He continued rubbing, grazing my clitoris until my breathing grew labored while he watched me, knowing he was holding me teetering on the edge of the storm. The moment my body inched toward the cliff, he stopped.
“Do you want me to finish it?” he asked softly with no hate marring his tone.
“No,” I whispered, scooting away from him until I was on the edge of the bed. I stood on trembling legs and grabbed the sheet with shaky hands, wrapping it around me before I sat down.
“I can help you, Laura,” he offered. “Tell me how much you need me, and I will help you out.”
“Go to hell, Braydon.”
“I’m already there, little one,” he muttered. “The only difference between this time and the last one is that I intend to put you through hell with me.”
Chapter 6
I woke to an empty room filled with his scent clinging to everything within it, even me. I stood and stretched my aching limbs, eyeing the bed longingly, and yet the pile of folded clothes on the bed caught my attention. I dropped the sheet and winced at the tender flesh between my thighs. It was red, but then so was my ass where he’d slapped it the night before. Holding up the sheer dress that did little to hide anything, I slipped it on and then gazed into the mirror that had been placed in the room while I slept.
Glaring at my wild hair and the matching dark circles around my eyes, I let my gaze slip to the sheer material of the dress. I could see the pink tips of my nipples, along with the red patch of hair that marked the apex of my sex. I turned slowly, discovering a brush and hairbands that had been set on the dresser. Moving to them, I grabbed the brush and slowly worked it through my hair until it was smooth. It took over an hour to make the three separate war braids before I wrapped them together in the way Braydon had always preferred I wear my hair.
Moving the chair, I picked up the discarded sheet and folded it, placing it back onto the bed before I took my position in the chair. The door opened, and Braydon walked into the room, covered in dirt and sweat. My gaze lingered on his before I dismissed him. I heard his deep inhale before it whistled out as he walked toward me, kneeling between my legs as he held them apart and inhaled while I gazed down at him.
“Afraid to come outside?” he challenged as he stood slowly, crossing his arms over his chest, studying me. “Or are you hoping for me to ravish you?”
“You told not to leave this room, and the thought of your hands touching me again seems to induce vomit to rise in the back of my throat. I’m willing to stay put like the good little whore you want me to be, puppy.”
“Whore?” he asked, hiking one dark brow toward his forehead with the question.
“Isn’t that what you called me last night? Or was it evil, vile witch whose pussy was poisonous? I’m sure you can pick which name you want to call me today. Try changing it up a bit to keep me wondering which offensive thing you’ll use,” I offered with a shrug as my stomach growled.
“You need to eat, woman. You’re too tiny as it is, losing weight will make it worse.”
“Don’t bother yourself, I’m immortal,” I muttered. “I want to see Hope now.”
“Too fucking bad,” he chuckled, sitting on the bed to stare me down. “Stand up, woman.”
“No,” I said obtusely, glaring at him. He stood fluidly, plucking me from the chair by my arms. My chest rose and fell in anger as I stared murderously up at him.
“Turn around and let me see your pretty ass, witch,” he spat out as if I was something vile. I turned, allowing him to see the red welts along with the bruises he’d left on my flesh. His sharp hiss sounded as he took in the angry blue bruises that covered my cheeks. “You bruise easily, woman.”
“A brute manhandled me last night. It makes sense why I would carry bruises of proof come morning. Would you like to see how red and sore you left my cunt, monster?” I asked, not bothering to turn around. His hand landed in my hair, testing my braids. “Maybe you’d like to hurt me more? Come on, puppy, do your fucking worst,” I challenged as my eyes closed, and I inhaled his scent.
He dropped my braid and bent down behind me, lifting the sheer material of the dress. I held my breath as his fanned my sore flesh. My hands turned into fists at my sides as I waited for the pain to come, but instead of pain, his lips skimmed over the sore globes of my cheeks. I gasped and spun around, backing up from him while he examined me through heated eyes.
“Don’t do that!” I ordered.
“Don’t kiss your ass?” he asked gently, letting his gaze drift to the red curls of my sex.
“Exactly,” I said as a frown tugged at my lips. I watched him warily as he sat on the bed again, studying me.
“You will come outside and eat with us today. I won’t have you hungry while food is available. I don’t intend to make you suffer or starve while you are here, Laura.”
“I don’t want your food or your hospitality. I want you to free Hope and let her leave here. I can understand you hating me, but she isn’t a part of this and has nothing to do with you. Her parents are probably beside themselves searching for her, and Avery will trace her to this place and bring an army down upon you.”
“The entire Cheveron bloodline has been neutered of their magic, witch. I made sure of it. I’ve known where you hid in the mountains for the past forty years, never wandering out of them until just recently. You see, I let my wolf out to track his mate, and I found you teaching adolescent witches to do what exactly? How to work hexes, curse innocent people? How to escape the notice of the humans?” he asked, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees as he spoke.
“How did you find me?” I countered, ignoring his question. “I used magic to hide from you, cloaked beneath it to prevent you from discovering the school.”
“I let my wolf out to track you and imagine my surprise when I found you deep in the mountains. I told you, you’re not the only one with magic. When you thought yourself alone and stared at the stars at night, what was it you wanted most?” he inquired thickly.
“Ooh, this is a bit awkward. I just wanted the ability to masturbate without you,” I shrugged, taking a seat in the chair again. “To find a man who could scratch the itch that this curse prevents me from reaching. Any man, really,” I continued, noting that his jaw tightened with my response. “Oh, my bad,” I winced dramatically. “Did you think I asked the stars for you? Sorry, but no, I just wanted to get off.”
“Use me,” he offered.
“Hard pass,” I retorted. “I don’t fuck men who abuse me without my permission. Go fuck someone else, dog.”
“How about I bend you over and fuck you like an animal? If my memory is correct, you fucking howl like a bitch in heat when I do you from behind. My thick cock batters those tight walls, the tiny little thing that you are, you took me anyway. Last night I dreamed of you again, but you were this ethereal creature that lured me to your bed, and fuck, did you rock my world. We were in a dark room, and your green eyes glowed with magic when you came with my name on your lips.”
“And did the room have a picture above the mantel of a Viking waging war against wolves?” I asked, gazing into his eyes as they narrowed at my question. “That warrior was you in your true form, and those wolves were there to murder me. You protected me from them, even though at the time, you were just like them. That wasn’t a dream, Braydon. That was a memory. One you shouldn’t have. Pray tell, what did you do to get them? Deals with the devil have consequences.”
“I’ve learned that firsthand, little witch,” he laughed coldly.
“I’d like to shower,” I said offhandedly.
“There’s a natural pool outside, use it,” he said through clenched teeth. “I must mark you afterward, though. Unless I fuck you, it will be how I mark you as off-limits to the pack.”
“And fucking me would end it, how?” I asked, chewing my lip, studying his mouth as I remembered how it felt in
places that craved it. It was too bad he was such an asshole this go-round because he was a master in the bedroom.
“Because my scent would mark your womb as unavailable to the other men here,” he said pointedly. “At least until your next breeding cycle,” he shrugged.
“Hard pass, again. Show me the pool,” I said, standing up.
“No modesty, huh? No complaint about walking out of this room almost naked?” he returned with one brow lifting higher than the other.
“Why would I complain? You enjoy it when I do, and I don’t like giving you any enjoyment in this version of you that has returned to me. I can play your villain if you want it to be so, Braydon. You’ve already assumed the worst of me, so why would I care if your people do the same? I am being debased and made into the monster you accuse me of being, so why fight it?”
“As you wish, follow me,” he snapped, standing to open the door.
I followed closely behind him, ignoring the stares of the people who scrutinized me as I emerged from his house. There were several houses around us, each one minimal in structures that had been camouflaged to blend into the scenery. Men, women, and children paused as I passed them. It wasn’t until a child spoke that I paused, listening carefully.
“That is the wicked witch?” she asked her mother. I turned, studying the dirty child as her mother pulled her closer to her and made the sign of the cross over her ample bosom. “She doesn’t look wicked; she looks pretty.”
“She’s the witch who cursed our alpha, Haley.”
I smirked, knowing that everyone here assumed I was the monster he had told them I was. Let them think what they wanted; I’d stopped caring centuries ago what the world thought of me or my kind. Men stared openly at me when we passed them, and if Braydon saw, he did nothing to sway them to look elsewhere. Once we reached the pond, he took a seat on a large boulder and produced a knife and a piece of wood. My gaze examined him as he started to carve into it.
Pulling off the gown, I stepped into the water, ignoring him as I submerged my body into the chilled water. Judging from the lack of tracks, it was obvious that no one else bathed in the pond. That meant he was forcing me into it to be an asshole. When it felt as if enough time of ignoring him had passed, I turned, staring up at the blue sky as I slowly walked out of the water, aware that leeches had stuck to my flesh. My hand lowered, pulling the few I could reach off as I stopped in front of him, dropping them back into the water.
I didn’t move to dress immediately. I stood before him, gazing up at the bright blue sky that often had reminded me of his beautiful eyes, but instead of finding it pretty, it offered nothing but regret. I could feel the weight of his stare on me and dropped my gaze to his, walking past him in silence. Once I dressed, he walked me back to the room. There, he pulled a leech off my back and tossed it into a bucket. Too late, I realized my error, and the reasoning for having me bathe in the water hit me.
“You did that to get my blood?” I asked carefully.
“It’s needed for the spell we will use to rid me of you,” he admitted with a slight shrug. “I probably will need a lot more than this.”
“Why not just take it, mutt?” I questioned harshly. “Give me a knife, and I’ll freely give it to you,” I suggested, and when he held one out and stepped away from me, I held his stare, using the blade to slit my wrist to the bone, staring at it in horror as it didn’t heal immediately.
“Jesus, woman,” he snapped, moving to take the knife from me as I held my arm over the bucket, letting the blood pool into it.
“Believe it or not, I want out of this too.” My blood pooled into the bucket steadily as I watched it. “If blood is what you want or need to give your witch, take it all.”
“And you say I am the one who goes mad?” he snarled as he grabbed my wrist and held it closed. He ripped his shirt off, holding it to the wound as the world spun around me. “Laura?” he whispered as my head rolled back. “Fuck!” he growled, catching me before I hit the floor and everything went black.
Chapter 7
Voices speaking in a hushed tone woke me from my sleep. Braydon and Moira spoke at the foot of the bed, their tone reminiscent of lovers. A vile taste coated my mouth, and I held the urge to vomit in.
“You’re wrong if you think she isn’t evil,” he argued.
“She doesn’t appear to be evil, nor does she embrace this curse that is also affecting her. You said she cannot take pleasure from another, who would ever place a curse upon themselves to endure centuries of celibacy? She is beautiful and a woman with needs. I can smell it on her. Her arousal is heady and seductive. I get aroused around her, Braydon. Hell, I want to mount her, and I don’t even have a cock. You marked her because of it. The younger one, she smells nothing like this one. Laura smells of a woman in full ovulation who hasn’t bred in centuries. That means she hasn’t been with a man in all that time. She isn’t fighting you, and if she was evil as you say she is, wouldn’t she fight to escape? Hope says she is sweet, guarded yes, but she has spent centuries training children to live, and that doesn’t scream evil witch to me. You assume she is evil, but she’s also cursed, alpha. You loathe her because every time you fuck another woman, you wish it was she taking your cock. That is her only crime against you. You are her mate, though, which is clear to everyone but you. I can smell it, you know. The mark you both carry.”
“I don’t want her,” he countered.
“I know you do, but I don’t think she likes you much either. She slit her wrist to give you blood and could have very well perished because of it. If our witches are correct, she can only die by your hand, but yet she passed out from losing too much blood. My guess is that she can die by her hand, and yet everything within her prevents that from happening, or it did until now. I don’t know if she even realized she could.”
“You have no idea what she is or has done to me. No, we will be mated once this is finished. Our packs are together as they should be. I will keep my word to your father and ensure you are protected.”
“I want love, Braydon,” she breathed, and the sound of his mouth against hers forced my heart to clench. “I want a man who will look at me as you did to her as she bathed today. You don’t see it, but you gaze at her as if she is the moon to your wolf. I need more than just protection from my mate, and I deserve it.”
“I am cursed to feel what I do for her,” he argued. “I don’t want her, do you hear me? I have dreamed of that bitch since I was a mere child. She has haunted my dreams, consumed the wolf within me until he refused to mate with anyone but her. She is a poison that needs to be bled from my system. I didn’t choose her; she made me remember her so that in every life I live, it is she that I crave. I shouldn’t feel this need to be with her. It is only her magic working on me that makes it so. If I have to take her head from her pretty shoulders, I will. I am no one’s puppet, and I sure as fuck don’t plan to mate with a witch who got me into this mess, to begin with. Her blood is the key to unlocking the curse, and when I have the curse undone, she will leave here. You and I have protected your pack from the wolves who hunt them; we continue as we have been. Understand this, sweet wolf, I will always protect you.” His voice rose as if he wanted me to hear his words.
“And if they cannot remove the mark on your soul, Braydon? You belong to her even without the curse that pulls you to her. Once upon a time, you chose her. You made her your wife.”
“Because she’s a witch who can use magic against me, I did. I doubt I ever loved her in any lifetime. She is thin and too tiny, breakable. Her hair is the color of the leaves on the trees in fall, and her eyes gaudy green. Her skin is too pale and covered in freckles, and even now carries bruises from me. She barely even has tits, Moira. I enjoy lusty women who are built to be savaged, and she has nothing to make a man crave her. What man in their right mind would want something so tiny?”
I swallowed past the closing of my throat as
I fought the blow to my ego. Many men had wanted me over the centuries, and I’d craved this asshole instead of them. I had kings kneel at my feet. They promised me the world if I lay with them, and I’d wanted this brainless caveman. That made me the biggest idiot in the room.
“If you don’t mind, trying to die in peace here,” I muttered, pulling the blankets up over my head to hide the tears.
“It’s my room, witch,” he sneered.
“Then please, send me anywhere else. Fuck, tie me to a fucking tree, and set the bitch on fire if it gets you off. I’ve had the pleasure of being burned at the stake twice already, and I think I prefer the bite of flames to your company anyway,” I chuckled. “And for your information, the King of England loved my tits. He even offered to remove his queen’s head if I let him taste them once. The Bastard King of Scotland also begged to taste my flesh, but I refused him, a pity that, since he has the longest tongue of all the kings I served. I wish I could have ridden his face just once and felt it, though I may not have ever gotten off on his mouth.”
“You were alive when the Bastard King of Scotland lived?” Moira asked in a shocked tone.
“A downside of being cursed to live forever, I’m afraid,” I said harshly from where I hid beneath the covers. “I may be tiny, but I assure you, I am made to endure even the worst brutes that walk this earth, current company included. So is there a tree available? Preferably not one your dog has pissed on since piss makes the fire smell worse as it burns the flesh.”
“No one is burning you at the stake, witch,” he snapped.
“Damn, can’t say I didn’t try.” I closed my eyes as the door opened and closed, and I exhaled in relief until he ripped the blankets from the bed. I refused to look at him or see the disinterest burning in his gaze from my less than desirable assets. “Can I help you, puppy?” I asked, staring at the wall.
Wicked Hexes Page 5