Magic Hunter (The Rover series Book 4) Read online

  I coughed as I regained my voice. “As I was saying, leave or you will regret it.”

  The goon reached out and grabbed my ankle.

  So much for being off limits. I struck with my blade before he could even reach his, hitting him hard in the side. Blood poured from the wound as I removed my blade and leaned down.

  “You won’t die, but you’ll leave me alone while I deal with your friends.”

  Fin had started fighting a pair of others, obviously not wanting to hold them with magic any longer. He was spoiling for a fight. Two more stood waiting in the wings as if they were next up to the stage. I used that same dark tinged magic to drag them both toward me until they knelt at my feet.

  Instead of towering over them, I knelt in the grass and looked them over. “Same deal. Leave now and I won’t hurt you.”

  They glared at me like they wanted to kill me, so I focused my power on the heavy thump, thump, thump of their pulse in their necks. When the blood flow slowed, they both slumped over, passed out from my magical blood choke.

  Fin had taken down one of his guys, and as I stood to survey their fight, he finished off the other with a punch to the guys throat. He hadn’t been as gentle as me. They were both beaten and cut, but not dead.

  “Is it a mistake to leave them alive?” I asked. Not that I was in a hurry to kill them while they were down for the count. “Should we just leave them here?”

  Fin stepped over them, cleaning his blades on his pants as he headed toward the car. We climbed in, this time Fin driving, and I waited about as long as I could for him to say something.

  “What the hell was all that about? I get they are mad about going to fairy jail or whatever, but do you usually get randomly attacked like that?”

  He sighed, his shoulders falling back. “No, not usually, not in a long time. I haven’t been out in the world much in recent years. I prefer to keep to myself and hunt the Black Mage. When I brought you into my plans was the first time I’d really gone out in years, outside of tiny excursions for supplies the Captain couldn’t or wouldn’t retrieve.”

  Awesome. I was mated to the fae version of a hermit.

  Fin slammed on his brakes. I snapped forward into the airbag console hard enough I had to brace my hand to stop from hitting it.

  “What the fuck?’

  He had his knife out as he faced toward the empty back seat. “Show yourself.”

  Then, the backseat wasn’t so empty. A man sat there, one leg crossed over the other, his black on black suit immaculate.

  “I heard you were searching for someone,” he said.

  I turned to get a better look at him. “You heard? That was pretty fast.”

  He shifted his attention to me and under it I felt flayed open. Like he could see my insides and pick them out like a game of Operation.

  “Word travels fast in the market circles.”

  I waved at him despite the fear clogging my throat, putting some bite in my tone. “You could have called. You didn’t need to get all serial killer creepy in our backseat.”

  A grin popped at the corner of his mouth and then he leaned forward. I shifted away, trying to keep as much space between us as possible, not even daring to taste him with my own magic.

  “I like you, Zoey Sallix. I knew I would. Word was you were looking for someone making jewelry, but I suspect that’s not all?”

  I tugged my necklace from my shirt and held it up. “Someone who makes jewelry like this. I need something that can handle my unique magical abilities.”

  He didn’t reach out to touch the necklace, and I shoved it back under my shirt, so he wasn’t tempted to. “That is a fae piece and yet you carry mage-marked daggers.”

  I shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a complicated woman. Do you know someone who might help me?”

  His focus shifted to Fin, who sat there holding his knife, ready to strike in a split second. “How did something like you end up with something like him?”

  He was talking to me despite his gaze of Fin.

  “I don’t know.” I shrugged. “But he’s pretty, so I’m cool with it.”

  A sharp laugh broke up the tension in the car until he sat back in the seat again. “He is, indeed. But I’m still confused about your connection. I don’t enjoy being confused.”

  “Welcome to the club. He doesn’t tell me shit.” Words just kept falling out of my mouth, more to keep his attention focused on me instead of Fin.

  “Zoey,” Fin said. “Not the time.”

  I kept my eyes on our unexpected guest. “I didn’t catch your name.”

  “Helix,” he said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Zoey Sallix. Nothing surprises me much in my old age, but you are definitely something unique.”

  He didn’t look two minutes over twenty-five, but I kept that to myself. “Uh, thank you, I think. So how can I meet this person? Is it you and we’re just talking in third person to throw suspicion?”

  “It’s not me who you would meet with, but my friend. I can’t guarantee they will help you, nor that they will be able to do anything, but I offer a meeting.”

  A lead was a lead in my book. “When? How?”

  “I’ll send you the data once I leave the vehicle safely. But I advise you, leave this one at home.” He tipped his head toward Fin.

  I shrugged. “Sure. I’ll wait for your info.”

  Fin made a sound from beside me. “Really? Just like that, you’ll leave me at home?’

  I gritted my teeth and pasted on a sickly-sweet smile. “Aw honey, don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll find something to do while I’m at work.”

  Fin rolled his eyes and I turned to speak to the man again, but he’d disappeared.

  “Is he really gone or just like hiding?” I asked Fin.

  Fin sheathed his blade and turned to start driving again. He was angry at me, but I didn’t care. I was still pissed at him too, so the car filled up with our unspoken words as we drove back toward the safe house.

  It took way longer to get home than to leave because he doubled back on several streets to ensure no one followed us from the market. When he decided it was safe, he pulled the car into the underground garage and we stayed silent on the elevator ride, all the way to our apartment.

  Once inside, I took a deep breath and relaxed. “Do you realize this is the first fight in a while where we didn’t walk away with some grievous injury? I’d call that a win.”

  He spun toward me, his fists clenched, “Stop being fucking cute. We’re going to talk about this like adults and then you’re going to ensure I can come with you to that damn meeting.”

  I took a step toward him, slowly, as anger simmered under my skin. “Firstly, I’m always fucking cute. Secondly, you don’t throw around orders at me in that tone. I’m not fucking Harlan and I won’t be led around on a leash by my feelings for you. Unlike him, I know when something is fucking toxic and when I should walk away.”

  I spun toward the bedroom and slammed the door hard enough to shake the walls.

  Chapter Eight

  I DROPPED MY WEAPONS, old and new, on the bed and stripped out of the hoodie. My anger was riding high, and I needed to vent.

  I clenched my fists and took a few deep breaths. That didn’t help much so I continued undressing and headed toward the bathroom. A hot shower sometimes calmed me down when I was about to go bananas on someone. Or at the very least, if I got to the point of frustration crying, I could pretend I wasn’t, that the water on my face was the shower spray.

  There were ten showerheads in the small walk-in closet Fin called a shower. Additionally, several handles lined the dark stone walls to operate them individually. Why did someone think this was economical? It would take more time to turn on the damn thing than to actually clean myself.

  Once I got all the spickets going with hot water, and the bathroom completely flooded with sticky steam, I stepped inside. The spray hit my sore muscles like a dream. I groaned, the anger and frustration washing away in the stream of water.


  Until Fin poked his head into the bathroom. “Zoey?”

  “Who the fuck else would be using the shower in our safe house?” I said, as I surveyed the eclectic selection of soap rimming one of the walls.

  “Can we talk about this?”

  I picked one that looked more fruity than floral and sniffed the scent. Slightly citrus. I could deal with that.

  “Talk about what? Me going to the meeting alone, or you being a liar? Take your pick.”

  He stepped into the shower—naked.

  “What the hell? Sexy shower time is off limits while I’m angry at you.”

  Not to mention, we hadn’t even gotten to sexy shower time yet. Something I was sure I was going to enjoy with Fin in the future, but had been impossible with Esteban trying to kill us every day and the Captain hovering around 24/7. I stifled that last thought. I’d forgo sexy shower time if we could get him back.

  “You’re looked sad,” Fin said, still in my fucking shower.

  I threw the bottle of shampoo at him, which he caught and carefully placed back in the empty spot on the ledge.

  “Get the hell out. We can talk later.”

  He stepped forward and I averted my eyes away from his damn ridiculous abs and the fucking hot way the water clung to the hard lines of his chest and arms.

  “You keep saying later, but the longer we wait, the longer you’ll hold a grudge and punish me.”

  Still refusing to look at him, I turned to run the water over my hair. “Oh, it’s almost like you know me.”

  “Talk to me, Zoey.” His fingers skimmed my waist, and I froze.

  The tension and need we’d both been stifling arched high and hard between us.

  Damn it. I didn’t want to sleep with him. I wanted to slap him.

  He took another step forward, bringing our bodies close enough that I could feel the heat of him behind me, even with the water spraying scalding hot from above.

  “Don’t you dare,” I said. “We are not doing this right now.”

  I twisted to face him so he knew I meant it.

  “Fine,” he said as he crashed his mouth down on mine, so hard I stumbled but he caught me in his arms and pulled me into him.

  Every inch of him felt exactly like I remembered, and I moaned.

  One minute of this bliss. I’d allow us one minute and then I’d walk out and leave him with his hard-on.

  I let myself melt into him and he groaned, no doubt thinking I’d submitted. Dissolving him of that notion, I nipped his bottom lip and clenched my fist up into his hair to pull the strands.

  Oh, Gods. Why did he feel so good? Taste so good? Everything about him drew me in. The sensual play of our slick skin together did not help my fracturing control.

  He slid a hand up to cup my cheek, the other wrapping around my waist tighter, holding me hostage against his chest. I was too far gone in this kiss to stop him, to push him away, but I could make him work for it.

  I nipped his lips and pulled back. He surged forward to kiss me again, but I turned my face at the last second, so his lips slid over the curve of my jaw and onto my neck. He didn’t try to capture my mouth again. Instead, he scraped his teeth down the sensitive column of my neck.

  “Fucking hell,” I whispered, clutching his soaking wet head to me.

  He continued to my collarbone, the other side of my neck, and then down, dropping to his knees and tugging me so he could get his lips around my nipples. He drew one between his lips and swirled his tongue around the sensitive peak.

  Like a fucking statue, I stood there, moaning, as he kissed a path to my other nipple and gave it the same treatment.

  “Still want me to stop?” he whispered against my sternum, then down my belly until his nose brushed my belly button.

  Maybe this was the tension release we both needed?

  I shook my head and gripped the back of his hair. “No, keep going.”

  His warm chuckle was the only warning I got before he clamped his hands on my upper thighs, shifted them apart, and parted me with his tongue.

  I didn’t bother trying to get away from him now, using his hair as an anchor, grinding my pussy into his face. His hands trailed around to my ass so he could hold me still against his lips. Warm wet heat flashed through me, but I was empty. More than anything I wanted to feel him inside me again.

  I tugged at his hair and he glanced up, his lashes feathered with water droplets.

  “Get up here so you can fuck me properly.”

  He leaned in and deposited one more kiss right over my clit, then stood in one fluid motion and clutched me to his chest again. “What were you saying about orders earlier?”

  I narrowed my eyes and pulled his hair again. “You really want to go there right this second?’

  “No.” His mouth took mine again.

  I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he lifted me, bearing my weight easily.

  He pulled away enough to meet my eyes. “Tell me how you want it. Let me take care of you.”

  I struggled to get the words out, my body liquid and needy in his grasp. “Here, now, hard.”

  His lips met mine and he slowly melded his tongue with mine, drawing me into his mouth.

  I shoved at his shoulders, breaking the kiss. “That is not hard.”

  “Woman, if you don’t let me do this, I’m going to—.”

  “What?” I challenged. “What are you going to do?”

  He pressed me back into the stone wall. Despite the hot water and steam, it dragged a yip of surprise from me. He shifted me down a few inches until I felt the hard jut of his cock between my legs.

  “Yes,” I breathed.

  He carefully held me with one arm, my legs wrapped around his lean hips enough to keep me in place. Then he delved his fingers along my pussy, opening me up for him. Once he had me where he wanted me, he shifted his hips the tiniest bit to nudge my entrance.

  My thighs shook around him, as I’d been clenching them in anticipation. I dug my nails into his back, but he didn’t seem to mind. He stared down between us, watching as he glided into me an inch at a time. But I couldn’t watch. It was too much to see and feel. I would come way faster than I wanted to.

  This was only the second time he’d been inside me, and every tiny bit of me lit up in pleasure and pain as he stretched my body open all over again. At least one of us remembered I’d been a virgin only a little while ago. Right now, all I could think about was getting him inside me, easing the ache for him that never seemed to dissipate.

  Once he’d finished his slow thread to my core and our bodies were flush together, I couldn’t stay still. He’d held me around my ribcage so tight I knew I’d have bruises later, in his attempt to keep me from moving.

  “Calm, Zoey,” he whispered as he used his free hand to tuck the hair behind my ear. “There’s something to be said for slow and steady, but don’t worry, I’ll give it to you hard once you’re used to me filling you up.”

  I groaned, dropping my head against the wall with a thud. “I don’t know. I think you’re teasing me as punishment for being angry at you. For not listening.”

  His chuckle brushed against my collarbones, then his lips followed, all the while he remained still and unmoving. Everything inside me demanded friction, sensation, stimulation.

  I was perilously close to begging him when he finally arched his hips the tiniest bit to draw out of me.

  I needed more. Tightening my thighs on him, I wiggled in his looser grip to drag myself down onto him once more.

  I met his eyes in a challenge. “What? You know I’m the kind of girl who takes what I want. It’s not a surprise.”

  “Damn it, Zoey. I’m trying not to hurt you.”

  I clutched his face in my palms and drew our foreheads together. “You were careful already. Now fucking let go and give it to me hard. I want to feel this damn wall crack behind me.”

  He growled, an actual growl, and seized my ass in his big hands. Oh, shit. Fear and excitement played alon
g my nerve endings, heightening my already unstable level of arousal.

  Lightning fast, he dipped his knees, holding me steady, and pumped up into me.

  Fuck. Yes.

  He pressed the heavy weight of his chest forward to close any space between me and the still chilled wall.

  “You want it hard, then you got it, my love,” he said against my lips.

  The entwined promise and threat in those words echoed around the enclosed shower.

  He repeated the movement again, slamming up into me hard enough the end of him nudged my cervix. The pain sent a jolt through me, but I urged him on.

  “Don’t stop, please.”

  Each new thrust battered my body. His hands gripped me tighter, his body took me higher, even the wall seemed to push back against me, creating an inferno sliding along a fine line between pleasure and pain.

  I clawed his skin, certain I drew blood, but I didn’t care, and neither did he. His hands shifted to my hips instead of my ass as he used the wall as leverage and began an even more punishing pace. I would come soon but not without more friction. I wiggled until he stalled and dragged his gaze to mine. A faint light emanated from the depths of his eyes.

  I panted, struggling to reach orgasm. “I need to get my hand in there to... you know...”

  He scowled, shut off the water with one hand, and lifted me higher with the other until he slid out of me.

  I whimpered and he swatted my ass hard enough to send a crack through the enclosure. But I didn’t have to wait long. He carried me to the bedroom and lowered me to the plush rug near the closet. Some kind of faux fur, at least I hoped it was fake, caressed my back as he carefully laid me down.

  “We didn’t need to get out,” I said.

  He grabbed my hips, lifted, and twisted me onto my belly. In a second flat, my hips were up by his and he was back inside me. Oh Gods, he was so much deeper in this position.

  I groaned, unable to stop the sounds vibrating through my throat.

  “We got out so I can give you everything you need,” Fin said, his words short and clipped. “If you need your clit stroked to come, then I’ll do that while I fuck you.”