Page 51 of Blood and Magic
“I want you,” I growled, surprised the words had come out. I shouldn’t have confessed it, but we were well past insecurities now. I stepped closer to her, invading her space, towering over her. Despite how much she stood up to me, she seemed so small in comparison. “But I shouldn’t.”
“Says who?” Maeve waited for a response, but when I didn’t continue, she rolled her eyes and scoffed, turning away again. I grabbed her wrist to stop her, whipping her back to face me.
My merciless half finally yanked free of its restraints, coming to the forefront of my willpower. I couldn’t fight him anymore. I couldn’t fight this anymore. Wrapping my hand around the back of her neck, I crashed my lips to hers, relishing in the surprised and satisfied moan that poured out of her mouth into mine. I swallowed it down, emboldened by it, aching to consume everything she’d let me have.
This was a dangerous game. Even now, I hungered for every last drop of her. The primal side of me called to something dark and powerful inside her, and I wanted to consume it, feast on it, let it live inside me forever, intertwined with my own depraved wickedness.
She melted under my touch, wrapping her hands in my hair, pressing her body firmly against mine. Just when I thought I had her, that we’d both finally succumb to the clawing thing between us, she pushed away from me and squared her jaw.
“No, you don’t get it that easily,” she said, voice trembling. “If you want me, you have to work for it.”
I furrowed my brows, confused about what she meant, until she grinned and took off toward the cabin in a dead sprint. My heart nearly stopped (again), and I gave her exactly five seconds before I went after her. I knew what she wanted. This was part of the game, our game, the one I dreamt about for weeks.
I didn’t want her to get too far ahead. There were vampires hiding out in the woods somewhere, but the thrill of the chase took me over. Her lovely scent left a trail for me to follow, and the sound of her feet on the grass amped up my excitement.
The beast inside me howled with delight as I pumped my legs to reach her. But I didn’t want to make the game too easy. I let her think she had a lead as she veered toward the pastures.
The nighttime chorus grew louder, the frogs cheering us on, the crickets humming in approval. She howled at the nearly full moon, and I sprinted faster, my heart racing, my blood soaring. Joy filled my soul, the long-lost sensation of happiness overtaking both me and my wolf. It had been eons since the warm sparks of play had trickled through my veins, and I didn’t know why I’d closed myself off to it.
Then again, I couldn’t do this with anyone else. Maeve had a certain energy to her that complemented the void inside me. She was Persephone, the Goddess of spring and the queen of hell, bright and shining and ominous simultaneously. And I was the king of darkness, presiding over a paradise of death.
She vaulted over a fence, and I went after her, capturing her just as she landed. I took her down to the ground, rolling her onto her back, pinning her wrists above her head as I situated myself between her legs.
“The night is dangerous,” I said. “You never know what could be lurking in the shadows.”
She groaned and tried to break free. I held her tighter. “I like it when you chase me. I like when you catch me.”
The words jogged a memory of a dream from a few weeks ago, right after I’d started working here.
“Don’t tease the wolf, baby. You won’t like what happens to you.” It was the same reply I’d given her then.
She squinted at me, seemingly confused for a moment. “Are you going to bite me?”
Enough.
The call of her scent and her blood enticed me in ways I couldn’t explain. My wolf knew what was happening, even if the male pushed back against the idea entirely. Mating her would be a terrible idea for a million different reasons, but a shifter couldn’t always help it. What if…What if it was really happening? What if it had been happening all this time?
The scotch and the beer and the thrill of the night had caught up to me, and I shoved dangerous thoughts like that away. I leaned down and kissed her softly before pushing to my feet and taking her with me. When we were both standing, I lifted her into my arms, one under her shoulders, the other under her knees, and I carried her back toward my cabin since it was closer than the mansion, the smell of her heavenly scent buried deep in my nose.
CHAPTER 15
Maeve
By the time we got to his quarters, my body sang with the intimacy of being so close to him. Heat flooded my veins, the enticing blend of his arms around me combined with the gentle way he held me, and I trembled with anticipation.
The small house wasn’t much more than a living room, kitchen, and bedroom, but I recognized the signs of him here. In the weeks since he’d moved in, he’d hung his hats up on the rack by the door, and one of his flannels lay across the back of the sofa.
He carried me to the room in the back, where he set me down on the bed and stood to kick off his boots. I did the same with mine, leaning back to unbutton my shorts and slide down the zipper. After I peeled them off my legs, I yanked up my shirt, struggling to get it over my head. Laughing, he leaned down to help me, brushing the hair out of my face afterward. He held my jaw in his massive calloused hands, and I let my gaze wander over his sculpted body.
Standing in only his boxers, he looked like a statue. His defined pecs gave way to shoulders and ab muscles that spoke of the manual labor he did daily. He had a deep scar on his neck that I hadn’t noticed until now, and one on his lower stomach, disappearing into his Adonis belt. I traced over them and wondered how they’d happened. Had this been from when he’d died trying to save a packmate? Would he tell me even if I asked?
I glided my fingers along the top of his boxers, the erection behind the fabric protruding and nearly bouncing out at me. I licked my lips and lowered my hand, but he caught my wrist.
“No,” he murmured, leaning down to kiss me. “You’ve had a lot to drink.”
I balked. “So? I want this. I’ve wanted this for years.”
He breathed out a soft laugh and shook his head. “You can’t say things like that to me.”
