Page 13

Chapter 13

Evie

I just wanted a birthday drink. An escape from my boring small town that only knew me as the “jilted girl”. The best I thought I could hope from a boyfriend was someone who would regularly dust my collections.

The scrabble of rubble spraying across stones sounded again. Ward brought down another section of the pen and a chorus of yowls joined him. I couldn’t imagine him dusting anything smaller than this temple in the quite literal way he was now. Ward was having the time of his life. Thank Godds he ran off before he glimpsed the horror I’d become. His bear looked bigger and stronger than ever, like the Goddess had touched him, too.

The place was mighty tore up. The guards all left when the Queen of Flesh flounced out, proclaiming she was off to her “summer home”, claiming shifters caused too much trouble. I sat there with one of the strange metal boxes in my lap, guarding it so we could examine the contraption when Ward finished rampaging. I didn’t want it to get lost in the stream of shifters leaving the temple. They took anything they found, and rightly so. There was no way the shiny box didn’t connect to the Goddess’ call after seeing the same thing in the first temple. And if that was true, we were dealing with far more than a few relics.

A blur of speed and power shot right at me and I popped into my new snake form, legs and all. Goddsdammit! I still couldn’t control my shift.

The fluffy wolf licked all over my scales with wild abandon. A thousand thanks, snake… uh, thing. The Brothers of Zophiel acted worse than the call.

I coiled away from him, and he got an eyeful of me. As disappointing as the relic’s cures seemed to be, they ensured I had a surefire way to end an awkward encounter. I sat up on what I guessed was my butt now that I had limbs, letting my stupid legs dangle off my tube body. The horror on the wolf’s face perversely satisfied my black heart. He inched backward slowly and sat down hard on the steps.

If I had already achieved that level of dread, what would two more relics do? What if I turned into a successively more hideous creature that was never going to be loved again?

What are you? he asked, with more fascination than fear in his voice.

I never envisioned living all my days as a snake, let alone a monster that everyone in my village would absolutely shit a brick over. I couldn’t even claim I was human anymore. I just wasn’t.

I’m his mate, I said, pointing at Ward, who was doing his best imitation of a war machine. That was the most intelligent thing I could come up with? Someone else’s girlfriend? I was more rattled than I thought.

Oh! You have a mate mark? The wolf’s eyes lit up.

Great. There was something else to this mate stuff? Sure.

The wolf walked back into my space and nudged my shoulder with his. Then you might want to grab him. I think that’s an apartment building.

He won’t hurt anyone, I reassured the dog. Wolf. Goddsdammit, he still looked like a cutie puppy to me and my brain wanted to live in fantasyland right now. Ward might have fun tearing down this territory, but he wasn’t murderous. I sensed his wild elation through the bond and briefly wondered what his orgasm felt like.

I don’t think they know that. The wolf’s giant shaggy head nodded to the tiny figures running away from Ward at speed. Maybe you should distract him.

Can you keep this? I slid the box towards him. While I go deal with that? The tip of my tail pointed at Ward.

The wolf shifted, and I wasn’t even interested in looking lower. “Sure thing, bestie.”

I didn’t know if I could handle another friend on top of a mate. Never the most social of creatures, it was hard to turn down those large blue eyes and that floppy puff of black hair. I shifted back as well. It proved easier than ever with this new well of power inside me, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to use it. What if I grew another head next?

“That’s a neat trick! How do you have clothes?” He rubbed my kaftan between his fingers.

“All credit goes to the murder bear over there. He’s not usually quite so angry. I’m not sure my wiles are going to be enough. I’m not exactly an expert at seduction.”

“Try whistling.” The wolf took the metal box and tucked it under his arm.

Like a dog? I almost said. The last thing I wanted to do was offend a new friend. Why not? I shrugged and shifted, shoving my fingers in my mouth like Mags taught me.

The whistle split the air, and the wolf started howling. Sure enough, Ward bounded back to me like a ten ton lapdog. When did his head grow bigger than my whole body?

“Good job destroying. I think you got it.” I patted his nose.

A pile of rubble slid further into the courtyard.

“Yep, got it,” I confirmed.

He lowered his head, scrunching up his body like he might make himself small. The flash of dripping canines the size of my arm ruled out him looking tiny. He absolutely vibrated with excitement. Great. My world was falling apart, and he had the zoomies.

The Queen of Flesh will think twice about trading shifters again. The Goddess’ call has given an excuse for all kinds of evil. He puffed his hot breath all over both of us and my traitor body drenched my thighs. I was supposed to be feeling sorry for myself. Or worried about the fate of the Harrowlands. Not wondering if my mate would scream at the sight of me and never fulfill the promise his tongue made to me the other night.

“I’m not sure it’s just the Goddess’ call doing all this. Wait. Did you get… bigger?”

We can find out, Ward rumbled in reply, his enthusiasm igniting to passion in an instant.

Was his butt wiggling like his stubby tail could wag? Dust shook from him in a cloud.

“I’ll get supplies for the road,” the wolf said and joined the flow of the last of the shifters leaving the temple. Or what remained of the temple.

“You need a bath before we leave. I assume a temple has a place to bathe.” I needed a bath where there was wallowing and the steam took my fears away. Ward shifted.

“There are public baths in every temple. We just have to find them.” Ward took deep breaths as we walked down each hall. He must have scented the eucalyptus because the wintery sharpness filled the steamy room we entered. The baths sat enormous, sultry pools of mineralized water. Living with the Queen of Flesh did have its perks. Except for the harem part. I’d prefer bored at home, dusting than harem-ing.

“How do you feel about dusting?” I asked Ward.

“You would have to show me how.” He smiled and shrugged. That’s right. King, shifter, mage. Domestic household chores didn’t figure on his daily list. The gulf between us had never loomed wider. Wait until he saw my shift.

Ward shed all of his reacquired clothes and waded into the neck-deep water. Not even his rippling back muscles distracted me from the humiliation of whatever the relic did to me. If being a snake was terrifying, turning into a snake with legs was ten times worse. It wasn’t like I would be able to hide it from him for long. I joined him in the bath. My human body, now a lesser embarrassment than my snake one.

Some jars close to the pool provided liquid soap and a distraction. “You looked like you had fun out there,” I said as I lathered up his back.

“You’ve made us more powerful than ever by eating that relic. Can’t you sense the change? It feels fantastic.”

It wasn’t so fantastic for me. All this change exhausted me. Him being so pleased by it only made me feel worse.

His smile fell. I always brought the mood down. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I said and then flinched because that was the same answer I gave to everyone and it felt dishonest saying it to Ward.

“It doesn’t feel like nothing. It feels like my mate needs some attention and worry fucked out of her.”

Cinching me closer to him, like he would keep us together with sheer physicality alone, my body responded. Legs wrapping around his hips, his conviction and his cock aligned. It pooled heat low in my stomach, lessening some of the churning there. I was right—I sensed a tiny echo of his lust through the mate bond.

“Wouldn’t you be happier with someone more exciting? Less hideous? Or more courageous?”

Ward looked at me sharply. “What have we said about denigrating yourself?”

“But…” He didn’t see what happened.

His hands brushed my sides with reverence that ignited a hundred dirty thoughts instead. “You’re still not listening. If you get any more exciting, beautiful, or courageous, you’re going to kill me.”

“We’re not mate marked and you might change your mind about that any time.” Like when he saw what a monster I’d become.

All amusement left his features, and a sly grin spread over his mouth instead. He lowered his head to my ear. “Careful, viper, that sounds like you might actually want my mark.” He growled and licked my neck at the junction of my shoulder.

The full body shiver said I might. It was getting harder to remember why being mates was such a bad thing when his arms began to feel like home. When we reached the last relic, would I lose it all? If I ended up with four heads and twelve legs, would it still be as easy for Ward to keep his promise?

All the worry knotted me up tight, and I blurted out the stupidest sentence possible. “You won’t even want the cursed mark when we have sex.”

“Good,” he said.

GOOD? Good what? I stared at him in shock.

He plucked me out of the water and carried me to a side chamber off the bath.

“Time to show you how very wrong you are, viper.”

Tossed in the air, I almost shifted, but held it together and hit the daybed. I bounced into a pile of sheets and blankets.

“Say you’re sorry,” Ward rumbled as he climbed on the small mattress.

“I—I’m what?”

Ward licked a long line up my stomach and over my breast to my neck. “You have insulted my mate. Callously called her ugly, useless, unmarkable, and I will not let it stand.”

My hands clenched on his shoulders as heat ignited inside me. I wanted to forget about all the snake stuff so badly. I just wanted to be human Evie for a second while I still could. He smothered me in just enough of his weight that I realized I wouldn’t get out of this. It was silly and flattering and perfect.

“Say it,” he ordered and melted any resistance I had left to Ward, to this whole mate thing.

“I’m sorry.” It came out more sultry than I intended.

“Good girl,” Ward said and kissed me with abandon. His hands roamed over my skin with purpose. My senses dazzled with his mead and honey taste. Everything tensed and Ward tightened too, capturing the knee, trying to dig into his side. I licked his bottom lip, inviting him to play. “That’s my good girl, hungry for my mouth and more?”

Ward waited, braced above me, giving me the choice to say no even as we burned. I didn’t know how my awkwardness was supposed to withstand such an assault.

I threw my worries to the wind. “More.”

“There she is, my best girl.” His voice drizzled over me like warm caramel. His grin dazzled me into a liquid haze. A begging whimper slipped out. He lifted me off the bed with frightening ease, his gigantic hands kneading all of my ass, pulling my legs apart in the process. Sitting on the bed, he took me with him, sprawling me across his abs, across his chest.

“My mate requested a permanent seat and my lap happens to be open. I only have one way to show you how much I love you. But you’re going to have to be a very good girl and come for me before you take this cock. I refuse to bring you pain.”

We were doing this? We were. I wanted something positive to come out of this day so badly; I shook with wanting. Ward sat up to kiss down my neck and bend me to get to my breasts.

Surprisingly, my limbs behaved. They twitched in his direction, but it was like he was already inside my mind and turned his guiding grip into lingering touches. That leaned me back until my clit lay hot and exposed between us right above a glowing rune on his skin.

I brushed it with my hand and his abs flexed.

“Pregnancy protection,” Ward said.

I blew out a breath I didn’t know I had been holding. That was just… sweet, amazing, a relief. Every fear I had melted under his assault. His knuckle caressed my clit, then stilled, letting me come to him. That seemed to give my whole body purpose, a direction toward pleasure rather than whatever it usually wanted to do. I rode his hand as he played with my breasts, each lick and nibble amplifying the flick between my legs until they shook and a sob stuck in my throat. I shoved his hand closer, harder, as the dam burst of my pleasure and Ward whispered praise that felt like a spell of its own.

The power of that orgasm should have exhausted me. My legs were certainly quivering hard enough, and I was trying to eat oxygen, but the heat where he touched me refused to cool.

“So beautiful,” Ward said, ghosting his breath over my sweaty skin.

I didn’t want this to end. I never wanted to go back to reality. “It’s not selfish? You haven’t come once.”

“Only if you think watching you fall apart for me isn’t getting me hard enough to repopulate a small nation.”

“Just a small one?” I teased.

His chuckle made me clench all over. It should be illegal to laugh like that. It made me crazy and daring. Bold enough to rub my core on his erection trapped between us. His pleasure rumbled so low I didn’t know if I should run or grip him tighter. I didn’t want to mess it up by clashing our bodies together like I usually did. This was going so well. I was doing it.

And I would finish it. I lined us up and shimmied down, barely getting the tip in before I froze.

“Ward,” I strangled out. “You’re not going to fit.”

“I will,” he snarled, every muscle of his body tense. “You can take me. We’re made for each other.”

I wanted him to be right more than anything. It would just take some convincing my body that my big-everywhere mate was made for the stretch I felt between my legs. It didn’t hurt exactly, but I had never been so full and he wasn’t even inside me.

“Do you need help?” he asked. Thankfully, there was no judgment in his voice, just impatient lust.

I nodded ‘yes’, not sure that my voice would come out as anything other than a squeak. He gripped my hips with his massive paws and took me off him. I almost protested until he stuffed his fingers in me, pulling forward on my sensitive spot until I coated his fingers, which he then used to spread the wetness all over his cock.

“You can scream if you need to,” Ward said. He dragged me down on top of his cock again and this time the tip worked forward in steady pressure until I thought I felt him touching my lungs. I didn’t have the breath to scream. Ward sliding out got me some of my breath back, but the inarticulate sound was hardly sexy. That barely seemed to matter to Ward, because he plunged into me with a snarl.

“Godds, Evie. You’re ruining me.”

It was a good thing his hands were under my ass because the hot, hot pleasure built so fast I couldn’t feel my legs anymore.

“Ward, Ward, Ward,” his name passed like a prayer on my lips. I wouldn’t let him do all the work. I moved as much as I could with his hands clamped on my hips.

“You’re going to beg me to bite you just like that, little viper.”

Even though the words were rough, almost a little mean, they actually stoked me higher into the type of orgasm that had me ready to bite him instead. I rocketed to the stars, straining away, grinding him deeper at the same time until my mind unspooled.

It penetrated deep this time: his acceptance, his love. He meant I love you in a way no one else ever had, not even Maggie, and he was willing to say it every day for the rest of our lives. I was drunk on the waves of pleasure, on the feel of his release filling me, on his love. He pulled me closer, and I snuggled into him, listening to our heartbeats, our harsh breathing. I definitely felt mate-markable.

I was almost asleep when Ward’s voice sounded through his chest. “Since we’re getting naked, show me your new form.”

I eased up off of him as embarrassment flooded heat to my face. “Oh, you know. You’ve seen one snake, you’ve seen them all.”

Ward’s amused smile came with expectation in his eyes. “Show me, Evie. If Greg is too small to carry you now, we can find another horse.”

Dread swamped all the afterglow left in me. If only it were that easy. I couldn’t bear to think he would look at me differently after what we just did was so perfect. His dick was too good at seducing me into believing we really belonged together. I wouldn’t be able to hide forever. As soon as someone startled me, he would see.

I climbed off the bed and shifted, unsure what to do with my arms, and settled for a coiled squat.

Ward blinked slowly. He wasn’t saying anything, and I started to sweat. Did snakes sweat? His laughter gradually filled the room, and my whole body sizzled with embarrassment. He got down on the floor with me.

“Oh viper! Look at these little feet! These toes!” He flicked a finger over my claws and my hand dangled uselessly. “Maybe we can get you a pair of pants now. Fit your tiny legs in there. Unless you can actually use them to walk? Do you slither or run?”

I knew he was teasing me. Laughing was certainly better than killing me on sight, but somehow it hurt even more. Prickles of shame washed over me. I was right back in that room with Abner, as he laughed when I asked him to marry me and walked out the door. I had no idea what to do with the lump in my throat or the twist of my heart. Why did he have to ruin the best sex of my life?