by April Zyon
“I will, thank you. I won’t do too much because I love it as it is but I think I might add a few touches here and there. Maybe some throw pillows, bright colors?” She laughed just a bit at that. “I’m kidding. I don’t do bright colors. I’ll bring my writing desk here, and if you don’t mind maybe take over the space in one of the extra bedrooms for my books and so on?”
“Be my guest,” he told her. “You can take one for your space and do whatever you want in it.”
“All right. I had planned to leave my house for the coven to use for other witches that might come and go, but I want to bring my furniture here.”
“Whatever you want to do. And if we need to replace things at your place, we can. Not a problem. Let me know and I’ll do it for you.” He’d do anything for her and he hoped she’d learn that in time. Stroking his hand up and down her back, he lifted his head to press a kiss to her forehead.
“They don’t necessarily need to be replaced. I furnished it myself when I moved in and I know that whoever the witch is that takes the home would change things here and there. We witches are odd ones. While we love having things here and there from other people, we would rather have our own stuff. We love the thrill of the hunt, the thrill of being able to find that perfect something to fit in the perfect spot. I know how weird that sounds, but there it is.”
“Not weird at all. Everyone wants to make whatever spot they live in feel like a home. It provides us with security and a feeling of well-being. Like I said, I’m on board with whatever you want to do, Alaska. Just say the word.” As she was doing with him, Harley was still trying to feel his way with her, too. It would take time but it would be time well spent. “Right now I think you should close your eyes and rest. I have plans to tire you out again very soon.”
“Oh, that’s fun.” She had lifted up so she could look down into his face with a grin.
“Now put your head back down, close your eyes, and dream happy dreams. When you wake up next, I plan to ravish you severely before feeding you and probably ravishing you again.” He had a high sex drive naturally, all shifters did, but with her it was like he was ramped to the max. Harley was sure that if he could find a way he would very happily stay buried inside her for the next week, minimum. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be exactly convenient for either of them.
She did as he’d asked her to do, however, moving so she could snuggle back against him once more. The trust she gave to him went straight into his soul. “I can foresee us spending a hell of a lot of time naked together, something I find so sexy that it’s not even close to funny.”
“The thought of you running around here naked is fucking sexy, Alaska. I’ll even turn the temperature up for my little witch if she promises to strip down whenever we’re at home and alone. Jesus, now I have that image in my head. And here I thought my raging hard-on was bad before. I’m never going to get the fucker back down into the relaxed position. I may need to invest in looser jeans if this becomes a permanent state.”
“Why would you need to do that when you have a mate who’s willing to do anything in her power to help you with your raging hard-ons? Because I am. Maybe if I wrapped my mouth around it and sucked you would feel better? Or I could climb up on your body and ride you? Because I’m just as wet as you are hard.”
“I am yours to play with, Alaska. Have at it.” To show her he meant business, Harley stuck his hands behind his head and laid there watching her try to decide what to do.
“Oh, I love a man that’s willing to let me take the lead.” She praised him and moved her body over his. She leaned down and licked his cock from his balls to the head, which had him tightening his hands behind his head to keep from reaching out and grabbing her head to pull her where he needed her. Then she hummed. Fucking hell, she was humming while taking his dick into her mouth. The woman was going to fucking kill him but what a way to go.
Tangling his fingers together, Harley fought every instinct screaming at him. He wanted her as comfortable with his body as he was finding he was becoming with hers. She needed to know that she, too, had power in their relationship, not merely because she was a witch but because she was his mate. They were equal partners in everything. Later he’d exercise his more brutish ways, but for now it was her turn. A flick of her tongue had him seeing stars and his fingers going numb from how tightly he was bearing down on them.
She took him fully into her mouth. It took her several tries but she finally was able to get most of his shaft into her mouth and he nearly bucked when she started to suck. She did this for several minutes before she pulled off of him with a pop. “Fucking hell, you taste good.” She moaned and started to torture both of them again.
“Glad you like it,” he choked out, barely. She was driving him insane. Digging the heel of one foot into the bedding, he finally had to reach out. Thrusting a hand into her hair, he held on tight. He resisted directing her up and down his cock but he had to hold on to her.
She did as he wanted her to do, moving her head up and down harder and faster. It seemed she was determined to kill him. She then moved away from him again and up his body. “I want you inside of me.”
“Fuck yeah. Climb on up. Unless you don’t want to be in charge.” Harley was good with whatever she wanted as long as he got to have her.
“Oh no, I want to ride you while I can.” He saw the smile on her face and knew that this was going to be awesome. She lifted her leg and climbed up on him. She began to stroke him with her hand before putting his cock at her pussy, then started to slide down his shaft. “Oh hell yeah.” She moaned.
Taking hold of her hips, he helped steady her as she took him in. “God yes, that’s perfect. Take me all in, little witch.” He stroked his thumbs over the seam between hip and thigh. When she finally seated herself on his cock, he stroked his hands up to cup the weight of her breasts. Flicking his thumbs to her nipples, he caught them between his fingers and began to toy with them.
She was now rocking back and forth on him, her cunt squeezing his cock and milking him with every single move she made. “God, I love how you feel, too.”
He let out a low growl and plucked at her nipples. Her pussy clenched around him each time he did it, a piece of important information he filed away for use in the future. Tugging at the tight buds again, he began to rock his hips when she started to lift slightly.
She was now moving harder and faster. She was gasping while she was moving up and down on him. “There, right there.” He had moved one hand and begun to rub her clit and he was pretty sure that was the right there she was talking about.
“Fucking hell, I love the sounds you make.” The throaty moans went straight to his cock and made his balls tighten up in need. Each time she emitted one he had to tamp down on his need to come right then and there. “You’re so damn tight around my cock, like a hot little fist stroking me perfectly.”
She was scratching her nails up and down his chest, which was driving him crazy. “That growl, holy shit, I love that growl.”
Harley couldn’t hold back the next one that broke free. It was deeper than any others he’d let loose so far. Her nails scratched harder and she let out another one of those moans that had him struggling for control. She needed to come first. Forcing his attention to her clit, he pinched the slippery little nub between his fingers and tugged gently. Alaska’s hips bucked in reaction and the shocked look on her face told him all he needed to know in combination to the near stranglehold her pussy had on his cock. She liked that, so he repeated the action again and again.
“Harley.” Damn, he loved when she panted his name. “I’m so close. You there with me?” He was right on the edge with her. He just needed a bit more and he would go screaming with her. He noticed that as she came closer to her orgasm, she began to get jerkier in her motions. Her rhythm was off and she was just letting her body go. He loved that she was so free with her body with him.
“That’s it, Alaska, fuck me harder.” Another pinch to her clit had her archi
ng her back, those perfect breasts pushing out further as her pussy clamped down even harder on his cock. Harley managed a couple less than graceful thrusts before he joined her in orgasm.
No exploding light bulbs, that was good. She fell against his chest and he caught her, wrapping her up and close to his body. “Holy balls, that was freaking amazing,” she whispered hoarsely after several minutes.
He was huffing and puffing hard. She’d fried out his brain again. Setting a hand on her ass, he squeezed gently before stroking his thumb back and forth to her skin. “Now I need a nap. And then food, lots of food, so we can have a repeat session.” Every hour on the hour, if he could find a way.
“Nap, food, repeat. Gotcha.” She sounded as if she were almost asleep but with her mass of hair covering her face and most of his chest, he couldn’t really tell. “I think I’m going to love you and your bear both, Harley Ogden. Always,” she whispered before drifting off to sleep.
He could live with that quite happily. “I’m already in love with you.” When he caught his breath, he tugged up the blankets, tucked her in, and settled down for a nap with her in his arms.
Chapter Eight
Three weeks later…
Alaska stood before her coven and looked at each of them while they talked to her. “And have you found anything about the man who tried to take me? Please tell me that no one else has been attacked?” she asked. “Everyone is traveling in pairs or trios? None of the younger ones have started to drift off on their own, have they?” Alaska had taken the morning off so that she could come to meet with her coven. Harley was now at the garage and would pick her up in a few hours and take her for lunch.
“We have all been taking the necessary precautions, Alaska. This is not the first time we have been hunted and it won’t be the last. It would be beneficial if we had more to go on in regards to who attacked you. I don’t like feeling backed into a corner. We need to come up with a plan to draw this idiot out and deal with him our way. As it should be.” Several others were nodding in agreement.
“I don’t like that feeling either.” Alaska sighed and rubbed her temples. “Has anyone tried to work a spell that will give us, at least, a vestige of who or what we are looking for? I hate that whoever this person is they not only knew that I was a witch but they knew how to neutralize me as well. They know our weaknesses and I hate it. I hate unknowns.” She looked to one of the elders. “Should we combine our power and do a scrying spell?”
“The moment we heard from you about the attack at your shop we gathered everyone we could and went there. The spell we cast did nothing. It was as if the individual did not exist, Alaska.”
“Not entirely true, Virginia. There was that odd echo we had.”
The other elder nodded slowly. “You’re right, I forgot all about that, apologies.”
“Odd echo?” This piqued Alaska’s interest. “Do you think that perhaps he’s a dark mage and he’s hiding with his skills? Do you think that maybe, just maybe, we have another dark mage that’s trying to harvest power again like happened a couple of generations ago?” She recalled reading about something like that in a great-grandmother’s journal.
“No, the magic flavor wasn’t right for a mage. It was more, I don’t know if I have the word for it, but it tasted unnatural and dank. Old, definitely, but much like the air in a home that has been shut up for decades. It was only for a moment but that’s the sense I got. Virginia, what about you?”
The other woman was frowning. “Musty, definitely musty. And Gertrude is correct it had a dank flavor to it. There for a moment and then absolutely nothing. A mage’s echo would hold more power to it. It would be anywhere from icy to spicy in nature. This was almost unnatural, as she said. Something that went against the normal order as it were.”
“To me it felt empty and dead,” another elder said quietly. “Whoever it was likely messing with things they didn’t understand and it was taking the price from this individual’s soul.”
“Well, we know that it’s not dead. Vampires died out a long, long time ago. After Elizabeth Batharoy had her hissy fit, everyone joined together and ended all vampires for all time,” Alaska said with a frown, then started to pace. “You’re right, though. If someone is messing with things they don’t understand, then it very well could be draining their life force. If that’s the case, we really have to find them soon, so that they don’t accidentally kill themselves or someone else.”
“We need to draw this individual out, Alaska. We can’t scry for him, and there was absolutely no trace left at your shop to provide us with a path to follow. Only we don’t think our first plan is going to work as well anymore.” Gertrude looked mildly amused.
“With that hulking bear she now calls hers, hardly,” Virginia said. “He would make the Salem witch trials look like a campfire cookout for the Boy Scouts.”
“This is very true. Harley would never allow me to get into a position where I could be harmed. He loves me too much,” she said with a smile. “Just like I love him.” She tapped her front teeth while she was pacing. “But maybe he would be willing to put me out there if he was close. Maybe I can convince him and some of his friends to play lookout and protection detail all in one?”
The members of her coven shared a look before all eyes turned her way again. “It makes the most sense to have you as the bait, Alaska. This individual came after you when there were much easier targets.” Gertrude spoke true. While Ali had been alone in her shop, it was located in the middle of town, where anyone could have seen and interrupted the kidnapper. Several coven members lived out in the woods, isolated without neighbors anywhere close enough to hear a scream and yet she’d been targeted. It almost seemed personal.
“Agreed. Now I just have to figure out how to convince my overprotective mate to let me do this. Anyone have any idea?” she teased.
“What exactly is it you want to do, Alaska?”
Everyone spun around to find Harley standing with his arms crossed, eyeing her with an unhappy expression on his face. “Uh, we’ll let you handle this one on your own, Alaska,” Virginia told her. “I’m sure I have a dozen things to attend to and really should get on it immediately. Text us with whatever the outcome may be.” And like dust in a windstorm, the coven scattered, leaving her facing her pissy-looking mate.
Alaska looked at Harley and smiled. She moved so that she could touch him. She always felt better after she touched him. “I love touching you. You ground me. You give me peace.” She leaned against him. “I need to do something to draw out the man who attacked me. The coven can’t find anything and none of the shifters that we’ve talked to could smell whoever it was. I need you to watch over me while I’m out there in the open and easily gotten to. Can you do that?”
His low growl raised the fine hairs all over her body. She wasn’t afraid, but she was very aware her bear wasn’t pleased. Harley wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her tight. “You’re asking a lot of me, Alaska. If anything were to happen to you…”
“I know that, love, which is why I know that it’s a hard sell. But if we don’t do this, then one day when we aren’t looking there will be someone there who will do the harm that we could have stopped. You have to understand the logic in this, right?” She needed him to understand that this might just be the only way to get whoever this person was.
“Dirty pool, little witch. Playing on my concern for you like that is not fair. I don’t care that you’re right either. I need time to consider the pros and cons, Alaska.” She felt him rest his chin on her hair. “Give me a day to think this all through. Can you do that?”
“You know that you can take the time you need. The coven will remain on high alert and keep in pairs until we’ve figured out what is going on. We don’t know why they wanted me instead of some of the others. That’s the worst part of this. My shop is in the center of town and yet there are three others who live in the middle of nowhere and live off of the land.”
“You were targeted fo
r a specific reason. It makes no sense for anyone to come into town to grab you. Why not try at your home, or on your route in? And why didn’t they have a backup? If he’d had someone on the lookout, which would have been wise to ensure no one wandered in to help you off the street, that person could have also grabbed you when you ran. This entire thing makes little to no sense to me, Alaska. It all feels wrong.”
“I know. The coven is saying that the scries they’ve put out for this person feel all wrong as well. They know it’s a male, but I knew that, too, because his beard got stuck on the hood he put on me. That’s why we have to find him. If he’s messing with something old and dark, then it could be tearing apart his soul. It’s not good, Harley, at all.”
“No, it’s not,” he agreed easily. Falling silent again, he began to stroke his hand up and down her back. She knew he was thinking, considering all the information they had and all the unknowns they couldn’t answer. After about five minutes his hand stopped moving. “If I agree to this, we do it my way. And that is a big damn if. We do this, I’ll want to have several pack mates providing backup. My big question is, how the fuck do you plan to get this guy to come to you on our schedule? He might not be the brightest bulb around but why would he come at you when you’re out in the middle of nowhere apparently without protection?”
“Because everyone knows that I always take the day of my birth and go into the mountains. I go up to the hot springs that hide in the tallest of the mountains that look over our town and since my birthday is coming up in about a week it would give us time to get everything together, wouldn’t it? It would give us the ability to ensure that people were in place without anyone being none the wiser, right?”
