In the Company of Witches (30 page)

You don’t have to beg, or even ask. I give it to you freely. Now and
…for all eternity. Did she just imagine those last three words had hung unspoken in the air? She stared into his opaque eyes, the taut mouth. He’d just proven he wasn’t a kind or merciful lover, but she didn’t respond to those qualities when immersed in these dark shadows. In fact, his determined, ruthless nature pulled her out of them. He understood
her
nature.

Whatever shields she thought she had against him just disappeared. She began to move with him in that rise and fall, his knowledge of her body’s response irresistible.

“He has no hold on you anymore.”

“I know. I made sure of it.”

He gave a fierce, satisfied nod. “If he was still alive, I would make him suffer three times over for everything he made you suffer.”

She trembled harder. “Mikhael, don’t.”

He thrust deeper, earning a cry. “When I demand you beg, Raina, I demand it for your pleasure and my own. Not to harm you. Never to harm you.”

“I know. I know.” God, her throat was aching, a place so raw and jagged inside.

“Let the tears go. Let it all go.”

Something like a sob tore from her throat. “I can’t cry. Tearless…witch.”

When she’d been with Elceus, that had been a mercy. She’d never shown him a single tear, never begged, no matter how much he tried to make her beg for nourishment, for release from pain, from darkness, from punishment. She’d always been smarter than him, knew he needed her more than she needed her own life. Her sanity.

“It hurts too much, Mikhael. I can’t climax. Please…you release. Let me feed on you.”

The muscle in his jaw flexed, his eyes sparking, but he gave her a short nod, understanding. Curving her arms around his shoulders, she pressed her face into his throat as he increased the speed and power of his strokes. Her emotions might be too raw to allow a climax, but it was a pleasure to feel his cock inside of her, to feel all that male strength. She held on to that, savored it as his muscles became tensile steel beneath her greedy hands, stroking, touching, enjoying his body, the appetizer to the main course.

When he released, the heat of his seed sent sensation spiraling up through her belly and rushing through all her nerves. She caught the energy, drew it in like sunlight. She could draw all the life out of the sun, but Mikhael could handle it. He was hotter than the sun, would be burning long after it winked out and left the galaxy in darkness.

Clenching her muscles around him, she milked him, earning a guttural, animal noise from deep in his chest, a harder clutch of his fingers on her ass, another spurt of seed. God, he felt so good. Her sex spasmed around him, wanting the orgasm despite the emotional train wreck that had delayed its release. Bless his black heart, he picked up on it. Pushing her back so he could reach her breast, he closed his mouth over her nipple and began that deep suckling that she felt all the way to her womb. He kept thrusting, even as he completed.

It was like the decadence of dessert after a perfect meal. She screamed when the hard-won climax hit her, and he bit down, adding pain to the pleasure of it. The energy swirled over her skin, penetrating every pore. She inhaled him, drank him, soaked in his energy and found strength again, found balance.

Because, as she’d said, balance was what a Dark Guardian did.

14

I
T WAS IN THE AFTERMATH THAT SHE FELT IT
. C
ATHAIR
passed over them a moment later, his screech ensuring she received his message, loud and clear. Gooseflesh rose along her arms.
Shit.
“Trouble. We need to get back to the house, now.”

She was already trying to move back, though Mikhael caught her. “Hold on a second. You don’t want to break a leg. Or snap something off you may need later.”

She made a face at him and lifted straight up, standing on the branch with easy balance. The energy had restored her, such that the woman Mikhael saw now was his usual self-possessed, half-breed witch. Before he could react, she’d taken a step out into space, using the air currents to carry her down with a sparking of the elemental energy.

“If you’d told me you could do that, I wouldn’t have carried you up here.” He dropped her jeans down to her, sending her shirt fluttering behind, though he held on to the panties and bra. No sense slowing her down.

“Exactly. Don’t whine. You got the chance to impress me with your manly strength. Meet me there.” She’d yanked on the jeans and shirt and was gone, moving fast, reminding him of how Isaac had moved. There was a fluid grace to her movements the incubus lacked, though, probably because she wasn’t frothing at the mouth in terror.

He tucked everything back in, grabbed his shirt, stood up and took flight. It wasn’t anything related to Isaac. He would have felt that, so it must be something involving her sex demons and their clients, something she would feel. He got there when she did, except she was already heading through the front door. He sensed it clearer then, confirming it was local trouble.

Regardless, when she reached the second floor, he was a step ahead, insisting on it, despite the fact she nearly elbowed him aside. He gave her props for determination, since he was twice her weight. She came to a stop.

“You need to let me handle this. It needs my touch, not yours. Trust me.”

He assessed the array of dangerous vibes coming out of the second-floor parlor. “I stay at your side.”

“How about at my back?
That’s
where I need you.” When she held his gaze, Mikhael weighed options, nodded.

“You’ve got it.”

“Okay.” Taking a deep breath, she moved forward in her usual sauntering glide, into direct view of the parlor occupants. The room was much like the one below, but up here, group play was permitted. A couple staff were in role-playing costumes, some of the bondage devices looked to have been in recent use, and there was a lot of naked flesh. At the moment, all that flesh was crowded to one side, and the agitation coming from them bent the dense space of the room outward.

As she crossed into that space, temper sparked in Raina’s eyes. Even before he stepped in behind her, he detected why, because at that moment Isaac pinged on Mikhael’s internal radar. Focusing, he found the incubus had hit the perimeter of the property, and suffered the consequences of it. The magical barrier knocked the incubus completely out, a satisfying result that allowed Mikhael to keep his full attention on what was happening in this room. He’d deal with Isaac shortly—if Raina didn’t tear the young sex demon to shreds first.

It was obvious an incubus’s wild magic was at the hub of this situation, buried amid the chaos of fear and anger. An incubus not integrated into Raina’s spellwork for her staff. The residual of it swirled through the room still, punctuated by the hostility vibrating from the clientele. Compounding the problem was the fact they weren’t innocuous businessmen, but a group of trained servicemen. Isaac’s uncontrolled energy had also made it more difficult for the succubi to tone down their own charms. It was lucky Raina’s protections were as strong as they were, because otherwise Mikhael knew they would have been looking at a roomful of bodies.

He wanted to curse out loud. She’d been having a good day, had believed it would be safe. He’d told her it would be. Now she was angry with herself, which pissed him off. She was also mad at Isaac, which didn’t bug him as much. Maybe she wouldn’t mind him killing the little bastard now.

Stepping into the room behind her, he swept his glance over the soldiers. Their tension was targeted at the center of the room, where one of their buddies had a sidearm and was apparently caught up in a full-blown PTSD episode. A mixed blessing, because it had brought them back to their senses, somewhat, but they were still too messed up by Isaac’s disorienting vibes to be much help. Except they had shifted in front of the staff, automatically protecting civilians.

Mikhael focused on the man who had Li pushed to his knees, a lock on his neck, the gun pressed right against the incubus’s skull. A kill shot, even for a sex demon.

“Lawrence,” Raina said in a firm voice. “What are you doing?”

He turned pupils the size of pencil tips toward her. “He’s a fucking informant. He’s going to tell us what I want to know, or I’m going to shoot all his buddies there.” He nodded toward the others.

“Those are
your
buddies, and my staff, Lawrence. I need—”

“It’s not safe here. Come get behind me.”

She moved toward him while Mikhael bit down the urge to hiss. “You’re in Sweet Dreams, Lawrence. My house. You came to spend time with Gina and Marisa. Did you enjoy them?”

His brow furrowed. He was sweating and his finger trembled on the trigger of the gun. The gun was too close to Li for either Mikhael or Raina to make a move. Spellwork could be used, but they had a human audience, and the man was too worked up. By the time the spell was launched, that trigger finger could squeeze.

“They aren’t here,” Lawrence said. “Gina and Marisa aren’t…”

“Of course they are. They’re right there.” Raina gestured. Gina and Marisa emerged from the knot of sex demons. Gina wore a lavender corset and stockings that made her look like a sensual fairy. Marisa wore only a pair of thong panties. A lot of fragile pale skin, but at least they looked nothing like enemy combatants. Gina was bleeding from her temple, a clip from that gun. Mikhael gave both women credit for guts, if not brains, as they moved forward at Raina’s gesture. A couple of the soldiers moved as if they’d stop the girls, but Mikhael caught their attention with a sharp note in his throat, shook his head. He supported their intent, but Raina was right. This was her turf. They had to trust she knew what she was doing.

Li had his gaze fastened on her. The moment his mistress had entered the room, he’d looked less scared. They trusted her. Believed in her. Believed she could get them out of anything. People believed that only if she had actually proven it—repeatedly.

“You’re not in the field, soldier. You’re not in Afghanistan.” This came from one of his comrades. “You’re home. You’re pointing a gun at a civilian, threatening women.”

“Shut up.” Lawrence snarled. “Don’t try to confuse me.”

“He has no reason to lie to you, Lawrence,” Raina continued in that reasonable tone. “You know I have a strict rule about firearms above the first floor. The only weapon you bring up here”—her lips curled in a seductive smile—“is the one between your legs. Isn’t that right, Steve?”

She shot the soldier a meaningful look, and thank the gods, Steve picked up her direction. “Hell, yeah. But that’s probably why he had to bring the gun, Miss Raina. He’s not got much firepower down there.”

“Give him another beer,” came from another of the group. “Maybe it will pump it up.”

Lawrence’s gaze shifted. Their laughter, though a bit forced, held the camaraderie he knew. The men were getting their feet beneath them, trained to respond even when they weren’t at full capacity. They’d just needed the direction.

“No,” Lawrence said, but he looked uncertain. “No, it’s not safe. He said so. That skinny, pale guy said it wasn’t safe here, that the enemy is here, hiding, and no one’s safe.”

“Where is the skinny guy? Show him to me.” Raina gestured.

Lawrence’s gaze crawled over the room, desperate, showing his doubt of his present reality. “Not here. He’s not here now. He must have run.” His hand trembled.

“Please, don’t. Lawrence, you’re about to hurt someone I love. Please don’t.” Raina took several steps forward, and now there was just a pace between them. Mikhael gauged his distance. Hell with it. He’d use magic and worry about explanations to the humans later. But he’d feel a lot better about the chances for Li if Lawrence would shift the gun. Unfortunately, that could leave it pointed at Raina.

Magic was unleashed, but not his. Raina’s sexual energy unfurled, controlled, targeted. Lawrence’s attention fastened on her as she closed her fingers on his gun hand, stroked. Pushed it toward the ground. Li slid free as the human stared at Raina. Tentative, the soldier reached out, slid a hand along her face, cupped her neck, tightened, lust translating through the urgency of the grip. She held that inviting smile as, with the other hand, she gestured. Gina moved in to help the incubus, since Li was bleeding, limping.