by Sadie Moss
But my gaze fell on the knife lying beside us on the mattress, and worry trumped my growing lust. What the fuck had happened to her? I’d been pulled from a sound sleep, and when my eyes popped open, I could hardly believe what I was seeing. I was lucky I had fast reflexes, or the shock of seeing Willow standing over me with a goddamn knife would’ve rooted me to the spot long enough for her to fucking end me.
Will saw the concern on my face, and her hand reached up to cup my cheek. “I’m so sorry, Jerrett.”
She kept saying that. I hoped I could convince her I didn’t hold this against her at all. It was pretty fucking obvious something else had been controlling her actions.
I leaned into her touch, turning my head to kiss the palm of her hand. “You’ve got nothing to apologize for, sweetheart. Whoever tried to use you to kill me though? Yeah, they’ve got some fucking explaining to do. Hang on.”
Reluctantly, I pulled out of her tight warmth, immediately missing the feel of her inner muscles gripping my cock. This woman had fucking ruined me for anyone else.
I walked naked into the bathroom, grabbed a soft washcloth from the shelf, and returned to find Willow still sprawled on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. I cleaned her gently, then pulled her up to sit. Her nightgown was still bunched around her waist, and I pulled the top up, unable to resist brushing my thumbs against her nipples as I dragged the fabric over her skin.
She groaned softly, and it took all my self-control not to rip the flimsy fabric right down the middle and bury my face between the soft pillows of her breasts.
Instead, I tied the straps back together over her shoulders. Then I hopped off the bed, grabbing my discarded pants and a shirt and throwing them on. I held out my hand to Willow, helping her from the bed. She still looked disheveled and thoroughly fucked, but it was a good goddamn look on her.
“Come on.”
With a firm grip on her small hand, I led her to the door and down the hall to Sol’s room. I rapped hard on the wood.
“Sol! Some crazy shit just went down. We need to talk. Malcolm’s room.”
Not even waiting for an answer, I guided Will to a door farther down the hall, raising my fist to knock again.
“Mal! Open up. Something’s wrong.”
In just a few seconds, the lock clicked and my brother opened the door. I was sure he’d been in a sound sleep, but you’d never know it to look at him. Like all good hunters, Mal could go from zero to sixty almost immediately. No cobwebs of sleep lingered in his brain, and his eyes were sharp and alert.
“What is it?” he asked. “What’s going on?”
“Yeah, what ‘crazy shit’ just went down?” Sol arrived at our side, his green eyes curious. He sniffed the air lightly. “Besides sex, I mean.”
Will seemed to choke on her next breath and pressed a hand over her mouth, a flush darkening her cheeks.
Mal’s brows rose. He gave the air a tentative sniff too before narrowing his eyes at me.
I smirked, jerking my chin pointedly behind Mal into his room. He sighed and stepped back, ushering us all inside quickly.
He shut the door behind us before leaning against it, his arms crossed over his chest. “What’s going on? I swear to God, Jerrett, if you woke me up just to tell me you two had sex—”
“Of course not, Mal. Although, shit, it was worth banging on doors and shouting about from rooftops.” I shot Willow a heated look, and her blush deepened. Then I turned back to Malcolm and Sol. “But mind-blowing sex aside, Willow just tried to kill me.”
“What?” Sol’s voice was pure shock.
“I didn’t mean to!” Will held a hand out, her face stricken. “Something was trying to make me kill him.”
Mal tipped his head, regarding her seriously. I could tell he hadn’t let go of his anger over her promise to King Carrick, but at least he was putting it aside to help us deal with this crisis.
“What exactly happened?” he asked.
Willow chewed her lip, tightening her grip on my hand, which she hadn’t let go of since I helped her up from my bed.
“I was sleeping, and something woke me up. I wasn’t sure what it was at first, so I just tried to go back to sleep. Then I noticed I was glowing. Or rather, the runes on my body were. The brighter they glowed, the foggier my mind got. I heard a voice in my head. It wasn’t my own, but it sort of felt like it was. As if the thoughts came from me.” She shuddered, biting her pink, swollen bottom lip. “But it couldn’t have. Because what it was telling me is something I would never want to do.”
“What did the voice say?” Sol prompted gently.
Will looked so sad it broke my damn heart. “It said ‘kill them.’ It kept repeating those words over and over.”
Sol blew out a breath, his brows pulling together in concern. “‘Them’ meaning us?”
“I think so. You were the ones who popped into my head anyway.” Willow grimaced. “So I walked down the hall to Jerrett’s room, and when I couldn’t open the locked door, I used my fae magic to phase out and pass through it that way. It felt like my head was underwater or something. Everything was so fuzzy and indistinct. Nothing was clear except one thought—I had to kill Jerrett. I picked up his knife from the bedside table, and I was going to stab him in the heart, but he woke up. He stopped me, and then he brought me back to myself.”
“How?” Sol cocked his head at her.
“He… um…” She looked at me, her hazel eyes brimming with emotion.
“I fed her.” Pride, and another, stronger emotion rose in my chest.
Sol’s eyes widened, and Malcolm paced away from us. This probably wasn’t helping Mal’s anger at Willow, but hell, I wasn’t going to lie just to spare his feelings. I didn’t like what Will had promised Carrick either, but I wasn’t going to make her pay for it forever.
And I wasn’t just saying that because of the fucking amazing sex we’d had.
Okay, maybe a little bit because of that.
“And that helped? Feeding her?” Sol’s focus darted between the two of us.
“Yeah. The runes on her skin stopped glowing, and she stopped trying to stab me.”
“My head got clearer,” Willow added. “I don’t know what it means or why it worked. Maybe it was just the vampire blood. Or maybe it worked because it was Jerrett. Someone I lo—” She broke off, shooting me a surprised look as the color in her cheeks deepened several more shades. “Someone I trust. One of the ones who turned me.”
“And you decided to celebrate not killing him by having sex?”
Mal’s voice had a hard edge, and I ground my teeth together. Willow had come such a long way since we’d met her, accepting who she was now and becoming more comfortable in her own skin. If he tried to make her feel bad about indulging her primal need for me in that moment, I’d throw him through the fucking wall, runes and shades and weird sisters be damned.
But as usual, I needn’t have worried about the firecracker. She’d proven herself capable of standing up to Mal on many occasions, and she drove that point home with a vengeance now.
She rounded on him, sparks lighting in her hazel eyes. “Yeah, I did! And you know what? It was fucking incredible! Toe-curling, life-altering, call-everyone-you-know-to-brag-about-it kind of incredible.” Stalking toward him, she tipped her chin up, straightening to her full height. “And you know what else? Sol and I had sex last night after the trial. And it was so goddamn good I almost blacked out. Do you have a problem with that?”
Heat flared in Mal’s eyes, and his chest rose and fell with deep breaths. I knew he was fighting down his arousal at her words. Hell, I was turned on again and I’d just fucked her a few minutes ago. The thought of her with Sol, of what the two of us could do to her together, made my cock twitch. And all three of us? Fuck. If Mal ever got his head out of his ass, the three of us could most definitely make her black out from pleasure.
Unfortunately, that day might be a long way off.
Mal’s expression hardened, his jaw clenching.
“No. No problem. What I have a problem with is you offering yourself up to Carrick as a goddamned blood courtesan.”
Tears of frustration welled in Willow’s eyes, and Sol and I both tensed.
I loved Mal like he was part of my own soul, and I trusted him as a leader. My brother and I would follow him into hell if he asked us to. He had our allegiance no matter what. But that didn’t mean we wouldn’t kick his ass for making Will cry.
“I did it to save you. Why can’t you see that?” she blurted, swiping angrily at her eyes.
“We could have found another way. Another solution.” Mal crossed his arms stubbornly.
“Well, maybe we still can, you giant asshole.” Willow pursed her lips as she glared up at him. “I bought us time. So maybe instead of being a dick and getting mad at me, you can help me figure out a way to survive all of this.”
Mal’s muscles unbunched a little, his harsh expression softening. “I will always help you, wildcat. You have my word on that.”
Their gazes locked for several long minutes before Willow murmured, “I know.”
“A good place to start would be figuring out what the hell caused her runes to flare to life today,” I drawled, breaking into their connection.
“Right.” Malcolm’s posture changed as he shifted smoothly from angry lover to leader. “This must be why the shades were carving runes onto your skin. The runes open you up to control by whoever their masters are.”
“Those two women, the ones who look like twins.” Willow nodded. “That explains why the shades have the same markings as I do. The weird sisters are controlling them the same way. So why did mine glow? Theirs never did. At least, as far as I know.”
“I’m not sure.” Sol stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Perhaps it’s because you’re living and the shades are dead. Or because the runes on your body are incomplete.”
“That would make sense. I bet it’s also easier for the women to control the shades than to control me, unless the undead have fully functioning brains. I wasn’t able to stop myself from obeying the commands in my head, but I did resist somewhat. I knew, somewhere deep inside, that I didn’t want to do what they were telling me.” Will stepped away from Malcolm, crossing to his large bed to sink onto the end of it. She smoothed her wild hair, twisting it over one shoulder. “But what if it happens again? What if I can’t resist next time?”
The three of us gathered around the foot of the bed, gazing down at her. She looked like a lost siren, tired and frightened but alluring as fuck nonetheless.
“It’s a fair concern. We’ll have to be careful.” Malcolm pursed his lips thoughtfully. “From now on, you’ll sleep with one of us.”
Willow released the hair she’d been twisting, tilting her head up with wide eyes. “What? Won’t that be more dangerous? If I’m trying to kill all of you, wouldn’t you be better off staying far away?”
“You won’t get rid of us that easily, Willow tree.” Sol smiled, sinking down onto the bed next to her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
“He’s right,” Malcolm agreed. “And besides, if one of us is with you, hopefully we can sense the change in you and let you feed from us before you launch an attack. Since that’s the only way we know of right now to break the spell, we’ll have to be ready at a moment’s notice.”
Will nodded, clearly not liking this plan but recognizing that it made sense.
“And we need to keep this a secret.” Malcolm’s voice dropped, concern shadowing his eyes. “Carrick is already far, far too interested in you. It’s bad enough that he knows you have fae heritage, bad enough that you’ve promised him your blood. If he finds out you could fall under the thrall of the weird sisters at any moment, he’ll use that as his excuse to go back on his word and either lock you up to be a blood slave or kill you without letting you complete your trial.”
“A-fucking-men. This stays between us.” I brushed the hair out of my eyes, running my hand over my head. “And for my money, Carrick’s moving way too fucking slow in his search for more shades and their masters. We need to get back to the hunt as soon as possible. We can’t count on him to fix this.”
“We can’t count on him for anything.” Sol’s voice was calm as usual, but there was venom behind his words.
Not surprising. We’d always had a strained relationship with Carrick, but the events of the past week had pretty much destroyed any remaining respect I had for the man.
“The magic felt connected to me somehow,” Willow said slowly, her gaze drifting out of focus as she sorted through her thoughts.
“What do you mean, wildcat?” Malcolm dipped his head to look at her more closely.
“I don’t know exactly. But it felt like the magic was part of me in a way.” She scrubbed her hands over her face. “Ugh. That sounds so hippy-dippy. Maybe it’s because the runes are literally carved into me, or maybe it was the type of magic being used? I’m not sure. But I could feel it.”
“If the magic is somehow woven into you, that’s concerning, but it may also be why you were able to break their control. The sisters didn’t count on your strength of will.” Sol’s eyes shone like they always did when he was solving a puzzle. “You should keep trying to access your fae magic too. If you can develop your own powers, perhaps you’ll be able to defend yourself better against the sisters’ thrall.”
“Please, God, yes.” Willow flopped back on the bed, her perky breasts and pink nipples pressing against the fabric of her thin nightgown and straining my self-control. She lifted her head, gazing at us all with serious hazel eyes. “Because believe it or not, I really don’t want to kill any of you.”
18
Willow
Darkness bathed the room in shadow. I stretched my exhausted body, relishing the soreness in places that hadn’t felt anything for far too long.
I hadn’t slept more than a few hours, but it had been so, so worth it.
A strong arm snaked around my waist, large fingers splaying across my stomach as Jerrett pulled me back into the cradle of his body. His bare skin was hot against mine, and I could feel the slow thud of his heartbeat against my back. I also felt something thick and hard poking my backside, and I wriggled, grinding my ass against his cock. He hissed through his teeth, his hand sliding up to roll my nipple between his fingers.
I peered over my shoulder at him, loving the way his messy black hair fell across his forehead. “Didn’t I wear you out already?”
“Sweetheart, it’s gonna take a lot more than that to wear me out.” His voice was a soft growl, and he nipped the shell of my ear to punctuate his words, sending a sharp little zing of pleasure straight down to my clit.
After our impromptu midday meeting in Malcolm’s room, there had been a brief debate about who I would stay with for the rest of the night. I’d both dreaded and hoped Malcolm would insist on keeping me with him. Part of me was nervous about being alone with him when he was so damned testy, but I also knew we needed to confront whatever was brewing between us at some point. But in the end, Jerrett had won out, using the argument that he’d already dealt with “runey-stabby Willow” once, so he was best equipped to deal with her again if the spell reactivated.
As soon as we were inside his bedroom, he’d kicked the door shut, scooped me into his arms, and deposited me on the bed where we picked up right where we’d left off.
And as it turned out, the mind-blowing sex hadn’t been a fluke. If anything, it got better the second time, and the third, as we got to know each other’s bodies more intimately.
Forget rock star. Forget rock god. Jerrett was a bona fide sex god.
And he wanted me.
A pleasurable shiver ran up my spine at the thought, and because the man in question was pretty much plastered to my back, he felt it.
“What was that for, sweetheart?”
“I was just thinking about you,” I murmured, snuggling even deeper into his embrace.
“I should fucking hope so.” He chuckled, giving my nipple a lig
ht pinch that pulled a gasp from me. “I’d hate to think that after the day we had, your mind is already wandering.”
I laughed with him, but the smile quickly faded from my lips. His words had touched on something that’d been bothering me ever since I blurted out in my angry tirade that I’d had sex with both Jerrett and Sol. I’d been trying to goad Malcolm, trying to force a reaction from him. But it hadn’t seemed to make him angry—at least, no angrier than he already was. And neither Jerrett nor Sol had seemed bothered by my declaration at all.
But the old Willow had been rising to the surface as I thought more about what I’d said, and I felt embarrassed and a little guilty for sleeping with two men—two friends who might as well be brothers—in such quick succession.
Sure, Jerrett had told me once that he didn’t mind sharing. But for all I knew, he’d just been joking or talking dirty. Maybe he hadn’t been serious.
“Okay, what are you thinking about now? Something new just popped into that pretty, wild head of yours.”
Both thrilled and horrified that he could read me so well already, I flipped over onto my other side so we were face-to-face. My leg draped over his, and his cock brushed against my stomach.
“I was just wondering what’s going on. What does this mean exactly? What do I call you now? My boyfriend?”
The words sounded way more awkward than I’d hoped, and I looked down to avoid his gaze, tracing the tattoo on his chest with my finger. He hummed a soft noise in the back of his throat, using the knuckles of one hand to tilt my head back up. His blue eyes blazed as he smiled at me.
“Eh, boyfriend is such a simple word. I know it’s what you’re used to using in the human world, but it doesn’t really sum up what’s happening between us accurately. Why don’t you just call me yours.”
“Mine?”
“Uh huh, sweetheart. All yours.”
He leaned forward to plant a sweet, hot kiss on my mouth, and for a moment, I let myself drown in his touch. When he pulled away, I bit my swollen bottom lip, gazing up at him with my brows pinched together.