Leopard Tails: Alchemist

by Isabella Jordan

  Joey scrambled off the bed and dashed for the bathroom door. Katrina sat up, staring in fear. He pulled open the door to reveal a large butcher knife pinning a headless chicken to the wood on the other side.

  Joey pulled the knife free of the door, inspecting it. His eyes widened as they moved over its wooden handle. “There!”

  The initials MT were crudely carved into the handle. Who was MT? What did it mean?

  “Son of a bitch! That son of a bitch!” Joey’s face darkened in fury. Bolting off the bed, he snatched the cordless phone off his bedside table. His fingers were shaking so much, from anger she guessed, she wondered if he’d be able to dial the number. Somehow he managed it.

  “Get everyone back together,” he growled. “Make sure Turgenev is there!”

  Chapter 7

  Mikhail Turgenev hadn’t yet arrived at the back room of the Kerensky brothers’ hardware store, but Joey was ready to rip the asshole limb from limb. Now he had proof that Mikhail had been behind the scare tactics that had terrified Katrina and royally pissed him off over the last two days and, by God, he would find out why.

  He’d brought Katrina with him this time and now she’d met most of the gang. Alex had brought his lovely blonde mate, Casey, who was as human as Katrina. Nicole, Vitali’s wife, had arrived with Molly, and Ilia, her small son, rode on her hip. It was good for Katrina to meet them all. He just wished it had been under different circumstances.

  “Where is Renard?” Ilia asked Molly.

  “Gramma Ruby is bringing him,” she explained. “He was finishing his lunch a little while ago. They should be by any time now.”

  Ilia nodded, a muscle twitching at his jaw. The moment Joey explained to them what happened, Ilia had exploded. He had no idea what had happened in the past between the Kerensky brothers and Mikhail Turgenev but one thing was certain, it had been ugly. And while Vitali was obviously trying to put it in the past and move on, Ilia seemed determined to hang onto his anger. It was as if he was looking for an excuse or opportunity for payback of some kind.

  The door burst open and Mikhail marched into the room, a dark haired woman on his heels. Joey had never met Mikhail’s wife before, the sister of the Kerensky brothers, but he would have figured out the relationship without being told. The exotic slant of her eyes, the set of her lovely face, reminded him so much of the Kerenskys. Ilia especially.

  “What now?” Mikhail demanded. “I have a business to run. What do you want?”

  The man’s forceful entrance was just enough to set Joey off. “Been to my house lately, Mikhail?” Joey demanded.

  The other man’s amber eyes locked with his. “Nyet.”

  “Are you certain? Because someone left a very interesting gift in my bed and it really looks like you were the one who left it.”

  “Misha,” Vitali broke in. “If you know anything about this you must speak up.”

  A string of volatile Serbian words followed as Mikhail railed at Vitali then returned his attention to Joey.

  Every muscle in Joey’s body was tense, ready. He could take the bastard. And he would before he let him harm a hair on Katrina’s head.

  “What is this about?” Nadia stepped around her husband to frown at each of the others in turn. “What are you accusing my husband of now?”

  “Of leaving a dead, bleeding, headless chicken in my fucking bathroom, stuck there with a butcher knife. This is the second threatening thing I’ve found in my home since I returned with my mate, and I’ll be fucking damned if I’ll allow it to continue.”

  Mikhail’s fist slammed on the table and Joey felt Katrina jump, her little fingers tightening as they clutched the back of his shirt. “You will not threaten my wife,” Mikhail growled.

  “Why? You’ve threatened my mate,” Joey shot back.

  “If I threatened your mate or anyone, lab rat, you would know it. Rest assured.”

  Ilia jumped to his feet at that point, appearing ready to tear the other man apart before Joey could ever get to him, and the words he was shouting in Serbian didn’t sound pretty. Molly held onto his arm, her pretty brown eyes wide.

  “Silence!” Vitali shouted over all of it and surprisingly the other two men relented. “Mikhail, did you do this? Answer now.”

  Mikhail shook his head vigorously, his expression incredulous. “Why would I want to? What possible reason do I have to care whether or not this lab rat and his human woman even exist, Vitali? Explain this to me.”

  Joey didn’t want explanations. He wanted the man to admit to what he’d done. “You’re a butcher, right?” he broke in.

  Mikhail rolled his eyes. “Yes. That makes me psychotic too?”

  “You sell chickens?”

  Mikhail was clearly losing patience. He didn’t bother to respond.

  Joey pulled the blood encrusted knife from his pocket and held it up. “Is this your knife?”

  Mikhail studied it, his brow lowering. With a movement so fast Joey nearly jumped, the other man snatched it away from him to get a closer look. Running his thumb along the blade, he shook his head. “Nyet. I would not use such dull cutlery. And it is not my brand. That is a cheap knife. I only use Reo knives. Everything in my shop is Reo.”

  That didn’t mean shit to Joey. “You have a house, don’t you? Don’t you carve your initials into your knives at home?”

  Mikhail scowled at him. “Nyet. Initials prove nothing. I --”

  “Wait.” They all turned to look at Ilia’s wife Molly who stared at the knife with a growing look of concern on her face. “Can I see that?”

  Mikhail held the knife out to her so she could grasp the handle. Her hands shook slightly as she looked at the handle, the initials carved there.

  “Oh, my God. This is my knife.”

  “What?” Joey stared at Molly unbelieving as she looked over the knife.

  “Back when I lived in New York, we used to do pot luck dinners and such at the hair salon where I worked. I didn’t want to lose my good knives or my crockpot or anything like that so I’d always make sure my initials were on everything.”

  “MT?” Katrina asked from behind Joey.

  Molly nodded. “My maiden name is Turhune.”

  Even Mikhail seemed surprised at the odd turn of events. Some of the fire faded from his countenance when his wife glared at Joey and Ilia. “You owe my husband an apology,” Nadia’s voice was heavily accented as she spoke to Joey. Then she turned on her brother. “And you must get over this anger and hatred you harbor for my husband.”

  Ilia looked unapologetic, glaring back at his sister.

  Joey was in a very odd place. Mikhail really hadn’t seemed to know what Joey was accusing him of and now that they had determined the knife wasn’t his… “I’ll apologize,” Joey told them. “First I want to know one thing. What did you do to your hand?”

  To Joey’s surprise, Mikhail’s face darkened. “It happened when I went hunting two nights ago.”

  Nadia turned on her husband now. “Hunting? Misha, what the hell were you thinking? Why were you hunting?”

  “Because I wanted to,” he growled. “Because I am not like the rest of you. I know what I am. I am not a human. Part of me is a beast and I enjoy being the beast. You can all live your lives pretending to be what you are not and doing whatever you must to meet that end. I don’t care. But I will be who I am. I will hunt.”

  The look on his wife’s face led Joey to believe that there’d be a fight at the Turgenev house later that night. “What did you kill to turn back?” Nadia demanded.

  “A cow.”

  “Whose cow?”

  Mikhail shrugged nonchalantly.

  “And the cow bit your hand?”

  Katrina snickered behind him at the sarcasm in the woman’s voice and Joey loved the sound. It gave him hope that she might come to accept this crazy situation after all.

  “Nyet. I was heading out to hunt. There was broken glass on the sidewalk. I ripped my paw on it.”

  “Ridiculous.” Ilia sh
ook his head. “You expect us to believe that?”

  “What’s all this about here?” They all turned to stare at the old black woman standing in the doorway with Molly’s son.

  “Gramma Ruby, everything’s okay.” Molly motioned to Renard, who stood staring at the room full of emotional people with wide eyes. “Can you take Renard home?”

  “Guess so.” Ruby nodded her head. Walking over to where Katrina stood behind Joey’s shoulder, she nudged her playfully. “You his woman now, ain’t you?”

  Joey turned to see the confusion on Katrina’s pretty face. “What do you mean?”

  “Them spells I worked did the trick. I can see it in your face.”

  “Aw, shit!” Molly muttered behind them. “What spells?”

  “I cast me a couple of love spells.” Ruby turned to explain to her granddaughter like it was the most natural thing in the world. “They worked too. Whowee, you should’ve seen these two in the living room that day.”

  Realization rushed through Joey like ice water. “Did you stick the fur to our door?”

  “Yep.” The old woman nodded, elbowing Joey. “Worked real good, didn’t it? I got lucky and found that fur on some broken glass out there on the sidewalk.”

  “And the chicken?”

  “That was to seal the deal. Now she ain’t ever gonna wanna leave you.”

  “Joey, I am so sorry.” Molly’s voice was contrite.

  Joey didn’t know what to think. He did realize that all of this, all of them being and working together in Madden, was his brainchild with Alex. There was already some animosity between the Serbians, and Katrina had been scared to death. While they were all here, he needed to make things right. He needed to make nice here.

  Joey clasped his hand warmly over the older woman’s shoulder. “Thank you. I think we’re all good now.”

  A wide grin split Ruby’s face. “Knew you would be.” She stopped before Molly on her way out. “See? Somebody appreciates what I do.”

  With that Ruby scuffled her way out of the room, taking Renard with her.

  Joey looked up and met the gaze of Mikhail Turgenev. Shit. What did he say to him?

  Truth was best. Joey held out his hand to Mikhail. “I apologize, man.”

  Mikhail stared at his hand like he was thinking of spitting on it. After a moment Mikhail accepted his hand in an almost punishing grip and shook it. “I accept your apology,” he told Joey. He released Joey’s hand and pointed to Ilia. “I do not accept yours.”

  “I did not apologize and I never will,” Ilia spat.

  “Nyet!” Nadia yelled. “No more. Our business is settled. Let us go back to the shop.” Steering her husband away like a dangerous bull, Nadia nodded to them before they walked out of the room.

  “I’m really sorry,” Molly told Katrina.

  “It’s okay.”

  Katrina’s smile took Joey’s breath away. He realized she found the entire scene amusing. He hadn’t seen her smile many times since he’d first met her and he definitely liked it. He went hard as a stone.

  “It’s just a relief that it wasn’t something else,” Katrina told Molly. “Or someone else.”

  “Everything is okay,” Joey assured her. “Now we relax and start our new life together. After all, you can’t leave me now because of the chicken.”

  Katrina laughed at that. After a moment, Molly and Nicole snickered too.

  He liked the sound of Katrina’s laughter too.

  Chapter 8

  “Poor Molly.” Katrina sat on the edge of the bed and pulled off her shoes, thinking about the gathering earlier in the hardware shop. “I can’t imagine how she felt to find out her grandmother was the one behind our big scare.”

  Relief had left her tired and contented. She hadn’t been in danger after all. It had only been Molly’s grandmother trying to bring her and Joey together using her idea of love spells.

  “So do you think her grandmother has…”

  Joey grinned at her and shook his head. “Ilia says she’s just a little senile. You know she used to be a voodoo priestess in New Orleans.”

  “Really?” Katrina pulled off her shirt, enjoying the way she caught Joey’s complete attention sitting there in her purple bra. “I’ve heard of voodoo dolls and zombies, but I really don’t know anything about it. I’ve read some place that some who practice voodoo use chickens but sticking one to your bathroom door? I don’t know.”

  “Me either.” Joey pulled his sweater over his head, revealing his powerful upper body. “Ilia says that he thinks she gets confused. Puts her own unique spin on traditional spells.”

  “Very unique.” Katrina moved closer to him as he joined her on the bed, running a hand over the smooth, muscled surface of his back.

  “There is a show on cable that I watch every day that covers different topics on religion and mysticism. One day last week it was about alchemy. It’s like the investigation of nature really, using philosophy and spiritualism. Now, from the little I know, voodoo is more like religion than straight alchemy, but their aims are similar. Alchemy aims to prolong life, to heal. I think from what Molly and Ilia have told me, that’s how Ruby sees and uses voodoo. To heal, to protect those she loves.”

  She allowed her hand to coast around his waist to trace the line of his cock beneath the tight jeans he wore. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”

  Joey shook his head, his breath hissing when she lightly squeezed him through the denim. His eyes turned nearly black with lust when he stood to peel off his jeans. Anxious to have him, Katrina pulled off her bra along with her own jeans and panties.

  “I’ll always protect you, Katrina.”

  She wrapped her hand around the heated shaft of his cock, moving it slowly up and down until he groaned. “Are you an alchemist too, Joey?” Katrina teased him.

  He smiled, but none of the intensity faded from his eyes. “No. I’ll always protect you because I’m falling in love with you, Katrina.”

  Joey meant it. The sincerity in his tone made her insides melt.

  “Will you give me a chance?” he asked her. “Will you stay for a while?”

  Katrina lightly squeezed him, urged him to stand closer to her. “I’ll stay, but not just because I need you to keep the werewolves away.” The emotion she read in his eyes made her pause. “I’ll stay because of the way you make me feel. You make me feel safe and special.”

  Joey caressed her cheek with his fingers. “You’ve always been special to me, Katrina. From the moment I saw you.”

  He bent to brush her lips with the softest kiss. A shudder passed through her, and when he drew back to look into her eyes, she knew she’d give him and this whole crazy community of his a chance.

  Katrina dipped her head to the smooth crest of his cock, licking at it with her tongue. His entire body went rigid at the simple touch, so she touched her tongue to the tip again, swirling her tongue around it.

  “Katrina!”

  Her lips opened over the broad crest, sucking him into her mouth. Joey’s hands speared into her hair, grabbing hard. She let his cock slide out of her mouth before drawing it back in as far as she could.

  “I can’t take that.” Joey’s voice was harsh. He pulled himself free of her mouth and hauled her up from the bed.

  Joey sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her across his lap, positioning her over his straining cock. He slid so easily into her, using the heated wetness that had gathered between her thighs. Katrina let her head fall back, moaning as his cock filled and stretched her cunt until he was sheathed balls deep inside her.

  Oh, yeah. She could definitely live with this.

  Pressing her mouth to his, she began to ride him slow and easy. Even though she was on top, Joey controlled her movements. His hands guided her to thrust up and down on his erection, just hard enough to make her want more but not enough to hurt her.

  The squeaking of the bed beneath them grew louder from the increasing power of their thrusts. Joey growled low in his throat and
she knew he’d come soon. Katrina hung onto him, her nails digging into the damp flesh of his shoulders and back. Her pussy walls quivered and tightened around his rigid length, and she smiled at the sharp groan she drew from him. His fingers sank into her flesh and he flexed his hips with more speed and force. The pressure within her continued to build until the powerful spasms of orgasm rocked her. Joey continued plunging into her deeply, swiftly.

  He shouted his release only seconds after she came, rocking with her until both of them were completely spent. The sound of their labored breathing filled the room. Joey pulled her head down to his shoulder, cradling her. His skin was warm and slick beneath her cheek.

  “Are you hungry?” Joey asked, his breathing harsh.

  Katrina pulled back to grin at him. “For more of you.”

  The smile that earned her was positively sinful. Joey fell back with her on the bed and then rolled them until he was on top of her, pressing her to the mattress. Amazingly, she could feel the hot brand of his erection on the sensitive flesh of her inner thigh. How the hell could he be ready to go again so soon?

  Yet he was. Katrina gasped in delight when he slowly pushed the swollen head of his cock back into her waiting channel.

  Joey had a way of making her forget everything but him. All thoughts of werewolves and danger swept out of her head like dust in the wind, replaced by Joey’s presence. His lovemaking captivated her. His protectiveness endeared him to her.

  All that was left was her desire to be with him.

  Isabella Jordan

  Isabella Jordan is a lucky lady who spends her days with her family, doing volunteer work and writing. She loves creating new stories of all kinds and chatting with readers and friends.

  Isabella would love to hear from readers! Visit her on the web at http://isabellajordan.com