by Aliyah Burke
“I’ve been attacked by them. They’re real, Shel.”
“How do I kill them?”
Billy released Mal and shifted on the bed. “No more questions about am I sure?” Billy asked, getting comfortable again.
“Mal said she’d seen them. Was attacked by them. I don’t care what else they’re doing here, but since they’re after her, I do need to know how to kill them. And the humans. How do I know how to tell them apart from those who’re not trying to kill my bestie?”
“Okay, this is what I can tell you.” Billy clasped his fingers and leaned forward.
* * * *
“Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
Mal looked up at Billy who stood across from her clad in a dark suit. The ends of his hair brushed his shoulders. His olive skin looked perfect against the attire. He held her hand and stared at her with conviction in his eyes.
“I do,” she said. She wasn’t quite positive how he’d got around the minimum time to get married, or the birth certificates, but somehow he’d pulled it off and here they stood.
He slipped the ring on her finger. Where he’d managed to get it, she didn’t know. Didn’t ask either. The band was silver and black with Celtic designs etched along it. Beautiful in her eyes—and perfect.
He’d insisted on marrying her before they went to The New Order’s headquarters. She wasn’t sure why he’d insisted, but he had. To her left, Mal saw Shelly and the huge smile on her face. The minister’s wife served as their second witness.
“I know pronounce you husband and wife.” The minister looked between the two of them. “You may kiss your bride.”
Billy stepped closer, cupped her face in his palms, and covered her mouth with his. His taste spread through her as his tongue delved deep. Back and forth, he stroked it within her and she found herself melting into him more and more. Energy poured through her and she opened her eyes to see his velvety gaze watching her.
“Mine,” he whispered against her lips. “Forever.”
She stepped back and glanced to Shelly, grateful her friend had been there with her. After they’d taken care of the paperwork, the trio left and walked to the parking lot.
“Married,” Shelly said as they continued. “I’m happy for you, darling.”
She’d explained it to her friend beforehand and Shelly, bless her, had said to follow her heart.
“Thank you.”
“Come along. The meal is on me, then you two go and celebrate your nuptials and I’ll be waiting for you at the time we agreed to go after this place. I’ll stay in the inn’s main room and, erm…take care of some things. I’m guessing you don’t need me for this part.”
Mal blushed and shook her head. “I think we have it covered.”
“We’ll call if we need you though,” Billy added. Mal smacked him in the arm. “Just in case we called, I wanted to give her a head’s up on what it was going to be about.” He nipped her ear. “I’m not expecting to need to do so, not given how you rocked my world out in the forest.”
“Wait!” Shelly stopped and stared. “You? You did the nasty in the forest?” She chortled and clutched her side. “Oh, he is definitely the one for you. Any man who can get your clothes off in the great outdoors is a keeper.” She clapped in glee and Mal had an urge to punch her right in the kisser.
“Shut up, Shel.” Mal didn’t want to take her head away from the protection of Billy’s side.
* * * *
They ate then returned to the inn. Shelly walked off with a wave and wink to her room. Billy unlocked their door and carried her in, over the threshold.
“Does that work?” she asked, as he set her back on her feet.
“Can’t hurt.” He kicked the door closed behind him. “Come here, Mrs Kwan.”
“I can’t believe you actually got me to marry you.”
“Are you having second thoughts?”
“No. I mean… I don’t think so. It feels like the right thing to do”—she touched her heart—“in here. But my brain isn’t so sure.”
“Trust me, Mal.” He shrugged out of his suit jacket.
“I do.” That statement was the absolute truth.
“Good.” He went to work on the rest of his clothes and as he toed off his shoes, he looked at her. “Planning on keeping that dress?”
She looked down at the simple white lace dress. She liked it, a lot. The asymmetric hem, one-shoulder neckline… “Yes.”
“Then, wife, I suggest you get out of it. Quickly.” His words were graveled and she trembled slightly at the implications.
Chapter Eight
Billy watched as his new wife unfastened the necklace he’d asked her to wear during the ceremony then placed it on the dresser, her fingers lingering over it as it slid to the top of the furniture. Mal reached down and pulled her dress off over her head.
“Fuck me,” Billy uttered.
She tossed her hair away from her face and looked at him. He stared at her, grateful to witness the hunger blazing from her eyes, making them darker than they typically were. All he wore currently were his boxers.
She gave him a sassy smile. “Thought that’s what you were going to do to me.”
“I am.” He crooked his finger at her. “Come here.”
Mal was beautiful. There was something about her he couldn’t explain but it called to him on the most visceral of levels. He couldn’t even begin to want someone else. The cosmos had definitely gotten this right. She was all woman. His. And he was letting her know. She draped the dress over the nearest chair then walked to him.
“Look at you,” he said. “All covered in white lace.”
Billy shucked off his boxers and she lowered her gaze to stare at his cock. It bobbed and he resisted the urge to grab himself. He kicked his underwear away and stepped up to her, trailing the tips of his fingers along her shoulders and down her arms.
She trembled but held still. He slipped one finger below the left bra strap and began moving it over her skin. He kept his focus on what he was doing. When it hung down her upper arm, he repeated the action on her right side.
Billy leaned in and dotted little kisses along her shoulders. As he did that, his hands slipped around to her back and teased her with light, fleeting touches. She released small, sexy whimpers from the back of her throat.
It was with one swift flick he undid her bra. “This has to go,” he murmured against her neck.
The satin slid free and fell to the floor, covering part of one foot. She allowed it to remain there. In that instant he knew her attention was on him and what was coming next. He placed more kisses on her. Her head lolled back, allowing him more access to her neck. He breathed against her skin, heating it and from the way she moaned she was enjoying it as much as he was.
Up one side and down the other of her neck, he continued to ply her with tiny brushes of his lips and flicks of his tongue. His hands slowly fell along her sides, down to her waist and the band of her white panties. Without pausing, he hooked his thumbs and drew them down. When he could move her underwear no further without repositioning, he sank to his knees and finished taking them off.
He lifted one leg then the other, continually kissing and touching her as he did. Treasured—that was how he wanted to make her feel.
She stood before him naked, and he rocked back before pushing to his feet. Perfection. This time when he captured her mouth, there was more urgency behind it. He positioned one arm behind her. He dragged his left hand down over her belly until he cupped her pussy.
She whimpered and shifted against him. He slid through the lips and sank a finger into her. She shuddered as her slit gripped him hard. He worked the nub with the heel of his palm, she shattered beneath him. It hadn’t taken much.
Her orgasm poured through her and she trembled as he continued to piston his fingers and grind against her clit. Her juices coated his hand. She gripped him as she struggled to remain standing. Passion swirled in her eyes and he left her full lip
s then pulled out of her pussy.
He used her cream to lubricate his dick before he angled it to enter her. Billy lowered his stance slightly then came up and he was once more inside her.
“Billy!” she gasped.
“Wrap your legs around me, Mal.”
She did and he walked them to the bed, each step driving her onto him and sending shockwaves of pleasure through him. He wasn’t sure how long he was going to last. He wanted to bury himself inside her, so deep she didn’t know where she ended and he began. Wanted them to be one.
At the edge of the bed, he turned and sat. She wriggled on his lap and the move created more spikes of longing in him. He licked his lips then kissed her fast.
Mal undulated her hips and began riding him. Billy grunted and tangled a hand in her hair, wrapping his fingers around the silken strands.
Back and forth she slid. She found a rhythm and worked it. Mal broke the kiss and put them nose-to-nose so they could stare at one another. That was how she kept them.
The intensity grew. In his periphery he could see ribbons of green and purple surrounding their bodies but he never once broke the connection with Mal.
Before their hearts had a chance to slow, Billy rolled over so he was atop her. “Whatever I did to deserve you, Mal, I will never know, but thank you.” He began withdrawing from her heat only to slam back in.
Her eyes widened before she placed the flat of her feet on the mattress. “More.”
“Hell yes.”
They had a few hours before they had to leave and he had every intention of using each second available.
* * * *
“You know what to do, right?” Billy held his wife of a few hours by the shoulders, wishing she would just stay in the car as she’d said she would prior to the wedding.
“Billy. I’ll be fine. I know what’s expected. I’m ready. We’re ready.”
He glanced to her left and fought the frown. Shelly was there as well and this woman looked nothing like the one he was used to seeing. This Shelly had black paint streaks on her face, wore all black attire and had more weapons amassed on her than he would have assumed a woman of her stature could carry. Still, they looked like a second skin on her. Not a bother.
“I’ll be covering the back,” she said. Her hands rested on the gun belt, which emphasized her small waist. A brief look to Mal. “And keeping an eye on her.”
Mal huffed. “I’m not useless.”
“No, but you are my wife and a doctor, so if you could stay safe, I’d appreciate it.” He kissed her.
“So it’s the doctoring skills you’re after. You do remember that Shel is a nurse.”
“I know. But she’s not my wife. Humor me, Mal.”
She twined her fingers into the chain of her necklace. “You’d really prefer me stay in the car, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes.”
She glanced to her friend. Shelly didn’t speak a word, leaving it up to her alone. Part of Billy wished Shelly would back him but he admired her not giving the input. If Mal was going to stay there, it would have to be of her own accord.
Mal met his gaze in the fading light. “Very well. I’ll stay there and remain quiet.”
Billy couldn’t even begin to explain the relief he felt at her words. Another kiss and he shooed her back. Only once she was in the car and hidden by the camouflage net they’d used on the vehicle—thank you, Shelly—did he ward the car. He wasn’t as good as some of his brethren but he could still do a successful warding spell. Any little bit extra to keep her safe.
He met Shelly’s gaze and they set off. He liked she didn’t talk much and seemed content to move in silence. While he didn’t feel as at ease as he would if he had one of his fellow Guardians with him, he had to admit he was impressed with how she’d handled herself thus far. Plus her array of weapons had truly come in handy.
“Billy?”
“Yes, Cale?”
“Everything okay? I feel tension from you.”
“About to hit their headquarters.”
“Alone?”
“No, actually.”
“You’re allowing your mate to assist you?”
“No, she agreed to stay hidden. I’m going in with her friend, Shelly.”
“Another human knows about this?”
“Mal told her. She needed someone to talk to about it.”
“So you’re using this person?”
“Trust me, Cale. Shelly isn’t like most women we meet. This woman is an army unto herself. It’s obvious she can handle herself.”
He signaled for Shelly to take the back. She nodded and slipped away. Seconds later she popped back. He raised his brows.
“Just a thought, but you may want to control that freaky smoky thing hovering around your shoulders. May be a giveaway if they have guards posted.” She grinned then vanished without a sound.
“Everything okay?”
“Yes. I have to go. This woman may give Dracen and Tiarnán a run for their money. I never even heard her moving through the woods.”
“You sound impressed.”
“I am. I have to go.”
“Stay safe, brother. We’re too far away to help.”
“I will.” For the second time the connection broke and he searched for lookouts as he waited for the darkness to fall and aid in his approach. It didn’t take long.
Billy had one last thought about Mal alone in the car then he pushed her to the back of his mind and focused on what was ahead of him. Getting in, getting information, and taking out as many as he could. He flexed his fingers and the weapons that slid there from where he carried them were familiar and comforting.
* * * *
Mal sat in the back seat of Shelly’s off-road vehicle. She was comfortable enough but she didn’t want to remain behind. Was she jealous that Shelly got to go? Not particularly, but she wished she had those skills. She wanted to be part of it, not in the background.
She stretched her legs out on the seat and rotated her ankles. There was no telling how long they were going to be gone. So what am I supposed to do? She grabbed the pendant and ran it along the chain in her hand.
Mal reclined against the door and exhaled sharply. Sitting idly wasn’t exactly her idea of fun. She drummed the fingers of her left hand along one thigh. She leaned up, took off the necklace and unhooked it.
It was technically a belt. She fastened it around her waist and adjusted the wishbone pendant so it was closer to her right hip.
“Well, that took me all of two minutes. I wonder where they are and what they’re doing?” She tapped her feet together. “Have they even entered yet? God, why did I agree to stay in here? This is driving me insane.”
She didn’t like it. The only reason she wasn’t totally freaking out was because somewhere in the rational part of her brain, she knew she was in a car. That she could handle. But the tarp over her to keep the vehicle hidden didn’t help her phobia.
Mal dug in her pocket and withdrew her keys. On the end she had a small light. Clicking it on, she breathed easier when the darkness wasn’t so overwhelming. It glinted off the silver of her belt and she picked up the pendant.
“That’s new.”
Light in one hand and wishbone in the other, she stared at the stone in the center. All this time she’d had it, it had been nothing but a dark, obscure object. Not so much anymore.
There, in the middle, was a star. It basically dissected the stone into six parts with the lines emanating from the larger body of the star in the center. She skimmed her thumb along the curvature of the stone, seeking any variations in the surface. There was none.
“So, how does a black stone suddenly get a star on it but I can’t feel any marks or the like?”
She turned it over and sure enough on the back was another star. There was a niggling in the back of her mind. I’m sure I’ve seen this before somewhere. If I could just remember where.
Well, they didn’t make smartphones for nothing. She dug hers out and pulled up
a webpage. The signal was weak but it would work. With the phone on, she turned off her small light. She dragged a blanket up over her legs as she curled into a tiny ball and used the back of the seat along with the door as her prop. Then she began to search.
She typed in ‘stones with stars’ then hit the symbol to initiate the hunt. Right there, the first one, matched what she had in her possession. Clicking on it, she read, Black Star sapphire.
“That’s what this is? Shit. Here I thought it was just a dark stone in the center.”
She continued to read about the sapphire, learning which zodiac signs it was linked to. Once she got that information digested, she typed in ‘The New Order’. Mal had a moment of hesitation before she pressed the search button. She knew so little about this group but based on what she was privy to, she didn’t need to know much more—or want to.
Knowledge is power.
She closed out a few searches because based on what they said, she knew it wasn’t the group she sought information about. She’d reached one that looked promising when an alert came telling her she had a text.
Don’t move.
It was from Shelly. Mal didn’t hesitate but shut her phone down and tugged the blanket up higher. She shoved her phone in her pocket and tensed.
“No way she’d not be with him. That’s one of those damn Guardians. We have the thermal imaging scope, we can find if he’s stored the one we’re supposed to be after. Think of how pleased they’ll be if we can be the ones to bring them the artifact,” a man said.
The man had a thick German accent. Her mind raced. Thermal. That meant they could see her body heat. She had to move. Thinking about the layout and how it had been when they pulled up, she recalled the direction of the loch. If I can slip out, I can run for the water.
Next to her thigh, her phone vibrated and she ducked her head below the blanket to read the screen.
Stay put!
Shelly knew where her thoughts had gone. Trusting her friend, Mal sank down onto the floorboard and used the blanket again to totally encapsulate her. If they looked in or did use the thermal, she was fucked. But she would take Shelly at her word to remain where she was.
