Trent: Her Warlock Protector Book 7 Read online

  Exactly! He said, howling loudly and wagging his tail. Maybe at heart they were just excitable puppies. Giant excitable puppies with massive teeth. Now, let me show you how fast we can really run.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  ELAINE WAS BREATHLESS by the time they finished their run and snuck into the back of his house. Stretching on the floor by his bed, she squirmed and whined as her bones reshifted. The pain was still deep, but not as sharp as the first few times. She wondered if it would always hurt, if it were possible to get used to this. Watching as Trent’s skin seemed to flow effortlessly from the fur, and he stood on human legs, she assumed it would.

  Of course, he was still grimacing and panting even after he had returned to human form.

  Kneeling down on his haunches, he took her head in his hands and smoothed the fur back from her forehead even as it kept receding.

  “Shh, Elaine, embrace the pain. It just means the changes are coming.”

  “Hurts,” she mumbled, trying to ignore the way that her voice came out garbled and strange––inhuman.

  “I know, but I’m here,” he said, still panting. Her keen ears could make out the rapid beating of his heart, as if he’d run a marathon. “Come back to me, country gal.”

  Closing her eyes, Elaine bit her lip and suffered through the pain of her final changes. When she finished, she was covered in sweat, breathing so hard she felt she might shake apart, and naked except for the wolf’s tooth necklace hanging between her breasts.

  Normally, being in the arms of a man as gorgeous as Trent would be the stuff of nighttime, Skinemax fantasies. Currently, she was so tired and sore that all she wanted was to revel in the warm comfort of his embrace.

  “Feel like I swam the English Channel or went five rounds with Layla Ali.”

  “That’s the drain of the magic. We have powerful gifts, but they come with a price. The exhaustion after a spell like this or a ritual can be debilitating,” he said, helping her sit up.

  She was still wobbly and leaned into his chest. It was a beautiful site. Tan, sun-kissed skin stretch flawlessly over rippling muscle. His abs would put the average superhero to shame.

  “You’re so warm.”

  “You are too. There’s a lot of metabolism being revved up when we change.”

  His breath was even hot on her cheeks and spicy-sweet.

  “You’re amazing,” she said, feeling like that same unsure teenager she’d been with Stephen.

  How could he do that to her? She’d had lovers between then and now, but being here in Trent’s arms felt like the first time for all of this. Her heart felt like it was pounding out of her chest, and she assumed he could hear that. He could probably smell the arousal pooling between her thighs. She blushed and tried to pull away, but he held her still.

  “You probably shouldn’t. There’s a lot of dizziness and exhaustion after a shift. You’re not used to all of it just yet.” His tone was protective and brimming with authority. However, he was still looking deeply into her eyes and stroking her bangs. She doubted a protector had to do that part. “Did anyone ever tell you how beautiful you are?”

  “With people I know at school I’m ‘exotic.’ I hear that so much it makes me want to punch the guys at bars who think it’s a compliment, like treating me as some other piece of meat. At the rez, I’m too pale, just a bit too much like my mother.” Elaine sighed and sat up a little in his embrace. “I’m not looking for pity or shallow compliments. It’s just hard to feel you fit.”

  He nodded and kissed her forehead.

  “I get that. My dad was a warlock. My mother isn’t. Dad was killed on a mission when I was just a kid. I went through my teens not understanding why I could see in darkness like I was under flood lights or hear a mouse burp fifty yards away. Most of the time–”

  “You thought you were going crazy?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Yeah, sucks being stuck between two worlds. Hard enough when it’s the life at the rez and then with life on campus. I don’t even know how to reconcile the fact that I can have four legs and a tail with it too.” She sighed and tried to force the tears out of her voice. “I don’t know who I am anymore.”

  He kissed her then, and it was as amazing as it had been the first time in the field, that insistent need. The hunger was consuming her and gnawing into her bones, making them flush with heat. Elaine returned his eagerness by changing her position and sitting on his lap. His erection was already rigid against her.

  Grinning, Elaine reached down and stroked the head of his cock. He hissed a curse and closed his eyes, and she licked her lips with pride and desire. She loved that she had this power over him. A warrior of the Magus Corps, an expert shifter, and one of the sexiest men she’d ever seen, and she could make him shudder with a touch. Maybe it was all the witchcraft between them. Elaine had never been anything special before this, her senses and nascent abilities aside.

  “Damn country gal, I’m going to come right here if you keep that up.”

  She grinned and kissed his neck, working her way down his collar bone and sucking at his neck, nipping at his clavicle. When she pulled back, Elaine’s stomach flip-flopped at the line of fresh hickeys she’d left there.

  Mine. My mate.

  The word was ringing through her brain. Maybe it was because their powers were the same or maybe because he was the first person to truly explain what she was. Or it could be because he was a god when he was shirtless. The feel of him, the smell of his scent, even the way he massaged her breasts…all of it screamed to her that he was hers. He always had to be.

  Of course, Elaine was merely his assigned case. All she had was his word he’d never initiated a witch before—not that he’d offered. He claimed he’d never shared anything truly intimate with a Wiccan woman before, not the type of bond both she and her feral side craved.

  “You stopped a bit, started looking far off?” he asked, stroking her cheek.

  “I just…what are we doing? Is this ‘initiating?’”

  He shook his head and her heart sank.

  “It’s not that. You might not fully initiate at all, that’s your choice. Right now, I just want to make love to you, to show you how good truly touching nature can be.”

  “So tomorrow?”

  He kissed her and Elaine, despite everything, melted into the embrace.

  “Tomorrow we’ll figure things out from there. Right now, do you trust me?”

  “I don’t know if I trust anyone with my heart.”

  Trent shook his head and those same tawny eyes, like liquid amber, gazed into her soul. She felt as if he could see every secret thought she was trying to hide, every insecurity.

  “Trust me, Miss Blackhawk. You won’t be disappointed.”

  That’s what Stephen said.

  Elaine kept her mouth clamped shut for fear she’d say something that stupid. She was twenty-three, damn it, and not sixteen. The hurts from seven years ago, even the constant rejection from her people, those didn’t matter here. All that mattered was the passion stemming from those tawny gold eyes and the strong hands gripping her sides.

  “That’s a promise or a threat?”

  “Oh a threat, country gal,” he said, his voice a low husk that made her inner wolf howl and her channel wet with anticipation and need. Trent took a sniff and grinned. “I think you’re ready.”

  “Then, city boy, show me what you can do.”

  • • • • •

  Elaine had an amazing ass.

  He’d never been an ass man per se, always more interested in long legs and fine, succulent breasts. While his lover had long, shapely legs that complimented her tall frame and breasts that seemed made for his hands, it was her ass that tantalized him the most. The perfect mounds in front of him were rounded like ripe melons. He reached out and traced the copper skin, enthralled by its silkiness. The skin there was smooth, unblemished and so warm beneath his touch. As he slid one hand over it, Elaine shuddered and then giggled.

 
“I don’t know about this…”

  Trent traced his hands over her ass again and then leaned down, licking a line over each cheek, tasting the sweet saltiness of her.

  “How do you know if you don’t try?”

  She tried to look at him from where she was propped up on her elbows and knees on his mattress.

  “I want to do this, but it seems silly.”

  “Not to me,” he growled.

  With one hand under her flat stomach to steady her, he slapped her ass with the flat of his palm, marveling at the slight red mark that showed up there.

  Elaine arched her back and moaned in shock and pleasure.

  “Jesus, a little warning.”

  He grinned, showing his canines, still a wolf even in human skin.

  “Do you not like it? We can sleep. Maybe watch bad infomercials?”

  “Don’t you dare!”

  “You’re mine, country gal,” he said.

  He grabbed a condom from the night stand and quickly slid it on. Taking the lube from his night stand, he went back to his ministrations. His hands lovingly caressed her ass cheeks, and he gave them a strong squeeze, enjoying it as she shuddered at his touch.

  “This might be a little cold at first,” he said.

  He ran the lube over her opening and then around the puckered lips of her anus. Liberally, he added lube to his length, the touch maddening him. His cock jerked under his grip, and he bit his lip to keep himself focused. He wasn’t some fool adolescent, and his job was to help Elaine regain her strength, to give her all the pleasure he could. Taking his position behind her, he teased his tip on her entrance.

  “Ready?”

  She didn’t say anything but just nodded.

  Sliding in was slow at first. Every inch of her ass was tight, wrapping around his cock with a pressure that drove him mad and made his balls pulse with need. As he eased into her, he reached down and found her clit, his fingers circling that sensitive bundle, sliding first counter clockwise and alternating fast the other way.

  The air was thick with her scent.

  Finally, his dick was deep inside her, enough for his balls to be flat against her ass, but he paused.

  “All right?”

  She hissed and nodded. “Goddess, please, don’t stop.”

  Trent started then, rocking back and forth. It was a slow rhythm at first, delicious and evil in order to pay her back for some of her teasing on the field. While one hand grabbed her ass, clutching it tight, the other played with her clit. His thumb tapped out a fast tempo while a couple fingers teased at her slit. Elaine moaned again, and his control was all but gone. The juices of her pussy flowed liberally over his hand. He pressed his fingers deep inside her, and let the heel of his palm massage her clit. She came first, spasming around his fingers and grinding into his cock.

  It was enough to send him over the edge as pleasure poured through every muscle, nerve and ounce of skin. He was shivering even as he came, thick cum trapped by the condom. But he wished he could truly initiate her, make her his. She hadn’t asked though, and he had no right to gift her immortality, not if she didn’t want it.

  Not if she didn’t want him.

  When they were done, he slid out of her and they spooned together, her back up against him. Reaching down, he stroked her labia, enjoying the sensation of it, the wetness he’d brought out in her.

  “Was that enough?”

  “Goddess yes.”

  He smiled and kissed her temple.

  “You were amazing, love. Get some sleep. We have more training tomorrow.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  “CARRIE, I CAN’T talk long,” Elaine said, as she hopped out of bed.

  She paused and slipped onto the porch. With their senses, she would probably still wake Trent, but at least she could try and avoid it.

  “I’ve got to get to the stables. I promised I’d help do some fall cleaning. We’re inundated with equipment no one uses anymore.”

  Her friend chuckled on the other end, and she could picture those mischievous blue eyes twinkling with mirth.

  “You can’t talk long or you can’t talk loudly?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Oh please, I called you at your apartment last night at eleven about a question and no answer. Could it have anything to do with the hot, city guy?”

  Elaine blushed and was glad that she hadn’t put it on face-time. That would be too incriminating.

  “It’s not like that.”

  “Oh I can hear the smile in your voice. Someone got laid and well.”

  She rolled her eyes and chuckled, despite the early hour. Carrie just had a way to get you relaxed with her perkiness.

  “Okay so it might be like that.”

  “Ooh dish!”

  “I am not going to do that,” she said, peaking in through the blinds at Trent. The sun hit his perfect torso and she had to lick her lips at the sight of him. “Still, it was nice. I might have almost forgotten what that feels like…and discovered a few new things period.”

  “You know one morning when you’re not heading off to the farm you’ll have to tell me. Diagrams optional,” Carrie trilled.

  “Carrie!”

  “Okay just kidding, but you’re happy, right? I haven’t heard you sound this carefree in forever. Is there a beaming smile on your face to match?”

  Elaine shook her head and conceded to everything, taking a quick selfie and sending it along. The squeal on the other end sent her ears ringing, and made her growl a bit under her breath.

  “Happy now?” Elaine asked.

  “Yup! I don’t know much about this guy from New York, but I want to meet him and then you have to hold onto him. You can’t afford to lose someone who makes you that smiley!”

  Elaine sighed and bit at a hang nail. “Maybe that’s not a choice I get to make.”

  “One or two guys turn out to be dicks. It doesn’t mean they all are. Jeff and I are happy.”

  “It’s not that. It’s just…”

  “What?”

  He has a mission and something bigger to do than be with me. I can’t compete with stopping Knights and conspiracies.

  But of course she couldn’t say that any more than she could talk about her shifting. Talking about secret wars might lose you friends.

  “A couple nights don’t make anything forever.”

  “They’re a start. Seriously, you and the dish need to come with me and Jeff on a double date. I bet the Moundville festival will be perfect and–”

  “I have to go,” Elaine said. “I really do. I’m going to be late.”

  “Sure mucking out stalls and tossing out frayed reins,” Carrie said, giggling. “I’ll get you with the third degree eventually. Talk later?”

  “Of course,” Elaine said, clicking off the phone.

  It was great to have someone to share her happiness with, but it stung that she couldn’t share her greatest fears. Maybe normal women had that issue too. Elaine guessed she’d never know. Grabbing up her purse, she hurried back into the house and wrote a quick note before rushing over to campus. She could get her car and be at the farm within the hour. She’d still be late, but maybe turning into a wolf could be considered extenuating circumstances.

  Sorry I was late. I turned into a giant dog and then had the best sex of my life.

  That’d go over well.

  • • • • •

  When she hopped out of her truck, the first thing she noticed was the smell. The tang of copper was thick and heavy in the air, so dense that even a normal human would have noticed it. Blood. A lot of it. The second thing her sensitive nose was able to discern was the familiar scent, the musk and sweat of Rainstone.

  He’d bled.

  Running full out, she rushed into the stables and into the set of a horror film. There were sheriff’s deputies everywhere and animal control too, their insignia embroidered on their khaki suits. Most of the horses had been moved out of the stable, but what was left made her bend over and
retch. May, an old spotted Appaloosa, was lying on the main floor of the barn. It looked like she’d managed to kick her way out of her stall but hadn’t gotten any farther. Her throat was torn and the white of her fur stained crimson with the blood that had crusted there. Her eyes had glazed over and flies were already hovering on them.

  “My god, what happened?”

  Floyd was the first one to come to her. He separated himself from the farm owner and gave her a hug.

  “There was a wild animal attack.”

  She blinked. That didn’t make sense. They were in Birmingham. It wasn’t like there were bears around or wolves––except there were.

  Taking a deep breath, she forced her senses to dig deeper than just the scent of blood. That coppery stench was so pervasive that it was gagging her throat. Underneath the arterial spray, though, was something distinct, something her brain would have picked up immediately if she wasn’t reeling with the blood.

  Wolf.

  A large male wolf had been here.

  Elaine clung tighter to Floyd, desperate to use his solid frame to steady her. What she was feeling just couldn’t be true. It didn’t make a damn lick of sense.

  “Is there anyone else hurt but May?”

  He pushed her back a bit and squeezed her shoulder, his concerned eyes boring into her own.

  “They’re looking for the wolf. We’ve had the cops here for hours, and the animal control team is already scouting the surrounding area. Everyone’s doing everything they can.”

  Her breath stilled. “That’s not what I asked. I know they have to be trying, but I wanted to know if we lost any other horses?” Floyd looked down at his boots, and he was clearly hesitating before answering. It was all the confirmation she needed. “Not Rainstone, please!”

  “I’m sor–”

  She didn’t even let him finish, just broke away from him and ran to Rainstone’s stall. Unlike May, he hadn’t been able to make even an attempt at an escape. Maybe the wolf had caught him asleep or maybe it had cut off his access to the stall door. Either way, the blood was everywhere, dripping down the walls. His body had been covered by a horse blanket, but she could still see where some of his intestines were strewn across the hay.