Witches Be Burned: A Magic & Mayhem Novel (9 page)

Giving herself over to him completely, she cupped his face, staring at him so intently and dropping all barriers. Now she had nothing to prove. She accepted that he desired to possess her body and mind, and for now, she allowed it. In return, he hid nothing of his needs.

Under the sheer force of his love for her and the knowledge that they were together being exactly who they were, his cock grew harder and her eyes widened. Her sex slickened further, making his glides into her easier and more delectable, nearly sending his eyes rolling into the back of his head. Yet he’d never look away from her now. Her moans were becoming a single sound of need and of complete loss of control, and as he drove deep inside, her sex spasmed.

“Christ,” he growled. “Do that again.”

She did, twice over.

“God. Yes. I’m going to—” A beautiful scream of pure euphoria rushed from somewhere deep in her chest. Cheeks flushed, and her hands dropped from his face to his shoulders as he pinned her to the wall, unleashing all of his strength onto her and removing all the tension from his body.

Sweat glistened along her skin, and it formed on his body, too. Her sweet scent, mixed with the aroma of their sex, had him pumping hard and fast. Muscles burning, he welcomed the yearning to get as close as he could to her. He yearned to brand this woman as his, making her unappealing to anyone else. Relishing that very thought, his grunts echoed each and every slap of skin against skin as his cock slid beautifully inside her.

“Mine,” he declared, riding her hard.

“Yeeeeessss.” Her eyes closed.

“Look at me,” he ordered, knowing she’d never shut him down now. She wouldn’t need to voice how strong she was, nor would she get her back up that he was bossing her around. He withdrew to the very tip of his soaked cock, and her breath hitched; then she reopened her eyes, staring at him so acceptingly, and he grunted.

Trapped by the fury that he often kept under wraps about her safety, he rocked into her again. Clenching her sex around him, he drove into her savagely with a growl so primal, he couldn’t control it. “Mine. Say it.”

“Yours,” she rasped, eyes alight. “Always yours.”

Then her head dropped to his shoulder, and he accepted the passion that was driving him to take her hard. Her wet inner walls clamped down against him with her climax, and he roared a curse. All his control vanished; no part of his body belonged to him any longer but was overtaken by pleasure. A wild rush of heat sizzled up his spine and soared straight out of him. Pressing his pelvis tight against her, he shuddered, shouting out his orgasm under the full strain of his flexing muscles.

Then there was silence.

Only when his body released him from the mind-blowing euphoria did his thoughts return. Heart racing, he panted, fighting to keep her in his arms. Sweat drenched their bodies and his muscles quivered in the best way, mirroring the high he got after a fistfight.

A low chuckle escaped him as he enjoyed her sated look. He brushed his nose against hers. “I think I should make you jealous more often.”

“Do it all you like.” She laughed with him, breathless. “But if anyone gives you sexy looks, don’t hold me responsible for gouging out her eyeballs.”

“With you,
Álainn
”—he dropped a soft kiss onto her lips—“I wouldn’t expect anything different.”

He expected a laugh or a sassy retort, but that’s not what he got. She tensed in his arms, then yanked herself out of his hold. His back straightened, sensing her concern, and he snapped his focus, ready to fight…ready to battle…
for her.
When he found no threat in the room, he looked to her again.

“What’s wrong?” He grasped her by the arms.

“There’s a voice in my head…” Nexi paled and her eyes went huge as she looked down to the floor. Kyden had one second to notice Willow before Nexi jumped back in fear and shouted, “It’s evil! Get it!”

Loud meows, mixed with Kyden’s grunts, filled the bedroom as Willow dug her nails into his forearm. The cat screamed bloody murder as Kyden held her by the tail, but Willow seemed to have no problem latching on to his arm and clawing at him.

Put me down, you Neanderthal!

Kyden cursed as Willow wrapped herself around his arm and bit down into his skin. “Christ.” His arm waved wildly, but he didn’t let her go, and Willow never stopped gnawing on his arm. “Stop attacking me, you beast.”

Let me go! Or I’ll take your balls out with my claws.

Nexi blinked, reeling over what she’d first heard in her mind:
You two are despicable! Don’t you care that I’m here while you’re humping each other?
She forced herself to snap back into some sort of insane reality, and now, realizing that Willow wasn’t some spawn of the Devil, she said, “If you like your junk, Kyden, then I’d suggest you drop her.”

He released Willow without a second of hesitation, and the cat fell to the ground, paws first, hissing at him. Kyden snorted at Willow before he grabbed Nexi’s gear off the ground, tossing it to her and then picking up his own.

Nexi hurried through dressing, never taking her eyes off Willow. Yet her kitten didn’t look like her kitty anymore. Willow had grown into giant size—much bigger than Nexi had ever seen before in a normal house cat—Willow was now the size of a collie. Once she finished with the latch on her leather bra, she needed answers and needed them
now.
Feeling ridiculous, but somehow unable to stop herself, she asked Willow, “What the hell are you?”

A dog.
Willow snorted through her cute button nose.
What in the hell do you think I am? A cat, of course.

Kyden grunted, clipping his kilt into place. “All I see is a rat.”

Idiot.

“Did you hear that?” Nexi laughed.

One curious brow arched. “Hear what?”

Like I said, idiot.

“That.” Nexi pointed to Willow as she cleaned one of her black paws and rubbed it over her ear. “Can you hear Willow talking?”

Kyden crossed his arms, leaning against the stone wall and looking damn fine while doing it. After sex, his muscles were more defined, and the sweat coating his body tempted her to lick it off. He replied, “The rat isn’t mine, it’s yours—only you can hear it.”

“Oh.” Nexi dragged her focus away from her sexy beast of a guardian to important things, like her freaking talking cat. “Okay, so that conversation about what she is was apparently an important one. But I will tell you, when I sensed something magical off her,
this
is
not
what I expected.”

You’re starting to sound like an idiot, too.

Beyond confused, Nexi glared at the fluffball at her feet.
Great!
She had a bitchy cat that could voice it. “Be nice. I’m new to all this and have no idea why in the world you’re able to talk”—she pointed to her head—“in here.”

Willow kept on cleaning her ears.
That’s clear, isn’t it?

Swallowing a few choice words, Nexi ignored the snippety cat at her feet. She looked up at Kyden, spotting his half-grin. “Do familiars always hold the ability to talk?”

His shrug was easy, as if this wasn’t totally mind-frickin’-blowing. “Familiars typically attach themselves to young witches who are still coming into their powers.” His gaze swept to Willow with indifference. “But no, they all have a range of different abilities. Some talk, some don’t. Apparently, this rat has the annoying ability.”

The idiot isn’t wrong. And will he stop calling me a rat! I’m no such thing!

“Yes,” Nexi agreed with Willow. “Stop calling her a rat.”

Kyden gave her a blank stare with one brow arched.

A flush crept over Nexi’s cheeks, as he didn’t need to say more. Clearly, he wasn’t blind to the fact that Willow hadn’t been overly kind to Nexi, so why did she care? Well, she didn’t need any more added conflict in her life.

Ignoring his clear dislike for Willow, she looked at the cat. Willow had her leg straight up in the air and licked her fur. Of all the things Nexi had thought a familiar was, she hadn’t once imagined Willow would hold a telepathic connection to her.

Though she also didn’t understand why she needed a familiar. She’d already trained as a witch and kicked butt at it, too. With more mystifying thoughts swelling in her mind, she asked Kyden, “I take it, then, she’ll go away eventually?”

Hey!

Nexi avoided Willow, having a terrible feeling that while Willow might be there to protect her, she would also drive her slightly nutty. Perhaps Finn’s and Haven’s reaction to Willow now made total sense.

“Some familiars leave after their witch no longer has use of them.” Kyden gave Willow a long look. “Some annoyingly stick around.”

Willow hissed at him.
I don’t like this one. Get rid of him.

Shocked laughter bubbled up, but Nexi bit the inside of her cheek. She couldn’t help but wonder how in the hell a cat—even a giant-sized one—planned to protect her. What would Willow do, hiss at the supernatural trying to kill Nexi? But she also wondered if Willow was more of a comfort animal—just being there for emotional support, or something. Although, considering what she’d seen of Willow’s personality thus far, she couldn’t imagine the cat being all that supportive. “How’d you get so big—so fast?” she asked.

Willow licked her paw again, rubbing it behind her ear.
You accepted me, so I matured.

“That is”—Nexi hesitated, then settled on: “I don’t even know what it is beyond saying it’s strange.” Willow had looked ten weeks old when Nexi had first taken her home. “So, what are you, a werecat or something?”

Willow snapped her head up and looked appalled in a way that only a cat could.
I am nothing of the sort. First you name me after a tree, and now you insult me. What kind of master are you?

Nexi glanced at Kyden, who continued to give her a bored regard as he took a seat on the bed, oozing strength and sensuality. Thank God he couldn’t hear her cat giving her hell. Nexi was finding this whole conversation beyond crazy. Turning to Willow, she muttered, “Um, sorry.”

You should be. A tree.
Willow paced in front of the bed, her orange-tipped tail flicking in the air.
That’s what you name me after. What about Fluffy, Kiki, Buttercup? No, this one names me Willow after a doggone tree.

“Your eyes are the same color as the leaves of my favorite willow tree.” Everyone had a safe place to unwind, and that tree was Nexi’s. Hearing Willow’s hiss, she thought it best to add, “I love my willow tree. It’s special to me, so honestly it’s a compliment.”

Kyden blew out a frustrated breath. “Please tell me the rat is not bitchin’ about her name.”

Willow swatted at Kyden’s leg as she strode by him.
I’m not a rat! How many times do I have to say it? I’m a cat!

Nexi sighed.

Fluttering her whiskers, Willow added,
And you aren’t forgiven. Now I’m stuck with the ugly name. How embarrassing!

Nexi rubbed her temple at the deep throb. “Moving on, what exactly is a familiar?”

I’m a supernatural entity.
Willow stomped her two front paws against the floor.
Do I ask what you are and make you feel as though you’re some freak creature?

Needing to understand, Nexi dropped down to her knee and scratched Willow’s head. “I don’t mean to insult you, my dearest Willow.” The sarcasm dripped off her voice, yet Willow didn’t seem to notice, purring away. “I don’t know what you are or why this is happening. Can you please explain?”

Only because you’re asking so nicely, and treating me as I should be treated…
Her purr deepened into a soft rumble.
Some of us are demons, and some of us are fae. Just depends on what side you’re fighting for.

Nexi laughed. “Yeah right, demons and fairies.”

Awkward silence.

Willow replied, full of snark,
I’m looking at a guardian and a witch. Are you seriously doubting the existence of demons and fairies?

“Yes, I seriously am.” Nexi rose to her feet, and she asked Kyden, “Where in the hell do fairies exist? I’ve never seen them before in either world.” She kept demons out of the question, because really, truly, she didn’t want to know.

He explained in the gentle voice she’d heard many times when training her as a guardian, “If familiars are in the Earthworld or Otherworld, they take the form of an animal or a human, as Willow has done. Fae live in another realm.” He hesitated, as if choosing his words carefully. “Demons exist in another world.”

Nexi absorbed that.
Another
world
meant it was close by, she assumed. Where
realm
indicated it could possibly be light-years away. “What other world?”

The Underworld.
Willow shook her head, her mouth gaping open.
How do you not know this?

A cold shiver slid through Nexi as the particular horror of that settled in. Maybe she shouldn’t have tossed out the whole alien theory so quickly. Perhaps aliens were another form of supernaturals, maybe demons…“And where exactly is this Underworld?”

Kyden moved to the window next to the bed and opened the curtain, showing off the full orange moon. “That is the Underworld.” He turned to her, voice soft. “It’s another planet in the Otherworld’s realm.”

Nexi almost didn’t ask, but figured she’d better. “Where demons live?”

“Where dark magic resides,” Kyden explained. “Dark witches, dark warlocks, demons.” He shrugged. “It’s where those who believe in the ways of dark magic live.”

Icy fingertips crawled over her as she glanced at the orange planet with the dark red circle around it. “Cripes, I thought that was a moon this whole time. I had
no
clue it was the Underworld.” More important, she didn’t like that it was positioned so close to the Otherworld. “Why did no one mention this to me before now?”

Kyden held her gaze, then heaved a long sigh, filled with an emotion that Nexi couldn’t quite pinpoint. Exhaustion, maybe? “There’s a lot you need to learn,
Álainn.
” He rose from the bed and moved to her, taking her hand and holding it tight. “The time has not been right to sit down and overwhelm you with details of every realm.”

She understood, of course she did. Since her return to the Otherworld, she’d been either fighting for her life or training. One step at a time, she supposed. Perhaps it was better this way; learning as she went along was a lot less overwhelming. Besides, presumably the Underworld didn’t give the Otherworld much trouble, since it hadn’t been mentioned yet—well, except for the fact that Astoria had returned.

It all sort of made sense now. Astoria hadn’t been found after she attacked the Council because she’d moved to an entirely different planet. “Okay, you’re right—let’s stick to one crazy development at a time.” She looked down at Willow, who was licking her paw. “So I’m taking it you are a fairy and not a demon.”

First she names me after a tree, then calls me a werecat, and now it’s a demon.
Willow hissed, swatting her paw with the claws out.
You are rude, too!

Another deep throb aching in Nexi’s temple had her rubbing the pain away. “All right. You’re a fairy that’s a cat?”

No.
Willow sighed, sounding much too exasperated for a kitty to ever sound.
I’m a fairy that’s in a cat’s body.

“Meaning you could’ve taken another shape?” Nexi asked.

When you’re born, can you take another shape?

“No.”

Willow sat back on her bottom and her sparkling eyes widened.
Then there’s your answer.

Nexi considered all this, moved to the dresser, and leaned against it. With one ankle crossed over the other, she asked, “If I haven’t seen a lot of you around, where do you go once you’re done helping your witch?”

We die in this realm, but go back to our realm and move up the fairy hierarchy.

Nexi rolled her eyes. “Which means, in talk I can understand?”

It means, like I’ve told you, I’m a supernatural entity.
Willow shook her body and her tail flicked around.
This is my form in this realm. I’m here to protect you. When I’ve done that and you have no more need of me, and if you want me to leave, I’ll return to the fairy realm and will be rewarded for a job well done.

Interesting, but more questions loomed…“What will you be after that, then?”

Willow shrugged her fluffy shoulders.
Who knows—I was born, and then given the assignment to come here. That’s all I know.

“Who assigned you to me?”

Willow raised her paw.
Can we skip the thousand questions? Can’t you just accept I’m here to help you and leave it at that?

Nexi snorted a laugh, unable to stop herself. Having a cat raise a paw in impatience topped any ridiculous thing she’d seen so far. Sure, she’d read fairy tales of how witches and cats held a special bond, but she never thought it was true, though she also realized she shouldn’t have expected otherwise.

When was anything regarding magic and supernaturals ever what it seemed to be?