Midnight Magic, page 57
Nora backed up and found Julian waiting for her at the edge of the clearing. “All set?” she asked.
He nodded.
“Let’s go home.” She took his hand and led him out of the park.
CHAPTER 16
When they made it back to her apartment, Nora noticed that Julian had begun to limp. Even worse, there was blood on his arm.
“What the hell? Why didn’t you tell me you were hurt?” Nora rushed him to the couch and sat him down. “Stay there. I’m getting the first aid kit.” As a shifter, she didn’t need a first aid kit, but she’d done a few jobs with witches and a couple with humans and seen what kind of damage they could take. After a particularly gnarly job, she’d purchased a first aid kit for her home. Just in case.
Julian waited for her. “It will heal quickly,” he promised. “As soon as my power regenerates, I can do a healing spell and be good as new.”
“What do you mean?” She knelt on the floor and had him take off his shirt. He winced as the fabric tore away from the wound. Nora grabbed gauze and saline.
“I mean it took a lot of magic to stop Delia. My powers need a few hours to recover. I’ll be fine.” He was looking at her as if she was the one that was injured, the one that needed comforting.
Nora scowled. She was perfectly fine. Better than fine. She had her wolf back. She was whole again. It was her stupid mate who thought it was okay to get hurt fighting an evil witch.
Stupid, stupid mate.
Julian winced, and Nora realized she might have been cleaning his wound a bit… thoroughly. She pulled back, wiping gently until she was satisfied his wound was clean before applying a bandage.
There was a cut on his face, but it didn’t seem too bad. It wasn’t bleeding.
“Do you want me to take care of that one?” she asked.
“It’s fine.” Julian covered her hand with his and pulled her up onto the couch to sit beside him. “I’m fine. These wounds aren’t life threatening. They’re just an annoyance.”
She didn’t think he was lying to her, but she still worried. Humans seemed to die from the smallest of issues. Touch their intestines even a little and they were done for. Not that Julian was human. And his intestines were fine. But the point stood.
“Should we call in a healer?” she asked. “Or Audra?” His coven leader could be at the apartment in a few hours. A healer could be there sooner. Nora’s hand itched to reach for a phone.
“I’m fine,” her mate insisted. “If I get any worse, we can call in someone. But believe me, all of this is minor.”
It might have been minor to him, but she wanted to wrap him up and keep him safe, to make it so he never felt another wince of pain.
“You should lie down. Rest while you recuperate.” She was hovering, and the look on Julian’s face told her he thought the same.
“Is this what it’s going to be like every time I get a paper cut? I’m not fragile, you know.”
Her heart skipped at the thought they might have a future beyond today. And while he’d been teasing her, she couldn’t tease back. “You have a life in New York.”
He found her hand and laced their fingers together. He tugged on her until she was sitting beside him, their bodies cuddled together. “I told you, my practice is mostly online. Yes, I have friends and family in the city, and the city is still not far away. My mate is here. And I couldn’t ask a wolf to come to a place as busy as New York.” He paused. “I’m sorry, I’m moving too fast. I’m making assumptions.”
But Nora’s heart wanted to burst with joy, and her wolf was howling so loudly within her she was surprised Julian couldn’t hear. “It’s not too fast.”
“It’s not?” He leaned in close and she mirrored the movement.
“You’re my mate.”
Then they were kissing, and worries about Julian’s injuries fled Nora’s mind. He was a big boy, he’d tell her if it hurt.
They fell back on the couch, bodies entwined and room to maneuver greatly reduced. There was fumbling, and more kissing. Her shirt was half hanging off of her and her hand was in Julian’s pants when they both went crashing to the floor.
Their eyes met and they burst out laughing. They were alive! They were together! This kind of joy didn’t come often, and Nora wanted to hold it close and trap it so she’d feel this way always.
Maybe with her mate at her side, she would.
She grabbed Julian’s arm and dragged him back toward the bedroom. Her sheets were rumpled since she hadn’t bothered to make the bed that morning, but he didn’t care. She tore her clothes off while Julian worked on his own. Then she looked at her naked mate and her breath caught.
One day she would take her time and stare at him for hours. His body was a work of art. And it was all hers.
But right now, her body was crying out for his. She needed him inside of her. She needed to claim her mate.
They came together again, the bed soft under their bodies. Julian’s hands were all over her, and she moaned when he touched her just right. She wanted this night to last forever.
And, maybe, with her mate, that hope wasn’t so crazy.
She let herself get lost in the sensation of him, wanting everything that he could give her and more. Was she selfish? Or was she kind, giving Julian all of herself in return? Her mate wasn’t complaining. His cock was hard against her stomach, a promise of everything to come.
Julian slid down until his head was between her thighs, his tongue doing wicked things that made her squirm. He might have been a good witch, but this was some dark, sensual magic.
She writhed under him, her body completely under his spell. And she would have whimpered when he pulled away if she hadn’t still been gasping from the way he made her come.
She still wanted more.
She dragged Julian up and kissed him, tasting herself on his lips and sparking even more fire between them. They could burn this apartment down if they weren’t careful.
Nora didn’t care. Not while she had Julian.
She wrapped her legs around him, and the blunt head of his cock teased her entrance. He paused for a minute, their eyes meeting. There seemed to be a question there. And Nora’s answer was clear.
Fuck. Yes.
He slid inside of her and she groaned, feeling full and perfect. This was what was meant to be between them. He was slow at first, almost tortuous. And then he picked up the pace, pinning her to the bed and taking control.
Nora reveled in it. He wasn’t gentle with her, and she neither needed nor wanted him to be. And as he brought her closer to another climax, she let herself hope it would always be like this.
Julian leaned in and arched his head until his neck was bared for her. “Do it,” he gritted out, voice tight with pleasure.
Nora didn’t need to be asked twice. Shifters couldn’t normally change their human bodies, but when the claiming instinct rode them, it was impossible to resist. Nora’s incisors grew until they were practically fangs, and she bit down on Julian until she tasted blood.
A pulse of magic hit her in the chest, her witch’s own way of claiming her. Then he was crying out, his body releasing as her own orgasm took her.
He collapsed beside her, his arm slung over her chest, his weight welcome. He was breathing hard. So was she.
“Give me a minute,” he panted. “Totally ready for round two.”
Nora lay back, unable to stop the smile that spread on her face.
CHAPTER 17
The train ride into the city was just as bad as the last time Nora took it. Okay, not quite as bad. This time Julian held her hand the entire way and whispered filthy promises in her ear whenever she got distracted or began to get overstimulated.
Of course, being horny on public transport was its own kind of torture. She almost made her mate detour back to his apartment before they went to their intended destination.
But, no, she’d be good.
She and her mate had spent the entire weekend in bed except for a couple of phone calls they’d been forced to make to prove to everyone that they weren’t dead. Nora would be going back to work shortly, and Julian would begin his move out of the city.
It felt a little crazy. She and Julian had been a thing for two days, and already he was uprooting his life for her. But that was what mating was. She’d known wolves who’d changed the entire course of their lives just because of a glance.
There was even a legend about an ancient war that ended because the mating bond bloomed between the leaders of the opposing forces.
A two-hour train ride to New York was nothing compared to that.
And now that she’d let herself commit to the bond, she had no idea why she’d ever resisted it in the first place. Were she and Julian moving fast? Sure, maybe by human standards. But he was a grown up. He would tell her if he needed something.
He squeezed her hand when they came to their stop, and they walked the distance to Audra’s apartment in companionable silence.
Her mate didn’t need to fill every second with talk and she enjoyed that, just as she enjoyed talking with him for hours. It was a heady time as their bond settled into place between them. Things would calm down, she was sure.
But that didn’t need to happen yet.
Audra greeted them with a smile and invited them in. There was tea waiting on the coffee table, and Nora and Julian sat next to one another on Audra’s couch, their thighs pressed together.
Audra didn’t try to hide her grin. “So is this why you waited to make your report?” It was teasing more than censure.
Julian was unrepentant. “You knew it would happen.”
“I was wondering if…” She trailed off and shook her head. “Never mind, that’s unkind. Would you like to hear what the investigation has uncovered so far?”
Nora leaned forward. “They told you?”
“I am the injured party. Of course I was informed.”
Nora wasn’t an expert investigator, but she was almost certain that didn’t sound right. Audra was connected, she had friends in the AIU. But Nora wasn’t complaining. She wanted to know.
“It appears Delia Cruz has been hiding out with a distant cousin ever since the unpleasantness a month ago. Her magic was traced to a small town in Pennsylvania and her cousin confessed to harboring her. The cousin didn’t know what Cruz was involved in. Another co-conspirator, Katrina Stevens, is still on the run. All of her distant relatives are accounted for, so she doesn’t seem to be hiding out with any of them. An investigation of Cruz’s apartment turned up some documentation about her collusion with Rosalie Sutton. They’ve been siphoning power from witches for more than three years. And they weren’t working alone. There’s no reason to believe we’re in any direct danger, but this isn’t over. Watch your backs.”
Nora didn’t like the sound of that. She clutched Julian’s hand to convince herself he was right there with her, safe and sound. There were no evil witches lurking in Audra’s apartment.
And she wouldn’t let any of them touch her mate.
They had another cup of tea with Audra and discussed people that Nora didn’t know. But someday all these names would be familiar to her as her and Julian’s lives intertwined. They could face the dangers, but what she looked most forward to were these quiet moments, these reminders that they had something real together.
They bid Audra farewell after another hour and ended up back at Julian’s apartment, where he packed a bigger bag.
Nora sat on his bed and watched him.
“My lease is up in two months,” he said as he stuffed clothes into a suitcase. “That gives us plenty of time.”
“So why are you rushing to pack?” she asked with a grin.
Julian finally looked over to her and noticed she’d unbuttoned her shirt and was laying on display for him. He made a sound that went straight to her core.
She grinned. “Come here. We have time.”
Her mate pounced, and Nora held him close. If this was how she was going to spend her time in the city, it wasn’t that bad after all.
Thank you for reading!
*.*.*.*
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Wolf Cursed is part of the Guarded by the Shifter series. It all begins in Hunting Season.
This werewolf will protect his mate.
Owen has one job: keep Stasia from being abducted. Easier said than done when his fiercely independent client tries to fire him the moment they meet. His werewolf senses howl to life and he's certain of one thing: Stasia is his.
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If you enjoyed this book, you may also enjoy...
Hunting Season
On the Prowl
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ABOUT KATE RUDOLPH
Kate Rudolph is an paranormal and sci-fi romance writer who lives in Indiana. She loves writing about kick butt heroines and the steamy heroes who love them. She's been devouring romance novels since she was too young to be reading them and had to hide her books so no one would take them away. She couldn't imagine a better job in this world than writing romances and sharing them with her fellow readers.
WHITNEY’S FANTASY BY LILITH DARVILLE
COPYRIGHT
Whitney’s Fantasy © 2022 Lilith Darville
Edited by: Word Whisperer Literary Editing
WHITNEY’S FANTASY
An isolated adult entertainment club. Two younger men seeking redemption. A midlife woman needing protection.
One day I'm living the perfect life: a loving husband, a great career, the freedom to do whatever I wanted.
Then along came the mob destroying my world and leaving me near death.
But two hot young men . . . with wings . . . rescue me and deliver me to safety and another chance.
There's just one tiny problem . . . I must agree to round-the-clock protection from my new partners and help them find redemption.
Two men who turn out to be the angels who rescued me.
Two men who make it clear I'm theirs to share.
CHAPTER 1
Whitney stood under the spray of the shower for what seemed like an hour, willing her fear to go down the drain. Stupid, unrelenting, suffocating fear. She was sick of it permeating every aspect of her life. But she wasn’t sure what she was more afraid of — losing herself in another lopsided relationship or facing her captors again. Her new employer might be willing to provide twenty-four seven security for now, but how long would that last?
One of the important lessons she had taken from her therapy sessions was that accepting help was not a sign of weakness. On the contrary, accepting help from loved ones on your terms could only be done from a position of strength. Being strong didn’t mean you had to be superwoman. It meant you accepted your skills with pride and, with equal measure, accepted your shortcomings with grace. Accepting this job was one of those times. As a result, Whitney had to step aside and make room for the future she’d never imagined.
Those thoughts and more swirled through her head as the limousine headed toward her new job that came complete with a luxury apartment and two bodyguards. Hard to imagine given the life she’d lived before . . . before the mob killed her husband of almost thirty years.
Whitney Blake had lived a comfortable and traditional upper-middle-class life married to the right guy and supporting his career. Mark had been a forensic accountant rising in a giant investment conglomerate when she’d met him. After a whirlwind courtship and engagement, they’d married and settled into a beautiful waterfront condo in metro Toronto. With bonuses, Mark made well over a million dollars a year. So, it had seemed more than reasonable her job would be to assist him however she could. When his job had morphed into making some messy corporate situations go away, she’d loved that he’d asked for her advice. They’d quickly found that she was very good at problem-solving using mostly above-board tactics. But it hadn’t all been about Mark. He’d encouraged her to take courses and had fully supported her mother’s treatment and care when she’d been diagnosed with terminal cancer. He’d been Whitney’s champion and best friend. They’d been a great team, and they’d thrived . . . until we hadn’t.
Until the night men had stormed into our apartment, shot Mark and snatched Whitney from their bed. The brutes had stopped her struggles with an injection of some kind, but it did little to quell her terror. They’d delivered her to her new “owner,” forcing her to kneel before a large white man with a huge belly. Jonathan Ashton was the CEO of the multinational conglomerate Mark worked for, and Whitney’d only met him once before. She had detested him on sight, and despite the drug fog imprisoning her brain, she knew she’d die before submitting to that man. He stood, tapping his left palm with a cane as he circled her.
“Your husband stole from us, and that debt needs to be repaid.” He brought the cane down on her exposed ass, and knife-like pain shot through her. “You are mine to use in any way I wish from this day forward. So tonight, I will show our world what it means to steal from Jonathan Ashton.”
