“They’re adorable.” Some waddled to the surf’s edge then dove in. Natalie had grown very quiet and still as she watched the penguins. He didn’t know what she was thinking, maybe those thoughts that had earlier caused her grief. He didn’t want to press her.
She said, “My husband wanted to come here. I’m feeling overwhelmed.”
“You miss him.”
“I do. Every day. I imagine it’s much the same with you and Renee.”
“She’s a big part of my sense of mission with my pack. I promised her I would take care of our wolves. But I still can’t believe she appeared to you.”
Natalie huffed a sigh. “Neither can I. Though I’m glad she did.” She glanced at him. “She’s never come to you?”
He shook his head. “Early on, I contacted several deadtalkers, but Renee remained distant and silent. Until now.” Another reason he felt uneasy about all that was happening. Why, now, after all this time?
“Did you ever see your husband?”
“No. I wanted to desperately. But my experience was similar to yours.”
“What a world we live in.” He held out both hands. “And now this? I’d give about anything to swim in that water with the penguins.”
The dreamglide was one thing. He couldn’t exactly explain in what kind of state they existed. It was very physical, yet it wasn’t. He’d read the blogs about dreamglides, interviews done with Fergus and others who could build them. Humans would never be able to see them and only uber-powerful alter people. They were, for the most part, invisible to anything around them.
Several penguins waddled close and appeared to be arguing maybe about territory. Natalie started to move, but Grant held her arm. “Wait. Let’s see what happens.”
But the penguins moved right through them.
They were definitely on a different plane.
“That was so strange. But that means we could get as close as we wanted.”
“I think so.” He began directing the dreamglide to a large group of penguins and for the next few minutes, often at Natalie’s direction, he took her around the beach, up and over boulders and once into the water to see them swim below the surface. The latter had to be the strangest experience. It was a though the dreamglide allowed them a perfect experience without any of the downsides.
After a few minutes, he returned to the dreamglide on an empty space of beach several yards from the nearest penguins. He stood beside her watching their antics, when Natalie asked, “How did Renee die?”
Grant drew in a long, deep breath. “In my arms after a brutal attack by rogue wolves. It wasn’t far from where Talya was attacked.”
“Renee mentioned her death when she sent me to the Graveyard. I take it the wolves didn’t survive.”
He frowned at the memory. “I was armed with my Glock because I was on duty when I got the call. I fired three times and took them out, but it was too late. They’d disemboweled my wife and sliced up her throat. I didn’t care about the blood or anything. I just held her and wept. I remember thinking my life had just ended.” Maybe he shouldn’t have told her so many details. He frowned, “Yes, it was savage.”
She took hold of his arm. “I wasn’t thinking that. I’m just glad you got to hold her. I was in too much pain when Aaron passed. I regret that I couldn’t have held him and comforted him more. He died during his transition.”
He turned to face her, wanting to comfort her, maybe wanting comfort for himself. But without warning, his desire for her returned like a powerful Tsunami that picked him and carried him straight into her.
He slid his arms around her and pulled her tight against him. What he’d been craving was suddenly in his arms.
He waited, though. He wouldn’t do this without her permission.
“Yes,” slid from her throat, low and husky.
He crashed his lips down on hers. She slid a leg close and connected tighter to his body. When she parted her lips, he drove his tongue inside.
He was hard as any of these boulders and arched his hips to let her feel him. Her arms wended around his neck as a softly murmured groan surrounded his pulsing tongue.
He could lay her down on the sand and take her. It would be quick, a hasty shoving aside of clothes and he’d be inside her.
Do you want this Natalie? Right here and now?
He wouldn’t do anything without her complete willingness, even if it meant living with a throbbing hard-on.