His Witch To Keep (Keepers of the Veil)

by Zoe Forward

  He shook his head. “I get an impression of something evil or unexpected. It probably means whomever is involved in this will want to play games.”

  “They’ve already been playing games.” Then her tone changed to suggestive. “Games can sometimes be fun.”

  He smiled and lifted his wineglass. “A toast.”

  She lifted hers.

  “To dangerous games.” He smiled.

  “To winning.” She clinked her glass against his.

  He chuckled. The slant of his eyes suggested his winning had nothing to do with whoever threatened her life or had her sister.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Alexi helped her load the dishes into the washer. She turned and glanced up, her breaths turning shallow, moving her chest in a tempting fast tempo. Brushing hair away from her face, he shaped his palm around the back of her neck then slid it to her shoulder. Her skin was like satin, warm and so alive. He was torn between wanting to tear off her clothing and pound into her and to go so slowly that he’d draw her to heights she’d never imagined she could reach. What won was to give her a bit of punishment for knocking him out.

  “We should go back. To the other dimension,” she whispered. But the pleading in her eyes begged differently.

  He kissed her, swallowing her oh, yeah moan and plunging his tongue deep to tangle with hers. He nibbled and took his time, watching arousal deepen the color on her cheeks and bring her nipples to hard peaks. All for him—only him.

  His hands slipped over her narrow rib cage to her waist until his fingers curled around the edge of her shirt. He drew it up and over her head. With a flick her bra opened. She gasped and arched closer when his mouth closed over a pointed nipple. He teased back and forth with his tongue and then gently bit. She cried and sagged into him.

  “That’s what I want, ragana. Burn for me.” He slid a hand down her flat belly, unfastened her jeans and slid two fingers against her wet folds. “So wet for me.” He took her breast back into his mouth and plunged a finger into her, his thumb rubbing against her clit. He loved every frantic cry, every involuntary movement of her hips against his hand as she pressed to get more. She twisted and writhed to get closer to his hand, urging him faster.

  “Not yet,” he whispered. He carried her to the kitchen table. Within seconds her pants and underwear were off. At last, free access. He kissed his way from her breasts downward.

  “Please, Alexi. I need you.”

  “You can wait.” He parted her thighs and positioned her exactly where he wanted, open to his hungry gaze. He stroked her thighs and moved his fingers against her swollen flesh. She shot upward and twisted as if to grab him. To take this where she wanted to go. He frowned. “Stay still or I will tie you.”

  “You wouldn’t,” she whispered and arched up to glare at him.

  He drew her hands above her head. “Grip the table’s edge and don’t let go,” he ordered.

  She tried but couldn’t get a good grip. She shrugged apology.

  His gaze narrowed. “Just keep your hands up there.”

  “Fine.” She wove her fingers together and held them above her head.

  He raised her pelvis, lowered his head, and swirled his tongue along her soft, swollen lips and then stabbed deep.

  Serenity froze. She couldn’t help it. Hell, it wasn’t like a man hadn’t ever gone down on her before; they had once or twice. Just never him. Suddenly she didn’t know what to do. What she wanted to do was grab him and beg him to take her. To force him to let her come with him inside her. His tongue thrust deep inside her over and over. Her pelvis arched toward his tortuous mouth with a groan. He licked and sucked, moving to her clit. A strangled sound emerged from her when he latched on. One hand unlocked and headed toward him.

  “Keep your hands up there,” he ordered.

  “Alexi?” She stared, suddenly vulnerable.

  He stared back with slumberous eyes and a knowing grin. He licked a long swipe that sent white-hot sensation ripping through her body. “You don’t like it?”

  She stared into his challenging gaze. What was she supposed to say? “It’s…good.”

  She squirmed to get her pelvis closer to his face as he licked.

  “Stay still.” His hands clamped around her hips. “I will tie you if you can’t behave.”

  “Like hell.” She struggled to stay still beneath his onslaught. She became desperate. He licked around her clit, teasing it periodically. Then he latched on, and two fingers thrust into her. She exploded with such force that her mind dissolved. Before she managed to come down, before the agonizing shudders had ended, he lifted and had her on the bed down the hall. Super-speed move. Disoriented, she tried to sit up. In a fluid move he looped his shirt around her hands and tied her to the headboard.

  “You didn’t,” she gasped.

  He slid his hand under her butt, lifted her into the air, and then his hot length tunneled inside her still spasming muscles. Just as the first orgasm finished its final trembles, the second one built with each of his thrusts.

  “Alexi…”

  “I’m here, ragana,” he said hoarsely. “Let go.”

  His fingers gripped her sensitive nipple, but he knew how to touch. How to stroke. He didn’t go easy on her, though. Pleasure and pain combined with each deep, hard thrust. Their moans mingled.

  She couldn’t stand this. She didn’t know when it happened. When she’d crossed that line, knowing that pleasure and emotion commingled. She couldn’t bear the overwhelming pressure. She wasn’t ready to give in to this again. To give him the power to shatter her soul. She yanked her hands to get them free. Her body tensed, trying to pull away from him, wanting that small measure of protection against the damage he could inflict.

  “Oh, no, you won’t. Look at me.”

  She shook her head.

  “You will not run from this. I will have all of you. Now, look at me.”

  “Please.” She shook her head and pulled against the restraints, trying to break free.

  “I’ve got you, beautiful.” His accent was thick, his voice heavy with emotion. “I’m right here. I won’t hurt you. Come for me. I’ll catch you.”

  She gazed deeply into his green eyes, astonished by the sincerity in their depths. She was helpless to this man. Bound physically and emotionally. She was lost. When the second orgasm came, she screamed at the crash.

  She heard his release, felt it. And silently thanked him for remembering to use a condom, not questioning where it came from. The guy was magic. He probably read ahead in time or whatever. It didn’t matter. She wasn’t ready for an instant family.

  As he released her hands and rolled her into his arms, she realized she wanted all of him—far more than just sex. She’d wanted more since the moment she met him. Now she wished to weave herself as firmly around his heart and soul as she knew he was firmly in control of hers. Even worse, she realized she’d crossed a line. She barely knew him and yet would allow him to do anything he wanted with her body. Willingly. She wanted anything she could get from him and anything he’d give to her.

  Holy crap, she actually wanted it all. She wanted love and forever. From him. Only him. From the death reaper who wasn’t allowed more. She didn’t want it from some druid she had yet to meet, or another guy. Maybe this was just the inadvertent bond talking. But surrounded by the power and strength of him, she knew the truth. She’d been holding out for Alexi for years.

  She had to get her head right. She had big responsibilities, like having a baby to carry on her lineage. The concept of a baby terrified her. She never deluded herself into thinking she was mother material. But to combine that fear with the thought of Alexi…a picture flashed into her brain of a little boy with Alexi’s green eyes and dark hair calling her Mommy. Her eyes misted. Even if this was the bond talking, her want for that child with his eyes surpassed every fear and anxiety tormenting her soul. She yearned for that baby for herself, for Liz to have a nephew, and for her future daughter whom that son would protect.
She wanted the whole family picture with Alexi.

  With that terrifying thought, she slid away from the man she wished could be hers, but who couldn’t be. And out of the bed to shuffle to the bathroom. She cranked on the shower and hopped in. The warm spray did little to halt her whirling mind.

  He opened the glass door and stared at her.

  She met his turbulent green eyes silently until she finally said, “I can’t do this. Just sex won’t work for me.”

  He sighed. “You know I want you.”

  “For sex.” She ground her molars and suppressed the need to hit him.

  “I will always protect you.”

  “Of course you will,” she said with a resigned sigh. “We need to stop this—whatever it is between us. I can’t do this the way you want. Sex with no strings attached just…” She shook her head. “Not anymore.”

  His brow scrunched up as if he was confused.

  She fisted her hand to prevent striking at him. “You really don’t get this, do you? Let me make this clear. Like you, I’ve been screwed by my Greek deity heritage. I have to find my destined man. I can’t check the opt-out box on this. I’ve been running from this for years. I’m not getting younger and…” She lowered her forehead and rested it against the wall of the shower.

  “Do you know who this man might be?” he asked.

  You, her mind screamed. She rolled her head toward him but kept it resting against the side of the shower stall. She stared at him. I want it to be you. “This is not just about me. This is about my family line…the other Pleiades. I can’t die yet. I’ve got to have a daughter first. This just makes finding my sister even more important. If someone does snipe me, then she’s it.”

  He stepped into the shower and pulled her to him, fitting her head against his chest. “No one is going to kill you. I’ll make sure of it. I have never lied to you. There can only be now.”

  No kids. No future. The unsaid hung acridly in the air.

  She pushed back to stare into his gaze, hoping to find his unsaid wish that he wanted everything, too, maybe even a little love. Hell, she’d take a smidgen of affection. All she read from him was sadness and determination. That hurt. Anger swirled viciously through her. She wasn’t sure at whom the anger was directed: herself for giving in to her insane and completely wrong attraction to him, him for knowing he shouldn’t do this but using her anyway, or the Greek deities for messing around in their lives.

  She crammed all her wants, hopes, and desires when it came to this confusing man into a dark place in her mind and pushed away from him. She snapped a towel from the rack as she exited the shower and wrapped it around her body. She threw a towel at him as he stepped out. She gritted out, “Let’s leave this whatever we’ve got between us here and not do it again. Ever.”

  He yanked her to him and tugged on her hair to force her to meet his gaze. “Why are you angry?”

  “You really have to ask?” Now she was going to hurt him.

  “I don’t get it. I’m giving you everything I can.”

  “Which is what?” She bumped into his erection on purpose, taking small satisfaction from his groan. “That? Thank you, but I can find that elsewhere. Plenty of elsewheres.”

  A cloud of fury closed in over his face. “What is wrong with you?”

  She stomped on his foot, jabbed his abdomen, and whirled out of his grasp. “I forgot that you’re just another bloody alpha who can’t pass up the chance to dominate a female. You assholes like the challenge but lose interest the second you fuck it. I’ve seen it a bazillion times with the Sentry druids. Well, you proved you can win in the bedroom. Congratulations.” She rolled her eyes. “Now it’s time for you to lose interest, because I’m done with us.” With a pivot she stalked toward the closed door.

  He pounced, stopping her against the bathroom door. He walled her in, surrounding her. Not hurting, but overwhelming. “Stop it.” The words came out softly.

  He turned her toward him and kissed her. It wasn’t an ignition kiss. There was no aggression or dominance. Only reassurance. He whispered, “I’m not done with this…us.”

  Was he not done because she’d just thrown down another gauntlet he couldn’t resist, or did he want this to continue? Her eyes glassed up from emotional overload. Tears leaked, which topped off her humiliation nightmare. She’d suppressed the weepies for months after he deserted her. Months.

  He rubbed away the tears as they hit her cheeks. “Don’t even think about turning to another. I…” He shook his head.

  “You what?” she asked.

  “Please stop crying.”

  She gazed into his now hard face, not reading anything that she wanted. He wasn’t going to give her what she needed. Ever.

  She ducked under his arms and presented him with her back while wiping away the tears. She might feel like a shattered food jar on a grocery store floor, but she’d survive. If she pushed him for any sort of further declaration right now, all she’d get was another I’m not allowed to do this. As steady as she could manage, she said, “Let’s dress. We need to figure out who’s trying to kill me, and who took my sister, before it’s too late for all of us.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Alexi stood in the shadows between two tall buildings in downtown Washington, D.C., with Serenity behind him. The cloudy sky cast so little light that he doubted anyone could see them, but he wasn’t taking any chances. He had a clear view of every angle of approach to this alley. There was no exit behind them.

  He waited, focusing on the business of watching rather than the tornado of emotion whirling in his brain over the woman behind him. He concentrated on the bite of the freezing wind on his face and the cold seeping into his limbs. The only thing that mattered was sound or movement. And to protect her. This was how he spent a large portion of his life, waiting in the shadows for someone else to make a move or show himself first.

  So many wants swirled in his mind. Wants of things he’d never dared imagine, and now he was prisoner to the torment of forbidden longings. He wanted more time with the stubborn witch behind him to share meals and explore their sensual limits. He wanted to be the one to give her that child she needed.

  You can’t have that future.

  Movement flashed in his peripherals. Nikolai stalked out of the alley across the street into view. The collar of his brother’s knee-length leather coat was turned up to ward off the biting wind. He dodged a few snow-ice patches. Without acknowledging them, he moved up the alley and swiped a card that opened a side door with the sign Zurich painted in blocky red letters. He glanced once in Alexi’s direction.

  Alexi caught the door before it shut. Nikolai bypassed the elevator. Their eyes met in instant understanding. They both hated the potential for being trapped in the mechanical devices. Alexi and Serenity jogged upward behind the silent Nikolai for several flights of stairs, cornered into a hallway and then into a stark office. The beige-themed generic cubicle contained a messy pressboard desk buried under a pile of papers, an archaic desktop computer, and a desk chair with a saggy seat. Nikolai shoved aside a few tax books on the metallic metal bookcase and punched a code into a keypad. The bookcase swung outward to grant access to a dark room lit by a multitude of high-quality computer screens.

  When the bookcase closed behind them, Nikolai flicked on the light switch. The room glowed in low fluorescent light. “This is all strictly off the record.” He stared at Alexi.

  Alexi nodded. Serenity slipped a few feet along the wall. He recognized her stance as one of open predation. Ready.

  Nikolai’s entire demeanor changed as he leisurely smiled at her. He granted her a deliberate once-over.

  White-hot possessive anger consumed Alexi. He crammed its vicious directives into the not happening box in his brain and focused on breathing. An attack would piss off his brother. Then they’d never get whatever information he’d acquired.

  Nikolai’s gaze shot to him for an instant. He read humor. The boy was playing, perhaps testing her. Or ma
ybe even attempting to use his power of coercion. Nikolai moved toward her. He murmured low, “Come away with me. I’ll keep you much safer than him. I’m also…” His tone dropped. A mesmerizing charm infused his words. “I’m twice as good as he is.”

  Her eyelids drooped to half-mast. “You mentioned that before, although last time you were twenty times better.” A small smile tipped her lips.

  She would not fall victim to Nikolai’s compulsion.

  She said low, “Twice as good…boast or truth?” Her sultry British accent licked like a caress down Alexi’s spine. She moistened her lips.

  Lust funneled heat throughout his body with a beeline southward. He didn’t know if she wove some sort of magic spell over both him and Nikolai, or if only he experienced this insane reaction to every aspect of her.

  “So far, Alexi’s been…” She cocked her head and cast a sideways glance his way. “Pretty good. But if you’re twice as good…” Her eyebrows hitched upward. She deliberately scanned down Nikolai’s body. “You plan to knock Alexi out? I’m not sure voyeurism is his thing.” She cast Alexi a small smile and winked at him.

  Christ, she was playing with Nikolai. Relief surged through him. He shouldn’t feel this excited to have proof she was not only resistant to Nikolai’s charm, but also preferred him.

  She kicked out her hip in a flirty move. “You think you can keep up with me, big boy?” she asked Nikolai.

  Nikolai’s lower jaw hung loosely in a silent holy fuck that mirrored exactly what was going on in Alexi’s brain. Who the hell was this woman? He was so turned on that he feared he would come if he moved.

  Nikolai’s hand reached out toward her face.

  She batted his hand away. Resuming her normal tone, she said, “Really? You tried to use your power-of-suggestion thing again?” She rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t work on me. And no one is as good as Alexi, either in bed or out.”

  Flattered, Alexi bit back a grin.

  Nikolai scowled at Alexi. “What the hell?”

  “You’re the one who wanted to play with her. I thought she made her opinion of you clear in New York. Shall we get on with why we’re here? Show me what you found.”