Impulse

Her fingertips were still tingling. She curled her toes in the sheets and tried to decide if the sensation was lingering pleasure or something deeper stirred by his smile. “I was too turned on for epic sex. There’s such a thing as too many orgasms, you know.”

“You don’t say.”

Yeah, Julio had probably driven women over that edge before. God knew she’d let him push her into exhausted madness, whether it took a day to recover or not. She slid her fingers down his back and grinned when they bumped into his jeans riding low on his hips. “I take it back.

You should totally tie me to the bed and see how many it takes.”

“Tomorrow. Or the next day or…whenever.” He kissed her softly.

It was a sweet kiss. Warm lips and lazy tongue, the kind of kiss that said he had nowhere to be and nothing he’d rather be doing. Just like his words.

Whenever. Like they’d be together in a week, or a month. Like there wasn’t going to be a time when he couldn’t say, Hey, honey, I’m going to screw you silly tonight. She was reading too much into a tiny word, more than the word should possibly mean, but he was still kissing her, licking her, loving on her as if the fucking had been nice but this was the prize.

She was stupid to fall into it. Josh was out there somewhere, and he’d chase her until he found another coyote to knock up, or he ended up dead. And he was the least of it, because there was only one of him. There were dozens of wolves who would look at her and see something disgusting. A coyote corrupting one of their leaders, an excuse to challenge him, disobey him.

Worse than being a changed wolf. Worse than being human. She was alien, an exotic kink, a dirty secret, and she’d ruin any chance he had at making a difference in their world.

But he was still kissing her. Still touching her, and she’d lied to Anna because there wasn’t anything little about how she felt. She was falling in love with Prince Charming, and midnight would be here before she knew it.

Chapter Nine

Julio was getting used to waking up with Sera in his arms.

It made him not want to crawl out of bed. So he snuggled closer and nestled his face in the crook of her neck. “More sleep.”

“Mmm.” She’d showered and braided her hair before bed, but little pieces always escaped, and they tickled his nose as she tilted her head. “Morning. Or good night again. Whichever.”

“Morning.” The slanting light drifting through the curtains was too diffuse to be anything but.

“Early.”

“Then we can stay in bed.” Her voice was husky with sleep, and warm. Unguarded. “You don’t get to leave. I’d get cold, since you wouldn’t let me put on clothes.”

Because he hadn’t been willing to give up the soft press of her bare skin against his. “Like your tiny pajama shorts would keep you warm anyway.”

“You just like my ass,” she mumbled. “Don’t deny it. I know you’re an ass man, Mendoza.”

“Guilty.” Hers was round and firm, and his mouth watered as he smoothed his hand down over her curves.

She stretched sleepily under his touch, all but purring as she rolled onto her stomach. “Lucky me. You should spend some time appreciating mine.”

Her back arched, thrusting her backside up on display. “Must not be too cold,” he whispered, sweeping the sheet aside. “You’re encouraging me to do this.” He leaned down and bit her ass.

Her moan of appreciation was just getting interesting when a knock rattled the door.

“Mendoza? Put some clothes on and open the door, would you?”

Wesley Dade. Julio sat up and scrubbed a hand over his face with a groan. The biting retort died on his tongue when he realized there was no good reason the psychic should have been standing outside his motel room.

Unless something had gone very, very wrong.

He slid from the bed, dragged on a pair of jeans and looked at Sera. “Want to grab your clothes and hit the bathroom?”

She rose without bothering with clothing, picking up one of her suitcases instead. “Is that Wesley?”

“Yeah.” Julio hesitated, then told her the truth. “If he’s here, it can’t be anything good.”

“I understand.” Naked and wide-eyed, she should have looked vulnerable. But her hands gripped the suitcase and her expression turned stubborn. “I’ll stay in the bathroom if you want me to, but I’d rather know what’s going on.”

“Hell no. Get dressed and come out. Anything he has to tell me, he can do it in front of you.”

Something in her face softened. She crossed the room and rose to her toes to kiss him.

“Thank you.”

A tiny part of him cracked. It wasn’t right that she’d thank him for such a tiny courtesy, but there was no avoiding it. At best, she was used to being treated as someone who needed to be shielded, even to her detriment.

Damned if he’d do it too. The bathroom door closed behind her, and he dragged open the front door and leaned against the peeling paint. “Dade.”

“Mendoza.” Wesley looked like hell, jaw unshaven and eyes dull with exhaustion. He smiled, though, and raised one eyebrow. “I only rate half-dressed, huh?”

“I don’t figure you’ll swoon at the sight of my bare chest.”

“I see you tucked the cute redhead out of sight, though.”

Julio crossed his arms over his chest and stepped back. “She’s getting dressed, but she’ll be out in a minute.”

“Damn. You really were naked.” Wesley walked past him and gave the rumpled bed one curious look before striding to the window. “Not the poshest place ever. I heard you two ran into some trouble.”

“Anna likes to run her mouth.” It wasn’t true, but he had to say something that didn’t have to do with nakedness or the bed and Sera. “What’re you doing in Florida?”

Wesley didn’t answer the question. “Anna doesn’t run her mouth. I called and nagged until she told me you’d had a scuffle and it wasn’t anything you couldn’t handle.”

The man might have been psychic, but he sure the hell wasn’t a mind reader. “I know, Wesley. What’s going on?”

“I don’t know.” After a moment, the other man turned to perch on the small table. “Something changed. I’ve been having the dreams for a while, but yesterday I had a vision.”

The shower cut on, so Julio settled on the edge of the bed and nodded. “Something certain instead of a possibility?”

“Something likely. Maybe. Other precogs clog the works.” He waved a hand at Julio. “Trying to guess your future is like playing poker when half the deck’s wild. But something big is trying to break through, and Sera’s at the heart of it.”

Julio tensed. “Her ex, or something with the wolves?”

Wesley ran his hands through his hair with a snarl. “I don’t know. Maybe lady luck is mad at me for meddling too much. I see…” He hesitated. “Death. Pain. Apathy. Dominoes falling. Gaps where there should be life. A witch who can shapeshift taking over the Southeast council. Magic exposed. Humans running scared.”

Julio held up a hand. “Wait, back up. A witch who can what?”

“That’s not the important part,” Wesley countered, his frustration clear. “If it’s not that, it’s something else. What matters is that Alec had to go and give everyone hope, and if we lose it before it feels real, everything falls apart.”