Lost in Shadows (10 page)

Vinnie walked out into the night, breathing in the crisp air in an effort to clear her mind. Biology, she reminded herself. Primitive responses to stress hormones, designed to ensure the propagation of the species. That’s all either of them were feeling. Nothing she couldn’t handle.

She used the chemtoilet and returned outside. A few stars were now visible, and the snow had tapered to scant flurries. She inhaled deeply. The air felt wet and heavy. There would be more snow tomorrow, maybe a lot more.

A small, keening sound was audible from the trees behind the shelter. She crept through the fresh-fallen snow, moving slowly, following the tiny squeaks. She made out several dark forms burrowed under a dead fall. Fox pups. Hungry, from the sound of them.

The crunch of footsteps behind her cut through the silence. She moved away from the den, gesturing for Lucky to move back as well. He wore his jeans but no shirt, his bandage casting a ghostly glow where it could be seen beneath his unbuttoned jacket. His gun was in his hand.

“What the hell took you so long?” he asked, sliding the gun into his waistband. He reached out with his good hand, took her arm. “I thought something happened.”

“Shh,” she said, leading him to a vantage point where he could see the fox pups. The mother fox, never far away, had returned and stood over her brood, staring at the noisy intruders. “See them?”

“Fox, right? Don’t they have rabies?” His hand moved to the butt of his gun, and she took it away from the weapon, held it in hers.

“City boy. You don’t understand. There shouldn’t be babies that young this late in the year, but there they are, healthy and thriving.”

He shrugged. “A miracle in the snow, what’s your point?”

“The mother wouldn’t be able to care for them, keep them alive alone—not this time of the year. She’d have a hard time getting enough game to keep herself alive. There he is—” She pointed excitedly at the dark form edging along the hemlock stand. “The father, he must have stayed to help care and protect them. That doesn’t happen—not with this species.”

“Doesn’t happen very often with ours either,” he said, twirling her so that her back ended up against an oak tree, his body pressed up against hers. “That’s what you really mean, isn’t it? Michael left you behind, you think I’m not going to stick around either.”

The gun jabbing into her belly was answer enough. 

“You have work to do.” She kept her gaze focused into the sky beyond his shoulder. “Important work.”

“What if I told you that you were important to me?” His breath was warm against her cheek as he leaned his head forward. 

She opened her mouth to answer, but he captured it with his before she could reply.

His fingers stroked down her back, snagging the barrette that held her braid in place, then working to free her hair from its restraints. He combed through her long hair with his good hand, trailing along its length. It hit just above her waist now, she hadn’t cut it since Michael died.

He shifted position, aligning their bodies so that they fit perfectly and all thoughts of Michael faded into the night. 

She shivered beneath his touch, her hands circling around the small of his back against his warm, bare flesh.

“Let’s take this inside,” he said, his voice low and throaty. He tugged at her hand.

Vinnie resisted his pull. It had been so long—she missed this feeling, the familiar blood rush of passion. 

She slipped her hand from his. The faint light glimmered on the white gold of her wedding band. 

Before Lucky could turn around, she slid it from her finger and into her coat pocket, gave the fox family one last glance, then followed him. Just for one night, she told herself, her fingers worrying the still-warm ring hidden from sight. 

Surely she deserved that much? To escape for one night?

CHAPTER 13

The heat of the shelter took Lucky’s breath away after the frigid temperatures outside. Or maybe it was the woman who stole his breath, stole his reason. 

He’d never believed in love at first sight—always thought that those who claimed it were suffering from a chemical imbalance, a kind of temporary insanity they would quickly regret. 

Yet, as he watched Vinnie close the door behind her and shrug off her parka, her rich, dark hair flowing around her, Lucky became a believer.

A believer gone to heaven. He shed his coat, dropped his weapon onto it and stepped out of his boots to join her in front of the fire. 

The flickering light played along the shiny strands of her hair, reflecting in the melting snow. He skimmed a finger over one eyelash, freeing a snowflake trapped in her thick lashes. She said nothing, blinked, then met his gaze head on, no sign of fear or nerves.

But even when he had held a gun on her earlier, she’d never shown fear. Lucky decided that was the instant he had fallen. Hopelessly, helplessly, caught in a spell he had no power over.

Hadn’t she said there were witches in these hills?

She stood before him, silhouetted by the firelight, only a thin layer of silk between them. He skimmed his fingers beneath her shirt, felt her breath catch at his touch. She pulled her top off, over her head. 

Lucky’s heart stuttered as she shimmied free of her tights. Finally he was free to feast his eyes on her perfection: rounded hips, flat belly, firm, voluptuous breasts. He could spend eternity merely looking at her and would die a happy man. 

She reached out a hand, took his good one and raised it to her breast, rubbing it against her skin. Her nipple swelled with arousal. He moved into her embrace, allowing his hands to explore freely as his mouth roamed.

Vinnie felt as if she’d been granted a gift. A night free of guilt, free of the responsibility of tending to Michael’s memory, a night devoted solely to her needs and desires. 

Her body quivered as Lucky’s eyes rested on her, then his hands were on her and her muscles clenched with excitement. He seemed to possess an animal instinct, knew every secret place to touch, to thrill her, to excite her further. 

She unlaced the thong that held his hair back, it brushed his collarbones, hung around his face like a lion’s mane. The gold flecks in his eyes glinted in the light of the fire and a raspy sound caught in his throat as she danced her fingers down his spine, sliding them beneath the waistband of his jeans.

His hand closed over her breast and the resulting jolt of pleasure arched her back. His mouth found the vulnerable throat she presented, his tongue circling over her pulse point, driving her heartbeat faster. His teeth grazed her flesh as he slid his head between her breasts. 

God, it had been so long, so very long. She had forgotten it could be like this—even in her most private dreams it hadn’t been like this. 

Lucky paused and turned his head, his face pressed against her racing heart, and she felt him exhale a sigh of contentment. Then he opened his mouth over her breast, rolling her nipple against his palate.

Another surge of pleasure swept over her and her legs trembled. She didn’t know how much of this she could take, but, oh, it felt so good. Her hips surged against his, and she felt his erection bulging against the fabric of his jeans. He was ready, yet he took the time to pleasure her first.

Her vision darkened. By the time he finished ravishing her breasts, she was leaning most of her weight on him, heedless of his injury. He surprised her by turning her body around, guiding her hands to lean against the mantle, as his fingers explored her back. The fire warmed her belly, as did his heat behind her.

He edged her legs apart so that she was almost off balance. His hands captured her breasts once more as he burrowed into her hair. 

“A man could get lost.” His words barely penetrated the pounding roaring through her brain. “All this hair.” 

His mouth traveled down her spine, and it was her turn to moan incoherently. His right hand dropped to her hip, then began to stroke her. Her body responded, and she wanted him inside of her, any part of him, all of him.

“Now,” she commanded, her voice a low, throaty gasp. It was a fight to force the single syllable past her tightened throat muscles. 

His chuckle vibrated against her skin as he continued to tantalize her. Her knees were weak, she was off balance, would have fallen if not for his arms around her.

Then his fingers sank into her, just as his teeth closed on the flesh above her shoulder. Her body shuddered with the climaxes he gave her, one after another until her arms shook and she could no longer stay upright. He pulled her back against his body, lowered them both to the floor.

Vinnie took a moment to catch her breath. Not even with Michael had it ever been like this. She was no longer Vincenzia DeFortuna Ryan, she’d been transformed into a primal beast intent solely on pleasure for her and her mate. 

She rolled onto her hands and knees, raised her head to look at him. He lay propped up against the wall, fire reflecting from the sheen of sweat that covered his chest and abdomen. He was breathing hard as if he was the one who had just achieved climax, staring at her with naked lust in his eyes.

A small circle of crimson was visible on the otherwise pristine whiteness of his bandage. Vinnie’s blood raced at the sight, drumming through her veins in a primal rhythm. In the animal kingdom, sex was all about blood, control and dominance, the urge to survive.

A coppery taste filled her throat, and she licked her lip. She lowered her gaze to his groin and smiled. It wasn’t over, not by a long shot.

Lucky watched as she looked up at him, a wicked grin on her face. Her long hair was tousled around her as if she were a wild animal. A low, almost inaudible feral sound came from her lips, vibrating through his senses, making the hairs on his neck stand upright. 

Her eyes widened when she looked upon the blood on his shoulder, and it wasn’t a look of concern. He had the sudden feeling Vinnie was about to devour him whole.

She moved toward him on her hands and knees, her body sleek, her muscles rippling. He’d never known a woman like her. She opened his jeans and tugged them from his legs without any help from him. She straddled him, her fingers caressing him until he cried out for mercy.

He tangled his fingers in her hair as she whipped it over his bare flesh, soft, silken strands that aroused every nerve ending until his skin was goose bumps, trembling in desire. He’d never needed a woman before, not this way, as if he would be forever lost, abandoned until she completed him. 

Grabbing on to any distracting thought, he tried to stay in control, to wait for her.

She fumbled in his jeans pocket, and found the wallet with his condoms—wrong place to carry them, he knew, but it wasn’t like he had a purse to keep the damn things in. And this day and age, every guy had to be prepared, you never knew—

“Ahh,” the exclamation was forced from him as she used her mouth and tongue to tease the condom over him. He couldn’t hold out much longer. 

He grabbed her hips and lifted her onto him. She held back, allowing him to enter her only an inch at a time, torturing him until tears seeped from his eyes.

She leaned forward to lick the tears away and then relented, lowering herself onto him, taking all of him into her as his hips surged up, meeting hers.

His grip on her hips was bruising, but he was past caring. He felt the pressure build within her, heard her first gasp of release, then shuddered and allowed himself to finally join her. Their cry of passion echoed through the small room, was answered by a beast prowling somewhere out in the night beyond.

CHAPTER 14

Some people dream of talking with God. Lucky stirred, struggling to break through the haze of slumber, and dreamt of the last conversation he’d had with his cardiologist.

“They used a modified stun gun?” the physician had asked while pouring over reams of white and pink checked paper as if translating a lost language. 

Lucky stepped off the treadmill, wiped the sweat from his chest with a towel. It irked him that the heart specialist was so fascinated by his near death experience. All Lucky wanted to do was put it behind him. Bury it alongside the memory of the man he’d killed.