Dark Vortex: Mated by Magic Read online

  He stilled above her. The thick head of his cock nudged the swollen folds.

  Amidst the addictive hunger, there was something more. Something Zoe didn’t want to speculate on. For a moment, apprehension edged at her arousal.

  “Say it, Zoe. Say you’re mine.”

  It was a claiming.

  He was claiming her.

  And she desperately wanted to belong.

  “I’m yours,” she whispered.

  He thrust into her, working himself deeper, his gaze locked with hers. She gasped and gripped his shoulders tighter. He eased back, then pushed inside her again, slowly, deeply. He filled her perfectly.

  “Mine,” he growled. “My mate.”

  “Yes.” She was fighting to breathe. Fighting to make sense of the sensations tearing through her.

  His hips jerked hard, burying himself further inside of her.

  “You need to say it back to me, angel.”

  “My mate,” she whimpered, feeling a new surge of energy pulsating through her body. A brilliant array of color, pleasure, and sensations vibrated through her. For a brief, intense moment, she felt as if her body and soul merged with his, and her senses exploded with the pleasure of it.

  His cock throbbed inside her, thick and hard, stretching the sensitive tissue. Electric pulses began to race through her body.

  Jack’s jaw clenched, fighting for control. He pulled back, then slammed in harder and deeper, impaling her with swift, hard strokes.

  She dug her nails into his shoulders and gasped. Her vision darkened as she cried out with her release. The pleasure broke her. Every neuron in her body seemed to explode in ecstasy.

  The vortex burst, sending violent waves of energy ricocheting off the walls. She heard Jack’s shout, felt the overpowering pleasure of his release pulsating inside her.

  Closing her eyes, Zoe held onto him and knew nothing would ever be the same again.

  She was lost to him.

  Chapter 14

  It was a long time before Jack found reality. Zoe rested on his chest and his hand caressed the smooth skin of her back. So soft, so feminine, so perfect. He actually uttered a small prayer of thanks to the Goddess who watched over them, something he seldom did. What had he done to deserve her? His wildest fantasies hadn’t come close to what he’d just experienced.

  When she stirred, he whispered into her ear, “Zoe.”

  He wanted to say more, but any words would lessen what they shared.

  She had changed him. It was more than the new power surging through his veins. More than the mating. There was a sense of rightness that he’d never felt before.

  Her eyes were half closed and she looked up at him dreamily. Even though she was his for life, damned if he didn’t want her again.

  “We did it,” she said softly.

  “We did.” He searched her eyes and felt a twinge of guilt. “Do you have any regrets?”

  She closed her eyes briefly, then looked at him with wide, trusting eyes. “No.”

  Jack exhaled. He hadn’t even realized he’d been holding his breath.

  She gave him the sweetest little smile and put her hand to his chest.

  He wondered how many men had shared her body. It bothered him to think of her with anyone else. Neanderthal as it was. She wasn’t a virgin, but she was tight as hell.

  “How long has it been?”

  “Hmm?” Zoe ran her fingers along his abs, and zapped him lightly with energy. He wasn’t even sure she knew she was doing it.

  “How long since you last had sex? You were so tight, so mine.” Jack turned onto his side and blew a cool blast of air on her sweat-damp skin. Goosebumps formed. Her eyes widened and dilated for him. She licked her lips and waited for his kiss. He touched his lips gently to hers. “How long?”

  “What does it matter?” She arched into him and wrapped her legs around his waist.

  “It matters to me.” Jack nipped at the sensitive skin along her neck. She would answer his question now or in just a few minutes screaming out his name. His hand covered her taunt nipples and he rolled them between his fingers, then squeezed. She responded with a moan.

  “It’s been years.” She rolled on top of him, her legs straddling his waist, hands on either side of his head. “You’re not the only one who gave up. I never got anything from it. I thought maybe I was broken. The big ‘O’ never happened during sex. Seriously. I had to resort to something with a battery.”

  He stared into her face, thinking she was pulling his leg, but her expression was guileless. He moaned her name and pulled her down to him.

  They made love again, but this time he played with her with gentle magic and touches. He needed her to know, to understand, all the sides of mating. Every place he explored and shared his power, she responded fully to him. It would take him years to find which places she liked best.

  She was an eager learner and damn fine at turning the tables on him. It wasn’t long before they were lying, panting, completely sated.

  Her cheeks were flushed and her lips swollen. There were a few bruises starting to show on her arms where he’d grabbed her too tightly.

  “Did I hurt you?”

  “No. Did I hurt you?” She smiled, raised his arm, and pointed out a few scratches on his side.

  Jack kissed her nose and chuckled. “Not at all.”

  It was almost impossible to keep his hands from moving all over that smooth, soft, and sexy skin. Her stomach grumbled, and he frowned.

  “C’mon.” He sat up. “We haven’t eaten or slept well for days. Let’s go down and I’ll make us some pasta. Then we’ll come back up.” He kissed her nose and winked. “I promise.”

  He moved off the bed and grabbed his jeans from the floor.

  “You’ll be able to beat them now, right?” She twisted on the bed and eyed him from head to toe.

  “They won’t have a chance.” Jack opened his palm, visualized Zoe’s vortex, and it appeared. A small fire burned within the green and violet wind. Damn. It felt so much like her, he might have to have her again before going downstairs. She opened her palm and it moved to her like a magnet. He’d never seen anything like that, either.

  “Whoa, you got that from me? Cool. I can’t wait to see what I got.” She jumped up and down on the bed on her hands and knees, looking as excited as a kid on Christmas. She raised her hand.

  “No.” Jack pushed her hand down to her side. “Not in the house, and not without the city fire department parked out front. You’re air, I’m fire. Together, the two are pretty potent.”

  “Fine.”

  “I mean it Zoe. You could blow up the entire house if you don’t know how to control it.” Jack tried to frown at her astonished face but couldn’t. Not with that beautiful naked body, and her on her hands and knees. His mind went where any normal male mind would go.

  “You go down first, I need a shower. I’ll be right down.” She made a cute little pout and slid her feet off the bed.

  His eyes followed her perfect little ass into the shower. She was tan, lean, with runner’s calves. No wonder they could lock so tightly around him. What harm would it do if he followed her in there? He sighed. As leader of the clan, he had a duty to inform the family that he had successfully mated. Not just mated, but brought a new line of power into their clan. That hadn’t happened in centuries.

  When he jogged down the stairs, he found his sister Kathy in the front hall, juggling the baby on one hip and a diaper bag on the other.

  He frowned. “What are you doing here?”

  “Dad called a meeting.” She shoved the bag at him. “The rest of the family are on their way.”

  “Shit.” So much for time alone with Zoe. He followed Kathy into the kitchen, and put the bag on a stool. “A phone call would have been nice.”

  “Josh has been calling for the last hour.”

  “I’ve been busy.” He raised one eyebrow and smiled.

  It took her a moment to register what he was implying, but when she final
ly did, she clapped a hand over her mouth and squeaked. His father and brothers came trampling through the door at the same moment.

  “Jack did it,” Kathy blurted out. “He mated with Zoe.”

  Jack tried to look casual, but he couldn’t stop grinning from ear to ear. His father met his eyes, and returned the same grin.

  “Good thing I brought this,” Josh said, holding up a bottle of scotch. He clapped Jack on the back when he walked by. “I knew you could do it.”

  Jack huffed and took the snifter Josh handed him.

  “You hoping for a boy or a girl?” Jase asked, grinning.

  Josh slapped the younger of the Fialko brothers on the back of the head.

  “What?” Jase asked, rubbing his hand over the spot.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Jack whispered, glancing quickly at the doorway. “Don’t mention that part to Zoe.”

  Josh’s eyes widened. “What? She doesn’t know? How is that even possible?”

  “We didn’t get the chance to talk about it.”

  Jase snorted and Josh whistled low.

  “Anyways, let’s not spook her just yet. It’s been a rough few days for both of us. I’ve hardly had a chance to get to know her. ”

  “Where is she?” Kathy asked, cradling the baby against her shoulder. Yolanda gave a tiny sigh and closed her eyes.

  “Upstairs.”

  “You need to tell her,” Kathy said, her lips pursed.

  “Stop with the looks. I’ll tell her. Right after we take care of Kyle and his new friend.”

  Chapter 15

  “Remember, we’re going to take Kyle someplace and get him cleaned up. Try not to hurt him.” Jack met the eyes of each member of his clan. “Leave the foreigner to me. Everyone understand?”

  They all nodded except for Stan who was distracted, texting. He hastily put the phone in his pocket when Jack walked over. “Sorry. You were saying?”

  “We need to go get Kyle now. We’ll get him into rehab. You okay with this?”

  Stan frowned but didn’t put up a protest. “He’s probably at O’Malley’s.”

  “Figures. South Philly.” Jack fingered his service revolver. “You guys hang back a little. I’m not quite sure what Zoe’s vortex will do for me in a real fight, and I don’t want anyone getting hurt.”

  It took about an hour to get to the bar. They parked outside in the desolate corner parking lot. Abandoned construction walls of plywood hid the area from the view of nearby businesses. A few men hanging out in front of a check cashing station ducked inside, as did a few in front of a bodega. Within seconds, the place was deserted.

  When he got out of his car, Stan strode over and held a cell phone out to him. “I think you’ll want to see this.”

  “That’s my phone,” Jack frowned, an uneasy feeling gripping his gut.

  Stan winced and looked away.

  Jack took the phone and his blood went cold. It was a snapshot of Zoe, blindfolded, sitting in a small room with a gun to her head. Behind her, assorted boxes of alcohol were stacked high to the ceiling. His heart went into his throat and he saw nothing but red. He grabbed Stan by the neck. In his other hand, he lit a vortex two inches from the weasel’s face.

  “Where is she?” he gritted out through clenched teeth.

  Before Stan could reply, a steel door screeched open. Kyle leaned against the frame, his dark hair matted, his jeans torn, and despite his enormous size, his cheeks and eyes were dark sunken holes.

  “Best you put my brother down and come inside.” Kyle laughed, sounding crazy as hell. He threw a blast at Jack, then made a large sweeping motion over the parking lot. “Everyone else stays outside.”

  The electric energy sizzled in Jack’s midsection, but he was too angry to feel the pain.

  “Let her go, and I’ll let you live.” Jack kept his voice calm, despite the rage and terror that tore through him.

  His cousin had finally lost it. Even the blast felt drugged up. But it wasn’t powerful, and again, it wasn’t what had hit him and almost got him killed the other night.

  “Let me help you with the rules of the game.” Kyle sneered and fingered another ball of energy. “Page three hundred and one. If you win, she dies.”

  Jack could barely contain the fury building inside him, the need to protect Zoe. But losing his cool wouldn’t do either of them any good. He glanced at Josh with a raised eyebrow, indicating he was to stand by. His brother gave an almost imperceptible nod back.

  Stan led him into the building, up the cracked wood stairs and into the bar. The room was torn apart, as if demolition had started years ago, but was then left abandoned.

  Jack breathed in the stuffy air and tried to focus on Zoe’s energy. Nothing. He couldn’t sense her. All he got was a repugnant muddle of dark energy. There were at least twenty to thirty men in the building. He recognized most of them as his own clan members.

  Fear nearly choked him. Zoe couldn’t die. Not now. Not after what they’d shared.

  He’d kill Kyle and his gang the minute he had the chance. How the hell had they got her out of the house? He should never have left her alone.

  Stay calm, he reminded himself. If he killed either one, he might not find out where she was hidden.

  “I want to talk to her.” Jack leaned against what was left of an old bar, hiding how tightly he was wound.

  “First, admit that I’ve outplayed you.” Kyle, using plywood as a table, snorted something up his nose with a rolled bill.

  “No, you haven’t. I talk to her right now or I assume she is dead and take the next logical step.” Jack spun a small fire-vortex in his left hand and started to take aim with a revolver in his right. A few of the gang members mumbled nervously among themselves and then left the room one by one.

  “What the fuck.” Kyle stared at the small tornado, eyes and mouth wide. “Relax, Jack. I’m just getting you all worked up.”

  He texted something into his phone, and a moment later, Jack’s cell rang with the ring tone he had reserved for Zoe.

  “Zoe?” He cringed at the panic he heard in his voice.

  “Jack, I’m okay. I thought–”

  The connection hung up. After a wave of relief washed over him, Jack focused on Kyle with a deadly calm. He was a dead man walking – he just didn’t know to lie down yet.

  In his peripheral vision, Jack picked up five or six men entering the room. A few he recognized. The young woman who Kyle had claimed he mated with came in behind them. Her long dark hair hung disheveled around her face. There were dark bruises under her eyes and along her exposed arms. She glanced at Jack and the air in his lungs left him. Up close he could tell that she was younger than he’d first thought. Barely thirteen if he had to guess. Fuck, what was Kyle thinking?

  “Dealing in pedophilia now?” Jack snarled. “That’s low, even for you.”

  “Fuck you, Jack!” Kyle glared at the girl, raised his hand like he was going to hit her, and snapped, “Get back to your room.”

  The girl’s eyes widened and she scurried away. Kyle smirked and turned back to his makeshift table.

  “As I was saying…” He snorted the white powder again, which seemed to allow him to regain some of his bravado. He was oblivious to the fact that these might be his last words. “If I lose, she dies. I get injured, she dies. Get the picture?”

  He threw another blow to Jack’s midsection. Jack easily deflected the energy and used the opportunity to back towards the exit. That had to be where they kept her.

  “Uh-uh. No slipping away.” Kyle picked up his phone and texted again. “Tonight you’re going to step down as clan leader.”

  Kyle sent Jack another blast, this time more powerful, and Jack gritted his teeth.

  “It won’t do you any good, Kyle. We’ve already mated.” He brought his palm up and created a small vortex.

  “Don’t care. She’s still a hot piece of ass. Besides, I have a buyer, even if she’s damaged goods.”

  Kyle started to text again and Jack fel
t the oncoming firestorm, like a déjà vu, milliseconds before it happened. Zoe. Holy shit, the place was going to detonate.

  Jack enlarged the vortex still spinning in his hand, added shielding, and stepped into it.

  In the blink of an eye, Jack was knocked flat against the far wall and the bar was engulfed in flames. The explosion left him stunned, partially deaf, and smelling of liquor and sulfur. When the smoke thinned a bit, he saw Zoe below, curled up in a little ball, hands over her head, face down. Beside her lay a blackened corpse, the flesh charred and still sizzling.

  Jack’s heart stopped.

  He dropped down into the supply room and squatted next to her. Before he could find a pulse, she turned and put her face into his hand. She was alive. He held her close until he could feel her heartbeat against his.

  “Zoe.” He could barely speak his throat was so tight.

  All signs indicated that a tornado laced with fire had blasted outward from her. Splinters of charred wood pierced through chairs and into the walls behind. Shards of colorful glass and human flesh were strewn everywhere in a horrifying mosaic. Large pieces of bone and skin fell off the wall with a splat and sizzle. Thank God he’d felt the storm coming.

  Everything was on fire. He stood, grabbed her into his vortex, and ran like a madman out of the building, just as the building hit the flashpoint.

  He put her down on the pavement, dropped the magic, and felt all over her body for injuries.

  Ghostly pale, she just stared into the inferno, eyes vacant. Her body began to convulse. He held her tight until she pushed him away and buckled over. She retched onto the pavement. When she was finished, he pulled her back against him. She went limp, almost lifeless in his arms.

  “What happened, Zoe?” He pushed her sweat-soaked hair off her forehead.

  “When you left, I was in the kitchen.” She stared down at her hands, brows furrowed as if trying to remember. “I heard a noise.” She looked up at him and blinked. “It was Stan. I knew something was wrong. I tried to run, but he…he grabbed me….covered my mouth with something…then everything went black.”

  Un-fucking-believable. He was going to kill the bastard, if he wasn’t dead already.