Underneath a Dark Moon (Twisted Dark #3)

Chapter Nine: Troublesome Instincts

I managed to spot a motel that would serve as our base camp. I had kept the little witchling close, not willing to let her get too far away from me. The little incident with the group of humans had been enough for me to realize that I couldn't take my eyes off of her. This job was getting a bit more complicated because she seemed to be a bit too alluring for it to be simple. I had already stated she was a well crafted female but it seemed like I wasn't the only one and that made me want to curl my lip up in a slight snarl.

The last thing I needed to do was fight males off of her back. I would do it because I was being paid and she didn't need to be harassed and the thought of some slimy males putting hands on her was unacceptable. She had an innocence around her, a vulnerability that made my instinct scrape across my bones in it's want to protect her. I didn't particularly like how my instinct was responding to that, there was no need to be involved with a female that elicited that type of reaction from any part of my being.

However, I wasn't opposed to the instinct's want to breed her. The feeling of her tucked close to my side had been enough to send heat through my veins. She had been soft and giving underneath my hand and pressed against me and that was how a female should feel underneath my fingers. It was enough to want me to push her up against the nearest wall to get a feel of her sweet little pussy sliding over my cock. It had taken me a lot to continue moving and not give into that baser instinct.

I shook the thoughts away as I moved up towards the motel's main office. I made sure that the little witchling was close to me and not lagging behind like she had previously. Just before the door I felt a small tug on my sleeve that had me stopping, looking down at her. "I don't have any money." Her voice was small and I gave a snort of amusement.

"I'll pay. Your male gave me some coin so we can use that. I'll be getting it back from him but it will work for now." I would be damn sure to get the gold back for it. There was no way I was going to sit there and allow him to siphon money off of me that didn't need to be used because he was too damn cheap to get an appropriate space for us to work out of.

"You think he will? I mean he paid for our other room." Her brown eyes were wide with a rather innocent confusion. Was she truly that naive to not spot her fiance's bullshit?

I stared at her hard for a few minutes, a red blush slowly crawled across her cheeks but she held my gaze. "In the absolute worst place possible." No male in his right mind would have put his female up in such a place and I couldn't figure out why he would do so for her. I knew we had to lay low but there was a difference between laying low and scraping the absolute bottom of the barrel.

"He must have had a reason." She pressed her hands together, looking rather unsure as she glanced at the motel's main office.

"How is it possible that you have that much faith in him and that little conviction, witchling?" I didn't get it. She had faith in his decisions, I could see that, but she lacked conviction. Why would she question whether he would pay me back but in the same breath defend his decisions? It was confusing, as if she wasn't entirely sure what she felt for him.

She glanced up at me. "Novis." At the name I rolled my eyes.

"Novis isn't your name, I'm not going to use it." It was clear it wasn't. I had heard of Nolo Vis witches before and it was clear that was a play on that based on the fact she didn't seem to have much magick. But there was no way I was going to use such a derogatory term for her, no matter how badly she was trying to reclaim it. "Hold this. I need to get us a room." I shook my head as I held out my dufflebag for her. She took it with wide eyes and my eyes narrowedas I pushed open the door, ignoring the clang of the bell it struck.

The interior smelled musty and like sweat and cigarettes but it looked marginally clean. Far better than our last accommodation, I would give it that. "What do you want?" At the gruff voice I turned to look at the person standing behind the counter. Her bottle blond hair was in a puffed up hair do that seemed to be so stiff with hairspray it looked plastic. Her make up was just as garish and I raised an eyebrow. She sounded almost like a male but as she took a long drag of a cigarette I figured that was the culprit.

"A room. Two beds, a small kitchenette, and with a bathroom." I moved towards the counter and she looked me up and down, a smile crossing her face that exposed her yellow teeth. I fought back a cringe at the acrid smell of smoke that wafted off of her the closer I came.

"We have that, honey, but it will cost you." She leaned against the counter, trying to press her breasts against her thin top and I stared at her with little amusement.

"I don't do humans." It was a lie but she didn't need to know that. I did humans a fair bit, just not older one's who looked like they worked for cheap and made my eyes water from their scent alone.

Her eyes narrowed at me as she took another drag of her cigarette before stubbing it out in an overflowing ashtray and blowing the smoke into my face. "I guess witches are a different story." She jerked her finger towards where the little witchling was just coming through the door, tucking her hair behind her ear in a graceful movement that had a punch of desire hit my stomach.

My chest rumbled as I turned back to look at her. I drew closer, letting my presence push against her heavily. "What I may or may not do with a witch is none of your concern. I asked for a room. Get me one." I growled the words low, making sure she was the only one who could hear them before I slapped my hand down on the counter, making the human female jump.

Warn her off

Protect self

Protect witch

Fear wafted off of her and she jerkily turned around and gathered a key from the board behind her. Her hands shook as she set it on the counter in front of her. "Keep the change and don't you dare say a word of this to anyone." I watched as she flinched underneath the words as I shoved the gold piece towards her before snagging the key.

I turned around, gesturing to the little witch who was looking around the room with an edge of distaste as she held both of our bags tightly in her hands. "Let's go." She jumped at my words and I opened the door gesturing for her to leave. She slipped underneath my arm without a word and stepped out into the night air. I followed her before snagging my bag from her hand and striding towards the detached rooms. I glanced at the key and looked at the sharp number four that rested on the plastic tag. I hoped the key actually worked with this lock.

I stopped in front of the right room and without any struggle the key unlocked the door easily. I shoved the door open, inhaling deeply and scanning the room for any other signs of life but there was nothing but slightly dusty air. I flicked on the light before tossing my bag onto one of the two beds. "This is... nice." The little witchling came through the door and looked around as I shrugged out of my duster, tossing it over the desk chair.

"It's better than a drug den." I sat down on the bed and undid my thigh holster, tossing the ensemble onto the desk as the little witchling shut the door.

"I wont argue there." She was moving around and I did my best to ignore her, to not look at her but it was difficult. She moved with a type of enthralling grace that made me think of dancers and a hot tumble beneath the sheets. My cock throbbed at the thought and I hissed out a sigh through my teeth as my instinct reared its head again.

Tease her

Take her

Breed her

I scrubbed my face with my hands as my cock responded to the incessant scraping whispers and there was a large part of me that agree with it all. I hadn't had a female in several weeks and the urges were driving me up the wall. This mission was going to give me blue balls.