Immune (18 page)

Liam sat up, wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me tight against him, redirecting my flow of thoughts. Hovering just above him on my knees, the feel and throb of his erection pressed against the tight warmth between my legs. I tipped my hips toward him, brushing against his erection, shuddering at how close we were. Liam’s eyes closed and he let out a low groan. “You really are a tease.” I moved to take him into me, but he put his hands on my hips to keep me from sliding down onto his shaft. “Not yet, Rylee. There’s no hurry, the fire is a long ways from out.”

I glanced at the fire pit, saw the dying embers. “Actually—”

The look in his eyes struck me. He wasn’t talking about the fire pit. He was talking about us.

“Oh.”

Rolling to the side he took me with him, the length of our bodies fitting together in a simple movement I felt helpless against; but not in a way that freaked me out. There was no denying this, and for once I wouldn’t try.

Feeling bold, I slid my hand down between our bodies, slipping past his erection to cup him, squeezing ever so slightly. A sharp hiss of breath escaped his lips. I smiled thinking I was in charge, the one running this sexy show. Not so much.

He dipped his head and took one nipple gently between his teeth , drawing it into the deep warmth of his mouth, his other hand teasing along the edges of my inner thigh until he pressed his fingers into me, swirling in the heat that was building between my legs.

Gasping I arched into him, all thoughts of being in charge fleeing my brain. Unable to stop myself, I thrust my hips into his hands, noises I barely recognized slipping out of me. Heat, desire, the smell of Liam’s skin; I shivered with the whirlwind that rose within me, bursts of lightning seemingly dancing along my skin as my body bucked under his hands and mouth.

“Liam, please,” I begged, feeling the need to finish this with him.

With a groan, he gave in, sliding into me with a single smooth thrust and I wrapped my legs around his waist almost jerking him into me, our bodies moving together, a dance as old as time.

We rode the momentum, our skin slick with sweat, breath coming in short sharp gasps as we rode the wave, cresting at the top together. Trembling, he held himself slightly above me, staring down into my eyes.

“That was worth the wait.”

I smiled up at him, my body singing his praises. “You bet your sweet ass it was.”

Laughing, we collapsed on the pile of furs, but I kept my legs wrapped around his waist when he made a move to get off me.

“Where do you think you’re going?” I asked, sweetly, batting my eyelashes up at him.

Laughing softly, he shook his head, bending to nip at my ear. “Absolutely nowhere.”

D
oran was waiting for me as I stepped out of the sweat lodge, robe gripped around my waist. The grin spread across his face. “If I’d known what the morning’s activities were going to be, I’d have offered to go in with you.”

Crap, did that mean everyone knew? The four female Shamans were sitting on the back porch, smiling out my way. Apparently so. I wasn’t ashamed, it was just, well, your first time with someone, you don’t exactly want a welcoming committee afterward.

“Was he any good? I didn’t hear any screaming after
I
was done with you.” Doran smirked, and I did the only thing I could think of.

I punched him in the nose. The cartilage crunched under my fist, and Doran wheeled away, laughing and yelping. Yes, I said laughing.

“Bitch, I’m glad I didn’t bed you. You Trackers. So God-damned touchy!”

“That’s for talking to Jensen, you ass.”

Liam stepped out behind me, his pants and shirt on, even if the shirt was un-buttoned. I clenched my robe against the sharp, winter wind. It was cold, but I didn’t feel like anything was going to kill me. Running barefoot across the frosted ground, I leapt up the stairs and raced to the back bedroom.

Closing the door behind me, I was surprised to see Alex passed out on his back, snoring loudly. Grabbing my clothes, I started to pull them on, calling to the werewolf.

“Alex, come on, we’ve got to get going.”

He startled awake, rolling off the bed with a thump. Peeking up at me over the edge, he lifted his nose and sniffed the air.

“Rylee mates the boss?”

Scrunching my face up, I nodded. If he thought Liam was the boss, all the better. “Yes.”

Snorting once, he scratched at his butt with his claws, pulling them out to give them a sniff before saying anything. “Okey dokey.”

That was it? Damn, I’d been expecting a full-out war again with him growling at Liam and me trying to step between them. This was good, life was looking up.

I paused in dressing to reach for Ricky, Tracking him easily. Still asleep. That was too weird. Though I preferred him not to have to see whatever the dumb ass Troll was up to, I didn’t like that he had been unconscious for so long.

Gathering up my weapons, I strapped everything down and headed back out into the main house. Louisa was there, talking quietly with Liam.

“Keep an eye on her. If for one instant” —she held a pointy finger up to his nose— “you think there is a speck of the venom left, you bring her back to us.”

The agent nodded, his dark hair tousled with sleep, but his eyes were keen and alert. I fought back the—what I knew would be goofy—smile from my lips.

“Thank you Louisa,” I said.

“You’re welcome.”

Silence, then; no ‘thank you’ would be forthcoming from her. Shaking my head, I touched Liam on the arm. “We should go. Ricky is waiting on us.”

Eve was waiting outside, her head dropped so she could speak with Eagle. We approached them, not making any effort to hide ourselves, but still, Eve jumped when we got close.

“Rylee, you are well?”

“I am. Can you take us back to the Landing Pad?”

She bobbed her head once, glanced at Eagle, and then lowered herself so Liam and I could climb on. Again, Alex would ride in her claws.

As we lifted from the ground, Eagle gave a shrill cry and Eve answered it with one of her own. She made swift time though, between Louisa’s and Dox’s place, the wind blowing in our favor.

Dox came rushing out, and I gave him a double thumbs up. Scooping me up into his arms, he gave me his trademark bone-crushing hug. Or at least, he started to. I was yanked out of his arms and shoved behind Liam so hard I actually stumbled.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” I shoved the agent.

He turned to me, his eyes wild, skin flushed as though with fever. Shit, maybe he had an infection? No, the sweat lodge would have helped with that.

Dox though, didn’t seem bothered, not at all. He took a look at O’Shea, a look at me, and threw his head back with a bellowing laugh. “Shit, I didn’t think you’d actually bed him, Rylee!”

O’Shea didn’t move, but something shifted in him, a tensing of muscles, a moment of pressure in the air. I lifted my hand. “Don’t ruin this, not now, not here.” Of course, the minute I sleep with the guy, he gets all weird and possessive.

This was the last thing I needed, and yet my heart stumbled almost as much as my feet had. I’d thought, for a brief second, O’Shea was different. That he wouldn’t be an ass. What was I thinking?

O’Shea shook himself, a tremor rippling through him, and he finally turned to face Dox. I couldn’t see the look that passed between them, but I could guess. He grunted a “Sorry” at the ogre and then brushed past him, through the motel and right out the other side.

Dox clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t be too hard on him. When he’s ready, he’ll tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

The ogre just smiled at me, but didn’t pull me back into a hug. Eve cleared her throat. “Rylee, I must ask you something.”

Ruffling her feathers, the Harpy ducked her head. “I would like to stay here for some time. Eagle has agreed to train me. But not forever, I would come back to you, in a few months.”

This would be good for her, to train with someone who could fly with her. And it would keep Milly from harping—bad pun, I know—at me.

“Are you sure,” I asked, not wanting her to think I was happy she was staying, though a part of me was sighing a large breath of relief.

“Yes, I’m sure.”

I gave her a nod, and headed toward the front of the building. “You did good, Eve. Just come home when you’re ready.”

She gave a screech that made the hair on my body stand at attention, and then a whoosh of wind curled around me as she launched into the air.

“Keep an eye out for her, Dox,” I said, striding through the building.

“Of course, and you take care of yourself, Rylee.”

Deliberately, within sight of O’Shea and the SUV, I turned and hugged Dox, keeping one eye on the agent. His jaw tightened and his hands flexed on the steering wheel, but at least he didn’t get out of the vehicle.

“Always pushing the boundaries,” Dox muttered, patting me on the back. “Get out of here, before you start a brawl.”

I laughed, but my heart was feeling bruised at being such a bad judge of character. I didn’t think jealous was a word I could have applied to O’Shea, and wouldn’t have until he yanked me away from Dox. “You’d squash him like an overripe melon.”

Dox’s face sobered. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that.” Giving me a little shove in the direction of the SUV, he waved at Alex who was already in the back of the vehicle, bouncing like crazy.

Good times, just me, a werewolf, and a cranky, jealous FBI agent on an eighteen-hour run back to North Dakota, most likely through a snowstorm.

Good times indeed.

*-*-*-*

He drove as if he were alone, silent and staring straight ahead. The snowstorms that had chased them south had eased off, and the driving was simple enough. So what was his problem? How about the wild rage that had gripped him when the ogre hugged Rylee? O’Shea was not a possessive man, never in his life had jealousy been something he’d had to deal with. But it was like a light switch had been flicked on and his only thought was to tear off the arms of the one who was holding her.

That was not a good sign. And with each mile they drove in silence, the gap between them widened. He thought about her sweet pleas as she writhed underneath him, whispering his name as they clung to each other. Now, she wouldn’t even look at him.

“If you’re going to yell at me, just do it. I know I was an ass.” He said, gritting his teeth as the admission fell from his lips.

“Dox is one of my closest friends. I will damn well hug him if I want to.” She snapped, her eyes flashing as she pinned him to the seat with her gaze. “You think because we had sex, you have ultimate say in my life?” She rested her head in one hand. “Fuck, what was I thinking?”

That stung.

He took a slow breath, breathing in her scent, as if that alone could tell him what to say. She was hurt, and angry. A trickle of fear tickled his nose. Fear? How could he smell that?

Swallowing hard, he said nothing, his own fear rising up around him like a fog. Agent Valley had been right; O’Shea should never have slept with Rylee. No, that was a lie—he’d do it again in an instant.

“How’s the kid?”

Rylee closed her eyes briefly. “Sleeping.”

“Still?”

“Yeah, I know. Even drugged, I haven’t felt him even sort of wake up, not once.”

Alex bounced in the back seat, and O’Shea gave him a frown. Slinking, the werewolf slumped into his seat. “No fairseezz.”

Rylee turned in her seat. “What’s no fair?”

Alex pointed at O’Shea. “Boss man.”

She looked from the werewolf to O’Shea, then back again, her eyes taking in more than O’Shea was comfortable with. He wasn’t sure he knew what was going on; he sure as hell didn’t want her figuring it out first.

“You want to tell me something,” she asked.

This was it; this was the moment to tell her what he was afraid of, what he suspected had happened. She would understand, of all the people in his life, she would be the one to get it.

He stared out at the landscape they were passing through, the snow sparkling in the sun.

“Nope.”

The slight grind of her teeth was the only thing that tipped him off. And how the hell could he hear that anyway, it was quieter than a mouse’s fart? Clamping down on the emotions that roared through him, he fought the fear. This was a battle that had nothing to do with her, and there was nothing she could do to help.

So why did it feel like he was betraying her with his silence?

N
orth Dakota was socked in, the whole freaking state a complete white out. Apparently, it hadn’t been all my and the demon venom’s fault that winter had come early.

As we drove into Bismarck, the feeling of Ricky in my head intensified, his heart beating steady and rhythmical. That, at least, was a good sign.

“Where are we going first?” O’Shea asked. No longer was I thinking of him as Liam, the sweet, generous lover who’d watched over me in the sweat lodge. Nope, he was relegated back to being the asshole agent who stuck around just to watch me fail.

Though I did have to give him a small amount of credit. One of the few things I could say I liked about the FBI agent at this moment was that he listened to me and followed my lead when it came to the supernatural. I had no doubt
that
would change once he got his legs under him in my world. But for now, it was super handy.

“We go after Ricky. It’s been too long already and I’ve got most of the things we need in my bag. We’re only another ten minutes away.” I curled in my seat, focusing on the kid. I couldn’t believe with all the detours and time we’d had to take, we were still going to make it to him before that asshat of a Troll did anything. I had to believe that.

“Do you have a plan?”

Yeah, that was the sticky part of this. What O’Shea didn’t know, but would soon enough, was that Trolls rarely worked alone. Sure, I’d duped the dumb ass, one-eyed bastard before, but that had been only one. How the hell was I supposed to extricate a kid from a raging angry Troll, and all his friends?

So I fudged. “Working on it.”

O’Shea looked in the mirror, his eyes full of the disbelief I knew I deserved.