“Hear me!”
The ground vibrated underneath them, but Zahara didn’t hesitate. She danced with the earth’s vibrations. Lightning shot through the sky.
“Kawo Shango. Modupe Ogun. Come to me, for I am the Mother of Nine.”
The lightning danced, streaking down and shattering around Zahara. The trees seemed to lean to meet her, the earth rising under her feet. Rain pelted their bodies, a pure torrential storm created with Zahara at the center.
She laughed, a sound that wasn’t her own. Her eyes hazed with purple, and machetes slipped from her skirt. Nine in all, they danced around her, glinting in the lightning and dancing as thunder boomed.
Silva and Kalinda lifted into the air and hovered at eye level with Giuliana. Zahara directed the storm at Silva. The Fae twitched and jerked. Blast after blast of lightning struck her heart with a forceful punch.
“Ogun, former of the body, knit her back together. Shango, give life to her heart. Obatala, bring back her consciousness!”
Zahara was screaming now, her words almost manic as she moved. She continued chanting, stomping her feet in groups of threes as she moved. Finally, one of the blades shot away and Giuliana heard a deer wail. Another blade whizzed by, and each of them were met with a cry.
Blood. Offering.
Giuliana didn’t know why those words entered her mind. But the earth’s life increased, pushing more inside her with every inhale.
Take what you need as you asked, daughter.
More power fed into Giuliana, and she fed it into the maelstrom, enraptured by Zahara’s connection with the very elements and their acceptance of Giuliana as well.
Silva grunted. Fucking grunted!
Kalinda moaned.
“Mate!”
“Silva.”
Zahara fell to her knees, palms still raised toward Kalinda and Silva. She held one, even as the lightning shocked right next to her and the earth jerked hard enough to send them all to their asses. Zahara anchored it all, worked with it, and was one.
The storm faded, leaving behind a refreshing spray of a summer shower, the sun peeking out through the trees. It was deafening, the sudden silence when there had been so much before. But in the quiet, Giuliana picked out a beautiful sound.
Breathing.
Silva inhaled, her chest rising, and when she exhaled, Kalinda drew a breath. The worked in tandem, each slowly opening their eyes as one.
“Where … where am I?”
Cheers met Silva’s hesitant question. Never in a million years did Giuliana think Zahara would be able to save both of them. Silva sat up gingerly, and Giuliana pulled the Fae into her arms.
“You scared me to death, Tinker.”
“My head hurts too bad to punch you for that, so I’ll do it later. Ugh.” Silva gasped. “Kalinda.”
“I’m here. Oof. Romano, I can’t breathe.”
“You can talk, you can breathe, mate.”
“Okay. I can’t breathe well.”
“I thought I’d lost you.”
Kalinda wrapped her arms around her mate, pulling him close. “I’m here.”
They trembled, clutching to one another. Giuliana swallowed against emotions clogging her throat. They’d almost lost Kalinda and Silva, which would have also lost them Romano. But somehow, Zahara had saved them.
“Zahara?”
The witch doctor moaned before she sat up. Giuliana choked. Zahara was changed. Her headwrap fell to the side, leaving her hair wild around her face, but it was gray. Though still beautiful, she was older. There were deep lines on the sides of her mouth and feathers of crow’s feet out from the sides of her eyes.
Silva reached for her. “What did you do?”
Zahara only shook her head, gingerly rising to her knees. Her hips popped as she moved. “Just gave up some vitality.”
“Just gave up some vitality? Are you crazy?”
The witch doctor turned hard eyes on Romano. “I can still kick your ass, pup. Want to try it?”
Even her voice was different, thicker. Giuliana shook her head. “We thank you … but—”
“My great-grandbaby needs her aunt. I wasn’t going to let her go.”
Kalinda moaned. “Oh, Zahara.”
“I’ve lived for a very long time, Ales. Life eventually catches up. I couldn’t save my daughter, but I wasn’t going to watch anyone else be taken from Dominic. Not a single person I could help. It is done.”
“You can’t do that again.”
Zahara snorted at Romano. “I can do what I want.” She tried to stand, but her legs gave up. “Except stand, it seems.”
Romano stood his mate up before he went to Zahara. He lifted her off the ground and hugged her close. “Thank you, Zahara.”
“Always. Now I must rest. It’s going to take some time to get these energies all the way appeased. Take your mate home and let your Alpha know what has happened.”
“Come with us. We can keep an eye on your recovery,” Romano returned.
“I need this place. It’s close as to possible to untamed land.”
Giuliana looked around. “Are we still in Encantado?”
“Yes and no. We are in the Greenwald but in a place you could never reach unless I allowed you.”
“You always lived near Dominic,” Romano realized.
“Don’t tell him. He’ll fuss about my moving onto the lands.”
“Can you? If you can close off this area, can’t you bring it with you into the protected area?”
“I have never thought to try. Perhaps. Hold on.”
Zahara closed her eyes and reached her hands up to the sky. Romano held her through it all, seeming to give her whatever he could. He didn’t have gifts like Giuliana or Silva, but he’d been able to create something special with Zoey.
“This is going to be wild,” Zahara said, laughter echoing her words.
The world swished and swirled, and then righted itself instantly. Giuliana covered her mouth to keep from getting sick. At least they weren’t moving anymore. Zahara flicked at a space over Romano’s shoulder. It opened and Dominic stood there, shirtless, eyes wide, and Zoey peeking behind them.
“What the fuck are you doing in my bedroom?”
Unfazed, Zahara laughed harder. “I’m home, grandson.”
Dominic stared at the older woman in Romano’s arms. “Nonna?”
“We have a lot to explain, but maybe not in your bedroom, yeah?”
Zahara cackled. “Romano asked me to move in, so I did. I’ll have to change the portal location. Wouldn’t want to randomly see Dominic’s ass in the air.”
The group, worn and exhausted from battle and almost losing some, laughed. Zahara stayed true to her word and moved her portal. They entered and were facing away from Dominic’s home. Somehow, Zahara’s home was in a space right where Dominic’s was.
“I’ll move it later, when I’m less tired. For now, this is as good as I could do. My power just sought him out.”
Translation: her love for him was the only thing she had the strength to conjure after what she’d done.
In awe of her power, Giuliana bowed to the Alpha’s grandmother but kept silent with her thoughts.
They were home, that’s all that mattered. They would live to fight another day.
Chapter Eighteen
Pasquale led Giuliana to his home long after all the explanations were made. Dominic released them to rest and ordered they’d make the outcome known to the pack the next day. He’d wait to talk to Lorenzo first, before anyone else, to give him a chance to know what had happened with his friend.
Giuliana still didn’t know how to think about Kieran and his life among the pack before he’d revealed who he really was. It was easy to blame him. And maybe if Silva and Kalinda had died, she’d be more inclined to condemn him. But they hadn’t, and in reality, neither had Heath. Minor injuries were all that was left after everything went down.
In the outcome, one could say they’d made it out of the war without a scr
atch.
Of course, Giuliana had seen all they’d faced and knew the truth. They’d nearly been broken, and there were still so many unanswered questions. No matter what, Silva had been Queen of the Fae—well, still was—but there were atrocities happening in her name. Going home wasn’t an option with Kalinda having to stay in Encantado, her sister was still missing, and they didn’t know the story around that.
And Kieran had escaped.
There was no telling what would come in the days ahead. The amount of hell they’d faced in just under a year was terrifying, to say the least.
“Penny for your thoughts?”
Pasquale hesitated in front of his door, the shadow of his porch leaving his eyes glittering in the darkness.
Giuliana sighed. He was still the most incredible man she’d ever lay eyes on. “We’ve been through a lot.”
“The pack, or us?”
“Both. It makes me wonder if there’s something larger at work. I know it sounds crazy, but look at Romano and Zoey having the Miracle Grow, the way we can enhance each other’s gifts, Kalinda and Silva.”
“I’d say we’ve gotten stronger.”
“Maybe, but it makes me think there may be something huge coming. Sort of like the action movies, you know? Heroes show up when there is a greater evil out there.”
Pasquale was quiet as he stepped into her space. “Today has taught me one thing, for sure.” His hot palm slipped along her jaw, lifting her gaze to his.
“What is that?”
“I watched a man almost lose his mate today, without having said all the things he wished. Without having a chance to see the life they’d live. I don’t want to be that man. I’d rather have what we could be than dream of what will never be.”
She sucked in a breath, letting him pull her against his hard frame. His fingers danced over her skin, a prayer, memorization. She leaned in, soaking in what she could.
“The first time I saw you, I thought you were the most beautiful creature ever formed. I thought you’d make any man happy to have you. And then I knew you were mine to have. And I was afraid, Giuliana. Afraid of what that would mean. Afraid of the cage it would put us both in. I’ve been terrified all my life because of my father.”
Pasquale pulled her closer. “I never knew when he’d call for my death or when he’d realized how much Fabiana meant to me and use her against me. I never knew when he’d force me to fight him, or if I’d win.”
“You’re stronger than him.”
“It’s hard, at times, to see that when you’re scared of the very thing that could break you. My Alpha power would rip my people apart, and they deserved more.”
“And now?”
His lips were close to hers, a breath away and yet so far. She wanted them on her, wanted to feel his touch without caring about what could happen.
“And now, mate, I’m not afraid anymore. I will have you. I will claim you. Because you are worth more than anything I could ever fear, except losing you.”
His mouth crashed against hers, sealing her fate. They were a storm, battering each other, pushing and pulling. Pasquale touched her everywhere—groping her breasts, her hips, the curve of her ass—and lifted her against the hardness between his legs.
Mine!
Giuliana didn’t even pay attention to which of their wolves cried out. Either way, the answer was a resounding yes. She didn’t want to run anymore; she didn’t want to escape. Giuliana wanted to be caught by the one man strong enough to make her love the chase as much as the capture.
The one man meant to truly be her Alpha.
She wanted him to give her all the things she’d never thought she’d have.
A mate.
Happiness.
Belonging.
With Pasquale by her side, she knew she’d never be ignored again or have anyone put her safety above the idea she had a brain. He’d shown that when he fought by her side to get Silva and Kalinda back. She didn’t doubt he would continue to be there for her.
She sucked his full bottom lip into her mouth, moaning her need. He slammed her back against his front door long enough to force it open, and then they were tumbling inside. Fuck getting to his bed. She wanted him here and now.
She bucked, fighting him, knowing he’d answer the challenge.
He didn’t disappoint.
He slapped her ass in warning. “Simmer down.”
As if.
Her feet pressed into the backs of his knees, sending them tumbling to the floor together. He growled, but she wasn’t afraid. He let her fight. He encouraged it. He wanted her to show her strength, and it was freeing. So freeing.
“Needy, Alpha mate.”
His words made her tremble. “Yes, Alpha.”
It was his turn to shake, and power filled his eyes. “Is that what I am?”
“Yes. My Alpha, my mate.”
With soft fingers, Pasquale pushed strands of hair behind the delicate shell of her ear. Her heart stuttered in her chest. He was so strong, and his lick of Alpha power only warned of what she knew would come. Giuliana gripped the edge of a stair under her butt and rolled her hips against his cloth-covered cock. She wanted him, wanted everything he could give her.
She wanted to take everything he would give.
Lifting to his knees and angling up her body, Pasquale didn’t disappoint. “Let’s see, shall we?”
He straddled her chest and pulled his cock from his jeans. Giuliana couldn’t look away as Pasquale pressed the tip of his shaft downward and traced her lips. He was soft, velvet smooth, and warm.
“Taste me.”
It wasn’t a question, even in the quiet way he said it. He worked his hips in a small circle, pressing his cock against her skin. She wanted him, all of him. Slowly, she snaked out her tongue, tasting the tip. He’d get this on her terms, as she wanted.
Pasquale hissed his pleasure, pressing against the flat of her tongue.
“More.”
Taking her time instead, she opened her mouth and exhaled in a rush, caressing his skin with the heat of her breath. He let her take her inhale before he pressed more of himself inside.
“Good girl.”
Just like when he’d claimed her between her legs, he didn’t stop there. Pasquale rocked back and forth, and Giuliana used her hot tongue to dance over the tip of his cock. She’d give him warm, wet heat to slip into. He groaned, grinding against her chin as he slid farther inside.
He was thick, broader than any man she’d been with, and her jaw ached from his size, but even that was sexy in this moment. She wouldn’t be defeated by his strength. She’d match him in every way.
“Suck.”
She closed her lips around him and matched her suction to his strokes to provide a counterbalance. She hadn’t taken nearly half of him and it was a struggle to control her breathing comfortably. But she sucked in a deep breath through her nose when he pulled out, and she let him slide back in.
She growled, holding the note so it went down his shaft.
“Fuck, that’s hot.”
She did it again just to prove a point. To drive his need higher. He was being gentle and she wasn’t going to be treated like some fragile piece of glass. Giuliana forced her mouth open wider and sucked him deep on his next downstroke.
Pasquale froze, and then tangled his free hand in her heavy mass of hair and kept her head pinned to the step below her. Giuliana bucked underneath him, enjoying the game, thrashing about.
Pasquale took her mouth through it all. He rolled against her textured tongue, slid in the heat, and gave in. His gaze stayed on hers, studying, watching. The minute it appeared she was in real distress, he’d stop. She know it without a doubt, and it let her express her desires the way she wanted to. She had never felt anything this good, this wild. Something more than a quick satisfaction, more than perfunctory motions to get off. She needed him to take her like she needed her next breath.
Giuliana’s throat tightened around his head, urging him to take
her.
Fuck, yes.
His cry in her head was filthy and uncouth. It was wild and untamed. She’d done that, brought out this animalistic side of him. She had that power, no one else. It was heady, knowing that. She grabbed his ass, urging him harder and faster into her mouth. He shifted, lifting a bit higher over her face.
Just like that.
He was rebuilding her, tearing down every pain anyone else had caused. Showing her how strong she was and letting her set the pace. It uplifted her, wrapped her in gossamer and steel. Piece by fucking piece.
Giuliana shifter her tongue in a different way. She sucked hard as he glided into her mouth, so much her cheeks hollowed out. And then she released him as he slid out, turning her head as much as she could.
Yes.
He roared, but she didn’t stop sucking him. Didn’t stop guzzling him. She wanted him, needed him. Wanted him to explode all over her tongue.
Another night.
When he pulled from her mouth, she cried out in loss.
“I’m here, baby. Right here.”
He flipped, a rough turn of his hands, and helped her get on her hands and knees on the stairs. He lifted to his feet, bracing one between her knees.
“Do you want me?”
“Yes,” she cried.
“Right here?”
“Take me.”
His power leaked out and ripped at their clothing. In seconds they were pressed together, their flesh heated and his cock nuzzled against her ass. He didn’t wait, didn’t give her a chance to catch her breath. He pulled back, aligned, and slammed home.
She screamed, but he took her higher. Each pointed stab into her made her body clench. His hands on her hips were the only things keeping her from falling forward. Her breasts jiggled with each rough hit, and she wanted him to make her lose her mind.
Somehow, Giuliana gained the strength to lift her upper body, and he helped her. His arm was a thick band over her ribs, and he used his other hand to keep her back arched for his thrusts.
“More. Please more.”
Pasquale didn’t let her beg much longer. His power washed over her, the same tendrils she felt in her house so long ago. They licked their way over her skin, and she was undone. They played with her nipples and flicked her clit with precision. Pasquale was everywhere, pulling her under a wave of pleasure.
Mated to the Prince (Portal City Protectors Book 3) Page 15
