Sydney stood with her on her lap and dumped Cambrie on the bed on her back. She tugged her hips close to the edge of the bed.
Sydney leaned down and drew her tongue around one puckered nipple before lashing its chocolate peak with her tongue.
Cambrie moaned and pushed her fingers into Sydney’s hair drawing her head closer. “Sydney,” she moaned.
Sydney closed her lips around the taut tip and sucked hard, laved the areola and then drew back to slap the creamy brown flesh. Cambrie gasped softly and Sydney slapped her breast again before pinching the nipple.
Cambrie moaned as arcs of pleasure shot through her curling her toes. Sydney pinched her harder and Cambrie cried out, her face contorting in a mask as delicious needles of pain rippled through her causing her juices to ease from her.
Sydney lowered her head and licked the abused nipple before sucking it hard. “Sweet chocolate.” She swiped her tongue over the taut peak, scraped it lightly with her teeth. She took another draw on Cambrie’s nipple before turning her attention to the stiff twin point. She pinched it.
Cambrie groaned, arching up as her fingers tightened in Sydney’s hair. The cool medal of Sydney’s necklace teased her heated skin as it moved lightly over her chest.
Sydney’s teeth closed over her nipple, and Cambrie jumped. Sydney’s warm tongue laved her flesh before soft lips began kissing a trail down to Cambrie’s stomach.
Sydney trailed kisses down over Cambrie’s stomach, her tongue darting out to trace circles on Cambrie’s skin. Sydney kissed one thigh down to the knee. She nipped at the soft skin before kissing the inner flesh of the other thigh.
Cambrie’s stomach tightened. She was a little sensitive there. Sydney pulled her thighs apart.
“You smell so hot and ready for me,” she murmured.
Sydney’s tongue glided down one hairless pussy lip and back up the other. She nipped at the delicate flesh before using two fingers to open Cambrie to her gaze. She flicked her tongue up the slit and Cambrie arched hips off the mattress.
Sydney’s tongue played around her clit. “Oh God,” she whispered. “Sydney.”
Sydney gave her clit a light pinch before laving it with her tongue and sucking it into her mouth.
Cambrie’s eyes drifted closed and she squirmed, breathing harshly as Sydney’s sensual assault turned her blood into a stream of lava flowing in her veins.
“Oh, please, harder.”
Sydney pressed the flat of her tongue hard against the nubbin and pushed two fingers into Cambrie’s dripping cunt and Cambrie cried out as rapture crawled over her. She tried to thrust her hips up as Sydney fucked her with her fingers.
She mewled as the bliss became an intense wave that threatened to consume her. Sweat beaded on her brow and breasts. “Sydney, please, I need you.” She begged. She didn’t want this to end, but she didn’t know if she’d survive it. She was coming undone.
“Not yet, baby,” she said firmly. “Stay with me a little longer.” Sydney withdrew her fingers from her pussy and licked down her slit. She pushed her tongue into the slick, hot depths and fucked her with her tongue while her hands held her thighs apart.
Cambrie drove her hips up to fuck her mouth. “Oh my God. Baby, you’re so good!” Cambrie wailed, and Sydney gave her clit a pinch and Cambrie screamed, her body going rigid as she came.
Cambrie lie there watching as Sydney released the button of her pants and drew the zipper down quickly. She slipped out of her shoes and then her pants before climbing into bed.
“Come here, Cam,” she ordered. “I need your wet pussy on mine.”
Cambrie crawled to her and Sydney pulled her into her arms. Their mouths met in a hungry kiss and Cambrie pushed her hands beneath Sydney’s shirt as she rocked against her.
“Syd,” she moaned and kissed her jaw. “You make me feel so good.” She moved, her clit sliding against Sydney’s. She ground against her harder and faster as her body sparked to life with renewed arousal.
“Oh fuck, yeah,” Sydney cried thrusting up against her. Sydney’s grip on her hips tightened and Cambrie knew she was close. She ground their clits together and Sydney let out a low growl of release.
Cambrie tipped her head back, lips parted in a silent cry as she came again.
Sydney leaned back against the headboard still holding her and Cambrie nestled in her arms, heart beat pounding in her ears. Sydney stroked her back.
“You were incredible,” Cambrie said when she could breathe again.
“You were too, gorgeous. I love your hair like this.”
She lifted her head to look down at Sydney. “Is everything planned?”
“Mm.”
“Tell about it,” she said.
“Tomorrow, Cam,” she promised. “I’ll have to show you the map and brief the team going in with us. I’d like to make one retelling do.”
She stroked the silky skin of Sydney’s sides. “Are you lying to me?”
“No, lover.” She chuckled.
She closed her fingers around the necklace and tugged Sydney to her. Cambrie kissed her softly and Sydney lifted her head putting stress on the chain. “Don’t break it, or you’ll have to get another one of these made to remind you not to break your next lover’s heart.”
“I’m not throwing you away, Cam,” she murmured. “I need you too bad.”
Cambrie caressed her sides. “I need you too.” She captured Sydney’s lips and kissed her softly allowing everything she felt for her to shine in that kiss. She wanted Sydney to know, she was thinking about forever with her too.
Chapter Thirty
The next morning, the sun peeked in through the bedroom curtains to lick across her face and Cambrie squeezed her eyes closed tight in reaction. The bed behind her was cold when she extended her leg hoping to feel the warmth she’d fallen asleep with.
The rich aroma of coffee drifted to her, filling her nostrils and she sighed as she opened her eyes. Sydney was standing at the window but she was watching her with an enigmatic gaze. She was already dressed in jeans and boots.
“Is waking up next to me that repulsive?” Cambrie muttered. “Are nights all I’m ever going to get in your arms?”
Sydney sat down on the edge of the bed and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “I have duties to tend to in the den,” she told her as she caressed Cambrie’s hair on the pillow.
“You’re leaving me here?” Cambrie sat up and Sydney frowned. She’d cleaned up and dressed in a tank top and panties before going to sleep last night.
“I have to,” she murmured and caressed the soft skin of her bare arm. “Sam and Adalyn are here and so is Mica. You’ll be fine.”
“I’m not worried about being alone,” she said angrily. “I can take care of myself. The problem is you didn’t even bother telling me this last night.”
She pushed her fingers into the loose mass of hair clouding around Cambrie’s face. “You’ve lived in a pack setting, you know I have duties. Once we’ve taken over Gray Tail, I’ll still have duties as chief of security. I’ll be up early and late until Sam is satisfied with security for her mate.”
“I’m not upset about that,” she muttered. “I feel like you kept this from me which means you’re going there to do something you don’t want me to know about.”
“That’s not true,” Sydney insisted gently. “You want my trust, Cam? Give some of yours in return. I can’t take you into pack lands yet. If I could I’d have woken you. Mica will bring you out later to help with recon of Gray Tail’s border.”
“Cruise might be able to get us into Gray Tail.”
“Not yet,” Sydney said. “You’ll wait for me. I don’t want to have to look for you or try to rescue you.”
Cambrie sighed. “Fine. I’ll defer to you on this, but Sydney, I know how to run recon. I’ve done it countless times with and without Sorrento.”
“What’s he going to be thinking?”
“He’ll assume I’ll attempt to instruct you on what he’d do,” Cambrie t
old her. “So, he’ll change existing plans and try to run a formation he hasn’t used with me.”
“I’ll leave the map and you go over every possible permutation he could run.”
“He’ll want to use the trees to ambush you,” Cambrie told her. “The problem is not all of the hyenas are comfortable in trees. Some are even afraid of heights. So they won’t be up there. He’ll run part of the ambush from the ground, but the thing is, most of them probably don’t know the land any better than you do.”
“So, use the notes I made this morning, and come up with a plan. We’ll discuss it when Mica brings you out later.”
“You’re not going to use my plan.”
“Trust has to be earned, so we have to start somewhere. Mistakes are one thing, but outright deception is something that won’t be tolerated.”
“I—”
“I’m giving you my trust. It’s up to you what you do with it.” Sydney kissed her gently. “I’ll see you later and don’t fight with Mica. You’ll be seeing a lot of her.” Sydney removed the necklace from around her neck and secured it around Cambrie’s.
Cambrie watched her leave, her throat tight with emotion. She curled her fingers around the necklace feeling the waves of trust and hope Sydney had infused in it. She probably hadn’t even known she was doing it.
She closed her eyes. “Your trust won’t be misplaced, Syd,” she murmured as she pushed back the covers and climbed out of bed. “I promise.”
Cambrie showered and dressed and then braided her hair before heading out into the living area. Mica was seated on a stool sipping coffee studying the map. She looked as Cambrie passed her.
“Morning,” Mica said coolly. “I saved you some coffee. Adalyn sent up muffins.”
She poured herself a cup of coffee and added cream but no sugar. Cambrie joined her at the bar and studied the map. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been there.” She pointed to an unmarked spot. “This is near the water. They could come in by boat. It’d be a great place to stash ammo and reserve teams.”
“Sydney said something about possible bombs. A few of us can sniff them out.”
She nodded. “This lake runs down to where your property is. There are some rocks dividing it and woods. How heavily is it guarded?”
“Didn’t used to be that heavily guarded because we can see boats coming in.”
“Beef up security, Sorrento will take advantage of it,” Cambrie told her. “I’m sure the Gray Tail alpha knows how you do things there.”
“Right,” Mica agreed.
“They’ll use that point to sneak in for recon and to ascertain attack points for the future.” Cambrie reached for a muffin and took a bite of it. The blueberries burst onto her tongue in a flavorful mixture of fruit and cake. “Mmm.”
“How close do you have to be to take control of a mind?” Mica asked.
She shrugged. “I just need eye contact and if I can get past the mental shields it’s over.”
Mica studied her. “You can get into our minds, and we’d never know,” she murmured.
“Some minds I have to break into but most people’s shields are fluid enough that I can slip in on a stray thought.”
“How many minds can you control at once?”
“I’m not sure,” Cambrie murmured. “I’ve done as many twenty but it was through a host.”
“Host?”
“I use a host when I want to control a crowd of people of like mind or who’ve been together at the same function.” Sorrento had been her host more than once during a battle. His mind was easier to hold than Patty’s.
“Stay out of my head,” Mica warned.
“It’s not all bad, Mica,” she murmured. “Adalyn’s gifts are more geared toward physical healing while mine would be more help to the mentally unbalanced. I can make people forget what caused them to hurt emotionally. I can help them see right to the heart of what the real cause of their trauma is.”
She had only come to realize that last night when she was working with Adalyn. She knew why physical healing training didn’t take as well as her grandmother thought it should have. She could heal herself some, but that was it.
“That could come in handy if you decide to give up dancing.” Mica grinned mischievously. “And you better because Sydney’s going to have to be barred from the club otherwise.”
“You’re probably right.” Cambrie laughed thinking of how possessive Sydney was. “I wanted her from the moment I saw her. Now, I need her more with each breath I take. Does that sound crazy? I mean we’ve only known each other a few short weeks.”
Mica shrugged. “If you mean it, no.”
“Can I trust her? Is she going to let me do this? I need to be out there. “Patty thinks she broke me, has me too terrified to actually stand my ground. I have to let her know she didn’t win even if she kills me.”
Mica’s gaze filled with interest. “Payback’s a bitch,” she drawled. “Just make sure you’re ready to put her down if you don’t want the blowback.”
****
Sydney was talking to a few of the soldiers that afternoon when Mica arrived with Cambrie. She smelled her even before she saw her. The natural scent of Cambrie’s skin was soft with a hint of musk and it wrapped around her clean and fresh.
Sydney turned to see Cambrie standing a short distance away with Mica and her coyote wanted to growl in greeting. Instead, she turned back to the trio she was talking to. “We’ll finish this in a few minutes.” She strode toward Cambrie not caring what the younger trio would think.
“Hi.” Sydney wrapped an arm around her waist and dragged Cambrie against her for a kiss. “Mmm,” she moaned and Cambrie’s hand came to rest on her back.
“I guess you’re okay with me being here,” Cambrie teased.
“More than,” she murmured and nipped her bottom lip.
“Sydney, who’s on the east line by the lake?” Mica asked.
She shrugged. “A single team covering the distance. Why?”
“We need at least two other sets of eyes out there along the border with Gray Tail,” Mica replied. “Tell her.”
Cambrie told Sydney what she’d told Mica about the hyenas using the blind spots on the lake side to do recon for future attack.
“I’ll call Sam,” Sydney said. “In the meantime, I’ll take Cam up there and we’ll cover it.”
“I’ll head back in and we can meet up later.”
“In a few hours,” Sydney told her. “I want to nail our plan down as soon as possible.”
Mica nodded. “I’ll bring lunch.”
Sydney sent the trio off after a few more words with them, and took Cam on a thirty minute trip to the other side of the den. They jogged off and on, Cam no real match for Sydney’s speed and stamina.
When they reached their destination, Sydney took Cambrie’s hand and led her up a hill from which they could look down on the blue waters.
“It’s beautiful up here,” Cambrie commented. The trees were in full fall dress now with a few evergreens providing vibrant green color.
“It is,” Sydney agreed.
“I used to run across the border,” Cambrie told her. “I don’t think shadow-kisses are detected by most shifters.”
“I can smell you, but not Adalyn,” Sydney confirmed. “It’s strange.”
“My grandmother said it’s because we’re like shadows inside shadows. We’re hard to detect unless you know what you’re looking for and even then, it’s still hard.
“Shadows can be seen,” Sydney mused.
“Yes, but they can’t be seen in the light and certainly not inside of another shadow when the shape is the same. We were traditionally weaker which allowed us to seem like easy prey to the enemy. However, our psychic abilities allowed us to be the exact opposite.”
“You’ll get more training,” Sydney told her. “Adalyn is already being trained, but she won’t be out here today.”
“I don’t think she’s made for physical attack,” Cambrie said le
aning into Sydney.
“And you are?” Sydney wrapped an arm around her a she looked down at her.
“I’ve had no choice,” she said. “When we were first on the run, I had to be quick, to be quiet, and to be accurate in my attacks. My mother counted on me.”
“You shouldn’t have had to live like that.”
“No kid should, but we had to survive, and my mother used everything at her disposal to keep us alive, including me.” She put her head on Sydney’s shoulder as she linked her arm through Sydney’s. “She was smart and cunning. She was strong, but they caught us in a weak moment. We were both so tired and the fire was unexpected. They tried to burn us alive.”
“But you escaped?”
“We both did, but they caught us outside the hotel. They shot my mother and if I hadn’t had my powers, I’d be dead too. She could shift, but I couldn’t.”
“Was your father a shifter?”
She nodded. “Yes. “Yes, but he just wanted to be normal.” Cambrie laughed. “He never got it. Shifting was normal for him. He drove my mom crazy with that not wanting to be an animal mentality of his. In the end, it probably got him killed because he tried to suppress what he was in every way he could. He even tried to keep me from using my power. He wanted me to be normal too, but my mom would have none of it.”
“She wanted you to know your heritage and learn how to use your power?”
She nodded. “Yeah. She was the reason I spent so much time in Gray Tail. She wanted me to be close to my family, to shifters so I’d understand that what I am is my normal.”
“Your mother sounded level-headed and appreciative of her culture.”
“She was,” Cambrie said with a fond smile. “What about your parents?”
“My mother wasn’t a dominant. She was a nurturer. She ran the pack’s daycare. She was a chef too. My father was an architect. Our den was a cross between an Indian reservation and a shifter den. I loved it there.”
“That’s how Gray Tail used to be before I was born, but my grandmother said a lot of the Indian culture was lost, the rest just blended in.”
“Someone’s crossing in the trees,” Sydney said in a sub-vocal tone she wasn’t sure Cambrie could hear. In theory, she probably couldn’t. The sound was out of range of human hearing, but Cambrie was moving, with her.
Taking It Off for the Coyote Page 17