Lily finally got her opportunity, finally managed to slip under his defences while his huge body blocked her from the others. Her subtle shift was instantaneous, her wolf alert for it, sharp claw breaking through her fingertips. They imbedded deep into Mac's right side, punching hard and ripping down. Blood flowed, the rich, heady scent of it filling her nostrils and making her head swim.She saw shock in his gaze, his lips tightening against the pain, then his black eyes turned feral and her heart thumped painfully hard in her chest. Agony like nothing she'd ever experienced ripped through her. Mac's talons tore through her shoulder as they stood locked together."Does that hurt, sugar?" he whispered, gritting his teeth as her claws flexed inside him, curling instinctively against the pain she was experiencing. "You don't know what real pain is, little girl."Lily screamed hoarsely, white light exploded in her head as he ruthlessly dislocated her shoulder from within her body. Her cl
"I think you're lethal enough without any knives being involved," he remarked dryly. There was a hint of respect in his voice and she preened inside at the compliment."I was thinking the exact same thing about you," she answered, her own tone respectful as she placed the short sword back inside the chest.He nodded once in her direction and then turned to the others. "Sparring is essential for honing our skills. Pain is used as a teaching tool so you learn how to ignore it to achieve the goal of protecting our charges. Emotions should not come into play when sparring. Loss of control can lead to the death of your fellow soldier. Control is everything. Remember that at all times."Lily had the distinct feeling there was something more to Mac's teaching words. Was he indirectly apologising for hurting her? She'd wondered if brutality was part of sparring in the Praetorians but the shock she'd sensed from the others appeared to negate that.Mackenzie had crossed the line and he was warn
Pushing the weight of his responsibilities away for a short time, he headed into his bedroom and walked straight through without glancing around. He was sweaty and his body was hard and aching with need. Ruminskey's blood still lingered on his skin and his clothes, her scent seeping into his every pore and making his head spin.He had to wash the woman off him before he did something stupid, like look for her and fuck her senseless until she screamed his name in ecstasy as he lost himself inside her delectable body. He wasn't sure he'd be able to kill her after taking her, and he didn't want to put himself in that position.Even now just the thought of hurting her in any way felt wrong. He didn't know if he had it in him to kill her. And that concerned him immensely.Mac turned the shower on and looked at the top in his hands. It was washable but he was inclined just to throw it away. It wasn't as if he was short on clothes. He paused at the bin raising the cloth to his nose so he cou
There was one feminine blouse and one short skirt with a complementary pair of slinky heels. A girl had to be prepared just in case she might be called on to dress up for an occasion. And then there was the sexy lingerie too.She'd gotten her addiction for delicate lingerie from her favourite aunt. Cedar was so elegant and refined all the time and she put it down to always having the sexiest undergarments on no matter what she was wearing. Lily had to concur with that. She felt feminine even in her cargo pants when she had sheer lace panties hugging her hips.The thought of lace and sex made her think of Mac and she pushed down a strangled groan as her body reacted. Time for a shower! There was no way she could throw herself at him this soon into her tenure under him. A nice cold shower would wash away the day's training activities and also cool her blood.A knock at her door an hour later had her springing from the bed in an instant. She'd showered and changed into dark blue hip hugg
He scowled then, a hint of anger crossing his face before he smoothed out his expression. "A fair point," he finally conceded. "I asked you here because we need to get something straight before things go any further."Lily was immediately alert, taking a chance and moving across the room to stand in front of him. She invaded his space but stopped short of touching him. She saw his nostrils flare and heard him suck in a deep breath. She smiled. He was not immune to her charms and in the relative privacy of the study he was allowing his reactions to be noticeable."Things?" she repeated softly, feeling a tad braver after his reaction. "Define things, Mac?"She was tempting the devil, prodding a sleeping tiger. Those lines may be tired old clichés, but pushing him set her heart racing. Heat ran through her body as she stood so close to her mate, his scent invading her senses. Her body practically hummed for him and her tongue snaked out to wet her lips in anticipation."Andrea." It was a
Mac rounded the desk to meet his queen with a pensive expression on his face. "You're early, Annie," he remarked, shielding Andrea to give her time to collect herself. He bent down to brush his lips against the redhead's cheek."Well, I'm certainly glad I didn't arrive ten minutes later," Rhianna smiled, unable to curb her teasing. She'd never seen Mac so flustered, but then he'd never met Liliana Rose Romanov before. She had a thousand questions flying around inside her head but she kept silent, waiting to see how this was going to play out."Andrea Ruminskey, meet Rhianna Armand."Lily had slid from the desk, her expression already under control. She had even managed to slow her heartbeat. She watched Rhianna's face carefully, waiting for the redhead to announce her true identity."A pleasure to meet you, Andrea," the other woman answered, her expression giving nothing away to the male watching them both. Of course she wasn't ready to leave it at that."Nice play on the name, Lily.
He cursed and ran a hand through his hair, frustration riding his body hard. "That was a mistake, Annie. One I won't be repeating. Ruminskey is a potential Praetorian and nothing more. The whole point of meeting with her was to knock any amorous notions out of her head."Rhianna's lips quirked. "I see you managed to do that successfully.""Fuck! Annie, will you just let it drop?" It was a testament to how rattled he was that he didn't moderate how he spoke to her. Usually he was unfailingly polite, respectful with a touch of old school gallantry."If she's affecting you this badly then maybe you shouldn't fight it so hard," she mused. "Sometimes forbidden fruit takes on a more tempting taste because you deny yourself."His eyes swung to meet hers and he blinked slowly. "You're encouraging me? I would have thought you'd be warning me away from the girl." The raw disbelief in his voice was almost comical."You need to make a decision one way or the other and stick to it, Mac. You can't
Lily almost rolled her eyes in resignation but managed to contain herself. She knew she couldn't avoid it much longer. It wasn't going to be easy facing her father's wrath but she had to do it. She sighed mentally. "Yes, Annie."Rhianna dropped her hand and smiled, giving her a quick wink before she turned back to Mac who was silently watching her test the candidates. There was tension in his stance and she knew why. She'd spent a little too much time with Lily and he was concerned she'd found some deception."As always you find the very best of our people to entrust our loved ones to," she smiled as she reached him.His tension melted away and he leaned down to brush her cheek with his lips. "Thank you for gracing us with your presence, Annie."He was once more in control, the same old Mac she was used to seeing. Did that mean he had made his decision and it wasn't Lily? She almost snorted in laughter. If he had, then good luck with that one. There was no way in hell Lily would ever