by Nora Ash
Once again, like it had when I worked on the muffin curse, my magic seemed to pour easily through me, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. As if I hadn’t spent most of my formative years anguishing over every paltry beginner-level spell my parents had tried to teach me. I had no idea why, all of a sudden, my magical abilities seemed to have been unlocked, but whatever the reason was, it had impeccable timing.
If my magic could rid me of both a murderous demon and a prying shifter, then I was inclined to forgive it for leaving me hanging for so many years.
THE COOKIES WERE RESTING on the kitchen counter, wafting mouthwatering scents of pure deliciousness through the entire apartment, when Jackson finally announced his arrival by banging aggressively on the front door.
I jumped at the sound—he somehow managed to convey an impressive amount of frustration through that knock—and went to the hallway to open the door for the disgruntled shifter.
He was looming in the doorway with one arm raised to support his weight against the frame. The second I opened the door, he marched straight in as if he lived there, disregarding my annoyed huff.
“Whether Wilson ate the fucking muffin or not I can’t say, but he’s still very much alive,” he said as he rounded on me, arms folded across his chest. “So either your magic backfired, or something happened to the muffin before he could eat it. In either case, you and I have a lot to discuss. How about we start with what tipped you off to him being the demon, and follow up with why you didn’t immediately alert me?”
Some of the confidence I’d felt in my magic deflated. I’d felt the strength of that curse. It couldn’t have failed—could it? Or had I just mistaken my own desperate hope for actual magic?
“Come on, cupcake, time to spill. I’m rapidly losing patience, here, and trust me—you do not want to see that.”
I stared up at the shifter, grimacing at the thought of my first introduction to a shifter’s Animal form being the pissed-off agent in front of me losing his cool and exploding into a feral beast right there in my small apartment.
“All right,” I said, doing my best to keep the small quiver out of my voice as I gestured for him to follow me through to the kitchen. “We can talk—I don’t have anything to hide. Do you want a cookie? I just baked.”
Jackson arched an eyebrow at me, even as his gaze flickered to the plate of freshly baked cookies on the counter next to us—undoubtedly drawn in by the heavenly scent they emitted. “After you just delivered Muffins of Death to the sheriff? Hard pass.”
I scoffed, as if the thought that I’d try to bewitch him with food was the most ridiculous thing I’d ever heard, grabbed one for myself, and took a big bite. I chewed it demonstratively and fixed him with a too-sweet smile. “Don’t be ridiculous. You might be a rude, intolerable shifter, but even if I were a dark witch, I’d have no desire to have the Arcane Affairs Agency investigating your death.”
And since I’d infused the cookies with magic meant to make the person eating them trust me, letting him feel safe by eating one myself wasn’t going to do me any harm.
Jackson ignored my taunt and dove a large hand into the plate of cookies, picking one up. “Whatever you say, witch. Now talk.”
I stalled for a moment, taking another bite of my cookie while I waited for Jackson to follow suit. Only when he bit into his own cookie and hummed in unconscious appreciation did I start.
“Something happened on our date last night,” I said, putting my cookie down as the memory of Don’s personality flip. “I don’t know what set him off, but one moment he was his boring old self, and the next… I swear, it was like seeing true evil. Like being in the presence of someone or something so dark… everything about him suddenly felt so wrong. He tried to drag me out of the restaurant—”
To my shock, I was interrupted by a deep growl. I stared up at Jackson, whose teeth were bared in blatant anger.
“Did he touch you?”
“He grabbed my arm,” I said, a little confused by the interruption.
Another snarl, and then his hand wrapped around the place I’d indicated, his other hand pushing up my sleeve with a gentleness that defied his obvious fury. Hot fingertips skimmed over my unmarked skin, and an odd warmth spread from where he touched in long tendrils. “I told you he was dangerous!”
“He didn’t leave any marks. It wasn’t anything like that. Jade was there, she intervened.” I frowned at the big shifter as he moved closer, his eyes roaming up my pale skin to my face, as if searching for any invisible damage.
“Why are you…” My voice trailed off as I finally caught the look in his eyes. In my entire life, I’d never seen anything like it. He stared at me with a longing so deep it resonated in my very bones.
Down low in my abdomen, something smoldered hotly in response.
Jackson’s one hand moved from my arm up my shoulder, the other wrapping around the back of my neck. Warmth crackled like sparklers against every nerve ending he touched, making me gasp out as my body swayed toward his. I suddenly felt lightheaded—woozy, like I’d had too much champagne.
“I have to protect you, don’t you understand?” he growled, though it no longer sounded aggressive. Instead it sounded pained, like he was fighting to stay in control of himself.
Fighting, and losing.
“I need you to be safe, Poppy. More than anything else in this world. I… I need you to…”
I couldn’t take my eyes off his lips as his suddenly husky voice trailed off. My pulse hammered in my ears and throbbed between my legs, sending waves of an entirely inappropriate kind of yearning through me, until all I could think about was those hot lips against every aching part of my body.
Realization dawned on me much, much too late.
“I need you,” Jackson groaned, his fingers constricting tightly around my shoulders.
Oh, fudgemuffin! The flippin’ cookies!
It was the last coherent thought I managed before Jackson’s hot lip crashed against mine.
11
JACKSON
My Wolf howled in triumph at the first brush of Poppy’s lips against mine, but I was too consumed with need to pay it any attention.
I pulled her closer to me until her soft breasts, stomach, and thighs were flush with my own body, wrapping my arms securely around her back. Everything was heat and yearning, and I groaned at the delicious feel of finally having her in my arms.
My tongue probed at the seam of her lips and she parted them with a groan, her hands coming up to clutch at the back of my t-shirt. The cavern of her mouth greeted me with a wet heat that had my cock aching in my jeans. She tasted like vanilla and chocolate cookies—and home.
I moaned into her mouth, lost in need so strong it washed away every thought that wasn’t purely and solely focused on her.
Poppy made some weak noises against me, her hands releasing my t-shirt to push half-heartedly at my shirt. I lifted my mouth off her so she could breathe, busying myself by nibbling on her jawline and reaching my hands down to grasp at her full ass instead.
“Jackson, I… the c-cookies,” she stammered, her voice breathy, as if she wasn’t entirely sure what she was trying to say.
“Don’t care about the fucking cookies,” I growled against her ear, delighting in the way she shivered as my breath puffed against her skin. “Only care about you. Touching you…” I dragged my nose along the side of her neck, inhaling her beautiful scent deep into my lungs. “Smelling you. Tasting you.” I flicked my tongue out to lap at her throat. “Fucking you.”
Poppy whimpered, a needy little noise at the back of her throat, and my preternatural senses picked up on a headier scent from lower down her body.
The last vestige of my self-control shattered into a thousand pieces at the smell of her arousal. Growling with unfettered desire I grabbed her by the hips and lifted her up, forcing her to spread her thighs. The heat of her sex pressed against my stomach through her panties and my t-shirt, making every muscle in my abdomen clench ha
rd.
She whimpered and wrapped her legs around my hips so she could grind herself against me, and I thought I was gonna come then and there.
Still holding on to her lush ass, I turned around and sat her down on the kitchen counter. I hiked her skirt up around her hips and yanked her white cotton panties from her body with a rip, too caught up in my desperation to display any finesse. Thankfully, she was as desperate as I was and didn’t object when I, without preamble, fell to my knees in front of her and hiked her legs over my shoulders, displaying her naked pussy for my gaze.
“Jackson…” Her voice was broken and died off in a needy whine when I reached out to stroke my thumbs up the length of her lower lips.
Her sparse pubic hair didn’t manage to hide the flushed state of her sex, nor the slickness of her cunt when I opened her up.
Another growl made its way up from my chest at the sight of need. She was ready for me, and the animal part of my brain fought to flip her over and shove my rock-hard cock up inside her to the hilt, but the human part of me knew better.
With an appreciative moan, I dove in between her spread thighs and dragged my tongue through her parted folds in one long stroke, ending with a flick across the hard little nub up top.
“Ohhhmigoddess, yes!” Poppy hissed, even as her entire body tensed under my ministrations and her thighs clamped shut around my neck.
I licked up along her slit again, taking care to swipe her clit once more, and was rewarded when she buried her fingers in my hair with a whimper.
Her taste was like nothing I’d ever had before, feminine and powerful, going straight to my cock and saturating my brain to the very stem. I lapped at her soft cunt, lost for the world as her clutching hands guide me higher until my lips closed around her hard needly little clit.
“Please, Jackson, right there, please,” she breathed, and I chuckled roughly at her neediness and sucked deep.
“Oh! Oh, I… Oooh, yes!”
The pain in my scalp when she yanked hard on my hair was numbed in a rush of overwhelming desire as her pussy gave in to my mouth, gushing wet heat as she seized in climax. I’d never had a woman come that quickly, and masculine pride tinged my already testosterone-fueled mind as I gave her a couple of gentle suckles before I looked up, wiping her juices off my chin with one hand.
She was flushed and breathless, her ginger hair a mess around her pretty face and her soft little mouth an open, shocked “o.” Her thighs now splayed wide open for me, guiding my vision to where it wanted to go the most.
“Oh, wow, Jackson,” she whispered brokenly. “How did you…? I’ve never…”
I didn’t answer. Wasn’t capable of answering. Her scent was in my nostrils and deep in my lungs, her climax still wet against my skin, and my inner Animal was done waiting.
“Oof!”
Poppy’s surprised noise ended in a grunt when I got to my legs in one fluid motion, pulled her off the counter, and spun her around. I pressed my knees in between her thighs, keeping them parted while I opened my jeans and finally let my achingly hard cock spring free.
She looked at me over her shoulder, and I pressed her down against the surface with my left hand, fisting my cock with the other.
“Jackson,” she moaned, but if it was a protest it was lost in the breathy quality of her voice as she stood bent over her own kitchen counter, dress hiked over her hips and legs spread—ready and waiting for her alpha to mount.
I growled with appreciation at the sight of her flushed, open lips dripping with eagerness for my cock. I pressed inside of her in one long, smooth push.
“Oh, wow. So. Big!” she gasped, a pained note sneaking into her voice. Some part of my brain wanted to take it slow, to make sure she was comfortable and ready for more, but unfortunately for her, it wasn’t in control. With a snap of my hips I rocked against her, driving my cock deep again—and again.
Poppy’s moans turned to hard gasps, her knuckles going white from clutching so hard at the kitchen counter. I groaned out for every blissful embrace of her fluttering walls against my cock, thankful that despite her mewls and whimpers she was still rocking her arse back against me for more. If she’d wanted me to stop, I wasn’t sure I’d be capable.
Nothing had ever felt as good as Poppy’s tight little snatch swallowing the full length of my cock over and over and over again. The slick noises from our union sent electric sparks down my back, making me thrust up into her harder, faster. She was mine to take, mine to conquer. It was as if I’d finally found the very reason I was alive in the depths of her hungry little cunt.
“Gonna fuck you until you can’t move, baby,” I gasped, closing my eyes with bliss when her pussy tightened around me at my words. “Fuck you until you know you’re mine.”
She gasped in confirmation, pushing herself back against me as if she couldn’t bear to be apart for even the short moments between each of my thrusts. I grabbed her by the hips, my Wolf growling in dominance at her attempt to take control, pushed her forward again, and fucked her so hard and fast she yowled like a cat in heat.
Fuck, this was everything I’d ever need—her beautiful body writhing underneath me, her tight little pussy clutching desperately at my cock as I pummeled her into submission, showed her how perfectly we belonged together, how we’d always belong together. My female!
It didn’t take long before Poppy convulsed underneath me, her pussy grabbing my cock in a vise.
I moaned hoarsely as she cried out, her entire body seizing for three long seconds before her wet heat erupted in a fluttering series of spasms that had me seeing white with pleasure.
“Fuck, Poppy!”
“Oh, goddess above,” she whimpered. She rocked her pelvis back against me twice and then collapsed against the counter in a boneless heap, spent.
I braced both hands on either side of her, shaking with the need to keep taking her, but even my Wolf recognized the need to let my female rest for a moment.
I skimmed my lips over her shoulder, hissing when her pussy trembled against my still-hilted cock. “Love you so much.”
“I love you too,” she whispered softly, weakly, still half-gone on her climax.
My chest expanded with bone-deep pleasure, pride, and an odd sense of completion filling me from the inside out. I nuzzled my nose against her sweat-soaked hair, licking at the salty taste at the nape of her neck. Mine.
Poppy shuddered at my attention to her sensitive skin, making a cute little mewling sound that had my cock throbbing inside of her.
I took it as a sign she was ready for more.
My first thrust was slow, but deep, and had her groaning.
“Not here,” she gasped, twisting in my grasp to try and get off my cock.
I was having none of it. I bit down on her slim neck and kept her in place, making her take my cock to the hilt once more.
“Mmhoh, I’m serious! My breasts are getting smushed and—oh—and my hips are going to have bruises from the edge. Takeoh—take me to the bedroom!”
“Demanding little bitch,” I growled against her neck, but I obliged her nonetheless. She moaned softly when I slid out of her puffy sex, and squealed when I hoisted her up over my shoulder so I could carry her to the bedroom.
I threw her on the bed, and this time she must have been expecting it, because instead of a squeal she just let out a soft huff when her back hit the mattress. And then she spread her legs wide and raised up on her elbows so she could look at me. Challenging me, inviting me.
I was on her before I’d even registered the feral snarl ripping from my chest at the sight of her lewd display.
She groaned with me when I pushed in to the hilt once more, and cried out as I unleashed every pent-up desire I’d had rolling in my gut since the first time I walked into her fucking café.
I fucked her with everything I had, fucked her so hard the bedsprings groaned in protest and the headboard slammed against the wall, breaking through paint and plaster. Her tormented screams drowned out the wet sq
uelch of her pussy’s submission and my own, panting breath, but still her nails raked at my back, drawing me closer against her.
She came again before I pulled out to flip her over.
It was an instinctive action, my Wolf’s snarling demand to have her on her hands and knees in front of me.
It wasn’t until I felt my own climax break through the blurry barrier between Man and Animal, overwhelming my senses with relief so strong it was nearly painful, I understood why.
As my teeth clamped shut around the back of her neck and bit savagely into her soft flesh, I howled with my Wolf in euphoria and triumph.
I’d found my mate.
And now, she was mine for eternity.
12
JACKSON
It was still dark outside when my consciousness slowly returned. I groaned, burying my head into the pillow to shake the groggy feeling, and got a noseful of Poppy’s delicious scent.
Poppy.
Slowly, I opened my eyes as the sense of the warm, heavy press of a woman’s body in my arms sank in.
Despite the lack of light, my sharp senses could easily make out the sleeping woman I held against me so tightly as if I’d been afraid someone would try to steal her from me while I slept.
She was curled up on her side with her back pressed against my chest, and I could feel the roundness of a breast and her soft stomach underneath my palms. My cock, though thoroughly satisfied, stirred as I stroked her pliant flesh gently. Memories of how she’d panted and moaned underneath me while I fucked her with a desperation I hadn’t even known I possessed flashed for my mind’s eye, and I dipped my head to kiss her shoulder and stroke my nose along the slope of her neck.
Fuck, it had felt so good. Easily the best sex I’d ever had—and it had been with a witch, of all things.
I smirked against her warm skin at that realization. Somehow, the idea that what she was had ever mattered seemed so ridiculous now. All I cared about was that she was mine—
