Lost in Magic (Night Shadows Book 4) (6 page)

His throat worked on a swallow, he tightened his hold on her hands, and finally uttered a word she wasn’t expecting. “Vampires.”

Chapter Nine

“
What
?” Allison reared back, inadvertently jerking her hand from his, as that deplorable word rang in her ears.

Mick refused to look away. “There’s at least one vampire on this boat,” he said.

Allison stood and began pacing in front of the couch. “No,” she said without looking at him. “No, there can’t be any vampires on this ship.”

“Ali,” Mick began, his tone gentle and patient, “I know it’s hard to swallow—”

“No,” Allison repeated, stopping and locking a hard stare on him. “You don’t understand.” She could feel the emotions boiling up inside her now. The shock of the word was wearing off. Mick—somehow—believed there was a vampire on board the
Euphoria
. How was she supposed to deal with that? The first prickling sting of hot tears behind her eyes spurred her tongue into motion. “There can’t be vampires here. There can’t. I can’t handle that.”

Mick’s eyes narrowed with thought. Realization dawned in his green orbs and he pushed to his feet, calmly stepping into her personal space. “Ali … you already know they exist, don’t you?” He phrased it like a question but he clearly already knew the answer.

One tear slipped free. “Yes.”

Mandy’s crippled, decimated body filled her mind’s line of sight for a long, terrible minute. It hadn’t helped that Jude’s mother’s name was Amanda, too. And now another Amanda had been victimized by a vampire practically right under her nose.

Allison swallowed as many of the tears as she could. “I came on this trip,” she said, her voice wavering, “to get
away
from that insanity.”

Mick’s frown softened and he pulled her into his arms. “I’m sorry, baby,” he whispered. He stroked one hand up and down her spine slowly, gently. “Trust me, I wish this wasn’t happening. I wish I could just promise it won’t get any closer to you.”

She dragged in a ragged breath and wound her arms around his torso, another couple of tears leaking from her eyes.
I wish those things, too.
But she didn’t think such wishes would ever be grantable, not for her. So she put her efforts into remembering what else Mick had said. On
why
he’d felt the need to tell her about vampires. Which raised several questions—a few of which even helped to dim the memories playing through her head.

Though she suspected most of that dimming was the fault of the man holding her so tightly.

She didn’t know, and ultimately it didn’t matter, how long it was before she found her voice again. She was just grateful that the bulk of the tears had subsided. “Are you sure,” she asked slowly, inhaling a deep breath of Mick’s earthy scent, “about the bite mark?”

Mick pressed a kiss to the crown of her head and her heart warmed. “Unfortunately, yes. There’s no mistaking it.”

Easing back in order to look him in the eye again, Ali asked, “How are you sure? How do you know about this stuff?” She’d had the distinct impression—because she’d been told as much—that the supernatural stuff was a kind of secret. Most people definitely did not know this kind of thing.

Something strange flickered behind the green of his eyes and he attempted a tight smile. Or maybe he was going for grimace. “It’s my job,” he said.

Ali blinked up at him for a long second.
His job?
The same job he’d earlier complained about? The one that didn’t believe in vacation time?

Mick took her by the hand and guided her to the couch. “I’ll explain,” he said. “But it’ll be easier if I have an idea of what you already know.” He claimed his previous seat, encouraging her to do the same, and cautiously asked, “You don’t have to tell me details, but, how do you know about vampires? What else are you aware of?”

Her stomach rolled.
Else?
Come to think of it, she recalled Veronica having mentioned werewolves. In the surreal, crazy kind of way it even made sense that werewolves might be real, too. They were always associated together, after all. “Um,” she began articulately, “werewolves are a thing, right? I think I was told that.” She swallowed and tightened her grip of his hand, lacing her fingers with his. “I met … some vampires. I lost my closest friends to them a little under a year ago.” The tears were threatening again.

****

Mick ground his teeth and held tightly to Ali’s shaking hand as she answered his questions. It was as obvious that she didn’t want to rehash the details as it was that she was still raw inside from them. And he hated it. Hated seeing this kind of pain and fear on her beautiful face.
Less than a year ago?
He’d been in, or on his way, to California, then.
I should’ve been in Baltimore.

But the Baltimore Family was considered “safe”, as far as vampires went. They didn’t cause chaos or drop bodies like flies. They blended wherever they could. Mick had never been stationed near them, never been tasked with observing the area like he had in California. He didn’t know the details or when or why things might have gone awry. But now he wished he did. He hadn’t known Allison back when her friends had died and, realistically, he might not have been anywhere nearby in time to save them even if he’d been in the area. He just wished he could do something to ease this pain she was so clearly suffering from.

But she was fighting it, too. She swallowed back all but one of her next round of tears and eventually found her voice again. “After … after Mandy’s death, that’s when I learned about vampires. That’s when I met one.” Another pause, another swallow. “But I don’t know much. Vampires survive on blood, they’re immortal, and I suppose some aren’t evil.” Another tear escaped and Mick stroked his thumb over the back of her hand. “And werewolves are real. I guess.”

So she really didn’t know a whole lot. She hadn’t said a word about Slayers or, more importantly, witches.

“I’m sorry, Ali,” Mick said, keeping his voice soft. He reached out and brushed his thumb along her cheek to wipe away her tear. “If I thought I could get us out of this without having to talk about vampires, I wouldn’t have said anything.”

She sniffled and curled her fingers around his. She even managed a small, grateful smile. He loved the way even that tiny gesture lit up her face. “It’s okay,” she said. “I would rather know about the risk. I just wish it weren’t a risk at all.”

“Yeah, so do I,” he said. Because he had no clue how he was supposed to find, let alone stop, a vampire on a crowded cruise ship.

“Do you think,” Allison began, her voice softer again, “that this vampire is responsible for the missing woman, too?”

“I’m sure of it,” Mick replied. “Given the timing of the attacks, I’d wager there are at least two vamps on board. Otherwise the attack on Amanda Michaels was just for fun. And while some vampires are arrogant sons of bitches, they aren’t often that stupid.”

Allison released a breath and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. “Okay,” she said. “Your turn. I’m confused, because you said this is your job somehow? Are you some kind of vampire hunter or something?”

He allowed the corners of his lips to lift in a small smirk. “We call those Slayers, actually,” he said. “And no. Although if we could find one on board that’d be useful.”

“Slayers,” Ali repeated. She scrunched her lips in an adorable gesture that thoroughly distracted him. This was not the time to be thinking about kissing, let alone what that kissing could—at least earlier—have led to. Fortunately she didn’t pause too long before speaking again. “Isn’t there a nicer word for that? Slayers sound bad.”

Mick offered a small shrug. “Some are,” he admitted. And he wondered, knowing the truth of that statement, why it was so hard for him to accept that the reverse could be true for werewolves. Or vampires, he supposed.
If people can be both, can’t the supernatural be both?
In hindsight that made far too much sense.

“But you’re not one,” Ali said, pulling him again back to the moment. “Not a Slayer.” She paused and sucked in a sharp breath. “You’re, um, not a werewolf, are you?”

Mick stared at her. A werewolf? It took a moment of focused effort to keep from laughing. He schooled his face into nothing more than a hopefully encouraging smile. “No,” he said. “I’m human, I just—” Crap. Not everyone considered witches human, actually. Not even all witches.

“Just what?”

Swallowing his sudden nerves, Mick locked his gaze with hers and said, “I’m a witch.”

It was Ali’s turn to pause for a prolonged moment. Her beautiful hazel eyes went wide and she may have held her breath for a second or two too long. Her nostrils flared on a heavy intake of breath and, finally, she said, “You’re a what?”

“Excuse this interruption,” the ship Captain’s disembodied voice declared, crackling to life through the ship’s intercom system once again.

Ali jumped in her seat. Mick turned a frown toward the phone base on the nightstand, as if he would be able to see the Captain if he stared hard enough.

“Some of you may have heard by now,” the Captain continued, “but unfortunately one of our passengers has gone missing. If anyone has information about the whereabouts of Miss Stacey Shepard, please immediately contact the nearest security officer. Until such time as Miss Shepard is found, I’m afraid we cannot make port at our destination. We’ve dropped anchor and will remain at this location through the night. If Miss Shepard is not found by morning we will have no choice but to turn about and return to Baltimore.” There was a brief pause before the Captain added, “Thank you for your cooperation.”

Click.

Allison slid up to his side and leaned her head on his shoulder, her hand still tangled with his. “So much for a nice, vampire-free, once-in-a-lifetime vacation.”

“I don’t know,” Mick said, the corners of his lips kicking up in a teasing grin. “This one has its perks.” He gave her hand a squeeze for emphasis.

She brought her other hand up, over the back of his, and trailed her fingers lightly over his skin. “So you’re a witch,” she mumbled, as if she were thinking out loud. Her fingers stalled. “Don’t you mean ‘warlock’ or ‘wizard’ or something? Isn’t witch feminine?”

Chapter Ten

Mick bit back his laughter and opted instead to let his cheek rest against her temple. “In popular culture, yes, but in
our
culture a person with magic is a witch regardless of gender. Although it’s possible that actually stems from the fact that the majority of the first witches were female, according to legend.”

“Mick,” Allison said, “I’m confused and a little emotional right now. What does you being a witch
mean
?”

He got the distinct impression her question had more than one meaning.

Sobering at her reminder, Mick gave her hand a squeeze. “It means I have powers and certain kinds of connections. I’m still human in every way that counts. I age like you, I bleed like you, and I feel like you. I don’t have special senses, with one very specific exception.”

This seemed to pique her interest, because she lifted her head and looked up at him with curiosity in her eyes. “Exception?”

“Earth,” he replied. “Witch magic is element based. My element is earth. Dirt, plants—that kind of thing.” It was a lot more complicated than that, but she didn’t need the particulars. This wasn’t the time for a lesson in magic culture.

She watched him for a second, as if processing his words, and then her lips finally lifted with amusement. “Earth is your element,” she said, “and you’re on a
cruise
?”

He grinned. “Would you think to look for me here?”

“No,” she said. “I suppose not.” Ali leaned forward and teased his lips with hers. “What do we do next?”

Oh, he had all sorts of answers for that question. Some far less responsible than others. “That’s up to you,” he said. “What do you
want
to do?”

Ali pulled her hands from his and framed his jaw between her palms. With their noses practically touching she whispered, “Give me something good to think about. Take my mind away from here.”

Hell.

There was no way he could ignore that request, responsibilities be damned.

Mick wound his arms around her waist and pulled her into his lap, much the way they’d been before Jude’s untimely interruption earlier. He claimed her mouth in a demanding kiss, letting his desire for her show. He felt like he’d been waiting years to have her in his arms. When she moaned against his lips and adjusted herself until she was straddling him again he nearly growled.

He buried one hand in her soft hair, clamped the other over her ass, and slid his tongue along hers. She responded by rocking her hips into his, holding his face to hers with both hands.

“Tell me you have condoms,” she whispered between wet, open-mouthed kisses.

Mick rolled his erection over her center, teasing, and said, “Enough for tonight.” With the way he felt in that moment, though, the small box he’d packed didn’t seem adequate. He could plow through his supply in one,
maybe
two, days. If they could get that much time uninterrupted. But he knew better than to get his hopes up for that.

Allison released his face, and his lips, and leaned back. Her hazel gaze locked with his, her chest heaving gloriously, and he watched as she pulled her shirt over her head. Revealing an ivory bra made mostly of lace and a smooth, tantalizing stomach. His mouth watered and for a moment he forgot how to breathe.

“Ali,” he said reverently, releasing her ass in order to run both hands up the length of her spine. “You’re sure?”

She gasped softly at his touch, arching slightly forward, and curled her nails into his shoulders. “I am,” she said.

Mick swallowed heavily. Then he was on his feet, encouraging her to wrap her legs around his hips, and moving toward her queen-sized bed. He let her back hit the mattress and kneeled above her in order to remove his own shirt. And he loved the way she watched his chest. Her sweet tongue slipped past her lips, wetting the edges in a slow, subconscious caress that had him visualizing all sorts of raunchy things.

He captured that tongue in a hungry kiss moments later, pressing his chest wholly into hers and relishing in the feel of her lacy bra scraping his skin. She rolled her hips against him at the same time as she buried another hand in his hair and Mick bucked against her. He propped her up with one hand, her tongue sucked into his mouth now, and fumbled with her bra with the other hand. It came free and they worked together to discard it, their kiss barely breaking.

Ali fell back, letting her arms rest above her head, and Mick soaked in the sight. Half naked, hair mussed, chest rising and falling rapidly, legs still curved around his hips. She was breathtaking. And he had to taste her.

****

Allison nearly cried out at the first touch of Mick’s wickedly delicious lips over her center. He’d stripped her shorts and panties from her in a sexy rush, wasting no time in crawling down her body. A man driven. Driven by need. And that need was for her. Just that very knowledge was enough to make her want to moan, but she held it back until his tongue slid up the inner curve of her thigh. He braced a hot, powerful hand on her hip and let his tongue trace the line of her slit.

“Oh!” she said on a gasp, her deprived body already singing. How long had it been since she’d been touched like this?

No, she’d never been touched quite like this.

Mick rumbled with a sultry chuckle and dragged his tongue back up, slower. She couldn’t help but squirm. At least as much as the hand on her hip allowed. Then his tongue slipped past her folds and swept into her body. Swirling and stroking, wringing an endless stream of moans from some part of her Ali didn’t know.

His free hand simultaneously found her clit and he rubbed it between thumb and forefinger. Spots of white sparked behind her vision and Ali’s eyes fell shut as her back arched. God, she didn’t think she’d ever been this aroused before. This desperate. “Mick!”

He plunged two fingers into her without warning, sinking them deep, and sucked hard on her nub. It was enough. It was too much. She wasn’t sure, because her body erupted and a sound she wasn’t used to tore from her throat.

Her body was still burning when her senses slowly refocused moments later. She suspected that was due to the slowly pumping fingers still between her legs. Or perhaps the hot, wet kisses Mick was raining over her chest. Whatever it was, it was wonderful. She felt just relaxed enough to lose what sense of self-conscious awareness she’d been holding on to.

Tangling her fingers in his thick, soft hair, Ali tugged and moaned his name. “Come here,” she demanded as he released her nipple from his mouth. The rush of cool air over the moistened bud made her shiver with anticipation.

“Did you want something?” Mick teased, a wicked grin assuring her he knew what he’d done to her.

“Yes,” she said, looping her arms around him and trailing her searching fingers down. “You.” She found his ass—still covered in denim—and squeezed deliberately.

Mick chuckled, lips beside her ear, and let his devious tongue slide the length of her throat. “Mmm, trust me, baby, you’ll get me.”

“Now?” she asked, fighting yet another moan as he closed one hand over her breast. He’d ceased his ministrations below and was bracing his weight with one arm.

Trailing kisses up to her lips, Mick devoured her mouth, crushing his body to hers. Leaving no doubt about his desires. He rocked his hips twice against hers, the coarse friction of the denim only spiking her sense of need. Then he pulled back, entirely off the bed, and kicked off his shoes.

“I hope you’re prepared to lose sleep,” he said, his usually deep timbre gruff with hunger.

Allison felt her core pulse in answer to that tone and spread her legs a little wider for him. “Hurry up,” she said, “or I might just do this myself.” A bold declaration for a woman who’d never successfully brought herself to orgasm. But he didn’t need to know that just yet.

Mick paused, shorts unbuckled and button popped. His green gaze washed over her like molten lava. “That might be worth it, actually,” he said.

Ali swallowed. She hadn’t expected that response.

With a single rush of movement the rest of his clothes were discarded and he was fully exposed to her view. And what a sight he made.

Depositing the condoms he’d snagged from a pocket moments ago, Mick lifted one from the pile and climbed back over her. He positioned himself between her legs and rested his weight on his knees. He looked her in the eyes and something flickered as he said, “You’re breathtaking, beautiful.”

Ali felt her cheeks flush and fought the need to reach for him. “Flatter me later,” she said. “That’s not what I need right now.”

He grinned, the mischief back in his expression, and tore into the package in his hand. “Yes, ma’am,” he teased. “Although I’d love to hear you articulate what it is you
do
need.”

Two can play this game.
Before he could slip the condom over his impressive arousal Ali leaned forward, grabbed his cock, and dragged her hand forward at a deliberate angle. “I need
this
,” she said. She released him and let that same hand fall over her exposed center. “Here.”

She swore he growled and was amazed he didn’t tear the condom in half the way he practically shoved it into place. “That can be arranged,” he said, his voice thick and sending anticipatory shivers over her skin.

Ali leaned back again, her hand falling away, and put on her most innocent smile. “What are you waiting for, then?”

Mick caught both of her hands and lifted her arms over her head, his fingers laced with hers. She felt his cock brush up against her folds and squirmed. When he was leaning directly over her, his emerald stare holding her attention in place, he eased his way into her body. Slowly. Torturously. She did her best to hold still. To let him set the pace and see what he would do with her. But she couldn’t stand it. She wanted him inside her
now
.

Her hips snapped up with barely a thought and he was buried impossibly deep in her body. She moaned and he cursed under his breath, the sound more groan than actual word.

“Ali, baby,” he murmured, releasing her hands in favor of touching her. Finally. He didn’t said anything else before his lips were over hers, hot and demanding.

Ali moaned against him and wound her arms around his shoulders as her legs coiled around his hips. She rocked against him, meeting him thrust for thrust while their tongues dueled.

She was nearly delirious with pleasure. Her body was on fire and the rough, gentle hands roaming her skin only fueled the blaze. He fell into a strong, steady pace, burying himself deeply into her body over and over again. Grinding his hips to hers before pulling away to do it all over. She kept up easily, digging her nails into his back as his kisses trailed down her neck. She gasped as he sucked on the hollow of her throat, arching hard against him.

Mick groaned her name over her skin, latched his hands to her hips, and drove himself home harder than he had before.

The scream of ecstasy that ripped from deep inside her only echoed the explosion in her body. Everything went white, hot waves of bliss crashing over her. She arched and rolled against him, holding him as tight as possible.

She didn’t think she’d ever felt so good.