Dark Flame (11 page)

And it kept coming, a stream of pure pleasure, taking his mind on a trip around the entire planet. What sex he could recall from dreamgliding with Juliet had been extraordinary, but this was even better.

When at last he was satisfied, he began to slow.

Once more he slid his hand beneath her chest, fondling her peaked nipples, each of them tight from the orgasm. He kissed her neck where he’d suckled down her blood.

Gratitude was what he felt, a profound sense that the woman had given him everything right now. God, she’d fed him breakfast, offered up her vein, and let him fill her with his come.

“If I died in the next half minute, I’d die a happy man.”

She chuckled. “Well, don’t, please, because I need more of that. I thought I was satisfied in the dreamglide because you always made sure I finished. But this was something else.” She sighed heavily.

He kept kissing her throat, her cheek, the back of her neck.

She giggled. “Do you think there’s a possibility all these men
didn’t
hear us?”

“Sorry, not a chance in hell. A few of those cries of yours pierced my eardrums and I think my roars were probably heard in hell.”

“No, not in hell. Heaven, Brann. All pure heaven and then some.” She sighed again, which helped him know he was probably leaning on her too heavily. He was a big man with thick, powerful muscles. He weighed a lot.

He drew back. “This might get messy.”

He watched her slap her hand on the desk, then reach for the right-hand drawer. She pulled it open, then plucked a hand towel from its depths. “Thought we might need this. Actually, I was desperately hoping we would, and I was right.” She chuckled again.

He laughed with her. He drew himself out then caught their combined fluids with the towel. He loved the sight and smell of this visceral result of their lovemaking.

He pressed the towel up against her body.

“If you want a shower, use the pocket door. I had it put in the same year I bought this place. I like more than once entrance to a bathroom.”

He picked up his clothes and boots. “Join me?”

She parted her lips, maybe to decline, then her shoulders relaxed and she smiled. “I’d love to.”

CHAPTER FIVE

Juliet grabbed her clothes and followed Brannick into the master bath. She hadn’t had this kind of adventure in mind when she’d had the pocket door put in, but she was grateful for thinking ahead. She knew one of the guards was posted on the patio outside the master bedroom and really didn’t want to see him right now.

Brannick got the water running right away. She wrapped her hair up in a towel and joined him. Of course, sharing the small space with such a big man led to another round that just couldn’t be helped. He was one solid mass of muscle as she slung her arms around his neck. He kissed her fiercely as though it might be the last time. It wasn’t long before he lifted her leg high on his hip and entered her.

She still couldn’t believe this was happening, that she was finally having real-time sex with Brannick. She came while kissing him, his hips pistoning so fast it was like a vibration inside her body. She held Brannick’s hand over her mouth as ecstasy arrived in a hot wave, her cries muffled against his palm.

He held his own roars down to a soft series of shouts. He clung to her afterward, holding her tight against his body.

Heaven.

When his breathing had finally settled down, he drew back and kissed her, thanking her profusely. She returned with her own repeated expressions of gratitude and wondered if two people had ever said ‘thank you’ so much after sex.

He washed her afterward, a gentle act that reminded her again of all that he was as a man and a lover. Brannick had an amazingly tender side. For such a big man, his touch could feel like a soft sweep of feathers.

Once she finally left the shower, she dried off then wrapped herself up in a towel. She brushed out her hair, restyling all her long curls in the messy configuration that worked best for her. Most of it was pinned to the top of her head and left to cascade with a few loose strands dangling down her back and a couple over her shoulders. With her curly hair, she’d given up having a more controlled look a long time ago.

While she finished up, Brannick put his clothes on. Afterward, he settled a hip on the marble sink and watched her. His dark hair, wet from the shower and combed straight back, accented the clean, handsome planes of his face. She put on a little mascara, made use of an eyebrow pencil, because her brows were just a little too thin, then touched some pink gloss to her lips.

“You’re beautiful.” His rich voice rolled through her, sending a shiver all the way to her toes. He reached over and touched her throat. “Are you feeling okay? Your skin is still red, though the puncture wounds have sealed.”

She caught his hand and met his gaze. “I feel wonderful.”

Still, he frowned. “Not dizzy? I took quite a bit.”

She stood up a little straighter and weaved around on her feet, testing herself, then looked up at the ceiling.

She was smiling as she glanced back at him. “Not even a little. But you know the worst part of what we just did?”

She didn’t miss the dart of concern that shot through his eyes. “What?”

She felt guilty about teasing him. “That I want to do it again so bad I can hardly stand it. How is that possible? You just took me to the heavens and back, and I want more. Guess I’m greedy.”

He smiled, and his shoulders lost some of their tension.

With his hip still on the sink and one boot planted on the floor, he grabbed her around the waist and drew her close, settling her between his legs. “I know what you mean. I’d love to take you to bed and keep you there for a long time.”

He kissed her, and she forgot all about her make-up and hair. She relaxed against him, sliding her arms around his neck and holding him tight.

Things heated up again so that when a loud rap sounded on the door, it took a moment to remember where she was.

She drew back, but didn’t take her arms from around his neck. “What is it?”

Fergus’s rough voice returned. “Sorry to bother you, Juliet, but your phone was ringing and Roche’s name came up on the screen. Wanted you to know.”

She drew back from Brannick, her chest tightening. She called out once more. “Roche texted me?”

“’Fraid so. Something about a woman named Mary.”

She put a hand to her mouth and met Brannick’s gaze. He eased her away from him, then lifted up off the sink, his brow growing pinched once more.

She called out to Fergus. “We’ll be right there.”

“I’ll be on the canal patio.”

She dropped the towel, but didn’t look at Brannick. She put her thong and bra back on, then slid her dress over her head so fast, she displaced half her curls. She took a moment to straighten the worst of the lot, slid into her sandals then headed to the door.

Brannick followed her, a hand at the small of her back. Once in the living room, he waved Fergus in from the patio.

She found her phone on the kitchen counter. With trembling hands, she picked it up. In all the difficulty with keeping Brannick alive, she’d forgotten to follow up on Mary’s whereabouts. Although, it had never once occurred to her that Roche might have abducted her.

She held the phone so Brannick and Fergus could see everything.

She slid the cell face a couple of times, until Roche’s text came up, and there it was.
I have Mary. You have three hours to turn yourself over to me at the Fae Cathedral or your friend dies.

She glanced at Brannick, who scowled heavily. “So this is why Mary didn’t show up to drive the van. Ask how long she’s been with him.”

She texted back.
How long have you had her?

Waiting for a response felt like an eternity.

Then, finally,
Ever since I found out she’s been helping you steal my women and tunnel-run them out of Five Bridges. Be at the Fae Cathedral and come alone.

She glanced at the phone again. “What should we do?”

“Well, you can’t go to him. I won’t let you.”

She opened her mouth to protest, then realized immediately he was reacting to the situation, not offering a solution. She opted for stating her own thoughts. “I have no intention of turning myself over to that bastard, but I have to tell him something.”

“Look, he’s the one who said ‘three hours’. Tell him you’ll be at the entrance to the cathedral within his timeframe. That’ll give us a chance to put a plan together.”

And there it was, the response she needed.

She glanced at her clock. It was already nine. She typed again.
I’ll be there before midnight. Alone.
She didn’t mind lying to a liar.

Fergus nodded his approval, then resumed his post on the patio overlooking the canal. He levitated several feet in the air, disappearing from view. Even a few feet higher would give him a much better view of the entire canal. The more powerful wolves could levitate as well as transform into four-footed creatures.

While holding her phone in her left hand, she absently rubbed the top of the case with her index finger. She had to think. She couldn’t turn herself over to Roche. He’d use her to service his wealthy clients while in the dreamglide. She’d die before she became enslaved to Roche.

Brannick blew the air from his cheeks. “I’ve never been to the Fae Cathedral. Have you?”

Juliet turned to face him. “Once. It’s a large club that has three different venues within the main building. But it also houses the entrance to a massive underground development called the Village. Off to the left side of the foyer is a large, descending ramp built like a corkscrew, the kind used in big parking garages. People who live in the Village use the ramp to come and go, though no cars are allowed. I think the main form of transport is electric golf carts.

“The ramp is heavily guarded as well. It’s a residents-only development. I’ve never gone past the large foyer, however. Never wanted to. And I don’t know anyone who lives in the Village.”

“So this is all below the Fae Cathedral?”

“It is.” She thought for a moment. “Rumors have it that Roche runs his drug organization from the southern end, if I remember correctly.”

Brannick slid his fingers through his hair. “Basically, we need to get down that ramp without being seen.”

“We could use your vampire shield and sneak in to bring Mary out. That could work, couldn’t it?”

“Yes, absolutely.” She watched his gaze skate around.

“What are you thinking?” she asked.

He stared at her hard. “That before we can put a decent plan together, I need to know more about your fae world.”

Juliet knew her territory was the least understood of all five, mostly because their lives were lived almost in secret. At least a quarter of the population lived in underground housing. There was more than one development like the Village.

There were also hundreds, heavily addicted to any one of the flame drugs, who did their own excavating and lived in filthy dug-outs. They were known as mud dwellers, because these places flooded when the summer monsoons arrived. Every year, dozens of
alter
fae drowned in the poorly constructed living areas.

In that sense, her territory had a huge disparity between places of beauty like Lotus Tree and those areas where the mud dwellers lived.

She knew she’d shared some of these details about Revel with Brannick during their time together in the dreamglide. But since he didn’t have a full recollection of their many conversations, she answered all of his questions.

She then elaborated on being apprenticed to Agnes, which meant she’d become an expert in dreamgliding.

“Why is it called that, ‘gliding’ I mean.”

“Because the more control a fae gains over this process, the more he or she can make a dream move or glide from place to place.”

“So your ability to be in different places while in a dreamglide is an advanced ability.”

“It is.”

“A portion of your people also have telekinetic abilities. I’ve seen some of your fae border patrol officers draw weapons out of their opponents’ hands.”

“That’s true, but it can be tricky. A gun can discharge during telekinesis. Only the most powerful even attempt it.”

Brannick dipped his chin. “What else about your people?”

She couldn’t help but smile a little. He’d asked the same question in the dreamglide, in exactly the same way.

“It’s often hard to explain to an outsider what it is to be fae. We have a connection to the dream world, which is clear to everyone because of the horrendous abuse in the illegal sex clubs, like the kind Roche runs. But we also have similarities to the dead-talkers in that we seem to have a much more mystical take on life. I have a blog in fact with a number of followers.”

He shifted his gaze away from her. “Wait. I’m remembering that from one of the dreamglides. You showed it to me on your tablet. You’d written about the journey of life being a marathon and learning to take the long view. In fact, you quoted a Chinese philosopher—”

“Right. ‘The journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.’ I did.”

He pressed the heel of his palm against his forehead, then turned back to her. “It’s weird when a memory resurfaces. I get a fuzzy sensation in my mind, and suddenly a memory arrives.” He took her arm in his hand. “We were here in your bed. We’d been together. Christ, Juliet, did we talk that much?”

“Yes.” She couldn’t breathe for moment. His memories were really starting to open up and not just about the sex.

Unfortunately, with every surfacing memory, he would grow closer and closer to the truth about what she’d done to him, how she’d seduced him to be with her. There’d be a time of reckoning, and the more she was with him, the more she started dreading what now appeared to be the inevitable.

Once he knew what she’d done, she doubted he would ever forgive her. Or even if he could, he’d use the knowledge as an excuse to shut her out of his life for good. Brannick was a man who believed in the rule of law.

He gave her arm a gentle squeeze. “Hey, are you okay?”

She forced herself to blink a couple of times. “I’m fine. But I think all of this is overwhelming. For one thing, you keep remembering different dreamglides and each one gives rise to an entire host of memories. And for another, I’ve never spent this much time with you. It just feels so odd.”