CHAPTER TWENTY
Asher gripped the steering wheel tightly, as if to ground his warring thoughts. And the silent witch by his side didn’t help his mood one bit. His wolf was barely restraining itself, fearing for the people he had to protect, and uncomfortable with the many unanswered questions whirling in his head. He was convinced that the disappearance of his uncle and aunt had something to do with the mercenaries attacking Sanctuary earlier. When he was ready to fight back, going directly to the source, Valeria had another, incomprehensible suggestion.
“Tell me again why we can’t go directly to Lancaster Estates? I’m under the impression that I could get more answers than driving into town on an errand.”
Valeria sighed. “First, Lancaster Estates is a fortress, and if my father was forced to be holed up there, he would’ve certainly amped up the protection, with men and magic.”
“You could enter. Don’t tell me that his own daughter couldn’t find a way in. If you don’t want to go…”
“Stop!” Her voice turned to an angry shout inside his pick-up truck. “Don’t ever say that I don’t want to go back. Since I learned that my mother might not be dead, it’s the only thing on my mind. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned from Lionel Lancaster is not be hasty. Think, Asher. If the High Council has suspicions about him, not only the private grounds would be guarded, but also the outer perimeter. And not by run-of-the-mill witches. First, we need answers to a few questions.”
Asher tried to relax his clenched jaw, but even her logic didn’t help much. “Shifters are not as vulnerable to your magic as you think.”
The witch took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. Her scent filling the small cabin was another thing he had to battle constantly when she was nearby. The more she remained by his side, the more her scent clung to him, remained deep inside his lungs, making his wolf restless to take her once more. Asher knew it was a bad idea to take her again. Not that she was his mate; shifters didn’t mate with other species of the Otherworld. But there was something in the softness of her dark-brown mane, the flickering gold of her gaze and the effect of her touch on his skin that made her irresistible. The witch reminded him of a run in the forest late in the year when all the autumn leaves were crushing under his paws, the smell of wet moss and bark filling his lungs, when all he wanted to do was howl under the full moon.
Her voice forced him back to the present. “I don’t know how witch magic affects shifters. And it adds to the many questions that need answers.”
“And that’s why you wanted me to drive you to town?”
“No, I wanted to come to town alone; you were the one who didn’t want me to leave Sanctuary.”
“I know I can protect you there.”
“Asher, there is nowhere that I can be protected. Not when my father and probably many rogue Enforcers as his followers are after me.”
“But you defended yourself quite well last night…”
“That’s not a common magical strength for me. First, I had a two-year build-up, and I had partially drained a shifter, and…”
She stopped talking as if catching herself before revealing too much.
“And what?”
Shaking her head, she opened and closed her mouth again. Oh no, she wouldn’t start hiding information from him. His wolf snarled as Asher prayed for patience. He must have emitted a sound because the witch turned her head quickly.
“What the hell was that for?”
“I thought we were over that stage.”
“What stage?”
“The one where you keep things to yourself. I know that being you must suck right now, with your family, the treason … but the less you keep me in the loop, the more dangerous it is.”
“Asher…”
“No! You listen. I get it. You’re in a shitty situation right now, with your family, but it now involves more people than yourself. Innocent people. If Lancaster is after you, there is a risk that he’ll send more people to Sanctuary. Innocent lives are at stake. People who are under my care.”
“And you think I don’t think about them? I didn’t risk it all to save Maya to see her and her mother killed. But I won’t act and attack on a whim, without information and especially not without answers.”
“You believe it’s what I’m going to do, isn’t it?”
“You have a vendetta, seeing my father dead is your goal. To avenge your parents and your sister!”
“If that were the case, if I’m as bloodthirsty as you say, I would’ve let you drown in that river, or killed you in that cell. I was willing to spill your blood when I caught your smell.”
“Why didn’t you?”
That was a trick question, one he wasn’t sure he had the answer yet. “Instinct. And if I hadn’t listened to it, you would have been a bloody pulp, and we wouldn’t be having this conversation where I’m pissed off because you’re withholding information from me.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“It never is.”
“And I don’t know if I can trust you.”
Now he turned his head at her and smiled. “You know you can.”
“Sexual attraction doesn’t necessarily make you trustworthy.”
“You wouldn’t have slept with me if you didn’t feel I could be trusted intrinsically.”
Valeria seemed to ponder that for a while before she spoke again. “I was engaged to someone whom I thought was a good man. If what Ian told me is true, that James participated in this rampage, it means my radar is dead wrong.”
“You can trust me.”
“James said the exact same thing to me.”
The growl increased and, even before he could realize it, Asher had hit the brakes, hard. The truck skidded, and he heard horns, but the cars passed by. He couldn’t care less. When he turned to Valeria, she flinched. His wolf was close. More than close, he was on the verge. Being compared to a killing scumbag didn’t sit well with him at all.
“You don’t know anything about werewolves or shifters, do you, Valeria?”
The growl in his voice reminded him to get a grip, even a very slippery one.
“We don’t lie. We’re not deceivers. The animal in us…” How could he explain this to her? “An animal doesn’t lie. So we don’t.”
The witch shook her head. “It can’t be that simple.”
Edging on losing control, he didn’t question his next move. His fingers fisting in her soft brown hair, he smashed his mouth against hers. The fury quickly evaporated, turning into something even more explosive as lust took its place. If only he could make her understand the core of what a werewolf was. He could avoid or turn a conversation around, but lying to her was impossible. As was the desire that coursed through his veins. When Asher felt her soften in his arms, he pulled her onto his lap, taking care that she didn’t bump into the steering wheel.
Valeria fisted her hands in his shirt as if to tear it from his body, but the ripping sound he heard came from his own hands almost shredding her clothes.
“Asher, we’re in broad daylight, on the side of the road. We can’t…”
But could he really stop? His erection strained painfully against the fly of his jeans. There was no doubt he could take her here and now. But he wouldn’t force her.
Just as he thought she would pull away, magic poured out of her, dancing over his skin adding fuel to his fire. What did she do?
Sensing his question, she smiled. “A spell, the truck will appear unoccupied for a while.”
Asher smiled. “Ah, I knew there would be perks being with a witch.”
Sadness flashed so quickly in her golden eyes, replaced by amusement, that he barely saw it. He wanted to know why, but her busy fingers make him decide to let it go for now.
Her hips grinding against him, he pulled at her pants, not stopping until he had ripped the fabric apart. Valeria bit his lips and smiled.
“You know, all you had to do was ask.”
Asher didn’t understand her words, until he realized there was nothing between them anymore. His erection was nestled between her hot, wet folds as she rocked. Barely able to regain control, he kissed the soft skin between her breasts, their current position making it perfect for him to nuzzle.
Licking her skin until he reached one of her taut, pink nipples, Valeria shifted restlessly on his lap, her hips moving slightly as she rubbed his aching length against her clit. When she finally found the perfect angle, she moaned, a shiver coursing through her body. When he tugged at her nipple, she arched and dug her fingers into his shoulders. At that instant, he knew it was enough. He was far from a saint, and his wolf was about to tear him inside out. Asher reached between them and gently lifted her up to position himself. However, the witch wasn’t the only one unable to wait a second longer, and before he could draw a breath, she took him in to the hilt.
The roar of pleasure rendered him blind for a moment. Only when the wicked witch giggled and swayed her hips that he decided that teasing was enough. Careful of his strength, he grabbed her hips and took charge of the tempo, sliding inside her at an increasing pace. As he thought it couldn’t be enough, Valeria started countering his movement, increasing in force, flaming the friction between them. Sensing that the change added to her pleasure, he snaked a hand between them, zeroing in to press at her nub with utter efficiency.
It was a game changer, as seeing her like this, trusting him with her body, with her pleasure, allowing herself to lose control in his arms, humbled him and made him feel like a god, all wrapped up in lust and desire. It wasn’t a show of power he realized, but of restraint. They were both dangerous beings, but together, they gave and took, edged and pushed in a silent understanding that made Asher ache even more for the woman in his arms. Damn the rules, damn the High Council. He had never found a female, a woman that made him want more in this life. His brain screamed that the witch in his arms - lost in her pleasure, observing his reactions and moans as if he were the only man on the surface of this world - could never be his. As his hips pushed up into her, she arched back, glistening like moonlight, and he couldn’t see how he could draw his next breath without her. At that realization, pleasure swirled inside him, making his spine tingle, his body restless. And when he forced himself to rein in his desire, wait for her, Valeria arched up, her body stiffening in shivering orgasm as she screamed his name, clenching hard around his cock. The pleasure was so sudden that when he spilled inside her, so powerful, no sound came from him. He froze, his eyes solely on her, his spellbinding witch. At that moment, when she looked at him again, still in the throes of pleasure, still flying high, did Asher realize that there wouldn’t be anyone else for him. The fates had dealt him a hand he could never play, a game he would never win, but he was determined to try. For her.
Ignorant of his unspoken vow to her, Valeria nestled in his arms, kissing every inch of him she could reach as he held on to her, falling willingly under her spell.