by Tina Folsom
A grunt was Manus’s answer, then he drew back quickly, allowing his cock to withdraw from her sheath halfway before he plunged back in, faster this time. And with more force.
She gasped and gripped his shoulders more tightly.
“You said any which way,” he said and repeated the movement. “So, I’m gonna fuck you the way you need to be fucked.”
“Yes,” was all she could reply before Manus took her hands and pried them off his shoulders, then eased her down to lie with her back flat on the table.
The next thrust made her body vibrate and turned her nipples into hard buds. Manus’s hands were on her hips now, pulling her against him with each invasion, doubling the impact. She saw his silhouette move rapidly, heard his breathing, felt his strength, his power, his desire. There was beauty in his movements, and a confidence that she’d never seen another man display. As if he knew that no matter what he did, she wouldn’t refuse him, would accept everything he was willing to give her. And she drank it in, the hard pounding of his cock, the relentless touch of his hands, the penetrating look in his eyes. A look that told her that he considered her his, that he’d never let another man touch her. That knowledge made her shiver. Nobody had ever wanted her like this.
Everything seemed to disappear around her. As if fog was rolling in and engulfing them. With it, her body began to tingle, and her arousal seemed to take on new heights. An orgasm hit her out of nowhere, crashing through her like an ocean wave. She gasped at the intensity of it and tried to catch her breath, but the next one was already cresting, burying her underneath it. The waves kept coming, kept driving her from one high to the next. She was floating, her body not her own anymore. She felt so much more than just her own cells. She felt Manus, sensed him as if she’d taken on animal senses, could feel something that she’d never thought was possible. As if she was connected to him by more than just his cock inside her. As if their souls were connected; as if they were somehow talking to each other.
Then she felt it, felt Manus’s orgasm as his semen exploded from the tip of his cock, filling her, igniting another orgasm in her. Her body was shaking now, unable to come down from its high.
“Oh God!” What was happening to her?
“Fuck!” Manus cried out and suddenly pulled out of her. “What have I done?” He shrank back, panic in his voice.
Kim reared up from her position. The same panic she’d heard in his voice was reflected in his eyes now as he stared at her.
“What? What’s wrong?” Her heart was pounding now.
Guilt replaced the panic in Manus’s eyes as he continued staring at her. Something in his look made her glance down at herself. Shock jolted through her body. She stretched out her arms and stared at them in disbelief. “Oh my God, what’s wrong with me?”
Her skin was shimmering golden.
“What’s wrong? Is it the demon blood? Did it infect me?”
“No! No, nothing like that. You’re fine. Trust me.” Manus took a step toward her but stopped short of touching her.
“But—”
“It’s my fault. I’m sorry.” He ran a shaky hand through his hair. “I’ve never done this before.”
She shook her head, confused and afraid. “Had sex? We had sex before.”
“Yeah, but not like this. Not the Stealth Guardian way.”
She furrowed her forehead but didn’t get a chance to turn her confusion into a question.
“It’s a way of making love that’s unique to our race,” Manus explained quickly. “It’s nothing to be afraid of. It’s just—”
“It’s just what? Is my skin golden from now on? I can’t go out in public like that. People are gonna—”
“It’ll fade. Very soon. In a few hours. I didn’t pour that much virta in you.”
“Virta? What’s virta?”
“My lifeforce.” He dropped his head and looked down at his feet as if he was ashamed.
“But I don’t understand. Why? How? Why?”
He lifted his head and looked straight into her eyes. “Because I wanted you to feel me. To feel who I really am. I didn’t want to hide myself anymore.”
For a moment, she let it all sink in. That’s what she’d felt. Him. His soul. His true self. He’d shared that with her. He wanted more than just sex. He wanted her to know him. A tear of joy in her eye, she lifted her hand to touch his face and was surprised when he shrank back.
“There’s something else you need to know.”
She swallowed hard.
“While your skin shimmers golden, every touch by me will result in you having another orgasm.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Are you serious?”
Manus nodded. “Sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I never—”
“You’ve never done this with anybody else?”
He shook his head.
Kim hopped off the table and wrapped her arms around him. Almost instantly, she climaxed again, and her knees buckled.
Manus caught her, pressing her firmly against him. “See, I told you.”
“What are we gonna do now?” she murmured into his ear.
“What do you want to do?”
“Are the police still out there?”
“Yes.”
She brushed her lips to his cheek. “Then maybe we should take advantage of this golden shimmer. That is, if you’re up for it.”
She felt Manus’s hands descending to her ass, cupping her possessively. “Hmm, a woman after my own heart.”
30
Manus still couldn’t believe what had happened between him and Kim. Even now, more than twelve hours later, he was still in a state of shock. But no matter how often he told himself that it was wrong to have made love to Kim the Stealth Guardian way, he couldn’t get himself to regret it. He’d never felt anything even close to the kind of bliss he’d experienced with Kim in his arms.
After the DEA, police, and K9 units had finally cleared the strip mall in the early hours of the morning, Manus had smuggled Kim into the compound and into his private quarters—he hoped without anybody noticing. Taking her to her own place while she was still shimmering golden hadn’t been advisable. What if he lost his concentration and she suddenly became visible? If somebody saw her, questions would be raised. No, the best course of action had been to take her back to the compound. At least that’s how he justified his actions to himself. That in reality he wanted her scent to rub off on his sheets was another matter altogether.
While Kim took a shower, Manus dialed Logan’s number from the house phone and let it ring. He didn’t have to wait long.
“Hey, Manus, what’s up? Why are you here? I thought you’d be guarding Kim,” Logan said.
“I am.” He left it at that. “Listen. I need Winter’s help.”
“What for?”
Manus rolled his eyes. Logan was always protective of Winter, always looking out for her so that she wouldn’t overexert herself by using her gift for useless endeavors. And if Manus were honest, if he had a mate who was a psychic, he’d probably do the same.
“We had bad luck last night. We broke into that translator’s office who was doing some work for Nancy Britton. But a demon got there before us. Kilgore is dead. And there’s no record of what he did for Nancy.”
“Ah, crap. So, you’re at a dead end?”
“Not if Winter can help us.”
“What did you have in mind?”
“Can you bring her to Nancy’s house? Maybe being around Nancy’s things can trigger a vision. It’s worked before.”
There was a pause, then a sigh. “It doesn’t always work that way.”
“What doesn’t?” The voice was fainter but definitely that of Winter.
“Manus wants to use your gift,” Logan explained.
“Is it for something important?” Winter asked.
“Yes,” Logan said.
“Give me that.” Then her voice was louder as she was speaking directly into the phone. “Manus? I’ll do it.”
“No problem. But I can’t promise it’ll work.”
“I know that. But I appreciate you trying. Have Logan escort you to Nancy Britton’s house. Shall we meet there in an hour?”
“That works. See you then.”
Manus disconnected the call.
“Who were you talking to?”
He turned his head toward the door to the bathroom, where Kim stood, fully dressed in the clothes he’d stolen from the dry cleaners.
“Have I mentioned to you that one of our warriors is married to a psychic?”
“A psychic? A real one?” she asked.
“Yep. The whole works. Visions and all. She’ll help us.”
“How?”
“She’ll try to force a vision at your mother’s house. Maybe she can see what your mother had that the demons want so desperately.”
“If they don’t already have it,” Kim said bleakly.
“They don’t. If they did, they wouldn’t have had to kill Kilgore to stop us from finding out what it is.”
“I hope you’re right.”
He smiled at her. He was certain about it.
An hour later, they were inside Nancy Britton’s house. Logan and Winter had arrived at the same time, both invisible just like Manus and Kim. Logan wasn’t taking any chances with his mate, since the demons had once kidnapped Winter in order to use her visions to their advantage. They were still after her, but now she was under the constant protection of Logan and the entire compound and never went anywhere on her own.
Today, they’d even taken an extra step of protection and brought Grayson with them so the hybrid could sniff out any approaching demons.
“Okay then,” Winter now said, letting her gaze roam in the living room. She sighed. “This is where she died, isn’t it?”
~ ~ ~
Kim stared at Winter. The woman didn’t look like a psychic, or at least not like Kim imagined a psychic to look. On the way here, Manus had told her that Winter had once been a tarot reader, unaware of her true gift, and that the demons had targeted her. Back then, Winter had played the part of the psychic differently: gypsy clothing, bangles on her wrists, large earrings, wild hair. All of that was gone now. She looked totally normal—and very pretty. No wonder Logan had fallen in love with her. They made a handsome couple.
Kim now nodded in reply to Winter’s question. “Did Manus tell you about it?”
Winter shook her head. “I can still sense her.” She ran her hand over the sideboard and smiled. “She had a sense for history, for preservation. I like that.”
Kim smiled back, then hesitated. She wanted to ask how it worked, how Winter got her visions and what they looked like, but she didn’t feel that she could ask such a personal question of a woman she’d only just met.
Suddenly, she felt Manus’s hand on her arm, making her turn her head to him. “Let’s give Winter a little space to explore.”
“Sure,” Kim said quickly, then addressed Winter, “I can also show you her bedroom, if that helps.”
“Later. Let me see what I get down here first,” Winder said and started walking around the room. Everybody else stepped back, giving her space and remaining silent so she could concentrate on whatever she needed to concentrate on.
Manus pulled Kim into the kitchen. “I know you’re anxious, but there’s nothing you can do right now. Winter can’t force these things. Us standing around watching her every move is just going to put pressure on her.”
Kim sighed. “You’re right. I’m just worried about what we’ll do if Winter doesn’t have a vision. Because if we don’t know what my mother found, then how are we gonna figure out where she hid it?”
Manus squeezed her hand. “We’ll figure it out somehow.”
Despite his calm exterior, Kim knew that Manus was concerned too. After what they’d exchanged the previous night, after the glimpse she’d gotten into his soul, he couldn’t hide anything from her anymore. Somehow, she could tell what he was really thinking: that they’d be screwed if the demons found what had been in her mother’s possession.
“Nothing down here,” Winter’s voice suddenly came from the living room. “I’m not getting anything. Sorry.”
Kim was already walking back into the living room. “Can we try the bedroom? There are a lot more things that are more personal to Mom. Maybe that will help?”
Winter gave her a kind smile. “Sure.”
As she ushered Winter toward the stairs and everybody else made motions to follow them, Winter looked over her shoulder. “Just Kim and I, please.” She looked at Logan. “You swept the place. There’s nobody upstairs. So, don’t look so worried.”
Logan grumbled something to himself but remained with the other two men while Kim walked upstairs ahead of Winter and led her into her mother’s bedroom, which overlooked the backyard.
“This is it,” Kim said and invited Winter to enter.
“Do you mind if I sit down on the bed?” Winter asked.
“Go ahead.”
Winter took a seat at the edge of the bed and ran her hand over the duvet. “Do you have the clothes your mother wore on the day she died?”
Kim shook her head, surprised at the question. “The police still have those in evidence.”
“Hmm.” Winter looked around. “Is there anything else she might have had on her on the last day?”
Kim swept her gaze around the room, looking for the jacket her mother had worn on cool days, when her eyes caught on her mother’s handbag, which sat on a chair. She pointed to it. “Mom never left the house without her handbag. She said she felt naked without it.”
Winter rose. “May I?”
Kim was already picking it up and handing it to Winter. “Here.”
Winter took it, holding the handle with one hand while touching the leather on the outside with the other. “Hmm.” A disappointed look crossed her face. “I thought since it’s such a personal item… But nothing.”
“Are you sure? There are other things inside, her wallet, her lipstick. Maybe if you touch those…”
Winter reached into the handbag and rummaged around in it. Kim blinked away the growing disappointment and looked at her feet to hide the rising tears.
A gasp jolted her back to awareness. She spun her head back to Winter, who dropped the handbag on the floor. A wallet, keys, and several receipts fell from it. A lipstick rolled under the bed. But Kim wasn’t concerned with any of this now because Winter looked like she was about to faint.
“Manus, Logan,” Kim called out as she jumped toward Winter to catch her.
But she didn’t have to support Winter’s weight because Winter was already opening her eyes again, steadying herself and breathing normally again.
“Did you… Was that…?” Kim didn’t dare hope.
Winter nodded.
Simultaneously, Logan stormed into the room, closely followed by Manus and Grayson. Logan gripped Winter’s arms. “Are you okay?”
“Of course, I’m okay,” she said. “It worked.”
“What did you see?” Manus now asked eagerly.
“It’s a book,” Winter started. “But I couldn’t see the title or what was written in it.”
“Then how are we gonna—?”
Winter interrupted Manus, “Because I know whom it belongs to.”
“Who?” Logan and Manus asked in unison.
“There was an inscription. It said, To my wonderful daughter, our future warrior, Virginia. Your father.”
Logan and Manus looked at each other.
“You don’t think that…?” Logan asked.
“If you’re right, then we’re in deep shit,” Manus confirmed.
“Virginia is the only one who can confirm it.”
“Who’s Virginia?” Kim interrupted.
Manus turned to her. “I’ll introduce you to her. Fancy a trip to San Francisco?”
“San Francisco?” Kim ech
oed.
“We’ll take the portal,” Manus said.
“Mind if I hitch a ride?” Grayson asked. “It’s my mother’s birthday, and I’d like to surprise her.”
Manus sighed. “If you must.”
“I must,” Grayson said, grinning.
31
It was after dark when Manus, Kim, and Grayson arrived in the lost portal that was hidden in one of the subway tunnels in the San Francisco Mission district, close to Scanguards’ headquarters. While Grayson walked straight to his father’s company headquarters, Manus hailed a cab and had Kim and himself driven to the Corona Heights neighborhood, where Virginia lived with her witch husband, Wesley.
He’d asked Logan to call ahead to make sure Virginia would be expecting them and to fill her in on the essentials without telling her too much either. After all, Virginia was a member of the Council of Nine, the Stealth Guardians’ ruling body, and if she was made aware of how many rules Manus had broken when it came to Kim, she would have to report him to the Council.
The house was a Victorian like so many in San Francisco. Wesley had bought it many years before he’d met Virginia, and after they’d bonded, she’d moved in, though she had to split her time between San Francisco and the secret location of the compound from where the Stealth Guardians ruled.
Manus was about to ring the doorbell when the door already swung open. Virginia, dressed in a long black evening gown, stood in the doorframe to greet them.
“Come on in,” she said while looking past them, vigilant as ever.
“We were careful,” Manus said immediately.
“I know. Just a habit.”
Manus ushered Kim inside ahead of him, then followed her. Virginia closed the heavy oak door behind them and turned to face them.
She extended her hand to Kim. “I’m Virginia.”
“Kim. Nice to meet you.” Kim shook her hand.
“Thanks for seeing us on such short notice,” Manus said. He listened for any sounds in the house, but it was quiet. “Wes here?”
