Mack looked deeply troubled as he scratched the back of his head. “I’m going to tell her the truth. All of it.”
I grabbed his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Is there anything I can do?”
“Drive me to the airport and then wait for me.”
I looked at him, trying to puzzle it out.
“I must tell her the news face to face,” he elaborated.
“I should go with you.”
“No. I want to do this alone. But I will let her know you are there to help if she needs it.”
I had to wonder if part of the reason he didn’t want me there was that Mia might feel I was responsible in some way. Had I not killed Mack, none of this would’ve happened. I hoped that wasn’t the case, but if it gave her any sort of comfort, I could live with taking the blame.
We got into the car and drove away with Mack at the wheel. And I swear, as crazy as it sounded, I felt like someone was watching us until we hit the main road.
“Mack? Do you think King will find a way back again?”
He shook his head. “This isn’t like before when he had hope of seeing Mia again and lifting his curse. She won’t ever be able to look at him again when she finds out about Talia, no matter the reason.”
Yes, I had told Mack everything that happened, everything we went through to get that chalice. He wasn’t happy about it, but the fact that King was willing to sacrifice everything—his marriage, his family, his dream of happiness, and his life—was a testament to how deeply he cared and how deeply he loved.
It left me speechless, frankly. And it made me realize how big these two men’s hearts truly were.
I looked away from Mack and focused my teary eyes on the road. “There has to be a way to get him back,” I muttered, half-thinking aloud.
“The spirits who sit on that land will never let him leave. A deal was struck, and it’s irrevocable. He has the choice to pass over to the other side or stay there.”
If anyone would know, it was Mack.
“Still,” he said, “I won’t ever stop trying.”
With a bond like these two brothers had, it was something I didn’t doubt.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Two weeks later.
I didn’t hear much from Mack after he left for Crete, except for a few text messages here and there to let me know he was with Mia, doing his best to help her come to terms with everything. I could see that he felt responsible for her Archon in his brother’s absence. Once again, I volunteered to get on a plane to ease her pain, but I think Mack and I both knew, just like King had, that some pain was meant to be felt. Sometimes it was simply a byproduct of that definitive moment when our hearts had to let go of something that could never be returned. Infidelity, death, betrayal—when these things came into our lives, we hurt because we lost someone or something we loved, leaving behind a hole. But it was also the moment our healing started. You had to feel pain in order to move forward.
But now, back at home in Santa Barbara, trying to sort out the pieces of my life—or existence, really—I needed Mack. Without him, I found it difficult to look forward. The past kept calling me, reaching its dark tentacles over thousands of years, my mind trying to cope with the blank spaces where memories once belonged. Still, I did my best to focus on how lucky I was to have Mack back. It wasn’t perfect, but life rarely is, and I could think of no better joy than “making do” with this man.
As for work, everyone assumed that Mr. Room Twenty-Five had run off on his own. They assumed I’d just had the flu. No one suspected a thing when I returned, and frankly I was happy to have the distraction of work.
I kicked off my black heels as I entered the front door of my rather blandly decorated beach house that I was in the process of now livening up. Colorful paintings, red throw pillows on my white couch, and plants. Lots of big plants.
Bentley made his way from whichever place he’d been napping, greeting me with minimal enthusiasm.
I looked down at him and smiled. “I got some treats for you today. Wanna see?”
He stared with boredom until I whipped out a paper bag filled with crunchy gourmet chicken snaps.
“Want one?” I reached inside the bag, bent over, and held one to his nose so he could get a good whiff.
Bentley wagged his tail.
“That deserves a treat!” I handed it over. He swallowed it in one gulp and then looked at me expectantly, wagging his short little spotted Jack Russell tail. “Okay. Just one more. But then I want to see more wagging and less attitude.”
He gave me a little bark.
I handed over the treat and then scratched him behind the ear. “You like that, don’t you, boy?” He pushed his nose into my hand and then rubbed his body on me. It turned out that what Bentley had been trying to tell me all along wasn’t that he hated me, but that he was afraid. Whoever had been his owner before me wasn’t nice to him. That was what I figured out the night I came home and cried, missing Mack (who was in Greece) and feeling so lost about the future. Bentley seemed nicer than a pillow, and I guess while I was holding him, I let out some of that light. From that moment on, he began to change. Some pain wasn’t meant to be held onto forever.
“You got any of those tummy rubs for me?” said a deep voice from the open front door I’d forgotten to close.
I looked up and nearly wet my navy work slacks. Short, stylishly mussed jet black hair, a manicured five o’clock shadow that matched the curtain of inky black lashes surrounding piercing, sky blue eyes. And then there was that finely tailored suit that hugged his tall, powerful frame and broad shoulders.
“King?”
He stepped inside and shut the door, straightening his cufflinks like my presence bored the hell out of him and he was thinking of ten other places he’d rather be.
“No,” he said with that masculine timbre. “But did I fool you?”
“Mack?” I jerked upright and took a small step forward. That was when I saw the devilish little smile appear.
He winked.
“Ohmygod.” I rushed forward and threw my arms around his neck, bathing his face in kisses, while standing on my tiptoes. “I missed you. I missed you. I missed you.”
Wait. Why’s he dressed like…I pulled back. “What’s going on with the uh…new look?” Mack was a rough-around-the-edges type—leather jacket, jeans, and probably only wore a suit when forced.
“Just because King is gone doesn’t mean the work has ended.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning that Mia spent the week helping me perfect my King impersonation, which wasn’t easy for her, but she knows how important it is. For all of us,” he added.
I cringed. “Why?”
“Because the 10 Club still has to be dealt with and that has to be an inside job.”
“So you’re going to pose as your brother.” That sounded extremely dangerous.
He nodded. “But I need you to help me with the icing.”
“Okaaaay.”
He pulled me tightly against him, and I could smell his delicious, citrusy cologne mixed with the subtle natural musk of his skin and hair.
He smells like a sexy badass.
He continued, “And since the 10 Club members believe you’re King’s plaything, well, I thought you could help me perfect that part of my image, too.”
My stomach began to fill with dangerous, hot little sparks. “You have no idea what you do to me.”
“Why don’t you tell me?” He moved a warm hand to the back of my neck.
“Looking at you, seeing you alive makes every inch of my body ache. In a good way.” That was pretty weak compared to how I truly felt.
“Then why did you try to forget me?” There was a flicker of hurt in his eyes.
I could only offer him my best guess. “I think I lost hope.”
“Whatever the reason, it’s time to move forward.” He released me, took my hand, and tugged me into the living room, pushing me to sit on my white sofa. He then kneeled his l
arge, well-built frame in front of me.
“Do it. Take it away,” he said.
It took me a moment to realize what he was asking. He finally wanted me to heal him, and for me, there was simply nothing in this world I wanted more. Than him, of course.
I studied Mack’s new face. It was fucking beautiful. No. Beautiful was the wrong word. Beautiful was a flower or a sunset. His face was exquisite and masculine, and I still couldn’t fully believe all this was real.
But it is…
“Okay. Here goes.” From this moment on, he and I would be starting our life together. Not completely free of the past, but we’d be together and…well…uncursed. Hey, that was pretty nice.
I placed my hands on either side of his neck, beginning to focus on that little warm light.
“Wait. I’m not going to forget you, am I?” he asked.
I gave it a moment of thought. That light seemed to have a will all its own when it came to determining what a person needed, but I’d helped King lighten the load of his torment, and he turned out fine—more or less.
“I think we just have to see what will happen,” I said. “But don’t worry. If you forget me, I’ll remind you.” I leaned forward, threading my hand into his thick, soft, dark hair, and kissed him. Our lips melded, our tongues mingled, and I didn’t know about him, but my heart began to accelerate. And somewhere in the back of my mind, it all felt familiar. Perhaps it was a vague memory of our first kiss over three thousand years ago in that small smoky hut somewhere in the jungle when he’d been a stranger from another land and captured my heart, when I had been willing to leave everything behind and risk my life just for the chance to be with him. I still felt the same.
It didn’t take long for our kiss, with him still kneeling in front of the couch and me pulling him closer between my legs, to turn into a frenzy of want and need. He’d left me several weeks ago after I thought I’d lost him forever, and I’d been waiting not-so-patiently to release my bottled-up tension.
I broke the kiss and quickly slid off his tie, unbuttoned his shirt, and then helped him shrug it off along with his blazer. His well-defined chest and arms and rippling abs were too incredible for words, except for… “Wow. I think I like this body even better.”
He flashed a charming smile that produced little divots in his stubbly cheeks that instantly got me thinking about one thing and one thing only.
I stood up and pulled my white knit work blouse over my head and then quickly wiggled out of my slacks and underwear.
Still kneeling, Mack gazed up at me with those hungry eyes. “Once again, if I’d only known that showing you my manly abs would get me into your pants this fast, I would’ve led with that.”
I chuckled and sat back down on the couch, pulling him between my thighs. He frantically unbuckled his belt and freed his hard cock. I glanced down at the thing, remembering how it looked when he first appeared at the burial site in his birthday suit. It had gotten much bigger.
“Geez. Is that larger than your last body?”
He shrugged proudly and then gripped my hips and slid me forward, a wolfish grin on his face.
Ohgod. I needed him so badly. He had no idea. Or maybe he did, because he went straight to giving me what I wanted: That large cock inside me.
He took his hard flesh in his hand and watched himself slowly entering, inch by inch, inside me, coaxing a soft moan from my mouth. He felt so incredible—the way he filled me so completely, the way he took pleasure in watching his shaft slide inside and connect our bodies, the way he looked at me with those eyes.
Once inside completely, he pressed his hands on the crease of my thighs and then pulled out again, ever so slowly. This was a slow kind of blissful torture, erotic as hell.
I moaned again as he repeated the act, savoring the slow burn of our bodies touching so intimately.
“No more, please. You’re going to drive me mad.”
“You want me to stop?”
“No, I meant—” I leaned forward and pulled him into me, kissing him hard. His sweet, sweet taste and smell only amplified my excitement.
He let loose and began pumping hard, our hips colliding, the pressure building. I then remembered what he’d asked of me, and without my even thinking about it, that light began to flow through my body into Mack as we made hard, hot love.
His mouth trailed down the side of my neck, kissing and licking everything in reach, while his strong hands cupped my breasts and his hips thrusted into me at the perfect pace, building the sweet tension pooling deep inside my core.
I didn’t know if he was lost in the moment, in the sensation of our bodies moving together, pushing each other toward what we both knew would be a mind-blowing climax, but I don’t think he realized what I was doing to the other part of him: his soul.
As I gripped his shoulders, feeling myself fall over that delicious edge, the light flowing through us, all I could think of was that it had all been worth it. For this moment of happiness, I would live it all over again.
The orgasm crashed through me without mercy, drawing a deep moan from my lips that pushed Mack over the edge. He arched his back and thrust one final time, coming hard. My body still flying somewhere up in the clouds, I heard Mack groan again in such a sensual tone, he sparked another round of delicious contractions.
He slowly pushed into me, still twitching as his cum continued to jet out, prolonging the moment for me.
Sooo…good…was all that came to mind.
After a few minutes, holding each other, sweaty and panting, Mack whispered in my ear, “I hope one of them gets lucky.”
It took a moment for that to sink in.
“You mean your sperm?” I glanced at him sideways.
He made a little shrug and smiled before planting a lingering kiss on my collarbone. “I’ve been waiting a very long time to start my life. And so have you.”
He was so right. “I hope one of them gets lucky, too.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
After Mack and I had our hotter-than-hell reunion quickie on the sofa, we somehow made it to my bedroom and continued going at it for the next few hours—with a few breaks here and there for his new “equipment,” of course. Mack licked and explored every inch of my body, and I reciprocated. His abs alone received a solid forty-five minutes of adoring kisses and affection.
All the while, I kept gloating over how great of a job I’d done healing him. That man was seriously happy. Glowing, radiant, sexy as hell, a fucking stallion of pleasure in bed, and utterly joyous. And he was totally focused one hundred percent on me. Not on curses. Not on skeletons in the closet. Just me.
Both of us lying down, gazing up at my white ceiling in a post-coital fog, I could honestly say it was the first time I recalled not thinking about anything. Not a damned thing. I was a giant ball of squishy, gooey, blissful emotions.
I sighed contentedly. “God, I’m so happy.”
Mack chuckled. “I’m glad, because I feel obligated to make an honest woman out of you, and no one wants to be married to a grump.”
I turned my head. He was smiling but still staring up at the ceiling.
“Married, huh? I dunnoooo. You’re kinda old,” I said.
He whipped his gaze my way. “I’m deeply offended. And I intend to punish you for that until you say yes.”
I lifted a brow. “Promise?”
“Just as soon as I get us a glass of water.” He slid from the bed, buck naked, giving me a genuinely stunning view of his perfect, hard, round ass and that powerful back and broad shoulders and…
God, that’s so unfair. He’s way too beautiful.
“Want anything?” he called out from the hallway as he made his way to my kitchen.
“Just you!”
I sighed and wiggled my toes underneath the sheets, beginning to mentally plan our wedding. First, we would take a long trip somewhere secluded and warm; then we’d marry—it would have to be an elopement—no, something chic and modest so my parents would be ha
ppy—and then we’d take another few week’s honeymoon on some other gorgeous island. As for my job, well…I’d have to work something out with them, if they’d let me. I didn’t want to run a center, I’d realized somewhere along this journey; I wanted to heal people and use my gift.
I wonder what Mack wants to do. Honestly, I had no idea what was involved in dismantling that 10 Club. I couldn’t believe it would be easy or without some risk.
I seriously needed to ask him about that. Because on one hand, such a powerful group of degenerates could not be allowed to continue doing what they were doing. On the other hand, I wanted Mack safe and all to myself.
“A wise choice,” said that deep, deep voice from the doorway.
I looked up at Mack, who now had his suit back on along with a very serious look on his face.
“Why did you get dressed?” I asked.
He stared at me without the slightest hint of kindness or affection in his eyes. That was when I noticed the ribbons of black swirling all around him.
Whatthe…?
He continued staring with that hard, empty gaze, turning the room a frigid temperature that left my breath steaming in front of my face.
“The 10 Club stays,” he said. “And tell my brother to stay the fuck out of my way.”
I blinked, and he was gone. Poof!
Shivering like mad, I swallowed the lump of cold dread stuck in my throat.
“Hey! Your dog just tried to lick my d—Teddi? What’s wrong?”
I looked at Mack, who stood in the doorway, buck naked, holding a tall glass of water in each hand.
I couldn’t speak.
“Teddi? What the fuck is wrong?” Mack repeated.
Once again, I swallowed hard. “Umm…” I pointed my shaking hand at the doorway where the real Mack now stood. “Y-y-your br-br-brother.”
“What about him?”
“He’s back. And it’s not the-the good one.” It wasn’t the living one either.
The glasses in Mack’s hands slipped and crashed on the floor. “Fuck.”
Mack Page 17
