Chapter 15

Mariana sat at her desk with her eyes unfocused, tracing out the map of the wards her father had built, trying to understand how they connected to her and each other and powered the city. With every day that passed, she worried something catastrophic would happen to the intricate structure that she wouldn't be able to diagnose or fix. But she didn't understand the web of magic her father had constructed any more than she had a week ago.

"You're frowning again," Rio said from his lounge where he sat with one of the smutty romance books he loved and consumed like candy. "I think you need a break."

She smiled. She wasn't sure if she'd ever get used to how consistently and capably Rio took care of her. "You're very sweet, but I'm okay."

Out of her periphery, she saw him put down the book and cross the room toward her. He took up a position behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. "What I meant to say is: you're taking a break."

"Okay. You're right. I'm starting to get a headache."

"Uh huh." He rubbed her shoulders lightly. "You want me to ask Giselle to bring in some tea?"

"That would be lovely."

"I'm headed out soon for dinner with Willow, but I can stop by the kitchen on the way."

"Ooh. Anything fun or salacious planned?"

His hands trailed down to squeeze her arms. "You have such a dirty mind. Not everyone thinks about sex all day."

"You were sitting across the room reading porn just a minute ago."

"Porn with a plot," he corrected primly.

"Sure." She laughed.

"Anyway, it's sort of a working dinner. They want to talk about some ideas they have for submissives at the club when Esmé takes over tomorrow."

Mari looked up at him. "That sounds like a worthwhile way to spend an evening."

He leaned to drop a kiss on her cheek. "Do me a favor and go climb in his lap once he's off the phone. He looks like he needs a break too." He lifted his chin toward Cisco's office.

She looked through the French doors to where Cisco sat at his desk on the phone glaring out the window. "You could go on your way out."

"If I go in there right now, I'm going to be late." Rio sighed. "I can tell he's irritated by something, and that usually ends with my lips wrapped around his dick."

"You are very skilled at making him feel better with your mouth." She leaned back a bit and tilted her chin up.

He smiled down at her before moving to kiss her, his mouth warm and unhurried over hers. His hand moved to cup her chin and hold her still as he increased the intensity of his kiss. Her magic unfurled in her belly, reaching delicate fingers out into the rest of her body.

When he finally pulled away, the tendrils of her power were straining for him. "We'll finish that later," he said, his voice low. Rio dropped one more brief kiss on her upturned mouth before leaving the room. She watched him go, barely quelling the urge to call him back.

Giselle delivered her tray a few minutes later, and Mari sipped rosehip tea from the cup, watching Cisco. He'd switched from glaring out the window to glaring at his computer. He wasn't shouting, though she wouldn't have heard him in any case because the doors between their offices were spelled to be soundproof when they were closed. But he seemed exasperated by whatever was happening on the phone.

Mari closed her eyes and inhaled the delicately floral scent of her tea. She focused on the way Rio had made her feel right before he left, like she was precious. Desired.

The simmering awareness of her arousal rose from her pelvis, spreading up and out through her entire body. She reached for the wards around her with her magic, imagining as she did that she was stroking Rio's face as he kissed her. The wards shivered under her touch. They were always there, just out of sight, but they had never reacted to her before.

She slid the teacup onto her desk and lifted her hand to her collarbone. Rio loved to touch her there when he kissed her. Light, careless touches that lingered long after they were gone. She moved her magic over the wards with the same gentle caress. They vibrated with a sibilance she couldn't hear but felt along her body like a mimicry of that touch. She leaned back in her chair, remembering the way he smelled, like the deepest parts of a pine forest where the earth was rich and dark. That smell would always be associated with him, would make her feel safe.

She felt the soft brush of his lips against hers, and then the way her stomach clenched when his kiss changed, becoming hungrier and more fervent. She let a little of that hunger shape her magic, feeling the feral edge of it take form. The wards gave way slightly, the way her mouth would part under his kiss. They seemed to yearn for her, the same way she did for him.

She lowered her hand to her chest, slipping it inside her camisole to skim over her nipple, teasing the ring there for an instant before her touch became harder, more urgent, the way his would. When she stroked the wards the same way, they thrummed in response.

Her other hand danced up along her thigh, another part of her that Rio loved to smooth his fingers over as he kissed her. There was always a moment when he scored her with his claws that made her shiver, and she did that too. The wards didn't breathe, but they gasped all the same when she ran her nails along them.

She dropped her hand between her legs, teasing herself through her panties just as Rio would do, letting the moment of anticipation draw out long until she felt like she'd burst from the wanting. She grazed her magic over the wards the same way, feeling them arch toward her just as she would toward Rio's hand.

With a swift tug, she pulled her panties aside, like Rio would do when he'd finally had enough of teasing her, then sought out her clit with ravenous fingers, desperate for contact. She was slick and hot, from the fantasy and from the magic. With all of that desire, she reached out for the wards.

There was a moment of resistance, and once she pulled back the first layer of magic that protected them, she realized that these wards hadn't been made by her father at all. This power was as ancient as the land under her feet. It writhed and seethed at her touch. She moaned as she felt the vastness of it rushing around her. It wanted, the same way she did.

Mari stroked her clit to the beat of the magic around her. She had no idea how long it went on because time no longer had meaning. Nothing did except the sensation and the wanting. She felt the wards stretch toward her and crest, and she had no choice but to let the magic take her. Her whole body shuddered with the force of her orgasm.

Whatever nameless force had made these wards was what the city of Las Vegas had been built to contain, to harness, the same way this house had been built to contain her. She had been feeding them for nearly twenty years and had never been aware of their presence, they were buried so deep. But oh, how they craved her touch, her essence, even though they weren't truly aware of her.

The rumbling purr of Cisco's approval warned her an instant before he started to turn her chair. She opened her eyes and saw him standing above her, wanting her, the same way whatever was in the wards did. She spread her thighs, and he was on his knees before she could take another breath. He lifted one leg over his shoulder, taking a moment to kiss the spot on her inner thigh where his mark was as he dragged her hips closer.

He devoured her, utterly and completely, his clever tongue leaving her a gasping, quivering mess as she came over and over again. She held on to his horns for dear life and rode his face until there was nothing left to give him, until she was so spent she couldn't move, could scarcely breathe.

He nuzzled her once more to make sure she was done and, when she didn't respond, settled his head on her thigh with a satisfied sigh. "I don't know what that was, except that it wasn't about me at all."

Mari took a long slow breath. "I finally got inside the wards. I had to seduce them, I guess."

"Seduce who? Not that I'm complaining. That was a hell of a ride." He grinned and bit her thigh gently.

"There's something under the city, like inside the Earth. It's why they built all this here, I think. They could feel the well of power, even if they weren't really aware of it."

"That sounds ominous."

She ran one hand through his hair, catching her fingers in his curls. "I honestly don't know if it is or not. My power is hooked into them, and I've been feeding them, but I'm not sure what would happen if I stopped or what feeding them does."

"So we get to keep having lots of hot sex indefinitely to feed an ancient entity we know nothing about." He chuckled. "That seems fine."

She laughed with him for a few seconds. "Well, hopefully, the sex witch Esmé hooked us up with will be able to help me figure it out. I can get inside now, but I still really have no idea what I'm doing."

"By the way, whatever you were doing with whatever that is made the whole house vibrate."

"Fuck. Really?"

"You were really putting out the sexy vibes too. Felt them in my office through the spell barrier."

Mari sighed, utterly mortified. "Well, that's embarrassing."

"Perils of living with a sex witch." Cisco shrugged. "Not sure how much farther it would have traveled. We'll just stay in here for a while and give everyone else a chance to work it out if they want to."

"Guess that means no one will probably come by to bother us for a while." She reached to caress his horn. "In case you have something you want to work out."

"Maybe." He rubbed his cheek against her thigh. "Tell me what you were thinking about when you made the house shake."

"Rio. I started thinking about how he makes me feel when he's kissing me."

"Mmm. One of my top two favorite mouths, for sure." He stood slowly, lifting her out of her chair as he went and sitting her on the edge of the desk. Cisco leaned to kiss Rio's mark where her neck met her shoulder. "What else?"

"How he likes to touch me when he's kissing me. How he makes me feel undone, like I can't take another minute of his mouth but I don't want him to stop either." She felt warm thinking about it again, especially with Cisco watching her with so much desire in his expression.

"The first time I kissed him, I knew he would be mine." Cisco reached under her skirt and pulled down her panties, sliding them all the way down her legs slowly. "Felt that way about you too."

She blushed, enjoying the way her skin heated in response to his praise. "I kissed people before you, but none of them ever made me feel the way you do. Like you're possessing me."

He smiled as he pulled the straps of her camisole down so that her tits came free. "Flatterer." He put one hand on each of her knees and pushed them wide, exposing her completely. "Stay there."

Mari leaned back on her hands so she could keep the position easier, knowing that offered her tits to him in a way he liked. He palmed them with both hands, stroking his thumbs much too softly over her nipples and teasing the piercings with the lightest touch.

She arched up into him, trying to tempt him into increasing the intensity. "I love it when Rio touches my tits. There's so much reverence in his caress."

Cisco grinned enough to show his fangs and ran his thumbs over her nipples again, harder this time, flicking the piercings with his claws. "Sometimes, I bounce you around a lot just to watch him watching them."

"I've noticed." When he hooked his talons into the rings in her nipples and pulled gently, she moaned and had to concentrate not to squirm. "It makes me so hot when you do things to me because you know he likes it."

He chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind." He tugged again and held the tension until her hips rose slightly in response.

His rumble of approval made her stomach clench. Her magic still slumbered from the workout he'd given her with his mouth, and that left her feeling more exposed to him without the protection of it. She couldn't wait to feel him inside her.

He watched her as he pulled and held twice more, creating a delicious tugging sensation that sang through her, waiting for her hips to rise each time. He licked the tip of one fang. "I want you to take my dick slow and slutty."

To show him she understood, Mari lifted her hips again, higher, spreading her knees wider, the movement smooth and sultry. Her pussy was just barely hidden by her short skirt, but his eyes never left the junction of her thighs. Desperate heat settled low in her belly, both from the motion and from the way he watched her.

"Mmm. Just like that." He took his time undoing his pants with one hand while he kept teasing her piercing with the other so that her hips kept moving. His cock was hard and ready when he brought it out. He stroked it a few times as her hips rose and fell in response to a slightly rougher touch.

She lifted her hips higher, her back arching, offering herself to him. When he pinched her nipple hard, she whimpered. "Please. I need your cock. I need you to fill me."

"So needy." He drew in a breath as he rubbed his cock again. "You gonna ride my dick slow and dirty?"

Mari nodded eagerly, raising her hips again to show him. "Just how you like it."

"Yeah, you know how I like it. Absolutely fucking filthy. Stay still." He moved closer and guided his cock between her legs, taking a moment to glide the head up and down through her folds.

She clenched her thighs so she wouldn't move as he repeated the slow, torturous movement. She knew if he kept that up very long, she would lose all composure. When he focused his attentions on her clit, she groaned.

He tugged her piercing again, making her moan. "Rub yourself on me."

She moved her hips up and down just a little, grinding her clit against the head of his cock and shivering as the delicious sensation coursed through her. "Please. I need more."

"I know you do." He pushed her skirt up so he had a better view. He trailed the hand that had been working her nipple down her body and around to her ass. "Slow." He nudged her with his fingers, guiding her hips to engulf him with a smooth and gradual glide. He watched the place where their bodies joined with rapt attention.

Mari moaned as she stretched around his cock. The muscles she had to use to lift this way made her squeeze around him. She took him to the hilt, and then he held her there until she quivered. He felt fucking immense, filling her completely.

Cisco lowered her down to the desk again, just as slowly. She had an instant of desperate emptiness, and then he was coaxing her to lift her hips again. "That's it, princess, fuck yourself on my dick."

She did as he asked, lifting and squeezing and taking him exactly like he wanted her to, over and over. The slightly awkward angle only made her hotter because she had to work for it. "Fuck, Cisco. It's so good."

"It is." He was watching the place where she engulfed him again, his lips curled in a sexy smile. "Can you come like this without my help?"

She repeated the motion again. Fuck, it was incredible, but the angle was just slightly wrong. "No."

He chuckled. "Then you'd better convince me, because your pussy feels too good and I'm pretty close."

"I want to come around your cock. I'm desperate for it, like I've never been desperate for anything." She lifted again, letting herself moan as he filled her. "I want to take you deep just like this and shatter around you." She lowered back down to the desk, panting for breath.

The next time she rose up, he held her there, stretched around him. His tail moved between them to tease the piercing in her clit, making her hips shudder. She groaned as the tendrils of pleasure spread through her from that spot, making her squeeze around him even more. Her thighs shook from the effort of holding herself this way, but she needed him exactly where he was.

He flicked the tip of his tail against her clit with more intention. At the same time, he encouraged her up with his other hand, forcing her to take him even deeper.

"Fuck," she groaned. "Please don't stop."

He held her there on the razor-sharp edge, her body taut and aching, until her arms collapsed behind her. He lunged to catch her, lowering her to the desk before pressing into her with a hard thrust that pinned her against the unyielding wooden surface. He pushed her thighs wide so he could fuck her deeper, making her cry out.

Leaning over her, he reached for her throat to keep her on the desk as his hips continued to slam into hers. Whimpering, she arched up into his grip, begging for more, though her words failed her. His tail rubbed her clit in the same desperate rhythm.

Her orgasm ripped through her at his growled command. Waves of pleasure crashed over her, unbuffered by her magic, overwhelming her completely. The feeling of his hand around her throat was the only thing that kept her in her body, anchoring her to him when otherwise she thought she would float away. His own climax overtook him as she clenched around him, his roar of triumph echoing in the room and vibrating through her. He collapsed over her, his mouth searching out her jaw with soft nibbles as her body continued to pulse around him.

Satisfaction, slow and deep, bloomed from somewhere inside her as she clutched him to her, needing to feel his weight, his physical presence, all over her in the aftermath. In that moment, she knew she was done for. She would never get enough of him, no matter how deep inside her he was.

Her fingers dug into his shoulders, trying to pull him even closer, afraid that all of this would end before she'd even had a chance to understand the gravity of what she felt for him. He made a soothing noise into her throat where his face was buried, tickling her skin.

When Mari arrived balancing a huge bowl of popcorn and a pitcher of Giselle's county-famous margaritas, Tilly had already made a nest of blankets on one of the couches in the middle of the vaulted television room.

"Buxom babes on sexy cars or romantic tearjerker?" Tilly asked with a serious expression.

Mari had the feeling that the fate of their friendship might just hang in the balance. They had all had more than enough tears already. "I'll take the cars."

Tilly whooped. "That's the right answer." She pressed a few buttons on the remote before rising to help Mari figure out where the snacks should go.

They cheered and wolf-whistled their way through the first half of the movie, polishing off most of the margaritas along the way before Mari called for a bathroom break. When she got back, Tilly was frowning at her phone.

"What's up?"

Tilly wrinkled her nose. "Reached out for a post-movie booty call and she gave me the cold shoulder."

"Aw, that sucks." Mari paused. "Is this where I say you can do better, or are we not there yet?"

Tilly smiled as she put her phone away. "Not just yet. She's head of security at the club, so things are probably weird for her right now."

Mari split the last of the margaritas between their cups. "Okay, you let me know when, and I'm there."

"Deal." They tapped their plastic glasses together.

Mari took a long pull of her drink. She was glad her booty calls were in residence and not prone to playing hard to get. "Maybe you'll see her when we go to the club tomorrow?"

"Probably not. I'll be posted up outside. But if you see a hot-as-fuck lion shifter with shoulders that make your mouth water and a bad attitude, tell her she's a bitch for me."

Mari made a thoughtful sound. "I don't think I will. She sounds tough."

"She is." Tilly settled herself back in her blanket nest with a sigh. "I knew I was a goner the first time she pinned me to the ground during a party night fight."

"You make that sound a lot sexier than I assumed."

"It isn't always." Shaking her head, Tilly took a swig of her drink. "Sometimes it just felt like getting beat up."

Mari had always been curious about the dynamics at play among the guards. She'd seen them pairing off at her father's parties over the years, especially after exhibition fights. "But when it doesn't?"

Tilly let out a slow breath. "Best orgasms of my life were after getting my ass kicked at those parties."

Mari's magic hummed contentedly as Tilly remembered the steamy encounter. "What did you like about it?"

Tilly's hand rose to her neck. "Being vulnerable, I think. We train to be fearless, but it feels good sometimes to let that go."

Like so many of the guards, Tilly had come to the compound very young. They'd all grown up knowing they were expected to sacrifice everything for Mari's father. She hated how they'd been forced to grow up so quickly.

Mari wrapped an arm around Tilly and squeezed her in a hug. "You don't have to be fearless with me."

Tilly leaned against her. "Thanks. I'll take you up on that. At least until Kima gets her head out of her ass."

"If I do see her tomorrow, can I deliver a message that won't get my ass kicked?"

"Yeah, tell her I miss her." Tilly's voice was sadder than Mari had ever heard. She hugged the harpy again and then reached for the remote to continue the movie.