“He’s not that bad, Sophia. I think he’s just misunderstood.”
“You’ve got a lot to learn about life if you think a dark angel is misunderstood. Do you realize he could zap you with his magic and you won’t exist anymore?”
Mona waved her comment away. “Don’t be silly. He just needs to spend some time with better role models.”
“Promise me you won’t disturb Sterling further.” Sophia ushered her friend down the hallway that held the mini-galaxies. “I’ve got enough on my plate worrying about Xavier. I don’t need your drama, too. Which leads me into my next question. Why are you hiding in the Mortal Realm?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Fair enough.” Sophia sighed. “Just don’t get into any more trouble. I’m kinda busy with Xavier’s issues.” Even more so now.
When they stumbled through the Portal into the guest bedroom, Xavier rushed to Sophia’s side and gathered her into his arms with a low growl.
“Tell me—”
She held up a hand. “So help me, the rain better slack off by tomorrow morning because if we don’t find that damn rainbow soon, I’m going to run away.”
Chapter Nineteen
Werewolves are often portrayed as beasts of great strength, who also possess acute nocturnal vision, increased sense of smell, are immune from aging and from most physical diseases due to the constant regeneration of their physical tissue. However, when they return to human form they are subjected to the same mortality as regular human beings. There are some schools of thought that state the werewolf retains enough knowledge to assist his killing, recognition of victims and evasion of traps being among its skills.
Shortly after dawn the next morning, Sophia’s patience with the werewolf snapped. “Let’s face it, we’re lost.” She glanced through the rain dotted windshield. For miles around the only thing she could see were empty fields filled with the detritus of dried cornstalks and soybean plants. “I thought you said you knew where we were going.” She refused to think of its origin as she fought with a useless road map, not having the energy to figure out how to refold it. “To hell with it.” She wadded up the map and crammed it into the glove compartment.
“I know exactly where we are.” Xavier’s lips twitched with the beginnings of a grin. “And might I say what a lovely mood you’re in this morning.” When the smile finally broke, it was a very wolfish affair.
“Shut up.” She sank into her seat and crossed her arms over her chest like a recalcitrant toddler. “Perhaps you’d care to enlighten me on our location, or would you rather sit here for another pointless thirty minutes?” The chilly air, coupled with the damp, made it downright uncomfortable. She shivered, regretting her choice of thin button down shirt and knee-length denim skirt. She looked askance at his side of the car. “Why don’t you close your window?”
“I like the fresh air, and all the experts agree that spending quality time with a loved one is beneficial to the relationship.”
An eager expression appeared on his face as a flock of geese flew over the car. “You should’ve eaten before we left. I don’t feel sorry for you if you’re hungry.”
“I’m not hungry—at least not for food.”
Sophia’s cheeks flamed at his implication while her stomach fluttered as a host of butterflies awoke. Another round of hot, steamy sex with the werewolf would definitely pass the time. She ignored the thought. “Where are we?”
“I’m certain the rainbow’s end is around this general vicinity.” He leaned over the middle console to brush a lock of hair over her shoulder. “As for your creature comforts, well, I can fix that.”
Pinpricks of excitement pulsed through her at the touch of his fingers. She craved him as a carnivore craves meat. “Oh, I have no doubt about that, but put your libido on hold. We have work to do.” She put up a hand to fend off his impending advances. “Don’t you want to finish this potion?”
He grasped her hand, rubbed his goatee against the palm before releasing it. “Of course I do, but unlike the other men of your acquaintance, I can multitask.”
“How? You’re not doing anything except annoying me.” He pushed his seat back as far it would go. “The sun hasn’t come out to form a rainbow, so we’re really just wasting time.” One minute Sophia sat in the passenger side of his elegant silver sports coupe, the next she straddled him in the driver’s seat, her face inches from his with her skirt bunched around her thighs. “What are you doing?”
“Passing the time.” Xavier ran a finger along her cheek. “You said yourself there wasn’t sufficient amusement here, and it looks like you’re cold.” He brushed his thumbs over the hardened peaks of her nipples sending waves of pleasure straight to her core. “Or you’re aroused, either way, the outcome will be the same.”
A shiver of desire raced down her spine, mingled with the edginess already in her body to cause a slow smolder. “But we’re on a road. What if someone needs to get through?” She wriggled on his lap as tiny flames licked at her nerve endings. He tightened his grip on her waist. “We’re in public.”
He made an exaggerated show of glancing through each window. “It appears no one else is around, unless you count the few cows in the field over there.” His lips whispered over her neck. “Will there be too many more excuses? You know what your nearness does to me.”
“No, no more.” With slow deliberation, Sophia licked her lips, grinning when his eyes darkened to a rich honey color. “I’m tired of living my life covered in excuses.” She leaned forward and kissed him, angling her mouth over his so she could gently bite his bottom lip. “I want to live. If that means I’ll have to be a Gargoyle then so be it, but at least I’ll still have you, right?” A niggle of doubt crept into her mind. “You won’t leave after you turn into a human?” She stared at him over the tops of her glasses.
“Absolutely not.” His growl filled the cozy interior of the car and quaked through her chest. He ran his hands over her thighs and under her skirt. “How many times do I need to tell you I’ll never abandon you?” He gripped her hips and pulled her tighter against his chest. “You’re mine, Sophia, for as long as we have together.”
As her eyes filled with tears, she buried her face in the crook of his shoulder. “I don’t deserve you.” A sob escaped, surprising in its intensity. “Sterling wants me to bring you and the potion to him before you can drink it. He offered to let me work in the Realm of my choice for any employer in exchange.” She lifted her head and met his gaze. “He’s never given me that sort of freedom before.”
“Sweetie, listen to me.” Xavier caught her face between his hands as his gaze bored into hers, freezing her with their golden light. “We’ll get through this the same way we made it through everything else. Sterling only has power over you if you let him have it. Please don’t worry.” He wiped away her tears. “Better?”
“Yes.” She walked restless fingers down his chest. The brown cashmere of his sweater was soft to the touch and invited further exploration. “Now, do you plan to keep talking or did you have something else in mind?”
“What do you think?” He claimed her lips in a hard kiss, plunging his tongue into her mouth as if searching for treasure. Sophia kneaded his shoulders in her attempt for closeness but he wrenched his lips from hers. “Lean back for me. There, that’s perfect.” He grazed a nipple with his teeth through the thin cotton of her shirt. “I should have brought the SUV. I cannot ravish you to my liking without a proper back seat.” He slipped his hands under her shirt to further torment the sensitive buds.
“I’m sure you’ll manage.” She shifted on his lap as his arousal made its presence known. Leaning into him to better blaze a heated path over his jaw to his throat, she teased his Adam’s apple with her lips.
“Smart girl.” He pushed up her shirt, shoving the bra with it then took one hardened bud into his mouth, swirling his tongue around it. “How bad do you want it?”
“You’ll have to do better than that, werewolf.” Not for al
l the magic in the realms would she admit to nearly being on fire from his touch. She squirmed on his lap, succeeding in making his erection strain against his jeans. Desire twisted through her body. She needed to touch him. “I’m not some inexperienced girl you can take to bed with just one touch or—” Her breath caught as his hand disappeared under her skirt and he shoved the crotch of her panties aside. “What the hell?”
“Don’t issue a challenge if you cannot back it up.” His laugh changed into a growl when he slipped a finger into her heat, stroking, and drawing out her moisture. “Is this what you had in mind or would you like higher stakes?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Sophia could barely think let alone concentrate on forming words. Shivers coursed over her skin to blend with the inferno he’d already created to form a thunderstorm of desire. When he added a second finger, she lifted her hips to allow him greater access. “Xavier.”
“Sorry, did you want something?” His golden eyes darkened, his pupils dilated with need while he pumped his fingers in and out of her core. “Because if you did, I didn’t hear you.”
“Oh, geez.” When Xavier pinched the tiny bundle of nerves, and rubbed his thumb over it, Sophia dug her fingernails into his shoulders. Flames of need burned her skin, consumed every inch of her body in response to his busy fingers. “I’m going to…oh yes, right there…no don’t stop…oh hell. Ah!” She slumped against his chest as strong ripples of pleasure ebbed out from her very soul, tingled through every nerve ending, made her eyes cross until she thought she’d catch fire and blow away in the chilly breeze.
“That’s my girl.” A supremely masculine chuckle issued from him. “I’m not finished though.” He nudged her back toward the steering wheel. “Ready?”
“Yes.” Shaking and tired from her release, Sophia batted his hands away from his fly then undid the button to his jeans, tugging the zipper down. His hard, rampant length sprang into her waiting hands with no stitch of underwear in sight. “Commando, really?” She stroked his velvety soft member, teased the rounded head until he groaned and gripped her hips grinding her against him.
“For the moment, yes.” His eyes sparkled as he slid her panties down her thighs. “You have to admit it’s quite convenient.”
Before she could answer, the werewolf raised her up and impaled her. Sophia gasped, repositioned her hips, amazed at the fullness within her. “Show me what you’re made of, lover.”
That was all the encouragement he needed. With one last savage kiss, Xavier thrust up into her. Sophia pushed down each time he moved. Their bodies met with the warm slap of flesh, pounding with vigor, until he dug his fingers into her hips, driving her down as he shoved into her once more. With a little cry, she slipped over the edge of reality with the force and sensations of jumping out of an airplane and sagged into his chest. He fell into his own release seconds later with her name on his lips.
“Werewolf, you’ll be the death of me.” Tiny spikes of pleasure darted in and around her body to lull her into a fuzzy haze. “I think I may be addicted.”
His arousal pulsed. “That, my dear, is the best news I’ve heard all week.” The soft hair of his goatee tickled her neck as he nuzzled her there.
Her bubble of well-being burst at the sudden blast of loud mooing in the car. “Ack!” As an explosion of moist air warmed her ear, she attempted to climb over Xavier’s chest.
“What the hell?” He dumped her onto the passenger side of the car. “I believe you’ve succeeded in making me deaf with your squawking.” He sent her a rueful glance before turning his attention to the brown bovine head that poked through the driver’s side window. “I must warn you that cattle are a favorite snack of mine.” He bared his teeth in a grin then touched the cow’s nose with an elegant forefinger. “You’ll be a very tasty meal indeed.”
With another loud moo, the cow showed the whites of her eyes in obvious terror then bolted away to join her two other companions on the road.
“You didn’t have to scare her.” Sophia readjusted her clothing. “She probably was just curious.”
“Yes, but how long had she been standing there?” With care, he tucked himself into his jeans and zipped up. “How does it feel to be an exhibitionist for a bunch of cattle?”
“Kinda creepy.” Glad for the cool air that chilled her skin, Sophia smiled. “Can we do it again?” She wasn’t joking when she told him she was addicted. She’d much rather spend the day in bed with him than be stuck in the middle of nowhere with cows and rain.
“Not for a little while. I’m not a young man anymore.” He leaned over the middle console and grasped her hand. “After the festival, will you move in with me?”
Unexplainable sadness crept over her, battling with the licks of joy that he’d asked instead of ordered. “I don’t know. We’ll have to see what happens with Sterling.” She stared out the windshield. The little herd of cows headed slowly their way. “You may not want to be with me after…everything.”
“I have no doubts the results of the potion will be true. I’ll become human, your birthright will be thrown out, and then you and I will be free to live our days stress free.” He jammed a hand on the steering wheel. The sharp blast of the horn interrupted the idyllic silence, but the cows didn’t budge. They merely lifted their brown heads, blinked, and went back to standing in the road.
“And if I decide to relocate to another realm and work?”
“Then I’ll follow wherever you go.”
Tears stung her eyes. She blinked them away. “What if things don’t go according to plan?” As much as her feelings for him grew and evolved into love, her constant fear was that he’d abandon her once he gained his humanity, or worse yet, if she turned him over to Sterling, he’d lash out in anger and leave her to her fate.
Either way, Sophia was terrified she’d have to reconcile to an existence without him. Words of love or even commitment hadn’t been exchanged between them. Would they have the chance?
“Xavier?” She needed him to say something.
“I’m not a fortune teller, Sophia. I cannot assume to know what you will or will not do, but I can tell you this. There are far too many decisions to be made in the next two days. Whatever happens, it’ll be as Fate has decreed. You cannot thwart destiny. It’ll arrive when it is supposed to, whether we want it to or not.” The leather of his seat creaked as he shifted. “Let’s go.”
“Go where?”
“The end of the rainbow.” He leaned on the horn again then growled when the three cows didn’t move. “It seems we’ll need to walk since your bovine friends remain stubborn.”
“Okay.” She slipped her cell phone into a pocket of her blazer then stowed her purse under the seat. She followed him out of the car while he held open her door.
The drizzle let up and in its place came weak sunlight. “I don’t see anything yet.” Shoving her glasses into place, she squinted. “Oh, oh, look there!”
Barely visible, about a quarter of a mile in the distance, a rainbow sliced through the clouds to meet the soggy ground. She always thought the rainbow’s end was a myth. “Do you think there’ll be gold or maybe a leprechaun?”
Xavier scoffed. “What kind of stories did you read as a child?” He laced his fingers through hers and tugged her in the direction of the bovine crew. “I can assure you there will be no gold. The world simply doesn’t work like that.”
Chapter Twenty
Xavier grinned when Sophia patted the head of each of the cows they passed.
One bovine acolyte decided it wanted to be with her and followed along behind. Every time he looked at his mate, he saw a new facet to her personality, but what he admired most was her gentleness of spirit. She honestly cared for all beings that were incapable of caring for or looking after themselves. The knowledge made his heart lurch painfully.
As much as they belonged together, he feared Fate still held a wild card and would cast more obstacles in his path before he could rightfully claim her.
>
“Poor thing. I think she’s lonely.” A pretty blush colored Sophia’s cheeks when she met his gaze. “Can we let her come with us, at least for a while?”
“She’s a cow, not a pet.” His rumble of laughter floated on the chilly air. “It would be in the cow’s interest if you’d find a way to tell her to stop following you.”
“What do you mean?”
“The best she can hope for is to live out her days in this field, but I suspect she and her sisters will grace the tables at a nearby steakhouse soon. Or, if it would set your mind at ease, I could make her death quick and painless…” Of course, he wouldn’t eat as a wolf in front of her, but he couldn’t resist the opportunity for teasing.
“You’ll do no such thing.” She turned and faced the one brown cow whose long-lashed eyes steadily regarded her. “Listen, I know you think I’m probably your friend.” She stared into the trusting brown face. “At any other time I’d love to shoot the breeze with you, but I’m kinda busy today.”
The cow remained silent.
When Xavier snickered, Sophia shot him a dark look. “I’ll handle it.” Squatting down, she said into the cow’s ear, “I didn’t want to tell you this, but that man over there is a werewolf. He’ll eat you and your sisters without a second thought. So please, I beg you, stay here. I promise if you do this one thing for me, I’ll find you a great home with all the grass you can eat.”
The cow continued to stare, occasionally chewing her cud.
“Sophia, we need to leave.” He slipped an arm around her shoulders. “If you’d like, I’ll buy a field you can populate with all the cows you want.”
“You’d really do that for me?”
“Yes, and more. I’m incapable of denying you anything, cows and all.”
“I’ll hold you to it but this is what you get for teasing me.” She pinched his arm then squeaked as he grasped her hips and drew her against him. “What are you doing?”
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