Charming the Alphas (Hex My Heart, #5) (10 page)

“Oh baby, that was just the beginning. So beautiful,” he whispered along the shell of her ear. “Put your hands on his shoulders and raise up just a little for me, baby.” Lucian guided her with both hands on her hips and shifted his legs, which parted her thighs farther and put her on full display. Cool air unfurled through the room, fanned along her exposed skin and coaxed a sigh from her throat.

Under the influence of their lust, Marabelle let her eyes close.

“No, baby girl, watch him take you. Watch as his cock slips between your folds, claiming his mate. Sexiest damn thing ever.” Zane’s lusty growl anchored her. He slipped his thumbs between her thighs and parted her aching entrance. Watching Lucian as the tip of his shaft teased more liquid from her core was beyond anything she’d ever felt before. Watching and feeling... goddesses, the combination fueled her libido and sent her rocketing toward her second peak of the night.

She rocked her hips and earned a growl from Lucian. “Fuck, Mara, hold still, baby. Take it easy. You’re so damn hot.” It was true. She did feel hotter than normal. She’d grown used to the glow but with every second that passed in the company of her wolves it grew in intensity. A multitude of colors swirled just beneath her skin. Golds overlapped with blues and reds until no end or beginning could be found.

Three magicks, three paths?

“So fucking hot.” Lucian grunted and let his head fall back against the sofa, sweat already forming along his forehead.

Zane’s expression darkened. “They can’t have you.”

“Not before you do?” she soothed.

“You’re witch and now shifter.” Lucian pressed forward into her drenched core until he was fully seated. Her heart stopped for the briefest of moments and all she could do was fall into the mesmerizing eyes of Zane. “And ours.”

“And yours,” she agreed. “But what if I’m part dragon now?”

Fear trickled into her mind. “Then we’ll love you even more if that were possible. But your magick is yours to decide, not theirs.”

True, she didn’t understand what was happening with the magick but it felt right to have her men there to make sure she would be okay. A magnetic pull skimmed along her heart, stomach and core as Lucian started moving inside her. Braced on Zane’s shoulders, she matched his slow strokes fascinated by the erotic slap of skin against skin.

Strong fingers pressed into the globes of her ass and spread her cheeks. Cool air licked across her heated nether-hole and over the swollen lips of her pussy. “So beautiful.” She slowed as his thumb stroked along her back entrance and pressed. Still shy about anal play, she brushed her hair to the side and chanced a glance back at him. With a soft smile she melted just a little bit more from the understanding wink he gave her.

They’d only done it once before and both of them had shown her a gentle side she once thought no man who spent their days knocking heads could show a woman. Did they want to take her again that way?

“Soon,” he reassured her. “Tonight is all about claiming you.” She whimpered in anticipation. Adrenaline rekindled excitement for the new adventure before them and bliss blanketed over her. Zane craned his head to the side to give her access to his neck. He knew her so well. Fingers buried in her hair, he moaned as she nibbled her away along his neck until she held the lobe of his ear between her teeth. With a little more force than she intended, Marabelle bit into the flesh when Lucian thrust home and she received a deep growl in response.

“I feel you, baby.” A growl echoed from his throat. Lucian pulled out to stroke back into her with a hard thrust that pushed her closer to the edge. Heat flushed along her skin and she barely managed to hold herself up. “I’ve got you, let go, come for him. Give him those sweet juices. But not all.” Zane gathered her face in the palms of his hands and leaned in close. “After he claims you, I’ll take you and make our family complete.”

Lucian quickened his sweet torture and Marabelle braced her hands on Zane’s wrists. A cry tore from her throat. Tension gathered, sensations scaled the length of her spine and buried deep until she didn’t know where Lucian began and she ended.

Firm hands gathered her around the waist and pulled her back. Steel arms anchored her steady. Never breaking rhythm, Lucian ran the tip of his nose along her neck as Zane dipped between her thighs.

She fisted her hands and arched. Zane wrapped hip lips around her clit and sucked. With the slightest pressure, her world dissolved to
only
that moment.

Fingers buried in Zane’s hair, she cried out. “I’m coming.”

Teeth broke skin. Darkness swelled around her and a hurricane of torrid heat consumed her until Hades seemed like an Alaskan retreat. Through it all she still felt the hot pulses of semen coat her insides. Then she was moving and the darkness fell away until all she saw was Zane’s sweet face. His eyes steady on hers. She combed through the syllables of his words until she could make sense of what he was saying. “Brace yourself, baby. Feel me. Feel us.”

In a burst of energy, magick kindled to life and flowed along her skin. Not inside, but on the outside. Tears burned her eyes. “Take me, Zane. Now. I need you.” Instinct told her the time had to be now.

Before she could utter another word, he had her flipped over the couch, her knees pressed in the sofa and her head resting on the arm. In one push he sheathed himself in her sensitive channel and she cried out from the burst of power that filled her body.

Zane froze.

“No, don’t stop.” The magick was fighting the bond. She pressed into him.

“Are you sure?”

She glanced over her shoulder and gave him a weak smile and nodded.

As if the goddesses gave their blessing, the heavy clouds that shielded the earth from the moon scattered to reveal silvery swaths of light.

Drenched in moonlight from the open balcony, the cottony light played over Lucian as he kneeled by her side. He gathered her hair in his fist and angled her head. Lips parted, she raised her gaze to his in anticipation.

“You’re mine, now and forever.” His lips crashed into hers as Zane pulled out and slammed home.

Magick spiraled to life around them. Threads wove between their bodies, tying their fates together. Lavender, indigo and fuchsia. So beautiful yet so fragile. She’d lost it once. What if she lost it again? She flicked away the idea. Nothing would break her now. Or ever. Not with her men at her side.

A familiar tension grew in her womb. Zane pressed his body over hers and reached between her legs. Her heart nearly burst. Stroking, teasing, torturing he worked her into a state of frenzy and she surrendered to the consuming ache between her thighs that she had no idea how to handle on her own. Had no desire to handle, when all her wants and needs in bed were for them to care for now. And she wanted—no, needed them.

He pistoned forward and she braced herself against the arm of the sofa. With rock solid thighs pressed against the back of her legs, Zane pulled back. Blood rushed through her veins and heightened every nerve ending in her pussy. “More,” she begged, nails biting into the smooth cloth. Zane groaned and drove home, causing a surge of sensations to flood her channel. Her muscles clenched. “Mara, come for me. Come now.”

For the third time in less than an hour she succumbed. This time the darkness didn’t scare her, but the pain that radiated out from her shoulder overwhelmed all her senses. A scattered array of images flitted behind her closed eyes. Of young wolves becoming men. Of rough times and good times, and her heart swelled to see her alphas in different stages of their lives.

Then it happened. The blood and the stench. It hit her with a solid left hook. Dead women. Men. Their bodies torn until you could barely recognize the features that made them human. “No. Make it stop.”

Chocolate cherries, raspberry drops, lemon...

Desperate, she clawed at the images to erase them. It didn’t help.

“Mara! Mara! You’re safe. You’re safe.”

Zane lifted her from where she curled up on the couch and held her close to his chest, his heart as wild as hers. “You’re safe, baby girl.”

“What was that? What did I see?”

Lucian peered around her and pegged Zane with a look she recognized as
shit just got real
. “We need to talk, but you’re not going to like it.”

She yawned and gave a sweet southern belle smile like the one her sister used on her when she didn’t particularly feel the emotion behind the action. “Touché.”

A
fter several calming breaths Marabelle shoved aside the ugliness to revel in the delicious sense of fulfillment that settled over her. She watched Lucian’s backside as he pulled back from them and disappeared into the bedchamber. “Hold that thought,” he called out to them over his shoulder.

She shrugged and winced. “The pain will ease after a couple of days, and the bites will eventually fade to light markings.”

“They don’t bother me. I love carrying your marks.” She turned to look up at Zane.

“They changed.” Painting the air between them with a wave of her hand, she bounded up and nearly knocked the glass of water he’d poured out of his hand. “Your eyes. They’re magnificent.” She slipped her hands into the length of his hair, letting the strands fan through her fingers out of habit. “So I guess that means no sticky-pawed she-wolf can make a move on my men.”

“Yours are changing too, baby girl, and possessive much?” he countered in a low, breathy tone that held a hint of smugness. “You have no idea.”

“Mmm. I like that.”

Marabelle sat back and took the glass of water he offered. “Your throat’s still bothering you?”

“A little.” Millions of questions rattled around in her head. She lifted a hand, closed her eyes and let the familiar hum of the ley lines rise beneath the surface. So they
were
still on Earth.

“Systems are a go, it seems.” Puzzled, she twisted her hand and watched as indigo threads wound themselves together in a ball. “But why?” She glanced at Zane. “Why now and not when I took the potion?”

“
That is a question I think has something to do with our mating. Honestly, only one lady would know how for sure.”

Marabelle gasped with surprise
. “I can hear you.”

Zane smiled and nodded
. “And Lucian. We’re all connected now. We’ll know every feeling you have and you’ll know ours. But our connection is on a different level than the dragons. What we share is ours alone.”

“Good cuz that would get weird real quick.”

Zane chuckled and it reached into her soul and soothed her nerves.

Lucian rejoined them with a two towels in hand. “And you’ll never be alone again,” he added to their conversation.

She liked that. She flicked her hand and watched the string of power absorb back into her hand but kept access to her magick simmering just below the surface. Zane pulled her close and she looked into his eyes, now also a blue so light they looked icy. “And the glow worm effect I was rocking faded. Maybe the healer can explain the oddities of that too. So far it seems she’s the one with the answers,” Marabelle said around a yawn.

“First you need rest. Obsidian will be here soon and then we can get all the answers we need. What we need to discuss can wait too.”

Marabelle nodded and let her head fall to rest against Zane’s shoulder.

It seemed she’d just closed her eyes but the duskier skies suggested hours had passed. Sometime between falling asleep in Zane’s arms and now they’d moved her to the bed. Comfortably cocooned between both men, Marabelle peeked out from beneath the covers and watched as silhouettes of dragons dotted the purplish skies beyond her window.

Careful not to disturb Lucian and Zane, she eased from the bed and made quick work of dressing. Gathering her boots, she made her way out to the fire pit that had cooled to smoldering embers. Damn. That reminded her. Her sisters were probably worried about her. Everything that had gone down last night probably already had the Council convening to see what torturous punishment they’d dish out this time. She’d let them stick it to her once. This time the bastards would have to catch her.

She eyed Zane’s cell phone. Right. No reception. “Landline it is then.” She stood. Only Ember knew of her plans, but it wouldn’t take long before The Council targeted each of her sisters until they had what they wanted.

Minutes later she set a quick pace down the hall, passing several doors but not a single soul. Where was everyone? After seeing the mountains and the dragons this morning, she finally figured out that the dragon’s lair was set into the side of a mountain. Did only the warriors live here in such a massive place or did their mates live here too? Guess it didn’t really matter, but her curious mind liked the small details. Meeting a female dragon shifter would be a first of many firsts in the past day.

The wide, dark passage extended deeper into the mountain lit by sconces throughout the lair. The longer she walked the more she felt she’d stepped back in time. Stone carvings of runes marked enclaves and she immediately recognized them. It was how her father had warded their home against enemies. He’d claimed it had been against those who meant harm to the High Council since he’d been a loyal servant to the Royals as a liaison between the otherworldlies and the warlocks.

Now she wasn’t so sure it was to protect the High Council so much as it was to protect
them
from the High Council.

Wisps of cold air caught her by surprise and pulled her out of her thoughts. She paused by one of the enclaves that held a rune that represented time. She licked her finger and held it up. The breeze came from the cutout in the wall, but why? Carefully she picked up the rune but instead of lifting, the stone piece tilted back, causing a section of the wall to slide to the left.

“You gotta be kidding! For realz?” Secret dragon lair, secret order within the dragon world and now a secret passage. Her inner librarian nearly fell over with giddy excitement. The source of the wind became apparent immediately. Craning her neck, she peeked into the room before crossing the threshold. Each step carried her back in time by about two hundred years if the furnishings were a good marker of centuries.