Chapter Twelve
The look on Miranda’s face was about what Darren would expect after his statement. Eyes wide in shock, jaw slightly dropped.
Before the change, he would have thought he’d pushed too far and she was going to tell him to back off. Now, his senses told him anything but.
The sweet, rich scent of her arousal floated to him. He wished her window was up so he could saturate himself in it.
She wanted him. At least physically. Her body’s response made his chest feel full and his body surge with energy.
It also made his pants way too tight.
But that wasn’t why he had pulled over. The life she was describing would have made him sad before. Now, it made him ache. His head hurt, his heart pounded painfully in his chest, and his skin crawled with the need to hold her.
“You’re not alone anymore,” he said.
He reached over and cupped her cheek, pulling her closer. He didn’t even have to kiss her. He just needed to touch her, to comfort her, to brush his head against hers, push her back in her seat and cover her body with his...
She unhooked her seatbelt and crawled into his lap.
Darren groaned as her weight settled across his legs, her thigh pressing against his erection. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer.
It was awkward as hell, with her legs bent and her feet resting on the cushion of her seat. Straddling him would have been a more comfortable option for both of them. Especially once he unhooked his seatbelt…and his pants.
Then she kissed him, and he didn’t give a damn how she sat. He just wanted her as close as he could get her.
Her mouth was warm and soft, her fingers cool as they burrowed through his hair. He slid his hand up along her side, lifting her breast and feeling its soft weight. Her breath hitched as he flicked his thumb across her nipple, and the honey-sweet scent of her intensified.
His dick was so hard. He needed to bury it in her, needed to feel her clench around him.
He moved his hand to her thigh, trying to pull her into his lap, but the emergency brake was in the way. She let out a little grunt, shifting her weight. He barely stifled a growl.
They were wearing too many clothes. And they were too constrictive. He was sure he could tear off her jeans without hurting her. He just needed to get the right angle.
He broke off the kiss as she struggled to reposition herself. Her hands were planted on his shoulders and she shifted again, exposing the softness of her throat.
He had never found throats very appealing before. Seeing her baring that skin to him—that vulnerable part of her body—ratcheted him up even higher.
He leaned forward and nipped at it, grabbing her shirt at her back and crushing her against his chest as he kissed the side of her neck. Her breasts were even softer, and larger than he’d realized. He imagined what they would look like if she rode him while he rocked into her as hard as he could.
“Darren…”
He let out a breath, kissing his way down the center of her chest. “I love it when you say my name like that.”
He kissed her breast through her thin shirt, clamping his mouth over her nipple and sucking until the stiff peak pressed against the damp fabric. Her fingers curled in his hair, pressing him closer.
They needed to be in a bed. He pressed her back against the steering wheel to get more room to work…and set off the car’s horn.
They both jumped, then stared breathlessly into each other’s eyes.
Miranda broke eye contact first. She shifted in his lap and said, “We better go. Someone might call the police.”
He tightened his grip on her. “I’ll handle them.”
“Handle them how?”
He imagined a stranger approaching—then tearing their innards out and throwing them over his car like garlands.
As appealing as that seemed, it was nothing compared to Miranda’s warm body in his lap. He wouldn’t let anything come between them.
“However it takes,” he said.
He leaned in to kiss her again, but she backed away.
“Darren—”
He stifled a growl. Barely.
“Okay, you seem really worked up,” she said.
He ran one of his hands down her back, cupping her ass and pressing her closer. “I thought we both were.”
“Well, yes. But I have a feeling I’ll have an easier time calming myself down.”
“So, you don’t want to…”
“Oh, I want to. Believe me, I want to do all kinds of things with you.” She let out a sigh. “This doesn’t seem like the time or the place, though.”
Something shifted deep in his guts. Almost painful. He wanted her so much, it actually hurt. His skin started to burn and itch as he pulled his hands away. But she didn’t want him as badly. She couldn’t. No mere human could understand this glorious need.
What the fuck?
He closed his eyes and said, “I think you need to get out of the car.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Miranda, I can’t… I need to calm down, and I can’t risk hurting you. I feel like I’m about to burst out of my skin. Given my new circumstances, that’s really alarming.”
He was taking deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. He’d managed it before, but he hadn’t been as worked up.
Well, in a way he had. But then it’d been about fighting and destruction. This had been about forging a connection—a lifeline to his humanity. To Miranda.
Her lips pressed against his again and he gasped. She nipped along his jaw, then down to his neck where she kissed and licked his skin.
“What are you doing?” he said.
“Giving you another outlet.”
She slid her hand between them, her fingers raking his stomach as she felt for the fastener of his pants. His skin lit up as if her touch was silken fire. She reached into his pants and gripped his shaft.
An explosive burst of air rushed from his chest. He threw his head back against the headrest, eyes clenched shut. She kept kissing his throat as she moved her hand, squeezing him, pumping him.
“Miranda…”
She nipped his ear, then whispered, “You aren’t alone either.”
Something in him shifted, an energy he couldn’t name. He couldn’t speak at all, couldn’t move. All he could do was feel her touch soaking into him, soul-deep.
She shifted off his lap, giving her more room to work. It meant she had to stop kissing his neck, but his attention was much lower at the moment. He felt her warm breath on his dick right before her lips closed over him.
His body convulsed as she increased the speed of her hand and tightened her mouth around him. His hips bucked against her, desperate for more. The seatbelt locked up, holding him in place. She kept up her pace, her head bobbing on his dick as she hungrily took him in.
Her scent. God, her scent…
He wanted to rip off her clothes and impale her on his shaft. She would be dripping wet, her pussy even hotter and softer than her mouth. He slammed his hands against the ceiling to keep from reaching for her, knowing it wouldn’t be safe with him so worked up.
Her tongue pressed even more firmly against him, lips pulling on his skin. The metal of the car’s roof started to give as he erupted into her mouth.
She kept up her fast strokes, moving her mouth, sucking him hard, taking everything he had to give. He could hear her heartbeat, the scent of her arousal pushing him even higher. He buried himself in her mouth as deep as she could take him, dick still pulsing as he was finally spent.
He could barely catch his breath. He couldn’t think. All he could do was feel. Miranda close to him. An echo of her lips on his body. The warmth she put off. The odd feeling of safety and comfort being near her gave him.
She tucked his dick back into his pants, then fastened them. When he turned toward her, she smiled.
“Better?” she said.
“You have no idea.”
He had been so close to going over the edge, but Miranda had brought him back—again. Maybe with her at his side he really could control himself. Maybe she could keep him from becoming the monster he feared.
Her smile broadened. She sat back in her seat, and said, “Then we’d better go.”
“Yeah.”
He pulled away from the curb, still not sure where to take them. There was a fair-sized park in the Old River district—the Rath—as Miranda and Jack had called it. But that seemed an ideal place for Forester to be hiding out. Darren wasn’t up to facing him again just yet.
They could drive outside of town. Getting away from people might help. The only problem with that was that Miranda would be stuck with him. He didn’t like the idea of her not having anyone to turn to for help if things went south.
He couldn’t believe how well she was handling all of this.
She sure as hell handled me.
He shifted in his seat, his skin still electrified from what she had done to him. For him.
A chilling thought struck him. What if she had only done that to protect herself? She could have seen that he was losing it, and used sex to distract him.
He knew she was attracted to him, but things were moving ridiculously fast between them. They’d been thrown into this totally messed up, high stress situation, and it was escalating things.
He knew his change had increased his feelings toward her. The attachment he felt was…primal. But she was still human. What must this be like for her?
“You didn’t have to do that.” He spoke without thinking. He hoped to God it was true.
“I know. But I wanted to.”
He let out a huge breath and closed his eyes briefly as relief crashed through him. He shook his head.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I can’t stand the thought that you might do something you don’t want to do to keep yourself safe. I don’t want to turn into the monster Jack described.”
“You won’t.”
“I wish I was as sure as you are.”
“It helps that I can see the future.”
He laughed.
“I suppose it would.” He glanced over at her, wanting her to see how serious he was about his next words. “I meant what I said before, though. If it ever does come to that, I want you to use the gun. Don’t have any second thoughts. Never feel bad about it. You’ll be doing me a favor.”
“It won’t come to that.”
“Miranda, I’m serious. I know you have this…power. But you can’t have seen every moment of my future.”
Forester had said that Darren was immortal now. That thought hadn’t really sunk in. What would he do when Miranda wasn’t around anymore to calm him down?
He might learn to control himself eventually, but given how strong his feelings for her already were and the urges he was fighting, he couldn’t imagine making it through her death with his humanity intact. Just the thought of it made his guts twist and his skin start to crawl.
“Whatever you’re thinking about, you need to stop it,” she said. “Unless you’re hoping for an encore.”
He chuckled before he could stop himself—before the implications of her statement unfurled in his mind.
“Seriously. I don’t want you to ever do something you don’t want to.” He tried to think of an alternative, but was coming up empty. “I would rather die than hurt you.”
She sucked in a quick breath, then said, “Stop saying that.”
He’d never heard her sound angry.
“I’m sorry, but it’s true.” He didn’t know what else to say or why that had set her off so badly.
She reached into her purse and pulled out the gun, then opened his glove box and dropped it inside. She slammed it shut, then said, “I can take care of myself without anybody getting hurt. I’m done making sacrifices.”
He wasn’t sure what she meant by that, but it didn’t seem like a good idea to press for more information.
She wrapped her arms around her middle. “If I wasn’t concerned some kid might find it, I’d throw the stupid gun out the window.”
“Wouldn’t you know if that was going to happen?”
His lame attempt at humor went unnoticed.
“I can’t see everything that’s going to happen to everyone,” she said.
“I wish you could see more of my future.” From the corner of his eye, he saw her glance over at him, but kept his attention ahead. His grip on the wheel tightened. “You keep saying I won’t turn into the psychopathic maniac Jack described, but you’ve also admitted there are gaps in your visions. And you don’t know how dark my thoughts have become. How can you really be sure?”
“Because we’re going to be together. A couple. And I wouldn’t fall in love with that kind of person.”
He did look at her then. He couldn’t help himself. The sound of the wheels reflecting off the curbs helped him keep the car steady on the road, and his periphery let him see vehicles parked on the street even in the darkness between the streetlights.
Her eyes were relaxed and guileless, her jaw set and lips pressed in a thin line. There was more she knew and wasn’t ready to share, but that had been enough of a bombshell.
“Love?” he said.
Her lips pulled into a slow, sultry smile. “Given the things I’ve seen us do, that’s the only conclusion I can reach. Because I sure as heck wouldn’t do all that with just anyone.”
A deep crimson blush spread up her neck and across her cheeks. He really wanted to pull the car over again. Instead, he looked back out the front windshield.
Jack had said a werewolf could shake off being hit, but Miranda was still human. A crash could hurt or kill her.
Darren couldn’t even think about that. But he would have to keep her mortality in mind. Especially if they were going to be lovers—to fall in love.
He’d been in relationships, but he’d never fallen in love before. It had always been too easy to walk away from his girlfriends or let them walk away from him when he wasn’t attentive enough.
Miranda was different.
He could easily see himself falling for her, wanting to spend the rest of his life with her. But her life would be short. Measured in human years. Her presence was already keeping him stable. What would happen when she passed?
“You’re doing it again,” she said. “Thinking about something you shouldn’t.”
“I was wondering what I’ll do without you.”
“If I have anything to say about it, you’ll never have to find out.”
“Do your powers make you immortal like me? Because if they don’t, you might not have much control over that.”
“My powers aren’t going to keep me alive. You are.”
“How?”
“You’re going to turn me.”
Darren’s stomach felt like it fell through the bottom of the car and then was run over by the back tires. How could she say that so flippantly?
“No.” He shook his head. “No way.”
“It’s going to happen. And with everything I have seen, I want it to.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying. The thoughts I have, the urges I’m fighting—“
“Can be dealt with pretty easily by us being…affectionate.”
Affectionate? If the hummer she’d given him in the car was what she saw as affection, he couldn’t imagine what actual sex with her would be like.
Actually, he could imagine it. His dick started to harden as scenarios played through his mind. He had a big bed at his place, soft sheets, a two-person tub they could soak in before, during, and-or after. The kitchen island was pretty spacious, too.
“Okay, I like that look,” she said. “Whatever you’re thinking about now is much better than those other thoughts.”
“Oh, I’m not sure you’d agree if you saw—“
“Me straddling you while you cup my breasts, holding me up? Or the time you’ll bend me over the foot of my bed and… Well, you know.”
His dick was at full attention, straining against his pants. He wished she had said something about the backseat of his car. He’d pull over immediately to bring that vision to life.
“What if I turn you and you have a violent episode when I’m not around?” he said.
Hell, what if he had an episode and she wasn’t around to help him through it? It was getting easier for her to bring him back from the edge, but he was getting there more quickly and often.
“I’ll duck into a broom closet or something and take care of business.”
He turned to stare at her again.
“What?” She shrugged. “As if you’ve never done that before.”
He laughed and shook his head, focusing back on the road. “I don’t need your gift to know one thing about our future together.”
“What’s that?”
“It’ll never be boring.”