Bound by Magic Chapter 2

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CHAPTER 2

Kayla

GARRICK WAS PALE. And growing paler by the second. Everything they’d been through came rushing in. The fright and terror she’d felt. Flashes of all they’d went through, from being abducted, tortured, then chased by the syste with his pack of wolves jumbled into a mess of emotions.

“Whoa, are you okay?” Kayla’s voice shook.

In an instant, her magic wrapped around his shoes before snaking up his body, looking for what ailed him. Garrick’s hard jaw flexed as he pushed his short dark hair from his face. His eyes were no longer black pools, but the brown they normally were. His heavy, muscled limbs seemed listless like someone had drained him of every ounce of his energy.

Like he’d used the very last bit of himself to get them to safety.

“I’ve gone too long without blood and rest,” he said, his voice steeped in exhaustion.

“Is that why you’re not healing?” she asked, touching his arm. He hissed, but not in the way that told her to back off him, the kind that told her she’d hurt him. She loosened her hold. “Sorry.”

“It’s a lot slower, yes.”

“So, you need to drink?”

His dark eyes focused her neck, no doubt watching the blood pumping through her veins. Thirst ghosted his eyes as he licked his lips. Her heart jumped in anticipation. Garrick shook his head, then looked away.

“I won’t ask it of you. I should be fine with some rest.”

He tried to hoist himself up but only succeeded in shifting his weight to one side.

“Hey.” She tapped his shoulder when he closed his eyes. “Come on, drink. It’s the least I could do as a thank-you.”

He could only shake his head. She groaned.

“Stop being so stubborn.”

“Cha! Don’t tell me what to do, woman.”

“Then don’t act like a child, man,” she shot back boldly. “Besides, you’re blocking our only exit.”

His head perked up at that, and he looked around for another exit. Not even an egress window was at their disposal. They’d better hope she didn’t burn the room down with them in it because then, they’d never escape. Garrick’s eyes slightly widened at the realization of how limited their possibility of escape was.

“See?” she asked. “You have to drink so that you can move from the door.”

Garrick blinked, pondering over her words. From the looks of it, she was winning. Thirst darkened his face and his gaze studied her throat. After a moment, he nodded.

She wasn’t sure how exactly vampires fed, but she relied on what she’d seen in movies as her springboard. He’d bit her in the car. As far as she could tell, it didn’t take him much to get his vampire going but he was too weak to take the lead.

So, she straddled his lap to give him better access to her neck. This close to him, her heart rate started pounding. He was solid underneath her; the ripped body she’d glimpsed earlier felt more delicious than it looked. She may have copped a feel when she got into place.

His nostrils flared as he inhaled her scent. “Kayla.”

The reverence in the way he said her name made her stomach do a tiny summersault.

Garrick’s sharp brown eyes seemed to debate her presence on his lap, but she was too entranced by the color to notice his skepticism. They were the most dazzling coffee-colored eyes she’d ever seen. Pure brown with amber highlights made them shine.

His hands hooked onto her hips, settling her down in a more comfortable position.

“Am I too heavy?”

“Cha, no.” He snorted. For a second, she thought he might kiss her. By the foremages, she wanted him to. Under his full lips, a peek of fangs flashed. That had to be the sexiest thing she’d ever seen.

He’s only going to feed from me, not kiss me, she reminded herself. With a deep breath, she flipped her thick, dark hair to one side and offered her neck to him.

“Go ahead.”

“Are you certain?”

She nodded, even though her heart hammered inside her rib cage.

“It won’t hurt,” he assured her. She wasn’t afraid of that part. Truthfully, she wasn’t afraid at all. More like buzzing with excitement. Probably from the heavy doses of adrenaline she’d been exposed to in such a short amount of time. She should be running and screaming, but as her magic glided up around them, she felt like his lap was the only place she wanted to be.

The heat of his breath was soft against her neck as he inhaled her scent for the second time. His lips were just as soft, but his fangs were freaking sharp.

“Ouch.” She winced. Her nails dug into his shoulders in an attempt to weather the storm. When his fangs were fully in, the pain eased. He tried to pull back, but she encouraged him on. “I’m okay, keep going.”

Beyond that, the pain was brief, like being stuck with a needle. Then, a rush of endorphins surged through her. The magic wrapped around his body swirled up his body then around hers, intertwining them in a purple glow of magic. Her thoughts faded into the sensation of his lips against her throat.

Wow, that felt incredible.

Pleasure made her grip at him differently now, her hips starting to move on their own against him. Under Garrick’s sure touch and healing body, she felt centered somehow. Assured that they’d endured the worst and conquered it together.

His fingers squeezed at her hipbones and he pulled her closer, all the while keeping his fangs in her throat.

“Are you… drinking?” Her words came out in a breathy moan that she couldn’t stop.

In response, he slowly sucked at her throat. Holy foremages, that felt even better. Her hands grabbed at any available space on his body, then settled in his hair and pressed him further against her.

Forget about trying to keep herself composed.

When he sucked again, her toes curled, her body bucked, and a moan shot from her throat. A low tingle built at the base of her stomach, ready to burst if he did that again.

As if Garrick sensed her on the edge, he moved his lips against her throat like he’d been working her clit between his lips, and pushed her over the edge. She shattered. Her entire body let loose, and she clutched at his hair as the most exquisite orgasm ripped through her.

“Holy shit,” she breathed, trying to catch her breath, staring in awe at Garrick. The glow of the web of her magic shined off the angles of his face, and the reflection in his eyes gave them a mischievous glint.

She couldn’t believe he’d just done that—made her come with all her clothes on. That was a first. Now, she wanted to have with her clothes off. “Does it always… feel… like that?”

“It can, yes.” Garrick licked the side of her neck, then kissed her where his bite marked her flesh. Another spike of pleasure tore through her, shooting to her throbbing core.

Then, he kissed her again, up her neck to her jawline, then to her mouth. His lips were incredibly soft, but man, were they perfect. She swirled her tongue in his mouth.

A headiness fell over the room. Her magic blanketed them. The swirl of purple gave them an iridescent glow, bouncing off his cheekbones and across his eyes. Foremages, he was beautiful.

He pushed her onto her back in a move she didn’t see coming. One moment, she was on him, the next, she was flat on her back, with him crawling up her body with a playful, lust-filled smirk. Over her, he pursued her mouth like it was his last meal.

He moaned when she tugged at his shirt and raked her nails across his skin. While he took care of his shirt, she worked his pants, ripping through the button, and sliding the zipper down with ease.

She glanced over to the bed. Catching her drift, he hoisted her onto her feet, never breaking contact with her mouth.

In a whoosh, her back was flat against the softest mattress she’d ever laid on. Good luck getting her to ever want to get out of it again. Especially with him on top of her.

Yet, instead of feeling his weighted warmth on top of her, cool air rushed across her as Garrick was on his feet and facing the door.

“What’s—”

A knock cut her off. Carissa opened it slowly.

“I have din—” She stopped as soon as she was inside of Kayla’s room, a tray rattling in her hands as she nearly dropped it.

Just as she recovered, Kayla’s magic rushed from Garrick, pushed Carissa back into the hallway and slammed the door.

Wow, even my magic is a horndog.

Mortified didn’t begin to cover what she felt. Heat sprawled across the sides of her face as Kayla hopped off the bed. Garrick was already redressing himself and putting distance between them. He tossed her an apologetic look as she went over to the door.

She fished for a knob that didn’t exist. So she had to talk through the door. Hopefully the poor girl hadn’t bolted.

“Hey, Carissa. I’m sorry. You can come in. I… We weren’t…” she trailed off. It was pretty clear what they were getting up to. There was no use denying it now. “We’re done,” she amended.

With careful hesitation, the door to their room opened again.

“I’m supposed to bring you dinner. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Carissa pushed the tray into Kayla’s waiting hands and stepped back into the hallway as if she’d threatened her with a fireball. “But, um…” Kayla’s lips curled to the side of her face. Several thoughts darted across the girl’s eyes like she was holding in a message, debating whether to tell her or not.

“Is something wrong?”

Carissa fidgeted and stared at the bottom of the doorjamb. “It’s probably not good to overextend your magic right now.”

The blush heating Kayla’s cheeks intensified. It was completely stupid of her to get intimate with a vampire in the mage basement. That would be the definition of playing with fire.

“Got it. We’ll probably… uh… just settle in for the night.”

Carissa flushed and turned on her heel, not meeting her gaze. “Okay. Um… goodnight. I’ll get the tray in the morning.”

“Goodnight,” she called after her, but Carissa was already out in the hall and scurrying away.

Before the door closed again, Garrick squeezed past her through it, and watched Carissa twist into another hallway. Then, he followed behind her.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“Leaving.”

“Wait, what? You can’t leave.” Was he serious? He’d nearly passed out just a second ago because of his injuries. Now he planned to escape? Was he insane?

“The door is open. This is the best time to escape.” When her gaze flickered to his wounds, he said, “My body is on the mend. Your magic is in hand.”

Her magic was not in hand. They’d only just discovered her magic protected him and was semi-controlled, with him around. He couldn’t leave now.

“Escape? Why would we want to do that?”

He shook his head. “I am a vampire in a mage house. They’ll kill me as soon as they get their chance. You are safe with your kind here. I must get back to mine.”

“What if my magic goes crazy again?”

He avoided her gaze, instead staring at the walls as if he could see through them. An apology outlined his symmetrical features. “They will help you control it.”

It felt like she’d taken a slap to the face. Five seconds ago, he couldn’t keep his hands off of her. Now, he seemed like touching her was the last thing he wanted to do.

Was she so freaking bad at kissing that he wanted to put as much distance between them as humanly possible? She unconsciously touched her lips, replaying the last few minutes. No, the hardness in his pants assured her she definitely wasn’t bad. He was being a colossal jerk. And a stupid one at that if he thought he was going to get through a horde of the most powerful mages in the city.

“How are you going to get past everyone?” She narrowed her eyes, watching him scan the hall.

“The mage spoke of the front door. I will make it there and slip out unnoticed. I have been trained to be undetected.”

“What about the shifters? Or the vampires? What happens if you make it outside and they’re there?”

Garrick shrugged, subtly straightening his pants, but otherwise had no answers.

“I will face them with honor.” As in he was going to wing it and hope for the best.

That’s stupid. She blinked at his back as he traced Carissa’s footsteps down the hall and turned a corner.

Foremages, he was going to get himself killed. Her father had taken great lengths to keep her safe her entire life from the very threat he planned on facing.

She was not oblivious to the kind of power mages possessed nor the trouble a pack of wild wolves and a syste could bring. And stupid-face Garrick was walking headfirst into a den of them.