Her Wild Magic (6 page)

Maybe, if his altered form had been that of a hulking beast drooling with rage, she would have been repulsed. Or if his face had been that of a hideous monster, she would have recoiled. His face was inhuman, yet beautiful, and his body was sculpted to perfection with hard lines and massive muscles. Not to mention, his jutting erection had her hormones going into overdrive. He was magnificent. He scared the hell out of her and made her hot as hell at the same time.

Max heard a tiny gasp, and she turned to find a red-faced Kayla doing her best to look anywhere except in Caleb’s direction. “Err…Max, I think I’d better go now,” she said, waving her hand to dissolve the protective shield she’d erected. “Caleb will see you safely back to the cabin.” Before Max could utter a word, Kayla moved off quickly, headed in the direction from which they’d come. Then she stopped and looked over her shoulder at Max. “A word of warning. Don’t run. To a mated were, it’s an aphrodisiac.” A second later, she disappeared into the thick foliage.

It took Max less than a second to decide she had the right idea. Because no matter what her raging hormones wanted, and no matter what Kayla had said, she was taking off. Her talk with Caleb could wait until he cooled off…and downsized.

Max turned, intent on following Kayla, but before she could take a step, a massive arm wrapped around her waist from behind. Her feet left the ground, and she was hauled against a rock-hard chest.

“I want you to run,” he growled against her neck. “God help me, nothing would please me more, but you’re too young and inexperienced to mate with a Lycan in full heat. But I will teach you obedience, woman. Your safety and protection comes first. Always. And before this night is over, I’ll hear the promise of future obedience from your lips.”

He turned her around until she faced him, and Max almost sighed in relief when she saw he’d shifted, becoming more human-like. His eyes still glowed like hot coals, but he was no longer covered in hair, and he looked like himself, only harsher.

Though he was still furious with her, it was clear he’d shifted to ease her fear of him, and Max’s determination to flee crumbled. She framed his face with her hands and pulled his head down until she could look into his eyes. “Caleb, you’re angry,” she whispered. “Let’s go back to the cabin and discuss this. In light of what’s happened today, we both need a breather.”

Caleb grunted and pulled his head out of her grasp to pin her with a stare that clearly said her day of reckoning had arrived. “No. We mate here and now. And don’t try to pretend you don’t want me. The smell of your arousal says otherwise.”

He released her to take a step back, and Max titled her head to stare up into his hooded eyes burning with need and determination. He could wait no longer.

“The moon is full, and the time of joining is upon us. We mate, as my kind have since the beginning. I will give; you will willingly take. In so doing, the bond between us will be sealed in this life and the next.” He spoke solemnly, his words clearly a declaration spoken by countless generations of were to their mates.

When her eyes remained locked with his, giving him the answer he sought, he used a clawed finger to shred the clothes from her body. Max stood before him bare and trembling with need, but without the slightest embarrassment. She wanted him, and the hunger in his eyes told her better than words how beautiful he found her.

The desire to be with him rose like a living thing within her, answering the musky odor of sexual need pouring from him, and Max knew without his asking exactly what he needed—what they both needed.

She turned and dropped to her hands and knees, boldly and unashamedly exposing herself to him. Of her own volition, she spread her legs wide, thrusting her bottom into the air as she lowered her chest to the ground.

He roared an inhuman sound of triumphant as she signaled her submission, and her body responded by flooding her channel with slick heat. He reached between her legs, one clawed finger stroking her swollen folds with a feather-light touch that said she was safe with him no matter what form he was in, no matter how great his need.

“Wet, dripping with need, but still so tight,” he said, then groaned as he replaced his finger with the head of his cock. “Don’t think I didn’t realize that for all your boldness I’m your first. Our mates are often virgins, since other males are unable to arouse them. It’s nature’s way of ensuring the continuation of the species.”

“Stop…talking.” Max panted, trying to deepen his penetration with a downward push of her hips. “I need…you.”

“I know, babe. But you’re a small woman, and I need to prepare you. I’ve partially shifted to ease the joining, but the ritual demands I take you as were.” He flexed his hips, continuing to penetrate her with shallow thrust. “Just a bit more. I don’t want to hurt you.”

He continued for some time, thrusting and receding, each time opening her further, readying her. It eased the ache in her, but it wasn’t enough. And when he suddenly stopped and withdrew, Max cried out in frustration. Her cry quickly turned to a moan of pleasure as he replaced his cock with his lips.

He suckled her as if he were kissing her mouth, and waves of pleasure spiraled through her body. He held her in place, his big hands spreading her buttocks wide apart, his mouth ravishing her. It was more pleasure than she had ever dreamed of and still, it wasn’t enough.

“Caleb, please!” She wept, beyond shame as her body clenched relentlessly with need. “I can’t wait any longer.”

Caleb growled an expletive, but he answered her with a forceful flex of his hips that plunged him into her core.

Overwhelmed with pleasure, Max arched her back and groaned long and hard, savoring the bliss that spiraled out into every cell of her body. He held still within her, his big body trembling as he obviously fought for control, but Max would have none of it. She needed all of him, and instinct told her the fire inside of her would never be appeased by half measures.

With a twist of her hips, she clenched her cunt tightly, squeezing and then releasing his cock. She mercilessly milked him, her body undulating in invitation, until he uttered a string of curses as the last threads of his control snapped.

“Damn you,” he snarled, thrusting into her with so much force her knees bounced off the ground. “I wanted to go slow.” He pulled back and slammed into her again. “Now I can’t stop. God help me.” He groaned. “I can’t stop.”

He pistoned into her, and Max gave herself up to the intense gratification washing over her until she didn’t know where his body ended and hers began. They were as one, and nothing had ever felt so right.

Somewhere in the haze of mindless bliss that had become her world, she became aware that he was chanting. She didn’t recognize the language, but the words were clearly part of the ritual that sealed their bond. With each thrust and every word, she felt the link between them knitting, becoming stronger. And the thing she kept locked away deep within her swelled, purring with pleasure, and oddly enough, contentment.

When his hot seed jettisoned into her, it seemed perfectly natural to scream her acceptance of him as he flung his head back and howled.

* * * * *

Max fought her way back to consciousness to the feel of bristly hairs against her cheek and a warm, masculine body beneath her. She was back in the cabin, sprawled atop Caleb, and judging by the amount of hard flesh she was in contact with, neither of them had a stitch of clothing on.

“Caleb.”

“Yes, love.” He gently stroked her back with one hand, while his other cupped her bottom, holding her securely in place against him.

“I feel wonderful.” She stretched slightly then winced. “Sore, but wonderful.” She folded her arms atop his chest, using them as a prop for her chin, and smiled impishly at him. “But please tell me what we did was the result of some sort of weird werewolf mojo. Because I’m a southern girl, and we don’t have wild monkey sex with men in open fields unless some kind of mind-altering substance is involved.”

Caleb grinned, his honey-gold eyes lit with laughter. “Sorry, love, no mojo. But if it makes you feel any better, when you screamed your demands, it was done in a very lady-like manner.”

“Very funny,” Max quipped with an exaggerated roll of her eyes. “But as I recall, you did some screaming of your own.” Max smiled smugly. “Guess I rocked your world.”

“That you did, baby.” He planted a kiss on her forehead. “Now go back to sleep. The ritual was hard on you. We’ll talk later.”

Stifling a yawn, Max decided later was okay. Something told her she was going to need all the rest she could get if she was going to keep up with the big guy.

She moved, snuggling deeper into his embrace, and her hand inadvertently brushed against his lower body. He inhaled sharply, and she hid her smile. Now she understood the
we’ll talk later
command. The big guy had a morning hard-on and probably feared she was too sore to help him get rid of it.

She was sore, but the burn he ignited in her was never far from the surface. Already it was building, filling her with a need only he could assuage. She wasn’t a morning person, but the big guy was sporting several inches of powerful incentive. It would be a shame to waste it.

“Caleb?” Max purred, nuzzling his neck. “I like a man who knows how to take orders as well as give them.”

His body stiffened. “You’re sore, Max. We can’t.”

“Oh, I think we can.” She pushed slightly away from him and pointedly eyed the blatant need he could no longer conceal. “Your mate has a need. It’s your job to take care of it.”

His eyes narrowed, and he reached out to catch her hand as it moved toward his cock. “I said no, baby. I’m a big man, and last night I didn’t leave an inch of you untouched. My dick gets hard enough to pound nails just looking at you, but I will always place your health and safety before my needs. And don’t think I’ve forgotten you disobeyed me and left the cabin. We
will
discuss that later, and if I don’t get a good answer for what you did, your tight little ass is mine.”

Max grinned, not in the least intimidated. “Hell, Sheriff, you’re getting me all hot and bothered with your caveman talk.”

Max slid down his body until her lips were less than an inch away from his cock. She flicked her tongue out, lapping at the drops of pre-cum seeping from the head and grinned in wicked delight when he groaned.

“You really are a big man, Sheriff.” She ran her hand over his erection. “And I guess that old saying is true.” She cupped his sac, eliciting another groan from him. “The bigger the man, the harder he falls.”

Caleb opened his mouth, no doubt intending to put her in her place, but Max seized the moment to draw him into her mouth. He didn’t taste as good as coffee, but the sight of his big body falling back onto the bed like a redwood topping over from a mighty blow was definitely worth the effort. It wasn’t going to turn her into a morning person, but it would certainly make getting up a hell of a lot easier.

Max awoke abruptly and sensed she was alone. She spotted a piece of paper tacked to the cabin door, and a sinking feeling settled in the pit of her stomach as she hurried over to read it. The jerk! He’d left her again, and he was
ordering
her to stay put until his return. Not the best tactic to take with a lover on the morning after, but she’d give the big guy a pass this time.

He had a thing about keeping her safe, and after last night’s run-in with the dark mages, she was in no hurry for a repeat performance. Besides, if he needed her, she’d sense it as she had last night. Caleb was out doing his thing, but he wasn’t in danger. Good thing, too, because without her morning cup of coffee and food, she wasn’t much help to anyone.

Intent on putting some food in her grumbling stomach, Max pulled on one of Caleb’s shirts and headed toward the cabin’s tiny kitchen. When she heard a soft cry, as if someone was in pain, she walked over to the cabin’s only window and pulled the curtain back. What she saw caused her heart to leap painfully in her chest.

A tall man stood a few yards from the cabin door gripping Kayla so tightly by the forearm she hung like a lifeless rag doll at his side. She still wore the hooded jacket and pants from the night before. But her clothes were filthy, and her eyes were filled with pain and disbelief.

The man holding Kayla kept his head bent as he spoke to her, but Max didn’t need to hear what he was saying to know he taunted her. Auras were an intricate part of her gift, and Max read them the way other people read the newspaper. This man was a dark mage and ten times more powerful than Renault. There was no light in his aura, and it hung about him like a shroud, darkly malevolent, wholly evil. Yet, when he lifted his head to look at her, his face was so hauntingly beautiful Max could barely believe her eyes. It had to be an illusion, but knowing that didn’t lessen the impact.

“I know you see me, Caleb’s mate,” he called out softly, his dulcet voice a perfect match for his otherworldly beauty. “You fear for your friend, and rightly so. She has fought well for one so young, but her disobedience will only earn her more pain. Remove the protective wards surrounding the cabin, and I promise no further harm will come to her.”

Max slowly released the curtain and moved toward the door. She didn’t know what she was going to do, but doing nothing wasn’t an option. She opened the door and stood in the entryway, fully aware she held Kayla’s life in her hands.

“Caleb isn’t here,” she stated flatly. “And whatever you want, she has no part in it.”

“Ah, but there you are quite mistaken,” the man said softly. “Caleb destroyed what belonged to me. Now I destroy what belongs to him. A pity really. I do not enjoy destroying beautiful things.” He glanced at Kayla. “And she is quite beautiful.”

Max fought to keep her expression bland, knowing any show of fear would be seen as a weakness to be exploited. And the knowledge that Caleb wasn’t far away helped to steady her nerves. She could sense his presence, moving nearer at an incredible pace, while he used the mate bond between them to blanket her mind with a single command.

Stay in the cabin. I’m coming
.

Max didn’t make an effort to respond. She did not intend to give the mage what he wanted by leaving the cabin. But she wasn’t going to let him hurt Kayla if she could help it, and that meant keeping his attention focused on her and off Kayla. Problem was, she had never been good at small talk, and dealing with a powerful, pissed off mage hadn’t been part of Life Skills 101.

“You seem to know who I am, but I don’t remember meeting you,” Max said. “That puts me at a distinct disadvantage.”

The man’s eyes narrowed. “Come now, do not attempt to play games. You know I am Michael. Caleb would not leave his mate ignorant of his greatest enemy.”

Max shrugged. “He spoke of a Michael, but he didn’t say anything about your being his greatest enemy. I got the impression you worked for someone. Kind of like a personal assistant.” It was risky to insult the bastard, but she needed to keep his attention focused on her.

Michael arched a single dark eyebrow at Max, as if amused by the insult. He removed his hand from Kayla’s arm and turned her face toward him, manipulating her frozen body as if she were a mannequin. Then, when he had her face positioned such so, he backhanded her so forcefully across the face the ornate ring on his finger opened a gash on her cheek. Immobile as she was, unable to defend herself in any way, the blow was an act of unnecessary cruelty.

“You bastard,” Max hissed. “I hope Caleb kills you.”

“He has tried.”                                                                                        

“So I’ve heard. And he must be closing in for the kill, or I doubt you’d be here.”

“Your bravado is charming, little one, but I do not fear Caleb. I have the means to bring the wolf to heel.” He turned toward Kayla. “This one has great courage.” He stroked along the gash on Kayla’s bloody cheek. “But sometimes courage is not enough.” He took a handkerchief from his pocket and casually wiped the blood from his hand before looking back at Max. “You will remove the wards surrounding the cabin. Now. This instant. Or I will bring her such pain she will beg me to end her life.” He spoke softly, his words devoid of all human emotion, yet he managed to convey so much menace Max actually flinched.

“Don’t,” Max pleaded when he turned back to Kayla. “The wards were placed by Caleb’s people. I don’t know how to remove them.”

He stared at Max, his black eyes narrowed. Then he smiled. “
Come to me then
.” The words formed in Max’s mind, pushing all other thoughts aside. “
The wards will not harm you. Step over the threshold, and the girl will be spared. You know it is what you want
to do. It is what you must do.”

Max leaned forward, drawn to the sound of his voice. It was so beautiful, so pure. So—
Compulsion.

Mama Willie had warned her there were beings able to control others with their voice, but until now, she’d never encountered one. In truth, she’d doubted their existence, but her grandmother had insisted she learn to mind shield. And despite her thoughts on the matter, she’d been a good student.

“Good try, Michael, but not good enough.” Max smirked, shaking off his control. “And since Caleb will be here any minute, maybe you should call it a day.”

“I will call it a day, as you say, because you have revealed to me what I came to learn.” His gaze slid to Kayla. “But before I leave, this one will pay for your insolence. You do not have the power to stop me, and Caleb will not arrive in time to prevent my stripping the magic from her soul. I will leave her as barren as a field in winter. Little more than a husk of her former self. For a child of the fey such as she, there is no worse fate.”

Max saw the horror of his words reflected in Kayla’s eyes. He spoke the truth, and she had to find some way of stopping him, even if it meant opening a doorway she had sworn to keep forever locked.

With no other options open, Max reached for the thing buried deep inside her. It unfurled swiftly, eager to escape the bonds of a lifetime, and Max did nothing to hold it back. She simply locked her gaze on the mage, making sure there was little doubt as to where it should direct its ire.

Michael flexed his fingers, the movement almost imperceptible. But Max felt a rush of power as a silver web, pulsing with enough energy to withstand a nuclear blast, formed around him. It was an impressive show of power, and the smile on Michael’s face said he knew it.

“I see you have found the courage to unleash the hellhound buried inside you, daughter of Morrigan, but it will do you little good. You are a fledgling, and I am at the height of my power. There can be only one outcome.”

Max didn’t bother with a comeback. Whatever she had unleashed had full control of her body, and speech was no longer an option.

From behind her eyes, it watched Michael with the predatory patience of a born killer, and only Caleb’s fierce growls pouring into her mind, demanding she wait for his arrival, seemed to have an effect on it. It listened to Caleb, seeming to defer to him. But when Michael lifted a hand toward Kayla, it severed the link with Caleb.

Max’s arms snapped outward, and a stream of white light shot from her fingertips. It surged toward Michael, coalescing around his feet into a mass of writhing white flames that slowly crept up his legs.

Michael waved his hands, calling on his magic to disperse the flames, but his actions seemed to have the reverse effect. The flames flared wildly, increasing in intensity. Michael moved his hands faster, franticly weaving one spell after another, but to no avail. He was burning alive, and the considerable magic at his disposal seemed to have no effect. In less than a minute, a living cocoon of white encased him.

“Mage Slayer!” Michael called out from within the flames. “You have won this day, but this war is far from over. Before it is done, I will see you and your mate well rewarded for what you have done here today. Savor your victory here today. It will be your last.”

A second later, he disappeared as if plucked from the flames by an invisible hand. And just as quickly, the white flames became wisps of smoke and drifted away as if they had never been.

The power receded within Max, leaving her once again in control of her body and the recipient of Caleb’s fury. Her wolf man would be putting in an appearance any second, and he was beyond furious that she had put herself at risk. Max threw up a flimsy mind block, tuning his tirade down several notches. The big guy had it bad for her. He was almost drooling with rage, but he was also half out of his mind with worry. Max smiled. The make-up sex was going to be great.

Kayla called out to her, pulling her thoughts back to the present, and Max turned to find her struggling to come to a sitting position on the ground. Max rushed to her and, wrapping an arm around her waist, helped her to stand.

“He’s gone, Kayla,” Max whispered, needing to hear the words of assurance as much as Kayla.” You’re going to be all right.”

Kayla nodded, and both women clung to each other as they made their way into the cabin. Once inside, Max helped Kayla into a chair at the kitchen table before heading to the tiny bathroom in search of a first aid kit.

“The cut on your cheek isn’t bad,” Max called out, while inspecting the items in the medicine cabinet. “But we need to get it cleaned up.” She poked her head out of the bathroom. “No first aid kit in here. Do you know where Caleb keeps it?”

“No,” Kayla said, using a paper napkin to wipe the blood from her cheek. “But it isn’t needed. Like the weres, my kind heals quickly.”

Max opened her mouth to ask her exactly what
my kind
meant, when a man materialized out of thin air less than six feet away, and directly in front of her.

Max screamed and stumbled backwards, but Kayla came to her feet bristling with anger.

“Stefan! You nearly scared Max to death. And what are you doing here? I thought you were in Europe.”

“No doubt,” the vampire snapped, his black eyes flashing. “Or you would not have risked my wrath by acting in such a foolish manner.”

Max released the breath she had been holding and forced herself to relax. Stefan wasn’t a threat. Although, it was obvious he and Kayla had issues of the man/woman type.

Suddenly exhausted, Max took a seat on the edge of the bed, quite happy to be a spectator in the battle of wills between the couple. Both of them looked mad enough to burst into flames, but Max put her money on Kayla. She was fighting mad, but he was out of his mind with worry, and Max didn’t need to read his aura to know it.

“I was a fool to listen to you,” Stefan snarled, taking hold of Kayla’s shoulders to give her a little shake. “I should never have allowed you such freedom.”

Kayla broke free of his hold, appearing not in the least intimidated by the tumultuous power emanating from the tall vampire. “I am my own person, Stefan. I can take care of myself.”

“As you did when Michael enthralled you?”

Kayla’s eyes widened in surprise, and Stefan’s lips turned up in a cruel facsimile of a smile. “Oh yes, I saw everything that happened. And because I was foolish enough to honor your request to delay our bonding, I could not prevent your capture. As it was, I was hard pressed to protect you from serious injury. But I will listen to no more of your prattle about the rights of women. I allowed you the freedom you sought, and you did not even have the good sense to keep your wards in place!”

“I did not drop my wards,” Kayla denied hotly. “Michael has found a way to circumvent the patterns that have protected our people for centuries. And what do you mean you
allowed
me the freedom I sought? You do not own me, Stefan. I am a free woman, no matter what you may think.”

“We will see about that.”

Stefan reached for her, but Kayla deftly avoided his hands and made a dash for the door. He caught her midstride, and they both vanished into thin air.

Max walked over and inspected the area where they’d stood, thinking she knew exactly how Alice felt when she fell down the rabbit hole. Maybe if she pinched herself hard enough she’d awaken to find she’d dreamed the whole thing as well.

With a shake of her head, she turned and nearly jumped out of her skin when she found Caleb standing in the open door of the cabin. He was in human form, but his eyes were wild, and his claw-tipped hands bore traces of blood.

“Caleb! Don’t sneak up on me like that,” Max cried. “You nearly gave me a heart attack.”

Caleb closed the distance between them and hoisted her up by the armpits to glare directly into her face. “I should put you over my knee and spank that little butt of yours so hard you can’t sit for a week,” he snarled, between clenched teeth. “What were you thinking?”