by Nana Malone
“Ryan?”
He bolted upright. “Ali?”
“Oh, thank God.” Her steps increased, and all of a sudden, she stood in front of him with a weary smile of relief. “I was beginning to think I’d never find you.”
“What are you doing here?” he asked in stunned disbelief.
“Looking for you.” A backpack slid from her shoulders to thud at her feet. She took a deep breath, met his gaze, and started talking as if she’d explode if she didn’t get it all out. “I needed to apologize and tell you that I believe. In everything. You, me, what happened up here. My mom confirmed who Liz is. She knows all about her, and who we are, but never said anything to protect me, and then Liz sometimes does mind control on her and she forgets—just like the love spell Elizabeth put on James all those years ago. And on you the other night.”
It took a moment to absorb her unexpected, blurted words and equally sudden stop. Then his heart swelled with happiness—until the repercussions of her arrival filled him with dread. He turned his back to her, hands raised to his knit cap in despair. “You shouldn’t have come.”
She pulled his arm down and turned him to face her. “Did you hear what I said?”
“Yes, but it doesn’t matter.”
“I don’t believe that,” she argued, her chin at a mutinous angle. “You wouldn’t have left seventeen messages and sent countless texts if it didn’t matter.” She took hold of his hand and held it to her chest, her green eyes sparkling in the firelight. “We matter, Ryan.”
“That’s…that’s not what I mean.” It was hard to concentrate with her looking at him as if he was her whole world. He’d been waiting for this moment, but God, not here. “How did you even find me?”
“I asked at your dorm. When one of the guys said you went camping, after everything that’s been happening, it didn’t take a genius to figure it out.”
Which meant if Liz had any reason to ask, she’d figure it out, too. “Did you tell anyone where you were going?”
“Just my parents.”
Fuck. He clenched his jaw to keep from saying the word out loud. In the face of his silence and obvious tension, she dropped his hand and took a step back, but not before he caught the telltale sheen of tears in her eyes.
“I thought you’d be happy to see me.”
With a soft groan of surrender, he reached forward and hauled her into his arms. “Of course I am.” She held stiff at first, then relaxed into his embrace, her arms around him as he buried his face in her hair. Wildflowers bloomed in his mind and for a brief second, they stood in the meadow over a century ago.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured, his voice low and husky. “I’m just scared, that’s all. It’s not safe for you up here.”
“But it is for you?”
“That’s different. In fact, we should pack up and head home right now.”
“No way am I hiking five miles back when I just got here.” She tilted her face to the sky, eyes squinted against the falling snow. “Besides, even this light snow will make the rocks on the trail slick and either one of us could slip and get hurt.”
Unfortunately she was right. “If Liz were to show up—”
“I’d rather face her in the daylight without a broken ankle. But seriously, there’s no way for her to know we’re up here. And, it’s not your job to save me.”
“Yes—”
“No.” She palmed his face with her gloved hands, raising up on her toes while pulling his head down. Their frosted breath mingled in the cold air between them. “We save each other. Maybe that’s been the problem all along.”
He considered her words and wanted them to be true. “This is the first time you have believed.”
“See? We’re already one step ahead.” She pressed her lips to his. “Together, we can do this.”
Her optimism was tempting, but dangerous. As she sealed their mouths together once more, he vowed to remain vigilant against evil forces that would harm her, no matter the cost to himself. Then her tongue met his and he sensed a new level of intensity that hadn’t been there before. Urgency fueled her passion and quickly lit the fuse of his desire.
“Make love to me, Ryan. Right here, right now.”
Yes.
She’d already started to back him toward his tent when the words actually registered.
“Ali, wait,” he protested between kisses.
“I’ve waited long enough. And I even brought condoms.”
Oh, good God.
She had three buttons of his coat undone and was working on the fourth. They had a long way to go, but the thought of her hands on his bare skin set his blood on fire. Summoning his willpower took Herculean effort.
“Ali.” He grabbed hold of her hands to still her movements. “Your first time shouldn’t be like this, in the woods, in a cold tent. You deserve a warm house and a soft bed. Candles and wine and romantic music—”
“So hum to me.”
He laughed at her unexpected reply.
“You just gave me all that, right now,” she insisted. “It’s set perfectly in my mind, and now all I need is you. Besides…what else are we going to do all night?”
Her voice had switched from pleading to sensual invitation. He made one more token attempt at being noble. “Are you absolutely sure?”
“Yes.” Certainty strengthened the word, yet a moment later her gaze dropped to his chest. “I know it’ll probably hurt the first time, but I trust you.”
He tipped her head up with a knuckle under her chin. “We don’t have to do this tonight.”
Her eyes met his and conviction returned. “Do you realize in all our lifetimes I’ve died a virgin?”
He hadn’t considered that before, but she was right.
“I don’t want that to happen again. If everything ends tomorrow, I at least want to have tonight with you,” she implored.
Denial had him pulling her close for a protective hug. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I swear.”
“I know.” After a deep breath, she leaned back and her lips curved into the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen. “I love you, Ryan. And I want to know how it feels to love you body and soul.”
Emotion swelled in his chest, making it hard to breathe. This time, he took her face in his hands. “I love you, too.” The lump in his throat turned the declaration into a raspy whisper.
After another kiss that nearly wiped all coherent thought from his head, he managed to form a rational thought. “Give me a minute to put out the fire, and I’ll join you in the tent.”
Ryan took three minutes. One to replenish his oxygen-starved brain, one to douse the campfire, and the third to sprinkle a thin line of sea salt around the tent. His recent research claimed it was supposed to protect against evil spirits and demons, and while he knew Elizabeth was a witch not a demon, she was evil to the core, so he’d packed the salt. Now, considering he planned to be otherwise occupied for a good long while, he figured a fifty-fifty chance of it working was more than worth the effort.
When he crawled inside and saw Ali in the florescent lamplight, hands folded beneath her cheek on the pillow, a vision flashed in his head of Becca in the tent twenty-two years ago. Man, it was strange how all their lives had begun to blend together in his mind. In that instant, it hit home that the spiritual connection he’d sought earlier was tied to this woman, not this location.
He pulled the necklace from his pocket as he kneeled on the sleeping bag beside her. “Would you take this back?”
“Yes. And I’m so sorry I threw it at you. More than once over the past couple days I wished I hadn’t done that.”
“You don’t have to apologize.”
He leaned forward and held it out with both hands, indicating he’d put the necklace on for her again. She propped up on one elbow while lifting her hair from her neck. Under the covers he caught a glimpse of bare skin and blood surged straight to his groin.
“Are you naked already?”
Her cheeks turned r
ed in the light. “Yes.”
“Damn.” His fingers fumbled with the clasp.
“It seemed the easiest way. Too cold outside the bag and way too confined to maneuver with both of us inside.”
Necklace finally secured, he sat back on his heels, trailing the tip of his finger along the leather rope, down to where the purple crystal now nestled in the V of her breasts. “Tomorrow, when we get home, I want my turn. Piece by piece, I want to undress you. I want to see all of you and kiss every inch.”
Her breathing grew shallow, and her heart beat faster beneath his touch. He raised his gaze and she whispered, “Okay.”
After that, he wasted no time undressing and slipping into the flannel-quilted sleeping bag with her. She was right, the air was frigid outside, but oh so warm inside. He thought of sliding inside her and bit back a groan at the answering throb in his erection.
Start with a kiss, move on from there.
He leaned in for the kiss, and then slid closer until their bodies touched from chest to toe. Her soft skin and the heat of her body were a lethal combination. He’d never been so on the edge of control so soon. Thankfully, her own hesitant touches reminded him to go slow.
Hot, wet kisses to her neck made her sigh; his hand on her breast brought a breathless little gasp. He got another one when he lightly rolled her nipple between his thumb and forefinger while trailing kisses to the opposite breast. When he circled the rigid tip with his tongue, she moaned, and the first suck made her arch against his mouth.
“God, that feels good.”
She tensed when he slid his hand across her stomach and down between her thighs, but he caressed and massaged until she opened her legs for him. His breath caught when he realized how wet she was for him. It took everything he had not to move over and sink into her right then.
“The condoms are next to the pillow,” she said breathlessly.
“Not yet. You first.”
“What do you—oh!”
He slid his finger back and forth along her slick folds again and received a similar response. While he built the tempo and carried her toward the peak, she pulled his head down for the most erotic kiss he’d ever experienced. When she panted his name in the height of her release, he nearly came with her.
“Wow,” she breathed. “I’ve been missing out.”
He chuckled. “We’ll make up for it this time around. I promise.”
“Good.” She threaded her fingers through his chest hair, and then lightly pushed until he rolled onto his back. Soft touches explored his chest and she circled his flat nipples with a fingertip before moving lower. When she hesitated just shy of his erection, he held his breath.
“Can I…?”
“Please,” he practically begged. A shudder rippled through his body as her hand encircled him. He grit his teeth as she alternated light brushes with firm strokes.
“So soft, yet so hard,” she murmured. “I wondered when I saw you in the laundry room.”
Hearing she’d thought about him since seeing him naked almost put him over the edge. “Enough,” he rasped, grabbing for her hand.
“Sorry.” She glanced up at him through her lashes. “Are you…ready?”
“Hell, I’m almost finished,” he said with a groan that was supposed to be a laugh.
When she handed him a condom, he ripped it open and rolled it on before easing her onto her back. Positioning himself above her, he started all over with a long, slow, deep kiss. As their tongues twined together and their breath became one, he eased inside inch by inch.
His blood pounded and his arms trembled with the effort of holding back, until she lifted her hips to his in unspoken invitation. “I’m sorry,” he rasped before breaking through her virginity with one deep thrust.
Her eyes squeezed shut and he held still.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered again.
She opened her eyes and ordered, “Stop apologizing. I want you to feel as good as I did before.”
Her hips shifted beneath his, and then she lifted against him once more. And again. He captured her lips with a soft groan and accepted her incitement. He wasn’t sure how much pleasure she’d experience this first time, and yet when he climaxed, her muscles clenched around him and they hurtled over the edge together.
In that moment, their souls seared together in a way he’d never expected. An inner glow warmed him and brought peace, even as his heart struggled to return to normal. Wonder shone in Ali’s eyes as well. Then she smiled, and he saw her in each of their past lives.
“Why’d we wait so long to do that?”
* * * * *
Chapter 16
Ali woke in the morning with a cold nose, but the rest of her toasty warm, snuggled tight up against Ryan. She took a moment to breathe him in, thinking about the fact that he loved her, and how he’d loved her. Her body ached in places previously untouched, but she couldn’t wait for him to touch her again.
She became aware of the sound of the river outside, and every so often, the sound of a bird, or chatter of a squirrel. Beside her, Ryan stirred. His arm tightened across her stomach and drew her closer. She heard him inhale, felt his chest expand against her back, and then his sleep-roughened voice sounded in her ear.
“Good morning.”
God, she loved waking up to his voice. “Good morning.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Wonderful.” She shifted until she could see his face and laid her palm on his stubble-covered jaw. “Happy.”
“Me, too.” He leaned in and kissed her nose, then her mouth.
“I have something for us,” she told him as she reached above her head to feel inside her backpack. She withdrew the two amulets she’d ordered from the witchcraft website and showed them to Ryan. One eyebrow arched upward as he reached over and slid his hand behind the hanging figures so they rested in his palm.
In the face of his silence, Ali cringed, suddenly feeling like an immature idiot. “They’re cheesy, aren’t they?”
His brown gaze rose to hers. “Not at all. Where’d you get these?”
“From a witchcraft website.” Her explanation lilted at the end, so it came out more like a question. “They’re called Lover’s Embrace. They’re supposed to strengthen the connection between lovers. The actual description said they’re ‘intended to evoke the power and vision possessed by lovers alone.’”
Emotion darkened his eyes before his lips curved into a smile. “I think they’re perfect.”
He took one from her and slid it over her head to rest alongside the amethyst stone. After he lifted her hair so the leather cord lay against her skin, she placed the second one around his neck. She liked the look of the entwined figures, nestled in his light brown chest hair, and she covered the amulet with her palm. He leaned forward to kiss her again, but a growing need made her pull back. She hated to ruin the moment, but some things couldn’t wait.
“Um, nature calls, and I’m hungry.”
Ryan laughed and lay back. “Yeah, me, too.”
They hurried to dress in the cold air, and then went their separate ways outside the tent through about an inch of fresh, powdery snow. She avoided the river, though the sound of the water crashing against the rocks followed her into the woods. By the time she returned, smoke drifted skyward from the fire he’d started, but the campsite was empty.
“Ryan?”
No answer.
She warmed up by the fire for a minute before deciding to start breakfast. A thin, patchy line of melted snow encircling the tent made her pause. Her gaze swept the area, but she didn’t think much more of it as she knelt and crawled inside the tent to retrieve her pack. When she backed out and turned around, she froze in her tracks.
“Hello, Alianna.”
Her voice unfroze in her throat. “Liz.”
Ali scanned for Ryan before returning her gaze to where the witch stood on the opposite side of the fire. She was dressed in hiking boots, jeans, a thick gray turtleneck sweater and black p
added vest. A black scarf was draped casually around her neck, and like usual, she wore her long dark hair loose. Everything about her appeared completely normal—until one looked into her eyes. The unnatural glow in their blue depths conveyed pure hatred.
“How did you find us?” Ali asked.
“Your mother was very forthcoming.”
Ali absently noticed a surge of heat in her chest as she clenched her fists at her side. “You better not have hurt her.”
“All I need to handle your mother is a couple glasses of wine and a little memory spell. You on the other hand, will require a bit more creativity.”
Her pulse picked up speed, but she wasn’t about to show fear. “What, the river? Been there, done that. Real original, Aunt Liz.”
“But oh so effective,” she murmured.
“Not this time, Elizabeth.”
Ryan’s voice came from Ali’s left. She whipped her head around to see him emerge from a group of pine trees, one hand fisted on his chest.
Liz raised her hand, palm out. “Stay back.”
He slowed, but didn’t stop walking, advancing as if she held up a gun instead of just her hand. Ali took a step toward him.
“No, Ali, don’t move,” he ordered.
Liz laughed, a cackle worthy of a genuine witch. “Really, James? You think salt is going to stop me?”
Salt?
Liz shifted her blue gaze back to Ali. “It’s cute, really. He thinks he put a protective barrier around your tent.”
“She can’t touch you if you stay in the circle.”
Ali glanced down at the melted line two feet in front of her. Salt. She looked back up at Ryan and noticed the silver chain extending from his fist and around his neck. He’s holding the amulet, she realized. When their eyes met for a brief second, another burst of heat warmed her chest.
“Too bad the melting snow broke your trivial little circle.” Liz walked around the fire toward Ali. Ryan jumped forward to intercept her, but she thrust her open palm toward him and an invisible force threw him backward.
Ali cried out as he hit the ground. She rushed toward him, but Liz caught her first. Her hand clamped on Ali’s arm, fingers digging through the thickness of her winter coat. Ryan wasn’t moving, and Ali caught her breath, only to choke on a sob. Liz chanted something in a low tone as Ali clawed at her vice grip.