Even when it was over, no one came for them. No one knew they needed help. No one cared.
“I went for help, but the storm had washed away trees and rocks, so the landmarks were all wrong. I got lost. When night came, it was pitch black because there were still too many clouds to see the stars. It was so dark, and I was so alone.” Over and over again, she’d gotten lost in the gloom of that alien landscape. For as long as she lived, she’d never forget the utter sense of aloneness, of isolation. Her stomach turned, but she forced back the nausea. “Ophelia found me there.”
“Ophelia was in the woods?” The question, quiet as it was, startled her back into reality. For a few moments she’d been so lost in the telling, she’d forgotten he was there.
She cleared her throat. “Yeah. She doesn’t like the wilderness any more than I do. I don’t know how or why a Siamese purebred familiar got all the way out there. All I know is there was a bear, and I got between it and its cub by accident. It was going to tear me apart.” She snorted, shook her head, and smiled. “Then there was this mangy, half-starved cat attacking the hell out of that bear’s face while I ran.”
“Suicidal cat.” But his tone was almost admiring.
“Yeah, well. I named her that for a reason. She caught up with me after she was done with the bear, and she’s been with me ever since.” Chloe rubbed her nose, remembering the freezing cold at night, the meager warmth of Ophelia’s skinny body as they curled together in the blackness. The hunger and terror.
Those details she kept to herself. There was only so much she could strip bare for anyone. No one really wanted everything. She picked up a twig and spun it between her fingers. “It took me another two days to make it to town and another week for them to track down my next of kin.”
Both she and her familiar had been malnourished and dehydrated when they’d staggered into the sheriff’s department. Chloe had almost thought it was a delusion, finally reaching light and warmth and people. People with food and water.
“Millie came and claimed you.”
“She did.”
“And you’ve been in Seattle ever since.”
“No, I went away to college and med school. I didn’t come back until I did my residency.” She’d had to get away or she’d known she’d never be able to. For years, she’d had nightmares, terrified of being alone in the darkness. She’d clung to Millie like the lifeline to sanity she’d been for a broken young girl. It would have been too easy to let her aunt shelter her, coddle her, protect her from life, but she’d never have been a whole person. The thought of needing anyone as much as she’d needed Millie then still had the power to terrify her.
She’d had to prove to herself she could be alone, that she could cope with the night, even if it meant sleeping with a lamp turned on or getting up to stare at the millions of twinkling lights of the city around her to remind herself she was not lost in the woods anymore.
She’d made her own way, such as it was.
Merek stood up and walked around to her side of the dwindling campfire. “You’ve always been in big cities since then though? Until now?”
A smile twisted her lips. “Yeah, I’m a wimp like that. City girl all the way with my cute clothes and nightclubs, like you said. Los Angeles and New York for school. I did a year of foreign exchange in London.” She shrugged, looked away. “Lots of people and lots of light, even at night.”
His hand appeared in her line of vision, his fingers offered in invitation. “Come on.”
“I think I just want to sit here for a while.” She felt... drained. Emptied out after telling him all that she had. As if she had nothing left.
He just reached down and scooped her up to carry her to bed. She stiffened for a moment, wrapped her arms around his neck for balance, but then went limp against him. He felt so good, so warm when she was frozen inside. She wanted to tell herself it was the dip in the icy lake, but she hadn’t the energy left to lie to herself. For once, she didn’t want to be brave. She wanted to let him hold her and make her feel safe in this nightmare she was reliving, but she couldn’t.
With Alex sharing their “room” tonight, she was sleeping alone. Best get back to sucking it up like a big girl and dealing with the darkness. She’d done it for years, and the last thing a man like Merek needed was a clingy woman. The last thing she wanted was to be that kind of woman.
She’d stand on her own two feet, no matter how much it scared her.
Gods, seven years old. Merek shook his head. She’d been just a baby. Emotion he didn’t want to feel, let alone put a name to, banded so tight around his chest he couldn’t breathe. He swallowed hard; he didn’t ever want to put her down, wanted to make sure she never went through anything like that again.
And yet she was already going through it again. Voluntarily. For Alex. So he could be safe for his full moon Change.
Merek closed his eyes for a moment, feeling that band tighten. He’d seen a lot of shit in his life, had been through more than his fair share, but it made his hands shake to think of anything else happening to her, even with his intimate knowledge of just how many things could go wrong for people.
All he could do tonight was make damn sure that she didn’t have to be alone in the dark. Hell, if that was the worst of the fears she’d come out of all of that with—he shook his head again. He’d thought it was the worry and maybe nightmares from being tortured that kept her awake at night, but now he wasn’t so sure. Maybe it was all of those things, but he’d never met a stronger person in his life. She humbled him.
“I don’t need to be carried, Merek. I can stand.” She wriggled to try to get down when they got inside the tepee.
He tightened his arms and kissed her forehead, savoring the feel of her against him, vital and alive. It so easily could have been different. He could so easily have missed out on the chance of ever knowing her. The thought hit him like a blow. “I can’t stay with you tonight, but you don’t have to go to sleep alone. We have some time before Alex gets back from his nocturnal activities.”
A breathy laugh escaped her. “Nocturnal activities, huh? Is that what they call it these days?”
“That’s right.” He let her feet slide to the floor, but kept her snug against him, so she was still on her tiptoes with her fingers linked behind his neck.
She glanced at her sleeping bag and then back up at him. “So you’re just planning to lie there and hold me until I fall asleep?”
“Yep.” He dropped his forehead to hers and dragged in her feminine scent, grateful beyond words that she was here with him, that she was the person she was. Unstoppable force of nature, and he wouldn’t have it any other way, even when she made him crazy.
“I won’t want you just to hold me if we’re that close and in a horizontal position.”
He closed his eyes and ran his hands up and down her back, a laugh straggling out of him as his body had a predictable reaction to her words. “Whatever you need, sweetheart.”
“Nocturnal activities, I think.” And then she pulled him down for a kiss.
It was like setting a match to a powder keg. All the emotions roiling around inside him suddenly had a focus, somewhere to go. The relief was so sharp it almost drove him to his knees.
He wanted to go slow, wanted to be gentle, to show her how he’d come to cherish her. Hell, he wanted to be in control enough to do any of those things. Instead, he jerked at her shirt, wrenching it over her head. He didn’t even bother to remove her bra before he latched onto her nipple. He sucked her through the lace, used the fabric to stimulate her to a thrusting little nub. His fingers offered the same rough treatment to her other nipple, and she squealed when he bit her lightly.
“Merek!” Her fingers splayed over his chest, moved down his T-shirt to his pants, and she fumbled with his fly. Her hand on his cock was enough to make him wild, lust eating away at his restraint. He divested them both of their clothing in short order and dragged her down to her sleeping bag.
He jerked her
thighs wide, and thrust himself deep inside her. She hissed between her teeth, not quite wet enough for his entry to be easy. He shuddered and buried his face in the crook of her neck, a low groan ripping from his throat. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t wait.”
She stroked her hands down his back, turning her head to kiss his ear. “Then you’d better make it up to me.”
A chuckle slipped out, and he lifted his head to look down at her. “Would two or three orgasms before I get to come be penance enough?”
She sniffed. “Three.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Good.” Humor glinted in her eyes, the shifting kaleidoscope of greens and browns, blues and golds, all the clearer from this close.
He licked his fingertips, lifting his torso to be able to reach between them. Stroking his damp fingers over her clit made her gasp and writhe, which forced his cock even deeper inside her. They both groaned, but he continued toying with her while her flesh grew wetter, her muscles flexing around his shaft. She squirmed beneath him, the gold flecks in her eyes glowing with magic.
“Do you want me to use spells, or should we do this the old-fashioned way?” He let his fingertips circle her clit with slow, deliberate promise, so she’d know exactly what she was in for.
She lifted her hips into his caress. “Is that really a question?”
Chuckling, he let a spell vibrate down his arm and out through his hand. Her eyes went wide, and she screamed, arching as she came for him, her pussy fisting around him. A wave of her magic hit him, skated over his skin, and lodged in his belly, a slow fire that made his cock jerk. He had to grit his teeth and run through police procedure in his mind to keep from coming with her.
“That’s one,” he said when he could speak again. Sliding out of her made him groan, but he knew he wouldn’t last if he stayed inside her for her next orgasm.
Kissing his way down her torso, he let his tongue flick out to taste each plush nipple in turn. They tightened for him, darkening to a deep raspberry. He sucked one hard, and his fingers plucked and twisted the other. Sending a light shock from the tip of his tongue made her jolt and squeal. Her thighs closed around one of his, and she rubbed herself against him.
He grinned, kissed his way upward to lick her throat, and sent a swift tingle to her from every inch of skin that touched her. She shivered, gooseflesh breaking out. Working her with his thigh, he rocked against her pelvis until she gasped his name in his ear, nipped at his shoulder, and sucked on his earlobe. “Please, Merek. I’m going to come again. Please.”
He rode her clit with his leg, flexing the muscles until they burned with the strain. Her nails raked down his back, sending wicked pleasure into his flesh, a spell that made him choke with need. She arched under him, the magic they used cycling, reverberating, expanding their ecstasy until a hoarse cry burst from his throat. Her wetness increased, the scent intoxicating as it dampened the hair on his thigh. Gods, he wanted inside her, wanted that wet heat hugging his cock. He groaned against her neck, biting down on the tendon.
“Merek!” Her fingers dug deep into his shoulders, and he felt her pussy spasm against his leg. She gave a little sob as she bucked in his arms. He held her in place, sliding down to kiss the soft curve of her belly, nip at her navel, until he reached the part of her he wanted most. She whimpered, “Oh, gods. I don’t think I can . . .”
“Nuh-uh. Two more for you, and one for me. No backing out now, Standish.” How many times would he need to make her come before she was exhausted enough to sleep through a dark night in the wilderness? He was about to find out. Flicking his tongue against her swollen clit, he heard her broken moan.
“Please,” she whispered, but her fingers slid into his hair, holding him close to her slick sex. Gooseflesh broke over his scalp from a fresh pleasure spell. His hips arched in reflex, rubbing his cock against her sleeping bag.
It felt too good, and he fought to keep from moving his body in the same rhythm he worked hers. Turning his head, he bit the inside of her thigh. Hard. She choked, her fingers clenched painfully in his hair, and her back bowed. “Yes, Merek!”
Forcing her thighs flat to the sleeping bag, he opened her for his feasting. The sweetness of her cream flowed into his mouth, and he buried his tongue in her soaking pussy, thrusting until he felt her excitement crest. Her low cries, her pleading moans, kissed his ears. He formed his lips around her clit, sucking it hard. Sinking his fingers into her hot sex, he stroked her until she could take three fingers easily. Her channel clamped down on him, and he bit her clit, holding it between his teeth as he flicked his tongue rapidly across the little nub.
“Merek . . . Oh, gods. Oh, gods!”
The feel of her squeezing around his fingers, the scent of her musky passion, the sobbing cries, snapped his control. He bolted upward, settling on top of her, and shoving her thighs even wider with his. He thrust deep, the last of her contractions wringing his cock. Kissing her lips, he let her taste her own wetness while he began moving within her. He couldn’t hold back, couldn’t stop.
Inside the tepee, he didn’t have to worry about a Normal seeing the lightning bolts of his favored pleasure spells like he had in the lake. Here, he could make her writhe and scream for him. He licked a slow path up the side of her throat, sending a jolt here and there with the very tip of his tongue. She sucked in a breath, but arched her neck for him. Her nails raked down his back, her own spells making the pleasure-pain burn beneath his skin and spread.
The pace he set was hard, pounding, punishing. She wrapped her legs around his waist, lifting herself into his thrusts.
“Sweetheart, you feel so fucking good.” And so fucking tight. Her passage was so narrow and swollen, she squeezed him in an iron grip.
Grinding his hips downward, he sent a bolt of magic sizzling into her hard little clit, down the length of his cock and into her creamy pussy, stimulating them both until they groaned and shuddered at the intensity.
She squirmed beneath him with a gasp, her lush breasts rubbing against his chest. “Merek! Gods, yes. I love it when you—Merek!”
His name on her lips was enough to send him over the edge. He forced his eyes to remain open, to watch her come with him. He loved the look on her face as those sharp hazel eyes glazed with fulfillment. Fulfillment he’d given her. It was the most potent aphrodisiac he’d ever known. His back hunched, his hips bucked, and he slammed his dick hilt-deep into her sleek pussy. He jetted his come into her, letting go of the unraveling edges of what remained of his discipline. “Chloe!”
Long, long moments later reality began to return by degrees. He lay sprawled on top of her, breathing in the female scent of her. He had to be crushing her, so he hauled himself up onto his elbows to keep from smothering her.
Gods, he’d been wild, out of control, savaging her. He winced as his gaze snagged on a lurid bite mark forming just below her collarbone. It wouldn’t be visible with a shirt on, but he’d know it was there, know he’d marked her. What the hell was wrong with him that he liked that idea? He wasn’t one of the fanged races, but it didn’t stop the primitive, possessive pleasure that coursed through him at seeing his bite on his woman.
She could heal the mark in the morning, and she’d probably hex his ass if she knew what he was thinking. But she hadn’t said so much as a word since they’d climaxed. Concern punched through him. He swallowed a hard lump of dread, and forced his gaze away from the bruise.
“Are you all right? Did I hurt you?”
But she was already asleep, her hair fanned out on the pillow, her cheeks ruddy, and her breasts rising and falling in the slow cadence of deep slumber. He let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, and couldn’t help the smile of satisfaction that curled his lips. Sliding out of her made him grit his teeth and sweat break out on his forehead. Gods, but he wanted her. Still. Again. Always.
Rifling through her suitcase produced a nightshirt, which he managed to work over her head without waking her. If he lingered when t
ugging the shirt down over her breasts, smooth belly, and supple thighs, no one would ever know except him. She was so beautiful.
He forced himself to move away from her to go and dig through their camping supplies until he came up with a small, battery-powered lantern. Flipping it onto its lowest setting, he deposited it beside her. The batteries were new, so they should last all night long. Then he went and gathered up Ophelia. She mewed in annoyance, but he petted her until she relaxed. Laying her in the sleeping bag with Chloe, he covered them both up. He might not be able to hold her, but he wouldn’t make her spend the night alone.
Bending forward, he kissed her forehead gently, so as not to awaken her. “Sleep all night, and have only sweet dreams.”
It was a benediction, a prayer, a wish, and if he was lucky, a spell that would make it so. Her inner demons could unravel his magic, but he hoped they slept tonight, too.
8
“Iwant everything we don’t absolutely need in the morning loaded in the car tonight before Alex heads out.” Merek growled the command as he picked up Chloe’s biggest suitcase and his own duffel bag.
Alex and Chloe stared at him for a long moment, but then Alex shrugged and went to get his stuff. Chloe plucked a few things from her smaller suitcase and then closed the lid. “I’ll keep out the clothes I’m wearing tomorrow. We can just load up the rest.”
“Okay, I’ll do the same,” Alex said as he shuffled clothes around, zipped up his backpack, and slung it over his shoulder. Then he followed Merek to the car and helped him stow all their gear.
When they were done, the only things left out were the sleeping bags and pillows, two lanterns, and a few personal items.
Still, Merek’s shoulders twitched. It was an itch he couldn’t scratch, and it had started just as they were cleaning up after dinner. The feeling had only intensified as the sun sunk toward the horizon. He had no idea what was coming, but he knew something was. He didn’t even know when it was coming. Tonight, tomorrow, next week.
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