Chapter 33
Rumbly voices roused me from the darkness, but when I tried to open my eyes, I couldn’t manage to pry my heavy lids up. I
wasn’t ready to step back into full consciousness, where pain and fatigue awaited me.
I preferred this dark abyss, just out of reach.
“What the fuck happened?” Noah sounded far away.
Logan’s heat surrounded me, and as light filtered into my consciousness, I knew he was holding me close. Logan’s voice was
rough: “The curse is broken . . . and with it, the drain on her power is gone.”
“Bloody Hel, mate.” Tobias sounded impressed. “And what happened to your cock tosser of a father?”
Logan’s chest rose sharply beneath me. “He signed his own death warrant when he messed with curses. Dark magic requires a
price, and I was hoping he’d be the one who had to pay.”
“I’m sorry, brother,” Noah said as I once again attempted to force my eyes open. “Rafael needed to die, but I never wanted
you to make that choice.”
“Me neither,” I rasped as I finally lifted eyelids that weighed a hundred pounds.
As Logan came into gritty focus, I found myself cradled on his lap on the floor, Noah and Tobias standing above us. We were still in Rafael’s secret, awesome spell room.
“Precious,” Logan groaned, his gaze frantic as he took me in. He dropped his head to my neck, running his nose along the skin
as he breathed deeply. “You’re awake. You’re okay.”
My arms were weighed down too, but I managed to lift my right hand and cup the back of Logan’s neck, rubbing my fingers across
his skin. “What happened?”
“The curse was embedded deep in your essence,” he said, his hands tracing up and down my spine, slipping under my shirt to
graze bare skin, sending sparks of magic into me. “The counter-curse wouldn’t work without blood and magical sacrifice. Rafael
didn’t expect me to make the choice between the three of us so easily, but it wouldn’t have mattered who else was in the room.
He was always going to be the sacrifice.”
Logan lifted his head, and my heart clenched at the hurt dancing in the depths of his beautiful eyes. There was an innate
pain in taking the life of a parent, even if that parent was an evil asshole. “I’m so sorry, baby,” I whispered.
His eyes closed briefly, thick dark lashes swiping against his cheeks. “I love you,” he breathed, leaning down to press his
lips to mine. “I’ll always choose you.”
My magic swirled to connect with his in a way I’d never felt before. It was a clash of our power, the surge of energy between
us strong enough to decimate the building. Thankfully, after years of being a badass spellcaster, Logan was better at controlling
immense power, and he kept it contained in our bond.
“Uh, Logan . . .” Noah’s voice was both tentative and laced in humor. “Did you forget our extra little problem?”
“What extra problem?” I asked, pushing myself higher on his lap.
For the first time since opening my eyes, I wasn’t staring at Logan’s face or chest, and I finally noticed what was happening in the room.
Oh. OH.
I lurched to my feet, legs taking a beat before they supported me. “What the actual fuck?” I whipped my head around so fast
that my neck ached. “Am . . . am I dreaming?”
The room was filled with monsters. They stood everywhere, except in a small circle around us.
“They’re not attacking,” I noted, confusion crashing into me.
“You called them when your magic was freed from the curse.” Logan was on his feet as well.
By instinct, I moved toward the first creature. It was the praying mantis, similar to the one from the hallway in Weatherstone,
just a little smaller. As I approached it, my magic started to hum in my chest, and I expanded my sight to beyond what was
before me until I felt the icy tether between the monster and me.
Logan pressed in close to my back. “Your magic isn’t locked down any longer. You tethered them all and there’s no strain on
your energy. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Tobias and Noah followed us, everyone staying close to the monster wrangler. Me.
“Can you control them?” Noah asked, looking about as nervous as I’d ever seen the big guy.
“More importantly, can you send them back?” Tobias added with a strained laugh.
“Yes.”
It was a truth I felt deep in my magic. The suppression potion and curse had impacted my control, but I was now free of both.
I held the tethers to these monsters, and if I tugged on them, they would move.
Return home.
I used my energy to guide each monster through the planes, and I didn’t even have to close my eyes. Frost filled the air,
my magic spinning on flakes and flurries as we watched the creatures fade away back to their realm. It was the same as the
first time I’d—unknowingly—called the monsters. I’d sent the ones in the lake and graveyard away, having no idea that I’d
returned them to their plane.
Tobias swung around to face me, eyes wide and glassy. “Well, butter my toast and call me breakfast. You’re unbelievable, Paisley.”
He thrusted his thumb toward Logan. “Are you sure you want to shag this arsehole for the rest of eternity? I swear, my cock
is much—” He didn’t get to finish because he was tackled against the metal wall. Tobias’s laughter turned breathless when
Logan’s forearm lodged against his throat. “Don’t get your knickers in a twist, mate. I w-was . . . kidding.”
Logan’s response was a growl. Then he pulled back enough to slam Tobias against the wall again. When he stepped away, he let
the warlock slide to the ground.
“You asked for that,” Noah said, crossing his arms and shaking his head.
Another growling series of curses came from the spellcaster, and then I was in his arms. He opened a transport doorway in
the next breath, taking us both through.
“See you at Weatherstone tomorrow, you cranky sod,” Tobias called cheerily. “We’ll deal with your father’s body and let Paisley’s
family know you’re going to live. You’re welcome.”
“Fucker,” Logan grumbled, just as he closed the transport, leaving us standing alone in front of his farmhouse gates.
My heart lifted at the sight, and I sucked in a long, slow breath, the scent of lavender filling my lungs.
How a place I’d been to once could smell like home, I had no idea, but here we were.
“Call your parents,” Logan said softly, handing me his phone.
“Noah and Tobias will give them more details, but they should hear from you first.”
He was right, and I quickly dialed Mom’s number, relieved when she answered immediately.
“Mom, we broke the curse,” I said, no preamble. “I’m going to be okay.”
The relieved sob she let out told me how close to a breakdown she was. “Thank Selene,” she murmured, her words husky.
I spent a few more minutes quickly filling her in on what had happened, before adding that Noah and Tobias would be by soon
with more information.
“We love you, Little Gem,” she said as we wrapped up the conversation.
Hearing Dad’s nickname for me had my throat so tight I could barely get words out. “I love you all too. Thank you. I’ll see
you soon.”
When I hung up and handed Logan his phone back, he slid it into his pocket and cupped the back of my head. Our first kiss
was heated, pent-up emotions spilling from me. By the time we pulled apart, my breaths were staggered and heavy.
“Come on, Precious,” he said, turning me toward the gate. “Let’s go home.”
To no one’s surprise, he knew exactly how I felt about this place. “I love this farm,” I said, reaching out to brush the gate.
It opened at my touch, and I jumped back to look at Logan. “Did you open it?”
He shook his head. “It belongs to both of us. It’s been keyed to your magic since the moment you bloomed.”
My lips twitched, even as heat burned my eyes. “Stalker.”
He leaned over and kissed me again, harder, his fingers sliding under my hair as he possessively wrapped a hand around the back of my neck and pulled me closer. “For you, baby, always.”
We stumbled up the front path, kissing and touching, unable to keep our hands to ourselves.
“Fuck, Paisley,” Logan growled and hauled me into his arms, storming up to the porch and through the front door. Our lips
met in another desperate kiss, our movements frantic as we drowned in each other. I clawed at his shirt, needing bare skin
under my touch.
We didn’t make it upstairs to his room. Logan pressed me against the entrance wall, his magic disintegrating our clothes.
As our bare skin slid together, the heat between us intensified until I ached. I thrust my hips on a sob against the hard
planes of Logan’s stomach, my legs settling around his waist. Logan shifted my position higher to trace a burning path of
kisses down my throat and across my tits. His tongue caressed my right nipple, biting into the sensitive peak. When I cried
out, he made a satisfied sound that came deep from his chest. He moved on to the left, tormenting and teasing it too. When
he bit down again, a ragged scream left me. “Please,” I begged. I had no idea what I was begging for, but I needed more.
“You taste like the Eternal Lands. Like forever,” Logan growled as his hand slipped between us and pressed against my clit.
His thumb slid hard over the swollen bud and I was panting—fucking panting at the sensation. Slowly, destroying me with each
stroke, he slid one finger through my dripping slit and inside. He added a second finger, fucking me harder. All the while,
his thumb’s assault on my clit never eased.
I was lost to the sensation as our magic burned, and when his teeth closed around my nipple again, the pleasure exploded,
and I came, screaming his name.
Power detonated from me, but Logan contained it, drawing the energy back into the heat between us.
The walls of my pussy clamped around his fingers as I rode out the last of my orgasm, and I almost cried when he withdrew them—until he changed the angle of his hips and thrust into my center.
The thick head of his cock slid in first, stretching me with a pleasurable burn.
Logan usually gave me a second to adjust, but he was too far gone today, thrusting again until he was seated balls-deep. It
was almost too much to take, but as the pleasure edged out the pain, I decided I didn’t care. With Logan, pain amplified pleasure
until I felt like I’d die from the sensation.
He started to slam into me, my back hitting the wall with each thrust. I groaned when he lifted his hand and licked his fingers
that had been buried inside me a moment ago. “Fuck, spellcaster,” I cried out, the muscles of my pussy clenching around him.
“You taste delicious, baby,” he purred, his eyelids heavy as he stared into my soul.
When he had the use of both hands again, he gripped my hips and pulled back from the wall, taking my full weight. He lifted
me higher to adjust his angle, giving himself the leverage to slam up into me. “You’re gushing all over my cock, Precious.”
His voice was strained. “You’re the hottest fucking witch I’ve ever seen in my life. I’m one lucky asshole to have a mate
as perfect as you.”
If I’d been gushing before, I was a fucking waterfall now.
“Don’t come yet,” Logan growled. “Wait for me, perfect girl. I want us to fall together.”
I panted out a response. “I can’t—control—it.”
Logan growled again, the deepest rumble filling his chest as he moved harder and faster, losing control. “Wait for me . . .
wait for me. That’s my good girl. You’re doing so well, baby.”
Mewling little cries spilled from me as I tried to hold back, and with each thrust, the need and want grew stronger until I wasn’t sure I’d survive the fallout. “Now, baby,” he said, our lips meeting in a biting kiss. “Come with me.”
My head slammed back as my body detonated, and I was screaming loud enough that if there’d been neighbors close by, they’d
be calling the cops and reporting a murder.
Only there was no pain as the orgasm ripped through me, Logan’s following until I was filled with the heat of his release.
The connection that had always existed between us, even when we were ignoring it, exploded, and I felt the bonds of our magic
fusing together. I sensed Logan in a way I never had before, and my heart swelled at the depth of his emotion.
It was beyond anything I’d ever expected. His love for me raged through my soul and left an indelible mark on it.
Logan. The whisper of his name was as instinctive as breathing.
Precious.
It wasn’t as if we were suddenly in each other’s heads, but we were in each other’s souls. I felt his magic, and the bond,
and the immense world-shattering love that ebbed between us, which was no longer restricted by curses or magical suppression.
The only existence was us and our bond.
It was everything.