by R. A. Boyd
“And then I came after you,” Ronin muttered, looking at Willow as if he were capable of forgiving her for any transgressions she’d committed against him.
Wishing the floor would open and swallow her right this very second, she nodded and let her eyes scan the room. “Yes. You came after me. And I was ready. I emptied every blast of energy, every weakening spell, every single thing I could think of to stop you. But it didn’t work. So I waited for you to come at me. I knew you would. And when you did, I used a strengthening incantation on myself, and I fought you.” The echoing sound of thuds as her fists beat into him sounded from the past and sent a cold shudder up her spine. “I’d never been taken over by such violence, but seeing everyone you’d killed or hurt flipped something inside me. I beat you until you were bloody and broken and...” Instead of looking at the man she’d hurt, Willow switched her gaze to Cass. “I manifested a sword. And just before I lifted it to take off his head, his eyes cleared and I just knew his beast was gone. He looked up at me and smiled.”
“I came out of it,” Ronin said. “She’d beat my beast into submission. And it asked her for mercy. Asked her to spare us. To fix us. I knew what the Coven had planned for me. I knew they wanted to help. But in Willow’s eyes, I’d done too much. I was beyond reprieve.”
Pain erupted in Willow’s chest as she listened to him. That night was the one time in her life where she almost gave up on who she was. Hell, she had given up. She no longer cared about doing what was right. She wanted to get revenge for all the murder and destruction Ronin had caused that night.
Willow lifted her hand and put it on Ronin’s chest. His heart thrummed beneath her fingers, and the warmth from his body seemed to embrace her hand. The only reason it continued to push blood through his body was because Sariel stopped Willow from being the monster she never knew she could be. Until that night.
“I’d already punched my hand through Ronin’s chest by the time Sari stopped me. Your heart was in my hand. I was squeezing it. And my blade was at your neck.”
“I could feel the life leaving my body,” Ronin said, caressing Willow’s fingers as they sat on his chest while everyone watched them. “I was okay with that. You had every reason to do it.”
Willow shook her head violently. She remembered the feel of the broken bones of his ribcage digging into her wrist as she held his beating heart in her grasp. “Your heart in my hand. My blade at your throat. I was going to give you the final death. I’d never witnessed so much carnage outside of a battlefield.”
Ronin reached up and used the pad of his thumb to wipe away the tears that steadily fell from her eyes. “It was all my doing. No one would have blamed you.”
“I blame me.” Why was he letting her off of the hook like this? She deserved his wrath. “I was deciding your fate. That wasn’t for me to do. Sari hit me with a blast to stun me. That’s the only reason you’re here with me right now. I’m so happy she stopped me. I’m so happy you’re mine. How can you bare to be with me?”
If he didn’t hate her, she would hate herself enough for the both of them. She’d been ready to end his life without a second thought. Even after he was put down and safe in their catacombs, she longed for the day he would be set free from the coven house and out in the world. Away from her home with the Coven so he wouldn’t be a constant reminder of when she’d made herself his judge, jury, and attempted executioner.
Ronin frowned so hard a line settled between his eyebrows. “I thought of you while Samiyah was in control of me. Not because he ever considered you a threat, but because I admired your strength. Your will. I knew that if I ever made it through whatever the hell Samiyah had planned for me and found my mate, she would have to have your resolve. But, I didn’t think I’d be lucky enough to actually have you.”
The way he muttered the last part sounded like he was more pleased than angry.
Willow stood from her chair and sat on Ronin’s lap. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she kissed his cheek and let go of a breath she’d been holding onto for so long. The feel of his arms around her body helped her release all the shame, all the fear, every negative emotion she’d associated with the night she almost killed him.
Cass came up behind them, and when she spoke, her words didn’t hold the joy they had a few minutes ago. “I’m really happy for you two. But you and Paige need to work this out fast. I just watched that bracelet lose another rune.”
Shit.
Willow pulled away from Ronin’s embrace and looked down at the bracelet. “I’m not a genius, but if I’m right, we have about three days to do the spell.” She looked at Paige and gave her a tight-lipped grin. “This is going to work. I thought it would take four witches, but we only need one that’s tied to the clan. I’ve already gone over the spell more times than I can count. I’ll give you the book so you can look over it, and tonight we’ll talk. Does that sound good?”
A slow smile crept across Paige’s face. “Yeah. That sounds good. Killing Samiyah the first time wasn’t enough justice for what he did to my family and me. Having him know I’m going to kill his ass again definitely is. I’ll make you proud, Willow.”
Willow sighed. Had she ever given Paige the impression that she was an unacceptable student as a witch? “You don’t have to make me proud, Paige. I know what you’ve experienced. I’m proud you made it through all that stuff and still have the courage to love. And it makes me happy to know that you’ll be the one banishing Samiyah for good. I trust you.”
◆◆◆
Willow gave Ronin a reassuring smile as they walked hand in hand down Sequoya Avenue. On the drive to downtown New Rose, he expressed how hesitant he was to be around too many people, but Willow had faith in him. And she had faith in the bracelet that held his beast and Samiyah at bay. The runes may be fading, but for now, they were intact and helping him to remember who he really was. She had no doubt that he’d be fine.
Having Ronin’s large, warm hand wrapped around hers made Willow feel like she had her wings back. The heat from his fingers sent sensual currents from his skin to hers, setting her heart on fire.
As if he could sense the flutters he sent through her, Ronin stopped walking near the steps of the library and stood in front of her. When a growl vibrated in his throat and his chocolate brown eyes lightened to a warm butterscotch, Willow wasn’t sure whether she should be concerned or turned on. His hungry gaze traveled from her breasts to her eyes, and Willow felt a pang of desire low in her belly.
The side of his full lips curved up in a smile. “Why are you having dirty thoughts right now? I don’t think me having a hard-on in the middle of New Rose is what either one of us wants.” His hand snaked around her waist, and he pulled her close to look into her eyes.
“I can’t help it,” Willow said. She could hear the playful lilt to her voice. She ran her hand up his bare arm to the nape of his neck where she toyed with his short dark strands. “You are worthy of dirty thoughts.”
Finally having everything laid out before them with no secrets to separate them freed Willow from a self-imposed prison she hadn’t even known she locked herself into. She could breathe again. Even though she loved their friends, walking around town without the rest of the clan nearby made these moments with Ronin more personal.
Willow tightened her fingers in his hair. Ronin leaned his head back into her touch, exposing the thick cords of muscle in his neck as his Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat. She placed a lingering kiss on his neck and was rewarded when he let out a heady growl. His arms tightened around her, pulling her closer into his embrace.
She wasn’t one to show affection in public, but being with Ronin did things to her. Made her want things she’d never allowed herself to even think of.
Ronin would live just as long as she would. Once she’d bitten him, they would be able to have children. The idea of children had always been foreign to her. But not now. A small piece of her wanted that for them. A family.
After a group of people had to
step off the curb to get by them, Willow pulled away from Ronin and started walking again, urging him along by grabbing his hand.
“What do you have a taste for?” Willow asked.
“What do you have a taste for?” he replied. “I’m getting the feeling there’s something in one of these shops you want.”
Ronin stopped walking, and when Willow turned to see what was wrong, he was looking at her as if he was seeing her for the first time.
The idea that the bracelet was failing rushed through her mind. She readied the words for a spell to weaken him, but he smiled and laughed.
He grabbed his chest and let out a helpless, happy sound that confused and excited Willow.
“Are you okay?” Her voice was a whisper as she spoke, but something deep inside her kicked up a riot of emotions that made her just as giddy as he looked.
Pulling her to stand in the doorway of a shop that had a sign that said they’d be back at one, Ronin fisted the fabric of his shirt at his heart. “I can feel you. I-I don’t know how else to explain it. You seem so clear in my mind and my heart right now. And it’s scaring the shit out of me. But it feels like this is the way it should be.”
“What do you mean?”
He pursed his lips and shook his head, the look of awe and confusion evident on his face. “Me and my beast can sense you now: what you want, what you feel, that you’re afraid you’ll lose me. I can sense it. I don’t know if I should be fucking happy or scared shitless.”
Neither did Willow.
She’d felt it in the car on the way here. Even before he told her how nervous he was about being around people, she could feel his emotions wafting toward her like the scent of fresh buttered popcorn.
Willow grabbed his hand so she could see the bracelet. Shit. Another rune was gone. This was happening faster than she expected.
She kissed his palm and put his hand to her face. “The runes are fading. I think your beast is waking up more and more, and it’s connecting to you the way it should. Are you angry? Feel like killing anyone?”
Ronin barked out a laugh and shook his head. “Not so much. I do feel… aware. My saber-tooth wants nothing more than to please you, and killing people would probably make you unhappy,” he said in a joking tone.
She snorted a laugh as she nodded. “Yeah. That would upset me quite a bit.”
Ronin seemed so happy. His easy way with her, despite his worry, lifted her heart. They needed to be careful though, but maybe the disappearing runes helped him to be who he really was. His beast was a part of him. In the past twenty-four hours, she’d gotten to know the man Ronin was. And now, she would get to know who the man and the beast were. They were connected. That’s the way it should be.
He stepped forward, causing her to take a few steps back until her ass hit the wall behind her. Her heart strummed in her chest as Ronin’s well-built body trapped her. His eyes grew lighter as he watched her, and when he sucked his bottom lip between his teeth, she imagined it was her nipple or her clit.
The feelings of longing for his touch frightened her for a moment until he lowered his forehead to hers. It was like his comfort and masculine scent of soap, pinecones, and early Spring mornings surrounded her. She’d never noticed a man’s natural scent. Soap or cologne, yes. But this was different.
Mates can scent each other.
Her nose may not be as good as his, but she knew exactly what he smelled like, and that thought alone made her feel closer to him. More connected to him.
He brought his lips close to hers, and she had to fight the urge to reach up and force him into a kiss.
“Willow,” he said, voice steady and laced with a snarl. “I want so much to kiss you.” He trailed the tip of his finger along her bottom lip. “I want to taste your honey between your legs while you sit on my face. Make you scream. Make you come.”
Images of what he’d described played in her head like a movie. The flood of heat that hit her panties made her moan.
She loved his lips. They were full and soft, and she could imagine them sucking on her clit as he drew the orgasm from her.
Do it, she urged silently. If she didn’t think it was an improper use of her magic, she would use a cloaking spell to make them invisible to the people around them so he would come through on his words.
Kiss her and make her come. Have her sit on his face. That was the best suggestion he’d made all day.
She was on fire right now. Raging heat flowed through her veins as she felt his erection rub against her abdomen. The sound of her heart drummed in her ears as she watched his hand hover in front of her throat. She could imagine what it would be like to have his hands on her as he took her in every way possible.
“But if my beast is waking up, then that means Samiyah is waking up as well. I don’t want him having any piece of you, except your wrath. So I can’t touch you or do all the things I want. I don’t share.”
She nodded and realized she was panting. “Okay. Okay.”
His body stiffened as he leaned closer to her ear, and when he spoke, she had to strain to hear him. “Put your game face on. Three shifters from the Rogue clan are about twenty feet from us. They can smell lies. We need to make them think Samiyah is still in control so they can report back to Remus.”
Tension shot tendrils of unrest into her stomach. If made to, she’d drop all of their asses without anyone around them even noticing. Apparently, Ronin had a plan. She would do her best to stay calm before she hurt one or all of the Rogues.
Before she could fully calm herself, three men approached and cornered them in the doorway. One was shorter than the other two, but his shoulders were as broad as the doorway they stood in. Oily brown hair and vacant eyes brown and filled with madness. This man had killed before. Multiple times. The other two were so similar, they could be twins. Dirty blond dyed hair, blue eyes, and tanned skin. It was obvious they were followers to anyone willing to tell them what to do.
“Is there a reason you are here, gentleman?” Ronin said. When he spoke, his voice mimicked that of Samiyah: proper, haughty, and with an inflection that made her think of the people from Surrey in England. “I’m more than certain I did not ask any of you to step in.”
The short man’s eyes roamed over Willow’s before he finally looked at Ronin. “Remus has been looking for you. Wanted to know why you disappeared on us.” He looked at Willow again and winked. “You’re pretty.”
Willow could see the strain in Ronin’s eyes as he fought to stay calm. She could tell he wanted to rip apart the man who eyed her with lust on his mind.
A muscle twitched in Ronin’s jaw as he ground his teeth together. “She’s also very powerful, and very much on my side. Look at her like that again and I’ll let the witch have her way with you. And trust me, Louis, you will not find pleasure in anything she has planned.”
Holy shit. Louis. Was this the boar shifter that murdered Cass? He sure as hell fit the description.
Should she incapacitate all three men and call the Ghosts to take them back to their community, or should she hold tight until Ronin let her know what he was doing? Damn-it. She couldn’t decide. Willow didn’t know if taking Louis, if this was, in fact, the Louis Cass had been looking for, back to the Ghost jail cells below their community hall was a good thing or a bad thing.
The vengeance Cass had planned for this man would take time. Or she would kill him before she had a chance to do anything else.
“Tell Remus,” Ronin said, breaking Willow from her thoughts, “that this is under control. You will wait until my job is done here. What I have planned is far better than anything Remus has come up with. Do you understand?”
He took a step toward the men, and they all cowered away from him.
One of the twins lowered his gaze, and when he looked up at Ronin, there was fear in his eyes. “Will you at least call him? He says he needs to get back into the Coven of the Fallen coven house but isn’t sure if they are on to him or not.”
“Oh,” Lo
uis said, an evil grin plastered on his bulldog-like face, “we took down another human witch house.”
“Coven,” Ronin said, sounding more like Samiyah than Willow was comfortable with. “It’s called a coven. Not a witch house, Mr. Erin. You think you’d know that by now. How silly of me to assume otherwise. How many more since I’ve been gone.”
Shit. It was Louis Erin.
Panic rose in Willow’s heart as she went back and forth with herself. Taking Louis would bring Cass a peace like her mates couldn’t give her. Or it would send her over the edge and change who she was for the rest of her life.
As if Ronin could sense the anxiety within her, he moved in her direction and rested his hand on her waist. His touch calmed her, and she was stunned by the mere reaction of his contact. His beast was waking up, and it was bonding to her. And she was bonding to them.
But that had to be dealt with later. Ronin needed to keep up this charade if they had any chance of taking down the Rogue clan.
She allowed his touch to do what a mates touch was meant to do: make her feel secure and comforted. She knew the instant he touched her that she had just offered him the same relief from their current situation.
“Excuse my witch,” Ronin said, risking a glance at her. The evident snark and superiority on his face did not reach his eyes, but Willow hoped it would be enough to fool the men. “She feels the same way I do about the Ghost shifters, but does not like the idea of her fellow witches being hurt.”
One of the blond men spoke up. “Don’t worry. We haven’t killed all of them. In fact, a few of the witches have agreed to join us. We just need you to come and work your magic, make sure they keep up with their end of the bargain.”
“Quiet your tongue!” Ronin pushed through gritted teeth. A few of the people passing by slowed down to look, but pepped up their step once they took in the scene. “I’ve not yet informed her of all of our plans.” He turned fully to face the men but still kept a hand on Willow’s waist. “Tell Remus I will contact him within the week. He will face hell if he or any of you foil my plans. Do you understand?”
