by Cathy Clamp
Slowly, deliciously, he pulled off her panties. This was becoming what she always imagined her first time would be like.
“I want you, Dalvin.”
“No reservations?”
Shaking her head, he would smell only truth in her word. “None.”
“I’ve wanted you since the day you wore that caramel dress. I wanted to pull it off you and do … something.” He smiled. “I didn’t really know what to do with a girl then.” The smile in his eyes turned dark and hungry and his voice lowered to match. “But I do now.”
A shiver went all the way through her, so hard he could see her body tremble. He let out another of those chuckles that made her crazy and slid his hands under her thighs, raising the whole lower half of her body.
“What the hell?” she said, then gasped as she realized what he was about to do. He gave her a kiss, like on her mouth, but on a whole different part of her body. She had to grab the nearest pillow to scream into as sensations she’d never imagined flowed through her. It was too much, too fast. Her whole body clenched as an orgasm screamed through her. She couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe.
He didn’t relent, tonguing, kissing, nibbling. Soon she was clenching her hands in the sheets, her mind complete putty. He finally laid her back down on the bed, his face shiny before he used another pillow to wipe himself dry. “I’ve waited ten long years to see you look like that. I don’t think I want it to end yet.”
She shook her head, looking at all that muscle. It was hers for the asking. “I don’t either.” She saw that his jeans were about ready to burst. She reached forward and popped open the top button. Dalvin closed his eyes and groaned. The second button was harder to undo, and the third, even harder. He stood up in a rush, letting his pants slide to the floor. His underwear went next, and then she got to finally see his whole naked self. She’d touched him in the meadow but hadn’t actually looked. It seemed too personal. Now there wasn’t any too personal left.
Rachel’s hands explored his body while he tried to keep his balance. He was glorious, every inch of his dark skin was muscled perfection. “I figured you’d be chubby forever and I was fine with that. But … damn.”
He leaned forward, crawled up on the bed on top of her. “Yeah, well, I didn’t expect a skinny, long-legged tomboy to turn out like you. Oh, Chelle. My beautiful Rachel. Are you ready for this?”
She looked up into his face, saw the boy who bumped her in the playground and sang next to her on the fountain. Saw the man who stood proud and defiant with her mother and fetched food for a wounded bear. She touched his cheek, his lips, and nearly started crying. “Yeah. I am.”
He bent and kissed her, soft and slow. Then, like building up steam in an engine, his breath started to come faster, his hands stopped caressing and grew hungry and demanding. Her hands were demanding too. She kissed him with fervor, pulled his head tight against her neck when he moved his lips and teeth there. When he finally leaned back, both of them breathless, his eyes were so wide she could see the whites. “Crap! I don’t have any protection.”
She smiled and pointed at the tiny little nightstand with a drawer that wouldn’t even fit a Gideon Bible if they tried to stock one. But it held a box of condoms from the airport gift shop just fine. She grinned. “First time on a private plane and I get to join the Mile High Club.”
He hooted out a laugh that was more owl than human. “I love you, Rachel Washington.”
He meant it. He wasn’t lying. She could smell it, feel it like honey against her skin. The thought of it, of him, and the possibility of being mated to him … took her breath away.
“I think … I love you too.”
Those golden owl eyes went from laughing to serious again. He reached into the drawer, showed her how to use what was inside the foil pouch.
She expected it to hurt, had been told it would hurt … but it didn’t. He sank inside her body as though he was meant to be there. The magic that surrounded him was inside her, blossoming, expanding, filling her. When he began to move, sliding in and out, she was delirious, not even able to put together a sentence. But her body knew what to do. She began to thrust back against him. She needed more.
“Dalvin, please!”
He obeyed. He kissed her again, deeper than ever, tightened his fingers on her hips, and pressed himself into her so hard and fast that when her orgasm hit, the whole bed moved. Maybe the whole plane moved. She felt the moment when their heartbeats synced, knew the moment he was inside her mind like he was inside her body.
When he came, his whole body tensed, and a blinding light flashed across her vision. She saw his memories, his pain, the women … so many women, who could never be what he wanted. Because he wanted something he didn’t believe existed anymore. He wanted a memory. He wanted her.
When they were both spent and trying to catch their breath, she stroked his soft hair and reveled in the sensation of him wrapped around her. “I could come home to this every day,” she whispered, staring at the ceiling of a room that wasn’t theirs and wondered if there was a place in the world that they could call home.
CHAPTER 21
“Are you sure this is the place? It’s been ten years and she was in animal form,” Dalvin whispered in Rachel’s ear. They’d been searching for a week now, on the ground in Serbia, looking for the things Rachel had seen in Anica’s mind.
“Yeah, I think so.” The trick had been finding all the elements within a night’s run from the Petrovic family farm.
Zarko was talking to one of the locals while the others waited in the jeeps. Finished, he came over and put an arm around Anica’s shoulders.
“I think you are right, Rachel.” He still pronounced her name Raquel, but she was fine with that. “There was a village just down the road. It is gone now, destroyed in new fighting. But ten years ago, it stood. I do not believe Anica should come any farther. Already she has bad dreams at night.”
Anica shook her head and said, “No, Papa. I have bad dreams because I left people behind. And you heard farmer. Just a week ago another boy went missing. We must look. We have a duty.”
Her father gave a long-suffering sigh, then smiled. “You have helped Bojan and me with our dream, and now we will help you.” He swung one arm in a circle over his head. A clanking, roaring sound came from within the tree line.
Rachel’s jaw dropped when she saw the source of the noise as it cleared the trees. “A tank?! You’re bringing a tank?”
She didn’t know much about tanks, but the squareish machine was tall and green, with massive treads. It had an actual gun turret, with a huge cannon that had an opening bigger than her head.
Zarko shrugged. “If Sazi magic is not enough, we have other options.” Behind his back, Dalvin grinned.
Rachel wasn’t worried about having enough “Sazi magic,” since half the Council had joined their expedition. Amber, Liz, and Rabi had come with them from the States, and Angelique, Ahmad, and his wife, Tuli, had met them in Serbia. The tank rolled up to the group of jeeps and ancient pickup trucks; the lid opened and Anica’s brother poked his head up.
“Is nice tank?”
Rachel smiled widely. “I thought you were a chef.”
He gave her a look of mock insult. “I am chef. Very good chef. And I have appreciation for nice cars.” He slapped a hand down on the steel. “Well made, dependable. Not so good on mileage. But very nice car.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. At least the tank matched their clothes. She, Anica, Liz, Amber, and Tuli were dressed in matching khaki outfits that Zarko had provided. There were tons of pockets in the sleeves and pant legs, which let them carry everything and keep their hands free. Angelique had declined and was dressed all in black wool.
To keep her hair out of her eyes, Anica had created a pair of buns on top of her head and looked surprisingly cute. Dalvin, Zarko, and Rabi wore green camo uniforms supplied by Ahmad.
Dalvin gave Rachel a hand up onto the gunning platform, where she could see in all d
irections.
“Let’s go nuke a nest of snakes!” she said as Anica climbed up to join her. The women held hands as the tank rumbled forward.
This part of the Serbian countryside closely resembled the area around Luna Lake. The pines were a little different and things smelled different, but it was lush and green. She could imagine living here, except for the war raging in other parts of the country. Passing through the checkpoints had been scary stuff, even traveling in the company of people who can snap necks like pretzels and freeze folks in their tracks.
The tank lumbered through the village. The destroyed homes, some still with tattered laundry hanging limply from clotheslines, tore at her. People had lived here once. They had been frightened, had chased off a little black bear to protect themselves. But they hadn’t been able to protect themselves from whoever had bombed them out of existence.
After they had passed through the village, Anica gave a little gasp, and Rachel held up a hand to stop the convoy near a railway trestle. The two omegas scrambled off the tank. Rachel thought she heard something.
“Everyone! Shut off your engines.”
The tank’s motor grumbled into stillness. Once the rest of the engines were off, they could hear the world around them. The grass crunching underfoot sounded right, the sky looked right, the place smelled right.
Anica dropped to her knees at the sound of a train whistle, far in the distance. She looked out, focusing on a tree that was a little wider and a little taller than those around it. Rachel’s mind flashed to the same moment, and she knew Dalvin could see the memory too.
“This really is it.” His voice was quiet. He touched Anica’s shoulder, and she started sobbing.
Her father came over and took her in his arms. “Are you certain you can do this? We can save the children without you.”
She snuffled and wiped her nose on the back of her hand. Then she straightened up and took a deep breath. “No. I can do this. I must do this.”
To prove the point, she sprinted off over the bomb-shattered landscape, where deep holes pockmarked what was formerly farmland. Bojan started up the tank and followed slowly, but the land was too rough for the jeeps. The others followed on foot.
When they came to a river, wide and fast, Anica jumped in without hesitation, standing in the swift-flowing water. Then she shook her head and stepped back onto the bank, where she put a hand on Rachel’s shoulder. “You see? You know why I must do this?”
“You have to prove that it wasn’t a fluke,” Rachel said, completely understanding Anica’s position
“Fluke?” The little bear shook her head. “I not know this word.”
Dalvin said, “A fluke is an accident, a mistake.”
Anica nodded, her sopping shirt and pants dripping on the grass. “Yes, it was not mistake. I am strong. I escaped.”
Amber came up behind them, followed by Rabi and Ahmad. “So we’re here?”
Rachel nodded. “Close, very close. We have to go upstream a bit. I don’t know that we should take the tank any farther. We don’t need to advertise. They might slip away.”
Ahmad nodded. “Agreed. I’ll scout forward, smell for snakes. I am very much looking forward to meeting more friends of my father’s.” He shifted to snake form and slid out of his clothes. His wife, Tuli, gathered them into a stack for him to put back on later. She was an odd one, sort of distant and scary. Amber had told her that Tuli had been an assassin for Sargon; Ahmad had helped her turn good.
Scary.
A chime sounded from Amber’s pocket. She pulled out her phone and set it to Silent, looking sheepish. “Sorry.”
Other people, including Rachel, followed Amber’s example, checking and, if necessary, silencing their phones. Getting sim cards for the phones had been hard, but when it was time to call for help from the human authorities, they would have them.
Amber looked at her phone’s screen and said, “Good news. Our seer used hindsight to get Larissa to tell us why she attacked Anica. Mustafa bought her off. She wanted to live in a big city, have servants of her own. Mustafa promised her enough cash to make that possible. He’d already paid her enough to buy a condo, with more coming after Anica was dead.”
Zarko spat on the ground derisively. “And to think I once called her family. At least Draga was also horrified. I would have hated to lose my wife and my son in one day. But I will not stand for thieves and cheats. Draga already has apologies to make.”
Samit had not survived going rogue; he hadn’t even lasted through that first night. Rachel knew he wasn’t the first attack victim to fall to insanity, and she prayed every day that she wouldn’t be the next.
Dalvin put his arms around her. “I’ll never let that happen. I promise.”
Ahmad appeared beside her so suddenly she jumped. She couldn’t help it, Ahmad still looked like his father out of the corner of her eye. She’d probably jump forever. His tongue flicked out repeatedly, adding to the creepy factor. “I found it. This way.”
Tuli joined her husband in snake form, and they led the way, moving quietly through the tall grass. It was sort of nice following a big snake, because all the smaller, dangerous-to-birds snakes near the water scampered out of their big brother’s way.
There it was. The waterfall.
Next to Rachel, Anica shivered. The owl shifter put a comforting arm around the little bear. “You can do this.” Her whisper was nearly drowned by the rushing water, but Anica heard. She smiled a little and put her arm around Rachel in return.
“You too.”
Yeah, it wasn’t just Anica who needed this. Claire had exorcised her demons by dismantling the cages and properly burying the dead from the Texas caves. Rachel hadn’t had that chance. Even though she didn’t want to see what she was likely about to, she desperately needed to.
Rabi and Amber both removed their clothes without any sort of embarrassment and shifted. In animal form, the healer had longer legs than Rachel would have imagined, considering her height as a human. She was lean and muscled under spotted fur. The little tufts of fur at the top of her ears were really cute and Rachel itched to touch them, but now was not the time to ask. Rabi was a weird sort of tiger, with a mane like a lion. He was more yellow than orange and his muscled legs were massive. It was one thing seeing him through binoculars, another entirely from just a foot away.
Both cats checked to be sure they could jump the river. After they jumped back, Ahmad wrapped himself around Rabi’s body and gave him a stern look. “Do not miss.”
Rabi’s jaw dropped and he looked as surprised as a tiger could. “You don’t want to swim? I love to swim. Here, watch.” He put a foot in the water, and Ahmad unwrapped himself and slithered a fair distance from the shore before Rachel could blink twice. The cobra’s hood extended and he looked ticked. She didn’t ever want that face to look like that at her.
Liz got on Rabi’s back instead. “Fine. If you don’t want a ride, I do.” Rabi leaped across the river and she got off, perfectly dry. Amber carried Tuli over, at which point Ahmad consented to let Rabi bring him across.
Zarko declined. “I will wait here to see if they exit some other way.
Dalvin stood beside him. “I’ll watch his back.
On the other shore, Tuli cocked her head, considering, then called, “Come to think of it, I believe I’ll wait here too. Snakes for snakes. I might know some of them. I could get them to surrender, believing I am a friend.” Zarko growled his disapproval, causing her to shrug. “Unless you want to fight. I am fine with that too.”
Rabi carried Tuli back across the water, then offered Rachel a lift. She swallowed hard. She’d never ridden a tiger. Hell, she’d never ridden a horse.
Her legs touched the ground, so she bent her knees … and started to slide sideways.
“Just hold on to my mane,” Rabi said. “It’s only for a second.”
She closed her eyes and dug her fingers into the thick soft fur around his neck, clinging to it for dear life. He padded forward, t
hen began to move more quickly. For a moment it felt like she was taking off in bird form, then they were touching down again.
“Oh. That was sort of anticlimactic.”
He gave her a look. “I was a little surprised that you were nervous.”
Angelique Calibria brought up the rear, already in bird form. They’d asked her not to say a word once they got to Serbia. Her voice was too recognizable. She wasn’t happy about it, but fortunately she was good at texting.
Rachel found Angelique to be a thousand shades of annoying, but she was an amazing vocal teacher. Rachel figured it was sort of like having an Olympic coach: they didn’t take on everyone and they were hard-asses, but the training you got was unparalleled.
In just a week, she’d learned how to change the tone of her screech so it had more impact or could be heard over a longer distance. It was all in the tongue. And the breathing. Rachel was learning how to breathe all over again. It was nothing like the way she breathed while singing.
Rabi zipped a finger across his throat, and they all went silent. The closer they got to the caves, the easier it was to hear the sound of bears inside the mountain. Easier to smell them too. Rachel choked back a cough. She wasn’t sure if it the stink was better or worse than the bird caves. Less ammonia. More feces.
Ahmad slithered over for a quiet conversation with Rabi and Amber. Rachel could barely hear what he said.
“I have a plan. I will pretend to be my father. In this form, we look identical. I only have to drop my voice a few notes”—and he did—“and they will not question me.” The voice, that voice—it sent chills down Rachel’s spine, and by the look on her face, Anica had also heard Sargon’s voice, or something like it, before. “But I will need Anica.”
The young woman nodded and joined Ahmad next to the stairs. He whispered something that made her flinch, but she stayed still while he threw out magic like Rachel had never felt before. It was like hot pokers, or grabbing a lit sparkler—flashes of pain all over her skin. Anica’s form shifted effortlessly. Then she rose up on hind legs, climbed up the rocks, and disappeared behind the curtain of water, followed closely by Ahmad.
