Deuce (Swamp Desires Book 1) (10 page)

“I think you may have something there, Deuce. Can your brothers go to their homes and retrieve those items?”

“I am not sure that would be a good idea. I will see if Blaze and Gabriel can go retrieve those items. I am not sure what my brothers would do if they were in the presence of their scents. If it would drive them mad, or if it would help calm them. I just do not know. I do not want to take that chance with their sanity. They need to have clear heads. We do not know what conditions these women have been in since they have been kidnapped. Or what has been done to them.”

“Oh
merde
, I did not think of that. Damn it. If Blaze and Gabriel cannot go, then you and I should go. We can retrieve the required items,” she says.

I lay there with her in my arms. After our talk, she curls up closer against me and falls asleep. I soon follow her to dreamland with her in my arms.

Chapter Ten

Adele

I slowly open my eyes. Am I dreaming? Is the man of my dreams really curled up next to me in my bed? I have to be dreaming. So, I pinch my arm to make sure that I am not dreaming. I place my head next to his heart, just so I can hear his heartbeat. This man is all I have ever wanted and more. I tried to resist the temptation that is him, but I could not fight it anymore. My feelings for this man have grown so much over the past few months. I cannot imagine my life without him in it.

Over the course of my long existence, I have watched couples come and go. I have watched couples who were together for many years fall out of love. They had nothing left to fight for. So they parted ways, and learned that they were better off. Why stay in a relationship where both parties are miserable. There is no passion; the fire in their love has dwindled out. Some stayed together just for their children, but stayed miserable in the process, and it drove them both insane. During the course of their marriage, their interests had changed. They do not see eye to eye like they once did when they first got together. Their morals and values have changed. I do not want that to happen with me and Deuce. But I think that it never will. Our love is too strong.

I will work to keep this relationship; nothing will come between us. We will work together, because forever is a long time for us. I stay cuddled up next to him for a while longer before I decide to get my ass out of bed. I slowly untangle myself from Deuce and sneak out of bed. I will let him sleep for a while longer before I come back in to wake him up, but, first, time to make some coffee.

I start the coffee pot, and head into the bathroom and relieve myself and brush my teeth. By the time I am done, the coffee is ready. I fix me a cup and head out to the deck to enjoy it. It is so peaceful out here on the bayou in the mornings. Everyone is still waking to start their day. This is my favorite time of day. When the flowers are opening up their blooms and permeating the air with their glorious fragrance. The wisteria and honeysuckle are blooming now—two of my favorite blooms of all time. Shrimpers pass by in their boats and wave, heading out to start their fishing day. Local hunters and fisherman get their boats ready for a day on the water, providing for their families the food they catch. Some sell their catch, while others keep their catch to feed their family.

My thoughts keep drifting back to the amazing man who is sleeping in my bed. His lips, his touch, his heart, everything about him, I crave. A craving so deep, that I will never get enough of him. Never get enough of his kisses. I love the way he kisses me, with such passion and love. It melts my heart. I will never tire of this man. He is all I want and need. No one else can compare.

I sip my coffee after it has cooled a bit so I do not burn my tongue. I can hear rustling in the woods behind the houseboat. I am not sure what it is, but it sounds like maybe an animal of some kind. It could be anything really. There are no bears around here that I know of, and if there were, they would not be coming out during the day here; not this close to the water. But what do I know? I am just a wolf trapped in a human’s body. I go back to sipping my morning fuel and not paying any attention to the noise behind me. After a few minutes, the noise stops. I place my now empty cup on the table next to me and just breathe in the bayou air. Home. This place will always smell like home to me. I wonder where Deuce and I will live. Since last night, I told him I would be his mate. So that includes us living together. Am I ready to live in a house full of men? All hot men. But one of those hot men is mine and mine alone. I guess I could get used to being around all that testosterone. After all, we do work together on the nightly hunts.

I slowly get out of my chair to head back inside. As I turn the corner to the front door, I grab the watering can next to the door and water my flower pots that are hanging around the deck. The rustling in the bushes is getting louder and louder. What the hell is that making all that racket in the bushes? After I am done watering my flowers, I go back in and fix another cup of coffee. I check on Deuce to see he is still sleeping. He looks so peaceful when he is sleeping, like he doesn’t have a care in the world. I have come to love this man and his brothers. His cousin Joslyn, well, we have gotten really close the past few months. The more time I spend with her and the rest of them, the more I fall in love with all of them.

Skylar is the most amazing person I have ever met. She is strong, wise, loving, compassionate, and one of the most loyal women on this Earth. She takes her role as the left hand of God very seriously. Her and Gabriel work together in ridding the world of evil, but somehow, the sex trafficking has crept up on them without them knowing anything about it. They did not have the chance to stop it before it even started. Or otherwise, it would have stopped right then and there.

I have learned from her that I can see into people’s souls. With this new ability, I can instantly tell if someone is good or evil. It turns out that I am to be one of her soldiers. I never knew that I could do that, until Skylar helped me tap into it and showed me it was there. There are so many things I am learning each and every day. Having the new power is exciting and terrifying at the same time. I have also developed a mind bond with Skylar, so if she ever needs my help, all she has to do is call to me on our special mind link.

Those babies are just too darn adorable. I can tell that they will give their parents a really hard time as they get older. She can see the mischief in their little eyes. The babies are only six months old now, but you can tell they will have the same powers are their mothers. I hope to one day start a family with Deuce, but not right now; we are still learning each other. When we are both ready for that responsibility, then we will start trying, but for now, we will just enjoy getting to know each other better while our love grows stronger each day.

The rustling from the bushes is becoming a serious issue for me right now. I cannot take it anymore; I have to go investigate what is going on. Here goes nothing. I just hope it is an animal of some kind. I walk over to the bushes and peek behind them to see what is making all the noise.

I stop dead in my tracks. Standing next to the bushes is a group of hooded figures. What the fuck? Oh
merde
! This cannot be happening right now; not since things are going so well for me. Those stupid fanatics have finally found me.

“You are coming with us, whether you like it or not. The time has come for you to pay the price for your existence,” hooded figure number one says.

“I don’t think so. I am not going anywhere with the lot of you. You will have to knock me out, because I will fight you tooth and nail. And honestly, you do not want that. I can tear you to pieces with my bite or swipe of my paw,” I say. I can feel the change pushing at me. My wolf is growling so loud inside of me. “
Fiche moi le paix (get the fuck away from me),”I growl.

Two of them come at me with knives in their hands. As if that is going to scare me. Please. I am not scared of a little ole knife. I dodge their attempts at stabbing me. While one reaches forward, I step back. Before I know it, I am surrounded by all of them. I try to shift, but something is stopping me. What the fuck? Why am I not able to shift? And come to think of it, I cannot mind speak with Deuce either to let him know what is going on.
Merde!
I try to back away, but one of them sneaks up behind me, keeping me in the middle of them. I can feel magic buzzing in the air. Well, that makes sense. These are witches or warlocks. No wonder I cannot shift or mind speak. They have cast a spell that prevents me from doing so. But why?

The one behind me comes up and grabs me by the hair and holds its knife to my throat, piercing the skin enough to cause me to bleed.
Merde
, an iron blade. I should have known. I am totally screwed now. I am powerless against iron. It does not kill me, but weakens me immensely. My blood slowly drips onto the deck.

“You are coming with us, bitch. We have waited far too long to get you. Don’t worry; we won’t hurt your lover boy, yet. Our funders have required that we come and retrieve you. They have special plans for you. You will suffer like all the rest of them do. They will sell you to the highest bidder; one who is so demented that you will be lucky to come out of it alive in a few weeks. But first, we have to cleanse you of all of your evil ways. You must be pure before the sale.”

Oh God, Deuce, Skylar, anyone. Please help me. Please. These are the crazy ass people we have been looking for. I do not know how much longer they will keep me awake. You guys have to come and find me. Somehow. I will not be able to contact you. They are using iron against me. Please hurry. I do not know where they are taking me, but they have plans to “cleanse” me and sell me to the highest bidder.

I don’t know if anyone heard me, but at least I tried.

“Come now; the masters await our arrival. And we do not want to keep them waiting much longer. They have been patient waiting for you, Ms. Boudreaux. It is time to meet them. Put the shackles on her, boys. She will be going nowhere. No one will come to save her, because she is a vile creature. No one will miss her.”

Boy, is this bitch wrong or what? If she only knew. The iron shackles have been placed on my hands and ankles. Great, just freaking great. Now I will not be able to shift.

“Did you think we were going to take you awake? We are not stupid.”

The hooded figures raises its hand and points it at me, chanting some spell. I can feel my body go weak. I have to let Deuce know somehow.

So, I do what is necessary. I scream, “Deuce!” before my world goes black.

***

Deuce

I take Adele in my arms and slam my lips to hers. The kiss is rough and full of pent up desire. The swamp brings out the beast in me. The swamp has its own version of desire. It seeps straight down to your bones. I break from the kiss and shift. Once I am in my gator form, she climbs onto my back. I slowly make my way into the water with the most beautiful woman on my back. I take her on a ride down the bayou in the moonlight. After swimming for hours, we make our way back to her houseboat. Once I am back in my human form, I ask her, “When are you moving in with me, my love?”

“Well, I was thinking this weekend if that is okay with you,” she says.

“That is perfect. My brothers and I will help you move in downstairs, and next to the business office is an apartment. It has two bedrooms and two bathrooms. We added on to the business a long time ago. Never really knowing why we felt the need to add on, but we did, anyway. So, the apartment is ours. I have already moved my stuff in there. My brothers are planning the renovations for the upstairs. They are going to make the rest of the upstairs into three small apartments with a large common area kitchen and living area for them to share.”

“That is great, baby. So we will have the downstairs apartment all to ourselves. That is awesome. We will be closer to the water and to the woods.”

I hold her in my arms for what feels like forever. All of a sudden, she starts to grind her hips against me. “Darling, if you keep that up, we will not make it back inside. Because I will take you right here on this deck for all to see. I will not mind giving everyone a show, but I know you will, my love.” She slowly stops grinding and reaches between us and unzips my shorts so they just fall off me, leaving me naked and exposed to the world. Well, the little minx. I guess she wants to play with fire, huh? Well, two can play at that game. I reach to grab her shirt and she backs away from me just a little. I don’t think so, my dear. “Come here, my sweet. Look what you do to me. My dick is hard and aching to be inside of that sweet pussy of yours.”

“Hmm, is that so, Deuce?”

She lowers herself to her knees in front of me and licks the tip of my dick with her tongue. I lean up against the houseboat so I do not fall down from the sheer pleasure that is her mouth. She slowly runs her tongue up and down my length. I grab onto her head and pull her sweet mouth onto me. She takes me all into her mouth. She grabs my balls and massages them with her hand while she takes me in and out of her mouth continuously. Her pace gets faster and faster. Before I know it, I blow my load into her mouth. She swallows everything I give her.

She slowly gets up and steps back. Several hooded figures appear behind her. One of them grabs her by the head and holds a knife to her throat. I am powerless to stop it. I cannot move; I am stuck in place. The knife pierces her skin and droplets of her precious blood fall to the deck floor. They circle her, then they put her in iron shackles on her hands and ankles.

After they have her shackled, she screams my name. I still cannot move. They knock her out with some kind of hocus pocus. They disappear in a puff of black smoke. Where did they go? Where did they take her? Oh God, please let this just be a nightmare. Please let me wake up.  

I instantly open my eyes to hear screaming. Oh fuck, that is Adele screaming. I try to get out of bed and realize that I am somehow stuck to the bed. What the fuck? Ugh, something bad is happening to my girl and I cannot fucking move. Well, isn’t this just fucking great. I try and try, but nothing is working. I am still stuck in place. I can feel the magic in the air and it has pissed off my beast. I try to shift, knowing that if it works, I will ruin this houseboat, but at this point, I do not care. All that matters is me being able to move to get to my girl. I can smell iron with a hint of silver. Fuck! I try to call the beast forward, but something is stopping him.