Read A Muse for Mishka (Wiccan-Were-Bear #12) Online

Authors: R.E. Butler

Tags: #vampire romance, #vampire coven, #wiccan were bear

A Muse for Mishka (Wiccan-Were-Bear #12) (13 page)

BOOK: A Muse for Mishka (Wiccan-Were-Bear #12)
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She nodded.

Finn shrugged. “It might be a light crowd for
a little while, but Mishka’s the master of the city and he’s here,
the coven’s here - that will go a long way in showing the general
public that the club is safe now.”

Her thoughts turned to Mishka, his guards,
and his safety. Turning to face Finn and Dolan, she asked, “What
happens when you find your beloveds?”

Both of their brows rose. “What do you mean?”
Dolan asked.

“I was just thinking about Vex and Rage.
They’re Mishka’s personal guards, but they’re hoping to find their
beloved soon. Which means they wouldn’t want to be vowed to protect
Mishka above all else because their beloved would take priority.
The same would apply to you, wouldn’t it? When you find your
beloveds, you’ll want to protect them first.”

“That’s something all vampires have to deal
with. Our jobs come first until we find our beloveds. If and when
we find our beloveds, you’ll be assigned new guards,” Finn
said.

“And we’ll take positions within the coven
that don’t force us to choose between our beloveds and who we
guard. Vex and Rage will make that same decision when they find
their beloved. Brone is the only one who’s found his beloved in the
family
, and it took him a thousand years to find Arissa.
Let’s just say that none of us are expecting to find our truemate
anytime soon,” Dolan said with a wry smile.

“That’s a bummer.”

“What’s a few decades when you get eternity
with the one right person for you?” Finn asked.

She smiled. “I hope you don’t have to wait
that long.”

Turning her attention back to the stage, she
let out a slow breath and focused on what was really bothering her.
It had zero to do with her guards and everything to do with her
power. Her power was still completely sated, so she had no need to
sing to satisfy her nature. She was choosing to sing because it was
important to her that she showed the church, and anyone else who
didn’t like vampires, that as the mistress of the coven she would
not hide but would stand tall. The problem was that she was worried
about using her power.

She could just sing and not tap into her
power, but then she wouldn’t be helping the club goers to feel
better. Mishka had told her she didn’t have to sing tonight, or any
other night. He alone could provide the feedings for her nature,
the way that she provided for him with her blood. But she loved
singing with her friends, and she wasn’t ready to give it up simply
because she was afraid that she might go off the deep end.

“I need to see Mishka,” she said.

“He’s up in the
family room
,” Dolan
said.

Walking toward the stairs with Finn and
Dolan, she smiled at the two coven guards who stood at the base of
the stairs. “I wanted to say thank you,” she said to the
guards.

“For what, mistress?” the one named Tesserae
asked.

“Just…thank you.”

Her eyes stung with sudden tears, and she
blushed and ducked her head as she climbed the stairs. When she
reached the top of the stairs, Mishka wrapped his arms around her.
“What’s troubling you, my heart?” he murmured, leading her into the
family room
.

He settled her on the couch next to him, and
she heard the sounds of the other vampires leaving them alone in
the room. Resting her head on his shoulder, she said, “We could
have died.”

“Could have, but didn’t.”

His hands stroked up and down her back in a
soothing motion.

“What if I can’t control myself?” She’d
managed to hold back the tears, but her voice was raw with the
struggle.

Mishka tipped her chin until she was forced
to tilt her head back to look at him. His golden gaze searched
hers; his lovely mouth drew down into a frown. “I told you I would
protect you. Did you think I’d sit up here with my thumb in my ass
while you went through this alone?”

She was so startled by his words that she
barked out a laugh. Her proper gentleman of a mate had just said
the most absurd thing.

“I don’t think you
ever
sit around
with your thumb up your ass.”

He brushed his lips over hers so gently, just
a whisper of a touch, that set her nerve endings on fire. She
wanted more. Now. But that was no surprise. She craved him on a
cellular level.

“When the band is ready to start, I will be
right offstage, ready to help you if you get overwhelmed. No one is
trying to kill us tonight. There’s no reason for you to touch the
dark aspect of your power.”

“I hate that I liked it, that the feeding
when I was terrorizing those people felt good.”

He rubbed his thumbs along her cheeks in a
soothing motion. “When I was first turned, my sire’s coven had a
blood dungeon. They thought nothing of feeding from a human until
they died. Some of them, my sire included, reveled in holding a
life in their hands. A second one way or the other in feeding meant
life or death. It’s easy to get caught up in any kind of power,
Harmony.

“Weeks after I’d been changed, there was a
blood orgy. It was nothing new for our kind – blood slaves were
chained to every surface in the master’s home. The scent of sex and
blood in the air was…electric.” His focus shifted as if he were
reliving the memory. She had seen it in his memories, but hearing
him speak about that night made her skin goose bump.

“I didn’t intend to kill the female. She
pleaded with me to stop, but I didn’t. The coven encouraged me. My
sire commanded me to drain her dry and experience being sated.”

Later, Mishka had discovered the woman had
been pregnant, and he’d been so disgusted with his actions that he
left his sire and coven and struck out on his own. He’d never used
a blood slave again, and he had instead only drank from willing
donors.

“You haven’t killed anyone in feeding again,”
she said.

“No, but the idea that I did once, even
hundreds of years ago, has stayed with me. They used to call it the
Black Kiss – having sex and feeding at the same time. For young
vampires, it wreaks havoc on the ability to stay focused and in the
moment, which is why it’s discouraged until a vampire has learned
control.”

“I’ve never doubted you would keep me safe
when you feed.”

“Well,” he said, kissing her once more,
“you’re the most important person in the world to me. Hurting you
would kill me.”

She sighed and leaned into him, and he drew
her even closer until she felt entirely surrounded by him. “I feel
better.”

“Good. Are you ready to go?”

“If we can’t stay here snuggling all night,
then I guess so.”

He chuckled, and the sound rumbled in his
chest. “Later.”

After a long moment of snuggling in her
beloved’s embrace, she stood and said, “Thank you for helping
me.”

He stood and clasped her hands, drawing them
to his lips. “Whatever you need, I will always be here.”

They walked out of the
family room
,
down the stairs, and around the slowly filling dance floor to the
stage. She stood off to the side of the stage with Mishka behind
her, his hands on her shoulders letting her know that he was there
with her. She was nervous. Possibly more nervous than she’d ever
been at any time in her life. But she knew she had to do this. She
couldn’t let her fear rule her. She loved singing and performing
with the band, helping people to be happier, even if just for a
short while.

And she loved Mishka.

Somewhere in the craziness, she’d fallen for
him. Hell, she’d been half in love with him when she’d first laid
eyes on him. Gorgeous, strong, courageous, deadly. Turning to face
him, she said, “I love you. Not because my muse and your vampire
natures decided we were perfect for each other, but because you’re
amazing.”

He growled softly, taking her with him as he
moved several steps away from the side of the stage into the dark
recesses of the storage room. “I love you, too. And
you’re
the amazing one, my heart. I wake up every night thankful that I’m
not dreaming anymore.”

She heard the unmistakable sound of the band
readying to perform. She went onto her toes and kissed him, tugging
off his ponytail tie and slipping it over her wrist. “For good
luck,” she said.

“I’m right here for you, love,” he said,
walking with her to the side of the stage and kissing her
cheek.

She squeezed his hand and released it slowly,
stepping out onto the stage and heading straight for the microphone
stand.

“You’ve got this,” Wyst said.

“Show your power who’s boss,” Tamar said.

She glanced at Bridge, and he shrugged. “I
can’t think of anything else uplifting to say.”

“How about kick some ass?” she offered.

He grinned and said into the microphone, “You
heard the woman. Let’s kick some ass!”

 

* * *

 

Although Harmony had been worried that
singing would make her want to tap into the dark side of her power,
she hadn’t needed to worry. The dark desires that had raged inside
her were quiet now. As she sang, pulling out negative emotions from
the club goers and replacing them with happier ones, she knew that
there was nothing to worry about.

She could feel Mishka’s presence through
their bond. He opened himself to her completely so she could feel
his emotions fully. Her beloved was ridiculously proud of her, and
he had not even a tiny trace of fear in him. He wasn’t worried
about her losing it and taking out half of Cleveland on a muse
bender, so she decided she wouldn’t feel anxious about it either.
Her power was only as strong as she let it be. Before, in the
warehouse, she’d been full of rage and a need to prevent future
crimes against the coven. Here, in the club, there was no need for
anger or fear. Her family – from her sexy beloved to her friends to
her
family
– were watching out for her, just as she did for
them.

Pushing her power out to the crowd, she felt
the answering swell of her power as her nature fed off their
emotions. The longer she sang, the more people ventured onto the
dance floor. Although the club wasn’t nearly as full as it had
been, there was still a large crowd. By amping up the good feelings
she sent out, she rewarded them for their trust in the club and in
Mishka’s ability to keep them safe.

Even when she was completely sated an hour
later, her hair streaked with bright blue and her throat starting
to burn from exertion, she continued to sing. The band played all
of her favorite songs, and she even dedicated a sexy song to her
beloved and sang a cover of Cella’s favorite song from the
1940s.

In spite of the worry she’d had at the start
of the night, she let go of the fear of losing control and embraced
her nature. With Mishka by her side, she knew she could handle
anything that life threw at her. And if she ever needed to tap into
the darker nature of her muse, she knew that Mishka would help her
then, too. Because he loved her, and he always kept his
promises.

 

 

Chapter
14

 

The following night, Mishka strode into the
walk-in closet in their chamber and pulled open the door to the
built-in armoire. A small set of LEDs illuminated the interior,
displaying dozens of cufflinks in a special velvet-lined tray.
Choosing a sapphire blue set, he fixed them on the cuffs of his
crisp white dress shirt and closed the cabinet.

Turning to the built-in drawers, he opened
the top drawer and slid his hand into the depths to find a pair of
socks. When he pulled out a pair of black socks with pink hearts,
he remembered that he’d given the top drawer to Harmony for her
things. As he returned the socks back to the drawer, his fingertips
grazed a hard object. Lifting it from the interior, he found a
small velvet pouch. He wasn’t one to snoop, but he couldn’t stop
the curiosity that drove him to open the pouch. He was fairly
certain he knew what was inside, and he was right – it was a small,
fingertip vibrator. Testing it to see that the battery worked, he
smiled as he slipped the pouch into his jacket pocket.

Closing the drawer, he removed socks from his
own drawer and walked into the chamber. As he was pulling on his
socks, he heard the shower shut off. It was tempting to strip and
go into the bathroom to see if she needed any help drying off, but
they were having what she referred to as their “first date part
two,” in which they were planning to dance together in the private
room. If he ventured into the bathroom, they wouldn’t be leaving
the chamber anytime soon, and completing the date as originally
planned was important to both of them.

Harmony walked out of the bathroom nude,
pausing in the open doorway and giving him a soft smile. “I thought
you might come back into the bathroom and join me.”

They’d already made love in the shower.
Peeling himself away from her so they could actually
leave
the chamber at some point that evening had been supremely
difficult.

“You said it was important for us to finish
the date.”

“Fine, be all noble.”

“The thoughts I’m thinking about you would
hardly be categorized as noble.”

Her eyes darkened, and she bit her lower lip.
“Damn it, you’re so sexy.” Shaking her head, she said, “I’m going
to get dressed before I ask you for details about the non-noble
thoughts.”

He chuckled as she disappeared into the
closet. He finished dressing and went into the bathroom to run a
brush through his hair. He reached for a tie for his hair but
decided against it. Harmony liked his hair down, and he enjoyed how
it felt when she ran her fingers through it, or fisted it when she
came.

He waited at the door for her as she finished
getting ready. She approached him slowly, the high heels she wore
making her legs look long and lovely. The halter dress was black
lace, very short and hugged her curves. She looked up at him, and
he ran his fingers through her soft hair, letting the curls she’d
placed in her tresses wrap around his fingers.

BOOK: A Muse for Mishka (Wiccan-Were-Bear #12)
10.99Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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