by Cat Adams
Then the cold and hot turned to a warm wave of … something … that made things low in my body tug deliciously. My skin started to feel swollen and my breathing became fast and shallow. It was the most erotic sensation I’d ever experienced and apparently it was for Creede, too, because he let out a moan of sheer pleasure and closed his eyes. I felt the power pull away from me and I could breathe. Then it was back and pleasure tore through me once more. We were trapped in a loop that was like a bouncing Super Ball. The harder the power hit me, the faster it came back after leaving, until there was nothing but heat and light and a thousand fingers on my skin, on my breasts, and inside me. It was pure torture and pure joy.
Finally the strain was too much and my body could take no more. I collapsed onto my hip and a cry was torn from my mouth as a powerful orgasm claimed me. It had admittedly been a long time since I’d been with a man, but this wasn’t like anything I’d ever felt before. I tingled to the tips of my ears and the balls of my feet. I knew when it got the better of Creede. He didn’t cry out, but I’d heard that kind of low moan before, followed by whispered swearing that spoke of a similar intensity to my own.
The magic dissipated slowly, leaving my body feeling both satisfied and utterly exhausted. It took more than a few moments before I could think or breathe normally, and when I opened my eyes I saw a pair of bare feet next to my leg.
Crap.
“Celia?” I looked up and Creede’s eyes were normal again, even if his face was lightly flushed. “Are you okay?”
“I think so.” I felt heat in my cheeks and turned my eyes from his. I did accept the hand up, because it’s really hard to get up gracefully from the floor in a short skirt and heels. “What just happened?”
There was a trace of humor in his voice. “You need to learn how to knock.”
Now my eyes rose to his face and the small hint of a smile that turned his mouth. “There’s no door.”
He acknowledged the truth of that with a soft, “Ah.”
My hand was still holding his and I tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let go. He used his other hand to lift my chin. I was still struggling not to blush and kept my vision locked on the long line of bare chest that disappeared into the soft white magician’s robe. It was impossible to ignore the musky scents that filled the air. “Creede—”
I knew I’d screwed up whatever spell he was casting and had no idea what the result would be. And what had just happened was too … personal, too intimate. And frankly, it had felt too good.
His finger pressed to my lips. “Don’t overthink it, Celia. Just let it be.” His voice was almost too soft to hear over the waterfall. I finally looked in his eyes. It was a mistake. He pulled me closer and I let him. When his mouth closed over mine I melted into his embrace and my arms slid around him of their own accord.
A first kiss is supposed to be soft, tentative—the barest taste of things that might later happen. But this was the sort of kiss that happens after lovemaking, a gentle joining while your body is still flush with pleasure. His tongue entered my mouth and his hands pulled me against him. I allowed the knowledgeable, languid caresses that didn’t so much explore as acknowledge possession. My body wanted things my mind couldn’t fully grasp and I found my hands were doing the same things as his, storing up in muscle memory the lay of his body and what touches brought an appreciative noise from his throat. He expertly navigated the twin fangs but explored them as well while his jaw worked slowly against mine.
It felt amazingly good and I relaxed against him fully, my muscles suddenly jelly and my brain fuzzy.
This was wrong. On so many levels. But I couldn’t stop.
Creede pulled back from the kiss, then softly pressed his lips against my forehead. He ran his fingers through my hair and rested his cheek next to mine. “You terrify me, Celia Graves.”
I let out a shaky laugh and moved my hands so they weren’t resting right on his muscled backside. I wanted to bury myself in the warm power that pulsed from his skin and that terrified me. “Likewise.”
He released me then, turning so quickly I nearly stumbled. “There’s a bathroom down the hall on the left. I’ll put my tools away if you want first shot at it.”
A bathroom? In a cave? But I was more than happy to escape the room for a few moments. I closed the bathroom door behind me and turned on the light. It was a perfectly normal bathroom, including a bathtub with shower. I supposed if magic made the cave, why not make a bathroom? Heck, maybe there was a kitchen, too.
The mirror over the sink revealed the truth. I looked great. Damn it. There’s no way to hide the flush of really good sex. Only time would do that, and friends like Dawna and Emma would spot it on me a week from now.
I cleaned up as best as possible, and when I turned to find a towel I almost ran into the tux Creede had been wearing at the event. That meant that he was naked under that robe. Well, hell. Yeah, I knew mages did that—the whole “get closer to nature” thing—and I’d seen the bare feet. I felt myself blushing again. Well, maybe he’d been wearing underwear. I could hope.
A light tap on the door made me let out a startled yip. “You about done in there? I need to get dressed.”
“Sorry. Yeah. All yours.” I unlocked and opened the door, keeping my eyes firmly on the floor as I tried to slide past him.
He let out a frustrated sigh and raised an arm to stop my progress. “Celia, would you please look at me?”
I’d faced vampires, assassins, and even demons with a steady eye. Now I was terrified to look a handsome mage in the face just because I liked him a little too much? I forced my shoulders to relax and raised my face to his.
There was a look in his eyes that told me that our relationship had shifted permanently, no matter how much I wanted to go back. The realization appeared on his face, too. We were suddenly aware of each other. I could sense his arm right next to my waist and didn’t want to shove it away. If anything, I wanted it to curl around me. It was both a new kind of tension that wasn’t there the last time I saw him and yet no tension at all. It felt natural, normal. When he spoke, it was with mingled confidence and worry: “It doesn’t have to go further, you know. We can go back to the way it was.”
A small laugh escaped me. “Please. You know better than that, Creede. There’ll always be the wondering, the wanting to know whether this was the best or just a sample of something bigger.”
He smiled and it wasn’t forced. It was the smile I saw the first time I met him and it made him real, approachable, and frankly … datable. That wasn’t a good thing, given the roses waiting for me at Gran’s. “I don’t know if I could handle anything bigger. You have no idea what that felt like.”
Oh, but I did. I gave him a quick peck on the cheek and simultaneously pushed his hand away from the doorjamb. “Get dressed. I’ll meet you back at the party.”
“I’d rather you wait. Spend a few minutes looking at the grotto. I turned on the lights. It’s some of my best work and you might never make it back here. I’ll be quick. I promise.”
My head nodded agreement even as I opened my mouth to gently refuse. It was at least a dozen steps before my legs were steady. As I walked back into the main chamber they went wobbly again, for a different reason. It was … amazing. The “lights” were a miniature sun, high overhead. Thankfully it was just light and didn’t burn my skin.
He’d made paradise—a tropical rain forest in the middle of wine country. Birds chirped and called to each other from the branches of trees that were once merely underground roots. It smelled of fresh growth, of eucalyptus and flowers. “You like?” Creede’s voice came from right behind me, meaning he’d snuck up on me while I’d been gawking. He was in the tux again and smelled of nothing but good cologne. If a tour really did walk in the door just then, they probably wouldn’t notice anything unusual.
I smiled and nodded as I watched sparrows flitting around above me. “It’s gorgeous. Was there even a cave here when you started?”
“It w
as a spring originally. This area had never been planted before, which is why one of the bigger vineyards hadn’t bought the land. I knew if the girls’ idea was going to work that I needed to be underground to push the magic up into the soil. Now the former spring is a waterfall and part of the water is piped up from the basin to storage tanks to water the vines while the rest keeps the grotto alive.” The proud tone of his voice was justified.
“You did good. Really. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
He smiled widely. “We should probably get back. My assistant is going to get grumpy if I’m gone much longer.”
We turned and started to walk out, our heels making muted ticking noises that were tiny in comparison to the other sounds. “Andrew? He sent me down here. He said you were giving a tour.”
Creede let out a sound that was close to a growl, but with amusement underlying it. “I don’t know whether to give him a pink slip … or a raise. He knew damned well I don’t give tours of the grotto. And he knew what I was down here doing.”
“And that was? What kind of spell did I totally destroy?”
“It wasn’t a spell. It was a purification ritual.” He must have seen my furrowed brow, because he elaborated while we walked down the dim tunnel to the outside: “Despite what it may look like, I don’t do well at public gatherings. There was a reason why George Miller was the front man of the company. I have horrible stage fright.”
That surprised me. “You looked totally natural up there. Confident, charming. Really.”
He put a hand low on my back to help me get my footing on the steep path up out of the cave. It tingled nicely and I had to struggle a little to keep my mind on the conversation. “Thanks, but it’s all an act. That’s what a purification ritual does. I did one right before I went onstage. It takes all the negative emotions—like fear, frustration, and aggression—and casts them off so I can function and appear calm. I’ve been dispersing those feelings into the soil for months now so the staff doesn’t realize what a wreck I’ve been with George gone. The plants don’t care whether energy is negative or positive, like a body doesn’t care whether a sugar is honey or processed white granules or even fruits and vegetables. It’s all broken down the same.”
“And you had to do another one right after you spoke? Wow, you really do have stage fright.”
Now he chuckled and there was a low, nervous, but satisfied edge to it that made me shiver. “Actually, this particular ritual was for a different kind of emotion. I saw you in that dress and suddenly couldn’t concentrate for shit. Have I mentioned you look absolutely amazing?”
Um … oh. I was glad for the dark that enveloped us. It hid my blush.
“My speech was supposed to go on for another five minutes. Fortunately, I’d warned Pam and Sam that I might have to cut it short if my nerves got to me. They made it look natural.”
“So you were getting rid of…” I couldn’t finish.
He did it for me. “Lust. Yep. And when the object of a particular emotion steps inside the circle … well, you got to see the result. Good thing it wasn’t anger. We might have leveled the place.”
“But I didn’t step inside the circle. I was really careful of that.”
We were back at the main building and he held open the door for me. “The grotto is the circle. The smaller one is just the bull’s-eye, because I don’t feel like walking all the way around the whole chamber to light candles every time.”
Oops. “Sorry.”
The light caught his face and I could see that he was grinning. There was a teasing lilt in his voice. “Don’t be. This way had a much more … satisfying effect.”
I hit him in the bicep lightly because I couldn’t think of anything else to do. We entered the house, expecting to find the party still going strong. We’d only been gone about fifteen minutes. But there was utter silence in the main entry, and the sound of sirens and shouting came from the next room. Adrenaline took over and we hurried to the tasting room.
People were crowded around a flat-screen television, staring at a news report. The camera moved from a broad scene of an explosion of some kind to the reporter on the scene. “The devastation is horrendous, Chet. The perimeter wall is gone, as are two of the inner walls. There are already five confirmed dead among the joint police and federal task force, but authorities believe that the number will go much higher once they get inside.”
The words “joint police and federal task force” made my stomach lurch and I dug my fingers into Creede’s arm as icy threads of panic raced up my spine. The news team cycled around to the top of the story. The camera switched to a serious woman in a yellow suit jacket. “For those just joining us, there’s been a series of explosions at the State Paranormal Treatment Facility outside of Santa Maria de Luna. There are reports of escaped shape-shifters and vampires. Residents are being advised to lock their doors and move to non-windowed rooms, and the governor has activated all EMTs, mages level seven and above, and A and C card holders. Available warrior priests are urged to check with their seminaries for instructions and all vacations or other non-medical leaves have been canceled for National Guard and police agencies. News Twelve has exclusive footage of the explosions due to an embedded reporter who was accompanying the local police to the scene. Bob, we’re back to you. What can you tell us?”
Creede started to pull away from my grip. “I’ve got to go. Stay here and be careful.” He gave me a quick kiss on the mouth and I saw Dawna’s eyebrows rise with interest before she looked back at the TV screen.
I followed Creede out of the room and grabbed his arm to stop him. “Where do you have to go? What’s wrong?”
“I’ve got an A and C card. I could lose my license to practice magic if I don’t get my ass out there.”
I didn’t even know what an A&C card was. He must have seen it in my face. “Mages level six and higher who want to profit from their magic have to register with the state. Like paramedics, if there’s an emergency, we are required to ‘assist and control.’ A and C. I’m an eight, nearly a nine. So I’ve got to go.”
“I’m going with you.”
He sighed and dropped his head. “No, you’re not. You don’t have a card and you have fangs. That’s not a common attribute of the good guys. There will be way too many trigger-happy cops out there.”
Every single thing he said made perfect sense. “I’m still going. Whether with you or behind you. Besides, do you really want to take your Ferrari to the scene of a battle? We could take the rental. I bought the extra insurance on it.”
He crooked his finger and turned. “Walk with me.”
I fell in step beside him and we went out into the cool, still night. It was so lovely here and I hated that it was ending this way. But the adrenaline rush told me that I was looking forward to it, too. I’m just weird. “You know I’m right.”
“No,” he said with a sad sort of laugh. “I know you’re too stubborn to play it safe. We can’t take your rental because my car has special plates. I can speed and get an escort with the activation in effect. But you’re right that I don’t want to leave my car there for it to get destroyed. So, you’ll come with me and then drive it back here. I can hitch a ride back with the police when the crisis is over.”
If he knew how likely it was that I wasn’t going to go through with that plan, he had the sense not to say it out loud. “Let me grab my stuff on the way. These shoes are killing me.”
Creede’s low-slung red chariot was in a cluttered garage next to the main building. I waited until he backed out before I got in. It might have been an emergency, but I could still appreciate the luxury and power of the car. He raced the engine and checked the fuel level, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. “Remind me when we get closer to check the gauge. I might have to stop and fill up.” I nodded as he put the Ferrari in gear.
Before he could step on the gas, the door of the winery opened and Dawna and Emma came racing out. “Where are you guys going?” Dawna sounded panicked, p
robably because she had already guessed where we were going.
I rolled down the window and shrugged. “Where else? Into the maw of disaster like normal.”
Emma clutched my arm. “You can’t, Celia. You didn’t wait long enough to hear the whole story. It’s not just a crime scene. The explosion opened a rift between the dimensions. Lesser demons are coming out of the rift.”
Creede’s jaw set and his eyes narrowed. “Then I’d better get moving. Get out, Celia. To hell with the car.”
I turned my head and put a hand on his already tense and twitching arm. “John. With my knives and my strength, I’m more than a match for lesser demons now.” He looked at me for a long moment and I could hear his teeth grinding. I felt the moment he accepted my statement as truth when his arm relaxed just a bit. I gently removed Emma’s hand from my dress and handed her the spare key to the rental. I don’t know why there were two on the ring, but I’d checked and, sure enough, they both opened the door and started the engine. “You should be safe at the spa. Call Warren and make sure Kevin’s and Amy’s cells have extra security. If either can still be called by the demon, they’ll be in danger.”
Dawna gently pulled Emma back. Her eyes were frightened, but she nodded firmly. “Go. Do what you have to and try to make it back safe.”
I noticed the word “try” in there. It was all any of us could do. Emma’s face was stricken as Creede and I roared off into the darkness, but I couldn’t fix that. I could only hope that since she hadn’t been called yet, the demons couldn’t reach her. Yet. Everything depended on keeping the demons at the prison site and closing the rift.
We got to my rental, in the parking lot outside the main gate, in record time and I opened the trunk, where my weapons and clothes were. I tried to figure out how to change out of the dress with some discretion and then realized it didn’t really matter. Creede had seen me nearly naked on the deck of a boat the last time we fought a lesser demon. I turned my back as I pulled the dress off over my head, but I knew his eyes were on me. I could see his face in the rearview mirror. There was more worry in his expression than lust. That was both a good and bad thing. It meant that my fear wasn’t misplaced. Things had changed. Something bigger than simple attraction had grown between us, and I didn’t know what to do about it.
