“I’ve been waiting for you, Emily.”
“I can see that.” She fidgeted, then stilled as she saw him smile at her telltale movement. “Come on, quit playing. Let’s just get this over with.” She lifted the can and paint brush.
Edge strode forward and took them from her weak hands. He sat them on a nearby table—yet another stunning creation of lifelike carvings—and turned back, placing his hands gently on her shoulders. His skin burned hers through its shiny black covering.
“I want you,” he said huskily.
“Please don’t, Edge,” she pleaded. “I can’t.”
He pulled her close. “Why not?” he asked, lowering his mouth to her upturned face.
“It won’t work out between us.”
“We will never know for sure, unless we try it and find out,” he murmured before his lips met hers in a soft caress.
He parted her lips and slipped his tongue gently inside. Emily sighed, feeling all her resistance fade away into nothing. She sucked his tongue as it danced along hers and let her arms twine about his neck as they were wont to do.
“You taste so good,” he whispered. “You feel incredible in my arms.”
“So do you,” she answered, running her fingers through his hair, which was still damp from his bath and smelling strongly of sandalwood. “God, I love your hair,” she moaned.
He licked her lips sensually and pulled her up against the fierce demand of his erection. “We Shikar are not as well furred as your human men. But we take pride in our hair, our glorious crown.” He smiled against her mouth.
Emily giggled and blushed at the sound. “What about Cinder, then? His hair is really short. Doesn’t he want a glorious crown?” she teased.
“Ha! The young pup has shorn locks because they were singed off in a training session with one of the student Incinerators. He keeps them short now to prevent another accident—though if you asked him, he’d merely say its more stylish a look for him this way.” He nuzzled her neck playfully. “Enough about him; talk only about me now.”
Emily laughed and Edge squeezed her tightly against him. His bare chest glistened and she kissed it, much to Edge’s pleasure—if his hungry growl of a response was any indication. Wanting to explore, she ran her hands over the smooth muscled planes of his body and bent her head to one small, hard male nipple.
The tiny, pebbled nipple was hairless, as was the rest of him, and Emily licked it teasingly. Edge inhaled sharply and his hands dug into her rear, raising her up higher against his cock. Ever so gently, she bit down on the sensitive flesh and was pleased to feel him tremble against her with the force of his growing need.
Surprising her, Edge lifted her and carried her to a divan at the far end of the room. He tossed her gently onto its cushions and followed her down, lying heavily upon her. “I need you,” he said, rocking his hips into the cradle of hers.
“But I’ve got my armor on already,” she complained, but only half-heartedly. “It would take too long to put it back on, wouldn’t it?”
“Damn it,” he growled, “you’re right. Well, there are countless ways to love.” He smiled wickedly down at her. “Let me show you one.”
Divesting her of the clothes she wore over the risqué armor paint, Edge soon had her shining black body bared to his gaze. “You know, this has possibilities,” he mused aloud. “Woman, I love the way you look in this.”
And Emily had known he would. While Steffy seemed nonchalant about wearing her armor and nothing else, both Cady and Emily were more reserved. The rubbery covering looked exactly like liquid latex once dried, and offered no room for modesty.
Beneath their covering of shining, rubbery black, Emily’s nipples peaked demandingly before Edge’s gaze. When he leaned down and licked them, Emily was shocked to feel the warmth of his tongue sear her flesh as if it were completely nude. Reflexively, she arched up for more of the sweet torture.
Chuckling at her response, Edge dipped his head in for a second taste, and pulled her breast deep into his mouth. Sucking and biting on one nipple, his fingers pulled and pinched the other until she was gasping with every sweet move he made on her.
Wrapping her legs around his waist, she arched up fully against him. The hard flesh of his sex ground against her pelvis. She grew wetter and wetter, undulating against him until they were both trembling and straining for more. Rubbing her hands against the broad muscles of his back, she pulled his head closer against her breast and he rooted even more deeply.
His hair was a cool spill of silk over her face and chest as he moved. Still rocking her hips into his, still clutching him tightly against her very heart, she rained kisses down upon his head and temples.
“I was a fool, Emily. A complete fool,” he said raggedly, rubbing his face against the full mound of her breast. He rocked his cock tight into the cradle of her pussy, which was wet and needy beneath the barrier of her armor.
“Me too,” she admitted, wrapping her legs more tightly around him, meeting his thrusts with her own.
“I am a warrior, Emily, first and foremost. I do not want to lose myself in you. I cannot.” His voice broke.
Emily lifted his face to hers. “You’ll always be a warrior. And so will I. This attraction between us won’t change that.”
“I need you so much. You make me feel too much. Far too much to keep this light,” he admitted, kissing her over and over as if helpless not to.
His words frightened and thrilled her. To move so fast into such unexplored territory gave her pause…but only just. “I need you too, Edge. Beyond that, nothing else matters right now. We’ll take it one step at a time, okay?”
His gaze met hers, dark and worried. The movement of his hips stilled. “You cannot be a Shikar. Not if what Tryton believes is true. What I feel for you will not pass in only one short human lifetime, and that is all we can share between us as things stand. I know it. You should know it too.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Emily said shakily.
“I knew that first night between us would only make me want a thousand more like it.”
Tears filled her eyes. “Me too.”
He kissed her, long and deep, and resumed his movements upon her. Rocking gently between her legs, he gathered her more closely to him than ever before. “Come with me, Emily. Come with me now,” he commanded.
The angle of his thrusts against her rubbed her swollen clitoris with exquisite pressure. Even without penetration or even skin-to-skin contact between them, Emily felt herself flying into the face of an orgasm with alarming ease.
“Oh, baby, I’m coming,” he breathed against her mouth. “I’m coming.”
The hot splash of his semen against her sex was the catalyst she needed. With a cry that Edge swallowed with his kiss, she came undone in his arms. The climax was long and wicked. Like a storm over the sea, it washed over her, drowning her, until at last she was spent, limp and damp beneath him.
“Next time, we’ll be naked, you and I. Though I’m not sure I could stand the intensity,” he said with a grin.
“Promises, promises,” she laughed.
Edge moved off of her and gently helped her to her feet. Her knees were weak, her body singing in the aftermath of her pleasure. Bending her back over his arm, Edge kissed her long and deep. His mouth ate at hers, his tongue sliding along hers with slow, delicious heat.
“Come on. Let’s get cleaned up. I’m eager for our duties of the night to end and for our true pleasures to begin,” he murmured, his dark sensuality washing over her in intoxicating waves.
It was a perfect interlude, one she hadn’t expected with this man, but one she would treasure all the more because of it. Edge was a man of unfathomed depths, and the more she learned about him, the more she wondered. He had the ability to make her mad as hell, or content as a well-fed kitten. There’d never been anyone in her life that could make her feel as much as this man was able to. It was surprising. It was exciting. And it was wonderful.
Dangerous though it was, she began to plan.
Chapter Thirteen
Something was amiss in the dark shadows of the night. For three hours Emily had taken the Shikar team with her deep into the bowels of her beloved city, and though there had been no sign of Daemons, there was an ominous feeling in the air as they searched.
Cady stilled and the entire party halted, waiting. Her face was a study of concentration and after several minutes—long minutes that felt more like hours to Emily who was unaccustomed to the ways of a Shikar Hunter—she finally broke the silence. “We’re being watched. And followed.”
Obsidian looked around, studying the darkness that surrounded them. “I feel them too. I have for the past hour. But why do they not attack? We are giving them ample opportunity.”
“I don’t know,” Cady answered thoughtfully.
“Maybe they know we’re up to something,” Emily offered.
Edge had been at her side all evening. He put his hand on her shoulder possessively and pulled her tight against his side. “I doubt it. Daemons are none too bright.”
“Maybe they’re getting smarter.” She tried not to settle against him, but gave up after only a few seconds. It was too delicious, having him so close.
The Traveler, who had also stayed with the group—an unusual occurrence from what Emily understood, as he usually preferred to blip in and out whenever the whim took him—seemed to ponder this. “Perhaps.”
Cady laughed derisively. “No way. What would they do, go to monster school and get some book smarts? I doubt it. They’re just waiting for something.”
“Maybe they wait for orders from their commanders, such as they are,” Cinder offered.
“Let’s keep walking. Maybe they’ll attack soon. We just need to keep our cool and wait them out.” Cady motioned for Emily to lead on.
No sooner had she finished her statement than a group of Daemons swarmed into the night. The battle, it seemed, was on.
Faster than her human eyes could follow, Emily watched The Traveler come forth and immediately choose his prisoner. Through the fray he walked, as if the surrounding violence affected him not at all. Still and calm beneath his billowing cloak, he reached out to one of the hulking beasts and laid his powerful hand upon it. The monster lashed out with a howl of rage. A quick blink and they both disappeared, leaving Emily to gasp, wondering how The Traveler would fare against such an attack wherever he was.
At her back, fighting off one of the Daemons, Edge called out to her. “Don’t worry about him. He’s better off than we are.”
More and more of the Daemons crowded into the night, Traveling from their world with horrifying ease. Outnumbered as they were, Emily rethought their position in the crowded city alleys. She fought her way to Obsidian, firing her handguns into the gaping maws of her enemy whenever they strayed too close, batting them out of the way with the butt of the weapons when she ran out of ammunition.
“We need to get to open ground. They’ll only swamp us if we stay here.” She turned as a monster attacked her from the side, but needn’t have bothered. One of Edge’s foils glinted through the night and beheaded the foul creature before it had the chance to lay one claw on her.
They grinned at each other over the din.
“We cannot afford to be seen by your people,” Obsidian shouted, hacking away at his enemies even as he answered.
“We won’t,” she promised, reloading her weapons as quickly as she was able. “There’s a playground nearby. I can get us there without anyone seeing. I know a shortcut that avoids the streets.”
“But won’t we be seen from this playing ground?” he asked, sounding somewhat harried but otherwise unconcerned that he was surrounded by blood, carnage and not a little bit of violence.
“There are trees. Leafy trees all around the perimeter, and if anyone looks out their apartment window that’s all they should see.”
“Lead on then,” he commanded. “Everyone, to Emily. Follow her!”
She led them away from the fray, but not after being slowed by three Daemons seeking to waylay her. Though bullets could only really slow them down, she fired over and over until they fell away, leaving them to be dispatched by the Incinerators. Behind her, Cinder burned the fallen corpses and set fire to those still standing that he could reach.
And Cady, well, she was as volatile in the midst of battle as she was in every other aspect of her life. Appearing as if she was throwing napalm from her hands, she felled Daemon after Daemon with a smile on her face. Her laughter rang out in the night, a stark contrast to the monsters’ shrieks and grunts of battle. Emily had never seen anything quite like it. No wonder everyone loved the warrior woman. Nothing ever seemed to faze her.
Turning away from the alley, she took the group of Shikars in a direction she hoped would offer them better leverage against their enemies. Though she hadn’t bothered to count, she’d known the odds were greatly stacked against them. The Daemons’ numbers seemed inexhaustible…and there were only six of them to stand against what was turning out to be an army.
“Almost there,” she called to those who followed. Edge stayed right beside her and his presence was a great comfort to her. As if sensing her thoughts had turned to him, he reach out and took her hand as they ran.
There was a break in the maze of buildings at last. Beyond it, an unkempt playground lay in wait beyond a copse of tall oak trees. It offered some small bit of safety to the battle-primed group of warriors. It would be far easier to fight their enemies on open ground.
Steffy, blades glowing from her hands, engaged a group of three monsters that followed them from the alley. Slicing them to tiny pieces, as if she’d been doing such things all her life, her assistance made it easier for Obsidian, Edge, and Emily to cross to the playground unhindered.
“Should we leave to get reinforcements?” Emily asked, knowing that Obsidian had the power to Travel them out of danger.
“No. There are no backup teams that are trained fight in the Territories as we do. Those that have such training are out in other lands tonight.”
“The Shikars are spread pretty thin,” she murmured.
Close as he was at her side, Edge heard her quiet words. “You have no idea.”
It was quiet for long moments, the Daemons presumably still far behind them. “Will they follow?” Steffy asked.
“They will follow. For whatever reason, they want Emily,” Obsidian growled. “They want her very badly.” His gaze burned into hers, studying her thoughtfully as if she were a puzzle to solve.
But the time for rest passed as quickly as it had come. Their reprieve had not lasted long. Cinder streaked out from the alley, billowing flame behind him. Facing the Daemons that followed him the group failed to notice the adversaries that Traveled into being directly behind them.
“Shit!” Emily screamed as a clawed hand fell heavily, slimily upon her. Her vision dimmed as the monster prepared to Travel.
And then the dizziness passed. The Daemon’s arm dangled from her T-shirt, then fell to the ground. Edge stepped between her and the Daemon—whose arm he’d just neatly severed—and sliced it to ribbons with long talons that shot in a blue-white glow from his fingertips.
The group of Shikars flew into action, beating away at the Daemons who swarmed in from every front. The ground was wet with the black tar of their blood, the playground littered with their bodies—which Cinder was quick in burning. And still more came at them.
Edge was surrounded by the beasts. Emily retrieved a large bowie knife from a sheath in her belt and ran forth to help him. She was grateful for the protection of her armor, for even though the Daemons weakened before her—still unwilling to harm her—she was battered and bruised all the same as she met them head on.
&
nbsp; It was hard, but she knew she must not let them touch her for longer than an instant or they would take her. Their way of Travel was different from a Shikar’s in that it took longer and was not as precise, or so it seemed as they appeared willy-nilly all over the battlefield, but given more than a second or two they would have had her. It was terrifying, but it fueled the fighting instinct within her so that she held her own in the midst of the seasoned warriors that made up her team.
And then, as quickly as they came, the flood of Daemons abated. Only a few remained and with a burst of glittering, boomeranging blades from Edge’s hands, the threat these stragglers posed was over and done with in seconds. Cinder burned the bodies and the team regrouped amidst the chaos of the flames.
As the night fell silent once more, the team prepared to leave. But Obsidian’s words stopped them cold.
“Where is Cady?”
Emily looked around, but the warrior woman was nowhere to be found. The burning bodies that littered the playground, already turning to ash in the sand, all belonged to the Daemons. Cady was missing.
“Where the hell is my mate?” Obsidian’s shout was a howl in the night air. But Cady did not come.
* * * * *
Cady followed close behind her team as Emily led them through the maze of alleys. Careful to keep them within sight, she made sure that every possible scrap of evidence was burned to ash on the ground. Reveling as she always did in her Shikar strength and power, she threw out flame after flame to eat away at the Daemons who came to engage her.
Compared to the fifteen years she’d spent killing these beasts as a human, being an Incinerator was a piece of cake. Nothing was easier—or more amusing, she had to admit—than flame bombing her enemies in the thick of battle. Though Cinder was far more skilled than she, it was a game between them to keep tally of their kills and compare them after the night’s battling was done.
So far she’d taken out thirty-one beasts on her own. Thirty-one! Who’d have thought a quiet, small-town bookseller like herself would ever be capable of such carnage? And with a smile on her face, no less.
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