by Gaja J. Kos
She pressed another kiss to my temple, then got up, a ghost of a smile dancing across her features. “Lena, it would help if you…coax his incubus nature from his core.”
I raised my eyebrows, but Liva didn’t seem to notice. Or care.
“The dragon side of every Perelesnyk is exceptional when it comes to healing injuries. Usually self-sufficient, too. But these aren’t exactly regular circumstances. I removed the magic and neutralized its effect, but it had gone deep. Your detective needs something to increase his blood flow. Something to get his heart pumping.”
“You want me to seduce an unconscious man?” I breathed, but Liva only grinned.
“He won’t be unconscious for long if you do.”
With one last glance at Caz, she wrapped her hands around the pendant resting between her breasts and set her gaze on me.
“No one can resist the call of their mate, Lena.”
The call of their mate.
For a long moment, I simply sat next to Caz on the edge of the mattress, my hand gripping his hard enough that I would have probably broken a couple of bones if he were human. Despite everything that happened, everything I went through these last minutes, a part of me still rebelled at the idea of having a mate. I was terrified of binding myself to someone—not because of them. But me.
Not having to worry about screwing up somewhere down the line was easier, even if it meant being alone. I could walk out of Caz’s life, and maybe in a millennia, the hurt would subside.
Yet as I watched the rise and fall of his chest, as my gaze trailed those handsome features, framed by the spill of black curls, I knew there was just one thing I truly wanted in my life.
Him.
I leaned over and pressed my lips against his. The power inside me flared at the touch, calling out to his in hope that he would answer. It was sex and love, mixed into a unanimous whole that spoke of the soul’s desires.
Mine…
…and his.
Tears rolled down my cheeks in unstoppable currents as I felt his mouth move against mine. It was just a gentle brush, but to me, it felt like the grandest of gestures. He—he’d come back.
The magnetic rush of his incubus nature rose to the surface with a force that left me gasping for breath. It wrapped me in a cocoon of heat, reaching the intimate places I knew I would only ever share with him. I was drowning in his taste, in his touch, and passion, feeding the hunger I had fought for far too long.
“Lena…” he rasped.
I only kissed him, not breaking the connection even as I lifted my body so I was straddling him, his erection pressing through our clothes and rubbing against the need blooming between my legs. His hands came up my thighs, my hips, my waist, every caress filled with breathtaking urgency we both shared. My power danced with his, teasing and entwining until he was so hard, so thick beneath me, a moan slipped from my lips.
In a ripple of muscles, Caz pushed off from the mattress. He relieved me of my shirt, then my bra, heat sizzling in the amber of his eyes. His lips closed around a nipple even as I struggled to liberate him from the clothes he was still wearing. The desire to feel his skin against mine was nearly overpowering, a command that was carried in the vines of my magic and translated into the currents of his.
He stopped his sensual assault, but only long enough for me to tug the fabric up and over his head. My fingertips barely touched the ripped muscles of his abdomen when his teeth locked around the sensitive flesh again, shattering my mind.
I writhed as his tongue tortured and explored, as he sucked and rolled the nipple until I was crying out in the embrace of such exquisite pain.
He smiled then. A sensual, carnal smile, filled with promises and a hunger strong enough to burn the entire world.
My breaths were still ragged when he moved on to the other breast, his tongue flicking across the sensitive bud before he did it all over again.
There was something gentle in his unbarred passion, as if by allowing his desire to run free, it became more intimate. More precious.
I was suspended in utter ecstasy, the sweet, loving pain tightening my very being, but I still wanted more.
I needed more.
“Fuck me, Caz,” I whispered. “Please, fuck me.”
He looked up and locked his gaze on mine. A growl trickled from his lips as I let him read my silent answer—a sound that was so dangerously, so alluringly male that I found myself shivering in his arms with the need to feel him inside me.
Thankfully, Caz obliged.
He threw me down on the mattress, then stripped off my jeans and panties in a single, fervent move before he undid his own and sent them flying across the floor. He knelt above me, his erection hard and thick. But it was his face, the expression resting there that drew me in and made it impossible to look anywhere else. Everything was written there—the lust, the anticipation. But most of all, the sheer fire of his love for me. The one he’d kept hidden all this time.
He ran a hand through his thick curls, the touch of wildness growing stronger in his eyes as he took in my naked form spread below him. His energy undulated through the air, my own meeting its every beat, every curl and vine until they moved as one, creating thunder that reverberated through my flesh.
My core.
My heart.
The seam between our powers became stronger, those last slivers of space dissipating under the weight of our desire, under their—and our—willingness to join into the whole we were meant to be.
Caz’s eyes flashed, and then he was pushing inside me, spearing me with his heat and hunger alike. I cried out, head tilted back as my muscles convulsed around his hard shaft, accepting every inch of his length until none of it remained unsheathed—until he was so deep inside me, filling me so completely that I felt as if I were living on his essence alone.
His thrusts were unyielding, his fingers bruising my hips as he commanded and controlled me, claiming me so thoroughly that all I knew, all that still existed narrowed down to the press of our energies and flesh.
I grew even wetter as the promise of rapture accumulated deep inside me. It wrapped me in a cocoon of the sweetest pain my body had ever experienced, teasing the cascade of moans that spilled from my lips and were echoed in Caz’s grunts.
I hungered for him with a force that would rip apart worlds if I let it, a fever burning through my very being that only he could sate. And as Caz surged above me, as we moved together, riding wave after wave of pleasure, I felt a gaping emptiness deep within me fill.
The force of my orgasm tore a scream from my lips. I let it take me, let it ride me until Caz’s roar shattered reality and threw us both into the spiraling vortex of release.
Chapter 16
I woke to the intoxicating scent of Caz. It was wrapped around me as lovingly as the arm he had draped across my side while we slept to cradle me as close to his body as was possible. The soft daze of sleep unfolded from my mind, and I smiled, marveling at how right it felt. How fulfilling, to exist in his embrace, knowing there wasn’t a force in all the realms potent enough to break or taint this beauty weaving between us.
My breath cut off, the reality of what I’d done slamming into me so hard, I scrambled off the bed and nearly lost my footing.
Oh, shit.
I looked at Caz, at the sleep that still softened his features, and the lovely echo of a smile curving in the corners of his lips. He seemed so peaceful. Happy. But it—it was a lie…
The cool touch of mortification ran down my spine, followed by beads of sickly sweat. I reached into my core and found the bond, that unique, sacred bond, alive between us. The room spun around me.
I’d bound him.
I’d bound Caz to myself without his consent, without his awareness of what was happening. Without giving him a chance to stop it.
For all my talk about free will, I’d snatched his away as if it were nothing.
Nausea rushed through me, and I ran out of the bedroom, picking up the scraps of clothing a
long the way. I didn’t even care about the blood and dirt stains from last night still clinging to the fabric. I simply threw everything on, then slipped into my boots and cast one last look through the open bedroom door.
Mercifully, my mad dash hadn’t woken Caz. Still, it wasn’t until I was well out of Liva’s apartment that I even dared to breathe.
Good gods, what have I done?
Sunlight spilled across my face, but night reigned in my memories. I recalled the oppressive weight of my concern, my fear that I might lose him forever; remembered the desire that radiated my flesh, stronger than ever before, when Caz had finally responded to my kiss… Sam had been right.
It was me. Had been me all along.
Caught in the crushing whirlwind of relief, I had admitted the truth to myself. Caz was it. I yearned to live through centuries in his embrace. Wanted more than anything to spend the ages by his side, sharing everything. Including my life.
I had accepted Caz as my mate. And my energy had reacted to my wishes.
A weak groan spilled from my lips, but was instantly swallowed by the lively chatter of Celje in the morning. I had no idea when I’d veered into the center proper. Couldn’t even recall moving anywhere beyond the building where Caz still waited, believing that he’d wake up with me curled up next to him.
Shit, I needed to go back.
As much as the impulse to flee to my lair and hide there forever gnawed at me, I just couldn’t be that much of an asshole. What I’d done was bad enough all on its own.
No, I had to explain. Apologize. Even beg for forgiveness, if that’s what it took.
Not to ease my conscience—that was a punishment I would carry until my death—but to at least make him understand I hadn’t meant to abuse his trust or take advantage when he was weak. What I’d done was wrong on so many levels.
I had to do something. Leaving him shackled to a person who’d just left without a single word…
I rubbed my temples and squinted at the sky. Caz had said he wanted to spend eternity with me, but knowing it didn’t excuse my actions. I seriously doubted that me binding him when he was still shaking off the residue of a spell that had almost ended his life was what he’d had in mind when he’d professed his love. I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood. Why was it that the first thing that felt right in my life was also the worst I’d ever committed?
I let loose a long, labored sigh, then made my way back to Liva’s apartment. I stopped at a bakery and bought us some breakfast with the change I found lying around in my pockets—just in case Caz had woken up while I was gone and wondered where I disappeared to. With everything else I had to confess, I didn’t want him to think I’d run out, terrified out of my wits.
Even if it was the truth.
The fucked-up meter was high enough already, and I was desperate to keep it from skyrocketing.
Just as I rounded the corner and Liva’s building fell in my line of sight, my cell phone rang. I twitched at the sound and groaned. I really didn’t want to speak with anyone right now. But only a few people had this particular number.
And Caz was one of them.
I nearly dropped the paper bag filled with croissants as I hurried to liberate the phone from my pocket. Only to find out it wasn’t my mate—gods, my mate—who was calling.
It was Sam.
“Yeah?” I asked, then winced at the harsh tone of my voice.
She didn’t deserve this shitty treatment. But I found it impossible to do a damn thing about it.
“I believe I ferreted out where your Zirnitra-cherishing killers are holed up,” she said evenly, which only made me feel that much worse. “There’s just one place that still has explicit ties to the deities of old, and it’s quite near to where all of your seven girls had been taken.”
The news caught me off guard, the grip of anger and terror slipping, replaced by the hunter’s instincts I had cultivated throughout the years.
“Where?”
Sam rattled out the address. I etched it into the grooves of my memory, then thanked her and practically ran that last stretch of distance still separating me from the apartment.
“Caz!” I shouted as I barged in. “Caz, we have a lead!”
The door swung to the side, probably chipping the plaster. Then silence.
For a moment, the wretched fear that Liva had been wrong blurred my vision. What if the bastards hadn’t botched the curse? What if it had come back and put Caz under once more?
Only fate, it seemed, wasn’t as cruel. Unfortunately, it was just as harsh.
The apartment was precisely as I’d left it. No signs of intruders or magic at work. In fact, there were no signs of any living being present between its walls. My mouth dry and throat tight, I walked over to the bedroom.
Something inside me broke.
I caught myself on the doorframe, my knees pathetically weak and vision blurring with stinging tears.
Caz was gone.
And he’d left of his own free will.
Chapter 17
Given my careless state, I needed to take a few detours before I made it to the cemetery. It lay all the way up northwest in the country, where public transport was more an exception than a rule.
Not that I harbored any particular desire to spend hours stuck on some damned bus. But unfortunately, the alternative was only mildly less time-consuming.
I’d never been to this particular cemetery before, hadn’t even heard of it, actually. Not that it was surprising. Graveyards fell more in Lana’s line of work. I was merely the one who supplied them with a few additional bodies.
However, unfamiliar territory meant I couldn’t take the direct route from my lair to the cemetery walls. Envisioning something from photographs never worked well for me and more often than not resulted in getting lost instead of hitting my target. But, for once, luck was on my side.
The graveyard itself wasn’t all that far on foot from a location I’d actually been to once. I materialized on a secluded stretch of road, then sucked in a breath as my atoms realigned themselves and sampled the air.
Nothing out of the ordinary yet. Although given the distance between the two places a quick internet search provided, the lack of vile activity didn’t come as a surprise. Kauer’s men were a lot of things, but obvious wasn’t one of them.
Immensely grateful for the additional demonic speed, I veered into the surrounding forest and rushed across the terrain. I kept the demonic shadows tucked closely around me and didn’t stop running until I reached the low wall surrounding the ancient burial land.
My magic rushed out in a wave and descended upon the graves like an ethereal fog, probing every atom of air until I found it—a trace of the demonic, stolen and entwined with a human’s DNA. I shuddered involuntarily, pushing myself to keep a collected mind. Easier said than done, when everything about it was just so…wrong.
This wasn’t some sharing of power. It wasn’t even the binding of essences demons used to secure their human servants back in the day when such an atrocity wasn’t yet frowned upon. No, what it reminded me of was an intrusion, a twisted blend of entities that should never mix—wouldn’t have, if someone hadn’t forced them. Shit, I’d been too busy focusing on the maneuvers and capabilities of the bastards at Caz’s place last night to notice the vile details of what they were.
Caz.
My fingers dropped to the phone in my pocket, but instead of reaching inside and pulling out the device, I curled them into a fist.
Barely, but I did.
The hurt was still very much alive inside me, a void that seemed to suck in my very soul, but I’d already made my decision. Made it when I picked up the broken shards of me back at Liva’s apartment, and there was no use going back on it now.
My needs had caused enough harm as it was. I wouldn’t pull another asshole move just because this was hard.
A long breath whizzed from my lips, and I reminded myself once again that Caz hadn’t as much as tried to reach me before he fl
ed from my sister’s place. He didn’t have to spell out that our little arrangement was over.
I swallowed, hating the way the loss continued to gnaw at my insides and weigh on my chest.
I couldn’t—wouldn’t—give in now.
His silence had made his stance on our bond clear, and that, in effect, terminated our cooperation. Not because I was petty. But because being around your mate and rejecting them at the same time was impossible.
We could never hope to work together, even if our parting had been more amicable.
I sighed. Back to my solo bounty-hunting ways once more.
Back to what I knew.
Only my heart refused to hand in the towel that easily. I leaned my forehead against the cool stones of the wall, cursing under my breath. As much as I hated to admit it, I’d enjoyed hunting with him. I’d even enjoyed working with his cop buddies, for Chernobog’s sake.
I pushed up on my feet and shook my head. Those buddies would throw you in a cell the instant they learned of your profession.
And Caz would break you out. As many times as it took.
Damn it, I so did not want to think about any of that right now. I had bad guys to slaughter, and that had always been enough.
Until now.
Ah, fuck.
Knowing I could just as well stand here forever, arguing with myself until I’d fall apart for good, I kicked myself in the ass and got to work. I plucked the device I picked up during my short stop in the lair from my pocket, then fed it my blood. The scanner powered up the instant the drop of crimson spilled onto the sensor, first isolating my power signature, then eliminating it from the equation.
For a few seconds, nothing changed on the three small screens dominating the upper two-thirds of the device. But then a vibration snaked up my hand and the displays flared to life.
Oh, yes, there was definitely a whole lot of activity going on in this cemetery. Thank you, Sam.
The first of the screens pointed me straight in the direction of the mausoleum she had isolated as the link to the old gods. I really needed to tell her more often just how brilliant she was. Even if it put me at risk of being hit by one of her leather-bound tomes.
