Hex in High Heels Page 11

  She grinned. “I’m Irish to the bone. Is that enough of an answer?”

  “Okay,” he replied after taking another swallow. “Okay. My old man was second-in-command to the Pack’s Alpha and Vera was his mate. After I was born and my Border Collie nature was apparent, my mother was accused of having an affair. My old man beat her so badly it should have killed her. Considering the accusation of infidelity, she was lucky she wasn’t killed. Her situation was precarious until Roan was born. By that time the healer, who’d been with the Pack for decades, had done some digging and learned an ancestor on my old man’s side had an affair centuries ago that produced a pup instead of a cub. That created a recessive gene that had been resting in the family DNA on the paternal side for the last few hundred years or so. For obvious reasons, it was a little known fact. They probably hoped it wouldn’t show up again. They couldn’t find anything in my mother’s DNA, so they don’t know what triggered it. That recessive gene was passed down to my old man’s eldest son. Me.”

  “And I gather your mother wasn’t too happy about this.”

  Jake’s lips twisted in a parody of a smile. “No, but she used the information to reclaim her status. She broadcast to all that she should have known better than to mate with someone so inferior. She also said she should have fought with the alpha’s mate for that position instead.”

  Blair grimaced. “Hmm, gives one the warm fuzzies… not.”

  “All of you witches stuck together over the years. A Pack sticks together, too, but only when they’re all alike. Anything different is treated like shit. When you’re bottom of the Pack, you learn just what rough play means, and you either learn to fight back, or you end up a punching bag. Just because you’re the second-in-command’s son doesn’t mean you don’t have to fight for everything. Even more so when you don’t fit the Pack expectations. And with Roan being perfect in every way, my imperfections were pointed out as often as possible.”

  “No wonder you left,” she said, aching for his pain. “Why would you want to stay with ones who were that cruel? Did the healer think your young would be born Border Collies?”

  Jake shook his head. “It’s been many generations since that happened, so she thought it would only happen again if my mate had the same recessive gene. It was something no one really tracked all those centuries ago. When I was young, my mother liked to tell me that no female worth her salt would want to mate with me. The healer felt the young would have the wolf blood; but there was still no guarantee. My old man… died around then, and even to his last day he didn’t want to look at me…”

  Blair was positive there was more to it, but she’d give Jake time before she’d get the rest of the story out of him. “And your mother?”

  He dropped his head to look at the rug. “She was all into power and becoming Alpha.” He heard the shifting of material, then saw a pair of bare, coral glossed toes standing in front of him. The jasmine and vanilla scent of her skin washed over him as she tipped his chin upward with her fingertips. He scooted backwards when she sat down straddling his thighs and draped her arms over his shoulders. “It was always more important than family.”

  “One more question.” Blair grinned at his pained expression. “I promise this is the last one.”

  “Last one.”

  “How did you hide your Were nature from Stasi and me? We can always pick up on Weres, but we never did with you. You must have used an illusion spell.” She wasn’t going to tell him that she guessed that was what his mother had done when she came into Blast from the Past.

  He reached inside his shirt and pulled out a leather cord holding a small bronze medallion. Blair didn’t have to touch it to sense the incredible power in the metal. She could sense the masking spell, and she knew the protection spell also embedded in the metal would singe her fingers.

  “I didn’t want any problems any time I ventured into another Pack’s territory, since they’d have the right to jump me if I was there without permission. Once I left my Pack, I was a loner. A rogue. Luckily, I was able to find a witch to enspell this for me,” he explained. “It works on every creature but members of my own Pack. She said there was no way I could hide myself from them, since the Pack has blood ties. There were times I wanted to tell you the truth about me, Blair. Maybe that’s why I showed up at your place so often in dog form. I hoped you’d figure it out yourself—since you’re such a smart hexster,” he teased.

  She wrinkled her nose. “I guess I’m not as smart as I thought I was, because I never connected the two. Whoever crafted this did a good job.”

  Jake pulled off the medallion, setting it on the coffee table. The moment it left his body, Blair felt his Were magick reach out to her in a wave that left her a little giddy.

  “Now it’s definitely all you.” She smiled warmly and leaned over to kiss his forehead with the lightest of touches. Her smile suddenly shifted to something with a different meaning.

  Jake blindly set his beer bottle on the floor and cupped her head with his hands, pulling her back against him.

  He already knew Blair’s kiss was like the witch herself: saucy, open, and hot. He quickly discovered that this time she had amped it up. Her exotic scent wrapped itself around him with a seductive intent he could taste. He tunneled his hands under her sweater and found silk that couldn’t compare with what it covered.

  “Front clasp,” she murmured against his lips before she resumed nibbling on them. “If you rip it, you’ll be buying me a new one and trust me, Stasi won’t give you a discount.”

  Jake would have laughed, but what Blair was doing was re-circuiting his brain waves to south of the border. Her hips rocked against his, the vee of her hips rubbing against the fly of his jeans in such a way he was harder than ever and his head felt ready to explode.

  “You’re killing me here,” he breathed.

  “Do you want me to stop?” she whispered in his ear as she bit the lobe just hard enough to cause pain that radiated through his body and settled in his cock.

  He rocked his hips back at hers. “No way.”

  He could feel her smile against his cheek. “Good. Beep beep. Beep beep. Take us where Jake sleeps. Make it so!”

  “Holy shit!” Jake’s words were swept away as he felt a roaring in his ears and a sense of disorientation, then found himself sprawled in the middle of his bed with Blair on top of him. And if he wasn’t mistaken, his T-shirt and flannel shirt were magickally missing, along with her sweater. Her bra was the same cinnamon color as her sweater and warmed her skin tone.

  She smiled and shrugged. “I thought I’d save us a little time.”

  “You’re still wearing too many clothes.” He reached for the front clasp and released it. He drew in a deep breath when the material parted to reveal the creamy pink-tipped globes that his mouth wanted to worship. So he proceeded to do just that.

  Blair closed her eyes and whispered words he couldn’t understand, but the meaning became pretty clear once his jeans went the way of his shirt and so did hers, along with her bra and a sexy pair of thong panties the same color as her bra.

  He managed to sit up while keeping his mouth on her breast and edged his way backwards on the bed. He rested against the headboard with his arms wrapped around her. Blair’s fingers tightened against his scalp as he returned to figuring out just what she tasted like. He rolled the pink nipple with his tongue, feeling it harden and peak, then he turned his attention to the other nipple, while he felt her fingertips dig through his hair.

  But it wasn’t enough. Not when there was more luscious skin to investigate and taste. Along with what he knew would be heaven itself.

  “No backing down now, puppy dog,” she whispered with a teasing nip along his jaw line.

  With a quick twist of his body he had them both lying on the bedspread, Blair underneath him now. “Trust me, calling me a puppy dog isn’t a good idea right now,” he suggested, moving his attention further south. The ginger-colored curls invited him to delve beneath, but first h
e rested his palm against her, feeling the heat against his skin and inhaling the rich scent of her musk. A soft growl escaped his lips before he slid down further and rested his lips against her pelvic area before he gave one long lick. She shuddered beneath him.

  “If you dare stop now, I swear I will make you sorrier than you can imagine.” Blair’s voice came out strangled as she moved against his mouth.

  “Not a chance.” He mentally filed her scent in his memory; he knew nothing could ever make him forget it. He gently pushed a finger inside, feeling her inner muscles grip him tightly, and pulled it back out, bringing it to his mouth for that first taste. All it did was make him hungry for more, which he made a mental memo to check out again… later.

  Her inner lips were plump and dark pink from his kisses, inviting him to investigate further, but another part of his body was demanding its share of attention, too. As if his cock called out Blair’s name, she reached down and stroked the tip that gleamed with a drop of liquid. He hissed at her touch as she rubbed her thumb over the sensitive skin.

  “You do that, hexy, and I won’t last long,” he warned her.

  She smiled at the nickname. “We wouldn’t want that happening, would we?” A purring sound started deep in her throat.

  With good reason Jake had never liked cats, but the feline purr coming from Blair was something altogether different and aroused him even more. He suddenly reared up and plunged deep inside her. He lifted her thighs, wrapping them around his waist as he buried himself to the hilt. He cupped his palm over the tattoo, ignoring Fluff and Puff’s protests and the tiny bites stinging his skin. This was a moment he didn’t intend to share with anyone. Blair threw back her head, letting out a cry that was as glorious as music while she met him at every thrust.

  She was hot, wet, and oh-so-sweet, a perfect fit for him, with inner muscles that gripped him like a silken glove that refused to let him go. With each plunge, he felt his control start to splinter like shattering glass.

  Blair suddenly laughed, throwing her hands out and sending showers of magick all around them, lighting up the room with multi-colored sparkles and with her joy. At the same time, Jake felt something hot and incredible surround him as she joined him in a release that seemed never ending.

  ***

  “That was fantastic.” Blair emitted a soft sigh as she curled up next to Jake, with one silken thigh thrown carelessly over his.

  He knew he was grinning because his face hurt, but he couldn’t stop. He barely had the strength to brush her hair away from his nose before he sneezed.

  Blair lifted her head slightly, then her body, as she moved over him. “Say something!”

  “Give me a chance,” he begged. “I think I blacked out at some point.”

  Her blue-green eyes twinkled with lust. “Really?” She drew out the word. “Let’s see if we can repeat the performance, then.” She trailed her lips down his chest.

  Jake discovered that with Blair’s attention centered on him he could indeed go for an encore.

  ***

  By morning it was Blair who couldn’t move. She felt so boneless she was amazed she didn’t just flow right off the bed. She was warm and cozy under the covers. No wonder, with Jake’s body curved around hers giving off so much heat it was like having her very own personal electric blanket. She murmured an inarticulate protest when Jake slid from the bed. He dropped a kiss on her lips and whispered he was going to take a shower and not to worry about coffee, it came on automatically.

  A moment later she heard the sound of running water and just after that the rich aroma of coffee came wafting upstairs.

  “Nirvana.” She smiled and burrowed into the pillow that smelled like a combination of Jake and herself. “Should I surprise Jake in the shower, or sleep a little longer?” She yawned deeply. “I choose door number two.”

  Except sleep wasn’t meant to be. The doorbell began to chime insistently, as if either the button was stuck or an unwanted visitor had their finger on it.

  “Give it up!” Blair groaned, pulling the pillow out from under her head and plopping it over her face, but it wasn’t enough to muffle the unrelenting sound. She tossed the pillow across the room and sat up. “Okay, that’s it. Ding dong bell, not so merrily. This I say verily. Silence! Make it so.” She smiled as the chimes abruptly stopped. And groused when the visitor began knocking on the door. “Okay, that does it. It can only be Stasi, and she’s going to know right away I am not happy about this.”

  She muttered a few choice curses as she climbed out of bed, wrapped the sheet around her like a toga, and made her way downstairs, careful not to trip on the trailing fabric.

  “Honestly, Stasi, did I ever bother you and Trev? Couldn’t you…” her reprimand trailed off as she found herself facing a woman who wasn’t Stasi and wasn’t a witch. Her silver hair was pulled back in a French twist and if Blair wasn’t mistaken the woman’s suit was from St. Johns’ new collection. She didn’t look the least bit cold, but that didn’t surprise Blair either. She already had a good idea that the woman’s blood was as cold as her furry heart.

  “I was given to understand that Jake Harrison lived here.” The woman’s voice was as cold and distant as her features. Not by a flicker of the eye did she indicate she’d met Blair before. Her aristocratic nostrils flared as she inhaled the scent of sex and Jake on Blair’s skin, making her aware just what had been going on—more than once—to Blair’s satisfaction. Her lips curled up in a sneer when she noticed Fluff and Puff on Blair’s ankle. They looked up at the female Were and snapped and snarled at her, but remained safely attached.

  “Yes, this is his house. And you are?” Blair now knew exactly who Vera was, but she figured two could play the clueless card. The Were mother had been polite to Blair the day she came to her shop requesting a revenge spell against her son. That attitude was completely gone this morning. She half turned at the sound of Jake coming down the stairs. He was shirtless, one hand holding a towel as he dried his hair.

  He stopped short at the sight of the visitor.

  “What are you doing here, Vera?”

  “I had no idea you had… company.” Her dark eyes turned to ice chips. “A witch at that.” She made the term sound like something she’d scrape off the bottom of her Chanel pumps.

  Blair knew she should have kept her mouth shut. But the bitch—and here she could truthfully use the term—had started it and Blair firmly believed in having the last word. No insult left unanswered. She stood tall and with as much dignity as she could muster, even if her sheet was slipping dangerously to the south, she turned to Jake.

  “And I repeat what I asked you last night: are you absolutely sure there’s no chance you were adopted?”

  Jake had to give Blair credit. Vera had been known to reduce lesser wolves to tears, or worse, but Blair just flat out looked her in the eye and gave as good as she got. Not by a twitch did he betray his amusement; he knew his mother too well. She would see it as weakness and use it to her advantage, in the process doing her best to decimate Blair. Although right now his money was on the witch.

  Then his attention fixed on the intricate pendant she wore on a gold chain and the implication he knew it carried.

  “Congratulations, Vera, I see you got what you always wanted.” He continued walking down the stairs until he stood behind Blair. He could smell his scent on her skin, sense the tension in her body that she didn’t show, and just knew she was itching to say something that would only make the situation worse than it already was, because that was Blair’s nature. He glanced down and saw her fingertips tapping against her sheet-clad thigh. He immediately reached down and threaded his fingers through hers before she started tracing runes that might cause something that couldn’t be reversed.

  “May I come in?” Vera asked, completely ignoring Blair as she looked at Jake. “And get rid of the witch. She has no business hearing Pack business.”

  “Okay, witch is standing right here and her hearing is absolutely perfect.”
Blair’s hair started to lift into the air as her temper started to rise. “And the witch is not going to do anything just because you demand it. You should have realized that the other day.” A slight widening of the woman’s eyes told her the comment hit its mark.

  Jake looked from one to the other. “What about the other day?” he asked sharply.

  Blair didn’t say anything and neither did Vera.

  He growled under his breath and turned back to his dam.

  “I assume you’re staying at the resort?” Jake waited for Vera’s nod. “I’ll see you there. Don’t come here again.” He then closed the door in her face.

  “And they accuse me of being rude.” Blair tossed a corner of the sheet over her shoulder.

  He knew she could see how he felt in his face and in his stance. “What the fuck happened between you and Vera?”

  “Nothing.” At least she wasn’t lying. While she could see Jake and his mother had issues, she wasn’t about to tell him that Vera had wanted a revenge spell to use on him. She thought about conjuring up something special to keep on hand to use against Vera, just in case. “You know what? I’m going upstairs to get dressed, then I’m heading out.” Despite the bulky length of sheet, she gracefully ascended the stairs. “I suggest you shave and put on something nice for your meeting with Mommy Dearest.”

  Jake figured Blair used magick to dress, because she was downstairs in seconds.

  “Last night was beautiful, Jake,” she said quietly, before she opened the door. “Don’t let her demean it.” She stood up on her tiptoes and brushed a kiss across his lips before she slipped out.

  Jake thought of the plans he’d made when he woke up that morning. He was going to make breakfast for Blair and himself, then tempt her back upstairs for a repeat of last night, because he was learning he couldn’t keep his hands off her and he was already hungry for another taste. But it wasn’t to be.

  And just what had gone on between Blair and Vera?

  At the same time, did he really want to know?