Chapter Nine
MARIUS
Mina traced the photo on the screen of my phone with one finger. “Oh. That’s…cute.”
Cute? Another word that made any self-respecting dragon shifter look long and hard at his life choices.
Which I did, but there was no contest — I chose Mina every time. The problem was the threat I posed to her, just by being me.
She tilted her head. “Where was that taken?”
“Mallorca, I think. See?” I zoomed in on the masts in the background.
“Oh,” Mina murmured, reliving that moment, perhaps, as I did.
Having somehow survived a mission in which everything that could have gone wrong did, we had celebrated by taking a quiet moment together while waiting for the private jet back to France. The moon had been full, the sea breeze balmy, and Mina had never felt more perfect in my arms.
“Wait. Who took this?” she asked, slowly catching on.
“Whoever sent this.” I showed her the accompanying message.
Her shoulders tensed as she read aloud. “Those who love, lose. What the hell?”
My sentiments exactly.
“Anonymous?” she read from the sender’s avatar. “Have you traced this?”
“I’ve tried, but the source is buried too deep.”
She mulled that over, then asked, “Why would someone send this?”
I waited, because it was pretty obvious, and even a mind as free of evil as Mina’s could figure it out.
She gaped. “Someone is threatening you?”
I tightened my arms around her. “They’re threatening me and you.”
Any other woman would have screeched and run away, but Mina wove her fingers around mine. “Who?”
“Someone who hates me.” I sighed. “It’s a fairly long list.”
“So, list,” she growled.
I shook my head. “The more you know, the more danger you’re in.”
She huffed and wiggled out of my arms. “Ignorance doesn’t diminish danger. And ignorance by choice is plain old stupidity — a choice you don’t get to make for me.”
“It’s not a choice, Mina. It’s a necessity.”
She shook her head vehemently. “Not for you to decide. Now, tell me who you suspect.”
And boy, could she do commanding when she wanted to.
I thought it over a moment longer, then caved. Mina was right. I just hoped it wouldn’t come back to bite me — or kill her.
“Etienne is my top suspect.”
“Etienne?”
I nodded, cursing the day I’d gotten involved with him. All I’d wanted was to make a quick buck, and going head-to-head against other shifters in his clandestine, gladiator-style pits had fit the bill. Or so I’d thought at the time.
“Remember that charge of attempted murder?” I asked.
“Kind of hard to forget.”
I winced, praying she remembered the rest.
She did, fortunately. “You mean the fight ring/sex-trafficking guy, right? Do you think he’s out for revenge?”
“It’s possible.”
“Let me get this straight,” she said, more to herself than me. “You nearly killed him — out of principle…”
I shrugged, trying to make light of it. “He owed me money too.”
She snorted, telling me she didn’t buy that, then continued puzzling it out.
“You didn’t succeed, but trying was enough to land you in hot water, and that’s what brought you to your plea-bargain thing with Gordon.”
I waited for her to figure out the rest, which she promptly did.
“Etienne got in trouble too, I guess?”
“Yes. His businesses were shut down, and he was forced into a deal similar to mine, though I don’t know the details.”
“A deal with Gordon?” she yelped.
It said a lot about Mina that for all the dirt she’d learned about her godfather, she still clung to her misplaced faith in him.
I gulped hard. The same way she had faith in me?
I shook my head. “No. A different warlock dealt with Etienne. An associate of Gordon’s.”
She grimaced but didn’t say a word.
“Etienne would love to get back at me, and hurting you would be the best way to do that.”
She looked up at me, whispering, “Is it?”
I tightened my arms around her. “It is.”
Hurting Mina was the worst possible punishment I could imagine. No form of torture would come close, and no other person stood in that category. Only Mina.
As chilling as the thought was, we were back to cute and snuggly. What was it with me?
Mina cupped my face, whispering, “Did I ever tell you I love you?”
I shook my head slowly. No, actually. Neither of us had ever dared utter that four-letter word.
“Well, I do. I love you. Desperately, even though I tried not to.”
I bit my lip, then admitted, “I tried that too.”
Her eyes lit up. “You did?”
I nodded. “Didn’t work, though. Miserable failure.”
She poked my ribs. “Miserable?”
“I mean that in a good way.” I cleared my throat, working up the nerve to say, “I love you too.” It came out as a mumble, so I gave it a second try. “I love you, Mina. I miss you. I hated leaving.”
She wrapped her arms around mine and nodded softly. “I miss you too.”
Another crack formed in my heart, but the fact that she didn’t slap me and retreat kept the pieces from falling apart completely.
The next minute passed in weighty silence. At some point, Mina let out a long breath and nestled closer. Close enough to make my mind go blank of everything but the feeling of her in my arms. Her scent. The rightness of it all.
Destiny, my dragon murmured.
Yes, but where would it all lead?
Mina kissed me softly. As our lips moved, my senses dimmed, losing track of everything but her. Our bodies pressed closer, and the heat between us began to flare, melting away my plan to keep away from her forever.
“Mm,” Mina murmured as our kiss grew deeper.
I stroked her curves, losing myself in a sensual haze.
Not supposed to, a warning sounded in the back of my mind. Must resist…
But it was hard to remember why. Hard to think of anything but how perfect we were together.
Forever, my dragon hummed.
I dragged my cheek along hers, marking her with my scent. I trailed kisses down her neck, so hot and hard that she arched and moaned. I snuck a hand up from her ribs at the same time, barely aware of what I was doing. Barely aware of the clouds parting, allowing the moonlight through.
Magic swirled around me. I could feel it. Irresistible, insistent magic, and Mina was just as caught up in it.
Claim, the moon chanted quietly. Claim your mate.
Did Mina hear that too?
“So good,” she breathed, pulling me closer.
My groin ached, and I wished we were somewhere else. Somewhere with a bed.
Claim, my dragon hummed.
Her breath hitched when I swiped a thumb over her breast, and she let her hands wander over my body.
Need you… Want you… Her thoughts registered in my hazy mind.
It was crazy, how quickly we’d gone from normal to inferno and how insistently my beast chanted, Claim, claim, claim.
There was more at work here than just her and me, a blurry corner of my mind realized. Something like destiny.
“Oh…” she breathed, melting in my arms as I kissed, rubbed, and nipped her skin.
Claim, my dragon demanded.
Moonlight bathed our bodies, casting blueish light over our tangled limbs.
No time to waste, the moon urged. Claim her before you lose her. Make her yours forever.
Mine… Forever… my inner beast agreed.
And hell. Even my human side agreed. I loved her, and she loved me. So why not claim her with a mating bite?
My gums ached as my dragon fought to emerge. Claim her. Now. No one can take her from us, then.
I sensed a fault in that logic but was too lost in the moment to care. Intoxicated by her scent, I nipped her neck and rubbed my chin over her soft skin. Scrubbing it, almost.
She leaned closer, begging for more. More I was happy to give.
Beeeep! A car careened around the closest corner, then raced away.
We broke apart, panting. Then we exhaled. False alarm.
For a full minute, we sat there, our chests heaving. Then Mina ran a hand over her neck, mumbling, “Wow, that was good. Is a neck orgasm a thing?”
I grinned, though an unsettled thought poked at the edge of my mind. But the past week had been hell, and the present felt so, so good. Why not bask in this feeling for a while?
“I mean it. That was incredible,” she said, still touching her neck.
My groin ached as if she’d rubbed there too, and moonlight shimmered over her skin. I froze, staring. In the heat of the moment, I’d come close to a mating bite. Things hadn’t gone that far, but I’d nuzzled her hard. Too hard?
I snapped back to my senses, suddenly afraid. It was one thing for a shifter to mark their lover with their scent. But there was another type of mark an overzealous shifter could leave when circumstances were just right. One in which destiny intervened to propel two lovers closer to a forever bond.
Marked by moonlight, I’d heard it called. Something much deeper and longer-lasting than the usual, faint remnant of a lover’s scent. A moonlight mark glowed, announcing a shifter’s intention to mate to his rivals.
“Mm,” Mina murmured, nuzzling my chin.
I glanced at her neck. Had I slipped up and allowed my inner beast close enough to the surface to mark Mina with its leathery hide?
A cloud drifted over the moon, and the shimmer faded. Or had I imagined it?
My heart pounded. On the one hand, I loved the idea. But if I’d inadvertently given Mina a moonlight mark, there would be no hiding my love for her, and she would be in that much more danger.
And, fuck. I had plenty of supernatural enemies waiting to exploit my slightest vulnerability.
Until now, that hadn’t been an issue, because I didn’t do vulnerable.
But loving Mina exposed me in a whole new way — and exposed her to all kinds of dangers too.
In which case, I couldn’t stay away from her. I had to make sure she was safe.
I craned my neck, studying hers. But there was nothing now. No way to tell for sure.
“Wow. That was intense.” She chuckled. “I was ready to screw you right here. Maybe it was a good thing that car came along.”
Yes, but had it come a moment too late?
I gulped hard, murmuring, “Yeah. Good thing.”
Mina cocked her head. “Something wrong?”
“No. I mean, yes. I’m just worried about that picture I was sent,” I bluffed.
She grimaced. “Right. What do we do about that?”
Easy answer, for a change. “You go home, stay safe, and leave it to me.”
She snorted. “Don’t even start. If I wanted overprotective, I would be with Clem.”
My gut churned at the thought of her with the police officer. Still, he would protect her until I could get back there myself, and that was what counted, right?
“I mean it, Mina. You’re safest at the chateau until I figure out who sent that photo.”
Until I wipe that ass off the face of the earth was more like it, but Mina didn’t need to hear the blunt version.
Still, what then? The rest of my enemies wouldn’t need a photo to know Mina meant everything to me. Inadvertently marking her would make that just as obvious.
Simple. We protect her to the end of our days, my dragon vowed.
Mina sighed. “Too bad asking Gordon to help trace that picture isn’t an option.”
No, it wasn’t. But that did bring us to why she’d traveled to Paris.
“What did Gordon want?” I asked.
“Nothing sketchy. It’s totally innocent. Maybe even fun.”
My dragon paced and swished its tail. Innocent? Gordon? Not a chance.
She must have picked up on that, because she raised that commanding finger again. “Oh no. Do not even think of interfering.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I lied.
“I mean it, Marius. Don’t ruin this for me.”
“Ruin what?”
She crossed her arms firmly. “Need-to-know basis.”
Ouch.
“The question is, what did Celeste want? I saw you with her outside Gordon’s,” she demanded.
I cursed the succubus for the hundredth time.
“She called me, claiming to have information about Etienne,” I explained.
“Lucky her to have your number.” Mina’s voice dripped with sarcasm. Then she frowned. “Wait. Why would Celeste know about Etienne?”
I grimaced. “Because Celeste keeps tabs on anyone who might prove useful to her someday.”
“Useful…how?”
I ran a hand through my hair. Where would I begin?
Then I looked around. We were still out in the open. Time to move.
I stood and held out my hand. Mina took it and rose. “Meeting adjourned?”
I nodded and led her back to ground level. “Where are you staying?”
“Gordon’s guest apartment, around the corner from his place.”
We hopped the fence and hurried across the street to the darker sidewalk. Minutes later, we reached the corner closest to her destination.
“Do you want to come in?” she asked.
I shook my head. “Too risky. Gordon has the place wired with cameras.”
“Cameras?” she hissed. “Like, in the bedroom?”
I doubted it, but I shrugged. “Maybe there too.”
She thought it over, then flashed me a saucy look. “Then I guess I shouldn’t touch myself and cry out your name, huh?”
My mouth hung open.
She snorted. “What do you think I’ve been doing all week?”
I knew what I had been doing all week, and I wasn’t proud of it. But, hell. Women did that too? Even nice girls like Mina?
She rolled her eyes, catching the gist of my thoughts. “Like men have a monopoly on dirty fantasies.”
I did my best not to indulge in any as I hugged her again. Her arms closed around me just as fiercely, and her lips brushed my ear.
“I don’t want to go.”
Neither did I, dammit.
“I’ll get in touch. Soon,” I promised.
Yes, it was a jerk move not to offer her my number, but it was for her own safety, and I could get in touch with her through Roux.
Nodding slowly, she eased away and stepped toward the apartment. I studied her neck for any sign of a mark. But with the moon behind a cloud, it was impossible to tell.
I raised a hand in farewell. “Be careful. I mean it.”
She didn’t roll her eyes, which told me she knew how serious this was. Which was good, but totally fucked up at the same time.
Her eyes locked on mine as she whispered, “You be careful too.”