Spell Bound (Darkly Enchanted) (24 page)

He rose, grimacing a little as his leg muscles protested the movement, and sat next to her on the couch.

“Is he going to be okay?”

“Yeah.” Gabriel would make sure of that, even if he had to carry the damn mongrel to a vet to have him stitched up. There had to be a
versipelli
vet around here somewhere. “He should heal pretty quickly. But he can’t change until he’s healed more.”

“He’s
lucani
.”

“Yeah.” Something in her tone drew his gaze away from Quinn.

“He’s gorgeous.”

Jealousy bit into his ass with sharp teeth. Idiot.

“Quinn will love to hear you say that. Just wait until he’s awake. We can’t leave until he’s healed, though.”

Another day, maybe two. It shouldn’t be a problem, but he’d wanted to have Shea and Leo at the compound by tomorrow. Shit.

“Hey, tell me about Quinn. What does
legatus
mean?”

He heard her question but ignored it. Gods-be-damned, how the hell had Quinn gotten hurt?

“Gabriel?”

Shea’s soft tone cut through his thoughts and he turned his gaze toward her.

“What’s a
legatus
?”

He answered without thinking. “Legion commander. He’s in charge of the Eastern Pack’s soldiers.”

“Like in the ancient Roman army?”

“Yeah. The
lucani
base their command structure on the old Roman legion.”

“How did you and Quinn meet?”

“We were raised together after his mother tried to kill him when he was twelve.” He nodded at Shea’s gasp. “Barb was always a little unstable, but when he shifted the first time after he hit puberty, she locked him in his room and tried to burn the house down around him. She’s got a padded cell at Wernersville State Hospital. He hasn’t seen her since. His father was my dad’s second cousin, so they came to live with us.”

“Where?”

“About an hour outside of Philadelphia.”

“What about your mom?”

“She didn’t live with us.”

“And you won’t tell me who she is?”

He shook his head, his gaze drawn back to Quinn. If anything happened to Quinn, it might be the final straw that broke Serena’s heart. “Can’t. There’s a difference.”

“So you grew up in an all-male household. I can see how that warped your little mind.”

He smiled, though it was weak. She was trying to take his mind off the situation, and he appreciated it. But he had too much to think about to be distracted.

They could stay here indefinitely. In the nearly two hundred years since it’d been built, this house had never been discovered. They were safe, unless Dario’s men could somehow track Leo through the shields on the property. He wasn’t ruling it out, which was why he’d wanted to head out today. But there was no way he’d leave Quinn behind.

And, truth be told, he didn’t want to give Shea and Leo to another
grigorio
.

There were only three
grigori
he’d even consider, anyway. Franco was in Europe at the moment. Donal had his hands full with Furia and Madrona in Louisiana. And Matt...

Shit, he should have called Matt the second Shea had told him who she was. Matt deserved to know what was going on.

But Gabriel honestly hadn’t thought about the guy until right now.

He’d should—

Shea’s slender hand cupped his cheek, her skin soft against his two-day growth. His eyelids fell and he let the warmth of her skin soak into his. Damn it, he shouldn’t like her touch this much. It was dangerous.

“Shea—”

“Shh. Just be quiet, Gabriel.”

She sealed her mouth over his and he let her kiss him. Let her lips caress his until all he wanted was more of her mouth, hot and wet, her tongue slick against his.

He settled his hands on her waist and lifted her until she straddled his lap. She settled in, knees sinking into the cushions at his hips, bringing the heat between her legs closer to his aching cock. He wanted to press against her, rub against her softness, but that would require too much energy.

Goddess, he was tired. Too tired to move her away like he should. She was the one in charge. When she lifted her lips, he forced his eyes open to stare into hers.

“Did you get any sleep last night?” she whispered.

His eyelids felt so heavy. No, he hadn’t slept last night, and he wouldn’t get any tonight either…

“You need to rest, Gabriel. You’re no good to us if you’re not thinking straight.”

Damn, she was working a spell, felt it brush against his
arus
, whispering to him to sleep. He couldn’t afford to sleep now. He struggled against the sleeping spell she’d woven but he couldn’t fight it and the world went dark.

* * *

When Gabriel’s head dropped onto her shoulder, Shea let it stay there.

She could tell he’d been exhausted but wouldn’t give in to natural sleep. So she’d woven one of the simple spells her mother had taught her so many years ago.

He’d be pissed when he woke, but he’d be rested. And since Quinn couldn’t be moved immediately, he could afford the downtime.

Otherwise, he would have sat here and worried about…everything. About her, about Leo, and mostly about the gorgeous wolf lying on the floor.

She sat there another minute, enjoying the feel of him against her. His hair felt like silk against her cheek and before she could stop herself, she slid one hand into the black strands.

It took her a few minutes to realize the voices weren’t buzzing any louder than normal. Whenever anyone except Leo touched her, the voices reacted. As if they were warning them away. They’d nearly screamed when Gabriel had grabbed her in the car but now, even though she was so close to Gabriel, they were almost quiet. Maybe they were getting used to him.

She didn’t know how long she sat there, letting her fingers drift through his hair, winding it around her fingers. Turning her head, she let her lips brush against it, breathing in the spicy warm scent of him. Goddess, she would love to stay right here…

The wolf whined and she turned to find pale blue eyes staring up at her, pain evident in his gaze.

Careful not to jostle Gabriel, she got off the couch and knelt on the floor, unable to resist stroking Quinn’s beautiful fur.

“I can help with the pain, if you want,” she offered. “And with the healing. I didn’t offer earlier because I wasn’t sure how Gabriel would react to what I’m going to do. Just nod for okay.”

The wolf snorted and shook his head.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Okay, I haven’t done this for a while, but I know what I’m doing.”

She hoped. She took a deep breath and lifted her dress over her head.

* * *

Shea regained consciousness with a burning ache in her right leg that she knew would get worse before it got better and the feel of warm flesh against hers. Shifting, she tried to get more comfortable. And realized she was on the floor, her head pillowed on an equally naked, firmly muscled chest.

“Well, darlin’,” a deep voice drawled in her ear. “This certainly beats the doggie doctor any—Holy shit, your eyes.”

She bent her elbow to support her head and stared at the tawny-haired stranger gaping at her. Despite her nudity, his gaze stayed locked on her eyes.

“Jesus, who are you?”

“Shea Tedaldi.”

His mouth opened and closed twice before he smiled and said, “Well, honey, I’m Quinn, and I’m damn glad to meet you.”

Those blue, blue eyes would not look away.

“Nice to meet you, too. How are you feeling?”

“Well, now, I guess that depends.”

She couldn’t maintain that gaze anymore so she sat up and ran her fingers through her tangled hair. “On what?”

“On whether or not Gabriel’s going to kick my ass when he wakes up.”

Reaching for her dress, she pulled it over her head before Quinn noticed the huge bruise on her leg. “And why would he do that?”

“Well, considering you and I just spent the better part of two hours naked and pressed together, I’d say he’s gonna be pissed.”

“Then you don’t know shit,” came a growl from the couch. “
Vaffanculo
, Shea. What the hell’d you do to me?”

Turning, she saw Gabriel rub a hand over his face as he sat up, a look on his face that could only be described as royally pissed off.

Time to pay the piper.

“You needed the rest.” Standing, she shook the dress down her legs as she walked carefully to the couch, trying not to limp. “How do you feel?”

Gabriel shook his head, hair brushing his shoulders. Her fingers actually clenched with the desire to touch it, even through the increasing pain in her leg.

He looked up at her, his gaze hot. “Like I got run over by a truck.”

She lifted her chin. No way would she apologize. “No, apparently that was Quinn. The disorientation will pass in a minute. You could have used a few more hours.”

He scowled at her. “Yeah, well, I’ll decide when I have them.” He looked like he wanted to say more, his lips tightening. Finally, though, he looked down at Quinn. “What the hell are you doing in your skin already?”

“Your girl here worked some powerful mojo.”

“She’s not my girl.”

“I’m not his girl.”

Shea shot Gabriel a look, but Quinn stood, blocking her glare with his long, lean, naked body.