[Southern Arcana 3.0] Deadlock (14 page)

Alec kicked his jeans out of the way. “I’m not coming in that cage, whether he’s here or not.”

That chilled her even as it sparked sharp, hot anger. “I didn’t ask you to.”

The sudden wariness in his eyes faded to confusion, but after a moment he nodded. “Jackson, go upstairs.”

He shoved his hands in his pockets even as he backed away. “Yell if you need me, Alec.”

Carmen waited until his footfalls faded up the stairs and a door slammed to rise and reach for her own shirt. “Tell me what to do. How to find her. The wolf.”

“All right. Can you close your eyes and feel my power?”

She could feel everything, the power of the animal inside him as well as his almost crippling concern. “I can feel you. Stop worrying so hard.”

His rough laughter filled the room. “Oh, honey, we’re way past that. I worry. It’s what I do.”

The last thing she wanted was to be yet another responsibility, a burden no good alpha would set aside. She opened her eyes. “Don’t. Don’t worry about me.”

His hands fisted. His voice dropped to a whisper. “I worry about you more than I should.”

Because he cared. She’d known he wanted her, but this was different. Something closer to what she felt, and insufferably dangerous for someone in his position, who lived the way he lived.

It burned through her anger, and it didn’t matter that he was mostly naked, that she was half-dressed in her shorts and bra. Carmen dropped her shirt and closed her hands around the bars. “You talk a lot about what you do, what your job is. What do you
need
, Alec?” She’d give it to him, even if it meant walking out and never looking back.

After a tense, endless moment, he opened his eyes and met her gaze. “I need you to be all right. I need to keep you safe.”

“The only way to do that is to find out what that woman did to me and why.” The possibility of Carmen killing herself had spurred the witch into a mistake, one that had cost her her life. “She needed me to be two things—alive, and a wolf. That means my family has to be behind this. There’s nothing else that makes sense.”

He gave a short nod, then tilted his head. “You’re feeling steadier?”

“I feel—” The vicious bite of magic had already faded. “How long has it been?”

“An hour. Maybe a little more.”

Last time, it had been longer than that before she’d come back to herself enough to recognize her surroundings, much less carry on a conversation. “How bad was it?”

One dark eyebrow swept up. “You’re in a cage, sweetheart.”

Her cheeks heated. “That was a stupid question.”

“A little bit.” But he smiled and brushed his hand over hers. “You were pretty mad at me. I wasn’t sure you were going to forgive me. I didn’t put you in there willingly.”

What he didn’t say made her blush even harder. “I tried to jump you.”

The first hint of true amusement made his eyes dance. “I’m used to it. Women can’t resist a brooding loner.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Do it again some time when you’re
not
high, and all will be forgiven.”

Will it?
Asking seemed like asking for trouble, so she stepped away from the bars. “Show me how it’s done, and we’ll see if you can let me out of here.”

Alec stepped back and hooked a thumb under the edge of his boxers. “I’m about to be really naked. Watching with your eyes won’t do you much good, but I don’t care if you do.”

Carmen tracked her gaze down his hard body to where he’d dragged the fabric low. For a moment, temptation nearly got the better of her. “I shouldn’t, since I have to keep my hands to myself.” Reluctantly, she turned away and leaned back against the bars. “What about the rest of my clothes? Will I have time to get rid of them if I start to feel like something’s happening?”

“Probably not. It’ll be over before you can count to three. Doesn’t hurt either, so you don’t need to be scared.”

“Right. Are you—?” She swallowed hard, her hands on the waistband of her shorts, and almost glanced over her shoulder. “Are you watching me?”

“Does that bother you?”

“No.” It excited her, feeling the weight of his gaze on her, his interest and arousal spiking every time she moved.

Part of her wanted to put on a show, send that twisting desire of his through the roof, but it didn’t seem fair to tease. Instead, she unhooked her bra and slid the cotton free of her arms. After tossing it across the cot, she pushed her shorts and panties down her legs in one quick, efficient movement.

“All right.” His voice had definitely gotten lower. “Your empathy might help. Close your eyes and kneel, and try to feel what I’m doing.”

She bit her lip and slid to the floor, wincing at the hard bite of concrete on her scraped knees. “I feel…” Worried. Determined. Turned on.

Then the lust bloomed into something primal, something she recognized on an instinctive level. It was the magic that had always lived in her, just cranked up to an overwhelming intensity.

It called to her, inviting and wild, and she clenched her hands into fists. She wanted to join him, release that sleeping part of her and
run
—

Nothing.

“Damn it.” The magic that had flared up in reaction to his settled, and Carmen rubbed her hands over her face. “I don’t know, Alec. I just don’t
know
.”

A quiet yip answered her.

He was right behind her, and she turned to look at him. Dark fur covered his large frame, muzzle to tail, and she smiled in spite of herself. “It’s weird how it’s impossible to predict what shifters will look like, but then they always look like themselves somehow. They look…right.”

The wolf stretched slowly, then magic shimmered in the air again. It happened so fast it seemed like a blur, the wolf rising on his hind legs before the shimmer became too much. A heartbeat later Alec stood before her—

Aroused.

Her breath caught in a gasp as need washed over her. This time, she couldn’t look away. “Alec.”

“Shh.” He wrapped his hands around the bars of her cage, fingers clenching so tight his knuckles looked white against his dusky skin. “Shifting is… There’s no high like it.”

She had to get off her knees, so she climbed to her feet. “So I’ve heard.”

“I should leave.”

“I should make you.” The tables had been turned, and now he was the one crazy with magic. But she touched him anyway, sliding her hands over his. “You keep protecting my virtue. What about yours?”

“The only way I’m keeping my virtue is if you stay in that cage.” A rumbling laugh escaped him. “Even that might not save us.”

She felt no confusion, no doubt that this was what he wanted. That she was what he wanted. “You can stay or go. Either way, no regrets.”

Something feral sparked in his eyes. “Turn around.”

It was firm and forceful, and the command weakened her knees. She obeyed, standing so close to the bars that she could feel the heat of his body.

His breath skated across the back of her shoulder. “Lift your hands. Above your head.”

She raised her arms and gripped the cold metal bars, feeling curiously exposed by the position. “It’s as natural as breathing for you, isn’t it?”

“What?” His fingers brushed hers, then started a slow, wicked glide down her arms. “This?” He curled his hands to cup her breasts, palms abrading her nipples. “Or this?”

Carmen whimpered at the sudden rush of pleasure. “Dominating your lover.”

“Don’t need a cage for that,” he agreed as one hand swept lower, spreading wide over her abdomen. “The only reason you’re still in there is to keep me from dominating you. Can’t fuck you through the bars…probably.”

“I think you’re a liar.” She pressed back, reaching through the bars to tangle her hands in his hair. “You could find a way.”

“Maybe.” His fingertips brushed her thighs. “There are people upstairs. You have to keep quiet. Believe me, honey, you wouldn’t be quiet riding my cock.”

He had a dirty mouth, and she had to check a moan. “I don’t think I can be quiet with your hands on me, either.”

“What if I give you something to bite?”

The sensual possibilities left her dizzy. She could sink her teeth into him. She’d have to, because he’d touch her and he’d make her come so hard she’d forget everything, including the people roaming around his house.

Including the dead bodies they’d left outside.

She let go of his hair and pulled away with a ground out curse. “You wouldn’t be doing this if you were in your right mind.”

Alec snarled, but he didn’t disagree with her.

It strengthened her resolve. She bent to gather her clothes, still trembling from his caresses but determined. “Sometime when you’re not high, Alec, and that’s a promise.”

“A promise.” He turned and snatched up his jeans. “I need to go upstairs. I’m going to pop the lock on the cage. Come on up when you’re ready.”

The urge to call him back consumed her, but what would it accomplish? She had nothing to explain, no reason to justify being unwilling to take advantage of his magical arousal when he’d spent the last few days doing the same for her.

And she
had
done it for him. Because, sooner or later, he’d come back to his senses and find a way to blame himself for losing control.

Carmen dropped her clothes on the cot and pulled on her panties. “I’ll only be a minute or two.”

He didn’t answer, just stopped at a number pad mounted on the wall and typed in a code that resulted in a soft
click
from the cage door. A moment later he was gone, his feet barely making a sound on the wooden stairs.

She finished dressing slowly, taking the extra time to steel herself. It was insane to feel as though she’d done something wrong, but that didn’t change facts.

She felt like hell.

Shut up, Carmen.
It was karmic payback for sniping at Alec every time he pulled away, unwilling to take advantage of her heightened instinctive drives. He’d only been trying to do what was right, what was best.

I need you to be all right. I need to keep you safe.

Best for her, not himself, and that was the key. She climbed the stairs, her mind racing. Alec would hurt himself before he hurt her, and it was more than a platitude or something he’d try to do, except when he fucked up.

It was who he was.

Alec wasn’t upstairs, but the pretty brunette who’d picked Kat up from the clinic sat at the kitchen table, fidgeting. Carmen smiled and hoped she’d already stopped visibly shaking. “Hi, Mackenzie.”

“Hey. Good to see you again.”

“Want some coffee? I could make some.” It probably wouldn’t help Mackenzie’s fidgeting, but it would keep them both from sitting at the table, twiddling their thumbs. “I get the feeling it might be a long night.”

“Sure, coffee’s great.” Mackenzie rocked to her feet. “I would have already made some but I don’t know where anything is in Alec’s kitchen. Or if he has coffee.”

“After the last few days, I’ve figured out the lay of the land.” She rinsed and filled the carafe. “If I hadn’t, by Alec’s own admission, I would have starved by now.”

“Yeah, I get the impression Alec eats a lot of takeout. God knows no one would deliver all the way out here. He’s pretty well in the middle of nowhere.”

Carmen paused in the act of settling a fresh filter into the pot. “I have no idea where we are. South of the city?”

“Southwest.” Mackenzie hesitated. “You were pretty out of it, I guess. But you seem to be doing a lot better.”

“I don’t think it worked,” she confessed. “Or maybe it did, it’s just not finished. The witch said she needed more time.”

Mackenzie hopped up onto the counter and crossed her legs, bouncing one foot so that her sandal dangled. “I’m not a magical expert or anything, but based on my experience, you’d know. I had some big badass spell cast on me to keep me from shifting, and when it started to fall apart… Well, there weren’t exactly lucid periods. First I tried climbing the walls, then I tried climbing Jackson.”

Suppressing the blush that rose was impossible, so Carmen kept her gaze riveted to the coffee maker. “The, uh, climbing. Yeah, I’m familiar with that part. What happened to you…afterward?”

“They had to reinforce the spell, but the second it was gone, I shifted. I couldn’t have stopped it.”

It sounded nothing like the way she’d had to strain and grasp for the slightest flicker of magic. “Definitely not, then.”

“Well, congrats.” Mackenzie hesitated, her foot frozen mid-bounce. “Right?”

“Right.” Even as she spoke, Carmen shook away the tiny, inexplicable frisson of doubt that rose. “Right. I mean, this isn’t something I would have chosen.”

“Then it’s good. And the rest will shake itself out.”

“Of course it will.” Carmen leaned one hip against the counter. “Are Jackson and Alec outside?”

“Yeah. Jackson’s got Kat on the phone about something and Alec’s dealing with…”

“Oh.” She grasped the edge of the counter and tried not to babble. “Seems like I should help him, doesn’t it? They came here because of me. Alec wouldn’t have two dead people in his front yard if it wasn’t for me.”

“That’s not—” Mackenzie leaned forward and dropped a hand to Carmen’s shoulder. “I don’t know if this is going to make you feel better or worse, but either way you deserve to hear it. This isn’t anything new for him.”

Another warning. “Don’t worry, Alec’s already taken pains to explain to me exactly what his life is like. I know.”

“Then let him take care of it. Let him do what’s going to put him on solid footing.”

She’d spent years avoiding her father’s family and all other lasting connections to wolf society. Yet here she was, with a man who knew nothing else, treading the line between casual involvement and something that could change her life.

Carmen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Mackenzie slid off the counter a second before the front door swung open. “I’m going to go check on Jackson.”

Which meant it was Alec coming through the door. “Later, Mackenzie.” Carmen ran her hands through her hair and reached into the cabinet for two mugs.

Footsteps sounded behind her, but Alec didn’t touch her before he spoke. “You okay?”

She turned to face him, and her heart skipped at the implacable look on his face. “I think so. What about you?”