by Christa Wick
She tried to shake her head but he stopped her, his fingers threading through the thick dark strands to clasp the back of her skull. He'd never gotten that kiss last night. If he had, Dana's performance never would have happened. There would be no question of Leah wanting to hide from him.
Time to remedy that mistake.
He claimed her mouth in slow, measured steps. It started with a brush of his lips against hers. A more insistent press followed as his bottom lip swept up from below her mouth then pressed back down to part her lips. His tongue explored the narrow opening, licking and curling until her jaw relaxed.
His arm slid around her waist, cinching her tight against his body. Fingers ensnared in her hair, Seth forced her to tilt her head back, the gentle strain opening her even further. His tongue pushed all the way in, moving along her top palate before retreating entirely. He sucked her bottom lip, gnawed softly at it before his tongue invaded again.
His palm flat against the small of her back, he tugged, relaxed, repeated to slowly butt her lower stomach against his hard cock as he demanded more of her mouth. Breaking the kiss, he waited just long enough for her to suck in a mouthful of air and then he took her again.
When she started to shake in his embrace, he quickly bent down. His arm landed against the back of her knees to collapse them. Scooping her up, he carried her down the hall. Inside the guestroom, he pushed the door shut with his foot then placed Leah center of the bed. When he put one knee on the mattress, her gaze refocused, alarm registering in those green pools of mystery.
She brought her hands up, shielding herself as he reached for her. "We can't--"
"We are." Capturing one of her hands, he kissed the ends of her fingers, sucked one rounded tip into his mouth as his other hand worked the button of her slacks open.
Catching his intent, she gasped, tried to stop him. He grabbed both of her wrists, brought her hands up over her head and draped his body across her. Her wrists were delicate, easy for him to hold with one hand.
Kissing her, Seth undid the buttons on her blouse. Her whispered protests deepened to soft moans, her hips beginning to roll beneath him. He pushed the edges of her blouse apart.
Hoping for a front release on her bra, his gaze landed between her lush breasts. A silver pin held a small sprig of white petals in place. Seeing the familiar flowers, he growled and reached for the pin. "Witch's lace."
Leah clutched at the sprig, her grip crushing some of the petals. She shook her head. "You have to go--"
Cocking his hips, he slid lower down her body. Her eyes fluttered shut, her mound cresting as the thick, hard line of his erection pushed once along its seam before moving on. He'd deal with the charm later, when her will and sweet cunt were melting beneath his tongue.
Halfway down the mattress, he tugged her slacks and shoes off. Using his broad shoulders as a wedge, he muscled her thighs apart. She tried to push at him, her touch only enflaming his desire. The panties came off in two pieces, the air stirred by rending them ripe with her juices.
Instinct drove his mouth straight to their source, his tongue and nose separating her labia to lick and smell, both senses savoring her honey. His hands gripped her full hips, holding her down as he started to suckle her clit.
She stopped fighting, stopped arguing. The only sounds coming from her were the soft coos gurgling in her throat and the tense draw of her nails against the bed's linen as she arched her hips.
Gripping one plump labia with his mouth, he tugged at it, moved to the other. His hands free, he undid his jeans and kicked off his boots, his mouth never breaking contact with her flesh. He surfed up her body, shedding the bottom half of his clothes.
His t-shirt came off the same way her panties had -- in pieces. With his cock nestled against her clit, he tugged the blouse down her arms. He watched the fabric move over her body, saw the silver thread that had been quickly worked into the side stitching, the ends freshly cut.
Seth needed her completely naked, stripped of the charms the witch had dressed her in. He tossed the blouse on the floor, pushed his hands between her body and the bed to unhook the bra. She was too far gone to protest any more, her body wiggling beneath him, her pale throat convulsing with moans.
When the bra left her body, her scent hit him like a brick in the face.
His mate, his woman.
Grabbing her head with both hands, he buried his face against her neck, his teeth pressed against the sensitive flesh. He wanted to spear into her and ease the ache that had settled into his swollen balls. She was wet, ready, her need dripping onto the linen beneath her.
With a rough growl, he tore himself away from the pulsing temptation of her throat and slid down her body to continue feasting on her cunt. Her moans escalated, turned guttural and fierce as her hips slammed left, down, crested up, her clit swollen and throbbing beneath his tongue.
She sank her fingers in his hair, the nails scratching his scalp as her mound pressed harder against his mouth. Her surrender was near, her release closer still. He fastened his lips to her, his tongue working the small pearl guarded by the tender hood with feather light strokes.
Bringing his hand between her legs, he slowly buried two fingers inside her. Her channel gripped him, flexing rhythmically as her uterus contracted. Her clit bobbed against his tongue, the start of her climax already upon her. Her legs tensed, her pussy tightening as her hips jerked up.
She cried out -- his name, a string of unintelligible words, desperate whispers, promises -- and then she unleashed her sweet nectar, drowning him, wetting his questing tongue over and over until the waves rolling through her finally subsided.
*****
The most bone-shattering climax she'd ever experienced over, Leah peeled her eyes open to find two-hundred plus pounds of pure sex appeal staring down at her. He'd shown up at the house shaved less than an hour ago, now he sported brisk stubble and his eyes had that mesmerizing green glow back in them. She knew if he smiled, there'd be a hint of fang but the thought didn't frighten her.
The memory of men like Seth was deep in her blood. Fangs had grazed her skin in the first wet dream she could remember. She'd thought she was a freak growing up, her fantasies filled with growls, the threat of teeth and nails.
Fresh need coiling inside her, Leah's gaze moved down his body. She'd been peripherally aware that he had stripped his clothes off, her senses too pre-occupied with the ecstasy his mouth and hands delivered to process his nudity. Now she could see he was all muscle and…
Her heart stalled as she took in the size of his cock. He was as long as a football from pointed end to pointed end. Inhaling with a shuddering breath, she felt the walls of her cunt squeeze in anticipation. The soft growl of her lover told her he knew exactly the effect he had on her, could smell the fresh burst of cream leaving her.
She expected him to lower his body over her, spread her thighs again and thrust into her. Instead, he flipped her onto her stomach, her weight nothing against his strength. Hearing another growl vibrate roughly from him, she looked over her shoulder. Seth stared down at her ample bottom, his mouth partly open and the tip of his tongue resting against his upper teeth.
One hand roamed her left ass cheek, squeezing and rolling the flesh, as his other hand stroked his gorgeous cock. Liquid beaded at the wide slit in its crown, fat translucent drops dribbling down onto his fingers. He smeared the fluid with two fingers then rubbed her pussy with them, slowly moving toward her open core and inserting them. Stealing more of his pre-cum, he buried three fingers in her.
She started to rock, the timing of her back and forth motions synced to the hard contractions rolling through her cunt and the thrust of his hand. She ached for him, needed the thick cock inside her. With soft mewls, she begged him for it.
Grabbing her hips by both hands, he raised her ass higher. His hand left her hip and angled his cock down until the thick head pushed against the quivering gate of muscle that ringed her channel. The same hand smoothed along her back to p
ush her shoulders lower, flattening her breasts against the mattress.
Slowly he sank into her. She couldn't guess his girth but he felt twice as thick as any lover she had taken. He stretched her, his hot gaze searing her flesh as he pushed deeper. His lips moved, his jaw working, fangs flashing as he fought to keep control. Four inches from his base, his nostrils flared and his eyes sealed shut as he closed the distance by dragging her up his dick.
Leah moved to lift up on her elbows.
Seth's growl stopped her. "Down."
His eyes were open again, his expression feral masculinity. He was taking her, his mate, would do so this time exactly as he pleased, which meant his thrusting into her from behind with his big cock filling her, her ass high in the air and her chest flat against the bed. A shiver ran over Leah, her whole body contracting simultaneously in perfect submission to the beast claiming her.
He began to rock with her, pushing and pulling her body along his length. Her swollen pussy felt like there were two thick heads inside her, the big hammer at the end of his cock and again, a few inches up from the base, and even bigger knot of pleasure driving in and out of her but keeping him anchored inside. She tightened around it, the strength of her moans shocking her.
She was coming again, harder than the last time, which should have wrung every last drop of satisfaction from her body, it felt that good.
"Mine."
She looked at his face, saw the tremor of strain as he approached his own release. "Yes," she moaned, hugging him with her pussy for emphasis. "Yours."
His orgasm uncoiled like a whip, his cock jerking inside her, that big knot in the base inflating and deflating with each spasm of his climax. She cried out, fighting for air, the pulsing throb in her cunt dictating when she could and could not breathe.
Behind her, Seth slowed, his hips still making leisurely thrusts, rolling in small circles to keep that ball rotating inside her.
"You're killing me," she moaned, only half joking.
"It just feels like heaven, beautiful."
She tried to laugh, but another sharp twinge of pleasure rattled the sound in her throat. Her hips bucked, bucked again and then he popped free. Dropping to his side, he pulled Leah onto her back, his big hand covering her mound and squeezing as his tongue invaded her mouth.
God, he was a great kisser, a fabulous fucker. Her mouth still pressed to his, she smiled then moaned as he dipped a finger inside her pussy. Her head lolling back onto the pillow, she closed your eyes. "You know I don't have your stamina."
"I'll let you nap." He kissed the side of her ear, his finger retreating from the slow tease he had started. "But only if I get to stay."
*****
In the end, it was Seth sprawled the length of the bed sound asleep, his sculpted chest rising and falling as, wide awake, she stared at him in wonder. He was beautiful, still completely naked and his cock in a continuous semi-rigid state. Certain all she had to do was reach over and stroke him once and he would be hard and ready, she rolled quietly off the bed and went to the closet for fresh clothes.
Esme had altered just one set of her clothes to work the charm, with the intent that Leah would practice on her remaining clothes. The ones she retrieved from the closet were unspelled. The last thing she wanted was for Seth to wake up and think she had rejected him all over again. She'd been insane to want to hide from him.
Her mouth puckered in thought. Not insane, just self-conscious and unable to believe a man that looked like he did could want her. Having now experienced his uninhibited desire for her, she was willing to accept that he needed a very plump yin to his hard-muscled yang.
Wanting to see if Esme was okay, she tried to school her face into something that didn't wear a canary-eating grin. Hard to do -- she felt sore in all the right places, her nipples and clit hypersensitive from her earlier arousal. Hell, there was no "earlier" to it. She was more than ready to fuck Seth again. And she would -- at his place.
Right now she wanted to check on the witch and thank her for her friendship and hospitality. It had to be hard, even as powerful as Esme was, to live as a human among the shifters. She needed to know that she had an ally, that Leah wouldn't shun her now that she had accepted her place in Seth's life as a latent.
Stepping into the hall, she found Esme's bedroom door open, the bed still made from that morning. She walked down the hall, only one lamp in the living room on and Esme nowhere in sight. Worry growing inside her, Leah stepped quietly onto the porch. It ran the length of the house, the front door at the center, a small table and two stools on the south side and a pair of rockers at the north end.
Turning toward the rockers, she saw Esme motionless. The moon above and the lamp from the living room lit her upper body. Wanting to wake her gently, Leah tiptoed up to her sleeping friend. Looking down at Esme, she smiled.
Killer cheekbones, a strong chin and delicate brows shaped the round face. While she had looked gorgeous enough the night before, she'd taken extra care of her make-up that morning, due in no small part, Leah assumed, to the fact Dana had slept on her couch. The lips were a pale rose, the same color dusting her eyelids before blending into a silver gray beneath her eyebrows. A healthy pink colored the apple of her cheeks, the rest of the skin a soft cream.
Leah hoped, with a good dose of common sense and at least a little groveling, Dana would straighten up and make her new friend happy. If things could work out between a latent and a shifter, it couldn't be that much of a stretch for a fully human woman, particularly when she was a witch.
Reaching out to lightly touch Esme's shoulder, Leah froze. The black cardigan Esme wore unbuttoned over her top had shifted, its edges bunched to the side and exposing part of her bra line. Moon glinted off a thin strip of silver -- the underside of a pin. Attached to the pin was the same type of flower Esme had pinned to Leah that morning.
Mouth flattening into a straight line, Leah carefully folded the hem of the sweater up. She couldn't be sure with just the moonlight and inside lamp, but she thought she saw the glitter of silver thread. She ran her thumb over the area, the texture of spun metal unmistakable.
She drew back. There had to be other uses for witch's lace and silver thread. Hundreds of other uses -- the silver merely there to magnify the charm. Retreating to the front door, she let it shut loudly enough to wake Esme.
Leah watched as Esme came awake with a start, her hands quickly assessing her clothing before she looked at the source of the sound. Seeing Leah, she offered a weak grin.
"He let you out of bed, I see."
Heart sinking, Leah nodded. While there might be untold uses for the flower and silver thread, there was only one reason for Esme to make sure Leah didn't see them.
Esme was a latent. A latent in love with a shifter, with the two of them usually at one another's throat.
Something sharp twisted inside Leah's chest. She'd already been rejected by people she loved -- her mother and her grandmother. And then she had lost Amanda. She wouldn't go through that again. Looking back through the screen door and the hallway, Leah mourned what could never be.
Esme stood and walked toward her, her smile strengthening. "So you've worked things out."
Leah shook her head. "I thought so, but…"
She forced herself not to gesture at Esme, at the spot where the witch's lace rested against her breast or the silver thread worked through the seam of her clothes. She wouldn't tell the witch she knew the truth. She'd let Esme share her secret once she trusted Leah enough.
"I made a mistake." She fiddled with the uncharmed hem of her blouse, her voice a soft whisper of uncertainty.
When Esme put her hand on Leah's shoulder, she looked up to find the witch's face filled with regret. Esme gave her a gentle squeeze. "Are you sure, honey?"
Moving into the witch's comforting embrace, Leah nodded. "Can I sleep in your room tonight?"
*****
Seth didn't leave without a fight, but all the words exchanged were between him and Esme
. Esme cautioned patience, which might have calmed him had Leah not also insisted on his removing any extra guards from around the witch's house. In the end, he capitulated to the request for time and space -- from him.
He would not yield when it came to guards. Betas from three different packs rotated through three shifts a day, their post maintained at the far end of Esme's long drive. That lasted a week and would have gone on until reports of other latents started trickling in.
The pattern followed Leah's discovery, shifters from other clans drawn to nearby towns with reports of Hunters in the area. By the end of the first week, three new latents had been discovered. With the clan leaders realizing that the Hunters were targeting these women as part of their crusade to make shifters extinct, resources were re-allocated.
The guards were pulled, the clan's alpha deeming Esme's charms to cloak Leah's nature and the location of her house deep within their territory sufficient to keep Leah protected. The absence of the men from the other packs didn't mean the two women went unwatched. Sitting on the long porch around the table with Esme teaching Leah the art of witchcraft or reading together in the rocking chairs, one or the other of the women would raise her head and stare out at the tree line as she sensed her mate. Leah never remarked when Esme scanned the area for Dana -- the witch still thought her secret was intact.
On the second week, Leah met Gordon, the only male human in the clan. Esme had been kind when she said he looked as old as Moses. She'd been kind in calling him a healer, too. Able only to attract scraps of magic, Gordon was mostly an herbalist. Only one week into her training and Leah could have run circles around him if she'd been so impolite. Instead, she fumbled when he was around, letting him teach her spells she'd already mastered.
Ready for another hour of fooling the old man, she watched Gordon pull to a stop in front of Esme's porch. His driving no better than his witchcraft, Esme had spelled the house to make sure he stopped before he could collapse the porch a second time.
