by J. L. Weil
For the briefest of moments, I pulled away. Was I making a mistake?
Every pore in my body was aware of Torent. His mouth reclaimed mine, and I was no longer thinking at all. Power soared inside me, the fire spreading fast and wildly.
His hands dove into my hair, fingers raking desperately to pull me closer.
“Tell me this is okay?” he murmured gruffly. “I’ll stop if this isn’t what you want.” The idea sounded as if it pained him, but I knew from the bottom of my heart it would only take one word from me and he would stop.
I swallowed, letting my hands frame either side of his face. “I want this. I want you,” I whispered, brushing my lips across his.
His entire body relaxed into mine, and I paused to shed my shirt. He watched my every move, hardly breathing. A ravenous, primal hunger darkened his eyes that were more gold than violet. I should have been afraid or at the very least cautious, but I felt neither.
Gentle hands explored my body, and I tried not to let my insecurities get in the way.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said, tracing lazy patterns over my belly.
I trembled at his touch.
“Are you scared?” he asked, gazing into my eyes.
I’d never seen such a color before, the way his human and demon eyes blended together. I was awestruck by him. “No. I’m not afraid. Not of you. Maybe a little of how you make me feel.”
His head angled to the side, regarding me with a devastating smile. “How do I make you feel?”
Every fiber in my body was screaming for me to tell him that I loved him. Instead, I showed him. Fisting my fingers into his silky hair, I ground my lips to his, yielding completely to the storm swirling inside me. Everything beyond this room, beyond Torent, became a void of darkness.
My bare legs hooked behind his, and I ran my ankle down his muscular calf. He breathed my name over and over again. I couldn’t tell where I ended and he began. He was mine, and I was his. Our bodies were meant to be together; I didn’t know how else to describe it. The connection between us was like fire, burning and intense. We clung to one another, body to body, as the shimmer of pleasure glistened over our skin. The only sound in the room was the beating of our hearts in perfect wild harmony.
Afterward, I lay in his arms, our legs intertwined, and I told him I loved him . . . in my head.
The next time I woke up, beams of warm sunlight were taking their first peek over the horizon as the last dusting of stars winked out of the sky. Utter calmness seemed to settle over the world.
I stretched out in bed, my heart bursting with happiness and so many other emotions. Why did it feel like this demon belonged in my bed—at my side?
I didn’t want to start the day. In fact, I wanted to stay here with Torent, but I doubted Mom or Gigi would agree. They would be getting up soon, and it would be wise if Torent was gone before then, but looking at him sleeping peacefully beside me, I didn’t have the heart to disturb him. Plus, he was mesmerizing to stare at.
I should really stop, but I couldn’t help myself.
Lifting a hand, I brushed a stray strand of hair off the side of his face and watched his lips slowly begin to curve.
“Good morning,” he said huskily, his eyes still closed.
My mouth echoed his grin. “Hey.”
This didn’t need to be awkward, so I told myself to be cool, and hey was what I’d come up with. Real cool.
Those long legs stretched like a predator cat’s after a long night’s nap. “How did you sleep?”
My cheek pressed into the top of my hands as I turned on my side. “I survived the night, and my window’s still broken.”
His lips curled. “My job here is done.”
And I didn’t kill him while he slept—that was something. Perhaps the hex was only effective on animals and plants?
I loved my wishful thinking, but it gave me something to cling to—hope.
“Mallory!” Mom shouted my name from down the hall. “You’re going to be late for school.”
Shit. I’d completely forgotten it was a weekday. There would be no lazy morning snuggles.
I bolted upright on the bed, my sudden wide eyes bouncing from the closed door to Torent. His dark messy hair was spread out over the white pillow. He didn’t so much as flinch at the sound of my Mom’s voice.
“What are you doing?” I shrieked in a hushed whisper. “You’ve got to go. Now!” I said, pushing at his heavy body.
Why did he have so many muscles? It made shoving him off the bed nearly impossible.
Sitting up, he ran his hand through his hair. “You look cute frazzled.”
Oh, my God. He was still naked. I was naked! I jumped out of bed, throwing on a shirt and locating his discarded shirt and jeans.
“Quick, get dressed,” I ordered, throwing the clothes at him. The shirt landed on his face. I wasted no time crossing back to the bed. My fingers latched on to his arm, and I yanked.
With an oomph, Torent tumbled to the floor.
“Mallory, are you okay?” Mom’s voice carried through from the other side of the door.
“Yes, just getting dressed,” I hollered back, buying myself a few minutes.
Torent looked up at me from the floor. “You’re lucky I don’t pull you down here with me.”
I blew at the disarray of hair that had fallen into my face. “Now is not the time for games, Stark. And why aren’t your clothes on yet?”
His smile was troublesome. “Is my nakedness bothering you?”
“Yes! And unless you want my mom to string you up by your balls, you need to move your fine ass.”
The grin on his lips did not waver. He was not in the least intimidated by my threat. “It is a pretty spectacular ass.”
“Torent,” I groaned, and it was enough to get him moving. As he finally dressed, I scanned the room and realized I had a problem. Panic tore inside me. “How the hell did you get in here?” I asked, realizing I needed a way to get him out of my room undetected.
“Through the window,” he answered, blasé.
Both our heads whipped toward the broken and taped up glass.
“Shit,” I mumbled under my breath. “That isn’t going to work now.” My fingers dashed through my hair as I racked my brain for a plan.
His pants were on now but unbuttoned as he slipped his T-shirt over his head. “Don’t panic. We’ll figure something out.”
Too late.
My pulse had already quickened, my chest tightening. “You’d better hurry and come up with a stellar idea, because I’ve got nothing.”
A light rap of knuckles sounded on my door. “Honey? Gigi wants to know if Torent wants breakfast.”
My face fell. Damn. Damn. Damn. Living with a bunch of magical nymphs was going to be hell on my dating life . . . now that I had one. There was no going back after last night.
The notorious demon’s lips twitched. “I would love breakfast,” he mouthed.
I elbowed him in the gut and went to the door, throwing it open. I tried to angle my body in such a way that Torent’s form was obscured.
“I can explain.” The words popped out of my mouth.
Mom stood on the other side of the door attempting to school her expression, but I caught the sparkle of amusement in her eyes. Her perfect daughter getting caught with a boy in her room. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was a bit proud too.
“You think you’re the first person to sneak a boy into this house? I’ve got a tip for you. Nothing gets past Gigi’s eyes. I learned that the hard way.” She tweaked the end of my nose. “Morning, Torent,” she said, her gaze going past me into my bedroom, where Torent was standing with his hands shoved into his jeans.
Those vibrant violet eyes glinted with humor. “Good morning, Ms. Whitt.”
“Didn’t I tell you to call me Wendy?” She wrinkled her nose. “Ms. Whitt makes me sound old.” And Mom definitely didn’t want to be that.
“He was just leaving,” I interjected before things could pos
sibly get any weirder.
“Uh-huh,” Mom said, pursing her lips. “Just don’t be late for school again, okay?” She turned and strutted down the hall, her hips swinging from side to side.
I shut the door and leaned my back against it. Why does this stuff happen to me? I wanted nothing more than to climb under my bed and never leave my room again, let alone have to face Gigi.
Torent, seeing the distraught expression on my face, laughed. “This has been the most fun I’ve had in a while. You’re something else.”
The features on my face remained impassive. “Not funny.”
“It kind of is.”
“Oh, yeah?” I grabbed the closest thing I could find and chucked it at his head. He caught the fuzzy slipper midair, laughing harder. “You’re the one who is going to be doing the walk of shame into class this morning,” I snapped, thinking stupidly that would wipe the smirk off his lips.
The joke was on me.
“It was worth it,” he said, his deep tone sexy as sin.
My heart cartwheeled.
Chapter 11
Torent had returned my car last week good as new. You’d never be able to tell the windshield had been shattered. We drove separately to school, and I told myself some space was a good thing, especially after the embarrassing morning. My cheeks had never been so red when I shuffled downstairs, ushering Torent out. Gigi didn’t say a word, but I didn’t doubt I would get one of her talks after school.
Not that I minded them. Truthfully, most of Gigi’s advice was spot on. My family might be eccentric, but living with all women had taught me how to be strong and independent.
At lunch, Beck and I drove over to Sakura Buffet to grab something to eat. It was close to school, and the service was quick. We didn’t always leave campus for lunch, but today I needed to get out of the stuffy classrooms for a bit, and my sudden craving for Chinese food was too mighty to ignore.
A little bell rang over the door as we walked over the threshold and into the dining room. We went up to the buffet bar. The cashier rang up our orders and handed us two plates. Beck and I moseyed down the line, filling our plates with sweet and sour chicken, rice, noodles, egg rolls, and some kind of beef.
Spotting an empty booth that overlooked the parking lot, we slid in and set our plates down.
“God, I’m starving,” I said, picking up my fork.
“Maybe it might have something to do with your late nights with Torent?” Beck prodded. “Have you taken my advice?”
He was convinced having sex with Torent would loosen me up. I hated to admit he might have been right.
Something in my expression must have triggered his internal sex alarm. “Oh. My. God. You did it, didn’t you? You actually took my advice.”
Twirling my fork in the soft noodles, I did everything I could to keep a straight face, including shoving the fork into my mouth.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I mumbled, in what sounded like one long word.
He picked up his egg roll and dunked it into some sweet and sour sauce.
“Then why am I still detecting tension in your aura?” he countered, calling my bullshit.
Damn wolf senses. Time for a quick topic change before half the restaurant got intimate details about my love life.
“We have important things to discuss,” I said, leaning over the table and dropping my voice.
He waved his egg roll in the air. “What could possibly be more important than what Torent can do in the bedroom?”
I rolled my eyes, but a hint of a smile curved my lips. The memories were too incredible to suppress. I shook my head. Focus, Mal. And not on Torent’s body. “I need to break a hex. What do you got?”
A scoop of rice that was halfway to his mouth fell off his fork. “You figured out it’s a hex?”
The door jingled behind us, and a group of kids from our school sauntered in, including Brooklyn and her nymph cronies.
“Shhh. I’d rather not have the whole school talking about me . . . more than they already are,” I added at the lift of Beck’s brow.
He stabbed a piece of chicken with the end of his fork. “We need code words for this shit, considering it keeps coming up.”
Talking about the supernatural world out in the open was forbidden. Humans might overhear.
“I’m open to suggestions, but I really need your help.”
“Beck to the rescue. What kind of . . . uh, cake are we talking about?”
“Cake?” I echoed. “That’s the word you chose?”
His shoulders lifted up in a lazy shrug. “I’m eating. What did you expect? It was the first thing that popped into my head.”
“It’s the kind of cake that kills animals and plants. A death cake,” I whispered.
His silver eyes went wide. “Jesus, Mal. You sleep with a demon, and he serves you cake afterward? I never would have pegged Torent as that kind of guy.”
I rolled my eyes. “He isn’t. The cake has nothing to do with him. It’s my father who baked the cake and burned it.”
This whole food analogy was absurd. Next time I had something secret and important to discuss with Beck, it was not going to be in a public place. Some lessons about being a supernatural were harder to implement into my daily life.
He swallowed, trying to control the shock on his face and not choke at the same time. “Your father?”
I nodded. “I dug up some dirt on him after I went to Peacock Lake with Torent. Remember the whole milkshake incident?”
“How could I forget? It’s going to go down in HFH history as one of the greatest moments ever.”
Suppressing another series of eye rolls, I continued to tell him what I’d learned about my father and Brooklyn’s family without actually referring to anything supernatural. I then told him about the window last night and why Torent had spent the night but left out the other details. The last thing I needed was Beck to go off on another sex tangent.
“So I need to figure out how to throw out the cake before it poisons someone I love.” Or destroys me.
“Got it. When it comes to investigation, I’m your guy.” I could already see the wheels spinning in his head. Research and snooping were Beck’s specialty. He was the nerdy king, in a really cool way.
“That’s what I was counting on.” If anyone could find something about a death curse, it was Beck.
“How much time do we have before things go boom?” he inquired.
Boom? I sure as hell hoped things didn’t explode. “I’m not sure. It seems to be progressing though.”
“Let’s rendezvous after school. I know someone who might be able to help. Have you mentioned anything to your mom?”
I crossed my legs under the table. “Not about the cake. We talked about my father and what happened that night, but she’s already carrying so much guilt. I’d rather not involve her unless I have to.”
Beck raised his brows. “And Torent?”
Shoving the rice around on my plate, dread wormed its way into the bottom of my belly, making the food I’d eaten roll. “He’s already involved.”
Beck gave me one of his shithead grins. “I knew it. You loooove him.”
I flung a pea at him. “Say that again and I’ll bend that fork around your neck.”
His grin only grew.
What the hell were friends for if not to help you when shit was about to hit the fan? Having a shifter nerd for a best friend was handy. It was as if the universe knew I would need someone like him when I moved to Havenwood Falls to keep me out of danger.
“I want to hear more about what happened last night, and not the window thing—the stuff after that.” Beck waggled his brows.
School had ended, and the two of us were in my car, driving to someone’s house. He had given me directions and instructed me to drive. Like the good little sheep I was, I followed. I didn’t have any other options. If I didn’t need to keep both hands on the wheel or risk going off the road, I would have whacked him on the back of the head.
“I’m a walking death time bomb, and you want to talk about my sex life?”
He looked at me without blinking. “Duh. How else am I going to live vicariously through you?”
“Where are we going?” I asked again, attempting to divert the conversation for the fifth time since school ended.
He glanced sideways at me. “I know what you’re doing.”
I smiled at him and batted my eyes. Of course he did. I’d been avoiding his attempts all day to get me to dish the deets on my night with Torent. Some things were meant to stay private.
“She’s a witch.” That was all the information he revealed. Just who was this mysterious witch?
It made sense to seek out another witch’s help to break a hex. “And you think she can break the curse?”
“That’s the thing about curses. They’re tricky. It depends on the type of curse and the magic the witch used to cast it. If she can’t break it, then maybe she can at least help us search for a way.”
It was hard to not get my hopes up, but if this didn’t shed some light on my situation, I was going to have to involve my mom, and that was the last thing I wanted to do.
We pulled up to a gated community, and my car idled in the cold, the exhaust billowing white smoke behind us as we waited to be let through. Iron fences bordered the upscale neighborhood of Havenwood Heights. My fingers tapped on the steering wheel with nerves and impatience.
“Does she know we’re coming?”
“She knows,” Beck assured with a ghost of a smirk on his lips. “Just wait for it.”
What for what?
And then it happened. There was no gate keeper, no one to wave us through, but the beautifully designed gate suddenly, slowly swung open like magic.
It wasn’t like magic. It was magic. The tang of it scented the air.
“She knows we’re here,” Beck announced, looking smug.
