“Your aunt is here? The mean one? How did that happen?”
Dorothy got to her feet, straightening the long white shirt Kansas had retrieved for her, along with a comfortable pair of men’s pants. He was her best friend for a reason. “It’s a long story, Em. I’m not sure I understand much of what’s going on myself, but once I have some answers I’ll tell you everything I can. Are you going to be okay if I leave now?”
She stood and Emily joined her, walking toward the edge of the Equus tents where Braxim stood silent vigil. “I’ll be fine. I think I just needed to talk to someone. You, as usual.” She gave Dorothy a spontaneous hug. “I don’t know why you’ve been so nice to me. I’ve always been a jealous, nasty brat about you. I don’t deserve you as a sister, but I’m grateful to have you.”
Dorothy was in a new world with strange creatures. Her missing friend Kansas was married to the king, and her aunt was trying to kill all the wizards and turn everyone back into inanimate straw. Yet it was this moment, this embrace from Emily that blew Dorothy’s mind the most. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” she stammered and patted Emily’s back uncertainly.
What a world.
Wandering through the groupings of tents, she tried to get her bearings. If she could get back to the king’s tents, maybe she could find Z. How long did it take to send a message anyway?
“You shouldn’t be here. Why the king doesn’t make an example out of you, I’ll never know. But I’m not afraid to do it for him.” The growling male voice sent a spike of fear through her gut. Dorothy spun around, realizing the voice wasn’t directed at her, but it was coming from behind a nearby tent. She moved closer.
“I don’t belong to their clan anymore, Lorn. You know I’m loyal to our king.” The female’s voice quavered, but pushed on. “Lenard and I are—”
“Abominations. A pussy Felix and a Glider who can’t get it up in the wing department. They don’t want you. We don’t want you. No one would miss you, little Fenna, if I got rid of you for good. No one at all.”
Dorothy peered around the corner. Wasn’t Fenna the one Kansas had told her about over dinner? The one who’d saved his life and brought him to the king?
The Lion-O wannabe beside her was huge. Fenna didn’t stand a chance by herself. Dorothy had to do something. “I would miss her.”
The Felix whirled to face her and Dorothy sent out her power, the wind whipping around Fenna, ruffling her feathers and lifting her high in the air. Fenna gasped, but spread her wings instinctively, gliding over the campsite and away from harm with a little extra push from Dorothy.
She couldn’t guarantee a soft landing, but at least she’d be safe.
“You shouldn’t have done that, you human bitch.”
Uh oh. Before she could use her power again he had her by the throat, pressing her against the nearest tree with his large, terrifying claws.
Sharp teeth glinted in the moonlight. “You are pretty, aren’t you? All this round, pale skin. Pale as cream. Will you taste as sweet?”
He shredded her shirt with his other claw, and Dorothy panicked. Fear had scattered her focus. The wind picked up a bit, raising his hackles. “I heard about you. I bet you won’t be able to call the wind if I knock you out cold. Then I can do whatever I want and no one will be able to stop me.”
He raised his clawed hand above his head.
“Nothing will save you from me if you do. Then again, nothing can save you from me now.”
She choked on a lungful of sweet air as the fist around her throat unclenched and released her to slide boneless down the tree. She looked up in time to see the Felix hovering, angry and helpless, in the air.
Z’s smile was sinister. “You know what I can do and yet you begged for death by touching what is mine.”
Was it possible for fur to pale? “I didn’t know she belonged to you, my lord. Please forgive my ignorance.”
“Is there something wrong with your nose, Felix? You should smell my mark all over her. Next you’ll claim ignorance of Fenna’s protection as well. That you are the only ally in camp who doesn’t know how beloved she is by the king’s consort. Your ignorance and narrow-minded cruelty is unforgivable. You should beg the Makers for mercy now, Felix. They won’t listen, but it’s what people do before they die.
Dorothy gripped the shreds of her shirt against her breasts, wincing while the feline writhed in agony, tortured by some unseen force.
At this moment Z was unrecognizable to her. As cold as the frozen wind, and just as deadly. The Felix screamed, crying and pleading for his life. But Z wasn’t listening.
Because of her.
She jumped up to stand in front of him. “Z, stop! You’re killing him.”
His eyes were drawn to her, icy amber and full of rage. “Did I misinterpret then? Was I interrupting a romantic tryst instead of an attack?”
“Don’t be an idiot. Of course it was an attack. He won’t do it again.”
“Never,” the creature sobbed in anguish.
“And he’ll leave the campsite and never threaten anyone under your protection again. He’ll be an outcast, and grateful to be a living one,” she added, because she didn’t want him coming near Fenna again.
His silence made her glare up at him. “Hey, asswipe, I could just let him kill you.”
The Felix snarled. “I’ll be a grateful outcast. I can go to the mountains. I’ve never been comfortable mixing clans anyway.”
Z wasn’t deterred. “I’m the one holding his life in my hands, witch. He would have killed you and Fenna both. He’s no better than a deranged, feral animal, and he should be treated accordingly.”
“And you’ll be no better than the wizards my aunt warned me about if you break his neck. Send him to the king to be punished, throw him in a hole or let him leave, but don’t use your power to kill him. Please, not you.”
Her words seemed to get through the haze that surrounded him, and the Felix fell to the ground, whimpering apologies as he crawled into the crowd of warriors that had gathered at his screams. They took him away, she assumed to the edge of camp to be cast out.
At least, she hoped that’s what they were doing. The disgusted expressions on their faces didn’t fill her with confidence.
Z glared pointedly at the crowd causing the gawkers to break apart and wander away. Dorothy watched as they drifted back to their tents and noticed Z was staring at her in a way that unnerved her. “What?”
“I went to the king’s tent to find you, only to learn that you had gone wandering alone through a camp filled with rough warriors. If Frayne was any kind of a friend, he wouldn’t have let you go.”
Disbelief made her eyes bulge, and she crossed her arms defensively. “Haven’t we covered this? Kansas let me go because he knows I’m a grown woman, a grown witch woman, and he knows I can take care of myself. Besides, if I’d waited for you, I would have been old and gray by now. Or traumatized, since your king was practically stripping his husband before I could escape their tent.”
So there.
“If you had any sense of self-preservation, you wouldn’t be alone at the edge of the woods with a known seducer of women. Especially after you thwarted his attempt to fight for your honor, as is his right.”
She tilted her head, studying him. The rage in his eyes had changed to something even more dangerous. Lust. He was looking at her as if she were a trophy he’d won. Or prey.
And she liked it, damn it.
“What I wouldn’t give for a handful of chocolate rum cake right about now.” She chuckled, backing away slowly, closer to the tree line.
He watched her like a hawk. “I can think of something that tastes even better.”
He tensed, and Dorothy leapt into action, sprinting into the forest with a shriek.
The chase was on.
Chapter Seven
She made him crazy. A few minutes ago he’d been willing to kill because Lorn had dared to touch her, tried to hurt her. Now he was determined to run her to ground and
claim her in a way that would leave no doubt whom she belonged to. The king’s wizard, running through the woods like a horny adolescent, and loving every second of it.
How did she do this to him? And how had he ever lived without her?
He slowed. Her long red hair was like a beacon, catching the light of the moons, but he didn’t want to make this that easy. The chase was too much fun.
She’d draped her tattered shirt on a branch, as if she’d lost it on the run. Clever. She was trying to throw him off, but her magic and his were too connected now. Worlds could separate them, and still, he would always be able to find her.
She was his. The discoveries and revelations of the day didn’t matter. Who she was and what she could do for his people didn’t matter. She owned his heart and he would protect hers with his life.
He heard branches break beneath her feet, whipped his hand into a rustling bush and grabbed her ankle. “Gotcha.”
Dorothy jerked her leg, trying to shake him off, but he covered her with his body, pinning her to the ground instead.
Yes. From behind. Perfect.
“You dropped your shirt.”
He cupped one of her breasts, and she huffed out a laugh. “You could always give me yours.” His cock pressed between her spread legs, and he felt her heat, even through their clothing. “A gentleman would.”
The hand slid down her belly, easily undoing the laces of her borrowed pants. “I’m not a gentleman. I’m a wizard. How about we just take these off instead?” He gave a yank, pulling her pants down to her knees, leaving her open to him.
“I think people at camp will notice if—”
He turned her head for a kiss, keeping her hips pinned when she tried to reach for him. He wanted her too badly to let her touch him. He needed her like this.
I’ve caught you, sweet Dorothy. Surrender.
He pressed his hand between her shoulder blades, lowering her chest to the ground. She shivered, but he knew it wasn’t in fear. He’d seen her fantasies. She wanted this.
Her body agreed, giving him permission by tilting her ass high and shifting her legs as wide as she could with her pants snarled at her knees.
“Yes.” Z caressed her hips, spreading her ass cheeks as he studied her. “The most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen. And I can see everything. Your pink, wet pussy. Your soft, round ass. And it’s all mine. Only mine.”
He traced a line from her clit to her ass with his tongue and she shivered, moaning his name. “Z.”
With his other hand he dipped two long fingers inside her soaked pussy, his thumb pressing her clit as he tongued her.
You love this. I feel your magic rising.
Don’t stop, Z.
I promise I won’t. I’m going to take you here, sweet. Outside where anyone could find us and watch me claiming you like a Felix claims his mate.
He slid his fingers out of her sex and coated her ass with her own arousal, his index finger pushing inside while he nibbled teasingly on one rounded cheek. She tasted like sweet cream. His. Only his.
“They’ll hear you cry out. Hear you call my name and beg for more, beg for every last inch of my cock. They’ll watch me take you and know you’re mine. You know it, don’t you, Dorothy? You know who you belong to?”
“Yes!”
“Good girl.” To reward her, his tongue traced her ass again, pressing inside with his finger. Her moans were making him desperate. Hungry. The wind started to blow gently around them and Z chuckled softly against her skin. “I hope those tents are nailed down, my love. I have a feeling we’re in for some stormy weather.”
Her whimper turned into a long, low moan as he took his fingers away and replaced them with the wide head of his cock. Tight. Makers she was too tight. Too good.
Mine.
He pushed through with a growl, loving the feel of her clenching around his cock.
The slow drag and pull had him close to weeping, but he didn’t want to hurt her.
She was gripping the grass on the forest floor until its sweet odor surrounded them, and he knew he would remember this moment and that scent for the rest of their lives.
Inch by inch, thrust by torturously slow thrust, he worked his way in until he was bent over her body, his hips flush against her ass. “Oh Makers, Dorothy. I can’t…it’s never been so good. You’re so tight you’re bruising my cock. I don’t know how long I can last.”
The trees were swaying harder, leaves falling to the ground and spinning in the newly forming gale. Z could feel Dorothy’s energy mingling with his, more intensely than it had before.
He knew the moment she realized he was trying to be careful, to go slowly. For her.
His heart mate disagreed, digging her elbows into the ground and powering her hips back against him. Demanding more.
“What are you doing to me?”
“Begging.” Her voice was rough and raw, matching his emotions. She looked at him over her shoulder with a wicked grin. “Surrendering, my way.”
He narrowed his eyes, one hand tightening on her hip while the other slid up to grip her shoulder. “Finally.”
The wind howled with victory as he lost the last tenuous grip on his control.
She screamed his name as he pumped inside her; full and deep, hard and fast, over and over until his legs shook and his body gleamed with sweat. This was what he needed. To claim her. To conquer her the way she’d conquered his heart.
“Tell me you love it.”
“I…oh shit…I love it.”
“What, sweet? What do you love?” He wrapped her hair around his fist and tugged gently, arching her neck as he rode her. She knew what he wanted her to say. Needed her to say.
“I love your cock.” He growled, and heard her moan in return. “Make me take it, make me take it all. Harder, Z, fuck me harder.”
“Witch,” he gasped, all words forgotten as he fell on her, hands beside her on the ground, his hips pounding her into the damp earth beneath them.
The trees were nearly bent over, rocking in a rhythm to match their frantic coupling. “I’m coming, Dorothy,” Z shouted through the tempest. “Come with me.”
It felt like flying. Out of the atmosphere and into the stars. Her magic danced with his, her soul transformed him forever. He was hers, irrevocably. She made him fly.
When he landed, he was on his back and she was trembling in his arms, both of them overcome with the enormity of the moment.
Goddess, I love him.
He touched her cheek, unsure if he should tell her she’d projected that thought into his head or not. She loved him. He tried to still the tremor in his fingertips as he studied her beloved face. “My sweet Dorothy.” He kissed her forehead. “If you only knew how very much I lo—”
He couldn’t speak. Someone had taken his voice and his magic. He was frozen. Helpless.
Dorothy! Run!
“What?”
She’s here. Get away as fast as you can. Get help. Glinda…
“Beneath the moons my eyes can see,
A heartless wizard wandering free,
His soul is dark, his eyes are cold,
He’d be worth more were he pure gold.”
The voice echoed overhead, and Dorothy jumped up, spinning wildly. She knew that voice.
“Aunt Glin? Z, that’s…Z? Z!”
He was lying where she had left him, his arm curved around a body that was no longer there, his lips forming the words she’d been longing to hear. She knelt to touch him. He was hard, frozen like a statue. A beautiful, golden statue.
“Oh Goddess, no.”
A mad rustling filled the forest. Creatures came rushing out of the shadows, headed straight for her. No. Not for her. The moon hit their forms, and she realized that these must be members of the Weaver Clan. Men and women with multiple arms and strange eyes. And all those arms were reaching for Z.
“No! No, do you hear me? You can’t touch him. You can’t have him!”
“Let him go, Mistress. Trust me. The
y won’t hurt him. Not yet.” The low whisper came from behind the tree. Dorothy didn’t want to listen to it. She wanted to freeze them. To call the wind and rip them apart. But how could she fight against a witch powerful enough to do this? What if she couldn’t change him back?
There were so many of them.
“He’ll be fine, Mistress. I’ve got a plan. Let them go.” It was a feminine voice, one she’d never heard before, but she trusted it instinctively.
Tears streamed down her face when she crawled away from the body and they swarmed around it, dragging the statue of her lover away.
“Why? Why is she doing this to him? To all of them?”
Two warm arms covered in fur wrapped around her, cloaking her in a blanket. “A woman does crazy things when her heart is broken. And when you’re a witch as powerful as Glinda? Crazy means something a hell of a lot more than keying your ex’s car.”
Dorothy opened her eyes, surprised by the Earth reference. It was a female Felix, covered in beautiful orange fur. She was gorgeous. And she looked strangely familiar. “Do I know you?”
The feline laughed, nodding as she hugged Dorothy close. “You know me well enough. But more importantly, I know Glinda. And I’m going to help you, your sexy wizard and that stubborn old witch too. Maybe even myself in the bargain.”
She saw the continued confusion in Dorothy’s eyes and her smile grew. “It’s me, Mistress. Suki. Now let’s go wake the king and fill him in on our plan.”
“Su-Suki? My Suki?” Her cat was here? “We have a plan?”
“We do.” Her cat nodded emphatically. “Now come on, try and keep up. We have a world to save and, almost as important, I’m starving. I haven’t had a good meal since you left me with old Mrs. Goldstein. That woman is notoriously stingy with her sardines.”
***
At the king’s tent, Suki had a stunning story to tell.
“Once upon a time, more years than I’ll ever admit to, I was Glinda’s maid. A gift from the Felix Clan for all her good works. I was trained to serve her in all things, but it didn’t take long for the two of us to grow as close as sisters. So close that I was the only person she told when she fell in love with her wizard.”
Surrender Dorothy - KINDLE Page 7
