by Deanna Chase
I stood over him, rage still streaming through my veins. “Get up.”
He rolled, curling into a ball.
“Jesus.” Disgusted, I pulled out my zip ties, ready to apprehend him. Only just as I reached for him, he twisted, and a bolt of magic caught me right in the chest.
Shit!
I collapsed, my entire body numb.
Mitch got to his feet and snarled. “You stupid, idiotic, no-good mama’s boy. Don’t ever touch me again.” Blood dripped from his lip. “By the time I’m done with you, you’ll wish I’d given you to the demons.”
With me unable to fight back, Mitch dragged me from the living room into a room toward the back of the house. Grunting, he kicked me and spat his blood in my face. I couldn’t even flinch and had to endure the sickening ooze as it slid down my temple. Death would’ve been kinder.
Mitch was eyeing me, and I felt magic growing around him. But before he could attack me again, I heard the boom of the front door crashing open. The witches were here.
With his magic already pooling at his fingertips, Mitch spun and tore through the house. Shouts mingled with heavy footsteps and the sound of magic bouncing off the walls. I lay motionless, utterly frustrated and seething until finally the feeling started to come back into my limbs. I sat up but realized Mitch had cuffed me to an armoire. Goddamn him. I struggled to reach the knife stashed in my boot, but my hands were tied too tight. There was nothing to do but wait.
After what seemed like forever, the white witch finally came for me. She looked no worse for the wear as she asked, “What happened?”
“The bastard spelled me. My fucking brother’s a lunatic. He blames me for what happened earlier today. He’s figured out it was me that sent the demon hunters. Did you dust his ass?” I asked hopefully.
“First of all, he isn’t a vampire. And second, no. We need him in order to force Lucien’s curse to reverse itself.”
Beatrice came up behind her and with one zap of magic my hands were free of the zip ties.
I rubbed my wrists. “Thanks for saving my ass.” Then I staggered to my feet and strode back into the front part of the house, eyeing my piece-of-shit stepbrother. I sat there, doing nothing to help him while the witches forced him to reverse the Black Heart curse on Boulard. The way they worked together and the obvious love they had for each other was like nothing I’d ever experienced before. These witches would die for each other. Had I ever felt that way about anyone? Matisse’s image floated into my consciousness. Right then and there I knew I wanted to be that person for her.
When it was all over, they called the Witches’ Council and I felt nothing. No grief. No relief. Just resignation. I’d lost a brother today, and I didn’t even care.
“See you in the morning?” Jade asked.
I nodded as I headed out. We were going to bring Matisse back. Even if I had to die trying.
***
Matisse
The white witch, Jade, had come to check on me once more. And that’s when she dropped the bomb that she was bringing Vaughn to help get me home. I’d instantly resisted, but secretly I wanted to see him. Wanted to rage against him. Make him suffer for what he’d done to me. But at the same time, I just wanted to be near him. Being alone in this world was slowly killing me, and he was the one person I’d connected with. After all I’d been through, I no longer cared about my pride. I only wanted to feel something. Anything. And he was one who could make it happen.
After spending over a week in the void world, I’d started to waste away. The witch had brought me some nourishment pills. They’d given me a small amount of energy, but what had been the real help was the pendant she’d left me. She’d said it might help ground me to her and our world. I think she was right. It was infused with her magic. A magic I could cling to.
I lay on the bank of the river, clutching the pendant to my chest, just letting the power pulse through my hand. Time was nonexistent. All I had to focus on was the magic. It was like a spark waiting to go off. And then it happened. The air rippled around me, and power rushed into me, making me strong. I felt myself stand as wind whipped through my hair. Only the power wasn’t normal. It was like a psychedelic high, causing images of a life I hadn’t led to flash through my mind.
Me as a little girl sitting on a man’s knee. My father. The one I’d never known. Friends surrounding me at a birthday party I’d never had. And Vaughn, saying good-bye to me on the bank of the Mississippi.
“We’re not meant for each other, Mati,” he said, cold and uncaring.
“You don’t mean that,” I said softly, refraining from clutching at his shirt.
“I do. I got what I came for. Now you need to lead your life, and I’ll lead mine.” No emotion rolled behind his eyes. He was a completely different person than the one I’d given myself to.
The pain clutched at my gut and left me hollow. Used. Unloved. “You never cared for me.”
He said nothing as he stared at me, his blank expression morphing into one of pity. “Don’t, Matisse. You’re better than that.”
I hated him. Hated everything about him in that moment. He’d used me. Taken my trust. My power. And had left me for dead. The calculating bastard had gotten what he wanted. And I’d meant nothing. Gut-wrenching pain coursed through me. I wanted to scream. To beg him to stay. And I hated myself for it. He’d taken something precious from me. That piece of me that I held close and never gave up. The one I’d given to him freely and he’d stomped on it, leaving me broken and damaged.
I was lost in my pain, uncontrollable foreign magic sparking through me, when I heard a faint feminine voice. “Matisse?”
A war battled inside me as the voice worked to pull me from my vision. I fought it, not wanting to go back to nothing, to my world cloaked in gray. Power rushed through my limbs, and a bolt of lightning struck somewhere near me, crackling over the river.
“Matisse,” the voice insisted, compelling me to jerk my head in her direction. I stared at the wide-eyed witch, waiting to see what she wanted.
“You’re okay,” she said, taking tentative steps toward me. “We’ve come to take you home.”
“I don’t have a home,” I said, shifting my gaze past her to the one person I both hated and wanted to run to. “He stole it.”
“Who? Vaughn?”
I laughed humorlessly, still feeling the remnants of the vision. “You could say that.”
“Mati,” Vaughn said, his voice enticing and seductive in the worst possible way. His body was calling to me, making me want him. I couldn’t let that happen.
I stiffened, letting the power build around me. The glow shifted from pale blue to a brilliant purple as I focused on him. “You’re not welcome here.” I meant the words to be a command, but they came out soft and tentative.
He took two steps and was in front of me, clasping his hands lightly around my wrists. My arms cooled with his touch, bringing me back to myself. Love and desperation warred for dominance in my heart. “Why did you come?” I demanded, angry at the way he could make me feel things I never wanted to feel again.
“To restore what I took from you.”
The reminder of his betrayal sent me into a frenzy, unraveling any last shred of self-control that I had. The magic burst from my fingertips, owning me, using me, until all I felt was the sweet release of power.
Crack! The rocks beneath my feet rumbled as the magic tore through them. And through it all, I kept my gaze locked on Vaughn’s.
He raised his hand, holding it out to me, and said in the most soothing voice possible, “Come back from that place, Mati. Don’t let it take you.”
As I stared at him, something shifted inside me. The visions slowly faded away, taking the pain and utter heartache with them. The world started to right itself, and Vaughn, the decent guy I’d given myself to, stood before me, offering himself. He’d give me anything he had in order to save me. I knew it deep in my heart. Could feel it deep in my bones.
I slowly leaned into
him, and when his arms finally came around me, tears burned my eyes. He cradled me, whispering, “Everything’s going to be all right now. I’m here to bring you home.”
He’d come for me. The scene at the river wasn’t real. I hadn’t been abandoned. Vaughn’s arms tightened around me. I pulled back to gaze at him, to see his intention in his eyes. And there I found love. Passion. Protectiveness.
Vaughn’s gaze turned soft as he searched my face. His look was so tender, so focused, that I brought my hand up and lightly caressed his cheek. The stubble beneath my fingers was so real it grounded me, solidified that he’d come for me.
“I’m here to give you what I took from you,” he said again, his tone so low I barely heard him. “And I won’t leave here without you. Not ever. You belong in our world… with me.” As he said the last words, he stroked my neck and the spot where he’d marked me. Instantly my insides lit with a small bolt of desire. He had marked me. The bruise was gone, but the memory never would be.
“I didn’t know,” Vaughn said. “I wouldn’t have—”
I placed my finger over his lips, silencing him.
He kissed my palm softly, then pulled me to him abruptly, holding me close.
I barely noticed as the white witch and her companion stepped out of this world, leaving me and Vaughn alone. All I could focus on was the man who’d come for me when no one else could. “I thought you didn’t want anything to do with me,” I said, unable to go on before I knew the truth. “You took my magic and left.”
Pain filled his dark eyes. “Not on purpose. I wouldn’t have ever left if I’d had a choice. The Brotherhood spelled me and took me from you. I had no idea that was going to happen. I didn’t know what I was. What I am. All I knew was that I wanted to be with you.” He scanned my face, peering at me, searching for something.
I couldn’t give it to him. Not yet.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them, he continued. “By the time I was able to get away, you were already recovering with your family. I wanted to see you but thought I should wait until you were stronger. But then you were gone again. I fucked up. I should’ve come as soon as I was able. I apologize. It won’t happen again.”
It was what Chessa had tried to tell me. And the fact that he was here now was all the proof I needed. He was an incubus. A man who, through no fault of his own, had taken my power and was here to give it back.
I could live with that.
“Kiss me,” I said.
And then he did. His lips were soft, testing at first as he kissed the corner of my mouth. But I turned into him, pressing my lips to his. And as his tongue slipped over mine, magic sparked from him to me. My magic. The power I’d been harnessing before had belonged to the white witch. It had given me strength but at a price. A distorted reality. But now that I had a thread of my own, hers had vanished.
I was me again. If not whole, then not broken either. With each caress, each kiss, my power grew. And as our desire heightened, so did my strength.
The world around us vanished. I no longer saw the empty waterfront. Everything narrowed to just me and Vaughn and the heat between us. I wanted him. Needed what he had to give. “Make love to me,” I said.
He pulled back and for the briefest moment, I saw a flicker of fear in his gaze.
“You won’t hurt me.” I knew it deep in my gut. He was here to give, not take. I could feel it. “It’s the only way you’re going to be able to give me back enough power to let me cross.” My magic had been building, but I was still weak. And as a sex witch, I knew what I needed to get strong. He knew it too. I saw it in his eyes.
After a few moments, he pulled me to him, resting his chin on the top of my head. “I’ll do anything you need.”
“I know,” I said, believing he would.
Epilogue
Matisse
In the end, Vaughn did make love to me on the shores of the Mississippi. He was gentle and attentive, giving me everything he had, never once taking pleasure for himself. Not even when I tried to give it to him. He insisted he was making love to me. Not the other way around. And while I felt odd about it, I knew he was making sure he took nothing from me, ensuring that I got my power back. And boy did I.
By the time he finished, I was utterly satisfied in every way and brimming with more power than I’d known what to do with. Vaughn, on the other hand, looked a little pale. Still, with his new incubus powers, he had no trouble jumping with me back into our world.
That was two weeks ago. I’d seen Vaughn numerous times, but only briefly when he stopped by to make sure I was still okay. I was. More than okay, actually. Tonight was the first night we’d actually made plans.
He showed up at my door at eight o’clock sharp with a pitiful-looking bouquet of what appeared to have been sunflowers in another life.
I laughed as I waved him in and eyed his Indian. “Umm, rough ride?”
“You could say that.” He dipped his head and kissed me softly.
Heat seared through me as it always did when I was near him. I tamped it down though. We were taking things slow. “Maybe flowers and motorcycles don’t mix.”
He gave me a wounded look. “I still get points for trying, though, right?”
“Absolutely.” I took the mangled stalks and deposited them in my kitchen. When I returned, I slipped an arm around his waist and tilted my head up. “So, what did you want to tell me?” When he’d called to ask if I was busy, he’d said he had news.
He tugged me to sit down next to him on the couch and as he stroked my arm he asked, “How would you feel about having a boyfriend who works for the Brotherhood?”
My brain couldn’t get past the word boyfriend. Was he serious?
“Mati?” he asked after I bit my lip.
“Yeah? Oh. The Brotherhood. You mean you want to be a demon hunter?”
He sat back. “Not want. Am. I made it official today.”
I tilted my head up, studying him. Shit. I’d read that all wrong. He wasn’t asking me if I was okay with him being a demon hunter. He was asking me to be his girlfriend.
He grinned, waiting for my answer.
Goddess. Girlfriend? Did I want that? Was I ready for that? I knew right away the answer was yes. “You know there’s going to be a constant power struggle, right?”
His eyes sparked with molten desire as he lowered his lips to mine and whispered, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
I shook my head, chuckling. “You have no idea what you’re in for.”
“Neither do you.”
And then he kissed me, giving me just a taste of what was to come.
Marked by Temptation is a spinoff novella from the Jade Calhoun Series.
To read more of this world, check out:
Haunted on Bourbon Street
Witches of Bourbon Street
Demons of Bourbon Street
Angels of Bourbon Street
Shadows of Bourbon Street
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Haunted on Bourbon Street Excerpt
My eyes flew open, spotting Kane moving toward me. Where had he come from? I jolted up out of my slouch, preparing to leap off the counter, but Kane blocked me, making it impossible. His eyes roamed over my body, as if taking inventory. My stomach fluttered, and I said a silent thanks I was sitting when my knees turned to jelly. Damn.
“Can I help you?” I asked in a stiff, formal voice.
“Sure, any time.” He moved in close.
“Uh, I mean, do you need something? Now?”
“Yes, I do.” He leaned in with his right arm holding his weight on the shelf over my head.
I tried to form the word what, but as his face came closer I lost all rational thought. Wanting to taste him, to feel his lips on mine, I closed the distance between us and was rewarded with the slightest brush of a kiss. Kane’s warm lips lingered on mine while his free hand caressed my nec
k, sending a shiver down my spine. The kiss swiftly turned heated as our lips parted with urgency. He tasted faintly of mocha and cinnamon. I pressed closer, anxious for more.
My mind stopped working altogether, and I let myself get lost in the delicious intensity of his expert mouth. Unaware of how it happened, my arms and legs somehow wrapped themselves around his waist. He pressed his hips closer, pushing me up against the cupboards.
His excitement became apparent in more than the bulge pressing against my jeans. Intense need, exactly as I dreamt the night before, took over my senses. My blood boiled, and I ached to feel him, all of him. Desperate to regain control, I pulled away.
He took a step back, smiling a devilish grin. “That wasn’t exactly what I meant, but thanks all the same.” He held a sleeve of coffee cups in his right hand. “I stopped in for a second, and Pyper asked me to get these.”
I tilted my head and spotted the inventory of extra cups.
Shit.
Other Books by Deanna
The Jade Calhoun Novels
Haunted on Bourbon Street
Witches of Bourbon Street
Demons of Bourbon Street
Angels of Bourbon Street
Shadows of Bourbon Street
Incubus of Bourbon Street (Winter 2014)
The Coven Pointe Novels
Marked by Temptation (a novella)
The Crescent City Fae Novels
Influential Magic
Irresistible Magic
Intoxicating Magic (June 2014)
The Destiny Novels
Defining Destiny
Book Two in the Destiny Series (Fall 2014)
About the Author
USA Today bestselling author Deanna is a native Californian, transplanted to the slower paced lifestyle of southeastern Louisiana. When she isn’t writing, she is often goofing off with her husband in New Orleans, playing with her two shih tzu dogs, making glass beads, or out hocking her wares at various bead shows across the country. For more information and updates on newest releases visit her website at www.DeannaChase.com.
