Killer Crescent by Leigh Kelsey

3

Mr Hot and Threatening dipped his face closer, sharp teeth scraping my ear and sending a cool rush of tingles down my spine.

“Wait—” I said breathlessly. “Mate? What?”

His laugh shuddered all the way through my body until I was uncomfortably hot, my nipples hard enough to cut glass. “You’re drawn to me. You find me irresistible. You want me to take you against the wall so hard you forget your own name.”

Well. Now that he mentioned it…

“Because you’re my mate,” he went on, sounding smug. “And your instincts are running wild.”

I shoved him back, scowling at the strength I felt beneath his jacket, his chest made of solid muscle. Muscle I wanted to lick every inch of—

Dammit. Get it together, Rebel, he’s trying to trick you into going home with him—and not for a fun roll in the sheets. For a … what? Dangerous magic training program? It sounded like probation, and I’d done that once already, had no interest in doing it again.

“Hang on,” I said, my lips pulling up in a smirk as something occurred to me. “Mate bonds are a two way street, which means you, Sexy Sir, are as drawn to me. You’re the one who wants to fuck me against the wall; admit it.”

I set my hands on my hips and gave him a sassy look, watching his eyes darken to deep brown, veined with black. Ooh, did mine look like that when I got horny? I wanted to run for the mirror, but this was too alluring to walk away from. I kinda wanted to see if he would throw me up against the wall and have his way with me.

“You can’t admit it,” I taunted, grinning. “But you know I’m right. The big bad alpha is desperate for the cute, ickle wolfie.” Even witches and vampires had mate bonds, but wolf ones were especially powerful.

He raised a thick eyebrow. “You call yourself cute?”

“Yeah,” I replied, like he was stupid. “If I don’t, who will? Other people?” I made a gagging sound. “I hate other people. Unless they’re hot. Or delivering pizza and doughnuts.”

Exasperation crept across his face, and he took a step back. “Pack your bags. Unless you want your magic stripped—and your ability to shift along with it—you’re coming back to Blake Hall with me.”

I closed the distance and draped myself across his strong, powerful body, batting my lashes up at him. “You should know I only sleep on the right side of the bed, I don’t do mornings, and I like long, hot … showers.”

I cursed as his hand closed around my throat again, and I swore the tips of his fingers were edged with sharp claws. Fuuuuck, he must have been powerful to partially shift the day after the moon. I swooned.

“You’ll have your own room. Far away from mine.”

“Aww, that’s not nice. I’m your mate, remember.”

“I’m trying to forget,” he deadpanned, but he was such a lying liar because his hand flexed on my throat, and his eyes were still threaded with darkness.

“But imagine all the fun we could have if we shared a room,” I purred, testing his hold on my neck by darting forward to drag my tongue up the column of his throat, an mmm in the back of my throat at his taste. I didn’t actually want to share a room with him—no, it’d be impossible to hide my day job from him if he had eyes on me all the time—but I reeeeally wanted his cock. Maybe because he was my mate and affecting me with all this mate bond magic, or maybe because he was older and growly and everything about him screamed dominant.

“Miss Falcon,” he warned, wrenching me away from his chest. “This is ridiculous.”

“You taste amazing,” I said, licking my lips just to see his reaction.

His hand left my throat, and I pouted, sticking out my bottom lip—but his fingers twisted in my hair and dragged me close enough to see the threat and warning in his eyes. It sent shivers of pleasure up and down my body, and I took advantage of our renewed closeness to rub up against him like an amorous cat. Well, wolf.

“If you won’t pack, I’ll do it for you,” he said, all low and rumbly.

“Nope, stay right here.” I rolled my hips against his, my pussy dragging across the hard length of his erection through his trousers.

“Fuck,” he rasped, tightening his grip on my hair. “Could you behave for one fucking second, Rebel?”

“I doubt it,” I replied, grabbing handfuls of his ass so I could fit closer to his cock.

“Do you want to be stripped of your power?” he growled, ducking his face to scrape sharp canines against my throat. My whole body went hot and cold at once, shivers rushing through me and my pussy throbbing an insistent plea.

“Stripped of my clothes? Yes. Stripped of my power? No. I’ll kill anyone who even tries to take it from me,” I promised, cold hard murder in my eyes.

Hot and Threatening drew back, seeing the seriousness in my gaze, the razor sharp madness right behind it. Interest sharpened his whiskey eyes. “Have you ever killed someone before? It’s not as easy as you might think, Miss Falcon.”

I snorted. I couldn’t help it. “You know my name, but you haven’t looked into my record?” I tutted. “That’s not very thorough of you, Sexy Sir.”

“Garrick,” he corrected. “My name’s Dean Garrick.”

“Dean,” I repeated, drawing it out on my tongue. It suited him, and I liked it.

“Garrick,” he corrected, disapproval flattening his mouth and drawing my gaze to that tempting cupid’s bow. “What do you mean, your record?”

I snorted again. “Idiot alpha. You’re too reliant on seers; you should have checked my paperwork, too. Don’t worry, Dean.” I patted his stubbled cheek. “You can’t be super hot and amazingly clever. Unless you’re me.” I winked, and shivered with pleasure at the low growl in his throat.

“So you have killed someone,” he surmised. “And were stupid enough to get caught. So not amazingly clever after all.”

I definitely shouldn’t have gotten even more turned on at the taunt in his voice. I shrugged, a feline movement. “Maybe I just got caught that once. Maybe there have been lots and lots of times I haven’t gotten caught.” I ducked in to scrape my teeth across his jaw. “Or maybe I’m just lying to get a reaction out of you.”

Dean made a throaty sound, pushing me away—and letting go, to my displeasure. “Stay here, get stripped of your power—it makes no odds to me.”

“You’re not even a teensy bit worried about me, as your mate?”

“No,” he replied without blinking.

I crossed my arms over my chest as he straightened his tweed jacket where I’d pawed at it, and strolled past me towards the door. My mouth fell open in outrage. He was leaving? After all that sexual tension? Without the promised wall fucking? Well, that was rude.

And there was the minor complication that if I let him walk out, some bastards would hunt me down to strip my witch magic. And my shifting powers. I’d kill them all, obviously, but it would get boring pretty fast. I’d have to stay hidden, change my appearance to stay off their radar … and honestly that sounded so dull and exhausting.

“Fine!” I sighed as Dean opened the door, choosing to ignore the victorious smirk he threw over his shoulder. “What kind of wardrobe are we talking? Spring? Summer? Should I bring my bikini, or is there no pool at this fancy-ass hall?”

Dean’s brows drew low. “It’s in the middle of a moor, and freezing cold. Bring a bikini if you want to freeze your ass off.”

I huffed, stalking into my bedroom. “Maybe if I do have witch magic, I could freeze your ass off.”