Oh, she thought, as fear melted beneath the onslaught. Oh, yes. Was it from the wolfsbene, whose power she could feel floating in her veins? Possibly. Probably. But she suddenly didnt care.
He slanted his mouth across hers, taking the kiss deeper, and fire kindled in her blood. Something fierce and possessive welled up in hera sharp-edged need to dig into him and leave a markand that had her pouring herself into the kiss, into the moment and the man. He jerked against her, his fingers at her nape and hip, hers fisted in his shirt. And in that moment, there was only the two of them and a kiss that made her heart shudder in her chest and her entire conscious self say, Yes, this.
This was what she had been missing with the other men she had dated, the ones she had tried to convince herself were Mr. Right, Mr. Good Enough or Mr. Prince Charming Is a Fairy Tale So Get Real. This was what she had been searching for: the wrenching burn of lust, the grasping inner greed that said she had to touch him, kiss him, have him. And more, this was the gut-deep knowledge that it was mutual, that he was going crazy with the need to touch her, as well.
Gods. He tore away from her and stood for a heartbeat with his chest heaving and his eyes fierce and wild. Then he grabbed her by the waist, spun her off her feet and deposited her on the first of the moon-silvered wooden slats.
She gasped and grabbed for the handhold ropes, panic sparking as the whole assembly dipped and swayed and pebbles skipped off the edge of the precipice and didnt make any sound of hitting bottom. She lurched back, but slammed into a yielding wall that was as immovable as a cliff, yet warm and muscular. And she could feel his heartbeat, quick and aroused, and echoing into her where it settled in a throb of liquid need.
Go on, you can do it, he whispered in her ear, his voice deep and sensual. Then he shocked her by nipping her neck hard enough to bring a pinch of pain that took her mind off the yawning chasm below them. He crowded her with his body, bracketing her with his arms and legs. One foot in front of the other.
Thrown off balance when his knee nudged the back of one braced leg, she took a stumbling step forward, then another when he repeated the move on the other side. Stop it.
His only reply was a low growl as he nipped her neck again and crowded her more, herding her along the narrow bridge.
Heart hammering, she let herself be driven. The little bites sparked an atavistic heat that stripped her of her civilized outer shell and left only her primal brain behind. And that part of her reveled in the way he was dominating her, pushing her past her comfort zone and into uncharted territory.
She was aware of the yawning drop beneath her feet, the warm updrafts that came from below and the way the bridge swayed even though he steadied it by stretching his arms and legs as wide as he could against the taut ropes. But those inputs were secondary to the pounding heat that flared through her veins, carrying a brilliant, throbbing power that came only partly from the aphrodisiac side effects of the wolfsbene.
The rest of it was him.
Go, he urged, his voice a low growl that spoke of things other than crossing a bridge. Faster, Reda. Hurry!
Her head spun with vertigo, magic and the heat of the man at her back as she took a step. Felt the bridge sway. Took another. And another. The breath backed up in her lungs as the throb of fear became a hard, hot churn of excitement, then a building sense of euphoria when her feet sped up and her body started compensating for the sway.
Behind them, fresh baying broke out, becoming suddenly sharp on the night air, closing fast. The wolfyn were coming!
Hurry, Dayn urged, but she didnt need to be told.
She flew along the rest of the bridge, her heart tapping a rapid, excited beat as they neared the far side and her strides lengthened until she was hitting every second slat, then every third. And she was across!
Solid ground felt strange and static, but she bounced on her toes as she spun back to see Dayn getting to work on the pins securing the handrail ropes to the edge. One gave, then the next.
Crouching opposite him, she copied his moves, loosening the third pin and then pulling it out. One side of the bridge sagged and the whole thing twisted in the moonlight. Her stomach dipped at the sight of the structure they had just trusted their lives to coming unraveled so easily, so thoroughly. Then he gave a hard yank, the last pin came free and the bridge sagged and fell, the moon-brightened planks making it look like a dwindling dotted line. Then it was gone.
Shadows moved on the other side as the first of the wolfyn broke out into the open, moving fast and silent.
Follow me, Dayn said, and moved off, headed south.
She fell into step beside him without comment. And was surprised to realize that she trusted him as her leader, her alpha. She wasnt second-guessing everything he said, wasnt trying to understand it within her old framework. Instead, she was following where he led.
Be careful. Youve only known him a few hours, half a day at most, argued her rational, practical, logical, boring self, projecting a warning that was quickly lost to the joy of running beside Dayn as he sped up. The wolfsbene power flowed higher again, as if called by the sheer relief of being free to run as they chose, with their pursuers left far behind.
He plunged into a loose thatch of trees and immediately veered in the opposite direction, heading them back north after making a fake to the south, to lead the wolfyn toward the southern crossing as he and Keely had planned.
The memory soured some of the relief. I used you, you used me. Thats what people like us do. The bitchs words haunted Reda, because they were so unlike the man who jogged beside herand yet, the wolfyn had known him for two decades, Reda for six hours or so.
The trail they were on widened, giving her room to move up and run shoulder-to-shoulder with him. But where before her blood had throbbed in time with their strides, now she felt like they were subtly out of sync, thrown off-rhythm by the questions circling around in her head.
He glanced over. Go ahead. Ask. His expression was cloaked in shadows.
A chill tightened her skin. Are you reading my mind?
I told you, I cant connect with you.
There was no reason for that to sting, yet it did. Which was proof positive that she needed to get a grip on herself. Then what is it you think I should be asking?
Whether I drank from Keely and made her forget about it. Yeah, I did. Wolfyn blood is powerful stuff for my kind. I needed a hit once per year, just as she needed a mate one night a year, so she could have a satisfying run during the blood moon without jeopardizing her brothers leadership.
Redas stomach gave a slow roll, not just at the idea of him drinking the wolfyns bloodwith or without her knowledgebut also because he had so easily walked away from his long-time lover without so much as a backward glance. And only a few minutes later had been kissing her, Reda, and making her feel needed. Special. Powerful.
Dont go there.
Dayn slowed to a ground-eating walk, shifting his rucksack. I know it looks bad. Abyss, it is bad. Keely and I traded sex, but then I stole her blood, which makes us far from even.
Reda didnt know what to say, or even what more he could say that would ease the tightness in her chest, so she let it go. And after a while, the tightness eased on its own, and she thought that maybe that was part of being brave, tooletting things go.
They kept traveling for an hour. Two. The forest closed in on the road they were using, and she became very aware of the dark wall of trees on either side of them, the occasional rustles and crashes of startled creatures.
At the sound of a not-too-distant howl, she stiffened. Is that the pack?
Just a loner looking for trouble, Dayn said, voice slightly rusty from disuse. At her look, he elaborated, A male can get kicked out of his pack if he challenges the alpha and loses, or if the alpha thinks hes likely to challenge and wants to avoid the fight. Sometimes he can join another pack, but unless he can really suck it up and play beta, theres usually the same problem there, too. Which means he ends up on his own, except during the moon time.
Sliding cautiously into the conversation, she said, Why then?
Because those are the only three days that tradition allows a wolfyn male to claim the Right of Challenge, which is the ability to fight the packs leader for the right to rule. Thats also when disputes are settled, punishments are decided, matings are formed or broken. The wolfyn have boiled most of the family stuff and politics down to these three days, leaving the rest of the year essentially peaceful.
Does it work?
It seems to.
Civilized. She frowned, trying to put that into the context of what shed just seen of the wolfyn. That male back there.
Kenar. Keelys brother.
He tried to enthrall me, but you stopped him.
Yes.
She shook her head, trying to dislodge those few seconds when she had been utterly under the big creatures amber-eyed spell. I thought you said they wouldnt try that in their home realm.
Kenar is He paused, as if searching for the words. Keely and I might have used each other one night a year, but Kenar uses everyone all the time. But hes smart. He makes it seem as though hes following the traditions to the letter, when hes really bending them to suit his needs. And because hes the alpha and hes kicked out the very few males who stood up to him, he can control his pack almost absolutely.
It sounded like Candida and Keely werent as firmly under his control as he thought.
His lips tightened and he glanced back southward. I hope she knows what shes doing. Kenar is charming enough when he gets his own way. But he doesnt take it lightly when hes crossed.
Reda nodded. I know men like that. Saw too many of them on the job.
He cut her a look. What job?
I She hadnt meant to go there, didnt know how they had even come to be talking like this, like they were normal friends out for a normal walk. Or a normal first date or something.