Pleasures of the Night(78)

Her hands slid up his back and into the thick, silky hair at the nape of his neck. She snuggled into him, and then rose to her tiptoes so she could press loving kisses along his jaw line on the way to his throat. As her tongue licked across his pulse, he groaned and trembled. “Lyssa,” he breathed, cutting off her air with the strength of his embrace.

“I was so worried.”



“I’m terrified. This is the last place I want you to be.”

She rubbed up against him, and he hugged her tighter, his hands wandering possessively over her back and hips.

“Captain.”

Lifting his head, Aidan gave a nod to the bowing lieutenant. “Thank you.”

“Well,” Philip began dryly, “our motives aren’t entirely altruistic. We’re going to need some leadership in exile.”

“Who’s with you?”

Philip rattled off a list of names.

“I take it this is solely a rescue mission?” Aidan set her away from him, his focus now fully on the situation.

“For the moment. I spent some time in the Temple today.”

“In the control room?”

Nodding, Philip said, “I think most of what we need is in there. The Elders have hidden so much from us. Did you know it’s possible to move about in her world through a Dreamer?”

“Yes. I knew that.”

“And it’s possible to traverse planes freely. Did you know that, too?”

“Yes.”

“So you can come back!” Lyssa cried, the flood of hope she felt making her dizzy.

Aidan shook his head. “I don’t think it’s safe to be with you, and until I can be certain that it is…” He inhaled sharply and looked away.

Lyssa bit the inside of her cheek to keep from arguing, fighting, and venting her frustration with the unfairness of it all. She and Aidan had never done anything in their lives to deserve this. All this time they’d been waiting for each other, and now they would be parted for reasons having nothing to do with their own actions.

For a long moment, Aidan stood unmoving, his stillness fraught with an underlying tension, as if he was steeling himself for some onerous task ahead. Goose bumps swept across Lyssa’s skin even though she wasn’t cold.

“Why are you dawdling, Cross?” Connor boomed, jogging into the room. His gaze moved to the glass tube and then back to Aidan. “You’re not fuzzy anymore. And you’re out of your slipstream. I thought only she could do that.”

“Only she can. I’m not dreaming. I’m here.”

“What?”

“The Elders retrieved me,” Aidan explained grimly. “All of me.”

“Bullshit.” Connor snorted. “If they could create closable fissures, we would have moved into the mortal realm long ago and left the Nightmares here.”

“There’s a hell of a lot we don’t know. Like these tubes. They’re filled with Elders-in-training.”

“What?” Philip turned away from the console. “No way.”

Lyssa frowned, remembering the men she had seen in the other rooms. They didn’t look anything like the Elders in the gray robes.

“I want Lyssa out of here,” Aidan said roughly. “Take her back.”

“No!” She reached for his arm, which tensed to rock-hardness beneath her fingertips.

He looked down at her with icy blue eyes. “To my knowledge, your life is in danger outside of your slipstream. You shouldn’t have risked yourself for me.”

“But you can risk yourself for me?”

Aidan said nothing, his gorgeous face set in tight, hard lines and his beautiful eyes—the ones that had looked at her with such love a moment ago—were now emotionless. Ancient. “I need you alive, Lyssa. More than I need you with me.”

Connor handed his sword to Aidan, then grabbed her around the waist and lifted her off her feet.

As they moved toward the doorway, Lyssa called out in confusion.

“Don’t make this more difficult than it already is.” He looked away, his jaw tight and nostrils flaring. “Give me something to work with, Wager.”

Connor stepped out of the room. “Don’t take it personally,” he murmured, his lips to her ear. “He has to shut off his emotions or he’ll never be able to think of the next move.”

Using that impossibly long-legged stride of his, Connor quickly ate up the distance to the cavern. There she saw the Elders restrained in the corner, some injured, others tossing out dire warnings of retribution. Aidan’s men appeared unnerved by the situation, but they kept the tips of their swords aimed at the huddle and didn’t waver.

At the console, one man worked with rapid keystrokes. He looked up as Connor stepped into the space. “Captain, can you take a look at this?”