Holding his weight on his arms, drilling into her, she twisted beneath him. Clamping down on his cock, her walls gripped him like a vice as her body went rigid beneath him. Snapping open suddenly, her large blue eyes stared vacantly toward him. Her mouth opened into an O but no sound came from her lips.
“That’s it. You’re right there.” Aric leaned down and kissed her neck.
The tingling at the base of his spine grew in intensity and traveled to his groin. As his balls tightened, his wolf lunged with in him.
Now, his wolf urged.
Now, the animal pushed.
Rearing back a final time before burying himself deep into his mate, Aric’s cock slammed home. Tightness gripped him to the point of pain.
Shaking beneath him, Divina shrieked. Fingers coiled around his biceps, and he watched her face twist in pleasure as her orgasm struck.
Aric’s jaw distended and his teeth elongated. With his head back, mouth open, he took a deep breath before he swung down clamping onto her shoulder. The sharp wolfen fangs pierced her skin like a hot blade through butter.
She screamed louder trembling beneath him while her walls rippled around him.
As his orgasm rocketed through him the ecstasy of marking and claiming his mate sent Aric to another planet. Warm, thick blood pooled in his mouth and he sucked down her essence, claiming her officially.
Pain. Orgasm. Pain. Heaven. Pain. Euphoria. Emotions overwhelmed Divina as she succumbed to Aric’s attention. Tears welled in her eyes and a lump lodged in her throat. Raking her nails down his back, she quivered beneath him in the aftershocks of her orgasm.
When he pulled his mouth from her shoulder, she saw the blood on his lips.
He’d bitten her.
Gasping for air, his full weight on her, he seemed content.
Divina wanted to be outraged.
“You. Said. You. Weren’t. A. Vampire,” she said between breaths.
Running his fingers along her cheek, he grinned. His cock twitched inside her, and she moaned involuntarily. Sensitive from the brutal way he had just taken her, her body reacted to the subtlest of touches as if they were electric shocks.
“I’m not,” he whispered.
Kissing both her cheeks and then her forehead, he nuzzled into her neck.
“I’m a wolf.”
The world came crashing down on Divina. Her escape, her reprieve, her salvation from the prophecy was a lie.
A wolf. The wolf? She blinked at him while the fresh wound throbbed in pain.
The content expression on his face remained. He stroked her hair and went back to nibble and lick at the place he had bitten her seemingly unaware of her internal conflict.
Flinching, she sucked in a sharp breath. However, the pain from the bite faded, replaced by a euphoric tickle in the crook of her neck that sprinkled down her body.
While Aric laved affection onto the bite, Divina couldn’t help but compare it to Rori’s bites. While Rori’s tended to infuse an intensity into the orgasm, afterward she’d still feel sore. The aches lasting days. However, the moment Aric’s kisses and licks caressed the punctures on her skin, the pain went away and replaced with a need for more and a need for him. That never happened when Rori bit her.
Heat bloomed within her again and she couldn’t believe with Aric still inside her, her body amped up for another round. Surely, she had lost her damn mind.
Human. She’d thought him human. She couldn’t have been more wrong.
“A wolf?” she repeated.
Biting back a moan as his tongue laved over the fresh bite mark, she tried to focus. The ache from the bite warmed her still-moist core.
In complete confusion, she couldn’t understand how her body craved his touch with him still inside her. Trying to hang on to logic, she felt as though she were losing the battle, as his gentle attentions fogged her brain.
“Mmm hmmm,” he hummed. “And you’re my mate.”
The color drained from Divina’s face. Aric’s words took over her awareness and a cold feeling splashed over her. She wriggled from under him.
“What?” she asked.
Pushing up on his arms, taking his weight off her, Aric furrowed his brow. Regarding her with confusion, he sat back on his heels. He studied her with hazel eyes tinged with golden flashes.
Scrambling from under him, she scurried to the end of the bed until her back hit a wall. In order to focus, she’d need distance from him. Unable to understand why it happened, she needed to get away from his touch, even if for just a moment, so her mind could clear.
“What did you say?” she asked.
Canting his head, Aric studied her.
“You know about vampires but not about wolves?” he asked with a curious inflection.
Swallowing, she reached a hand up to her shoulder. Landing on Aric’s bite which trickled blood on her fingers.
“I don’t have much experience with wolves,” she admitted.
Her mind swirled. Without her consent, the pieces to the prophecy fell into place. The loss of control in her own fate taunted her. The past few days, perhaps even the past few years, had been a parade of people pushing her toward something without so much as asking her if it was what she wanted. Now, she was the witch who belonged to the wolf.
“Good.” The bed dipped with his reply.
Her attention flicked toward him. With the full blue condom dangling from his slightly shrunken dick, he crawled toward her. She froze, only able to watch his advancement.
Torn between fear of what it meant and the desire to have him again, she felt paralyzed.
Gingerly, his hand took hers. With a gentle tug, she allowed him to pull her into his lap.
“You bit me.” Her voice cracked.
Anxiety vibrated within her until his rough hand covered hers. Once pulled into his lap, he ran his fingers through her hair. A soothing calm took over, pushing the anxiety away.
“I did.” He kissed the crown of her head. “I claimed you. No other wolves will come near you. You are mine.”
Subtly, she shook her head, desperate to understand it all. Pressing her cheek to his bare chest she inhaled the scent of sweaty wolf man and her temperature rose; neediness pooled in her belly.
Mates. Claiming. Belonging to. Emperors. Councils. The Ember Witches.
Overwhelmed with it all, she sought solace in his arms. All she wanted was to have a moment, a moment without the intrusive prophecy. She wanted to feel connected to someone without the nagging feeling of being a puppet with her strings pulled by another. The prophecy seemed to steal every semblance of peace from her.
Crushed by the pressure of the prophecy, the meaning of his bite, his claim that they were mates left her wondering if she could she handle it. She had no idea what it meant to be a wolf’s mate. On top of that little pickle, according to the prophecy, it meant she’d be an Ember Witch. And not just any old Ember Witch, but a witch who had a seat at their table, and she wasn’t sure she was ready for any of it.
Divina trembled in his embrace. Unsure if she shook from her orgasm, or if she had reached her limit, she wanted to not care. The desire to let it all go taunted her.
Aric squeezed her in his large arms and Divina took a deep breath. Drowning in the pressure of the prophecy, the idea of forgetting it all and letting things happen tempted her. Every fiber of her being screamed she was where she belonged. The safety of Aric’s arms combatted her inner conflict into submission.
Turning in his lap, she lifted her chin and gazed up at him.
He smiled a crooked smile revealing one dimple.
Ducking to meet her mouth, he kissed her. Soft. Tender. Her heart swooned.
Reaching up to cup his face, she allowed his kiss to melt away her concerns. The uninhibited affection in Aric’s kisses was almost enough to sway her into giving into the prophecy. His talented mouth could be her new addiction.
The way his mouth took hers stole her worries. Her mind lost its focus, and all she was aware of was he
r need for him, her need for more. Anything else took a back seat.
As the pressure increased against her lips, and Aric’s passion grew, Divina’s matched. He held her tighter, crushing her body against his. The concern about the prophecy slipped out of her mind as his tongue slipped over her lips and tangled with hers.
One more go; one more time. She could worry about what it all meant later. Now… now she had an itch that only a wolf could scratch.
As if reading her mind, his hardness pressed against her. Overtaken by carnal lust of it all, Divina lost her head and succumbed to the primal urge to be with Aric again if for no other reason than while joining with him, her anxiety about the prophecy evaporated.
Chapter 31
Drifting in and out of wakefulness, Divina pressed up against Aric’s warm body. Her head fit perfectly in the nook between his shoulder and his neck. Large arms cocooned her and she didn’t want to wake. Against his side she felt as though they were adjoining puzzle pieces. Basking in the orgasmic afterglow of their several rounds of sex, she nuzzled against him. If the world could stop on its axis, Divina would be eternally grateful.
The gentle stroking of Aric’s fingertips on her arm ceased. The limb around her stiffened and pulled her tighter aginst him. No longer tenderly cradled against Aric, she was crushed to his side, and struggled to get full breaths.
“Get the fuck out.” His chest vibrated as he rumbled to someone Divina couldn’t see.
“Don’t you two make the pretty pair?” A feminine voice crooned.
Attempting to look up toward the voice, Divina pushed off him. Releasing his grip, the bed bounced as Aric rose from it.
Cool air prickled her skin where Aric had once made contact. She grabbed the sheets to cover herself and fight off the shudder that followed.
“What part of ‘get out’ do you not understand, Selene?” Aric demanded.
Twitching, startled at his tone, Divina regarded Aric with a wary curiosity. Peering toward the door for the source of his ire, Divina clutched the sheets tighter to her body. She wasn’t prepared for what she saw.
“Aric,” the woman purred his name with a pout, “you don’t mean that.”
The blond with the killer body stalked toward him with sensual steps. Wearing several layers of sheer blue fabric, that danced around her as she moved, her entrance into the room was more of an erotic dance than anything else. While the layering made the fabrics opaque, and less risqué, the sensuality of her attire called to mind the image of a genie from a bottle. The scent of jasmine that surrounded her only added to the genie image.
“I have never meant it more in my life.” Aric cracked his neck.
Scrambling to her feet, Divina flopped a few times in an attempt to keep her modesty. Trying to keep the sheet around her as she knelt on the bed, Divina studied the interaction between the two.
The woman opposite them was nothing but poise and grace, who owned her sexuality while Divina, in coiled navy sex sheets, felt inadequate and uncoordinated in her presence. If this was Aric’s girlfriend, Divina didn’t need to be in the middle of whatever was about to happen.
Pangs of envy stabbed Divina as she scanned the floor for her clothes. Of course he wasn’t single. Fury heated her chest with the embarrassment at her foolish belief that a charming, funny, sex god would be single or at the very least honest with her about not being single.
“My my, Roricus has been busy,” Selene said as she leaned against his small dresser.
The mention of Rori awoke Divina from her angry and envious thoughts. Halting her search for clothing, Divina turned her attention back to Aric’s girlfriend.
At the foot of the bed, Aric stood, naked as a jaybird without a hint of modesty. Becoming a wall of muscle between Divina and the stranger, who could best be described as a walking wet dream, he blocked her view of the curious woman.
“How do you know Rori?” she asked, peering around Aric.
Not many called Rori by his full name. Hell, Divina hadn’t learned it for three years, and that was by accident. To hear the woman use it, sent alarm bells off in Divina’s head. The stranger knew more than Divina was comfortable with and Divina wanted to know how. The possibility of a her being an Ember Witch crossed her mind, but Divina couldn’t recall seeing her at the table. Not that it mattered, they were clear that Ember Witches were plentiful, she could be one of them but have not risen to the status of being at the table yet.
“Who’s Roricus?” Aric turned with a quizzical, yet jealous, expression on his beautiful face. Another distracting pang of jealousy at the idea he had a girlfriend. She needed to focus on what the woman knew, the whole girlfriend thing could be hashed out later.
Offering his open arms, it felt as though he beckoned her to his side.
With feet that had a mind of their own, Divina stepped into his embrace. The heat returned once his arm circled her and pulled her against him. To add to the confusion that swirled in her brain, Divina’s tension eased with the overwhelming sense of security and comfort from his touch.
“Yes, Divina,” Selene nearly sang, “who is Roricus?”
The smug expression caused Divina’s blood to boil. With clenched fists and narrowed eyes, Divina glared at the intrusive woman.
She had to be an Ember Witch. There was no other explanation for her to have the knowledge she did. Though, if she was, that would make her like Ines in that by showing up, by being with Aric, she went against her coven. Her coven wanted Divina with a wolf. It wasn’t Divina’s fault the wolf was Selene’s wolf.
Acting with a will of its own, her hand went to her neck covering the fresh, what felt like mirrored crescent-moon marks Aric had given Divina. Curiously, Divina scanned Selene’s neck for similar markings. Finding markings but, from what Divina could see, they were a different sort. Divina furrowed her brow switching to focusing on the woman’s face. Something didn’t add up. She peered at Aric as though he’d have the answer.
Flicking his gaze between the two women, Aric settled his hazel eyes, flashing gold, on Divina questioningly. Unprepared for the wounded expression upon Aric’s face, Divina shifted her attention back to Selene.
“Who are you?” Divina asked.
“I’m the witch in the prophecy, my dear,” Selene announced with a bit too much delight.
The prophecy. It never fucking ended. A new rage heated Divina’s skin causing her entire body to tense. Her eye twitched as she clenched her jaw. The wolf. Now another witch. Fuck, this damn prophecy never left Divina alone.
“Enough of the prophecy bullshit Selene,” Aric barked.
Nearly stumbling against him with the force of Aric’s tug at her to stay behind his back, Divina took a moment to find her feet.
“Go back to your leech,” he added with a sneer.
Caught off balance by both his words and actions, Divina gaped at Aric. He knew about the prophecy. She blinked.
The conspiracy that was the prophecy was getting to be a bit much for Divina. The whole fucking world was in on the damn prophecy it seemed. An image of Aric at the center of the Ember Witch table, surrounded by the rest, being informed of his role sickened Divina. A hand went to her stomach as it rolled.
Selene sauntered the few steps further into the room appearing unfazed by Aric’s warnings, drawing Divina’s attention. Narrowing her gaze at Selene, the burn of possessiveness surged through Divina. The woman’s confidence around him, despite his obvious disdain for her, didn’t sit right with Divina. None of it did, she was in an alternative universe for sure.
“Have you told Aric who he has to thank for having you?” Selene directed her question to Divina.
“You’re threatening my mate,” he warned. “My wolf isn’t taking too kindly to that.”
“I’m having a conversation.” The feigned innocence grated on Divina’s nerves. “I guess you could say the Ember Witches are to thank. I mean, if it weren’t for those meddling fucks, you wouldn’t be here. You wouldn’t be a concern at all.”
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It always came down to the damn Ember Witches. At this point, Divina almost believed they orchestrated her entire existence. They were masterful puppeteers pulling strings, choreographing a life, just to get her to this point. Nothing for Divina was real or genuine. Everything was a part of some elaborate scheme cooked up by the Ember Witches. Looking at her hands, Divina half expected to see strings or wires controlling her physical movements as well as her emotions. Opening her eyes wider, as the lightbulb of an assumption lit over her head, Divina considered the Ember Witches might have spelled her. No physical wires needed when one had a spell cast upon them.
Glancing up toward Aric, she frowned. The idea of being under the manipulation of the witches had her questioning her choice to sleep with him or Rori for that matter. Feeling like a pawn for the coven in an attempt to get some sort of power over all kinds, weighted Divina down with regret, disappointment, and shame. Her heart sunk at the idea.
Aric snarled again distracting Divina from her own thoughts.
“Down boy. Don’t you want to know about your ‘mate’ and her vampire?” Selene used air quotes.
Steel encased Divina, as Aric’s arm held her awkwardly against his back.
“You reek of rot,” Aric seethed. “I know the smell of vamps. I know the smell of their kin. Your lies have no place here.”
Maybe he wasn’t working with them. They could have tricked him too; they could have cast a spell on him as well. The thought hurt Divina’s heart. None of it was true.
Selene smirked. Her eyebrows rose in amusement. “Of all the things I have done to you Aric, lying is not one of them.” She snickered.
Without so much as looking at Divina, Aric responded to Selene. “I’m not blind. I know she knows vampires. If you are trying to get between my mate and me, you are going to be very disappointed, and in a lot of pain,” he said.
Definitely bespelled. With his words confirming her suspicion, Divina’s body slumped in disappointment.
Selene’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “You know it’s a funny thing about fate.” Selene kicked the articles of clothing out of her path so she could take a seat on his bed. “It’s not all that concrete. You are really only fated to get to a point. That point is when you are supposed to make a major, life-changing decision. So, are you sure your decisions have been made? Are you sure nothing is going to change?”
The Witch of the Prophecy Page 20
