Faerie Godmother: Mythic Series, Book 1 (7 page)

She had reason to be afraid. Vlane Masterson wouldn’t send his best spymaster on an errand without good reason, but he didn’t want to worry Ana by telling her that. His acute hearing could pick up the erratic staccato of her heartbeat, and he didn’t think it was all due to him (though, he could hope). The fact that he could scent warm, sweetened milk in the mug in front of her indicated she’d been anxious even before he arrived.

Though her normally delicious scent
had
magnified since then.

His golden eyes met hers. “Let me mark you, Ana. My mark will be stronger than his, because I will make it so.”

“And...how would you do that, exactly?”

He leaned in closer, wrapping her in blazing heat that silently promised she would never, ever be cold again. He stroked the roughened pads of his big fingers against the tender skin where her neck met her shoulders, making her shiver. “A bite. Here.”

A scant few inches of insubstantial space separated his mouth from her skin; not enough to keep the feel of his mint-scented, hot breath from dancing across the surface.

“Would it hurt?”

“Yes,” he murmured. He would not lie to her. There was nothing gentle about a wolf’s claiming of another; it was viscerally carnal in nature. But he could distract her while he did it. At the height of an orgasm was ideal. Her body would be so consumed with ecstasy, the pain would enhance the experience. “But there are ways to make the pain pleasurable.”

He leaned in even closer and inhaled deeply. He could take her, so easily. Ease her fears, make sure she was never afraid of anything ever again. “Christ, you smell good.” He brushed his lips against her neck as his hands clamped down firmly on her shoulders.

She trembled beneath him. “Don’t move, Ana. I don’t want to tear your beautiful skin...” That was a lie. He wanted to ravage her, make his claim so obvious no one, of any race, would ever question it.

“Matt, wait,” she gasped. “What is it that
you
want?”

“What?” he murmured against her skin, his tongue peeking out to lick. He moaned at the taste of her. It was even better than her scent. The beast in him roared to claim her.

“What is it your heart desires most?”

“To keep you safe.” That was the man talking. The beast’s answer was more honest:
To claim you. To mount you and make you my mate.

“Matt, are you certain? It’s important.”

So consumed by her scent, by her taste, it was only at the farthest reaches of his consciousness he heard her words at all. “Why?”

“If you take my blood, whatever you most wish for in that moment will come to pass.”

His canines lengthened, scraped lightly against her skin. “You can stop me if I go too far.” But he hoped she wouldn’t. Now that her scent filled his lungs and her taste was in his mouth, he wanted more. A lot more. She was delicious, and he wanted to hear her screaming his name in mindless ecstasy. She was in her heat cycle, he could smell it, he could get pups in her tonight...

“No, I can’t. When you take my blood, I have no control over what happens. And after that first drop, neither will you.”

Matt stilled, forcing himself to rein in the painful need to claim her. He leaned back slightly and looked into her eyes, so big and green. It was like diving into a tropical sea. She was too small, too fragile to stop him.

He could just take what he wanted and make it up to her later. She wouldn’t be sorry. He would be a good mate. There was no one stronger, no one who could protect her better. Not even Vlane Masterson would be arrogant enough to attempt to take an Alpha’s mate.

But she hadn’t actually agreed, had she? Free will was paramount to his kind. An honorable Were male would only accept a female who had openly and deliberately chosen him. “Do you want this, Ana?”

“No,” she whispered, tears falling silently down her cheeks. “Not like this.”

Not like this. Not under duress. Not against her will.
Several long moments passed while Matt fought against his primal urges. Ana lifted her hand and began to stroke the back of his head gently while placing the other lightly on his shoulder. It helped to soothe him; to remind him that while he was part beast, she was not. Maybe someday she would be, but she was not ready, and Matt would not make that decision for her unless it became a matter of life and death, no matter how much he wanted to.

He took a deep, shuddering breath. “I’m sorry. I don’t think it’s safe for me to be around you right now,” he said as he stepped backward, putting more distance between them. His voice was barely human, rougher than usual. “I’ll send some of the others over to keep watch.”

She nodded slightly, clearly afraid to move or speak or do anything that might threaten the tenuous thread of control to which he clung.

Matt walked through the door, shifted immediately into his wolf form, and ran away from her tempting scent, howling out orders as he went.

V
lane stood at approximately the same place she had that night, according to the security cameras. He placed his hands, palms down, in the same way she had, feeling the cool stone beneath his fingertips. Looking out over the fine gardens, he took in the neatly trimmed hedges and bushes and the abundance of annuals and perennials in full summer splendor, glowing faintly in the light of the moon.

What had she seen when she stood here? Did she see the complex designs and patterns he had created himself, based on some of the most exquisite gardens in history? Did she recognize any of the rare and exotic species it had taken him years to procure and collect? Or did she simply see beauty?

The events of that night were coming back to him, little by little. At least, he thought they were. Perhaps it was just that he had privately reviewed the security footage so many times over the past few days his mind had begun to assimilate those images as actual memories. He wasn’t even sure it mattered anymore.

He closed his eyes, and there she was, just like the video had captured her. In a shimmering white gown with a full skirt that kissed the tops of her toes, and a snug, laced bodice that accentuated the perfect hourglass of her form and plumped up her ample breasts to create just the slightest suggestion of what lay beneath. Her sleeves extended just past her shoulders, baring toned, feminine arms. He had touched her skin there. It had been warm and soft, like heated silk, begging to be stroked and kissed...

Her hair had been pinned up rather haphazardly, or so he thought. The result was a series of tiny cascades around her delicate face, while bigger curls of spun gold verged on escape at any moment. A few loose waves managed to tumble over the curve of her neck, along her shoulders. It was those he had pushed aside to bare the graceful curve of her neck.

The shimmering gold mask she wore concealed a good deal of her face. But he
had
seen her eyes. They were an unusual shade of green, unlike any he’d seen before. Cut and faceted, but clear, as if crafted by a master jeweler.

And her lips...he could compose sonnets about her lips. Delicate yet full, the exact shade of a perfect pink Asiatic lily, arguably one of his favorite blooms. He now wished he had tasted those lips, certain they would have been soft, so very soft, and tasted so very good...

Vlane slammed his hand upon the stone in a rare show of frustration. He wanted her. Here. Now. So he could glean once and for all whether she had been deliberately sent to wreak havoc upon him or it had been a trick of the fickle Fates. He did not want to discover that her appearance had been staged or that she was the possible harbinger of his downfall.

No. What he wanted would be infinitely more devastating.

For the first time in his life, Vlane wanted more than a woman’s blood or her body.

From this woman, he wanted
everything
.

He looked up at the moon again, waxing toward its apex. He knew where she was. Scarcely half an hour’s drive away; he could traverse the distance in a matter of minutes with his preternatural speed. However, it would be inadvisable for him to visit her now. The Sanctuary was located on the outer fringes of Matthew’s territory. The pack’s aggressive natures would be peaking soon with the full moon, and all indications pointed to the Weres being quite protective of her.

Yet, he didn’t want to wait. Normally a man with infinite patience, it now seemed he had none whatsoever.

If only she would come to him...

“Ana,” he whispered into the breeze, closing his eyes again. “Why do you play this game with me?”

* * *

A
na’s eyes popped open. She had been dreaming of the vampire again, but something had woken her. She sat up and looked around her room. Moonlight poured in through the windows where a soft breeze carried cool air and the scent of wild honeysuckle.

Satisfied she was alone, Ana fell back to her pillow with a moan. Like every other time she had dreamed of him, her body was uncomfortably hot and achy. Of course, what had happened earlier with Matt hadn’t helped. She might not be ready to be his mate, but the man did have some serious sexual mojo going on.

“
You are cruel to torment me like this.
”

Ana gasped. She heard a man’s voice.
Vlane Masterson’s voice! In her head!
She stilled immediately, listening in the silence to hear it again.

“You cannot hide among the wolves forever, little Ana. I know you are the one I seek...”

For the second time that night, Ana found herself trembling. Her heart pounded against her chest so forcefully, she was sure he must hear it. Had Vlane finally remembered he had marked her? Was he truly talking to her, or was he just broadcasting his thoughts without realizing she could hear him?

He didn’t seem to expect her to answer, and there was no indication he had heard her thoughts or sensed her panic. Perhaps the communication only traveled one way. Matt hadn’t been very specific about how that marking connection thing worked. He just said if Vlane knew he had created a bond between them, he would be able to summon her at will...

The thought sent a shiver down her spine. Vlane hadn’t summoned her, even though he clearly wanted to, based on those last few statements. So maybe he really didn’t remember...

The phone beside her bed rang, startling her. Ana debated whether she should answer it. What if it was Vlane?

Then again, it might be a true emergency. This
was
an animal hospital, and one of the reasons she lived here was so that she could provide twenty-four hour care if necessary. It wouldn’t be the first time someone had gotten themselves hurt in the middle of the night.

The answering machine was located at the front desk. She could just let that pick up and then check it. Feeling somewhat ashamed for allowing her fear to influence her, Ana got out of bed and padded toward the office area. The machine kicked on after the fourth ring, but when it came time to leave a message, there were only a few seconds of silence and then the snick of an ended connection.

Even as she stood there, leaning uncertainly against the wall, the phone rang again. And again, the unknown caller left no message.

Who was calling at such an odd hour and hanging up? If there really was an emergency, wouldn’t someone leave a frantic message or something?

As she pondered that, a heavy knock pounded at the door. Ana cowered in the shadows of a large, decorative palm, out of sight of whoever it might be.

“Ana! It’s Derrick! Open the door!”

Ana breathed a sigh a relief. Derrick was one of the teen brutes who belonged to Matt’s pack.

“Derrick?” she said, opening the door. “What are you doing here? Is someone hurt?” She quickly looked him up and down, searching for injury, but he seemed just as solid and healthy as ever.

The teen, who towered over her and outweighed her by a good eighty or ninety pounds, stepped into the waiting room area and closed the door. “Yeah, she’s here,” he said into a smartphone. “Hang on.” He held the phone out to Ana. “It’s Matt. He wants to talk to you.”

She snatched the phone out of his hand. “Matt? What’s wrong? Are you alright?”

On the other end of the phone, Matt exhaled a huge sigh of relief. “I’m fine, Ana. Why aren’t you answering the phone?”

Ana felt the anxiety leave her in a rush, replaced by mild irritation. “I’m screening. Why are you calling me in the middle of the night?”

“I frightened you again, didn’t I?”

“You didn’t leave a message. I didn’t know what to think.”

There was a pause. “I can’t sleep. I had a feeling you couldn’t either. I wanted to call and apologize for my behavior earlier. That’s not the sort of message you leave on a machine. I’m sorry. I never should have lost control like that.”

Ana glanced at the teen, wondering if his hearing was acute enough to pick up what Matt was saying. “Derrick,” she said, wanting to keep this particular conversation private, “there’s a cheesesteak sub in the fridge if you’re hungry.”

The boy’s eyes lit up. “Thanks, Ana.” She waited until he loped off into the other room.

“You just did your I-Dream-of-Jeannie thing, didn’t you?” Matt asked, the smile evident in his voice, correctly guessing Ana just added one of Derrick’s favorite snacks to her refrigerator.

Ana sniffed. “I thought it might be better to speak in private.”

She heard a soul-deep sigh through the receiver and pictured Matt running his large hand through his hair, turning it into that slightly messy look that looked so darn sexy on him. Sometimes she thought he did it purposely to draw her attention to the symphony of muscles rippling and flexing in the process. It always worked.

“They all know how I feel about you, Ana.”

“You want to protect me. Because of what I did for Dani.”

“Ana,” he chastised softly. “It’s more than that and you know it.”

“No, I don’t, and neither do you. “

“Ana—”

“No, listen to me. I’ll admit that there is...something there. I’m just not sure what it is.”

“I can tell you what it is,” he said, his voice lowering and becoming all growly, forcing Ana to squeeze her inner thighs together.