Page 45 of Demon's Bluff
Water sloshed, and his hand cradled my head, cushioning me even as his lips and teeth savaged my scar, relishing the way he could make mefeel. Sensation built upon itself, threatening to break. My breath came fast, and wanting everything, I sent a dart of my thought into his chi, smothering myself in him until I pulled the energy in his chi to me with a whip-crack snap.
Trent shuddered, jaw snapping shut on my ear.
Mine,I felt echo between us, but I wasn’t sure whose thought it was first as a tingling rippled over us both, luring us into a deeper motion. Groaning, he arched forward to meet me, and with a sudden ping, I felt him climax, pushing deep into me with a sound of relief.
Wild with abandon, I shuddered, my hold on him spasming as his stolen energy snapped back to him, pulling a moan from me as it seemed to spark through the water like fire.
“Oh, God. Rachel,” he whispered, as we clung to an electrifying bliss, each pulse of our hearts sending another jolt of passion through us both.
Until something wentkersplootand a surge of cold water cascaded over us.
I gasped, my eyes flashing open as Trent swore, his weight coming down upon his elbow as he held my head in one hand and fumbled to replace the rock he’d knocked free with the other. He pulled from me in a sudden motion, biting back a yelp of pain as my muscles hadn’t let go yet.
The mood utterly broken, he struggled to keep the freezing water out, rocks clattering and a muttered word of Latin joining the cricket-filled night until a warm wash of water blossomed once more and he looked down at me, water glistening to show every beautiful curve of muscle.
“I am so sorry.”
Laughing, I pulled him down to me, holding him where he belonged until the water warmed us both again. “I don’t know what for. That was amazing,” I whispered, head against his shoulder, and an annoyed sound escaped him.
“I knocked the rock lose,” he complained. “Completely broke the mood.”
“And almost your manhood,” I whispered, and he winced. Content, I played with the damp hair about his ears, liking the way the stars glintedpast him and the way the water made glistening shadows against us. “Your aura is getting smutty.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
I shook my head. “No. It, ah, might attract the wrong attention, though,” I said, and his shoulders slumped in relief.
“Mmmm.” Finally he eased himself back down next to me, and the world became even more right as his fingers traced a loving circle on my skin. “I’ve been doing a lot of magic lately. To take the place of technology.” His eyes slowly slipped shut, and his motions slowed. “You sure it doesn’t bother you? You’re right that once I settle this and return to reality, there will be consequences. It’s not as if I can hide a smutty aura.”
“No.” I studied the lighter dark against the top of the tree line. “Maybe you can convince someone to take it in lieu of giving you money.”
He sighed, his muscles relaxing one by one. “It’s possible, but I need the money more. And I kind of like it.” A smile twitched his lips as he settled deeper into the warm water. “The smut, I mean.”
Water drippled from my arm as I put it across his chest and rested against him. “It does give you a bad-boy flair.”
He chuckled, eyes still closed. I wasn’t sure I believed him, though as I looked over his camp, I saw nothing immoral here. Less businessman, more elf warlord suited him.
“Just missing a few things,” he said, drowsy as his fingers’ motion against me stopped. “You. The girls. But I get it. Living out in the woods is not for everyone.”
A sigh shifted me, making little slices of cold skin as the water fell and lifted. “Yeah. As nice as this is, I would miss…”
Trent’s eyes opened, their green lost in the dark. “What? Fighting for your right to exist? Your life on the line every day for someone else’s problem?”
I snuggled closer, feet twining with his. “Honest? I’d get bored with this every day. Though tonight?” I sighed again, my focus on the stars beyond the dark trees. “This is perfect.”
The water sloshed as Trent’s arm tightened about me. “You’re right. It’s a pleasant exile, but I’m missing the game as well.” He was silent a telling moment. “And my mother’s library. Seeing a new generation of breeding cross the finish line. Coffee at the top of Carew Tower with the sun turning everything gold and black.”
Guilt pulled through me as I lay twined with him, the soft noises of Tulpa and the ever-present crickets a soothing balm. Trent’s arm around me was proof that I was loved, and that I loved in return, in so many ways. It made me wonder why I was trying so hard to stay in reality.
“Wow,” Trent said, a hint of pride in his voice. “Did you know they did that?”
“What?” I said, and he took my hand in his, showing me our twin pearl rings glowing against each other. He’d spelled them himself, and if either of us took our ring off, the other ring would become black. Worst case, the ring was a call for help, but he’d made them to be a live-time reassurance that we were both all right. If my life wasn’t in danger every four months, I’d say he was being overprotective, but I’d personally found a huge sense of relief in them every day.
“Oh, yeah.” I felt myself warm as I snuggled closer. “They do that when we, ah, do that.”
“I never noticed.” A frown crossed him. “That reminds me. Don’t move. I want to give you something before I forget.”
I stiffened when he pulled away, water falling from him in a sheet as he stood and made his graceful way to his inlaid-stone patio. Fast from the cold, he padded to his tent, giving me an excellent opportunity to ogle his well-toned body lit by the dying fire until he vanished inside.