by Jamie Craig
Sara’s tension did not help his anxiety. He didn’t need to shift forms to smell her nerves, smell the apprehension rolling off her in waves. It was suffocating him. He felt sick. Nearly as sick as Sara looked.
“You don’t have to do this,” he finally said, to break the silence, for something to say. “You don’t have to go back there.”
“Yes, I do.” Her voice was small and tight, her fingers knotted in her lap. “If that’s where Josh is, that’s where I have to be.”
Cam knew he wouldn’t be able to talk her out of it, and he wasn’t even sure he wanted to. That wasn’t how they worked. He didn’t forbid her from doing things, and didn’t presume to know what was best for her. But…
“He wouldn’t want you to go back in there.”
She wasn’t as quick to answer. Her head fell forward, and though her hair covered her cheek, it wasn’t long enough anymore to hide the way she squeezed her eyes shut. Cam saw her lips moving, but he had to strain to pick up what she was actually saying.
“I’m not going to be scared, I’m not going to be scared…”
It was her mantra, he reasoned. But he didn’t think it was working. She might want to think she was strong enough to face that place again, but her body was telling her differently.
He couldn’t ignore her chant, and he didn’t know what to do to help. But hurling her towards the damned house was not going to make anything better. Not for the first time, he felt utterly helpless. Josh had left too soon. He must have thought they’d be able to take care of each other, but Cam was helpless, and Sara was frightened.
Cam slowed and pulled off to the shoulder, the car bumping over the rough gravel as he left the pavement.
“Sara?”
The moment the car stopped, her hands were flying to the door, fingers fumbling with the handle before she managed to push it open. She scrambled out, the cooling desert air filling the space she’d just been in, but before Cam could follow, the reflection of the moonlight on her skin began to dull, black feathers taking over.
In the next breath, her clothes fell to the ground.
In the one after that, Sara took to the air.
“Goddammit,” Cam muttered before willing his body to take the form she chose. He flapped his wings, swooping out of the car and up into the blue sky. She was easy to spot, and he followed, soaring higher and higher, then drifting back to the brown earth, every beat of their wings taking them farther from the car.
There was no pattern to her path. She wound in circles, she flew in straight lines, she dove and rose, and always Cam was right there, matching her every stroke. More than once, she screamed, her bird’s cry splitting the clear air. It sliced through him every time.
The flap of her wings grew slower, her sleek body coasting through the air as she began to descend. When her claws touched the ground, she lowered her head, and the soft sound that came from her throat drifted back to him as he landed behind her.
Cam hopped over to her, watching carefully and waiting for any signs she planned to take off again. But she looked exhausted. She lay on the ground, spreading her wings out against the sand, and the last glints of the sun glinted off her feathers. Finally, she changed back into herself, her hair covering her face.
Cam shifted as well, his arm going around her shoulders, his chin resting on her head. He tried to think of something to say, but it felt like they were past talking. He kissed her warm hair, pulling her closer.
He was relieved when she didn’t pull away. She even turned enough to burrow into his chest. “You think I’m a coward,” she murmured.
“No, I don’t. I don’t think that at all,” he assured her. “Do you know why?”
She shook her head. Her hair tickled where it brushed against his jaw.
“Because I know even though you’re frightened, and nobody will blame you if you’d rather not finish this trip, you’re going to see it through. You’re going to go back there to get somebody you love, the way he went to save you. Even if I insist you don’t.”
Sara lifted her head then. Her large eyes were dark and luminous, catching the orange glow of the sun low on the horizon, and she looked at him in such a way that a slow burn began to creep along his skin. She hadn’t looked at him like that since…since before.
“But you won’t insist,” she said. “I’ve always loved that about you.”
“No, I won’t, because you’ve always done what you think is right. That’s what I love about you.” Tentatively, he leaned forward to kiss her forehead. When she didn’t pull away, he brushed his lips against her cheek, and then her lips. “Josh should have realized that, too.”
“Josh is upset.” Her body seemed to sink against his, her soft breasts tantalizingly warm against his chest. “It’s hard to…remember things right when you’re upset.”
“Yes it is,” Cam agreed, holding her as he rolled onto his back. The sand irritated him, but he barely felt it once Sara was settled on him, her skin soft, her hair smelling like the wind. “Do you remember the last time we were like this?”
The corner of her mouth lifted. “You fell asleep and sunburned your ass.”
“Yes, I did. And you thought it was the funniest thing you ever saw.”
“Because you made that face every time you tried to sit down.”
Her fingers began stroking the line of his arm, caressing the muscle. It was different than the casual touches she’d increasingly bestowed since the night before. And the fact that she was doing it without Josh present did not go unnoticed.
He waited for her to speak, unwilling to disrupt whatever was calming her down. When she finally broke the silence, her voice was low and tremulous.
“I’m scared, Cam.”
“I am, too,” Cam admitted softly. He ran his hand down her back, following the curve of her spine. “I wish I could tell you I wasn’t. Do I sound like a coward now?”
“No.” Her mouth skimmed over his bare skin, and his heart sped up with each inch she covered. “You came after me.”
“I always will.” He shivered as she continued to kiss him, the tips of her hair brushing over his chest with each dip of her head. His hard cock nudged against her thigh, twitching as the contact increased. “God, you feel good.”
Her breath fanned over him in a warm pulse. It took Cam a moment to realize she was chuckling. “You spent all night wrapped around me in a big, comfy bed,” Sara said, lifting her head to look at him. “And it takes lying in a hot pile of sand in the middle of the desert with me to get you to tell me that. Typical Cam.”
“You felt good last night, too.” He pushed the hair out of her eyes, then ran his fingers down the side of her face. He traced a path along her jaw and neck, and she tilted her head back, exposing the curve of her neck to his touch. Above her, the first stars of the night were beginning to twinkle. The heat from her flesh seeped through his body, feeding the ache in his groin.
When she looked back down at him, her eyes glowed. “Good enough for me to do this?” Sara adjusted her position, moving her legs to straddle his hips instead of stretched out atop them. It nestled his cock between her outer lips, and the first hint of her wetness slicked his skin.
He jerked forward, automatically seeking out more of her. His breath came in sudden gasps, and he knew there was no mistaking how much he wanted her. Before, he would have been thrusting into her, sheathing himself completely without another word or second of hesitation, but now he just held still, his entire body quivering. “Good enough to make me crazy.”
“You’re not crazy,” Sara breathed. Her fingers brushed over his beard, stroking the fine hairs, and she began rocking against his arousal in small, almost infinitesimal movements. “You’ve always made the most sense to me when we’re in the desert like this.”
Everything made more sense when they were in the desert, the concerns of the world stripped away until they were nothing but flesh, and breath, and shadows in dim light. When they were together like that, there was not
hing between them. It was like stepping into a sanctuary, and the peace Cam always found in the wilderness was amplified by her presence.
Cam smiled slightly, his hand resting on her hip. “That’s another reason why I love you as much as I do.”
The undulations of her body grew longer, her nipples growing harder with each scrape they made across his chest. Without stopping the caress of his jaw, Sara leaned down to skim her mouth over his, her honeyed breath warm and inviting.
“I want my life back. Do you think I can have it?”
“Yes,” Cam answered immediately, kissing her softly with each word. “Yes, absolutely. I’ll do anything I can, I’ll do anything you need. And we’re all going to be together again. They won’t take anything else from you.”
“And I can have you again?”
“Yes. I’m always going to be yours.”
Sara sighed at his words. When her mouth met his this time, the touch was firmer, her lips parting as her tongue tentatively sought his out. She reached down and covered his hand with hers, guiding it to cup her ass.
As soon as Cam palmed the taut flesh, she sank onto his cock. The pleasure of finally feeling her around him was intense, but it paled in comparison to the emotional satisfaction of finally feeling connected to her, of being complete once again. His other hand went to the back of her head, and he buried his fingers in her hair, kissing her deeply as her walls fluttered and constricted around his shaft. A soft breeze cooled his heated skin, and there wasn’t a single inch between their bodies.
She moved with the shallowest of strokes, as if she was reluctant to allow him to leave her body at all. Her kisses grew more demanding, her tongue more forceful, and her hands began dancing over his arms and shoulders, touching and mapping his muscles with such hunger it left Cam trembling. This was his Sara. In his arms. Embracing him as though no time at all had elapsed since the last time they’d lain together in the desert.
Cam didn’t try to change the rhythm—he needed to feel as much of her as he could, every pulse, every bit of heat. His hands mimicked hers, seeking out each inch of her skin he could reach, reacquainting himself with her entire body. The night before, when she had allowed him to touch and taste her, had been amazing and more than he hoped for, but now he felt like he was truly with her again.
But they couldn’t keep up the slow place forever. Cam didn’t know who changed the rhythm first. He couldn’t have known, their bodies were moving perfectly together, as though whatever boundaries kept them separated had been removed. She shifted her hips, quickened the tempo, deepened the strokes.
Sara found his hands with hers, lacing their fingers together as she lifted his arms above his head. It changed their position slightly, separating skin from skin, but now, with her weight bracing against his forearms, she brought them eye to eye.
Her skin glistened with a sheen of sweat, and for a brief moment, Cam worried that she was overexerting herself. But then she smiled, her full lips curving with what looked like unmitigated pleasure, and that fear dispersed, scattering to the wind as if she’d plucked it out of his heart and tossed it away with her own hands.
“Being like this with you…” her voice was breathy, her body refusing to slow their accelerating pace, “…makes me believe everything’s going to be okay.”
Their lips fused together, their tongues winding against each other. “It will be,” he promised when they broke apart. “It will be.”
And then talking was beyond him. With every slide of her body against his, he thought he would ignite and the flames would consume him. He could still see her bright eyes in the dying light, and he watched her carefully, noting each flicker of emotion across her face. His heart swelled until his chest ached.
“Love you,” Cam whispered, “Love you, love you.”
“I love you, too.” Her lips parted as if there was more she wished to say, but they were arrested by shudders suddenly wracking her body, her channel fluttering and squeezing around his cock, her nails digging into his palms where her grip convulsed. Her head fell back, her long neck bared to the open sky, and a cry not unlike the scream of her hawk tore from her throat.
Cam arched off the ground, thrusting into her once more as he shouted her name. He trembled, wave after wave of pleasure rolling through him, his body echoing the aftershocks shaking her frame. She collapsed, the tension going from her limbs, and buried her face in his neck. He just held her, watching the full moon as it rose over the horizon and cast silver light on her hair. For a moment, he felt utterly at peace.
And then he remembered.
“Josh,” he said.
Sara didn’t move, though her lips traveled over his skin. “We’ll find him. Everything’s going to be okay, remember?”
Cam didn’t want to move, and he didn’t want to make her move, or ruin her mood, but he wasn’t feeling quite so tranquil. Something scratched at the back of his mind. It made his skin crawl, and settled like hot coals in his stomach.
“Everything will be fine,” he agreed, “but we’ve got to go now.”
She took the hint and peeled away, the sweat cooling his skin even more once she was gone. A small frown marred the peace of her features as she rose to her feet, and her dark eyes searched his own.
“Did you think of something else?” she asked. “Are we heading in the wrong direction?”
“No, I think we’re going in the right direction.” He began wiping the sand from his legs. “I don’t know what he plans, but he’s going back to that house. It’s just…” Cam felt silly trying to explain he had a bad feeling, but what else would he call it?
Sara didn’t argue, simply nodding as if she understood what he couldn’t express. Her head tilted back to the heavens again, and after a moment of scanning the sky, she shifted into the hawk again, stretching her wings and flying off into the distance. She had an unerring sense of direction; Cam had no doubt she was headed straight for the car. After the last of the sand was gone from his skin, he did the same, the air gliding over his feathers as he followed her.
They were close. They would be there within the next half hour.
He just hoped they wouldn’t be too late.
Chapter 21
Josh double-checked the chains holding Nolan’s arms and legs in place, humming a random tune under his breath. He kept his gun pointed at Nolan’s head, but the other man wasn’t going to give him any trouble. That might have had something to do with the bloody gash on his temple, or maybe the overpowering stench of gas fumes that seemed to be slowly sucking the oxygen out of the room. The chains might have been overkill, but Josh wasn’t going to take any additional risks.
“Mmmm fmmm hmfmfh fffmmm!”
Josh looked over his shoulder to JD. “Shh. It’s quiet time now, okay? You had plenty of time to talk on our way up.”
She struggled against her ropes, her eyes wide and rolling. She worked her jaw around the makeshift gag—Nolan’s neck tie—and he could tell she would try to spit it out again. He didn’t really mind if she shouted. The only person who would hear her was the one person he needed to make this party complete. But he was getting tired of listening to her.
“Mmm fffmfff mmhhmm!”
“Yes, I know. Best friends,” Josh said, with more than a touch of sadness. “And I don’t want to do this, but you already admitted you had further plans for Sara. What am I supposed to do? Pretend I never heard that? Come on, JD, you know me better than that. I mean, really.”
“You’re insane.”
He turned back to Nolan. “Don’t make me gag you, too. I’ve got a rag with your name on it, but it’s been soaked in gasoline, and I don’t think you’ll enjoy it.”
“What do you want?”
“Call your shifter down here.”
“Marco’s not here.”
“Then shut the fuck up,” Josh said, as he walked over to the door. He knew it needed to be in this room, the room where they found Sara, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t check out the res
t of the facilities. “I’m going to step out of here for a moment. Don’t worry, I’ll lock the door, so you’ll be safe.”
He took a deep breath once he emerged into the hall, his lungs burning from the prolonged exposure to the heavy fumes. He knew there was a ventilation system in the basement, and they probably weren’t going to suffocate. Which was good. If they suffocated now, they’d miss all the fun. Through the thick door, he could hear Nolan’s shouts. Did they listen to Sara shout like that from the hallway?
He’d have to remember to ask.
Josh kept his gun cocked and ready in case Marco really was around, grasping the two gas cans with his other hand. He didn’t want to shoot Marco, but he knew the shifter was the most dangerous of his captives, and it wouldn’t do to allow somebody like that the chance of escape.
The first room Josh came to was the one with the cage. He nearly dropped to his knees when he saw it, the air rushing out of his lungs. It wasn’t even a place he’d keep an animal. It was large, but it wasn’t designed with comfort in mind. The floor was covered in shredded newspaper, of all things, and there were empty dog dishes. Had they really forced her to eat out of those bowls? Of course, there was no toilet, no sink, no pillow, and no sign of mercy or consideration. Even if they considered her nothing more than an animal, wouldn’t it make sense to treat her well to get the best results?
They were fucking morons. Josh almost wished he could shoot them, resurrect them, and then carry out his plot of arson. Though he hadn’t initially planned to, he dumped the full can of gas into the cage, spreading the fluid evenly across the newspaper.
The next room was clearly Nolan’s records room. Even though the man’s brain was apparently barely functional, he kept copious notes. There were several free-standing filing cabinets, and each one was stuffed with notes, reports, files, photos, graphs, and receipts. They told the story Sara would never be able to share. They spoke of the horrors visited on her, and the photos were graphic, explicit, undeniable.