“I’m okay, although my fall was considerably harder than yours.” John touched the wound on his head where it had smashed against the rocks. The blood flow had stopped, and a scab was forming. He took Sherrie’s hand and held it. “What does he want from you?”
“He claims I’m his long-lost half-sister and that we share the same shifter father—someone from your town apparently—and that together we have the power to control the shifters and make ourselves rich. I guess his happily-ever-after includes us living in a castle on a hill like an incestuous fairytale couple.” John smiled, glad to hear Sherrie hadn’t lost her snide sense of humor.
“To prove my loyalty I’m supposed to take your power and share it with him. I told him I don’t know how, but he doesn’t believe me seeing as we blasted a hole through rock to get out of the ravine.” Suddenly she let go of his hand and plunged against his body, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her face into his chest. “I’m scared. He plans to kill you one way or another because you’ve seen his face. Who is this guy? Do you know him?”
John quickly told her what he knew about Evan, which wasn’t much. “The guy’s an enigma. I never would’ve guessed he was filled with so much bottled-up rage. He just seemed like a nice, quiet guy.”
“That’s what they always say about serial killers.”
He stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head, grateful they were together even under the circumstances. “You tried to come after me. That’s how he caught you.”
“Well, it seemed pretty stupid to climb all the way to the top of the mountain and not meet the man we’d come to see. Now I know more than I did before. For example, it’s not easy for him to keep control over each of the shifters he’s draining. From the way he talks he’s more interested in making shifters suffer than he is in getting rich, but he has plans for that too. Some half-assed plan about making an earthquake to demonstrate his ability, then demanding money on threat of a worse tragedy. Guy’s clearly been watching too many comic book movies without noticing the bad guy always gets beaten.” John rubbed his hand up and down her back. She shifted on his lap and, despite everything, his cock hardened. The erotic connection between them was irresistible. “Maybe we should give the man what he wants.”
“Huh?” She sat up straight. “No way.”
“The three of us together generated enough power to take out a stone wall. Maybe we should try to build up power and attack Blake, instead of giving him control of the situation.” There was a long silence. He could hear her breathing, magnified in the dark, enclosed space.
“Do you think we can do it, without Grant?” she asked. “Or maybe I can… we can find him on the astral plane. I think I’m getting the hang of this out-of-body travel. Together we could join again and channel the energy better this time.”
“It’s worth a try. I’ve never had much of a psychic bent, but that’s changing fast. How do you do it—separate from your body?”
“Let’s start with a kiss.” Sherrie leaned in and found his lips in the dark. Hers were soft and moist and tasted slightly of herbal tea. At their touch, John instinctively closed his eyes and opened his mouth. He forgot his thirst and the throbbing pain in his head as he savored her tongue’s slow exploration of his mouth. His cock grew harder, and his need for her swelled, filling his mind and his senses.
Sliding his hand beneath her jacket and shirt, he touched her smooth skin and the bumps of her vertebrae. How he wished they could take time and do it right, somewhere other than in a shack or a cave shaft. He’d like to lay her down on smooth, clean sheets and kiss every inch of her body, slowly bringing her to the edge of orgasm again and again before letting her come. But this wasn’t the time or place for leisurely fucking. They were on a lovemaking mission which included that bastard Perron, if they could reach him. Energy buzzed between them, but it lacked the final element they needed to make it explode.
After several moments, Sherrie pulled away and whispered, “Now, see if you can be with me and separate from your body at the same time. Breathe deeply. Feel yourself lifting up. If you can shift into a wolf, I’m sure you can do this.”
John didn’t really want to. He was perfectly content with feeling her solid body in his arms, her breasts pressed against his chest and her hot tongue in his mouth. Nevertheless, he focused on his breathing and tried to separate consciousness from flesh. After a few seconds, he thought he did feel a difference, a lightness and awareness of being apart from his physical form. The strange sensation made him nervous, but Sherrie was with him in her essential form so he relaxed and went with it.