by E A Price
“Yes, for one thing, I actually bathe rather than just lick myself.”
Sebastian raised his nose. “I see or smell no proof of that.”
Grrr. “I brush my teeth – and Zara knows from experience the truth in that.”
The cat said nothing, though his claws did seem to dig even deeper into his victim.
“Plus, I’m human,” added Holt. “Most of the time.” Though, she didn’t seem exactly put off by his beastly side. Not if the way she stroked him was anything to go by. His gorilla shuddered at the memory.
“Yet, I’m the one who sleeps in her bed.”
How many ways are there to skin a cat wondered his murderous beast. Holt breathed in and out.
“I’m not going to get jealous of you – there’s nothing to be jealous about. You’re not dating – you’re just some loser who should still be in magical jail.”
“I won’t be a cat forever.”
Holt narrowed his eyes as Sebastian started licking his paws.
“And you’ll still be a loser and Zara will still be my mate.”
Sebastian looked up sharply. “Mate?”
Crud. He probably shouldn’t have divulged that to a damn cat before he did to Zara.
“That’s none of your business!”
“Mates don’t usually break each other’s hearts,” sneered the beast.
Holt curled his upper lip. He felt the fur trying to push through his skin, his animal wanting out. This was no ordinary cat, but there was no way he could stand the onslaught of a rampaging gorilla.
Fortunately, it didn’t come to that. One of the goons stirred, reminding Holt that he had more important things than challenging his mate’s cat to a punch-up.
Holt gave the male a kick before dragging him over his shoulder. He thought about threatening the feline to stay away from his woman, but instead just grunted at him.
“Goodbye, Dolt,” purred Sebastian. “Don’t worry; I’ll keep Zara warm and – yeow!”
Okay, so Holt couldn’t quite resist throwing a cushion at the mangy beast. He should just be grateful it wasn’t the bookcase like his gorilla suggested.
Ignoring the spitting cat, he dragged the two men away. Time to pay his uncle a little visit.
*
Holt’s limited patience had nearly completely run out by the time he was admitted to see his uncle. He had been kept waiting as long as possible by more of the man’s smirking goons.
“Ah, nephew,” trilled Aleck.
Uncle Aleck owned lots of businesses that he had gained by bullying and forcing the real owners out. Holt and Sean’s father had not been quite so dominant. But, as the larger of the two, for years he had acted as his big brother’s bodyguard. As a reward, Aleck gave their father one of his strip clubs, and when their father died, ownership fell jointly to both Sean and Holt. They had considered selling it, but it was a good earner, and besides, that was where their father met their mother. It had sentimental value, and while she still lived – now in Florida with her second husband – she wouldn’t hear of letting the place go. She came down with a case of the vapors whenever either brother brought it up.
His uncle did most of his business out of his largest strip club. In fact, he barely seemed to leave it. Behind his desk was a door that led through to a bedroom, bathroom, and small kitchen. People brought him food and groceries, and when he wanted a female, he merely plucked one off the floor who worked for him. Holt wondered when the last time he saw daylight actually was. It wasn’t much of a life he reflected sadly. Then his gorilla hooted at him, and sympathy evaporated. This dick didn’t deserve sympathy. It was his fault Rachel had to hide, and his fault Sean had been arrested in the first damn place. The guy was a monster.
“Where’s Sean?” growled Holt, his beast working his way up to a full-blown shift.
“Safe,” grunted Aleck. “Who was the girl you were with? My men said you were with some girl.” His eyes flashed keenly.
Zara. Our mate. Our perfect little witch.
“No one.”
No one to concern himself about. The last thing he wanted was his mate on Aleck’s radar.
Aleck eyed him eagerly. “A dancer from the club?”
Holt did his best imitation of a statue.
“A girlfriend?”
The words dripped with hungry, cloying interest.
Holt shrugged, unconcerned as if the female meant nothing to him. Humph. Furthest thing from the truth.
“She’s just the bounty hunter assigned to find Sean.”
“That little girl?” sneered Aleck, smirking. A few of his men laughed in an obsequious fashion.
“She’s a witch. She’s tough.”
Though still very much in need of a gorilla in her life he silently added as his beast pouted. He was sure Zara was very capable, but she didn’t have to cope on her own.
Aleck gave him a dubious look before nodding at one of his gorillas – not an insult, the guy really was a gorilla shifter. All of Aleck’s henchmen were – he distrusted other species and only hired his own kind. Hench gorillas, technically.
His beast howled as the scent hit him. The sweetness, the goodness, the arousing scent that could only belong to one woman.
Crap.
Zara’s exclamations of fury followed seconds later. She swore and chastised the two males dragging her into the room, and Holt was pleased to note that they were at least twice her size and the two of them together could barely manage her.
She looked slightly disheveled, but not injured. His beast called out for his mate, urging the man to go to her, to tear the males who touched her apart, limb from limb. But Holt remained painfully still, feigning aloofness, watching her with less interest than if his uncle had just dragged in a pint of mint choc chip ice cream. He’d never been a fan of mint.
“Doesn’t look so tough to me,” snickered Aleck. His hench gorillas dutifully sniggered.
Zara stopped squirming and stared at him. Holt tightened under her gaze. There was anger bubbling there, but not at him, well, not much at him. Luckily, there was no love-filled look either. No cooing his name, no slow motion run as she threw herself into his arms. Actually, he was kind of pissed off about that. Nope, his little mate just stared at him in silence like she could care less that he was there.
“So you don’t know her?” prompted his uncle.
“Just met her,” lied Holt. Zara didn’t react in the least. He should be grateful, though another, tiny part of him had wanted and expected her to go ballistic and call him out on that.
“You don’t care what happens to her?”
Zara’s emotionless stare continued to pierce him.
“No, but she was sent after Sean. If she disappears, people will come looking.”
Aleck leaned back in his chair. “Caught her sneaking around the trash cans – trying to break in. Perhaps we should rough her up a little, teach her a lesson.”
Holt rolled his shoulders. They were so tense it was like trying to fold sheet metal. His uncle was testing him. Pretending he didn’t care was the only way to go.
Zara let out a sound of disgust as she turned a glare on his uncle. “You want a thousand hexes on your ass, be my guest.”
“Like any more would hurt,” muttered Aleck.
He nodded at the gorilla behind Zara. The guy barely had time to lift his eyes in acknowledgment before Holt had him pressed against the wall, a meaty fist around his neck and an inner gorilla going wild to be let out.
His uncle smiled grimly. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
Chapter Eleven
Zara eyed Holt warily. She had never seen him so angry. Not that she knew him that well, but he was virtually buzzing with hatred as he prowled the room.
A strange room it was too, decorated in varying shades of pink and dotted with candles. Plus, she’d never actually seen a bed shaped like a heart before. It looked like Aphrodite’s bedroom, or at least a honeymoon suite in Vegas.
Following Holt had perh
aps not been her best decision, but she couldn’t think of any other way to find Sean. She just hadn’t figured on half a dozen suspicious gorillas lurking around ready to nab her for coughing too loudly. Well, okay, she was trying to break into the club, but it was like they were waiting for her!
“You gonna tell me what’s going on?” she asked, still hovering next to the locked door.
Yep, the owner of the club had put them both in there after Holt went ballistic, and very definitely locked the door. Holt had tried smashing it, but if it could withstand an angry gorilla, Zara figured it wasn’t going to open anytime soon.
Holt stopped his pacing and scowled at her. “How did you find me? I checked to make sure no one was following me.”
“I thought you might try and ditch me…”
“Ditch you?” he scoffed. “You told me to get the hell away from you.”
“I’m not sure I used those words.”
Holt grunted.
“So when I did the finders spell I also cooked up a little something to keep tabs on you.”
He frowned uncomprehendingly.
Zara stepped forward and pushed her hand into his pocket. For a moment he looked surprised and slightly excited, but uncertainty returned she pulled out a small quartz rock. It had been a relief that he hadn’t changed into a new pair of jeans after the car crash. But Zara had seen his wardrobe – he owned about ten garments in total. It was likely that Holt wouldn’t get rid of any item of clothing unless it was on fire, and maybe not even then. Truthfully, she was the same in that respect.
Holt plucked the stone from her fingers.
“It’s like a magical tracking device,” she explained.
“I can’t believe you did this,” he muttered staring at it like it owed him money.
“Can’t you?” she snorted, turning and dropping onto the heart-shaped bed. “Earlier you handcuffed me to a bed and then locked me in a bathroom. Seems like this was the least I could do.”
Holt slanted a look at her and mumbled, “Yeah, probably true.”
“What on earth is going on here? Who was that guy?”
“My uncle.”
“You’re kidding?” she exclaimed, jaw thoroughly dropped. “Why the hell would he lock us both in here?”
He stayed silent, and she let out a sigh of irritation and flopped on her back. Secrets again. She should have listened to Sebastian and stayed in bed.
“Fine, but I’m not sticking around for whatever weird family drama you have going on. Five minutes and I am out of here.” Five minutes for the coast to clear and she would find something small and pointy to use on whatever locks were currently adorning the door. Easy peasy.
Zara sniffed at the sudden overwhelming flowery scent. “What’s that?”
Holt shook his head, shuddering slightly. “Pheromones.”
“What?” She took another sniff and shivered in pleasure. “Aren’t pheromones those things that animals put out to attract mates?” Or at least attract a female or male for a bit of mating.
Holt’s chest heaved as he breathed deeply. “My uncle wants us to have sex.”
Zara gave him a deadpan look. “Of course he does. This is clearly just a regular day in the Holt house.”
He scrubbed a hand over his face. He was starting to look a little flushed. “You don’t understand; we can’t have sex.”
“Damn right we can’t!” she snapped. The nerve of him in thinking that she would say yes to sex! The nerve of him in not wanting to have sex with her!
“No, you don’t’…” He let out a low animalistic rumble as he trembled.
Holt gave her a fiery look before striding to the other side of the room.
“I made a mistake when we slept together six months ago,” he said in a growl.
Zara sat up and folded her arms defensively. “Just what every girl wants to hear. Since you clearly don’t want me, just stay on your side of the room until we ride out these damn pheromones.”
Easier said than done. All the nights she had spent alone, longing for her gorilla while torturing herself with the memory of their time together seemed like nothing compared to how hard it was not to rush on over to him and curl herself around him like a koala. It was the pheromones – had to be them, right? Her head felt fuzzy, while her body was slowly igniting. Though, given the tortured look on his face, he didn’t seem to notice her turmoil.
“I put you in danger, and I shouldn’t have, I just…” He swept a ravenous look over her body. It was the look of a man who had spent two decades on a desert island and was being presented with a steak. “I couldn’t help myself. I think it was worth it, but maybe you wouldn’t.”
“You’re not making any sense, and get back over to your side of the room!”
Holt suddenly seemed a lot closer than a few seconds ago, and yet, he didn’t seem to have moved.
“You’re the one edging closer to me,” he said in a low drawl.
“Am not!” she denied, immediately knowing that was a lie. Curse Holt’s stupid uncle! “My goddess! What kind of a person has a sex dungeon and pheromones to hand?! I need to get this door open.”
She had given in to her desires six months ago, and it led to a broken heart and months of anger and sadness. She wasn’t making that mistake again – and given the pheromones, the situation was much more potent and dangerous. She needed to breathe in some good, clean air – stat!
Zara ran at the door, trying to put her shoulder to it. She was caught in mid-flight and hauled back against his chest.
“There’ll be armed guards on the other side of that door,” admonished Holt.
To be fair, crashing into that thing probably would have led to broken bones for her, but she had to try.
“Well, we can probably take them…”
She twisted to face him, her hand clutching at his shirt, unwittingly trying to tug it over his head. No, stop it! She tried to get a hold of herself, but she just couldn’t. Under normal circumstances, the urge to throw herself at him was damn near uncontrollable. There was just something about him that made her… happy. She wanted to be near him, wanted to make him smile and laugh, and wanted him to look at her like she was the only woman in the world. Or look at her with a healthy dose of animal lust – just like he was doing at that moment – so, either way.
“What are you doing to me?” she whispered. What had he been doing to her for the last six months?
“It’s the pheromones… partly. You also want me.” Said without his usual smugness.
“I hate you,” she said doubtfully. She could tell herself she did over and over, but a part of her would never believe it. A part of her always knew the opposite to be true.
Holt rumbled gently. “I want you. You’ve no idea what the last six months have been like for me.”
“I have a pretty good idea.”
His hands settled on her hips. “There are no cameras in here if that’s what you think.”
“Yes, that was my biggest worry.”
His eyes flashed like he was about to devour her and Zara squeaked excitedly, but then he shook his head. “We can’t do this here. We shouldn’t do this…”
“No…”
Their mouths met in a clash of lips and teeth. The voice telling her this was a bad idea drifted to the back of her conscious as her entire being was taken over by the need to be with this man.
Lord, she’d forgotten what it was like. His kisses were so passionate. He was dominant yet gentle with her. Taking and giving what he wanted and she needed.
He tossed her on the bed, his huge hands moving surprisingly quickly as he divested both of them of their clothes. One moment they were dressed and the next they were naked!
She propped herself up on her elbows, gazing at him expectantly. He looked so big, so powerful as he stood over him. She was faced with acres of perfect male hood, muscled and taut flesh waiting to descend on her, to give her what she had been craving for the last six months. Who had she been kidding? There was no w
ay they weren’t going to end up here again. All he had to do was flash her a grin six months ago, and she virtually threw off her panties and danced around for him. Now at least, she had the excuse of the pheromones – they were the push that brought her to this point, but that’s all it was, a small push. They weren’t why they were doing this. No, he was the reason. He drove her insane with lust and longing and just plain insane! She loved him, loved spending time with him, and loved that he made her feel so alive.
He gazed down at her, bristling and wild. She could sense his beast bubbling beneath the surface as his eyes glittered. His cock was long, hard and reaching towards her.
“Tell me to stop,” he growled, his voice barely human.
“No,” she breathed.
His eyes flared, and he fell on her, taking her with his hands, his mouth and his glorious manhood. Thank the gods she was ready for him because he was not holding back. She rippled as he thrust into her, driving himself inside of her in one long glorious movement. Zara cried out as he filled her, as a sense of completeness pervaded her. How the hell had she lived for six months without this?
He pulled back and pumped himself inside her, and she came immediately. The hot tension unfurled and exploded within her. She hadn’t realized she had been so on edge, so close, so near. The pheromones, she thought dizzily as her body jerked and rocked in ecstasy. Maybe they helped, but it was definitely Holt who gave her this pleasure.
As she clawed at his back and her body tried to clutch at him, he took her with deliberate, hard pumps. Her clasping body not even making him pause as his hands gripped her ass, as his mouth swirled around her breast as his pounding cock invaded her over and over. It felt too damn good; she wanted it to go on forever and ever. Wanted the rocketing tension to grow and grow until she could no longer bear it.
He withdrew almost to the tip. He groaned. He plunged back in again. She gasped. He did it again. She did it again. It happened over and over. His movements were quick and powerful, almost bordering on frantic, but he was not racing to his completion. He was taking his time, savoring her, enjoying her, taking her with intoxicating deliberation. Slowly, he seemed to be getter bigger, hotter, scorching a path inside her every time he moved. Slowly, she seemed to be getting wetter, more turned on – which she didn’t think was possible – and her honey flowed easing the path for the huge invader with every second that passed.
