Rafe hadn’t moved on the bed. I doused the lights, pulled back the covers and slipped in beside him. I snuggled up to his backside, molding my naked body against his, trying to get as much contact as possible. Loki’s amulet was still pulling power from me, but I’d maintained my own tap on the ley line that crossed over Joe’s cabin. Hopefully, I could keep the tap going while we slept.
I kissed the back of his head and my lips contacted the short, singed hairs that had survived whatever fire had burned him.
Without realizing when it started, I found myself crying. This damn man was going to be the death of me yet. Twice now, I’d almost lost him. How many times could I keep pulling him back from the edge? Was this my life now? One fight after another? Our lives always on the line?
I inhaled sharply through my nose and then rubbed my eyes against the pillowcase.
If that was a Wanderer’s life, then so be it. I’d be there to rescue him as long as I lived. Then a thought crossed my mind. How had Raphael A. Semmes made it as a Wanderer for more than forty years without me?
Chapter 30
Raphael
I awoke in pain. A lot of pain.
Resisting the urge to moan aloud, I opened my eyes and examined my surroundings. I recognized the bed and the room. I was back in Joe’s cabin. A light sheet covered me, and I felt a warm body at my back.
Outside the window, the sky was dim, either darkening or lightening, it could be either. How long had I been out?
My bladder was what woke me. I was surprised I had even noticed it with all the pain coming from my legs. I remembered what had happened well enough anyway.
I was going to have to grow new legs. Luckily, I still had that spectral prosthesis spell I had used on Tess. At least I wouldn’t be bed-ridden for the weeks it would take.
I was also starving. I knew I should have been adding fat. I hoped Joe had a well-stocked larder.
Thinking of Joe made my throat tighten. There was another friend I had out-lived.
Tess’s hand moved against my chest, tickling the hair and sliding down across my abdomen. Her fingers enveloped me. I was erect, but it was a morning piss-hard.
“I still think it’s funny that you always wake up with one of those,” Tess said an inch from my ear.
I turned my head to see her, and her lips met mine in a hungry kiss.
When she broke off the kiss, she propped herself up on one elbow and stared down at me. The sheet fell off her as she did and I couldn’t keep my eyes from going to her bare breasts. Had they always been that perfect?
I cleared my throat and raised my gaze to hers. “Did you have much trouble getting me back here?”
“Not too much. Beast and Maia helped,” Tess said.
Her eyes bored into mine. I stared back, expecting something. I didn’t know what.
“Yes?” I said at last.
“How did you ever manage without me?”
“Maybe it’s you,” I said.
“Me?”
“Yeah, maybe you’re a danger magnet.”
She stared at me for another second, maybe two, and then she rolled on top of me. Our parts lined up, and she gave a little wiggle.
She grinned down at me. “I guess you’re going to want to use the facilities first.”
“Well…”
She bent down and kissed me lightly. Her tongue stroked my lips and then she was off me and off the bed.
“How bad?” Tess asked.
“How bad what?”
“How bad do you need relief? Do want me to carry you in there or can you take the time to cast that prosthesis spell?”
I considered and then cocked my head to the side. “Carry me?”
She placed her hands on her hips and struck a pose. “You think I can’t carry you?”
I took a good long look at her body. Damn, but she was beautiful. Maybe my bladder could wait.
I reached for her.
She stepped back out of reach and smiled. “Feeling frisky, eh? I’d have thought you’d be in a lot of pain.”
“The pain’s there, but some things are more important.”
She laughed.
Suddenly, she stood erect, her hands to her sides, palms out and took a deep breath. She relaxed a few seconds later and winked at me.
“What was that?” I asked.
“You’ll see.”
She came back to the bed, her arms reaching out. I grinned and reached for her, expecting to pull her back into bed. Instead, she playfully batted my hands aside and slipped her hands into my armpits.
Tess lifted me with no apparent effort.
“Hey, when did you learn that trick?” I asked.
She pulled me in tight against her; my boner ignored, and then slid her hands, one at a time down to my cheeks. Without another word, she carried me into the bathroom. We reached the commode, and she leaned back enough to look me in the eye.
“Do you want me to hold you up or set you on the toilet?”
I considered, for all of two seconds, and said, “You can sit me down.”
She did but then stood over me, staring down.
“What?” I asked.
She pointed and asked, “How are you going to go with that sticking up in the air?”
I smirked. “I’ll manage if you give me a little privacy and a couple of minutes.”
Tess grinned wickedly. “Maybe I want to see how you manage it.”
“Good grief, woman, give an old man a break. I’m bashful.”
“Hah.”
She pulled the bathroom door shut behind her, and I heard her laughing as she moved away.
I didn’t wait for her to return. As soon as I finished, I activated my levitation tat to float. I’d been fortunate with the levitation tattoo. It was on my right thigh. The thigh ended about two inches below the tattoo. Half of that was new pink flesh. I thought about how many tattoos were gone or
