by Bonnie Vanak
“Matt,” she breathed between his urgent kisses. “I’ve never felt like this before.”
Sienna’s tongue tangled with his. His breathing grew heavy as his heart pounded. The sweet scent of her desire filled his nostrils. It would take so little to join her on the bed, slowly divest her clothing…
“More,” she whispered.
He pulled back, his cock hard as steel, blood racing through his veins.
“Not here.”
Huge moss-green eyes stared at him, desire and disappointment smoking their depths. “I want you, Matt. Please. I’m not afraid anymore.”
She sounded breathless and sultry, her natural sensuality rising to the surface.
“It’s not private.” He lifted her chin with a finger, drowning in the sweetness of her face. “I want you, Sienna. I want you like I’ve never wanted a woman before. And I will have you. But now isn’t the time.”
He needed a soft bed, privacy and a locked door.
Matt lowered his head, breathing in her arousal. “Not here, for a few quick minutes. I’m going to kiss every inch of your body, and taste you all over, until you beg me to stop. Or not stop. And for that, little pixie, I need privacy.”
Red flushed her skin, her eyes growing huge and wide and dark. “So no one can interrupt?”
His mouth nuzzled over her neck where Stephen had bitten her. He gently nipped the healed skin, leaving his own mark. “So no one will hear you scream.”
Chapter 12
The rental car had a flat tire. Matt said nothing as he fished in the trunk for a spare and a jack. They’d left the warmth of New Orleans to head back to her Fae colony. Though the temperatures in this part of Colorado had dipped well into the fifties, he’d removed his jacket. He tightened the lug nuts as she stood watching him.
The muscles in his forearms flexed with each movement. Sienna’s heart did a funny jump in her chest.
Almost the same as when he’d told her they were heading back to her home.
She cleared her throat. “It’s only a few miles to my cabin. I could glamour us a ride. Or maybe test my powers of flight. Fae once did have wings. Though I suppose I’d only have half wings, since I’m a hybrid.”
He straightened, rubbing his hands on his jeans. Such big hands, strong and square, dusted lightly with dark hair on their backs.
After he’d shrugged into his jacket, she caught his hand. “Matt, level with me. You haven’t said anything since Sam hustled us to the airport. What’s going on?”
Instead of answering, he cupped her chin with thumb and forefinger. His blue gaze seemed distant and haunted.
“You’ll be safer with the Fae.”
Then he turned and walked to the trunk, tossing in the jack.
Safe? She didn’t want safe. She wanted answers. She wanted to ride this out-of-control, crazy feeling she had for this strong, brave wolf who suddenly turned mute. Something big was at stake and she had to find out. Sienna climbed into the car.
“Safe from what? Demons? Or wolves? Talk with me. I can’t read your mind. What do you want, Matt? Should I start waving semaphore flags? Maybe then we can communicate?”
He shot her an amused look as he slid behind the wheel, started the engine.
“Or maybe I should just change into something more comfortable for you.”
“Sienna.” He cut the engine with a sigh as she shifted into a six-foot soldier in olive drab, sporting a pistol similar to the one on his belt. “Stop it.”
“You don’t like the new me? Then talk to me.”
She tried to shift into her Fae self, needing connection with her roots, but instead found herself in human Draicon form. Squashing the panic that rose in her throat, she faced him.
Matt quietly regarded her, sunlight glinting his hair, picking out the light brown streaks. He had an arsenal in his duffel bag, and another on his body. Two deadly knives sheathed at each ankle. Gun on a holster at his side. Instead of a belt, a length of steel cable threaded through the loops of his pants. Another weapon, she guessed.
He looked relaxed, but with the air of a dangerous wolf on alert for prey. Gone was the teasing look in his deep blue eyes. They were watchful and aware.
“Tell me about the Los Lobos colony. How big is your territory?”
Surprised, she gestured to the land. “We crossed into it ten minutes ago. The Fae consider this part of their protective custody. The colony is guarded and gated, but they keep watch over all the land, including the mountains.”
He drove, glancing constantly at the rearview mirror. “Not many people out here.”
“They bought the land years ago under the pretense of a large land developer. Then as time changed, they assumed the glamour of a New Age religious cult who wanted to harmonize with nature. It’s been the best masquerade so far, and it’s worked.”
“No services like water, sewer, infrastructure, police or fire protection?”
She shook her head. “Outside the colony, no. My cabin is modernized. They built it to defray suspicion and used it for the occasional tourist who wanted to play nature lover. It’s on the side of a mountain with a steep hiking trail. But it’s so remote few people come here. They prefer more touristy areas with restaurants and shops.”
His expression turned stony, making him look dangerous and hard.
“No fire protection,” she repeated, and then suddenly the aspen, oak and pine trees took on an air of menace. “Are we safe here?”
“Safer than back in New Orleans.” His gaze flicked to her. “Your people will protect you, Sienna.”
“Because you think I can’t protect myself? Or because you’re leaving and heading back east to deal with whatever new threat surfaced?”
At his stubborn look, she sighed. “Just tell me, okay? I need to know what’s going on. I deserve as much.”
“How good are the Fae at protecting their turf?”
Images flashed through her mind in rapid succession. Wolves leaping and snarling, teeth bared, screams, the glow of crimson…the terrified pleas to live…
Heat scorching the earth as she watched from her little hollow, a fist stuffed into her mouth to stop her own screams…
Sienna drew in a deep breath and looked straight at him. “Their weapons are glamour and connecting with the earth. They can create storms, which isn’t effective against fangs and claws. But they’re fierce and will defend their own to the death.”
He pulled onto a small dirt road, almost hidden by a thick overhang of sweeping branches. “How did you know the way?”
“Followed your scent.” His eyes were very blue, a deep persuasive blue. He gave her an intent look, as if he wanted to absorb that particular scent, rub it deep inside him while he buried himself deep inside her….
Sienna sucked down a breath. Whoa.
Pine and aspen flanked the dirt road. Matt ignored the fork to the right and kept driving straight. He drove for a mile until reaching a wooden gate. A hand-painted sign, hanging crookedly on a tree, read Rustic Haven Ranch. No Trespassing.
He parked, shut off the engine and climbed out. Sienna followed as he approached the gate. Matt waved a hand in front of him, and drew back, lines furrowing his brow.
“The scent.” He rubbed his eyes, shook his head as if to rid himself of it.
“The Los Lobos community incorporated the scent to discourage other paranorms, except wolves. It fades for Draicon after a while.” Sienna rested a hand on the crude gate. “They warded it with magick to repel the humans.”
A few minutes later, they arrived at the right fork. Matt followed it, dust and pebbles kicking up beneath the sturdy tires. In a few minutes, the narrow lane opened to a sweep of open, flat land, neatly swept and free of brush. Matt pulled up to the pine cabin.
“Stay here,” he ordered, and climbed out.
He was checking out the area for intruders. Sienna fisted her hands. Once, she’d had that ability. But now she couldn’t even summon her Fae image. It felt as if something drained her
powers.
Then the SEAL turned into a gray wolf, teeth bared, every muscle tensed as he loped over the yellow grass meadow, sniffed the ground around the cabin and vanished up the mountain.
A few minutes later, the wolf leaped atop the big granite boulder before her cabin door. He looked proud and dangerous, a wild creature belonging to this land. She felt an unexpected lump of pride. Her wolf.
Not really hers. He was going to erase her memories and leave her soon. And she didn’t know how she’d deal with his departure.
Matt shifted into his human form. Naked, he stood proud and straight. Her mouth parted as she gazed at his broad-shouldered body. High on his left shoulder was a small black tattoo of a wolf running with a lightning bolt in its mouth.
A small but nasty pink slash marred the other shoulder. It looked like a knife wound.
Her hungry gaze traveled the length of his back, the ridges of thick muscles on either side of his spine, marching down to a trim waist and narrow hips. Two small dimples indented the skin above his buttocks. Sienna admired the taut roundness of his rear and, when he braced his legs apart, she caught a glimpse of his sex dangling between his opened legs.
Then Matt turned and stretched his arms to the sky. His mouth moved as he began a lyrical chant. Fascinated, she watched him walk around the cabin and a wide perimeter. Iridescent sparks trailed in his wake like fireflies as he quietly patrolled the meadow.
When he returned, his face was pale, and he looked tired and drained. Sienna jumped out of the car, but he waved her off.
“Energy shield. Powerful enough to ward off a legion of demons.”
Then he turned and seemed to get his first real look at her cabin. His eyes widened. “This is your home?”
Sienna felt a twinge of shame at his incredulous tone. “It’s not big, and looks a little run-down…it’s not what you expected.”
“No,” he said slowly. “It’s exactly what I imagined.”
A distant look entered his gaze. Sienna couldn’t gauge it. “I guess you’ve slept in worse places as a SEAL. I’ve tried to make it comfortable.”
He rubbed his jaw. “It’ll do. It’ll do just fine.”
* * *
Matt had slept in places she couldn’t even imagine. But he’d never slept in any place like her cabin. The pine cabin was quaint and homey. It featured a wide front porch with a small stoop, and a flagstone path wending from the dirt drive to the porch. Pots of red geraniums swung from the porch rafters. A small heart on the wall declared Love Makes a House a Home.
Emotion closed his throat as a painful longing surfaced. This was the cabin of his dreams, the place he’d imagined on those long nights when enemy fire raged, when he wondered if he’d ever make it out. The cold nights in the desert when he’d look up at the stars and wish he had someone special when he returned.
She kept giving him apologetic looks, as if she thought he hated the place. “I know it’s small, but there’s a pull-out couch in the living room. I bought it just in case…” She gave a little laugh. “As if I had friends. My people want nothing to do with me. I’m a Fae leper.”
She looked forlorn and sad, the long fall of dark hair cascading over her slender shoulders. Sienna was tough outside, but inside, damn, he knew she had to hurt.
“Let’s get inside,” he said gently.
She unlocked the cabin door. Large picture windows looked out to a sweeping view of the valley below and the mountain above. He gazed about the living room, with its plush forest-green recliners and matching sofas. A stone fireplace had a welcoming log on the heart and a milk jug filled with dried flowers on the mantel.
Sienna set the purse into a safe in the hall closet. She spun the combination and locked it.
Matt headed for a sofa. Warding the perimeter had sapped all his valuable energy. He closed his eyes.
“Just need a minute to recover.”
“Liar. You’re exhausted and you need food. Stay here and don’t move.”
Opening one eye, he gave an amused smile. “Aye, aye, sir.”
In minutes she hauled inside their luggage, and the food he’d purchased at a grocery store a few miles back. Matt watched her through hooded eyes.
Soon she had a fire burning merrily on the stone hearth and two steaks sizzling on the gas grill outside. He sat up, looking around with interest. Sienna went to the couch, gently pushing him back into a prone position.
“Now it’s your turn to rest. Stay there.”
“Just a quick nap.”
He closed his eyes.
The image sharpened into focus. Adam, hanging by the Hummer, one hand resting against the tough exterior. Joy exploded through him. His buddy was back. Matt laughed and punched his arm. “You sly Wildcat. We thought you were dead. Should have known nothing could take you down. You’re too damn stubborn.”
The jaguar slapped the vehicle. “It’s like you, Dakota. Tough and built to take the pressure. But even a Hummer can explode under the right circumstances. Let go, Matt. It’s time to let me go. You can’t hold on forever. It was meant to be.”
His best friend leaned a shoulder against the vehicle, giving his cocky smile. “Hang tough, but don’t hang on forever. I’m gone, and I’m never coming back.”
Then the smile faded, replaced by a solemn look. Adam shimmered like sunlight hitting water, a glistening, crystalline figure. “You know that bullet was meant for me. I saw it.”
“Wait,” Matt begged hoarsely. “Come back. I have to tell you…”
Adam vanished like a light snapping off.
Sweat dripped down his temples, dampening the microfiber beneath his cheek. Matt’s eyes flew open. He rubbed his face and sat up, heart pounding against his chest.
Never coming back.
A delicious smell of grilled meat teased his nostrils. Matt glanced up at the adjoining kitchen. Sienna hummed a little as she set out plates and glasses on the table, along with an etched-glass bowl filled with greens. Next she carried inside two thick steaks on a platter.
“Dinner’s ready.”
So pretty, so cheerful and upbeat. Her face flushed a pretty shade of pink from the heat of the grill. She’d changed into a turquoise-blue sweater. Her toes peeped out from beneath the hem of her faded blue jeans. She’d painted her toenails a matching turquoise blue. He grinned, admiring them.
Blue toes. Very unconventional. Very Sienna.
“The steaks are for you.” She gestured to the salad. “I’m sticking with grass.”
The meat was grilled just right, barely seared over an open flame, tender and delicious. He dug with zest into both steaks, concentrating on the meal, but aware of her picking at the salad. Odd. She’d consumed meat with zest when they were together, but here in her cabin she seemed adverse to it.
Sienna looked up, her gaze suddenly clouded with emotion. “The Fae look down on eating meat.”
A loud protesting rumble came from her stomach.
“Yet you’re still hungry.” He cut a piece of beef, placed it on her plate. “Eat it. You need your strength.”
Sienna gulped it down and wiped the plate with a napkin, throwing it out. Disposing of evidence.
Matt gathered the plates, dumped them into the sink and began washing. Keeping his thoughts to himself, silent and guarded.
“You mentioned his name when you were sleeping.” Sienna picked up a towel, dried the plates and put them into a cabinet. “Adam.”
A glass shattered beneath his clenched fist. Shards flew into the air. Sienna cried out, grabbed his wrist. Blood streamed from his palm.
She picked out a few shards, wrapped his hand. But the wounds had already stopped bleeding and would soon heal.
Not so the jagged wound in his heart, ripped open by the constant guilt.
She studied him with a thoughtful look. “You never had a chance to say goodbye. That’s it, isn’t it?”
“Part of it.”
“Would you like to talk to him again?”
A short, bitte
r laugh. “Unless your magick conjures the dead, that’s impossible.”
“It doesn’t. But I can glamour myself to appear as him, so you can talk to him.”
Was that hope making his pulse race? A second chance. Release the awful pressure sitting on his chest since that terrible day.
“I can see it on your eyes, Matt. You can’t let him go. Please let me do this for you.”
Never had he felt this vulnerable. Didn’t like it. But the sincerity shining on her face, twinned with the tender concern, shot past his defenses. She wanted to help.
He knew the damages guilt could inflict. If he were to carry out this mission, he needed to be sharp and alert. Regret was too distracting.
“I need to go for a walk.” He threw down the dish towel. “Be back in a few.”
Hurt flashed onto her face. Matt cupped her chin with a gentle hand. “Thank you for your offer.”
The back sliding door closed firmly behind him. On the patio, two hummingbird feeders hung from a rafter, along with a hand-painted sign proclaiming Peace to All Who Enter Here.
Peace. Nice concept. Not with a passel of nasty demons who’d love to fry his ass. And Sienna’s, as an added bonus.
Not on my watch. He clenched his fists, and began a short run up the pathway that wended through the mountain.
Stalks of yellowed grass crunched beneath his boots. Jagged boulders edged the mountain, and the wind blew through pine and aspen trees. Matt ran upward, relishing the feel of his powerful muscles, the rhythm of his heartbeat. This was familiar. This was good, comfortable.
Her voice soothed and stirred his blood. A rush of protectiveness overwhelmed him as he thought of dark forces preying on her. Then again… He grinned, remembering how she’d stood up to the Darksider Fae with such courage, and jammed her elbow into his stomach.
Beneath all that soft female skin and delicate bone structure beat the heart of a true warrior.
He ran a good two miles up the mountain. Not wanting to leave her alone for long, he backed up when an odd scent floated on the wind. He was a creature of nature, and wolf instincts surged. Matt stopped, surveying the mountain below him.
