“Let’s hope for months,” Uriel said. “I want a vacation at some point.”
Raziel chuckled. “Babe, you’d get bored after a week.”
“Probably. But I’d like that week.”
“Before we adjourn, one question,” Markus said. “Raphael, how is the shifter who was injured? I see Baxter here looking as he ever did, which is fine and dandy, and really, I am very pleased to see you on your feet, but I can see that Angelique’s pack is down by two, and that could be a problem, could it not?”
Raphael sighed. “Physically, he’s fine. All his wounds are healing or healed. It’s just the coma now. His wife—mate—is with him.”
“And we take it in turns to stay with them,” Angelique added.
“I see. If I may, I would offer to sit with them as well.” Markus shrugged. “I have a great deal of respect for young Lily.”
“I accept on her behalf,” Raphael said.
“And I’d like to be added to the roster as well,” Adramelek said.
“All right.”
“My Guild are bleeding hearts.” Ondrass sighed.
Markus looked at him in amusement. “You said you liked her spunk and thought she was plucky.”
Ondrass rolled his eyes. “Fine. Put me on the roster too.”
Raphael nodded. “Done and done.”
“Then let us get to work,” Michael said.
“What, no protest at evil demons sitting with your precious Venatores?” Ondrass asked. “You are mellowing, Prince Donkey-face.”
Tabbris cackled at that, and Michael just sighed and shook his head. “If Raphael does not mind, then I trust his judgment on the matter. That is all.”
Gabriel took Michael’s hand in his. “And on that note, we’ll be off.
We’ll go brief Minnie and Max, and then get to hunting bad people.”
“Good hunting to you,” Ondrass said.
“And we’ll get going too,” Angelique said. “Dec, can you drop me and Riley off at the house in Salem?”
“Sure, sweetheart.” He nodded.
“And Liam and I have a cabin in the woods to go to,” Baxter said.
“Six weeks flew by,” Liam agreed. Angelique realized that they too were planning for the week of Baxter’s heat, and she nodded approvingly.
It meant that her own heat wouldn’t be far behind, though, and she decided that was a subject she’d discuss with Declan on the way back to Salem. Hopefully, once she and Baxter had passed their heat weeks, they’d be able to help Riley with his week, and then, if they were all very lucky, Lily and Danny would be back with them. She mentally crossed her fingers.
“Meeting adjourned,” Ondrass said. “On your way out, you’ll find keycards on lanyards, one for each of you. Please take one so that you can access this building and the necessary rooms at any time without the wards going off.”
“Thanks,” Gabriel said. Everyone else echoed him, and as they started filing out of the room, Angelique lingered. She wanted to thank the Archdemons and Markus herself.
“Yes?” Ondrass asked her, quirking an eyebrow.
“Thanks,” she said. “For offering to sit with Lil and Danny. I know you did it under protest, Ondrass, but you still did it. I really appreciate it.”
Ondrass waved that off. “It was only protest for Michael’s hearing.
Markus and Adramelek are right: she is a good child and I like her. So do not thank me. We made the offer that we did out of own fondness for her.”
“Still, I want to thank you, so there.” Angelique felt as if she should stick her tongue out.
“You’re welcome,” Markus said before Ondrass could speak.
She nodded to him and turned on her heel, leaving the room to join Declan and Riley, and head home.
IT WAS early winter now, just before the first snowfall, and Baxter relaxed in the passenger seat of Liam’s car as Liam drove them out of Salem and toward the Silver Falls State Park. Although it hadn’t been used as a park for decades, the name remained the same, and many of the old facilities had been used during the Seventy Years War by refugees needing a place to live. Baxter had spent part of his childhood here, and the cabin that had been home during that time was still there. He would visit it once a year and tidy up, but this was the first time he’d come here to spend the week of his wolfish heat.
It was the first time he’d had someone to spend the week of heat with.
Liam navigated the winding road easily, the roar of the car’s engine a comforting sound that Baxter would never admit to out loud. He knew Liam loved this car and he really didn’t understand the love some people had for their automobiles. Just his luck that he’d fall in love with someone his dad would call a “petrol head.” Baxter gazed out the window, taking in the vista of tall, green trees and grass, bushes and scrub, and decided to roll down the window and breathe in the fresh air.
“It’s gorgeous up here, isn’t it?” Liam asked.
“It is. I love the beach more, but sometimes, I feel the need for the forest. I don’t know if that’s because of my wolf or what.”
“I’m no shifter, but I understand the lure of the forest or the mountain. It’s so peaceful, so quiet. The most dangerous thing around is a bear.”
“Or a wolf,” Baxter said, sticking his arm out the window and delighting in the sensation of the breeze through his fingers, like invisible strands of the purest silk.
“So how much further?”
“In two miles, you hit a T-junction. Take the left turn, follow the road right to the end. It turns into a dirt track, keep going for another mile or so, and we’ll reach the cabin. You can’t miss it.”
“Right.”
They traveled in companionable silence and Baxter concentrated on listening to the forest and smelling the air, full of oak and fresh water and fallen leaves slowly mulching on the ground. The scents were earthy, healthy, and the wolf inside him stirred, wanting to run and hunt and mate.
Baxter pushed it down, not willing to give in to his urges until they were safely ensconced in the cabin.
Forty-five minutes later, Liam parked out in front of an unassuming structure, a squat building made of logs with windows in three of its walls and a door in the fourth. Baxter dug his keys out of his jeans pocket as Liam climbed out of the car and went to get their provisions of food from the trunk, and then he got out and closed the car door behind him. Baxter stretched as he looked around the small clearing, noting as he did so that the forest was encroaching on the cabin slowly but surely. He’d have to take care of that after winter. Speaking of winter….
“We should make sure we don’t get snowed in while we’re here,”
Baxter said. “It’d be pretty embarrassing to have to call an angel to pull us out while they’re all researching and discussing and being diplomats.”
“Yeah, that’s a good point,” Liam said. He closed the trunk with a bang and moved around his car, muttering under his breath. Baxter watched, raising an eyebrow.
“Dude, why do you and Declan use so many protection spells?”
“Baby’s not likely to be broken into here, but I also don’t want her to be rammed by an angry elk, either.”
Baxter rolled his eyes. “You and that car. I don’t get it.”
Liam laughed. “Only other car lovers do.”
“What about Angelique? She’s all over that motorbike of hers, and she seems to get this weird adoration you and Dec have for your cars.”
“That’s because she loves her bike.” Liam shouldered the large carryall. “Let’s go inside.”
“Okay.” Baxter started toward the cabin.
“So, we should go hiking while we’re here,” Liam said. “Check out these waterfalls.”
“We can do that,” Baxter said as he put the key into the lock and turned. The door opened smoothly and Baxter fumbled on the inner wall for the light switch. Finding it, he flicked it on and the small cabin was lit immediately. “After you, kind sir,” he said to Liam.
Liam grinned at him and entered, and Baxter followed, closing the door behind them. He locked it as well, more of an afterthought than a conscious decision, for Baxter had spent too long making sure his locations were secure and safe to stop now.
The interior of the cabin was open plan, a large bed by one window, a sink with a sideboard, a few cupboards, a fridge, and an oven and stove by another window, and a dividing wal that led to the bathroom. There was a loveseat in the middle of the space and a smal table with three chairs beside a cast-iron wood heater and a cabinet with a TV on it. At the foot of the bed was a closet and beside that, a bookcase crammed full of books.
“This is pretty sweet,” Liam said. “Only one bed? Didn’t you say you spent your childhood here?”
“Some of it. The loveseat opens out; that was where I slept,” Baxter said. He looked around. “It’s all right. Not the Hilton.”
“Screw the Hilton. I like places like this. Abandoned buildings, old houses, warehouses, caves, cabins in the woods…. I know it’s just asking for a horror-movie scenario, but we’ve already had that in Mount Doom.”
Baxter laughed. “Which of our superpowered friends came up with that? I forgot.”
“Me too. It was a good call, though.”
“Yeah, it was.” Baxter took the carryall from Liam and set it down on the table. He opened it and began to unpack, putting the food away in the fridge and cupboards. “There’s plates and stuff here too,” he said.
“And blankets in the closet.”
“I bet it gets cold up here,” Liam said.
“Yeah, it does. That wood heater in the middle there does a damn good job, though.”
“Do I need to go out for wood?”
“There should be a supply out the back. There was the last time I was here, at least.”
“Okay, I’ll go look.” Liam headed toward the door.
“Thanks, babe.”
It didn’t take Baxter long to put the food away, and he went outside to grab the backpack with his clothes and toiletries in it out of the car.
He’d forgotten about Liam’s little precautions, however, and he yelped as soon as he touched the car and felt an electric shock.
Liam came around the back of the cabin, carrying an armload of wood. “What are you doing?”
“I wanted to get my backpack, and your car bit me!”
“Oh. Give me a minute to put this inside, and I’ll get it for you.”
“Okay.” Baxter rubbed his hand, glowering at the car as he waited.
When Liam joined him, he shook his head. “Dude, what would’ve happened if I tried to open the door again?”
“It would’ve felt worse,” Liam said.
“What a lovely spell that is,” Baxter said.
“Hey, it keeps Baby safe and sound, so yeah, it is.” Liam opened the car door and grabbed out Baxter’s backpack and his own. Then he closed the door again, locked it and muttered the spell once more. “Okay, done.
Let’s go back inside.”
“Okay.” Baxter followed him, wondering what magical tradition Liam’s spell came from.
Inside the cabin, Baxter locked the door once more and unpacked their belongings as Liam put wood in the heater and lit it. Soon there was a fire burning merrily inside the belly of the heater and the cabin was pleasantly warm. Baxter sprawled on the bed and watched Liam with a small smile on his face as Liam puttered around the kitchen area.
“Can I ask you something?” Baxter said.
“Sure.”
“What sort of spell do you use? I know it’s protection, but where’s it from? What magic are you using?”
Liam was silent for a while. Finally, he said, “It’s Santeria.”
“Oh, like the Hoodoo from South America? Or New Orleans?”
“Yeah.”
“And you don’t want to talk about it.” It wasn’t a question.
“Not… real y. I’m not comfortable talking about it. It’s not you, I promise.” Liam turned to face Baxter. “It’s just that for me, it’s a very personal thing. It’s part of how I was raised, and I don’t really like discussing it because talking about magic of any sort always seems to lead to a debate. I don’t want to debate it. I use what I know, what I was taught, sure, but more than that, I use what I love, and yeah, Santeria is important to me.”
“Okay.” Baxter accepted that. “Don’t look at me like that, all frowny skeptical man. It really is okay. I get it. It’s personal to you, it has meaning and value to you, the end. It’s totally cool, dude.”
Liam gave him a sheepish smile. “I’m a bit neurotic sometimes.”
“Yeah, but so am I, so again, all good.” Baxter crooked a finger at him. “I think you should come here.”
Liam did, sitting down on the bed beside him. “You okay?”
“Mhm. Just feeling the heat, you know?”
“No, but I’ll take your word for it. What can I do?”
“Let me fuck you.”
“Oh shit, Bax, that’s not even a question. Anytime, anywhere.”
Baxter grinned. “Then I think we should have wild sex on the hood of your brother’s car.”
Liam burst out laughing. “Oh fuck, he’d kill us.”
“Can you imagine his expression? It’d be hilarious.”
“And we’d die. We’d die happy, but we’d still die.”
“I’m not ready to die just yet.” Baxter sat up and pulled Liam close.
“I’m happy with life now. Most of that’s because of you.”
“You’re a sweetheart,” Liam said.
“And now I’m going to kiss you.”
Liam moved closer and Baxter gently pushed him down onto the bed, moving to straddle him. They kissed, a long, slow glide of passion and heat, as they removed each other’s clothing, throwing the articles aside. Before long, they were naked, skin to skin and touching each other, hands roaming over each other’s bodies as desire grew.
Baxter ended the kiss and ducked his head to nuzzle Liam’s neck.
“Do you mind me biting you?”
“No. I know wolves do that when they mate.”
“And I do it when I have sex with you regardless, but this is….”
“I know,” Liam said. “It’s more. It means something. It means commitment and it’s a promise to each other. I get it. Bite me.”
Baxter took a breath and pressed a soft kiss to Liam’s neck. As Liam tilted his head to give him better access, Baxter felt the mating heat surge within him, felt the desire grow increasingly animalistic. The wolf was at the threshold of his consciousness, and he knew that as soon as he bit Liam, the wolf instinct would take over.
“I’ve got the lube,” Liam said, and that was all Baxter needed.
He bit down hard, growling low in his throat, and tasted blood. The wolf flooded his mind and his instincts, and the growl became rougher, possessive. Beneath him, Liam moaned, his body language pliant and submissive, and Baxter found that intoxicating. Baxter bit him again, almost gnawing on Liam’s flesh, tasting blood, and the coppery tang of it on his tongue only inflamed the wolf heat further. If he weren’t ruled by his shifter senses, Baxter knew he’d be repulsed by his own actions, but as it was, he was too absorbed in Liam, in the need to mate, to be one with his mate, to join with him in perfect physical union.
He ran one hand down Liam’s body, a rough caress that was more possessive than tender, and Liam whimpered, arching into Baxter’s touch.
Through the blood, Baxter could feel that Liam wanted him, that he was very turned-on by this roughness and the biting, and Baxter growled again, pulling back from Liam’s neck just enough to speak.
“Roll onto your stomach,” he said, his voice gravelly.
Liam did so, panting, and that was an aphrodisiac to Baxter. He ran one hand down Liam’s back, following the line of his spine, and saw the tube of lube on the bed beside them. With his other hand, he grabbed it up and popped off the cap, squirting a generous amount onto his own cock and not cari
ng that some of it landed on the bedsheets as well. He dropped the tube back on the bed and stroked himself with one hand as he reached between Liam’s legs to fondle his cock and balls with the other.
The whimpers and moans that his attentions drew from Liam were music to Baxter’s ears. God, there really was no sound like Liam in the throes of desire and passion. As Liam rocked into his hand, Baxter moved forward, his cock nudging at Liam’s ass, and Liam, panting, gasped out, “Fuck yes, Bax, fuck, please!”
Both hands on Liam’s ass now, Baxter took a moment to admire the view in front of him. Liam’s hard, muscled body was flushed with his desire and his legs were spread. His balls were hanging low, and Baxter glimpsed Liam’s cock, blood-dark and probably aching with the need to come. He growled once more and spread Liam’s ass cheeks, positioned himself at Liam’s hole, and thrust into him.
Despite the lack of preparation, Liam let out a throaty cry, throwing his head back and rocking back onto Baxter’s cock as Baxter thrust all the way in.
“God, yes. Yes, Bax, more, harder, fuck! Yes!”
Baxter leaned down, nibbling Liam’s back as he rocked his hips, thrusting hard and fast and shallow into tight heat, feeling muscles flex around him and Liam’s ass against his groin each time he was balls-deep inside Liam’s body. As Liam flexed, then clenched hard around his cock, Baxter made a noise that was half snarl, half moan, and bit down on the back of Liam’s neck near the base.
Liam yelled, hips bucking back into Baxter, and Baxter groaned, too turned-on to think. All he knew was sensation: Liam’s body around him, against him, Liam’s voice in his ears, his panting and gasping a sweet accompaniment to his moans, groans, and cries. Liam’s scent in his nostrils—the deodorant he wore had a light musky smell, and it was mixed with soap and sweat and sex. Gripping Liam’s left hip hard enough to bruise, Baxter snaked his other hand around to take a hold of Liam’s cock and stroke in time with his thrusts.
They moved together, time seeming to stand stil as Baxter fucked Liam and stroked him, as they both moaned and groaned and panted, fil ing the spaces in between with pleas for more or cries of pleasure. Baxter nipped and bit Liam’s skin, although he drew no more blood, sated for the moment by what he had taken before. His thrusts grew faster, shorter, and more erratic, and his strokes mirrored the action as he felt both of them moving toward climax.
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