Fate's Journey

by JL Madore

  “Where’s the camera?” I asked

  “Aust is wearing a chest cam, and I can switch to a security feed if we want to zoom out or check something specific.”

  “Hey beautiful, you following me?” Kobi joined us, carrying a couple of bottles of liquor, a six-pack of beer, and a container of cookies.

  I laughed at their idea of snacks. “Do you believe in fate?”

  Kobi arched a brow, lifting the ring piercing beneath a flip of his ebony hair. “I can’t say I’m a fan. I’m more of a ‘choose your destiny’ kinda guy.”

  I declined the wine but took the glass to the water cooler and filled it up. “We wouldn’t want a repeat of last night.”

  “Speak for yourself.” Kobi handed Julian the beer and plunked on the couch. “If a night of indulgence brings you out of your shell, drink up, lacy girl.”

  “Did I miss something?” Julian pulled a can free of the pack and set the rest on the glass coffee table in front of the sofa.

  “Drunken misadventure,” Kobi said, “but one that implies a deeper desire hidden within.”

  “Ha! You wish.” I reached for a chocolate chunk cookie, and Kobi grabbed my wrist. With his gaze locked on mine, he raised the treat to his mouth and bit a piece off.

  “Damn straight I do. Any itch you’ve got, I’ll scratch it.”

  Julian pushed the coffee table with his boot, and it crashed into Kobi’s shin. “Can you say Castian’s niece, dipshit? Sorry, Zophia. Kobi’s sextathalon nature gets the better of his judgment most of the time.”

  I ran my thumb across Kobi’s lip and gathered the chocolate there. With a coy smile, I sucked it into my mouth and licked it clean. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

  Kobi laughed and took a long swig of his beer. “This surveillance watch just got a whole lot more interesting.”

  “So, let’s watch,” Julian said, looking worried.

  I leaned back into the couch, took possession of the cookies, and eyed the screen.

  Naith stayed on the path flanked by natural wolves, while a Were bear, coyote, and wolf ran in front and behind the pack. Aust ran beside my mother, not as a tiger but in his true, Elven form. The grace and strength in his stride as he dodged trees and leaped over branches was a thing of beauty. As graceful as the jungle cat himself.

  My mother had good taste picking him as my husband.

  “See something you like,” Kobi asked, his mouth curved in a crooked grin.

  “What? Why?”

  “Cause you just sighed one of those feminine sighs that means some man is doing something very right.”

  Had I? I swallowed. “It’s the cookies. They’re delicious.”

  “Uh huh.”

  Julian reached for one and nodded. “Elora made them. Can you imagine your mother cooking stuff like this every day? It’s a wonder Aust isn’t three hundred pounds.”

  “Nah, that boy’s in peak physical condition,” Kobi said, casting me a sidelong smirk. “Always running, that one. Can’t blame him. He’s had a hard-on for Bree since the first day he got here and hasn’t gotten to work off any of that energy.”

  “That’s none of our business.” I tipped back my glass and drank my water. “Bree adores him. He adores her. Whatever it is, I’m sure they’ll work it out.”

  Julian and Kobi shared a look.

  “What? You don’t think so?”

  Julian shrugged. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for the two of them hooking up. They’d be saccharine sweet. But Bree’s Coyote is stubborn and holding out for a stronger mate.”

  “Is the Were part of them that distinct that they can disagree like that?”

  Julian laughed. “Growing up, living with Bruin, I could tell when his bear was restless, when it was cranky, and when it was about to lose its violence-loving mind if he didn’t get laid.”

  Kobi finished his beer and popped the top of a second. “We’re two nights from the full moon. And it’s the last moon cycle before the Equinox. There’s more Were mojo in them these days than human. They’re all fighting the effects.”

  On the screen, the forest party maneuvered the path. I wondered if Were mojo might be responsible for my libido acting up lately. Likely, that was just an excuse. I was restless, and Haven was populated with beautiful, fit, warriors.

  Julian’s phone went off. “Damn straight. I’ll be right there.” He stood and headed for the door. “Elora’s made stone baked pizzas. If we want one, I gotta claim it before Sin and Savage eat them all.”

  “No mushrooms,” Kobi called.

  When the chime sounded, Kobi shifted fast. He took the cookies from my lap and set them on the table. “We’ve got fifteen minutes max before he gets back. No time for a sextathalon but we can take the edge off.”

  I sputtered on my water. “What makes you think—”

  His nostrils flared as he inhaled. “Incubus superpower, baby. Your arousal peaks every nerve I’ve got. You’ve been up in your head for too long. You need this, lacy girl. Unless you say no, I say we seize the moment.”

  He leaned in, his mouth hovering, his breath warm on my lips. I swallowed. Nowhere had he made physical contact with me, yet I felt his touch as keenly as if we were naked. Without considering how to answer, my body responded.

  I clutched the back of his neck and pulled his mouth to mine. The hair at his nape was ebony silk, and I tightened my grip. His tongue swept my mouth, a male groan caught in our kiss. He tasted of chocolate and hops, and I wanted nothing more than to consume him.

  Gods, he was right. I did need this.

  Our mouths ground together while he undid my waistband and slid beneath the lace of my panties. His fingers met the damp heat pooled between my legs and the room spun.

  “Fuck, you’re burning up.” The leather couch creaked as he shifted me across his lap. Sure fingers delved between the heated folds of my flesh. I cried out as his thumb rubbed over the tight nerves of my sex. “Been too long, lacy girl?”

  I turned my head to catch his mouth again. He was gifted, whether as a man or because of his incubus demon nature, who knew? Who cared? Sprawled across his chest, I reached back and ran my hand down the front of his pants. His cock was solid and thrust against my hand.

  My scattered gaze caught the screen as Aust panned the camera toward my mother enjoying her time out. I closed my eyes and focused on Kobi.

  He growled against my lips. “Rub me. Harder.”

  I rubbed my palm over his trapped erection. “Get in my shirt.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Kobi’s free hand came up under my blouse and pushed my bra out of his way. He cupped my breast then found the aching tip of my nipple.

  The pinch and twist set off a shockwave of sensation. His mouth captured my cry, and I arched into his hands. His fingers grew warmer. Heated against the cool air of the room. I wriggled my pants down and undid his. “More access.”

  “No argument.”

  I tore from his grip and spun. On my knees, I moved to straddle him.

  He cursed. “There’s no time for that.”

  I didn’t care. The penetration of his tongue. The grinding wave of my building orgasm, I needed him inside me. I gripped his jaw. “I won’t take long—”

  “It’s your call.”

  “Is this a bad time?” a man asked, not five feet away.

  Kobi tossed me onto the couch and rose to block me. “Who the fuck are you?”

  Blouse adjusted, I righted my pants. My legs trembled and when I stood, a rush of moisture wet my panties. “This is Dane. The better question is, what the fuck he’s doing here?”

  “Language, little girl,” Dane said, waving his finger in the air. “Slumming it doesn’t mean you drop to the level of the common. I raised you better.”

  “Ha! You never raised me. Why are you here?”

  Dane shrugged and looked around the Gatehouse. “You’ve been away from home for days. Can’t a father ensure his child is well?” He frowned at Kobi, watching as the demon adjusted his pa
nts. “Really, Zophia? Could you not aim higher than a gothic pin-cushion?”

  I rolled my eyes. “You judging sexual indiscretion is not only an oxymoron—it’s hypocritical and hilarious.”

  “Now, now. We’re in mixed company.”

  I laughed. “Cut the world’s greatest dad routine. You’ve seen I’m fine. Now go.”

  He pointed at Kobi. “Keep your dick out of my daughter. She’s worth ten of you.”

  Kobi grinned. “And twenty of you, by what I hear. And I believe she asked you to go.”

  Dane dematerialized.

  I flopped to the couch, flushed and shaken. “Julian is right. It is annoying when people just pop in unannounced.”

  “What was that about?”

  I pointed to my mother on the monitor. “He likely realized Shalana wasn’t where she should be and came snooping. I guess he found what he was looking for.”

  “Shit.” Kobi jogged to Julian’s desk and grabbed a headset. “Okay, boys and girls, that’s enough fun for one night. Let’s get Shalana back to the Dens.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  “You okay?” Kobi rose from lounging across the end of my bed, drink in hand.

  I left the bathroom light on and eased the door almost closed. The shared ensuite connected my room to where my mother and Hoola lay sound asleep.

  “On what front? My father being a duplicitous jackass, my mother, one of the most powerful women in existence, unable to defend herself because she’s losing her mind, or me, a discarded throwaway in my own life?”

  “Lady’s choice.”

  I ran my fingers through my hair and forced my gaze to meet his. “I was about to mount you like a wanton whore and have unprotected sex. So much for the grace of the gods.”

  “Hey now,” Kobi said. “Don’t you dare judge yourself for empowering your id—at least when I’m the other half of that equation. And unprotected sex, while normally unadvisable, is a moot point with me. Incubus Demons don’t contract or carry sexual diseases, and I took reproduction off the table a decade ago. You’re safe with me.”

  Safe? “I don’t feel safe.”

  He sipped from his tumbler and passed me the glass. “You are. You and your mother.”

  The whiskey was aged and smooth. I tipped back the glass and hoped it would warm the cold spot deep in my belly. “The buzz of a thousand cicadas fills my head. They’re all screeching at once, so I can’t hear myself think. My mother can’t stay here, but she can’t stay there alone either. If Abaddon isn’t coming for her, then I’m causing her more harm than good. It’s all spinning around in my head in an endless swirl.”

  Kobi took the empty glass from my hand. “I can fix that. Will your mother wake?”

  “No. The two of them are good until morning.”

  “Are you okay to leave here for a couple of hours? We can materialize back here at a moment’s notice.”

  I thought about that. Too wound for sleep, with Kobi this close and being this sweet, I was liable to throw him to the floor and burn off some of this tension. “Bruin’s nanny, Ceri, is curled up on a pallet beside the bed in her Puma form. Bruin thought she could keep watch and soothe Mom by being close.”

  Kobi laid a heavy arm around my shoulders and turned me toward the corridor. “Then let’s blow this place for a bit.”

  After a quick word with the lion guarding my mother’s door, Kobi and I headed toward Bruin’s suite. Apparently, Kobi’s plan hinged on Bruin giving us the okay. Before we got to the end of the hall, we came upon him in one of the other suites. He sat cross-legged on the rug between four small beds in the quad’s nursery.

  Kiara, the only girl of the four orphaned Were-lions, toddled over to the end table beside the pink bed and picked up a gilded frame. With the glass pressed tight to her naked body, she wrapped her arms across her chest and carried it to where her Alpha and three brothers awaited her return.

  “Thank you, kitten.” Bruin kissed her on the forehead and set the frame on the rug in front of them. “We ready?”

  Four cherubic blonds with wide amber eyes nodded and wove their little fingers together.

  “What do you do when all is quiet?” Bruin asked.

  “Live and love the way Momma wanted,” they answered.

  “That’s right. And what do you do when danger abounds?”

  “Train hard, be brave, and make Papa proud.”

  “And what do you do if you smell the stench of Scourge.”

  “Shift forms, make tracks, and don’t stop running.”

  Bruin opened his massive arms as the four launched from their prayers into his embrace. With all four of his wards locked in his hold, he stood and headed to their beds. One of the boys cupped Bruin’s cheeks. “You’d find us, right, Alpha.”

  “My bear and I would level the two worlds before anyone harmed you guys.”

  “Oh,” Kiara squirmed. “Momma’s pi-cher.”

  Bruin dropped the boys onto their beds one at a time and then waited for her to replace the photo of their parents back into place. Then he scooped her up and tucked her into bed.

  “Sweet dreams, monkeys.”

  The kids giggled. “We’re not monkeys. We’re lions.”

  “Oh, right,” Bruin said, closing the door. “Good thing you reminded me.”

  Bruin waited until the children shifted into four golden lion cubs and then turned off the light. As the Were King, last living Bear of the Were race, Bruin was respected as one of the fiercest males of the realm. To witness such a display of fatherly devotion was touching. To know that he was this devoted to children when they weren’t even his own—it hurt.

  It really did.

  Bruin joined us in the corridor. “Hey guys, what’s up?”

  “Keys,” Kobi said. “Zophia needs to clear her head, so I thought I’d introduce her to your girlfriend.”

  Bruin chuckled and pulled a keyring out of his jeans pocket. He twisted the metal loop and handed Kobi a key.

  “And please call if anything happens with my mother,” I added. “Anything at all.”

  Bruin nodded. “Will do. Helmets and leathers. Mika’s gear should fit you, Zophia. Be good to her, Demon. I mean it. Not a scratch.”

  “Yes, Dad,” Kobi said, waving over his head.

  Bruin’s Harley rumbled as loud as his bear did when angry. The vibration rattled in my chest as the night wind whipped my hair and chilled my cheeks. Over the past half hour of dipping and swaying to the contours of the road, my hold around Kobi eased from a crushing cling to my hands waving in the current of air pushing over us.

  “This is amazing!” I said, the panic and betrayal in my heart finally letting off its grip on my heart. I pointed at the glimmer of a roadhouse rooftop off the road in a field to the right. The sign read, Psycho Suzi’s Roadhouse. “There. Let’s go.”

  Kobi geared down and laughed. “You do realize that I’m usually the bad influence, right?”

  The bike slowed, and we pulled into the private parking lot. A smattering of trucks covered the asphalt square while a long string of motorcycles lined up against the brick building. Kobi headed over to the bikes and backed us between a chrome-on-chrome Harley and a red sports bike.

  The engine cut off and the echo of silence quickly filled with the sound of country music and the crack of billiards balls. The clop of hooves to pavement brought two Centaurs past, and we nodded as they headed inside.

  I hopped off the back of the bike and unstrapped my helmet.

  Kobi set both helmets on the seat and pocketed the keys. “You sure you wouldn’t rather go to the Hearthstone? There’s no telling what kind of element we’ll find in here. We’re off sanctuary grounds.”

  I unzipped the leather jacket I’d borrowed and tousled my hair. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of the fringe.”

  Kobi laughed and held out his arms. “A demon living in a Fae realm is well beyond the fringe.”

  “And can the demon dance?”

  He cocked a brow, the piercing th
rough it catching the light of the moon. “Incubi are well-versed in all things that get people off. The tough guys polishing the brass rail don’t know what they’re missing.”

  “People?” I repeated, arching a brow. “Not women?”

  He waggled his brow. “Life’s too short to censor pleasures. Does that shock a goddess of the Veil?”

  I laughed. “I’m a voyeur by birth, and an immortal. You’ll have to work really hard to shock me.”

  His grin triggered a sexual tightening deep inside me. “Challenge accepted—but just so we’re clear—it’s all in fun.”

  I swallowed, ignoring the ache. “Agreed. Life’s too long to buy into the whole soulmate forever scenario. We need to grab happiness when we can because it’s fickle and fleeting. Does that shock you, Demon?”

  He pulled me against his chest and fingered my hair behind my ear. Leaning close, he kissed my cheek and whispered in my ear. “Pleasantly, yes. I find you more intriguing by the moment, lacy girl.”

  I bit my lip, weighing the pros and cons of abandoning the bar idea and finding a shadowed spot close by. Then again, if I truly was exiled, I had nothing but time to entertain myself in this realm. “How’s your two-step. Can you do country?”

  “Cowboy is my wingman, now that Bruin and Mika are hitched. What do you think?”

  I nodded. “From the moment Cowboy’s parents named him, that man had no chance to be anything but a country boy.”

  Kobi’s eyes lit up. “Get the fuck out. You know Cowboy’s given name? Give it up.”

  I laughed. “I know it, but there’s no way you’ll ever get it out of me.”

  Kobi pressed his lips once to mine. “It could be our little secret. You know, pillow talk between lovers.”

  “Nice try.” I turned toward the entrance. With a little extra swagger in my hips, I climbed the three wooden steps and looked over my shoulder. “We aren’t lovers.”

  “Yet.” Kobi chuckled when I caught him eyeing me. “The night is young, lacy girl.”

  Psycho Suzi’s Roadhouse boasted the same pitted wood and tin signs of Hearthstone’s décor minus the ambiance of community welcome. Filled with women wearing leather and men who looked like they’d just got back from the battle, Kobi fit right in. I drew attention.