Chapter 25: Wanted

SERAPHINA

The sensation of Garrick moving inside me left me breathless. His tongue danced with mine, his hips nestled between my thighs, his essence trickling down my backside.

His mouth abandoned mine to claim my nipple, and I climaxed around him. A strange, hazy magic pulsated and swirled around us, lifting us to new heights of pleasure and making me yearn for even more closeness.

“Damn, Seraphina,” he groaned, releasing my nipple. His hips began to move faster, plunging deeper into me.

The wet sounds of our bodies meeting echoed with my moans in the quiet of his bedroom. I clung to him, pushing back against him.

My nails dug into his back as I grew desperate for another climax, even as my body trembled around him, my inner walls gripping him tightly. I couldn’t release him.

My legs wrapped around his hips. My nails raked down his back, my other hand digging into his hip, urging him on.

The pleasure built with each thrust, growing more intense. “Yes!” The word caught in my throat as another wave of pleasure began, his cock hitting just the right spot.

Warmth spread through me as ecstasy shook my thighs. Garrick moaned low in response, my orgasm triggering his own.

He continued to thrust, releasing into me again. His mouth was on my earlobe, his ragged breaths and frantic thrusts driving my orgasm to dizzying heights.

Stars danced in my vision. The soothing aftermath of our coupling spread through my limbs, a buzzing electricity heightening my bliss as I melted into the sheets.

My body continued to tremble, my hands weakly holding onto Garrick. It took a while for Garrick to slow his movements, pushing up on his arms to brush my hair from my face.

A soft smile played on his lips as I slowly returned to reality. He gently pulled out, drawing me into his side.

His arm served as a pillow for my head. Even without our intimate connection, I still felt enveloped by him.

My head throbbed in time with Garrick’s heartbeat as I lay against his arm, my body still pulsing from his attentions. We both lay there, catching our breath, staring at the ceiling.

It was harder for me, still recovering from our second round and the aftereffects of too much alcohol the night before with Lilith. The temptation to close my eyes and drift off was strong, especially with Garrick’s warmth surrounding me in his room.

He had come over for a lunch date, which I had initially regretted due to the hangover that had me hugging Lilith’s toilet for half the night. We had ended our margaritas with straight tequila shots, complaining about men in our drunken state.

Lilith had repeatedly told me not to worry about who I was spending my free time with until one of them wanted a real relationship. It was advice I had thought was fairly sound when I tried to reject Garrick at the door.

He offered to leave, but I accepted him before pulling him into a long, lingering kiss at my doorstep. A kiss that left a throbbing ache between my thighs, and made me grateful I had brushed my teeth.

He ordered lunch on his phone, which I barely noticed as my eyelids grew heavy next to him. Sex hadn’t been on our agenda, but it was one of the first things that happened.

We had taken off our shoes, and one kiss had led to another.

“You’re not falling asleep on me, are you? You need some sustenance before round three.”

I giggled, covering my face with my hand without opening my eyes. “I don’t know if I can handle a round three. I’m exhausted.”

Garrick made a low, rumbling sound in his throat, already shifting as he tossed his phone aside to look at me. His finger traced over the fading bruises on my skin, something I had planned to speed up the healing process with some poultices I could make.

I could still feel a trickle of magic, different and strange the more time I spent in Garrick’s arms.

“It’s really not safe, you know.”

I opened one eye, unsure of what he was referring to. “Hmm?”

As my vision cleared, I saw the look on his face as he studied my bruises. A serious expression crossed his face, making me feel self-conscious.

I raised my eyebrows, silently asking him to continue, bracing myself for what he might say. I had a feeling it would make me feel worse, but I hoped he wasn’t about to say what I thought he was.

“Vampires are notorious for killing the women they sleep with, sometimes accidentally because they take too much blood. Look at all the bite marks on you. I can’t believe you’d let him do that to you. You need to end it.”

His words made me feel dirty. Disgusted. Angry. Mostly, I felt hurt.

We were having this conversation again, less than a day later, and I hadn’t even seen Aleksandr. The way he said that I’d let him do it, as if I should be ashamed of the pleasure I had received.

The pleasure that Aleksandr had given me, over and over, more times than I could count compared to Garrick. Something about the way Aleksandr made love, or maybe it was his bite, made the pleasure between us unending.

The foreplay and buildup were so intense it made Garrick seem like an eager teenager.

“What are you doing?” Garrick asked, sitting up as I quickly rolled off the bed to retrieve my clothes.

“I’m getting dressed,” I responded, my tone icy as I kept my back to him.

“Huh? Why?”

His hand found my arm as I bent over next to the bed. I jerked away from his touch, pulling up my panties and jeans, taking a few steps forward.

“Seraphina!”

“I haven’t seen him. I haven’t even had a chance to talk to him, Garrick. We haven’t even discussed being a couple, and you’re just—”

I let out a frustrated sound, filled with disgust and anger. I picked up my shirt from the floor, waving it around before turning to face him, my face twisted in fury.

“You’re acting like I don’t have a life, or like I made these decisions without your approval. Believe it or not—”

I pulled on my shirt, not bothering with a bra, and raised a finger to silence him.

“I actually really enjoyed fucking him. He doesn’t make me feel guilty or dirty or like I did anything wrong after we fuck.”

“I’m not trying to make you feel guilty. Or any of those things. Vampires are power-hungry, accident-prone leeches. Of course, I’m worried about you! What kind of man wouldn’t be—”

“Aleksandr isn’t accident-prone, and he’s not power-hungry, otherwise I’d be dead. He’s just someone who enjoys fucking me,” I yelled, my patience finally snapping. I could feel a strange charge in the air around us, my anger growing, my mind slowly registering what might be happening.

Panic started to bubble up in my throat, along with the urge to get away. I needed to be far away from Garrick and his possessiveness. I didn’t even know why I was here when I was still dealing with the aftermath of my dead husband’s life.

Or why I had even considered a real relationship in the first place. Garrick paused, as if processing the name I had said. He finally got up to put on boxers as I retrieved my other sock. He tried to stop me at the door.

He blocked my exit, his eyes dark as he towered over me, his hand on the top of the door frame.

“Aleksandr!? Aleksandr Vasiliev!? Vasiliev is the worst of them! He’s lethal, power-hungry, abusive! Just look at your financial records, they have to be ten times worse than mine. You can’t—”

“I’ve looked! You think I haven’t!?” I shrieked, thoroughly annoyed that he was now questioning my ability to read financial statements. “Are you really that ignorant? Aleksandr has been pulling out of deals with Jack more and more, and financially distancing himself since last year.

“Most of the time he has nothing to do with Jack’s business, where yours is a financial sinkhole with zero return, despite the good things your people do! You take care of the sick and elderly, the disabled who are stuck. Aleksandr creates jobs for the community, he provides ride services for the working class, and even the underhanded deals have some sort of return.

“Of course Jack was involved and so am I—”

“I’m just trying to keep you safe! He’s killed entire families and—” Garrick started to argue, but I shoved him aside. He stepped aside more out of respect than any actual force I was exhibiting.

“Where are you going!?” he demanded.

“It’s not your problem!” I snapped, storming into the living room to put on my winter gear. I stopped halfway through the room as two large figures entered through the doorway.

They both looked surprised to see Garrick standing behind me in nothing but boxers.

“You can’t leave like this,” Garrick said firmly, his attention shifting to the two men who had entered his home. “Now’s not the best time.”

“The second called me. He says he needs help at the docks,” the smaller of the three men said. He was leaner than the other two, but still muscular, with sharp cheekbones and eyes that almost glowed silver through his bushy beard.

The other man looked like a more mature, larger version of Garrick, with chestnut hair where Garrick’s was jet black. The similarities were hard to miss as I did a double take.

“Duty calls, brother. Don’t worry. I can see her home,” he said. His offer was kind and innocent, so it was shocking when Garrick let out a deep snarl.

The sound was so dark and deep that I flinched. His eyes were glowing for the first time since I’d met him. I took a hurried step back, my reaction registering slowly on Garrick’s face. The longer he looked at me, the more his anger seemed to fade.

A heavy silence fell between us. I felt like a suspicion had been confirmed the longer I looked at him. I broke eye contact, feeling a wave of shame wash over me.

I wasn’t ready for this.

“Garrick, I think your brother is more than capable of seeing me home,” I said softly, my voice devoid of emotion. I looked up at him again, trying to keep my face neutral so I wouldn’t upset him again. The conflict on Garrick’s face was obvious to everyone, but it was also clear that he was on edge.

He was trying to control his inner wolf more than he ever had before. His limbs were shaking, and his clenched fists looked more like claws. The knowledge that I had fucked not just any vampire, but Aleksandr Vasiliev, was probably running through his mind over and over again.

I pulled on my coat, turning away from him for the last time.

“Text me when she’s home safe,” Garrick finally said, his words following me even though I had my back to him.

I felt like I needed this to be over.

“Rafe, fill me in while I get some pants on.”

Tears welled up in my eyes as I struggled to pull on my gloves. The sound of the door slamming shut in Garrick’s room echoed in my ears, making it harder to hold them back. Garrick’s brother cleared his throat awkwardly, rubbing his neck as he held the front door open for me.

I slipped into my shoes in a heartbeat, not bothering to tie them up for the short walk to the car waiting outside. A teal blue SUV was parked right next to Garrick’s truck, its engine humming softly.

As we climbed in, Garrick’s brother reached over to switch off the music. He turned to face me, his eyes filled with curiosity, making my heart pound in my chest.

“So, uh, not to meddle or anything, but my brother mentioned you’re a witch?”

“Yeah, so what?” I retorted, meeting his gaze head-on. My tone was defensive. I wondered if he was about to ask me for a spell. It would be just like a wolf to beg a witch to help him find his mate.

I didn’t have nearly enough power for something like that, even though I could feel the energy around me pulsating and shifting. There’s a difference between feeling magic, touching magic, and directing it.

“Well, we overheard and I’m just kind of curious. How does it work, you being with a vampire when you’re a witch? Isn’t that against your moral code? Or something?”

I let his words hang in the air, the silence growing thick and heavy in the car as I continued to stare at him.

“What’s your name?” I finally asked, raising an eyebrow.

He mirrored my gesture, draping an arm casually over the back of his seat, the other on the steering wheel.

“Jasper.”

“Jasper? It’s none of your fucking business. Drive,” I snapped, turning my gaze forward once more.

He chuckled, shaking his head as he turned the keys in the ignition. Despite my harsh words, he complied. If anything, the look on his face before he put the car in drive was one of distinct pride.