Ghast Me Gently (Wicked Good Witches Book 4) (18 page)

William slammed her down over the ice, burning and stretching her to the limit.

She cried out in pleasure and pain.

“If you want more, keep talking,” William warned.

She swallowed, her voice weak. “My friends, my family… they wrote me off believing I’d thrown myself over that cliff. They believed I’d do such a cowardly thing. How could they? How could they…” she whimpered. “And they just forget me. Like I never existed.”

William groaned, drawing from her pain. His hands gripped her thighs tighter with each stroke.

Lizzy sobbed bitterly. “And that bitch. She didn’t pay. She didn’t suffer. No one ever found out what she did.
She
got to live her life. She didn’t die until she was ninety fucking years old!”

Lizzy’s body seized, pressure building. Stars burst in front of her eyes transforming into black splotches. “William,” she called out. Her head tossed back, her hair dripping in wet ringlets behind her.

A splattering of ice shattered her heat. William groaned in the effort. Waves of fire ravaged through her body smoldering into a contented warmth. Her head fell forward. Her body weakened. Spent.

For a moment, they didn’t speak or move.

Just breathed. Just were.

Lizzy’s chin lifted, William’s touch gentle.

“The
witch
did get what she deserved, Lisbeth.” She searched the darkness in his eyes for what he meant.

“She died. She grew old and withered away into nothing. She never got her greatest desire, and her short human life was stripped from her. You got a chance to live yours again. You did not lose
everything.
”

The pain in Lizzy’s chest lightened.

He was right.

“It’s not the life you should have lived, Lisbeth. But live it now.
Live the hell out of each day
and if she’s watching you from whatever afterlife hell she’s stuck in… let her wallow in the misery that she did not win.”

A mindful satisfaction forged across Lizzy’s tear stained face. A sensation of wholeness returning to her soul. The final step to returning to her human form. The grief abated. She’d let the tide carry it out to sea.

William closed his eyes, leaning his forehead against hers.

The predator crept back into hiding. The darkness retreating. It had gotten what it wanted… mostly. Enough to satiate the beast, for now. To calm the carnal cravings that had been building inside him and driving him to madness.

Tomorrow. That was a different story. He’d have to lock himself away after drinking human blood. Fresh human blood. But for this moment, just a brief moment, he could just be a man. A man mending a broken soul.

There was no hope for his own.

Moist lips pressed against his own and released.

He pulled back and opened his eyes.

“Thank you,” Lizzy whispered. “I know vampires don’t really enjoy kissing, but I am a human.”

“Kissing is… intimate. Something people in love do. Not vampires.”

“My fiancé told me he’d never really kissed a woman before me. He’d never wanted to.”

There was only on pair of lips William wanted.

“You do love someone, don’t you?” She spoke as if she knew, but preferred he told her so, himself. He said nothing.

“Now look who’s being stubborn…”

“Conversation for another day.” He had no intention of following through with it.

She pulled herself off his body, kneeling in the sand in front of him. “Would you mind dashing out to the beach and grabbing our clothes?”

“So modest all of a sudden.”

“Actually, I’m not sure I can walk quite yet. I think you wrecked me.”

His eyes widened. “I didn’t hurt you badly, did I?”

“Just enough.” She winked.

He shook his head. “I did
try
to restrain myself.”

A rather sick pairing they made.

William disappeared, leaving a flash of sand in his wake, returning just a second later. He’d already dressed. 

“Should I carry you home?” He helped her off the ground, sliding the summer dress over her head.

“No. I’m going to sit on the beach for a bit. I’d forgotten what air feels like. To have the ocean mist spray against my skin. The rain… for too long I could only hear the waves. Hear the wind. To feel it again…” she let out a languid sigh.

He sensed she wanted to be alone. “Good night, Lisbeth.”

“Good night, William.”

He dashed out of sight, slowing his pace. Choosing to walk deliberately back to the mansion. What excuse would he give for locking himself away for the night? Or for the next day. After the blood craving kicked in.

It didn’t matter. The moment of surrender was worth the quiet filling his mind. It satisfied the predator, which slept soundly once again. He could return to his life of control and bask in the serenity before the return of chaos.

His eyebrow lifted. He was home. Even at human speed, it hadn’t taken long. In a vampiric flash he balanced himself just outside Melinda’s door. If what Lizzy told him was true for all vampires, William’s life did now have a determined end, whether he wanted it to, or not.

He might never claim her as his, or openly admit he loved her. But when she died and was gone from this world, he would leave it with her.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Eva Jordan stayed with her exhausted father. She had allowed him to sit, eat, have a drink and get comfortable before she suddenly appeared in front of him, arms folded, scowl on her face.

“Out with it,” he told her, seeing that she had much to say.

“I’m not even sure where to start,” she spoke sternly. “You tell me you have this map and you’re heading to check out the lighthouses. And then you vanish without a fucking trace! We might be here for very specific reasons but you are still my father and
do you
have any idea what you put me through today? How worried I was? You forced me to go to the Howards for help! Now I feel like I owe them! I can’t feel like that! How am I supposed to do my job when Charlie Howard…” she stopped, biting her lip to stop herself from saying more.

She didn’t want to think about Charlie right now, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to tell her father about what had happened, especially since she had no idea what
had
happened. She decided he didn’t need to know.

Anthony Jordan smiled weakly and took a deep breath. “Seems like you knew where to start just fine.”

“Don’t patronize me,” she snapped.

“Eva, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you worry, and it was all rather out of my control.”

“What happened after you got to the lighthouse, perhaps? But not before that. Did you know the map was real? Where did you get it? Did you have any idea that Deane’s are on the Isle, and how incriminating that is to
us
now? The Howards loath the Deanes. Having a map that once belonged to them in our possession…” She pushed out a pissed off gush of air. “And why did you keep all this from me? I agreed to help you with your plans, and this is how you repay that loyalty? I’m your daughter, not just your fucking partner!”

Anthony Jordan huffed, cheeks red. “What does it matter now? The map is useless. The doors are shut. And I couldn’t care less that Deane’s are back on the Isle. It changes nothing.”

“It matters that you didn’t see fit to trust me. Your own daughter! Your partner!”

Anthony frowned, taking a calming breath. “I honestly have no idea who sent the map. It was delivered months ago before we came to the Isle. I assumed it was real, but I needed to investigate to find out. I thought if I could verify its authenticity I might be able to use it to our advantage.”

“I just cannot believe you didn’t tell me, Dad.”

He shrugged indicating it was of no importance.

“And what will we do to put out any potential fires?” she asked. “The Howards are going to question where that map came from.”

Anthony waved it off. “It’s all moot. They won’t have enough time to question.”

She eyed him hard, not knowing what he meant by that.

“I’m too tired for this. But what about owing the Howards? Is this a problem for you?”

She shot him a nasty look and shook her head in a bothered fashion. “I can handle it.”

“Good. Hand me a glass of whiskey, I could use another drink and then I’m going to bed.”

She poured him a glass and angrily handed it to him, leaving the room without another word, the rest of the bottle in tow.

“The plan hasn’t changed, Eva,” barked her father as she disappeared.

Eva rolled her eyes and flared her nostrils. She closed herself in her bedroom, taking deep swigs from the bottle as she undressed down to her tank top and thong.

She tipped the bottle back again slinking to the floor and after one more swig, set the bottle aside. She lay back, staring at the ceiling, her long white strands splaying around her body. The booze made her lightheaded so she closed her eyes.

Damn, if she didn’t want to get off this island.

Fuck the plan.

Fuck her father.

Fuck Charlie and the Howards.

Just leave. Tonight.

But that wasn’t going to happen. She’d sworn that one day she’d return here to help her father. And she’d see it through.

Part of her wanted to tell her father what had happened earlier that day with Charlie, but she was too pissed at him. And too consumed by the moment. It had never happened to her before. It was like the smell experiment she and her dad had tried out on Charlie had backfired, or was somehow being created by something else. Something else
she
was now experiencing too.

It was a bad idea to get close to Charlie. Whatever was happening could easily happen again. She thought about it though. Perhaps she had been going about her intentions all wrong. Maybe getting closer to Charlie was actually a good idea. Maybe it would keep him from getting suspicious of her and her father’s activities. Why not have a little fun on the side? It would make the ending just that much sweeter, once Charlie discovered what she was… who she was.

His creator. His true alpha.
His…
her drunken mind claimed.

And maybe she was just being a gigantic friggin’ idiot. Using any excuse that made her desire for him justified. She was not
his.
He belonged to her.

Her body shuddered.

She wanted him, damn it. God, she fucking did.

She wrapped her arms around her stomach, holding herself together.

The memory of his chest pressing down on her. Pinned to the bench… his powerful arms. That growl that almost tore the wolf out of her. She wanted to play.

This was no good. Lines were being crossed that should not be crossed.

If she was going to get closer to him, she had to figure out a way to do so without getting too involved, without losing sight of the end game. 

“It’s all the wolf,” she mumbled drunkenly. “It’s not me.” Her wolf craved his touch, not her.

And this wasn’t something Charlie would guess, she didn’t think, seeing as he was not aware they had any wolf connection. Perhaps there was a way to use this to her advantage. But how?

The booze spread haze through her head.

She unraveled her arms, laying them by her sides.

With each inhale and exhale, Eva fell further into her thoughts, her breaths drawing heavier, her subconscious trapping her somewhere deeply within.

“Charlie…” His name slipped across her lips in lusty thickness.

In the Howard Mansion, Charlie had showered and thrown himself onto his bed, exhaustion pulling him into sleep instantly. He lay on his stomach, hands above his head. Fingernails elongated, tearing into his pillow.

Eva Jordan lay on her floor, her body convulsing as if unable to get enough air. Beads of sweat dripped down her milky white skin. Suddenly she gasped, her eyes swinging open. Yellow, streaked with hazel down the center. The yellow darkened, turning to a deep gold.

She panted heavily. Skin on fire, every nerve screaming for just one thing. Her arm lurched out over her body as if trying to grab something just out of reach.

“Charlie,” she called out through raspy breath. “I need you.”

Charlie’s eyes flew open, a growl escaped his lips echoing Eva’s name. He pushed up against the bed with his hands and legs landing on the floor with a soft thud. His feet planted firmly, his head flicked to the side. Silver eyes glared in the darkness.

He took a determined step toward his door, but a shape passing by his mirror caught him off guard and he stopped, staring at it.

In the recesses of his mind, Charlie knew he was looking at himself. And yet he didn’t recognize this beast in front of him. He wasn’t fully transformed. But he wasn’t Charlie Howard.

A mouthful of teeth snarled into the mirror. Memories faded, turning into distant fog. Buried somewhere he could not currently access and taken over by something else. Something more savage. And primal.

“Charlie…” he heard Eva’s voice, calling to him. “I need you, Charlie.” She spoke as if her life depended on him finding her.

It became his only thought.

His only mission.

He crept out of the house, darted through the yard escaping into the woods behind the mansion. He lifted his chin sending a chilling howl into the night sky.

An eerie reply echoed back, and Charlie gazed hungrily into the woods.

The chase. His heart thudded against his skin in the anticipation of it. His muscles quaked in readiness.

“I will devour you…” his warning pulsed out to Eva. A seductive taunt splayed into his thoughts.

“But first, Charlie, you have to catch me.”

##

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To read Book 5,
A Nightmare to Remember
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