His teeth replace his tongue as he bites on his bottom lip. “I want to kiss you so badly.”
I’ll admit to myself that I want him to kiss me badly too. But unlike him, I’m not as confident with fully admitting that aloud yet.
So instead I say, “Okay.”
A small smile curls at his lips. “Okay then. Let me play fairy godmother to you really quickly, and then I’m going to kiss those pretty lips of yours.” With that, he draws a circle in the air.
Sparks of silver flicker from his fingertips and whirl around me, the same thing that happened when he used his magic to put a coat on me. Only this time, instead of a coat, a dress now covers my body. Although dress might be a stretch.
The piece of silk, lavender fabric barely covers my butt. And the straps are trimmed with lace and extremely thin. Plus, he didn’t put a bra on me, so you can basically see my nipples through the fabric.
I fold my arms across my chest and glance down at my legs that are covered with stockings that go all the way up my thigh.
“Dude, I can’t wear this,” I say, glaring at East.
But he appears positively pleased at his handiwork.
“Why not?” he asks. “You look gorgeous.”
“I look like a prostitute.” I crinkle my nose. “Some fairy godmother you are.”
He grins devilishly. “I never said what kind of a fairy godmother I was.”
I sigh. “Do I really have to wear this?”
Wisps of his blond hair fall into his eyes as he shakes his head. “You never have to wear anything you don’t want to. But I do want to point out that you look sexy as hell right now, despite what I’m sure you think.”
He can read me too well that it’s almost frightening.
“But do I need to look sexy as hell?” I ask, self-consciously shifting my weight.
“Like I said, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. However, in order for us to teach Maxton how to do this properly, we need to make him feel uncomfortable.” He steps toward me and plays with a strand of my hair. “Succubi radiate sexual energy to the point where it could overwhelm him if he’s not prepared for it.”
“But I’m not a sexual creature,” I remind him.
He ravels the strand of my hair around his finger, biting back a grin. “I know that. But trust me, just seeing you in this dress is going to make Maxton almost as flustered as he would be if he was under the lust spell of a succubus.”
“If you say so,” I mumble. “Personally, though, I’m kind of skeptical.”
“Of course you are because you don’t see yourself clearly. I however, can see you perfectly fine.” He unravels the strand of my hair from his fingers and moves back to examine me with his head slanted to the side. “Or well, I could if you’d lower your arms so I could take in the full effect of my awesome magic.”
Sometimes I wish I was more confident with stuff like this, like how I am when it comes to stealing. I’m not, though. I can feel it in my hesitancy to lower my arms. But reminding myself that East has already touched me in a lot of places, I uncross my arms and lower them to my sides, opening and flexing my fingers.
His sparkling eyes fleetingly scroll over me before his gaze collides with mine. “I’m going to kiss you now, okay?”
It’s weird when he asks me. When I first met him, I thought he’d be the kind of creature to steal kisses. But East has always been pretty careful with me, which makes it much simpler to nod.
The moment I do, he reduces the space between us and leans in, lightly brushing his lips against mine, giving me a soft kiss. At first, I think that’s all he’ll do as his lips hover above mine. But then he kisses me more intensely, his hand finding my cheek, his tongue tangling with mine. As he kisses me, he places his hand on my side and starts to back me toward the wall but stumbles. I grip onto his sides, my eyes widening as my back smacks against the wall. I’m shocked, not because it hurts, but because East movements are usually so much more controlled and graceful than this. Right now, though, he’s very riled up, his breaths rushing out of him as he leans back.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
I nod, my own breathing uneven. “Are you?”
He nods, blinking a few times and for the slightest moment, his eyes turn into shadows. “Yeah. I just... I feel a little bit out of my element.”
My head is spinning in confusion. I’m about to ask him what he means, but he fuses his lips to mine and all other thoughts vacate my mind as his tongue parts my lips and sweeps into my mouth. I moan as his hands wander all over me, up and down my sides, gripping at the fabric to the point that it tears.
“Shit. Fuck. Shit,” he curses at the sound of the side of the dress tearing. His eyes are shut and his breathing is ragged. “I’ll fix that... In a minute... I just...” He kisses me again.
I clutch onto him in desperation. Only I’m unsure it’s my desperation I feel. No, I think it might be his. I’ve felt his emotions before, but he never explained why it happened. And the sensation faded to the point that I almost forgot it existed. Now, though, it’s returned full force and every single drop of what he’s feeling in this moment floods my body. Desire. Desperation. Fear.
Is he afraid of me?
He said he wasn’t, that what I am doesn’t scare him, and yet I can feel fear clawing inside him.
I pull back, gasping.
His eyelids shoot open. “What’s wrong? Did I push you too far?”
I shake my head with my lips pressed together. “No. I can just feel what you’re feeling again and I can tell...” I swallow hard, the truth of the aching against my tongue. “You’re afraid of me.”
His expression softens. “Sweetheart, that’s not what I’m afraid of.” He tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear. “I’m afraid of this.” With a bit of apprehension, he kisses me. “Of emotion.” He kisses me again. “Usually, I don’t feel much of anything.” Another kiss. “This is different... And I’m not sure how to handle it.”
Apparently, though, he decides that he should handle it by kissing me again, since that’s exactly what he does. He kisses me until I’m breathless, his hands returning to my sides, and his knee presses between my legs. I moan as I grind against his leg, and his body quivers as I reach around and stroke his wings. I wait for him to stop me like he always does, but this time that doesn’t happen. So I run my finger along his wings again, so soft and velvety.
He moans, his lips leaving mine and his head lowering against my shoulder as a shudder rolls through his body. “You know, I’ve never let someone touch my wings like this... Well, willingly anyway.”
He’s been so uneasy about letting me touch his wings, and now I think I understand why. Because more than likely his master probably did.
I start to withdraw my hands.
“No, don’t,” he protests, nuzzling his head against my neck. “Keep touching them.”
Now I’m the one to feel way out of my element. But not wanting to ruin the moment, I return my fingers to his wings and trace the edges. He shivers, his palms slide up my sides. The straps of my dress have slid down my shoulders, and the movement of his hands causes the top of my dress to slide down, exposing my breasts. I squeeze my eyes, my breathing quickening as his fingers brush across my nipple. It’s a stupid reaction. He’s touched me like this before. Somehow, though, this feels different in a way I can’t describe. Maybe because I can feel how much he wants to be touching me right now.
Fear.
Want.
Lust.
It’s coursing through me like a storm.
“East,” I murmur, my head bobbing back and hitting the wall as he sucks on my neck.
He groans, resting his head against the side of my neck, his breath dusting my cheek. Weirdly, he doesn’t take it further, but I can tell he wants to—feel that he does.
“East,” I whisper. “Why... How can I feel what you’re feeling?”
He sucks in a shallow breath, his finger brushing across my nipple aga
in. “I... I’m not sure if I should tell you yet.”
“I...” I sink my teeth into my bottom lip as he lightly sucks on the side of my neck. Desire scorches through him along with a trace of fear. “Please tell me... I want to know.”
His fingers pause as he quietly sighs. Then, placing one last kiss against the side of my neck, he slants back and looks me in the eye. “I don’t want to scare you off.”
“You won’t,” I promise. And at that moment, I fully intend to keep that promise.
But I wasn’t prepared for the heaviness of the truth.
“It... It means I’m bonding to you,” he admits with a weird amount of uncertainty reflecting in his eyes.
My head angles to the side in confusion. “Bond?”
He hesitates then says, “Like a mating bond.”
My eyes widen and panic flashes across his face.
“I’m sorry,” he starts to say.
But that’s as far as he gets at the door to the bathroom bursts open and Maxton barrels in.
Then he spins toward us, his gaze flitting over me. He momentarily goes ridged at the sight of how much of me is exposed. Blushing, I hurry and adjust the straps of my dress, fully covering myself up. He blinks his gaze away from me and fixes his eyes on East.
“What’s going on?” East asks him stiffly.
I’m not sure if the stiffness is from Maxton barging in here or from the panic in my eyes when he told me he’s mated to me. Well, he didn’t say that exactly. He just said the emotional connection we share is from a mating bond. Perhaps it’s not fully bonded yet.
But what if it is?
Oh my Gods, what if it is? And what if the curse comes into play and he ends up dead?
Panic potently flares through me as my gaze glides to East. Other than appearing a bit uneasy, he looks okay.
Maxton’s throat muscles work as he swallows audibly. “I finally figured out what’s been following us.”
“How?” East and I say simultaneously.
I glance at East. “Wait, you noticed it too?”
He wavers. “I had a suspicion, but didn’t want to say anything unless I was certain.”
“You should’ve told me,” I tell him. “You guys keep keeping secrets from me, and it’s starting to become frustrating.” Like with this curse thing.
They’ve mentioned several times that they may know of a way to break it, and yet they haven’t told me these ways.
East’s lips part, but Maxton cuts him off.
“Before you guys start getting into one of you bantering fests,” he says. “I should tell you that I’m fairly certain a very powerful faerie is what’s been tracking us.”
If I had thought East was uneasy before, nothing could compare me for how rigid his body gets.
“A powerful faerie,” he whispers in horror.
I’ve only seen him look this horrified once and that was when Penelope showed up at that party.
“East.” I place a hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t know.”
“It’s going to be okay,” I try to assure him. “We—I won’t let her hurt you.” Then I plaster on a cocky grin, pretending to be more confident than I really am. “I mean, word on the street is I’m pretty powerful.”
A shaky breath fumbles from his lips as his gaze drops to my hand that’s on his shoulder.
His fear briefly pours through me then he steps back from me, letting my hand fall from his shoulder. At first, hurt trickles through me that he doesn’t want me touching him. But then he steps forward, cups my face between my hands, and kisses me.
“I’m not going to let her take you away from me,” he murmurs, his lips brushing against mine.
For a slamming heartbeat of a moment, everything feels content. The feeling shatters, though, as he moves back.
“Maybe it’s not Penelope,” he mutters. “I mean, when she broke that contract... Her punishment... It should’ve lasted longer than this. Well, unless something is interfering with Asher’s power, which I guess could happen, but...”
“Maybe it’s not her then,” I suggest with hope.
“Maybe.” East seems doubtful, though. “I think whatever it is tracking us, we should probably get you back to the vehicle where I can protect you better.”
I roll my eyes. “I don’t need you to protect me. I’ve proved more than enough times that I’m perfectly capable of protecting myself.”
“She’s right,” Maxton chimes in. “She’s extremely powerful. She just needs to learn how to use that power.”
East cocks a brow at him. “So what? You want to teach her how to use those right now, in this tiny bedroom where anything can happen?”
I look at Maxton. “He has a point. Not that I want to go back to the vehicle and hide out. We have a plan and we need to go through with that. We just need to be careful about it—”
Clink. Clink. Clink.
Thump.
All of our gazes drift to the bathroom doorway.
“Um...” I say. “What was that?”
“I’m not sure,” East says then sticks his hand out in my direction. “Stay here. I’ll go see.”
He starts to move toward the door. When I follow, he pauses, question marks filling his now shadowy eyes.
“I thought I told you to stay here.” He blinks, probably trying to clear the shadows away, but to no avail.
I’m not afraid of him, though. I don’t ever think I could be afraid of East, the faerie version of him and the demon one.
I dramatically roll my eyes. “Don’t you know me well enough by now to know that I’m terrible at taking orders?”
The corners of his lips tug downward. “This could be dangerous.”
“Like I don’t know that already. And I’m very familiar with danger.” When he makes no effort to budge, I add. “Look, if we’re gonna make... this work, you’ve got to let me make my own decisions.” I get tripped up on the word this, since I’m not sure what this thing between East and me, Asher and me, me and Arrow, is.
And I expect East to argue, but strangely he doesn’t.
“Stay behind me,” he whispers then trades a look with Maxton from over the top of my head. “Max, stay behind her, okay?”
Max must nod since East slowly walks forward out of the bathroom. I follow and so does Maxton, staying so close to me I can feel his body heat seeping into me. Then I feel his hand touch the small of my back.
So weird.
But I’m too distracted by something else to react.
And by something else, I mean the shimmering, iridescent crystal ball on the floor.
“How did it get in here?” I ask as we make our way over to the bed and toward the crystal ball.
East shakes his head as he slows to a stop just short of it. “Magic probably since the door is still locked.” He pauses before bending down to pick it up.
“Wait,” I sputter. “Should you touch it when we don’t know what it is?”
“It’s a message crystal ball,” Maxton states from behind me, his palm still on my back.
I twist my head to look at him and find him already staring at me. “I thought crystal balls were just used by foreseers to look into the future.”
“Some are,” he explains. “But that one is for sending messages.”
“How do you know?” I wonder, rotating my body to face him.
His hand falls from my back. “Because of the color and the lack of diamonds and rubies in it.” He gives a short pause. “The color also gives us an idea of what type of creature sent it.”
“It’s iridescent,” I state the obvious aloud. “Why does that color feel familiar to me?”
“Because it’s the color of the sky in Shimmerland,” East mumbles. “This message was sent from Penelope.” He chokes on her name.
I turn back toward him. “How do you know?”
He swallows loudly then scoops up the crystal ball. “Because I can see the message.”
&nbs
p; I inch toward him and peer into the crystal ball. What I see makes my stomach twist with nausea.
Inside is an image of Arrow and Asher locked in cages dangling from a ceiling of what looks like a basement. They appear to be passed out, and faeries are gathered beneath cages. Standing in the middle of the faeries is Penelope, and she’s giving a speech. Or well, she’s talking. But the words are directed at us, I think. Or me anyway.
“If you want your friends back, little shadowed soul, you will hand yourself over to me. And I would like my pet back. If you don’t, the genie and the cyborg will become my prisoners.” He long, ruby-trimmed dress trails across the concrete floor as she makes her way to the center of the room, her eyes seeming to be staring directly at me. “You have exactly five moons to make your decision. You are to communicate with me through this crystal when you make your decision. If you come looking for me, I’ll torture them to their deaths.” She smiles wickedly up at Asher and Arrow, and then the image fades.
I can barely breathe.
Barely think.
“How did she capture them?” I manage to get out.
East sinks on the edge of the bed and sets the crystal ball down. “It must’ve happened when they went out into town.”
“Well, we need to save them. It looked like they were in a basement, right? Maybe this one.” I stride for the door to go find out.
East leaps to his feet and snags ahold of my arm. “You can’t just storm in there. We need a plan, or else we’re all doomed.” His tone quivers as he speaks, reminding me of what Penelope said.
That she’d torture Asher and Arrow to death if we tried to find her.
Tears burn in my eyes, but I suck them back. “I don’t understand. Why does she want me? And why didn’t she just take me?”
“Probably because if you do choose to unleash your power on her, she’s doomed,” Maxton answers, leaning against the bedpost with his arms crossed. “I’m not sure how she found out about you or why she wants you. Although, the latter I’m sure has to do with why my father wants you.”
“For my power,” I say in a hollow tone.
“Don’t,” East snaps, standing to his feet and looping his arms around my waist. “Do not go back to that dark place. We need you, sweetheart. Not that we’re just going to hand you over to her. We’re going to get Asher and Arrow back. We’re powerful enough that we can come up with something.”
Chasing Secrets (Capturing Magic Series Book 4) Page 10
