by Lea Jade
Instead, I tell her we should stop.
She’s clearly not in her right mind right now. We both aren’t.
She responds by wrapping both legs around me tight, locking me in. Making me groan as she arches her back, reaching her arms around my neck, dragging me down for another passionate kiss. “If you won’t do it, I will,” she whispers, tugging at the front of her bra until it opens—like a flower in bloom.
The beast rages against the cage I’ve locked him in.
He’s been waiting, wanting to take her since the moment we first scented her. It will take a hell of a lot more than me to stop him, from taking what we both want right now.
No. This lion doesn’t want to sleep tonight.
He’s going to make her his.
HAILE
What are you doing, Haile?
I don’t know. All I can think is, how beautiful his eyes are as they burn into mine, and how soft the caress of his lips is as he kisses me back. And for sure, I can’t get enough of his sexy body, so warm and connected to mine. I’m so small in his arms. Protected. Safe. I inhale deeply, as he rubs his face in my neck. He smells faintly of dry earth and vanilla spices. He smells like home.
The room is spinning. Or my head, I don’t know which. I feel warm and light, both at the same time. I’m in a dream as he gently bites my shoulder and then my neck, dropping hot kisses all over. He drags his lips down to my where my breasts are exposed, teases my nipples with his hot tongue, and then licks a long, wet line down to my where my panties are soaking wet.
“Tell me what you want,” he rasps, as he laps through the material.
He’s going to eat me up.
“I want you,” I say, and mean it.
Hazily, I wonder how many other women he’s devoured in this bed. He must have women falling at his feet. Tens. Hundreds. Thousands? Hell, one is more than I’ve ever had. A virgin priestess is the most powerful of us all. I used to believe it. Now I think the coven keeps us chaste because we’re easier to control.
Even if they’re right, I don’t care.
Nothing matters but the feel of his skin on mine, the taste of him on my tongue, and the weight of him pressing down on me. He’s like a drug—one I can’t get enough of. Why have I never done this before? Why I can’t stop?? The place between my legs aches. Over and over.
I want him more than anything right now.
No. Not want. I need him. Inside me.
I massage my fingers through his thick hair and yank him back up until his warm mouth is on mine again. The craving I have for him hasn’t gone away. Instead, it seems to have intensified, making me squirm. Needing more than this, I stroke his rock-solid abs with my hands, brushing lower, feeling the need in his pants get harder and tighter against me as I quickly undo his belt buckle.
He makes a low, guttural sound. Like an animal. He’s kissing me fast, biting until it almost hurts.
Until he isn’t. Abruptly he pulls away, the ache inside me twists into something unbearable, something unfulfilled. Reluctantly, I release him. He sits back, brown locks ruffled, breathing hard and deep. Regarding me with those golden eyes of his, trying to catch his breath.
“Why?” I whisper, unable to form any other words. It’s as though summer has been taken away early, leaving me in the depths of winter. Alone.
“We should stop,” he says, gently.
I lay there panting, my dress wide open leaving everything on show. Strangely, I don’t feel the need to cover myself up. I’m content to just lie there and gaze up at him. Thoughts swirl around as I try to form a coherent sentence of what I want to say next. But my mind and memory have become a fuzzy mess. I’ve no idea why we should stop. I don’t even remember how we started.
Instead, I yawn, unable to hold it in, and give him my ‘come to bed’ sexy, kitten eyes. Or at least I hope that’s what they are. I’ve never tried them. Except in the mirror or on the cat.
He frowns a little, like he’s in pain, and then gets up off the bed, moving farther way. Could he tell it was my first time? Maybe he doesn’t want me?
I look up at him, blinking. I can hardly keep my eyes open.
“Why did we? Is it… because… virgin or… don’t you like me?” I say, all of my fears coming out at once. I allow my eyelids to close, just for a moment. The warlock swears, or at least I think he does, and then the covers are drawn over me, making me nice and warm—and safe.
In the back of my mind, there’s something I’ve forgotten. Something important. But what? Crap, I really need to wake up.
“Oh, that vamp… my purse,” I mumble to him, remembering as the lights turn out. My purse has everything in it, and I mean everything.
But there’s something else, something even more important. But I can’t think. The world around me is dissolving into dreams and darkness.
The last thing I hear is the warlock cursing again, and a door slamming shut, before I drift away.
Chapter 4
CALEB
With the witch sleeping, I skip a shower and head straight back out. Pausing only to grab my jacket, and then riding my bike to where the wreckage was. Speeding the whole way there.
I’m such an idiot.
I should have remembered the bag she was carrying. The vamps have probably got to it by now. All I could think earlier was getting her to safety. Protecting her in the place I know best. I really didn’t want to leave her alone again. But when she told me to get her purse, something clicked. The alpha in me liked it. I don’t even want to think why.
When I get to the lake, everything is as we left it. I move along the side of the cab, sniffing the air for any trace of blood suckers. The interior looks a little scorched up at front, but the fire has long since fizzled out. The vampire is gone too. I was hoping to find a pile of ash in the driver’s seat, but there’s not even that. Either he’s still alive or the wind has whipped it clean.
I find the witch’s holdall, still intact, in the trunk, and spy her purse and file stuffed with pages falling out of it behind the front seat. The door is jammed shut so it takes me a few tries to pry it open. I check both the purse and bag for her phone and come up empty. Both seem to have survived the fire and nothing looks to be missing, which is good.
I do one last search of the car and find a cell phone under the front seat. A pink one with a cat screensaver. Hers? It’s locked, so I pocket it for later. And take a minute to read through the jumble of notes in the file.
Most of what the witches know, I’m aware of. Like the forensic results showing high matches with lion shifter’s claws and teeth. And that the brutal way the bodies were attacked is more often seen in shifter kills than any other. Vampires are neater, and humans, well they’re just not that powerful.
Except the last victim, Tia Gonzalez. Not the same MO as the others. Still missing, despite the blood found all over the walls and the floor of her home. I was the one who called the authorities, which makes me a suspect. The only suspect, it looks like. Wrong place, wrong time, I guess. The rest is information is about the victims and about me. Mainly about me. They even have a blurry shot of me the day after I took two lionesses from a rival pride, a pride who was persecuting them for being submissive at the time.
It takes two minutes to strap the witch’s bag and purse to the back of the bike and pocket her phone. I’m just about to ride back when I notice another file on the grass, next to the car door. It must have fallen out.
Inside are the records of the evidence found at each crime scene. A bunch of items on each record are highlighted. The same thing found every time in each victim’s mouth and scattered around the body. Remnants of woodworm and masticated sage on the tongue and lips. Seven blood candles, a ceremonial knife coated in the victim’s blood, a circle of tourmalinated quartz stones all cracked and broken, and the rotten carcass of a small, dead animal.
I get a surreal sense of knowing but not knowing.
I’ve seen this before somewhere.
A noise behind m
e makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I turn quickly with a snarl, but there’s no one there. I scan the darkness, my lion eyes picking out little movement. The odd mouse and bird. Nothing more.
Checking my watch, I realize it’s time to go. As I mount my bike, after stuffing the file into the holdall, the last page of the record flutters in the wind, and I catch it before it veers off. It’s a note. Hand-written and clipped to the outside of the page:
Candle, knife and Schorl stones for a blood ritual.
Sacrificial blood gives the caster protection.
Sage, often used to power blessings.
Can be mixed with woodworm to increase intensity three-fold.
I don’t go back to my house right away. Instead, I take a detour to the hotel which Kaiser is staying at, close to the centre of town. It takes several minutes longer than usual to drive to the hotel, avoiding the main roads and turning back on myself a few times. I don’t see anyone tailing me. But, if someone is following, I’d rather not make it easy for them.
On the way there, my mind is consumed with images of the priestess on my bed. Spread out for me to devour. What just happened… was unacceptable. Amazing. Mind-blowing. More than I could handle.
But unacceptable.
I curse under my breath. I’m such a dick. Can’t even keep it in my pants. I shouldn’t have let that happen. I can’t let it happen again. Salve or no salve, she’s a virgin for fate’s sake. And she’s human.
Beautiful. Alluring. Delicate. Too good for me. She deserves better, someone special for her first time not some wounded, scarred lion.
But I know I’m already in deep. I can feel my beast choosing her without rhyme or reason. Every time I think of taking her to Kai my lion rumbles a threat. Whatever she’s done to me in the last few hours, it feels irreversible.
I’m going to pine when she’s gone.
But that’s preferable to dragging her into my own personal political hell. She might survive my beast if he claims her, but what then? She’ll be bonded to me in every possible way. There’s no going back after that.
I need to see her safely to Kai, and then leave her the hell alone.
When I get the hotel, the maître d’ informs me the warlock is already waiting for me at the back of the bar. I had sent Kai a message earlier asking to meet somewhere a little less public. That he works for the Council and I’m a suspect in a murder case, being reason enough.
Kai, dressed in his trademark black, looks up when he sees me from his place at the bar. He doesn't bother getting to his feet and I don't expect him to. It’s been a few years since we saw each other and standoffs between the Tigers and the Lions warrants the cold reception he gives me.
I'm surprised to see the ruby red earring in the shape of a cross still pins his left ear. It’s the mark of a warlock on business, one I thought he’d given up a long ago. He still smells the same, like gunpowder and cedar wood.
I take a stool while the bartender brings me some sparkling water. A stiff drink would be ideal, but I need a clear head if I’m to keep my lion in check, especially, after the day I’ve just had.
Kaiser isn’t just a warlock, he’s also a psychic gun for hire, and it’s the work he does for the Council which gives him diplomatic immunity to come and go as he pleases. Lately, though, I notice he’s been doing a fair amount for the tigers, so his allegiance could be a little biased.
Not that I’m complaining.
His love for stripes is the reason I’m here.
“Assassin black looks good on you,” I say, raising my glass. I can’t help but grimace. Seeing my old college buddy brings back memories, painful ones i’d forgotten about. Particularly about Sienna, my mate who died last year. Not what I need right now.
Kai stares at me, eyes dark, mouth tightening.
“Cal, let’s not fuck about. Where’s my witch?”
His witch? My lion grumbles, low in my throat. A warning.
“She’s fine, sleeping it off,” I say off-handedly, letting the air out of my lungs and sitting back against my stool. It wouldn’t do to get riled up over a slip of the tongue. No. This is not a rerun of what happened with Sienna. Kaiser’s never even met the witch.
“What the fuck, Cal? Sleeping what off? You were supposed to escort her to the hotel and ask her some questions on the way. Not take her back to your place and screw her senseless.”
“That’s not what happened.”
“You forget, I know you Caleb. This is what you do.”
“Look, she was tired. I took her somewhere safe. I will bring her back in the morning. No one will even notice she’s missing.”
“I know she’s missing,” he snaps, eyes narrowing at me.
I don't react, instead I down my water and then pour myself a real drink, over ice, straight from the bottle of bourbon next to him.
Screw being sober.
He watches me for a minute, and then sighs, deeply, letting all the air out of his lungs. “You have until sunrise.”
“Two hours after sunrise,” I counter.
“One hour after sunrise and no later. If she’s not in the lobby of the hotel by then, Cal, I swear—”
“She will be.”
“Good.” He finishes his drink and then pours another immediately after. The bottle was probably full at some point but is now practically empty. How long has he been sitting here drinking? A few hours? Under his smoky, cedar scent, is the sharp tang of a body rapidly expelling blood toxins in sweat. Now might be a good time to talk.
“About the deal we discussed...” I start.
“No deals. I’m done making deals with you.”
“This wasn’t a deal, it was a favor. You owed me, remember? Anyway, I found something.”
“Oh? Good or bad?”
“It’s not good.” I shake my head.
“Is this connected to the evidence the Vale have on you?”
I nod. “It’s not as damning as I thought, but it’s enough for them to get a power of three out here.”
“You do know I’m part of that three, don’t you,” he says darkly.
I shrug. “It’s your job.”
He takes a slug of his drink and looks at me. “So, what’s this evidence?”
I was a little taken aback, days ago, when Kai told me he doesn’t always know the details of a job, only what the client needs him to do. In this case, to protect the priestess and loan her his power if she needs it. It would have been a hell of a lot easier to get this information if I could have just asked him.
I pick up the files that I took out of the witch’s bag and hand them to him, observing as he flips through. His expression unflinching when he gets to the images. “So, the killer was trying to break a curse?”
“That's what it implies. There are only two lions who benefit from that.”
He frowns. “You and…?”
“My father,” I sigh. “I grew up around this kind of stuff, just after my mother died. He was convinced it was the curse that killed her. Though, I never believed in any of that hex bullshit.”
“Good, because curses don’t exist,” he drawls, passing the files back and leaning over the bar to catch the waiter.
He looks back at me for a second. “Wait, you think Raynard did it? Why would he? He’s passing everything on to you.”
“That’s the problem, he’s not. He’s making it extremely difficult since I went a little rogue. Now I’m the main suspect in all this and I don’t have a mate, he’s postponed the ascension.” He may not have gotten his hands dirty directly, but if my father is the one to blame for the killings it will be a shit-storm if I go against him.
The Pride will never forgive me.
Kaiser shifts on his stool, regarding me with glazed, grey eyes as the bartender brings over second bottle. Kai waits until he moves off before speaking. “The tigers are still interested in a parlay with you. I can arrange it.”
“Great, that’s good to hear.”
“On one condition…�
� He pauses to refill his glass and offer me a top-up. I decline. Kaiser looks half-cut as it is, I’ve no idea how he’s holding up.
“You want me to bring the witch in on time?” I offer.
“Forget the witch. What I want is something the witch has.”
My eyes narrow. This was not what I was expecting. “What would that be?”
“A necklace, or to be specific the stone inside the necklace. It would be beneficial to both of us if you somehow appropriate it from the priestess while you have her in your possession. I would have done it tonight, of course, before our third arrives. Now you’ll have to do it for me.”
“I’m not stealing from the coven.”
“Not to gain the throne?” He raises a brow in askance. He’s right. Without backing from the tigers, the only other way I’ll inherit the throne from my father is by taking a mate from a pure bloodline. Which is not happening anytime soon, not if I can help it.
“I know you’ll not take a mate, not after Sienna,” Kaiser adds, as though reading my mind. My lion bristles at Kaiser even speaking her name. There was a time when he was obsessed with her, during high school. We both were. But it was me she chose.
And look where that got her.
Part of me wonders if Kai blames me for her death. He disappeared not long after her funeral. No word. Nothing. While I was grieving at the end of a bottle, he was no doubt selling his magic to the highest bidder.
And now he’s back, getting me to steal magic artefacts for him. Good to know nothing changes.
I run my hands through my hair. Nothing is ever easy.
It’s unfortunate that our father lives in the dark ages. The tigers, at least, think differently. If I can convince them to support my claim along with the raptors, I can take the throne without a mate, and without an uprising. Which is the only goddam reason I’m stuck doing any of this. Murder accusations aside, without the throne I may as well be dead.
