I realized for the first time there were no mind signatures around. Not in or around the house, anyway. There were some down the block, in the other homes in the neighborhood, but they all belonged to Normans.
“
We carried on the conversation even as he continued kissing me senseless.
“
For the first time in weeks—probably since Rina gave her approval to search for Dorian—my heart skipped with pleasure.
“
In answer, I deepened the kiss while pressing my body tighter against his, eliminating any air between us. I raised my hands to his neck and dug my fingers into his hair, pulling his mouth closer to mine. One of his hands remained on my hip while the other slid down to my butt and lifted. I wrapped my legs around him, and we continued kissing as he carried me inside.
As soon as we reached the bedroom, I dropped my legs and extricated myself from his arms. I missed them already, missed the heat of his body against mine, but we had too many clothes on. Way too many clothes on. Tristan’s shirt came off first, followed by my corset, then our boots and leather pants.
Our hands and mouths were all over each other, kissing and caressing and playing, enjoying such a rare occasion of time alone. We needed this, this time to bond, to feel our hearts beating as one again, to remind our souls we were in this together. We were together in everything. Forever. And together, we would conquer.
For now, we only had to conquer ourselves. Our lust. Our primal need for each other.
As Tristan’s mouth returned to mine and his hands slid over my back, I pressed mine on his chest and gently pushed him, walking him backwards until his legs hit the bed. He sat down and pulled me between his thighs until my breasts were at his mouth level. His hands explored my back and butt and thighs as his tongue lingered over my nipple, licking and twirling and flicking before pulling it into his mouth. One hand moved to my other breast, caressing, massaging, and then grasping as the other hand slid between my legs. His teeth grazed the hard ball of my nipple at the same time he slipped a finger inside me.
I arched my back, sweeping my hands down my sides and to my front, where I found him big and hard. He groaned against my breast when I took him in my hands, and he sucked harder as I stroked him. The feeling of his finger inside, curling and stroking, combined with the pleasure I gave him made the fire in my belly burst.
“I want you,” I panted. “I want all of you. Inside me.”
He pulled back. Grabbed both of my wrists with one hand and tugged them off of him. Raised them over my head.
“Nuh-uh,” he said as he stood, then turned us around. “This night is all about you.”
He gently pushed my arms backwards until my body had to follow, and I lay on the bed, my butt on the edge, my feet barely touching the floor. He kneeled in front of me. I quivered in anticipation. He kissed my lower belly, made lazy circles with his tongue on the sensitive skin where my thigh met my pelvis. His hands slid under my thighs, pushed them up and out. And finally . . . oh, God, finally . . . his tongue dipped down. And he lapped and twirled and sucked while his fingers filled me, pumping and stroking until I screamed his name with utter release as the first orgasm washed over me.
“Now.” I panted. “
“Not yet.”
He continued to tease and excite and arouse me as my muscles convulsed and another wave took me under. I called out his name, begging for him to fill me, screaming when he didn’t relent. But then finally, slowly, he moved his way up, his mouth exploring every inch of my skin, and my body jerked and arched, waiting for him to finally slide inside. And then we were everywhere with each other. Our bodies moving with each other, against each other, bucking and riding, thrusting and rocking. We played our favorite games, used our powers to tease each other to the edge, hit roll after roll after roll of climax until we were completely shattered.
Then we lay naked in each other’s arms for the first time in ages, our bodies spent but our souls full.
“Still frustrated?” Tristan whispered, his breath hot and tangy-sweet against my cheek.
“You did take care of that problem,” I said with a smile. “For now anyway.”
If only our other problems were so easily solvable.
My mind expanded, sweeping over the neighborhood, the area, the city, stretching beyond its normal limits, while staying connected with Blossom’s mind. Hundreds of thousands of little energy pricks wavered around us— mind signatures. We’d discovered the cover of night made this easier, when most Normans were sleeping. I could always pick out Dorian’s signature, whether he was sleeping or awake, but it would be much simpler when not surrounded by the energy of so many others. We swept over Atlanta, tried to push out toward the coast. But . . .
“
We both felt a nudge. A gentle bump. North again.
She picked up the chanting of her spell, concentrating harder as I tried to steer us farther north. We slid over the countryside, pushed until I thought we might even have moved beyond the state line. Another slight tug to keep going. But my head pounded. Blackness started to seep into the edges of my consciousness. I snapped our minds back before I passed out.
“Definitely north,” Blossom said from her cross-legged seat in front of me. She released her tight grip on my hands.
I pressed my fingers to my head and rubbed circles into my temples.
“Yes, north,” I agreed as I opened my eyes.
My thumb did a quick check under my nose and by my ears, and I was grateful to find no blood this time. I had been close to pushing my limits . . . but never had I been able to reach out so far. Way beyond what Rina had ever mentioned being capable of doing.
“We’ll discuss it with the team tomorrow.” First, I needed to talk to Tristan about it.
Before I could, however, a call came in from Trevor and Sundae. They’d cornered five newly infected were-panthers during their first full moon. Panthers weren’t indigenous to the area, and Trevor thought them dumped by their creator. We made the trip once again to the Georgia countryside near the coast and returned with five new converts.
Maybe things were beginning to look up.
“Tristan?” Charlotte asked a few mornings after our little success as she leaned over the kitchen island, her elbows on the counter. Her hands fisted together, and she rested her chin on them as she looked up at us.
He and I stood on the other side of the island, and the rest of the team was gathered in the kitchen, as well. Tristan took my hand between his, closed his eyes, and focused for a long moment while the rest of us waited silently.
“Alexis and I discussed it and nothing has changed,” he said. “We go north.”
So the next day we packed up our few belongings on the bikes and prepared to depart. Right as we were about to leave Georgia for good, a white fur ball bounded up the driveway.
“Sasha!” I squealed as I scooped her up and snuggled my face into her little neck. “Where have you been? We almost left you!”
She licked my face as if to say she knew. I wondered what she’d been up to on her own for these past few weeks and wished I could read her thoughts. Animals were like faeries, though—I could sense their mind signatures, but drew a big blank when I tried to dig deeper.
When we headed out, we looked like a small biker gang: seven of us dressed in leathers and black on five Harley-Davidsons. Sheree rode my bike while I rode with Tristan. Sasha stood on the gas tank in front of him, wearing the goggles and leather coat I hadn’t been able to resist buying at Trevor’s shop, hoping she’d turn up again. Charlotte kept us cloaked and shielded until we were out of the Atlanta suburbs and on country roads, then she removed the cloak so I wouldn’t have to focus so much on keeping a link between all of our minds. The
