Elfmoon (7 page)

“What are you talking about?” Roxy asked. Her body was trembling against mine, from exhaustion, I figured.

“Something happened tonight that made a lot of people shift into these,” I struggled for the word, but there really only was one, “beasts.”

“You were one of those people,” Daniel added.

“The smoke from the Great Bonfire stopped them, made them change back,” I said, sitting back finally and brushing the tangled hair back from Roxy’s still confused face. “But it also killed them.”

“But not me?” Roxy asked, catching up slowly.

“I guess not,” I said, sniffing and roughly brushing the tears from my face. The time for explanations was over as other officers were there in another moment, pulling us apart and carrying Roxy over to a waiting ambulance to check her out. They seemed to be mistaking her for a victim of a beast rather than as one of the moon-stricken, for which I was grateful. I looked to the cop who had witnessed her transformation. He was wide-eyed and slack-jawed, but when he saw me looking at him, he closed his mouth and swallowed visibly. I lifted my brows and tilted my head to the side, holding his gaze. Finally he nodded, just once; he wouldn’t tell them Roxy had been one of the stricken. I smiled and nodded my thanks to him before turning to find Daniel’s waiting arms.

The next evening, I asked Daniel to drive me back over to the park. The bodies had been cleared away, and they had started to break down the tents and booths from the failed festival, leaving the area looking abandoned and a little sad. Few people had gone back to work today; the city still reeling from so many deaths, so the businesses in the area were still dark and closed when we pulled up.

We walked through the midway, now scattered with debris, and I recalled the sweet and salty scents from the night before. It had all changed so fast, so horrifyingly fast. When morning came, the clouds started rolling in, obscuring a bright blue sky with their dark, menacing grey. I wondered, if it had been cloudy last night and the moon hidden away, would the nightmare have happened? But it didn’t do to dwell on “what if’s.”

I took Daniel’s hand, intertwining our fingers, as we walked. The Great Bonfire was a black mass, with embers still popping and smoldering; custom dictated that it had to burn itself out, otherwise the magic and power would be rendered weak.

“How long will it burn?” Daniel asked when we stopped in front of it.

“No way to tell,” I said. “Last year it burned for four days before it finally stopped.”

“I guess if it starts raining, it won’t last that long,” Daniel replied, looking up at the sky. I tilted my head back and looked as well. The clouds were darker now and somehow seemed closer than they had in the light of day. I pulled my eyes away from the sky and looked around us. Last night this area had been filled with dancing and music, and now the stains of blood and death were still on the ground.

“At least the rain will wash the shadows of pain and death away,” I said quietly, my voice catching, remembering the thought of nearly losing Roxy.

“C’mon, luv,” Daniel said, pulling on my hand, urging me to look away. We started walking down the sloping hill behind The Great Bonfire. I pulled us to a stop when we had walked far enough that we could no longer see the black mound of the bonfire over the crest of the hill, feeling well hidden by the hill and the coming darkness. I sat on the ground, tugging on Daniel’s hand to sit with me. The grass was cold and a little damp, but I didn’t really care. I pulled my boots off, pushing my toes into the grass, wanting to feel closer to the earth, closer to living and green things.

Daniel settled down next to me, putting his arm over my shoulders and pulling me into the warmth of his body. He was wearing a black motorcycle jacket that was worn and creased, making it soft against my cheek as I snuggled close. After a few moments of quiet, I pushed him to lie back, keeping curled under his arm as I looked up at the sky. It would have been nice to see the stars twinkling so far above us, but the clouds were rolling and thick, and I could feel the storm coming. I felt Daniel’s fingers toying with the ends of my hair as he stared at nothing.

Daniel shifted next to me, rolling onto his side to face me. His features were lost in shadow, but I found his mouth easily with the tips of my fingers, tracing the edge of his lower lip, over his jaw, crooking my fingers under his ear and drawing him down to me. I slipped my hands under the collar of his jacket as he lowered his mouth to mine, pushing it back and off of his shoulders. He obliged and pulled it off of his arms, blindly tossing it to the side. His hand was in my hair then, his fingers brushing it back from my face, curling into a fist and holding tight while he kissed me. I turned further into his body, lifting one leg to hook over his hip as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

Maybe it was the relief of Roxy surviving last night, or maybe it was the need to erase the terrifying images from last night, but I suddenly needed to feel the warmth of another body, another heart beat pounding in time with mine. I tore at Daniel’s t-shirt, pulling it over his head and tossing it away, dropping my hands to his belt, tugging at it. Daniel lifted me to pull my sweater over my head, my hair flying out in golden wing as the sweater came off of my head. In less than a minute, we were naked and twined around each other on the grass, the blades bending under us, cutting into my bare thighs.

Thunder rolled in the distance and the first few drops of rain struck our bare skin, sliding down the curve of our bodies, settling into the hallows created by our twisted legs and torsos. Daniel was on top of me, his face just inches above mine, his arms under me so that his hands curled over my shoulders and my legs were wrapped around his waist. When he pressed his cock against my opening, pushing deep inside of me, his nails bit into the soft skin of my shoulders. The pain awakened the memory of the bite that had originally brought us together. My body spasmed around him and I cried out his name as the sky opened up and rain washed down all around us.

I pushed at his shoulders, gripping his thighs with my legs, and rolled us over so that I was straddling his hips, pushing his cock ever deeper inside of me, and I began to ride him. The rain cascaded down my body, over my breasts, between my thighs, so cold it made my body shiver and my nipples harden, perking into tiny pink buds. Daniel’s hands reached for my breasts, massaging them slowly, brushing his thumbs over my nipples, over and over again. I rocked back and forth, sliding up and down his shaft, closing my eyes and giving myself over to the feeling of his hands on my body, his body under and inside me, and the magic inside of me began to swell, making things low in my body respond.

I lifted my face to the sky, letting the rain soak into my skin, washing down my hair. I arched my back, bringing my hands back to Daniel’s thighs to brace myself as I slowed my hips, swirling them around and around. Daniel’s hands slid from my breasts, down my belly, until they rested on my thighs and I felt his thumb slip into the soft, wet down between my thighs and he found my swollen clit. I gasped, tasting the rain on my tongue, as he helped to bring me closer to the edge. Every inch of my body was being caressed, by Daniel, by the earth, and by the rain, filling me with magic, making me light headed with the growing power.

Under Daniel’s expert hands, the slow warmth began to build inside of me and I knew the orgasm was close. I wanted to watch Daniel’s face as he came for me, want to make him scream out my name and writhe under me. I pushed myself up, bringing my hands around to his chest, my nails curling into his skin, so much like he had done to me. When he winced in pain, a smile pulled at one corner of my mouth and I felt the blood magic under my hands. I lifted my hips then to slam back down on him, sheathing his cock inside of me and making his back bow under me. I rode him rough, digging my knees into the wet earth under us, slamming my hips down, and making my breasts bounce, temptingly close to his eager mouth.

Daniel held on to my thighs for the ride, his fingers digging in until my pale skin was red and the pain added a new layer of pleasure. Lightning burst over head, illuminating our pale, wet bodies, and I watched as Daniel’s eyes rolled back into his head as his cock swelled inside of me suddenly, and then he was bucking under me as he came violently inside of me. I grinned down at him as he cried out his pleasure and I drank in the power and magic of his orgasm.

I sat back on him, pressing my clit into him as I lifted my hands to my breasts and began to play with my nipples, pinching them between my slick fingers as I rolled my hips back and forth on top of him. My clit swelled happily and soon I was throwing my head back, sounds spilling uncontrolled from my mouth as the orgasm rolled through my body and my magic slammed into me, making me liquid with pleasure.

I collapsed on top of Daniel, resting my cheek on the hollow of his chest, just by his neck. He reached up and pulled my hair back, brushing it away from my face, and stroked my back slowly. I closed my eyes like a contented cat. The horrors of the last night washed away, the water slipping between our bodies as we settled into each other. I could hear Daniel’s heart beat under my cheek and I smiled, letting its rhythm guide the beat of my own. I glanced at my hand resting on his chest by my face, turning it to see my palm. And there the three lines cutting into my love line gave me pause. A human, a witch, and a vampire, all vying for my time and attention. Would I ever be able to choose? Could I ever?

Daniel shifted under me, pulling me from my thoughts, and I realized the rain was starting to subside. In the sky, we could see the coiling tendrils of smoke from the bonfire, now surely extinguished by the summer storm. Nature had washed away the blood and memories of last night. I closed my hand into a fist and pushed the thoughts of my competing lovers out of my mind. Right now I had one wrapped around me and that’s all that mattered. For now.

To be continued…