Taunting Destiny

by Amelia Hutchins

  “You think I wouldn’t come inside to get you?” he challenged.

  I swallowed and shook my head. The wards my parents had placed on the walls inside the house had already taken Ryder down once; it was the only time I’d ever seen anything affect him. “No, actually—” Before I could finish my sentence, I was yanked from the house by invisible hands and pressed against the exterior of the house by Ryder’s massive body.

  “Like I said, you can't hide from me. Ever.” His eyes heated with liquid gold. Heat seared between us, instantly. “If you try to hide from me, Pet, I will tie you to my bed, and fuck you until you not only acknowledge my ownership, you will beg me for it.”

  I licked my lips to reply to his taunt, but his mouth lowered and claimed mine. His kiss was more than just a kiss, though—he was claiming ownership. I brought my hands up against his chest to push him away, but the moment they landed on him, I forgot everything else but Ryder. Once again my mind was his, instantly becoming a tool of my own seduction and caving to his need. It was as if he took control of my mind and my body, with the slightest effort. I moaned against him, feeling his erection press against my stomach as his hands landed against the clapboard siding of the house, trapping me between them.

  My body flamed with need. Liquid fire began to race through my veins. He deepened the kiss, and groaned as his hands went down to pick me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist as my arms went around his neck. My hands fisted his hair, holding him against my mouth. When he finally managed to pull away from me, I was shaking with need. I hated that I still responded to him, even after seeing what he had done. My body wept for his touch, demanded it, even.

  He chuckled, his eyes searching my face as I leaned back against the house. “You're closer than I thought you were.” His lips drifted down my neck, and stopped on my carotid, his tongue flicking out to taste my heartbeat. “You smell good, Pet, so fucking sweet. You’re already wet for me.”

  “Tell me why you were hurting those Warlocks,” I whispered as I ground my body against the massive erection that I could feel through his cloak. Something about Ryder left me helpless to refuse him. It left me confused and upset, which was an unstable combination.

  “It's none of your concern, Syn,” he growled.

  I shook my head with that wake-up call and pushed him away, dropping back to the ground, and righting myself on my feet. “Not my concern? I was part of that Guild until last week.”

  “You're not anymore, remember? Right now, you need to keep out of this, because you won’t like what you find.” His voice turned hard and intense, as he drove the meaning home.

  “Go away, Ryder, now.”

  His lips pulled up into a dangerous smile. One I'd seen many times before. I quickly stepped backwards as he stepped towards me. I glared at him. “Soon, very fucking soon, Syn,” he said softly.

  “Only for Transition, then we are done, Ryder. You’re too much—this is all too much. The contract only stated that I was yours until a time of mutual choosing. I'm choosing now, the minute I'm done with Transition, we are done.”

  Chapter Two

  It took me at least twenty minutes in the shower to get the feel of Ryder off my skin, and it still wasn’t one hundred percent gone. I had managed once again rub my skin to a bright shade of red over that man. The last thing I needed to do was get any closer to that egocentric tyrant. I wasn’t built for hanging around like a good little doggie until he wanted me. His words, “who says I wanted more,” flashed through my mind again, like a splinter I couldn’t get out. Frustrating Fae, and his stupid secrets. I tried to find a bit of distraction for my running mind by puttering around the kitchen and living room at first. Then I watched a little TV, walked on the treadmill, then gave up, and jogged, which only managed to kill about an hour.

  I was so used to having my coven around that without them, I was lost. I missed Larissa, but I was a mess without Adam. I didn’t have a chance to ask Ryder what his being my Familiar meant. Ryder had that effect on my brain. I sat staring at the TV for a while, before I broke down and stretched out on the couch. It wasn’t long until my cell phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number.

  “Hello?” I answered cautiously.

  “Synthia?” Alden asked back. I relaxed a bit.

  “Is it secure?” I asked calmly, wanting to talk to him about what had gone down at Ryder's without an audience.

  “It's secure. Everything okay?” Alden asked carefully.

  “Know why Ryder would have Guild members at his mansion? And what the hell was that on the Guild steps?” I asked, listening for his tone to change.

  “Syn, stay out of it.”

  There it was. I groaned. “He will kill them, you know that, right?”

  “And for a very good reason. You're smarter than that. I gave him those Warlocks. That's all you need to know for now.”

  “Seriously, have you been taking lessons on how to deflect from Ryder?” I snapped, completely pissed that I was being kept in the dark about what was going on by both men.

  “I have a job for you. If you’re interested that is,” he countered.

  “I'm alone. Adam went into Transition.”

  “I'm aware, it’s not a mark, it's a tactical one, but you’d have a team standing by ready for your call.” Mark was what the Guild referred to as marked for death; within sanction law we could kill anyone who had been marked.

  “Job? I thought since I was Fae, I was no longer welcome?”

  “The Guild will still subcontract out to Otherworld creatures, if the job requires it. I want you to get over it, Syn, there’s more going on here than you know. I need you to take this job, for me. There's a new vampire in town. He's been seen frequenting Vlad's bar. We can't get inside, but you probably can.”

  “You know that Vlad is Dracula right?” I asked carefully.

  “Yes, of course I know who he is, Synthia. What is happening takes precedence over who he is, though. We found four bodies drained. One of them was a thirteen year old runaway. Seattle Guild is calling for blood, as this went down in their jurisdiction, and they feel he is targeting those that typically wouldn’t be missed. They think this Marcus might be here in Spokane now. I need you to find out if he's here, and tail him.”

  “I have no magic, Alden,” I reminded him.

  “Syn, you're good, even without your magic. I trained you myself.”

  “If he is here, and I find him, what are my instructions?”

  “You call in. Don’t try to take him down. Call me and I'll call in a strike team. If he leaves before we get there, tail him.”

  I hung up after getting a description and a rough time of when they thought he would be there. I only had fifteen, or so, hours to kill. I eyed the wards, and then the door. Letting out a huff, I got up and headed for bed. It took a bit of time to clean up the mess from Adam's destruction of my room and bed earlier. When I was finished cleaning, I had most of my bed left, minus the shattered headboard that I hadn’t been able to save.

  I tossed and turned in my bed. Golden eyes flashed at me every time I closed mine. I must have lain in bed for hours, before I finally succumbed to sleep—where he was waiting for me.

  He was there the minute I closed my eyes, waiting for me in my dream. I looked around the room we were in. It was completely white, with the exception of the male standing there. His dark black button up shirt was unbuttoned to mid chest, and his jeans clung low and seductive against his tapered hips. Sex incarnate was staring at me. He smiled slowly, his eyes consuming me from where he stood. “Can't I get a break? You’re even in my fucking dreams!” I growled, thinking how crazy it was that he was here.

  He didn’t answer. Instead, he moved closer and tilted his head as his hands pulled me to himself, melding our bodies together until I could feel his erection. Oh, what the hell, it was a dream anyway, right?

  “Tall, dark, and silent, hmm? I think I like you better in my dreams,” I said, looking up at his beautiful face. Sharp angular line
s defined every inch of his face. He had a harsh masculine beauty that most men couldn't manage. Ryder, on the other hand, managed it beautifully.

  “I'm going to fuck you, Pet.”

  “Oh, you do talk. Damn.”

  He chuckled and pushed me away from himself gently. “Take your clothes off, or I'll do it for you.”

  “This is my dream, you take off your clothes,” I growled low, letting my eyes slide down the hard length of his chiseled body. He was sex personified, and deadly.

  “I said take your fucking clothes off, now.” He smiled wickedly as the words slid over his tongue like silk.

  I smiled, and figured I'd play along. I mean what was the harm in it? I reached up, removing one of the thin straps of the black lace nightgown from one shoulder, and then the other one. I slowly let the nightgown slide to the floor, before stepping out of it. I enjoyed the sharp hissing sound he made, when he feasted his eyes on my naked flesh.

  “Any other demands, big boy?” I asked playfully.

  “Come here,” he answered in a husky tone.

  I did and, when I stood directly in front of him, I paused as a shiver of fear and anticipation ran through me. “This is a dream right?”

  “You dream about me, Pet? Do you dream of me fucking your tight body until it trembles from my touch?” he asked as heat swirled in his eyes. His fingers came up and pinched my nipples. It felt real, except for the fact that I knew it wasn’t. I was asleep, in my bed, safe from him.

  “I have to be dreaming of you. I’m asleep in my bed, at my house. You can’t get inside.” I admitted it out loud, since he'd never remember it from my dream. I felt a tingle and pulse of magic swirling inside the room.

  “Lay down on the bed,” he growled, nodding towards a wicked looking four poster bed that had silver manacles attached to chains resting on the coverlet. The wood of the headboard and posts were so dark, they were almost black. The posts rose well over seven feet and were shaped like thin spires. Bright crimson silk covered it, invitingly.

  I snorted. “As if.”

  “Do it, now Pet. I want to taste your pussy.” His voice was half growl, half need, and all sexy.

  Okay! I smiled, tilted my head and took him in. Dream Ryder looked hungry and hot. I turned and looked at the bed again, carefully. Even in my dreams, the beds associated with Ryder could host several people comfortably and still have room to spare. Oh, what the hell. I turned the rest of the way and walked to the bed, slowly. My hand lowered to trace over it. I tested the length of chain in my hand and grinned.

  “Are you planning on chaining me up?” I asked quietly. I felt him at my back, even though I hadn't heard him walk across the tiles on the floor.

  “Be a good girl, Syn, and get on the bed,” he whispered, making the hair on my nape stand up as his hot breath touched along my neck.

  I moved the rest of the way onto the bed and crawled high enough on it that I could lay my head on one of the many soft pillows. I met his eyes and held them. “Give me your hand,” he said, locking his eyes with mine.

  I did what he asked, and flinched when I felt the silver cuff click into place around my wrist. I swallowed as he leaned over me. His shirt was soft against my naked skin. He did the same with my feet, locking them into place, before he smiled, wickedly. His fingers once again tugged on my nipples. I moaned and shivered at the delicious tremble that erupted over my skin.

  His head bent low as his mouth suckled one nipple, and then the other. His hand moved down my body slowly, leisurely, as he explored it. He watched me as his fingers stroked over the sensitive flesh of my sleek heat. I growled in response, my hips moving off the bed to follow his hand as he removed it. “You’re wet already. Do you miss my cock?”

  I whimpered as he backed away from the bed. I wanted him—in this place and time I could allow my weakness for him to show. Because, this wasn't reality.

  “I thought you were going to fuck me.”

  “Oh, I plan to, Pet. First, I plan to make you beg for it.” He smiled, and I felt magic pulsing again in my dream room as a table appeared next to him. His lips kicked up into a wicked grin as more magic whirled inside the room. A silky looking material which looked like a black blindfold was now draped over his arm. “Lift your head,” he commanded, and I swallowed the frightened groan that threatened to escape my throat.

  It's a dream, nothing is real. Relax, Syn, just relax.

  I held his eyes for a moment, before lifting my head to allow him to place the blindfold over my eyes. I listened, now that I couldn’t see anything. Only my breathing could be heard inside the room. “Ryder?” I asked, moving my head to listen for noises. Nothing. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t a sexy dream, maybe it was a nightmare. He'd tied me up and left me.

  I yelped as pressure was applied to my nipple, and then, a moment later, the other one, as well. His mouth touched it, but magic must have kept the pressure applied to both, his hands just couldn’t feel like they were everywhere at once otherwise. I moaned against the pressure, and it got louder as his tongue licked around the pink tips, and his fingers entered my sleek heat. The combination was heady and intense.

  “Your pussy knows who owns it, Pet. You're so fucking wet, and it’s because of me. Because it knows I’m going to fuck this silky flesh until it is sore.”

  I whimpered, and lifted my hips—needing more, which he gladly gave. Another finger joined the other as his thumb played against my pleasure button. I rocked against his fingers, and cried out when they left my body abruptly. I could hear him licking them, and it drove me wild, knowing he was tasting me. I growled with need, and whined when all it got from him was a husky chuckle.

  His mouth crushed against mine, and I reveled in the taste of myself on his lips, in his mouth. When he pulled away, the room went silent again. I waited in anticipation for him to enter me, but he didn't. Instead, I felt something else down there, something hard and yet soft as it slowly entered my body. I moaned and dropped my legs to the side giving him better access.

  It went in and out until my core was slippery with the need he was creating. I felt the orgasm building inside, his breath was hot against my clit as his mouth came closer, and then his tongue was licking it, suckling at it, while he fucked me with whatever he was using, and yet, I felt both his hands on my flesh. I lifted my hips, and fought the restraints with the need to hold his head there.

  “Ryder,” I shouted, needing to come, but the moment I thought my body would shudder with release, he pulled it out, and removed his mouth.

  “I didn’t say you could come yet, Pet,” he growled.

  “I need it, I need to come, Ryder,” I pleaded still rocking my hips in a silent appeal for him to continue.

  When the feeling had passed, he let his fingers trail over my core. He allowed himself to sink one, and then another inside of me. He then pulled them out, and repeated the action several times. “Who owns this?” he asked, licking my clit slowly, surely, as his fingers pleasured my core.

  I moaned loudly. “Ryder.” I lifted my hips, hungrily, to take more of him inside of me. He smiled and removed his fingers—instantly I was filled. He was using his magic to pleasure my body. I was full, and when it started moving inside of me, he moaned. It was the sexiest fucking thing I had ever heard in my life. As if his magic was touching him while it was inside of me, and he could feel it.

  “Tell me who owns you, and I'll let you come.”

  “No one owns me,” I growled hungrily, and then cried out when the fullness was suddenly gone.

  “That’s the wrong answer, Pet. I fucking own you. This pussy wants me, you want me. And I want to fuck this sweet tight pussy, but I can’t unless you tell me who owns it. Tell me.” He growled huskily.

  “Ryder, I hurt.”

  Silence filled the room. I struggled against the chains, and then cried out as his hands went around my neck, and his mouth crushed against mine, hungrily. One hand snaked around to grab my hair as the other kept my face upright for his mouth.r />
  The feeling of being at his mercy was erotic and terrifying. The combination together was overwhelming. I reminded myself that it was only a dream, and he couldn't hurt me. I flinched as I felt his legs spreading mine even farther until the chain would allow them to go no more. I felt him then; he was there, teasing me with his hardness. The bulbous head pushing at my entrance, and sliding over the wet heat.

  “Oh God, I need it now, Ryder,” I cried, trying to push him in deeper, and failing.

  “Who owns you?” he purred above me.

  “No one does,” I whispered as I moved my hips.

  He shoved himself fully inside of me until I gasped and cried out. It was too much, and I felt him pushing against my womb, stretching me until I could take no more. Once again, he pulled out just as quickly as he had entered. “Who owns you, Syn?” he growled, before his lips crushed against mine. He pushed fully inside of me again, the combination almost sending me over the edge of the precipice.

  I whimpered, savoring the feel of him inside of me. My muscles tightened around him, sucking him further into the slick wetness he had created until he pulled out again. “Who the fuck owns you, Pet?”

  “No—” he cut my reply off as his mouth crushed against mine, his cock filling me completely.

  He did this several more times, and each time I replied with the same answer. I felt his anger rising. He growled low, the sound rattling inside his chest. I was soaking wet; sweat covered my body while liquid pooled between my legs. “I can do this all fucking night, Syn, now tell me, who owns this pretty pink pussy?”

  “I do,” I rocked my hips, waiting for him to enter as he had done before. “Ryder?”

  “You want this cock?” he growled fiercely, and shoved himself home inside of me and quickly pulled back.

  “Beg me for it, Pet. Beg me to fuck your pretty, pink, tight pussy. Beg for me to make you scream with pleasure,” he purred.

  “Please?” I replied lamely.

  I listened as the rattling inside his chest intensified, and moaned as he removed the pinching pressure from my right nipple, and soothed the puckered bud with his mouth. Nipping, and then sucking it, his tongue curled around the nipple and pulled it inside his blistering mouth. “I need you inside me, now.”