Mystik Warrior: (Dark Warrior Alliance Book 2)

by Brenda Trim

  This time the only thing she heard was a name, Lady Angelica. Jealousy speared her heart at hearing another woman’s name in his thoughts. Numerous scenarios played through her head, from him being in love with this woman and her rejecting him, to her being his long-time lover. The sudden urge to rip this woman’s head from her shoulders had Cailyn gritting her teeth.

  “We have a lot to work through, but right now I am glad to have you on my side.” She squeezed his fingers to emphasize her words.

  He opened the basement door and held it open for her. “Never doubt that I will always be on your side,” Jace replied as he watched Jessie descend the stairs behind them.

  “What happened right before this began, Jessie?” Jace asked, changing the subject.

  “Nothing. I was riding down the elevator and dismissed it at first, but when it didn’t stop and worsened a few minutes later, I panicked. Given all the changes I have been through, I was worried that it was a sign I was losing control. The last thing I wanted to do was start attacking everyone in the hotel.”

  Cailyn’s heart broke and she felt terrible for what her friend was going through. It only served to set her resolve to be there for Jessie as she forged a new life. No way was she leaving her to deal with this alone.

  “So, did you have any cravings? How was your bloodlust when you encountered humans?” Jace asked, clearly in doctor mode, and it was hot as hell. Everything about the man was irresistible and sexy.

  “It wasn’t any worse than it has been since I woke up. I’m not sure why, but I want Cailyn’s blood more than any of yours. Is that normal?”

  “I’m not certain what’s normal for a female injected with archdemon venom. What I can tell you is that male skirm crave only human blood, it’s all they can consume. They can’t eat food any longer, so on that, you are more similar to vampires given that you still ate Elsie’s creole earlier. Vampires can ingest blood from almost any being and it doesn’t have to be humans, unlike the myths say. I have only given you human blood, but I wonder how you would handle realm blood.”

  Cailyn listened to them talk and thought she could listen to him talk all day. She loved the deep timbre of his voice. She watched his lips move and found she was thinking of sucking that bottom lip into her mouth while she explored his body. She hadn’t spent enough time on his delectable body before. Remembering how well-proportioned he was all over, her mouth watered.

  Mental head shake to halt the erotic fantasy. Her body was out of control, demonstrating once again, how right Elsie was when she said that the mating compulsion hampered your ability to think of anything but carnal pleasures with your mate.

  Jace inhaled and his head snapped in her direction. She was on fire, as arousal coursed hot and fast, and from the way his eyes glowed, he was more than aware of what her body wanted. His pupils dilated and he brought her hand to his lips.

  Jessie cleared her throat loudly and smirked in Cailyn’s direction. Cailyn felt her cheeks heat with embarrassment that her friend was aware of what she’d been thinking. “I’m up for trying realm blood anytime. By the way, the sensation has now stopped altogether.”

  Zander and Jace shared a look that Cailyn couldn’t decipher. “You are within the boundaries of the protection spell. Would you say there was a hum to it?” Zander queried.

  “I hadn’t really paid attention, I just panicked, but now that you mention it, yes,” Jessie answered.

  They entered a well-supplied medical room and Jace gestured for Jessie to get onto one of the tables. “Let’s take a look. Can you remove your clothes please? I’m afraid we don’t have gowns here. The Dark Warriors aren’t concerned about their modesty when they come here for treatment. Just leave on your underwear,” Jace instructed. The idea of Jace seeing her friend topless made Cailyn see red, and she had difficulty remembering that he was a doctor and this was necessary.

  “That’s fine, but I want all these guys to leave the room. I do mind them seeing me half-naked,” Jessie retorted.

  “Everyone except Elsie and Cailyn, oot now,” Zander ordered. Cailyn appreciated him taking control and not simply dismissing Jessie’s feelings. “Let me know when we can come back in. I want to know what is going on.”

  “Yes, Liege. Now, let’s have a look,” Jace said as the others filed out of the room. Cailyn grabbed Elsie’s hand and said a prayer that everything was okay while Jessie quickly shed her clothes. They had enough unknowns and concerns where Jessie was concerned, they didn’t need to add more.

  *****

  It was a struggle for Jace to remain focused on his patient with Cailyn so close. The smell of her arousal clouded his mind. He continued to be caught off guard by the mating compulsion’s effect on him. His thoughts continuously turned in a lascivious direction, and it was extremely distracting. He had never been one to obsess on anything sexual, given his reactions to simple kisses. It wasn’t until he’d met Cailyn that his desires were reawakened.

  “What exactly are you looking for?” Jessie asked as she lay back on the table, claiming his attention.

  “To be honest, I’m not sure. I have a suspicion that they may have placed a bug of some sort in you. It would explain the symptoms, and the wards we have around the property would render any such device inert,” he explained as he took her vital signs. He noted there was nothing there to cause alarm and went over possibilities of what could have caused her symptoms.

  The most logical was that it was a bug, so he began there. He figured the demon had minimal time to install it, so it would had to have been somewhere easy for them to reach.

  He threaded his fingers into her hair and gently probed her scalp. “Any tenderness?”

  “No, I don’t feel anything.”

  He moved his hands down the sides of her neck and noted how Cailyn stiffened and stepped closer to him. His head tilted her way and he smiled. His mate was jealous, and that thought made his heart soar, and almost forget about the steaming jealousy he felt when she mentioned her fiancé and being alone in a room with him.

  He refocused on Jessie. “Do you remember if there were any areas that were particularly sore after the accident?”

  Jessie pondered the question. “Everything seemed to hurt. I ached everywhere. Sorry.”

  “Well, we will have to do this the hard way. Let me know if I hit a tender spot.” He felt around her collar bones and down the front of her chest, stopping short of her breasts.

  From the corner of his eye, he saw his mate clench her fists at her sides. He moved to examining Jessie’s arms, considering Cailyn’s feelings and how out of sorts she was at the moment. They hadn’t completed their mating, and her instinct would be to claim what was hers. He was beginning to understand exactly how unpredictable emotions were during a mating, and Cailyn would never forgive herself if she hurt her friend.

  He lifted Jessie’s left arm, but found nothing. When he lifted her right arm, he saw nothing on a visual inspection, but when he probed her ribcage, he felt a hard object the size of an almond. “Does this hurt? Do you feel anything here?”

  “Nope, nothing. Is something there?” Jessie asked as she twisted her head trying to catch a glimpse.

  “It may be nothing, but I am going to do an x-ray to make sure. Would you grab the portable machine out of the storage closet?” he asked Elsie who nodded and headed to the door at the back of the room.

  “Wow,” Cailyn exclaimed, “you guys have everything here. Do you have an MRI somewhere too?”

  Jace stopped his exam and turned to face his mate. Big mistake, as his shaft hardened, yet again. He wanted to forget the matter at hand and explore her body. He began to imagine what he wanted to do before he stopped short with a mental head shake, now was not the time for that…later.

  “No MRI. Supernaturals don’t have a need for that in-depth of an exam with their superior healing abilities. We aren’t prone to human diseases either. Any injury not caused by skirm venom or silver heals quickly. And, when you have warriors who are often
shot, an x-ray machine comes in handy for bullet extraction. I have added more medical supplies since your accident given that we have no idea how Jessie will heal. As well as to meet your unique human needs.”

  Elsie returned with the machine. Jace plugged it in and set the necessary settings, then booted up the laptop. “Put your hand above your head,” he instructed. Jessie complied and Jace positioned the machine and took a couple pictures.

  Returning to the laptop, he uploaded the digital images. He zoomed in on a tiny device in the fatty tissue around her ribcage. “You definitely have something right here,” he pointed at the computer screen showing those in the room. “It will be easy to remove. I’ll numb the area then make a small incision and retrieve the object using small tweezers. Looks like we will find out how you heal.”

  “I hate needles,” Jessie complained, making Jace laugh. That was a familiar complaint at the hospital, and had him wondering how quickly she’d get over that.

  He set about quickly setting up a tray for the procedure, but his mate’s scent was driving him to distraction. It took him longer than normal as his mind kept conjuring her naked while he plunged into her heat. Sweat beaded his forehead and his heart raced as he fought against his arousal.

  Gaining a modicum of control over his libido, he turned and numbed Jessie’s side. Cailyn had stepped to the other side of the table and while he wanted her back by his side, he was touched at how she grabbed her friends hand and offered her support. He loved how she anticipated what others around her needed, and provided it without ever being asked.

  Once he was assured the area was sufficiently numb, he picked up the scalpel. “I’m going to get started now. You might feel some pressure in your side followed by tugging as I remove the object, but you shouldn’t feel any pain. If you do, let me know right away.”

  “Okay,” she replied, her shaky voice displaying her nervousness.

  “You are going to be fine, Jess. This is going to be over before you know it. Remember that time I crashed my bike when we were six and my arm was bent at a funny angle and you rode with me to the hospital?” Cailyn continued to detail the story, distracting Jessie while he worked.

  “Yeah,” Jessie laughed. “You screamed like a little girl.”

  “I was a little girl, I was six.”

  “I remember when you looked in the mirror and asked the nurse if she’d seen your face. You didn’t even care that your arm was broken. You were more concerned with the bloody scabs.”

  With quick work, he had pulled a small black piece of plastic out from under her skin. He held it up and noticed Zander looking in the window of the door. Without gaining permission, the Vampire King was pushing his way into the room. He heard Cailyn gasp and saw her pull a sheet over Jessie’s body.

  “Excuse me, Zander. You couldn’t wait until she’s dressed?” Cailyn snapped.

  “Nay, I couldna wait. This is aboot the safety of everyone in this house, not one female’s modesty,” Zander told her before he stepped up beside Jace to examine the object.

  “It’s okay, Cai. He’s right. This is important,” Jessie added. Cailyn didn’t look appeased, but Jace saw that she understood.

  The object was the size of an almond and had a tiny red light on it, clearly electronic in nature. The fucking demon had bugged her, trying to find their location. No wonder they hadn’t simply disappeared with the females before the Dark Warriors got to the car. He had wondered why, and had figured they believed they had control over Jessie. Not to mention the little bomb they had planted in Cailyn. That spell was designed to make the Queen suffer when Cailyn wasn’t able to be healed. Shaking his head, he dropped the bug into a jar and handed it over to Zander.

  “I’ll have Kill see what he can learn aboot it. Surely with his expertise, he can turn this on them, so we can locate their lair,” Zander pondered as he held the jar up to the light.

  Jace picked up some swabs and turned back to his patient. His mouth fell open. “Shit, that’s amazing. And, we have our answer. Your healing abilities far excel any skirm we have ever seen. In fact, it matches our speed of healing. You don’t even have a scar.”

  “What? Really?” Jessie sat up and twisted, trying to see.

  He grabbed her shoulders stilling her movements. “Wait, let me clean the blood,” he whispered, lost in thought about everything unique to Jessie.

  Before he could wipe the area clean, Cailyn had shoved a shirt over Jessie’s head. “You’re fine. You can get dressed now,” she snapped.

  He walked around to his mate, needing to soothe her ruffled feathers. He pulled her into his arms as soon as he reached her and sighed in relief. Unfortunately, at the same time, his nausea reared its head. He wished for one moment that he could enjoy the feel of his mate against him without all the other bullshit. He wanted to rail at the Goddess for cursing him. Warmth spread from his chest out, easing the nausea and settling his anger. They really were Fated Mates, he marveled, as Cailyn’s soul attempted to make it better.

  He leaned back and tilted her face up with his finger on her chin. “You have nothing to be jealous of, Shijéí. I feel it, too.” Her anguished expression was killing him. He ran his thumb across her plump lower lip, groaning as her tongue followed in its wake.

  “I don’t know what has overcome me. I wanted to rip my best friend’s face off when you touched her. That’s not like me,” she shook her head ruefully. “I can’t think of anything but how much I ache, and feel like I will die without you right now.”

  He laid his forehead against hers, aware of everyone leaving the room. She tilted her head back and helplessly, he lowered his lips to hers. The kiss seared his soul. She settled her hands on his hips, pulling him closer. She took advantage of his gasp, slipping her tongue into his mouth.

  He danced his tongue tentatively against hers, not wanting things to get out of hand lest he get sick. Her mewls drove him on, and his hand went to the back of her head and tangled in her hair. She angled her head and deepened the kiss, hands roaming up and down his back.

  She was his heaven and his hell. He had never felt as at home as he had with her, but he wasn’t good enough for her. As her hips began moving against his front, his objections dissolved. The feel of her soft stomach against his erection had him so hard, his balls were drawn up tight and he was ready to explode.

  He would deny himself, but saw no need to deny her as she grabbed at him and kissed him frantically. He prayed to the Goddess, asking for a way he could be with his mate, and be the male she needed and deserved, as he slid his thigh between her legs. He rubbed it against her core and he could feel her heat through their clothes.

  She climbed up his body, her arms thrown around his neck and her legs around his waist. He held her close as she writhed, ignoring the searing pain in his mate mark. He pulled back from the kiss to see the desire blazing in her hazel depths. “Fuck, yeah, baby. Take what you need,” he growled and licked and nipped his way down her neck.

  “Oh God, Jace. I need you inside me, now.” She arched her back, pressing her breasts against his chest. His cock pulsed, pre-cum oozing at the slit. The sensation was still so new, and the pleasure momentarily stole his breath and his reason. He had never wanted anything more than he wanted Cailyn while at the same time he wanted to run as far and as fast as he could.

  Her panting increased and he sucked on her neck, grasping her hips, helping her movements. He may deny himself pleasure to avoid embarrassing himself but he would never deny his mate’s needs.

  “That’s it, come for me. You are so beautiful,” he murmured.

  “I’m close,” she cried. He claimed her lips and slid his grip to her ass and increased the speed and pressure. He burned with pleasure and had never wanted an end to his centuries long torment more than he did at that moment. He loved the sounds she made when caught in the throes of passion.

  Cailyn tensed in his arms and cried out his name as she climaxed. He helped her ride out her orgasm and gentled his kiss even tho
ugh he ached to be inside her. When she went boneless he was both satisfied and in agony. It had never felt better or hurt more to provide his mate pleasure.

  “Oh God, baby. That was incredible. Now it’s my turn to take care of you,” she uttered then looked into his eyes. A female had never called him baby, and he liked it, especially when his mate said it. Panic set in at the thought of her taking him into her mouth. His shaft pulsed, on board with the idea, but his stomach churned. He was doomed to never experience that pleasure, and couldn’t allow this to go any further no matter how much instinct was telling him to complete the mating.

  “You are a treasure. Come on, let’s go find out if they’ve learned anything about that device from Jessie’s side.” He needed to get out of the room drenched in the scent of her desire before his resolve dissolved. His balls were ten shades of blue already, he couldn’t take anymore.

  As he set her down and took her hand, leading her to the door, she stopped and protested. “What about you? Let me take care of you.”

  He shut his eyes and groaned at an image of her on her knees with his cock buried in her hot little mouth. A sudden, magical blast sent him staggering back and obliterated his erotic fantasy. His eyes snapped open and he caught the bright flash of green light that preceded the appearance of an object he hadn’t seen since he was a stripling. It couldn’t be.

  Cailyn looked around in confusion, gaping when it arrived out of nowhere. It was easy for him to forget that such occurrences were completely foreign to her. He had to admit that this particular time he was as shocked as she was. “What is that?”

  “That, Cailyn, is the Mystik Grimoire,” he uttered numbly.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Cailyn stared at the huge tome that had appeared out of thin air. Jace’s touch was reverent and his expression awed. What had they said about the book? She recalled it documented magic spells and there was something about prophesies, too. It was bigger than an atlas, and ten times as thick. The aged-brown leather was exquisitely decorated on the front with numerous colored crystals.