The males shared a look and Des shrugged. “I believe her. And you do not want to get on the wrong side of the Detroit Prime alpha and his pack, believe me. Not to mention every Fae in the city.”
“Her cousin’s the Prime alpha, huh? No wonder she has a pair of brass ones on her.” Vin held up his hands. “Write it. I’d really rather not have a pack of wolves tearing out my insides.”
“Good call,” Des agreed as Lana started to write a brief summary of what was going on.
“Hell, I thought wolves, Fae and the Wyndewin all hated each other.”
“We do,” Des said, scrubbing his face with his hands. “At least that’s official policy. Our friends and relatives have been messing with the natural order of things by intermarrying. The League is practically having kittens.”
“Good. Those old fuddy-duddies need some shaking up.” Lana blew on the parchment to dry the ink and handed Des the pen. “Now write to your sister and tell her you’re in one piece.”
“Right.” He read through Lana’s note.
She watched over his shoulder as he added a message assuring the others once again that they were unhurt and merely taking a slower route home, adding that he promised to have Lana home in time for Elise’s bridal shower, a detail someone dictating the note wouldn’t have known to mention. “Good.”
Once the ink dried, he folded the paper and handed it to Vin.
They ate an early dinner sent up by the hotel, and Vin left, promising to come get them at first light to flash them to the portal. Des set the dishes on their tray outside the door and locked it. He turned to Lana with a look that nearly melted her bones.
“This may be our last night together in a real bed.”
Lana opened her arms. “Then what are you waiting for?”
Chapter Eight
Lana couldn’t believe how much she wanted Des. In just a few days, her desire for him had gone from lust to need. Maybe even to love—not that she dared tell him about that. He already had enough ammunition to break her heart. He didn’t need any more.
Tonight though, she had resolved not to think about the future. She bent over to pull down the covers on the bed, deliberately wiggling her hips as she did. The quickie in the bathtub hadn’t sated her desire for him at all.
“Do you have any idea how tempting it’s been, watching you run around in a thin toga all day—and knowing there was nothing underneath it?” His voice dropped, growing gravelly and deep as he approached her and bracketed her hips with his palms.
“No. Why don’t you show me?” She tilted back so her ass rubbed against his groin. Oh yes, he wanted her. Her body softened further at the proof stabbing her backside.
“Fine.” He moved his hands and she heard the rasp of his zipper. “Bend over the bed again, if you’ve got the guts.”
He was daring her? Lana wanted to howl in pleasure. She wasn’t used to being submissive, not even during sex, so the position was a new one for her. With Des, though, she was willing to try. She bent at the waist, leaning over the bed and resting her weight on her forearms. Her breasts, not used to bouncing around all day without a bra, were already sensitized from rubbing against the nubby weave of the toga. Now they pressed into the firm mattress, and she moaned at the pressure.
Des stepped back up behind her. She didn’t know if he’d taken his jeans and boxers off, or just pushed them down to his ankles, but his erection was free, and the stiffness poked at her butt, making her wiggle even more.
“God, I can’t believe how responsive you are.” Des ran his fingers through her folds, spreading the moisture she could already feel. All she had to do was think about him and her body swelled as fluid pooled between her legs. He was like a drug—she couldn’t stop wanting more.
When his fingers found her clitoris and rubbed, she moaned his name. “Take me already, damn you. I’m more than primed.”
“Yeah, me too.” He positioned the tip of his cock at her entrance and pressed into her from behind. “Damn, chán-láng, you fit me like a glove.”
Lana cried out at the depth of penetration. She wasn’t used to being this submissive in bed, but she trusted Des and was willing to let him take control. Besides, everything he did felt too damn good to argue about. She dug her fingers into the sheets and concentrated on keeping her claws in—something she’d rarely had trouble with before Des. Never once had she outed herself to a human lover, but Des pushed entirely different buttons. She’d marked him that first night and just about every time since. She was never going to get enough.
His thrusts were long and fluid. They were also excruciatingly slow.
“Faster, damn it,” she gasped. “Harder. I’m not going to break.”
“But I want to take my time.” He used that voice again, the one that dared her to try things his way. “Some things are too much fun to rush.”
“If. You. Say. So.” The words were practically wrung from her as he slid deeper than she’d have thought was possible. His hands dug into her hips hard enough that she’d be marked with bruises until the next time she shifted. Oddly enough, she didn’t mind a bit. He hadn’t healed the bite mark on his shoulder, which was a turn-on in itself. Not that she needed anything more.
Des began to move faster, penetrating her with enough force to jiggle her further onto the bed, but she pushed back with her arms, holding herself in place. She was practically ready to beg for more now, as he continued to drive her higher and harder.
When he reached around her hips to play with her clit, she broke. Her orgasm hit like a freight train, shattering every nerve in her body from her head to her toes. She screamed his name and pushed back against him, holding him as her clenching muscles milked his climax from him. He shoved deep one last time and poured himself into her.
She dragged herself to the bathroom on rubbery legs to clean up, then came back and flopped down beside him on the bed. Des’s arm came around her and he murmured something against her hair as he pulled her back against him. She thought it was something about a long day tomorrow, but she didn’t bother to ask. Content to snuggle, her hand tangled in the silky, jet-black hair on his chest, she quickly fell asleep.
Of course she dreamed of Des.
Morning came far too soon.
* * *
Des smiled and stretched as he got out of bed, feeling like a million dollars. Lana had woken him in the night by taking him into her mouth. After she’d sucked him dry, he’d returned the favor.
Needless to say, they hadn’t gotten a hell of a lot of sleep.
It was a good thing neither of them needed much rest. They each took a separate, quick bath before Vin knocked on the door, bringing a hearty breakfast with him. Well aware it might be the last hot meal they had for a while, they both plowed through as much as they could without sacrificing speed. The quicker they walked, following the translated regional map, the quicker they’d get home. They both tried to suppress their worry, but the truth was, Mandrake could go after their families at any time. The sooner they got home, the sooner they could put an end to the demon and the danger.
So home was the goal, even if it meant giving up Lana. Which sucked, but he didn’t see a way out of it, other than leaving the League. Either way, it was something to worry about down the road. Stopping a demon drug dealer was a wee bit more important than Des’s messed-up love life. He kept that in mind as they went upstairs and changed into their cold-weather gear. They’d hold off on their hats, gloves and cloaks until they got to the portal, but even so, both immediately started to sweat in the heat. Des strapped the bedroll onto his back, their map tucked inside as well as the ones for this world and Underhill. Lana carried the backpack of provisions. Each had a rifle and a sturdy knife. He tried not to let himself be bothered that her load was heavier than his. He kissed her once before they left. “Here goes nothing, right?”
“Right.” She smiled up at him. “No worries. We can do this.”
“I wish I had your confidence,” he admitted. “But we
will do this.” If only because the alternative was unthinkable.
They went across the hall to Vin’s room. Des hated separating, but since Vin could only flash one at a time, Des asked to go first. Lana rolled her eyes, but agreed.
“According to the map, there’s nothing to worry about around the portal,” Vin told Des after they landed in hills not too different from the one they’d come through to get there. A portal shimmered between two trees off to the side of the path.
Des had studied the map too. There had been tiny inset drawings on some of the portal sites—probably the ones the mapmaker had known about.
“So just poison insects and man-eating vines. Nothing major.”
“You can handle it, dude.” With that, Vin flashed away, returning with Lana.
“Beam me up, Scotty,” she muttered, wobbling a little as she landed. “I’m never going to get used to that.”
“All right, remember, Makra works the same as your world. Sun rises in the east and so on. Peaches made a few notes on the back of the map. The day is a little longer than yours, so take that into account. Most of the predators hunt in daylight, given the climate, so it’s fairly safe to use the roadside shelters at night.”
They’d gone over this the night before. Des finished Vin’s lecture. “And the natives aren’t unfriendly to off-worlders, so when we get to a town, we can safely stop at an inn.”
Vin glared. “Right. Tech level is roughly the same as the Wild West in your world.”
“We’ve got it,” Lana assured him. “Just go let our families know that we’re okay.”
Des held out his hand to the demon. “We’ll see you on the other side.”
“You’d better,” Vin said. “I don’t want the entire Michigan wolf pack, the Fae and the fucking Wyndewin League after my blood. Having my own people out to get me is enough, thanks.”
“Be careful, Vin.” Lana went up on her toes and kissed the demon’s scaly cheek. “See you in a couple days. Tell our families that we love them, okay?”
Vin shook his head and gave Lana a bemused look. “Just do it yourselves. Now get going.” He jerked his chin toward the portal and flashed away.
“You know,” Lana said as she pulled on her hat and cloak, “it occurs to me there’s one thing we forgot to do.”
“What’s that?” Des tied his fur earflap cap under his chin.
“Ask Vin not to mention one little detail to our families.”
“You mean the fact that we were sharing a bedroom?” It had crossed Des’s mind, too, just as the demon flashed away.
“Yeah, that little thing.” Lana pulled on her gloves and reached for Des’s hand. “Come on, let’s do this. We need to get home and run damage control.”
“On three.” He took her hand. “One.”
Lana said, “Two.”
Together, they chanted, “Three,” and stepped through the shimmering cloud.
His breath let out on an involuntary scream as the falling sensation that always accompanied portal transport didn’t stop. There was no soft thud as their feet hit the floor. Instead the sensation of falling just kept on going.
Frantically, he began to chant a spell as the side of an icy cliff face zoomed past.
Still holding his hand, Lana made the mistake of looking down and screamed like a five-year-old. He figured she’d be embarrassed by that later.
Then Des looked down and understood. Damn, that’s a long way to fall. Sure, he had magic and she could heal herself by shifting, if she wasn’t killed outright. That didn’t mean it wasn’t going to hurt. And the whole “killed outright” thing wasn’t entirely unlikely, not from this height. Why the hell hadn’t the map mentioned that the portal was on the side of a fucking cliff? He finished the spell and felt the strong wind shooting up under his cloak.
“Hold on tight,” Des yelled, yanking Lana close against him. “My wind spell won’t cushion everything, but it will slow us a little bit.”
Lana wrapped both arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest. At the last minute, she rolled hard, ensuring she would be on the bottom.
“Damn it, Lana!” But he knew she was thinking that her body was more resilient than his, even without shifting. He hoped to hell she was right.
They smacked into the ground, a cloud of snow poofing up around them as the world went black.
* * *
Lana came to in stages. The first thing she noticed was cold. Bloody awful cold, numbing her fingers, toes and nose.
The second thing she felt was pain. Her chest ached like an elephant was sitting on it. She tried to look but her eyelashes were frozen shut. She remembered, though. Des. She’d twisted at the last minute so she’d end up on the bottom when they hit. Since she was alive, it looked like that had worked out okay, at least for her. When she heard a soft groan above her, she stopped fighting to open her eyes. Des was alive too. That was all that mattered. As soon as she caught her breath, she’d shift until she was well, then build a fire if they’d need to wait here awhile.
“I’m going to spank you myself, when we get out of here,” Des grumbled as he pushed himself to the side a few moments later. His breathing was ragged as he lay beside her in the snow. “Can you hear me, Lana?”
“Mmm.” It was all she could manage to say. She was pretty sure her jaw was broken, along with probably a bunch of other stuff.
“I’m going to be immobile for a bit,” Des grunted. “Both legs. One arm. Internal injuries are minimal, thanks to your stupidity.”
Grateful much?
But it was hard to be mad at him when he reached over and brushed her hair away from her face. “Come on, darling, say something. Shift for me.”
Right. Shift. That will make the pain go away. She concentrated on breathing for a moment, willing her shattered nerves to settle. Darling. He’s never called me that before. That pleasant thought calmed her fears a little. On the third inhale, she shifted.
Except she didn’t.
What the fuck?
She tried again, reaching deep for the wolf inside her. The wolf that was never very far beneath the surface.
Nothing.
“D-D-Des?” She had to force air out of her lungs to get the word out, and it was nearly lost in the howl of the wind. “C-c-can’t…” Breathing hurt, between the cold air and what she thought were a few crushed ribs.
“Can’t what?” Pain and cold strained his voice, too.
“Sh-sh-sh…” She didn’t have the strength to finish. Her brain was getting fuzzy again.
“Oh, damn, darling.” His hand, bare of his glove, found her cheek. She felt a tingle, almost warm, probing into her. His voice cracked when he spoke. “You’ve broken your spine, Lana. Does that prevent the change?”
She managed to shake her head just a fraction of an inch and mouth the word no. That explained why she couldn’t feel her arms or legs, but nothing physical should have been able to stop the shift.
“My magic feels different here,” he said. “Stronger. That will help get us healed.” She felt him slide closer until his breath was warm on her face. He kissed her eyelids, and she could open them, finally.
She looked up into his beautiful face, his dark eyes narrowed with concern.
“I can’t sense your wolf either, and I’ve always been able to before. I think something about the magic of this world prevents it from coming out. I’m afraid that until we get to the next portal, you’re a mere mortal.” He stroked icy strands of hair away from her eyes. “You’ve got a lot of injuries, darling. I’m going to heal your spine first, so none of your organs start to fail. Then I’m going to do my own legs, so at least one of us can move around, make a fire, get some sort of shelter together. Even with the extra oomph from this world’s ley lines, it’ll take me most of the day to get us both in shape to travel.”
Lana licked her lips. “’Kay.”
“I’m still going to spank you when we get home for that stupid stunt you pulled at the end.” He kissed her no
se.
Lana tried to grin but whimpered at the pain. Watch out. I just might hold you to that.
His hand slid under her cloak to the skin of her neck and he began to chant again. Lana imagined she could feel her spine straightening, fusing back into shape. There was no relief, though. With the repair of her spinal cord came the return of sensation, and more pain than she could ever remember.
He stroked her forehead as she whimpered. “Shh. I’m putting you to sleep, chán-láng. It’s the only way I can help you with the pain.”
It went against every instinct to let that happen. They were alone in a strange universe. Des was hurt, too. He needed her. She couldn’t just sleep.
“Trust me.” He feathered a kiss on her cheek. “This once, just let yourself rest, and let me worry about everything else. It will make the healing process easier, and I promise, I won’t let anything else hurt you.”
There was that trust thing again. With a flutter of her lips that was meant to be a smile, she tipped her chin in the barest hint of a nod.
Des saw it and smiled back. “Thank you. Now sleep.” She hated being told what to do, but this time, the command held too much appeal to resist.
* * *
Des had a small fire going and had built up the snow banks around them to block out the wind by the time Lana woke. His magic was significantly more powerful here, and healing his own legs had taken a fraction of the time it usually did. After repairing Lana’s spine, he’d been lucky to have anything left to get himself moving.
Seeing her so helpless and in pain scared the living hell out of him. Learning she couldn’t shift had almost given him a heart attack. The worst of it was that this whole situation was his stupid fault. He’d gotten her into this. Though without her, he’d probably be dead by now. He had to admit she was a damn fine partner. When she wasn’t driving him crazy.
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