Embrace the Night

by Crystal Jordan

  “He’ll be all right.” Merek reached out to catch her hand.

  “I know. I’d know if he wasn’t.” She tapped a finger to her temple. “The voices in my head would tell me so.”

  His eyebrows arched. “That is an entirely disturbing mental image.”

  “Says the man who can see the end of days in his head. You can just leave my little voices alone, thank you very much.”

  He snorted. “Fair enough.”

  She shivered, pulled her hand away from his, and wrapped her arms around herself. Instinct, more than anything, drove her to her feet. Anxiety sliced through as the darkness deepened. She tried to reassure herself that there were other people close by. She could even see the faint flicker of distant campfires, but it wasn’t the reassuring bustle of a vibrant city.

  Distraction, that was what she needed, but reaching for Merek would only make him ask questions. His gray eyes already saw more than she’d like. After last night, he definitely understood something was wrong with her. He’d sense her desperation was for something far deeper than sex.

  Pathetic. Clingy. Needy.

  The last thing she wanted from any lover was pity, especially not from Merek. She winced and stepped further away from him and closer to the light of the fire, drawn like a moth to a flame. Her jaw tightened as she clenched her teeth. She’d done so much to conquer her fears, had come so far, but it took everything she had to move past the fire and toward the blackness of the rippling lake. Every step away from the brightness of the flames sounded like a death knell, though her feet hardly made a sound on the soft shore.

  She toed off her shoes and left them behind to let the chilly water lap around her feet. Making a quick decision, she stripped out of her clothes and tossed them toward her shoes. Then she waded into the lake until she could dive below the surface. It felt like a fist closed around her chest, it was so cold, but some defiant triumph burst within her. She was out here—she wasn’t huddled in terror beside the fire.

  Then the complete darkness of it punched through her minor victory, and she clawed her way to the surface, spinning in the water until she could see the dancing flames again, beckoning to her.

  “Chloe!” Merek stood on the shore outlined by the fire’s light, his arms crossed, his feet braced apart. “What are you doing?”

  Shoving her hair out of her eyes, she arched her eyebrows. “Uh . . . skinny-dipping?”

  Relief she hated herself for feeling exploded inside her, obliterating what was left of her triumph. Merek was here, and he would never let anything bad happen to her. She rolled her eyes in self-disgust at her weakness.

  “The lake has to be freezing.”

  She treaded water. “So come warm me up.”

  Shaking his head, he beckoned to her. “Come out of there, and I will.”

  “Chicken.” Feeling outrageously brave, she skimmed a hand across the top of the lake, sending water spraying in his direction.

  He snorted, but jerked his T-shirt over his head and dropped it to the ground where she’d tossed her things. The rest of his clothes joined the pile. The flickering light cast shadows on his bare skin as he moved. Gods, he was a beautiful man.

  His muscled legs flexed and stretched with every movement, and he was built like some great predatory cat. Huge and golden as a lion, his coloring only showcased by the amber firelight. Broad shoulders and heavy pecs tapered to a hard slab of a stomach and narrow flanks. Her gaze caught there and went no further. His cock stood in a hard arc, and her entire body clenched with want.

  Every single sense she had focused on him, and even the uneasiness in the pit of her belly at the deepening night faded before the sensations he generated within her. It was unnerving that anything could hold that fear at bay, but then he towed her through the water and into his arms and nothing else mattered.

  A wave of warmth enveloped her, as shocking as the cold had been when she’d entered the lake, and she gasped. “You used a heating spell on the water. That’s cheating.”

  “Hell, yes. It’s fucking cold in here.” He hauled her closer until she was plastered against him, his erection prodding her belly. “I don’t make a habit of icing down my cock right before I put it in a woman.”

  A shriek of laughter ripped from her. She buried her face in his neck, giggles bubbling out of her for several moments before she could speak. “Oh, wow. That’s so romantic.”

  “It’s more romantic than a case of the wilts, I promise.” He shifted his stance, and it was then she realized he was standing, tall enough to touch the bottom of the lake.

  “That’s still cheating.” She nipped at his throat, sucking his flesh while she held it between her teeth.

  “Yeah, well. I’m a warlock, honey, not Superman.” He thrust himself against her, long and hard and so hot it made her want to whimper. “I work with what I’ve got.”

  “You have more than enough. Share.”

  He snickered, but his broad palms cupped her bottom, lifting her into his hard length. The play of all those muscles against her skin, the rush of water around them, pressing them together, was incredibly erotic.

  She twined her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. Just opening herself for him made her heart trip and then pound in her chest. Her nipples rasped against the soft hair on his chest, and she rubbed her breasts against him to increase the stimulation. Her breath sped to shallow pants, and she could feel his breath brushing over her lips. She had to taste him, needed that honey flavor filling her mouth.

  Flicking out her tongue, she ran it along his bottom lip, pressing for entrance. He groaned, letting her take his mouth, tangling his tongue with hers, while his hands moved over her back and buttocks. His fingers dipped between the globes of her ass, parting the cheeks so that water swirled in to caress her heated flesh.

  Excitement blasted through her when his fingertips followed the water, teasing her anus until she shuddered and pushed back against his probing touch. She wanted. Oh, gods, she wanted. She ripped her mouth from his, throwing her head back to gasp for air. His finger slid deeper inside her, stroking her rear passage.

  “Merek,” she pleaded. She didn’t even know for what. Her hips rocked against him, blindly seeking more of him. All of him.

  “I’m going to fuck you here,” he whispered, sucking kisses down her neck. “Not tonight, but soon.”

  Then he bit her throat, and her body flashed over into orgasm. She sobbed, arching as spasms rocked through her. Her pussy fisted on nothingness as his finger worked her anus, thrusting deep and fast. The water around them began to steam and hiss as her magic exploded into boiling heat. “Please, Merek.”

  “That didn’t please you?” He licked the spot he’d bitten, his voice teasing and warm. His cool breath against her damp flesh made her shiver, her nipples tighten even further.

  “You know it did.” She closed her eyes and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. His flavor was still there, lingering on her swollen mouth. Her sex clenched, her needs not quite satisfied. “I want you inside me.”

  His finger moved within her ass, stretching her even further. “I am inside you.”

  “You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?” She pinched his shoulder when he hummed an agreement. “Fine. I want your cock in my pussy.” She grinned and writhed against him in a way that made him groan, but also made wicked heat flood her system. Teasing him meant teasing herself. Her voice dropped to a low purr. “I want you inside me. Both ways. I want you to make me come for you, make me squeeze your cock so tight you can’t even think. I want you to make it so good for me, I forget my own name.”

  “Fuck, Chloe.” He lifted her so she could take his cock inside her, but she could feel how his body shook in reaction to what she’d said. It was heady, knowing she could make this big, powerful warlock shudder with want. For her and only her.

  Sliding her hands into his hair, she pulled his head back so she could kiss him again. He arched his hips, pressing slowly into her p
ussy, and she moaned at how good it felt. Inch by inch, his thickness stretched her walls to their limit. Sweat slipped down her flesh until it reached the waterline; the cool night air combined with the heated lake made her shudder at the contrast. Even the magic warming the water around them was nothing compared to the white-hot need they generated between them.

  He rocked into her, and she sighed into his mouth, twining her tongue with his. The kiss went wild in moments, and they bit and sucked at each other’s mouths in their urgency. Their breaths were mere gulps of air as their lips clung, fed from each other.

  Her legs tightened around his hips, giving her leverage to lift and lower herself on his cock. His finger pushed deeper into her ass, rubbing his thrusting cock through the thin layer of flesh separating them. The sensation was incredible . . . and then he used magic. The spell was wicked, dark with passion. It sizzled along her nerves, sparking from his penetrating fingertip. Her breath seized as it hit her, dragged her into a place where there was nothing but this moment with him, his hands, his mouth, his cock.

  Power fizzed through her, their energies blending, merging until they were one, locked together in a search for surcease. The water swirled around them and between them, sealed them together, growing hotter and hotter as it caressed their skin. She could feel his desire, how every plunge into her made his control of his magic slip a little. She fed her own needs back to him, the way tingles raced down her flesh, the way she couldn’t hold back the pleasure spells. Fire and ecstasy, fueled by their bodies and their magic, whipped the lake into a whirlpool around them. It surged as they did, caught in the storm with them.

  The muscles in her legs strained as she clung to him, rode him as fast as she could. He growled deep in his throat and plunged into her, his cock, his finger, taking all of her. She screamed into his mouth, her back bowing as she came. Her nerves convulsed, her sex pulsing around him as pleasure rocketed through her. His pleasure, her pleasure. It became one, dark and hot and greedy, consuming them. His come flooded her pussy, and she flexed around his cock, milking him until they both cried out. She tried to pull her mouth from his, tried to sob, but his free hand wrapped in her hair, holding her to him, plunging his tongue between her lips. Arching helplessly, she fisted around his thrusting cock again and again, moaning against his mouth, her sex so sensitized she came each time he entered her.

  She collapsed in his arms, boneless. If he hadn’t tightened his hold on her, she’d have gone under. He gathered her close, kissed her forehead, and carried her up to the shore. Sagging to his knees as they cleared the water, he groaned, the sound of a man barely conscious.

  “Can you think?” she gasped.

  “Nope.” He chuckled. “Do you remember your name?”

  “Nuh-uh.” She sighed, shivering as a stiff breeze chilled her. Pushing out of his embrace, she went to their discarded clothing to get something to cover herself. Twitching her fingers, she warmed the air, sent it in a swift flow to encase Merek as well.

  “Nice,” he said.

  Joining her at their tangled pile of clothes, he bent and scooped up two items, reaching over to hand her one of them.

  She blinked down at what he’d given her, then shot him a grin. “Two towels? You knew you were coming in before you even—”

  “Yeah, so?” He rubbed the terry cloth over himself swiftly, then reached for his shorts.

  Following his lead, she scrubbed the water from her skin, then wrapped the towel around her wet hair. “Why’d you tell me to get out, then?”

  “Because it’s freezing in there, and it wasn’t until I hit the water that I thought to use a heating spell. Before that I was hoping I wouldn’t have to come in after you, but this is you we’re talking about.”

  She grinned, shook the sand from her clothes, stuffed herself into them and her shoes, and hurried for the fire. The apprehension she’d never quite rid herself of came back with sudden force without the distraction of sex. She tossed another log on the fire, using magic to speed the burn, and soon golden light poured over their campsite.

  “Where’s the big lantern?” She plopped down on a tree stump on one side of the blaze while Merek sat opposite her on a giant log.

  “I took it into the tepee so I could get the towels.”

  “Ah.” After that, a companionable silence stretched between them, punctuated only by the pop and crackle of the sputtering flames.

  He sighed, lifted his gaze to the sky, and smiled. “They’re beautiful, aren’t they?”

  Squinting upward, she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. “The stars?”

  “Yeah, you don’t see them this clearly in the city. Too much light.”

  She craved all that light with a suddenness that made her shake. An ocean of streetlamps and taillights and glowing windows. People. Thousands of people around her, and lots of lights. Electricity and all the other conveniences right down the block. Restaurants that delivered. Cell phones and e-mail and all kinds of ways to get in touch with people.

  “I’ll take the city any day, thanks.” She tried to keep her voice teasing, but knew he saw too much, as usual.

  When she met his gaze, his expression had sobered. “Will you tell me about it?”

  Because the question was gentle rather than accusing, she found she couldn’t pretend to misunderstand him. She closed her eyes and tugged the towel away from her hair. “What do you want to know, exactly?”

  “Everything.”

  She flinched a little. Everything. No one really wanted everything. She had way too much baggage to ever dump it all on any one person. A soft breeze stirred, and it chilled her damp hair. She’d been wet that day, too. And cold. So damn cold.

  “I know something bad happened, sweetheart.”

  Of course. Why else would a grown woman be scared enough of the dark, she still needed a night-light? Hot tears of shame pricked her eyes, and she blinked them back. She’d come to terms with her fears and what she could and couldn’t deal with years ago. This trip stomped on all her shiny red buttons, but that didn’t change anything.

  A sigh eased passed her lips. “I was seven years old.... No, wait. You’re going to need some family history. You know I’m half-Normal, and that my grandfather disowned my dad for marrying my mom, but you don’t know that they had to run away to escape from Grandfather Standish’s vengeance. He tried to ruin Dad’s career so he’d come begging for family handouts. Dad was a doctor, you know.”

  “Like you.” His voice was low; obviously he wasn’t intending to rush her. She had a feeling he’d sit there and listen for as long as she wanted to talk. It was as sweet as it was scary.

  She shook her head. “No, he was a practicing physician. A country doctor. He and Mom escaped to Montana, out in the middle of nowhere, like fifteen miles from the nearest town.” Magickals either lost themselves in the anonymity of a sprawling metropolis, where anything odd a stranger did would be written off and dismissed, or they lived in the boonies, where they didn’t interact with people often enough for them to notice anything odd. “The people in town thought he was just into homeopathic medicine with his herbal remedies, but he could make them better, and they didn’t ask questions besides that.” A faint smile curved her lips. “He used to let me help grind the herbs and mix them.”

  “Potions.”

  “Yeah, I inherited the knack from him.” Her smile widened, then faded just as quickly. “He passed away when I was five. He got hit by a drunk driver going around a blind curve at over a hundred miles an hour. Magic can’t always save you, you know?”

  “Yeah. My parents died in a car crash, too. They were gone before anything could save them.”

  She nodded. “They said Dad died instantly. I hope so.”

  He swore softly, leaning toward her, but not leaving his seat, as though he understood she’d never get through this story without breaking down if he held her in his arms and comforted her. “I’m sorry, Chloe.”

  “I . . . felt it when he passed away. T
hat was the first time my precognition presented itself.” Her voice went almost clinical, a doctor diagnosing. She swallowed, feeling like anything but a level-headed scientist. “My little voices warning of bad things coming.”

  “Sweetheart . . .”

  She shook her head, staring into the fire as she started the worst of it. Her hands balled into knots to hide the way they started to tremble. “They didn’t warn me the day my mom died. Or, if they did, I don’t remember it. Maybe I didn’t pay attention. I didn’t know anything about magic, then. Not really. By the time I was seven, my dad was already sort of . . . fuzzy . . . in my head. The stories Mom told about him sounded like fairy tales from the books she read to me at night.” She held her hands out toward the flames, wishing the warmth could seep inside her, but she felt the ice freezing her very soul. “I think maybe Mom thought I was Normal like her because I hadn’t done anything like my dad could do.”

  “You didn’t tell her about the voices when your dad died?”

  “No. I didn’t know what they were, what they meant. Not until years later.” Not until Millie had told her. By then it was too late. Far too late for any of them.

  “How did she die?”

  Such a simple question, and such a complicated answer. “There was a storm. A massive storm. It knocked out our electricity and phone lines, washed out the roads, made mud slide down the mountains, and left us totally stranded.” She pulled in a slow, deep breath. “So, when Mom slipped and cut herself while she was chopping some kindling, there was no way to get help.” Her laugh was dry, painful. “If I’d known then what I know now, if Dad had still been alive, my mom wouldn’t be dead. But there was just so much blood, and it happened so fast, she was gone before I really understood what was going on.”

  And she’d been alone with a dead body that used to belong to her mother. She didn’t tell Merek how she’d huddled in the corner of their living room, too scared of the blank, staring eyes of that corpse to move. How she’d vomited at the smell. How she’d sobbed until there were no more tears left, but she was trapped for two more days until the storm passed.