by Christi Snow
She pushed him out of the faux room with a sexy laugh, “Yeah, I think I can figure out what your vote would be. Go. I’ll be out in a moment with a suit on.”
He groaned. “Damn.”
While he waited for her, he unstrapped his sword. As a Warrior, he rarely went without it resting at the center of his back, but he didn’t want to risk his blade by subjecting it to more water than necessary. With the humid environment they lived in, they had to work the metal constantly to keep their blades at their highest quality. No reason to risk that here because the falls were relatively safe.
He’d worn shorts, so now he just had to wait for Lori to emerge.
And emerge she did. Blood surged to his groin. Damn. It was probably a good thing that she’d decided against the naked thing or else she would be getting an eyeful of his pounding erection. She wore one of the traditional wraps that the women of their village wore. The gathered fabric wrapped around her neck, crisscrossing across her breasts and then tying again at her back. Even with the bandage on her side, she looked breathtaking. The deep purple color of the fabric enhanced her violet eyes so they sparkled. A short sarong-style skirt from the same fabric topped her long, incredibly sexy legs. The entire package took his breath away and he couldn’t hide that from her knowing eyes.
“You look beautiful.” Damn, when had his voice become so low?
She smiled up at him shyly. “Thanks.”
“Are you ready to head in?”
“More than you can imagine.”
They waded into the water together. She groaned. “It’s so warm and feels so good.”
When the water rose up to their chests, he drew her up against him. He’d resisted touching her for as long as he could. Cupping the back of her head he tilted it up so he could have full access to those luscious lips. Her eyes glowed with desire as he lowered his face to hers. At the first touch of their lips, she moaned. She melted into his touch and reached up to thread her fingers through the back of his hair.
The buoyancy of the water aided his pursuit and his cock settled against her mound, separated by only the fabric of their swimsuits. His cock twitched at the idea and she pushed against him causing even more friction against his needy erection. He groaned into her neck then lowered his lips to the tops of her breasts just above the waterline. They were perfect. He tugged at the fabric and uncovered a dusky nipple pebbled in arousal. Quickly, he closed his lips around it. She arched her back, which just pushed at his tortured cock even more.
He had to slow this down before he lost control like a randy teenage boy. It had been so long since he’d experienced this kind of bliss. He pulled the fabric up to cover those tempting globes and started maneuvering the two of them toward the falls. She gazed up in confusion.
He chuckled. “Don’t worry sweetheart. Just slowing things down a little bit. I don’t want to lose sight of why we came down here.” He plucked the soap out of his pocket just as he dunked them both under the falls.
Lori squealed at the shock of the cold water. She shoved at him playfully. “You did that on purpose.”
“Well, you did seem a little warm,” he teased back.
“And whose fault is that?”
“Oh, sweetheart, I’ll proudly claim that one.”
She smirked at him. “You are such a guy.”
“Well, I have to admit I’m glad you noticed.”
She glanced down through the clear water toward the bulge of his burgeoning cock which hadn’t been affected by the cold water. “It would have been hard to miss.”
He smiled seductively at her. Pulling her back under the water, he started soaping her up. It was an erotic and tantalizing mission as he worked around the scraps of fabric hiding the most secret parts of her body.
She took her turn soaping him, ratcheting his arousal to even higher levels. Having her hands on him was heaven.
As she turned her attention to his wings, she asked, “Does it bother your wings to have them wet?”
“No, not really, but they get really heavy and definitely don’t work as well when they’re wet. I could never fly carrying you when they’re soaked like they are now. Luckily, it doesn’t take that long for them to dry out.” He lowered his head to his chest as she stroked over his wings. Electricity zinged from the tips of his wings inward, settling into his groin. She knew what this did to him and that made it even more arousing. His already impossibly hard cock got even harder and threatened to pulse out of control. He wanted to sink inside her core.
He tugged her around and yanked her up against his chest as he plundered her mouth in an all-out assault. Her moan drove him on as he untied the wet fabric from around her breasts. She climbed up his torso, her own body seeking relief in his with just as much desperation as he felt.
She started nibbling at his neck below his ear when she stiffened and released a blood curdling scream.
A blast of blinding pain arced along his back, just barely missing his wings. A bellow sounded from behind him as he quickly turned, keeping his body in front of Lori’s. Adrenaline surged helping to numb the pain as he faced their attacker.
Marcus couldn’t believe his eyes. A Predator stood in the water with them. How had he not heard it? And what the fuck was it doing out during the daytime? He immediately backed Lori under the waterfall where there was a hidden cave, hoping the beast wouldn’t follow them.
The Predator stalked so close he could see the crazed madness flowing out of its green eyes. It was huge. He thought longingly about his sword, lying on the ground on the other side of the pool. He had no way to defend them except with his body and that wouldn’t end well with the Predator’s long dagger-like claws and teeth. He couldn’t fly them out. His wings were too wet.
He continued to push them slowly backward. Luckily, the Predator seemed as surprised to find them there as they were to see it. Seriously, these things were never out during the day. What was it doing here? And how was he going to keep it from hurting Lori? He couldn’t watch another female die at the hands of one of these things.
Right now it just watched them with wary eyes while it panted and snarled. Marcus turned his head slightly and whispered to Lori, “We’re going under the falls. There’s a cave there. As soon as you spot it, I want you to run into it.”
Her tone sounded low and just as urgent as his. “I won’t go in there without you. You’re already bleeding enough.” She lightly touched his back just to the side of where the Predator swiped at him.
He couldn’t help but flinch as pain seared through the muscles on his back. He had no idea how deeply he’d been wounded, but it sure as hell didn’t feel good.
“That thing is huge. I won’t leave you out here to fight it alone. We either go in together or not at all.” Her voice echoed her steely resolution.
He gave a quick nod. These things were big, but they weren’t fast. The cave opened up to the other side of the hill. They may just be able to outrun it once inside, if it decided to follow them.
As they darted under the waterfall, he quickly spotted the cave right where he remembered it to be. He hadn’t been in it in years, but he quickly steered Lori toward it as the Predator screamed and splashed after them in pursuit.
“Marcus, what’s happening?” Malcolm called to him across their mental link.
“Predator at the falls attacked us. Meet us at the back entrance of the cave. We’re escaping that direction, but he’ll be right behind us. Be ready when we come out.”
“I’ll grab a couple of Warriors and be right there.”
Luckily, these falls ran over one of the area’s natural ley lines. Veins of crystals ran along the ridges of the rock formations inside the cave. The crystals naturally glowed from within the earth and lit their way as they ran hand in hand. The Predator continued to lumber behind them, yelling his displeasure. But his bellows were becoming more and more distant the further they ran. They were going to make it.
They skidded to a stop.
Fuck!
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A wall of fallen rock blocked their escape. There had been a cave-in sometime in the years since he’d been inside this cave. Why hadn’t he considered this?
“Dammit,” he cursed.
His mistake could cost Lori her life. He wouldn’t allow that. Not again. He had no choice, but damn, he’d just started to feel alive again. He would have to go hand-to-hand with the creature just to give Lori a fighting chance of escape.
She turned and panted. “Are there any other ways out of here?”
“No.” He grabbed Lori by the shoulders and pulled her in for a quick hard kiss. “I’ll distract him while you get out. Just head back to Springlake. They’ll take care of you.”
“No!” She turned back to the wall and lifted her hands to touch it.
“Lori, there are no other options.”
“Yes, there is. Hang on!” Suddenly the crystal along the walls flickered and brightened. Lori’s violet eyes glowed with the same flickering energy that flowed along the ley lines. Whatever she was doing tapped into the Earth’s power.
Suddenly the stones shifted to create an opening and she turned to him. “Go. Quick. I can’t hold it long. I’ll be right behind you.”
He knew she had a special ability, but he never would have guessed. Now the Veil and her escape through it made sense.
“Marcus, hurry!”
He shook himself out of his stunned stupor and crouched through the hole she’d created. She followed behind him. Right after they made it through, the hole closed back up and Lori sank to the ground, leaning against the now-closed wall.
“What the hell was that thing? It looked like a yeti!” she gasped.
“A yeti?”
“Yeah, you know, Big Foot.”
He still reeled after watching her move a wall of rock. He never would have guessed she could do something like that with her ability as an Other. “That was a Predator. They showed up after the Veil, but they don’t come out during the day. Ever. This isn’t good. We need to get back to the village and issue a warning before someone gets killed.” But for now they were safe—thanks to Lori.
“Okay, just give me a minute,” she said weakly.
Marcus noticed she didn’t look well at all. She appeared extremely pale and her breath continued to come in gasps.
He crouched down beside her. Her gift obviously came at a very high price for her physically. “Hey, are you okay?” He laid a hand against her forehead to make sure her fever hadn’t spiked again.
She glanced at him and whoa, her eyes glowed a vivid purple in the dim light. “Your eyes…”
She lowered her lids and ducked her head as if to hide them. What was her world like that something so incredible had to be hidden?
He slipped his fingers under her chin and lifted it. “Your gift is amazing and to see your power emanating out of your eyes is even more beautiful,” he reassured her. “But you didn’t answer…are you okay?”
She gave him a timid shrug. “Yeah, but doing that,” she waved her hand at the wall, “wipes me out. I’ll admit though, normally I would be unconscious after that kind of effort.” She looked confused as she glanced around the interior of the cave.
“That’s probably because of the ley lines.” He traced one of them along the wall and could feel the prickles of energy flow under his fingertips. “If you’re like us—and I’m guessing at some level you are—your powers will be enhanced when you’re in an area with ley lines.”
“Ley lines? Is that what the glowing crystals are?”
“Yes, ley lines are naturally occurring energy lines within the Earth.” He drew her hand up so she could feel the vibrations beneath the stone.
Her eyes widened when she touched it and immediately her color became better.
“They fall in straight lines across the world’s tectonic plates. It’s believed that the Earth’s energy is channeled through them. Bethany thinks the Veil came through them and that’s why our powers and their strength are affected by them. That’s also why we think they glow now. There’s energy pulsing through them all the time trying to heal the Earth.” He looked at her with a tilt of his head. “It’s probably why you aren’t as worn out now. The ley lines strengthened your power.” There were other things they’d learned over the years by using the ley lines to strengthen them. He’d need to spend some time practicing with her so that she wouldn’t get so wiped out when they got back to the village.
“Oh, wow.” She sighed as she turned her hand over in the glow of the light. “That’s amazing. I had no idea. And the ley lines are everywhere?”
He nodded, which caused a pull across the wounds on his back and he winced.
“You’re hurt.” She struggled to stand and ducked around to examine the wound on his back.
Hissing at her light touch, he mentally connected to Malcolm. “It will just be us coming through, so don’t let anyone kill us when we come out.”
“From the pain I’m feeling from you, I’m guessing someone already tried that. Do you need me to come in and get you?”
“No, it’s already too tight in here. We’ll be out in just a minute.”
“You’re bleeding a lot.” Lori’s voice rang with concern.
“It’s okay. I don’t think it’s really deep. Malcolm’s already on his way.”
“He is? I didn’t hear you discussing anything with him.”
“That’s probably because you were otherwise engaged. You know, rearranging the natural order of the wall, which I can see drained you. It probably affected your ability to tap into our link. He could sense trouble and called out to me. He’s supposed to be meeting us at the cave opening.”
“Did you warn him about the yeti, Predator-thingy lurking around?”
He chuckled at her description, although none of this felt that humorous. “Yeah, I told him. He’ll be sure to keep his sword on him. My first mistake. He’ll probably bring one of the other Warriors with him, too. Are you okay to walk now?”
“Yeah, I actually am.” She looked at the glowing ley line with curiosity and he couldn’t resist showing her just a bit more.
He walked up so that he stood directly behind her. He grabbed both her hands in his own and pressed their full palms down onto the glowing lines. Even standing behind her, he felt the pulse of energy through her body.
Her voice echoed her awe as she said, “Whoa!”
He knew what it would do, but the power of it flowing through her surprised even him. He’d never felt this kind of surge before. It was heady and powerful and his cock responded to both the energy and the closeness of her body. Considering how badly his back hurt, it said a lot about her effect on him that he could think anything sexual at this point in time.
He needed to think about something else, quickly. He’d be seeing his brother and one of the other Warriors soon and they’d give him hell if he walked out of this cave with a hard-on. He backed away from Lori. “Remember this. Your power came from the Earth and the Earth can help you when you use it. We’ve charted the area’s ley lines. Remind me later and I’ll show it to you and show you how to find some of the local ones, but now we need to head out. Malcolm’s getting close.”
He could feel the blood soaking into the waistband of his shorts. They needed to get back to the village quickly and get it taken care of before he had his own infection. Who knew what kind of disgusting germs were in the claws of that thing?
When they exited the cave, both Malcolm and Griff stood there, waiting for them. Marcus smiled at them, “I sure am glad to see you two.”
Malcolm immediately circled behind him to examine his wound. Griff had his sword drawn and stood guard for the group. He glanced suspiciously at Lori, but kept his attention outward on the forest surrounding them. While Malcolm poked and prodded at his back, Lori moved to his side and stroked soothingly up and down his arm. It kept his mind away from the painful ministrations his brother performed on him.
“Is he going to be okay?” Lori asked. “There’s so
much blood.”
“It’s a ragged wound, but it’s not very deep. I’ll clean it, stitch it up and he should survive.”
“Should survive?” Marcus asked drily. “I like your positive bedside manner.”
Malcolm chuckled.
Marcus shook his head and turned back toward Griff. “We need to issue a warning to the village about the waterfall.”
“Already done. Garrison, Eric, and Aaron are headed down there now to see if they can find the Predator. Was there anything different about him?”
“Besides the fact that he came out during the daytime? No, nothing. Actually, after the initial attack, he seemed as puzzled by us being there as we were to see him.”
Malcolm urged them to go. “We need to head back and get this taken care of, Marcus. Are you okay to fly?”
Marcus stretched his wings. It didn’t feel good, but he should be able to do it. “I’ll be fine, but I need you to carry Lori.”
“Okay.”
“But be sure to keep your hands where I can see them. She’s mine.”
“Duly noted,” his brother replied in a droll tone.
“You may want to note that I can hear you again AND I don’t belong to anyone,” a feminine voice said.
His brother’s laugh grated along his nerves.
“Bastard,” he muttered under his breath. Malcolm just laughed harder.
When they got back to the village, they headed directly to the infirmary. Brooklyn met them there to assist Malcolm. She already had the sutures prepared for his arrival. They laid him face down on a bed. They reluctantly allowed Lori to stay, since she insisted. Everyone in the room could tell from her stance that they were going to have to physically remove her if they wanted her out.
Malcolm started cleaning out the long, ragged wound. With every swipe of Malcolm’s hand, Marcus jerked and hissed. Damn, this hurt like a bugger.