“Try it,” he said softly. “Touch yourself.”
“A little kinky. But maybe if I imagine I’m touching you, when you’re Sam.” Juan/Kelly gave a seductive smile. “Like this.”
Her hand dropped lower, over her groin. A single, slow stroke. Now blood began to rush much lower, making the ache turn into a pulsing need as Shay’s imagination kicked into overdrive. This was too much to resist.
“Touching me how?”
“All over,” she whispered. “The way I used to dream about, after you left. The way we first made love. I was scared, because I’d heard a woman’s first time hurts. And then you told me to explore your body...”
He closed his eyes, remembering Kelly’s hands touching him, stroking over his naked body, exploring every exposed inch of his hot skin. Then her mouth slowly lowering, those wet, red lips opening as she took him into her mouth...
Oh, hell, this was all wrong. No fantasy could ever suffice. He wanted the real thing.
Shay’s eyes snapped open and met her startled gaze. Then she glanced down with a look of pure dismay. He bit back a chuckle.
“Now you know what it feels like,” he murmured.
“How do I get rid of this?”
“I find it helpful to think of baseball. The Yankees winning the playoffs works for me.”
“This is too weird,” Juan/Kelly muttered.
“Right.” Shay sobered. “Think of what’s really at stake. What we need to be doing instead of standing here like a couple of horny teenagers. What could happen to your people and mine if all this goes down.”
Juan/Kelly paled. “That works for me, Sam, because right now I feel scared to death.”
“Hey.” He ran a finger down one sun-darkened cheek, envisioning the real Kelly beneath the disguise. “I’m not going to let it happen. Trust me.”
They moved out of the building and to the main road. Juan/Kelly scanned the area. “So far, at least three humans are after me. The guys back at Rosa’s and the man on the bus. Those aren’t too bad odds.”
“The man on the bus was an Arcane.”
“Not possible. How could you tell?”
“All Arcanes’ auras deepen to crimson when they’re tense. When we’re young, Elementals are taught to detect the slightest flicker. It’s taught in our schools, to protect Elemental children.”
A small, disdainful snort. “How wonderful for your kind. And what about Arcanes? What defenses do we have? Did anyone ever consider we’re tense because our magick is weak and we’re under constant scrutiny by Elementals?”
Shay fell silent. Kelly had been a victim of suspicion and prejudice long before the night of the fire.
“I’m surprised my aura isn’t neon red. They’ve labeled me a criminal simply because I’m an Arcane. Any evidence of my innocence will be thrown out once I’m brought before the council.”
Her voice dropped. “I’ll be imprisoned. Or executed.”
Acid coated his throat. “No way in hell. Not going to happen, so stop talking about it.”
He’d fight to the blood and bone to ensure she was safe. The promise made long ago still held. Even when he’d left her on her own, he hadn’t forgotten.
“You won’t have any choice. As soon as you hand me over, you’re back to your SEAL team. The council will prevent you from interfering.”
Shay sighed. “Trust me, Kel. I have influence and power, and I’ll be damned if I let those bureaucratic bastards touch you.”
But a niggling doubt wormed into his mind. Did the council truly treat all Arcanes like that? No trial, no chance to plead their innocence, just thrown into prison, or worse?
It would get worse. Once the council believed the threat of genocide, it’d act. Spring into action and imprison all Arcanes. Or kill them.
Fair and just Mages like his uncle would stop them.
But fear was a powerful motivator. All it would take was a few whispered words to the right people, and Arcanes would disappear.
Kill an entire population simply because they were different. Couldn’t happen.
Right.
Gritting his teeth, he sidestepped a man lounging against a streetlamp. “If you want a normal life when this is over, Kel, you have to give the system a chance to work. Give me a chance.”
“I gave you a chance twelve years ago. It’s too late.”
The hard shell encased his heart once more. He said nothing, only nudged her to keep moving.
Keep moving forward. All they could do. Except with every step forward, Shay felt himself sliding backward into the past.
A past he missed more than he could admit.
They needed a car.
Sam hunted through the village looking for one to boost, but the town was too crowded. He opted for public transportation instead. La Aurora was too far to walk. And with the increased threat of men searching for her, Kelly knew they had to find the missing kids.
Before a bounty hunter captured her.
They boarded a chicken bus. Afraid to meet strangers’ gazes, she looked out the window.
As twilight fell, they got off at a town an hour’s drive from La Aurora. As they stepped off the bus, Sam steered her toward a shop that sold sundries and clothing, ignoring her protests.
There, he purchased a plain white scarf and handed it to her.
At her puzzled look, he pointed to a small mirror. “Take off the hat.”
Kelly gasped.
The once-gray hair now had streaks of vibrant red. Her magick was fading. Next she’d start growing breasts and curves and...
“How long does your shape-shifting hold out?” he asked.
She thought of the one previous attempt as she bound her head in the scarf as if her head were bandaged, hiding all her hair. “Two, three hours, maybe. I’ve never held it this long. Maybe when you bonded us together, it enhanced my magick.”
His gaze sharpened as her stomach growled. “You need to refuel. I’ll find a restaurant.”
“So much for the man being in charge,” she grumbled softly, replacing the hat.
Sam gave a soft laugh. “I am.”
Bypassing several smaller, quaint restaurants, he selected a larger one with a mixture of Europeans and locals. Sam chose an isolated table against the wall and faced the entrance.
The waitress came and took their drink orders. Sam’s rugged confidence outshone her own. Even disguised, he held the attitude of a tough SEAL who could break an enemy’s neck with less fuss than a woman breaking a fingernail.
Her nervousness grew. “We should have gone someplace smaller.”
“It’s safer here in a crowd,” he explained, leaning on the table and scanning the room.
He shot her a dirty look.
Opening her menu, Kelly considered. “I’ll order for you, Maria. You don’t know what a woman likes to eat. You have no taste.”
“Maybe I don’t know what a woman likes in the kitchen, but I sure as hell know what she enjoys in the bedroom. Especially a certain redhead who screams my name when I indulge my palate in a very special
