Capturing Caroline (5 page)

His lips
explored hers slowly, raising goose bumps all over her body. She
shivered and his tightened his embrace, crushing his lips to her
mouth and gently coaxing her lips to part. His tongue slid within
and touched her tongue, sending shivers of desire up her spine.

Her fingers
grasped his upper arms as he dragged her lower lip through his
teeth ever so gently, then slipped his tongue back into her mouth.
Her nipples tightened where her breasts brushed against his chest.
It was amazing what he could do with his mouth alone. Her body was
making itself ready for him, intimate areas tingling and
priming.

She shifted
under him, pressing her breasts more firmly against him and sighing
into his mouth. Her hands stroked over his shoulders, slid down his
back and cupped his tight buttocks once more. God, he was
beautiful.

He broke the
kiss and stared hard at her. There was a twinkle of mirth in his
eyes. "What are you doing, Caroline?"

She grinned.
"Enjoying the hell out of this."

"You’re pushing
me too far. I want you, Caroline. I want your sweet body. I want to
watch you come. If we do all that, I’ll feel terrible
afterward."

She frowned,
perplexed. “Why?”

“I’d feel like
I’d taken advantage of you for my selfish needs.”

“Aren’t you
noble?” She wiggled up against him and pressed her pelvis to his.
The long, hard length of him pushed against her temptingly. “I’m a
grown woman, not a child. Trust me, you’re not taking advantage of
me. I want this too.”

Torrent
pounced, his mouth coming down on hers and his fingers roving her
heated skin, pushing her nightgown up her body and over her head.
She slid her palms over his upper arms, feeling the bunch of his
muscles as he moved, and enjoying the warmth of his strong
shoulders and back.

Dropping his
head to her breast, he covered one of her nipples with his hot
mouth. She let out a gasp of pleasure as his lips closed around it
and his flicked the sensitive peak with his hot tongue. Her fingers
tightened in his hair as he teased one nipple to a hard point and
then moved to the next, pleasure shivering through her body.

Mind clouded
with lust, she watched his head move lower as he kissed her belly
button and then dropped further down. She parted her legs for him
and he made a hungry sound in the back of his throat, skimming his
lips over the sensitive skin of her inner thighs.

She moved
restlessly on the mattress, rational thought slipping away. Her
skin felt on fire from his touch and she wanted to burn. His
fingers found her cunt and stroked, making her moan low in her
throat and close her eyes.

Yes, she wanted
this so much.

For a man who
probably hadn’t had much sex in his life, Torrent knew what to do.
He found her clit and petted it until her back arched and her toes
curled. Then he slipped a finger inside her and she moaned his
name.

“I’m going to
make you come,” he murmured, his voice a low, dark rasp against her
skin.

Then he dropped
his mouth between her legs and her tongue went dry. Ecstasy tingled
throughout every part of her body, radiating from where he touched
her. He added a second finger to the first and she gasped as he
eased them slowly inside her, widening her and stretching her
muscles.

Caroline
imagined what it would be like to have his cock inside her instead
of his fingers, thrusting, his chest pressed against hers, his
mouth on hers—his gorgeous buttocks flexing as he pumped between
her spread legs. She could sense already that she’d never known sex
like she would know it with Torrent.

His fingers
eased in and out of her, gathering speed, as his tongue slipped
back and forth over her swollen, sensitive clit. He pushed her hard
and fast, bringing her to a place of pure ecstasy.

"Torrent," she
gasped, her back arching. The gathering storm of pleasure swelled,
stealing her breath. Her fingers dug into the mattress on either
side of her.

Intense
pleasure ripped open, making her cry out. It washed over her and
she stiffened against the waves of it crashing over her body.
Torrent pushed her past the initial burst, extending her climax. It
stuttered, almost stopped, but he pushed her straight into another.
The ecstasy seemed to go on and on until it slowly receded, leaving
her relaxed, drained, and panting.

Torrent crawled
up her body tucked himself against her, looking down into her face.
Feeling drugged, she could barely open her eyes. "That was quick,"
he said with a grin.

She reached up,
caught his nape with her hand pulled his lips down to meet hers.
Their tongues tangled and he shuddered against her with lust. She
could taste herself faintly on his mouth.

Breaking the
kiss, she smiled, pleased at his reaction to her. “I bet I could
make you come pretty quick too.”

He raised an
eyebrow. “I doubt it, but I like the challenge. I’d
love
to
see you try.”

"I have an
idea. Let's do it together," she murmured.

He gave her a
lingering kiss. "All in good time. You’re exhausted yet from our
ordeal."

Sadly, he was
right. Her eyelids were growing heavier by the moment. Content as a
kitten in cream, she curled up against his chest and he tucked her
protectively against him. Morning sunlight poured into the room via
the window, but she couldn’t find the slightest reason to move from
his warm embrace. If the world let her, she’d stay just like this
forever.

Both of them
must have drifted off because they jerked awake sometime later to
the sound of someone pounding on the door.

Torrent
extricated himself from her and leapt out of the bed as though
concerned it might be trouble. He stumbled sleepily toward the door
and raced downstairs to answer the door.

Pushing up into
a sitting position, she strained to hear the conversation. Someone
laughed and it sounded just like Paige.

She pushed the
covers aside and hurried to get dressed in a pair of loose pants
and a knitted sweater. Finding a pair of soft socks and boots, she
shoved her feet into them and raced downstairs, combing her unruly
hair with her fingers.

At the bottom
of the stairs, she met her sisters. They all hugged for what seemed
like forever until they could all get it together enough to calm
down and talk. Her throat clogged with emotion, she could barely
form words. She couldn’t remember ever in her life being this
happy—she was with her family.

Because of
their shared experience with their stepmother, they were especially
close. It also helped that they were only a year apart apiece. When
she’d been on the flip side of the veil, Caroline had not coped
well with the disappearance of her sisters and she was beyond happy
to have found them again. She was so happy they’d both found
love.

Once she was
able to pull herself away from her sisters, she made a point of
chatting a little with each of their spouses. All of them—Kaitlyn’s
and Paige’s—men were incredibly gorgeous and seemed smart and very
caring. In Caroline’s eyes, however, they didn’t hold a candle to
Torrent in any way. Sad wistfulness descended on her as she watched
him talk and laugh with the other men.

Could it truly
be that he was her soul mate?

If so, was she
truly destined to know him for such a short time and then lose him?
It was possible. She didn’t have to ask if life could be so
cruel…she knew it could.

* * * *

Caroline curled
up at the end of the couch, resting her head on the armrest. In
front of her a strong fire burned in the hearth. She smiled and
sighed, savoring the luxury of being warm, safe and well fed. Since
her ordeal, she’d never take those things for granted again.

She was also
savoring the memories of the day, which had been filled with her
sisters and her new brothers-in-law…all
four
of them. She
was still getting used to that.

Torrent sank
down next to her and pulled her against him. “What are you thinking
about?”

“That I haven’t
been this happy in a long time.”

He tipped her
chin to look into her eyes. “Me either.”

She smiled.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m still weirded out by this whole situation.
Sometimes I think I must have suffered some kind of psychotic break
and my body is in a straightjacket somewhere. Maybe all this is
just a figment of my imagination—”

“Really? Is
this a figment of your imagination, then?” he murmured, then tilted
his head to capture her lips with his. His lips skated lightly
across hers, then his tongue asked for entry into her mouth and she
granted it, melting into his arms as he kissed her breathless.

As they broke
the kiss, she peered up at him suspiciously. “Considering you have
so few women here, how did you learn to kiss like that?”

“Natural
talent.” His teeth flashed in a hungry grin. “Want to go upstairs
so I can show you where my other talents lie?”

A shiver of
anticipation ran up her spine. “That sounds lovely.” She closed her
eyes for a moment and shivered. “So very lovely, but you and I need
to have a talk first.”

“About
what?”

“About babies.
What do you do about birth control here?”

“Babies….” He
let out a slow, careful breath. “I understand that in your world,
women and men control for births. Here they are so hard to achieve
that it’s not usual for families to want to discourage them.” He
paused and his eyes became haunted. “In some cases, however…like
ours, there are ways. I have already taken this precaution.”

“How?”

“It’s a herb.
It’s one reason I didn’t want to take things further this morning.
Since then I have ingested this plant and we don’t need to worry
about making a baby.” He looked so sad uttering this sentence that
Caroline regretted bringing the subject up at all.

She reached up
and cupped his cheek, and he covered her hand with his. “I wish we
didn’t have this fate hanging over our heads for so many reasons,”
he murmured. “I would love to have a child with you.”

She opened her
mouth to reply, but someone pounded on the door. She jerked with
surprise.

Torrent’s face
went alert. “It’s late.” His expression went grim. “This can’t be
anything good.”

Pulling away
from her, he rose, walked over and opened the door. Still sitting
on the couch, she peered around Torrent’s form in the doorway and
glimpsed a tall, thin man who appeared bedraggled and dirty. Blood
marked his cheek and upper arm. “Logan! Come in.”

“I can’t stay
long, but I have news.”

“Can’t stay
long…Logan, you’ve been missing for a fortnight.” Torrent ushered
him to sit on a kitchen chair. “You’re injured and half starved.
Where have you been?”

Caroline rose
from her place on the couch and entered the kitchen. The man looked
up at her and surprise spread over his face. He looked between her
and Torrent.

“Logan, meet
Caroline.” Torrent’s voice sounded clipped, but she didn’t know if
it was because of concern over Logan’s condition or the fact the
man had just reminded him that their relationship was doomed to
tragedy.

“Hi,” she said
to the man. “I’ll get some food ready.”

A smile spread
over Logan’s face and she saw that under the dirt, blood and
apparent weight loss, he was a very good-looking guy. “I can’t stay
long, but thank you. I need some food.”

She nodded and
smiled, then moved to heat up some leftover stew.

“Obviously,”
snapped Torrent. “Why didn’t you take dire wolf form and hunt? You
shouldn’t abuse yourself this way.”

“I couldn’t.”
Logan grabbed Torrent’s arm. “Listen. You’ve got to come with me.
There’s someone waiting in the woods. I didn’t want to bring her
here until I knew it was safe.” He paused. “It’s Jessa.”

Torrent went
still and silent for a moment. “What’s she doing here?” he asked
sharply.

“She left the
Magica, Torrent. She had to. She was found out. I helped her escape
and we were running and hiding in the woods for days. She has
important information for us. Information that could change
everything.”

Torrent leaned
on the table and bowed his head. His voice was heavy when he spoke.
“It’s starting. The prophecy.
Now
it’s beginning.”

“You don’t know
that,” said Caroline softly from the stove.

He sighed
heavily. “
I
will get Jessa. You stay here, Logan. Eat.
Rest.”

He nodded.
“She’s in the fruit orchard on the north end of town.”

Torrent nodded.
“Caroline, I’ll be right back.”

“We’ll be
fine.” She gave Torrent a heartening smile as she ladled the stew
into a bowl for Logan.

Torrent
lingered in the doorway, his worried expression softening as he
gazed at her. “If I could spend the rest of my life here in this
house, with only you, I’d be a happy man.”

Her smile
widened as she returned his gaze. How could words from a man she
barely knew make her chest warm with so much love?

“Uh,” said
Logan. “You’re dripping on me.”

Blinking away
from Torrent’s face, she saw she’d dribbled stew all over Logan’s
lap. “Oh, my God, I’m so sorry!” She ran for a dishcloth and when
she returned to the table, Torrent was gone.

Torrent shed
his clothes as he ran across the front yard and leaped into dire
wolf form. Paws pounding on the forest floor he made his way to the
orchard. Jessa was one of their top informants in the Magica, one
of the few in a secret Magica organization that disagreed with
their people’s treatment of the Lycaon. Every day she risked her
life for the Lycaon and they owed her a debt beyond reckoning.