The Wizard King (26 page)

Chris grinned. “Once you do the spell, we’ll have an excuse to lock her up in the hotel until the Godwin thing is taken care of. She’ll be completely safe here.”

“Yeah, Kerry will go for that. Not.” Lana rolled her eyes. “But we can do things to make her safer, like amulets and charms.”

“Bubble wrap.” Gen shrugged. “What?”

“Nah. I’m in favor of the princess in the tower treatment.” Zach’s eyes lit up. “Oh! We can grow her hair out. Daniel can stand out on the street and yell at her to let her hair down.”

Lana’s brows rose. “Don’t you mean yell
for
her to let it down?”

Zach scoffed. “This is Daniel we’re talking about.”

“I’m leaving.” Daniel turned on his heel and was immediately tackled by all three brothers.

“Nope.”

“Sorry, can’t let you do that.”

“Just get over it, butt munch.” Gareth, the last to grab hold of Daniel, shook him. “Trust us, even if you can’t trust yourself.”

The gold of his brother’s eyes deepened, darkened. “You promise? You’ll stay by her?”

“Danny-boy, you’ll both be here. Hell, I’ll move you both upstairs into one of the spare bedrooms if it will make this easier on you. But you have to take that first step. Do the spell.”

“Do it.” Zach hugged Daniel tightly. “Trust me on this. It will be the best thing that ever happens to you.”

Gareth saw the shiver that ran through Daniel’s body and knew what the answer would be.

“Okay.” Daniel pulled back, that god-awful smirk of his back on his face, his eyes suspiciously wet. “Let’s get this party started.

Gareth glanced over at Gen to see his mate smiling softly. “It’s going to be okay, I swear it.”

Daniel’s gaze softened as he stared at Gen. “I’ll try and believe you.”

Gen sighed, but didn’t argue with him. “Stubborn.”

“Beckett.” Lana winked. “Comes with the territory.”

Gen giggled and limped her way back to Gareth, snuggling close the way he liked. “As if I could ever forget.”

Gareth kissed the top of his mate’s head, sighing in true contentment. For all that he hadn’t trusted her when they first met, she’d given everything she was for him and his brothers. He couldn’t ask for a better partner than his Genevieve.

He’d spend the rest of his life proving to her that she really was the queen of his heart.

“Can we order pizza when we’re done?” Zach rubbed his stomach and whined, “I’m starving.”

Of course, he’d have to be careful of her aim. He laughed as Zach fell under a hail of fluff. His woman could throw a mean pillow.

“Don’t even think about it.” Gen hid her grin behind her book. Gareth was giving her that come-fuck-me look she’d become so well acquainted with in the last few weeks. Daniel had agreed to perform the ritual, but he’d put it off for a week now, claiming he need to prepare.

Bullshit. Daniel was stalling, and they all knew it. Gareth was at his wits’ end, but he’d refused to let his brother’s stubbornness get him down. Gareth was still the playful, sexy, alpha male she’d come to know and adore. And that look that he shot her, so full of affection and lust, was a hard one to resist. He’d perfected the art of making her body sing, and that tingling warmth was already beginning to run down her spine.

“That’s like asking me not to breathe, or to give up the Steelers.” He shuddered.

“Aw, poor baby.” She turned the page, not even glancing up at him.

The book was plucked from her hands. Gareth leaned over her chair, careful not to jostle the broken leg that she’d propped up on an ottoman.

Thank goodness the break was a small one, a hairline crack in her tibia. She couldn’t put weight on it, but it would heal quickly, with little to no physical therapy. She still wore a cast, but she wasn’t in as much pain as she’d feared she would be. Ibuprofen and acetaminophen took care of what few aches she had.

Hence Gareth’s belief that, even with a broken leg, they could still fuck like bunnies. Hell, he’d even asked the doctor about it, much to her embarrassment. The doctor highly recommended spooning, and Gareth had taken great delight in showing her just what that was.

His hand brushed against the mark on her skin, and Gen shivered. “No, Gareth. We’re supposed to be meeting Mac and his brother in an hour.” They had yet to meet the man who truly ran the hotel. Things had been so hectic, they’d barely had time to breathe, let alone discuss anything so mundane as business. “I refuse to go to that meeting reeking of…” Damn him and his sneaky lips. “Of…”

“Hmm?” His lips caressed the side of her neck. “What was that?”

“You are evil.” Gen tilted her head, granting him better access.

“You really want me to stop?” He was already unbuttoning her shirt and staring at the sofa.

“The last time we tried to have sex on the sofa I fell off.” He’d spooned behind her, but their passion had been too great for the narrow cushions. She’d hit the floor, luckily on her good leg, but the throbbing pain had pretty much ended that day’s activities.

“Yeah, but I have an idea how it could work.” He was smiling at her, waggling his brows. Those golden eyes glittered with happiness.

She eyed him, mistrusting that look on his face. Part smug, part little boy, the only thing it did was spell trouble. “Oh, really.”

“Don’t you trust me?”

“Nope.” She picked her book up again, laughing when he yanked it out of her hand. Really. If anyone else had done that, she would have bitten their head off. But it was
Gareth
, and he was…

Well, he was everything. The man had turned off
football
for her when she’d asked to talk to him. How could she not put her book down?

“C’mon, sweetheart. Stand up.” Gareth held out his hands, gently tugging her to her feet. “Now, watch.”

She did, as he pushed the ottoman over to the sofa. He patted it with the air of a man who’d just found gold. “Put your leg here and bend over.”

“Are you serious?” But she hobbled over anyway, already visualizing what he had in mind. The ottoman was fairly long, but not as wide. She could comfortably rest her entire lower leg on it with ease. If she rested her hands on the back of the sofa, she’d be at the perfect angle for what he had in mind. “I’m beginning to think you just like taking me from behind.”

“Uh-huh.” He watched as she positioned herself on the sofa and ottoman. “What can I say? You have the perfect ass.”

She glanced over her shoulder, keeping her expression as innocent as she could. “Yes, I do.”

He glared at her, his gaze going from her behind to her face. “Was I just insulted?”

She turned back toward the sofa and refused to answer.

“I
was
just insulted, wasn’t I?”

Gen wriggled her behind. Now she understood why Gareth had really insisted she wear a skirt today. Not only was it easier with the cast, but Gareth could easily push it up her hips, like he was doing now. “I take it back. You have a
spectacular
ass.”

“That, too.” She bit her lip to keep from laughing.

Goddess, she’d never played so much before. Gareth constantly had her laughing, accepted her teasing, and made her happy to face each and every day. Oh, that happiness didn’t always last. They still fought over when and where she’d pursue warlocks like Hugh, and whether or not he’d come with her. They argued over the TV remote, because he wanted to watch sports and she’d rather watch the History Channel. And they definitely fought over the toilet seat. Gareth had grown up with a bunch of men, his mother the only female influence in the house. The third time she fell in the bowl at three in the morning had him laughing his ass off while she screeched like a banshee.

He made her happier than anyone else ever had, and she loved him with every fiber of her being.

“That’s right. I’m perfectly spectacular.”

Some of the laughter escaped before she could stop it. “Yup. You’re a perfect, spectacular ass.”

“Hmph.” He rubbed his hand over her ass cheeks before lowering her panties. “You’re only saying that so you get some angry sex.”

She glared over her shoulder. “Excuse me?”

“Yeah.” He smacked her bottom lightly, a tap she barely felt. He screwed his face up into a grimace, but she could tell he was struggling just as hard not to laugh. “See? I’m ticked. Grr. Argh.”

That was it. She lost it, collapsing on the sofa, unable to breathe through the laughter. The look on his face had been priceless.

“You know, it’s not sexy when you laugh at me.” He tickled her neck with his whiskers, making her laugh harder. “Nope. Not sexy at all.”

She stuck her tongue out at him, squealing when he tickled her side. She had no idea what had happened to put him in such a playful mood, but she didn’t want to break it. “You’ve been watching cartoons again.” He only got
this
playful after a Looney Tunes marathon.

“How’d you guess?” He kissed her cheek.

“Without me?” She loved that stupid black duck.

He finally laughed. “You were reading.”

“Which is more important, sex or cartoons?”

He was silent.

“Gareth!” She started laughing again.

“Fine. Sex is.”

“Goddess, don’t sound so grumpy.” She began to push against him. “I can go back to my book, you know.”

“Really? You’d do that for me?” He sighed happily, even as he refused to let her go. “You’re the best.”

“Of course I am. I got you, didn’t I?”

He stilled, frozen against her, his breath suddenly stuttering in her ear. “Gen?”

“Hmm?” Her heart pounded. There was something about the way he said her name that had her tensing. This was either going to be very good, or very bad.

But it had better happen very quickly. Her leg was starting to hurt.

“I love you.”

Gen sucked in a breath, and this time, when she struggled to roll over, Gareth allowed it. She reached up, caressing his cheek. The look on his face, so full of fear and anxiety and, yes, love, made her smile.

“Oh, thank fuck.” He buried his face in her neck, his breath ragged. His shoulders slumped in relief.

“For what?”

“You love me too.”

Of course she did, but she couldn’t resist. “What makes you say that?”

“The look on your face.”

“That was gas.”

He tickled her again, stopping immediately when she gasped in pain. “Shit, your leg.” He got up, positioning her gently on her back, putting a cushion under her let to elevate it. “I’m a bastard.”

“Don’t talk about your mother that way.” Gen reached out, knowing her mate would immediately accept her need to cuddle.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I was trying to make this fun, not…”

“Painful.” She shifted slightly, wincing at the throb in her leg.

“No. Never that.” When she cupped his cheek, he turned into it, nuzzling her palm. It was the most peaceful expression she’d seen on his face other than when he slept.

“Stop it.” He took far too much onto himself. The safety of his brothers, her health, his father’s business, Gareth tried to make all of it right. “As soon as it hurt I said something.”

“I’d like it if you said something else as well.”

She tsked. “Of course I love you. Idiot. I loved you long before you cast the mate spell.”

“You did?” They were so close she could feel his heart pounding.

“Mm-hmm.” He’d laid himself bare, shown her his vulnerability. It was time she did the same. “I saw you in visions the Goddess sent me.” She grimaced, aware he’d see her pain but unwilling to hide it. “You hated me in most of them, for what I was and what my family had done to yours.”

“No. I’ve never once hated you.” He pressed a kiss to her palm. “Not even when I thought you were the enemy.”

“You wouldn’t look at me, after I…” She swallowed, blinking. The memory was still painful, the old fears trying to rise once more to the surface.

“After you saved me from your father.” He smiled, stroked her hair back from her forehead, and curled around her on the sofa. Now he was the one in danger of falling off, but he didn’t seem to care. “You were so beautiful, both inside and out, and I was stunned at what I’d almost thrown away. I knew you were mine then, I just wasn’t sure how to process it.”

She blinked back her tears. “I’d say you did just fine.” Not once since she’d been back had he done something to make her feel unwanted, or unloved.

He leaned forward until their noses touched. “If you ever run away from me again, I’m tying you to the bed.”

Laughter bubbling up again despite the tears. “Kinky.”

His laughter joined hers, mingling together perfectly, just as they did.

About the Author

Dana Marie Bell wrote her first short story when she was thirteen years old. She's now a
USA Today
best-selling author with Samhain Publishing and Carina Press. Dana has lived primarily in the Northeast with a brief stint on the US Virgin Island of St. Croix. She lives with her soul mate and husband Dusty, their two maniacal children, two evil ice cream stealing cats and a bull terrier that thinks it’s a Pekingese. She's been heard to describe herself as “vertically challenged” and “a lapsed brunette.” Dana also suffers from ankylosing spondylitis (a progressive inflammatory arthritis that primarily affects the spine), and can be seen walking with a cane or tooling around in her mobility scooter. Her condition was the inspiration for Belle's hip injury in
Steel Beauty
.