Sassy Ever After: Kissing Sassy (Kindle Worlds Novella) (7 page)

She clenched her jaw, resenting he used her growing fondness for him as a means to coerce her to do his will.

She turned her head to glare at him. “Release me now, or I swear you’ll never have a second chance.”

With a jerk, he let her go. Olivia yanked up her jeans and walked off, the rough material of her denim turning her arousal near unbearable.

Cajun

Cajun watched her walk away.
What the hell just happened?
One moment he’d had his tongue shoved up her wet cunt, and the next she’d been panicking over something he couldn’t isolate.

She’d seemed surprised by the teleport. Claimed she didn’t have the ability, when clearly she was capable of the magic. She’d probably never teleported before. Had that been enough to unsettle her? Or did she worry Jessie could track the magic she’d used?

Feeling certain there was more involved than a stalker-shifter, he scratched his nape and followed her. Aric called out to her when she neared the guys, but she ignored him and hit the back porch at almost a run.

“Something up?” Aric asked Cajun.

“Don’t know. Something spooked her after she teleported us, and she won’t say what.” He’d thought a human would be a complicated mate. When he’d discovered she was a sorceress, he’d given a mental cheer while being amazed she’d managed to hide a paranormal signature from him. That hinted at strong magic. But his sorceress was proving to be more complex than any human.

Something more powerful than a wolf stalks her
. The epiphany hit him hard. She’d been afraid someone would track her magic, but not the wolf. He was certain of it. Cajun bolted after her and found her in the bedroom with her bags in hand.

His mate ran from an invisible monster without giving him the chance to protect her. A flash burn of anger flared through him, and he blocked her exit. “I can’t let you leave.”

“You can’t keep me prisoner.”

Cajun thought about doing just that for a heartbeat. He wanted to respect her independence, but his wolf demanded he keep her safe at any cost. It was a catch-22. “Do I need to remind you that you came to me for help to escape a psychopath?”

“I can’t explain right now, maybe later, but I have to go.”

“I’ll go with you.” She shook her head, and he cut her off by kicking the door closed. “You’ve got limited options, Olivia. My first pick, I’ll tie you to the bed to keep you safe. Doesn’t mean you’re safe from me though.” She opened her mouth to say something, but he talked over her. “Second choice, start talking and keep nothing from me.”

“You’ve no right to—”

“You’re my mate. I’ve got
plenty
right.”

Olivia Scott got right up in his face. “You and your wolf can take this mate crap and shove it up your ass sideways! I’ve been on my own all my life, and I won’t start answering to a man, a wolf, or
anyone
just because of some cosmic bond.”

“You wanna go, baby, fine,
we
will go to my place.” The banging on the door startled him, and she rubbed her temples like a headache brewed, while panic settled into her eyes.

“Lael called, freaking out about a vision,” Aric said from the other side of the door. Cajun could scent Jake and Nate too. “She’s on her way here. Something about O and Cajun being in danger.”

Cajun opened the door. “Lael called Olivia O?”

“So not the time for inappropriate nicknames, Benji.” Olivia shot past him to stand in front of Aric. “Did she say what the danger was?”

“Bad ass mofo,” Jake answered. “Her wording, not mine.”

Olivia cursed beneath her breath.

“What aren’t you telling us?” Cajun watched for the smallest tell, but her expressionless features were damn near flawless and gave nothing away.

“What matters is I’ve put you all in danger. It was unintentional, but I’ll fix it by putting some distance between us. I’ll try to put some wards up about the property, something that’ll lead them in a different direction. If my magic will work.” She finally met his gaze. “Then I’m gone.”

“The fuck you are.”

“Wait a minute. Everyone settle down.” Aric’s alpha-tone didn’t allow for any disagreement, but then he was used to bossing folks around and expecting them to follow his commands. “What am I missing here?”

Before anyone could speak, Lael barreled inside the house without a hello or an invite.

Olivia went straight for their multi-color-haired bartender and known witch, putting herself in front of everyone as if she intended to protect them. Cajun’s wolf howled at the injustice of his mate safeguarding him with her body.

Sorceress and witch faced off, assessing one another, but Cajun could feel the leveling up of Olivia’s power. It reminded him a lot of the electrical charge in a thunderstorm, and even the hair on his arms stood.

“She’s not a threat to you or us, Olivia.” Cajun feared Olivia very much thought Lael was a threat.

“You’re a Key,” Lael said with a slight tremble in her voice and eyes wide, but if Cajun guessed right, she wasn’t afraid but in awe.

“I’ve no quarrel with you, witch.” Olivia’s body language clearly indicated she expected trouble… and still that overall sense of power he couldn’t see, but felt, made the hair on his arms and the back of his neck stand at attention.

Lael elevated her hands in surrender fashion. “Not your enemy. I’ve never met a Key. You’re rare.”

“You’ve no idea.”

“There’s only five of you born in every generation, the pale-blue eyes are usually a dead giveaway to your status, which you don’t have.” Lael quirked her lips as if confused by that, and then went on, “The Gathering wants you dead.”

“You two are speaking Greek.” What the hell was his woman? Cajun gripped her arm, tugging her toward him, with Lael tracking Olivia’s movement with her eyes. “There’s a funny feel in the air.” In his head, his wolf whined and pawed at the ground, anxious to get her to safety.

“You should get to your house or Wolfe Ink, lay low for a day or so.” Lael fidgeted with her hair. “Something is hunting O, but—”

“My name’s Olivia.”

“A shifter is after her,” Cajun confirmed what hunted Olivia.

“Nah.” Lael shook her head. “This is bigger, more powerful. It’s not locked on her yet, but if she’s here where her power was expended when it arrives, the badass mofo will find her.”

“How does going across town help?” Olivia asked.

Lael shrugged. “Don’t know, but it can’t find you anywhere but here. Cajun’s gotta go with you.”

Olivia glanced at him, and he gave her a smug grin, wanting to kiss Lael for adding the last part.

“Let’s go,” he tugged on her arm as he said to Aric, “I’ll call you when we get to my house so you know we arrived safely.” He lived on the opposite side of town, which was a forty-minute drive from his aunt and uncle’s house.

“We’ll go to my place.” At his frown, she said, “I bought the Campbell spread a couple of months ago. It’s shielded from anything but wolves.”

“I heard an out-of-towner grabbed it up. Didn’t know it was you, dear.” Aunt Barbara’s face lit up with excitement. “No excuse not to spend more time visiting us now.”

“That’s why I bought it when it went up for sale.” Olivia knotted her hair on top of her head in a loose bun. “Sorry, Aric.”

Aric jerked his chin at her in acknowledgement. “We’re here for you, Olivia, and listen to Cajun. He’ll keep you alive.”

“I’d never have involved your family if I’d known I’d bring danger to it, Barbara,” she said as Aunt B hugged her goodbye.

“Shush, Olivia.” His aunt patted her on the back. “You’re family. We stick our neck out for family.”

His Uncle Tristan, Barbara’s husband, also his dad’s brother, embraced her next, but looked Cajun straight in the eye. “You call if you need anything, son.”

“I will.” It was obvious his family adored her, and she returned their affection. Left up to him, by the time she returned to the Wolfe home she would officially be family.

Lael trailed behind them and across the lawn, while Olivia maintained a wary eye on the witch. His frustrating mate settled into the passenger side of the Mercedes and strapped in. As he tossed her luggage in the backseat and handed her the purse-slash-satchel, he heard Lael mutter something under her breath, obviously getting another vision. He’d seen her do the witchy prophecy shit once. It’d been spooky because she’d gotten a blank look, and her eyes had gone glassy like she left her body.

His witch friend and bartender of Sassy Wolfe rotated her hand in the universal sign to roll the window down. Once he followed her instruction, she said, “There’s more than one coming.” Lael leaned into the window and peered at Olivia. “Don’t know why I need to say this, but the only way you’ll be safe now and in the future is if you embrace your siren song. Hope that means something more to you than it does me.” Those words drained all the color out of Olivia’s face, but his witch-friend cheered up. “When this is over, I can’t wait to talk shop with you.”

As Lael sprinted for the house, Olivia mumbled, “Talk shop.
Pfft
… not on her life.”

Cajun sent Olivia a cursory glance. He punched the pedal and sent the Mercedes down the road. “Wanna explain all that?”

“Go left.” She leaned her head against the seat.

“I know where the Campbell residence is.” It was a little more secluded than he’d prefer, but any other time he’d want the seclusion to seduce her into being his mate. “Gotta swing by my house first and grab some clothes.” From the corner of his eye he caught her smile. “What’s amusing you?”

“You’re kind of cute when you’re grumpy.”

Oh, he
liked
the sound of that. “You wanna tell me what I’m facing here?”

“You’re not facing anything. I am.” He shot her an angry glare, but focused on the road watching for deer. Before he could argue with her, she said, “Their magic is too strong. They’d decimate you if you went up against them. And for the record, if I didn’t think you’d track me with your nose, I’d have ditched your ass back there.”

“Olivia, I’m confused. How’d we go from protecting you against a wolf to Lael talking about Keys and Gathering and siren songs and imminent danger?”

“I’m a Key. The majority of what you see of me is a glamour spell.”

“Even if you have troll attributes, you’re still my mate.”

Amusement curled her lips, and her voice dropped to a sultry quality. “Will you kiss and lick all my warts?”

“If that’s what turns you on.” If she had any warts, he was pretty sure he’d find them sexy too.

“Where’ve you been hiding all my life, Cajun?”

“Oh, you know, being lazy, sitting back, and waiting on my girl to do all the work finding me.”

“Typical man,” she teased.

“So, how different is this look”—he indicated her body with a finger-flick—“from what you really look like?” It really wouldn’t matter if she were an ogre because he already adored her sassy personality.

“Not as much as you’re probably fearing.”

“I’m serious, Olivia. You’re mine—”

“I’ve not agreed to that.”

“—and you’re beautiful on the inside. That’s what matters.” From his periphery, he caught her shaking her head. “For the record, being mine is a matter of time.”

He thought she rolled her eyes at that, but without looking at her directly, he couldn’t be certain. She didn’t argue though, so he counted that as a step in the right direction.

“What color are my eyes?”

“Green.” Initially he’d thought they were colored contacts, now he realized the truth.

“They’re not.” He frowned at her, and she went on. “They’re pale blue, almost white in color like Lael said. I glamoured them to appear normal because they’re a dead giveaway to my lineage. But…” She dug in her purse, pulled out a tube of lip-gloss and smeared the cosmetic across her lips. “My magic is also glamoured so other paranormals can’t detect what I am. I want all of them to think I’m just a human. It’s safer that way.”

“Didn’t know that was possible.” Also explained why he hadn’t realized she was a paranormal.

“Paranormals dismiss me when they think I’m less than them.”

Smart move if she wanted to stay below the radar, but he was confused why she felt the need to hide. “Explain the rest.”

She twisted a little in her seat. “Best I can tell, witches can’t hide what they are, and neither can a Cleric. A Cleric, by the way, is a basic sorceress. Just so you understand the differences between witches and sorceresses, a witch is the hybrid offspring born to human and sorceress.”

Confused by everything, he rubbed his nape. “I might need a handbook on all this.”

“Just bear with me. I’m trusting you with the long version.”

Realizing the significance of the trust she placed in him, he flicked her another glance. “Go on.”

“I didn’t have parents to tell me about sorceri history. An event in my teens put me on the run and looking for answers. That’s when I came to America. I didn’t come because I wanted to live here, but because it’s where the sorceri Temple is located. It has all the original documents, and I needed information about my ancestors and why they wanted me dead. So, I disabled their locks and wards and stole every copy of the Chronicles of Life. More than a dozen in all.”

“You make it sound like it was easy to disable their magic.”

“It was. They were as puny as cobwebs. That’s the moment I realized I was something more than just a sorceress. I didn’t even know there were different levels of sorceri. The Chronicles of Life detail the history of our kind, even lists all offspring born to each Sorceress. My mother was a Key, my father one of the most powerful mages born, and their union was forbidden by the Gathering.”