“Good morning.” He flashed that bright smile, and then pressed his lips into mine.

  I mumbled something back, too caught up in the kiss to even think about what I was saying. My hands lifted, and like I had done many times last night, I hooked those braids in between my fingers. They were silky and thick, and I loved the feel of them.

  A knock at the door broke our moment, and Axel let out a growl. He was up and off the bed, nothing but ferocious animal in his stance and gaze.

  He rested his hand against the door, opening it just slightly to see who was on the other side. His words were biting as he rumbled, “What?”

  He was angling his body so that no one could see me. Protecting me. Which was sweet but unnecessary. Sirens were as comfortable naked as shifters were. Still, the gesture touched something inside of me. I wasn’t sure anyone had ever protected me before.

  A siren could get used to that sort of treatment.

  “You have a meeting in twenty minutes with Isadora. Last time you were late she tried to eat five of your wolves.” It was a female, and she sounded young, but there was no way to tell.

  Axel dropped his head against the door’s edge, letting out an angry breath. “I’ll be there. Give me five minutes to dress.”

  He shut the door firmly before the she-wolf could reply, then he was striding back across the room, his impossibly long legs eating up the short distance in a second. He didn’t say a word, he just reached out and scooped me into his arms, cradling me against his body. My siren energy purred within me, skin glowing softly. I was so filled up with energy, I could probably be sustained for a year without a single touch from another being.

  I found myself examining the side of his face, that strong and proud jaw line, his straight nose, with the slight bump just near the bridge. It had been broken at least once, and even with shifter healing had not set completely straight. His lips were full, far too kissable. And those eyes, which were now locked on my own, were depthless, ancient, weary.

  “How old are you?”

  It was not a polite question. Many of us were very long-lived, and most of us liked to forget the many endless years of life. But it felt okay to ask him.

  He had carried me to his bathroom, his massive, decadent, white marble bathroom that I was a little in love with. Like the bath, the shower stall was oversized and had six shower heads strategically placed around. Somehow Axel grazed his hand across a button and water filled the space. He hadn’t put me down once, holding me like I was no burden at all, before he stepped in under the water.

  My back arched involuntarily, eyes closing as I let the stream wash over me. My body began to hum, vibrating at a higher frequency than normal. Water was everything, filling my cells, restoring my equilibrium.

  “I lost count after a thousand years.” His low voice had my eyes shooting open. Swirling darkness captured me as I stared into his eyes. “I have been walking this earth for far too many centuries.”

  I didn’t think, I just reacted – arms around his neck as I lifted my head up and pressed my lips to his, hard and fast, our tongues darting together as we let the moment consume us. I whispered against his lips: “I, too, have walked this world for a long time. From before the gods exiled us even. I am tired.” I got very brave then: “I don’t know what my purpose here is.”

  His chest rumbled as he shifted me around, my legs automatically wrapping around his waist. “Feels like part of my purpose here is to love you.”

  Those unexpected words knocked the breath from me. I was wide-eyed and confused as I blinked stupidly at him. “What?”

  He shook his head, those Viking braids swirling around his face, water droplets clinging to his long, thick eyelashes. “In the end, love is really the only thing worth sacrificing for. You just have to find the one worth waiting and fighting for. You, siren, are under my skin. You have been for a year. You will be in another year.”

  “You’re a wolf shifter. You’re required to mate within your packs. They will tear you apart!”

  A dark anger rose within me. I could feel it swirling like a storm about to release its fury on the world. I realized then, in that very moment, that I would not stand by and let anyone hurt Axel. I would break them into a million pieces.

  He chuckled, reading something on my no-doubt furious face. I had never been very good at hiding my emotions. “I’m more than a shifter. I am beyond anything the pack understands, and they bow to my rule. I will mate with who I want.”

  Fuck. Did I want this? To be mated to a possessive, dominating, infuriating, utterly desirable wolf? Part of me screamed yes, but another part of me was a realist. I had seen too much sorrow in my life to think it would be easy for us to make this move, so for now I would live in the moment.

  “Let’s just take it one day at a time,” I finally said, pressing myself harder into him. “This might be a fallout too large for you to fix. Like we said earlier … seven days.”

  He lips were on mine then, and I lost all conscious thought. My body arched against him, and then he was lifting me up slightly so he could slide inside. He moved so my back was against the wall, water still streaming down around us. I cried out as he started to move, slowly at first, but soon our bodies set a fast rhythm, striving toward climax, knowing neither of us had any more time to spare.

  Release ripped through me and I freed my power. It exploded from me with the cries that fell from my lips. Axel let out a husky groan, his own release following, both of us riding the last waves of magic.

  The pleasure went on for a long time, spiraling higher and higher, until eventually I wasn’t sure which way was up or down. When I collapsed against his chest, he wrapped both arms tightly around me, keeping me steady.

  When Axel slid out of me, I was disappointed. “Goddamn meetings.” He dropped his forehead to rest against mine. “Some days being alpha is not worth the stress.”

  “Why did you decide to fight for the position, then?” I was genuinely curious. He seemed the type to hate the politics of such a role.

  A half-grin tipped up his lips, and even though he fought to hide it, I sensed his amusement. “Lost a fucking bet. My asshole brothers like to challenge each other. Sometimes I get caught up in it.”

  I wondered if those men last night were the brothers he referred to.

  My legs unwound from his waist and he slowly lowered me to the ground. For the first time since he had picked me up from the bed, I was standing on my own.

  “You’re kind of ridiculously strong,” I murmured, not really talking to him. It was more like stating an already determined fact.

  He flashed perfect white teeth at me. “I have to run now, but stay as long as you like. I’ll find you as soon as this meeting is done.”

  Just as he was about to step from the shower, I reached out and wrapped my fingers partly around his forearm. Dark eyes focused on me, and I almost forgot what I had been about to say. Almost, but not quite, since it was kind of important.

  “Will you be in any danger? Meeting with the vampire queen?” The rumors weren’t pretty about the rivalry between two of the larger and stronger preternatural beings. It left an uneasy feeling in my chest, knowing he was going to face her.

  A grin stretched across his face, eyes twinkling. If he started laughing at me, I would probably throat-punch him. Before I could follow through on that, he wrapped strong arms around me. “Don’t worry about me. That evil bitch has no idea who she’s messing with. If she tries to take me on, I will destroy her.”

  I felt somewhat mollified by his confidence; his reply didn’t sound braggy or cocky, it was said as a simple truth. Like he had always known this, and was just letting me know. Like there wasn’t one part of him worried about the vampires.

  With one last kiss he stepped from the shower, snagged two of the massive towels, and then disappeared back into the bedroom. I followed a moment later, after finally figuring out the shower controls. He stepped back out of the walk-in wardrobe, fully dressed in a dark fitted suit, one which no doubt was custom made, judging by the perfect fit. He didn’t wear a tie; the button-down shirt was open at the collar, giving him a casual, rakish look.

  Holy shit.

  During my very thorough perving, I had missed the second shirt he was holding out to me. When I finally focused on it, I gave him a nod. He had destroyed my clothes.

  “Thank you. I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to make it back to floor ten without anyone catching me like this.”

  “I will replace your things,” he said, as I took the long-sleeved, white button-down. “As soon as we can get to the shops.”

  I waved him away, before slipping my arms into both sleeves and buttoning it. The shirt hung almost to my knees, covering more than enough. “Don’t worry about it. Just a dress, nothing important.”

  Axel let out a low rumbling growl. “What if I plan on destroying many more of your clothes? If I don’t replace them, you’ll soon end up permanently naked.” A wicked twinkle was in his eyes, and I just shook my head.

  “And that would bother you?” I tried to ignore the desperate hope his words evoked. The hope for more. For a future.

  “Naked is my favorite state. With curves like yours, you should never wear clothes. But, I don’t like to share, so to save the lives of every other male, it is better that you are dressed in public.”

  Fair enough. That was almost a decent explanation for a shifter. Their animals really did keep them in touch with their base instincts. Axel was one of the more evolved I had met. Which might have to do with his age and alpha status. Or maybe it was all Axel.

  Before I could think too hard on it, he looped an arm around my waist and pulled me closer. I went up on my toes to meet his lips. Our kiss was brief but searing, and I immediately ached for more as he pulled away.

  “See you later.” His farewell was a promise, not a question. Then he was gone.

  7

  Knowing Carissa would be wondering where I ended up, I didn’t linger in Axel’s suite.

  I didn’t run into anyone on his level, or as I took the lift down to floor ten, but as I got off on my level, a few other sirens were lingering in the hall. They gave me a wave, but no one looked twice. No one cared that I was dressed only in a shirt. There was no shame in the siren game.

  I was just about to my room when Carissa stumbled out of the door and into the hall. She looked a little disheveled, compared to normal, but her face still lit up when she saw me.

  “Hey, sis! Where did you get to last night? I expected to find you knitting or something.”

  I flipped her off, running a hand through my own rumpled locks. “Want a swim? I could use some refreshing.”

  She nodded, her eyes finally alighting across my shirt. “And you are totally going to tell me whose shirt you are wearing.”

  We didn’t waste any more time, hurrying along the hall and diving into the oceans. I lost Axel’s shirt, but I wasn’t worried. The hotel would either return it to me or him. I was kind of hoping it would be in my room, but if it wasn’t, I’d hopefully have another chance to wear it.

  As we lay back, floating naked across the magically warmed ocean, I filled my sister in on everything that had happened last night. She was uncharacteristically silent, before finally giving me her advice.

  “I still think you’re crazy to get involved with a shifter. I thought you were crazy before, and now that I know he’s the big bad alpha, I think you’re certifiably insane. His pack is going to tear you to pieces.”

  She wasn’t wrong. They took the concept “keeping it in the breed” very seriously. Shifters stuck to their race, and were even strict enough to forbid it between different animals within the shifter world.

  As if she had been thinking the same thing as me, Carissa shuddered. “Remember two years ago, when we were halfway through our annual holiday here? Lion and wolf shifter. That did not go down well.”

  It really hadn’t. Shifters were fine to screw whomever they wanted, but mating … they stuck with their own. That year there had been a big shifter fight, lots of blood and missing limbs. I’d stayed out of it, content to watch the drama from the sideline. “Sirens can’t … and won’t fight for you. You know that.”

  Those last words were low and serious. Which was far worse than when she was shrill and whiny. Shrill and whiny was normal, serious was something to worry about.

  “I wouldn’t expect anyone to fight for me. I don’t want there to be any fighting. Axel said he would handle it, and I guess I’ll wait and see if he can.”

  She scoffed lightly, and I knew she thought I was being naïve, but I wasn’t ready to give up. Not without a fight. I’d tried unsuccessfully to wipe him from my mind for a year, and then last night I’d hoped to wipe him from my mind with a full night of sex. Neither had worked.

  Something told me there was no way to wipe Axel out of my mind or life. I would just have to deal with whatever fallout came from it.

  Later that morning, after our swim, all the sirens made our way down to the main restaurant for breakfast. I hadn’t eaten in almost twenty-four hours, and after a night of sex I was ready to devour everything I could get my hands on. Each floor catered to the specialty foods of the species, as did the main restaurant.

  “I’ll have the tropical fruit special, plus ginger juice,” I told the witch at the counter. She pounded a few buttons, gave me a nod, and then waved me on.

  Carissa ordered after me, and we took a seat at one of the side benches. This bench stared out into the west yard, one which had two of the older burial plots, along with a swamp and the smaller of the dark forests, which still stretched out into the distance.

  “We should wander in the dark forest for a few hours,” Carissa said with a wistful sigh, resting her head on her hand. “Last time I found twelve ingredients I had been missing for my spells.”

  I nodded. “Let’s go after breakfast.”

  Unlike witches, our magic was within us without the need of words or magical ingredients. But sometimes Carissa liked to dabble in spellcraft, to find spells to enhance her already formidable gifts. She was a little scary. And driven. Which is why we almost didn’t make it here this year. When she set her mind to something…

  “So you’re glad I pushed you to come here?” I asked her. It was a question I’d asked her most years now. It almost felt like a ritual.

  A light tinkling noise sounded over our table, and a beat later our food magically appeared in front of us. Carissa reached forward to pull her honey-soaked bread closer, and let out a rueful chuckle. “As always, you were right. It is worth the journey and money.”

  She cut any more conversation off by diving into her food, eating as though she was starving. Most likely she just didn’t want to admit any further to me being right; she hated being wrong.

  My fruit had been soaked in a honey brandy – sirens loved everything sweet – so I too was silent as I savored each piece. The room was slowly filling as we ate; most of the empty tables filled as the different groups mingled together. There were a few long rows of loud and raucous shifters near the door. A lot of them seemed to be drunk still. Burly men, confident and beautiful women … it all reminded me of Axel, and I wondered what he was doing. I had an uneasy feeling about this meeting with the vampire queen.

  As though my thoughts had been spoken aloud, a small group of the shifters turned to look at me. I didn’t recognize any of them. There were five males and three females, all wolves, if my senses were correct.

  “Someone pissed on the wrong tree,” Carissa mused, her gaze following the direction I was looking. “You probably shouldn’t have shagged their alpha. They don’t really look happy about it.”

  I turned away, dismissing the wolves. “How do they even know?” I knew Axel was not the type to brag about his sexual partners. Even if he had been the type, he didn’t have any time this morning. “Someone must have seen me leave.” Even though I had not seen anyone, it didn’t mean they weren’t there.

  Unlike me, Carissa had not turned away. Her eyes were dark, which happened when she was angry. “Just watch your back, Lettie,” she finally said. “I don’t like the look they’re giving you.”

  I didn’t like it either, but I also wasn’t too worried about it. For now.

  The forest was still dark and mysterious, the feeling in the air more electric than the last time we walked amongst the trees. Our feet were bare, but very little could penetrate our skin, and I preferred to be closer to nature, to feel the life beneath my soles.

  Carissa was humming, her lilting voice breaking into song every now and then, which was drawing the forest creatures to us. Most of them were of the darker, less cute nature, though I did glimpse the occasional bunny.

  “I’m looking for hemlock, and that special mushroom, with the purple splotches,” she called back to me. She had hurried on ahead. “If you see any, grab them for me.”

  I waved at her to show that I would, then she was back to humming and singing her way through the darkness. I let more of my siren free, the glow illuminating a small space around me. With this increase in my power came an awareness of my surroundings. I could feel the difference in the minute air particles as they drifted in currents through the trees, the dust and debris being carried along. I could hear the heartbeats of the many birds above, and the other ground-dwelling animals below. Butterflies flapping in the breeze…

  An icy, insidious current trickled across my energy. It was wrong, foreign, something I knew well but had never had the misfortune of crossing paths with in a dark, spooky forest.

  Vampire.

  Carissa was out of sight now, even though I could hear the occasional trills of her voice. I quickly shut my siren side down to dull my energy. Shining brightly like that, my magic leaking everywhere, I was a beacon for the leeches. I hurried along the same path as my sister, stepping carefully so as not to play the role of stupid heroine and trip while being stalked.

  Not that I knew for sure they were stalking me; this wasn’t the most popular forested grounds at Hotel Paranormal, but there were always some preternatural beings wandering around in here. I just had a bad feeling about vampires so close – and more than one judging from the strength of that cold slap of power. As I ducked between two huge redwoods, each of their thick trunks at least the width of a small car, I couldn’t help but turn back.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6