I took a step and closed the distance between us. His strong arms closed around me. He bent down and kissed me. He’d kissed me before, but those times paled before this one. He didn’t just touch his lips to mine. He drank me in, seducing, compelling, conquering my mouth. It was an full-out assault, all or nothing. He was offering himself to me and he wanted to know if I was his. I melted into it. I had never wanted anything more.
His hands tightened around me. A shiver ran down my back. His fingers slipped into my hair. I put my arms around him, trying to get closer to the heat of his body. He made a low masculine noise that drove me wild. I fumbled with his T-shirt. He pulled it off, revealing a hard chest corded with muscle, and then he caught me into his arms. My towel slid to my hips. My cold nipples pressed against the heated wall of his chest. I felt so hot, like I was on fire. His hands roamed my body. He made that noise again, that hungry male noise that made me lose my head.
My towel slipped to the floor. He let me go for a breath and then he was naked. We stared at each other in the moonlight slipping through the small window of my bedroom. The silver light slid over him, playing on his broad shoulders, his powerful chest, the ridges of his stomach, and lower, where his hard length made it obvious just how much he wanted me. His eyes glowed like liquid amber, heated from within by intense need. There was no softness in him, just dangerous, lethal strength. He was my wolf, half in the light, half in the shadow. I loved him so much.
I opened my arms. He came to me and swept me off my feet. I kissed his lips, his stubbled jaw, his neck… He dipped his head and nuzzled my neck, his tongue hitting just the right sensitive spot. The burst of pleasure dragged a moan out of me. We landed on the bed. The platter with wine went flying and the inn caught the bottle before it shattered. His mouth slid lower… His tongue grazed my nipple, painting heat over it, the sensation so intense, my whole body tightened in response. An insistent, impatient ache built between my legs. I wanted him to make love to me. The anticipation was killing me. I sank my fingers into his hair and wrapped my legs around him.
“Do you need me to slow down?” he asked, his voice a ragged growl.
“No, I need you to speed up.”
“I can do that.”
He looked into my eyes and thrust inside me, into the liquid heat. Pleasure swept through me and I cried out, thrusting my hips up to better meet him. He kissed me and thrust again, straight into the center of my ache, turning it into bliss. He moved inside me in a smooth rhythm, each thrust stoking the fire until I couldn’t stand it anymore. My body shuddered and waves of pure pleasure swept through me. His body tensed, clenched, and I felt him empty himself inside me with a hoarse groan.
I lay my head on Sean’s chest and rubbed my foot along his leg. He was smiling in the moonlight. It felt so good to lay next to him. Like nothing in the galaxy could hurt me. So that’s what happiness felt like. I’d almost forgotten.
“Should we get dressed?” he asked, sliding his thumb along my shoulder.
“It’s our inn. They’ll wait for us.”
They would wait, but others wouldn’t. I raised my head and looked at him.
“What is it?”
“The Assembly summoned us.”
“Are we in trouble?” He grinned at me.
“Yes.”
He pulled me closer, his arm around me.
“I don’t want tomorrow to come,” I whispered.
“Why?”
“All the problems will come back tomorrow. The Assembly, the ad-hal, the corruption…” I was so happy right now. I wanted it to last a little longer. Just a few more hours.
“You won’t have to deal with your problems alone,” he said.
I hugged him tighter.
“We’ll look for your parents together,” he said.
I kissed him. A light sparked in his eyes. He pulled me on top of him. His mouth closed on mine—
Beast scratched at the door.
“Aunt Dina!” Helen called. “Mom said…”
I collapsed on Sean’s chest, face down.
“… to tell you that you should wrap around your private time because Orro’s head will explode.”
A quick patter of feet announced her running down the hallway. Beast whined at the door, putting extra sadness into her crying just in case I failed to notice it.
Sean patted my back.
I rolled off him. He kissed me again and we got up off the bed.
“One thing,” Sean said. “I’m not wearing a robe.”
“My father wore a robe. All innkeepers wear robes.”
“Not going to happen.”
“Sean Evans, don’t you start with me.”
He bared his teeth at me and bit the air, clicking them.
Tonight was the feast, tomorrow would bring problems, but it didn’t matter. Sean was right.
No matter what the universe threw at me, I wouldn’t have to face it alone.
The Ripper of Souls jumped on the empty bed and regarded us with his witchy cat eyes. Great. We’d had an audience all along. It was probably absurd to be scandalized by a cat, but I was still embarrassed.
Sean frowned. “Where did you get this cat?”
“He was trapped in a glass box in a PetSmart.”
“Did you notice he has a collar?”
“I noticed. I thought about taking it off, but he seemed to like it, so I let him have it. This is my first time owning a cat and I don’t want to damage our relationship.”
Sean grabbed Olasard and held him up.
“I don’t think you should manhandle him like that. I’ve just gotten to the point where he comes when I call him and lets me pet him.”
“Lights,” Sean said.
The electric lamps snapped on. Gertrude Hunt had obeyed him. Huh.
He held the cat out to me, parting the fur with his fingers to expose the collar. A small metal plaque embedded in the blue nylon caught the light. Two letters, engraved in elaborate cursive, shone on the plaque.
S.N.
Sebastien North?
DISCOVER MORE BY ILONA ANDREWS
Magic Bites
Magic Burns
Magic Strikes
Magic Mourns
Magic Bleeds
Magic Dreams
Magic Slays
Gunmetal Magic
Magic Gifts
Magic Rises
Magic Breaks
Magic Steals
Magic Shifts
Magic Stars
Magic Binds
Small Magics (compilation of short stories)
The Hidden Legacy Series is being rereleased in 2017.)
Burn for Me (rerelease 3/17)
White Hot (rerelease 6/17)
Wildfire (coming 8/17)
On the Edge
Bayou Moon
Fate’s Edge
Steel’s Edge
Clean Sweep
Sweep in Peace
One Fell Sweep
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
“Ilona Andrews” is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing team. Ilona is a native-born Russian and Gordon is a former communications sergeant in the U.S. Army. Contrary to popular belief, Gordon was never an intelligence officer with a license to kill, and Ilona was never the mysterious Russian spy who seduced him. They met in college, in English Composition 101, where Ilona got a better grade. (Gordon is still sore about that.)
Gordon and Ilona currently reside in Texas with their two children and many dogs and cats.