Hecate's Own: Heart's Desire, Book 2 (18 page)

Arianna pressed a kiss on top of her husband’s head. “I’m
going to go talk to Annabelle. You boys play nice.”

Roland rolled his eyes as the two women left the room. “We
can’t stay long, but I wanted to check in on you.”

Zach pushed himself to a sitting position, ignoring the way
his head swam. The women were right, he wasn’t ready to get in a pissing
contest with a mouse, let alone the Prince of Witches. “I’ll be fine.”

Roland nodded. “Good.” He leaned forward, and Zach got the
feeling that for the first time he was seeing the man, not the prince. “Jo is,
next to my wife, my best friend.”

Zach tilted his head, curious where Roland was going with
this.

“She means almost as much to me as Ari does.” Roland’s hands
clasped, and Zach could see the tension in them. “And you’ve mated her.”

Zach’s jaw clenched. Prince or not, exhausted or not, he’d
obliterate anyone who tried to take Jo from him.

“Which is why I’m here to ask for a truce.”

Zach blinked. “What?”

Roland’s expression turned suspiciously innocent. “There she
was, ass hanging out of one of those stupid floral hospital gowns—”

“You saw Jo’s
ass
?” Someone’s eyes needed to be
ripped out.

“No.”

“Then why did you say it was hanging out?”

“Because she always wears thongs.”

Zach growled, the wolf reacting to the Roland’s knowledge of
Jo’s underwear. Hell, Zach wasn’t thrilled about it either.

Roland’s hands went up in the air. “I love my wife, Zach, so
I get it. I’d be pissed too if some guy I barely knew mentioned her underwear.
But Jo and I are like brother and sister. And you make her happy.”

Zach felt his wolf slowly settle down. “She’s mine.”

Roland sighed. “I know. Jackass.” Zach was amused, but
something inside him relaxed at his Prince’s show of acceptance, unusual though
it was. “Just do me a favor. When you return to court, and you
will
return to court, buy some damn M&M’s. Okay?”

Zach snorted a laugh. “You know what I am, right?”

Roland nodded. “I can barely believe it, but yes, I know.”

Zach held out his palm and allowed his connection to the Goddess
to enter his full awareness. It was always there in the back of his mind, but
he wanted Roland to see exactly what he was inviting back to court. “Are you
sure about that?”

Roland stared at the Hecate’s wheel glowing in the center of
Zach’s palm. “Yeah, I am.” He actually looked relieved. “You’ll take good care
of her.”

And that settled that, as far as Zach was concerned. The man
cared about Jo enough to face off with him. In a way, Zach understood now why
Roland had given him such a hard time. He was giving up one of his girls, and
that couldn’t be easy for someone with enough protective instincts to be the
Prince. He gave the best peace offering he could at the moment and hoped like
hell Roland understood. “We ordered pizza.”

Roland’s eyes lit up. “Pepperoni?”

“Dude. Wolf, remember? I’m not about to get the veggie
special.” He lay back down, almost all of his worries gone. Now he needed his
mate and everything would be right with the world. He waved hello to the
openmouthed princess now standing next to Roland’s chair. He smiled when she
gave her husband a huge, sloppy kiss. “Get a room.”

When Roland flipped him off and pulled his wife onto his
lap, Zach knew they’d be just fine.

Jo hobbled up the front steps of Annabelle Evan’s home. Her
foot was stitched and bandaged. The long cuts on her arms and legs were sutured
together. Her bruises had turned green and yellow. She looked like something
Dr. Frankenstein would love to get his hands on. “Are you sure Annabelle said
we could stay the night?”

Daniel snorted. “Please. She said you could stay as long as
you liked. She was laughing when she said it, but still. Annabelle Evans
doesn’t say anything she doesn’t mean.”

Jo nodded. “All right then.” She blew out her breath and
rang the doorbell, more nervous than she could ever imagine. Annabelle freaked
her the fuck out, and the witch knew it.

The door opened. “Oh good. You’re here.”

Annabelle had the weirdest look on her face. One she’d seen
before. “What did Zach do?”

Annabelle glared at her for a second before she sighed,
wicked humor lighting her face. “Come on in and see.”

Jo limped in, careful of the crutches they’d given her to
use to stay off her damaged foot. Male laughter echoed through the room.
“What’s going on?” Some of that laughter sounded suspiciously familiar.

“Jo!” Arianna swooped out of the chair she’d nested in and
grabbed Jo’s hand. She looked a little wild-eyed. “You’re not going to believe
this.”

Ari was right. Jo didn’t believe it. Zach and Roland sat
together on the sofa, hooting and hollering at the television in Annabelle’s
living room. “What the hell are they watching?”

“America’s Next Top Model.” Annabelle swirled past them,
humor lighting her voice. “Lana and I are hiding in the kitchen. Care to join
us?”

“Yup.” Jo went past the sofa, trying to ignore the way Zach
and Roland leaned into each other. They were laughing so hard Roland had tears
streaming down his face. “When did my fiancé get replaced by a pod person?”

“I know!” Ari took the crutches Jo held out to her and
propped them against the wall.

“Do I want to know what they find so funny?” Jo settled into
one of the chairs with a sigh. Walking on crutches when both arms and both legs
had stitches was a royal pain in the ass.

Lana, eyes wide, shook her head. “No. You don’t.”

Hell. Now the curiosity was going to eat her alive. “Hmph.”
She leaned over to sneak a peek, only to find Daniel, sides heaving, draped
over the back of the sofa. If he laughed any harder he was going to break
something.

Jo turned back around. “You’re right. I do not want to
know.”

Annabelle handed her a glass of milk. “Amen.”

The two women clinked glasses, for once in perfect accord.

Chapter
Nineteen

“Is that the last of it?”

Zach lifted his head and turned. His mate stood behind him,
her shorts exposing the long length of her legs. Her tank top was matted with
sweat and dust. That long dark hair was pulled up into a ponytail, exposing the
graceful line of her neck. The gold, winged-pig pendant he’d had made for her
nestled between her breasts. The sight of the faint scars running up and down
her body never failed to arouse the possessive side of him. No one would lay a
hand on his mate ever again. “Hmm?”

She cocked her hip. “Zach. You’re getting growly.”

He smiled. She knew. She knew exactly how he felt, and she
was learning to deal with it. She’d moved into his apartment just outside
Pittsburgh to recover, because Zach wanted his family close by. His mother
loved
the dark-haired, strong-willed witch. His father had just sighed and asked if
just one of his sons could settle down with a nice wizard, but his eyes had
been twinkling when he’d said it. Both had done everything in their power to
make Jo feel safe, but it didn’t help. He still had to be near her, especially
at night when the dreams hit them both so hard they woke up sweating and
crying. Then his brave mate would curl up in his arms and shake until dawn.

If he could resurrect Davis Godwin just to kill him all over
again, he would.

Zach rarely left her side these days. Soon, he knew, she’d
boot him in the ass and take her life back. But not yet. She also knew he, and
his wolf, needed to know she was safe. He wouldn’t truly relax until they were
back at court and she was fully protected by her family and Roland.

“Oh. The boxes? Yeah, I think so.” He sighed, staring around
the empty apartment. It had been home up until two weeks ago, when Jo and
Roland both decided it was time. Time for Zach and Jo to return to Cleveland.
Time for Jo to resume her duties, physically if not mentally healed from the
attack of the Godwins.

Time for Zach to face the court. His fingers automatically
went to the leather thong around his neck. Jo had taken his twisted amulet,
punched a hole in it, and made a necklace for him. It was supposed to act as a
reminder of everything he was, and wasn’t. He might be an Own, but he wasn’t
invincible.

Zach didn’t tell her that he’d sort of figured that out all
on his own. He used the amulet to remind him that some prices were worth
paying. He had the feeling Jo’s nightmares wouldn’t truly stop until Hugh and
Arthur Godwin were taken care of. Zach was willing to pay almost any price to
see to it that happened in spades.

“What about that?” She pointed to a dingy leather recliner,
an expression of deep distaste on her face.

“What’s wrong with it?” They’d had this argument more times
than he cared to count. He was taking his recliner and that was that. It would
be something he treasured in his mate’s home. Besides his mate, that was.

“I’m going to have it fumigated.” Jo tried to stomp past
him, her little nose up in the air.

Zach grabbed her, twirling her around until her body was
flush to his, her delectable ass cradled in his hands. “We talked about this.”

She blew her bangs out of her eyes.

“You promised.” She grumbled something uncomplimentary under
her breath. He didn’t quite catch it, but he caught enough. “Don’t talk about
my mother that way.”

He could tell she was trying not to laugh. “I’m afraid of
what we’ll find in the bottom when we move it. Jimmy Hoffa, maybe?”

“It’s not
that
bad.”

“I’ve seen you eat Cheetos in that thing.” She shuddered.

“You’re just jealous because you don’t have a real chair.”

She eyed him from under her bangs. “It’s bad enough I’m
going to have dog hair on the upholstery.”

“Hey!”

“But that chair?”

“I promise that chair will be the only one with fur on it.”

He could practically see the wheels turning. “If I find one
animal hair on my brocade sofa I will take your chair and turn it into
kindling.”

He thought about that for a moment. “Then we’d better come
down here to visit my family.” Because no way was he giving up his chair.

He flopped down onto the seat and patted his lap. “Come sit
with Daddy.”

When she turned her back on him and started to walk away he
knew she’d remembered the last time they’d played in his chair. “No way, Zach.
We still need to finish packing.”

“Jo?”

She paused, a quiver running through her body. “No.”

“C’mere, little girl.” He crooked his finger at her,
laughing when she squealed. He’d pulled her toward him using his powers. Her
socked feet slid on the hardwood floor with ease. “Daddy wants to play.”

“That’s just fucking creepy, Zach.” She landed in his lap
with a giggle. “No daddies. Yuck.”

He couldn’t keep the smile off his face, but that was normal
now that Jo lived with him. He felt like his whole body smiled whenever she was
near. “No daddies.” He waggled his eyebrows at her. “How about little red and
the big—” he licked her neck, “—bad,” he muttered against her neck, “wolf?” He
thrust his erection up against her ass.

Lord and Lady, she loved it when Zach wanted to play. From
the grin on his face her clothes would be on the floor before she could say
“woof”.

Sure enough, he began tugging on her tank top, pulling it
over her head and dropping it to the floor. Hell, she wasn’t going to fight
him. She wanted this just as much as he did, if not more.

She’d learned that Zach’s appetite wasn’t confined to the
kitchen. He’d devour her whenever, wherever she let him. Honestly, she rarely
wanted to deny him. Zach made each new encounter a game between them, made the
lovemaking fun. She laughed, she came, she screamed and she sighed.

He was damn near perfect. Now if only she could convince him
to get rid of his ratty chair.

“I know that look. You’re thinking of chairicide.”

Jo looked up at the ceiling and wondered how badly the
leather would stink when it burned.

“You know what? I’m going to make you
love
this
chair.” She bit back a startled cry when he picked her up and plunked her down
on the seat. He knelt in front of her, a wicked expression on his face. “Do you
know what the big, bad wolf really wanted to do with little red?”

Her insides clenched in anticipation. She had a feeling she
knew where he was going, and damn, but the boy had a talented tongue. She was
positive when he dragged her ass to the edge of the chair. “What?”

“Sure you want to know?” Her shorts hit the floor, along
with her panties.

Her legs were spread and draped over the leather arms of the
chair. She was completely exposed to his hungry gaze. “Zach.”

“He wanted to eat her aaaall up.” Zach buried his face
between her thighs and proceeded to do just that. He licked her like she was a
melting ice-cream cone, eagerly from bottom to top, stroking her clit over and
over until she was humping up against him. Her toes curled in her socks. Her
hands went to her breasts, frowning when she encountered her bra. She ripped it
off and began plucking at her nipples, the sensation joining with the feel of
her mate’s mouth on her pussy.

Nobody had ever eaten her the way Zachary Beckett did.
Nobody else ever could.

It took everything she had to keep her legs where Zach had
placed them. She could feel the pleasure building, the urge to wrap herself
around his head and keep him
right there
so strong she trembled with it.
But she kept her legs over the arms, kept her hands on her breasts and her eyes
on her mate. She watched his pleasure as he devoured her, as he moaned at her
taste.

It was coming, and she wasn’t going to be able to stop it.
She didn’t want to. “Right there, Zach. Right fucking there.” She was speaking through
clenched teeth, her whole body throbbing with her impending orgasm.

Somehow he managed to get closer, to lick just that tiny bit
harder and she was screaming, her body curled around itself as her orgasm
ripped through her.

When she came down, Zach was still licking, still sucking,
gentle now that she’d come. He kept her on the edge, kept her wanting, until
she was moving under that mouth again, that incredible mouth of his.

She laughed as she felt his finger invade her, curl inside
her until it hit that one spot that never failed to make her scream. “Goddess,
so good.”

He hummed against her, his eyes glittering, and somehow she
knew his wolf approved.

This time she wanted him inside her, wanted him coming with
her. “Gonna fuck me, wolfman?”

Zach shuddered. “Fuck, Jo.”

She smiled, the familiar words music to her ears. “Yes. Fuck
Jo.”

It was his turn to rip off his T-shirt and drop it on the
floor.
Yum.
Hot, golden skin there for the touching. Jo reached forward,
but before she could run her hands over that smooth chest he caught them, put
them back on her breasts. “Keep those occupied for a second, okay?”

Jo complied, more than willing to watch the show. Zach
undressed was a sight to behold, one she was more and more possessive of. She
had the feeling going to the beach was going to be an adventure.

She’d just have to pick up the sexiest bikini she could
find. Zach’s eyes would be on her, she knew that, but it never hurt to make
sure she was just as hot as her younger lover.

That thick, hard cock came into view as Zach slipped out of
his shorts.
Some days it pays to rob the cradle.
Zach stroked a hand
over his cock. “Like what you see?”

Jo answered by turning in the seat. She draped herself
across the back and spread her knees. “What do you think?”

“Fuck.” She looked behind her to find him desperately
rolling on a condom, cursing under his breath when it tried to roll back up.

She nearly snickered. Damn, the boy was…

Oh.

Oh.

Zach was inside her, warm, heavy, hard and pounding into her
with all the finesse of a man who’d gone without for months.

Jo loved it. Loved when Zach lost that iron control and just
took her, fucking her like that. Like he knew she wasn’t made of glass, but was
a flesh-and-blood woman who sometimes liked the softer side, but every now and
then just needed a good, hard fuck.

“Lord, I love this ass.” Zach’s hands squeezed the globes of
her ass, kneading into the flesh. His rhythm never faltered, never slowed.
“Touch yourself, sweetheart. Let me feel you come on my cock.”

Jo whimpered. Even without a touch to her clit she knew she
would come. Touching herself would send her over harder, faster, and Zach knew
it. He wanted to feel her come around him, squeeze him tight before he came.

She was more than willing to oblige. She reached between her
legs and tried to match his movements, but it felt too good. Jo’s head fell
back, her hand clenched the leather of the back of the seat. She was so close,
so close.

Zach reached up and snagged her hair, pulling it just right.

Jo came with a strangled gasp, choking on her cries as the
pleasure went on and on.

“Jo.” Her name was a sigh on Zach’s lips as he poured
himself into her, driven over the edge by Jo’s orgasm.

Jo collapsed against the back of the chair, panting,
pleasured and ready to curl up with her mate. She felt a soft kiss press
against her neck. “Now do you love my chair?”

Her lips curled up in a contented smile. “I could get used
to it.”

Zach watched his mate finish dressing, the fading glow of
their lovemaking still stamped on her features. It was time to move on, time to
leave the old and embrace the new, with his mate beside him.
Except for my
chair
, he smiled to himself. He’d caught her giving it a pat when she
thought he wasn’t looking, and knew he’d won that battle. “You ready to go?”

“More than.” He gave her ass one final squeeze before
grabbing his keys. “Hey! You hungry?”

“Zach!”

“What? I’m a growing boy.” He pulled her against him, the
both of them stumbling toward the door and laughing like loons. “Besides, I
worked up an appetite.”

“Oh, Zach.” He followed the sound of her sigh right out the
door…and into his future.