by Tina Folsom
“I’m an idiot, lass,” he murmured. “Forgive me. I should have explained. I thought when I told you about Olivia, you understood. And you met Leila. I thought you knew.”
She pulled her head back. “Knew what? And what does Leila have to do with this?”
He brushed a wet strand of hair from her cheek. “Leila is Aiden’s mate. She’s human.”
Her eyebrows snapped together. “But if she’s human, how… I mean, how can he be happy knowing she’ll die…”
Hamish brushed his thumb underneath her eye, wiping away a tear. “Because she won’t. By bonding with her, he’s sharing his immortality with her. It’s his gift in exchange for her love.”
This time she couldn’t stop the sob that tore from her chest. She threw her arms around him.
“Does that mean you’re giving us a chance?” he asked softly.
Unable to speak, she simply nodded.
~ ~ ~
His heart beating an excited tattoo against his chest, Hamish captured Tessa’s lips for a kiss. He was aware that she hadn’t told him that she loved him, but he couldn’t expect that much this soon. Knowing that Tessa wanted him and was thinking of the future was enough for now. Time would tell if they were truly meant for each other—he for his part knew she was the one.
Her lips tasted of the salt of her tears, and he promised himself right there and then that she would never have to cry again.
“Let me make love to you,” he whispered against her lips.
“Yes.”
He rose and lifted her out of the bathtub, setting her on the thick mat in front of it while he reached for a towel. As he dried Tessa and then himself, he didn’t take his eyes off her. She was beautiful. The last time they’d made love, he’d rushed things, because he’d been so impatient to have her, but now he feasted his eyes on her, committing each square inch of her body to memory.
He lowered himself on his knees as he dried her legs, then dropped the towel. He was eye-level with her stomach, but the scars didn’t repel him. They were part of Tessa, part of what had forced her to be strong. He pressed his lips to them and kissed her there, showing her that to him she was beautiful everywhere. She didn’t shrink back, didn’t hide from him. When he looked up, she gazed down at him, her eyes full of tenderness.
Wordlessly, he pulled her down to him and laid her on the white mat and settled into the space between her legs.
“I should have done this last time,” he said, “but when you sucked me, you obliterated my self-control.”
Her lips curved into a smile. “You felt good in my mouth.”
“Let’s see how good this feels.” He lowered his face to her pussy and inhaled her aroma. “Hmm.” When he pressed a kiss into the tiny triangle of hair at the apex of her thighs, he felt her shudder beneath him. He put his hands on her thighs and pushed them farther apart, lifting them over his shoulders to either side of his head. Pink flesh beautiful like a flower greeted him. Though he’d toweled her dry, she was wet there now, her nether lips coated with her arousal.
Greedily, he swiped his tongue over her slit, gathering her juices and tasting them, tasting her. A bolt of pure lust shot through him. She was everything he’d ever dreamed of and more. And licking Tessa would give him just as much pleasure as it gave her. Eagerly, he explored her, licked and sucked the gentle flesh she so openly offered him now. Her sighs and moans bounced off the tile walls of his bathroom, echoing in the large room.
Tessa shoved her hands into his hair now. The contact sent a shiver down his spine and into his tailbone. Automatically, his hips began to move, and he felt his fully erect cock rub against the tile floor, seeking relief. Thanks to the coolness of the tile, he didn’t explode immediately, but was able to maintain his control, because what was most important to him right now was to satisfy the woman in his arms. Make up for the horror she’d been through.
And he loved doing it. Loved licking her pussy, playing with her responsive flesh, and feeling her writhe beneath him. Because it meant she was alive. And so was he.
He moved farther up, spread her with his fingers now, revealing her clit. The tiny organ was swollen—and glowing golden. It was the last spot of her body that still showed evidence of his virta. Unable to resist, he licked over it with his tongue.
“Oh God! Hamish!” Tessa cried out. “You’ve gotta stop! It’s too… oh God, it’s too much…”
Spasms made her body twist and turn, but he held her to him and swiped his tongue over her center of pleasure once more. She was already climaxing. He cupped her clit with his mouth and allowed the waves of her orgasm to travel over his lips.
A shudder charged through him. “Fuck!” he ground out. Long seconds passed, until Tessa finally stilled and relaxed and let out a final sigh.
“Hamish,” she mumbled and caressed his scalp.
He lifted his head from her and sat up. When he looked at her face, she met his eyes.
“Do you think it greedy of me that I want you inside me now?” she asked.
He pulled her into his arms and rose, carrying her into the adjoining bedroom. “You can’t possibly be as greedy as I am.” He lowered her on the bed and rolled over her. Looking deep into her eyes, he adjusted himself at her center and thrust inside with one single move. “So greedy,” he repeated, “that I don’t even have the decency to let you rest after all you’ve been through.”
But her eyes told him that she didn’t want to rest. That she wanted him instead. That knowledge filled his heart with warmth, and his cock with even more blood.
“I’m following doctor’s orders,” she murmured.
“How so?”
“Leila said I should lie down.” Tessa patted the duvet next to her. “I’m lying down, am I not?”
“Well, if you put it that way, we should definitely continue to follow doctor’s orders.” He withdrew almost completely from her welcoming sheath, then sliced back into her.
Tessa pressed her head into the pillow, arching her back. “Yes!”
At her enthusiastic praise, he grunted, “Yeah? Like that?” He began thrusting into her with more vigor, his hips moving more rapidly now, his cock demanding he take her harder and make her his. He didn’t put up any resistance, knowing he was defenseless in Tessa’s arms. Stripped bare. Devoted to her.
Feeling her hands on him, feeling how she caressed and explored him, made his chest swell with pride. And when she locked her thighs beneath his butt to force him deeper into her, he wanted to roar like a lion who’d been freed of his cage. Because Tessa had freed him of his. The links in the chain that surrounded his heart were falling away with every caress and every kiss she granted him.
This wasn’t just sex. Maybe back at Tessa’s apartment they’d had sex, but this here, in his bed, this was lovemaking. Every time their bodies came together, their gazes met, connecting in a way even more intimate than their bodies.
When Tessa’s eyelids began to flutter, he knew she was close again.
“I’m right there with you, my love,” he murmured and captured her lips, kissing her with all the love he felt in his heart.
She responded to him with the same passion and desire, her hips rising to meet him as he delivered thrust after thrust into her wet pussy. Not able to withstand another second of this sweet torture, he let himself go and allowed his semen to shoot through his cock, exploding from the tip.
He moaned into her mouth and greedily lapped against her tongue, not wanting this to end, when he felt her interior muscles squeeze him and wring the last of his seed from him as she climaxed with him.
Only when her spasms subsided, did he allow himself to collapse. He braced himself on his elbows and looked at her face. A sheen of perspiration covered her skin and made her look even more radiant than before.
He parted his lips, wanting to say something, to tell her how he felt, but no words came over his lips. For the first time in a long time he was… happy.
38
“Hamish?”
> It wasn’t Tessa’s voice that drifted to him. Hamish stirred and opened his eyes. He must have nodded off with Tessa tucked into the curve of his body. For a moment he felt groggy, but then he heard the crackling of the intercom next to his bed and reached to press the speaker button.
“Aiden?”
“Yeah. Enya just called in. She checked on Poppy.”
Tessa suddenly shot up.
“She found her sleeping peacefully. No sign of demons.”
Tessa released a sigh of relief. “Thank God!”
“Thanks, Aiden,” Hamish added.
“No problem. She’s staying out in the field and joining up with Pearce and Manus to see if she can help.”
“Sounds good. Thanks.” He let go of the speaker button and pulled Tessa back against his chest.
She turned her face to him. “I’m so glad she’s alright.”
Hamish brushed a lock of hair from her forehead and pressed a kiss to it. “See, Zoltan didn’t get her after all.”
“Zoltan… I’ve heard that name before.”
“Of course you have. I mentioned him earlier in the medical room. Don’t you remember?”
She shook her head. “I heard his name before that.”
“You mean when he attacked you, he told you who he was?” Even for Zoltan that seemed a little unorthodox, though he knew that the new leader of the demons was cunning. There was a purpose behind every move he made.
“No, he didn’t. He mentioned Zoltan.”
Hamish stared at Tessa. “Mentioned him… as in how?”
“The demon said that Zoltan was a weakling for letting me live.”
“Are you sure you heard him correctly? You were frightened.”
“I’m sure, Hamish. Please believe me. He said he was supposed to be the Great something or other.”
“The Great One?” Hamish helped.
She nodded emphatically. “Yes, the Great One. What does that mean?”
“It’s the title of the leader of the demons. But Zoltan is the new leader,” Hamish elaborated.
“The demon who attacked me said that he should be the leader. Not Zoltan. And that by killing me, he would prove that he was stronger than Zoltan… no,” she corrected herself, “not stronger. Superior to Zoltan.”
Hamish let the words sink in. “If this is true, then the demons are fighting a turf war amongst themselves. And you’re caught in the middle of it.”
“That’s bad, isn’t it?”
“Hmm… I’m not sure yet what it means in the long run. Right now though we have to be even more vigilant. If Zoltan really only wanted to destroy your political future, but his rival wants to seize the reins by killing you, then we have to fight on two fronts.”
“Haven’t we already been doing that?”
Slowly he nodded. “Unknowingly, yes.”
“Then we’re better prepared now that we know, right?” Tessa hypothesized.
He smiled and pressed a kiss to her lips. “Yes, thanks to you, my love.” He swung his legs out of bed. “Come, let’s talk to Aiden. Are you hungry?”
She tilted her head to the side, before she answered, “Actually, I’m famished.”
A few minutes later they were both dressed and walking hand-in-hand through the corridors. At the door to the kitchen, Hamish stopped and looked at Tessa. “If you’re uncomfortable about my colleagues knowing what’s happening between us, I won’t let on.” Although that ship had sailed already, given the things he’d done and said in front of his friends when Tessa had been fighting for her life. But he wasn’t ashamed of the tears he’d shed while her life had hung in the balance.
Tessa smirked. “I think they know.” She lifted herself on her tiptoes. “And it’s not making me uncomfortable.”
He kissed her, before opening the door to the kitchen. The smell of pancakes wafted to him, and he realized only now how hungry he was.
“Leila, I hope you’re making enough for all of us,” Hamish said as he walked in with Tessa by his side. But it wasn’t Leila who stood at the stove flipping pancakes. Leila was sitting at the kitchen island, Aiden next to her.
“What the fuck is the witch doing out of his cell?” Hamish ground out.
The witch spun around, a plastic spatula in his hand. “Making my famous coconut banana pancakes. Want some?” He grinned. “And again, name’s Wesley. I wish people would remember that. It’s not that hard. I’ve already memorized all of your names.”
Hamish glared at the insolent man.
“Hamish, give the guy a break,” Aiden said calmly, shoveling food into his mouth.
“Sit down,” Leila added, “and have some food. He’s a really good cook.”
“And that gives him the right to have the run of this place?”
Aiden jumped up from his barstool. “Don’t talk to my wife like that!”
“Damn it, Aiden,” Hamish grunted. “This is against every rule of the house! You can’t just let a prisoner run free.”
His friend braced his hands at his hips. “Like you haven’t broken any rules lately.” His gaze drifted to Tessa.
Ah shit! He’d broken a whole bunch of rules, but at least the rules he’d broken wouldn’t put the compound in danger. He pointed to Wesley, still locking eyes with Aiden. “We don’t know whether we can trust him. He was able to breach our portal. Who knows what he’s planning?”
“Right now I’m planning to make another batch of pancakes,” Wesley interrupted. “Who wants some?”
As if in response, Hamish’s stomach growled. Traitor!
“Ah,” Wesley said triumphantly. He heaved two pancakes onto a plate and slid it over the island. “Syrup is on the counter.” Then he looked at Tessa. “And your lady friend?”
“I wouldn’t mind one or two,” Tessa replied.
“Two pancakes, coming right up,” Wesley said, and turned back to the stove.
“Take a seat, Hamish,” Aiden said and hopped back on his barstool.
Knowing he’d lost this round, Hamish helped Tessa onto the barstool next to Leila, then took the seat next to her. “Did you watch him the entire time he was preparing the food?” he asked Aiden.
“Yeah, why?”
“Just making sure he’s not poisoning us.”
Wesley huffed indignantly.
“It’s safe to eat,” Leila said, rolling her eyes. “And it’s delicious, by the way. Thanks, Wesley.”
Wesley tossed a look over his shoulder. “Appreciate it.”
Hamish reached for the plate and pushed it in front of Tessa. “Here, Tessa, have mine, I can wait. You must be starving.”
She smiled at him gratefully, then took her first bite, chewing contentedly. “Hmm. These are good.” After another bite she said casually, “I didn’t know that you keep witches as prisoners. Well, I didn’t know that witches existed.”
Aiden chuckled with a sideward glance at Hamish. “I’ll let you explain that.”
Hamish sighed. “We don’t normally. Witches are our allies. But when one breaks in here, we take issue.”
At the last word, Wesley looked over his shoulder. “I wouldn’t call it breaking in. It’s not like there was a doorbell or something that I could ring. I explained it all to Aiden.”
Hamish shifted his gaze to his friend. “Wanna fill me in?”
Aiden nodded. “I’m pretty sure he’s genuine. He said he followed a Stealth Guardian somewhere in the woods of Sonoma, California, and found one of the portals. Apparently the person he followed told him to destroy some drugs a bunch of vampires had been producing. Anyway, I’ve sent a query to the compound loop to see which, if any, of our brothers has been running around Sonoma. If a Stealth Guardian can corroborate his story, then I’m willing to accept it. I’m waiting to hear back.”
“Is that all you’ve got?”
“Nope. There’s a lot more. Apparently Wesley here is friends with a whole bunch of vampires.”
“You’re fucking kidding me.”
“Can’t say I am.
And guess what these vampires do for a living?”
“Suck people dry?” Hamish grunted.
“They run a bodyguard company. They protect humans and other innocents. From the preternatural. Kind of like us, huh?”
Hamish shot a look at Wesley, who was now putting more pancakes on a plate. “You’re shitting me.”
“Haven’t checked it out yet, since we’re a little short on manpower right now, but as soon as I can free somebody up, I’ll send a guardian to San Francisco to investigate.”
Wesley put a plate in front of Hamish, then a second opposite him, and hopped onto a barstool. “You should just let me call Scanguards and they’ll talk to you.”
“Scanguards?” Hamish asked.
“That’s the company he claims to work for,” Aiden elaborated. Then he looked at Wesley. “And we’ve discussed this already. No phone calls for you until we’ve thoroughly vetted you and have confirmed that neither you nor Scanguards are a threat to us.”
Wesley dug into his stack of pancakes and shoved a fork full of them into his mouth. His stomach growling again, Hamish grabbed his fork and did the same. For a moment there was silence, and all that could be heard in the kitchen was the clatter of cutlery.
Hamish started to relax a little. He had to admit that Wesley presented no danger at present. His witch powers would remain inactive while in the compound, and with no way of getting out, he was at their mercy. After all, without witchcraft, a witch was merely as strong as a human. And Wesley knew that.
Hamish motioned to Aiden. “Any news from the guys?”
“Pearce called in earlier. They’ve got a name. Tiffany Jacoby.”
Next to him, Tessa lifted her head. “My twin sister…” With a hopeful sheen in her lavender-colored eyes, she looked at Aiden. “Have they found her?”
“Not yet. I ran her name through the databases. The DMV had an address for her. Pearce and Manus are checking it out right now. But there was a different address on an arrest record I found in the Police Department’s database. I sent Enya to check it out.”
“Arrest record?” Tessa’s hand trembled, and Hamish clasped it to calm her.