by C. T. Adams
The cut bled for a moment or two, but then healed with faster than normal speed. She could actually watch the wound close. She sat on the wood and steel floor, her back pressed against the metal wall, not bothering to gather up her purse or put the shoes back on. There was no point. She’d just have to take them off again when they disembarked. And right now she was just too damned weary to bother with much of anything.
It wasn’t physical weariness as much as pure mental exhaustion. Oh, the past couple of days had been physically trying, no doubt about it. But it was the constant upheaval that was wearing her out. One crisis after another, year after year—never feeling safe for even a moment. It was just too much. Still, they probably had at least an hour-long ride on this train, maybe more. For that long, at least, she could relax. She refused to think about Raven or Ahmad, or even those waiting in Daytona. For the space of a train ride she wanted to just exist in the moment.
“It must be handy being able to pull on his healing abilities.” Rick lowered himself onto the floor next to her, giving a nod at her foot.
She shook her head. “I can’t. It’s a one-sided mating. He can pull from me. I can’t pull from him.”
Rick’s expression grew serious. “Are you sure?” He sighed. “What I sensed when you were helping him heal me didn’t seem all that one-sided.” Rick’s voice was ever-so-carefully empty of emotion. In fact, he was shielding so hard he was practically vibrating with the effort not to let her sense what he was feeling.
“It doesn’t change anything either way.” Josette met his gaze. He would have turned his head, but she reached up, holding his face in the cup of her hand. “I love you. I chose you.”
“But—”
“No buts. And no arguments. I’ve made my choice, so unless you intend to dump me…” The lilt in her voice made it a question.
“Not a chance in hell.”
“Then you’re stuck with me for the duration.” She closed her eyes. “Now can we please just sit? I’m utterly exhausted.”
He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close. “I can relate to that. It’s been a rough couple of days.” He paused for a moment. “I’m really sorry about Ellen. She thought you were wonderful. I could feel this deep sense of admiration emanate from her, as though you were a lifelong mentor.”
“And it’s odd, but I don’t really know why.” But that wasn’t quite true. She did know why, because Ellen had said so herself. “No, that’s not right. She told me when we met that she’d been waiting for me to arrive for days, hiding behind the truck stop. She’d probably had visions about me for years…had built up the relationship in her mind. Maybe I was a lifelong mentor to her, and just never knew it.”
“I know all about admiring someone for years.” His voice was warm and rich. It felt so good to be snuggled up against his warm chest. In fact, his really warm chest.
“Do you need to change? You feel warm.” She pressed her fingertips against his forehead, which was unnaturally hot, as though the moon was trying to pull his fur from beneath his skin.
“No.” He smiled. “I’m intentionally raising my temperature, trying to make you comfortable. You’re not wearing much, after all.” His warm, knowing chuckle tightened things low in her body. Josette was suddenly very aware that the two of them were alone together. No one would likely be interrupting them until Albuquerque. He seemed to sense it, too. She heard his breath catch, felt his heartbeat speed beneath the hand she’d unwittingly laid on his chest.
She looked up, meeting his gaze. He had stubble on his chin, dark circles under his eyes, but she’d never wanted or loved him more than she did at this moment. “Let’s move away from the door.” Her voice was a hoarse whisper.
They stood and staggered clumsily against the rocking toward the dark recesses of the boxcar. It should have been funny, but Josette wasn’t amused. The scent of Rick’s lust was filling her nostrils, his hunger pouring out in an empathic wave that washed over her until every inch of her body throbbed and ached with the need to be touched. The train jerked as she started to kneel, costing her some balance. Rick tried to save her. Instead, he fell, too, their bodies ending in a tangle atop a small pile of hay, left over from the last cargo.
“Are you all right?” Rick propped himself onto his hands in a half-push-up. It gave Josette just enough room to roll onto her back. The lust had faded slightly, but not vanished. Still, overlying it she could scent his concern.
“Ouch. That hurt.” Splinters had been driven into the flesh of her palms. She turned her hands over so that Rick could see.
“Ouch indeed.” His head moved forward, and he kissed her palms gently.
Power flared between them in a flash that was erotic, but walked the fine line between pleasure and pain. It stole her breath in a gasp as it tightened muscles deep within her until she ached with the need to be touched again.
He bent his elbows, lowering himself slowly toward her until their lips met. The kiss was tentative at first, a bare brush of warmth against her lips until Josette leaned into his mouth, her tongue teasing against his lips as her hands moved down his chest to slide beneath the thin fabric of his shirt.
The kiss deepened, his tongue delving into her mouth, teasing and tangling with hers as her hands skimmed gently across the warm muscled flesh of his abdomen. Gentle fingers teased the scars that marked his chest before moving to his hardened nipples.
His heartbeat pounded against the sensitive skin of her aching palms. Groaning he pulled back and shifted positions until he lay on his side on the floor beside her. Propping his head onto one hand, he stared down at her. “You are so beautiful.”
He meant it. She could hear it in his voice, scent it in the air. Despite the ill-fitting sweatsuit, lack of makeup, and weather-tangled hair, he truly believed she was beautiful. Love must certainly be blind.
“I love you Richard Aleric Cooper.” He might be Johnson now, but before…she would always be Josette Cooper in her heart.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Her smile was so broad it pulled at the corners of her mouth and increased the twinkle in her eyes.
“Prove it. Or are you too tired?” She could hear the teasing challenge in his voice.
“Hmnnn.” She was grinning, she couldn’t help it. “I’m pretty pooped, but somehow I think I can manage something.”
“I have some suggestions.” He offered hopefully.
“I just bet you do.” She shoved him gently, until he was lying on his back. “But let’s see what I can think up on my own. Shall we?”
“It’d better be good.”
“Oh, I will be.” Her voice was a throaty purr, filled with promise. Rising to her knees she moved to straddle him, one knee on either side of his body so that her crotch hovered just above his. As she leaned forward onto her hands and knees she felt the brush of him, hard and ready against her. The knowledge sent a shiver of anticipation through her body that hardened her nipples and made her back arch.
Rick’s hands reached up to grasp the bottom of her sweatshirt. In one deft movement he pulled it over her head and off. He tossed it quickly aside, his hands moving to take her bare breasts in his hands. He squeezed them gently, his thumbs working to tease her sensitive nipples until she found herself whimpering, eyes closed.
Her hands seemed to move of their own accord, working at the buttoned waistband of his trousers, struggling to unfasten a zipper straining to contain his erection. She leaned her head forward to nibble his earlobe and kiss a delicate trail down his neck to the warm hollow of his throat.
She could feel his pulse beating a frantic rhythm against her lips and tongue as her hands finally mastered the unruly zipper, freeing his cock to her touch. She stroked him slowly, gently moving her hand downward to cup his balls and trace a finger in a feather-soft touch along the delicate skin that stretched between them.
His hands caressed her back, moving down her body to slide beneath the elastic waistband of her trousers, pulling them down with
one hand, he used his other to support her weight as he rolled her over so that now she was on her back. In one deft moved he tugged both pants and underwear from her body and tossed them aside so that she lay naked on the floor beneath him.
Their eyes met, and Josette’s breath caught in her throat. There was need in his look, but there was so much more. A world of emotions, held back by his shields, was there, naked and vulnerable in his gaze.
“Drop your shields.”
“Josette—” His tone was of both warning and panic.
She did understand, but she needed this, especially tonight. “Please, Rick. I want to feel what you’re feeling. I want you to know what’s in my heart.”
He closed his eyes, and she felt the walls that separated them crumble to so much dust.
She rose up on her elbows to kiss him, claiming his mouth as the two of them were caught together in a tide of emotions that roared over them, leaving them both breathless and elated. She felt his love, and gave him her pain at his leaving, and, in the same moment her love and forgiveness. He cupped her face with one hand, as the other moved slowly, gently, treasuring every curve, fingers dancing gently downward before tracing a slow, lazy path upward to tease at the lips between her thighs.
She whimpered then, body arching to urge him onward. Still, he teased her opening until she was ready to scream with frustration.
“Please,” she begged him breathlessly. “Please.”
“I was going to wait. I know I won’t last.”
“It’ll be long enough.” She gasped as his finger found her clit and moved across it. “Oh God, please.” Her orgasm was building with each touch. The air around them sparkled with magic, dust motes becoming like tiny stars that were almost blindingly bright.
His member throbbed and jerked in her hand. She heard Rick as though from a distance. “Yes. Now.”
Strong hands grasped her thighs, spreading them wide, tilting her until she was fully exposed. He thrust inside and it was almost too much. She thought she was ready, and she was, but she was still tight. It was an exquisite pain that brought a scream from her lips, made her claw at his back as she rose to meet each powerful stroke.
His breathing grew ragged, his rhythm speeding. Over and over again, his body moving in and out with almost bruising force in a rhythmic slap of skin on skin.
She couldn’t think. Her awareness narrowed until all that was left was the two of them and the rapidly building pressure of her pleasure and his, rising in a tightening spiral. When the dam burst in an explosion of pleasure, shouts of joy erupted from their throats as their bodies convulsed together again and again, until they collapsed to the floor in a sated, exhausted heap.
RICK DIDN’T DARE sleep. He just held Josette and stared out the open door as the miles rolled by. She smelled of sex and contentment, and he could feel her deep happiness and love for him. He stared at her in amazement. She was an incredible woman. What an idiot he’d been to leave. He wouldn’t be making that mistake again, that was for damned sure. All he had to do now was keep her alive long enough to prove it to her.
He kissed her lightly, and she shifted positions, snuggling in closer. He hated making her move, but they needed to get dressed. They were starting to pass houses and intersections with flashing railroad crossing signs. It would only be a few minutes before they needed to jump off of the train.
“Josie, sweetheart. We need to get dressed. We’re almost in Albuquerque.”
Her eyes opened a slit, just enough to glare at him as he slapped his hand playfully against her rump.
“C’mon, we’ve got to get dressed and out of here before the railroad workers catch us and arrest us for indecent exposure or something.”
That got her at least to sit in an upright position. When he started tossing her the clothes she’d discarded earlier, she managed to pull them on.
“How are your palms?” He asked as he pulled on his jeans and zipped them. The wood wasn’t much of an issue, but these boards smelled of creosote, which could quickly get infected, even with healing abilities. The gun and holster came next, a project made more difficult by the increasing rocking of the train as the conductor applied the brakes.
“Fine. The splinters all worked their way out.” She grabbed her purse from the floor. “We’d better hurry. The train’s slowing down.”
She was right. The rocking of the cars seemed even more pronounced now that the train was braking. “I’m ready when you are.” Rick finished pulling on his boots and rose to his feet. He moved to stand next to the open doorway.
There was a certain trick to dismounting. He managed it, but was damned glad the train had slowed, otherwise he probably would have twisted a knee or worse. As it was, he had to put up with being slapped and scraped by tree branches that had grown too near the truck area. Josette, being smaller, seemed to have less trouble altogether, even though she was barefoot and carrying her purse. She came up limping beside him where he stood at the edge of the graveled area just a few steps away from a steep drop off.
“Why didn’t you put on your shoes?”
“Have you ever tried to run in thongs? On gravel? I’d have broken my neck.”
“Oh.” The thought hadn’t occurred to him. Of course there was no reason why it should. He’d never worn a pair of thongs in his life. They seemed a little silly to him. There wasn’t enough to them to really protect your feet, so why bother. Either wear shoes or boots, or go barefoot. Still, he kept his mouth shut and waited as patiently as he could while she sat down, opened her bag, pulled out the sandals, and slid them onto her feet.
“What time is it anyway?” he asked.
“How would I know? I’m not even positive of the year right now.”
“Doesn’t it say on your cell phone?”
“Oh.” She pulled the phone from the bag and hit a button. “Seven o’clock.”
It was earlier than he would’ve expected. So much had happened during the course of the day that time seemed off. It hadn’t helped that the rain and the clouds had kept him from seeing the movement of the sun. What would it be like to feel this disoriented all the time? He’d never really thought about it. He’d just dealt with the result.
“Do you want to call Raphael or should I?” she asked.
“You do it.”
Nodding, she hit the button for Raphael’s number. He must have answered on the first ring, because she began speaking almost immediately.
“We’re here.” She put a hand over the speaker and turned to Rick. “Are you sure we’re in Albuquerque? He says he was expecting us a half hour ago.”
Rick turned to look at the train rumbling slowly behind them. There were still more than a dozen cars to go before it ended. “It must be Albuquerque. There weren’t any stops before this one.”
“Could we have slept through it?”
“I didn’t sleep. Besides, the railroad workers would have found us.”
Josette moved her hand. “Maybe the train was delayed? We’re in a residential area, but I think I see gas station lights in the distance. We’ll head that way.” She sighed. “Well, it’ll take that long to get identification for Rick anyway. Do you want me to just get us a cab to a hotel near the airport?”
Rick shifted impatiently from foot to foot. Now that they were up, he wanted to be moving. A restroom would be nice, too. He just hoped that the gas station Josette had spotted was open, because this didn’t appear to be one of the city’s better neighborhoods. He could see what looked like gang graffiti decorating the privacy fence guarding a yard at the foot of the bill. Many of the houses were ramshackle, with rusted or burned out vehicles in the yards. They were Sazi, and he was armed, but they didn’t need the kind of trouble they might find here.
He heard her end the conversation, watched as she turned off the phone and tucked it back into her purse. “Well?”
“We’ll go to the gas station and call a cab. Raphael’s got his hands full right now.” She accepted the hand he held out to he
r, letting him pull her to her feet. “It’s a small pack and someone is having a difficult birth.”
“No problem.” Rick lied. It was a problem. He could sympathize with Raphael, caught between his responsibilities to his pack and the help he was trying to give them. He’d already done more for Josette than anyone had a right to expect. It was not his fault that things had gone wrong in nearly every way they possibly could.
“We’ll be fine.” Josette assured him. “Any bad guy with an ounce of sense is getting showered and cleaned up for his Saturday night out.” She made her voice light, breezy, but it was a lie, too.
“You’re probably right.” Rick played along, but he kept all his senses fully alert as he edged sideways down the drop-off. The two of them moved like shadows among the trees, picking their way over the uneven ground, careful of the half-buried junk and broken glass that littered the way.
The barking and growls started almost immediately as the dogs in the neighborhood caught the scent of the two cats moving under the trees. They strained at their leads, their barks filled with rage, and their scents filled with anal pheromones as they fought to protect their territory and the humans in the homes they guarded.
Rick winced. The racket hurt his sensitive ears, and it made him even more irritable and nervous. There was no chance of them passing unnoticed now. They’d be lucky if someone didn’t come out to investigate armed with a shotgun. He started to move more quickly, and was startled when, instead of following Josette came to a complete stop. Tilting her head back she gave voice to the deep throated roar of an angry lion.
Silence descended as abruptly as if someone had flicked a switch. Rick turned to face her, eyes wide with surprise. “What in the hell?”
“Just a little something I learned from my mother. Works really well. I haven’t used it in years.” She grinned. “They were giving me a headache.”
He stared at her for a long moment. “Woman, you never cease to amaze me.” He shook his head as he turned to continue their walk.
