“Rav,” Mayhem warned.
Darcy gulped, shook her head minutely.
Ignoring his alpha, Raven pulled back, moved his hand to brush her hair from her face, then clenched a handful of strands at the back of her head and forced her to look at him. “If I mark you, every single male on this planet, wolf or not, will know that you’re mine. They’ll sense it and instinctively know that they cannot touch you if they value their lives at all. If I mark you, you will never again know sexual pleasure from another male. Not unless that male is me and I decide to give it to you. Karma is a bitch, isn’t it, sweets?”
Darcy wanted him to mark her. She wanted him to. And that was fucked up. She knew it. Couldn’t explain it. He was effectively telling her he would do to her what she did to him. She could see in his eyes that he battled with that action. He wanted to do it, wanted it beyond an act of revenge and hated her for wanting it too.
“If you mark me, you’ll never want to let me go,” she countered, her voice defiant. She might be feeling these strange fucked up things for this man, but she’d be damned if he was going to know about it. “How would you like to be tied to a woman like me? A woman who would loathe your very existence. A woman who would run from you every opportunity she got. You’d spend your life hunting for me, I promise you. You have no idea what I’m capable of.” She bluffed, hoping her unwavering stare was convincing. He had no idea what a mediocre witch she was—better to make him think she could wield some power if necessary. “You might have my body, you might make me lust, but you’ll never, ever, have my heart. And that would kill your wolf just as surely as my curse will.”
They glared at each other, his eyes a stormy cloud of confusion. She thought she could see his wolf there, battling to take control. She wanted this man, wanted to understand him, his wolf, but she knew it had to be part of his beastly allure. The reason why he was so successful with the ladies—a mystery man, the ultimate bad boy. She fought against her body, desperate to remain logical. This was no romance. This man could inflict some serious harm and all she could really do in return was light a candle and drip some hot wax over his body. She shivered at that image, then silently scolded herself for lusting after a man who clearly wanted to hurt her.
Raven sneered. “How many men have you left wanting you, sweetheart? What kind of retribution do you deserve?”
Darcy frowned, tried to move her head away, but his steel grip in her hair kept her in place. She contemplated closing her eyes, but that would be an unforgivable weakness. He knew how to hurt her, how to make her feel things she didn’t want to feel. Right now, her gut clenched with regret. She turned it into anger. “I’ve had many clients.” She narrowed her eyes as she glared back at him, suddenly understanding what would cut him to the core. “And I fucked every single one of them.”
Raven growled low and deep, his body shook with sudden anger. He wrenched her head to the side and she cried out, as he pressed his teeth to her neck, his fangs poking at her skin.
Oh fuck, what had she done?
Chapter Eleven
Raven could see nothing but rage. Uncontrollable jealousy at the thought of Darcy fucking other men. He’d been bluffing his way through their interaction, trying to sound cold and hard. The fine thread of control he’d maintained had snapped the moment she blasted him with her words.
I fucked every single one of them.
He would have her, mark her and she would be his forever. His fangs rested against her pulse, aching for a taste. His wolf howled.
Steel hands landed on his shoulders, a bellow of fury torn from his throat as he was ripped from his woman.
He spun and lashed out, his strong uppercut connecting with an equally strong jaw, but barely making his target move.
Jay’s eyes blazed. “You hitting a brother over that whore?”
“That’s my woman! Don’t call her a whore.” Raven’s anger propelled him forward with little thought, taking Jay down with a headbutt to the ribs, and keeping him down with jab after jab to the gut. Below him was not his pack-mate, below him was every other male Darcy had fucked. Jay raised his arms to block the incoming blows, but couldn’t deflect all the hits.
“You will not do this!” Mayhem roared, his arm around Raven’s neck, cutting his air supply, pulling him off the bloody mess that was Jay.
Raven grunted, struggled against the iron hold of his pack alpha, his fury blinding him. Mayhem drilled him in the side and squeezed his bicep tighter. Raven wheezed in his last breath.
“We do not fight one another,” Mayhem growled in his ear.
Reality finally registered and Raven deflated, his lungs screaming for air. He resisted the urge to fight and instead submitted.
Mayhem eased his hold a fraction. “You will not mate with this woman. She is not what you need.”
Raven’s mind fought against that statement. She was his woman. His wolf wanted to mate.
“No!” Mayhem growled, against his ear once again. “No, you will not mate with this woman because the second you do is the second you are no longer part of my pack.”
Raven’s wolf heard the truth behind those words. Mayhem would oust him. His wolf retreated, pacing silently back, giving Raven control once again. He calmed his breathing, pulling in slow deep lungfuls of air as Mayhem released his grip a fraction more.
“You got your shit under control, man?”
Raven nodded as best he could with a huge fucking arm pressed against his throat.
“You lose your shit again and I’ll lock you up.”
Mayhem let him go and he stumbled forward, his hands on his knees, his body doubled-over he sucked in more and more air.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea for these two to be alone.” Dy helped Jay up from the floor.
Jay grunted his thanks as he wiped blood from his face with his sleeve. “Yeah. What the fuck, man?”
Raven shook his head as he forced himself to stand. “I don’t know.” He cut Darcy a hard look. “She’s got my wolf bewitched.”
She glared back at him, one hand covering her throat. He felt a pang of remorse. It had been a close one. He’d been seconds away from binding her to his wolf. Unlike her magic, that shit was totally irreversible and she had it right—she wasn’t his mate, she would loathe that bond and his wolf would suffer for it.
“I don’t think he can handle being alone with her,” Jay growled as he accepted a towel from Dy and placed it over the cut on his cheek. “If he bites that bitch…”
Raven growled and Mayhem snapped a hard look his way, a finger raised in warning. “Lock it down, Rav.”
Raven sucked in a deep breath, pushing his wolf back again.
“There’s no other way.” Mayhem shook his head. “The witch was adamant. He goes alone or no deal.”
“It’s a short trip, one night and we’re there. Don’t worry. I’ve got it under control. I just can’t touch her.”
Jay snorted. “Yeah, don’t touch her. Great plan.”
“You two leave now, you’ll make it into the state by the morning. Come daylight, separate hotel rooms, doors locked and barred. I don’t trust your wolf not to stake its claim on her.” Mayhem nodded. “We’re leaving on a flight at dusk tomorrow. You’ll meet us at the next venue, free of this situation.”
“I’ve got it under control,” Raven said.