Sinful Magic (6 page)

The security guard walked up to her. “Ma’am, I checked and your room is empty.” He handed the key card over to her.

Relieved, she stepped into the hallway next to the bathroom and closet, thanked him, then closed and locked the door. Taking a deep breath, she turned and choked when Kieran suddenly appeared in front of her. “Argh!” She strangled on the sound, as she stared. Where’d he come from? He towered over her by at least a half-dozen inches, and his body filled the foyer. The scent of Chianti came off him in waves. His eyes were a mix of blue water and smoky anger. He took a step toward her. “No more running. We’re going to talk.”

Adrenaline surged through her, and she almost turned to run, but she was a quick learner. Last time she’d done that, he’d pinned her against the door. Instead, she lifted her head and said, “How did the security guy not see you? Were you invisible or do you have some power to just pop in wherever you want?”

“I appeared invisible to the security guard. I broke into your room when I found you missing. I also broke into Mack Daemon’s room and found an interesting picture.”

His voice was low, but the black muscle shirt stretched over his chest shifted strangely. She stared, but all she saw was the shirt straining to contain the rise and fall of a massive chest as Key reached for something in his pocket. She noticed his arms were thickly muscled. The man had been lifting more than pencils. He looked like he could bench-press her. And given how easily he’d lifted her last night

“Look.”

The sharp word made her jump and she jerked her gaze to the BlackBerry he held out. Her heart slammed against her breastbone. Blood surged through her as embarrassment and humiliation burned her fiery blush. “My schema.” The mark that symbolized everything she hated. All her life, she’d been torn between her parents—her mother insisting she give her life over to magic, her father demanding she become mortal. And both made her feel that their love was conditional on how that mark ended up—dead and gone or alive in full color.

It had been magic that tore her parents apart, turning her father’s love into something ugly. It made Roxy’s stomach churn. Would her father come to hate her if her powers Awakened?

And what if she fell in love with a man? Her limited experience with sex had already shown her that she made men uneasy; they complained that she was too demanding, wanting too much from them. And that was without her magic; once her magic surfaced, she would need sex to feed her power. Would one man be enough? Or would he resent feeling like a stud service for her magic?

All this circled in her mind as she saw the picture on his phone. “How did you get that?” She made a grab for his phone, desperate to delete it.

He snatched the phone back. “Better question is how he got the shot, since this appears to be the inside of your thigh.”

The tone of his voice took her aback. You’re like your mother, aren’t you? I can feel it. Since she’s not here, you’ll do. Sweaty hands shoving up her nightgown

Roxy shook off the old memory. That man had been jacked up by her mother’s sex magic. He broke into their house and when her mom hadn’t been there, he’d come to Roxy’s room. She’d only been eleven, just a little girl. But the guy hadn’t cared; her mother’s sex magic had him insane with lust. Fortunately her mom arrived home at that moment and all kinds of hell had broken loose. And now there stood Key, using that tone, like she somehow deserved this. “How do you think?” she snapped, then turned to the closet, yanked out her suitcase, and stormed into the room.

Key turned aside so she could pass.

She walked back to the closet and wrenched clothing off the hangers and hurried back to dump them into her suitcase. Next she got her shoes, and threw those in.

She went to the dresser and reached in, pulling out her underwear.

“Pretty.”

His voice was so close she could feel it on her neck. Roxy looked down. Siren red and robin’s egg blue silk spilled over her fingers. The cool satin contrasted sharply with his warm damp breath.

The schema on her inner thigh tingled. And spread

her skin began to feel tight, and—

No! Oh sweet crone, this was everything she had feared. Her Awakening invoked intense desire and feelings, and she barely knew him. He could be a crazy killer! Okay, she knew he wasn’t; if he’d wanted to hurt her, he could have last night. He’d helped her when she’d thrown up. But he was a witch hunter, which made this even more impossible. As her Awakening, sex with him would release her magic. And she believed, destroy her dreams of finding real love and having a family. As a mortal she could have that. As a fertility witch? She didn’t think so, not from what she’d seen between her parents and her own experiences.

He was also physically dangerous to her. That sudden, intense surge of magic in her blood could incite the bloodlust in Key and he’d kill her. Cut her over and over, smearing her blood over his skin to absorb the power.

The feel of his breath on her suddenly felt accusing instead of sensual. Better question is how he got the shot, since this appears to be the inside of your thigh. She didn’t care what he thought of her. Dropping the panties and bras, she whipped around and said, “That picture is why I broke up with him.” She closed her eyes, trying to get control. “I didn’t know he had his camera in the bedroom.”

“He took it while you were asleep?”

She opened her eyes and corrected him. “Sex.” It had been so long, and Mack had seemed like a good enough guy. She’d known he wasn’t her Awakening, and she just craved

touch, intimacy. And secretly, she was hoping that since her schema had begun to fade, no magic would surface during sex. It was the only time she showed any power, and it was just a trickle, but it opened up a pit of want in her that no one could seem to touch. The only two other men she’d slept with had reacted like there was something wrong with her. Something

unnatural.

“He used sex to get close enough to take that picture?”

She remembered how Mack had told her that he wanted to see all of her. Then telling her to close her eyes, let him. “As soon as I saw the flash, I realized he was a sick creep and I threw him out. I should have destroyed the camera.” She’d been so upset, embarrassed. Ashamed. Stupid.

“He tricked you.” Lifting a hand off the dresser, he touched her face. “What did he do? Tell you to close your eyes and then acted like he was going to go down on you, bring you pleasure, then when you’re lying there, spread out for him

” His eyes burned molten gray with flecks of blue.

She had a whole different image in her head. Key, kneeling between her legs, his fingers skimming that mark, and then rising higher, toward her desperate heat. The mark flamed hot, little tendrils of warmth spreading outward. She squeezed her thighs. “Don’t.” Curls of shame made her turn her face away from his touch, from his eyes. “Back off.”

He dropped his hand and stepped back.

Growing edgier, she demanded, “What do you want? Why can’t you leave me alone?” She scooped up the bras and panties and threw them into the suitcase.

He perched on the edge of the dresser. “We found—”

“We?” Her paranoia reared up.

Without a pause he said, “Wing Slayer Hunters. We’re witch hunters who have recommitted to our Wing Slayer god. We’ve vowed to protect witches like you.”

She nodded. “Axel Locke and his crew.” Her mother had told her about them. She bitched about Darcy and Carla trying to take over the Circle Witches online group that she had started. Did Key know who her mother was?

“Yes. Axel is our leader chosen by Wing Slayer. But the hunter helping me with Mack’s computer was Sutton West. He’s a computer expert, and mated to a witch named Carla.”

“Soul mirrors,” Roxy said, surprised how much information she’d absorbed from her mother. Gwen Banfield was bitter that these witches had found a solution to the curse that had stripped witches of their familiars and high magic, while she hadn’t. It all stemmed from the curse cast three decades ago by demon witches trying to bind witch hunters as their familiars. The spell twisted into a blood and sex curse, causing all the witches’ and hunters’ souls to be pulled out, joined, and then halved. The result was their souls were damaged. The hunters’ bond with their god was broken, causing them to lose their immortality and saddling them with a ferocious craving for sex and the power in witch blood. Witches lost their bond with their familiars and their high magic. The hunters that had once guarded earth witches now slaughtered them for the power in their blood. Then Axel and Darcy discovered they were two halves of the same soul, and once they were joined, the curse broke for them. She pulled out of her thoughts when she realized Kieran was talking.

“Mack is working for Liam, my brother. It was all there on his computer, including pictures of five other fertility witches that are known to have been killed by rogues.”

Roxy sank down on the edge of the bed. “But I’m latent! How did they know I’m a fertility witch? How did Mack know? I never told him, I don’t tell anyone I’m a witch. Or was it just an accident that we dated and he found the schema?”

Kieran’s mouth pulled tight. “I don’t think it was an accident.” He pushed off the dresser, took out his phone, scrolled, then walked over to hold it out to her. “I had Sutton e-mail the file to my phone. Look for yourself.”

Her palms were slick with sweat, but she took the BlackBerry. The throb spread to her entire head as she went through five pages of different witches with the schema, although none of them had the complete schema as she did. “This was on Mack’s computer?”

“Same place I got the picture of your schema.”

Handing his phone back, she felt the betrayal burn in her chest. “You’re sure about this? That Mack was drugging me to take me to your brother?”

Key shoved his phone into his pocket. “I called the phone number we got off Mack’s computer—it was my brother’s voice mail. Sutton will try to track the phone, but it’ll be a prepaid. I went out searching for any sign of him last night, but didn’t find anything.” He stared down at her, frustration tightening his face. “You said you’re latent. When do fertility witches come into their power?”

Roxy was so rattled, she answered without thinking. “When they find their Awakening.”

He sat next to her. “Which is?”

She hesitated, her hand digging into the bedspread between them.

“Roxy, we’re trying to help.” He covered her hand. “Witches are being killed.”

The warmth of his fingers covering hers raced up her arm, inflaming her schema while settling her churning stomach. “A man. The fertility witch has to find the man that causes the chemical reaction in her to release the magic in her chakras. If the witch doesn’t find him, her chakras die off, and she becomes mortal.”

“The schemas with color

”

“Means the witch found her Awakening,” she explained. “The full color means they had sex.”

“Sex magic,” he said softly. “Your power is based in sex.”

She looked over at the hunter next to her. Images filled her mind—Kieran pushing her back, covering her with his huge body, and then kissing her. Heat pulsed in her schema, sending out those tendrils of desire to flicker enticingly. What was wrong with her? She never fantasized! Just being near him for a few minutes weakened her. She needed distance. She was so close to her chakras dying. Ignoring the desire forming a throb between her legs, she pulled her hand free and stood up. “I’ll be careful. I’m moving to a friend’s room and—”

“Not good enough,” he practically roared at her.

Pinned between his huge body and the bed, she couldn’t step back. “What is wrong with you? You warned me, your job here is done.”

He ground his jaw, his hands flexing at his sides. “My job is to protect you. We’ll move you into my room and—”

“No, and I’m not your job!” Even if he hadn’t been her Awakening, she wasn’t moving into a man’s room, a man who was practically a stranger. A man who drew a naked picture of her cut and bleeding on his wall. She could hire a bodyguard, if needed.

He put his hands on her shoulders. “Do fertility witches have needs?”

His warm hands made her catch her breath. “Needs?”

He caressed soft circles. “I can feel you, I know you respond to me.” He lowered his head, and said in a thick tone, “I can smell your caramel desire.”

Too much! Roxy froze beneath the onslaught. The feel of his warm hands sliding down her arms, and then back up and over her shoulders. He brushed his full mouth, so solid and hot, against hers. Tremors ran down her spine, her nipples tightened, and a pulse began to beat deep in her pelvis. It was more than she could handle. “What are you doing?” She meant to yell, to push him away, but it came out a soft whisper.

He raised his hand to capture her face. His eyes were igniting to a fierce blue. Pulling his head back a fraction, he said, “You feel it, too, there’s a pull between us.” He pressed his swollen cock against her belly, “I want to give you pleasure, give you everything you need.”

Frustrated fury nearly choked her. She had to get away from him! The pinpricks in her schema intensified to a near burning, crying out for the touch of her Awakening. He was turning her into exactly what she didn’t want to be—a witch controlled by her hormones. She’d lose everything she was working for—a chance to be loved without fear of her magic destroying it. A chance for a family. Her thoughts gave her strength and she caught his arms, jerked his hands off her face and said, “No!” Her heart hammered, her blood thundered, and adrenaline blew her anger into an inferno. “Last time I tried to have sex, that creep took a picture of my schema. That’s what happens when I let passion and hormones control me. So I don’t have sex.”

“I won’t hurt you.” He ground his jaw in anger. “I sure as hell wouldn’t take a picture of you and put it on the Internet.”

“No, you just draw naked, mutilated pictures on the wall of your hotel room. That’s so much better.” Remembering that, she said, “Is it still there?” What if housekeeping saw it or—

“It’s gone.” He snapped the words. “And that was different. If you don’t want sex, fine, but you need protection.”