Heart of Darkness bbm-1

by Lauren Dane

  “Hang on a minute,” he said and then called her instead of texting.

  “Hey, we’re getting ready to leave but I wanted to hear your voice.” The talk in the background silenced and Dominic knew they all eavesdropped.

  “Why, hello there, Dominic.” He heard the smile in her voice. “It’s really nice to hear your voice. I suppose you look rather dapper just now.”

  “Sweet witch, how did you know?” He did take a glance down at himself, flattered she’d noticed. And he happened to have a really nice suit on. He’d just picked it up the week before. He made a note to wear it when he took her out.

  “See? You’re very charming.”

  “Are you trying to convince me? I believe it.” He laughed. “You’re having a lovely time then? With your friend?”

  “Yes, yes, I am. She and her husband would like us to have dinner this weekend. Or she says a lunch since you work at nights. William, that’s her husband, he’s selling half his interest in his club in Vegas and moving up here full-time. You’ll like him. He also has good taste in clothes.”

  There was talking in the background and then Meriel laughed. That twinge of yearning at the sound startled him.

  “Nell also says, you both have good taste in women.”

  He wished he was there.

  “I wish I was there with you right now.”

  “You do say the best things. Makes my knees rubbery. Have fun with your friends and don’t let the maidens get too fresh or I’ll be forced to not only maim you, but perhaps make your nose five times larger and give you impotence.”

  “You can’t do that!” He laughed, but he wasn’t too sure where she was concerned.

  Her laugh made him smile even though he knew he’d be interrogated the moment he hung up.

  “But you’ll always wonder now. My gift to you.”

  “I’ll call you tomorrow. Any new developments in the Rhode Island situation?” He knew it was on the other side of the country from her. Knew it probably had nothing to do with her or threatened her just then. But he hated it anyway. Made him worry.

  “Nothing I can talk about on the phone. But not much more than we already knew.”

  “Well, regardless, take care of yourself. Keep an eye out.”

  “I’m with Nell. She’s badass and will kick someone’s face to protect me. Oh! Food’s here and you have to go off and look handsome while I am here in sweats and a ratty T-shirt. Have something sufficiently glamorous in a glass for me.”

  Next time he came back to New York it would be with her and he’d take her to the Met. She’d dress up, he knew after they’d gone to the opera. She’d had her hair done. Her cocktail dress was classic Calvin Klein beauty. It fit her. Clean lines to highlight her body. So beautiful. Regal.

  He could probably shuffle his schedule and go home early.

  “Sweet dreams, Dominic Bright. I miss you.”

  “You too.”

  He slipped the phone into his pocket, missing her more than he wanted to allow.

  “Sweet witch?” Trey looked him over, one brow raised.

  “I’m seeing someone. Seriously.”

  “Come on, let’s go. You can pay for the cab and I’ll buy the next round,” Evan called out as they left the table. “You can tell us about this mystery woman on the way.”

  Chapter 12

  SHE did her work and cleared out by just a little after eight. Edwina showed up at nine exactly and she stayed until seven. So wedded to her schedule was she that Meriel was pretty sure she could avoid her mother for at least the next few days. Maybe the whole week if she played it right.

  A court commissioner’s hearing, two land use committees, a strategy meeting with a few of the attorneys Meriel used for contract work when more came up than she could handle on her own, even a trip to DDES and she found herself free and heading back to her apartment by four thirty that afternoon.

  Only, as she stood in the aisle of her favorite local grocery store, unease slithered through her. Someone was watching her. Broad daylight, the place filled with people and the edge of whatever danger lurked was still sharp.

  Regular sight showed her nothing. No one out of the ordinary lurking around. No obvious signs of magick being used. Aside from general annoyance and traffic grump, there were no signs of extreme emotion from anyone in the immediate area.

  She paid quickly and headed to her car. No one was following her that she could see. No one looked out of the ordinary. Everyone in the lot was human and posed her no threat at all.

  And yet …

  She used her othersight and still saw nothing but a slight smudge at the very corner of her eye. Her personal protection wards were intact and hadn’t risen to action so there was no direct magickal attack on her.

  Her eyes told her everything was okay. Her magick told her everything was okay. But her gut didn’t agree.

  She went home, not taking a direct route, watching to see if she was being followed, but she wasn’t as far as she could tell.

  She locked the door and closed the wards and headed straight to the phone to call Nell.

  “Nell, I need you to come by when you can,” Meriel said as Nell picked up.

  “What is it?”

  Meriel gave her a brief rundown. “It’s probably nothing. But my gut …” She shook her head. “It feels like it’s something. I used my othersight, there was nothing there. But it’s not that, it feels like I was blind to something. There was this thing at the very edge of my vision. Like a smudge. But I get headaches sometimes and that happens. I don’t know if I’m explaining this well enough. But your eyes will be better.”

  “I’ll be over shortly.”

  She needed to be busy so she began to prepare dinner and listened to her messages.

  Uh-oh, one from her mother wanting to meet. She’d have to return that call when Edwina was sure to be out of the office.

  More than her concern that Edwina would shove the ascension in her face, Meriel worried that her mother would make Dominic feel small. That she’d take his plusses and make them minuses.

  She toyed with the idea of going to her father first. Her father did tend to run interference for their mother. He was softer, easier with people. He adored his wife and understood her in a way most everyone else couldn’t. Meriel thought it quite sweet.

  On the day she graduated from law school, he’d taken her aside. “Your mother loves you and she’s proud of you. I think sometimes she’s just terrified of making herself vulnerable enough to say it the way you need to hear it.”

  Edwina loved her, she knew it. They just had trouble getting along. But the foundation was of mother and daughter and Meriel trusted that part would carry them through the rough times.

  The sound of Nell’s knock caught Meriel’s attention and she opened the wards as Nell unlocked the door with her key and came in.

  “So there’s nothing on your car or in the garage. Gage went to the market; he says there’s some odd energy there, but he doesn’t recognize it.”

  Nell interrogated her until Meriel felt like a total wuss and that she’d overreacted. She said as much.

  “We all have magickal abilities. It’s what makes us witches. Your magick is intuitive in a way few others possess. If your gut told you to leave, pushed you to go, I have zero doubt there was a threat. It’s your internal alarm system and that’s why clan leaders stay alive. If it happens again, I want you to get the fuck out of there and call me immediately. Just what you did this time.”

  “Stay for dinner. Call Gage too. There’s plenty.”

  “Cripes, I hope this shit isn’t connected to that stuff on the East Coast.” Nell hopped up on the stool and accepted a slice of cheese Meriel offered. “I spoke with the Rodas hunter today and he was helpful. We’ve set up an account where we can input information. Sort of a magickal wiki page.” She snorted. “This could be something related to those mages. Maybe they’re scouting around and found you because you’re powerful. It’s not like it’s a really
big secret who the next in line to run Owen is. But I don’t want to jump to conclusions. But what they’re facing is scary shit, Meriel. If that’s what we have, if these mages have sent out teams or scouts to track and stalk witches they’ll target to take and drain, we need to step it up. I’m adding some personnel to do some daily sweeps of the area around the building and the residences of all the full-council witches. We’ll start with that while we work out more info.”

  Meriel’s phone rang and she looked at the screen. Dominic.

  DOMINIC had been in a meeting with a group of boutique small-batch liquor companies when he’d come over feeling quite strange. A flash of energy shot up his spine and brought the hair on the back of his neck to stand.

  He didn’t quite know what to think at first. He wondered if he was coming down with something or if perhaps the ahi he’d had for lunch might have been off. Nervousness brought his knee to bounce until he forced himself to stop.

  As he sipped icy vodka served to him on a tray held by a rather ridiculously beautiful woman who leaned enough to give him a glimpse of her body to her belly button, he couldn’t relax enough to enjoy it. The pretty woman or the vodka.

  It was as he’d been eating some delicious caviar that the flush he’d felt earlier moved to a full body, electric rush of heat and energy. Meriel’s magick. He could smell her on the air, a phantom of her citrusy perfume.

  He held it together for another few minutes, thinking he was just imagining things, willing the presentation to wrap up so he could call her. But it went on and on until he finally held a hand up.

  “If you’ll all excuse me for a few moments.”

  “Is there a problem?” Evan looked him over.

  “I need to check on something. Please do go on. I’ll return shortly.” He said this all as he was already propelling himself from the room, his phone clearing his pocket.

  “Hello, Dominic.”

  The smile she usually had in her voice when she said his name wasn’t there. Her cheer was slightly practiced. That’s when he knew something was wrong. That’d he’d felt it across the country was a punch in several ways.

  Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson once said that the best thing about science was that it was true whether you believed in it or not. The bond was there and to continue to deny it seemed totally pointless when he could not only feel her upset thousands of miles away but that he wanted to be with her.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “What do you mean? Are you all right?” Dominic heard talking in the background, a male voice and another female voice he recognized from Monday night, Nell.

  “I’m sitting here in a meeting and I felt … weird. I hoped it would pass and it did for a while. But then it came back. This thing exploded in me. You. And for a second it was like I was with you, touching you. I could smell you, Meriel. Your magick is on my skin as if I’d just held you. What the fuck is going on?”

  He fisted his free hand a few times to keep from shaking. He should be there with her right then.

  “Nothing really, I don’t think. I’m sorry it interrupted your meeting. I should have thought to warn you that we could feel each other sometimes.”

  He snorted. “Don’t be sorry. Tell me what’s happening.”

  “You’re very bossy.”

  “I am. Now, tell me.”

  “I was at the grocery store and had a feeling. Just a feeling. Something wasn’t right. The energy of the place shifted and it was all wrong. I just needed to get out of there. I didn’t see anything. I came home and called Nell. You probably felt it because my magick rose in response to my fear. Really, I’m all right. Nell and Gage are on it. They couldn’t find anything either.”

  He was leaving that night. Period.

  “I’m coming back to Seattle.”

  “Because of this? Oh why? Don’t do that. I’m fine. Really. Nell and Gage both are right here. I’m not a wuss, you know. I can kick butt when I need to. Take care of your job and see your friends.”

  “I don’t want the entire country between us when you’re scared.” Having Nell there was one thing, but he wasn’t going to leave her protection up to anyone else. She was his and he’d protect her. Period.

  “I’ll be getting in long after your bedtime so I’ll call you in the morning.”

  “Are you even listening to me?”

  “Of course I am. But listening is not the same as agreeing. I appreciate your concern for my business, but I’m coming back tonight. And that is that. Don’t open your door to anyone. If you get hurt, I will be pissed off.”

  She sighed, but when she spoke again, the smile was in her words. “All right. Call me when you get in. Or … come to me. I’ll be here.”

  Chapter 13

  FIVE in the morning and she stood before him, light from the nearby fireplace on her skin. He should have gone home and called her at a decent hour but she’d told him to come to her, hadn’t she?

  He came in and dropped his bags to the side before sweeping her into his arms. And he needed her so much it made him blind to everything but the weight of her against his body.

  He struggled from his coat as she closed the wards and in a step he was on her again.

  That sweet ass of hers in his hands, he picked her up and sat her on a nearby table. “Perfect height.” He drew a fingertip over the swell of her bottom lip, down her chin and the long line of her neck.

  Her skin was warm and soft as he continued down the slice of creamy skin revealed at the front of her robe. Naked for him beneath the silk.

  He halted at the belt, sliding his finger back and forth over her belly button.

  “You’re not wearing anything under this.”

  “Nothing but my skin.” Her mouth tipped up at the corner and he dipped his head to capture it.

  “This is all I’ve thought about since the plane took off to go to New York on Sunday.” Just days before but it had felt like a week he’d been away.

  “I’m sorry.” Her breath caught when he untied the belt and parted the silk, exposing her beauty to his gaze.

  “Don’t be. Nothing anywhere near as good as this in New York.” He ran the backs of his knuckles across her nipples and watched as they tightened in response. He bent his head and kissed the curve of her shoulder and across her collarbone.

  As he did that, her nimble fingers attacked his shirt buttons as she left a trail of kisses where she could reach on his shoulder, her hands sliding all over his chest and arms.

  Heat seeped into him, need scorching his insides. She pushed him back just a little, enough to get his pants unbuttoned and unzipped.

  “Now,” she said right before she scraped her teeth over his nipple and it shot straight to his cock.

  She shoved his boxers down and grabbed him, pumping him a few times in her fist to underline just what it was she wanted.

  “Hang on a sec,” he murmured as he bent to pull a condom from his pocket. But he paused to press a kiss to the seam at the back of her knee. The sound she made drove him crazy, a deep, hoarse moan.

  Pushing her thighs wider, he kissed up her leg, licking along the seam where it met her body. Her grasp tightened, pulling his hair just this side of painful. He nipped the inner part of her thigh, pausing to breathe her in.

  He pressed his palms against her hips to hold her just so, angle her so that he could taste every part of her. His thumbs spread all that beauty to his touch, to his mouth and his tongue.

  She shivered delicately as he breathed against that hot, slick flesh. Her nails dug into his shoulder as she urged him on, the other hand still in his hair.

  It seemed impossible for that elegant and ruthlessly controlled woman he knew to also be this wanton. This lush, sexy female so unabashedly taking her pleasure.

  He drove her, knowing just what she needed, and it wasn’t too very long before she arched hard, her muscles tightening as she came.

  “I hear Portishead when your mouth is on me,” she whispered, shivering as he brushed his lips against
the heart of her before standing again and rolling a condom on.

  He brushed the head of his cock against her and they both groaned at how good it felt. “Is this a good thing?”

  He flexed his hips and pressed inside.

  “Yes. Her voice is like sex. The lazy afternoon of fucking kind.”

  “Yes, that is a compliment. And perhaps even a mandate.”

  She laughed and he was so glad he’d come back.

  And then he forgot about everything but the way it felt to be buried in her as deep as he could get. Wanting to come battled with his desire to never end this moment.

  But she had plans, wrapping her legs around him and pulling him in deeper. She arched to sit more fully, her nipples sliding over his chest. Her nails dug into his shoulders.

  But it wasn’t until she licked up the side of his neck to bite his ear, tugging and whispering, “More,” that the driving need to fuck her, to be in her as she wrapped around him took over.

  He had to have her. He stood up straighter, adjusting her as he began to thrust just like she’d begged for. He swiveled his hips as he met her body and she gasped, her inner walls gripping him even tighter.

  Harder and harder as the table thumped against her wall over and over. He pulled back a little and her eyes snapped open. “What? Why?” She writhed.

  “The table—”

  She pulled him with her calves. “Don’t stop.” She canted her hips up and he slid in deeper and gave over to it again.

  This time he didn’t hold back and she held on, giving as good as she got. Something fell somewhere and it didn’t matter.

  She was wet and hot when he worked a hand between them. She tightened around him. “You should give me another,” he suggested, lips against her throat.

  A few side-to-side strokes of a fingertip and she was close. Which was good because he was going to blow any minute.

  A stuttered gasp a few moments later as she writhed on him, making him see stars. “Holy shit.” He pressed in and fell over along with her.