Assassin's Kiss (22 page)

C
HAPTER
20

S
CORPIO SAT ON THE QUEEN-SIZE
bed in the guest cabin he’d been given, body primed to fight or fuck. This bed was too small. Tessa’s bed was too small. There was nowhere in the realm big enough and perfect enough to do all the things he wanted to do to his mate when he claimed her. And yet, anywhere with her would be undeniably
right
.

But any speck of time with her would be fleeting, and it tore at him. His devotion was a clawing beast inside him, forever needing her body, her love and, above all, her safety. He would never be able to let her go to Damien. Never.

He toyed with the phone from Brenin and it chimed with an incoming text.

Brenin:
Your little witch is hot.

He typed back:
Key word is MY witch.

Brenin:
Good for you, man. Glad you found her.

Scorpio set the phone next to him and leaned forward, elbows on his knees, listening to the genial noises of the coven settling in for the night. A guard was still positioned outside his door, and others were gearing up to rotate throughout the night. For now, they were going to stay within the coven boundaries, keeping eyes on everything.

That would make it a bit more challenging to sneak out to see Tessa, but that was fine. He had snuck through tougher obstacles for less reward.

Zeebi’s cabin was near Tessa’s. He could stop by and listen, find out if she spoke to anyone. Gods, who would have thought she was a traitor? It wouldn’t only hurt Tessa, it would hurt the whole coven. Zeebi had a friendly nature that he had observed in her interactions with everyone here. People trusted her.

An hour passed. The sounds of witches talking, preparing for bed, and snoring gradually faded and the calls of nocturnal animals dominated Scorpio’s hearing. At the front door, Kharv stood still and calm. Scorpio didn’t want to get the male in trouble, yet he also didn’t need to let him in on his plans. Sometimes, the less one knew, the better.

On stealthy feet, Scorpio crossed the room to the back window and raised the pane. It was a tight fit for his shoulders, but he pushed out and vaulted to the ground below, reaching back up to slide the window down almost all the way.

He padded silently through the neat rows of cabins, all rough wood on the exterior. Built hastily, he would guess, but all of them sturdy. Not fancy. Nothing like the whimsical millwork and complex rooflines of the buildings he remembered stalking through years ago.

He encountered no one. The guards on roaming patrol were currently on the opposite end of the coven’s land. They were methodical and had discussed their planned pattern, a conversation on which Scorpio had shamelessly eavesdropped.

Outside one cabin with toys strewn about the front yard, a raccoon sat greedily munching a spilled snack. When Scorpio approached it looked up, eyes wide within its black mask, and dashed off. He shook his head. Crazy critter would be back soon enough.

Tessa’s cabin loomed on his right hand side, in the middle of a row of identical ones. He had the essentials for lock picking: a paper clip from the messy pile of office debris and paper on Hallon’s desk, and a skinny metal rod found on the excursion to get the crystals. He could bend each one to do whatever he needed to get in.

Had she bothered to lock up, given her invitation? She better have. Though he was certain the spy was Zeebi, he didn’t know if anyone else from the coven might be involved.

Her door was locked.
Good.
Swiftly, he manipulated the mechanism of the simple doorknob, using his makeshift tools to force the thing to yield. He entered quickly and closed the door silently.

The scent of honeysuckle mixed with shower gel invaded his nose as Tessa got up from her perch on the couch. She rushed toward him on bare feet, crossing the small space in a few strides, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He buried his face in the waves of her slightly damp hair. “Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah,” she mumbled into his shoulder before pushing back to gaze up at him. “I was just hoping you wouldn’t run into any trouble getting over here, with the extra patrols and all.”

“I can deal with trouble.” He sifted a hand through the silk of her hair, mesmerized by its softness and wanting to feel it draped across his chest when he woke up every morning.

“I know. I just don’t want you to have to.”

“Worried about me?” He slid his hands down to her hips, teasing across the small of her back and lower. A shaky breath escaped her and she skimmed her hands up his shoulders. Her black yoga pants left nothing to his imagination, and her green tank top taunted him. The thin cotton barely held back her braless breasts, warm and full against his pecs. Perfect curves that he couldn’t wait to kiss. Hidden, but not for long.

His cock surged behind his zipper as need escalated. He’d barely been able to hold back last night. And though this was only twenty-four hours later, it seemed like a month’s worth of complications had happened since then.

“Maybe.” A tiny smile tugged at her lips.

“Don’t. Let me take care of it. No worrying tonight.”

“That’s the best thing I heard all day.” She tilted her face up, blue eyes locked on his mouth.

He cupped her face, thumbs grazing her downy cheeks, and kissed her. Her lips were so soft. Her whole body was soft, yet he would never forget the strength simmering beneath the surface. Hell, yes, he was glad she’d hit him with witchfire.
My tough, beautiful witch.

He turned them so she was against the door and raised her arms above her head. Shifting both wrists to one of his hands, he held her in place as he took her mouth. His other hand skimmed slowly down her body, starting at her throat, gliding over the swell of her breasts, and down her belly. Then around to her ass where he cupped her, making her arch toward him.

She whimpered and wiggled, trying to get her hands free. He obliged, and she instantly found the hem of his T-shirt. “Take this off.” Her voice was a breathy, insistent command.

He grinned, loving her greediness. “As you wish.” He yanked the shirt over his head.

Tessa stared, not bothering to hide her appreciation of his body. “I’ve been dying to see you,” she whispered. She dragged a finger down his abs, mouth moving silently…
counting?

“What are you doing? Not that I’m complaining.” He threaded his fingers into her hair again, just because he had to touch her in some way.

“Eight pack abs,” she murmured. “I thought they were a myth.”

He would have laughed, if he wasn’t about to explode with lust. “No myth. Gods, your hands feel good.”

She leaned in close and kissed a warm sensual line from one pec to the other. The slick pressure of her mouth lit his every nerve on fire, pushing him to explore every inch of her. He skated his hands up her sides, over delicate rib, and stopped just below her breasts.

Undeterred, she dipped her head to kiss his abdomen. Sexy unbound hair swung forward to brush his skin, tickling and taunting. Her fingers settled at his waist, her breath hot at the button of his pants. He groaned at the exquisite torture and guided her back up.

His head pounded, demanding to take her, claim her in every possible way. But this wasn’t claiming, at least not for her. It was something she wanted and thank fucking hell for that. But he needed to make sure. “This, you and me,” he began. “I won’t be able to stop. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything, Tessa. Ever.”

Even more than he’d wanted his freedom from Dalamos.

“I don’t want to stop,” she whispered. “I want you. Nothing else.”

With a growl, he picked her up. She flung her arms around his neck and her legs around his hips, just like she had in the trees. “You’re so strong.” She kissed his neck. “Gods, I feel so safe with you.”

He pinned her against the door, using that to leverage her so his hands were free to roam. He found her breasts and massaged her over the thin black top. She moaned as he ran his fingers over her nipples, making them stiffen. She rocked her center against him.

“I need to touch you, baby.” He leaned in to capture her mouth, delving deep. At the same time he fisted the edge of her top and tugged down. Not enough to expose her, but enough to let her know how fast she could be naked.

“Yes,” she breathed out when he broke the kiss. She leaned forward, grabbed the hem of the top and pulled it over her head.

“Fuck me, you’re beautiful.” Her hair was wild around her shoulders, the long strands just reaching the tips of round, perfect breasts.

She slid her hands around his neck, offering, pushing her body close to his mouth. He took one pink nipple into his mouth and she gasped. “Scorpio,” she whispered. “Oh gods.”

His cock throbbed at his name on her lips, her breast at his mouth. He flexed his hips, staggered by the delirious crush of need and also…joy. She was giving herself to him freely. Maybe in her mind it wasn’t permanent.

But it was a start. Rightness crashed around him. This female was his.

He turned to her other breast and swirled her nipple before drawing her deep into his mouth. Her scent was concentrated here, her skin softer than any silk. She ran her nails across his shoulders and squeezed him hard with her thighs.

“I’m so hot.” She fumbled with the waist of her pants. “Need these off.”

He set her down. “You’re hot, all right.”

She cast him a sultry smile but didn’t waste any time or make a show of undressing. He had a feeling that watching Tessa take off her clothes would be sexy no matter what. She pushed the folded waistband down, shimmying the garment over her hips.

Black cotton slid lower, revealing the tempting, smooth skin of her thighs…and then on one leg, four parallel scars came into his view.

“Ah, hell,” he muttered, dropping to his knees to trace the markings. The slashes, five inches in length, had turned a silvery white in the passage of time. “I’m sorry.”

She stroked his hair. “It’s okay. It was so long ago…it’s just part of me now.”

He gently, reverently kissed each jagged line. “You’re a survivor,” he murmured. “This is your badge of honor. You made it through. You’re amazing.”

She pulled him back to his feet. “I think that goes for both of us.”

Her words exploded like fireworks. She saw
him
. Not a list of shit he’d done. And with her standing in front of him, nearly naked, his heart and soul surrendered to her completely. “You are so damn sexy.” He reached for a strand of hair that lay temptingly in her cleavage, and wrapped it around his finger.

She kicked the pants off to the side and stood in black lace underwear, face flushed with desire. The unmistakable scent of her arousal perfumed the air, ramping his inner demon up even more. With his hold on her hair, he tugged her close and used his other hand to cup her ass. Bare skin met his palm. The soft curves of her body beckoned to him on a hundred different levels, to caress, play, tease. To bite, suck, and devour until she moaned for more. He tugged at the scrap of lace, ready to rip it in two.

“Now you.” She kissed from one pec to the other, each brush of her lips like an arrow to his groin. Her hands deftly worked his belt buckle and button fly. Slender fingers brushed near his swollen cock, so close, he flexed into her again.

Looking down at his female as she undressed him, he caught a perfect view of her ass framed in that black lace. His need overrode his sense, and with a growl he ripped her thong to shreds.

She raised heated blue eyes to his. Her fingers paused at the open edges of his fly, short-circuiting his control. “Good thing I have more of those,” she murmured, and slid her hand inside his boxer briefs.

“Fuck,” he muttered as her smooth fingers gripped his length, stroking up and down, maneuvering him out of the confines of his clothing. Using two hands to grip him, she explored and played as she kissed his chest. And when she scraped her little teeth across his nipple, his vision went hazy. “Gods. I need you right this goddamn second.” He gripped her biceps, drawing her hands away.

She pouted. “I wasn’t done.”

“You keep that up, you’ll make me come in those pretty little hands of yours.” He roughly jerked at his jeans, pushing them down and kicking them to the side. “And when I come tonight, I plan to be buried deep in your sweet hot body.”

She bit her lip, a playful smile on her face, and let him lead her to the couch. He pushed her down on her back and draped one sexy leg up and over the cushions. Then he knelt between her knees.

Bare, glistening, open to him. She owned him, even if she didn’t know it or believe it. Her body captivated and bewitched him, making him her willing slave.

“So beautiful,” he whispered, tracing a finger around her navel and lower down. He moved slowly back and forth across her skin, grazing over her mound. She trembled, gaze riveted to his finger. He reached her center and drew his finger down through slickness that made him insane with the urge to taste. He brought his fingers to his mouth and licked.

She writhed, panting. “Stop teasing me.”

“What do you want, Tessa?”

“I want you. Your hands on me, your mouth on me. Anything, everything. I...I need you.” Her eyes implored him, the raw sexual hunger there a beacon to his heart.

He rumbled in approval and leaned down, using his tongue to trace the path his finger had just taken.

Her taste was perfect, delicious, a mix of her own honeysuckle plus unhindered desire. Her skin was soft and delicate, warm and slick. A taste he could never get enough of, and would never forget.

She muffled a cry with her hand, biting down. “Oh my gooooods,” she moaned and rocked against his face.

He licked her up and down, spearing her with his tongue, seeing what she responded to. Which seemed to be everything. When he used the tip of his tongue to circle her clit, lightly and slowly, she clutched the side of the couch and grabbed the back of his head with her other hand. “Oh gods. Don’t stop.”

He snuck a peek at her. Never had he seen a more erotic female, ever. Her head tossed from side to side. She panted, chest heaving. Her legs dropped wide open, allowing him full access to her body.
Trust.