by Aliyah Burke
“Yes. Unless you want to sleep.”
“I’d prefer to continue on. Are you holding up okay?”
“I’m fine. What happened with the shit he dumped down your throat?”
“Wasn’t as potent as he’d hoped,” she deflected.
“It was when you put it in his mouth.” His tone dropped to a dangerous level.
“I’m not a regular human, it’s not supposed to affect me the same.”
He held her gaze before nodding. There was a bit more gray in his eyes now. She exited the room and went to the table where he’d left the map. As stated, he’d marked the area—not too far from the other coordinates. Hatchet Lake. They also had Bakekana Lake marked.
“There are others marked, too,” he stated the obvious and pointed at the map.
She tapped her lower lip before placing her hands on the tabletop. “I’m missing something.”
“We both are. The final three lakes make up a triangle. What if everything makes up some other mark?”
“It always comes down to symbols and signs. I think you’re right.” She reached for the pencil and connected the dots. “Fuck.”
“What’s that?”
“The mark all The New Order recruits get tattooed on their body. It’s Their symbol.”
“And that’s a bad thing.”
His droll comment had her smiling grimly. “Something like that.”
“Okay, but here, where they all combine… What about checking there first then going to the rest of the area in the triangle area?”
“Near Ima Lake?”
“It’s a starting point.”
“True enough.”
He sat and propped his big, booted feet up on the chair next to him. “I see the wheels churning. What’s up?”
“I don’t want to waste time searching the wrong area. It would be so much easier if Aminta was here with her ’copter.”
He laced his fingers behind his head. “So call her.”
“No.”
“Then how long until we get there?”
“Around a week if you’re with me.” She trailed a lingering gaze over his broad chest, unable to help herself from admiring him.
“And I’m going with you.” He slammed his feet to the floor. “Tent?”
“It would help. I don’t want to sleep out in the elements.”
“I’ll grab gear.”
She wasn’t able to push as hard with him, even alone it would be a good distance. Something wouldn’t allow her to leave him behind. He returned in a short time, a large pack in hand. The kamas rode easily at his side and she nearly smiled.
“I’m ready.”
Folding the map, she shoved it in his pants pocket once she reached him.
“Food?”
He shrugged. “Found a stash of MREs. These guys are remarkably well provided for. I’ve dropped behind enemy lines with less gear.”
“What did you do in the military?”
“A lot,” he hedged.
She crossed her arms. “We should go.” If he wanted to keep it to himself, that was his call. She wouldn’t push.
“What about them?” He gestured to the dead bodies.
“The demons will feed when they arrive.” She hooked a radio to her belt then dimmed the lights, aside from the ones in the kitchen.
“They’re coming?”
She tugged on her gloves. “They always come. We need to go, put some distance before we bed down.”
“I’m ready.”
Grateful for the blowing snow, she headed off deeper into the Boundary Waters. For two hours they moved silently farther away from civilization. The wind effectively hid their tracks from any potential would-be followers. She paused in a grove of trees, checking for security problems.
“We need the shelter,” he said. “No point in being more exposed. Plus the tent blends.”
“Four hours, then we press on.”
“Deal.” Luc erected the tent up in no time, and after she’d checked about once more, she joined him inside.
A small glow from a flat LED light filled the interior. He had the sleeping bags zipped together and she undid her jacket.
“The weather doesn’t bother you, does it?”
“Don’t pay it much mind.” She stared at him, fingers on her coat. “Are you cold?”
“Not warm like humping it through a hot humid jungle, that’s for sure. But not as cold as I would expect to be given our location.”
She grunted and removed her boots before crawling to the bags.
He didn’t speak, just joined her and gathered her close. Luc tucked her head beneath his chin, reached to kill the light then kissed her forehead. Dracen sighed and relaxed against him.
* * * *
She woke nearly four hours later, her sign calm and surrounding her with its warmth. Luc still held her tight.
“What woke you?” His question came on a low vibration above her ear.
“Just knew it was time to go. How long have you been awake?”
“Maybe five minutes.” He shifted slightly. “What do you think they’re doing up there?”
“No clue. Part of me thinks it’s a diversion, and what they’re after is here, by where the others were. But to have the dots creating that symbol, a larger part of me isn’t so sure. I have to head up and find out.”
“We’re heading up. Could have taken some of their snowmobiles.”
“Could have.”
Lord, she didn’t want to move. She allowed her eyes to drift closed once more.
“Sleep some more. The snow picked up,” he said.
“No. We need to press on.”
“You do deserve to rest.”
“Fate of the world. Makes me not be so lazy.”
“Come on then.” He climbed out first and turned on the light. “Just so you know, it was a hell of a lot warmer pressed against you.”
She saw her breath in the air and knew he spoke the truth. Still, she didn’t linger. She did keep an eye on him as he added his layers back on—she didn’t see signs he was chilled. No more than her, and for her it was just minor.
* * * *
Luc shifted the pack on his back and gazed over the wilderness. He stood on the shore of another small lake, one he was sure Dracen would know the name of but that he couldn’t recall at the moment. He was alone and took the moment to soak in the majesty around him.
Untamed. Wild. Absolutely beautiful.
The sunrise was stunning as the mixture of colors in the sky added their hue to the snow around him. I can’t believe I’ve humped it over the distance I have in the winter and I’m not tired. Nor cold. It had something to do with Dracen, he just wasn’t sure what. Each day that passed, he felt stronger. His body was changing, but he had no explanation as to why.
He stared at a pair of wolves who ran together off in the distance. Mates for life. They played with one another as they moved.
“Happy hunting,” he whispered. A warmth surrounded him and he smiled. “Did you know wolves mate for life?”
She materialized from the trees beside him. “What does that have to do with anything?”
He chuckled. She was so straightforward. “Just a question. Did you see them out there running?”
“I did. They’re hunting.”
“I know. Do you think dragons mate for life?”
“Dragons?”
He glanced sideways at her, admiring how she looked out here. As wild and unforgiving as the land they traveled across. “I think they mate for life. Like us.”
“This is what you think of when you stand out here alone?”
“I think of a lot of things. I’m only voicing a few of them. What’d you find?”
“Another cabin coming up. Empty, but they had used it.”
“Good, I could use a night in a real bed with you.” He kissed her. “Let’s get going.”
Together, they melted back into the trees and continued on their way. Three hours later they got to the cabin she
’d spoken of. After ensuring it was still secure, he shrugged off the pack once they were inside.
“How long did it take you to get here without me?”
“Not that long,” she said.
He admired that about her—she never complained about having to move slower with him along. While his speed was increasing, it wasn’t anywhere near what she had at her beck and call.
“Fire?”
“We’re in the middle of the Canadian wilderness, I think it would be smart to have one.”
“I’ll go scrounge up some wood since there’s not anything in this place.”
She nodded and unfolded the map, turning her attention to it. Luc went back outside to see if there was anything along the walls of the cabin. Within the hour they had a fire burning and snow melting for some hot water.
He sat on the wooden couch and Dracen lay stretched out with her head in his lap. He played with her hair as they sat there enjoying being out of the elements.
“Tell me more about you, Dracen.”
“You know most everything.”
He shook his head. “About the Guardians, sure. But about you, not so much. What’s your favorite color? Food? Music?”
“Black. Wild rice and chicken soup in a bread bowl, sourdough. And I like old-school R&B, like The Platters.”
“Smoke Gets in Your Eyes?”
Her eyes popped open and she stared at him, allowing him to see a glimpse of joy in the dark depths. “You know that song?”
“I do. If you’re good, I may sing it for you.”
“You do that and I’ll give you anything you want.”
He waggled his eyebrows. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
She closed her eyes again and said, “Good.”
“You were going to tell me there was something else you’d not told your fellow Guardians before the demons returned. What was it?”
Her entire body stiffened. “Never mind.”
“I don’t think so, Dray. Tell me.”
She sat and curled up at the other end of the couch, facing him. She’d unbound her hair and appeared as a young woman who had her entire life ahead of her, not one hand-picked to help defend the entire world, a battle hardened warrior.
“I hunt demons so well because I can sense them.”
He rose to add another log to the fire before taking his seat again. “Can’t all of you? I mean, they’re your enemy, don’t you all have this thing which alerts you to them?”
“Not really. For the others, it’s the scent and some other signs.”
“But for you?” he prompted.
“I feel them. A humming begins in my blood when they are within the vicinity, and the closer they get, the more agitated my sign gets, as well as my blood, it is like it burns. I don’t know why it does that.”
“Why didn’t you ask Lian?”
“He has enough on his plate without my concerns.”
“Seems to me a demon hunting advantage is a good thing.”
“When it works. It never alerted me to Haley.”
“Who’s that?”
“A half-breed bitch who took Cale’s mate. She’d been our mail carrier and it never alerted me to what she was.”
“Stop blaming yourself for everything that’s happened. It’s not your fault.”
“Some days I feel as if it is.” She stretched out her feet and he tucked them in his lap. “That blood should have torn me up to the point where I needed Cale to repair me, you’re right, it should have done more to me than it did.”
“But it didn’t.”
“And there’s something else—I don’t know what—going on.” She shook her head slightly. “I told you I was changing, it’s happening so fast, I’m not sure what is going on anymore.”
“There’s more.” He wasn’t asking.
“Yes. I get glimpses of things that make no sense to me, but that I know should have meaning. I don’t know what to believe anymore. I don’t know what glimpses to follow and take advice from.”
“One day at a time.” He tapped her feet. “Come on, let’s go to bed.”
When she placed her hand in his without hesitation, he wanted to crow with happiness. This woman didn’t quite understand how important she was to him, but she would. By the time this was over, she would know exactly.
Together they walked to the small bed in the corner of the cabin. He’d placed their bags on it and he sat to remove his boots. As he did so, he lifted his gaze and stared at the woman before him. The black clothing she wore made him hard as hell for her.
They undressed swiftly and climbed into their sleeping bags once they’d been set up and the packs relocated to the floor. He held her close, allowing their body heat to warm them. As usual, she was already hot, and he ran his hands over her skin, loving the smoothness beneath his palms.
“Dracen,” he breathed against her neck, tongue flicking out to taste her.
Her short nails dug into the flesh of his ass as she pulled him flush to her. There wasn’t a lot of room to maneuver in the bags but he didn’t care.
“Put me in you, babe. I need to feel your heat around my cock, gripping it.”
He palmed a breast and tugged on her nipple. Her whimper encased him in even more steel. She did as he ordered—shifted her leg and put the head of his dick at her opening. He plowed into her with one stroke, closing his eyes at the tightness of her pussy.
“Fuck,” he grunted.
Chapter Seven
Dracen closed her eyes as Luc fucked her. She held him tightly and rode out the pace he set. For a while it had been almost frantic, now he was dragging out his strokes. She wrapped her arms around him, holding him at the shoulders.
He flexed his hips, driving deep only to withdraw until just the head of his cock was inside her. Luc rolled them over so she was on the bottom. She hooked her legs around him, the bags making their fit even tighter.
“I could stay in here forever,” he muttered as he continued driving into her.
“Yes,” she said, teetering on the cliff of her orgasm.
His calloused hands were driving her crazy. She yelped when he pinched her nipple, and bucked against him.
“Come on my cock, Dray.”
She had no choice but to listen to him. Falling free, she came, hard. She raked her nails along his skin. “Luc!” she cried to the rafters of the cabin.
Three more strokes and he filled her with his seed. He kissed her, tongue mimicking the dance they’d just completed until her need had ratcheted up once more and his cock had stiffened again inside her. She grumbled when he withdrew from her.
“Turn over,” he ordered.
It took some time but she did, and moaned in pleasure when his weight settled on her back once he’d filled her pussy again. He reached around her, cupping her breasts, tweaking her nipples as he drove into her, sliding them forward on the bed, the bags not providing much in the way of friction.
She fisted her hands and pushed back to meet his driving thrusts. Her body was aflame and she didn’t want to lose the feeling. Biting the bag, she screamed as her body fell apart yet again.
Luc wasn’t done with her, though. Not by a long shot. And when he finally did finish, she wouldn’t have been able to do a damn thing, even if the demons walked through the front door of the cabin. She curled up in his arms, face in his chest, and closed her eyes as sleep clamped irons around her ankles, securing her.
* * * *
She woke alone and scanned the small cabin. Luc crouched before the hearth, wearing only one layer of clothing as he stoked the fire. She watched him through lidded eyes, taking in the raw masculinity he exuded.
“Hungry?” he asked, glancing at her over his shoulder.
“Starved. What are you offering?”
His grin, wicked, flashed before he shrugged. “MREs is all I have, but I’m pretty sure there’s some disgusting spaghetti or rice meal in one.”
“You sure know how to go all out for a girl.”
“Not just any girl,” he said, pushing to his feet in a smooth motion. “My girl. Not everyone would get a meal in bed after that. I would be expecting them to cook for me.” He went to his bag and dug some packets out. “But you, babe, get food brought to you.”
“Lucky me.” She rubbed her hand down her face, not wanting to move. Sated was the only way to describe how she felt right now. Nothing else mattered beyond these cabin walls at the moment. Not the demons. Not The New Order. Not Them. She rather liked it that way.
“I agree.” He sat on the bed beside her, handing her one of his shirts so she could sit up and eat without being completely naked.
She opened her pack and ate.
“What’d you get?” he asked, leaning close.
“I think it’s supposed to be a chicken thing but not sure. You?”
“Beefaroni type. Wanna share?”
They swapped and she finished up his while he did the same for hers. He took the packet from her and disposed of them, then he rejoined her on the bed. “Are we heading out or are we staying here?”
“Pushing on.”
He inched up his shirt she wore. “I was afraid you’d say that. Can we just stay here for a bit longer, there’s some dessert I’d like to partake in.” He licked her belly and she shivered.
“Yes.”
So they did.
* * * *
Dracen sent out a wave with her sign, searching. The forest was eerily still.
“It’s too damn quiet.”
She crouched as she nodded her agreement to his statement. “We’re near to something, not sure what, but you’re right. It’s predator-aware quiet.”
“Think the wolves are back?”
“No. This is quiet because of a human predator in the area.” She rose and looked at the man traveling with her.
“You want to go off and do some Guardian thing while I wait here, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Not really used to taking a back seat here, babe.”
“I know, but I can move quicker if you’re not with me.”
He tugged on his hood and nodded. “Fine. I’ll be here.” He gripped her coat. “But if you get hurt, I’ll be pissed and take you over my knee.”
