by Susan Arden
“Shifter normalcy is good?”
“We could try that category as long as its shifter normalcy that includes me fucking you wherever and whenever I please. I love the feel of you wrapped around me and I won’t hide what we’ve got. This was the first time in years I’ve slept somewhat normal.”
“Slept? Did we actually sleep much?” She smiled, curling her hands around his muscular bicep. “I’ll need to travel, go back to my house.”
She hadn’t fully recovered from the spelling. And that worried her. The Fae would easily know of her existence given her experience with the ley and if they were coming for her, then it was Quinn who might be in the gravest danger and therein lay her worry. She had a strong talisman hidden away that would assist in conjuring. No wonder the Sisterhood didn’t use her on important projects. One casting circle and ley line repairs had her exhausted.
If they saw her in her present state, she doubted they would ever consider her worthy of moving up to a level four. So far the repairs she completed on the shield were holding. If there were any tears, an edgy irritation would creep under her skin. Up to now, nada.
“Not unless I’m with you. And no, we didn’t actually sleep much. Don’t plan on doing that in the days to come, regardless if the gates of hell blast open. I’ve waited for you for a lifetime and intend on relishing each moment we have together.” He spoke possessively, moving his hands down her body to her hips. “This isn’t raunchy, down and dirty sex.”
“Who says?” She arched a brow, and then laughed softly in his face. “Every shade of sex with you is going to be incredible…except when you try to utterly control me.” Without waiting she pressed her mouth to his. His low growl was balm to her taut nerves.
Being with Quinn was the essence of unrestrained desire. Around him, she became serpentine lust, ready for anything he suggested. After making love with this man, her body turned boneless, sated. She snaked her arms around his neck and rubbed her nose against his jaw.
His eyes widened before his fingers squeezed her waist. “Liar. Shall I make you fess up? Admit it.”
“I am. And you’re domineering.”
“Get used to this. We’ll travel as one or not at all.” The edge to his tone held a force that was new in his voice and body language.
“You act as though you own me.”
“Don’t I?” Too fast to perceive, he tangled his hand in her hair and proceeded to kiss her out in the open. Right next to the work truck of the men who were out back but still moving around the property. No pop kiss. Quinn pushed her back against the side of the truck. Ardent and demanding, his mouth devoured her as she held onto his brawny arms. When he finished, he arched a brow down at her flushed face. “Get used to it.”
“That’s not very democratic. Don’t I have a say?”
“I never said I’d be fair. Your safety is a totalitarian type of pursuit. You want equality, justice, file a complaint with Shawn’s office.” He cocked an eye brow. “I’m bound to protect you and that’s my intent. For that, we’ll need the help of Fin and Tristen before we can move.”
“I just might file some sort of protest,” she said, not wishing to give him a free pass to rule her without boundaries. He already had an ego the size of Texas and if she didn’t put her proverbial foot down now, it would be hopeless to negotiate with his over-the-top personality later.
“Give me a second, and you can protest all the way back to our bedroom.” He pressed his lips to her forehead before backing away and releasing her. Watching her intently, Quinn took out his phone and pressed the screen. “Tristen, I need a favor.”
Her chest heaved from the searing kiss, not to mention he was aroused again. She was deliciously sore between her legs, and talk of him taking her again made her tremble with electrical jolts of anticipation.
Quinn didn’t seem the least bit tired or willing to stop making love. And neither was she. He had unlocked the side of her she had feared existed. Total tumultuous hunger, hot and heavy, and she desperately craved his body.
She needed to gain some control, before she was the one pulling him back into the house. Turning away, she glanced off in the distance to the line of trees to the South. At the rear of the house, there was a bluff. Sherry swung around and studied the opposite side of the house where more pine trees dotted the land mixed with strands of ash. It was isolated out here even with the property fence. The Fae wouldn’t arbitrarily know where they were, unless she put out a beacon by rippling time and space. Moving along the ley line yesterday, she’d covered her tracks by way of hyper leaping between passages. For the moment, they were safe.
From what she expected, if the Dark Fae were interested in finding her, a spellcaster, it would involve extracting information. Learning how to destroy the ley line in its entirety. The High Priestess didn’t even possess that knowledge, nor did anyone in the Sisterhood know who specifically had the correct segments of the secret spell. To cause such havoc required four spellcasters and the entire sacred incantation in the correct sequence. Each caster knew only one segment and the Dark Fae would have to find the right four to figure out the sequence of invocation. And that took time.
Swinging around, she met Quinn’s glittering golden eyes tracking her. Possessive and a savage predator, she had no doubts he could be ruthless.
He hung up. His lips were pulled into a tight line. “Tristen is on his way over. Said two of the guards were injured yesterday and Sonya is missing. I’ve closed the Den until we can get a handle on this. You okay with that?”
“What? Oh, my God. That can’t be.” Icy dread filled her. “You were right to close the Den. We can’t remain open and put anyone else at risk. But this is related?”
“Without question.”
“Why are you so certain?”
“Take a look,” he said, flashing the screen of his phone in front of her face. “I think this is a lot more serious than you’re giving it credit for. What the heck is fírinne-anam?”
“Not what but who. And don’t speak that name. Ever.”
“Mind telling me why?”
She inhaled, and let go a whisper. “Because that’s me.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Our names are sacred. If they’re never spoken, then we remain invisible. The name we come into existence with is more intricate than most humans. It follows us from one lifetime into the next. Trackable. When we’re born, spellcasters come with all our previous lives attached in a way so that our instincts and skills are advanced. We lack a recollection of previous lives. A form of reincarnation. Our human brains don’t allow us to remember. But the Sisterhood has our secret history and they keep track of our endeavors. Which is why it is so important that I fix this mess I made.”
“Sounds more like inescapable and an epic chess game.” His golden eyes searched her face. “Jesus, one small ripple shouldn’t short-circuit the world.”
“You wouldn’t understand. Not with your family heritage.” She didn’t want his pity, and sought to change the subject. “Now what?”
“If what you’re saying is true… then we’ve been on Earth all this time. Together. It’s not just the two years at the Den, it’s been near forever.”
He refused to be put off. She guarded her response. “And could be still.”
“Not for me. We keep dancing around laying it all out there. Well, the workers are almost done. Then we need to have a heart-to-heart. Fin and Tristen have left the Den. They set up an investigation and have shifters working the field. Right now, they are ready to switch gears and come here. We’ll have answers shortly, unless there’s something you’d like to add.”
The expression on his face. Wrecked. What in tarnation did he mean…not him? Of course all beings returned. That was the result of being imperfect. They’d return until the moment of perfection. Incrementally, over and over again. She couldn’t imagine having to train from the ground up. She’d be even less skilled than she already wa
s if she was born a blank slate.
“You’re wrong. That’s not how the universe works,” she said.
“Give me a minute, baby. Why don’t you go inside and I’ll meet you there.”
“Don’t try and dismiss me.”
“Jesus. I wasn’t. Then stay outside. Wherever you’d like. All I know is we need some backup considering it might be a group of morons behind the attack on the Den. I have some history with some shady people. More and more I get a feel they might be involved in this cluster. I’ve pulled Fin and Tristen in. We need an immediate answer to what happened to Sonya.”
“Excuse me, Miss?”
Sherry looked up from her laptop at one of the workers approaching her. “Yes.”
He glanced around, then back over his shoulder. She pointed to the path that would take him to Quinn. “Mr. Rothschild is around back if you’re looking for him.”
The man made a beeline out to her and she thought he might tell her something had happened to Quinn. Disturbed by the thought, she put her laptop on the table, but the cord snagged the leg of the chair.
She looked up just as he reached out and grabbed her shoulder. “Really, I was looking for you.”
The contact sent a shard of pain through her body. The man’s skin rippled and a sense of dread enveloped her. She would have cried out, but no sound came as he leeched her volition. She couldn’t move and sat immobilized as the Dark Fae drank from her power. The space around her spun as crashing waves of dizziness consumed her body.
The wave momentarily receded and the man spoke. His mouth didn’t move. He had climbed inside her mind. Don’t try any sorcery or magick. I know you casters have tricks. I came with my skills. Did you like the first? Let’s try another. He glared at her and a wave a pain filled her body. Torturous. She sank into a sea of blackness as her mind gave way.
She woke with the slap of his hand against her face. Don’t be rude. You tried to slip away. I’ll bring you back. Over and over we can play that game. He tapped the spacebar on her computer. The screen lit up. You’ll not find your little friend. We’ve got her tied up at the moment. His laughter hiked up. Evil and eerie.
Sherry could do nothing but blink, and even that hurt.
The Dark Fae started up again. I’m going to take care of that Lycan and then I’ll be back for you. I wish I could blank your mind, but we need some information first, and besides it’ll make our getting to know one another that much more fun. Wait here. He chuckled, leaning down to observe her as though she were an oddity. Up close his porous skin had darker splotches of grey bruising and sweat dripped down his face. I’ve plans for you before I transport you. Perhaps, I’ll freeze the Lycan so he can enjoy our little rendezvous. Sound like a plan?
You’re going to die, she thought.
Not anytime soon, caster, he replied.
So, she had use of her mind. He grinned, then coughed and spat a glob of dark grey phlegm. He gave off the smell of death, so vile Sherry’s eyes stung. She screamed in her mind. Loud. A warning over and over. He grabbed her face, forcing her to look up into his black eyes. Don’t try anything stupid.
“Get the fuck away from her.”
The Fae stood up. Sherry saw the blur of black fur and the Fae was thrown back. A huge black wolf stood over the Fae, pinning it to the ground, and angrily snarling. That had to be Quinn in Lycan form. The color of the fur was the same color as his hair and he was a larger variation of wolf shifter, larger than any she’d ever observed at the Den. Her heartbeat hammered. What if the Fae froze Quinn in shifter form? She couldn’t make her lungs work except to take small sips of air.
The Lycan snapped his jaws, savagely clamping onto the Fae’s neck. The snarling stopped as the wolf bit down.
The Fae screamed, writhed under the wolf, and began squirming and pounding on the flanks of the Lycan. The scent of burnt putrid flesh filled the air. The shifter leapt off the Fae, then circled around and snarled, snapping his jaws. He backed up a few feet, blood dripping from his fur. The wolf glanced back at her with dark golden, glowing eyes, and she rippled in pleasure. Deep within her body, she recognized him as her mate. She blinked and swallowed. Her fear was gone, but she was drained to the core.
The wolf began shifting, back to human form and Quinn stood before her. Naked, his face etched in concern. “Are you okay?” he murmured, walking toward her.
Sherry didn’t know how to explain what the Fae had done. Her thoughts tumbled. She painfully bounded out of the chair and conceptualized she had use of her body again. She tried to speak, and it was as though her tongue were numb. Her voice came out hoarse and unsteady. “B-better.”
“Dammit. I never should have left you alone.” He took her into his arms, his large frame depositing energy into her body, refueling her after what the Fae had stolen. “This fucker slipped in. I don’t know how, but look at him now. He’s transforming into some version. This is the type I came into contact with yesterday.”
Sherry clung to Quinn, refusing to do more than inhale the scent of his Lycan body. “The Fae have some sort of disease.”
“Is this why they’ve come? Or is it something more?” he asked.
“To come and manifest a human body that rapidly decays makes no sense. But how come you didn’t freeze?”
“The Fae don’t have that power over Lycans in wolf form. Only slightly in my human form. Jesus, I can’t leave you alone for a second.”
“What do the Fae do to wolves if you’re immune to them? I don’t understand.”
“Not them. It was an exchange of power. With the Light Fae. We can only be killed by a special blade when we’ve joined with our mate.”
“Because of me. And you didn’t run for the hills when you found out I was a potential mate?”
“There’s no potential mate. There’s only one. And you are her. I trust you and told you the truth. Hope you weren’t simply digging me for super hero status. You can handle my mortality. Right?”
She nodded. “Always be honest with me,” she said softly. Quinn smiled down into her face and kissed the tip of her nose. Then he released her and went to stand over the remains of the Fae.
“Stay back.” Quinn ordered. “I don’t know what this fucker is capable of? What the hell happened?” Quinn straightened and he stared over at her.
“He came over and froze me. I couldn’t do more than formulate thought.”
“No question. He’s one of them. I don’t know how he got past me. I talked to all of the workers. I didn’t even pick up a scent. But look at what remains. Dark Fae, and it was some type of hybrid. Fae don’t mate with humans. I don’t know what it is exactly except dead.”
“And the other workers?”
“That thing killed them. The Fae was going to kill us. Shit, I don’t believe this happened.”
“No. He wasn’t going to kill us. He was going to torture us.” She watched as Quinn’s features darkened. He dug out his phone and spoke to Tristen, snapping orders and relaying technical sounding information about the Dark Fae.
“We need to leave here. Let’s go inside. You should lie down. I can sense your condition. When Fin and Tristen arrive, we’ll load up the bodies of the workers. I don’t want to leave the corpses out in the open. All sorts of creatures can smell blood. We don’t need additional problems to add to our list. I’ll let Edgar know once we’re gone. He might be in on this. We can’t trust anyone outside the clan.”
“You mean the Den.”
“They’re your clan now as well.”
“I’ve got to send out alerts to staff about the Den closing.” They exchanged looks. She wasn’t going to give in.
“Then inside and in bed. Don’t try my will on this. I’ll clean up. The gate is locked and as long as you’re next to me, anyone else like this twisted bastard will have to come through me. Won’t take me five minutes. Take this.” He thrust the gun into her hand.
“Is it still loaded?”
“
Yes. And if I’m in the shower and something with grey skin and weird black eyes comes near you, shoot it. Tristen is close by. Won’t be too long until you’re surrounded by wolves.”
“Everyone needs to know the club is temporarily closed.”
Quinn squeezed her shoulder. “Always on top of things, love.”
“Easier to stay busy. Still no news about Sonya?”
“Not yet,” he replied. He picked up her laptop and guided her inside.
Seated on top of the bed, she worked on Den business, making certain staff knew of the changes and clients were notified of the temporary closing. Not too surprising considering the storm from yesterday. Several businesses were closed after the hail caused damage to buildings, homes, and cars. No listed fatalities. So far, only Sonya was missing. Yet as a shifter, she wouldn’t be listed openly as humans were on the news. Sherry pressed send on a list serve email about the last minute changes to the Den’s evening schedules over the coming week. That was all she could do for now and she put the computer tablet down.
Quinn came out of the closet wearing dark jeans and a black T-shirt that fit smoothly over his broad shoulders, tapering down and hugging his abs. With his dark hair combed back, dark stubble growing over his lean face, he looked dangerously gorgeous.
“Tristen and Fin will be here any minute. Otherwise, I’d give you another reason to scream,” he said. It only got better with the flashing of a decadent smile within a wicked expression that had her panting.
“And moan?” she asked, a shiver working through her body as he stalked across the room.
“And beg for more.” He pushed her back onto the mattress, and climbed on top of her. He bent his head, brushing his lips over her cheek, sprinkling kisses along her jaw. He returned to her mouth, and gave her a kiss so searing it left her digging her nails into his muscular arms. Quinn sank his hands into her hair, exploring her mouth, silently convincing her she could stay there for all of eternity. When he pulled away, he groaned, and ran the pad of his thumb across the edge of her lip as if relishing the feel of her. She snuggled within his arms, preferring to pretend their world was perfect, if only for a moment.