One Night With a Witch (Keepers of the Veil #5)

Chapter 4

4

A very had meant to lighten the mood or make things easier between them. She was already in way over her head. The serious glint in the depths of Eli s eyes meant he attributed a hell of a lot of importance to this. She needed to keep this carefree and not ascribe too much significance to something induced by magic.

Eli took everything in life seriously, and whatever he did he tended to excel. He most definitely excelled at kissing. A whimper lodged in her throat when Eli s tongue shot past her lips, commanding a response. God only knows what this man could do between the sheets.

His hand tangled in her hair, tugging her head to the position he wanted. He went deeper, and an odd sense of desperation lurked in his kiss.

A spiraling started deep inside her. So many emotions whipped around. An edge always existed in Eli, but something had been freed with her yes.

His mouth found her ear to suck at her earlobe. Tingles spread over her skin as he covered both her breasts before sliding south. He parted her and slipped two fingers into her heat.

You re so hot for me. Did you ever imagine me doing this?

He slid his palm against her clit. Too much at once. She cried out. His dangerous fingers played, crisscrossing inside her. Never?

Yes. No. I mean, I imagined it. So many times. A quiver began around his fingers. He withdrew. She hissed in protest. Eli, please.

Ah, baby, I love how sweetly you ask, but not yet. We have a few things to get straight. He leaned over and excavated a condom from his wallet, sliding it into place.

Her mind spun while her body throbbed. Protection s good. Are you talking about something else?

He rose above her and leaned close. When you re in danger, you re going to let me handle it.

She wasn t into talking or giving away any freedoms. She angled against him until he pressed against her entrance. Then she slid forward so slowly. She rotated her pelvis up against him, crying out when he filled her. Both eyes open wide.

He groaned against her ear. You re a dangerous witch.

I ll take that as a compliment. Her laugh came out strangled. She tilted backward, wrapped her legs around his hips, and slammed forward.

His hands clasped her hips. Slow down, baby.

No. She fought his hands. When she couldn t move, she clamped her inner muscles around him, sending ripples of pleasure along the sensitive nerves holding him captive.

His indrawn breath made her smile in triumph. She repeated it again.

Fuck, Avery. He slid out and in. She reached back to grip the headboard for more leverage.

Eli snapped. With a growl, he dug his fingers into her hips, yanking her against him. He started to pound. Harder and faster than before. Furious and forceful. In this glorious moment, Eli belonged to her. Not her sister or any other nameless woman. Her.

The friction was so intense her breath caught on a scream. Pleasure consumed her at his relentless strokes. The peak she needed remained out of reach, an almost but not quite. His hand found her clit.

Fire ripped through her nerves. She crashed, tumbling over and over. Her mouth opened on a silent scream as she arched her back, letting the pleasure overwhelm her.

His body tightened as he came, his breath hot in her ear. Finally, he stopped moving. His heart beat a rapid tempo against her chest.

You re my everything, Avery.

The words were soft. Possessive.

They were spell-induced. None of this was real, and the thought sucked all the pleasure right out of the moment.

Eli stared at the shadows streaking across the hotel room s ceiling. His consciousness slowly stitched itself back together. He hadn t intended to fall asleep, not with all the personalities and unusual magical abilities swirling inside the hotel. The late night party after a long day at the conference probably roared on downstairs, not that he was an attendee.

Avery slept draped over him and, while he d love nothing more than to hold her all night or wake her up for a repeat, something wasn t right. A small snore escaped her every third or fourth exhale. He smiled. Before she d passed out she d muttered a protective spell, one he d heard from other Pleiades, not that he d slept with any of them. They used this particular spell to ward off evil and keep sleep as safe as possible.

Knock, knock, knock.

Avery complained as he scooted her exhausted, sleeping body off him. He arranged the amulet from Merck around her neck, gripped the round piece of metal in his palm. You have my soul, Avery. Keep it safe for me.

Merck warned him to secure his soul before nearing Henrik, not that he knew if that s who waited for him on the other side of the door. Might be misdirected room service or something. Better safe than sorry, though. Merck never intended to be face-to-face with Henrik. He d only wanted information on Henrik s location and his contacts. Even from afar, Merck assured him that the man they suspected to be the Spirit Peddler was deadly.

Eli had forgotten to secure his soul earlier. He wasn t sure if the amulet worked such that another person could keep his soul safe or if it only worked for the wearer. He looped the hexenspiegel around his neck, pulled on his pants and shirt on the way to the door.

A peek through the peephole showed Henrik. The smart play would be to refuse to open the door and wake Avery to order that she jump away to her other dimension.

Merck s job was to catch this asshole and figure out his motives, not Eli s. Merck had chased Henrik for decades. The shadowy bastard seemed to slip through customs, countries, and all security without detection, as if he were a ghost.

I can hear you breathing through the door, Henrik said. If you refuse to step outside, then you ll force me to kill her.

Her who?

Eli glanced at the blurred fine line of salt on the ground before the doorway, an extra security precaution to deny unwanted magic wielders entry. Henrik wanted him out of the protections of his room.

The giant from the elevator came into view with a gun to the temple of a petite brunette, a member of the surveillance team he d worked with at MI6. The team knew he was here and probably figured he wasn t taking time off as MI6 ordered him, but continued the terrorism case investigation out of stubbornness. In reality, it was an awful coincidence to be at the same location.

With a groan, his eyelids drifted closed. Damn his honor. He wouldn t let this woman die because she d been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Whatever Henrik wished to discuss wouldn t be good. Would Avery be safer if he stepped out and figured out what the hell Henrik was up to? Or safer if he stayed inside like a coward?

Avery would be safe so long as she stayed inside. But if something happened to him she might wake up.

I m sorry to say that other gentleman, Bill, I believe was his name, really wasn t of much use to me, Henrik said with disdain.

Bill was the brunette s MI6 partner and real life husband.

Henrik, it s late. What s going on? Eli cracked open the door with the chain in place. He pointed to the brunette. I don t know her. Why re you holding a gun to her head?

Would it help if I promise I will never hurt the woman inside your room? She s not of interest to me. Far too complicated to be involved with. Henrik took out his cell phone and replied to a message while awaiting Eli s reply.

I would like that promise. I also would like an assurance you won t kill whoever that woman is, if I come outside.

Henrik glanced at Micah. I swear I will not harm this woman out here. And I promise to never hurt the woman in your room.

I m taking that never to mean forever. He couldn t be seriously considering leaving the protections on the room. He wore the hexenspiegel, which would repel spells. Avery was safe. This was about saving another innocent life.

He unchained the door and stepped into the hall.

Henrik began a monotonic chant.

The hairs on the back of Eli s neck went on end. Chills slid through his shoulders. He may not understand the language, but he recognized a spell when he heard one.

Stop it, Spirit Peddler. Eli infused the Voice into his command, which magically prompted most people to do as he suggested. It didn t stop Henrik.

Henrik held a tarnished quarter-sized coin between two fingers. His arm extended toward Eli, intending to touch the coin to the skin of his chest. This close he could see an Indian-looking script on the piece.

Stop chanting. Fear slammed Eli s heart against his ribs. Adrenaline ripped through his bloodstream. He dodged to avoid the coin s touch when it closed in. The guard discharged his suppressed pistol, killing the brunette, and slammed a fist into Eli s chest, knocking the breath out of him. He forced Eli against the wall.

Henrik pressed the coin into the skin of his chest. Nothing happened.

Damn. Henrik pulled a pen from his suit pocket and excavated the hexenspiegel from beneath Eli s shirt. Merck is a cautious bugger, but sending you and not coming himself is demeaning. Convenient for some old business, though.

You promised not to kill that woman. Eli glanced to the brunette whose blood created a slowly enlarging stain on the red and gold carpet.

I promised I wouldn t hurt her. Can t speak for others, though. Henrik fired off a few words in a language Eli didn t recognize.

The giant restraining him ripped off the hexenspiegel, which tore the skin on the back of Eli s neck. Not good.

The chanting began again.

Eli heel jabbed the giant in his ankle, sending him off balance. His hands freed, Eli punched the guy in the face hard enough to throw him against the wall.

Stop, Henrik ordered.

As if .

The giant backed away. So, the stop hadn t been directed at Eli. Weird.

Hold him, Henrik directed.

Who was he speaking to? Henrik s focus hadn t been on the giant. Eli glanced around.

Shivers passed through him. He wiggled but couldn t move. His entire body was imprisoned by something invisible. Henrik seemed to be speaking to something not there. Maybe ghosts.

Henrik s chanting started again. The coin closed in on his chest. He wiggled to avoid it. When it touched, his skin sizzled.

Oh, shit. Checkmate.

Eli twisted to get away, but the hold on his limbs didn t break.

Something shadowy slithered into his brain. The dark sensation battled him for ownership of his mind and won. He felt as if he was in the back of a dark room watching a horror movie but not able to control anything.

I didn t want a male body.

Had he said that? Yes, the words had come out of his mouth, but it wasn t him speaking. The tone had been high, like a man speaking as if a woman. The movement of his arms was effeminate. Cripes, his arms were moving. His mind retreated in terror of whatever it , the thing in his mind, was .

Henrik shrugged. We needed someone associated with the Pleiades. Deliver the message. It s on you to fulfill your part of the arrangement and maintain your new dwelling afterward. If you lose to Merck again, you re on your own.

Agreed. Again words from him, but Eli hadn t said them. He needed to fight this thing. He wasn t giving his mind or his body over to some sort of spirit possession. Get out of my head.

The shadow laughed an unpleasant, feminine cackle. I wish I could read your memories, Eli. A druid. Oh, yes, that s good. You think things and I get it. Perfect. You and I have a wedding to crash. Shannon and Merck won t know what s coming for them. For now, you will forget about me.

Eli stumbled back into the hotel room. He collapsed onto the flowery plush sofa in the anteroom of the suite. His headache pounded so acutely he almost ran for the toilet to empty his stomach. What d happened? He couldn t remember anything after he opened the door.

You okay? Avery stood nearby wrapped in a blanket. So beautiful with her hair rumpled and wildly askew.

He rose to a cautious seated position. His head ached to the point each blink sent a fresh wave of vibrating agony through his skull. Head hurts. Maybe it s the spell wearing off. That s good, right? You should take off.

Give me a sec to get dressed. She returned to the bedroom. Moments later, she reappeared fully dressed. Maybe it d been minutes since she left. He didn t remember sitting there for more than a few seconds.

His vision clouded. Something was wrong, dangerously wrong, but he couldn t pinpoint what. Avery needed to get away from him right now while he figured out the problem. Go. What happened We have to forget about it. Mistake.

Her face screwed up in pain but then smoothed over. You don t look so good. You sure you re all right?

Please, Avery. Just leave. He couldn t look at her again. It hurt too much.

What happened stays here. One-time thing. You said those were the rules.

He wanted to soothe her hurt, but whatever was going on in his head wasn t safe. Better for her to hate him and leave. If whatever was wrong forced him to attack her, he d never be able to live with himself.

What about this? She held the amulet away from her chest, its chain still around her neck.

Take it back to Merck for me. I m leaving soon after you. Don t need it. He waved a dismissive hand, hoping she d go.

With her head high, she left.

Good, you got rid of the bitch. She s not the one I want.

What the hell was that voice? Pain tripled behind his eyes. He fell to his side and curled into a fetal position.

Eli, We ve got things to do.