Chapter Six
Taliyah
I wasn’t sure what I expected when I lunged at Maverick, mashing our mouths together in an attempt to distract him.
For him to stutter to a stop and pull away, staring at me in doe-eyed shock? The ominous charge of Maverick’s magic didn’t dissipate. If anything, it thickened until I could practically feel it trying to seep into my pores. The air around us boiled with undulating shadows. Voices whispered from just beyond the veil, and a horrible curiosity seized me. What would happen if I fished around in the shadows? Could I pull someone through? Would they be useful enough to end Aurea?
I pulled myself free of the kiss with a gasp. Those hadn’t been my thoughts. They were Maverick’s macabre musings and the desire for vengeance that consumed him. But it had felt like they were my thoughts. His fury still burned the back of my throat, choking off my voice. I tasted copper on my tongue, and that meant Maverick had bitten his tongue or the inside of his cheek.
I pulled back just enough to suck in air. My grip on his face tightened until my nails dimpled the skin of his face. His eyes were still crimson, his body veiled by the shadows that accompanied some of the more violent things he could do with his power. It was still a localized thunderstorm, seeking a target. If he managed to zero in on Aurea Grimsbane, I was going to have a corpse on my hands. Hers or his, I wasn’t sure. If she’d returned to Europe through one of my mirrors, she’d be out of spell-slinging distance. That wouldn’t stop him from trying, though. He’d tear his own soul out of his body to fling it at her if he could, so long as he could be sure it would detonate on impact. If she was nearby, that left me with a whole other problem to deal with. Neither outcome was acceptable. I had to get Maverick to stop.
But how?
Desperate times call for desperate measures, I thought wildly as the static in the room began to glow red, drenching the room in bloody light.
I let one hand drop away from his face, undoing the buttons of my uniform with shaking fingers. Excitement and nerves warred for control of my thoughts. I knew what I was inviting if I went through with this and part of me was terrified. Terrified that if we crossed a line, we could never come back. Or, I could never come back. I was suddenly terrified he would grow distant and cold when he got what he wanted, like so many other men before him. That if I let him in, literally or figuratively, I’d end up with my heart carved out again when I found him with someone else.
Still, I didn’t stop.
I seized Maverick’s hand and lined it up with the curve of my waist, holding my breath as I waited for his reaction. At first, nothing happened. The power continued to build until I felt like I was being flattened into the wall. Then his fingers twitched, uncurling from the furious claws they’d been fixed in. He tentatively touched the skin of my waist with the tips of his fingers, a cautious exploration that made my heart pound harder than if he’d seized me and hurled me against the wall in a fit of desperate passion.
Jonathan used to do that a lot. Come home, sweep me off my feet, and then take me against the door or on top of the nearest available surface. I didn’t want to draw comparisons between the pair of them, but it was difficult. I hadn’t been the most approachable woman most of the time, and I was kryptonite to the ego of any man who thought they could tame the ‘little lady’. I’d had only a couple serious boyfriends and sexual partners before Jonathan had plucked me up and made me his plaything. Our relationship had been textbook perfect in the beginning, but some part of me always knew it was lacking an infuriatingly vague something that mattered. Now I could finally put my finger on what that something was.
Care.
Oh sure, Jonathan would put on a pretense, say all the right words, and even ape exactly the right emotions, but underneath all of that, he was a malignant narcissist with a grudge against me specifically. Maverick liked to pretend he was unfeeling, but it was just a mask, a way to keep himself safe after a lifetime of punches thrown at his face. But the truth was that he gave a shit. And I was fairly sure he gave a lot of shits where I was concerned. Enough to take his time, and treat me like something to be handled gently, even though he knew I wouldn’t break.
“Tally,” he panted, nuzzling my throat after a moment. The feeling of his lips ghosting over my skin raised goosebumps on every inch of me. His voice was so hoarse it barely sounded like his.
“Shh,” I soothed. “It’s okay.”
“Not okay,” he said through clenched teeth. “She hurt you. Hurt your kids. I will kill her.”
It wasn’t exactly what I’d been hoping for, but simplistic verbal communication was better than nothing.
“You can’t kill her, Mav. I can’t let you.”
“She hurt you,” he insisted. “Can’t let her...”
“ I won’t let her hurt me, and you know that. Anyone who comes after my kids gets what they deserve. But I can’t let you do this to yourself, Mav. Do you have any idea what that much blood magic will do to you if you try to use it against her? Let it go, please.”
I certainly couldn’t guess what would happen if he did use his magic against Aurea. I knew the more someone used his blood power, the more tempting it was to do it again. Wanda had implied it could result in violence bordering on madness if you were angry enough. She’d nearly hexed her foul feline into oblivion after one spectacularly messy fight, and only Hellcat’s catlike reflexes had saved his whiskers.
“Can’t,” Maverick said, real strain showing on his face now. His hands had tightened around my waist, holding me close as though I was the last buoy in a storm-tossed sea.
“Can’t what? Stop?”
“Yes,” he gritted out. “It’s too much.”
The magic was too much. It had to ground out harmlessly somewhere or we’d be standing on top of a crater. There were only a few people in the Hollow capable of taking that kind of damage, and I was one of them. Snow fell on bloody battlefields and hollowed-out craters alike. I could bury it in winter and it wouldn’t hurt... much.
“Take it out on me,” I said. “Give me the energy. I can take it.”
“I’ll hurt you,” he said, quietly this time while shaking his head.
“Then give me pleasure to go with it,” I answered, voice coming out on a shaky exhale.
I reached down to fumble with my duty belt next, letting it fall to the floor with a heavy thump when I was through. On any other day, I would have rather eaten my badge than leave a loaded gun lying around. Every gun safety course and familial lecture I’d ever sat through was chanting in the back of my mind. I had to remind myself that having Maverick’s freaky blood warlock powers go out of control was a hell of a lot more likely than someone coming in and using my gun against us. More than likely, one of my deputies would come in, see it lying there, and hang it up. I compromised by toeing it under my desk until it disappeared from sight.
That accomplished, I reached for my power, opening a small gateway into winter. I’d learned the theory by eavesdropping on Astrid’s lessons with Fox. The only problem with remaining Taliyah instead of Olwen was that I had power with no practice and information without context. Fox had made it very clear that I’d owe him if I wanted any professional instruction, so I’d created my own workaround. I was married to Maverick, so I didn’t need an excuse to visit while Fox and Astrid practiced. The lectures I couldn’t attend had been meticulously detailed by Maverick, who essentially copied his sister’s homework for me. I couldn’t keep the gateway open for long without risking the Hollow’s safety, but this I could do.
Maverick didn’t miss a beat as the wind coming through the doorway whipped our hair into tangles. A joy so fierce it was nearly pain suffused my entire body as I stepped into winter. I smelled the arctic howling off the mountains, carrying the smell of cold and the bite of frost. Little crystals were forming anywhere I touched Maverick as my power seeped out, but he didn’t seem to mind. I was almost disappointed when the doorway snapped shut behind us and we found ourselves standing in a totally different room. I wanted him to take me on the ice of a frozen lake, the stars reflecting like gemstones on the glittering surface. I wanted this powerful force of nature to bowl me over and bury me alive. I wanted him to fill me with his magic until I couldn’t breathe.
But staying in Winter was a recipe for disaster. If I fought Janara, I wanted to go in with forethought instead of literally getting caught with my pants down. So, I’d used the portal to guide us to Maverick’s room instead. I’d briefly contemplated taking this to my place, but the evidence of Aurea’s recent visit might set him off again. Besides, my boys were there along with Darla and Cain. So, no, that wouldn’t work.
I’d only been in Maverick’s room two times. Once to tuck him in after he got plastered and needed a ride home. The other time was to help pack his bags for the trip to Blood Rose. He wasn’t a scrupulously neat person, and his potions station was particularly messy, but it wasn’t a dump. Maverick cared enough about his coven’s opinions that he tidied up regularly. It was a lot more than I could say for some of the grown men I knew. His bed was unmade. That was the only detail I really absorbed before I was on it, bouncing a little from the force of my landing.
Maverick’s mouth came down hard on mine, swallowing my yelp of surprise. His magic ran like static electricity over my skin, biting at every nerve. Even my clothes seemed to buzz with the force of his anger and need. No... scratch that. They were buzzing. As I watched, I saw every stitch that held my shirt, undershirt, pants, and underwear unravel, starting a cascade of destruction. I had no idea where he was getting the finesse to do it, but I could only watch in wonder as my clothes simply fell off , reduced to a pile of thread to either side of me. I was grateful that I hadn’t worn anything I particularly liked today, because that little trick would have reduced a favorite top or pair of pants to ribbons.
Only then did it sink in that I was naked. Well and truly bare in front of my husband . That word hadn’t seemed quite as serious before when there’d been no strings attached. No matter what either of us said to the contrary, sex would change things between us. I’d been planning to wait until we could talk things through, but now realized that had just been a stall tactic. You didn’t climb into bed with someone like Maverick after a calm and reasoned discussion. Most people looked at him and saw a naughty boy, a bad decision that would feel good at the moment but sting later. They didn’t see him . None of them really knew him. He buried it deep down, but he was a good man, even if I was one of the only people he regularly showed up for.
I waited for the remarks that would send me running for the treadmill and the diet soda. Jonathan had been the king of subtle, snide comments that undermined my confidence. He had a talent for tearing people down. He’d still find something to complain about, even if I was in this new, immortal fae form.
But when Maverick pulled back enough to take me in, there was only wonder on his face. He pressed a gentle finger to the pounding pulse in my neck and dragged it south, tracing my clavicle, then down to the swell of my breasts. They’d gotten a little larger than they’d been pre-change, but my rack wasn’t nearly as formidable as most of the witches he knew. I shivered when his finger dipped lower, circling a nipple with his fingernail until it hardened into a taut peak.
“Beautiful,” he breathed.
Blood boiled beneath my skin, flushing my body a light pink. I wasn’t prone to blotchy red blushing anymore, and for once I was grateful for that. My face turning red as a tomato from even the smallest compliment utterly undercut the dignity of the heir apparent to the winter throne. And it definitely undercut the Chief of Police.
Maverick responded with enthusiasm, descending on me with an almost feral sound of need. The edge of teeth when he latched onto my nipple shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did. My hips jerked in surprise, rubbing my very naked body against the roughness of his jeans. The friction was almost enough to put me over the edge, and he’d barely even touched me.
He groaned when I hooked a leg around his waist and tried to pull myself closer. Oh, dear God. I was going to explode before he even got to the main event. I wasn’t exactly a kinky person, but the thought of being at Maverick’s mercy in the bedroom made my skin heat and my belly clench with want. Maverick smiled gently then, running his thumb along my bottom lip.
“Tell me you’re mine.”
It wasn’t a demand. He wasn’t asking to own me or trying to talk over me in a work setting. He was asking for a simple assurance. That we were in this together. That I wanted him enough to risk the heartbreak that came with a relationship. Because we were in a relationship, whether we liked it or not.
“I’m yours,” I whispered.
“Good.”
Maverick skimmed his nose along my stomach, pressing sweet, sticky kisses on my stomach. My heart leaped and I almost protested when he delved even lower, kissing across my thighs. But before I could open my mouth, he was on me, using his clever, sardonic tongue in new and exciting ways. No one had done this for me. Ever. Jonathan was sure to ask for oral, but never gave in return. For an incubus who loved spending every moment in bed, he was remarkably stingy, selfish, and misogynistic.
I was convinced Maverick was using magic to hold my hips in place, because I couldn’t shake him, no matter how hard I writhed. The climax that hit me a few seconds later was explosive, and snow burst in soft flurries, whipped around by the wind of my excitement. By the time he was finished with me, I was shaking with aftershocks and tears were beading on my lashes. He caught one before it could fall and turn to ice.
“I didn’t mean to make you cry. Did I hurt you?”
“No,” I said, surprised when my voice came out on a sob. What was wrong with me? “That was... I never...”
“Had an orgasm?” he asked.
“No,” I said with a watery snort. “I was married to an incubus. I had plenty of those… I just never had anyone who cared enough to...”
“Oh,” he said, realization dawning. A bit of pink dusted his cheeks. It was oddly endearing. He could give me a bone-cracking orgasm, but he blushed when I mentioned just how he’d done it. “Really? Never?”
“Never. For someone who eats by having sex, Jonathan didn’t have a... ah... a very adventurous palate.”
Maverick grinned. “Well, mine is exceedingly adventurous...”
Gulp. That sounded ominous. And exciting.
“We don’t have to continue if you don’t want to, Tally,” he continued. “I think I have the power under control now.”
“You do?” I asked skeptically.
He nodded. “I used a lot of it to unmake your clothes. Deconstruction takes a lot more energy than you’d think.”
“I don’t care,” I said, undoing the buttons on his jeans with sure fingers. For the first time since fully transforming into my true faerie self, I felt completely sure about something. Maverick hissed when I reached past his waistband to seize his length.
“Tally-”
“Shh,” I said, pushing at his waistband. “It’s my turn.”
Maverick groaned, head lolling back against his pillows. His hands gripped my hips, holding me off his lap. His eyes were wild, desperate, and a little bloodshot, but they were gray once more.
“Believe me, I’d love to do this, Tally, but I don’t have protection and you’re not on birth control.”
“I’m menopausal, Mav.”
“ Human you appeared to be menopausal, but faeries have a longer fertile window than most other species. You were meant to have an heir with Fox. That means he was confident you could get pregnant.”
Oh, dear God. I hadn’t even considered that. Did my new faerie body react to hormonal birth control? Was there some spell or potion that could do the job for me? Did my people have a weird opposition to the idea? I didn’t know. I was glad at least one of us was thinking straight, because there was no way I wanted to get pregnant. What was more, a baby with an autumn royal, even a changeling warlock, would put me squarely in Janara’s sights once more. I worried for Sean and Charlie any time snowstorms descended on the Hollow. The anxiety would be unbearable if I had a baby at home to fret over.
“I hate that you’re responsible,” I said, and couldn’t help the petulant note in my voice. “It really ruins the mood.”
“So does unintended pregnancy.”
I sighed. “You’re right. Thank you.”
Maverick lifted my hand to his lips and kissed every fingertip. “Rain check?”
“Definitely. Are you good?”
His expression darkened. “No, I don’t think I am.”
“Is it the magic?”
He shook his head. “No… it’s that Aurea isn’t our only problem.”
“She’s not?”
He continued shaking his head. “There’s something else. Something I need to consult with the others about.”
I stood and stretched, enjoying the weight of his stare on me. He actually groaned when I leaned down and began to rummage through the laundry on the floor. The black button-up shirt he’d worn yesterday was too big on me, hitting at mid-thigh when I put it on.
“You’re just teasing me now,” he said, longing in his voice as I shimmied into a pair of his slacks, cinching his belt as tightly as it would go. I felt like a little girl again, donning my father’s police uniform after finding it in the laundry.
“You think this is sexy?” I asked, gesturing at myself. “I look like I’m gearing up for a department store big and tall sale.”
“You’re wearing my clothes. I may never wash that outfit again, just so it’ll smell like you when I put it on.”
“I’m not sure if I should be enchanted or disturbed.”
He flashed me a quick smile. “I get that a lot, actually.”