by Setta Jay
He ran his fingers through his wet hair. She enjoyed the rain, and the sight of what it was doing to his shirt held her attention almost as much as his wet hair and skin, but even that couldn’t fully distract her from his tone. “What do they send out?” She wasn’t sure she was going to enjoy the answer. As she waited for him to go on, her fingers finally loosened their grip on the soft flannel, but only to secure it better on her body. She was so screwed. She slowly slid her arms inside the rolled sleeves, nearly moaning at the soft caress of the fabric over her wrists. The material hung to her thighs, and the warmth and comfort of it settled deep in her skin. She tried to focus through the confused, needy feelings trying to sweep her away. He was sharing, and she needed to learn what she could. Then she and her siblings would take what knowledge they acquired and decide what to believe, though she felt he was telling the truth.
“They send out demon souls from Hell Realm to Earth in order to possess evil humans. The human gets a boost of strength as the demon takes over and uses the body to do as much damage in the Realm as it can before the body burns out.”
Now she wondered at some of the scents she’d come across in all her years; was that something she’d seen?
“The boost of power added to the threat against humanity makes them our problem, but the body is human, so we’re bound not to harm them, which makes the job a pain in the ass.”
She felt that there was more to it. “What else does the Tria do?” She glanced at him and watched his eyes lower to her lips for the tenth time. Was he imagining her mouth around him every time he looked at her lips? Her breath caught. She couldn’t help wondering how good his would feel in a more simple way, wondered what they’d feel like against hers, out on the street, in the rain. Innocent, but still beyond her experience.
His answer drew her attention back. “You’re very smart. No, they also send hell beasts to cause trouble in the other Realms. There are protections against the attacks, but we’re still needed.”
She didn’t like the sounds of that. How dangerous were hell beasts? She would need to learn more about the protections he spoke of.
His next words caught her off guard. “How old are you, Dacia?”
“Haven’t you ever heard that it’s not polite to ask a female that question?” The words came out a little husky. Her eyes shot to him as his wet head tipped back and his deep laughter filled the air. Was that flirting? She’d meant it as an evasion.
Her eyes tracked a drop of water that slid down his very masculine throat. She snapped out of her thrall and asked him the same. “How old are you?” She had a feeling he was truly ancient, beyond even her parents’ ages. How much had he seen?
His eyes shot back to her. “Polite for you, but bad manners for me?” His grin was sexy as hell, and his eyes still sparkled with mirth.
“Yes.” She couldn’t help the slight tilt to her lips. The longer they stayed in each other’s company, the more she wanted to release her claws and shred the shirt from his body. If only to get a glimpse of what hid beneath. She bit her lip.
“Okay, princess. You first.” He cocked a brow in challenge, and she didn’t really see the harm in sharing her age. He couldn’t get any damning information from it. They walked across the empty street, gaining entrance to the wooded area that would lead to the foothills while she spoke. “Thirty.”
This time he stopped, and she turned to face him. His eyes were dark, serious. He stalked toward her, and she found herself retreating, caught off guard by all the intensity she saw there. Had he decided to take her choice away after all? That thought disappointed her. She narrowed her eyes at him as her back hit the trunk of a thick oak tree. He advanced until his hands were above her head and his face was inches from hers. Not touching, but so close, trapping her. She let her claws free and dug them into the tree at her back so that she wouldn’t be tempted to do something she’d regret.
She was fighting for breath when he spoke again. “Have you ever been with a male, Dacia?” Why that question? Why now, and why was it making her so wet watching him fight for control of the beast that was so obviously close to the surface?
His power slid over her neck, and she closed her eyes and bit her lip harder this time. She was seconds from ending it. She wanted him, but it was far too soon. If she touched him, she’d be laid out on the ground and taken, claimed. There would be no going back. There were too many important things to figure out before she allowed herself to succumb.
She wasn’t sure it was wise to voice the truth. He was barely holding it together, and she wasn’t sure he needed to know the answer.
“Tell me,” he demanded, and gooseflesh lined her skin at the power in his voice. He was trying to force the answer instead of teasing it out of her. He was close to losing it.
His use of power, of force, grated, and she narrowed her eyes. “Don’t order me. I may not be thousands of years old, but I’m not a child.”
He growled at her, and it sent shivers of delight over her skin, enough that she arched her swollen breasts toward him and nearly moaned.
His eyes lowered to the aching mounds, and another growl issued from his lips. “Dacia, answer the question.”
She answered without thought. “No.”
“No, you won’t answer, or no other male has had you?” His breath sawed out through clenched teeth, and she heard bark shredding above her head.
“No other male.”
A pained noise left his lips before his lids lowered to slits, focusing on her mouth. “Has anyone ever tasted your lips?”
Her breathing was out of control. Would he kiss her now? Headlights, well down the road, caught her eyes and snapped her out of it.
“I need to run.” Her voice was shakier than she wished, too out of her mind and seconds from pouncing on him.
“Tell me if you’ve let anyone have any piece of you.” His voice was low, demanding.
“Why does it matter?”
His eyes flashed with more heat, darkened to something more than amber. He had his answer.
He moved less than an inch from her face. His voice was a pained growl that sent vibrations through her entire body. “It makes me fucking insane knowing I will be the only one who’s ever taken your gorgeous little body, but to think that I’ll be the first to sample your lips makes me hurt, princess. To be your first for everything, the only male to ever touch you, is making it harder not to just take what’s mine right now. Give you what your body’s weeping for.” His breath mingled with hers as a mixture of anticipation and fear filled her. Fear that she was too weak to fight this. “I want to show you how good it will be when your tongue tangles with mine as I spread your legs wide and thrust inside your pretty pink pussy. I can smell just how much you want that, princess. Will you give it all to me? Tell me to make you feel good?”
She was getting drunk on his scent and heat as much as the soft seductive words. He had only used his power to touch her neck and then stopped. He was tormenting her without it, using it would have sent her over the edge. He had to know that… She was already a lit fuse ready to ignite.
More headlights filtered through the rain, and she forced herself to stop this. He wanted her now, but they were playing a dangerous game that ended in eternity, an eternity with a male she didn’t truly know, or trust. She closed her eyes. “I need to run.” The words whispered from her lips; it was the best she could do as she pushed her claws deeper into the tree behind her.
He closed his eyes on a groan and moved from her. His jaw was tight. Gone was the playful, laughing male. The car turned down another road and disappeared, but their crazed lust remained.
She stepped a few feet away and let the change flow over her, managing to include her clothes in the transformation. It was difficult, but she didn’t like the idea of being naked wherever they ended up. No barriers would be too much temptation for them both.
Her muscles relaxed after finally allowing her beast some freedom.
“Don’t run from me.
I won’t stop the instinct to claim you if you do.” A rumbled warning with his wolf glowing in his eyes.
She nodded, understood. If she ran, he would catch her, and his need would be amplified that much more from the chase. Her beast was jumpy, wanting to do exactly what he warned her against.
Chapter 9
Earth Realm
Conn’s mate was destroying him. His animal was lunging against the walls of his mind, the word “claim” a fucking howl in his head. All the blood had rushed to his dick, and he’d nearly ended it when he’d learned of her virginity. Even her soft pouty lips were fucking innocent, and he wasn’t sure how he’d stopped from taking them; it had been her slight frown, disappointment. She was testing him. Wanted to know the choice was still hers. Fuck, she was killing him. She had no idea how the knowledge of her sweet innocence was torturing him.
Shit, he didn’t think she’d even planned to tell him, and his wolf’s body shook at that revelation. At least now he knew to be careful with her. If he’d felt it when taking her the first time… He growled at the thought of what the scent of her virgin blood could have done to him. She looked over; her beautiful golden eyes assessing, fucking gorgeous and damned intelligent even in her beast form. She was a deep midnight just like his wolf but much smaller and completely perfect.
It had been the memory of his sister, Brianne, long ago explaining how things worked for female Immortals that snapped him into realization. Brianne had been irritated, frustrated, and finally explained that finding a male her beast found acceptable to fuck was nearly impossible. That memory filtered in his head when she’d said her age. That and knowing Dacia had lived her short life among humans. He’d almost lost his mind with the realization that she might not have attempted taking a male in that time. He’d never imagined how insanely possessive he’d be for his mate; knowing she was his alone set things off that were beyond him. He was getting almost as feral as Gregoire was with Alyssa. Shit.
Her confirmation turned him into a raging animal he was fighting to contain. Primal didn’t even describe what he was feeling. He’d never been so out of control. His wolf wanted what was his, the rare gift she was. There was a soul-rending need to learn her, make her his, and give her anything and everything for what she would give him.
She was more than he ever imagined, in every fucking way. Each new discovery took him that much deeper. Even the ability to keep her clothes through the transformation instead of leaving them a shredded mess at her feet was impressive. That was not the easiest for any of them when emotions ran high, and her flushed skin and the scent of her wet pussy showed just how jacked up she was.
He didn’t trust her yet, wouldn’t until he learned what she was hiding, and whether a legion of Lykos was about to descend and try to take back their sisters. He had no doubt her secrets were protecting her family, and he appreciated that. She didn’t know him yet, but he was getting off on learning her. He only hoped his dick didn’t snap off before it was over. He saw eminent torture and a lot of jerking off in his future, and he grinned at how well his young mate had tangled both he and his damned beast in knots.
He didn’t think she had a clue the power she wielded with him. Fuck. He wasn’t even sure she knew how strong her abilities were in comparison to other Lykos. When she’d hit him with it in the house, it had made an impact. Nothing he hadn’t been able to counter, but it didn’t match other Lykos, hers was stronger. The mental ability had been a bigger surprise, one that had implications he didn’t think even she understood.
He looked over at her. So beautiful and so much fucking grace in her small frame. He was fighting his own animal as he tracked and paced with her. He allowed her to choose the path, curious and watchful. He doubted she’d attempt to lead him into some kind of trap. At least not while his brothers held her sisters.
He was holding on by a thread as his wolf ran beside her. Only a hint of sound surrounded them. Animals hid as they ran through the foliage. Rain fell from the leaves onto dark fur. She was fast, might closely equal him in speed, which was another indication of her parentage.
She turned away from the trail to the overlook he’d been visiting every night. It was interesting that she was taking him away from the trail she’d used before. She held her secrets, and he was looking forward to discovering them. He only wished he could do it with his hands and mouth instead of his power and voice, but he was sure his little she-wolf would hold him back until she couldn’t take it anymore. He couldn’t wait until her control finally snapped. His controlled female was primed to snap. She’d been so contained while taking her pleasure. He’d seen her beast fighting for more; his beautiful she-wolf’s animal rode close to the surface. One day she’d break free, he knew instinctively that her wolf had claws, and he couldn’t fucking wait to feel them in his skin.
Do you have a path in mind, princess? he asked her. He grinned inside at the small misstep she made when hearing him in her mind again. They were already miles from the town and running toward Cynthia’s demolished home, and he didn’t want her getting too close. He and his brothers had cleared the last few land mines the human emergency crews missed as they doused the flames from the explosion. That didn’t seem to matter to his wolf. Even with the danger past, he didn’t like it. The last time he’d been there was to set up the cameras that monitored the area, just in case the Mageia came back. He doubted that would happen, but hadn’t wanted to leave anything to chance.
No, I haven’t been in this direction, she replied to him mentally, finding the link he’d used to connect with her, but probably still unsettled that it was there.
He scented something in the air, and his beast didn’t like it. Stop. He infused his voice with enough command to halt her wolf. They were moving at Immortal speeds and stopping took a second. Her animal responded quickly, which was the point. He was the most powerful of all Lykos, and the beasts knew and obeyed when he commanded it.
What? she asked. Her stance was alert as she sniffed the air. Humans?
Mageia, evolved humans with some magical ability with the elements.
That’s the difference in their scent? I assumed the difference was illness. He heard the curiosity in her voice.
They’re gone, but I need to look around for just a second. I want you to stay here. He knew she wouldn’t run, at least not far. Not when he still had her sisters. It wouldn’t matter if she did, he would find her, and if she incited his beast, she’d find herself claimed, pinned and screaming her release no matter where he caught up to her. He didn’t need to give her another warning.
Are they dangerous?
This group is, but not all are.
He quietly stalked around her and moved to check the perimeter of the site. The scent was slowly fading with the light rain. There were chemical smells left over from the explosion that had leveled the building weeks ago. He didn’t like it.
*****
In taking them on a path away from her sisters’ home, she’d landed in something else. Dacia wasn’t sure what she was sensing. She couldn’t distinguish whether she was feeling danger or just the obsession of her animal. So many roiling emotions she was trying to understand. Anxious. Her damned wolf had started snarling the second he left her side. Every feeling was new, different, and needed deciphering.
She paced as she watched him. His beast was huge, beautiful, with deep obsidian fur that begged for her human fingers. When they’d started, she was nearly lost in the euphoric emotion coming from her animal. She’d never felt such a sense of freedom and utter sense of safety, enough that it left her fighting for breath. She’d spent her life watchful, on guard, making sure humans weren’t hunting anywhere near where she ran.
She hadn’t even scented the humans, Mageia, until he’d ordered her to stop. That power had grated against her, but her animal ate up every bit of his command. All the changes were just so damned much to process. That odd secure feeling and the fact that he’d been using their telepathic connection. Having the mental li
nk in and of itself left her reeling and distracted. The permanence of it was beyond disquieting and left her stomach churning. It didn’t feel anything like the connection to her siblings. It was intimate and arousing. Intense, just like everything else about him.
Her animal was getting more agitated, and she was at a loss at how to calm it. There were so many scents coming from the destruction ahead. Subtle, as she was still several hundred feet from the first debris of what was once a big home, but still throwing her off. The bitter scent of ash was burning her nose, and her body was warming with her beast’s irritation.
She paced back and forth, narrowing her gaze on her surroundings, but always tracking back to Conn’s muscular flanks. She knew better than to follow. She didn’t know what they were up against, but he did. She watched as he stalked forward and looked up in the trees closer to the destruction. She followed his gaze and saw something small and black. A camera hidden in the foliage? Something a human would barely see if they were standing beneath it. She frowned. He tracked around the area, slowly. The wood fencing around the property was demolished in spots, and there were tracks all over from the one road she saw to her left. Probably from when emergency crews came in and doused the flames. The faint scent she’d caught when they’d stopped was slowly filtering away. Whoever these Mageia were, they’d been gone for a few hours.
Conn disappeared around a partially erect wall and what was left of a fireplace. A small glimmer of moonlight shone through the dissipating clouds and gave the scene an eerie quality. Was this how he’d found her? It was too close to her new town to disregard the possibility. Another question to ask when he came back. She looked around some more. Trees had been thinned closer to the home, but were thicker toward the fences.
She didn’t like it there, and her animal was growling and furious in her head. Was her wolf so damned attached to the male that he couldn’t get more than a few hundred feet away without it losing its mind? That was an uncomfortable thought.
