“I didn’t say I would do this,” my mother argued, but her gaze welded onto the veins throbbing beneath his coffee-colored skin.
Ian snorted. “I’ve never heard a less convincing protest.”
“You’re doing this, and you’re doing it now,” I told her sternly. “Tyler’s right. You’re a danger to him and every other human until you get your hunger under control, and I know you don’t want to hurt anyone by accident.”
I didn’t say
“I can’t do it with you two watching me,” she finally stated.
“What?” I sputtered.
She waved an impatient hand. “It’s too weird. You’re my daughter, and he”—she looked at Bones, who flashed her an impudent grin—“he’s too arrogant,” she finished.
“No one’s more arrogant than Ian,” I said under my breath.
He winked at me. “Thank you, Reaper.”
Bones rested his hand on my back. “Come on, Kitten, let’s leave them to it. Ian, I charge you with their safety. We’ll be back later.”
I looked at Tyler, but instead of any concern about Bones and me leaving, his thoughts were busy contemplating things about Ian that I didn’t need to hear. “Are you okay with only them?” I asked anyway.
“Fine. Shoo,” he said, flicking his fingers for emphasis.
“Okay, we’ll see you soon.”
Bones propelled me up the stairs, his mood seeming to lighten with every step.
“I’m certain it won’t be that soon,” Ian called out.
I wasn’t a hundred percent sure, but I thought I caught Bones muttering, “Right you are, mate.”
Twenty-nine
The lights from Sioux City glittered in the distance like diamonds flung on the ground. Below us stretched mile upon mile of farmland, interrupted every so often by houses, roads, and factories. I wasn’t worried about being spotted. For one, it was night, and with our black clothes at this height, we’d be practically invisible. For another, we were outside the city limits in the rural counties, where agriculture far outnumbered people.
“This was a good idea,” I murmured.
I’d thought we were just going to wait in the demolished family room until Ian announced the all clear, but Bones took me in his arms and blasted us away before Kramer could even poltergeist up some boards to fling after us. Now we were miles away from the house, high enough that I had no one’s thoughts in my head but my own, and it was just the two of us. Finally, for the first time in weeks, we were alone, no one right outside our door or floating threateningly around the house.
Bones tightened his hand on mine. We were spread out like two birds—arms extended, legs straight, the wind rushing around us like an invisible waterfall. This was the first time I’d flown when we didn’t have some pressing agenda to accomplish, and though it was cold up here, I didn’t mind. I felt wonderfully free. The chill in the air was such a small price to pay for that.
“Before we met, I’d fly for hours to clear my head,” Bones said, his voice reaching me even over the rush of wind. “It was the closest I came to finding peace, but though several of my mates could fly, I always went alone. I never wanted to share this with anyone until you.”
I looked over at him, struck by more than the perfection of his features or how the wind made his clothes cling to him like a second skin. His mouth curved in the type of smile I hadn’t seen on him in a long time—carefree, and the emotions rubbing my subconscious were edged with a joy that made me want to move heaven and earth so he could feel it all the time.
“I’m so glad to be here with you like this,” I whispered. It had taken years filled with more trials and pain than I thought I could endure to bring me to the point where I could soar by his side, but I’d do it all again, a thousand times over, to share this moment with him.
He smiled. “Speak up a bit, luv. Can’t hear you with this wind.”
I rolled myself beneath his outstretched arm instead, not stopping until I’d maneuvered myself under his body. He folded his arms around me, our bodies still streamlining across the midnight-colored sky. Bones was dressed the same way I was, in a black, long-sleeved shirt with matching pants and boots, but his neck was bare. I pressed my mouth there, savoring his moan as my tongue crept out to taste his skin.
“You remember the first time I did that?” I murmured, slipping my arms around him.
“We were dancing.” His voice was richer with the desire I felt rising in him. “And you were taunting me with how much I wanted you.”
I smiled against his skin, tracing another sensitive spot with my tongue and enjoying his resulting shudder.
“I didn’t know that then. I just thought you were easy.”
His laugh rumbled out, hard arms tightening around me. “I was, but I still wanted you more than I believed possible. You don’t know how mad you drove me those first several weeks. It tormented me seeing you every day and being unable to touch you because you hated me.”
“I hated myself more.” Another whisper, but this one he heard. “You showed me how to accept myself, and I loved you long before I could admit it to you.”
His head dipped, cool lips covering my own. I opened my mouth, seeking his taste, moaning at the velvety softness of his tongue and the two sharp fangs that now protruded from his teeth. Mine slid out as well, grazing his when our kiss deepened, and he slanted his mouth over mine.
His power enveloped me, brushing along my senses with a depth that went well beyond lust. Our tongues twined together, that intimate dance sending waves of sensation through my nerve endings. I slid my leg around his hips, rubbing against him in silent, hungry invitation. His hand moved lower, clasping me closer, and the friction when he arched his hips made starbursts go off in my loins. His body was so hard, so sleek, so filled with pulsating energy, and the cradle of wind against us only aroused me more. This wouldn’t be like those stolen moments in the cellar with Tyler in the pantry at the top of the stairs and an angry ghost hurling threats and curses outside. This moment was ours, and we had as far as we could fly in the wide-open expanse of sky to savor it.
Unless, of course, this sort of thing couldn’t be done while flying. From the thick length pressing against me combined with the devastating way Bones rocked his hips, he wasn’t teasing. He had more than enough power to keep us aloft, but flying also required concentration. I didn’t think I was supporting myself in the air any longer. I was too focused on the sensual way his tongue tangled with mine and the bursts of pleasure that unfurled every time that bulge rubbed my clitoris. I’d probably have tumbled right out of the sky if not for his arms around me.
Even if he could keep us in the air the whole time, that had its own set of complications. Bashing into some small private aircraft because Bones’s attention was focused on the radar below his waist instead of what was around us would be tragic for everyone. Maybe seeking out a spot in one of the fields below was the best idea. Yet there was something electrifying about touching each other while soaring through the air that made me want to stay up here.
“Is it possible . . . up here?” I asked, tearing my mouth away from his.
“Yes.” A fervent hiss that spiked my desire.
I pulled his head down again, everything in me tensing with expectation when he reached inside my jeans, his other arm still supporting me. Then a moan tore from my throat at his fingers seeking out all the spots that made me burn. I arched against him, gasps spilling out between our kisses, reaching down to grab that lusciously hard flesh beneath his zipper. It overflowed my hand, too thick to close my fingers around, pulsing with his power and the blood Bones directed there. I rubbed him in time to the same rhythmic strokes he used, his mouth absorbing my wordless cries.
That sweet inner ache became more intense with every penetrating stroke of his fingers. I wanted him inside me, but the more I opened my legs, the higher it made my jeans ride up.
