A Slash of Savagery (Wiccan-Were-Bear) Read online

  Once they were back at the club, Mishka wanted a report on the events of the evening. His phone had been ringing constantly since news of the attack. “I need to tend to my mate first.”

  Mishka let out an aggravated sigh and then his features softened as he looked at Arissa in Brone’s arms. “I’m glad that you’re alive and well, Arissa. Rest and we’ll speak tomorrow.”

  She smiled at Mishka briefly and then laid her head on Brone’s shoulder and that was all the encouragement he needed to get her to their chamber. He set her on the bed carefully, not entirely sure how she was feeling physically. To his surprise, she began to strip.

  “Beloved?”

  She hopped off the bed and almost fell, her knees still apparently weak, and he grabbed her elbow. She smiled at him, extracted her arm from his grip, and walked into the bathroom. He heard the light click on and saw the amber glow from the low watt bulb. She hadn’t asked him to join her in the bathroom, and he wondered if she was ashamed to be his mate now.

  “Brone? Come here.” Her voice wavered a little, as though she was fighting tears, and he rushed into the bathroom to find her faced away from the long mirror over the sink and looking over her shoulder at her back. Her beautiful red hair was pulled forward so the entire length of her back was exposed to the light. Where the scar from the sword should have been, there was now a tattoo of a red dragon with its wings spread and talons curled. The creature looked deadly and beautiful at the same time.

  “I thought I would have a scar.”

  “This must be what happens when dragons heal. Dae said you’re part of the nest now, part of his family.”

  She turned her head and looked at him while he stroked the curve of the dragon’s tail with his fingertip. He looked down at her, his fingers trailing down the soft skin of her back and then he gripped her hip and turned her to face him.

  “I’m sorry, beloved.”

  “For what?”

  “I failed to keep you safe tonight.”

  She shook her head. “There’s no way you could have known he would come after me the way he did, hiding behind the church and letting them do his dirty work.”

  “If you’d had more guards…”

  She shrugged. “How many is enough? Eight? Eighty? Besides, I never even realized he was nearby until it was too late. I think he had some kind of protection spell of his own that shielded him from me and the others. If I’d been surrounded by a hundred guards, they still wouldn’t have been able to stop him from getting to me.” She laid her hands on his shoulders and looked up at him. In the brilliant green depths of her eyes, he saw love and honesty shining through, and it humbled him. She could have hated him forever. Should have. But she didn’t.

  “I don’t remember anything after he struck me and I hit the ground. I was in…nothingness. And then there was this sharp pain in my back, and I found myself staring down at the store from the sky. Whatever Dae did, he brought me back, and I’m here with you because our bond is so strong. I love you.”

  “Forgive me.”

  “There’s nothing to forgive. I just want to put this night behind us. The never-to-be-mentioned-again vampire is ash, the church has a serious dent in the ones they rely on to protect themselves, and we’re here, together. And I’m naked.” She wiggled her brows and he growled.

  “Just so you know,” he said as he lifted her into his arms and carried her into the bedroom, “I’m going to be a little more nuts about your safety.”

  “Bring it on, mate.” She pressed her lips against his with a satisfied purr and he vowed to never take her safety for granted again.

  Chapter 16

  Arissa passed out the protection bracelets on Monday evening right after her meeting with Mishka about her attack. Because Restik was the master of a city, the vampire council wanted to investigate his death. Mishka said he’d handle it for her, because Brone refused to let her go before the council as a witness on his behalf. The council didn’t want to interview The Plague anyway, from what Temple said, so the investigation was merely a formality to appease Restik’s father, who apparently was a vampire big-wig on the European council.

  The mates thanked her profusely for the bracelets. The stones were attached as charms to each bracelet, and the mates chose the stones that they liked the best. She had given Brone one as well; the stone in his nestled among braided leather strips. When she had secured it to his wrist, she patted the leather and then stroked her finger over the stone, promising that she knew he would keep himself safe but she felt better knowing he had some extra protection. He said he would wear it with pride. Arissa had set aside six cat’s eye stones embedded in metal wrist cuffs for her guards.

  Night admired the bracelet on his wrist. “I’m not keen on the cat’s eye stone, but I like the bracelet.”

  “They don’t make a wolf stone, sorry.” She smiled, leaning against Brone as he watched her give out the bracelets. On the full moon, she would give the remaining two bracelets to Dae and Sang.

  She peeked up at Brone and a low growl rumbled in his chest. A split second later, she was over his shoulder and waving at her guards as he stormed through the offices and down to their chamber.

  She giggled when he laid her down on the bed. He was wearing leather pants and a black silk shirt, what she’d come to think of as his uniform. The silk felt like a second skin as she rubbed her palms across his broad chest. “Can vampires get tattoos?”

  “No,” he nuzzled her neck as he spoke, “the ink won’t stay on our skin.”

  She tilted her head to give him more access and he took it, sliding his fangs along the column of her throat and making her shiver. “I wish you could have a tattoo that matched one of mine. Or something special for just us.”

  He lifted his head from her neck and looked into her eyes. With his fingers, he traced a slow line from her temple to her jaw and down her neck, before resting over her heart. “I would wish the same, but it’s not to be.”

  “I love you anyway, even if your skin won’t hold a tattoo.”

  He chuckled. “Thank you, beloved.”

  She rolled him over, which was no small feat since he was so much bigger than her. It took just a press of her knee against his side, and he let her trade positions. Pushing his shirt up his stomach, she scooted down his legs and began to kiss his scars.

  He told her that he didn’t remember how he got every scar. Some of the bigger ones he knew, but the smaller, fainter ones had faded in his memory with time. He had one, a small curve near his navel that reminded her of half of a heart.

  “I want to claim this scar,” she said. She traced it with her tongue, feeling the rougher texture of it, and then looked up at him.

  “Claim it?”

  “Like a tattoo.”

  He made a growling sound, something she had learned meant he approved of whatever she was saying or doing, and it made her smile. “I’m already yours, but you can have the scar, too.”

  She lowered her mouth to the scar and nibbled it. He groaned, sinking his fingers into her hair. Lifting off him slightly, she balanced on one outstretched arm and undid the leather pants.

  “I’m claiming this, too.” She reached into his pants and ran her hand along the hard ridge of his erection.

  “That’s definitely yours, beloved.”

  Much, much later, after they’d made love, they dressed and he took her to the first floor of the now-empty club so she could watch the sunrise. One portion of the front wall of the club was UV tinted glass, so Brone could stand there with her and watch the sunrise without risking injury.

  With Brone’s arms around her, she lifted her gaze toward the sky that she could see over the tops of the buildings. As the minutes ticked by, the dark sky turned from black to navy blue, with oranges and pinks overtaking the darkness little by little.

  “When we have a place of our own away from here, I want to be able to do this with you,” she said, resting her hands on top of his.

  He hummed in agreement.
She knew he really didn’t care about the sunrise. He hadn’t paid attention to one in a thousand years. But he cared about her and wanted her to be happy, so he was standing in the club in front of a window with her while she watched the sun rise.

  “You love me,” she said.

  “More than my own life.” He kissed her neck with a soft growl.

  She turned away from the window and rested her hands on his shoulders. “I love you, too. More than the sunrise. More than my power. More than anything.”

  His mouth quirked up in a half-smile. “More than Nutter Butters?”

  She grinned. “Even more than Nutter Butters.”

  Leaving the sunrise behind, they returned to their chamber and fell asleep, her body tucked tightly against his. This was how she wanted to spend eternity, in her beloved vampire’s embrace.

  The End

  Coming in 2015

  Wiccan-Were-Bear series #9, Daeton’s story.

  After surviving a deadly attempt on her life by an evil wizard, were-bear Daeton Stalking Horse is ready to settle into her new life with her two husbands, Perseus and Ekho. But all is not idyllic in her new home of Cholas within the Medes Realm. Seemingly random attacks on the centaur settlement lead to a troubling vision showing Daeton’s new family being all but destroyed. Daeton and her husbands prepare to face the threat head-on, determined to do everything in their power to keep each other safe.

  This book contains m/f/m interaction, a feisty bear shifter who will do anything to keep her family safe, and two males who won’t let a hair on their beloved wife’s head be harmed.

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  Contact the Author

  Website: http://www.rebutlerauthor.com

  Email: [email protected]

  Twitter: @rebutlerauthor

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/R.E.ButlerAuthorPage

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  Also from R. E. Butler

  Wiccan-Were-Bear Novella Series

  A Curve of Claw

  A Flash of Fang

  A Price for a Princess

  A Bond of Brothers

  A Bead of Blood

  A Twitch of Tail

  A Promise on White Wings

  A Slash of Savagery

  The Wolf’s Mate Series

  The Wolf’s Mate Book 1: Jason & Cadence

  The Wolf’s Mate Book 2: Linus & The Angel

  The Wolf’s Mate Book 3: Callie & The Cats

  The Wolf’s Mate Book 4: Michael & Shyne

  The Wolf’s Mate Book 5: Bo & Reika

  The Wolf’s Mate Book 6: Logan & Jenna

  The Wolf’s Mate Book 7: Lindy & The Wulfen

  The Necklace Chronicles

  The Tribe’s Bride

  The Gigolo’s Bride

  Ashland Pride Series

  Seducing Samantha (Ashland Pride One)

  Loving Lachlyn (Ashland Pride Two)

  Marking Melody (Ashland Pride Three)

  Hyena Heat Series

  Every Night Forever (Hyena Heat One)

  Every Dawn Forever (Hyena Heat Two)

  Every Sunset Forever (Hyena Heat Three)

  Wilde Creek Series

  Mate of Her Heart (Book One)

  The Alpha’s Heart (Book Two)

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