by Morgan Wylie
It was one of the eeriest and unusual shiftings Rylen had ever seen, and he had seen a multitude in his years. He had even speculated that she was other, maybe even a demoness from the underworld, but never in the time he had served under her had she altered forms in front of him. This did not bode well for the future. She was showing some of her cards, meaning she either had to bluff or she had a much bigger hand. Rylen wasn’t sure which to bet on, but neither would end well.
She called the tiny spiders to her and they crawled up over the back of Chen’s chair on their way to her. A mass exodus of creepy-crawling tinies moved up Chen’s back and over the top of his head like a black tidal wave crashing over him. They covered his face as his head thrashed to shake them off, then suddenly, he stilled.
As if the power was cut, Rylen was left blind in darkness. He blinked a few times, bringing his vision out of the cave of creepiness and back into his own Lair. Rylen sucked in air, unaware he had been holding his breath. His vision cleared, and he watched as the brilliant red stone dulled, quickly losing all of its color, and turned it into a simple crystal of the most common types.
“You all right, Ry?” Enock asked after he sat still for several minutes.
Rylen looked to each of them, his face somewhat pale. He nodded, quickly coming back to himself. “You would’ve lost your shit, Mather.”
“What? Why?” Mather asked, suddenly offended.
“Spiders. Spiders everywhere, crawling all over Mai’s brother Chen. At least I think it happened, unless it was some weird optical illusion… but it sure seemed real.” Rylen stood up and took a shaky step from his throne. Mather reached out to steady him, but Rylen waved him off. “I’m okay. That was just… intense.” He looked to all of them. “I’ve never seen anything like it, but Black Widow shifted in front of me.”
“Whoa! Into what?” Enock inquired.
Rylen laughed wearily as he ran a hand down his face. He almost didn’t believe it himself. “A black widow spider. One the size of the table.” He pointed at the table he had just been sitting at. “She seemed to alter her size, so maybe she can be small, too, I don’t know, but it was creepy as fuck and I’ve seen a lot of shit.”
The guys were still as stone and quiet. Mather’s skin took on a slightly green pallor; he looked as if he would be sick. Enock moved first, clapping Rylen on the back.
“Well, good thing we aren’t there, then.” He chuckled, but it sounded weak even to himself. Nothing would lessen the weirdness factor of what they were discussing. “I’m not sure we should tell the others about this… at least not yet.”
“Agreed,” Lucius spoke from where he remained against the back wall, still guarding the door or simply keeping his distance.
“But Chen is,” Rylen grumbled, regaining his strength.
“What?” Mather asked warily.
“Chen, Mai’s brother. He’s still there. I can’t be sure she didn’t kill him. The image cut out before I could see past the spiders…”
Mather made a gagging noise in the background. Rylen raised an eyebrow at him. “Sorry. Go on.” Mather gripped one bicep with his opposite hand and breathed through his nose.
Enock chuckled beside him and coughed into his fist, “Pansy.”
“I found him. The lair, I mean. My magic was able to locate him before I was cut off.” Rylen paused, thinking. “Damn it,” he shouted. “She knew. That’s why she waved. She probably won’t be there, but we have to try to get Chen—dead or alive.” Rylen assessed each of their responses. “She’s one of ours, we owe it to her to try.” Rylen was resigned to find Chen… for Mai.
“Yep, you’re right,” Enock, the voice of wisdom, agreed. “Who do you want to go?”
Suddenly tormented, Rylen paced the space. His face went blank like he was listening to something or someone. Then his head snapped up. “I’ll go. As much as I want nothing more than to tear down Seattle looking for her, Alana is safe where she is for now. This takes precedence.” Rylen nodded as if satisfied with his conclusion. “I’ll take Vi, Mai, Lola, Bastion, and some of the others—preferably Vampires if spiders don’t bother them.” Rylen smirked at Mather. “Mat, you can stay here and work with Poppy on locating Alana. Get all the information together, the letters, the map, Peter’s statement… all of it, and do what you can.” After seeing Mather’s still-green face pale, Rylen clarified the choice for him. “Your choice: spiders or Poppy?”
“Seriously, man?” Enock teased with a hint of disgust that Mather was actually having to consider his options. “You are a pansy. Man up.” Enock stalked over and smacked Mather upside the head.
“Geez, just a joke. I’ll stay, Ry.” Mather rubbed his head as if it had truly hurt.
Rylen nodded then turned to Enock. “E, you and Lucius stay here for Gracie and the Lair, but also in case any other information comes in. I would wager she and all her people are gone, but if they aren’t and I need heavier hitters or reinforcement, I’ll call in.”
Lucius examined Rylen with one of his long, unnerving stares—he wasn’t really assessing Rylen so much as the energy around him to see if any concerns had been raised, at least, that’s what Luc had told them once. When he was finished, all Lucius gave for an answer to his evaluation was a nod.
“That’s my all clear then,” Rylen declared, moving toward the door. “E, get Mai and the team to meet me in the Door Room. Have Vi get set up for a transport. I’m heading to my room but will be back down in ten. I need to let Alana know what’s going on and make sure she can hang on.” Rylen’s stomach dropped to the floor with that last thought. He didn’t know if he could wait until her next life, searching and hoping he could find her once again. No. Failure was not an option, not while she was still alive.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Mather? Are you down here?” Poppy yelled from the top of the stairs leading down into a very dark dungeon. For a dungeon, it really wasn’t that bad. Each cell had a comfortable bed and there was even a private bathroom and television. It was almost more like a motel than a dungeon.
“No,” Mather called out. He had been sitting in the dungeon for a couple of hours now and figured it was time to be found. With so many people in the Lair hurrying about from one task to another, it could get crowded, and even up in the apartment, it felt stuffy sometimes. Mather liked to lock himself away, figuratively, of course, just to get some quiet time. Alone. Which he wasn’t any longer.
A light from the stairs flicked on, and light footfalls sounded on the steps as she made her way down. Mather breathed out a sigh, not quite sure how he wanted to handle Poppy yet. The frustration was building inside him and his wolf. He either needed to mate with her or make a clear break and tell his wolf to stop whining. He had never heard him whine so much before over one thing. A girl. His wolf had his eyes set on this one, though.
The sounds of her steps grew closer as she was almost to the bottom of the stairs. “Why are you in the dark? I can’t see anything,” Poppy grumbled. Her hands patting on the walls by the guard room, ricocheting a noise like sandpaper slapping wood as she felt her way across the room. “Ouch.” The loudness of her smacking into a wall left Mather chuckling under his breath.
“Your eyes will adjust with the light from the stairwell,” Mather droned.
Instead, she flicked on a desk lamp inside the guard room. “Or I could do that,” she said with satisfaction before she came back around the doorway and visibly into the path at the head of the cell block. The room wasn’t overly large with only seven cells: three on each side of the room and one larger one at the end.
Mather had to shield his eyes for a moment while they adjusted to the new light. He had no problem seeing in the dark—even liked it at times—but the abrupt transition was painful. As soon as he could see again, he took in Poppy and all her glorious fury. She was pissed, standing with her hands on her hips, glaring at him from outside his corner cell. “Why’d you pick the cell all the way back here?”
“Good view.”
His unrelenting stare roamed over every line and curve of her body then settled back on her emerald eyes.
Poppy huffed then hung her head back, looking up at the stone ceiling. She breathed in through her nose, obviously attempting to control her reaction. To Mather, her subtleties spoke loud volumes. She was at her end with him, probably even chastising herself for going down there in the first place, but unable to ignore the pull they had toward each other. Apparently making up her mind, she moved toward him, losing a little of the fire along the way.
“Mather, what are we doing?” she asked with weary frustration as she plopped down on the bed and slid back to sit against the wall next to him.
“You’re apparently inviting yourself into my quiet time, and I am contemplating leaving,” he replied dryly.
“I mean between us, you big ass, and you know it,” Poppy countered.
“There is no us, Poppy.” Mather’s tone was now filled with a weary sadness.
“Why not? We are obviously drawn to each other, so much so that we have to hide from one another just to get a break from the magnetic pull. It’s tiring, Mat.” Poppy leaned her head dramatically against the wall. She rolled her head to the side to see his face.
Mather clenched his teeth and shot daggers dead straight ahead, refusing to respond to her words.
“You know it’s true, Mat. Why fight it so hard?” She genuinely wanted to know. “A girl could start to get a complex.”
“Not you,” Mather said with a sly smile.
“Oh, even I have limits to all this personality and confidence.” She gestured with both hands down her own body and winked in his direction.
“HA!” Mather barked humorously, turning to her. “I’ll believe that when I see it.”
“It’s there,” she uttered quietly, staring straight into his eyes, willing him to see past her outer exterior, to see into the depths of her very being—the innermost parts she didn’t allow anyone else to see.
Mather cocked his head as he got lost in her gaze, captivated by the raw vulnerability Poppy was inviting him to witness. He couldn’t do the same. He closed his eyes, cutting her off from him, and hung his head. “It doesn’t mean I don’t want to,” he whispered, “I’ve been burned before.”
Poppy turned to face him. “My hair may be fiery red, but I have no intention of burning you, Mat.” She slowly and gently placed her hand on the side of his face, sliding her palm down under his chin and tipped it up so he would see her. In her eyes, no judgment shined, just a resolved determination. Holding his eyes’ attention with her own, she moved forward without hesitation and set her lips against his, moving her mouth back and forth side to side coaxing his wolf to the surface. She knew his wolf wanted them to be with her. That was who she would appeal to. His lips parted slightly, and she took the opportunity. Poppy flicked her tongue out, licking his bottom lip, enticing him to part them further. When he did, she moved in and nipped at his lip. Something in Mather snapped, and he growled deep within his chest while his mouth captured her lips in a hungry forceful kiss.
“Mather,” she whined as he pressed her head absently against the stone wall. He grabbed her hips and lifted her onto his lap, her legs straddling either side. “Better?” he forced out as he moved his mouth down her neck.
“Mmmhmm,” Poppy delighted. “Now, shut up and kiss me.” She encased his face with her hands and pressed her lips to his once more. A beautiful languid dance of sensuality commenced, her tongue tangoing with his until he took the lead and pulled her in tighter to his chest. He broke the kiss, giving her much needed air while he kissed and licked down the other side of her neck landing at her collar bone. His teeth lightly grazed across the sensitive flesh, eliciting a gasp from Poppy as her head fell back in pure pleasure. Mather’s hands roamed and kneaded the muscles and curves of her back all the way up to the base of her neck. Tangling his meaty fingers in her curling locks, he guided her head back to his mouth. He kissed her fully in bursts of passion between licks and nibbles.
He stopped. His eyes glowing heightened by the intensity of their passion. “Do you want me? Even if it’s only right here and right now with no promise of anything more in the future?” He wanted her more than anything in that moment, but he needed to know.
“Right here. Right now, Mather,” she conceded, looking directly into his eyes.
He didn’t wait for any other sign or affirmation. He growled and gripped the neck of her shirt and ripped, tearing it in two right down the middle, bearing her beautiful creamy flesh. “You’re… you’re so beautiful, Poppy,” Mather struggled to get out as she shrugged off the remainder of her shirt. She reached behind her back and undid her bra clasp, sliding the constraining entrapment down her arms until she flung it off to the floor. Mather’s breath hitched as one of his hands tentatively moved across her flesh, leaving a path of goosebumps behind his finger as it trailed across her chest, dipping low into the “V” of her bosom without touching any of the tempting girly bits.
“You’re a tease, Mat.” Poppy reached forward and tugged on his shirt, getting him to pull it up over his head, revealing a thick and chiseled manly frame. She had seen him without a shirt on, of course, since he was a shifter, but he never failed to take her breath away. Poppy swept her hands lightly over his pecs up over his shoulders and then down his arms. Her emerald orbs never left his face as she did. The heat between them was tangible evidence of the passion igniting underneath their skin. A reverent moment passed between them as they visually absorbed the other. Their breaths grew heavy, and their heartbeats synced as one. The anticipation of the moment pressed them forward; they leaned in, meeting each other halfway in the space between them. Mather pushed his hips higher, enticing her with his firm erection. Poppy slowly, torturously circled her hips, moving across his lap. She kissed down his neck over to his ear. She gently nipped it and said, “Two can play at this game, little wolf.”
Mather growled, simultaneously lifting her, and tossed her onto her back further up on the bed. “Who are you calling little wolf?” His eyes were lit with both passion and a hint of his shifter magic as they glowed even brighter in the dim dungeon light. He moved to his knees on the bed and stalked his way up her body until he was hovering over the apex of her. In a teasing fashion, she let her legs fall open to the sides. “Saucy temptress,” Mather uttered. He leaned down closer to her inner thigh and rubbed his nose against her pants as he made his way to her womanhood. He inhaled deeply, taking in her feminine scent and arousal. His eyelids fluttered with desire, but when they opened sharply, his glowing eyes were fiercely intent on hers. He wanted her, and he intended on marking her. His.
“Mather?” Poppy inquired, her voice roughened with the anticipation of sex. Her mouth lifted in a slight smirk, seeing the wolf looking out his eyes at her. She knew the basic physiology of a shifter, that they were essentially two beings sharing control of the being but working together as one—partners—but right now, she knew the animal was dominating the scene. Mather was strong enough that he wouldn’t let the wolf take completely over, but if he were struggling with the next move, he would allow the wolf’s instinct to kick in. This was one of those moments, and instead of feeling slighted by the notion, Poppy was aroused all the more—not that she wanted to physically be with the actual animal itself, but she was happy to give her body over to the animal in the man. Mather was still there; he just needed a little nudge in the right direction. “Come take me, Mather. Tonight I am all yours,” she whispered seductively.
Mather let out a low rumble as he leaned forward and flicked his tongue over a hardened nipple then sweetly kissed the side of one of her breasts as he hooked his fingers in the waist of her pants and slowly pulled them down over her hips. She arched and lifted off the bed assisting him in removing her clothes, flinging her slip-on shoes off the end of the bed. He had barely gotten her pants all the way off her petite legs before he jumped back up on the bed. She stopped him abruptly, holding out her hand. “Yours too,” she
said huskily. He pushed himself back off the bed and shucked his jeans and dark blue boxer-briefs in a matter of seconds. He came to the head of the bed where she waited, desire etched on her face. Mather braced his hands around each of her wrists and pushed them above her head on the pillow behind her. Her face lit with anticipation as he restrained them with only one of his large hands, leaving the other free to roam her body as he wished. His hand roamed across her breasts with feather-light movement; she couldn’t decide if it was sensual or if it tickled. She arched into his hand. “More, Mather,” she struggled to whisper. But just as she thought he’d give her more, his hand moved lower across her abdomen in a maddening circular motion that did nothing more than tease her above where she really wanted it to go.
“Where do you want me to touch you, Poppy?” Mather’s voice was scratchy. His gaze was enraptured by the beauty laid out before him.
“Everywhere.” Her tone was breathy and needy. “But especially here,” she lifted her hips in the air, drawing attention to her most intimate place.
He still gripped her wrists as she struggled to show him where she desired, no, needed, his touch. He watched her body respond to him, even just where his heated gaze landed. It was the sexiest thing he had seen—her needing and wanting him to touch her, to be one with her. Mather trailed his fingers lower and lower, still not touching her where she needed it the most. He was drawing the moment out as long as he could because it would be the only moment he would take with her. He just needed to get her out of his system, then they could move on with how life was supposed to be between them. At least that was what he thought.
