Gravity (Mageri Series: Book 4)

by Dark, Dannika

  “Then my female will get what she wants,” he said matter-of-factly.

  “Have you heard about Justus? I think he’s finally found himself a woman.”

  “Did he now?” Logan reached down and unlaced my boots. “Jiminy. Since when did you start dressing paramilitary?”

  “Since I started getting serious about you?”

  He pulled at the boot and my foot slid out. His fingers worked the lace on the second boot and he glanced over his shoulder. “Silver, I want you to keep Christian as your protector. He has proven himself a loyal guard. I owe him for that, even if I don’t forgive him for putting his hands on your body and despite the fact I’d love nothing more than to tie him to the front end of my car.”

  “Christian, I feel the same way,” I said in a passive voice. “But tune your ears out of the rest of our conversation, please.”

  Logan tried to pull off my socks and I flattened my feet on the mattress.

  “My feet are cold.”

  He stretched out beside me. “Your jeans are staying on in case something happens; I don’t want you running into the streets of Cognito half-dressed.”

  “It’s not like I’ll freeze to death,” I said, kissing his arm that was folded beneath his head.

  Logan rubbed his nose against mine. “No, but your body is not to be shared with any man.”

  “I guess that means I won’t be wearing a bikini to the beach this summer.”

  A burst of laughter sounded in the other room and I narrowed my eyes. “Christian,” I hissed. “So help me, exit from this conversation now.”

  Logan wedged his right leg between mine and we locked together like twisted pretzels. “What do you know of Chitah customs?”

  “Not much. Why?”

  “If it’s your heritage, don’t you think it’s time you start learning about it?”

  “True.” I stared at the shadows dancing on the foiled windows from the candlelight. “Tell me it’s nothing like all those Mage books that Justus keeps in his study, is it? If so, I’ll take the CliffsNotes version.”

  Logan ran his hand along my arm and I wrapped mine around his side. Then all of a sudden, my stomach made a horrendous noise—like a troll growling from underneath the bridge it’s guarding.

  “Jeez, girl.” Logan laughed and tucked his hand beneath my shirt to rest on my side. “What’s going on in there?”

  “A revolution.”

  He gently stroked my belly in small circles and I relaxed. I don’t think it was doing anything to cure me, but it felt good. Not just having Logan’s hands on me, but knowing I could always count on him. After everything that had happened, he could have left me. Never did I imagine that I would have him back in my arms, and never did it mean as much as it did now.

  “Tell me how I can ease your discomfort. I will be most displeased if you respond with a joke,” he said in his bedroom voice. The sexy, relaxed one that was reserved only for me.

  “I want you to take me out to the movies and buy me some popcorn. I want you to put your arm around me and share my soda, because I haven’t done anything normal in a really long time. I want to do stuff like that with you. I want to go to a bookstore and sit at a table, drinking a cup of coffee and arguing about what to buy. I’d love to go through a car wash with you, or go to the fair. It’s been a while since we’ve had a real date.”

  “As you wish, my sweet. What do you like?”

  “What do you mean? What kind of movies do I like?”

  He rolled on top of me and watched me with unblinking, animalistic eyes. “What is it that I do that pleases you?”

  “Oh.” I grinned shyly. I thought about it for a minute.

  We were about to have pillow talk, and I really liked our pillow talk. Logan didn’t want to know what movie I wanted to see, nor was he asking about my favorite sexual position. He wanted to know the simple things he did that made me love him.

  “I like it when you rub my legs.”

  He immediately rose to the challenge and took my leg in his arms, giving me a deep massage, probably the best I’d ever had.

  Hands down.

  Ever.

  His fingers rubbed firmly into my thigh and all kinds of nerves were firing up. Naturally, he sensed it with a sniff of his nose. I didn’t mind so much that he could read my emotions; it’s who he was.

  “I want to discover the things you like, Silver, and do them over and over.”

  “Maybe I should have said something else then,” I joked, relaxing and watching the candlelight shimmering against his skin. “Logan, that necklace Tarek made me wear…”

  “What about it?”

  “Justus had it on the other night.”

  “You don’t say.” He smiled, working his fingers above my knee.

  His nonchalant reaction irritated me. “Justus wore it so he could be with Page. It suppressed his light so he wouldn’t hurt her, and he could touch her.”

  Logan considered this and switched legs. “Your point?”

  “Well, I’m just saying that I could wear it when we’re together.”

  “Absolutely not.”

  I propped up on my elbows, rattled by his answer. “Why, just because Tarek gave it to me? It doesn’t matter where we got it because now it’s ours.”

  Logan stopped the leg massage and gave me his serious voice. “That has nothing to do with it. Remember when I told you I would have you just as you are? I meant it. Every word.”

  “Yeah, but you need to be sensible about this. If it means that I can touch you when we’re together, that I can be normal…”

  “Ask me why I love you,” he quickly said, caging me with his arms.

  My heart stammered and he leaned in close with a piercing gaze. A serious one that made me slide down off my elbows and cross my arms over my chest. I was still wearing a shirt, but I felt strangely exposed with his glare. Not in the sense of nudity, but my heart being open to him like a book.

  “Ask me,” he demanded.

  “Why?” The question I’d always wanted to ask but was too afraid to. Exactly why would a man like Logan Cross love a young Mage?

  He scraped his teeth over his bottom lip before answering. “Because we have challenges, and we’re not perfect. I love that with you—I have to try. That it’s not effortless to keep you as much as it is to love you. You’re remarkably selfless and headstrong like me. I received the same scolding remarks as you when I was younger and thought I knew it all. Don’t change that about you, because it’s what I love. The fire keeps you alive. I love that we can both screw up and find a way to work around it. I love you, Silver, because you are a creature of light. Do you think I would want to suppress that light to satisfy my own needs? I can sate you, female, without you having to touch me. If you wore that necklace, it would be an admission that I cannot accept you for what you are. That has nothing to do with pride; it’s principle. I love you because of that very look you have on your face right now as I’m telling you all this,” he said, stroking my cheek with his finger. Then his voice softened around the edges as his breath warmed my cheek. “I love that you were brave enough to cut my hair, Little Raven.”

  He struck a nerve and I teared up. Logan wiped that tear away—melting on top of me like a blanket and tasting the corners of my mouth.

  “It proved how much you love me,” he whispered. “Now forget the damn necklace.”

  “Yeah, but Justus—”

  He kissed my chin and sat up again, placing my legs in his lap. “Your Ghuardian must wear it to protect his mortal female. I am not mortal. All you can do with that power of yours is charge me up like a battery. Now let this be the last time we discuss you wearing that damn necklace.” I melted a little, and not just because he was rubbing my upper thigh, but because I didn’t deserve a man like him. “I would have you no other way, because it is who you are, Silver. If you ever lost your ability, then I would still want you. If you grew fangs, then I would still want you.”

  “And if I grew a t
ail?”

  “Well, that just might be fun,” he purred.

  Tingles surfaced throughout my body as his expert fingers continued massaging me. I heard deep huffs of breath as he watched me with hooded eyes. My scent was slowly doing him in, but with restrained conviction, he continued rubbing my legs until minutes later, I was completely satisfied.

  “I need a cigarette,” I said, stretching out my arms.

  “I need a bag of ice,” Logan replied. He fell on his back and I stared at the shiny foil on the window, flickering in the candlelight. My Mage gift told me it was 10:23 p.m.

  It was going to be a long night; not that I minded a long night in Logan’s arms.

  Two hours later, I woke up with Logan draped over my stomach. It was typical for a Chitah to offer his warmth to another, but it was hard to get used to. My previous boyfriends usually slept with their back to me, if not falling asleep watching TV on the sofa.

  Logan was fast asleep and I was dying for a drink.

  “Oh, for the love of God,” I whispered.

  Usually he was a light sleeper. But for some reason, whenever he was lying on top of me, he not only became immovable, but he could sleep through a bomb dropping on the house.

  Very convenient.

  “Christian, can you have Levi bring me a glass of water?” I whispered.

  I tried licking my lips but they were dry. A moment later, the door quietly opened and Levi came in, shutting it behind him. He gave a thumbs-up and I shrank in embarrassment.

  Levi knelt down and let me take a few sips before setting the glass beside the bed.

  “He really loves you.” Levi looked over at Logan who was fast asleep across my hips. “He loved Katrina, but don’t ever compare yourself to her. You’re two different women who loved the same man, but in a way, you love a different man than she did.” Levi spoke in a quiet voice as he sat on the floor with his right leg bent at the knee. “We know everything that happened between you and Tarek, and let me tell you right now that I would put your ass on a fucking pedestal if you were mine.”

  I reached out and held his forearm, sliding my thumb across the inked letters that spelled “truth” in Latin. “Why did you get this?”

  “I was young and tired of hiding who I was from the people I loved. It was a secret for a long-ass time. Chalk up the tat to the rebellious nature of youth, but it serves as a reminder of who I am: a proud Chitah. It’s also a vow that I’d always honor the truth and be true to myself. They didn’t accept me with open arms in the beginning. It took a while for them to wrap their heads around the fact I wasn’t going to carry on the Cross legacy.”

  Logan grunted sleepily and buried his face in my stomach, his fingers clawing at my hip. He released a long breath and I looked at Levi, who ruffled up his short hair.

  “What changed their minds?” I asked.

  “Someone tried to kill me. When I first started dating, I hit on a guy in a bar and didn’t know he was straight until halfway through our conversation. By then, he’d figured out what my game was. It was humiliating, so I did my usual walk of shame out the back door and told Logan and Leo I’d meet up with them later. The guy followed me out—he was also a Chitah. Before I could turn around, he put a knife in my back and I tried to fight him. Got my ass kicked pretty good because of the knife, and Leo came out the back door when the guy was shoving his boot in my stomach for the umpteenth time. Instinct kicked in, and from that night on, my brothers had my back.”

  I touched his cheek and then looked at Logan. “I envy that kind of devotion. I don’t have a family. Guess it was never in the cards for me. I always wanted a sibling, and Sunny counts in a way. You guys are really lucky to have each other.”

  “You have us,” he said loudly and rose up from the floor, kicking off his shoes.

  Levi suddenly crawled over the bed and plopped down on his right side, pulling my feet against his chest. It was hard to deny him the right to show affection in the Chitah way as I stared at the smile spreading across that tough face of his.

  We were a tangled mess of bodies, and I’d never felt so loved in all my life. Logan lifted his head and for a split second, I prepared for a yelling match when he saw Levi lying in bed with us, holding my feet.

  Instead, he smiled cozily and nestled his face in the soft pocket of my belly.

  I reached for the water and noticed something on the floor.

  A knife.

  Logan’s hand dangled off the bed just an inch or two above it. It wasn’t my knife, because going to see the Overlord armed wouldn’t have been well received. At first, I wondered why Logan would have placed a knife by the bed. A Chitah’s speed and bite against other Breeds were weapons unto themselves. But then it occurred to me that if anyone were going to exact revenge on us, it would be a Chitah. A knife would not only bring him down, but also finish him off.

  A snore vibrated at my feet and I realized our sleeping arrangement wasn’t going to work out. A manwich to save my life was one thing, but this was Cross brothers’ salad dressing.

  The door slammed against the wall and Leo burst into the room.

  “Get up!” he shouted.

  Levi was on his feet in a heartbeat, but Logan didn’t move an inch from covering me like a shield. Except now I noticed he was gripping the knife.

  “We spotted movement outside and two of the guards are missing.”

  “Maybe they had to pee?” I suggested.

  Leo tore out of the room and Levi turned to me. “Don’t worry, honey. I still adore your terrible jokes.”

  I pushed Logan away and sat up, noticing my pants were still unzipped. While I secured the button, Christian strode into the room. He approached the window and stood very still, lowering his eyes to the floor.

  “You hear anything?” Logan asked.

  Christian raised a hand. “Your fecking voice?” he said pointedly. After a few seconds, he decided to be helpful. “Footsteps running. A dog barking. It’s too far down for me to pick up through a windowpane. Silver, go to the toilet and lock the door.”

  “If there were a fire, I would be trapped. I don’t particularly want to die on the toilet.”

  “Always the last word,” he grumbled, poking a tiny hole in the foil and peering outside.

  “Logan, where are my shoes?”

  He twisted his back to look around when suddenly a cacophony of voices shouted out from the living room. Logan rushed out and Christian closed the door, pressing his back against it.

  I jumped out of the bed and pulled at the knob. “Let me out of here!”

  “Over my rotting corpse.”

  There was an explosion of noise in the other room—a struggle between men fighting and spitting out curses. Bodies crashed against the wall and glass shattered. My heart stopped in my chest as I thought about Logan getting hurt.

  The bedroom window smashed in and glass flew everywhere. A cold blast of wind circulated within the room and a Chitah descended upon me with impeccable speed. He bared his fangs and threw me on the floor.

  “You must be the Mage,” he hissed.

  It all happened so fast.

  I charged up my light and the second he fell on top of my body and sank his teeth into my neck, I wrapped my legs around him and gave him an electrical bear hug.

  Christian gave me a crooked smile. “You got everything under control, or do you think you need to go to the toilet? I wouldn’t want there to be a fire.”

  “Dammit, Christian, get him off me!”

  The Chitah flailed about and his teeth tore at my throat. Christian reached down, pried open his jaws to release his grip, and then threw him across the room. The Chitah went into convulsions and finally fell still.

  “I thought you were supposed to guard me,” I grumbled, wiping my sleeves angrily.

  He snorted. “My job is to protect your life, not to kill spiders like that one. You’re a capable woman, and maybe I like watching you roll around with other men.”

  “You’re a pig.” />
  “What’s going on out there?” Christian shouted at the door.

  “Four Chitahs. One contained, three left,” I heard Logan yell out.

  Christian held me back and I smacked at his arm.

  “You’re my guard, Christian, not my boss. So if I’m going to run out there, guns blazing, you’re going to guard me. Got it?”

  His hands fell across the curve where my neck met my shoulders, and I could see that he was biting his tongue from saying something vulgar. Christian got it, but he wasn’t happy with it. He stepped aside and I flew into the hallway, soaking in the visual.

  Levi and another Chitah were on the living room floor, fingers wrapped around each other’s throats in a chokehold. To the right near the kitchen, Leo and a Chitah in black were throwing punches. Logan held a third Chitah against the wall with his forearm and the man struck him in the head with brass knuckles. Logan grew disoriented for a moment, and the energy swelled in the air like snaps of electricity.

  The moment I saw Logan in danger, all reflexes kicked into action. I flashed forward, knocking the Chitah away and diving out of his grasp. Before Logan could right himself, the Chitah rushed me and I ducked, sweeping out my leg and tripping him. As he fell to the floor, I kicked him in the groin like I was stomping the yard. That’s when Christian stepped in and knocked him out with brute strength.

  Logan and Leo cornered the Chitah in black near the front door and my attention went to Levi, who was on his back.

  I casually walked over and tapped the Chitah on the shoulder. The gesture confused both of them and he twisted his neck around to look up at me.

  “Excuse me, but you need to get your hands off my brother.” I couldn’t throw my energy into him since he was on top of Levi, so I touched his neck and gave him a jolt.

  It was enough for him to lose his grip. Before I could charge up again, he lunged and sank his fangs into my neck. Levi roared like I had never heard him before and threw the Chitah against the wall.