Night Whispers: ShadowLands, Book 1 (32 page)

She came back inside, carrying a plate of meat. “Erik brought this up for us.”

“Well. That’s nice of him.”
No more resentment.
His stomach rumbled at the sight of real food, even knowing that it had been hopping in a field this morning. Sometimes necessities came before squeamishness.

“We should probably go help Erik ready the house after we eat.”

“Ready it?”

“Push furniture in front of the doors, maybe. We can string up some makeshift alarms, so we can hear anyone coming. Of course, we’ll take shifts standing guard.”

The preparations for the upcoming night sounded exhausting. He’d done a lot more than moving around furniture in the past couple of days, but suddenly he felt like everything had cumulated to take all the energy out of his muscles.

She sat next to him on the bed, the plate cradled in her lap. James sat up and accepted a piece of meat.

Her nipples were visible through the thin cotton of her tank top. Oh look at that. Energy returned.

“I feel guilty eating when Carrie can’t.”

That thought was distasteful to him as well. “We have to keep our strength up. I’m betting you’ve been living on bars the way I’ve been living on caffeine, haven’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“That won’t help anyone.”

“True. I’m just wishing she would recover as fast as I did.”

If only he could contact Hema and get her advice. He figured with two different systems, two different drugs, and the added complication of the bite Carrie had sustained, nothing would be comparable between her and Jules.

They ate quickly, both of them hungrier than they had been aware of. The meat was tender and roasted perfectly.

When his stomach was settled and full, he spoke. “Are you sore?”

“What?” Jules wiped her fingers on the napkin Erik had provided.

James did the same. “Are you sore?”

“I heard you. Are you talking about my…?”

“I was kind of enthusiastic.”

“You were fine.” Jules placed the plate on the bedside table. He was delighted to see a hot flush on her cheeks. His normally unflappable woman was flapped.

He leaned in and licked her ear, and she shivered. “I think you’re trying to seduce me, James.”

“You’d be thinking right.”

“We shouldn’t.”

“Quick. We’ll do it quick.”

She was unresisting when he turned her in his arms and kissed her. After a beat she returned his kisses.

“You didn’t answer me,” he murmured against her lips. “Do you hurt?”

“A little.”

Jules might as well have revealed he beat women in his sleep. He looked that devastated. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s no big deal.” She kissed him again to take his mind off the worry.

“Let me make it up to you.”

Oooh. How the hell did one even make that sort of thing up anyway? She could give him a few moments of their precious time to discover the answer to that. It was the least she could do.

He bore her down on the bed, a determined glint in his eye. “Don’t worry, darling, this’ll only take a minute.” He pulled her jeans and panties down until they were at her ankles, which effectively hobbled her.

He stopped and studied her body. “You have a tattoo. How did I miss that before?”

“You were looking at other things.”

His fingers traced the design at her hip. “Does it mean something?”

Jules rose up on her elbows and glanced at the tat. “I wasn’t really into the whole ink scene, but my girls were, so I felt the pressure. Told the artist I liked knives and I wanted something small.” The two crossed daggers had grown on her. She rarely remembered she had the thing.

James lowered his head and pressed a kiss on the mark. Her body heated from seeing his head so close to her skin. “I want to lick it.”

Jules inhaled as he did just that. Hell, if he kept this up, she’d never forget she carried the mark.

He raised his head from her tattoo and scooted lower, staring at her pussy. She wasn’t a very modest woman, but his rapt attention made her squirm. “I’m waiting.”

“Hang on.” He used two fingers and pushed her open. Then he leaned forward and inhaled.

“You haven’t made much up to me yet, Bennett.”

“I’m savoring, woman. Let me.”

She felt the touch of his hot breath first. And then finally, finally, the tip of his tongue flicked out. He followed that brief foray with another and another, until his mouth was buried in her center, his lips and tongue working together to create a kind of nirvana.

“It may have been a while for you as far as sex goes, but your technique is excellent,” she gasped. His nose rubbed against her clit as his stiff tongue penetrated her.

His laugh vibrated against the lips of her sex. “I suppose it’s like riding a bicycle. Plus, I read a lot—”

With a strong push of her hand, she had his mouth back where she needed it. She rode out the waves of sexual satisfaction with his lips fused to her most intimate part.

When it was over, he tenderly readjusted her clothes and kissed her neck and mouth. As his tongue rubbed against hers, she realized she could taste herself. She pulled away, happy to return the favor. “Do you want me to…?”

“No. I’ll be okay.” He winced as he readjusted his pants. “I think. That is…I don’t want you to feel like you have to.”

“Like you felt like you had to go down on me?”

“I enjoyed— Oh.” The light dawned. “Um, do you want to…?”

“Give you a blowjob? Yes, please.”

“In that case…” He attacked the buttons on his jeans.

She was still chuckling when she grasped his hard dick, but her amusement changed to lust the instant his breathing hitched and his body undulated. As if he’d never felt anything more wonderful than her hand.
How you touch me.

She stroked his cock, loving the contrast of the smooth skin covering steel flesh. Droplets of his precome were seeping from the slit at the top. His hand clenched in the sheets when she rubbed her palm over it, wetting the skin. “That’s— I like that.”

She stroked down to the base of his erection and back up, squeezing hard at the very tip. “This?”

Sweat had popped out on his upper lip. “Yeah.”

“You’ll like this more. Try not to make too much noise.” She lowered her head and engulfed the head of his cock in her mouth. His body bowed up, and a long, low groan left his lips.

She took him in as deep as she could, and then eased off, using her hand to work the rest of him. She felt his hand rest for a second in her hair, but he immediately removed it.

She raised her head. “You can grab my hair. I don’t mind.”

His eyes were unfocused, body taut. His cock, wet from her saliva and his own fluids, lay against his flat belly. “I didn’t think girls liked that sort of caveman move.”

“It can be kind of sexy. With a guy you trust. Plus, it tells me what you want.” She lowered her head and swiped the flat of her tongue against the head of his erection. “For instance, I’d like to know how you feel about this.” She scooted back so she could access his balls. She licked them. “Or this.” Traced the tender line between them, drew them into her mouth to suckle them. “Or this.” James emitted something which sounded very much like a whimper.

His fingers gripped her hair, powerful, but not painful. “All of that. I love all of that, but right now, I really need you to finish this.” He guided her back to his cock, and she obeyed, more than happy to turn him inside out however she could.

He set the pace. A little selfish, just the way she wanted him. His breathing came faster, until he was panting, his hips arching up to meet her mouth, forcing a deeper connection.

His hand tightened in her hair, and he attempted to pull her away. “Going to come.”

The warning was appreciated but unnecessary. She kept her mouth suctioned on his cock and took him deep enough for him to feel her throat muscles contract around him. With a strangled moan, he came for her. She swallowed the spurts of his semen, happy to take all of him.

She continued licking until his cock lay semi-erect. Only then did she raise her head to look down at him.

“That was…wow. Jules. Wow. When you…that thing you did with your…wow.” James’s eyes were glazed, his chest still rising and falling rapidly.

“Good?” Jules stroked his belly. The muscles there contracted at her touch.

“The best. The best thing
ever
.
Can we do it again?” He rose up on his elbows, regarding her with anticipation and a healthy dose of lust. “Not just the blowjob. All of it. I can do you, you can do me. Like a never-ending loop of awesomeness.”

She patted his hip and gave him a saucy wink. “Or next time, we can do each other. At the same time.”

His throat worked. He fell back on the bed, covering his eyes with his arm.

“Are you okay?”

“Sure. Don’t mind me. I just need to have a small heart attack right now.”

Chapter Eighteen

“Need a hand?”

James finished shoving the couch in front of the door and tried to control his breathing. Jules might have said he didn’t need to impress her, but that was no reason to huff and puff in front of her. “Nope. It’s all good.”

She quadruple-checked the lock on the front windows. “I wish we had had time and lumber to board these up.”

“It’s for one night, Jules.”

“Lots can happen in one night.”

“No doubt.” He left the couch and came over to slide his arm around her waist. She looked delightfully rumpled from their earlier encounter. “Are you still hungry? I have some fruit in my bags, or I could get you another energy bar.”

“No thanks. It’s almost dark. Let’s go upstairs.” She tugged at his hand.

They met Erik at the top of the stairs. He held an oil lamp. It filled the landing with a warm glow. “We should take shifts with Carrie.”

“I agree,” Jules said. “I’ll take the first shift.”

“I’ll help you.” James didn’t think he’d completely won Erik over yet, but the hybrid either trusted Jules enough to allow his presence near Carrie, or he was tired. Either way, without a word of protest, he disappeared into another bedroom. They entered Carrie’s room, and Jules crossed over to put her hand on the girl’s forehead. “I think her fever’s lower.”

“Great.” James pushed the large armchair closer to the window and pulled the curtain open enough for them to see out over the driveway and the main road in the distance. Once they turned the flashlight off, it would be dark within the house, which would lower their chances of being detected.

He sat in the chair and patted his lap when he could see that Jules had finished tending the girl. “Come sit.”

There was no hesitation in her step when she came to him, a fact which delighted him. After removing her knife and gun and placing it on the nightstand in easy reach, she sank down on his lap and curled her legs up so she was cradled in his arms. She flipped the flashlight off and placed it next to her weapons, leaving them in darkness.

She yawned and snuggled closer. “You smell good.”

“Thanks.”

They were silent for a long while. James tracked the progress of the moonlight across the wood floor. Jules’s breathing was deep, so deep he was startled when she spoke. “It’s kinda pretty here.”

He looked out at the moon-drenched prairie. “Yeah, it is.”

“Are there places in Pennsylvania like this?”

“It’s more hilly there. But there are scenic areas.” He paused, realizing that for the first time he actually felt a vague desire to be outdoors, if only to share the beauty of something new with Jules. She would like to see it now, when the leaves changed color.

“Does the air smell good?”

“I guess it does.” He thought back to the last time he’d smelled the air near his home. “I don’t think it smells bad. No one’s complained about that.”

“The air in Cali stinks. I hadn’t realized how bad it was until I left.”

“Makes sense. It got hit hard in the attacks.”

“Yeah.” She hesitated. “I’ve been thinking…maybe we should go to Raven when we leave here.”

That was a quick decision. James proceeded cautiously. “Really?”

“Yes. I know you said you’d go wherever I wanted…but there’s nothing left for me in California.”

He hugged her closer, knowing that part of the reason she felt that way now stemmed from finding Erik. Finding him, but not finding the man she’d lost long ago.

“I’d like to maybe take a bit of a break, if that’s okay, though.” The tiredness in her voice pained him. “From all of this chasing after people. Hunkering down for a while sounds nice.”

“Whatever you want.”

“Don’t like asking for a break.”

“Everyone needs one sometimes.”

“I’m kind of scared taking one will make it harder to get back to the front lines,” she whispered. “Like, what good am I if I’m not out there?”

Her bewilderment broke his heart. “There’s so much other stuff you can do. Do you think I’m useless because—”