Chapter Nineteen
Walking to her bed after their amazing activities in the shower wasn’t easy. Miranda could still feel Darren inside of her, like an after-image burned onto her nerve endings. The movement of her legs brushing together was close to setting her off again.
They wanted to stay in the moment. They needed to stay in the moment. She was as bad off as him in that regard.
Well, maybe not quite.
His eyebrows were pinched together as he followed her, his grip tight on her hand. His dick was already stiff again, like it was straining to be inside her.
This time was their oasis in the storm that surrounded them. She was going to make the most of it.
“Sit down.”
She waited for him to sit on the edge of the bed, then knelt in front of him. Running her fingers along the insides of his thighs, she watched his reaction.
His breath hitched and his eyes widened. He stared at her as if mesmerized, as if she was the only woman in the universe. She had never felt so desired before. She wanted him to feel the same.
She brought her hands to his chest, running her fingers over the firm muscles of his pecs, then down over his abdomen. She leaned forward and kissed his navel, not wasting any time in reaching for his dick.
He gasped as her fingers closed around its girth. How the heck had she managed this? No wonder she was still feeling its impact.
She’d never wanted anyone as much as Darren. Apparently, her body was in complete agreement with her heart.
She ran her cheek along the length of him, holding his dick steady as she trailed his crown across her lips.
“Miranda…”
“Did you want something, Darren?” She grinned up at him, but he didn’t smile back. He was panting, still watching her with wide eyes.
She ran her tongue along his length. He tightened his grip on her sheets and grunted. She wetted his crown, then licked her lips before pulling him into her mouth.
She slid him in slowly, loving the low groan he let out that matched her movements. When she had him as deep as she could manage, she pressed her tongue against him, swirling it as she pulled him back out, squeezing the base of his dick with her hands.
“God, Miranda. That feels too good.”
She sucked him in deep, repeating the motion. This time, when she reached his crown she let him slide from her mouth fully so she could say, “Do you want me to stop?”
“Never.” He groaned as she wrapped her lips around him again. “Except…”
She hadn’t expected that. She sat back so she could look up at him.
“Except what?”
His eyes were sparkling again, lights going off deep in their gray pools like fireworks. It was the first time she’d seen those lights when he wasn’t angry or struggling against a change.
He smiled as he reached for her, clasping her waist and pulling her up on the bed. “Except I want to fuck you so much, it’s driving me out of my mind.”
Her pussy clenched, as if it had heard and understood his words—and was totally on board with that idea. She was, too.
She climbed over him so that she could lay down in the middle of the bed, then turned to smile back at him. “Then what are you waiting for?”
He grinned, but instead of crawling on top of her, he settled with his head between her legs. Before she could say anything else, he pressed a kiss against her curls.
More pleasure arced through her body, making her gasp. She wondered how much her body could take—if she could keep up with him.
His fingers joined his mouth, exploring her, filling her, bringing her back to the brink of ecstasy. She ran her nails over his scalp, encouraging him. He half-groaned, half-growled in response.
She was getting used to how he communicated, how he was changing as his new nature took effect. She found she actually enjoyed it. Within a few weeks or months, she’d be joining him. She wouldn’t be alone anymore.
She already wasn’t.
Her eyes filled with tears at the thought, even as her body lit up further from his attentions.
Through his ordeal, he’d been so concerned with her. When she’d opened up to him, it had seemed to rock him to his soul. It may have taken him a while to understand why she’d made the choices she’d made and what they had cost her, but he seemed to truly understand now.
He wanted to help her. That was more precious to her than anything. Not being alone in all this.
“Darren.”
She needed him closer. In her, filling her. Immediately.
He glanced up and must have seen the need in her eyes. He pulled himself up along her body, his dick resting just at her entrance.
Barely parting her flesh, he dusted her hair from her face and kissed her. Soft and lingering.
She slid her legs up along his thighs as he pressed himself deep. She felt her body welcoming him, every inch of movement as he joined with her. She wrapped her arms around his back and held him tight.
The path before them was still unclear. All she knew for certain was that they would face great danger—and they would face it together.
He rocked against her, shifted his weight to his elbows so he could look into her eyes. She let herself become lost in them, in the languid rhythm of his thrusts. His hard length filled her, each pull against her flesh sending pleasure spiraling through her body.
No thoughts of death or destruction. No wondering about the future or grieving the past. Just this moment.
His pace quickened, the force of his hips increasing. Warmth pooled in her belly, turning molten as he landed harder, deeper. He kept his gaze locked on hers. The emotional intimacy of it was almost as intense as the physical. She’d never felt more alive than when they touched.
Energy uncoiled through her, the heat building until it finally cascaded through her body, lighting up every part of her. She pulsed around him, his hips pounding against hers, never slowing, demanding every drop of ecstasy her body could give to her.
He finally closed his eyes, throwing his head back and shouting her name as his thrusts became frenzied. He pounded himself into her, over and over again, until finally stopping, pressing her to the mattress, his shaft buried deep in her heat.
He collapsed on top of her, their chests touching, breath mingling. He nuzzled her neck, then rolled to his side, keeping his arms around her. She snuggled close against him, holding onto him, too.
“Thank you.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“For what?”
“For not giving up on me. For giving us a chance.”
“I could say the same thing to you,” she said.
He ran his hand along her back. “I shouldn’t have been upset in the first place. If I’d been thinking clearly, I would have seen the reasoning behind your choice.”
“Knowing why doesn’t always help. I felt like part of me died when I let you walk away.”
“Miranda…”
He cradled her face, tilting it up to kiss her again. She let his warmth soak into her.
The desperate energy of his kisses from earlier had dissipated. There was still plenty of passion, but a relaxed contentment underlying them. He trailed his hand to her breast, caressing it as he deepened the kiss. He let out a sigh as he pulled back.
“I’m so glad I didn’t lose you,” she said.
He laughed. “You and me both. I wish you could feel what it’s like from this side. Holding you. Hearing you say these things.”
“I can. Well, in my own human way. And I will feel what it’s like after I turn.”
His smile faded. “When will that happen?”
She clasped his hand in hers, bringing it up to rest near her face. Willing herself to relax as she focused on that question, she let their shared future flow into her.
She could still feel the fog approaching her, but it wouldn’t reach her for a while. A shimmering strand of gold glittered in front of it. She saw her hand stretch toward it, could feel Darren and others close by. More werewolves—his pack. A male and a female. But Miranda was still human.
Her attention returned to the room and the bed she shared with Darren. His body close to hers, warming her.
“There’s something that I have to do first,” she said. “As a human. Some reason that I can’t turn yet.”
“But you will turn.”
“I’m sure of it.”
He let out a breath, then kissed the back of her hand.
There was one more topic she wasn’t sure how he’d react to, and waiting wasn’t an option.
“You should know that I don’t think I’m the only one you’ll be turning,” she said.
“What?” He leaned back, his body tensing next to hers.
“My friend Eden has the same fog surrounding her future. I think the fog is the Faerie Veil—the boundary between human existence and becoming fey. It’s close to her. Almost as close as yours was. I think you’re going to turn her.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because she’s dying.” Miranda’s eyes filled with tears as the surety of Eden’s future hit her. “If you don’t, she won’t make it to the end of the week.”
“I don’t even know if I can turn anyone yet. The full moon is right around the corner. Being with you is helping me adjust, but I don’t know what will happen during that night. I might kill her instead of turning her. Jack made it sound like I’ll completely lose control.”
“Jack made it sound like you’d already be a homicidal maniac right now.”
“True. I would still feel a lot safer if I had a place where you could lock me up to keep everyone safe.”
“Are there any holding cells at your security company?”
“Yeah, actually, there are.”
“We should call Mr. Morrison later and ask him about retrofitting one as a werewolf holding cell.”
Darren laughed. When she didn’t join in, he said, “Wait, you’re serious?”
“Mr. Morrison is going to be instrumental for our fight,” she said. “I saw it when I read his future. He’s going to open a secret R&D department called the Daedalus Division and dedicate it to fighting fairies. He’ll be a great ally.”
She felt Darren stiffen next to her. “He almost got you killed.”
“He was caught up in things he had no chance of understanding. He was in love.”
“That’s no excuse.”
Miranda pushed herself up on her elbow so she could look into Darren’s eyes. “What would you do to protect me?”
He answered without hesitating, without thinking. “Anything.”
She lifted her eyebrows at him.
With a sigh, he seemed to sink deeper into the mattress. “Okay, I see your point.”
“I see yours, too.” She ran her fingertips over his erection, loving how his eyes softened at her touch.
“You have a powerful effect on me.”
She crawled on top of him, straddling him. The look of delight on his face warmed her heart. The openness of his smile, the mixture of hope and longing. It almost seemed a reflection of how she felt about him.
She slid along his length, knowing her body was more than ready for another round. She lined him up and slowly lowered herself over him until their hips were flush. He gripped her thighs, smile fading as pleasure swept over his features.
“Werewolf lovers sure are voracious,” she said.
He nodded, thrusting up into her. She gasped, pressing her hands against his chest so she could lean back and look at him while they made love.
“Can you imagine what it’ll be like when I turn?” She laughed. “We’ll never do anything else.”
“I’m okay with that.” He sat up, bringing their chests together, then wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer for a kiss.
“There are a few things we’ll need to take care of—saving the world and all.” She gasped as they hit a particularly sensitive spot with their movements.
“Only that?”
He kissed her collarbone, then trailed a row of nips and bites to her breast, lifting it so he could suck her nipple into his mouth. Her breath hitched as he circled it with his tongue and ran his teeth gently over her skin.
“I don’t remember what we were talking about,” she said.
He let go of her breast and laughed. “Good. We’ll figure it all out later. Right now, let’s just enjoy this.”
She nodded, then grabbed his face and kissed him.
They had time. Not much, but a little. She wanted to make every second count.
A shrill ring broke through her sleep. The sky outside the window was dark. Apparently, their last nap had taken them past sunset.
They had been in bed all day, except for brief trips to the bathroom or kitchen. Miranda vaguely remembered looking up the number for Eden’s business at some point and leaving voicemail about not going to the restaurant due to “renovations”.
She didn’t care if they never actually spoke again. Well, okay, she cared, but it was most important that Eden stay safe. Going anywhere near The Red Thread right now didn’t seem very conducive to that.
Darren stirred next to her as the phone rang again. Miranda reached for her phone on instinct, fumbling with it as she picked it up from the nightstand. She accepted the call without thinking to check who she’d be speaking to.
“Hello?” she said.
“It’s Jack.”
“Oh hey.”
He paused for a moment. “You okay?”
“Yeah.”
She was still groggy, her body relaxed on a level she hadn’t experienced…well, ever. Darren draped his arm over her waist and pulled her closer.
“You don’t sound okay,” Jack said.
She muttered something blearily, then forced herself to sit up. Darren grunted in protest.
“I was asleep,” she said.
“You let Darren out of your sight?”
“No, he’s right here.”
Crap. Adrenaline shot through her system, helping to wake her up. She didn’t know how Jack would react, and didn’t want to make the target on Darren’s back any bigger.
There was another long pause.
“Are you all right?” Jack said each word crisply.
“I’m fine,” she said. “Better than fine.”
She smiled down at Darren. At some point, she had turned on the string lights she’d hung near the ceiling around the room. Everything was washed in soft colors. His eyes were closed, long lashes casting shadows on his cheekbones.
“You don’t have to worry about Darren hurting me,” she said.
Other people? Maybe.
Miranda? No.
“You can’t let your guard down—” Jack said.
She pulled the sheets over her. It didn’t matter that he couldn’t see her. She’d feel better if she was covered.
“Let me stop you right there,” she said. “So far, almost everything you’ve told me about werewolves is absolute bull. Frankly, I’m sick of hearing it.”
“Did he bite you?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but no.”
“It is entirely my business,” Jack said. “I’m putting my neck out for you two. Asking questions about the Knights of Antares is sending up all kinds of red flags among my old crew. They want to know why I’m asking, and it is not a good thing to raise their curiosity. If they come looking for Darren, they won’t care whether you’ve been turned or not. If you get in their way, they will kill you.”
She heard Darren start to growl beside her—not as asleep as she thought. She reached out and stroked his hair. “I’ll see them coming.”
“Have you had more visions?” Jack asked.
This time, she was the one who paused. She didn’t know how freely she could speak in front of Darren. She didn’t want to upset him.
“A few,” she said. “And I’m getting better at interpreting them.”
“Did you see Forester?” Jack asked.
“Not in a vision.”
She glanced down at Darren. He was staring at her now, furrows appearing between his brow. He wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his head in her lap.
She sighed, not seeing any way around just coming out and telling Jack about what had happened. “Darren received a call from his partner at Ford Security.”
“Scott Ford?” Jack really had researched Darren thoroughly.
Miranda nodded out of habit, even though they were talking on the phone. “Yeah.”
“Scott found out his mother was dealing with Forester and tried to confront them,” Miranda said.
Jack let out a huff of air. “And?”
“We didn’t get there in time,” she said. “Forester killed them both.”
“He killed them?” Jack sounded surprised.
“Yes.”
“Miranda, this is important,” Jack said. “Elves are part of the High Court of the Sidhe—of fairies. They have rules in place for how they prey on humans. Rules they love to dance around with and try to find loopholes through, but that they do not break.” He emphasized each word at the end of his sentence. “One of the most important for us—the rule that keeps most of humanity blissfully ignorant and still breathing—is that fairies aren’t allowed to outright kill us unless it’s self-defense.”
“Hooray for us,” she said.
Jack went on as if he hadn’t heard her. “Fairies can work incredible magic. They can make pocket dimensions and alter reality. Imagine if one of them became bored and decided to unleash that on us.”
Her stomach seemed to crinkle up. She remembered the vision of zombie-Scott.
“Mrs. Ford made a deal with him,” Miranda said. “Forester followed the letter of it, and managed to kill them both in the process.”
Jack let out a sigh. He actually sounded relieved. At least, until he spoke again.
“How did Darren take it?” His voice was somber.
“How do you think?” she snapped.
Darren tightened his grip on her waist. With his werewolf senses, he could probably hear every word of the conversation.
She wished she could drop the phone and kiss him. She’d do that as soon as possible. In the meantime, she kept stroking his hair, hoping it soothed him somewhat.
“I’ve gotta tell you, I’m stunned,” Jack said. “Darren is… He’s not like any werewolf I’ve encountered. Even heard of. Which brings me to my bad news.”
When he paused, she prompted, “Which is?”
“None of my sources has a lead on the Knights of Antares. They’re all saying it’s a legend.”
“Great.” There went her main string of hope.
“But they have reasons to want to believe that,” Jack said. “Just like I keep wanting to believe—”
“Wanting to believe what?”
“I’m going to be honest with you, Miranda. Part of me wants to believe that Darren is going to become a mindless killer.”
Darren let out another growl. He looked up at her, sparks kindling in the depths of his eyes.
“How can you say that?” she said.
Jack’s sigh was clear over the phone. “I’ve killed a lot of monsters in my day. I didn’t bother to get to know them. I couldn’t take the chance. Darren has me thinking. Questioning my prior choices. Wondering if I might have…made mistakes. I don’t like it.” After a brief pause, he said, “But I like him. I’m trying to keep an open mind.”
“Thanks.” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.
“I’m telling you this for a reason,” Jack said. “You know me. You know I care about you. The others on my team don’t know you from Adam—and they won’t want to know Darren. They’ll just want to put him down. I keep pushing this, someone’s going to get too curious and try to figure out where my questions are coming from. They’ll come for you both.”
Her heart sank, but she tried to keep her voice strong. “I told you, I’ll see them coming.”
“I hope so.”
So much for asking Jack to help them find a place for Darren during the full moon. Mr. Morrison was a much safer bet.
“I’ll keep digging as much as I can,” Jack said. “But we may need to look elsewhere for support for Darren. The Knights aren’t an option.”
She felt her shoulders sag as if a weight had been placed on them. Finding other werewolves who were fighting to keep their humanity—and winning—would help Darren so much.
At least she knew they would find others eventually. Sooner would definitely be better than later, though.
She sighed. “Thanks for trying.”
“I have some more bad news,” Jack said.
“Great.”
He ignored her sarcastic comment. “That coin was used in a city-state in ancient Greece that was known to be ruled by a particularly volatile and powerful Fairy Lord—one of the High Court Sidhe. We don’t know much beyond that because apparently he got bored one day and destroyed the whole place. No survivors. The only record we have is from people who happened to visit the town and left before it all went down.”
“I really don’t like where this is heading,” Miranda said.
Jack plowed on. “Forester mentioned paying tribute.”
Her heart started to pound. “You think that same being is here in Olympus?”
“It would make sense. Either him or some other Sidhe Lord that knew the guy.”
Orion and the Scorpion…
So much of this kept coming back to Greek legends. She thought of her dad’s stories again, and the importance of names among the fey.
“Our founding fathers really should have picked another name for this city,” she said.
“Look, I’m coming around on the whole Darren thing. You have yourself a werewolf bodyguard. At the moment, I’m counting that as a blessing. You tell Darren… Tell him I have his back. For whatever that’s worth.”
She looked back to Darren. He was still frowning, but who wouldn’t be after listening to this conversation? She smiled at him, knowing it probably looked a little forced, and ran her fingers through his hair again.
“Knowing we’re not alone…” she said. “It’s worth more than you think.”