Sinful Magic (12 page)

dizzy,” Roxy said, her eyes closing.

“Just rest,” he told her, then slipped his arm beneath her legs and stepped out of the car. Phoenix shut the door, and they headed up to the massive front doors. The house was a two-story villa that had to be five thousand square feet.

Phoenix located the scanner and put his hand against it, and they heard a soft click. He opened the front door, and they walked into the cool interior.

Key headed for the stairs, moving through the dark gloom of the house with no problem. Ailish had done a good job, but they both had blood on them. He wanted to get Roxy cleaned up and into a bed where she could recover from shock and blood loss.

“Dude,” Phoenix said.

Key stopped halfway to the staircase. Turning back he saw Phoenix with his arm around Ailish. “You’d better look at your tat. Your dragon’s not a female.”

When Key had inked the dragon, Phoenix had started calling it “she,” and Key had gone along. He’d always known Dyfyr was male, but what had it really mattered? He shifted Roxy a bit and looked down. His mouth went dry and a buzzing filled his head at what he saw. The dragon had a lock of Roxy’s hair wrapped around his front claw and held it against his face. He claimed her. And where there used to be cluster of amethyst scales on his head, now two very male horns stood proudly.

“You touched her blood,” Phoenix said.

He felt it right through to his heart. Dyfyr was waking, and he’d claimed his soul mirror. He’d known on some level from the first strokes of his pencil on the wall when he’d drawn her. But now he’d touched her blood, and the dragon recognized her. That’s why he’d taken his shirt off in the garage, to let the dragon touch her.

It was like being hit with a ton of bricks and fractured into several pieces. A deep part of him craved his soul mirror. She would free him from the curse, and he would help her with her magic. But another part of him knew he wasn’t cut out for this. He destroyed people he loved. And it didn’t matter anyway.

She didn’t want her magic.

She didn’t want him.

Roxy wasn’t used to being weak and helpless. She’d built her life so carefully, each choice a step farther into the mortal world. She’d been so sure of her decision.

Now her world was shattered, and she was too damned weak to do anything but let Kieran carry her like a child as he walked through the huge house. Finally he stopped moving, and she heard a door close. She had to pull herself together. Opening her eyes, she said, “I can stand.”

He set her on her feet. She grabbed the doorframe to get the dizziness under control. Moving her head carefully, she realized she was holding on to the doorway between a large bedroom and an attached bath. “Where are we?”

“Another hunter’s house, Linc Dillinger. He uses palm-scanner security, which is good protection. Rogues like Liam don’t have lifelines, and that will set off alarms.” He walked past her into the bathroom, leaned into the shower, and turned it on.

“Okay.” She followed him with her gaze, trying to get her bearings.

He turned around, and she saw his naked chest. It’d been too dark in the garage and the car to really see, and she’d been slipping in and out of full consciousness. She was awake now, and her breath caught at the sheer beauty of the dragon inked there. Kieran’s shoulders and chest were a wide, muscular canvas, and the dragon sat slightly turned, his massive chest thrust out, snout angled down, and gleaming ruby eyes watching her. His scales were vibrant colors of emerald green and sapphire blue, while his chest, wings, horns, and underside of his tail were amethyst. His wings were bent behind him, and the tail curled around his back feet. And wrapped around one of his front claws was a lock of hair exactly the same color as hers. Unable to resist, she walked across the chilled marble. “That looks like my hair.”

Kieran glanced down, then back at her. “It is.”

How? It was a tattoo, wasn’t it? There was something ancient and powerful about the beast. The amethyst horns were incredibly sensual in the way they jutted out, then curved at the tips. Did you wake the dragon? Shivering at the memory of Liam asking that, feeling lost and unsure, she lifted her hand and laid it flat over the dragon’s chest. A second later, she felt twin hearts beat against her palm. They pulsed with a deep and brutal longing so profound that she gasped in response to the force of it, the absolute purity. It wasn’t bloodlust or sexual lust, but something more emotional and real. Then it was gone, and all she felt was warm skin and a single heartbeat of the lethal artist. “Is this the dragon I’m supposed to wake? I thought I saw him, he came to me and I knew he’d save me. Then you were there, and for a second I thought you were him.” She kept touching him.

“You called his name. Dyfyr.”

“I knew him. Know him.” She lifted her gaze up to Kieran’s face. “What’s happening? Nothing makes sense!”

Steam began trailing around them as they stood in front of the open door of the shower. Kieran’s massive shoulders tensed. “Evidently, I touched your blood, and he recognizes you.” He paused, laying his hand over hers pressed against the dragon. “We’re soul mirrors.”

She heard a clang in her head, like cymbals clashing, and pulled her hand away. “But I’m latent. I’m

” Her stomach twisted with bitter fear as she remembered the hot burn of that knife slicing her skin, her own screams ringing in her ears. “Whore magic. That’s what he called it. I don’t want that, I don’t want to—”

Key took hold of her arms. “Stop it. Don’t you dare let him define you, Roxy. Don’t you fucking dare.”

The hot fury pulsing in his words cut through her cold panic. “I hate your brother and want him dead.”

“We’re on the same page there, green eyes.” His face eased and he let go of her. “Not just dead, but his soul trapped in the between worlds, existing as a cold, pain-wracked shade for all of eternity.” He reached to her knees where his shirt hung on her, grasped the hem and pulled it off.

The warm steam pouring from the shower surrounded them, making it feel like a secret room far away from reality. He reached for the front clasp of her bra and unhooked it. She finally realized he was undressing her and grabbed his wrists.

He allowed her to hold him. “You’re too weak to do this yourself. I’m going to help you shower, find you something to wear, and get you into bed. Then figure out what to do next to keep you safe.”

She tried to explain. “It’s like I’ve been thrown into a fast-moving river and I can’t get out, can’t even catch my breath.” Her breasts were exposed, she was exposed, but Kieran looked into her eyes, listening. “I know what soul mirror means; we bond our souls and the curse breaks and frees you from bloodlust. But you’re my Awakening. Once my magic rises, I’ll need more and more sex. I don’t want that life. Sex magic twists and taints everything.”

“How can you be so sure?” His voice was soft.

“Because my mom chose sex and magic over my father, and then over me. She didn’t want me anymore.” Oh Ancestors, she sounded like a child. But she was scared, tired, unsure

nothing made sense. She’d worked so hard to become mortal, to fit somewhere. Belong. She could find a man to love, and sex would be normal. Not about magic and power.

“You’re mother sounds like a bitch, not a witch.”

His hard words jerked her gaze to his face. “My father grew to hate her. He was her Awakening, just like you’re mine. He loved her in the beginning, but now he hates her. Hates her magic. I can remember their fights when I was young and they thought I was asleep. We don’t make love, I just screw you until your magic is full! And if we do go out, then I have to deal with all the men swarming around wanting a taste of your sex magic!” She shook her head and dizziness made the room sway.

“Idiots. Letting a child hear that.” He flicked his wrists, breaking her grip, then took hold of her arms to steady her. “Easy, Roxy. You lost a lot of blood.”

She held perfectly still and the room righted. The warm steam helped fight off her deep chill. She couldn’t believe she’d told him so much of her past when they needed to focus on now. “What do we do?”

He reached up and slid her bra straps down her arms and let it fall to the floor. “We’ll figure it out in time. Right now, I’m going to protect you, not hurt you. I won’t try to seduce you or in any way bring out your magic.”

“But the schema, and your bloodlust, and—” It was so overwhelming.

He crouched and tugged her panties down. “Your power scent is so light, I can deal with it. And touching you ices it.”

She looked down at the powerful hunter gently easing off her underwear. “And the attraction?”

“Hold on to my shoulders for balance,” he said, wrapping one large hand around her ankle.

Roxy put her hands on him and her schema woke up with hot tingles. They started in the center of the little goddess mark. Kieran got the panties off, then his shoulders tensed. He jerked his head up until he was eye level with the schema. She felt his skin grow hot beneath her hands. “Kieran?”

“Caramel with a hint of pain. Getting worse.”

The feel of his shoulders, the sight of him crouched down before her, the touch of his hand on her ankle sent pleasure winging through her. She had the unbearable feeling that being with Kieran would be more intense and intoxicating than anything she’d ever experienced.

Desperate heat blazed in the goddess mark and spread outward, making her body throb even as her mind shied away. Fear mixed in, and the mark pierced her skin with hunger. “It’s the schema! It’s not real!” Whore magic. Those two words bounced in her head. This wasn’t going to work. “We can’t be near each other.”

He released her ankle, reached behind him to pull out his knife.

The sight of the sharp blade made her gasp with memories and terror. The bloodlust! He was going to cut her, hurt her. She turned to run, but dizziness spun the walls and she felt herself falling

Kieran caught her around the waist, instantly steadying her. He pulled her back to his chest. “Not going to cut you. Never. I won’t hurt you.” She could feel his heart pounding, sweat and steam coating their skin. “You’re safe with me.”

Something more than Kieran touched her back, she felt gentling strokes so light she might be imagining it. But it calmed her. She sucked in a breath. “I panicked.” She was naked and felt so damned vulnerable. “What are you going to do?”

“Lean back, just lean on me. I’ve got you.”

She sagged against him, against his strength. His arm around her waist held her up. “I’m stronger than this, usually.”

“You survived. It’s the blood loss and shock making you feel weak, but you’re damned strong. Now I’m going to help you. We’re going to have to be together until my brother is dead and you’re safe. We have to tame the schema.”

She put her hands on his forearm, borrowing some of his strength. “How?”

“We’re soul mirrors, and some of your blood got on me, opening a connection between us. I think that’s inflaming your schema even more because the soulmirror bond requires a blood exchange. I have your blood, you need mine. I’m going to try a drop or two of my blood on the mark. I think it’ll soothe it for a while.”

“What if it makes it worse?”

“Then I’ll take care of you.” His voice thickened and she felt the ridge of his erection pressing against her spine. “I’ll ease your lust without sealing our bond. As long as I don’t enter you, the bond won’t complete. We’ll keep trying until we find what works together.” She felt him swallow, then he added, “Okay? Trust me?”

Her schema burned and hurt. And she began to have real sympathy for her mother. Was this what she endured, over and over? “Yes.”

He pressed his face next to hers. “Trusting me after what my brother did to you

that’s bravery.” He released her waist, switched the knife to his right hand and pressed the tip against his left palm.

A bubble of blood welled up.

“Show me the mark. Hurry,” it came out a growl.

Fighting embarrassment, she turned her left leg and exposed the goddess marking on the high inside of her thigh. The emerald green outline was darker, clearer, and the blue coloring filled more area than before.

He lowered his hand.

She arched toward him, desperate for his touch. “Kieran

” Shame fought with desire, with aching need.

He caught her hip with his other hand, his fingers firm as he held her. Then he curved his hand over her thigh, his thumb brushing her pubic hair. That touch shuddered through her center.

But the hungry pain began to ease. The pounding, mindless need notched down as a languid feeling softened her muscles. A fluttering along her spine where her chakras were surprised her. It was a sweet sensation. A hum soothed her mind, almost forming into words, but she couldn’t quite hear them. Yet the gentle rhythm of the hummed words comforted her. “It’s working.” She felt a bit stronger, less dizzy.

“Good.” He pulled his hand away. “Get in the shower.”

She turned and stepped in, grateful for the warm spray of water. She reached to pull the door closed, thankful for a minute to herself when Kieran stepped in.

Naked.

Oh-my-stars-naked. Holy-hot-naked. Roxy pressed herself against the marble wall as he filled the oversized stall. Water sprayed on his head, running over those shoulders, finding the ridges and valleys of his muscles, over his dragon-inked chest, the ridges of his abdomen, and down into the dark blond pubic hair and

She jerked her eyes up. “You’re hard. Huge!”

He snorted. “Thanks,” he said as he reached for a bottle of shampoo and poured some into his palm. “It’s not going away anytime soon with you standing there looking like a sex goddess.” He stepped toward her.

She pressed herself back. “But the schema! It’s calm now! Why are you aroused?”

Key sank his fingers into her hair and started lathering. “This attraction is real, my green-eyed witch.” He took hold of her arms and moved her to the stream of water. “Close your eyes.”

He really desired her, it wasn’t just the schema forcing it? Real. With the steamy water cascading over her hair and body, Kieran’s hands on her, helping her, she wondered if it would be so bad to make love with him.