“Damn straight about that.” Vela stepped a little closer to Samuel. She could almost see the sparks flying from one ascender to the other.
The heat in this room, Samuel sent in what felt like the quietest telepathic voice he could manage, could melt a glacier.
I know what you mean.
But I thought Endelle had hooked up with Braulio? Samuel scowled like he somehow disapproved.
Vela squeezed his hand. That’s just it. He hasn’t been around for the last month and she has no way to contact him.
Gotta be a bitch.
Exactly.
Well, Braulio had better get his ass back here because that’s one determined vampire.
No kidding.
Finally, after a long half minute of staring at Merl, and maybe debating the offer, Endelle said, “Thanks, but I’m sort of in a relationship.” For a reason she couldn’t explain, Vela released a sigh of relief.
But Merl actually moved until just a spare few inches separated him from Endelle. “Well, you let me know if your boyfriend stops hiding out in another dimension. I’d love to spend some time taking care of you.” Vela broke a sweat and it wasn’t helping that Samuel now rubbed his thumb in circles over the palm of her hand. She’d never quite understood why the gesture was so damn sexual but it was working.
That, and his smoky, chocolate scent had started flowing in her direction.
Those flowers of yours are getting to me.
I want to be alone with you.
He released a soft growl.
Merl glanced at Samuel. “I’m going to stay here and check out Thorne’s operation, maybe see if I can help. Why don’t you two head back to my house. And just so you know, after I leave here, I’ll be heading out to a couple of clubs and I won’t be back until dawn.” Vela almost said something in response, but Samuel called out, “Sounds like a plan.” By then he had hold of her hand and urged her in the direction of the doorway. She took to the idea right away and started walking faster.
His smile expanded by the time they reached the landing platform, a very male, satisfied response to what he knew would soon happen between them.
By then, Vela wore her own smile, so she could hardly complain.
“I need a shower,” Samuel said, almost trembling with his need to get Vela underneath him.
“Here’s an idea. How about I join you?” He groaned then hauled her into his arms. A weapons harness, stiff by nature, wasn’t the most comfortable piece of clothing to press up against a woman, but Vela didn’t seem to care.
He folded it off anyway, even while he held her in his arms. Vela landed against his chest and that’s when things got a little crazy as she slung her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.
With his tongue deep in her mouth, he tried to walk her backwards and finally ended up just folding her to the bathroom.
She let go of him, dropping her feet to the floor, but her eyes had a dazed look and when she waved a hand to get rid of her clothes, her jeans ended up around her ankles. She would have toppled over, but he caught her.
“Allow me.” He dropped to his knees, lifted a bare foot, slid the pants off the old-fashioned way, then the other.
He kissed the inside of her right ankle and being the smart woman that she was, she shifted her feet farther apart to increase the room he had to work as he began kissing his way up her leg.
Soft moans flowed down on his head, then little whimpers. He added bites and sucks, one after the other, moving ever upward. He was just about to get busy when Vela said, “Samuel, I really like what you’re doing, but I’ve got this funny feeling about something.” He squeezed his eyes shut for a long moment. He so didn’t want her called back into the darkening, not right now.
He looked up at her. “What do you mean?” She stepped away from him. “What do you think is on the other side of that door? I mean, the guest room has a closet, and the toilet’s on the opposite side of this room. So…” She let the word hang.
He lifted his head and saw that an archway, centered in the wall well beyond the massive shower, led to a door. “It can’t be Merl’s bedroom.” Vela met his gaze. “Knowing Merl, I think I know what it is and that’s exactly where I want to be right now.” She left him kneeling, wondering if he’d lost his touch, then he got it, which of course launched him to his feet. By the time she shoved the door open, he fit right up against her back, one hand on her hip, as he crossed the threshold with her.
“Oh, my God,” she said, “this is the most decadent room I’ve ever seen.” He couldn’t have agreed more. The lights had come on the moment Vela opened the door, mood-lighting, with a rim of pot-lights glowing in a soft teal all round the perimeter. A dark sensuality permeated what was a very private room.
Directly across from the door, a screen dominated the entire wall, featuring the portrait of a couple from the waist up, naked, and in a tight embrace, the man kissing her neck. He glanced to his right and saw a video camera and some controls. So the screen could also be used to project images, maybe to play a movie.
His gaze drifted to the center of the room. One large overhead pot light lit up an apparatus he’d always wanted to try out, a tall, leather, bench-like mount, over which the woman would recline face down. And if Vela was game, he’d love to do this with her because the room served one purpose: to allow for wing- mount while making love.
His erection punched at his kilt, which reminded him that he’d only partially undressed.
She turned to him, her eyes dilated, her scent perfuming the air. “The mount has leather straps at the top. I could really hold on, keep my balance. Samuel, I want to do this. Are you game?” He shoved the door shut with his foot and while kissing her again, and almost tripping over her as he moved her in the direction of the mount, he sent, More than game. We’ll both be able to let our wings fly.
I know, I know. Now lose the rest of your clothes, warrior.
He drew back from her and laughed.
He waved a hand and got rid of his kilt, briefs, battle sandals and shin guards. He meant to kiss her again, but she planted her hands on his pecs, fondling him with just her thumbs. “Hey, you were magnificent in the darkening. I mean it.
The way you fought, your speed, that you could fold like that and levitate and all the while your mist flowed around you in the most elegant streamers.
I was mesmerized.” Her words heated his mind and electrified his body, making his muscles pop in some kind of remembered action of the battle itself. “I kept thinking about you, Vela, about finishing the fight so that I could get back to you. I wanted you safe.” Her hands slid down his chest and around his back. “I am safe, so thank you for that, for getting us through.” He smiled. “I wasn’t the only one there.”