Maximum Witch

chapter Eighteen


“You look amazingly alive for a dead woman.” Reva circled Aurele Telluride, her black eyes oily cesspools of hate.

“So do you,” Aurele shot back. “Just goes to show that even hell doesn’t want your evil ass.”

Reva backhanded Aurele, snapping her head sideways. Harrison stifled a yawn. Frankly, he was becoming bored with this tedious display. It’d been going on for the past hour and didn’t show signs of dwindling any time soon. He gazed toward the six other leviathans who were sprawled on the motel room’s double beds watching porn. Every once in a while they’d snicker at the cheesy soundtrack.

This was nothing like how he’d envisioned the beginning to his world domination.

“Tell me where the trident is!” Reva bellowed.

“How many damn times do I have to say it? I don’t know. And even if I did, I would sooner die than tell you anything.”

Menace darkened the duchess’s face. “You might get that wish granted.”

Worried that Reva might snap into demento mode again and kill the Telluride woman before they got the information they needed, he rushed to intercede. He shoved the duchess aside and crouched in front of the chair that their hostage was bound and tied to. He’d learned firsthand the considerable strength the older woman possessed when he’d cornered her inside her house, hence the reason they’d secured her with the extra length of rope. He was taking no chances with this one.

Calling upon every ounce of his glamouring power, he stroked the Telluride woman’s cheek.

“Keep touching me and I’ll feed you your own finger.”

“So says the woman currently tied to a chair.” He leaned closer. Staring into her eyes, he transmitted the magnetic waves that would lull her into submission. “This will go much better if you cooperate.”

Her pupils dilated. “I am.”

“Then tell us what you did with the trident.”

“I told you everything I know.”

“Liar,” Reva screamed.

Tweaking his nose, he glared up at the duchess. “Cool it, Shriekerella. I’m working here.”

Huffing beneath her breath, Reva flounced into the bathroom. Maybe if he was lucky, the damn pain in the ass would slip on the tile and break her neck.

He could hope.

Returning his attention to Aurele, he caressed her cheek again. She flinched but made no mocking boasts about relieving him of appendages. Despite her resistance, the glamour was wheedling past her defenses. He tapped her chin. “It’s no use, you know. Sooner or later, you will give me what I want.”

“Not likely.” Her smile turned crafty.

There was something she wasn’t telling him. That wouldn’t last long. He gripped both sides of her face, intensifying his magnetic output. “What are you keeping from me?”

He could feel her struggle for control, the helpless frustration clawing within her like a desperate beast frantic to escape. She let loose an angry moan. “The location has been wiped from my memory.”

The news filled him with cold rage, and he briefly debated what method of killing Aurele would best soothe the sting of having his time wasted this evening. But then it hit him. Rather than displaying the same gloating bravado as before, a raw-edged panic had laced her words. He decided to press her further. “But?”

Again she waged her silent battle before blurting out what he’d been waiting for. “It can be returned.”

“How?”

“The…mind sweeper.”

He smiled in victory. Now they were getting somewhere. “And the name of this mind sweeper?”

She jerked away from him. Grasping a hank of her hair, he yanked her head back. “The name.”

“Kr-Kragos.”

Harrison’s smile instantly dissolved.

Bloody. F*ck.





Max awoke to the sound of Willa whimpering. Worried, he leaned over her. She twitched, a soft cry tumbling free. “No. If I go in there, bad things will happen.”

She was reliving one of the damn implants. He jostled her arm, hoping to gently wake her, but she gave a short scream, her eyes snapping open. The terror within them made his heart seize. He framed her face with his hands. “Willa, baby, you’re having a nightmare.”

Her eyes dark and unfathomable, she stared at him. Suddenly she slid her foot along the back of his calf in a slow, seductive glide. “You have what I need.”

He blinked at the swift, unexpected change in her demeanor.

“Help me, Max.” She wrapped her arms around him, her fingertips dancing down his spine. “Help me find the way back.”

He didn’t know what to make of her plea. Help her back where? Atlantis? Before he could voice the question, Willa drew his head down, her mouth seeking his. He parted his lips and her tongue slicked inside, bold and playful. The kiss was lush. Erotic.

Lusty.

It hit him then. Willa’s nymph had decided to come out of hiding.

She ducked her head, her tongue coasting along his jaw line as she tickled the base of his tailbone. He groaned, his cock growing hard. She must have noticed, because she slid a hand between them and stroked the length of his shaft. Her teeth caught his earlobe and gave it a nip. “It’s really unfair being the only one not naked here.”

He eased off her and made quick work removing the clothes she’d fallen asleep in. The slopes of her breasts beckoned, and he kissed them before concentrating on her nipples, laving them into tight little buds with his tongue. She murmured softly, her fingers sifting through his hair. He coasted lower and settled between her legs. Spreading her pink folds, he licked her leisurely, taking his time to enjoy her pleasure. Revel in her taste. Slipping a finger inside her, he crooked it, seeking that sweet spot on the interior wall of her p-ssy. She arched into him, gasping his name. Rubbing the pad of his finger insistently, he flattened his tongue, lapping his way toward her *. He teased the wet nubbin with barely there flicks until her slick channel tightened around his finger, the rhythmic contractions matching the beat pulsing through her * as she came.

Lifting his head, he met her sultry smile of satisfaction. Knowing he’d been the one to put it there filled him with pride and fired his already over-primed arousal. He licked his lips, savoring the lingering flavor of her passion. Scooting onto his knees, he gripped her hips, guiding her onto his cock. The position afforded him an unimpeded view of the ecstasy on Willa’s face as well as the pebbling of her nipples, which were still damp from his previous worshipping. Moving his focus lower, he watched his cock slowly tunnel into her soaked p-ssy, mesmerized by their joining. Tiny aftershocks from her orgasm rippled through her.

Wanting—no, needing—to feel the full power of her climax, he slid one palm inward, his thumb seeking her *. He tapped the sensitive bundle of nerves, and Willa panted, undulating her hips in frantic appeal. Her fingers dug into the sheets, her body tensed and glistening as she took over, riding his cock to her pleasure.

Jesus, she was beautiful. No inhibition in taking what she needed and giving him everything in return. Without warning, she stiffened, her keening cry enough to propel him into his own release. They came together, the contractions of her p-ssy milking the come right out of him.

His bones liquefied, he collapsed on top of her. She made a noise and he shifted his weight, afraid that he’d inadvertently hurt her. But she only snuggled into him, her eyes drifting shut. “Help me remember, Max. Help me find the way back.”

He stared at her, but she said nothing more. A second later Willa’s snores returned.



The next morning he dressed before Willa awoke, and he headed down to the main floor of the mansion. He found Boone and Justin drinking coffee together in the duke’s study. Justin motioned for him to join them. “I’ll have Cameron bring another cup and a refill on the carafe.”

While the duke punched the intercom for the kitchen, Boone looked Max over. “Sleep okay?”

He couldn’t say for certain, but there seemed to be a mischievous light in Boone’s eyes, for some reason. “As well as can be possible with everything going on.”

Justin hung up the phone and glanced at him. “I got a call from General Lessway earlier. He’s in Tybee now and assembling his troops. There’s been no further sign of my grandmother, however.”

On the one hand, it relieved him to know that other than her destruction at the stationhouse, Reva wasn’t terrorizing the citizens of the island. But on the other, he didn’t like having her dropped off the radar.

“It’s occurred to me, one way that we could guarantee hindering my grandmother’s plans of Armageddon.” Justin cleared his throat. “Find the trident before she does.”

Similar thoughts had occurred to Max, but how the hell did they go about it when the only two people who knew where it was hidden didn’t remember the trident’s location?

The ghost of Willa’s voice popped into his head. Help me remember, Max. Her subconscious had been telling him there was a way to return her memories.

But how? The mind sweeper had done a damn good job disposing of them.

He frowned. No, that wasn’t entirely correct. As evidenced by her vision yesterday, not all of the memories were gone. More like only buried. And now that he thought about it, he recalled Aurele mentioning that the mind sweeper warned her about the effects possibly wearing off.

The mind sweeper. If anyone knew how to go about returning Willa’s memories, it would be him. Excitement rushed through Max’s veins at the realization. Of course! “Why the hell didn’t I think of that before?”

Both Boone and Justin stared at him. He offered them a lopsided smile. “Sorry, just thinking out loud.” Reaching for his cell phone, he stood and excused himself on the pretense of making a call to his deputy. Not trusting the possibility of eavesdropping ears, he headed back up to his and Willa’s suite. She was still sleeping, so he ducked into the bathroom. The damn space was practically bigger than his house. Scrolling through his address book, he found the number to a contact he had at the SSOMM—Secret Service of the Marine Military.

The man answered on the second ring. “Jerrit speaking.”

“Jerrit, it’s Max Truitt.” After some brief pleasantries, Max got right to the point. “I’m hoping you can give me some information. I need to track down a mind sweeper.”

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. “That might be difficult.”

Ah, so Jerrit knew what he was talking about. At least that was something. “I don’t care what it takes. Just tell me how to go about it.”

“Your best bet would be going through Frank Vincent.”

“Vincent? But…”

“Yeah, like I said, it’s gonna be tough.”

Thanking Jerrit for his help, Max hung up and resisted the urge to bang his head against the wall. Pocketing his cell phone, he stepped out into the bedroom. Willa was stirring beneath the sheets. He crossed to her, giving her a thorough kiss good morning. She twined her arms around him, her nipples brushing against his shirt. A knock rapped at the door and he groaned. “If that’s the maid, she has lousy timing.”

He strode to the door and cracked it open. Boone stood on the other side. “Can I come in?”

Max looked over his shoulder at Willa. “It’s Boone. You might want to hide beneath the covers.”

Boone grinned. “Now why’d you have to go and suggest that, you a*shole?”

“Because I know what a lecherous Peeping Tom you are.”

Strangely enough, a hint of pink tinted Boone’s face. The sound of sheets rustling let Max know that Willa had properly covered herself, and he let Boone inside. Of course Boone’s gaze veered to Willa the second he cleared the doorway. Huddled beneath the thick down comforter, she returned Boone’s stare.

Max coughed pointedly. “Was there something you wanted?”

Boone pivoted. “Yeah. What was up with you earlier in Justin’s study when he mentioned searching for the trident?”

“I think he’s right. We need to get to it before Reva does.”

Clutching the covers tight to her breasts, Willa wiggled into a sitting position. He didn’t fail to notice how Boone took a little too long pulling his gaze away from her.

“And how, exactly, do you plan on doing that?” she demanded.

“By you getting your memories back. I put in a call to a friend of mine. There might be a possible lead to tracking down the mind sweeper.”

She eyed him, her expression skeptical. “Really?”

“Yep. With any luck, we might be one step closer to retrieving the trident. And you being one hundred percent you again.”

She bit her lip. “I’m not sure how I feel about that. I kind of like myself fine without, you know, nympho butting in all the time.”

He crossed to the bed and sat down, facing her. “She’s part of who you are, Willa. Why do you keep resisting that fact?” The visual of her impaled on his cock, absorbed in bringing them both to shattering climaxes, shuttled through his mind. Clearly there were times when she didn’t resist the call of her nymph at all.

As if she’d read his mind, her cheeks flushed. Unable to help himself, he leaned forward and kissed her. It wasn’t until he noticed her gaze darting sideways that he remembered Boone. Reluctantly, he inched away from Willa’s lush mouth and glanced toward the doorway. Boone was blatantly staring at them, his eyes lit with an inner heat. It didn’t even require the swelling evidence behind the fly of Boone’s jeans to know he was turned on.

Max grunted. “Extreme reaction to watching an innocent kiss, pervert.” The sarcasm was as much for his benefit as Boone’s. Because truthfully, the notion he’d provided his friend a little voyeuristic thrill aroused Max more than it probably should.

“I saw you both. Last night.”

Boone’s husky statement drew Max’s attention like a magnet. “What do you mean?”

“Let’s just say you should do a better job of ensuring the connecting door to our rooms is shut all the way.”

Willa frowned. “Our door?”

“I heard you scream. My first instinct was that Reva somehow broke into your room, so I got out of bed to investigate. Only…I got an entirely different eyeful than what I was expecting.”

“What did you see?” Willa pressed.

“Us.” Max swallowed, attempting to shake the gravel from his voice. “Making love.”

Willa sucked in a breath, her cheeks blazing red. “I attacked you again, didn’t I?”

“Darlin’, he didn’t look like he was complaining. And neither was I.”

Max growled. “How long were you standing there?”

“Long enough to get off.”

“Jesus, Boone.” Despite the censure he’d loaded into the words, a bolt of excitement kicked Max square in the groin knowing that while he and Willa had been f*cking their brains out, Boone had been coming right along with them. It was also interesting to note that Willa’s nipples were poking into the sheet, her bottom lip swollen from her constant nibbling.

She was equally aroused by what Boone had just admitted. It relieved him greatly, knowing he apparently wasn’t the only one with some exhibitionist fantasies.

A completely unrepentant laugh rolled from Boone. “Sorry, but a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.”

“Yeah, well, from now on, do your jacking off on your own dime,” Max said gruffly in an effort to bring some sanity back to the conversation.

“You really know how to strip all the joy out of my life.” Slipping on his ever-present grin, Boone leaned against the doorframe. “But you can make it up to me by letting me ride shotgun when you go to meet this mysterious lead of yours.”

“I’d rather you stay here with Willa.”

An indignant noise came from Willa. “No way, buster. I’m going too.”

“Baby, you’re safer here. With Boone.”

“Oh really.” A stubborn, challenging look flashed across Willa’s face. Without warning, she dropped the sheet, exposing her breasts. A barely discernable groan came from Boone, but she didn’t even glance his way. Instead she cocked an eyebrow at Max. “I suggest taking a nice long look, because it might be a while before you’re seeing these babies again.”

Damn, did she know how to play some hardball.