“You should visit Talia and have her make you some new hex bags. I will have the wards in here reestablished tomorrow morning. Be a good girl and get some rest, little hunter. I have girls working on the men inside the club, and we’re doing everything we can to figure out who attacked the guild. It’s only a matter of time before we have your father back, driving us all bug-fuck crazy with missions.” Enzo leaned over to kiss my forehead. “You’re exhausted and not healing because of it, brat.”
“I know,” I muttered, kissing Ezekiel on the cheek before he crouched in front of me. “No demon bullshit. I’m going to bed.”
“Good girl,” he purred, smiling as I felt myself falling backward. “Just a little help, though, to ensure you listen.”
I sensed myself drifting to sleep, assisted by the powerful asshole that had knocked me out. I was so going to kick his ass in the morning when they returned to fix the wards. Rootless in a sea of blissful awareness, I smiled as I snuggled into the covers, being pulled up and over my slumbering form. Opening my eyes to tell the twins they could leave, I blinked, looking around.
“Shit,” I muttered, sitting up to take in my surroundings. I wasn’t in my room, or even on a bed. I was somewhere else entirely.
Chapter Ten
Pushing up from the wooden floor, I gazed around the large room with high ceilings. My brow creased at the lavish furniture and dangling chandeliers that sent prisms of rainbows dancing on the softly lit walls. Pictures sat on easels, mostly of women in different sensual poses.
Turning in a slow circle, I trembled at the power within the room. It was slithering over my exposed skin, reminding me I was clothed in skimpy panties and a spaghetti strap top. My stomach churned with unease, but I shoved it away while moving closer to one of the portraits.
A beautiful, full-figured woman with fiery red hair was reclining on an emerald French tufted chaise lounge chair. Her arm rested on her forehead, and piercing blue eyes held mine, momentarily trapped by their beauty. Lowering my gaze to her body, I smirked at the pose and the thin silver blanket covering her bottom half. Her smile was contagious, and much like looking at the Mona Lisa, you wanted to return the smile.
Sliding my attention to another painting, I moved over the wood floor on bare feet. Stopping at the next image, I frowned at the way the blonde female leaned forward, her heavy breasts pushing against the arm that covered them. Unlike the last portrait, she hadn’t hidden her nakedness from the artist. Her smile looked as if she was keeping a secret behind her cherry-colored lips.
Scanning the area, I noticed someone had similarly painted several others. Creeping over the floor, I paused as one floorboard creaked loudly. Ignoring it, I continued deeper into the room, stopping in front of a portrait of a tawny-haired woman with tears running down her cheeks. Unlike the other paintings, the artist had captured her pain perfectly.
“You’re either suicidal or incredibly brave,” a deeply rich voice growled from behind me.
Spinning around, I gasped, discovering a shirtless Kieran with jeans slung low on his hips. His eyes lowered, slowly taking in my lack of clothing. My heart hammered against my ribcage, and I stepped back, bumping into the picture.
“It’s only a dream,” I whispered, shaking my head. I swallowed past the fear tightening my chest and throat. My arm caught on the edge of the frame, sending it clattering to the floor as I retreated from his imposing form. I kept him in front of me, continuing to backpedal away from him.
Kieran’s mouth tightened while he watched me, inching further from him. I chanted the words out loud, knowing that he couldn’t hurt me here. “This is just a dream,” I repeated. One conjured from ogling him online, and the twins using their magical mojo on me. My back collided with something solid, and I cried out, watching as he crept forward, slamming his hand on the wall beside my head.
“Tell me, is this a fantasy or a nightmare?” Kieran asked in a haughty tone.
I shook my head slowly, taken aback by the question. Closing my eyes, I counted to ten and tried to redirect the dream to something less dangerous than being half-dressed and alone with Kieran. My stomach tightened, and my nipples hardened like they felt the heat of his gaze, and I opened my eyes, peering up at him.
His attention was on my mouth, causing me to clasp my bottom lip nervously with my teeth to stop the trembling. But then, those deep violet eyes lifted, and a wolfish smile spread over his full mouth. It wasn’t friendly by any means, and it kicked my pulse into overdrive.
Kieran grabbed my arms and spun me around, pushing me against the wall. A cry of surprise escaped my lips before I could squash it down. One of his hands continued holding mine above my head, while the other slid down my spine, slowly maneuvering across my waist as if he thought he’d discover a weapon beneath my thin top.
His nose brushed along my throat, inhaling deeply before tracing over the pulse racing at the hollow column of my neck. Slowly, his fingers slipped under my shirt, running them over my stomach until they began moving upward. I moaned as they skimmed the globe of my breast, stopping at the barbell that adorned my nipple. Instead of continuing, he twisted the metal piercing, causing a gasp of pain to escape my lips.
“I’m only dreaming. He can’t harm me here,” I whispered huskily, wondering why it even mattered. He didn’t seem inclined to hurt me as much as he was playing with me.
Deep masculine laughter rumbled against my shoulder, and a violent shudder of need slammed into my abdomen. Kieran’s hand moved up and around my neck, and I blinked as my pussy fluttered, awakened by the simple action. He turned me again, and pressed me into the wall, placing his hand back on my throat. He didn’t apply pressure, but continued to hold it, stroking my pulse with his thumb.
Kieran’s dark gaze shifted to my lips, watching me as I studied him silently. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be, right? If I was dreaming, what did it matter if I played along? The hand on my neck lowered and slipped under the thin strap that held my shirt up, breaking it easily. My breasts rose and fell, even as he moved the shirt lower, exposing one.
“Have you figured it out yet?” he asked, pulling his attention from my breast to my face.
“Figured out what?” I scanned his face in case I’d missed something.
“You’re trembling,” he growled huskily, leisurely exploring my breast. His thumb slid over it while he studied my response. He lowered his mouth, trailing heated breath over the thundering pulse in my throat as his nose skimmed my jaw.
The hand holding mine trapped above me, released and slid around my head and through my hair to yank it back. A sultry moan escaped me, pulled free by the feel of his warm lips against the sensitive skin on my neck. He wedged his foot between my thighs, parting my legs seconds before his head lifted and his eyes pierced mine.
“You’re unexpected, woman,” he whispered thickly, his tone filling with lust while he peered down the length of my body.
I ran my hands up his hard, perfectly etched chest, slowly roving over his heated flesh. If he cared that I was leisurely learning every line and curve of him, he didn’t voice it out loud. Instead, he twisted my head to the side, hovering his mouth over mine, teasingly.
I waited for him to close the distance between our lips, needing to feel him touching mine. My body was on fire, achingly so. Kieran growled and moved closer. He didn’t kiss gently; he devoured me. Our lips touched, and his hand cupped my jaw, demanding I open for him. He explored my mouth, his tongue tangling with mine until I moaned with the need for air. He released my hair and face and glided his hand behind my thighs, lifting me until my legs wrapped around his narrow waist.