Wicked Circle

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Johnny listened to the story but heard only how the vamp was setting himself up to play the wounded hero. Persephone was eating it up, too. He was going to have to apologize or something to show her he was concerned about her, too.

Then Persephone yawned.

She had given Menessos what he needed: blood. She’d given Johnny what he needed: sex. In return, he’d pissed her off. Now what she needed was sleep, and it was obvious.

Johnny rose from his seat. “Those of us who have shit to do during the day tomorrow need to go to bed.” He approached her, letting his genuine concern for her show. He reached up gently and massaged her shoulders. She exhaled contentedly, so he positioned himself behind her to massage more efficiently, all the while giving the vamp, who was still holding the hand that fed him, a pointed glare.

“Indeed,” Menessos said, releasing her. “You must rest.”

“What about you?” she asked.

“I will ponder my tactics until the dawn forces me to retire.”

“But shouldn’t we—”

“No,” Johnny said with a squeeze.

“The two of you must kiss and make up, Persephone,” Menessos said.

Johnny felt her shudder when the vamp said her name.

“I will plan for the safety of us all, then retire here. Go. Rest.”

Persephone nodded in acquiescence. Johnny guided her away from the vamp, and the two of them headed up the stairs.

Menessos called, “You will go with me to the haven tomorrow, yes?”

Johnny ground his teeth.

“Yes,” Persephone said.

Johnny didn’t answer. The vamp wouldn’t care if he accompanied them or not.

In the bedroom, Goliath lay reclined on Seph’s bed, toying with the cell phone. Johnny glared at him. “Out.”

Silent but wearing a broad smirk, Goliath complied.

Johnny shut and locked the door behind him, then wrapped his arms around Seph and nuzzled into her hair. The smell of her was so sweet that he couldn’t help tasting the tip of her earlobe.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“Sorry we had words, or sorry that jealousy made you act like an asshole?”

“Both.” She waited expectantly, as if he should expound on the subject, so he did. “There’s a whole lot of shit going on that I can’t control.”

“The rest of us have that too.”

“I know. I know.” He sat on the edge of her bed. No one in the pack, male or female, would dare presume to make a decision that affected the pack without consulting him. But Red’s not pack. That was part of the allure and part of the problem. He wanted a similar authority over her, yet he knew he’d never have it. “You got bent when Menessos put that spell on us because he didn’t get permission, but it let us talk telepathically, and that was kind of cool. Then you go and get rid of it without asking me.” He gave himself a point for keeping his tone even, and went on. “I get it that you had reason, but you did the same thing he did, and even on top of all the current hubbub, I want you to let me be part of the decision-making process.”

At the last, her face fell. She sat on the bed beside him. “I did a ritual with my mom and Nana. It didn’t go like I’d planned, and the short version is I ended up in meditation and I discovered what Menessos had done, and I acted while it was there before me to be dealt with. The way it happened, I didn’t have the option to ask you. But.” She bit her lip. “You remember what I told you about Michael LaCroix?”

The name caused a new pang of jealousy in his heart. “I remember he’s your ex-boyfriend from college and our adevar’s big brother.”

“We broke up because I wanted to be kept in the loop of his business decisions. I didn’t want to make his decisions, but he opened a whole second location without so much as a ‘Hey, the business is doing well.’ I knew we couldn’t have a future like that.” She touched his leg. “I want to have a future with you. I’ll consult you as much as I can, but sometimes I have to make on-the-spot decisions. So do you. I trust you, Johnny, or you wouldn’t be in my bedroom right now. Don’t you trust me?”

That was a loaded question. There was no way to say anything except yes. He did trust her, but the vamp would use any opportunity he could to muscle his way between them. With his self-control wavering, he wasn’t sure if all these doubts were all in his head or if they were based in some reality.

Clearly troubled by his hesitation, Seph seemed like she might cry.

Johnny put his arm around her shoulders and answered, “Yes. Yes, of course I trust you.”

At 10:00 a.m., Johnny’s cell phone rang. He scrabbled at the bedside table, came up with nothing and figured out it was still in the pocket of the jeans he’d dropped on the floor before crawling into bed. Leaning over the mattress edge, he snatched the bottom of one pant leg and dragged the denim close enough to dig into the pocket. “Hello?”

“You asleep?” Todd asked.

“Not anymore,” he told the local pack’s second-in-command.

“The Zvonul made their official announcement a few hours ago. CNN picked up the story for their around-the-world snippets, and ten minutes ago they flashed your picture and name full screen. Thought you should know the world has gotten a glimpse at the Domn Lup.”

Johnny grunted in reply.

Todd hung up.

“Could you do the forced-change spell for the men today?”

Persephone blinked away sleep. “Huh? What happened to Monday?”

Johnny had just finished showering. He rubbed a towel over his head and said, “I checked, and the moon will be midsky about four o’clock today. If you and the men go to the roof of the den, you could do the spell and be done before Menessos even rises. And the den is closer to the haven than here.”

“Menessos said he wanted us to go to the haven together.”

“No, he said he wanted you to go with him. Personally, I think you’d be better off to stay the hell away from the haven and the shabbubitum.”

“You know I can’t do that.”

He knew he couldn’t talk her out of it, but he had to try. “It’s not safe. They’re going to blame you no matter what.”

“Menessos said he’d have a plan.”

“I don’t trust him.”

“I do.”

Of course she did.

“Those harpy things are coming tonight,” she argued. “I need to get ready for them.”

“What are you planning to do?”

“I left most of my supplies in Pittsburgh. I thought I’d run to Wolfsbane and Absinthe to restock, charge up my charms and maybe work up a potion, in case I need it tonight.”

“But Menessos will have a plan.”

She frowned at him.

“Look, you were going to do magic anyway. This is just one more thing.”

She sat up, irritated. “You don’t know what you’re saying. The forced-change spell isn’t easy or brief.”

“What else would you really do? Sit around and be nervous, worrying about what might happen tonight? Why not stay busy with this?” he added. “For me.”

Before him, Seph lay back. She stretched and yawned.

When the covers shifted, he pictured her naked body writhing beneath them, despite knowing she wore her shirt and undies. Desire warmed his skin like the summer sun. “Please, Red?”

She groaned. “Fine. Let’s plan to start the spell at three thirty.”

He jerked the covers up and kissed her ankle.

“I’ll need supplies,” she said. “What time do you think Beau opens Wolfsbane and Absinthe?”

Johnny lifted his phone from the bedside table. “I can find out.” A few clicks later, he announced, “Noon.”

“What time is it now?”

“Ten thirty.”

“I’m up.” She threw back the covers.

Her scent flooded his nostrils as the air of the room swirled. She was lean but curvy. She had the indication of muscle without the ripped physique of a gym-rat. It was utterly feminine, but minus any weakness the term could sometimes imply.

Having selected clothes from her closet, she headed across the hall to the bathroom.

When Johnny heard the shower switch on, he couldn’t get the image of her sudsy naked body out of his mind. Unable to restrain himself, he knocked on the bathroom door and opened it before she could answer. “May I join you?” he asked.

She peered around the shower curtain at him, rubbing shampoo into her hair. “You’re already showered and clean.”

He unzipped his pants and lowered them enough for his erection to show. “What if I want to get dirty again?”

Persephone sized him up. “No biting?”

“No biting.” I can do this.

“Mmmm. Well. You’d better get in here, dirty boy,” she said in a sultry voice.

The water was hot and the smell of her lavender shampoo was strong as he tugged the curtain into place. Persephone had her back to him and was lathering her hair. She giggled nervously when his fingers strayed under her shoulder blades, but when he began massaging her scalp, she braced against the wall and let her head fall back.

The vibration in his fingertips was definitely milder with her than it was with the pack women, but it remained an aphrodisiac. His dick couldn’t get any harder. He pressed his swollen groin right against her backside. She rubbed against him.

As he worked the cleanser through her long, dark hair, his attention caught on a group of bubbles that cascaded seductively down her spine and slid over her hips to his cock. Then Persephone pulled her hair from his grip, turned around, and backed into the shower spray.

Her expression was intent, mouth slightly open, as she rinsed the shampoo out. He was mesmerized by her, by the water dripping from her nipples. He ached to feel that carnal resonance again. He cupped her breasts.

She mmmmed and arched her back. Though the shampoo was gone, she stayed under the spray, arms lifted and hands buried in her wet hair, her body undulating at his touch.

Yearning made him pull her from under the spray and crush her body against his. She responded by hitching one leg onto his hip. He held her there. He didn’t kiss her, didn’t do anything but stare into her eyes and feel the water sluicing over them, feel the erogenous purring created by their entwined bodies.

Desire engulfed him. Need consumed him.

“Come up here,” he said.

Persephone’s arms slithered behind his neck and she pulled herself up, legs wrapping around him and ankles crossing at the small of his back. As she clung to him, he reached down and positioned his cock to enter her.

“You want this?” he whispered into her ear.

“God, yes.”

On impulse, he asked, “How bad?”

He felt her straining to maintain the difficult position. Standing-up sex wasn’t easy if he wasn’t supporting her weight by cupping her ass—and just now he wasn’t. “Very bad,” she said. There was a lack of conviction in the words.

He was aware that he’d scared her before. He’d seen her hesitation at his joining her here now. He had to prove to himself that he could maintain control, but he also needed her to tell him she wanted it. He needed to hear absolution in the wantonness of her voice. In barely more than a whisper, he pleaded, “Tell me.”

Persephone hauled herself up higher and drew her arms tighter around him. This brought her mouth close to his ear. “I want you,” she said.

He let the tip slip inside of her. “Louder.”

“Yes.” He heard her panting at his ear. He felt her arms trembling with the effort of holding herself up. “I want you.”

He pushed his cock into her and she immediately writhed on him. He withdrew and demanded, “Mean it.”

Persephone ordered, “Fuck me.”

He rammed the full length of his cock into her. For all the tenacity of her command, when he gave her that thrust, her squeal and reverent sigh were the telltale signs of a satisfied craving.

He said, “The rest of the day, you’re gonna know I did.”