I bit my lip. “I’ll wait,” I said, my voice sounding small.
He kissed me briefly on the lips. “I’ll make it up to you when I get back,” he promised. I had no idea how he planned to do that or what he would say but I let him go without questioning him further.
A few moments after he left there was a thump on the balcony door. I sat up and walked over to let Trip inside. He nuzzled my stomach. “Oh, Trip, I just don’t know what to think.” I sat down on the thick rug and hugged his neck.
He gave me a look.
I screwed up my nose. “You can’t honestly believe he’s a noble warrior because he killed someone, that thinking is so archaic.”
He did his best version of an eye roll, which looked rather particular.
“I know he was protecting me, but why was it coming after me in the first place?” If Vince had been after him how had he found me?
Trip nuzzled my jaw.
“I don’t know why you defend him,” I muttered, leaning back against the side if the bed as I hugged Trip.
A few minutes later the door opened and Vince walked around to kneel beside me. “Thanks for looking after her, boy,” he said softly.
Trip huffed, nudging me once more before walking back out to the balcony.
“You killed someone, in the middle of the street, people saw, and you going to go to jail? Oh my god, they saw Trip.”
Vince crouched by me. “Shh, I have a permit to hunt bounties, capture or kill, the local authorities already knew I was here and I just called them to explain what happened. And no one saw Trip, when I knew he was coming I put an obfuscation charm on him,” he said, reaching to brush back my hair.
I glanced up at him. “I’ve no idea what that means.”
He smiled. “It means that no one who doesn’t expect to see him will notice he’s even there.”
I let out a relieved breath and briefly allowed myself to lean into his touch. The last thing I needed was Dragon hunters knocking down our door.
Shifting closer, Vince scooped me up into his arms. “I don’t know what I would have done if he had hurt you.” He pulled me close, kissing my cheek.
“Vincent, I’d like you to be honest with me,” I said softly.
He sighed softly. “What do you wish to know?”
“Tell me how you came to be indebted to your employer.”
He nodded. “Okay, but not here, let me change and then we can walk along the beach, like I promised.”
“Okay.” I nodded too.
He set me on the bed before walking to the closet. I waited patiently while he changed. I was already wearing an outfit I’d chosen in anticipation for our walk on the beach, which included sandals and a bikini Beth had bought me a while ago that I hadn’t yet had a chance to use.
He took my hand and brought it to his lips before leading me out the door. We stayed silent until we reached the beach. He took a deep breath. “I work for the family of Jem’s mother.”
My heart stuttered in my chest but I stayed quiet. He had never mentioned his ex before, not even accidentally.
“They are a group of powerful people who work to protect humans from supernatural threats. They aren’t bad people but they never approved of me and some of them blame me for what happened to her.”
I wanted desperately to know what had happened to her. Had she died? The way he spoke of her led me to believe she had but I couldn’t know for sure.
“They’re not completely wrong. We never meant to get pregnant, if we had been more careful it wouldn’t have happened. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t trade Jem for the world. I just wish the timing hadn’t been so terrible.”
My heart broke for him. “You poor thing.”
He sighed softly and leant to kiss my forehead. “It’s okay, I’m happy now, happier than I’ve been in a long time.” He pulled me close and I melted against him. “Is there anything else you wish to know?” he asked softly.
“Why a bounty hunter?”
“I don’t enjoy the work most days but it’s something I’m good at. I stop bad people and I’m okay with that.”
I sighed, biting my lip as we kept moving. I shivered a little and he brought me closer to his side.
“Would you like to swim?” he asked, voice soft.
I glanced at the water and nodded.
He smiled. We had reached an empty stretch of beach and it was dark enough that people probably wouldn’t see us from the buildings along the beach. He began to undress and I did the same, slipping out of my coat before pulling off my sandals.
I shivered as I stood only in the bikini Beth had brought me.
Vince, wearing only trunks, lifted me against him. His body was warm, noticeably warmer than most people’s, and I wrapped myself around him. He kissed me before walking towards the ocean.
The water was up to his calves when I first felt it’s chilly touch. “Gosh, that’s cold!” I gasped.
He smirked. “You’ll be fine once you’re in.”
“I’ve got a better idea.” I whistled loudly. A dark shadow appeared at the edge of the water. “Help us warm up, boy,” I said.
Trip opened his mouth, his breath coming out in transparent red waves. The wall of heat hit us and I relaxed. The water warmed up so that I could dip my feet into it without discomfort.
“Well, that’s useful,” murmured Vince, kissing my neck as he carried me deeper in the water.
“He used to do it all the time when I gave him baths in the sink as a baby.” I glanced back to see Trip playing in the shallows. He had never been near the sea either but he seemed to be enjoying it. I smiled.
The water quickly reached my waist and it was just getting chilly again as another wave of warmth hit us. I sighed softly in contentment and Vince carried me deeper. Once the water reached my chest he stopped.
His hands began to explore my body. “This isn’t swimming,” I teased.
“Oh really?”
I nodded. “Really.”
He grinned. “And just how often have you been swimming?”
I smiled and tilted my head up to kiss him.
He buried his fingers in my hair as he kissed back. He tugged at the bottom half of my bikini. “I’ll show you the correct way to swim,” he murmured with a wicked grin as he rubbed his body against mine.
As it turned out... I was an excellent swimmer.
Chapter Seventeen
We awoke lying on the sand, once again in our bathing suits. His hand was idly rubbing my lower back, in a spot where I knew there was a small, unexplained tattoo. I stretched out contently across Vince’s chest.
“Morning, little one,” he murmured sleepily.
I yawned. “We should get out of the sun before we burn,” I said, my voice muffled against his chest.
“Yes, we should.” He shifted out from under me before gathering our clothes and dropping them on me. I peered up at him a moment before he pulled me up into his arms.
“You got a thing about carrying a girl around?” I asked with amusement.
He kissed my forehead as he headed back to the hotel with me. “I like having you close, and I know you like being lazy,” he nipped at my bottom lip playfully.
“I’d protest but it’s too early.” I smiled and buried my face against his neck.
He laughed. “I’ll get you fed and then we can head home.”
“And shower. Need shower,” I murmured.
He kissed my cheek. “Of course. I’d join you but I’m not sure we have time.”
“We can make time.”
“I like the way you think.” He grinned. With me in his arms, he hopped over the balcony outside our room and set me on my feet. I set our clothes on the small table as he opened the glass sliding door, which we’d left unlocked.
He gestured for me to go first and, on my way past, he tugged at the bows holding my swimsuit together. I gasped as the pieces of fabric dropped to the ground. Vince chuckled darkly and I hurried deeper into the room.
&n
bsp; He followed me with the gait of a prowling big cat and a hungry gleam in his eyes. Once in the bathroom, I paused by the sink as he stepped up behind me. He reached up to brush my hair back, baring my neck and one shoulder.
For a moment, he just stood there and the tension between us rose until it was almost unbearable. Slowly, he dropped to a knee, then he caught my leg and urged me to lift it until my knee rested on the counter.
“What are you-” I broke off with a gasp as he pressed his face between my thighs.
“Mm, you taste salty,” he murmured against my hot, damp flesh.
A breathless laugh escaped me, by then I moaned as he continued to taste me. I bent forward, bracing my hands against the counter. “Oh, Gods,” I gasped.
“You’re mine,” he growled, before his tongue pierced me. One of his hands came up to toy with the sensitive bundle of nerves at the front of my opening, while the other stroked my ass and thighs.
“Vince- oh, God, Vince. Please-”
He made soft noises of encouragement as he continues to lick, and suck, and nip at my most sensitive flesh. He pulled away and I cried out in frustration, my hands clenching on the counter.
Then he was standing behind me. “Open your eyes,” he growled, voice husky.
I looked up, to find myself staring at my own flushed face in the mirror. The mirror covered the entire section of the wall above the sink so my whole body was on display. Strong hands came around to pinch and tweak my breasts.
I’d never been more aroused in my life.
“Please,” I whimpered.
Warm lips kissed my neck. “You’re mine,” he whispered. “Keep watching.”
I hadn’t even realised my eyes were shut again until he said that. I looked just in time to see his hand slide down, as it helped ease his length inside me. I gasped, my eyes almost rolling back in my head. I felt almost like I’d break apart from the intensity of the exquisite pleasure.
Then he was deep inside me, his breath hot on my neck.
“Please,” I moaned.
“Yes, my love, fuck yes,” he breathed, then he began to move.
I cried out, gasped, and arched my back as he thrust into me. I was so wound up that it only took a few moments for me to reach climax. “Vince!” I cried out. His arms clamped around me, keeping me upright when I felt like melting into a muddle.
He kissed my neck repeatedly, though he had stopped moving the moment I’d climaxed.
“You have no idea how good it feels to be inside you,” he murmured.
“I-” I paused, panting for breath. “You didn’t come.”
He brushed back my hair, then chuckled softly. “Don’t worry, I will.”
Wow.
“I’m going to take you until you beg me to stop,” he murmured, pinching my nipple and eliciting a soft gasp from me. “Until you can think of nothing but the way it feels to have me inside you, riding you until you scream.”
“Oh, Vince,” I moaned.
He slowly pulled out, then he turned me around and hauled me up against his body. “Now, I believe I promised you a shower,” he said before pinning me to the shower wall.
THE MAN WAS INSUFFERABLY smug, I decided as he carried me to the car. It didn’t help that I was feeling a little weak in the knees after our bathroom escapades. I hadn’t realised how much he’d been holding back in the bedroom until this trip.
I guess being a dad had caused him to tame his wild side, at least while he was at home. He set me in the passenger's seat and kissed me soundly before straightening.
“Thank you for spending the weekend with me, beautiful,” he said, tugging playfully at a lock of my hair, which was still slightly damp from our shower.
“You... are welcome,” I said, reaching up to tap his nose.
He chuckled, walking around to the driver’s side. “And I’m sorry about the whole Vampire incident,” he added as he drove, “I hope it didn’t mess up our vacation too badly.”
“It was a surprise, but I think you made it up to me.”
“Good.” He smiled, resting a hand on my thigh. “When we get back I’ll drop you off home, then I’ll have to pick the kids up from my mother. I’ll try to stop off at the shop tomorrow but I can’t make any promises. After spending the weekend away, I’m sure the kids will like to make some demands on my time.”
“That’s okay, I know how to share,” I assured him teasingly.
He smirked. “I never would have guessed, given the way you glared at the woman in that restaurant.”
Insufferably smug.
“Well... I’ll share with anyone who doesn’t look at you the way a Werewolf looks at a juicy steak.”
He chuckled. “And here I thought you were the only one to look at me that way.”
“Wow, do I need to step out of the car to make room for that ego of yours?” I asked.
“Such an attitude on you, girl, I ought to take you over my knee,” he growled, though he was smiling.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “You try that and you’ll have blue balls before I have a sore ass.”
“Oh, sassy, I love it.” He winked at me.
“You won’t love my boot up your ass.”
“I love everything you do to me,” he said, his voice dropping a few octaves until he could seduce the panties straight off of a girl with just a few words.
I bit my lip. “You, sir, don’t play fair.”
“Never claimed I did, sweetheart,” he said, squeezing my thigh.
Chapter Eighteen
We’d arrived back in town the previous day and, after taking a day to recover, I’d finally decided to try out the ritual Miranda had given me. To do it, I’d found a quiet spot out in the forest, not far from where I’d met the Skinwalker.
Part of me had hoped to see the guy again but as I’d passed the cabin, the place had been empty. That was okay, I already had company. “I don’t think you should be here, Trip, it says the ritual should be undertaken in solitude,” I explained.
Trip rolled onto his back, making it clear that he planned to go exactly nowhere. Would a dragon mess with the mystical energies? Did I care enough to get him to move?
“Okay, here we go... I invoke-” I broke off, glancing over at him. “It doesn’t feel right, I think you should go.”
He snorted, but otherwise didn’t move, though his eyes did flicker towards me. Clearly, he thought I was doing something else wrong.
“I’m not getting naked.”
His gaze remained on me, watching steadily.
“I know that’s what it says to do but it’s freezing out here. I’m not doing it.”
He didn’t move.
“Goddess, fine! You’re so pushy.” I shrugged off my jacket and carefully lay it down on a pile of leaves. Then I removed the thick grey knit dress and dropped it down too. “Happy now?” I demanded.
His expression turned flat.
I let my head fall back and glanced skyward. Goosebumps rose over my body and certain parts of my anatomy tightened as my breath misted in the air in front of me.
Pouting, I reached back to unclasp my bra. “If this doesn’t work, I’m not feeding you for a week.”
He seemed nonplussed, clearly, he didn’t believe the threat.
The boots went, then the panties, and by the time I straightened, Trip had moved closer. “This better work because I’m about to freeze my-” My triad broke off when he pressed his nose against my belly and it felt like I’d been hit with a shockwave.
I was flat on my back before I knew what had happened. “What the hell, it’s not bad enough that’s I’m freezing, you want me covered in dirt too?”
He nuzzled my hip, his snout catching a little on the fabric there. Wait- what fabric?
That was about the time I noticed the scales.
“Fuck,” I breathed. “I’m not a Witch, I’m a dragon shifter!”
Trip snorted, loudly. Then he did it again.
I glared at him as he chuffed out a dragony laugh. Lifting
my hands, I noticed that the colour was paler but, otherwise, they were perfectly normal human hands. “Okay, so maybe not an actual dragon shifter.”
He rolled around in the leaves, clearly amused by my ignorance.
I brushed my fingers over the scales that covered my breasts, then down to the bare skin by my navel. “Maybe I was just an exotic dancer?”
He gave me an unimpressed look.
“You are absolutely no help,” I told him, frowning.
He seemed unmoved by the accusation.
“You used to be fun.”
He gave me his best hurt look, which was an interesting expression to see on a Dragon. Then he whipped his tail impatiently and glanced pointedly down at my body.
“Right... I don’t think this is part of the ceremony. Unless all Witches know about it, and it doesn’t need to be mentioned in the instructions.”
But, if all Witches grew scales, surely someone would have slipped up, been seen, and it would be common knowledge.
“Oh, maybe it’s a familiar thing, maybe a Witch takes on the aspects of her familiar. Except, most don’t have familiars, so nothing happens to them.” And weren’t familiars usually cats? That might have just been on TV.
No, that seemed unlikely, and Trip seemed insulted at being called a familiar.
“Maybe we should go back and see what Murray makes of this?” I said, gesturing to myself.
He shook his head.
“Yeah, Vincent might take issue if I go to Murray naked.” I sighed and dropped to the ground. “I don’t know what to do. Am I even a Witch? It was the one thing I thought I knew about myself, but what if I was wrong?”
He nuzzled my abdomen and I hugged his scaley head.
“Sorry about the pity party, I just have so many questions and no answers.” I patted him before straightening. “Let’s get this over with before one of the pack stumbled across me looking like I just escaped from a harem.”
I didn’t know whether or not I could perform the spell, but there was only one way to find out. I pulled out the sage and lit one end of it.
By the time I’d followed the instructions, my whole body brimmed with magic, like a secret barely contained beneath my skin. I may be unsure how to channel it but it was there, I felt it. It was real. I laughed and Trip pranced around in excitement.
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