"Oh, Nick."
Dropping onto the floor, he knelt in front of her, parted her legs, and buried his face between them.
She said his name again and again as his tongue delved inside her and he tasted her heat, something he'd been aching to do since that first day in her office.
Cupping her ass in his hands, he lifted her hips off the cushions, giving his mouth greater opportunity to tease and tantalize, nibble, suck, and lick.
She was so sweet and so responsive. Every soft cry of pleasure, every buck of her hips and tremor of excitement set him off.
Her climax came quickly, thrilling him almost as much as it did her. He continued to kiss her until her spasms ended, savoring the last of her juices. Then, he stood.
His towel had long since fallen off.
Gillian stared at his erection with huge, hungry eyes. Sitting up, she reached out and took it into her hands, closing her fingers around the rigid length.
Nick groaned. "Wait. I've got some condoms in the bedroom."
"We don't need them." Gillian settled herself directly in front of him. "Not yet."
Whatever she had in mind, he was completely ready for it.
Bending her head, she took his cock in her mouth, swirling her tongue around the tip, raking her teeth up and down the sides. Nick willed himself to hold out for more than a minute. It wasn't easy. Gillian gave great head.
"Maybe you should stop," he croaked.
"I don't want to." Her fingers squeezed his balls, applying the perfect amount of pressure.
"Baby, I'm not going to last much longer."
"That's the whole point." She licked her palm, then used it to stroke his cock, faster and faster.
"Oh, shit." Nick felt the first hot surge low in his groin and drove his fingers into her hair. When he was fully spent, he tilted her face to his, caressed her cheek with his thumb, and said in a voice shaking with emotion, "That was incredible."
"I've never ... um.... done . . ."
She could have fooled him. He dropped onto the couch beside her, unable to stand, unable to breath, unable to recall a time when sex had been so damn good.
"Well, thank you then for letting me be the first." He drew her into his arms, tenderly kissing her forehead, her eyelids, and lastly, her mouth. "You still mad at me?"
"Yes. But not about my father."
He sighed. "What have I done now?"
She ran a hand over his chest, skimming the scars there. "I'm mad because I spent eight years getting my degree, four years teaching at a top universityand you, who've had no training, figured me out."
"Actually, I've had plenty of training. Being behind the camera and observing people, particularly in crisis situations, has taught me a lot about human nature."
"I suppose it would." After a few minutes, she stirred and asked, "So what now?"
"First, we get a good night's sleep, something we both really need. In the morning, I'll make us some cappuccino and omelets. Then, I go to the station and you go to school. Tomorrow night we meet back here, don our red capes and blue tights and try to save the world. Charlie ran a new analysis tonight. He thinks he's narrowed down the hiding places for the two remaining females."
"That's great." She gave him a shy half smile. "But I was asking about us."
He rose, taking her with him, and headed them both toward the bedroom. "We spend every available minute we can together."
And while he didn't say it out loud, they both understood if he didn't beat Cadamus in the final battle, it might be all they ever had.
Miguel scurried past the high iron fence of the cemetery. Though it was late at night and very dark outside, he wasn't scared. For the first time in his eight years, he knew what it was like to be cared for and protected.
He would never be alone again, never be hungry, never be mistreated. No longer would he be forced to watch his father beat his mother black and blue and then drink himself into a mindless stupor. Or watch his older sister turn tricks on the fire escape for drug money.
The Dark Ancients had saved him.
While he lay on the bare kitchen floor, dying from the bashing his drunken father had given him to teach him a lesson, the Dark Ancients had appeared to him. In a multitude of voices that sounded like the most beautiful music Miguel had ever heard, they offered him the opportunity to trade one miserable life for a new one full of hope and promise.
In exchange for this glorious gift, he need only serve Cadamus, the winged creature of darkness, for as long as he was needed. It, had seemed a fair exchange to Miguel, and at the same moment he drew his last breath, he was lifted by strong, invisible hands and carried away, out of the kitchen and up to the sky.
He'd awakened later in a strange alley, miraculously healed and unsure of how much time had passed. Hours, days, he couldn't remember. But he knew what he had to do and where to find Cadamus. The Dark Ancients had given him his instructions while he slept in their gentle hands, and everything else he needed to know for his new life.
Now, just one day later, he was a different boy. Strong when he had been weak. Brave when he had been afraid. Smart when he had been dumb. Needed when he had been of no good use to anyone.
Crossing the mostly deserted street, Miguel ran around the side of an old building that had been condemned years earlier. The neighborhood gangs sometimes used the vacant offices for parties or stashing stolen goods or conducting drug deals. Lately, they'd stayed away as if sensing something more ominous than them had taken over the building.
They were right.
Miguel trotted down a set of rickety metal stairs. At the bottom of the stairs was a battered door, which he pushed open and slipped through. It was pitch black inside the building, but Miguel traveled with confidence. He'd practiced his route repeatedly before leaving, determined to make Cadamus proud of him.
Zigzagging through the maze of rooms, only a handful of which had four walls still standing, he found the door to the :basement. His footsteps echoed eerily as he descended yet another flight of stairs into the furthest, dampest, coldest part of the building.
A half-dozen steps from the bottom, Cadamus swooped down on Miguel from out of the darkness, talonlike fingers grabbing Miguel by the arms and lifting him so high the top of his head bumped the ceiling. He tried not to breathe in the stench of Cadamus's foul breath or flinch at the still-damp blood covering his body.
"You're late."
"I'm sorry. It was far away." The errand Cadamus had sent Miguel on took over an hour, even with him running both to and fro.
Pain erupted violently in his head, and he yelped as Cadamus's mind reached into his, extracting the information Miguel had learned. He didn't understand most of what he'd seen or heard, but Cadamus apparently did, for he grunted with satisfaction.
"Good."
He put Miguel down, turned swiftly around, and glided down the remaining steps to the basement floor, his feet not touching the stairs.
Miguel followed him, happy to have done well and basking in the praise.
Cadamus met Miguel at the bottom of the stairs and shoved something at him. "Here."
Miguel's heart raced as he felt the object with his hands. It was a plastic sack, like those from grocery or convenience stores. He tried not to be repulsed by the sticky fluid on the sack or think about whom Cadamus had killed to get this most precious gift.
Reaching inside the sack, Miguel removed the first object. It was a large bag of chips. He dropped to the cold, hard floor with a cry of delight and rummaged through the remaining items. Besides the chips, there was a package of beef jerky, a two-liter bottle of warm soda, two packs of cigarettes, and a magazine.
He tossed the cigarettes and magazine aside, then dove into the food. Ripping open the bag of chips, he shoveled handfuls of the salty delicacy into his mouth, barely stopping to breathe. The beef jerky, tougher and harder to chew, took longer to eat. He swallowed everything down with the warm soda.
It was the best meal he'd ever had.
Cadamus, Miguel realized with a burst of joy, had brought him food, proof he cared. No one except Miguel's mother had ever brought him food.
"I'm going now." His protector stood over him, tall and strong and everything Miguel wanted to be one day. "You rest. I have need for you again in the morning. Early."
The Dark Ancients had explained to Miguel how he was to be Cadamus's eyes and ears during the day.
It was his job to go where Cadamus couldn't, and bring back information.
"Okay. "
Miguel obediently lay down, right there in the remains of his dinner. He didn't care that the floor was filthy or that rats by the dozens were waiting in the shadows to devour the crumbs that had fallen from his mouth.
"Do not leave," Cadamus ordered and, leaping over Miguel's head, flew up the stairs.
His dictate had been unnecessary, for Miguel had no intentions of going anywhere. Ever.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Gillian waited on the landing outside of Nick's apartment, holding a travel mug of cappuccino he'd insisted she take with her. In the distance, the sun peeked over the tops of buildings, its yellow rays brightening the otherwise drab gray of the city.
Traffic on the nearby street had yet to reach a congested level and wouldn't for another hour. This time of the morning, the streets were safe for joggers, and, like children let loose at recess, they were out in droves.
Gillian wasn't much of a morning person, preferring to sleep in until the last possible minute. Probably because she had a tendency to stay up late, grading papers or researching. Mornings like this one, however, could make a convert of her.
She'd awakened in Nick's bed just as dawn broke, his arm draped possessively across her middle, his breath fanning her cheek. For several long, languid minutes she'd lain there, watching him sleep in the pale light filtering through the blinds and contemplating the strange and miraculous events that had brought them together. Not merely as lovers, which in itself was wonderful, but as partners in a cause.
She was his Synsar, just as her father had been Jonathan's Synsar. It was a role she'd come to embrace with all her being. Her anger at Nick last night wasn't because he'd lied to her. That was a convenient excuse. She'd been mad because he'd known all along about this special relationship of theirs and hadn't said anything.
Then again, he was probably right to have kept quiet. She'd needed to discover her destiny for herself and come to grips with it on her own. Only then could she fully commit to him and be a worthy helper.
She glanced back at the apartment door, wondering what small task was delaying him. As promised, he'd fixed omelets for breakfast shortly after they got up. They'd gotten up only after they made love.
Their joining hadn't quite equaled the emotional intensity of the previous night but it was still immensely enjoyable and a very nice way to start the day. Yet another reason for her to become a morning person.
Her thoughts drifted to work. This was her last day until summer school started in a few weeks. Usually, she experienced a brief bout of melancholy at the end of each school year. Not today. She couldn't wait to finish up in her office, sit through her last meeting, turn in her students' grades, then hurry back here to meet up with Nick and Charlie.
She made a mental note to bring a spare toothbrush and some clean underwear with her.
The door to Nick's apartment opened and he stepped outside, closing and locking the door behind him. He smiled at her, and she resisted the urge to run into his arms for another lingering kiss like the ones they'd already shared numerous times this morning, in the shower, while dressing, and over breakfast.
"You ready?" he asked, coming toward her.
'(Yep. ep.
He'd dressed for work, wearing his camera-jockey clothes-baggy jeans and a ratty T-shirt. She liked him better in his black shirt and pants. Gillian had put on her outfit from yesterday and was planning on stopping home first to change before heading to campus.
She preceded him down the three flights of stairs and together they walked to her parked car.
"Want me to drop you off at the station?" She leaned against her car hood, admittedly stalling and eager for one more minute in his company, if not five.
"I'll walk."
"You sure?"
"It keeps me in shape."
She recalled him naked in the shower, her hands soaping his chest and shoulders. "I can vouch for that."
One last kiss, she told herself, then she'd go home. Setting her travel mug on the car's hood, she melted against him. But one kiss turned into two and three.
"What time will you be back here?" He tugged on an earlobe with his teeth.
She tipped her head back to give him better access. "Around five, five-thirty." Suddenly remembering what Nick had said last night before they went to bed, she extracted herself from his embrace. "What's the new analysis that Charlie ran? You forgot to tell me."
"He thinks he's figured out the hiding places for the remaining female creatures."
"You're kidding! That's great. Where?"
"Iglisia de San Pedro and the PhoenixExhibitionCenter."
"Wow. The ExhibitionCenter. That place is gigantic."
"Yeah. We're going to need your superspecial female-creature-flushing skills for that one."
"Very funny." She punched him lightly in the arm.
"Ouch!" He feigned a pained expression and cradled his arm.
"Oh, please." She rolled her eyes as if exasperated. Secretly, she was enjoying their frivolous banter. She'd always been the serious type, and it had defined her past relationships with men. Nick brought out an unfamiliar and playful side to her. One she liked.
"Seriously," she said, returning them to the topic of Charlie's latest analysis. "Isn't Iglisia de San Pedro that old church near Washington and Second Avenue
?"
"Yeah. The female creature could be hiding there or in one of the houses behind the church. We're not sure yet."
"Which place are we checking out first? Church or ExhibitionCenter?"
"Church. Less ground to cover."
Gillian sighed resignedly. "I've got to go."
"Me, too. I don't have to be at the station for another forty-five minutes, but I thought I'd walk by the cemetery on my way. Cadamus's sanctuary is near there. It has to be. I'm going to look around for any more signs of it."
"Call me later? I'll be in my office most of the day except for a departmental meeting from eleven to twelve."
"I should have a break around noon."
She stood on tiptoes to claim yet another last kiss and might have stayed indefinitely if not for a loud clattering that came from beneath the stairs.
Thinking something-or someone-fell, Gillian and Nick both looked over. A small figure darted out from under the stairs and ran away, reminding Gillian of a startled cat racing for cover.
"Who was that?"
"I don't know." Nick craned his head over the row of parked cars. "Looks like a kid."
"What was he was doing under there?" "Watching us, I think."
"Oh." Gillian felt a stab of guilt. "We should probably exercise a bit more decorum in public."
Nick opened her car door for her, and she slid in behind the wheel. "Okay. But in private, I don't want to hear the word decorum, much less exercise it."
Reversing out of the parking space, Gillian waved good-bye to Nick and pulled onto the street, merging with traffic. She'd forgotten all about the little boy until she saw him again-at least, she thought it was him-running down the sidewalk about a block from Nick's apartment.
"Strange," she murmured and slowed her speed as she drove past him.
If he recognized her, he didn't give any indication. He just continued running, his gaze fixed straight ahead, his thin arms pumping like tiny pistons.
Creeping along the alleyway behind the Iglisia de San Pedro, Gillian kept one eye glued to the ground in front of her and the other on the sky above her.
Cadamus had been in
the area recently. And while her mind assured her he wasn't there at that exact moment-the sun had just set, and Cadamus came
out only at night-her nerves were nonetheless drawn tight as bowstrings.
She and Nick had visited the church grounds the previous night and seen signs of Cadamus, among them disturbed and broken branches in the sprawling trees growing alongside the church, scattered feces beneath the trees, and fresh scratch marks on the windows and door in back of the church.
To the best of their knowledge, Cadamus hadn't located his mate. Nor, unfortunately, had they. A wedding with hundreds of guests had kept them at a distance.
Since the stench originated within the church, something they'd learned ; from snatches of conversation overheard while skulking around the parking lot, it stood to reason the female creature was hiding somewhere inside. So far, no one working for or attending the church had discovered the source of the smell.
Thank goodness.
Iglisia de San Pedro boasted a large membership and was very active in the community. The church's doors were open twenty-four/seven, and everyone was welcome. According to the bulletin board posted in front of the church, a variety of classes were held most weeknights from September through the middle of June. Not thirty minutes ago, Gillian had watched children dashing up the sidewalk in small, boisterous groups, on their way to a youth group meeting.
She would hate for one of them to encounter the female creature, who, sensing Cadamus's presence, might become restless and venture out of its hiding place. No child would stand a chance against its superior strength and vicious nature.
Hearing a rustle in the tree branches above her head, she skidded to a stop and looked up just in time to see a pair of large black wings unfold.
Her cry of alarm was smothered by her heart, which had lodged in her throat. Seconds later, she watched the black crow fly off, his screeching caw answered by one of his buddies on a nearby telephone wire, and she felt utterly foolish. She also felt greatly relieved.
"You okay, senorita?"
Gillian nearly jumped out of her skin at the unexpected voice. She spun around to see the lined and weathered face of a very old Hispanic woman staring at her from over the top of a wooden fence, her snowwhite hair knotted in a tight bun atop her head. "Um ... yes. I'm fine."
Night Hunter Page 14
