bedeviled & beyond 05 - bedeviled & besmirched (27 page)

He plunged deeper, harder, until the world exploded into bright colors.

My skin expanded, sliding against his, my fingers twitched in the heavy silk of his hair, and my channel closed over his hard shaft, embracing it with untamed urgency.

Dialle’s body tightened along with mine. He lowered his lips to my throat and sucked hard, sending spirals of new delight thrumming through me.

I gasped under the sensation, wondering if some memory of his mark still remained beneath my skin, and cried out as I went over again, pulling him along for the ride.

He sent his release deep inside my body, his shaft jumping eagerly as his lips sucked the taut column of my neck. When he lifted his head he said, “You are my queen, Astra.” His lips slipped gently along my jawline. “There will be no other. We are bonded.”

“But the mark...”

His heavy, softening shaft slipped from my body, leaving me with a sense of inexorable loss. A strong, square finger settled against my lips. “Shhh. We are bonded. One day we will replace the mark. I do not need it to know you are mine.”

I shook my head, a single tear sliding from my eye. “You need a real queen, Dialle.”

He swept the tear from my cheek and followed with a gentle swipe of his tongue, licking the trail away. “Our fate is engaged, my love. We have no voice in the matter. You are mine and I am yours. The evidence is all around us. Look at my court. It is healing along with you. You are my queen and I am your king.” He placed a tender kiss on my lips.

I took a deep, shuddering breath, afraid to hope.

“If you attempt to leave me I will find you and bring you back.”

I sniffled, determined to give it one more try. “You could mate with Darma. She has lots of power.”

Despite my depression at the thought of losing him, the look on his face made me burst into laughter.

“Surely you jest!”

I dissolved into laughter, feeling the joy of laughing after so long bathed in pain. “I know she’s kind of cranky...”

“Kind of cranky?” His voice boomed around the room and I clutched my stomach, helpless under my hilarity.

He clasped my chin and looked me right in the eye, his lips twitching with the smile he wouldn’t let himself release. “Let us be perfectly clear on this Astra. I would rather mate with a gargoyle than your sister.”

“But she’s pretty.” At that point I was just torturing him. Deep down I knew I would never be able to let him mate with anyone else. Especially my sister.

His pretty, black gaze swirled with reds and oranges and the moist, heavy weight resting against my leg started to stir. “You are my queen, Astra. Only you. Not only because we are fated...or for the health of my Court...but because I’m a man. And a man needs to be with the woman he loves.”

My breath stopped in my lungs. “You...you love—”

“Yes, Astra.” His lips touched mine in a tender kiss. “Devil take me. You are the most difficult woman. But it is your devilish side I love best.”

I licked my lips, savoring his taste. “Oh. Okay then. I’ll tell Darma she’s out of luck.”

Dialle’s fingers skittered across my belly and my skin quivered hopefully. “Later. Right now I have further plans for your recovery.”

I sucked in a breath as his fingers slipped past auburn curls and dipped between moist folds. “Plans?”

“Yes. Physical therapy.” His mouth encompassed a rigid nipple and sucked, sending delight spearing through me.

“Ah. I like this physical therapy.”

“You will like it even more in a moment.”

Dialle’s heated lips slipped down my belly, leaving a fiery trail in their wake, and I sighed, deciding to embrace my physical therapy.

It wasn’t the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make.

The End

I hope you enjoyed
Bedeviled & Besmirched
. But wait, you’re not done! Here’s a taste of Book 6 in the
Bedeviled & Beyond
series,
Bedeviled & Befouled
!

CHAPTER ONE

One Hell of an Offer

When friends reach out and offer aid, beware the promised boon,

The solution might seem ready-made, but leave you howling at the moon.

“Don’t be such a baby, Astra.”

“Shut up, Darma!”

“You’re not even trying.”

I couldn’t even respond to that absurdity. Trying was all I’d done in the weeks since I’d had my magic forcibly and painfully stripped away. What I hadn’t done was succeed.

In even the smallest way.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, holding it to keep from spewing the worst kind of hate in the form of a response toward my evil spawn of a sister. I clenched my fists at my sides and turned my mind to the mantra I’d been using to avoid wrapping my fingers around her scrawny throat and squeezing.

She’s trying to help...she’s trying to help...she’s trying to help...

It didn’t work. I still wanted to thrash her to within an inch of her death. I might not have magic anymore, but I still had a certain amount of strength and a lot of rage to give it legs.

I was standing in the middle of my office, dressed in the special armor that had become necessary since I’d lost the ability to protect myself from an army of enemies, and my head throbbed with the effort to draw magic into my core and hold it.

My skin was slick with sweat, my hair stuck to my neck in lank, wet strands, and my breath heaved in my chest. We’d been working for over an hour and I’d yet to grab more than an ion of energy and hadn’t been able to hold it at all.

The air shifted and my eyes shot open. A cold tube of water appeared in front of me. I sighed, letting go of as much of the frustration and anger as I could, and took the water. “Thanks.”

Darma dropped into my visitor’s chair. “I think you’re getting stronger.”

I nearly choked. If Darma was trying to make me feel better I was screwed. Completely and totally screwed. “It’s no use.”

Her ten-second reserve of kindness spent, Darma’s pretty face darkened. “Don’t be stupid, Astra. Nobody ever said this would be easy. You’re being tested. Are you just going to sit back and fail because it’s hard?”

I grabbed the drying spray from my desk and spritzed my face, neck, and arms with it. “Yeah. I think maybe I am.”

She hit me with the mother of all dirty bombs. “You’ll lose Dialle.”

Frunk me to the lowest circle of Hell. “You bitch.”

Her perfect, pink lips tipped upward, knowing she’d pressed my “engage” button again. “I have to go. Slayer and I are going to take down that flashing demon at Twenty-First and Park. Keep practicing and you can fill me in on your progress later.”

That would be flashing as in showing his secret parts to passersby. Not flashing like a neon sign. I was secretly glad I was too pitiful to take on
that
assignment.

She started to shimmer and then caught herself, looking suddenly uncomfortable.

“Go ahead, Darma, space-shift. I hate it that everybody walks on dragon egg shells around me.”

My sister glared at me. “It’s called kindness.” And with those snotty words dancing on the air between us, my older sister glided toward the door like a royal princess and exited my office the old-fashioned way.

I knew she would leave the magical way as soon as the door closed. It was like not keeping score at a child’s solar football game. Nobody who was involved was fooled. Even if a score wasn’t recorded, somebody was still the winner and some poor schlub was still the loser.

I dropped into my chair and laid my head back, staring at the ceiling and fighting tears. As if it wasn’t bad enough to have lost my own powers, nobody around me would use theirs where I could see for fear I’d curl into the fetal position in a corner and drool on myself.

It was beyond humiliating.

The door opened and I guiltily swiped tears from my cheeks before turning to find one of my office mates standing there looking unsure about entering. Ralph Peters was one of the owners of Werever...Whatever, which specialized in shape-shifter justice. Like his partner Bob, Ralph was a werewolf. He had longish, curly black hair and the most amazing hazel eyes with long, thick lashes that most women would kill for. I rented my office space from them and considered them friends.

“Hey, Ralph.”

Since the loss of my magic, Ralph’s smile had dimmed to more of a soft grimace filled with pity. It was so painful to see that I’d learned to hate it when he smiled. “Hey, Astra.” He moved into my office and sat in my visitor’s chair, his sexy hazel eyes locked onto my face. “I want to make you an offer.”

Whatever it was it appeared serious. “I’m listening.”

The eyes staring into mine turned gold, lost some of their humanity. Under times of great emotion the weres tended to drift more toward their animal natures. Apparently finding that a more soothing state. “I know you’ve been trying to regain your magic...”

I suddenly couldn’t hold his gaze any longer. I looked away. “Yeah. It’s been pretty ugly.”

“I understand. Bob and I have...felt...your frustration.”

Yeah, I’d just bet they had. “Sorry.”

He shook his head, scowling slightly. “Not your fault. We have total empathy for you. I can’t even imagine what I’d go through in your situation.” His frown deepened. “Anyway. We’ve been talking and we think we might have a solution for you.”

I tried really hard not to get excited. But given the frustrating morning I’d had, it was nearly impossible. I felt my eyes go wide. “Really? What did you come up with?”

He nodded, took a deep breath, and seemed to be trying to talk himself into moving forward. That was my first clue that I wasn’t going to like his proposal.

My next clue came in the form of his kick-off.

“Magic is magic, right?”

My gaze held his. “I guess.” My lack of conviction throbbed on the air between us.

His stare intensified. “I can turn you.”

I blinked, pretty sure he’d stopped in the middle of his sentence. I can turn you into a lean, mean, fighting machine. Or... I can turn you on if you want a distraction. I shook my head, lifting my hands in question.

He frowned. “Into a werewolf.”

My heart sped up as panic slipped through me. My fingers clutched the edge of my desk. My vision swirled. I realized I wasn’t panicking because I was afraid I’d refuse Ralph. I was panicking because I was terrified I wouldn’t. “I, um...”

“I know this is a surprise. I don’t blame you for being shocked. It isn’t generally known that we can do this. In fact, usually we can’t. The magic I would give to you requires a certain type of vessel. A vessel that has the ability to contain strong magic.”

I frowned. “And you think because I used to hold magic I would be able to retain it once you passed it to me?”

“Yes.”

I nodded. “Not that I’m thinking about doing this, mind you.” I lifted an eyebrow and he nodded. “But how exactly would you do it?”

“It’s a fairly extensive process involving purification of your body and meditation. The physical training would be easy for you. You’re already trained in the fighting arts. But weres...think...differently. We see things differently. And you’d need to be acclimated to that before—”

“Cut to the chase. How would the actual change happen?”

His gaze slipped away and I knew his response wasn’t going to take me to my happy place. “Just spit it out, Ralph.”

He sighed, tugged at a hole in his jeans, and scratched his chin.

“Ralph.”

“The magic is passed on through the carnal act.”

I blinked. Frowned. Swallowed. “By carnal you mean what exactly?”

“Sex, Astra. The old horizontal two step. The hubba hubba rumba. The delicious dance of decadence—”

“Okay. I got it.” Shaking my head, I stood up. “Thanks for the offer, Ralph. I can’t go there.”

He stood too and nodded. “I figured that was what you’d say but I wanted to make the offer. You could do it with Bob instead if that would make you happier.”

The absurdity of the thing suddenly washed over me, spurring a strange sort of mania. I started to laugh, feeling my face heat in an embarrassed blush. “It’s not you. I’m... I just can’t go there. I’m not sure I could do my job in that form anyway...” My voice trailed away as hysteria bubbled in my throat. “I’m sorry.”

He shook his head. “It’s fine, Astra. I understand. I just want to help.” He stepped close. “You’ll ask, right? If there’s some way I can help?”

I nodded and he reached out, touching my cheek with an impossibly warm finger. He held my gaze for a long moment and then turned away, pain etched deep into his handsome face.

I watched him leave, feeling responsible for that pain and for the pain of everyone around me. It was exactly what I didn’t need. More pressure. More guilt. More reason to succumb to bone-deep sadness.

It worried me how comfortable I was becoming with that sadness.

Not for the first time it occurred to me that I should just leave. Go away. And let the people I loved go on with their lives. It was nearly impossible for them to heal with me hanging around. A constant reminder of what we’d all lost when the evil bitch Crisanne had magic-raped me.

Expelling a breath in frustration, I dropped back into my chair and considered where I could go if I left. Olympus was a possibility. The dragons would welcome me there. And I could still function as a warrior if I had dragon brawn to help me fight.

Then I thought of Slayer and that option slipped away. He used to live on Olympus. For all I knew he still did. I knew he wouldn’t let me hide out. He’d pester me.

I couldn’t go to another dimension without the help of someone with the power to shift. Maybe off planet somewhere. That thought had possibilities.

Sighing, I reached for my ankle-length leather coat, preparing to leave. The air thickened a few feet away and two forms shimmered directly into my office. My aunt Myra and my new guardian Aubrey. I cringed when I saw them. No two creatures had ever been better equipped or more motivated to piss me off.

Adding to my discomfort was the fear that they were there to give me news on how Emo’s Settling had turned out. I had a very bad feeling about my friend and former partner and I was uncharacteristically reluctant to face the bad news. So much so that I was considering making a run for it before either of the two bossy guardians opened their mouths and rained on my day...maybe even my life.