Bewitching The Alpha (Hex My Heart, #3) (5 page)

“L
oved?” He spun on his heel so fast she almost got whiplash. Moonbeams crashed down on him, the light giving the fire in his eyes an otherworldly glow. No. Wait. That was his wolf. She knew damn well what red in a wolf’s eyes meant. “Whoa, there boy, down.” She held her hands up.

“You joke? Keep it up, Ember, and you won’t like what the wolf is howling for. What he’s craving to sink his teeth into.” She could imagine. He stalked forward. Slowly. As if the wolf were hungry for a witch hunt. “Keep pushing me. I dare you.”

That made her pause for half a heartbeat. Julian all riled up was better than the dismissive Julian that froze her out. She’d take the red eyes and the anger.
That
she knew how to handle.

He was good, but she saw through his game. Little did he know buying time until the charm wore off wouldn’t get him anywhere. “Aww. Poor wolfie.” She planted her hands on her hips and let the grin she wanted to hold back take center stage. “Is the charm making the ache burn just a little too much in all the right places?” The drop of dragon’s blood made the charm three times as strong and foolproof when it came to a shifters high-octane metabolism. Without it, Julian would have burned through her charm two seconds after dusting, and she’d be the only one under the wand and dosed with magick.

She might be young, but she’d been around the block with spell work and magick a few times. One little side effect of her charm... Her smile spread into a full on grin.

One very horny half-naked alpha.

Completely not her intentions. Honestly. Well, her first intention anyway, but it did make the list. If the truth turned and bit her in the ass, the extra mojo in the lust department wouldn’t hurt her cause. She’d learned the hard lesson of always tipping the cauldron in her favor. Always.

Eyes locked on her, he tilted his head back a few inches and scented the air. “And a naughty little witch. I might be hard,” his broad hand worked over his zipper until his entire hand cupped his shaft, “but your pussy is already wet for this.” He drawled in a slow, husky come-hither tone.

Shudder.
Might as well shove a needle of pure crack in her vein, because the man was her addiction.

And what a smartass.
Just because he could smell her need didn’t mean anything. HA! She didn’t even believe that line.

A flash of heat streaked through her body and collided with her clit to send another dose of heated liquid to wet her panties. Pleasure raged through her and he hadn’t even touched her. She breathed roughly.

Control.  She needed a tighter grip or the truth of what really drove her would find its way out in a very different— non-verbal—way and more along the lines of hot kinky kitchen table sex.

His fingers tightened then relaxed several times.

“Go ahead,” he murmured. “We’ll go one for one. You ask one. I ask one. It’s a rigged game, but I’ll play. The minute I scent another drop of magick, though, I walk.” He straightened and dropped his hand before walking around the kitchen table cluttered with all the remnants of her spell. Ember crossed her arms under her breasts as he leaned down so close a piece of paper would not fit between their noses.

“And it’s my turn, sugar.” He rose to his full height and locked his arms across his chest, mirroring her. He eyed her for a couple of heartbeats. “Does it bother you seeing me with all those other women?”

Burn! Dirty, low down son of... He wanted to play dirty, huh? Her mouth worked a couple of times, the lie already on the tip of her tongue. “You betcha. I play out a hundred different spells that will leave you looking like the toad you are and anyone unfortunate enough to have desires for you nothing more than a pile of ashes.” She straightened her back and leaned in. Damn, that felt good. Getting the truth off her chest felt ten times better. His smirk dipped into a frown as if it pained him to hear her words.

“When you’re with them, do you ever think about me?” She raked her gaze over the bulge in his jeans as she trailed her fingers over her breasts, the peaks pebbling instantly. “Wish it was me you were taking instead?”

His fingers did that thing again where he tightened and flexed them by his side.

She blinked. She should have never blinked.

Air rushed out of her lungs. Stone hit hard wood and a mixture of herbs and potions collided in the cool air of the cabin. In half a second he had her wrapped in his arms, her chest pinned against his and the table cleared of everything. He planted her ass on the round corner and pressed forward, forcing her to recline, giving him full access to her breasts. Her thin, long sleeved T-shirt and low-cut neck did little to hide their fullness or the fact her engorged peaks tightened in record time.

Wedged between her thighs, Julian threaded his fingers through her hair and pulled her head back to expose her neck. “Such tender flesh ripe for the taking.”

Fire streaked through her pussy and her channel clenched with need. With his free hand he grabbed her jean-clad thigh and pulled. With one tug he had her core pressed against his. Jeans or no, she swore she could feel his shaft pulsate with the same need that burned in her.

With his lips beside her ear, he whispered, “Truth? You got it, baby girl. Yes. And no.”

“I need more than that, Julian.”

“My turn.”

What? Not fair. Good thing she specialized in playing dirty.

With a flick, he popped the button of her jeans and the hiss of her zipper hit her ears. Just as fast he had both thumbs hooked in her belt loops. Shocked, she locked gazes with him. One tug and the cool air of the cabin replaced the warm material of her jeans.

“Julian!”

“That’s me, babe. Now where were we? Ah yes. My question.” He planted a firm hand on her chest and pushed until she lay flat on her back, legs pressed wide open. He maneuvered her other leg until her ankle rested on his shoulder. Wide open and exposed, she could do nothing but wait for what he wanted next. If she really thought about it, the idea of being at his mercy wasn’t all that bad.

“Have you slept with anyone since leaving me, Ember?” He pinched the soft silk of her panties between two fingers and guided the material until it rested dead center to press against her clit. She sucked in air and bowed from the pressure.

“No.”Heat pooled between her thighs and stole her breath. How she’d love to torture him, let him think she’d taken another lover as he had, but the charm now held her firmly to the rules she set. Pure truth.

His brows furrowed in contrast to the small smile that lit his eyes. Her thighs molded around him, his heat a delicious tease to her senses. He pulled on the material of her panties until she gasped. “Mmm. I believe you.” He slipped a finger beneath the silk, pulling a sharp gasp from her lips. “My mark warns off any other shifter, and humans feel a sudden urge to run when they get close to a mated woman.” A cocky grin slashed across his face and suited the deadly tone to his voice. His gaze traveled up her legs, over her panties and stopped at the end of her shirt.

With a gentle hand beneath her neck, he eased her up, bunched the cotton of her shirt in one hand, and pulled it over her head. Every muscle tightened.

Slowly, as if she would break, he leaned in and brushed his lips against her shoulder, traveled up the slope of her neck then stopped. She could feel the heat of his gaze on his mark. It marred the tender skin a few inches below her ear and slightly behind. Any human looking would probably think it was a birthmark of some sort. The otherworldlies knew better. From shifter to witch and beyond, it marked her as his. But she’d thrown it all away out of misplaced fear of losing the wrong things that really mattered most.

Bare to him but for her thin panties and bra, she held his gaze locked in place from the ember and flames that licked along his irises. Red clashed with blue and created a crimson so bright and mesmerizing she couldn’t look away.

“Are you going to claim me again, Julian?” She swished her hips, moaning from the friction against her moist opening.

“Better than my dreams.” Julian thumbed her nipple to elicit another moan from her. With nimble fingers, he worked the clasp of her bra until the plump weight of her bare breasts filled his hands. Cupping her, he worked each rosy tip between his forefingers and thumbs then pinched and tugged.

Liquid fire consumed her body and delivered a delicious heat wave that reached into her core. She was dying. Control. More control. She still needed answers and she still had so much to tell him.

The hiss of a zipper reached her ears. Hard delicious male pressed against the barrier of her soaked panties, the bulbous head, thick and ready to part her folds.

“You want truth, baby, ask me. Ask me now, because I can’t hold back from taking what’s mine much longer.” He stroked the length along her core, brushed against her clit only to repeat the torture in a slow tease.

Ember raised her leg and pressed her heel into his buttocks until everything from the man’s hard cock and up aligned with her body.

“Sweet Ember,” he whispered, his eyes closed as if he wanted to savor the moment.

Now within reach, she ran her fingers down the length of his back until she found the special spot she knew he loved her caressing— just below his shoulder blades. With her other hand she angled his head toward her. With his lips a breath away from hers, she mouthed a silent chant that would give her a definite answer.

Speak true. Speak right. Give me full insight.

“Naughty witch.” Julian growled and bucked against her pussy. “Wish every woman was you? Every damn day, Ember. Think of you when I’m taking them. No.”

One word. Flat and heavier than the weight of not knowing. Damn her for forcing him to answer. She looked at anything but him still wedged between her legs, his rock-hard shaft pressing into her, held back only by the rough material of his pants. Why did she still want him? With that confession, she should be pushing him away and running back home.

“You’re lying. I don’t know how but you’re lying through your fangs, wolfie.”

“Can’t tell a lie, remember.” Muscles bunched and strained from holding himself back, he threw up the scout’s honor with one hand as if it was a lifesaver.

Palms open, she pressed against his chest.

“You’re so damn hard up for the truth. But you don’t want to play fair. You think it’s fair you walk out on me without a word, without a fuck you very much twenty-four hours after I make you my mate?” He stroked a thumb across his mark that sent a shock of electricity along her nerves. “What do you think that does to someone? You think I’m made of stone because I’m a man? Or because I’m a commanding alpha? We bleed, babe. Our hearts hurt just as much. We’re just better at hiding it than most.” He stepped back a pace, his open jeans revealing his engorged shaft.

Another step. Then two.

The heat and strength that was pure Julian pulled away with him, leaving her empty.

Now who was the asshole?
Way to go, Ember. Tear the man’s heart out again.

“W
hy?” Hades to blazes that burned. One word and all her defenses, her reasoning for staying away as long as she had crumbled around her feet to reveal a tender heart. He moved toward her then stopped, his fingers doing the flex and clench thing by his side.

“Why, Ember? You owe me that. And you can’t demand the truth from me if you’re not willing to give it too.”

“You’re right.” She’d gotten sidetracked by everything her body wanted and forgot there was more on the table here than her aching pussy.

She straightened and pulled her legs closed. “It’s ugly and you might hate me after you hear what I have to say.” Ember’s eyes closed out his cold stare as she dragged in a hard breath. Knots tightened in her belly.

“Hate you?” The pain and grit in his voice brought her eyes level with his. Agony played out on his face before the stoic mask of an alpha commander slipped into place to hide his true feelings. Unfortunately, it was too damn late to hold back anything.

“After I left your house that night, I had every intention of following through with our plan.” She fingered his gold pack ring, twirling it around, focusing on the way it shined in the moonlight.

“The one where you and I became a family? Something I didn’t have growing up and you yanked out from under me before I could try and save it. Save us. Yeah, kinda hard to forget. We made a lot of promises that night.”

She nodded. A million excuses at the ready, but he was right. As a young wolf without a family or a pack, Julian had shared with her his desire—to have a family of his own—and she’d stepped all over it. “I went home, started gathering my things.” She raised her head. “I never saw it coming, which was his plan, I guess.” Her voice grew faint. “And I never suspected he’d do that to his own daughter.”

“What did he do, Ember?” Controlled anger. Julian’s specialty. She’d heard it in his voice before in dealing with pack members. He could make a grown man shake and other alphas come to heel with the intention he inflicted in his words and the way he held himself.

Julian’s chest heaved and the crimson in his eyes turned into a raging fire. “Tell me or I’ll find out on my own and when I do, don’t expect any mercy for anyone.” He angled his massive body toward her and took a protective step closer as if he could shield her from the past or future and anyone that meant her harm. “If he hurt you, all the magick in the world won’t hold me back.”

And he meant it too. Anger simmered just beneath the surface. She didn’t have to be a shifter to sense the beast ready to defend his mate.

She smiled. The man held her heart and didn’t even know it. “I don’t know how he knew, but before I could defend myself he hit me with a charm that revealed I was pregnant.”

Julian rarely let his emotions show, but right now everything he felt played out in his expression. Anger shifted to surprise then morphed into the same pain that ate at her. She took some small comfort in knowing she wasn’t alone anymore. She could share the burden of the loss with him.

He closed the distance between them, parted her thighs and drew her into the warmth of his embrace.