The Cat's Meow (20 page)

Stealing my breath, Kale dropped to his knees in front of me and placed a finger under my chin, forcing me to look him in the eye. “I told you before, I can’t do that.”

Locked in his hold, I cursed my rising tears and sucked in a deep breath to fight against the quiver of my lip. “What do you want, Kale?” Even my voice held no strength and I couldn’t even find it in myself to be irritated. “For me to join the Alchemy, would that get you to go?”

“Of course I want that. Not only do we need you, but it means you’ll be closer to me.” His smile was gentle and tender, his voice equally so. “I didn’t expect this.” He brushed his thumb over my chin. “When I came here to look into you, I didn’t think I’d find
you.
”

I gawked at him. “You have a real habit of not making any sense, did you know that?” But I couldn’t help notice that now he gave me straight answers instead of answering me with questions of his own.

His eyes intensified, warming the coldness in my heart. “My duty to the Alchemy forced my silence. We have no idea who we can trust, none whatsoever.” His eyebrow arched. “Do you understand that?”

I shrugged, folding my arms even though I understood his point. If they couldn’t trust anyone, if their very core was in danger, silence was their only defense.

Kale continued, “It wasn’t my intention for you to get dragged into this without all the facts, or to use you for my personal gain.”

“Good,” I snapped. “Because
that
is unforgivable.”

He inclined his head, continuing to brush his thumb over my chin in a slow sweep. “Yes, we planted the cats here to give a reason for my presence. The plan was to watch you work, see the abilities you held, and to confirm what we’ve heard was true.”

Fair enough. Nothing I hadn’t already heard, but one thing he said remained most important. “Who told you about me?”

“Glenda told Alistair at the quarterly meeting a month ago about your abilities. Of course, it was a simple conversation where she relayed the status of her coven, but Alistair thought your gifts sounded similar to my mother’s.” His eyes searched mine. “The connection you have to the Goddess is potent, and he suspected that with the right tools, you’d grow further in your powers.”

While that all made sense, my head still spun in disbelief that this all happened in the first place. I wanted to bounce my leg again, but Kale’s chest pressed against my calf. “So, the deal with the cats was a test for me?”

“My task was to watch you work and confirm that Glenda didn’t exaggerate.” He smiled and it softened his features. “She hadn’t, and in fact, you proved she actually held back on your skills.”

I snorted at that, since I had thought my coven was after my ass, so I had exceeded even what I thought I could do.

“Your level of magic is high, your control is flawless, and the Goddess has gifted you well.” His smile slowly vanished from his face, his jaw clenching. “No one expected the Alchemy troubles to land on your doorstep, nor did we think you’d become as involved as you did.”

I pressed my still-folded arms against me tighter, staring him down. “Then why was I so involved?”

He sighed, his chest heaving against my leg. “Because the trouble landed here in Charleston and I couldn’t stop it.” His eyes lightened and his voice rose in awe. “Tonight you blew me away. You’re such a little thing, and you stood nose-to-nose with a Prince of Hell and didn’t even flinch.”

Why did his approval make me feel so good? Shouldn’t I hate him? Yes, I hated him. “Why wouldn’t you tell me the truth once we knew each other better?”
Once you knew something existed between us?
“Once you realized I was now involved in this Alchemy problem?”

“I wanted to.” His eyes were soft and open, and his grip on my chin tightened. “I regret the pain I see it caused you. I’m well aware I’ve hurt you, but I want you to understand the
why
behind it. It wasn’t to trick you, and it certainly wasn’t because I played games with you. It all stems from not knowing who we could trust.”

His admission made my chest constrict. But I did my damnedest not to show him, and leaned in with an arch to my brow. “Seriously, Kale, you think I’m one of the bad guys? I had to earn your trust?”

“You had to prove there was no reason
not
to trust you.”

I scoffed. “There’s a difference?”

“Many witches and warlocks have tapped into a higher magic that devours them, and it takes them down a dark road that forces the Alchemy to destroy them. We needed to see what you’d do with the power. No one, including me, expected the mission tonight to be so dangerous.”

Fair enough. At least they hadn’t taken me there with the thought that I could die, and they had in fact thought the threat wasn’t grave. Of course they wouldn’t. Up until the moment Bryon showed his plan with the demons, I had full confidence the High Priests would destroy the warlocks. As it seemed, so did they.

But I still had questions and wasn’t nearly settled. “Hadn’t I earned your trust long before tonight? You should have told me.”

“I should have, but I couldn’t,” he repeated in frustration. “I took a vow of silence until the other High Priests arrived. It wasn’t only me watching you. You were proving yourself to them as well.” He exhaled a long breath and it fluttered over my face. “I could’ve told you the truth after the other High Priests arrived and you conjured one of the spells, but we had our hands full and almost dying made the time inappropriate.”

His reasons didn’t make me feel any better, but he didn’t seem to notice since he added, “If this matter with the warlocks hadn’t happened, a situation would’ve been formed for you to tap into your magic.”

Oh, I didn’t like this, yet I kept my mouth shut as he went on, “Once I confirmed that the abilities you held were true, I’d take you to my mother, and she would give you the book of spells. Then a situation would arise where you’d have to use one of the spells; a test to see if the spells would work for you and what you’d do with the power.”

He sighed at my scowl. “Yes, I see how much my manipulation angers you, and I understand why it does, but this problem we face is serious. We cannot take chances since some have turned on us. Until the other High Priests arrived, trusted that you weren’t involved, and saw where your heart was, I was bound by that oath.”

“I did the healing spell,” I countered, unfolding my arms, but kept my hands in my lap and well away from him. “Wasn’t that enough?”

He shook his head slowly. “It only proved that you could benefit yourself, not what you’d do with the power in the face of danger. You could have killed us all tonight, plus the warlocks, and used the power for yourself.”

I blew out an annoyed breath. “That’s ridiculous.”

His eyebrow arched and his free hand came up to my knee, where he squeezed it tight. “Ridiculous you might think, but this is what we now face. Many seek a higher power and once obtained, abuse it.”

While I did understand his point—the circumstances tonight proved that well enough since Bryon and the others had done exactly that—one thing was so absurd that I couldn’t hold back. “Are you saying tonight you honestly had no clue if I’d destroy you all and seek world domination?”

He chuckled, rubbing his thumb over my knee, and I fought against noticing how it made my breath catch. “I know where your heart lies, but like I said, it wasn’t only me you needed to convince. No one expected you to bind Baal to you, and you protected us with that power, didn’t use it for personal gain, and I was so proud of you.” He shook his head as if awed. “Beyond angry that you faced down a demon, because I never want to see you in that precarious situation again, but very proud.”

My heart pitter-pattered at his tenderness, and I could no longer ignore what truly bothered me. It wasn’t the trickery by the Alchemy, it was the deception by Kale. I’d fought against myself with the trust issue, but now everything was explained. I understood more than anyone what duty meant, so how could I hate Kale for this—if the roles were reversed, I would’ve done the same thing.

If I hadn’t been there, they all would’ve died and proved exactly why they were in search of more witches to join their ranks. Yet, how could they trust me? The magical community turned on them, and until the other High Priests agreed, Kale was in a bind. Though that didn’t stop the bleeding of my heart, or pick up the broken pieces of it he shattered.

“Okay, I understand. Let me think this over, and I’ll contact the Alchemy tomorrow.” My throat tightened, my chin quivered, and I was well on my way to full-blown tears. “Now go.”

“I can’t do that,” he murmured.

He brushed his thumb under my eye as if he encouraged a tear out, and damn the warlock did one escape. He caught it with his thumb and brushed it away, and I blinked in an attempt not to lose it.

Goodness, when had I become such a sappy witch?

“Time to go.” I tore myself out of his hold, brushed past him, and once at the front door, I whisked it open. “Get out.”

Kale stood as if time didn’t exist and approached me with purposeful strides. I should’ve stood my ground, yet with his fixed gaze, I didn’t have a chance in hell. He stopped in front of me. Our bodies didn’t touch, but it didn’t matter. The heat of him encased me and I tilted my head to look into his fierce stare.

His features were raw and primal, and he shut the front door with a loud bang, staring down at me with a hard look. “No, Libby. I’m not your father. Or Bryon.” Each word was spoken slow and deliberate. “I’m. Not. Leaving. You.”

Somehow his hand reached my side, and then he slammed—yes slammed—me against the door and our bodies were sandwiched together. I gasped, but Kale’s lips stole the sound as he wrapped his hands around my hips, pressing the full weight of his body against mine. His kiss wasn’t an apology, or a way to say, “please, may I kiss you” or “forgive me.” Hot damn, this was a make-you-scream-my-name kiss.

Before long I moaned, inviting the kiss, and met his mouth with a force of my own. I needed—craved—him to place those kisses on every inch of my body and make me forget all that happened. His tongue was forceful, demanding I submit to him, and his lips pressed firmly against mine as his frustration presented itself through his rough kiss.

After he punished me with the brutal force of his mouth, Kale tore away to leave me breathless and plastered to the wall. “I’m
not
leaving. That is
nonnegotiable
.” He leaned down close to my face, his breath warm against my skin, and his woodsy scent wrapped around me in an incredible spell. “You can come at me with as many excuses as you’d like, but I won’t relent until you give in and do something far more delicious with your mouth than argue.”

“I…” Hell, I should stop this, right? Even if I understood his reasons, he had lied to me, but I wanted him so badly my knees weakened. I yearned for Kale to wrap his arms around me and never let go, and to make me forget why I had hated warlocks. To replace those bad memories with good ones.

He’d never outright turned all his lust onto me, and now that he had, it marked me in a way that could never be undone. I wondered if that was why he hadn’t taken things further before and showed this need I witnessed now. Had he wanted this to be real between us? Had it eaten at him as much as me that he couldn’t tell me the truth?

The answer became glaringly obvious.

So did my decision on what to do next.

Chapter Nineteen

“One chance, Libby,” Kale said again. His voice dropped low and he sizzled with something intoxicating and ravenous. “Answer me.”

Heat whipped like wildfire within my body and I couldn’t possibly ignore it any longer. Truth was, I had wanted Kale from the moment I set eyes on him, wanted him in the rawest form, but all the lies and secrets hindered it. Now they were out in the open and my mind was clear of hesitations. I understood his reasons, and his determination not to let me reject him comforted me.

More than my physical desire of Kale, I cared for this maddening warlock in a way I never experienced before—not even with the Bryon I once loved—and my heart flooded with the need to have his protection all around me. I cupped his strong face, and he inhaled a sharp breath, surprised. “No more secrets, Kale. I can’t take it.”

“Never again.” His tone had lowered a few octaves with a promise we both wanted to fulfill.

I could’ve answered him, but figured actions would convey my point well enough. I leaned up toward him and pressed my mouth against his, releasing all my strained emotions onto his lips. I poured all the stress we’d been through, all the worry and fear, and the concern for Kale’s life, into the kiss. He drew in a ragged breath through his nose, cupping my legs and bringing them up around his hips.

He shifted against me and his erection connected with my body so firmly it stole my breath. His lips were everywhere: on my neck, my mouth, my face. He devoured me and I damn well consumed him back.

Gripping his shoulders, I reveled in the muscles there and needed the fabric to go. After an impressive swirl of his hips, sending a round of pleasure tickling through me, I forced my legs to lower and reached for his shirt. The T-shirt only lifted to his belly button before Kale did the rest of the work and had it over his head, and then he dropped it to the floor.

My breath became trapped in my throat as I scanned every single sexy inch of this warlock. Sure, the smooth tanned skin covering some of the most impressive muscles enticed me, but Kale was a bad boy, even if he was good.

An intricate tattoo of runes spread across his shoulder and ran over his chest before continuing all the way down the left side of his body and fading into his jeans. “Wow.” I traced the tattoo over his shoulder, and followed the path down his chest and over his ripped stomach. Dancing my fingers over his six-pack, his muscles flexed, and then I finally lifted my head. Oh, did his gaze simmer with wicked intent, and clearly my touch excited him. “What’s this mean?”

“It’s my runes.” His voice never sounded so husky and so sexy, making me melt as he said, “All of them I use, but blended together in this design.”

“It’s beautiful.” I glanced over him again. This warlock was hot with his shirt on, but off…I licked my lips and squirmed. “Seriously, Kale, you are so damn sexy.”

His lips twitched. “Glad you think so.”

With that burn in his eyes he owned, he reached forward and gingerly lifted up my shirt—too slow for my liking—but the devilish nature in his expression explained his motives. He enjoyed torturing me. His fingers brushed against my sides as he lifted my shirt, and I raised my arms to assist him.

This
was
torture.

Once he dropped my T-shirt to the floor, he zoned in on my black lace bra, and no part of me was shy now. I wanted him to see all of me. Being the sex kitten I am, I reached back and unclipped the hook, letting the straps fall down my arms.

Kale stiffened as he stared at my breasts, and after a long pause, he finally arched an eyebrow at me. “Pants. Off. Now.”

As I reached for the waistband of my yoga pants, he swiped my hands away, tucking his fingers into the sides and pulling them down, along with my panties. He remained squatted in front of me as I stepped out of them, and he did a full sweep of my body to stop at the juncture between my legs, where he grinned. “Very pretty, Libby.”

He stood then. His grin remained but had deliciously darkened. “You make me impatient.” His attention lowered again to my most intimate place and so did his fingers. My eyes fluttered closed as he worked magic on my heated flesh. Each swirl of his fingers weakened my knees and caught my breath.

I forced my eyes open, reached for his belt, and had his pants to the floor within a single breath. Kale kicked them aside and I was lost in the sight of this warlock; no part of him didn’t impress me. Heat ripped like wildfire through my veins as he pressed his body and a very hard, very thick, erection against me.

When I writhed along his hardened length, he grunted and his demeanor shifted. He might have taken his time to undress me, and I understood—we both had waited for this moment and needed to appreciate the first look of each other. But that control he’d kept in check was now gone, and apparently he’d been honest—urgency drove him.

His nostrils flared as he pressed the full weight of his body against me, making me feel feminine beneath his hard, powerful body. “Next time, I’ll be gentle.” His fierce look brought forth a throb between my thighs. “Now I cannot.”

With the promise of what lay ahead, I leaned in and flicked my tongue over his bottom lip. “Gentle is overrated.”

Those shadowy eyes lost all of their color as his pupils dilated, and before I could catch up, he gathered me in his arms. He strode forward, and then I was flipped over the side of my couch with my bottom raised high.

I gasped in shock when Kale’s tongue licked heaven against my flesh—I hadn’t expected his mouth to be
there
. But my surprise didn’t last long, not with his talented mouth on my sensitive skin.

I never thought of myself as a loud lover, but clearly I thought wrong. The moans and a few curse words and
Oh, Goddesses
that poured from my mouth shuddered into my soul. Each swirl of his tongue and insertion of a finger brought me higher and higher, and drove me wild until…

The force and speed at which my orgasm hit made my eyes widen and shook the world around me. Waves of pleasure washed over me, making me whimper from the power my body released.

Without a chance to recover, hardness pressed against my back, and I forced my eyes open as Kale wrapped his arms around my middle. He lifted me into his arms and strode toward the kitchen table, where he placed me. He didn’t give me the chance to catch my breath from the switch of positions, or find my way back from my orgasm. He pressed his erection against my tender flesh and slammed himself all the way home in one fluid stroke, and I arched up off the table as he made me soar.

For a second I nearly called out for him to stop—I’d become so used to sex with humans, I had a moment of surprise that he didn’t talk about protection. But warlocks and witches were magically protected against disease and pregnancy, unless they wanted to become pregnant. Besides, I was only too glad because the thickness of Kale inside of me, the length of him, and the silkiness of him were pure pleasure.

Bracing my hips with his firm hands, he thrust with ruthless strength as he released the sheer frustration of what we’d been through, and maybe even his anger at what his responsibility put him through, into me. The claim he made on my body spoke volumes that he’d been tormented these past nights, and I didn’t mind one bit that he released his heady emotions on my very aroused body. Hell, I wanted more, and fully accepted his domination over me.

The table rocked beneath me as I gripped Kale’s strong forearms and watched the delicious way his muscles flexed deeper with each thrust. His eyes were focused and possessive, and I met him thrust for thrust. His hands swept over my breasts and tweaked my taut nipples in a bite of pain, instantly flooding me with tingles starting at my head and soaring all the way down to my curled toes.

When he leaned down over me, I tangled my fingers in his hair as he took a nipple between his teeth and worked it to the highest form of pleasure. The feel of his mouth, and his hard thrusts building pressure low in my body, made my breath hitch. When he gave me a hard bite, my orgasm smashed into me like a harsh wave I happily drowned in.

I heard myself scream Kale’s name, lost myself in the highest peak of my climax, and sensed his body tense around me, but not until I had the ability to think straight did I realize he didn’t thrust anymore. When I garnered the strength to open my eyes, his face was tight with strain and his body quaked.

“Big one. Nice,” he murmured with a satisfied grin—he apparently knew he’d given me an orgasm to stop time. He lifted me to him and I wrapped my arms around his neck, inhaling the woodsy scent of Kale and savoring it like a fine wine. “If I release here, I’ll fall to the floor, and I doubt I’d have the strength to move.”

His voice sounded husky in my ear as he carried me off to the bedroom, and I agreed, because I doubted I would walk after this. In fact, I suspected my bones and muscles would be nonexistent.

Once in my bedroom, he dropped me down on the bed without breaking contact and blanketed his body over mine. Sliding his hands along the back of my shoulders, he cupped them, pinning me beneath him.

The smile on his face was so wickedly sexy, I gasped, which turned into a loud moan as he thrust forward. With his tight hold, as he refused any movement on my part, he unleashed himself in a way to prove his strength. A human couldn’t match the force of his thrusts, and even though I had already climaxed twice, he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

On each mighty thrust, he slammed against my little nub and the hardness of his erection brought me to a level of ecstasy equaling no other. My lips parted as the sensation rose to a level I couldn’t control, my screams now faded away, and Kale’s eyes widened. My orgasm would’ve hit regardless with the intensity of his strength, but the sheer possession held in his face and the hints of strong emotion increased it.

Bucking against him, I lost myself in my pleasure as he lowered himself on top of me, pressing his hot, sweaty body tight against mine. His claim of owning me—overpowering and possessing me—and taking me in the most primitive form burned across me, and I eagerly accepted.

His mouth was right by my ear and the sounds of his harsh breaths and his low grunts echoing around me set me aflame. I squeezed myself around him, urging him on while wave after wave of pleasure blinded me, and Kale cursed. He then thrust in a rapid brutal speed that, if I wasn’t in the peak of my climax, might have killed me.

With a final slam forward, he cursed again in a loud roar, and then all his weight dropped down onto me as his release overtook him. His hands cupping my shoulders squeezed, his hard body trembled and jerked, and his deep moans echoed his satisfaction.

For long moments, neither of us moved, remaining in a tangled mess of satiated bodies, quivering and exhausted.

As I recovered from being liquefied, his ragged breath remained by my ear. Eventually, he rolled onto his back and pulled me with him so I straddled him. My head rested on his chest and he tucked it under his chin.

It took a good ten minutes to gather my breath, to focus, and to form a coherent thought. His hard, sweaty body rested beneath me. I wiggled, and I liked him there.

Once my breath returned and my heartbeat slowed, I lifted up and stared down at him. His eyes were closed, but he smiled. “Well, you certainly have many talents, don’t you?”

“I don’t enjoy being teased.” He opened his eyes and the fierce light in them had dimmed. “You have teased me for nights now. That is the result.”

Oh, a discovery
. If I teased Kale it got him all fired up. I grinned.

He arched an eyebrow. “Don’t get any ideas.”

I laughed, as did he.

The amusement stayed on his face a moment longer before he shed the softness in his eyes on a long sigh, and his eyebrows drew together. He tucked my hair behind my ear and blew out another long breath. “I’m sorry my duty to the Alchemy hurt you, and while it showed me you feel much like I do, I never want to see that type of pain in your eyes again.”

I sighed, not really wanting to revisit the topic. Hadn’t we already gotten over it? Clearly, I had accepted his apology. “Okay.”

Wrapping his arms around my back, he drew me in close so our noses almost touched. I couldn’t help but notice that for the first time since Bryon, I felt completely safe and content in the arms of a warlock. His gaze on me had been the one I longed for so often, but now I didn’t only see trust in his eyes, but the first hints of deep affection. “You will feel and accept my apology, Libby.”

Tight emotions I tried to force away so many times arose once again, and perhaps in his hold it became harder to fight. Maybe with the multiple orgasms he’d cracked a wall down, because my control sucked. This warlock was set to make me cry, and he was good at it.

All the stored up pain from the shock of this, Kale’s betrayal, and my broken heart rose into my chest. In fact, all the disappointment I’d suffered from warlocks. It seemed I’d always been good at hiding things, pushing them away, but Kale wouldn’t allow it.

With his tender features holding me captive, his eyes boring so deeply into mine, my heart broke wide open and I had no control. My lip quivered and tears welled in my eyes. It seemed that Kale’s apology held a world of weight.

A tear sped down my cheek and Kale hummed, “There you go.” He ran his hands over my back, and looked at me with such conviction that I believed he’d be there for me. He didn’t see my raw emotions as a weakness, but he appreciated that I trusted him enough to cry in his arms. “Don’t hold it inside anymore, Libby, let it out.”

And did I ever.

It took much longer than I had expected for my sobs to lessen, and maybe my breakdown was a long time overdue because once it started, I couldn’t stop it. Through the rush of tears, I realized I had soaked his chest, and I rose up to wipe at them. Kale stared at me with a world of pain, too, as well as regret.

“You hurt me,” I whispered.

He nodded with sad eyes. “I did.”

“Don’t ever do it again.”

He raised his head off the pillow and cupped my cheeks. “Never. Again.” Then he pressed the sweetest kiss to my lips and I welcomed the safety he presented. He nibbled at the side of my mouth a little longer, and then he backed away and smiled in his soft way. “You’re refreshing to me, Libby. I protect anything important to me.”