~ ~ ~
Grant’s lips were like fire against her mouth.
Natalie drew back to meet his gaze. She had a death grip on his arms and couldn’t seem to let go. She had never felt this way before in her entire life and she’d known a passionate relationship with Aaron.
Grant’s eyes had changed color as well, almost gold-rimmed. She’d heard this could happen with wolves. His lumberyard scent had her abdomen rippling with pleasure as well as a powerful need that would require so little to put her on her back.
Yet, she hesitated. “What is this between us?” she whispered.
A small smile played at the edges of his lips, “A Five Bridges kind of torture.” He leaned close then nuzzled her hair very wolf-like, just at her shoulder. He dipped his nose and lifted as though pushing it away. His breath was warm on her skin.
He tilted his head a little more then pressed his lips to the tender part of her neck just below her ear.
A series of small gasps left her throat as shivers played leap-frog down her throat and side. Her nipples grew peaked and desire danced over her sex. In that moment, she felt her faeness reaching for what was his most essential wolf: Her alter nature wanted his.
She felt it again, how being in the dreamglide had removed much of her inhibitions, her rational thought.
As he placed a series of warm erotic kisses down her throat, she forced herself to remember that above all, Davis Grant was a wolf.
This thought had a sobering effect. “I think you should take me home. This is all too much. I’ve done a good job charting my course in Revel until now, doing some good I hope, with my investment in Kiara’s refuge and avoiding the pitfalls, at least most of them.”
“Like dating wolves.”
His words made her think. “That’s just it, Grant. This doesn’t feel like dating. Maybe I could handle that. But this feels like getting sucked into a sexual vortex with no guarantees it won’t end in death.”
He shook his head. “You always have a gloomy perspective? What if this is something we both need?”
New tears bit her eyes. She wanted to hope, to believe something good could come of the miracle around her. “I’m cynical because I live in Five Bridges. I’m cynical because three wolves nearly killed one of my fellow fae late last night. I’m untrusting because every day I live with a sense I’m being watched, my movements tracked.”
“What do you mean?”
She felt Grant’s sudden tension. The same sensation had been there the night she became an alter fae six years ago. She said as much then added, “I’d brought my husband, Aaron, his favorite strawberry pie from a bakery far away from any outbreaks of alter serum transformations. I was out at Cave Creek. In the parking lot, when I could have sworn someone was there. But as hard as I looked, I didn’t see anyone. I’d had a similar moment in the bakery. I became a fae that same night, which meant that I’d been right. Someone was there, with me, in that parking lot. But off and on, through the years, I’ve felt the same presence as well. Always briefly, but it’s been there, haunting me.”
“What about any time while you’ve been with me?”
She shook her head. “No.”
Grant released her and the tense, sexual moment evaporated. He even turned in a slow circle. “I’ve heard rumors over the years of invisibility potions and spells that some of the more powerful wizards can concoct.”
“I’ve heard rumors as well, but never anything concrete. So are you thinking I’ve been tracked by an invisible entity? A person? A wizard, maybe?”
“It’s hard to say, but my best guess is that you have.”
“Agnes thought so as well, but neither of us knew what to do about it. The moments were always fleeting. By the time I became aware I was being watched, the entity was no longer there.”
He nodded and appeared somber. He’d gone from ready to jump her bones to serious advisor in less than half a minute.
She became acutely aware that he was a man of great worth. Her heart began to pound in her chest as she realized the time had come to make a clean breast of things.
She straightened her shoulders. “There’s something you have to know. I’m not proud of this, but I participated in the Fae-Wolf Wars of three years ago. That was when I’d used my futurism to locate where a team of enemy wolves would be. I know at least two wolves died because of my information.
“I’d lost a good friend the night before and my judgment wasn’t at its best. I let my emotions rule my decisions and agreed to help. It only happened once, but I was sick afterward.”
A bucket of ice water couldn’t have had a greater impact. He compressed his lips, his nostrils flared, and the sweet smell of cut-wood dissipated as though a strong wind suddenly carried it away.
“You used your futurist abilities to secure our locations.”
“As I said, only once then I came to my senses. But you’ve already told me you participated as well. So, I’d say we have a difficult history between us.”