Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 112500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 563(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 563(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
He couldn’t hide his interest. “Does such an ability exist?”
“Rare, but yes.” She slid him a look. “Would you use such a spell on me?”
He stepped closer until they were toe-to-toe. “I’ll no’ do anything to you that you doona want me to.” His gaze traced the line of her throat as she swallowed, the sensuous flick of her tail. “And I doona need to. You’re feeling a pull toward me. Last night was only a taste.”
Her lips curled. “Said the Hungry One.”
“Leave with me now, and I’ll demonstrate my appetites once more.” Every inch of her needed further exploration.
“Tempting, but I’m more concerned with what you’re doing here.”
When he hesitated to reveal his mission, her eyes flickered with magic. The grass green of her irises turned to demonic black, a dark canvas for moonlight.
“Using your power on me already?”
“I wasn’t. Now I’m tempted.”
He couldn’t compel her to go, couldn’t command her to stop. So he grasped for patience and said, “I’m asking you no’ to.”
She drew her head back with confusion. “What about me has given you the idea that I respect boundaries in any way?”
“Considering my arse was sore this morning, no’ a damn thing.”
“Oh, don’t pretend you didn’t love it—”
He held up his free hand to stop her. “We’ll discuss later. For now, I’ll reveal what I’m doing here if you give me your word that you will no’ use your abilities on me.”
“Why would I do that?”
“You told me to be wary should we meet off the Mount. I am. And if I canna concentrate, then our odds of getting out of the bloody Helter alive just cratered. If you want to know my deepest, darkest desires, then woman up and fucking ask me.”
After a pause, her gaze greened. “Okay.”
He angled his head, a wolf sensing a trap. “Just like that?”
“I’m feeling generous, so I won’t use my magic on you. But I must know why you’ve come to this refreshing locale.” She inhaled the mist. “Ah, undercurrents of brimstone. I go all tingly.”
“If you’re feeling generous, accept that danger exists here and leave. Or I will.”
“Stop saying leave.” Her tail flicked with irritation. He watched it dance behind her, his love-hate feelings for it magnified.
Was he actually going to take her along? On his own, he could make the sorceress’s lair in minutes. With Ditch? An hour.
He should carry her out. Instead, he grudgingly sheathed his blade and started into the fog. “You’ll drive me madder than the moon before all this is through.”
“Absolutely,” she said, delighted, falling into step. “Your lips to Hecate’s ears.” She rubbed her hands together and asked, “So what mischief are we getting into tonight?”
“The Queen of Questions,” he said. “A sorceress who answers anything. For a price. And she demands supplicants arrive alone.” Understandable. Not everyone would be a fan of a pack showing up at one’s doorstep.
“I’m sure she’ll tolerate a neutral colleague,” Ditch said, and he hoped she was right. “What do you know about Sorceri?”
“Enough.” Masks and madness, gold and gleam—he’d heard the stories.
“I’m curious to meet her,” Ditch mused. “How do you think she survives out here?”
“No idea. I do assume she’s dangerous. Yet more reason for you to return home.”
“You assume I am not dangerous?”
“Are you? Then tell me what your powers are.”
“Maybe I’ll show you if the time comes. You haven’t bragged about your skill with a sword, but I’m sure you’d demonstrate it. Of course you did hint in a spicy letter that you have a talented tongue. That bore out.”
His head swam from the memory of her taste, emblazoned on his mind forever. Grappling for control, he pointed in the distance and said, “I believe she’s on that mount.”
“I can’t see through this film.” Ditch squinted. “I have demon blood yet no demon sight. Only demonic appetites.”
He whistled low at that, and his cock hardened even more. “I recall.” He’d come in her mouth until his brain had melted, but he’d craved a repeat as soon as she’d left him. “Still will no’ tell me what demon breed you are? There’s a hundred species with a tail like yours.”
She only shrugged. “I do envy a wolf’s senses. And physical strength as well. You must envy a witch’s magic.”
“No’ really. In our pack, we hear about the disasters. Wishes backfiring. Curses catching the caster.” He shook his head. “Unnatural.”
“And yet you seek a sorceress’s help? A queen no less! What question will you ask? How to feed your people through the winter or how to dominate all the other factions?”
He paused and met Ditch’s gaze through the haze. “How I can be with you.”
“You came here to ask that? I thought you’d accepted that we’re impossible.”
“I had,” he said. “Until last night. You want me. I can work with that. Understand me, demon-witch. I’m willing to do much for a life with you.” Whatever it took—up to a point. “But I’m also scouting game. If winter fangs hard, I plan to share Craigdúr’s take with your coven.”