Outfoxing Mysta Read online

  Besides what was she going to say? Fear of marriage, of commitment? The words rolled around her head. A lump formed in her throat. She tried to swallow around it. Energy coursed through her legs demanding she get up and run, but there was no way she’d get far enough away from him. Not even Pluto or another galaxy would be far enough.

  Despite the rapid thud of her heart, she longed to touch his hair. The last time she’d seen him it had been clipped in a buzz cut, so close that the skin of his scalp showed through the blond fuzz. She pushed away those memories to focus on him here in the present. Despite his relaxed attitude, tension filled every line of his body as if he was ready to spring at her slightest movement. Maybe to stop her from running again or to go to her and kiss her senseless. She didn’t know.

  Viktor moved with a slow gait, the deliberate steps of a predator coming toward prey. He stopped at the table’s edge and leaned down and brought his face so close his nose almost touched hers.

  “You don’t know what I want to hear, and besides I made the rules. I can break them.” The humidity of his breath kissed her lips. She smelled the sweetness of mint and a hint of cinnamon. Her flesh warmed. She almost met him, almost kissed him, almost. Goddess, she wanted to touch him, to bury her hands in his longer hair, kiss him senseless, taste him, feel all his strength and solidity against her, take off his glasses and see if the heat was real and she wasn’t imagining it.

  His eyelashes fluttered, and his eyelids slid down, but she didn’t miss the desire that burned in their peridot depths. A moan slipped out of her. He inhaled. His nostrils flared, and his warm breath caressed her face.

  His rich, shadowed scent swirled around her. In his cologne was leather, the darkness of the forest, the richness of earth, a hint of danger, a tang of mystery, and just a bit of incense. Her tongue flicked out and touched his bottom lip. He groaned.

  She wanted to feel the sound rumble deep inside of her while he kissed her, the vibrations beating against her mouth as his tongue dove deeper. Sweat slipped down from her temple to trace along her chin as all thoughts of studying, learning more, and research evaporated.

  Viktor pulled back and smirked. “Don’t start none, and you won’t get some,” he drawled. A hint of that Southern accent she had always loved rolled over her.

  She swore and yanked back. “I wasn’t— I didn’t— Just leave me alone.” The words rushed out, holding no depth, just desperation.

  “Can’t. You’re my mate. Whether you believe it or not, sugar, is up to you, but, I just can’t leave you alone, as you say. And I won’t. I’m going to get answers, honey, one way or another.” He turned on his heel and strode down a darkened aisle. His cowboy-boot heels thudded against the aged floor echoing the rhythm of her heart.

  “Damn him.” The words came out as a whisper, but it might as well have been a shout in the quiet. In the distance she heard a low chuckle. She swore and rolled her head and tensed her arms and fisted her hands allowing the stress to drain away. Something caught her preternatural senses.

  She lifted up her head and blinked. Her senses extended outward. Viktor was at the front desk. The kids had gone, and something moved in the inky blackness of the forbidden sections of the library. It reached out for her and something slammed against her mental shields. She jerked her attention back and frowned. What was it?

  She shook her head. She couldn’t focus on that now. She bowed her head and immersed herself in the books but heard Viktor’s footsteps around her. He didn’t say anything, just walked around and left.

  A dark bitter sweetness perfumed the air. Her taste buds tingled, and her mouth began to water as slow recognition dawned on her. Chocolate. Creamy, rich, sinful dark chocolate. She glanced all around until her gaze snagged down on the floor. Chocolate coins wrapped in gold, bronze, and silver foil along with tea candles formed a line from where she sat toward the front. The words follow me were spelled out a foot from her chair. What the hell?

  Her stomach growled. She needed a break. Tension sang through her neck and shoulders, and her butt hurt from sitting on a hard chair for the last hour and half.

  “Fine, I’ll take a break and eat and after that I go back to the books.” She got up and collected the candy, following the trail.

  She arrived at the front desk to find the countertop covered in various sized candles casting golden pools of light, melting the darkness in the empty aisles away and brightening the area. A plate of two double bacon cheeseburgers with mushrooms sat next to two glasses of wine.

  Viktor leaned his elbows on the countertop, a grin on his face. Mischief glittered in his eyes. “Welcome.” He nodded next to him.

  He came around the table. His facial expression was inscrutable. Tension ran over his body emanating in waves. He wasn’t shielding himself from her. What was going on with him? She wanted to walk over to him, wrap her arms around him, and hold him tight and at the same time run the other way. The distance between them seemed uncrossable. She didn’t have the right to hold him. Someone else had the job, right? Guy as gorgeous as him couldn’t be single, right?

  Her heart lurched, and her stomach roiled. It wasn’t her business, she told herself. It didn’t matter. Besides, she’d left him behind when she moved to Evenfall for her job as Bridget’s familiar.

  She glanced down at her feet. The toes of her boots were scuffed and needed some shine. Maybe it was time to get some new ones. She allowed the thoughts to distract her.

  “Hey, why don’t you sit down?” Viktor moved closer to her and held out his hand.

  She found the gumption to move. She closed the distance and settled down on a stool, close to him. He stepped up to her and grinned.

  Viktor reached out and cupped her face. For a moment she thought he was going to kiss her. Hope blossomed inside of her. The warmth of his touch spread, and her heart tripped over itself. She inhaled. Her skin tingled where he touched her. The dull sound of fireworks exploding overhead could be heard, but for the life of her she couldn’t turn her gaze toward the skylight to see what color combinations the witches in charge had come up with. Her world had narrowed down to the light green of his eyes. This close she could see his pale eyelashes, the freckles across the bridge of his nose, the way his delicate nose upturned at the tip, and the smile curled on his light pink lips.

  “Got your favorite wine,” he whispered. “And more chocolate. You ready to eat?” He gave her nose a quick peck and backed away. “Come on, who’s it going to hurt to share a meal with me?”

  Disappointment filled her at such a simple touch. Damn it. How could she resist him?

  Fireworks rocked the building. She pulled her attention away from him, afraid to drown in those eyes once more and darted a look at the skylight that gave a glimpse of the night sky. Colors of green, blue, yellow, orange, and pink formed flowers against the inky black, blotting out stars and moon. Mysta tilted her head back and watched as someone in stereotypical witch garb on a broomstick streaked across the sky. She groaned. Of course a few of the local covens would get drunk and decide to use flying spells. They were probably buzzed with all the free magic floating around.

  “Would your Bridget be so daring?” Viktor asked. Humor laced his voice.

  “No. She hates heights, and none of us would be willing to get on a broomstick. Not much keeping you from falling off and the distance between the ground and sky. Well…” She shuddered. “Besides there are no spells to buckle you to the broom. There’s also the question of why do it.” Not enough money, boots, chocolate, or jewelry could convince her it would be worth it.

  “I don’t know, for the adventure?” Amusement tinged his voice.

  “Uuuuh, no. This is where we differ. You enjoy skydiving and bungee jumping. I prefer my feet planted on terra firma. Planes, trains, and cars are fine ways to travel.” A memory of his old car surfaced, followed by a brush of heat at memories of all the kisses and heavy petting they did in the backseat. She smiled. “Remember the blue devil?”

  Vik
tor’s face brightened, and his eyes glinted with joy. “How could I forget? Gorgeous, restored Mustang convertible.”

  “Nancy Drew’s car.” She couldn’t resist needling him.

  Viktor pointed his index finger at her, a serious expression on his face. His eyes sparked with irritation. “Not Nancy Drew’s car. A classic.”

  “It was blue—”

  “Not Nancy Drew’s car.”

  “It was a Mustang.”

  “Not—”

  “It was made by Ford.” She smiled, delight drowning out the slight desire in her body.

  “Look, Nancy just has good taste, that’s all.” He shook his head. The thick, blond waves of his hair fell forward, obscuring one eye. He reached up and pushed it back.

  She moved closer to him. It was too much fun to tease him, so much that she could temporarily forget her desire and her need for distance. “Why can’t you just admit you have a car in common with Nancy Drew?”

  He huffed out a breath. “Because you keep taking the piss out the blue devil. And we don’t share a car. She’s a fictional character.”

  “And because you can’t stand that I called your precious car a girlie car.”

  He shook his head. “Do I make fun of your Aston obsession?”

  “It’s different. It’s James Bond’s car. It’s cool,” she pointed out.

  “And Nancy Drew’s car isn’t?”

  “Well it doesn’t have an ejector seat or shoot missiles from the headlights. It’s nice, but it’s not an Aston.” Just thinking about the vehicle sent a shiver of pleasure up her spine.

  Viktor rolled his eyes. “You’re a car snob, is what you are.” He headed around the counter.

  “And? A girl’s gotta have standards.”

  “Right, so where were your standards when your parents got you the Bug?” He bent down and brought up a fat stack of napkins.

  “Well it was kind of cute…” She was lying. It had been a hideous rust bucket, but it was her duty to defend it since it was her first car and all her family could afford at the time.

  “It’s was bright yellow.” He enunciated his words slowly.

  “Okay, fine. It was a piece of crap and needed to be jumped at least three times a week just to get it going, and one windshield wiper didn’t work no matter what you did to it, and it always smelled of curry even though the old owner hated the stuff, but still…it was…cute. It had a happy face sticker we could never get off.” She shrugged. “And who wouldn’t want a smiley face on their car?”

  “Ha! Just as stubborn as usual.” He faced her now. “So dinner, ready for it?”

  No, but she didn’t say it aloud. Her stomach rumbled. She still hadn’t found anything on hobgoblins for Bridget, and it looked like this would be a long night. Viktor wouldn’t leave her alone so long as she stayed here to research. She might as well play nice. Maybe then he’d leave her be.

  “Sure, why not.” She joined him at the table and sat down on a stool. What harm could eating with him do?

  CHAPTER TWO

  Viktor’s skin pricked with awareness. Her rich perfume mingled with the remnants of incense, protective magic, and the bottle of strawberry Riesling he’d just opened. His fox senses were heightened. He could hear her heartbeat with clarity, feel her lust, her shyness and fear. Questions swirled around in his head.

  Three years ago when they’d begun dating they’d made a deal: no questions or answers if one or the other walked away. She’d been the one to leave without a word. It had taken him a year to find her, once he’d put together his family’s affairs and could get away. Mysta was his mate, and he would do anything to finish what he’d begun before she’d left him. But first he needed to get her to forget about their previous deal and accept a relationship with him with all the strings that came with that.

  Sitting across the counter from her, he took her in, trying to find any trace of the woman he’d fallen for. In the beginning he’d been attracted to her diamond-shaped face with her large brown eyes framed by dark brows and lashes that guarded her emotions. She could be so expressive once she’d opened up to him. Now they held secrets he couldn’t fathom. After a year of studying her from a distance, he could see that only a trace of her past self existed. Her full, raspberry-colored lips were the same, but they didn’t smile as often. Whenever she came into the library they either frowned in concentration or irritation.

  He wanted to reach out, touch her, feel the warmth of her skin, see her vulnerable to him once more. Hold on to her arms and keep her still so she couldn’t run away from him.

  But for now he needed to make her comfortable and put her at ease again.

  The ground quaked and more fireworks burst in the sky. “Looks like they’re using the extra strength fireworks.” He slid one of the glasses over to Mysta. She caught it with ease but didn’t lift it to take a sip.

  “Of course they are. It’s their holiday. They tend to cut loose.” Mysta shrugged. Despite the nonchalant gesture, tension lined every inch of her face. “I’m sure Shevon is enjoying the party atmosphere out there.”

  He picked up a bottle of beer, popped the top, and took a sip to keep from staring at her. She lifted her hand to adjust her glasses, now with thin silver borders rather than the thick blue frames. So many differences, and yet somewhere in there had to be the woman he loved.

  Silence stretched out between. He could feel her pulling away from him. Sensation rippled along his palms as the urge to close the distance grabbed him like a chokehold. He swallowed and put down the bottle. A tremor ran down his arm, making his hand shake. Unlike werewolves or feline shifters, kitsune, or fox shifters, weren’t affected much by Lunar Lust. But with all the energy in the air he was buzzed, and his reactions were exaggerated.

  She broke the silence first. “Is it still hot?” She nodded toward the burger.

  Viktor relaxed. “Yeah, heated it up in Shevon’s oven, so the buns wouldn’t get soggy.”

  “Normally, you have beer with a burger.” She pulled the plate toward her. “A nice dark ale, maybe?”

  “Wanted something different.” There was no way in hell he would go out to the Goblin’s Prick Pub, not in this atmosphere with free magic roaming around and drunks partying it up. The streets would be chaos, and a bar on Samhain is not the place to be.

  “No, you wanted to lure me into dinner with you. The burger was just a meal, but the wine, well…” Minute emotion quivered in her eyes.

  “Was special to us,” he finished. She wasn’t going to get off easy.

  She turned her attention to her plate, picked up the sandwich and bit into it. Her eyelashes fluttered, and her lids closed. “Oh my goddess, so good.”

  Liquid fire filled his groin as his cock and balls responded to the sound and words. He licked his lips. “I remember when you made those noises and said those same words when I went down on you,” he said, unable to resist.

  She held up a finger. A warning flashed in her eyes. “Don’t.”

  But he didn’t miss the way her pupils enlarged. Her breathing had increased just a tick and he could sense her body heating up. The sound of her heartbeat echoed in his ears. The denser hormones of her Lunar Lust floated into the air.

  Like most others, snake shifters did get Lunar Lust but not as bad as, say, feline shifters or werewolves. Nor did they talk about it. It was an in-species secret shared only with a chosen few.

  She took another bite. She still hadn’t touched her wine.

  “Yes, I did. And regardless of how you act. I can sense your arousal, your desire.” Goddess, he loved flirting with her.

  “I don’t think this wine would go well with the burger.” She pointed from one item to the other. Her lips formed a moue of disgust.

  “You can avoid your attraction to me all you want but you can’t ignore it for long.” He pulled open the door of the mini fridge Shevon kept under the countertop of the front desk and pulled out a sparkling water. “There. Happy now?”

  “Yes, I am.�
� She grabbed it, pulled the tab up, and began chugging.

  “Whoa, slow down. You’ll burn your throat.”

  She let out a deep burp. Twin spots of red colored her cheeks. “Excuse me.”

  “No need. I’ve seen you burp before.” Amusement lit him up from the inside.

  She ducked her head, her face still flushed. “You remember our first date?”

  “What?” For a second he was confused. Then understanding dawned on him. “That’s right. I gave you a seltzer because you hated the beer I chose.”

  “It was a bad flat beer. I taught you better.” She grinned. “Anyway, remember the bookstore you worked at? Every day you’d try to talk to me. I finally capitulated when you offered to take me to Oktoberfest.”

  “Best first date I’d ever had. I’d always wanted to go but never could find the time. I loved seeing you like that, laughing and smiling. It was beautiful.”

  He wanted to keep her smiling and remembering the good times between them. “Do you remember how the door of the bookstore always got stuck, and the carpet always, always smelled of wet dog no matter how many cleaning services came, even when we lit candles and sprayed all the air freshener we could get our hands on? It’s still there, you know?” He shook his head. “The chipped lettering is worse and there are leaks in the roof. Burt refuses to fix it the old-fashioned human way, keeps calling a witch to fix it. I think she’s charging him extra and causing the shit to happen. And he keeps asking me to come back and work for him. Needs the help he says.”

  Mysta scrunched up her nose. “Wouldn’t surprise me, but he’s building up a crap ton of bad karma. I could find someone to fix it all, reasonable cost. Burt always gave me a discount when I came in. He was always nice to me even though I had him chasing all over the place for obscure spell books and research material. I doubt he really needs you. Just wants someone else to boss around and do the heavy lifting.”