Then she broke from that place inside her, losing track of time and place. Only aware of his orgasm as it hit, the sensation of his gentle nips on her mouth and chin as he came so very hard, his groans sounding like metal warping.
Time passed, but she had no idea how much. Minutes, hours, or days. Time had no meaning as long as she was safely in Toren's arms. And that’s where she ended up somehow after their mind-blowing love making. Snuggled in his possessive embrace in the bed unaware of anything but the steady beat of his strong heart and deep even breaths.
Until something made his body stiffen, interrupting the little forever. "It's time,” he whispered in her hear. “We can go and get Kassie now."
** ** **
Toren tried his best to convince his wife—how he loved that word—to stay behind while he went bring Kassie back to her. Even knowing his body suffered physical pain when he separated from her, a fact that gained momentum with every passing second—he had to try and convince her.
Of course she wouldn't hear of it. She actually threatened to beg Peggy into transporting her to the ranch if he refused to let her accompany him. The very thought of Samantha at Peggy's sometimes jealous and always unpredictable mercurial nature gave him chills. Peggy might do exactly as Samantha requested. But she also might flash her into the middle of a six-lane highway at rush hour or to the bottom of a river.
He let his head drop for an instant in a gesture of submission. "You win." He paused to give her a deep and lingering kiss, then flashed them out in a swirl of silvery particles.
The tool shed closest to the house seemed the best place to materialize without being seen. Once there, he paused a moment to probe the vicinity with his angelic senses on the lowest possible level. The method returned only the barest of information but was better than using his full abilities and giving the demons a big flashing arrow pointing to his location.
Samantha moved away from his side a little, prompting him to focus back on her.
"What are you doing?"
"Looking for a weapon. Something doesn't feel right."
Damn. He hadn't explained it to her. "If you need a weapon, just think it. I'm not entirely certain how it will work with you, but instinct or something like it will lead you." He returned his attention to their surroundings.
A single human female presence in the house projected terror in a tsunami of emotion that rolled into Toren with enough force to nearly knock him over. Kassie!
Other, less than friendly, psychic fingerprints lay all over the place while the sulfurous stench of demon permeated the air. A horse squealed and hooves rang against wood as a man cried out in pain. Sounded like someone had encountered Samantha's Glory.
The temptation to flash Samantha back to the hotel was nearly overpowering. One glimpse of the stern determination in her face convinced him not to raise the question. Fine.
The need to keep Samantha safe forced him to consider their options in advance rather than just wading in and letting the situation dictate his responses as he normally would. "We'll have to get to the house on foot."
She glanced up at him, eyes widening in surprise. "Why not just flash into the kitchen? No doubt that's where she is."
"Initiating a flash generates a good deal of angelic energy. Enough to paint a big neon sign inviting any demons in the area to the party. With just the two of us, we don't want that kind of attention."
Sam nodded and put a finger across her lips in a gesture for quiet, then pointed to the shed's door.
Toren stopped to listen, not bothering with angelic senses. A moist whuffle sound repeated several times around the edges of the door as some animal sniffed out their presence.
Toren followed the example and inhaled deeply through his nose, drawing in the beast's scent. A heavy layer of musk infused with the smell of carrion nearly hid the sulfurous odor that warned of demonic influence.
Damn. Whatever stood on the other side of that door was definitely a threat. Probably a big one.
Time to move before it multiplied.
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
Judging from the smell, the thing on the other side of the shed door was probably one of what the others had nicknamed monkey men, like the one he and Samantha had encountered torturing the steer. The memory of that thing shaped the next few seconds. Facing a few of them in combat didn't concern him overly much. The after action reports he'd seen from the others detailing hundreds, even thousands, of the creatures definitely gave him pause.
A stir in his spirit alerted him to Peggy’s presence. Relief swept through him. He’d never actually needed her assistance in battle, but she'd save him time, effort and skin on numerous occasions. At the moment, he deeply welcomed her presence to help him keep Samantha safe. He couldn’t be too careful with her.