To Seduce a Witch's Heart

by Nadine Mutas

  “So,” Bahram said, hefting his duffel bag up on one shoulder, “how’s your mission going? Any chance you could give me an estimate of how much longer you guys need my place?”

  “Why?” Rhun peeled himself out of his soaked leather jacket, trying his best to shrug off his disastrous emotional state as well. “Running out of nymphs to take you in?”

  Bahram’s eyes danced. “Nope. Just wanna know whether I need to grab some other supplies—if you stay a few more nights, I’ll take the chains with me.” His gaze flicked to Merle, then back to Rhun, a wicked glint in his eyes. “Unless you plan to use them yourself…”

  Merle took a step back. “Chains?” She shot Rhun a wary look. “He’s joking, right?”

  Rhun didn’t answer right away, indulging himself with images of a tied-up witch on silken sheets, her pale skin flushed with arousal. “Hmm.”

  “Rhun?” Her voice trembled with the right mix of excitement and anxiety.

  He pursed his lips. “Maybe you could leave a set,” he said to Bahram, not taking his eyes off Merle, who blushed an amazing red. “Just in case.”

  Merle uttered a sound close to a whimper, but her lack of protest against the idea of being restrained was telling. She obviously had no problem verbally tearing his head off whenever she really didn’t like his behavior, so…

  Bahram cleared his throat. “Uh, I’ll leave you two alone, then.” Always so perceptive to moods, that incubus.

  “Right,” Rhun said, his gaze on Merle, who backed away into the apartment, her cheeks now a beautiful pink. She had to know inching away from him only made him want to chase her.

  A mischievous little smile tugged on her lips, and he grinned. Oh, she did know, all right. So when Bahram pulled the door closed behind him and Rhun charged, she squealed with delight and ran.

  They slept for most of the day, snuggled into each other, and Rhun relished how she cuddled up to him, nestling against him as if he were her haven, her place of comfort. Since it was day, he couldn’t sense Merle’s aura anymore or read her thoughts, but he didn’t need either to know how she felt. The little kisses she showered him with every time she woke, the way her face glowed when she looked at him, the smiles she gifted him with, it all mirrored the deep waves of emotion he’d tasted in her mind, and it filled him with more heartbreaking pleasure than he could bear.

  Every once in a while, her eyes would shadow over, lines of tension appearing around her mouth. Rhun also didn’t need his demon abilities to know her sister’s fate haunted her at these moments. The ache and worry surrounding her was palpable even to his dulled senses, and chafed at him like sandpaper over sensitive skin. He’d say something silly then to make her smile, or at least swat at him in annoyance. Anything to take her mind off what Maeve might be going through right now, and how Merle couldn’t help her until nightfall.

  He’d already sworn to himself he’d rip the fucking son of a bitch to shreds, for what he’d done to Maeve, for the bruises he’d put into Merle’s eyes.

  By late afternoon, after they’d finally left the bed, showered and gotten dressed, and Rhun had repaired the dripping faucet in Bahram’s bathroom, the crooked shelf in the hallway, the slanted curtain rail in the bedroom, and cleaned the whole apartment—twice—Merle had somehow managed to persuade him to watch something called Harry Potter with her. She’d discovered Bahram owned the whole set—eight damn movies—and since Rhun had trouble refusing Merle anything that made her eyes sparkle like that, he’d relented and had resigned himself to watching a bunch of kids chase each other around on brooms.

  He soon found a way to make the whole experience a bit more interesting, though, and set up a nice little game he liked to call Tease-a-Witch. Every time someone cast a spell in the movie, Rhun would steal a kiss from Merle, he’d tickle her whenever Harry’s scar hurt, pinched one of her nipples at any mention of Voldemort by name or his titles, and fondled any other available part of her body when anyone flew on a broom.

  By the middle of the second movie, Merle jumped up from the couch as if seared by a firecracker, and turned off the TV, her hands shaking.

  Rhun blinked at her in perfect innocence. “Something wrong, little witch?”

  She rounded on him, her face flushed all shades of intriguing red. “Yes! This! I’m aroused! Gods, I can’t do this! You shouldn’t be aroused when you watch Harry Potter!”

  She was so adorable. Rhun laughed, ignoring her sound of irritation, and then proceeded to engage her in some activities for which being aroused was very much encouraged.

  It was almost nightfall when the message from Arawn arrived—in the form of a fairy. Rhun let her in after she’d knocked on the living room window—he didn’t want to know how Arawn had found out where to send his messenger—and the little winged fae creature flew into the room in graceful swirls, landing on the coffee table.

  “His Grace the Lord of Demons wishes me to tell you that he succeeded in his task,” the fairy said, her violet-colored hair glinting in the light of the sunset. Her wings were of a lighter lavender-shade, their shape reminiscent of a butterfly’s.

  “Thank you.” Merle smiled, but the lines on her face were tense, undoubtedly speaking of her inner agitation.

  The fairy inclined her tiny head. “My master also bid me to explain that the spell is not fully undone until you cut this thread.” She held out a piece of string about two inches long.

  Rhun took the thread from the fairy, grudgingly grateful for Arawn’s prudence. Smart son of a bitch. By letting them choose the moment the spell would break, he gave them a fighting chance to find the demon before the Elder witch would rush to the site where Maeve was held. She would likely notice the second the spell was broken, and then know that Rhun and Merle were onto her.

  Merle’s eyes met Rhun’s, and he saw the determination in them, the grim will to take the next—and final—step in her quest to find Maeve.

  Her gaze then dropped to Rhun’s arm and he followed the direction—to see the fairy now plastered to his biceps, looking up at him dreamily.

  “You’re beautiful,” she said, a sigh in her voice.

  He smirked. “I know. I’m a gift to the females of the world.”

  “Hmm. Yes.” The fairy rubbed her tiny cheek against him, her wings moving in slow, dazed strokes. “Yes, you are. Beautiful demon.”

  Rhun watched with amusement—until Merle plucked the fairy off him, strutted over to the window, and threw her out, growling like a threatened tiger. She shut the window with a bang and then dusted her hands off.

  “Now, I knew you were jealous,” Rhun said, barely biting back his laugh, “but I didn’t know the extent of it. In case you didn’t notice, that female was the size of your forearm. Serious competition that, no doubt.”

  She swiveled around to glare at him, her face starting with another nice blush, the color hinting at embarrassment.

  “And, by the way, you do know you just witch-handled a messenger of Arawn?”

  Merle sucked in air and covered her mouth with her hands. “Oh gods!” She sprinted back to the window, yanked it open and shouted, “I’m sorry!”

  A hiss, a smack, and then Merle stood frozen, staring out after the blur of wings that zigzagged away.

  “She punched me.” Her face was a study in disbelief. There was a tiny red blotch on her forehead where the fairy’s fist had apparently made contact with her skin.

  “Well,” Rhun said, strolling over to pull her into a hug, doing his very, very best not to laugh, “I guess that means you’re even.”

  Merle leaned into him, and he wrapped his arms tightly around her, his eyes on the setting sun on the horizon. He drank in the colors of the dusky sky, knowing this would be the last sunset he’d ever get to see.

  Because before this coming night was over, he’d be bound in the Shadows again.

  Chapter 20

  Merle watched the vibrant colors of the sunset fade into the darkness of the advancing night, her whole body humming with gri
m excitement. Soon. Soon she’d get to kill the fucking bastard who’d kidnapped and tortured her baby sister, and then this whole nightmare would finally be over. The familial link to Maeve pulsed inside her, weaker than before but not broken. Yet. Her sister was still alive, and Merle would make damn sure they found her in time.

  Time. Thinking of which…

  She turned around, laid her hand on Rhun’s cheek and met his eyes. “I don’t know how fast the Elders are going to find us once we’ve rescued Maeve, but I want you to know that I’ll try to convince them that you’re—”

  “Rhuntastic?” he asked with a grin that could be sold as an aphrodisiac.

  She almost choked on the giggle bubbling up. “No. I mean, yes, you are, but—what I meant was I’ll find a way to make them see that—”

  “I Rhuned you for all other men? I think that’s rather obvious, little witch.”

  “Stop it.” A command that would have had a lot more impact if it wasn’t undermined by her laughing.

  When she was about to start once more with the promise of how she would fight to keep him, he backed her against the wall, circled her throat with his hand and kissed her. Dumbfounded, she melted into his touch, left gasping for breath by the intensity of his kiss when he broke away and nipped her lower lip with his fangs.

  She sucked in air at the current of arousal that drove straight down to her core. Her whole body came to life, ignited with raw desire, as if she hadn’t had sex in ages—as if she hadn’t been enjoying Rhun’s sensual skills for the better part of the day. By rights she shouldn’t even be able to stand. But her body somehow still managed to cry out for more, every inch of her skin hungry for his touch, her heart and mind drawn to him with undeniable force.

  “You need to feed,” she whispered against his mouth. With the erotic pulse underneath her skin trumped by the drive to find Maeve as soon as possible, she resisted the urge to tear off his clothes and continue the games they’d been playing all day. “I think it’ll be faster if you just… You know.”

  Rhun laughed, a throaty sound that reverberated in places of her body already primed for his touch. “Still so bashful, Merle mine? After everything I’ve done with you?” He rolled one of her nipples between his fingers through the fabric of her blouse. “To you…”

  A moan escaped her lips. “Rhun.”

  “I want you to say it. Tell me what you want me to do to you, and I’ll make sure to be very time-efficient.” The glint in his eyes was positively wicked. “And don’t be coy about the vocabulary.”

  She glared at him while heat flooded her face with the force of a tidal wave. One deep inhale, and then she charged forward, the words tumbling out in a rush. Speed made it easier. “I want you to make me come. Like you did the first time, with your hand, stroking me underneath my panties…inside me. And I want you to—” She broke off, licked her lips, arousal beating between her thighs.

  He raised one brow, infinite amusement in his eyes. “Do go on.”

  “I want you to use your telekinetic power to…enhance the manual action.”

  Slowly, oh-so-slowly, one side of his mouth quirked up. “Like this?”

  The invisible tug on her clit made her jump and utter an undignified sound of excitement. “Yes.”

  His smile sinfully sensual, tempered with predatory hunger, he gently squeezed her throat, gave her a languid kiss—and then whirled her around. Her back now to his front, he pressed her to him with one arm banded around her waist. Sliding his hand up to her breast, he flicked the puckered nipple with his thumb while he unfastened the button on her jeans with his free hand. A few seconds later, and her viciously talented demon had his fingers right where her desire pulsed with maddening force, his hand and his telekinetic power setting up a rhythm that had her writhing close to the edge in record time.

  “Good gods, you’re amazing,” she moaned, head thrown back against his shoulder, hands raised and buried in his hair.

  A kiss on her neck. “You didn’t doubt me, did you now?”

  Her answer came out as a strangled groan. With her impending climax moments from shattering her into bliss, and Rhun grazing the skin on her neck with his fangs, preparing to bite, she grasped the last bit of sense she had left and suggested the one thing that had been lurking at the back of her mind ever since he’d hinted at it. Mild curiosity had morphed into secret craving until temptation pulsed underneath her skin with every beat of her heart.

  “Rhun,” she whispered as he played with her nipple in a way that made her knees turn to rubber, “I want you to take pain from me, too.”

  He grew absolutely still behind her, his breath coursing her skin, hot and fast. His power vibrated darkly.

  “It’ll save us time.” She swallowed, half-turning her face toward him. “If you take all three from me, we can start the search for the demon faster. Find Maeve faster.”

  “Merle…” It was a feral snarl, a warning. For whatever reason, he hesitated.

  It made her grit her teeth. “Do it. I’m not made of spun glass and need to be coddled. I know you’ve been longing to take all three from me, and I want you to, so do it. You told me pain could be pleasurable—was that all talk and no show?” She was taunting him, but she didn’t care. She wanted all of him, nothing held back.

  Rhun growled, the low rumble vibrating against her back, and still, he hesitated. His aura blazed with all sorts of conflicting emotions. “Merle,” he rasped, his voice barely human, “I don’t—”

  “Do. It.”

  He tightened his arm around her waist. His body shook, making hers tremble, too.

  “Rhun.” She lowered her shields completely again, flooded him with the force of her desire. “Please.”

  Uttering a groan full of pent-up lust and hunger, he raised one hand to her throat, stretched her neck—and bit.

  She cried out. It wasn’t gentle this time. He let her feel the full impact of his teeth breaking her skin, sinking into her flesh. Pain speared her, rushing through her veins with the blood he drew. Then, the sensation changed, shifted, morphed into something else as he kept up the rhythm of his fingers inside her, of his power on her clit. Her inner muscles clenched around him, and within seconds she was strung tight with a kind of arousal she’d never experienced before. It felt like a full-body immersion in pleasure, her skin humming with heightened sensitivity.

  He sucked harder, and another wave of pain surged, making her ball her hands to fists. Sudden pressure on her clit, exquisite, delicate movements that zinged pleasure outward from her core. Merle moaned, trembling with the force of her excitement, and just like that, the pain from his bite merged with the sensation of his strokes inside her, with the stimulation on her clit—and her pleasure skyrocketed.

  Short-circuited with arousal, her body couldn’t distinguish between pleasure and pain anymore, and each sting from his bite, each pull on her vein, each stroke of his fingers inside her brought her higher, higher, higher, until the shattering fusion of sensations became too much.

  Merle’s world shattered in a blast of pleasure, raw, powerful, consuming. Her senses exploded with overload, her mind splintered under the force of a climax that dissolved all thoughts.

  Everything went black as she drowned in a vortex of blood, pain, and pleasure.

  The incessant ring of her cell phone yanked Merle out of the clutches of overwhelming oblivion. Dammit, she hadn’t meant to fall asleep. They had to get moving and find Maeve. With a moan, she rolled over and fought to lift her eyelids against the lead weighing them down. Her whole body felt packed in cotton candy, her muscles limp, her movements lethargic, and there was more numbness inside her, a strange kind of…void.

  Shaking her head against that odd feeling—and damn, that movement made the world spin around her—she got off the bed and trudged into the hallway. She picked up the still ringing phone from the chest of drawers, answering Lily’s call.

  “Yeah?” she asked with enough tiredness in her voice to shock herself.


  “Merle, are you all right? You sound like crap.”

  “Gee, thanks, Lil.” She continued dragging herself to the kitchen.

  When Lily didn’t shoot back with a quip, Merle got her first inkling that something was majorly wrong.

  “I found more information on Rhun’s species.” The somber note in Lily’s voice made Merle pause.

  “Spill.”

  A moment of hesitation. “You’re feeding him, right?”

  Merle’s skin prickled with suspicion. “Yes.”

  “Blood, pleasure…and pain?”

  Now it was on Merle to hesitate. A heavy, heavy weight settled in her stomach, dragging her down. “Yes,” she whispered.

  “At the same time?” Lily’s voice sounded pressed.

  “Lily.” Cold fear crept up her spine. “I swear I’m gonna kick your ass through this phone if you don’t get to the point right now.”

  The swallow on the other end of the line was audible. “Just please, please tell me you didn’t let him take all three at once.”

  Invisible bands tightened around Merle’s chest, choking her as her throat turned dry as desert sand. “Why? What happens if I do?”

  Silence.

  “Lil.”

  “He’ll be able to steal your powers.”

  The floor fell out from beneath Merle’s feet. Spinning, spinning, the world went whirling around her, and she grabbed the marble kitchen counter to keep from toppling over.

  No. It couldn’t be. Rhun wouldn’t have…

  The void inside her ached. She sucked in air. This numbly throbbing emptiness—for the first time since she’d come into her powers, she couldn’t feel her magic.

  It was gone, ripped out of her like the marrow out of a plant, leaving a hollow husk. No. No, no, no. Frantic, her mind scrambled, she tried a simple levitation spell on a spoon. The utensil didn’t move, not even an inch. Her hand shook. All air left her lungs.