A second later, a shock of dark, angry need ripped through his veins and pulsed beneath his skin.
Take her down. Disable her magic.
He narrowed his eyes, ready to kick her in the solar plexus.
Her cool hand landed on his chest.
Clean threads of magic streamed into him, pushing through to clear his brain. In the moment of clarity, he understood the curse recognized her as a threat and battled hard to force him to kill her.
He didn’t know if he could resist. “Get out,” he begged her, his voice raspy. He didn’t want to hurt her, couldn’t bear it.
Determination shot her chin up and shoulders back. “Not until your curse is broken. You have to help me, Linc.” She dragged her hand down his skin, between his ribs, over the ridges of his stomach to glide her fingers along his cock, from root to tip and back. The erotic sensation slammed his head back against the wall, pushing his erection deeper into her hand.
She closed her hand over him. Stroked down. Up. Rubbed her thumb over the head. “We can do this. The two of us together. I won’t let you die.”
Together. That single word reached into him, sparking a longing and hope as strong as the curse. In all the years he’d been trapped in a cage, no one had tried to help him. He’d been alone. She gave him the will to try to hold on to his humanity and work with her. “Together.”
“Yes.” She looked up at him with bewitching eyes. “But I need your help. I can’t climb up you and hold my magic at the same time.”
For the first time, he felt the bird on his back struggling. The creature burned in his skin as he tried to fully awaken and help Risa with her magic.
You could snap their hold. Take her, cut her…
No. Shit. He knew he was ninety percent into the murderous insanity of the curse, with only a single toe holding on to his sanity.
And his soul.
He had to do this. Otherwise Risa would never get out of this room alive. That alone kept him focused. “Hurry.”
The feathers pulled back. Risa put both hands on his shoulders. “Lift me.”
Need rocketed through him. He caught her by the waist, lifted and turned, positioning her back against the wall.
She spread her thighs, settling her long legs around him.
“Can’t wait.” He didn’t want to take her this way, wanted to slow down and give her as much as she gave him. Show her some care, at least, in this hellish situation. He tried to breathe and regain a little control.
Then his cockhead touched her center, feeling the heat of her, the dampness. Not wet, but damp.
Paradise.
Need slammed his hips, and he plunged inside her channel. Hard. Deep. Tunneling through with nothing but the primitive drive to come. To release. Heart hammering brutally, his lungs burning, he buried his face into her neck. Groaned and pulled out.
Back in.
So deep. Feeling her slick walls accepting him.
In and out, racing higher.
Have to come! Goddammit. Why couldn’t he come?
A flicker of her magic rippled through her walls, gloving his dick.
He pumped harder, chasing that, needing it, his balls starting to draw up.
Then it vanished, leaving him on the very edge of the desperate need to orgasm.
Sweat rolled down his back, and frustration had him snapping his hips, driving into her over and over. So close, but just out of his reach. The raging edge of release teased, then retreated.
Wrong! The word screamed through him. But what? Risa wasn’t fighting him. She was moving, trying to match his rhythm. But it wasn’t right. It was…
Forced.
Fuck.
Linc lifted his head and saw her tight face with only the barest trace of her witch shimmer. Just sparse little pops here and there. Her magic wasn’t flowing any longer, but receding away.
And he was slamming her into the wall trying to chase it.
He slapped his hand against the painted bricks over her shoulder, struggling to get control of himself. He dragged in another ragged breath. Didn’t help. He couldn’t stop pumping into her.
“Get help. Hurry.” It came out desperate.
Her fingers tightened on his shoulders. “What’s wrong?”
“Can’t come,” he panted, the agony of need ripping through him. He was truly a feral animal now. Beyond help. “Scream. Tell them to kill me.”
One of her hands caught his hair, jerking his head to her face. “Tell me how to make you come.”
“Magic.” He barely got the word out. “Need it.”
Panic flared, tightening her thighs, rippling around his driving cock.
He couldn’t bear it. He didn’t want to be the beast that had lived in a cage, a creature so vile it destroyed women. “Risa, goddammit, scream! Make them stop me!”
“I can do it. Just need to summon more.” She closed her eyes, her body relaxing into his arm wrapped around her. She arched back against the wall.
He drew his gaze down over the lines of her taut shoulders that contrasted with the enticing softness of her breasts. As he watched her, her nipples began to harden, growing tighter, darker.
He slid a finger over her damp skin to circle one mound.
He felt the answering touch of her magic, thin but there. A wave of heat shuddered through him.
Loud pounding and shouts sounded. A fraction of his brain grasped that the other hunters had heard him and were trying to get in. But all Linc could focus on was Risa. She’d stretched her arms up, her hands skimming the air in a graceful dance that flowed down her body and straight to his dick. A faint, translucent, silvery-blue shimmer flickered on her skin—tiny sparks of her magic. He wanted more, wanted to feel it wash over him, own him. Struggling to focus on her and what she needed, he skated his finger over the ridges of her belly to the very top of the neat, short strip of hair. She was so damned sexy. Linc surged inside her channel, feeling every sweet inch of her, every fold and…
There! Her magic. It began to swirl and pulse, teasing his cock. It gathered, growing stronger and stronger with every second. The bird flapped his wings while Linc’s entire body sizzled with the amazing sensation of her power lighting him up. The scent of her desire, warm, wet and with that spicy edge, ripped away any control he had.
Groaning, he leaned down to take her mouth, tasting her intoxicating flavor. It wasn’t just what he needed, it was so much more. He could feel her giving him a part of herself. It flowed, stroked and touched. With both hands, he cupped her tight ass, using his thumb to caress her skin as he thrust.
Fiery desire, more real and vivid than he’d ever experienced, slammed through him. Risa’s body arched and opened, her magic swirling around them, encasing them in a bubble. Linc didn’t hear anything but their harsh panting and the sexy sounds of their bodies gliding together.
He pulled her closer, kissed her deeper. Pleasure flooded him, hot magic and sweet surrender as the witch, this woman, owned him, and he couldn’t hold off. Wait, damn it, Risa’s not there yet. But his orgasm began at the top of his spine, raced down and exploded.
Ripping his mouth from her, he buried his face in her neck, inhaling her as he pushed farther into her sultry, swirling magic and let the pulsing hot gratification have him. Mark him. So intense he felt a profound change remaking him. Helpless beneath it, Linc held on to her, breathing her in as Risa became a part of his soul.
Finally, his heart stopped pounding, and he opened his eyes. The afterglow of bliss kept his brain idling in neutral. As he drew in a breath, it dawned on him—no bloodlust. No dark, sick hunger crouching in his chest, waiting to explode. Not even an echo of it remained.
The curse was gone. He was free.
His brain snapped into drive. Gently sliding out of Risa, he gathered her close and spun her to the middle of the room, so damned happy, so fucking amazed, he wanted to share it with her. They’d done it, he’d broken the curse. “Did you feel it? We did it!” She’d given him her body and magic i
n this shithole of a room.
Regret edged in. He’d never wanted it to be like this. “I’m taking you to our room, laying you on a soft bed, and I’m going to show you pleasure, sweetheart. Real—”
His words froze as the bird ripped across his back, clearly in anger or worry. He stopped. That didn’t make sense. The bird should be happy. Dread built deep in his guts, and he looked down at Risa. Threading his hand into her heavy hair, the strands warm and soft, he tilted her head back.
Her eyes were closed, tension fanning out a spray of tiny lines at the outside edges.
“Risa?” Her scent was going too sweet with pain or fear. Worry crashed into the base of his skull. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
She opened her eyes.
Blank. The rich blue that had been so dark it had been nearly violet had faded to dead gray.
Horror flooded him. “Risa!” he yelled, shaking her slightly, trying to jar her.
She went rigid, all her muscles locking in pain, and began to scream.
Soul screams. In a blinding instant, he recalled the beauty of her weaving her hands, her entire body going sinuous with the magic—Risa had thrown her shield around them to keep the guys out.
She’d saved Linc.
And in return, he may have broken her mind and destroyed her.
~ 16 ~
Linc sat on the edge of the bed, his hand on Risa’s face, drawing out as much of the violent pain as he could get from her trickle of weak magic. Fifteen hours and she’d only shown one or two glimmers of sanity. The rest of the time…
Fuck.
She lay still now, her body exhausted from the mental and physical battle. Twice he’d had to restrain her when she fought, screaming at terrors only she could see. Jesus, he’d rather fight an enraged pack of lions than watch her torment.
A hand came down on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Linc. Her mind is too badly fractured, and without more of her magic, it just won’t heal.”
He looked up at Darcy MacAlister. She’d come with Axel, and both she and Carla had tried and tried to reach Risa. Their magic was so powerful, his entire suite had hummed with it.
Risa’s magic had barely flickered. And yet, “I felt it, Darcy. Her magic is still alive.”
Carla sat on the bed, facing him. She looked over at Risa curled on her side, nearly in a fetal position, and sadness filled her kind face. “Barely. Her magic is dying. Nothing we’ve done has been able to stop it.”
“So, what then, we just stop trying? She saved me. I’d be dead or rogue if not for her.” Helpless rage snapped and snarled deep where the feral animal inside him lived. The old marks on his back burned as the beast crouched, ready to strike out and kill. “She kept her end of the bargain, but I haven’t.” She’d given him freedom from the curse, but he hadn’t found her baby.
God, he remembered the way she’d cast her shield around the two of them, her magic pulsing hot and cloaking them in an intimacy that Linc had never experienced. She’d freely given him the things she’d held back from other men.
Her desire and magic.
“I’m not giving up. I can feel enough magic to draw off some of her pain. I’m going to fight to bring Risa back, and I’m going to find her baby for her.” He owed her that. But it was more than that, damn it. He liked her. Linc had women fawn over him, angle for his attention…all because he could give them great orgasms and spoil them. Hell, he’d enjoyed it. Every woman he’d made smile was a victory over the animal in him that had been forced to use and abuse other women.
But Risa? Her sheer bravery and iron will attracted him. She’d refused to take the easy path in life, fighting against her father, becoming a bodyguard for women running from abusers, and loving her child. She wasn’t looking for him to coddle and spoil her. She wanted to gain her magic and take care of her child. That was hotter than anything he’d encountered.
“No one’s giving up,” Darcy said. “We just don’t know what else to do right now.”
Everyone was exhausted. They had injured witches in the infirmary. Axel, Sutton, Eli and Ram had gone back out, hunting for any sign of Archer and now Quinn Young. They were all frustrated and tired. Time was ticking down, and when Archer resurfaced, it was going to be bad. But all Linc could concentrate on right now was Risa.
Linc forced himself to calm and nodded. “Go get some rest.”
Carla placed her hand over his. “Risa’s one of us. We’ll keep trying. She fought to save you, throwing her shield to keep Sutton and the guys out when you told her to scream for them. Sutton even tried to punch through the window, but her shield wouldn’t budge.”
Damn, his witch was fierce. Pride spread through him, followed by deep remorse. “I’d rather Axel had killed me than let her make this sacrifice.” He meant it.
“It was her choice,” Carla said softly. “I swear it, Linc.”
“I know. She needs me to find her child. She’d risk anything for her.” Risa had been used over and over, emotionally and sexually. He’d wanted to give her more than that, to take care with her. Show her that she was so much more than just a body to him.
So much more.
“You’re the only one she’s reacting to and who can calm her. The soul-mirror bond is there. It’s fragile, but there. Find a way to reach her and strengthen it. Maybe more blood, or just skin-to-skin contact, letting her magic feel you.” Carla shifted her gaze to the bed. “Give her a reason to come back.”
Once they left, he turned to Risa. She was curled on her side, the knuckles of her fingers white with tension as she fought whatever torment played in her head. Her breathing was fast and choppy, the pulse at her throat rapid. She wasn’t asleep, but trapped in the soul screams.
The reason to come back was easy—Kendall. But he had to access Risa’s magic to get through the cracks in her mind and reach her wherever she was. Taking off his shirt, he gently picked her up.
She startled, her body bowing, fists flailing.
“It’s okay, love.”
Her eyes opened, but they were clouded with murky gray.
“We’re going outside.” He tucked her against his chest. “No one’s going to hurt you.” He didn’t want to think of the things she’d screamed out, things men had done to her, horrors she’d seen. Leaving the room, he headed past the kitchen and table to the balcony. Bright sunshine made him blink, the day’s heat contrasting sharply with the chilled air conditioning of his suite.
Going to the padded chairs, he sat and pressed her against his chest. To his surprise, Risa relaxed more than she had in the past dozen hours. Maybe being outside helped, feeling the sunshine and air that were part of her magic. Stroking her hair, he said softly, “Kendall needs you, Risa.”
She held her breath. He could almost feel her straining to hear.
“We can’t find her without your magic. When I met you, you were in a cage fighting to live and find your baby. Keep fighting, Risa. I swear if you come back, we’ll find Kendall together, and I’ll get her for you.” Even if it killed him. Linc didn’t have immortality, not yet anyway.
He stroked his hand up and down her back. “I know you’re scared right now.” Hell, so was he. “But we can do this together.” There was that word again.
The bird fluttered on his back, soft, cooing sounds echoing in his head.
Risa lifted her hand toward him.
The bird’s cries ramped up, and it hit him what she was doing, reaching for the falcon. They were trying to connect. Holding her wrist, he pulled her arm around his back, laying her hand on the tattoo.
Instantly, the bird’s cries gentled. In seconds, he felt a tiny flicker of her magic. “He’s yours now,” he told her as he kept stroking her. “He’ll help us find Kendall, but you have to fight, Risa. Come back to us.” Linc needed to give her a stronger reason. “Kendall will need her mom. There’s no one else, Risa. You have to come back.”
“Kendall.”
He sucked in a breath. “Risa?” Her eyes were opened. That had
to be good, right? He saw bits of blue floating around, like slivers of sanity. For seconds, she was there, struggling past the shattered part of her mind. Hope flared to life in him. “Hold on, sweetheart. Don’t let go.”
“He’s singing. Feathers.”
It was little more than a hoarse whisper. Could be random mutterings, except he heard the bird’s calls in his head too. “He’s calling you, trying to lead you back to us.” Quickly he added, “For Kendall.” Kendall was what got her attention in the chaos of her shattered psyche.
The dots of blue faded before his eyes, and she began to tremble. Panic stiffened her muscles.
And just like that she slipped away again, leaving him bereft and desperate. And so fucking helpless.
* * *
Ginny headed into the small staff kitchen of the infirmary to join Darcy and Carla. “How many injured are still here?” The other two women had been healing injured witches while Ginny did what little she could or stayed with Risa when Linc had to leave her.
Carla leaned back in her chair, rubbing her temples. “Two left. Both are healing and asleep.”
“Any more coming in?”
Darcy looked up from her mug of tea. “No. Axel said the guys are calling it a night and on their way back.”
Sinking onto a chair, she glanced at the clock. A few minutes before three a.m. “Linc’s already back, I just left him and Risa.” Linc had come into the suite, shirt torn, cuts healing on his arms from fighting rogues, weary frustration riding his face, then it all softened when he looked at Risa curled in the recliner. Even though she’d been in the soul screams for more than twenty-four hours and was unresponsive to Linc, he’d held her hand, brushed her hair back…
It had sparked a longing in Ginny’s heart. She craved that touch from Ram, so much her skin hurt and her aura actually ached. She understood Ram feared hurting her with the electrical zaps he put out, yet emotionally it stung, leaving emptiness swirling inside her.
Shaking it off, she focused on Darcy and Carla. “I’ve got this. Go get some sleep.” They’d both been using tremendous magic healing the witches and assisting the hunters.
Caged Magic Page 20
