Aaron The Next Morning
Aaron
The Next Morning
Mara comes out of the bathroom in the dress I summoned for her and I forget what I was thinking about.
I’m sitting up on the bed freshly showered and dressed, my mind already running through what’s ahead of us, but she steps out, and all of that goes quiet.
She’s smoothing her hands over the fabric, her tail swaying behind her, and those amber eyes look down at herself and then up at me.
The dress is simple. Deep green, fitted at the waist. I picked it because I love the way the color looks against her skin. I summoned it this morning while she was still asleep, my magic pulling from somewhere I didn’t question.
“Something wrong?”
Her tail sways wider when she catches me staring and I don’t even try to stop.
“Do you ever want to see me in a dress like Layla’s?”
I grin and stand up from the bed and walk over to her. “I never noticed how Layla looks in a dress,” I tell her.
I grab the fabric at her hip and pull her into me. She purrs, instant, the vibration rolling through her chest into mine.
“I only see you, Mara, and that should be a given by now.”
She nods and I take my finger to her chin, tilt it up, and lean in and kiss her.
Her purring deepens and it moves through every part of me that’s pressed against her.
I want this for the rest of my life. Her body warm against mine and that purr telling me I’m hers and she’s mine.
But my stupidity is getting in the way of that.
Every time I think about the Witching Glen and what I did to Wintermoon I feel the weight of it settle on my shoulders.
I pull my lips back and Mara blushes. My hand goes to her belly and I hold it there. Her skin is warm through the dress and my magic hums at the contact.
“You and the baby growing inside you—“
Her lip pokes out, cutting me off. “You are moving too fast. You don’t know that.”
I lean in and press my forehead against hers. “I do know. We’ve mated, you have my cub. You just haven’t caught the scent yet.” I smirk. “And after last night—“
She hisses at me. Her face flushes. Her lion coming to the front like that, all pride and embarrassment—she could claw my face off right now and I’d still be grinning.
“There’s no way you’re not pregnant,” I tell her.
She hisses again.
“I’m just patiently waiting for the moment you catch it.
” I keep my hand on her belly. “I can’t wait to see your tail flick when you realize, your hand pressing protectively against your womb, your ears going alert from the recognition.
” She whimpers and starts to purr and I pull her closer against me. “It’ll be everything to me.”
“Stop it or we’ll never get out of here,” she whispers.
I groan, kiss her lips, then pull back to look her over. “I’m looking forward to a day in bed with you. We’ve got a lot of making up to do.”
She purrs again, her tassel coming up to brush against my cheek.
The softness of the fur on my skin, the vibration of her purring moving through my whole body at the same time—it nearly takes me out.
I’m about ready to pick her up, carrying her right back to that bed, and forgetting about Eric, Henry, the Witching Glen, everything that isn’t the sound she’s making right now.
Mara wraps her arms around me. “Those vampires aren’t making this easier.” Her ears twitch.
I grin, knowing exactly where she’s going with this.
“They just keep going and going.” Her face scrunches up. “Do vampires sleep?”
I chuckle and kiss her nose. “Yes, but I don’t know the logistics of how and when.”
“They’ve been going all night, Aaron.”
I laugh and pull away from her, grab her hand. Josiah isn’t going to wait for us. We head out of the room and down the stairs. By the time we reach the bottom Mara’s ears and nose are twitching. I can smell it too.
Andrew is behind the bar with several plates set out at the bar counter. He looks up when we come down and nods at the plates.
“Sugar-free butter pancakes and sausage cooked two ways. Well done for a human and medium rare for the lioness.”
Mara drops my hand and sits down, grabs the fork, and digs in.
Andrew looks at Mara and he’s smiling so wide I can see his fangs. “It’s an honor to serve a lioness. You know they’re the top breed of supernaturals. The top male is a dragon shifter, but the lioness? She tops all species.”
I look over at Mara and she’s biting into her pancakes with her eyes half closed, not paying attention to a word he’s saying.
I’ve noticed it before. A lot, actually.
The way she walks into a room and the world just lights up around her.
Andrew is fan-girling over her right now and she doesn’t even see it.
That’s part of what makes her who she is.
She has no idea the effect she has on the people around her.
My chest swells with pride just watching it.
I snap out of it. “Where’s Josiah?”
In a blur, Josiah and Layla are standing next to me with matching grins on their faces.
Josiah is in a fresh charcoal suit and Layla is in a sleeveless black gown that hugs her curves, the fabric flowing past her feet, covered in tiny red spider and web patterns.
Both of them freshly cleaned up and looking like they didn’t just spend the entire night doing what Mara and I had to listen to through the walls.
“You rang?” Layla runs her hand over Josiah’s chest, adjusting his tie, tucking it inside his suit jacket.
“Thank you, my love.” Josiah looks down at her and leans in for a kiss.
I love Jo, but when he and Layla are together these two are deeply disturbing.
“Are you going to eat?” he asks me. “I’m sure you need the energy for what we’re about to do.”
I shoot him a look but grab a sausage from my plate and bite into it. Food is the last thing on my mind but I keep that to myself. I roll my eyes when the plate of pancakes slides over to me. There’s just two left on the plate. Mara could’ve filled her belly with them and I wish she had.
“Sorry,” Mara says. “I got carried away.”
I slide the plate back over to her and give her a hard look. “Go ahead and finish, baby. You’re eating for two.”
She glares at me. “You are being impossible.”
I shrug and finish my sausage, then grab my orange juice. “Eat up.”
“Ahhhh, you’re building a family. How lovely,” Josiah says, and he has this strange look in his eyes, almost like longing.
Layla hooks her arm through his. “Don’t envy, Jo. We have a family of our own.”
Josiah just looks at her and smiles in admiration.
I wonder what the hell she’s talking about.
Vampires can’t have children unless... I stop at the thought and shake it off.
Nah. He wouldn’t dare. But then again this is Jo we’re talking about.
The man feeds people to piranhas for fun. You can’t put anything past him.
“So what kind of damage is Detroit in for today?” Andrew asks.
I look at him. “What?”
Andrew rolls his eyes, grabs a glass and fixes Mara water. She takes it and gulps the whole thing down in two swallows and Andrew’s eyebrows go up.
“My apologies, beautiful lioness, I should’ve given you a pitcher.” He fills a clean pitcher with ice water and places it in front of her.
“This vampire is weird,” Mara mutters into her pancakes.
Josiah looks at Andrew. “While Andrew already has a mate of his own, he does covet the beauty of the lioness.”
Layla giggles and looks at Mara. “What’s not to love?” She flashes from Josiah’s side to next to Mara at the bar so fast I don’t track the movement and reaches down and grabs Mara’s tail gently. “You surely are a delicate piece of art. Even I can see your beauty.”
Mara hisses and rips her tail out of Layla’s palm. Layla grins at her but her expression is unreadable.
“We aren’t going to destroy anything,” I tell Andrew. “I’m just looking for someone.”
Andrew scoffs. “I already called Kade. She told me to keep an eye on you.” He leans against the bar. “Whatever is going on in Wintermoon, my mother being too busy to get your asses in line... something is wrong.”
Josiah straightens his cuffs. “You can conjure your father’s location. Do it now.”
“You think I’m some master of spells? I’ve never done that before.”
“But you’ve conjured others,” Josiah says.
“Yeah, but that’s because I’m bonded to them.”
Josiah raises an eyebrow. “But you’re not bonded to him... hmmm. Interesting.” He tilts his head. “‘The ties we deny are often the ones that bind us tightest. Acknowledging a bond is not a weakness but the first act of power over it.’ Chapter thirty-one.”
“No offense, Uncle Jo, but I really hate that fucking book.”
“Is it the truth you hate?” Josiah asks. “Or just the book itself?”
“Both.”
But I push away from the bar and walk out onto the empty dance floor. The colored lights are off and the space is wide and dark without the crowd. I flick my wrist and blue-gold light extends from my palm, filling the space around me. My magic responds. I close my eyes.
“Help me find Eric.”
My power pushes outward and I stand there in the quiet while it reaches through the city.
I can feel it searching for the thread I don’t want to admit is there.
Josiah was right. That’s what pisses me off.
It wasn’t the book that stung me. It was the truth in it.
I wouldn’t be in this position if it weren’t for my longing for a relationship with Eric.
I spent two years letting him in because I wanted a father so badly I ignored every instinct that told me something was wrong.
My mother tried to warn me. Mara tried. I didn’t listen.
I trusted Eric because I wanted it to be real and that wanting made me stupid enough to open the Witching Glen for a man who was using me.
My magic pulses. It found him.
Mara’s tail brushes against my arm and I open my eyes. She’s standing next to me with a soft smile and I give her one back. She doesn’t say anything.
Eric appears in the form of a hologram on the dance floor. He’s walking through what looks like several floors of a library, passing people who don’t notice him. Like he’s invisible. Mara steps closer and I pull her against me and she looks up at me and then down at the hologram.
“I’ve seen this place before,” I murmur.
Layla walks over, her eyes scanning the hologram with familiarity. “It’s my old job. The Detroit Main Library.”
I look up at her. “Why the hell would he hide there?”
Josiah steps up behind her. “What better a place to hide? ‘The most dangerous adversaries are those who conceal themselves in places that feel safe. You will never think to search where your guard is lowest.’ Chapter nineteen.” He watches the hologram. “You wouldn’t think to look here, would you?”
I let out a sigh. “No.”
Josiah grins, his fangs flashing, and snaps his fingers. A portal opens in front of us. “Let’s go talk to him.”
“No, we need to formulate a plan—“
Layla laughs as Jo pulls her through the portal. She looks back at me over her shoulder. “Did you forget, silly Blackwood? We are the plan.”
“In broad daylight,” Andrew mutters from behind the bar. “Damn shame.” He grabs a rag and starts wiping down the counter. “Let me call Tiffany. Mayor Wood is going to lose her damn mind.”
I close my fist and the hologram dies. I grab Mara’s hand and turn to face her. She’s looking at the portal with her ears forward and her tail rigid behind her.
“Remember what I said, Mara. I want you to stay behind me. Don’t try to get involved.”
Her eyes narrow at me, clearly not liking my demand. “I will defend my mate,” she hisses.
“And when you try I’ll lock your ass up.”
Her mouth falls open. I snort at the look on her face. She catches the seriousness in my scent and her expression shifts.
“I don’t understand the magnitude of my magic,” I tell her. “But know this. My magic is in agreement with keeping you safe. Don’t play with me, Mara. I will do what is necessary if you start putting yourself in danger.”
Her tail drops into submission and her ears twitch. She groans but she doesn’t give me a retort.
Good.
“Damn, Mara,” Andrew calls from across the bar. “You got your hands full with that one.”
Mara sighs and lets me pull her through the portal. It snaps shut behind us.
The library smells like old paper and dust, the marble floors stretching out in front of us. The light coming through the high windows is warm, and the place almost feels safe.
A man’s body drops dead from the balcony above us and hits the floor face-first. Blood pools from his mouth. Mara’s tail goes alert and she drops into a crouch beside me, completely startled. I look up.
Josiah is standing at the balcony railing, grinning down at us. Down the hall from him, men are screaming. Layla must be dealing with them.
I turn to my mate, giving her a glare. “Mara, don’t fucking start,” I warn, and she stands upright, her tail swaying in agitation.
Shit. It’s gonna be a long day.