Books by Linda Conrad

by Conrad, Linda

  Lucas wasn’t entirely sure that he appreciated the Brotherhood’s bringing him back. For what? To face the loss of his medicine man status? Or to become known as a former Brotherhood member?

  He wanted to shout at them that if it hadn’t been for Teal, he would’ve gladly remained the way he was. But he refused to add to his own misery by telling anyone that he’d considered staying in the form of a bird.

  Twenty minutes later Lucas was once again in human form, with a Navajo blanket covering his foolish naked body. The wickedness and anger were only now beginning to release their hold on him. At this point he just felt tired. Exhausted in both body and mind.

  “You need a Ghost Way branch of the Evilway ceremony done on your behalf, Cousin,” Hunter told him. “Let me drive you home while my brother arranges for clan members to come to your medicine hogan so we can begin the Sing soon.”

  “I can drive myself,” Lucas told him. “The only thing I need is a good night’s sleep. Then I’ll be okay.”

  “Driving would be a very bad idea,” Hunter said with a shake of his head. He turned to Teal for assistance in convincing his cousin. “Don’t you agree with me, Special Agent?”

  “I don’t know much about Navajo traditions, and a ceremony called ‘Ghost Way’ certainly has an odd ring to it,” she said by way of an answer. “But I do agree that Lucas needs to find his balance again before he can go back to the way he was.

  “However,” she added in a strong voice. “I’ll be the one to drive him home.”

  Hunter stared at her for a long few seconds, then gave a sharp nod of his head. “Very well. But expect the Brotherhood to show up on his doorstep within twenty-four hours to perform the proper ceremony. Neither his cousins nor the Dineh can afford to lose him to the Evil.”

  Without the sun or the moon to light the roads, Teal knew she’d be lost on the reservation, so Kody drove ahead in his pickup and she followed in Lucas’s SUV all the way back to the house. Then Kody helped Lucas into his own big brass bed for the night while she waited outside in the hall.

  “You’ll be able to stay here with him tonight, won’t you?” Kody asked once he was back outside the bedroom with the door closed.

  “I won’t leave. I’ve been living here in his guest bedroom for the last week anyway.”

  Kody studied her in the soft night-light of the hallway before he spoke again. “Whether you admit it to yourself or not, Teal, this has been as much a trauma for you as for my cousin. I know you appear physically well and have no lasting after effects from the cave-in and fire. But right now I’m more concerned about your emotional well-being.

  “Seeing a human switch form and become a bird can’t be easy for an outsider to handle,” he continued. “Especially if that human is someone you care about. I’m sorry you had to become involved in our Skinwalker war.”

  “I haven’t had much time to think it all over,” she said with a shake of her head. “Though I’m sure I’ll be fine in the long run. Don’t worry about me. But you could do me a favor.”

  “Anything.”

  “Let my supervisor Chris know I’ll be taking a couple of days leave. I want to stick around here until I’m sure Lucas is back to normal.”

  “I’ll make the proper excuses for you,” Kody told her. “But…”

  “What?”

  “I can tell from the look in your eyes that you’re trying to find your own balance. I’m fairly sure you’ve lived your life up to now being ruled by Anglo laws. And you’ve been hiding behind your badge because you liked the structure it provided. I’ve been where you are.

  “But you can’t hide from your Navajo side any longer,” he went on. “You’ll have to come to terms with it. From now on you’ll have to stop letting only the things you can prove be the guiding force of your life. There are other possibilities that must be acknowledged and accepted.”

  Teal didn’t really want to talk about it. If given a choice, she didn’t even want to think about such things. Not yet. Right this minute, Lucas had to be her main focus.

  She thanked Kody for all his help, agreed to attend Lucas’s curing ceremony they had scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, and then waited until she heard Kody drive away before she went back to the hall outside Lucas’s door and settled down.

  A noise must’ve disturbed her sleep. Teal woke up and looked around, wondering what time it was. She hadn’t been asleep for too long, she knew. She’d sat in the hall, listening for Lucas to make a noise until the wee hours of the morning. But as she looked outside her window now, darkness still ruled.

  Part of her fully expected to see Skinwalkers jumping from behind every shadow. The other part wanted something to happen, either good or bad, so she would have something to do. Some chore to fulfill. Something to keep her busy.

  This hanging out and wringing her hands was so not her style. But the quiet of the dead of night and the lack of sounds from Lucas’s bedroom had given her nothing to do but worry. At about 2:00 a.m. she’d decided to slip into her own bed for a few hours sleep.

  Now something had just awoken her from that sleep. She checked the lighted dial on the clock and saw it was four-thirty. Not even dawn yet. She’d only been in bed for a couple of hours.

  When her eyes adjusted to the dark, she eased out of bed and went to find out what had awakened her. Was something or someone trying to break into the house? Lucas had told her when she came to live here that this house had been specially blessed. Evil couldn’t get in.

  But she wasn’t quite as positive as he’d been. After all, the evil he’d recently overcome had shown several faces. Some of those evil faces appeared quite capable of getting past all obstacles to get what they wanted, too.

  In a few moments she discovered his bedroom door stood wide open and Lucas’s bed was empty. Had someone come in and kidnapped him?

  Making a silent dash back to her bedroom, Teal grabbed her weapon from under the pillow. She checked it, then picked up a flashlight. Whatever had happened to Lucas, it would be better if she stayed quiet and kept the lights off until she knew what she would be facing.

  She crept through the house, listening intently for any noise. Checking the doors and windows as she went, Teal found everything just as she’d left it.

  Upon entering the kitchen, she heard another noise. This time it was clearly coming from Lucas’s studio on the other side of the narrow hallway.

  Was someone stealing artwork or jewelry? If so, where was Lucas? She hoped like crazy that he was not about to do something stupid. He was too weakened by all that had happened in the last twenty-four hours to try apprehending a burglar. Even though that would be typical of something he might be tempted to do.

  Teal flattened herself against the solid wall at the back of the studio and let her eyes adjust to shadows created by the outside lights streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows at the far end of the room. She saw something move down there and narrowed her eyes trying to see what it was.

  The breath caught in her throat when she finally spotted him. Lucas. Standing there, naked except for a pair of nylon running shorts, with his hands on his hips and staring out the window.

  The full force of his masculinity hit her smack in the gut. His body was lean and taut. His muscles quivering with energy.

  The man had literally stolen her breath away.

  Suddenly, a picture of the two of them tangled in each other’s embrace budded in her mind. She shifted uncomfortably inside her sweat suit.

  Why hadn’t the two of them had sex yet? They’d been living under the same roof for days. And every time she looked into his eyes, the depth of his desire was clear.

  So why not? Had she subconsciously put up barriers between them the way she had done with others for most of her life?

  What a load of crap. She was a confident and intelligent woman who knew her own worth. Why had she been such a cold fish in the past? Was she frigid?

  As the sweat trickled down between her breasts, she realized the
way she felt now was decidedly not cold. Nor did she have any wish to continue being only a buddy and a pal—at least not with this man.

  Okay, so the two times before Lucas that she’d tried having a sexual encounter had been less than noteworthy. But maybe those times had not really been all her fault.

  She had the distinct impression that right now she was finally about to encounter her own passion. Big-time.

  Quietly she lowered her weapon and the flashlight, and laid them on a corner of Lucas’s drafting table. But then she hesitated. Would coming on to him tonight be fair?

  He was a wounded soul. A man trying to recapture his spirit. Perhaps another time would be more appropriate.

  Trying hard to conquer her body’s growing needs, Teal took a slow, uneasy breath. Perhaps a little too loudly.

  Lucas’s head whipped around, his gaze snapped up her body and met her eyes. She knew right away that this night was going to be fine with him, too.

  The need was there in his eyes, overpowering any hesitation and whatever emotional turmoil he’d been going through. He wanted her. And judging by the look and the growing tightness in his muscles, even more desperately than she’d wanted him.

  He came toward her then. Silently stalking across the room, his gaze never faltered. She could sense him watching her breathe, even through the darkness. Felt his stare as if it was a bold caress.

  She suddenly imagined him as the hunter and herself as the prey. Not a totally uncomfortable feeling for some reason. But also not exactly as she had envisioned.

  It seemed to take him forever to reach her. And the growing frenzy inside her body had already made her wet with the wait.

  By the time he was within reach, she was nearly giddy with desire. She bit down on her lip—and held still.

  Lucas’s heart was pounding, the blood rushing through his veins—and heading straight to his groin. The way she was looking at him, as if she knew. Knew with certainty about the dreams. It was too much. Too much need.

  Every time he’d closed his eyes over the last few days, he had remembered. And hungered.

  Whenever they were together, the force between their bodies shimmered with power and static electricity, even in the worst of times—those hard times when he’d had to fight his base instincts and reject both greed and anger.

  Yet she had remained by his side. Stood by him as only a mate would do. Even now, she lifted her chin slightly, the female animal’s sign of readiness.

  He found himself clenching and unclenching his fists, wanting to drive deep into the welcoming warmth he’d found in his dreams. Instead he decided to take it slow and easy. He didn’t wish to frighten her by coming on too strong. She might not have the same memories as he did.

  Almost afraid to move, Lucas gently lifted a hand to cup her face. Soft and smooth and warm to the touch, her skin caused an even wilder combustion to explode inside him. She rested her cheek in his palm as if there was nowhere else on earth she would rather be.

  He bent to brush her lips with his own. Just a touch. Nothing too threatening.

  But as he began to pull away, she surprised him by reaching up and grabbing the sides of his head. Dragging him down closer to her once again, Teal appeared reluctant to rush yet determined not to move back.

  Their lips were but a whisper apart. Her scent drifted to his nostrils and captured whatever sanity he had left. This was the part that had been missing from his dreams. The musky, womanly smell of her invading his senses, seeping inside every pore.

  He remembered the things she had liked and disliked from his dreams. But now the reality stumped him. She was like a brand-new puzzle with millions of pieces he needed to fit together to make the whole of what was Teal.

  Teal felt his hesitation and fought the urge to speed up his reactions. She was sure she could do it. Sure she could touch him in just the right way with her hands and her mouth in order to make him crazy with desire.

  But that wasn’t the way she wanted things to go. Not this time.

  Ready to lead the way slowly, she wanted to drag it out. To feel every touch of lips and fingers. To memorize all the moves and sensations that came with them. This was their time. And she was determined to make the most of it for however long she could.

  At last she touched her lips to his. He moaned, deep and low with a guttural tone, and opened his mouth to invite her in. Starting slowly, she swirled her tongue into his mouth to create a rhythm. Moving as if she was painting his tongue with her own, she dipped and laved and sucked. Then she mixed up the action by nibbling on his lower lip.

  The heat was building between them, heading toward something explosive though they’d hardly even laid a hand on each other. Teal remembered to breathe deeply, trying not hurry. But as she inhaled, the sexual energy from their touching lips spread all over her body.

  Hell. She was driving herself nuts with all this touching but not touching.

  Desperate to slow down, she tried visualizing her inner being—the parts of her that had always been empty and in need of filling up.

  She wanted Lucas to be the one to fill them—slowly and with feeling. But she wasn’t sure either one of them would last long enough to make it good.

  Well, if this time was destined to be over in a hurry, Teal decided to make the most of it. She stepped back, pulled her sweatshirt over her head and shimmied out of her sweatpants and panties at the same time.

  Lucas’s nostrils flared at the sight of her naked body before him. His pupils darkened as he reached out for her. It was plain that he was as ready as she was.

  In one fell swoop, he stepped out of his shorts and dragged her to his chest. The friction of his body against hers drove pinpricks of sensation between her legs.

  She was definitely ready. “Let’s head for your bed,” she groaned, trying to make it last a few minutes more.

  “In the bed, in the shower, on the kitchen counter. Anywhere you like,” he whispered as his hands found her bottom and pressed her damp spot against his erection. “But later. Right now, it’s here. Right here. Right now.”

  Not really wanting to protest, Teal leaned into him. He found her mouth again with a searing kiss. It was a deep spirit-melding kiss, backed by all the desperation they both were feeling. Lucas lifted her off her feet without breaking the kiss. She automatically wound her legs around his waist and hung on.

  Teal was lost in sensation as his arousal probed her hot center. Her good intentions evaporated, and she just had to feel him inside her. Now.

  Lucas leaned his back against the wall to steady himself, and the movement of his hips drove his tip just inside her. She went wild with desire.

  “Now,” she demanded. “Please, now.” Her insides were clutching.

  He growled, with a low and feral sound that drove her to an even higher frenzy. “Anything you want, Bright Eyes.”

  She wanted to hold on, to make it last. But the instant he pushed himself inside her, she already felt the fireworks begin.

  Oh, Lucas.

  13

  S parks shot down her spine as Teal felt him go over the edge with her. He jerked and moaned in tandem with her scream. Then for moments there was no sight nor sound except for the fingers of fire that consumed her.

  Holding her close, he kissed the top of her head and her temples. Lucas seemed to be regulating his breathing just as her own was leveling out. She gulped and released her grip on him.

  He let her slide down his body until her feet were back on the ground. “You okay, Bright Eyes?” He ducked his head to see her face, but he didn’t let her out of his embrace.

  “The best.”

  “That wasn’t too…”

  “It was. It was too good, too everything. But now it’s too damned over. Can we do it again?” she asked and flashed him a smile.

  “Ah.” The grin on his face was full of self-satisfaction and masculine pride. “I think by the time we reach my bed I’ll be ready to slow it down the next time.”

  “Oh, you�
�” She pushed at his biceps and giggled like a schoolgirl. “It was a long day. For both of us. You need your sleep.” She pulled totally out of his arms and turned away.

  He grabbed her wrist, swung her back around and against his chest. “I need you more.”

  Teal barely got out a squeak before he picked her up in his arms and headed through the kitchen toward his bedroom.

  “You want a drink of water?” he asked as he passed the sink.

  But he didn’t let her answer. Instead he covered her mouth with a fiery, grazing kiss. The blast of heat his kiss caused began in her chest and quickly moved to all the feminine parts that had not yet quit pulsating from their last encounter.

  “No water, thanks,” she mumbled when he lifted his head at last.

  “Hungry?”

  “Uh…That depends on what you have in mind.”

  He laughed, and it was the best sound she’d heard in days. Without another word, he carried her to his room and deposited her on the bed.

  Standing over her, he gazed down at her naked body with a wicked leer. “I want to make you crazy for me.”

  “I already am.” She lifted her arms up in invitation.

  Lucas folded his arms across his bare chest and stayed where he was, complete with a silly smile plastered on his face.

  “Really, I am,” she said, as she noticed the whine that had crept into her voice. “Certifiably crazy. Nuts. Wacko. Totally overboard. Isn’t that good enough?”

  Tumbling onto the bed with a chuckle, he wrapped her body in his arms and rolled. Within a moment, they both lay sprawled and laughing. Him on the bottom on his back and her splayed out across his chest.

  “Ah, that’s better.” He palmed her buttocks and squeezed.

  Teal gave in to the sensual mood he’d created. She’d been wanting the two of them in this bed in the first place. Had been thinking about it ever since the moment she spotted the big brass headboard.