both wanted him to be. He filled her so well, his thick cock stretching her channel until she couldn’t hold back a low sob.
Tingles raced over her skin, and she knew she wouldn’t last long. A few thrusts, and she’d go flying over the edge. She almost whimpered at the mere thought. Sweat beaded at her temples to slip down her skin. She rocked herself on him, taking his cock deep with each roll of her hips. She couldn’t stop, couldn’t slow down, couldn’t savor it. Now. She craved it, the release only he could give her. Now. Bracing her hands on his chest gained the leverage she needed to move faster, to take him deeper.
“Chloe,” he breathed her name like a prayer, his fingers clenching on her waist as he worked her on his cock.
Their skin slapped together with each movement, the crack of sound filling her bedroom. Gods, it was erotic. She couldn’t even draw enough breath to tell him. Her skin felt too hot and so tight she thought she might explode out of it. Contractions built deep within her, her inner muscles clenching around his dick in one long spasm.
He rotated his pelvis under her, and she splintered into orgasm. Throwing her head back, she screamed. Her nails scored his chest, and a wave of magic she couldn’t contain rolled from her, only to have Merek return it like a riptide that sucked her under. It was fire and ice and grew more powerful every time they touched. That should have scared her, would have, but she was too far gone to care about anything but the sensations whipping through her body. Her pussy fisted tight again and again, squeezing around his pounding cock.
“Merek,” she gasped. “Merek!”
A growl rumbled from him as his body bowed between her thighs. The hot pulse of his come filled her, and he shuddered beneath her. His hard hands held her down, the wide base of his cock stretching her. Orgasm still sent hard tremors through her, making a soft cry spill from her throat. A fierce smile bared his teeth as she clenched on him helplessly. “Just like that, sweetheart. Give me everything.”
She shouldn’t. She couldn’t. She had no choice. Her reaction to him always caught her by surprise, and the way she lost control around him only attracted her to him more. She liked that, wanted it. With the high stakes involved in her work, the only time she really allowed herself to let loose the fetters on her self-control was in bed. And there she craved it. But leaning on any one person for her needs, her pleasure, was a bad thing. Gods, what a mess she was.
Folding in on him, she found herself caught securely against his broad chest. Her muscles felt limp, wrung out, spent. She relaxed for the first time in what seemed like forever. Closing her eyes, she buried her nose in his throat. He smelled so good. Like heat and man and honey, just like he tasted. She smiled at the contrast, but it fit him. His palms stroked in lazy circles on her back while their breathing evened out, their heart rates slowed, and the sweat dried on their skin. She yawned and nuzzled closer, the first tendrils of sleep tugging at her.
She jolted when he lifted her off of him and jackknifed in bed. “Damn it!”
“What?” She rubbed her eyes, trying to focus through the grogginess.
He groaned and rolled off the bed and to his feet in one smooth motion. “Your aunt is going to be here in exactly one—”
The doorbell rang.
“That telling the future thing is kind of freaky sometimes.” She stretched against the mattress, arching her back to work out the kinks. He immediately closed his hands over her breasts, bending forward to kiss each one in turn. He sucked her nipples hard, biting at the tight crests. She squealed and laughed, shivering as renewed desire throbbed through her body. “Okay, okay! Freaky, but useful.”
“Sadly, yes.” His eyes narrowed, and he tilted his head, the callused tips of his fingers still stroking her nipples. “Millie’s about to use her key on the door.”
“Shit.” Chloe scrambled to her feet, pushing his hands away from her breasts, but that didn’t cover the creak of her front door swinging open. Scooping her clothes off the floor, she used a spell to shake out the wrinkles. “Hurry
up and get dressed!”
His lips twitched as he watched her, but he obligingly reached for his garments. “What, you don’t have a spell to put the clothes back on?”
She snorted on a laugh. “I didn’t do it on purpose, so, no, I don’t have a counterspell handy. You’ll just have to do it the Normal way.”
“That’s okay.” His voice was muffled when he pulled his shirt over his head, then his tousled blond head popped into view again. “I’d rather have you take your clothes off for me than put them on.”
She laughed outright at that. “Shut up, Kingston!”
“Chloe?” Millie called from outside the bedroom door.
“I’ll bring out your bags.” Merek sat on the bed to lace his boots, jerking his chin to point Chloe out of the room. “You go head them off before they come in here and see the wreckage.”
Her gaze darted around. Gods, the bed was a disaster. Not one of her four pillows was in sight, and the fitted sheet was ripped and balled in the middle of the mattress. The air reeked of sex, so much so that she had a feeling Alex would be able to smell it from out there. Hell, a stupid Normal would have been able to figure out what had been going on in here.
Jerking her clothes back on, she used a bit of magic to tidy herself, and prayed no one could sense she’d been freshly fucked. She wasn’t ashamed of what she’d done, but that didn’t mean she felt the need to advertise.
She stepped out of the bedroom and snapped the door shut behind her. Philip’s eyes narrowed; he slid his hands into his pockets, and let his gaze wander around the room as he looked anywhere but at Chloe. Millie’s smile was smugly satisfied. She nodded in approval, but thankfully said nothing.
Alex’s eyebrows arched, and he didn’t bother to hide a grin. “Well, then. I’m going to go make some coffee.”
He suited actions to words and strode into the kitchen.
Chloe sighed and went to scoop Ophelia into her cat carrier. She was not happy and distinctly uncooperative. Chloe glared down at her familiar. “Look, you either get in the carrier, which I know you have enough magic to unlatch any time you want, or I can leave you here as werewolf terrorist kibble. What’s it going to be?”