by Tina Folsom
Winter looked at Logan. “What if I don’t have a vision that’ll help you to convince the council by tomorrow?”
“We’ll figure it out somehow,” Logan assured her.
“I’ve heard that sometimes it helps to touch an object or a person, and a vision about that object or person emerges. It’s by no means foolproof, but on occasion, it helps,” Charles mused.
Winter swallowed hard. She had no choice. It was either this, or death for both her and Logan.
“Do the spell.”
She watched as Charles and Wesley sprang into action. Wesley went back to the mortar where he was mixing herbs. Meanwhile Charles walked to the desk, took one of the books and brought it to the center table, where he placed it next to an ornamental dagger.
“Wes?” Charles looked over his shoulder. “Ready?”
Wes carried the stone bowl with the herbs to the table. “It’s all there. Now for the last ingredient.” He looked directly at Winter. “Your blood.”
Her heart skipped a beat, and a breath rushed from her lungs.
“Don’t worry,” Charles added, “we only need a few drops. Step closer.”
She moved closer to him, while he lifted the dagger.
“Give me your left hand,” Charles demanded.
She stretched out her hand, and he took it, turned it palm up.
“This might sting a little.”
Before he’d even finished his sentence, he cut into the tip of her thumb and held it over the mortar to let the blood drop over the herbs.
“Now, Wes,” Charles said, still holding on to Winter’s hand.
Wesley poured a clear liquid over her hand and into the bowl, letting it mix with the herbs, while simultaneously he and Charles began to chant an incantation from the open book on the table.
The words sounded like a mixture of Latin and Greek, or some other old, long-dead language Winter didn’t recognize. The words seemed to build to a crescendo, and she felt a sudden pressure in her head as if a migraine was coming on. Red smoke started to rise from the bowl and travel up her hand, then along her arm, beginning to engulf her. Panic rose in her, and she wanted to pull away, afraid the red smoke would suffocate her, but Charles held on to her hand with an iron fist.
The red smoke entered her nostrils, and she was forced to inhale the substance. With it, the pressure in her head eased just as suddenly as it had started, and she felt as light as if floating on air.
Charles let go of her hand, and both witches stopped chanting. The floating feeling was gone again.
“How do you feel?” Charles asked.
She hesitated, mentally checking her body. Nothing ached. “I feel fine.”
Charles and Wesley exchanged a look.
“That’s good,” Wesley said.
“What now?” she asked.
“Go and rest, your mind is adjusting now,” Charles explained.
“How do you know if it worked?” She glanced at Logan, who stood a few feet away from her, a concerned look on his face. “I mean, I don’t feel any different.”
“It worked,” Charles said. “There is a calmness about you now that wasn’t there before. Your body knows it. Your mind just has to catch up.”
Slowly, she nodded. She had no choice but to trust his words. She’d done that a lot the last couple of days: trust strangers.
22
From the twins’ apartment, Logan stared out into the night, letting his eyes roam over the adjacent buildings. Despite the late hour, there was still light in some of the hotel rooms across the street. A few night owls emerged from bars that were closing for the night, and taxis searched for late-night fares. Druggies and homeless people looked for a comfortable corner, and vampires looked for a quick meal among them.
Behind him, Logan heard Winter pacing. After returning to the apartment, they’d put a frozen pizza into the oven and eaten it, then waited, and waited some more. But so far, Winter hadn’t had a vision. There was no way of verifying whether Charles’s and Wesley’s spell had worked. Logan had done his best not to let Winter feel his anxiety. She was worried enough. He had to be the calming influence now, even though inside he felt anything but calm. If he couldn’t prove to the council that Winter’s visions could be controlled and therefore be of use to them in their fight against the demons, they would kill her.
“There’s no use in waiting around,” Winter suddenly said, frustration coloring her voice.
He spun around to look at her. “There’s nothing else we can do. We just have to be patient.”
“I’m not good at being patient.” She shook her head. “For all I know, this time tomorrow I’ll be dead and you’ll be on trial for treason.”
“Winter, please—”
“I can’t waste my last few hours in this world just… waiting. I need to do something.”
“There’s nothing you can do. Charles said it might take a while for this to work.”
She took a few steps toward him. “Why are you so calm? I mean, your life is on the line too.”
He sighed. “My life is always on the line. It’s been on the line ever since I was born. This is nothing new for me.” Though this time, it was different, because he feared for another person, for Winter. “But I wish I could do something for you. To take your fear away. You were thrown into this without any preparation. This is new and scary for you.”
He met her gaze and gave her a long look.
“But it’s my destiny, isn’t it? As a psychic. As a preternatural creature.” Her voice trembled a little, though he could see the effort with which she tried to show strength.
“You’re part of this world now.” He took a few steps closer, close enough so he could reach for her if he wanted to. But he didn’t follow his desire to touch her, even if it was only to comfort her and lend her strength. “One day, you’ll look back at this, and realize how strong you are and that you can survive almost anything.” He smiled at her. “I’ve never met a woman as strong as you.”
She shook her head. “Don’t they have female Stealth Guardians? I bet they’re much stronger than I could ever be.”
“That’s not what I meant. Sure, female Stealth Guardians are physically as strong as their male counterparts, but you, Winter, you’re strong in a different way. You’re resilient. You can weather any storm. You’re a survivor. And that’s more important than physical strength.” He lifted his hand, wanting to run it through her hair, but stopped himself.
Winter froze and stared at his hand, then back at him. She swallowed hard, and quickly, he lowered his hand again.
“I’m sorry,” he said hastily and tore his gaze from her face. “I didn’t mean to take liberties. I know you don’t want this. Not after everything that I’ve done.”
“What you’ve done?” She shook her head. “Oh, Logan, I’m not sure about all that anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
“What have you really done? You were given orders. You tried to follow them like a good soldier.” She put her hand on his bicep, surprising him with her touch. “But you didn’t do it. You didn’t kill me, even though you were ordered to. You defied your council to save me. At great risk to yourself.” She sighed. “Yes, I’m mad that you didn’t tell me, that you let me believe you came to save me from the demons. But even though that wasn’t your intention at first, in the end it was what you did. That’s all that counts.”
Hope expanded his chest. “Are you saying that you forgive me?”
She shook her head. “There’s nothing to forgive.” She ran her hand up to his shoulder. “I’m sorry for the way I reacted when Manus showed up here. For accusing you of using me.” She let out a breath. “What happened in Trenton, in that motel, wasn’t something you initiated. It was all my doing.”
“I didn’t stop you.”
She looked straight into his eyes. Instinctively he drew closer, unable to resist the lure. Everything he wanted was reflecting in those eyes.
“No, you didn’t stop me…
”
“Winter…”
Her lips came closer. “Tell me you won’t stop me now either.”
His heart pounding with excitement, Logan raised his hand to her cheek and caressed it. “Oh, Winter, I don’t deserve you. You’re too good for this world.”
She turned her head to press a kiss into his palm. “Take me to bed, Logan.”
If ever there was a siren call, it was Winter’s voice murmuring those five words to him. He couldn’t have resisted, even if he wanted to. And he didn’t want to. Because all he wanted, all he needed right now, was Winter in his arms.
He brought his mouth to hover within an inch of hers. “Tomorrow, vision or not, I’ll fight for you before the council.” But tonight he would love her.
Logan sank his lips onto hers, capturing them in a tender kiss. How he’d missed her. Now, finally, he could be with her without guilt, without a secret between them.
“Come,” he murmured and took her hand, leading her to one of the two bedrooms and closing the door behind them.
When he pulled her back into his arms, she stopped him. “I want to be in charge tonight.”
His heartbeat accelerated in surprise. Slowly, he released her. “What did you have in mind?”
Winter put her hands on his chest and started opening the top button of his shirt. “I was thinking of undressing you first, then kissing every inch of your skin…” She let her hand slide down to his groin, where his cock was already pumping full of blood. “And then I thought…” She squeezed his growing erection and licked her lips. “I think you get the idea.”
He let out a groan. He knew exactly what she had in mind. He put his hand over hers and pressed his cock harder against her palm. “Yeah, I think I do.” He slid his other hand to the back of her neck and pulled her face to him. “And selfish bastard that I am, I can’t wait for you to suck me.”
“Then maybe I shouldn’t waste my time taking off your shirt when we both know what I really want.” She brought both hands to his pants now and opened the button, then slid the zipper down. She pushed his pants over his hips until they came to rest at mid-thigh. Again she put one hand over his cock, but this time the contact was even more intense, with only the thin fabric of his boxer briefs separating them. “Especially when you’re ready for me.”
She hooked her thumbs into his waistband and stripped him, dropping to her knees in the same instant.
“Fuck!” He hadn’t expected her to get down to business this quickly. This wasn’t the slow seduction he’d had in mind when he’d taken her to the bedroom. He ripped his shirt open and rid himself of it, so it didn’t hinder his view of what Winter was going to do to him.
Kneeling in front of him, she looked up to him, her face at the same height as his heavy erection. If he moved forward only a couple of inches, his cock would touch her lips.
“I love a man with a beautiful cock.” She ran one finger along the underside of his hard-on. “So thick and long.” She wrapped her hand around its root, making him gasp in response. “So delicious.”
She inched closer, bringing her mouth to the swollen tip of his erection and licked over it as if licking an ice cream cone.
“Fuck!” he repeated, any rational thought or the ability to form proper sentences having deserted his mind.
“Hmm. Yes, just like I imagined.” Her breath teased his sensitive skin, and all of a sudden, warmth engulfed him and he sank deep into Winter’s mouth, her lips sliding down on him, lubricating him as she took him inside.
A shudder charged down his spine, making his knees weak. He reached back and braced himself against the door. Breathing as if he were running a marathon, he looked down at Winter and found her looking up at him. Fuck, he’d never seen a more innocent, yet sexy look. He moaned, then felt her hands on his hips, before she pulled her head back slowly, letting him slip out of her mouth but for the tip. There, she hovered, staring up at him, before she slid down on him again, taking him inside her delicious mouth as far as she could.
“Fuck, baby!” His heart pounded. He wanted this, wanted to possess her like this.
Winter worked him beautifully, took him deep, then slowly released him inch by inch, making him shiver with pleasure. With every thrust into her heavenly mouth she increased her tempo, while she brought her hand to assist, wrapping it around the base of his cock. In concert with her sucking motions, she squeezed him. He couldn’t stop watching his cock disappear inside her mouth, her eyes ever so often looking up at him. Such passion, such pleasure, such innocence.
Winter’s moans vibrated against his hard flesh, sending more shivers through his body. If she continued like this, he wouldn’t last much longer. Still, he couldn’t stop her. His desire for her was growing with every second, the need to possess her becoming more urgent now.
In an ever-increasing tempo, Logan thrust his cock into Winter’s mouth, meeting her movements. He loved the way she welcomed him, her tongue sliding along the underside of his erection on every descent, her lips clinging tightly to him on every withdrawal.
When she suddenly cupped his balls and squeezed them gently, he pushed her away with a groan, his cock slipping from her mouth. “Enough!”
He pulled her up to him, her lips red and swollen, and too tempting to resist. He slanted his lips over hers and kissed her, hard and deep, while making quick work of her pants. He dragged them off her, feeling her stumble, but held onto her so she wouldn’t fall. Then he tore at her panties and rid her of those too. It was all he had time for.
Logan ripped his lips from hers and gazed into her passion-filled eyes. “By God, you deserve better than this, but I need to take you now.”
He whirled her around so she faced the door, positioned himself behind her and spread her legs, then thrust into her, ramming his cock forward and upward in one swift movement, wringing a deep moan from Winter. Her pussy was warm and wet, her muscles tightening around him like a vice he didn’t want to escape from.
“Logan,” she cried out on a moan. “Yes!”
She braced herself against the door, both hands flat against it, and received his next thrust with a counterthrust of her own, driving him deeper and harder into her. But he needed more. Needed to feel her.
He pulled on the T-shirt she was still wearing and dragged it over her head. Then he opened the clasp of her bra and disposed of the pesky garment. Finally, he could touch her. He slid his hands over her breasts, delighting in feeling her hard nipples rub against his palms, and delivered another thrust with his cock.
Dipping his head to her neck, he kissed her there and felt her shudder. “I can’t get enough of you. You’re so gorgeous, so hot. And the way your pussy grips me…” He groaned and squeezed her breasts in his hands, while below he plunged in and out of her. He couldn’t remember ever having felt so passionate about a woman. Was it real, or was it the fact that this could be the last night they would ever have together?
He shook off the thought. He didn’t want to think of what the future held for them. Not now. Now all that mattered was the beautiful woman who was allowing him to fuck her like a beast when she deserved so much better.
Fuck, what was he doing? What a bastard he was! Selfish and without finesse.
Panting, he pulled himself from her sheath and released her.
“Something wrong?” she asked, turning her head.
“Yeah, everything.” He pulled his pants all the way down, stripping himself, then lifted Winter into his arms and carried her to the bed.
She stared up at him wide-eyed.
“Don’t look so surprised,” he murmured and lowered her on the sheets. As luck would have it, they were crisp. It appeared that the twins had a housekeeper.
“I was enjoying the way you were taking me,” she said with a wicked smile. “Why did you stop?”
“Because I’m not the kind of man who just takes. No matter how much I want something. And you, Winter, you I want.” He kissed her softly, before sliding down her body. “All of yo
u.”
He pushed her thighs apart and settled in the space he’d created for himself. “Now relax and let me take care of you.”
“Logan,” Winter murmured and sighed. “But I didn’t even ask for this.”
“If you have to ask, you’re not with the right man.” Because the right man knew what his woman needed.
Logan lowered his head to her pussy and pressed a kiss into the damp hair, then dipped lower, licking his tongue over her pink folds. He’d been rough with her, but he would make it up to her now. With tender strokes, gentle caresses, and loving kisses.
She tasted like a mountain spring, her dew like a magical elixir. A symphony of sighs and moans accompanied the shudders that traveled through her body the longer he licked and sucked her. Feeling her let go in his arms, under his tongue, his lips, his mouth, was confirmation that he still had her trust, that despite everything he’d done wrong, she forgave him. He thanked her for it by showering her with passion and tenderness, the kind of tenderness he wasn’t used to displaying, the kind that came straight from the heart. A tenderness born from deep affection. An affection he could feel expand in his heart.
He caressed her with more fervor and felt her pulse quicken, her breath become ragged as her body raced toward a climax.
“Logan, please, I’m so close.”
“I know, baby.” He doubled his efforts and caressed Winter’s center of pleasure with his thumb. The little organ was swollen. He licked over it and felt Winter tremble. He repeated his action and at the same time plunged a finger into her warm channel.
A moan tore from Winter’s lips, and her back arched off the mattress. He stilled his fingers and felt her interior muscles spasm around him. Feeling her climax almost made him come. Quickly he withdrew his finger from her pussy and rolled over her, feeling her legs pull him into her center, while she looked at him.
Winter in the throes of passion. He’d never seen a more beautiful sight. With their eyes locked, he plunged into her, seating himself to the hilt. Her pussy was still spasming, contracting around him, and it was all he needed. One more stroke, one more thrust, and he joined her in her bliss, letting his orgasm take him to a place where nothing mattered, nothing but the two of them.