Sealed with a Kick (2 page)

They glanced at each other. “Technically, we have found at least one match for you. Well, she has made herself known, and you were what came up.”

“What?”

“She came into the fey embassy at the Shifter Guild and demanded to learn about the Crossroads program. They were taken aback and sent for us. We met with the... young lady, and you were the image that came to us.”

Ashko smiled. “She bullied you into finding her a fey mate?”

“More or less. There was no arguing with her.”

The other seer scowled. “Her body is extremely distracting.”

“Better and better. What is her beast?”

One of them said, “Small, white and ferocious.”

The other one nodded. “Excellent description.”

Ashko rolled his eyes. “And her human form?”

One of the men smiled slowly. “Fey bait all the way.”

It was all Ashko needed to hear. “I am in. When do I go?”

The pale seers looked at each other. “Now. She is already there.”

Ashko grinned. “I had better get dressed then.”

He turned and stepped toward the small castle he called home. He had packing to do.

He was a registered aquatic. Kelpie were water horses, and pulling stupid humans under was a pastime he was glad he had given up.

The guardians of the Crossroads escorted him to the aquatic gateway, and with a nod to them, he stepped through.

Ashko looked around when he arrived and smiled at the tower rising above him. The couple who was standing side by side and speaking quietly grinned in welcome as he stepped forward.

“Hello. You are Ashko?” The woman smiled at him and checked some kind of notebook.

“I am. I believe that the shifter I have been sent for is here already.”

The male grinned. “Oh, she was here. Welcome to the Isthmus. I am Derix, this is my mate, Juno.”

“Was?”

“She is drinking at the Crossed Star. That one is made entirely of wild and cursing, wrapped in a delightful package.” Derix rubbed his face. “Are you sure you don’t want a nice, quiet wolverine or something? You know... something safe?”

Juno elbowed her mate. “Berry is fine. She is just over compensating for her beast. A mate might just help give her the boost that she needs to stop fighting all the time.”

Ashko blinked. “She’s drinking?”

Derix grinned. “And probably arm wrestling any male in her vicinity. She feels she has a lot to prove, so she is going to do it.”

Ashko flexed his shoulders and hands. “Right. How do I get there?”

Juno smirked. “Back through the portal and across the street. You are looking for the Crossed Star. We will take care of your bag.”

Ashko unbuttoned his cuffs and rolled them up. “See you later.”

Derix nodded. “Your charm will lead you to your room.”

He turned and winked over his shoulder. “It usually leads me to someone else’s, but I can adapt.”

He turned back and stepped through the portal, zapping back to the entry outside the Meditation Centre.

The music and laughter drifted to his ears, and he smiled, straightening up and heading for the bar. There were tables, booths and a dance floor near the back of the long building. A crowd gathered to one side of the far edge of the bar, and he could see men and women of both species cheering on whatever was happening within that group. With his shoulders straight and his hair back, he strode forward to see what was going on.

He could see the straining back of a fey as he arm wrestled with his opponent. A shift in the crowd let Ashko see the shifter that was wrestling with the man, and his astonishment must have shown on his face.

The woman glanced up at him with wide brown eyes, winked slowly and slammed the hand of her companion into the table.

The fey looked deflated as he got up, and two shifter females went to him to console him. Before another man could take his place, he sat in the challenger position.

She leaned back and took a shot of a clear liquid and then another. She looked into his eyes, and he felt himself falling into those wide brown orbs. He shook his head and straightened.

“Before we start, what are the stakes?”

She grinned. “I just demand two shots of my favourite. What do you want if you win?”

“A kiss. Here, slow and public.”

Laughing, she set up with her elbow down. “Done.”

His body began to tingle even before he clasped her hand. When he was set, another shifter put her hand on theirs and waited for the moment they were evenly set to begin.

* * * *

Berry set up and watched the mane of hair fly around his pointed ears. She wrinkled her nose and held onto him, despite the crackling tingle of her magic striking his. Spike kept her hand on their knuckles until she felt them both relax for a moment, and when they were even, Berry accessed her beast.

Every muscle of her body was focused on her arm, and she used the same thrust that she used in the water to slowly push the pretty man’s arm to the side.

She looked at the smooth line of his jaw, the long, broad nose and the smiling curve of his lips. He laughed and did it often.

Right now, he focused on her and the grip she had. A frown was furrowing his brow as she slowly moved his arm back.

None of the other fey she had played with that night had had a chance with her. If they had inner beasts, they didn’t know how to use them. Most of the fey shifters took on a shape, not the animal.

She was taking advantage of that. Only she, Spike and Chuck knew that she was just drinking water with corn syrup to thicken it.

She looked at her opponent and didn’t smile. A kiss from him might have been fun. Too bad she wasn’t in the mood to lose.

Berry flexed and went for the finale, only to find that he was resisting her and slowly pushing her back the way she had come. She was surprised and doubled her efforts to push him back, but her arm was bent inexorably back to touching the table. The watching fey went crazy.

Berry released his hand and flexed hers.

He stood and held his left hand out to her.

She stood in response. “A deal is a fucking deal.”

His eyes narrowed in amusement, and he smiled as her fingers skated along his.

He gripped her hand lightly, pulled her in close and bent his head to close the distance between them. His lips touched hers with a sharp crackle of magic.

She paid her debt as he slowly moved his lips across hers, coaxing her into responding. To her surprise, the crowd around them was silent.

He tasted her softly, and she parted her lips, letting him taste more of her while she did the same to him. Berry could feel his hand coming up to hold her head, but he slowly lowered it and de-escalated the kiss quickly. He lifted his head and sighed.

“Hello. My name is Ashko, and the seers sent me.”

She stared at him and felt her eyes go wide. “I didn’t think they would special order a mate for me.”

He grinned. “The seers know a good match when they are forced to make one. Would you care to discuss this somewhere more private?”

She licked the sweet taste of him from her lips. “Yes. That seems like a good idea.”

He nodded. “You lead me. I just got in, and you were my first stop.”

She kept hold of his hand, did another sugar shot and hauled him out of the crowd and into the evening air. Berry glanced at him. “Are you hungry?”

He quirked his lips. “I can eat.”

She hauled him over to the café and got a seat in a booth with him sitting across from her. She stuck out her hand. “Beryl Maestro. Everybody calls me Berry.”

“Ashko den Ferrar.” He closed his fingers over hers and inclined his head toward her.

She retrieved her hand quickly and clenched her fingers together under the table.

She ordered some fries and a soda and looked at him suspiciously as he ordered a burger and salad.

He smiled at her, his wide golden eyes amused. “You are looking at me with suspicion.”

“How did you win the arm wrestling? I have been doing that all night and not one of the fey even came close.”

His smile turned into a smirk. “I have a lot of horsepower at my disposal.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

He chuckled. “It is the only answer you are getting until you answer a question for me.”

She leaned back. “Shoot.”

“Why are you wearing a sweatshirt when you are trying to catch a mate?” Ashko raised his brows and leaned back as the waitress brought their food.

Berry looked down and grinned. “Because I know what I look like, but that is my business.”

He blinked and lifted his burger to his mouth.

Berry decided to explain. “Listen, I know that I look like a fucktoy to the fey—”

He coughed and grabbed for a napkin.

“But I didn’t want to advertise it on a first meeting.” She squirted some ketchup onto her plate and started dragging her fries through, munching them one by one.

He cleared his throat. “Is your language always so...”

“Direct? Crude? Yeah. When you look cute and cuddly, cursing is an effective way to get to the point. It shocks folks into listening and has become a habit.”

He cocked his head. “Cute and cuddly are not what I think of when I look at you.”

She nibbled a fry. “What springs to mind?”

He smiled. “I think you are made for sex, for a mate to enjoy and embrace you.”

She felt the blood leave her face as he spoke nearly as baldly as she had. Having the tables turned wasn’t what she was used to.

He took another healthy bite of his burger and smirked. He had won this round.

She spent the rest of her time stuffing fries in her mouth. Having someone judge her outside the
cute
zone was not something she was used to. Few—if any—went straight to sexy.

Finally, she asked, “What did they have to offer you to get you to show up here?”

“A mate.”

She blinked and settled her hands on the table. “What else?”

“Nothing else. A chance at a family is all that most fey need. You live long enough and you collect what you need, but the next generation is a gift beyond price.”

“What if you and your mate can’t have kids?” Berry twisted her lips. “What if they are defective?”

He settled his forearms on the table and leaned toward her. “No child is defective. They are what they are meant to be. All children that have been born to fey-shifter matings have been born strong and powerful, with traits from both parents, which is precisely what the fey court is interested in. We are rebuilding our people, one shifter child at a time.”

Berry cocked her head. “Where do you stand on monogamy?”

Ashko leaned back. “To date, I have been a serial monogamist. One woman at a time. But, that said, like most fey, I will stick fast to my mate once I have one.”

“What if your mate needs her independence?”

He cocked his head. “That has not been a concern to date.”

She felt herself relax. “Ah, in that case, I am not the lady for you.”

“Why ever not?” He challenged her with the lift of his eyebrows.

“I work for the Mage Guild, and I like my job. I am not giving it up for a mate.” Berry crossed her arms and then unravelled them and placed her palms on the table. “I guess that’s that.”

He scowled, and she got to her feet. She paid for her meal and made her exit. She could feel him following her, but he didn’t try to stop her.

Her beast flopped around in her mind, identifying him as someone who might cuddle, but Berry kept her back straight and headed for the portal. She needed a full night’s sleep before she challenged the fey in the Crossed Star again. If it was all she was going to get out of her visit, she was going to keep at it. She just didn’t know how to forget Ashko’s kiss. Her lips were still tingling.

* * * *

Ashko watched her walk through the portal, and he headed to the Meditation Centre. “I need to speak to a member of Beryl’s family.”

Teal and Tony had been curled together on a low couch, and they looked up lazily. Tony lifted his hand and pointed toward the desk. “Number and phone if you didn’t bring one. Her brother.”

Ashko paused. “You knew I would come?”

Teal laughed. “We have met Berry, and we have been doing this for a while. You are going to need all the information you can get.”

Ashko walked to the desk, and there was a small, flat phone and the number.

Tony called out, “You can call from the Isthmus, in the privacy of your room. We have complete communications in the Crossroads now.”

He grinned at the couple. “You are telling me to bugger off?”

Teal grinned and turned back to her mate. “We have a night off. We were dismissing you politely.”

He took the hint with a word of thanks and took the phone and number with him through the portal. It appeared that he had a call to make.

* * * *

Berry got up far before dawn, and she stretched. There was plenty of time to go for a swim without anyone seeing her. She threw on a short robe and snuck out of her room and down the stairs.

There was no sign of anyone until she approached the underground wet entrance to the salt and freshwater pools. She stepped off the final step, and Ashko was there talking earnestly on the phone.

She hesitated for a moment before walking to the saltwater entry and dropping her robe. Whomever he was speaking to must have wondered who was suddenly strangling him. She took a breath, jumped into the water and shifted into her cute and white beast.

Berry swam around, bonking fish with her nose. She didn’t need to hunt, but she did like to chase them.

Something large and shadowy moved outside her peripheral vision. She could feel it in the wake of the water and see it in the silvery side of the fishies.

She paused and turned, rolling in place to look around.

The motion to her right made her turn, and she watched as a horse sped toward her under water.

He was running along the current and approaching her at a frightening pace.

Berry swam to the surface and breathed before returning to seek out her new water-bound playmate.