Page 51 of Fire Dancer
Pippa fell back into the hug, basking in her little victory, and letting me bask too. I held her close, happy to have been part of it, even in a small way.
The longer I held her, the happier I felt, and the less I remembered why. It didn’t seem to matter much any more, only that we were together, and everything was good. Really good, in a way I hadn’t felt for a long time.
My breaths slowed. My heart thumped. My eyes closed.
Happy. Together. Good.
Over the next few seconds, I didn’t move, speak, or even think. Neither did Pippa. But something must have changed, because the hug went from being the punctuation mark at the end of one thing to the beginning of something new. Something very warm, comfortable…even sensual.
Pippa sighed, sliding her hands a little lower down my back.
I inhaled, tempted to let mine slide up. My skin tingled, and my thoughts blurred.
The next thing I knew, we were kissing. Touching. Wanting. Getting…
Pippa’s lips parted, and the kiss went from gentle to raging, as if we’d turned the blowtorch on ourselves. Our hands roamed boldly, and our breaths turned into pants.
My body burned, and my jeans grew uncomfortably tight.
“So good,” Pippa whispered, dragging her body against mine.
My mind grew more and more hazy. Sex became more and more inevitable. Undeniable, actually, because it had been too long.
Much too long,my wolf hummed greedily.
Pippa eased up onto the workbench, keeping her knees wide. I stepped closer, hissing in need when our hips meshed.
“Yes…” Pippa breathed, leaning back. The angle shoved her core against mine, and I went fromtighttohard.
Angling farther and farther back, she pulled my shirt up, then fumbled with the button of my jeans.
Ring-ring!The bell over the shop door sang merrily, and we froze.
Pippa’s hand stayed on my back, and I nearly roared at whomever that was.
The shop was dead quiet for an instant, other than the sound of our panting breaths.
“Oh. Hello. Am I interrupting?” the brunette at the door asked, more snide than amused.
I nearly let my wolf fangs out to snap at her, but then I caught myself. Really caught myself. Whoa. What had just happened?
Pippa’s lips moved as she blinked at me. Slowly, grudgingly, we fought our way out of that all-consuming magic spell woven by…love? Lust? Fate?
Pippa straightened her shirt and stepped away from me, making my wolf howl.
“Can I help you?” she asked, snippier than I’d ever heard her.
Good to know I wasn’t the only one mourning the end of that kiss.
The woman thumped a paper on the counter and tapped it with a long, manicured nail. Her crimson nail polish matched the color of her pouty lips.
“I’m here to pick up the order for TTC Limited.”
Most folks in Sedona wore clothing suitable for scaling cliffs or zipping over mountain bike trails, whether they actually set off on such adventures or not. This woman had more of the casual-yet-carefully-curated yoga retreat look, though maintaining balance with those artificially enhanced boobs would be quite a trick. Her white down jacket was wide open and pushed aside to show off her shoulders. Underneath, a skimpy purple leotard struggled to contain those fake boobs. It was cut so high in the thigh that skin showed above the hem of her designer sweatpants.
Pippa went perfectly still. “Oh. You mean the vials?”
“Yes, I mean the vials,” the bitch — er, woman — shot back. “Is something wrong?”