Wrath

Chapter 19

Tristan’s mouth moved to my neck as his hand slid under the waistband of my shorts. “How about here?”

I giggled. “No, I mean not here at the safe house. I want to enjoy it.”

“Ah.” He groaned, his breath hot against my skin, but when he pulled back, he wore a huge grin. “As much as I hate to say it, sexy Lexi, you need to put more clothes on. We’re going for a ride.”

After all that talk about being unprotected and stupid, we snuck off on a motorcycle ride by ourselves. No warlock to shield or cloak us. No vampires or Weres to guard us. Just the two of us, risking our lives so we could be together the way we needed to be. I wrapped my arms around him and pressed myself against his back, part of me anxious to get there already, wherever there was, and part of me simply enjoying the ride as if we’d gone back in time to our early days when we didn’t have a care in the world. Well, at least nothing compared to this. We rode for more than an hour until we reached the Shenandoah National Park.

“It’s a full moon and you brought me to the woods?” I asked once we dismounted the bike. “Do you think this is a good idea?”

He gave me a wicked smirk as he swaggered toward me. His hands grasped my waist and pulled me to him, closing the remaining distance between us.

He leaned over and nibbled on my earlobe before whispering, “I thought danger was your thing.”

I smiled, unable to help it. “Well . . .”

“Besides, a little risk could add to the fun, don’t you think?”

His hot mouth closed over my throat. I must have needed him badly—worse than I realized—because my body immediately throbbed with an intense ache for him.

He pulled back, though, and began undressing himself, his beautiful hazel eyes never leaving my face. He pulled off his boots and then his pants and stood in front of me in all of his glorious nakedness. Holy fuck. How was I so lucky? After giving me a nice eyeful, he turned and strode toward the stream, the muscles of his round, too-perfect-to-be-real butt moving in a way that made my throat dry. I couldn’t help but imagine biting it.

“Are you coming?” he asked me as he stepped into the water.

Sheesh. One touch from him and I would be.

My fingers trembled as I undid the ribbon and hooks to loosen the leather corset I’d changed into, my breasts aching against the confinement. Finally they sprang free, my skin tight with their fullness and my nipples hard.

“Mmm . . . that’s what I’m talkin’ about,” Tristan said quietly from the middle of the stream, his eyes filled with a greedy hunger. “Come on, ma lykita, the water’s perfect.”

My legs shook as I pulled off my leathers and practically ran for the stream. The water was far from perfect for a Norman—freezing cold against my hot skin—but I quickly adjusted. Or maybe the heat radiating from my body warmed it. When I’d almost reached him, Tristan swam downstream several yards, to a deeper swimming hole fed by a small waterfall. He took my hand and pulled me through the curtain of water, to a crescent-shaped area carved out of the hillside by the stream—a shallow cave hidden behind the waterfall. The ledge forming the floor ended right at the waterfall, and the water over it was only knee-deep. The ceiling of the half-cave hung low—too low for Tristan to stand. He pulled himself to sit on the ledge, and I climbed onto him. And finally he held me in his arms again, and his mouth pressed down on mine.

His full lips moved gently at first, but I was too hungry for him. I thrust my tongue into his mouth and devoured his tangy-sweet taste. The kiss deepened and became more urgent. His hands slid over my back, up into my hair where his fingers tangled into the locks, and down to the small of my back. I grasped onto his neck, grinding myself against his erection beneath me as we moaned into each other’s mouths. I finally broke away, wanting to taste more of him. I moved my lips and tongue over his angular jaw, slowly making my way to the tender skin where his jaw met his neck. I sucked as though trying to eat him, my tongue swirling over his tasty skin.

He tugged on my hair, pulling me back, and his head dove for my breasts. I leaned against his hands supporting my back as he kissed the soft flesh, then his lips closed over my breast, and he sucked it into his mouth. I bucked against him as his tongue flicked and rolled my nipple and then his teeth grazed over it. My fingers dug into his shoulders when he moved to the other side. After spending some time there, I could tell he wanted to go further down. I leaned away, my head falling back, and the water poured over my hair as Tristan kissed down my stomach, his tongue making circles around my belly button.

Both of his hands slid to my butt, raising my pelvis to the surface of the water, causing me to fall backwards through the waterfall so I floated halfway out and halfway in. He lifted me higher and, understanding, I moved my legs to curl over his shoulders. My back arched to give him better access. My body throbbed with aching need. Then his hot mouth closed down on me and with the cold water flowing over my breasts, I’d never felt anything so erotic. My body bucked and writhed as his tongue moved expertly, taking me to a bliss I hadn’t experienced in way too long.

When the tremors subsided, I slid my legs down Tristan’s body, grabbed his shoulders, and pulled him out of the waterfall to join me. We locked in a kiss, and my legs wrapped around his waist. His erection pressed against me but didn’t enter as he moved us closer to the shore. We came almost all the way out of the water, and he walked us to a big, smooth boulder. His mouth still clamped on mine, he grasped my calves and gently broke their grip on him, making me stand on my own feet.

“Turn around,” he said. I turned around. “Bend over.”

He positioned me perfectly with one arm underneath my breasts so none of my skin scraped against the rock. His free hand massaged my butt and stroked downward until his fingers brought me to another climax. Then he finally pushed inside me. My mind had already been wide open, but I lost any and all control as he thrust into me, slid out, thrust in again. He knew when I was about to scream his name because he clamped his free hand over my mouth. I bit down on it hard enough to draw blood when he plunged in deep and hard and sent me over the edge again. He must have liked it because he gave me several more hard pumps before exploding inside me.

He collapsed against me, his hard chest thumping against my back as we both panted. His lips trailed light kisses over my neck and shoulder until the after-shocks subsided. Then he pulled back and kneeled in the water.

“I really needed that,” I said as I turned over, lay on my back on the boulder, and stared at the starry sky.

“I know,” Tristan said as he scooped water into his hands and poured it over my breasts and stomach. “It’s the least I could do for our anniversary.”

Oh, crap. Was it that time of year already? I’d been so wound up with searching for Dorian, trying to find new converts, and worrying about the next Amadis daughter, I hadn’t noticed. I’d become worse than most guys when it came to remembering our anniversary. At least Tristan always remembered. And of all days, we’d had our worst argument in a long time. What a thing to argue about, too. This was more proof of how much I’d ignored him . . . ignored us.

“Maybe this is the time we’ll get pregnant,” I said as my finger caressed the stone in my chest, although I didn’t tell him about the tea. For now, that would be Blossom’s and my secret. “An anniversary present to us.”

Tristan moved closer to me, bent over, and pressed his lips to the stone. “Maybe,” he murmured. “When the time is right, she’ll come.”

“Mmm . . .” came my only answer. Because who knew if she would ever come? The chances were so slim, even with the stone and the tea. Although I wanted a daughter badly, I would be okay. Unlike the rest of the Amadis, I could accept it if we never had one. Because I still believed Dorian came to us alone for a reason—that, like Tristan, the Angels had created him for us. Not for the Daemoni. Regardless of some stupid curse.

So why were they making it so hard to find him?

Why did they have to make everything so hard? My mood slid from absolute