Alec was on his feet and halfway to the door before he realized his presence might not be welcome yet. «Can I see her?»
She waved him away. «Go. She’ll be glad to have you nearby.»
He found Carmen in the room where they’d cast the spell, conversing quietly with Michelle. The Seer rose as soon as he came in, a tired but pleased smile curling her lips. «She’ll be just fine.»
Carmen looked pale and exhausted, with dark shadows under her eyes. «Alec.»
Michelle moved toward the door. «I’m going to check on AJ. Call me if you need anything.»
«Thanks.» When she’d gone, Carmen patted the sofa. «Michelle and Mahalia said everything went well.»
He sat and lifted both hands to her cheeks, cradling her face. «You look beat, sweetheart. You okay?»
«Yeah.» She leaned into his touch and closed her eyes. «It wasn’t so bad.»
A lie, and it hurt him. «But it’s over now, right?»
She stroked his hands, almost as if in apology, as she nodded. «Done. The magic’s protecting me now. Even if I’m bitten, nothing will take.»
He’d dreaded the possibility of disappointment, but none came, only relief that she was safe. He smoothed his thumb over the soft skin of her cheek and smiled. «Good. That’s good.»
After a moment, she exhaled a single short breath. «It is, isn’t it?»
«If that’s what you want.»
«It is.» She dropped her head to his shoulder with a weak laugh. «That, and maybe a nap.»
This time, the tenderness the words evoked wasn’t instinct. Just her, and the growing awareness that he couldn’t blame magic for the quiet tug of affection.
Later, he could be scared. Now, he needed to take care of her. So he gathered her against his chest and rocked to his feet. «A nap it is. We’ve got time before dinner.»
Her arms slid around his neck, and she brushed her lips over his jaw. «Thank you.»
«You’re welcome, honey.»
Chapter Thirteen
Dinner was a boisterous affair, redolent with relief and celebration. Luciano had helped Gus cook, and every bit of available space on the table was laden with food and wine.
Carmen barely tasted any of it with the distraction of Alec’s leg pressing against hers and the hot weight of his stares. The way his hand brushed hers, gentle but firm enough for her to know it was no accident.
«Okay, that’s it.» Mahalia wagged her finger at Carmen and Alec as she reached for a nearly empty wine bottle. «You two, go.»
Alec’s sharp spike of satisfaction gave lie to the casual drawl of his words. «You kickin’ us out, Mahalia?»
She snorted. «Luke’s too polite to do it.»
Luciano began to clear plates from the table. «Leave me out of it, May.»
«We’re going,» Carmen cut in, unable to stifle her laugh. «Going right now, and we’ll see all of you in the morning. Alec?»
Alec turned his attention to Michelle, who presided over the far end of the table with AJ in her arms and a sleepy but satisfied smile on her face. Under the table, his fingers found Carmen’s as he smiled. «Thanks, Michelle. I mean it.»
The Seer’s perfect, serene expression didn’t falter, not even when Carmen felt the stinging bite of her pain. «Take care of her,» was all Michelle said. «We’ll see you tomorrow.»
The quickest path to the guesthouse was through the back door, and Carmen wrapped her sweater more tightly around her as they walked out under the stars. The night was crisp, clear.
Beautiful.
Alec didn’t speak, and neither did she. There was a silence inside her, a peace that she hadn’t realized had been disrupted until that afternoon. Now, freed from the low, constant buzz of magic, she could think again.
The house was dark, but the moonlight through the curtains showed her the way. She led Alec into the bedroom and gasped when he slammed the door behind them and spun her to face it. «Carmen.»
No fear, even when he startled her, because he would never, ever hurt her. «Alec.»
«Nothing in there but you.» His hands landed on her shoulders and skated down, stripping away her sweater. When his fingers returned, they curled around her wrists and guided her arms up until her palms pressed flat against the door. «No magic. No instincts but what you’ve always had.»
«Just me,» she agreed, turning her head. «This is what you get.»
«I’m not muddled anymore. Not fighting through the damn mating urge.» He rocked forward, until she could feel the length of his erection even through their clothing. «I’m this hard for you.»
Whatever else the spell might have done, it hadn’t been the only thing drawing them together, and she shuddered at the reassurance. «Lift up my skirt and touch me, and you’ll know how much I want you.»
He chuckled, a low, dark sound that raised goose bumps on her skin and sent a tingle of arousal racing through her. «No. No orders from you, not tonight. None of that half-assed, out-of-control mating bullshit.» One hand slid up her arm and then twisted in her hair, urging her head to the side. «Give yourself to me.»
Her heart began to pound, and the mere thought of it weakened her knees. If he hadn’t placed her hands so deliberately on the door, she would have sank back against him. «Completely?»
«Everything.» A tickle of his breath was the only warning before he closed his teeth on the side of her neck with a low growl.
She almost fell anyway. «Everything.» Tonight. Forever.
His tongue stroked over the place where he’d bit her, hot and soothing. «No shields.»
Nothing between them. «All right.» Carmen closed her eyes and bit her lip. The habit of rebuilding them took effort to ignore, effort that would divert her attention away from him.
But she could let him in.
Slowly, she pulled down one wall, brick by brick, and built it back up around Alec. «They’re not down,» she whispered, «but you’re inside.»
Satisfaction swelled through him and curled around her as he released her hair and stroked his hand down her back, her dress barely protecting her from the heat of his touch. «I like being inside.»
«In more ways than just this?» she teased.
His hand splayed wide across her ass. «In more ways than you’ve seen.»
The implication made her catch her breath, and she wondered — for one tiny sliver of a second — if she was ready to belong to him, body and soul. Then the doubt fled, replaced in a heartbeat with the knowledge that she already did.
She rubbed the back of her head against his shoulder. «Show me now. No shields, mine or yours.»
Leather whispered across metal. «Go lay on the bed. On your back. Leave the pretty little sundress on.»
When she turned, he was pulling his belt from its loops. An image rocked her — of being bound to the bed, at his mercy, while he pleasured her.
Bed. She was shaking as she crossed the room and slid onto the mattress, but she hesitated on her knees. «My shoes?»
«Off.»
She kicked them to the floor and stretched out like he’d instructed, her arms at her sides. «Like this?»
The corner of his mouth kicked up as he finally slid his belt free. «You know better.»
How would she survive? Arousal already throbbed, heavy and low, in her belly, and it intensified when she raised her arms and crossed them at the wrists.
A moment later he was there, twisting the leather around and around as he leaned down to brush her lips in a teasing kiss. «You really do know better. Nothing new here, is there?»
She strained toward him because she couldn’t help it. «Some wolves like it more than others. The dominance, and the submission. So do some humans.»