Chaos Burning (32 page)

“There’s more.”

“I know! This is why I’m trying to get to it.”

He laughed and kissed her hard, still taking his sweet time to torture her with that deliciously slow entry.

If she only knew how hard it was for him to keep it slow when the siren’s song of her body lured every part of him to ravish and plunder the sweetness of her body. The steam in the air of the shower stall held their scent. Skin and soap… and sex. She was delicious and lush, ripe and her body against his was everything he wanted. All he needed.

She writhed, the minx, to get more and he unleashed a little more and gave it to her, seating himself fully in one stroke. Her gasp satisfied him as much as it titillated.

So tight and hot around him. Her inner walls clutched and fluttered, driving him insane.

Good. So good. Even there on the brink of madness, with violence all around them, this was perfect. This was what he’d
gone six hundred years with only the briefest tastes of. This was everything.

She held on, her nails digging into his shoulders. His beast rode that edge of pain and approved of the way she demanded her pleasure. Unable to stop himself, not wanting to anyway, he leaned in and bit the side of one of her breasts. Not to harm. But to mark.

She made a sound, gods, that sound, deep and dripping with desire. She hooked her ankles at the small of his back and he got even deeper as he pulled back and licked over the bite. “Mine.”

Nodding, she took his face between her hands and held him still for a moment. “Yes. Yours.”

He snarled and thrust harder, watching to see her reaction, never, ever wanting to harm what was his. But she didn’t react with fear, she angled herself enough to lean back and thrust against him, meeting him each time he got in deep.

Grateful for his size and strength, he got a hand free and found her clit, circling it slowly. She tightened around him again, graying his vision for a moment. So very close. She needed to be with him when it happened. The circling sped until he squeezed her clit gently between thumb and forefinger. She sat upright on a gasp and began to come around him, writhing and moving as she did, dragging him in with her until he was blind with it.

He went to his knees, still holding her, gaze locked on hers as they both recovered their breath. One corner of her mouth slid up. “You gave me a hickey on my boob.”

He laughed and slowly left that warmth and set her on her feet as he stood as well.

“I did.”

“Good.”

FEELING
better than she had before the shower sex—
ha, that was an understatement
—she stared at the computer screen as he drove his heavy-duty truck up U.S. 97.

They’d hit U.S. 2 shortly enough but there were myriad little timber roads and other relatively unused roads leading
back to cabins and Park Service locations along the way. There was no way she could have seen them all in the dark. Even in the early dawn it was a challenge, but workable.

She knew they had a place up there, somewhere. Even managed to work out the most likely twenty-square-mile area based on what she’d seen and the research she’d been able to do. Gage’s crush, Rose, had come through with some property deeds and other records, which helped take hundreds of potential miles down to about twenty.

Twenty square miles was still big, especially out there.

She snuck a look at him, so big and in charge as he drove. He’d made her eat a big, protein-laden meal before they left. She’d been annoyed by waiting even twenty more minutes but he’d been right. The sun was coming up and they’d be able to track far better in the daylight. The food and being surrounded by so much nature had given her a second wind. That and the sex.

“You should nap.”

“You didn’t nap.”

“I only need about three hours sleep or so.
You
, however, need more. Apparently to keep your strength up to argue with me over anything and everything.”

She rolled her eyes, knowing he was teasing her on purpose, to keep her from dwelling on Nell. “I’ll sleep after we find her and bring her home.”

He sighed, but said nothing.

“There should be a timber road just up here.” She leaned forward and kept watch for it.

Another mile or so and they found it but he didn’t turn down the road. Instead he drove on another mile or so and pulled off the highway, pulling into the trees until they couldn’t see the road, and more importantly, no one from the road could see them.

She’d need to check the timber road for magickal traps, which is another reason they didn’t drive down it. Before they got out, he pulled her to him and kissed her, hard. “You will listen to me today. I know you understand your job, but I know how to track. Do we have a deal?”

He did actually know far more than she ever could about tracking, so she nodded and let herself be amused at how bossy he got.

“Good.”

She got out and grabbed her pack. Not too heavy, but he glared at her anyway. She’d agreed to let him carry the packs once he’d shifted and taken on his beast. “Jeez, I’m not trying to put it on. Stop with the menacing stares. I know you like kittens.”

He couldn’t stop his laugh. “You’re incorrigible.”

“I know. I can’t help it. You see, I have this uber-bossy, alpha-male boyfriend. I have to be or he’d take over.” She winked. “Get naked. I’ll pack your stuff in the bag. I don’t want you naked and cold when we get to the house where they’re keeping Nell.”

Oh, that look. Lascivious as he slowly stripped off, he tossed his shirt, jeans and shorts her way. She rolled them carefully and tucked them into one of the empty bags. “Use that strap on each side once I shift. You can hook the boots there so the weight is distributed evenly. I could carry you too, you know. It wouldn’t even make me tired.”

“Hush you.” As if she’d ride him like a pony. Well, not for this purpose anyway. “I’ll happily ride you when this is over and we’re alone in bed.”

He shifted with a grin and held still while she got the saddle bags on him, attaching his boots securely so they didn’t repeatedly bang him on his sides. He gave her a look and jerked his head.

She’d take the point, looking for any spells that would need disabling. They’d go bit by bit as he’d also be looking for other kinds of traps.

“I’m glad you’re here with me,” she murmured before she stood and they headed back toward the logging road they’d travel next to.

They hiked for several hours. She’d stop occasionally to be sure he wasn’t tired, but he nudged her to the pack with food so she stayed hydrated and fed. Adorable.

They’d come upon two houses and a small, run down cabin. None of them had any sign of recent occupation. No magic had been used on or near them either. So they kept going and she refused to let herself think about how scared Nell would be. She just hoped Nell knew they’d do everything they could to find her.

Chapter 27

ABOUT
seven hours in, Simon froze, the hackles on his neck rose and he growled low. She stayed near. He was, after all, a big, giant wolf with razor-sharp teeth. And he shielded her with his body anyway so she couldn’t have moved even if she’d wanted to.

Her othersight was open and she scanned the area. She hadn’t seen anything as they’d been walking, but his nose was far more sensitive. And then she heard it, a vehicle coming down the nearby logging road. They already had cover so she pulled out some field glasses and waited for the car to get close.

A driver and a passenger in an older model SUV. Not entirely unusual for a back road like this. But they were deep in the forest by that point. Hikers at this stage in the year were unusual. There was snow on the ground in places so they knew no one had been where they were at least since the last snowfall.

“I don’t recognize them. But we should follow. What are the odds they’re here for anything but that house?”

He jerked his head and they continued to hike.

Every minute that passed was a minute her friend was in
danger. Was a moment closer to the Magister being able to come into their world and bring some sort of disastrous cataclysm.

She pushed her exhaustion away. Breathed in deep. The font was a vibrant thing; she knew she could draw from it if and when she needed to. Which helped. Having Simon there helped too. As long as he kept going, she knew she could as well.

She pushed ahead, stopping only occasionally to pull out the map and mark their progress.

THE
sun had passed the high point and was dropping off in the west. They’d lose light in another hour or two and this deep in the forest they’d find it pretty tough going to see anything, even with his super vision.

The air all around them cooled as she drew energy from it. From the scent of the trees, the sharp cold of the breeze, the crunch of snow at her feet. She wasn’t cold, which was a relief. Steadily moving kept her warm. But snow had begun to fall, which meant tracks would be obscured on top of everything else.

Finally Simon put himself in front of her and stopped, shaking his head a few times and nudging her to sit on a nearby outcropping of downed tree trunks.

“We need to keep moving. It’s going to be dark soon.”

He growled.

“Dude, I’m fine. I’ll even eat a breakfast bar.” She riffled in the pack until she found it and then smiled as she caught sight of the watch cap he must have tucked in there without her seeing. She put it on. “Thanks. Now let’s get moving again.”

Simon knew she was pushing herself to find Nell, but her pace was relentless and while he could easily handle it as man or beast, she was another story. He didn’t want her working until she fell over. He stopped and she tried to keep moving so he shifted back and grabbed her hand. The bags slid to the ground. “You need to take a break, damn it.”

“She’s around here. I know it. We need the light. We can’t afford to stop.”

“I think you’re right. And yet, when we get there we may have to fight our way through a crew of who knows what. If you’re ragged, you’ll suffer for it. And so will Nell. Stop for ten minutes and eat something. Drink something. I’m not joking.”

Her mouth hardened as he knew she was thinking of arguing. But in the end she nodded. “You should get dressed if you’re staying human. I don’t want you to get cold.”

“I’ll be fine for the time being. I’ll shift again when we move.” He fixed her hat, pulling it down a little more. “There are gloves in there as well.” He bent to dig through until he found them and handed them her way.

“Thank you.” She wolfed down the protein bar and he frowned.

“If we have to stop at dark, I’m going hunting for our dinner.”

“We can’t afford to camp. We have to go.”

Ignoring that, he gave her some jerky. “Eat that. Drink some more water while you’re at it.” He drank some himself as well.

“Every second we’re not there is a second they might decide to kill her. I can’t have that. She’s depending on me.”

He knew her so much better than he had even a few days before. On the outside she may have been confident and badass, but she cared so deeply, was always concerned that she do her best not just for herself, but for those she was responsible for. So afraid to fail when the entire world seemed to rest on her shoulders. The hunters in other cities had to deal with their own people disappearing. So much depended on her and she knew it.

He knew she suffered for it too.

“I’m all for pushing to find her. But if you push so hard that we miss a sign, that’s not helpful. Or if you keel over from exhaustion. You need to be strong when we find her.”

She frowned and he wanted to laugh but managed not to.

Standing, she dusted the snow from her legs. It fell around them, giving a hush to the forest.

He loved it out there. Yes, there was alarm. He wanted to find Nell as much as she did. But this was second nature for him. They needed to do this more.

“After,” he began, tucking things back into their pack, “we
are finished saving the world we need to come out here more often. I like hiking with you.”

She smiled and the worry lines on her forehead softened a little. “Yes. We can even bring a tent the next time.”

He’d brought a small, two-person one anyway but he didn’t say anything about it.

“Let me lead for the next stretch. You can use your othersight from a distance. I want to be in between you and anything coming at us. Plus I can scent better with you behind me. Even my beast loves your butt and I might get distracted.”

“Says the guy with the smoking-hot hard body standing there stark naked.”

He kissed her and then shifted back, holding still as she got the bags back into place.

And they began again.

SHE’D
begun to consider stopping again but kept on. As long as he continued to walk ahead of her, she would keep up. She used the time to meditate, to let her magick do what it was supposed to. Her othersight was wide open as she took in the vibrance of the trees. Even in winter they were so very green.

Birds had come along with them for most of the day. She’d gotten used to it a long time ago and rarely noticed. But that day they served as an early warning system. This late into fall she was surprised to see many birds at all, but they were around. Winter wrens and even the occasional loon when they were near water. They’d alight in the trees or on fallen logs, examining her as they went past. Sometimes they’d chirp at her and she’d speak to them.

It wasn’t like she spoke bird language or anything. But they knew her, spoke to her in their way and she responded in her way. It wasn’t exact but she got the gist usually.

Speaking of winter wrens, one perched nearby, cocking its head to look at them both. Lark paused. “Tell me, mister bird, have you seen any bad guys out here?”

He continued to cock his head at her and then chirped.

“Yes, something not natural. Something you might be afraid of.”

The bird puffed up and she reached out to brush the backs of her fingers over him to soothe.

He looked up a nearby rise. Hopped and took flight and then landed a few feet away.

“Looks like we need to climb a bit.”