Shadows Strike(31)

“Yes. Joan says something to Jack—while they’re trying to find the treasure—that summarizes perfectly how I feel about you.”

“What does she say?”

Heather brushed her lips against his. “You’re the best time I’ve ever had, Ethan.”

His eyes flashed brighter seconds before his hand locked on the back of her head and brought her lips down to his for a crushing, pulse-spiking kiss.





Chapter Ten

Heat coursed through Ethan¸ replacing the cold left behind in the wake of his headache. His body hardened. His heart raced, slamming against his ribs so hard he wouldn’t be surprised if Heather could feel it. Rolling her beneath him, he devoured her, his tongue diving between her lips to stroke and tease and tempt. Damn, she tasted good.

He clutched her tighter, slid a thigh between hers as he drew a hand over her hair, her slender, vulnerable neck, and down to clasp a full breast. So perfect.

She moaned as he kneaded the soft flesh and drew a thumb across the hardened peak that pressed against the fabrics of her shirt and bra.

He heard Lisette murmur something about earbuds upstairs seconds before music rose on the morning. Music he knew she played loud enough to drown out Ethan and Heather’s lovemaking. Lisette had never soundproofed her bedrooms. She had never felt the need to. So assaulting her sensitive ears with loud music was the only way she could afford them privacy.

Zach, on the other hand, lacked that luxury. He had to remain on guard at all times. If he followed Lisette’s example, he wouldn’t hear it if Gershom teleported down to this bedroom and attacked or did whatever the hell else he had in mind.

It really chapped Ethan’s ass that Zach would hear them. Would hear every moan and groan and sigh of ecstasy. But Heather was right. Both of them had nearly died in the past forty-eight hours. They had no idea how much time they would have together, and didn’t have the luxury of waiting until they had complete privacy.

Ethan just hoped Zach would never give Heather any indication that he had heard them.

Heather buried her fingers in Ethan’s hair, slid a leg up over his hip.

“Let’s get these clothes off,” he murmured, frustrated by the material that separated them.

“Okay.” Sitting up, she reached for his shirt and tugged it up out of his pants.

Ethan sat up and raised his arms to help her pull it over his head.

She tossed the shirt aside, then drank him in with a heated gaze. “Holy crap, you’re gorgeous,” she whispered, her eyes burning with need.

Need and something else. Unease?

“What’s wrong?” Ethan asked, touching her face. “Have you changed your mind?”





Heather studied every inch of Ethan’s body. His broad shoulders. The heavy muscles of his chest and arms and abs. So perfect. And she was anything but.

She met his glowing gaze, “No. It’s just . . .”

He raised his eyebrows and sent her an encouraging smile. “What?”

Heather loosed a miserable sigh and mentally cursed every man she had ever dated. “You’re perfect,” she declared, and cringed when it emerged almost as an accusation.

He grinned. “And you’re not?”

“No, I’m not,” she said. “Trust me when I say I’m aware of every single one of my flaws because my damned telepathy allowed me to hear past boyfriends mentally catalog them.”

All levity fled his handsome, perfect features. “I don’t understand. What flaws? I don’t see any.”

“You will when I’m naked,” she muttered, cursing the insecurity instilled in her by the men of her past.

He considered her thoughtfully. “How attached are you to those clothes?”

Heather blinked. “Not very. Why?”

He blurred.

Heather felt a tug and looked down. Her mouth fell open. “Holy crap!” She was completely naked.

Ethan laughed. “One of the perks of being immortal.”

She reached for the covers.

Ethan captured her hand and brought it to his lips, stopping her. “Don’t. Let me see you.”

She swallowed. “What about you? You’re still semi-clothed.”

Rolling off the bed, he stood beside it, blurred, then stilled, as bare as she was.

Wow. Ethan could easily grace the pages of one of those hunky guy calendars. His body was perfectly sculpted, thick with muscle, and very aroused.

She swallowed.

“Now,” he said, his voice lowering to a purr as he knelt on the bed beside her, “let me see if I can find all of these flaws the imbeciles you dated in the past thought they saw. Lie back.”

Heather did as ordered, her heart pounding in her chest.

Ethan clasped one of her hands and brought it to his lips to kiss her palm. A little jolt of desire shot through her when he nipped it with his teeth, then soothed it with his tongue. Releasing her hand, he slid his fingers up her arm. Every inch of flesh he touched tingled, making her burn with renewed passion. Over her shoulder. Across her collarbone. And down.

Her breath caught when he closed his large hand over her breast.

“Beautiful,” he proclaimed in a hoarse whisper, then tweaked the sensitive tip with fingers and thumb.

Heat pooled low in her belly. She shifted her legs restlessly as the ache within her grew.

Lowering his head, Ethan claimed her other breast with his lips, stroking and sucking and laving until she forgot all of her insecurities.

Heather buried her fingers in his hair, wanting more.

But he wasn’t finished exploring. Abandoning her breasts, Ethan kissed a path down her stomach, dipped his tongue into her navel, then continued lower.

Heather gripped the covers when he urged her legs apart, settled himself between them, then dipped his head. A low moan escaped her at the first brush of his tongue against her clit. Fiery sensation sliced through her as he closed his lips around the sensitive bud, that talented tongue of his flicking and stroking. Driving the need higher. Making her arch up against him, call his name, and urge him on.

He slipped a long finger inside her.

She bit her lip. So good.

A second finger joined the first.

She panted as he stroked her . . . with his fingers . . . his mouth . . . that wicked, wicked tongue. Feeding the need. Taking her higher and higher until she threw back her head and cried out as she came. Hard. The ripples of pleasure going on and on, prolonged by Ethan’s talented mouth and fingers.

At last, Heather collapsed against the sheets.

Ethan kissed his way back up her body and rose above her as she fought to catch her breath. “Absolutely perfect,” he growled. His eyes glowed brighter than she had ever seen them, and fangs peeked out from between his lips.

Heather believed him.

Clasping his face in her hands, she drew him down to her, kissed those soft lips, and said one word. “More.”





Ethan’s pulse pounded in his ears. With Heather’s taste still on his tongue, her beautiful body beneath him, and her hands on his face, he trembled with the need to fulfill her request.

More, she’d said. Ethan wanted more himself.

She caressed a path down his neck to his chest. When she found his nipples with her fingers and delivered sharp pinches, he groaned. Shit, he needed to be inside her.

As though she had heard his thoughts, she slid a hand down his stomach, pausing to play with the muscles there, then lower still and curled her fingers around his hard, aching cock. “I want you inside me. Now.”

She didn’t have to say it twice.

As soon as she guided the sensitive crown to her entrance, Ethan plunged inside.

So warm and tight and wet, squeezing him with such delicious pressure.

She sucked in a breath.

Ethan raised his head, afraid he’d hurt her. “Heather?”

Her eyes met his, full of smoky desire. “So good,” she moaned. Sliding her arms around his back, she gripped his ass with both hands and urged him on.

He found a smile and withdrew almost to the tip. “Want more?”

“Hell yes.”

Ethan plunged inside, drew back, and plunged inside again. Driving into her tight, warm body. Finding just the right angle to give her the most pleasure until she cried out with every thrust, her fingernails digging into his ass. Ethan’s own pleasure mounted as she threw her head back, her hips rising to meet him again and again with surprising force until she stiffened and cried out with another orgasm. Her body clamped down around him, pulsing and squeezing and sending him over the edge.

Ethan stiffened above her and shouted with his own release as pleasure seared him, suffusing every muscle and setting his blood afire.

Breathing hard, he rolled them to their sides and held her close, their bodies still joined.

Her warm sheath continued to tighten and relax around his cock as little aftershocks struck her.

He leaned back just enough to see her face.

Her pretty features damp and flushed with satisfaction, she gave him a tender smile that seemed to burrow its way straight to his heart, affecting him even more deeply than the momentous lovemaking they had just shared.

Ethan pressed a light kiss to her lips, then urged her to snuggle against him.

His breath calming, he refused to think about the future and the dangers it might bring. Instead, he allowed himself to absorb the peace she brought him and let it lure him into sleep.





Zach woke when Lisette rolled away and slipped from the bed. He had been resting lightly all day, waking at the faintest sound or slightest movement. Through cracked lids, he watched her don a robe, belt it, then leave the room and head down the hallway.