“I want you,” he said, a grimace of pleasure-pain stretching his lips. His hips jerked forward, pushing him into the warmth of her folds. He thrust in hard. Sam looked over her shoulder at him. She pressed back into him. He grasped her shoulder in one hand, using it for leverage, and moved all the way inside her. “I want you, Sam. All of you. Just. Like. This.”
Sam
THE EXPRESSION of pleasure on his face hit me like a wrecking ball. Max meant everything to me, and this hard coupling proved it. I didn’t think. I didn’t worry. I didn’t have a chance to let my brain or body do anything, except let him love me.
Searing shivers of pleasure raked my body, inside and out. He showed me no mercy, driving the demons away, thrust after thrust. I simply lost myself in the blistering heat building between us. And it suddenly hit me. I love him. With every fiber of my being, I loved him.
He swept his head next to mine and said the words my mouth couldn’t form. “I love you, Sam. For as long as I draw breath, I will love you.”
His fingers found my center. He timed the demanding pressure of his hand against my core with his thrusts. “Yes, Max. There. Ahh, gods, you’re going to burn us alive.”
He chuckled deep and low in my ear. “Every chance I get.”
Blistering heat built in my center, and the orgasm engulfed me, spreading pleasure through my arms, my legs, all the way down through my toes. Max buried his mouth on the soft hollow of my neck, and as he came, he latched onto my skin with his teeth.
He was claiming me with his mark, and I’d never felt so loved, so treasured, so purely wanted. Leaving him now might not be a possibility.
But staying with him wasn’t an option.
If I stayed, and Rosencratz got to Max because of my weakness for him, I’d never be able to live with myself. How the hell had I let this paradox happen?
But the real question was, what was I going to do about it?
Chapter 27
Sam
WHEN I WOKE an hour later, Max was snoring lightly beside me in the darkness of the hotel room, mingled with growly purrs. The sound tore my heart in two, because I loved it, but he could never really be mine. Two large arms held me to his warm chest, where the hair tickled my nose.
It would be so easy to stay here, wrapped in his masculine arms, the heat of his big body seeping into mine, and just let this happen. But if I did, Rosencratz would kill him. Or worse.
I wiped away a bittersweet tear. Max had done everything right. Pushing him away now would be cruel, but really, what other choice did I have?
He needed to be free of me so he could go off to basic training. So Shade could protect him. So he could learn from his older siblings what it meant to use his magic. He sure as hell couldn’t keep traipsing across the globe hunting monsters with me.
What would happen if I just stayed with him, and lost myself in those blue-green eyes? I literally could do this forever, but he was already leaving me, and he didn’t even know it.
I heaved in a sigh, remembering his conversation with the commanders. Max would fit in anywhere. They’d all be lucky to have him. His heritage as an Egyptian guardian meant the HWB would be a safer place for all of us. I couldn’t keep him all to myself.
He was a rare gem, pure of heart, with guts of steel. He deserved the chance to follow his own path without me dragging him down.
Selfishly, I lay there another glorious half-hour, basking in his heat, feeling his heart beat, listening to the way he purr-snored, reveling in having the love of my life peacefully sleeping beside me. It was the safest place I’d ever been. Dear God, what was I going to do without him?
I had to talk to Shade about my next mission. Once Mom was found, and Rosencratz was in chains, it would be easier for Max if he didn’t have to even see me.
I swallowed back the emotions crushing my throat. Who was I kidding? It would be easier for me if I didn’t have to see him, because if I did, I sure as hell couldn’t promise myself I’d stay away.
What had I done? I’d let him in, let him consume me with his passion, and now everything I’d ever been afraid of was coming true.
Men left. Paranormals didn’t belong together. Max owned the curse of immortality, or at least nine lives of it. I would grow old, eventually, even with my demigod heritage. If I didn’t push him away now, he’d lose me to the natural order of time anyway.
I couldn’t face that sort of pain.
The only answer was to part ways now, before we got too attached.
I swung my legs out of bed, and dragged on my jeans and boots. I finished dressing as I headed out the door. It was high time I left him, to give him a chance at a normal supernatural life. I picked up my cellphone and texted Shade. Meet me in the war room.
Shade
SHADE WATCHED Samantha lope into the war room, alone, and not looking very well rested. She’d brushed her long brown hair, and held a huge cup of coffee. Weird. Kitty Ra-Ra wasn’t stalking her. “You wanted to see me?”
She nodded curtly, but made her way over to the assignment board, a huge crystal-display monitor suspended from the ceiling. He narrowed his eyes. She set the cup of coffee down, and began scrolling through waiting HWB assignments.
The war room was classified. Only Shade, high-level HWB hunters, and the commanders were allowed in here. He and Sam had chosen all her missions from here, and she had that look on her face that told him she was ready to go to work. “What’s up, Silverton?”
“I want this one first,” she said, touching the screen showing a pod of selkies gone bad off the coast of Ireland. She riveted her gaze on him. “When Max and I busted up the fairies in Dublin, some of the townsfolk told us about the Selkies. Apparently, they’re after some treasure a pirate left behind. I’m choosing this one next.”
Shade nodded. Samantha would be his best bet at stopping them, considering her Water Specialist credentialing, and that awesome trident she wielded. He didn’t know where she was going with this, but he agreed. “It’s yours.”
She scrolled through the screens which showed all the HWB missions currently up for grabs. She hesitated at an unlikely choice, and Shade narrowed his brows. “This one after the selkies, I think.”
“Wolf shifters in the Colorado Rockies?” Shade crossed his arms over his chest. Why in hell would she want to go there? “Seriously?”
“Yeah, seriously. If these shifters are causing problems by defending Native American gold, it makes sense to me.” She enlarged a section of the screen showing intel on the shifters, who composed their pack, and what their strengths were. “I could talk to their leader, find out why they’re terrorizing the towns along the Colorado River. Maybe there’s a peaceful solution, maybe not. Still, it’d be fun to investigate the rapids, and that river.”
“Snow’s already flying out there. You don’t like snow.”
She shrugged, and flashed a smile at him. “Doesn’t matter what I like. I’m taking it.”
He hadn’t been able to convince any of his other hunters to pick this one up. If Samantha wanted to tackle the wolf shifters and their gold issue, it was a win for him. “Okay, done.”
He tapped the screen twice, pulled up her name, and assigned the selkies and the wolf shifters to her.
“Hmm. How about one more?” She flipped the screen, sorting through several more missions, before she stopped on New Orleans. “The Big Easy is a hotbed of paranormal supernaturals. I know a girl down there who might be able to help us.”
Shade lowered his brows. What was going on here? She’d always volunteered for one mission at a time.
Samantha shook her head. “Nah, too humid. Too much competition down there, anyway.” She flipped the screen a few more times. “But Savannah could be nice during the winter. What about all that pirate treasure down there? Didn’t I read in a briefing last month that th
ere were some ghosts in the city trying to cover up all that Spanish gold?”
“What’s wrong, Samantha?”
She lifted a shoulder. “Nothing a few extra missions won’t solve.”
“What about your mother?”
“I’m leaving for Ireland the day after tomorrow. By then, we’ll have dealt with Rosencratz, and Mom should be back safe at the farmhouse.”
“And what about Max?”
“I’m leaving him in your care, Shade.” She strode away and took out her phone. Typed some words into it, then pressed send.
“He’ll never go for that.”
“You said it yourself—he doesn’t need to be out in the field. He’s got to go through basic, and learn how to control his magic.” She gazed at the tiled floors, but refused to look at him. “You said we didn’t belong together. Those were your words, right?”
Shade raised a finger to the mission boards. “You’re running away.”
“Call it what you want. I’m not risking his life so we can be together. He deserves better, and I expect you to see to it that he finds it, without me in the picture.” She turned away and strode for the door.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going? You’re under house arrest.”
She smiled back his way, still refusing to look him in the eye, then put her hand on the doorknob, turned it, and walked away.
As she left, she called over her shoulder, “I’m going to join up with my father. He’s the key to liberating my mother.”
Chapter 28
Max
MAX BLINKED OPEN his eyes to the sound of an incoming text message on the phone Shade had assigned him. The first thing he noticed was the cold, empty bed. He bolted up to a sitting position, and looked around the room. Even in the darkness of the hotel room, he sensed Sam was gone.
Chills rippled across his skin. Is she in the bathroom?
He got up and checked. No, the hotel room was empty, her clothes were gone, and her cellphone was nowhere in sight, either. The bottle of vodka and Kahlua were where they’d left them before they went to sleep. “Where could she have gone?”
He bolted over to the bedside table and scooped up his phone. Rubbing sleep out of his eyes, he read her message.
I can’t do this. I have to go on without you. What we shared was beautiful, but you have to go find your own way now, too. Don’t follow me. It’s just too damn hard to look at your face, and know you’re going to leave me for basic anyway. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be with my father, who will protect me, and help me find my mother. Stay here with your mother and the kittens. Talk to Shade. He’ll help you choose what you need to do next.
Max dropped to his knees. He read the text again, his hands trembling as he reread her words, looking for some subtext, his brain scrambling to understand. She can’t mean it, can she? Not really. She wouldn’t leave him . . . not after what they’d shared last night.
They’d made love. Three times. Or was it four?
The betrayal hit him square in the gut.
Holy fuck. He’d been following her around like a lovesick puppy for seven goddamned years. If she didn’t understand him by now, she never would. He dragged on his clothes, cursing out loud.
His chest threatened to cave in.
She’d left him.
By text.
“Who the fuck does that anyway?”
A knock sounded on the door. Max leapt to his feet. Was it her? A second later, Shade swung open the door and said, “You’d better come with me.”
“Where is she, Shade?”
“We’re not getting into that right now. I said, come with me.”
“The hell we’re not.” Max charged him. He tackled Shade, and they rolled across the hotel room floor. Shade caught him in a headlock.
“She’s gone.” Shade cranked his hard-as-granite arm around Max’s throat, cutting off his air. “You just have to give her some space, man. You can’t crowd someone like Samantha.”
He forced Shade’s arm away from his throat. “Space my ass.”
Shade adjusted his grip, but held Max tight. “She did this to protect you, dumbass,” Shade snarled into his ear.
The fight suddenly left him as Shade’s words hit his brain. Did she? “Protect me from what?”
“Okay, Kitty Ra-Ra. How about we go find some coffee for that addled head of yours, and you help me help Sam and her father? We have to find her mother before Rosencratz kills her.”
Rosencratz. That’s what spooked her. The dossiers Cyn showed to the commanders with his picture, with their pictures. It all came flooding back in. “She ran to Poseidon?”
“’Fraid so, Pussy-Boy. If they go in without us, we could lose her,” the vampire said. “You can stay here and drown yourself in your imaginary pain, or you can man-up, and come help me save her. That’s what you really want right?”
Something about Shade’s tone startled him back to reality. Max nodded, and followed Shade through HWB headquarters to the war room.
Moments later, he was searching the room, trying to digest all the information around him. Giant teleprompter screens, as clear as glass, showed classified digital images of HWB hunters and their current missions. Each monster-hunter was assigned their own board, showcasing their strengths, weapons, weaknesses, and statistics on their kills and captures.
It was a heady thing to witness the widespread supernatural activity around the globe. The HWB was everywhere.
Werewolves in London.
Vampires in Manhattan, and even in old Transylvania. Go figure.
Ghosts roaming the Historic District of Savannah, Georgia—now that he’d like to see.
Max clenched his jaw and stared up at the life-sized illusion of Samantha Silverton on her screen, holding Atlantis at her side. Demigod. Halfling daughter of Poseidon. Water Specialist. Pictures of all her confirmed kills, even the mermaid. Almost every mission they’d covered together was detailed.
Max held up a finger. “How come her last mission before the Key West incident isn’t listed? Someone needs to update this info. Hello! Fairy Uprising in Ireland? Jameson Whiskey and the fairies peeing on the peat moss? How come you guys can’t ever get these things right, Fang Man?”
The mission with Rosencratz and her mother wasn’t listed either, probably because Sam wasn’t supposed to be lead monster-hunter, due to the conflict of interest.
“All in good time, Kitty Boy.” Shade came to his side.
“So, what’s our plan, Mr. Vamp-tastic?”
“Rosencratz is working with an uprising of monks from an upstate New York underground movement. She promised them all eternal enchantment or some such bullshit, and cash, if they helped her capture Helmina and Miss Daisy, along with all the familiars.”
“So, they’re getting paid to interrupt the supply line of shifters to the HWB.”
“And paid well. We police cases where supernaturals interfere with humans, and since Rosencratz stepped over the line with her witchcraft, she’s become our top priority. My team managed to miss killing Kristoff West last night. He’s the source of funds.”
“So, Sam’s in double jeopardy,” Max said.
“She’s no good to me until Helmina is returned and Rosencratz is in custody. Come to think of it, she’s no good to me until you select your branch of service, Max. Once she knows you’re safe, and officially under a commander’s watch, she’ll be back in the saddle. Right now, she’s basically a nutcase with a trident.”
Max shook his head. “Why?”
“She’s afraid Rosencratz will kill you. She asked me to hold you here until Helmina is rescued. With your mother and her kittens here under sanctuary, there’s no real need for you to be out in the field distracting my finest agent.”
Max sighed. “I should have known bet
ter.”
“Yeah, I get your side of it. Sidekicks take all kinds of hell when the tough gets going.”
“I want to know what’s under this future missions heading on Sam’s board,” he said. He suspected he wouldn’t like what she’d signed up for.
Shade crossed his arms. “You don’t have clearance to see that data, Kitty Ra-Ra.”
“She’s going out on missions without me?”
“Yeah, that’s our plan. You’ve got basic to deal with. She needs something to do. It’s not like Samantha to sit around.”
“Show me the missions, you undead freaktoid.”
“Fine. After all you’ve done for us, tracking Sam, helping her all these years, I guess you deserve to know.” Shade opened up the screen.
Max fisted his hands. With wide eyes, he took in the data. She’d taken three missions, every one of them near water, every one of them dangerous as hell. Twelve additional assignments had her name listed in the top five potential agents to take the jobs. “She filled her dance card for the next two years?” Max gritted his teeth. “Every single one of those missions could get her killed.”
Didn’t she even fucking care that this would drive him to the brink? “Who’s going to be there to watch over her?” He glared at Shade. “She’s being reckless. And you’re letting her? What the hell is wrong with you?”
“I’ve invested serious time and money in the development of one of our finest assets. Hell yes, I’m letting her. And I’m behind her all the way. Maybe you shouldn’t act so surprised. Did you think she’d sit around waiting for you to fail out of basic?”
Red-hot blood warmed his neck. Max glared at the vampire. “I’m not planning on failing out of basic, you neurotic bastard. My intention is to be the best guardian in the HWB.”
“Then maybe it’s time you started acting like it.”
Shade was right. This was no time to show his soft underbelly.
A part of him wanted to go back in time before he shifted, back to the last time he’d been free to show that side of himself. At least then, he could have been with her. His greatest fear had come true. He’d lost Sam, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to get her back now.
Initiation Page 21