Edge of Moonlight (16 page)

He clapped a hand on her shoulder and spun her around, his mouth covering hers and stopping the stream of furious words bubbling in her gut.

She tasted anger in his kiss but not in the hands he wrapped around her ribs. He held her in place but his fingers didn’t bite into her.

And though she knew she should be resisting his kiss, she simply couldn’t.

Her mouth opened to accept his invading tongue, her head fell back in a surrender her brain hadn’t consciously given.

Anger still burned in her gut at
his
unreasonable fury. The fury that threatened to incinerate her.

Her body responded to the heat and power of his. Her breasts ached for his touch and she arched her back even as he crowded closer to her.

Her back hit the wall with a loud thud but when he would have drawn away, she clamped her hands on either side of his face and wouldn’t let him.

She sucked on his tongue and when he retreated, she followed him back and tasted him. His chest rose and fell in a harsh pattern and finally he had to break away to take a deep breath.

His lips parted but she slapped one hand over his mouth none too gently to shut him up. “Don’t say a word. Just do me. Right now.”

For one second, she thought he might refuse and her heart began to shrivel. She couldn’t decipher the look in his eyes, didn’t know what he was thinking.

But in the next, he’d clamped one hand to her nape to lift her up to his mouth again while the other unbuttoned her jeans.

Relief and hot, hot heat poured through her at the taste of his desire. And the all-consuming possession of his touch.

She wanted it hard and fast. And right now.

But her hands kept getting in the way of his. She reached for the hem of his t-shirt and started shoving it up his body, forcing him to release her mouth and abandon her buttons for the few seconds it took to drag it over his head.

But he fell right back to kissing her the second she dropped it to the floor.

He didn’t bother with her shirt as he finally released the last button on her jeans but she couldn’t bear not to feel his skin against hers. So she stripped her own shirt and cried out when her diamond-hard nipples pressed into his chest.

He swallowed her incoherent cry before he pulled away to string kisses along her cheek to her ear. “Undo my pants. Faster, baby, come on.” Every nerve ending in her body lit up like a rocket at his husky tone. Everywhere he touched her, she burned. Her hands fumbled with his belt, with the button and the zipper. She couldn’t go fast enough and her fingers refused to cooperate.

Frustration made her moan but finally she shoved his pants and boxer briefs down his hips, wrapped one hand around his stiff erection and cupped his balls with the other.

He shuddered against her, his groan rumbling in his chest.

“Kaine.”

She froze at the tone of his voice. He sounded as if he were in pain.

Looking up, she saw his eyes were closed and his lips parted, as if he couldn’t get enough air.

She released him, her fingers curling into her palms, worried—

“
No
.” His eyes flew open, laser-blue and blazing. “God no, don’t let go. Put your hands on me, sweetheart.”

Her eyes stung at the raw emotion in his voice and she blinked, fighting back imminent tears.

“Ah, Christ, don’t cry, Kaine.”

“No.” She shook her head. “I’m not.”

His hands cupped her face, thumbs stroking over her cheekbones. “Then why’s your face wet?”

Because she was weak. She reached for him again, stroked her hand up and down the shaft in a rough caress she knew he loved. “Shut up and fuck me.” His breath hissed in between his teeth as she felt his cock tighten even further in her hand. “I’ll fuck you, baby, but no way can I shut up. How can I tell you how beautiful you are if I can’t speak? And this has gone beyond fucking, sweetheart. You know that.”

Her eyes widened at the implications of his statement but before she could say anything, he covered her mouth again and kissed her with a passion that rocked her foundation and threw her nearly to the point of orgasm.

Just from the touch of his lips on hers and the emotion in his voice.

His kiss devoured, his hands smoothed down her body, trailing fire. As she stroked him with an ever-increasing rhythm, he molded her breasts in his palms and tweaked her nipples between his thumbs and forefingers.

Her sex responded with a fierce contraction that made her gasp into his mouth.

He played with her breasts as her knees got weaker, until she honestly thought they’d give out on her.

She released him to grab for his shoulders but he was already lifting her against him, propping her up against the wall and positioning his cock at her entrance.

Her head fell back and her eyes opened so she could stare into his as he entered her.

Every inch was a revelation, each thrust and retreat heaven and hell.

His eyes flickered shut as took her body, his expression sharp and full of desire. She didn’t need to see his eyes to know his every thought. Each one showed plainly on his face.

And brought her that much closer to orgasm.

It seemed like he took forever but when he finally had himself seated deep inside her, filling every empty space, he opened his eyes.

As he held her gaze, he began to thrust, slow and easy. She felt every inch of his flesh as his cock withdrew then invaded again, spreading her, stretching her.

He kept the pace steady at first until she could have suffocated from the expectation. Every breath she took was more difficult than the last. Every time he pulled out, she thought he couldn’t fill her fast enough.

She barely realized when he picked up the pace, his hips pistoning against hers.

Her legs tightened around his waist, her heels digging into the small of his back, urging him on.

Her sheath clutched at him, each drag of his flesh against her sending bolts of pure fire through her body.

When her orgasm hit her, it hit hard, like a bolt of electricity. She clamped around his cock, each movement making her orgasm burn brighter.

With a groan, he dropped his head to her shoulder and with one last thrust, he came. She felt the warmth of his seed bathe her, the heat of his breath on her neck. She never wanted to let him go.

But she knew he couldn’t stay.

John knew the second he came that his life had just changed irrevocably.

Before he’d left Pennsylvania for New York, he’d still had the vague idea that when Evie was fixed, they’d get the hell away from all this madness. From people who changed into animals and women who healed with their hands.

That they’d put all of this behind them and start over somewhere far away.

He hadn’t let himself think about Kaine, about what leaving her would mean.

Now he knew that wasn’t going to happen.

She was his. Just as he was hers.

He didn’t care that she was
lucani
. He wanted to be with her.

He loved her.

He just had to convince her—and himself—that they could find a place to fit in this world.

* * * * *

“God damn. I think that’s her.”

After John had spent most of the night making love to her with an almost palpable sense of possession, Kaine had caught a few hours sleep somewhere around four a.m.

She wasn’t sure if John had slept but he must have at some point. He looked too alert to have spent the entire night watching the comings and goings next door.

He’d kissed her awake around seven, made love to her again then they’d taken a shower. After breakfast at a little market behind the Century, they returned to their room to watch the comings and goings next door.

They hadn’t spoken about last night, as if they were afraid to bring it up and ruin the illusion that they were happy.

Around ten, they’d headed over to Central Park and taken up residence in what Kaine was beginning to think of as her tree.

John had climbed just as silently as she had and they’d been perched here for only forty minutes or so before he spotted the woman.

Kaine’s gaze narrowed on the entrance and immediately caught sight of John’s target.

Yes, she had red hair and, through the binoculars John had brought, Kaine was pretty sure he was right. That’s the woman they wanted. But…

“Who’s she pushing in the wheelchair?”

The woman who’d kidnapped John and his sister had exited the front door of the apartment building pushing a high-tech wheelchair. A child-sized wheelchair with one small boy huddled in it.

The boy didn’t look happy but the woman’s expression held so much love as she bent to wrap a blanket around the boy’s legs, Kaine couldn’t help but wonder if they’d made a mistake.

“Sonuvabitch,” John muttered and Kaine knew they had the right woman.

The unnaturally strong goon who’d nearly killed Nic with his bare hands followed the woman out of the building and kept close on her heels as she pushed the boy in the chair to the nearest crosswalk then across the street and into the park.

When they’d lost sight of the little group, Kaine turned back to John.

“We’ve got a problem.”

He nodded, his expression solemn. “Yeah, two. I wasn’t expecting her to have a kid, much less a disabled one.”

“Do you think the goon is her husband?”

John shook his head. “He didn’t act like it. He acted like muscle. She must have money to be able to live there with the kid, afford a bodyguard and support her kidnapping habit. Christ, none of this makes any fucking sense.”

“Doesn’t matter.” Kaine sighed, knowing only one thing. “We need to get her and take her back with us so we can get her to tell us what the hell she did to your sister.”

“And what do we do about the kid?”

“We bring him with us.”

“The goon’s gonna be a problem.”

She nodded. “Then we need to take him out of the picture.”

“I don’t want you anywhere near him.”

Turning slowly, she stared John straight in the eyes. “Excuse me.” His expression held a hard edge that she was pretty sure meant he wasn’t kidding.

“I’ll take care of the goon, you get the woman. She won’t fight you, not if you use the kid as leverage.”

Okay, he might have made a good point if she hadn’t been positive John didn’t trust her to be able to handle herself against the bodyguard.

Her eyes began to burn but she refused to show weakness of any kind. John would mistake tears of rage for tears of hurt and that was unacceptable.

“
I
think I need to draw the goon away while you get the woman and the kid back to your sister,” she said carefully, slowly. As if speaking to a child. “I’ll meet you back there after I ditch the guy. The less drama, the better.” John shook his head. “No way. You’re not—”

His mouth shut with an almost audible snap as Kaine continued to stare at him.

“I’m not what, John?”

He just stared at her, as if he shouldn’t have to say the words because she knew exactly what he was going to say. But there was no way he was going to get off that easily.

Something in her chest cracked as she realized he didn’t completely trust her. Might never trust her. He didn’t trust her to be handle the bodyguard, didn’t believe she was strong enough or smart enough.

And that only fueled her own doubts.

Which she couldn’t have. Doubts made you sloppy, made you screw up. They couldn’t afford a screw-up now.

Besides, she was right. Separate the woman from her bodyguard and she would follow John anywhere if he threatened her child. At least, that’s what any mother would do. A mother who loved her child.

“Kaine. I know you can’t shift. You’re not strong enough to confront him on your own.”

Her lungs froze and her vision went blurry. Her hands gripped the rough bark of the tree trunk until she thought her fingers might bleed and she heard a faint ringing in her ears.

She forced herself to maintain eye contact. “And how do you know that?” His gaze never wavered. “Kyle told me.”

Duke. He’d broken their promise. An ice-cold shaft of hurt plunged into her stomach. Then something else occurred to her. “So I’m safe now. Is that what you think?”

John’s brow furrowed and confusion clouded his green eyes. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“I can’t call my wolf. No more worries about me turning furry. Which I’m sure was a total turnoff for an
eteri
.”

She saw the second John realized what she was talking about. His eyes widened before he managed to clear his expression. “You think I didn’t want you when I found out what you were, what you could do.”

“Of course you didn’t.” She shrugged at his matter-of-fact tone. “How could you?

Werewolves are monsters, creatures most sane
eteri
don’t even believe in. I never wanted you to find out, John. I made a fool out of myself at Kyle’s house the first time around, after we rescued you from the cells. Everyone knew I had a thing for you.

Stupidity on my part. Believe me, I never meant to have the hots for an
eteri
.” His gaze had hardened as she spoke. “So, that night at the bar, I was supposed to be a one-night stand. You scratched an itch then tried to sneak out the door. But you ran into Evie and all hell broke loose. Am I getting this right so far?” His tone held no emotion whatsoever but Kaine knew he wasn’t very happy at the moment. She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter what you think. We don’t have time to discuss it. We need to separate those two and get Grace Bell back to your sister.” He let his gaze bore into hers for several long seconds, a muscle in his cheek jumping as he ground his back teeth. She didn’t care. They had a job to do and now was the time. She knew how to separate the guard from the woman.

“The guard doesn’t know what I look like but if I get close enough, he should be able to sense my magic. That should pull him away, at least long enough for you to grab the woman and the kid.” She pulled out her cell and handed it to him. “Press and hold the nine button until the call connects. A man should answer. Tell him I told you to call and to transport you, the woman and the kid to Nica’s. He’ll know what it means.”