by Unknown
It was coming, and she wasn’t going to be able to stop it. She didn’t want to. “Right there, Zach. Right fucking there.” She was speaking through clenched teeth, her whole body throbbing with her impending orgasm.
Somehow he managed to get closer, to lick just that tiny bit harder and she was screaming, her body curled around itself as her orgasm ripped through her.
When she came down, Zach was still licking, still sucking, gentle now that she’d come. He kept her on the edge, kept her wanting, until she was moving under that mouth again, that incredible mouth of his.
She laughed as she felt his finger invade her, curl inside her until it hit that one spot that never failed to make her scream. “Goddess, so good.”
He hummed against her, his eyes glittering, and somehow she knew his wolf approved.
This time she wanted him inside her, wanted him coming with her. “Gonna fuck me, wolfman?”
Zach shuddered. “Fuck, Jo.”
She smiled, the familiar words music to her ears. “Yes. Fuck Jo.”
It was his turn to rip off his T-shirt and drop it on the floor. Yum. Hot, golden skin there for the touching. Jo reached forward, but before she could run her hands over that smooth chest he caught them, put them back on her breasts. “Keep those occupied for a second, okay?”
Jo complied, more than willing to watch the show. Zach undressed was a sight to behold, one she was more and more possessive of. She had the feeling going to the beach was going to be an adventure.
She’d just have to pick up the sexiest bikini she could find. Zach’s eyes would be on her, she knew that, but it never hurt to make sure she was just as hot as her younger lover.
That thick, hard cock came into view as Zach slipped out of his shorts. Some days it pays to rob the cradle. Zach stroked a hand over his cock. “Like what you see?”
Jo answered by turning in the seat. She draped herself across the back and spread her knees. “What do you think?”
“Fuck.” She looked behind her to find him desperately rolling on a condom, cursing under his breath when it tried to roll back up.
She nearly snickered. Damn, the boy was…
Oh.
Oh.
Zach was inside her, warm, heavy, hard and pounding into her with all the finesse of a man who’d gone without for months.
Jo loved it. Loved when Zach lost that iron control and just took her, fucking her like that. Like he knew she wasn’t made of glass, but was a flesh-and-blood woman who sometimes liked the softer side, but every now and then just needed a good, hard fuck.
“Lord, I love this ass.” Zach’s hands squeezed the globes of her ass, kneading into the flesh. His rhythm never faltered, never slowed. “Touch yourself, sweetheart. Let me feel you come on my cock.”
Jo whimpered. Even without a touch to her clit she knew she would come. Touching herself would send her over harder, faster, and Zach knew it. He wanted to feel her come around him, squeeze him tight before he came.
She was more than willing to oblige. She reached between her legs and tried to match his movements, but it felt too good. Jo’s head fell back, her hand clenched the leather of the back of the seat. She was so close, so close.
Zach reached up and snagged her hair, pulling it just right.
Jo came with a strangled gasp, choking on her cries as the pleasure went on and on.
“Jo.” Her name was a sigh on Zach’s lips as he poured himself into her, driven over the edge by Jo’s orgasm.
Jo collapsed against the back of the chair, panting, pleasured and ready to curl up with her mate. She felt a soft kiss press against her neck. “Now do you love my chair?”
Her lips curled up in a contented smile. “I could get used to it.”
Zach watched his mate finish dressing, the fading glow of their lovemaking still stamped on her features. It was time to move on, time to leave the old and embrace the new, with his mate beside him. Except for my chair, he smiled to himself. He’d caught her giving it a pat when she thought he wasn’t looking, and knew he’d won that battle. “You ready to go?”
“More than.” He gave her ass one final squeeze before grabbing his keys. “Hey! You hungry?”
“Zach!”
“What? I’m a growing boy.” He pulled her against him, the both of them stumbling toward the door and laughing like loons. “Besides, I worked up an appetite.”
“Oh, Zach.” He followed the sound of her sigh right out the door…and into his future.
Chapter Twenty
“You all right?”
Zach took a deep breath. His hands were shaking. He was about to be officially presented to Roland’s court, and his nerves were completely shot. “Jo’s here?”
Ari patted his head. “Yup. She’s front and center with Roland. Don’t you worry, she knows how nervous you are.”
Zach gulped. Almost all of the people he’d messed up in front of were on the other side of that door. They were aware that a new, powerful witch Own had been found. They weren’t aware that Own was Zach. Roland had chosen to keep the news quiet, with Jo’s full approval. Zach wasn’t sure he understood why, but the two had been adamant. When Ari had come down on their side he’d shrugged his shoulders and given in. They’d been in court a lot longer than he had. Maybe they knew something he didn’t.
“We’re having food after.”
Zach didn’t think he could eat a bite. His hands were shaking. “They hate me.”
“No, they don’t.”
He stared at Ari. “You’re kidding, right? Those people want my penis on a plate.”
Ari choked. “Zach!”
“They do! Lady, what was I thinking?” He turned and stalked toward the door. “Have a nice party!”
“Zachary David Elijah Beckett! Get your ass back by that door this instant!”
Zach turned, horrified. There she was, tapping her foot, her elegant shoe sparkling against the mosaic tile. “Mom?”
Ari looked so smug. He wondered if she’d actually spoken to his mother yet. “I invited your family. Jo helped.”
Oh hell. “All of them?”
Ari nodded. “Isn’t it great?”
Oh yeah. Great. “See ya.”
“Zach?”
He closed his eyes. Life was just not fair. “Hey, Lana. Is Annabelle standing next to you?”
“Yup.” He could hear the grin in his sister-in-law’s voice. “And Jo is starting to pace.”
Shit. Jo was waiting for him to come through these doors. She’d ordered him to “prowl”, whatever the fuck that meant. All he wanted to do was go home, curl up in his chair and pretend he’d never said okay to a formal presentation. “Hell.”
“Zachary. Language.”
He turned to find the most formidable women he knew, bar one, standing in front of the closed doors to the ballroom where his party would be held. He was one of only a few witch Own, and Roland was going to see to it that he was greeted in style. Right now, he wished he’d never made friends with the son of a bitch. Maybe this was payback for the M&M incident? “Hi.”
“It’s not like you’re getting married. Geez Louise.” Lana, wearing a sleek gold dress and a new diamond engagement ring large enough to blind passing aircraft, smoothed down the lapels of his suit. “You’ll do fine.”
Marriage would be so much simpler. He’d be the one waiting for Jo to walk the gauntlet. “You don’t know how badly I screwed up when I was here.”
“We’ll let people know about the hex. After that, just intimidate the crap out of them.”
“Lana!” Annabelle was trying to look stern, but the smirk just kept peeking through. “Then again, she may be on to something.”
“Oh please,” his mother huffed. “Who could hate my baby?”
Zach winced. This was going to be oh, so fun.
The noise level behind the door quieted down. Roland was making his announcement.
Crap. Too late.
The women formed up around him, surprising him. Lana win
ked up at him. “Showtime.”
Zach squared his shoulders and prayed he didn’t trip over an invisible turtle.
Jo stood beside Roland and listened to him make his announcement. The crowd was pleased, wondering which of the young witches in Jo’s class had been claimed by the Goddess.
None of them suspected a thing.
Several witches from out of town were attending the party. The head of her own clan, her mother, beamed with pride. Ananda Yashodhar had taken Zach as hers. As far as she was concerned, Zach belonged to the Yashodhar coven, and as such gave them great honor. Having an Own in the coven, and mated to her daughter no less, was a great source of prestige.
Unfortunately for Ananda, Zach was a member of the Evans coven and belonged to Annabelle, a fact Jo had pointed out to her mother. But Ananda Yashodar was not about to give up the prestige of having an Own under her leadership and had tried to argue with Jo and Zach about it. Zach had tried to be polite, but no matter what he said her mother stubbornly refused to believe Zach wasn’t hers.
Jo had decided to let her mother argue with Annabelle Evans about which coven Zach belonged to. She’d established a truce with Annabelle and had no intention of fighting her on this. Besides, Zach had claimed her. She’d pointed out that, by tradition, that made Jo a member of the Evans coven.
Annabelle had been startled. Then she’d been amused.
Then she’d tried to put Jo to work teaching the local youngsters.
Jo smiled at the memory. Luckily she’d had the excuse of distance or she would have found herself in Annabelle’s living room teaching rowdy kids how to cast a circle. In exchange she’d agreed to teach a young witch of Annabelle’s coven how to train young witches. So far the girl had turned out to be more than adequate, and Annabelle was pleased.
“…and it is with great honor that I accept the first Hecate’s Own of our generation into my court.” Roland, looking smart in his tux, his athame strapped to his side, his wand in his hand, looked regal and powerful. His gaze swept the room, stern and unyielding. He was imposing his will on the court, and they allowed it instinctively. He was their Prince, and they bowed before him.
It always stunned Jo to see him in his official capacity as Prince. Usually she just saw her friend Ro, goofy, pizza-loving pain in the ass that he was. Tonight, she was reminded of why he was the Prince. She knew the Wizard King chose his successor, but didn’t know how. No one knew how the warlocks chose their leader, but she doubted it was anything good.
But witches knew who their leader was, and by the time he’d hit puberty everyone had known who the next prince was going to be.
“He has proven himself in battle against a nest of warlocks that were sacrificing young witches for power.” The gasps and murmurs raced across the ballroom. “He labored with and overcame a curse so vile that the candle used to contain it had to be buried three feet deep in warded concrete.” Something they’d taken care of as soon as Zach had recovered. “And I have been informed by a reliable source that this Own is one of the strongest we’ve ever been blessed with.”
She could almost hear the grinding of Roland’s teeth when he mentioned the “reliable source”. He, too, would have to get over his hatred of at least one Godwin. Too bad Ari had almost gone out with Hugh, and thank the Lady Roland had managed to convince her he loved her. Who knew what Hugh would have done to her if she’d actually accepted?
“He is unique in more ways than one. Born into a family that did not recognize what they held, his training suffered through no fault of his own. To know that he’s accomplished so much through so many trials is a testament to his strength.”
The murmurs grew in strength as those who lived near the court began to put two and two together. Jo could barely contain her grin.
Roland signaled. Two men began to open the massive double doors, ready to reveal Zach in all his glory.
“I give to you Zachary Beckett, Hecate’s Own!”
Jo almost laughed. Zach stalked through the room, his scowl imposing, his stride lethally sexy. Flanking him were Mama Beckett, her sparkling gown outshone by her radiant expression, and Annabelle Evans, dressed for the occasion in a flowing green creation that looked like it would blow away in a stiff breeze. Behind Zach she could just make out Lana Evans and Arianna Malinborn.
If she didn’t know better, she’d swear Lana had pinched Zach’s ass to get him through those doors. Then again, knowing Lana, she just might have.
Zach made his way down the length of the ballroom to a startled, wary silence. He stopped before Roland and bowed low. “My Prince.”
Roland bowed his head in response. “Zachary. Welcome to the court of the Witch Prince.”
Zach, mischief dancing in his eyes, stood. “Thank you, oh wise Prince.”
Jo damn near choked on her laugh.
She could see Roland’s eyes twinkling. The two had become close friends since they’d returned to Cleveland. Now that Roland understood how important Zach was to her, personally, he’d made a serious effort to win Zach over. And Zach, being Zach, had been easily won.
But then Roland’s eyes darkened. “An Own is a precious gift, rarely given and even more rarely understood.”
What? This deviated from the speech Roland was supposed to give. He was supposed to spout a lot of formalities about Zach’s place in court. She watched her friend closely, saw the sincerity in his expression, and relaxed. Whatever Roland intended, it was going to be good.
“That such a gift entered my court without my knowledge, burdened with a hex that none knew about…” Roland shook his head. “I owe you an apology.”
Zach smiled, his warmth reaching out to everyone around him. “None needed.”
“Still. We treated you poorly. When we should have looked for answers, instead we looked to blame.” Roland held out his hand. You could have heard a pin drop when he slashed his palm with his athame. “Welcome, brother.”
Jo almost fell down. What Roland was doing was claiming Zach as a member of his Coven, placing Zach above almost every witch in the room. Roland, as prince, had very few members in his personal coven; no prince did, as the entire court was supposed to be his coven. Each was a valued part of the court. To be a part of the Prince’s coven did not exclude you from your own, but set your status among the witches almost as high as the Prince’s own.
Jo was one of the few granted that privilege.
Zach drew his palm, the one with the wheel, across Roland’s athame. He clasped hands with the Prince. Light flashed between their joined palms, sealing the covenant with the Goddess’s blessing. “Thank you, brother.”
Annabelle looked like she’d swallowed a fish. Jo darted a glance toward her mother, who looked almost as shocked.
Jo tried not to grin as Roland and Zach exchanged a back-pounding hug, their bleeding palms between them.
Then Roland, his face wreathed in a smile, turned to the court. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”
Zach threw back his head and laughed.
It was so weird. People who hadn’t given him the time of day before were now walking up to him, wanting to talk to him, spend time with him. Touch him. Oh, the touching. One woman had giggled in his face and felt him up like a melon at the market. Thank the Lady Jo had seen or he’d be bruised all to hell.
Half the fun was watching her decide who to snarl at and who to let close to him. He knew it was wrong to enjoy it so much, but watching his mate warn off other women was priceless.
“Hey, Zach.”
Zach patted the seat next to him, knowing this was one woman Jo would never need to warn away. “Hey, Lana. Take a load off.”
“Thanks.” Lana settled down next to him with a sigh. “Are they still dancing?”
Zach nodded. “Yup.” He gestured toward the dance floor, where Jo was currently be-bopping around with Chris, the two of them having a marvelous time.
“Oh good. I wanted to talk to you privately.”
He turned to Lana an
d saw the concern on her face. “What’s wrong?”
She held up her hand and showed him the shadow wolf on her palm. “I think Gareth’s in trouble.”
The golden eyes did sort of remind him of his big brother. Zach felt himself go on alert. “Any idea what’s wrong?”
“Not a clue. All I know is it’s bad.”
Zach nodded. “You think it has to do with Gen?”
Lana frowned. “Gen?”
“Something happened back on the island, something that had Gareth running scared. I’ve never seen him like that before.” He explained what he’d seen Gen do to Gareth in order to save his life.
“Huh. And now you think he can’t face her?”
“She thinks he hates her.”
“Trust me, he doesn’t.” Lana frowned. He refrained from asking her how she was so certain that Gareth didn’t hate the warlock Own. “Any clue where she is right now?”
“Last I heard she was concentrating on hunting down Hugh.” And Zach had wanted to go with her, but Jo still needed him. She tended to wake up at night, shaken and scared. No way could he leave her yet. Gen had understood, but she’d gone on her own anyway. Now, seeing Gareth’s eyes looking out from Lana’s palm, he was worried.
From the looks of it, so was Lana. “What if she found him?”
“Gareth would pitch a fit.” Zach knew without a doubt that if Hugh Godwin harmed one hair on Genevieve’s head his own would roll. Gareth would hunt him to the ends of the earth and back.
“Has he asked for the ring yet?”
Zach shrugged. “Daniel wanted it first, but as far as I know he hasn’t cast the spell yet.”
“Hmph.” Lana crossed her arms. “Boy better shit or get off the pot.”
Zach agreed. He had no idea why Daniel was so hostile toward Kerry, but maybe it was time to find out. But first they had to deal with whatever Gareth’s new problem might be. “Want to call him and have him send it to Gareth?”
“Might not be a bad idea.” Lana stood and patted him on the shoulder. “Let me go call your brother. Then I think I’m going to drag my mate out of here and have my wicked way with him.”