Just as the woman had said.
She wanted to ask questions, but the pleading look on the woman’s face told her there was no time. So, she followed Nico’s lead this time, stopping when he did at the doorway. Children littered the ground. They were curled on makeshift mats, either by themselves or with adult women. Her heart leaped to her throat as she tucked her weapons into her pockets. The innocence of the scene strangled her to the point that she needed to get away, and Anne found herself racing as fast as she could away from the place she had once called home. A hand jerked her to the side, warning her of more shifters around, but they managed to avoid the rest as they got out of the cave unharmed. She thought she saw movement from a distance, so she tugged Nico in turn until they were running in the opposite direction.
The hours flew by as they left the park, took the car, and drove while they repeatedly checked back. When they crossed the state, the sense of danger abated, and they finally relaxed. But her mind still worked a mile a minute.
“She didn’t kill me,” she stated.
“You didn’t kill her,” he countered. He didn’t sound fazed that she brought it up. “You could have burned them and gotten your revenge.”
She spun to face him, dumbfounded. “You think I would…?”
“I said could. Not would.” He shook his head. “You wouldn’t have, Anne. You are not like them.”
It felt weird, knowing she had been so shrouded in rage at the sight of Sam after so many years and had wanted nothing but his death. But the woman letting them escape and the children present there had cast her blinders off, aware of what would happen if she did burn them down and someone survived: the pain, the trauma, and everything that came with it…and she just couldn’t do it to another innocent person.
“They have our lands now. They will build and prosper.” A heavy feeling slithered in. “My clan doesn’t even have a graveyard.”
Silence hovered over them. She closed her eyes, the hours catching up to her and wearying her bones. But Nico’s words flitted in and had her alert again.
“They can still have one.”
“What?”
“Your family. A graveyard.”
They returned to the same motel, checked in under aliases, but didn’t go to their room yet. Instead, he took her to the back of the small establishment, where a deserted field stretched on for miles to a lush backdrop of huge mountains. Nico stopped in front of a circle of bushes, picked up some rocks, and handed them to her.
“Write their nicknames on the ground. Or what you remember every clan member for. Lay these rocks on them.”
Anne looked at him like he was insane, then just went for it. Her mind raced with nicknames and the best descriptions until she got to the last two, where she took her time.
Sunshine.
Warrior.
“You can do the same when we return to the Bennett lands,” Nico whispered. “You can grieve the dead wherever you want…grieve the loss of your lands. Grieve until you can let go.”
When she lay the rocks on top of the names and stood back to watch the row she had made, it felt like a heavy load had been lifted off her shoulders. A light breeze played with her hair and danced with her clothes. She turned her face to it, imagining it washing away everything that had made her despair in the last three years.
They went to the diner to grab dinner, watching the sunset from the glass window. Then she watched Nico, who kept to his food but glanced back from time to time to check on her. When their eyes met, it felt like a homecoming as she saw him in a new light: that of a man who stood by her side during the whole journey and got her through the darkest moments with the utmost confidence that she would make it through. She didn’t know what he saw when he looked at her, but she did know one thing: that the desire boiled higher than ever and what to do about it lay in her hands.
She took his hands when they finished and led him to their room, where they turned on a desk lamp and nothing else. In the dark, they looked at each other some more, just taking it all in. His fingers reached up to skim her cheek, bringing about a longing that sang in her bones.
“Anne…”
“Nico.”
They were on each other before they knew it, lips fused in a frenzied kiss and hands seeking warmth. Clothes flew as they stumbled into bed, where she was flat on her back while Nico moved in the most wicked of ways on top of her. He dominated, hands restraining hers as his mouth found crevices that ignited pleasure. When his head strayed between her legs, she could only hold on to the sheets as the pleasure elevated, danced, and transformed into something they couldn’t fight. Just before that great explosion, his head left, and he was on her once more, shaft coasting in until she had never felt so full.
They came together, rode, and anchored each other. He moved slowly and with precision until he couldn’t, the rising lust shaking him loose until his hips were pummeling and his cock was driving in wild, irregular strokes. It didn’t matter as each one added to her heat until she was burning, and she could only squeeze tight until she ricocheted to a world of bliss. The man continued giving until she had never felt so alive.
And Anne gave back with all that she had.
Chapter 13
Using the closed-down area as their shortcut felt like a good decision when Nico had made it, mostly because it was the closest to feeling at home he could get while still not being home. The long, eventful journey had wearied his body and soul, and there was nothing he wanted more than to get to his territory where he could rest easy—and of course, bring Anne with her so she could do the same.
“No campers?” she asked, scanning the horizon.