Serpent Moon

by C. T. Adams

  Yes, now is our time. Come to me, my love.

  Chapter Fifteen

  NO MATTER HOW she tried to move, there was no relief from the thousands of hair-fine cactus barbs that continued to make her back and butt sting. They’d gotten out all they could with tweezers, but the smallest ones couldn’t even be felt when she passed her hand over her skin.

  But they sure made themselves known every time she took a step forward.

  “You’re jumping like you have ants in your pants. Would you stop it, please? I’m already edgy enough.” Eric’s voice sounded as frustrated as she felt. It didn’t seem like he was enjoying the thought of going on this mission with her.

  “Sorry,” she whispered as they passed the last ring of light in the camp and were swallowed by darkness. She wished they could have waited until morning, but no. Aspen had insisted that going tonight was critical to their success. “I can’t help it. They hurt. I know they’ll work themselves out on their own, but right now it’s driving me nuts.”

  “Next time, fall a little to the left. You could have landed on a nice, soft sagebrush.” There was finally a bit of humor in his voice.

  “Thanks,” she replied dryly. “I’ll keep that in mind.” She stopped and stared out into the darkness. “Any idea where we’re going?”

  “Yeah. Reach into my backpack and grab that map Lucas gave me.” He turned so she could unzip the main compartment. She handed him a folded square of paper that smelled like Lucas—not the Lucas she remembered, but the new one. The human one.

  That had been a total surprise. After Marduc flew off, Holly had worked on healing the girl, who she learned was named Devon, and Councilman Monier. Not exactly a piece of cake since her body kept trying to heal itself. Eric had flinched when she pulled on his energy, but he hadn’t raised a fuss.

  He hadn’t mentioned it either, so she wasn’t sure if he was pissed about it or not. It wasn’t like she could help it. It just seemed to happen.

  She passed him the map and turned on her flashlight. “Pretty amazing about Lucas, huh?”

  Eric let out an odd chuckle as he opened the map. “Not sure what to think about it. I suppose it’s good that my howl woke him up, but . . . should it have? I mean, he’s human now, isn’t he?”

  The topo map mostly showed contour lines, but there was a distinct black line leading from one bold X to another on the page. It looked like they’d mostly be traveling over flat ground, which suited her. She wasn’t sure how climbing would make her leg feel. Thankfully, the bite had happened so fast and had gone through so quickly that there was hardly any poison in the wound. Just a simple flesh wound that was healing, albeit slowly. “Apparently so. I can’t feel any magic in him at all, and Tony said he can’t see an aura. I guess we’ll find out for sure when Raphael gets here.”

  Eric got his bearings and handed the map back to her. She tucked it in the knapsack again. His voice sounded confused. “Explain why’s he coming here again?”

  “Three reasons, as I understand it. First off, he also has second sight. So, in case Tony’s wrong about Lucas, he’ll know. Second, Tatya’s mated to Raphael. She can’t draw on Lucas’s magic to heal and she gave up enough of her own energy that she’s in pretty bad shape. I’m pretty much toast too and the seers insisted I do this instead. So, Lucas suggested Raphael as a temporary replacement. The third reason has something to do with Councilman al-Narmer and Agent Mbutu. I didn’t get that part.”

  “That must bite the big one,” Eric said with a shake of his head. “To have to call your former rival for your wife to snuggle up naked in bed with her.”

  “To save her life,” Holly reminded him. But poor Cat must really be taking it hard. She wouldn’t even answer her phone when Holly tried to call. She knew Cat would put up with it, because there was a life at stake, but she wouldn’t like having her new husband share a bed with a woman she could barely stand to be in the same room with. The worst part was that everyone knew Tatya had chosen Lucas because he was more powerful than Raphael. What would she do now?

  And speaking of what to do now . . . Holly took a deep breath. Time to let the genie out of the bottle. “Thank you, by the way.”

  Eric stopped so fast he seemed frozen in place. Holly nearly ran into him. “For?”

  “For the same thing—snuggling up naked to save my life. And . . . for the other thing too. That had to have sucked.”

  “Sharing power?” he asked quietly. “It sort of hammered home that last nail, didn’t it? No more question about whether we were imagining the mating.” He started walking forward again and she followed, not sure what else to say. “It didn’t, though. Not really.”

  “Didn’t?” She turned her head to him for a second, but then had to look forward again to avoid a rabbit hole.

  “Didn’t suck.” He smiled, but didn’t look her way. She only knew because the light flashed off his teeth. “I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but it’s actually incredibly erotic when you do that. Gives me chills all over . . . and I do mean all over.”

  The blush came to her face hard and fast, a flame to ward off the chilled air. It was all she could do not to run screaming into the dark. “Oh,” was all she managed to squeak out. “That’s . . . I mean . . . Um—”

  “Yeah,” he said with a low chuckle that made her skin feel tight and heated. “Please feel free to heal people anytime you like.”

  “Eric!” She swatted at his arm and he sidestepped, laughing. It made her feel a little better to know he wasn’t mad, but it was still damned embarrassing. So now I’m going to have to think about him getting hot and bothered every time I have to heal someone? Someone shoot me now.

  They walked on in silence, listening to every tiny noise for at least an hour, until her leg was burning like fire and it was all she could do to lift it one more step. It would be nice to have some sort of landmark to go by, but there was just flat nothingness as far as her flashlight beam could reach.

  Eric looked at her for the umpteenth time in the past twenty minutes and finally shook his head. “That’s it. No more. I can’t stand to hear those little noises.” He pointed toward a thick stand of piñons. “We’ll camp over there, and the seers can just live with it.”

  She listened intently for a long moment. “What little noises?”

  He pointed at her leg before turning to walk toward the piñons. “The ones you’re making every time you step. You’re obviously in pain and good for you, I suppose, for continuing to push yourself to do your duty. But I can’t stand it. Okay?”

  She was making noises? What kind of noises? She took a few tentative steps, but heard nothing. Of course not, I’m conscious of it now. She gave up and started to follow him into the trees. He’d already pulled the two-man tent from the big backpack and was busily putting together the long carbon-fiber rods that would hold it up. She started to take off her pack and a sharp pain made small sparkles dance behind her eyes. At last she heard the noise. Every time her foot rolled on a rock underfoot, that pain would shoot up her leg, and a small high-pitched grunt snuck out. She could understand how it would be annoying to listen to.

  “Not annoying,” he said as he unfolded the tent. “Painful to listen to.”

  Her mouth went dry and she stammered a little. “Eric, I . . . I didn’t say that out loud.”

  He turned and stared before he let out a nervous chuckle. “You must have. How else could I have heard you?”

  Holly just shook her head.

  Eric nodded and continued to put together the tent. But the scents that drifted from him probably matched her own—confused, terrified, but with just a touch of curiosity.

  I’M HEARING HOLLY’S thoughts now? Could she hear his in return? Eric glanced over at her, and noticed again how totally sexy she looked in the tight hip-huggers that did indeed hug her narrow hips. Damn, but you look hot in those pants, woman. He glanced over at her to see if she looked up. Nope. Must still be one-sided.

  He’d heard of telepathy in ma
ting, but it was really weird to experience it. Of course, there was one advantage. He’d finally learn exactly what a woman was thinking. Every man’s dream.

  The laugh shot out of him without warning and Holly turned to look at him. “Sorry. Just a random thought.”

  Sure. Rub it in.

  He heard the voice, but her lips hadn’t moved. Should he respond or not? Might as well. It’s not like she didn’t know. He let out a sigh. “Sorry. I was just trying to find out if it was two-sided.”

  “Apparently it’s not.” She sounded more sad than angry, but neither her scent nor her thoughts revealed anything more than what she said.

  After what felt like an eternity, but was probably only a minute, he had to break the silence. “Hungry? I brought along a couple more sandwiches and some fruit. Nobody said how long it would take to get the knife, but we should keep up our strength.”

  She shook her head. “I had that big sandwich before all of this started. I’m good for the night. They should be fine in the pack. It’s cold enough that they won’t spoil before morning. We should probably just . . . get some sleep.”

  He stretched the red down sleeping bag just outside the mouth of the tent, which was already growing warm from the lantern blazing inside. “Tent’s yours. I’ll sleep out here and keep watch.”

  She lowered her chin and blinked. “You’re going to stand watch for something only I can see? Yeah, that makes sense.”

  Fine. He shrugged. “No problem. Then you can stand watch and I’ll get some sleep. Does that make more sense?” When she tried to think her way out of that, he let out a sigh. “Look, Holly. I’m trying to be a gentleman here. I know it must seem sort of creepy for you to find out I was in your bed while you were out cold. It wasn’t my choice, but I’ll be honest, I didn’t mind a bit, and I’m not positive I really trust myself to do it again this soon.” He let her digest that for a second. “I don’t think either of us is as ready as everybody seems to think we should be to take that next step. I actually like a little romancing before I do the happy dance with someone.”

  She snorted at his wording but then her face softened and her scent turned warm and sugary. “I think we did part of the romancing a while back. It might have been ten years ago, but that was an amazing summer . . . at least for me.” Her lips curled into a sly smile. “Dad never did figure out where those flowers came from.”

  The memory made him grin. There was no doubt about it—he’d been smitten. When he found out she loved pink roses, he managed to find a way to sneak one to her every day for two weeks—all while under her father’s watchful eye. “I think it’s what made him suspicious though. He started watching me like a hawk.”

  “My sisters were green with envy that I had a secret admirer—and they couldn’t sniff out who it was.” She smiled again and he suddenly saw her as he had then—a pretty, quiet teenager with hopes and dreams that were far bigger than she could ever achieve in the pack she was stuck in. “I don’t know how you managed it.”

  “Strong cologne and lots of illusion magic,” he finally admitted. “I’d make them see two books when I was actually carrying one along with a rose, or see a hat on my head, when the flower was behind my ear. Lots of different stuff. It got to be fun after a few days. There wasn’t much else to do to entertain myself.”

  “Entertainment? That’s all I was?” He watched her face. It was carefully controlled, but her scent told a different story.

  “At first,” he said with a nod. “But not so much at the end.”

  “So you don’t care that my family is Mexican, or that I used to be human?”

  He shook his head in confusion. “Why would I care? I’ve always thought your heritage is part of what made you so pretty.”

  She paused and he could see her nose flare. Was she checking to see if he was lying? Why would she do that? More to the point, why would he lie? “I never really cared what your background was, Holly, and I knew full well you were human when I asked you on a date. In fact, I think my emotions getting the better of me when I asked you out was what finally gave me away. Right after that your dad stormed into my apartment.”

  “He what?” she asked, her mouth agape.

  “Oh yeah.” He still remembered the bruises and cracked ribs. “Threw me up against the wall so hard a full sheet of drywall broke clean in half. I lost my security deposit from that little visit. He told me to get out of town or he’d file charges with Wolven. So I did.”

  “What? You’re kidding.” Anger poured from her. “That son of a—”

  Eric raised a placating hand. He didn’t begrudge Jake Sanchez anymore. He’d gotten over that a long time ago. “He’s your father, Holly. I won’t deny I was doing exactly what he claimed—I was flirting with a fifteen-year-old. Man, was I flirting. I’ve spent a decade being completely mortified about that, and grateful I didn’t wind up in jail . . . or worse. It’s why I kept fighting the urge to call or just show up on your doorstep. Who knows? Maybe he could smell the mating on me even back then.”

  “But I was human then. It doesn’t work that way.” She paused and blinked. “Does it?”

  Another shrug. “Tony’s mated to a full human without any Sazi background at all. You at least had wolf blood. Not that it matters anymore.” He smiled and reached for the backpack, then stuck his hand into the bottom until he felt the sharp point of a thorn prick his thumb. He presented the single, slightly wilted pink rose to her with a flourish. “But I can still pull a few rabbits out of the hat, even a decade later.”

  Holly gasped and took a long deep breath, her nose buried in the pale petals. “It’s gorgeous! But I can’t imagine where you found a rose out here.”

  He chuckled. “Actually, when Ivan went to Cortez for supplies, I asked him to bring one back. Been waiting for a spare second to give it to you, but there really hasn’t been one until now.”

  Her smile started out shy, but then grew into something different. She leaned her whole body forward until her hands were on his chest and the rose tickled his chin. When her mouth found his, he let her take the lead and tried not to do anything drastic.

  She broke the slow, gentle kiss to say, “I’m not a teenager anymore, Eric.”

  “No, you most certainly are not.” His voice was husky and he really hoped this was leading where he wanted it to go. A decade of waiting, of wanting to call, of asking casually about her to see who she was dating, whether she was married, or had kids.

  She didn’t object when he pulled her closer. In fact, she crawled into his lap and curled up between his crossed legs. He kissed her again, this time not so slow or gentle. He claimed her mouth and kissed her breathless. Her nails dug into his neck so hard it made him crazy. So did the way her tight little bottom wiggled against his growing erection. It was probably just the cactus spines, but he could live with that. He growled low in his chest and felt her pulse race under his fingertips. The scent of her desire matched the heat in her eyes when he pulled back. “Your choice. Time to go to sleep?”

  Holly shook her head. “Time to go to bed.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  WAS THIS REALLY happening? Was she really spreading out sleeping bags and zipping them together in a tent with the same man she’d been dreaming about for years?

  She must be. Who else would be yanking her shoes off so impatiently? “Just a second,” she said as he tugged at the sneaker again. “The fabric’s caught in the zipper. If you yank any harder it’s going to get jammed and break.” Eric let out a deep sigh and waited, his fingers tapping a staccato on her shoe sole.

  After a few more seconds of wiggling, it came unstuck and the zipper moved smoothly. Eric flipped her on her back so suddenly the whole tent moved. He reached up with one hand to stop the lantern’s swaying and ran his fingers through her hair with the other. His eyes were glowing so bright she couldn’t even see the pupils. “Tell me what you want, Holly. Where should I start?” He wiggled his eyebrows playfully.

  Her blush caught her u
naware. What did she want? She’d fantasized about this moment for years. She smiled. “I’d sort of like to pick up where we left off earlier. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to wake up next to you without my clothes on.”

  He gave her a sly grin. “All right. You get undressed over here and I’ll go over there and we’ll meet in the middle.”

  Her hands felt clumsy and rushed as she took off her shoes and pants under the cover of the sleeping bag. She couldn’t help but look as Eric pulled his shirt over his head. She bit at her bottom lip, drooling over the muscles rippling under his skin. Had he always had that tattoo of a wolf head on his shoulder? She couldn’t remember ever seeing him without a shirt on before. Well, there had been that one time, when he was helping clean out the basement at pack headquarters. She’d gotten a glimpse of his bare chest when he’d put his clothes into the wash. Yeah, that was a day she’d dreamed about for quite a while.

  Finally stripped down to her bra and panties, she snuggled under the cool, down-filled cover and closed her eyes. The shushing sound of his own slide under the covers made her jump. So did the touch of his hand as it snaked across her stomach.

  He nuzzled close, hitting all the same areas where she’d smelled him earlier. The scent of him was amazing—clean skin, warm fur, and musky emotions that soaked into her and made her wet. He blew softly into her ear and rubbed his nose against her temple. Her small gasp of pleasure echoed through the tent.

  “Wake up, Sleeping Beauty.” The words were a husky whisper.

  She smiled but didn’t open her eyes. “You didn’t say that earlier.”

  “Actually, I did.” The words were soft and warm, and she couldn’t help but open her eyes. His nose was nearly touching hers, and the blue fire in his eyes sucked her in. “And then I did this.” His lips touched hers, just the barest brush of skin. He feathered kisses along the edge of her mouth and chin, finally ending up next to her ear—all while drawing a slow line down her arm with his fingernail. A whimper escaped her. “But you didn’t wake up.” The words were both disappointed and anticipatory.