Shattered Souls (26 page)

A hand settled atop her left breast, not cupping the mound, but lying flat against her skin above her heart. Her heartbeat quickened, thrummed, sending blood coursing through her body until her skin prickled with heat and her breasts and feminine sex grew engorged.

Her breaths quickened, deepened. His cheek slid alongside hers, his mouth at her ear. “Relax. Remember. We were joined once. Forget now. Follow me.”

She closed her eyes, and she was there…
sliding between the fine cotton sheets of his bed as he tried to pull them tight around his sides to keep her skin from touching his. But she leaned over him, bracketed his face, and kissed him, although he tried, at first, to turn away.

“You shouldn’t be here, sweetheart.”

“I don’t want to be anywhere else.” She thrust a leg beneath the sheet he held close, slid a thigh over his hip, and then slowly climbed atop his body. His sex was full, hard, and so long she had a moment’s thought he’d never fit inside the place where she ached the most.

Her moisture glazed his cock, and he gave a throaty moan and laughed. “Stop, Caitlyn. Please, love.” His hands pushed at her shoulders to hold her back.

“Why? Don’t you want me?” she asked, bending to kiss his cheek, his chin, then pausing to nibble on his mouth, which curved.

“Of course I do. But not like this. Your mother…”

“Wants you. She’s jealous you want me more.” She slid down, positioning her open thighs across the base of his cock, because he was fullest there and she needed to ease the ache she’d felt since she started dressing for this evening, knowing where she would come and what she meant to take. “Morin, I want all my firsts with you,” she said, her voice thickening. “I know you want me too.” He couldn’t deny her, not with his cock so hot and hard between her thighs.

His body shivered, and he grasped her arms, shoving her back. Even as she opened her mouth to complain, he rolled over her, covering her, his hands smoothing down her sides to her legs, which he urged apart. “You want this? With me?” he asked, prodding her opening with the tip of his cock.

He began to enter her, but he was so thick and her opening so small she gave a pained gasp. He halted, and his head sank against her shoulder. “You aren’t ready.”

“But I could be. You only have to show me how.”

And he had. Pulling away to throw back the covers and expose her body to his gaze. Then he’d touched her with his hands, fingers plucking, sinking until her hips rolled with abandon, and she’d begged for him to enter her again.

Now, with the memories rolling through her mind like a movie reel and his hands smoothing over her heated flesh, she felt her young, pure lust melding with the magic he wove now with his careful touches.

“That’s it, darling,” he whispered in her ear. “We’re both there.” Then his voice dropped into those low, mystical tones that lifted the hairs on the back of her neck.

Caught between then and now, she half listened, half remembered. Both times blended as he spoke, and all she could do was feel. Warmth built inside her; fluid trickled down her thighs. His fingers skimmed it, then lifted to his mouth. She turned her head, watching between her sleepy lids as he cleaned his fingers. Then his head dipped and he offered her own essence, mixed with his flavor, for her to drink. The moment their mouths and tongues blended, she bowed, rapture suffusing her body, the moonlight burning her skin as it warmed her and sank into her flesh. Her heart thrilled to the sudden burst of pleasure that built and built while they swayed together, voices murmuring, chanting together words she didn’t understand.

When her orgasm waned, she rested limp against his chest, listening as he continued chanting, no longer hearing him above the hum filling her head, only feeling. A surging energy, hot and invigorating, rolled from his body to hers, and the moon’s light locked it within her skin.

When her knees trembled, he wrapped a strong arm around her middle and held her up. “Not just yet,” he rasped. “Take more.”

Her body quivered, head to foot. She glanced down and saw the shimmer of moonlight sparkling on her glowing skin, light swirling as though liquid and painting her in silver and blues.

Following some inborn instinct, she raised her arms, opening them wide.

Morin faded back, his hands trailing away from her skin.

She turned in the moonlight, moving her head side to side slowly, widening her stance to let it drench every inch of her skin before seeming to warm and turn into a thin film that felt like the lightest silk against her body.

Again, Cait turned and faced Morin, who stood just outside the rim of moonlight. The gleam of his dark eyes was dulled; his face looked haggard. She’d taken from him. Part of his essence was now hers.

“Will it be returned?” she asked, her voice echoing in a hollow space.

He shook his head. “My gift to you. But there’s something else. A weapon I’ll entrust to you. One to help you in your battle.”

Cait glanced at the moon above, said a silent prayer of thanks, and then headed into the shadows opposite Morin to dress.

Chapter Twenty

Sam watched as Cait closed Morin’s door behind her, a long, wrapped bundle under one arm. The moment her hand let go, light gleamed around the edges of the doorway, and it disappeared. The alley wall returned to brick. She stood there a moment, staring at the place the door had been.

He strode forward as she turned and straightened her jacket, pulling up the lapels as though chilled. “Cait,” he called softly.

She jerked and glanced toward him, and then her gaze slid away guiltily.

His own narrowed, sweeping her frame, wondering whether she’d renewed her relationship with Morin in more ways than one. He’d done a little research of his own. Googling “drawing down the moon” on his cell phone, he hadn’t liked what he’d learned. Words like “sky clad” and “sex magick” shouted in his mind.

She cleared her throat. “What are you doing here? Have you waited long?”

“Of course not,” he drawled. “You know time stands still in his place.”

“Oh. Yeah.” She mustered a smile.

“You get what you needed?” he asked, his voice gruff because he wanted to ask more but knew better. Instead, he guided her with a hand at the small of her back toward the mouth of the alley where his car waited.

She nodded. “I’m ready. Are we going to the house now?”

“Jason will meet us just before dawn. We have about an hour to get there.”

“You check in on Celeste?”

“I called. She’s doing OK. Resting now. Her ribs are cracked, and she’s pretty beat up, but she’ll be fine. What’s that you have?” he asked, pointing toward her bundle.

“A weapon. Something to draw the demon out of his host’s body. We don’t want to kill an innocent if we can help it.”

He took it from her and placed it on the backseat of his sedan, then leaned against the side of the car, folding his arms over his chest. “The door’s gone.”

Her head ducked. “I gave him back his key,” she said softly.

“That mean you won’t be seeing him again?” he asked, hopeful she’d make that step.

“It means I won’t see him for now. I have things to think about. I may need something…from his books…sometime in the future. If things go well.”

“Don’t suppose you’ll tell me about what just happened?” He clipped out his question.

She swallowed. Her eyes rounded, but her gaze held steady with his. “He gave me some of his power. Enough to ward off the demon if he tries to enter me.”

And even though he’d sworn to himself that he wouldn’t go there, he asked, “Morin do any ‘entering’ of his own?”

Her head canted. “Are you jealous?”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“I did what I had to, Sam. But we didn’t have sex. Not like you think.”

“Were you sky clad?” he growled.

Both her eyebrows shot up.

Even in the streetlight, he could detect a blush.

“You know about that?”

“Were you?”

“I was. He wasn’t. Nothing happened.”

Only something had, because she blinked. He cussed under his breath, shot out a hand to grab her arm, and pulled her close.

When she was nestled close, hips snug against his, he tipped up her chin. “Yeah, it’s not the time,” he whispered. “But I have to trust you, Cait. Have to know you won’t lie just to make things easier for me or you.”

“Nothing happened that I can’t tell you about later.” Cait reached up a hand and laid her palm against his cheek. “I wouldn’t betray you.”

Sam forced himself to stop. As much as he wanted to squeeze every little detail from her, he knew they’d reached a point where he needed to prove he could be there for her. Whatever the cost to his male pride. It was time he showed her some trust.

His embrace tightened, and he let out a groan, struggling with his jealousy, with the sickening feeling in his gut that he’d carried around since he’d heard about her and Morin. “I don’t know how to let it go, to stop feeling like I need to punch him out.”

Her mouth curved slowly into an impish smile. “I could cast a spell. Make you care less about me.”

Only he didn’t want that either. Cupping her chin, he bent toward her. He started soft. Wanting just a taste—and a chance to reaffirm his claim. Her soft sigh, a feminine little gust that swept into his mouth, pulled him deeper. He thrust his tongue into her mouth, scraped his fingers through her hair, and held her still while he ravaged her mouth.

When he lifted his head, he noted the swelling of her lips. Satisfaction burned inside him. Maybe he was wrong to feel jealous of her old lover, but Morin shared something with her he never would.
Magic.
From the moment she’d cast the spell bag in the air and asked the Powers That Be for help in finding the mage, he’d watched her change. Even now, she wore a look of confidence and power he hadn’t seen before. That she’d found it without him rankled. It was selfish, he knew. Maybe made him feel a little small.

Sam stared downward, noting the way her eyes stared back, slightly unfocused. He ducked again to kiss her, a light brush that turned into a longer, molten kiss. A Cait-kiss.

When he set her away, she swayed for a moment, then gave him a full, blazing smile, looking so beautiful his teeth ached as he ground down.

“Keep faith with me, Sam. Please. Just a little while longer. I need you strong. And with me. I can’t do this alone.”

Sam wrapped his arms around her and held her against his chest. No matter what horrors this day might hold, he wouldn’t let her down. “Better go see what Leland has for us.”

They followed the river, heading north. Near the outskirts of Memphis, they took an exit that led them through subdivision after subdivision of cookie-cutter, single-story homes.

“Almost there,” he murmured.

Headlights flashed and then dimmed. “That’s Jason,” she said softly.

Sam pulled a U-turn in the middle of the empty street and parked his car behind Jason’s.

Jason opened his door and got out, heading toward them. He slid into the back of Sam’s car, sitting forward on the seat. “Found the house. It’s at the end of the cul-de-sac,” he said, pointing toward a street. “It’s quiet. I walked as close as I could, but the neighbor’s dog went ape-shit, so I came back. Didn’t want to spook anyone inside. A car’s parked in the garage, but the place looks vacant. Paper’s over the windows, like they’re painting inside.”

As he nodded, Sam’s eyes narrowed. “Any ideas how we’re going to get in?”

Jason held up a key.

Cait grinned. “Who’d you borrow that from?”

“A locksmith friend of mine. It’s a—”

“I don’t want to know.” Sam shook his head.

“No, you don’t.” Cait laughed. “But it’s better than breaking a window, don’t you think?”

“We’re already breaking half a dozen laws and statutes. We’re not cops here, and we don’t have a warrant.”

“Won’t matter if we find those girls.” Cait couldn’t keep the growl from her voice. Sometimes she was fiercely glad she wasn’t a cop anymore. Too many stupid rules got in the way of simply kicking ass.

Sam pulled in a deep breath. “Let’s do this.”

The three of them stepped out of the car.

Sam hit the button on his glove box and pulled out his personal Glock. Without a holster, he held it low against his thigh.

Jason patted his jacket pocket to indicate he was packing as well.

Cait reached into the floor behind the seats and picked up the package she’d brought from Morin’s.

Sam arched an eyebrow. “Sure you wouldn’t rather have a gun?”

“This is better.”
I hope.

They followed the sidewalk that curved around the corner, past houses where lights were beginning to blink on. Folks getting ready to face another day of work. Cait wondered how they all went about business as usual without a clue a monster might be living among them.

“Might be a bust,” Sam said under his breath.

Cait glanced ahead, watching the mailbox numbers. Her gaze caught on a row of pretty birdhouses. In the yard, grass and weeds stood a foot high. “Not so sure about that…”