Page 37

Savage

T he scent of her excitement is sodding intoxicating.

It’s in my nature to be, shall we say, flexible regarding my preferences. Beings like myself have been around long enough to dabble in every paint pot and art bin available. The narrow strokes humans and even most supes paint themselves with are amusing. Unlike her current trio of lovers, I’ve clued into the fact that Jolene will not emerge as a singular entity, and her varied tastes tie to the parts of her struggling to the surface.

Whatever put the mojo on her is someone I want to meet.

It’s by far one of the strongest suppression spells I’ve encountered in my lifetime, but since I’m not a Guardian, I can’t declare it beyond the capability of those on this plane. She’s locked up tighter than a drum, and it’s no wonder the Society and the councils are eager to discover her lineage.

However, I’m not their errand boy or acolyte, so I’m only interested in the woman looking down at me. Her eyes are swirling with colors and I would bet a Rembrandt she’s never seen what happens when her hidden natures push through the veil of magic. The fierce look on her face, the throaty command, and the hold she had on me were enough to make me disregard the clear danger in getting intimate with her.

I know I’m dancing in the fire, but I don’t care.

She gives my shoulder an impatient tap and I chuckle against the fabric of her skirt. I adore a woman who knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to ask for it. My fingers slip under the hem, inching it up as I kiss my way over her curvy thighs. The tiny growls she lets out every time I nip her skin make me shiver, and I continue doing it just to see what will happen. At the next bite, her hands bury in my hair and she snarls at me.

There’s unquestionably some sort of shifter in the mix, and it’s been a while since I’ve been with one. I hope she accidentally shifts for the first time when we’re in flagrante—the chaos will be delicious.

“Stop fucking around, Lucky,” she says, her fingers tightening in my hair as she pulls me towards her pussy.

I look up, shooting her a mischievous wink and lift her thighs onto my shoulders. As soon as she finds her balance, I dive into her spread legs like a starving man. She’s practically dripping down my face already, but I slowly lap a trail around her sex, cleaning that up before I direct my attention where she clearly wants it.

Her ass wriggles impatiently in my hands, and I’m sure I’ll pay for this later, but I can’t help but tease her. Blowing a puff of air over her clit, I wait for the whine, and then suckle. One of my fingers traces her opening lightly, and she tries to force it to slide inside. A quick nip redirects her attention, and I smirk against her heat.

After all, if I’m not misbehaving, life is no fun.

“Doyle, if you don’t—ahhh!”

That’s better. I prefer her to be screaming if she’s invoking my name.

Done with games, I slip three fingers inside of her, pumping them in rhythm with the movements of my tongue. I close my eyes, letting the taste and feel of her surround me. The noises she makes are almost musical and I can sense where to be fierce and when to soothe. The power inside of me swells in unison with my cock, and though it’s unusual, I allow it to flow over me. When her hips rock faster, I slip another finger in, feeling her muscles tighten around my digits like she’s trying to break them.

This girl is going to explode at some point and I cannot wait to see it happen.

Shivers crawl up her limbs as she rides my face and hand, but I keep licking, sucking, and thrusting into her until she screams loud enough to rattle the darkened windows on the building we’re defiling. When her thighs go limp, I withdraw, lapping up the evidence of her orgasm. She’s still panting above me, so I shift to hold her weight in my palms as I raise my eyes to meet hers. The fire there hits me like a brick to the face, and before I can comprehend what it means, I’m on my feet with her back pressed to the rough wall.

“I’m adding the noise you make when you come to my mental playlist, Tíogair,” I murmur against the shell of her ear. Both of my inherited natures are awake, and for once, they’re twined together, focused on the girl in front of me. In all the years I’ve walked this world, I’ve never felt my entire being funnel into one desire that isn’t based on my raison d'être. I’m in uncharted waters, and I’m uncertain if I should keep sailing or try to make it back to shore.

“Lucky, your mouth is so much better when it’s occupied. Just fuck me already.”

Her teeth sink into my shoulder, and it’s almost impossible not to let the energy welling up inside of me escape. The last time I did that, I started a chain reaction that led to an orangutan leading the humans. The hilarity of the situation escaped my relatives and the rest of the boring people in charge. This time, though, I think I’m aimed in the right direction. So I hold her hair in my fist, enjoying the sting of her blunt teeth while my free hand undoes the buttons on my jeans. It takes every bit of my waning focus, but I situate our bodies in the right position.

I lift her head and look into her eyes, startling at what I see. It can’t be…

“Tíogair, tell me what you need,” I whisper, gritting my teeth.

Her lips curve as she rolls her hips, sliding against my cock. “I need you to fuck me until I scream your name, you bratty asshole.” That said, she pushes down, impaling herself on me until I’m balls deep.

Holy mother of Hercules. My aunt was right and I owe her a bloody library.

Shaking my head, I turn my attention back to the woman in my arms. Her limbs are wrapped around me like tentacles, and my hips grind into her with each thrust as our bodies move together. The tendrils of power within me spiral up, around, and over us as I pound her into the wall, the pace picking up every second that my true nature is unleashed. I dip my head, taking her lips for the first time since this began. Kissing deepens the intimacy of the connection between us, and I groan into her mouth as I feel the impossible continue to happen.

My magic, my power, my essence—mighty and ethereal as it is—are merging with something I can’t identify. I have no idea what part of Jolene’s lineage is calling to the immortals inside of me, but as our hips buck and bodies heat with sweat, our inner beings are twining together. It’s not supposed to happen with beings like me, and as pleasure takes over my consciousness, I realize why she’s been keeping a secret for so long.

Jolene has the blood of the ancients in her line, and there are people who will want her dead.

I lift my head, breaking the kiss to look at her as we rocket towards our climaxes together. “I won’t let them hurt you, Tíogair.”

Her whine makes my cock twitch and I know I don’t have long. “Whoooooo?”

“Anyone. Everyone. Ever,” I growl. “Hold on to me.”

The glow that surrounds us as I unleash the entirety of my being is emerald, like the hills of the land I grew up in, and the boom of unleashed power echoes down the street as her body clenches around me. I throw my head back as my orgasm slams into my gut like a freight train, holding her quivering body so tightly that she digs her nails into my arms and screams.

I have no idea what I just unleashed into the world, but it’s worth every ass-kissing moment of penance I’ll have to do to have this moment with her.

* * *

The end of my clove glows as I gaze out into the night. Taking a deep drag, I consider the implications of tonight’s activities. I’ll be called in for a verbal lashing, but that’s nothing new. It will only be from the mother’s supposed relatives; my father’s have never been an issue. It’s rather amazing that the entire extra normal world kept trysts like those of my parents and Jolene’s hidden in the shadows for as long as they did.

Humans think they have a lock on prejudice within their species, but they don’t have a glimmer of what supe society was as recently as forty years ago. Shifters, magic users, the fair, the demi and full ancients, and even legendary beasts didn’t intermingle, much less cohabitate. Hybrids like those who live in the enclaves worldwide were dark familial secrets, and if discovered, could be killed before they could ‘dilute’ their lineage.

Hell, I’m old enough to have watched supes evolve from literal and figurative witch hunts to where we are today.

The Society was started in the dark times—the purges—and has worked tirelessly to protect and care for those whose parents couldn’t or wouldn’t raise them as their own. Children of interspecies mating no longer suffer as they once did, but some supe communities are less progressive than others.

It’s easy to judge the parents who turn their progeny over to the Society, but if your choice is to be exterminated, shunned, or sent to a freak show, you’d be surprised how that changes perspective.

The other reason hybrids are sent to the enclaves to be adopted by childless supes is they’re abandoned. The official term is ‘enrolled’ if you ask, but some supes are so infamous or powerful that even the hint of a child with their powers mixed with another’s puts them on hit lists. Most hybrids only have two donors in their genetic or magical lineage, but occasionally, a third emerges. These kids are powerful and if a mother believes it’s a possibility, she might protect her child by keeping their heritage secret.

Yeah, some very naughty deities, high Fae or alpha shifters use the enclaves like a baby laundering service, especially if the kids aren’t a result of their mate bonds or marriages. Enter me; that’s how I started as a kid at Swallowtail. (Mind you, they’d barely opened it when I matriculated through, but I attended just the same.)

My mother and my unnamed father had a lovely brief affair and dumped me there as a toddler. I met my dear auntie later, but I’ve never had contact with my father’s side. Hell, I don’t even know who he is, save his species, but that alone tells me why my mother fell for him. Their powers compliment one another, and they had some lively encounters—much like the one I had this evening.

My Tíogair took off like a bat out of Hades once we came to, and I can’t say I blame her. The parts of her trying to claw their way through the suppression spell are getting stronger, and she seems to collect us like a miniature army as they push the bounds of the magic. Much like my favorite frenemy, Boone, I can only assume my lass has a complicated parentage once we peel the layers of her adoption away.

She’s not quite ready to hear that her dead parents weren’t her parents at all.

That’s an assumption, but it’s likely the truth. Her parents aren’t some penny ante wolf and wizard combo or even a mix of a rare supe and a common. There’s power lurking under that milky skin, and I’m going to find out everything I can to help protect her. I might even tap that insufferable self-sacrificing git that works at her school. Hugo’s kind doesn't reveal much because their powers are both a gift and curse to bear—one that has been forbidden from sharing their knowledge with anyone but one ancient one who spawned their line.

Fortunately for me, I have a bit of sway in that arena.

Sighing, I stomp the remnants of the smoke on the ground and inhale the scents of our couplings from earlier. I wish she’d been brave enough to stay, but I know the part of her that believes she’s human feels like she’s done something wrong. She had to process it and make amends to those she thought she’s betrayed. I could have told her she didn’t have to worry about it, but it would have involved things she’s not aware of.

Her boys will understand, and though it’ll be a helluva fun time figuring out how I fit into that dynamic, she won’t be disparaged for our playtime.

At least, she'd better not be. I’ll show her wee young-uns what it feels like to incur the wrath of a demigod.

That I can guarantee.