Storm: The Empire Chronicles (10 page)

“Nice.”

“And she is roommates with Hailey.”

“Uh, why doesn’t she live with me?”

“I already told you, it takes a while for you to win her back.”

“Wonderful.” And there was the sarcasm again.

“Want to complain, or should we get going?” I nodded toward the house.

“Let’s get going.”

We went around front. The driveway was empty. The house was silent, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t sleeping somewhere deep inside.

“How stalker would it be to break in and check on her?” There was some mild hesitation in his voice. Normally he’d do whatever it was he wanted without worrying about how it would be perceived.

“We won’t know for sure if she’s there otherwise, but breaking in does cross a line.”

“You don’t sense anyone or anything, do you?” There was worry on his face.

“No.”

“Do you want to wait here until morning?” I knew he would and should say yes, but then I’d be in a bind. I didn’t want to abandon him, but I needed to get back to Vera.

“Yes. I’ll be fine.”

“I already told you that—“

“Fine. I have an idea.” He pulled out his phone. “I’ll call Owen.”

“You don’t need to do that.”

“You saying we can’t trust him?”

“We can.” He was one of the few people we could, but I’d been hoping to leave him out of this.

“What if he leaves a trail when he heads up here?”

“Didn’t the witch pretty much tell you to come here? She knows where you are.”

“My dad doesn’t.” And he was the last person we needed.

“I still don’t understand that.”

“Just know you can’t trust him.”

He nodded. “Ok, I’ll get Owen up here without giving away any details. I’ll wait here. Go see your girl.” He typed something into his phone, and I assumed he was texting Owen.

“If you don’t show up in a few hours, I’m coming back.” I knew I sounded overprotective, but he didn’t understand how dangerous things were.

“Is that a threat or a promise?”

“Shut up.”

“You shut up and leave. Owen’s on his way here. He can babysit.”

“You know that’s not what I’m—”

“Stop while you’re ahead. I get it,” he interrupted. “Go see Vera.”

“I’m going to protect her.”

“Keep telling yourself that.” He laughed.

“See you.” I took off and headed back to Vera. Pathetic or not, I missed her already.

I
returned
from checking out Allie’s house to find Vera sitting on the couch. I heard the light sound of talking from the kitchen.

“Let’s sit outside.” Vera tugged on my arm as soon as I sat down beside her.

She didn’t need to say it twice. I nodded absently and let her lead me out onto the back deck.

“It’s pretty out here.” I glanced out into the forest that gave her home privacy from the nearest neighbors.

“It is. I never understood why they kept the trees so dense in the yard.” She took a seat on an outdoor couch. “I get it now.”

“Were you always unhappy?” I took a seat next to her. I was treading in dangerous water with my question but I needed to ask it anyway. Her eyes were so full of sadness, and it hurt me far more deeply than most things did.

“No. I had a good childhood. Casey and I had fun.”

“When did things change?” I wondered when the sadness in her eyes showed up, and when it disappeared, or at least faded.

“When I was fifteen.”

“You needed to shift.” Holding back the change wasn’t good for a shifter.

“That was a big part of it.”

“They were trying to protect you.” I nodded toward the house where her family waited. I understood the desire to protect your family, but sometimes trying to protect someone causes the most harm.

“I’m aware. I accept that, but it’s still hard to come back here.”

“Casey’s safe.” She thought we were crazy, but that was another story.

“She is.” Vera rested her head on my arm. “That’s a huge relief, although I’m not sure what to do now that we found her.”

“You mean beyond going to Norco? Specifically about Casey?”

“Yes. If we can’t erase this veil…”

“We have to erase it. Things have gotten so out of control, I’m not sure we can continue in it.” Between messing up things with Allie and Levi, and Tiffany showing up, I was beginning to doubt we could do anything with this veil.

“We might not have a choice.”

“We will.” I feigned optimism I didn’t really feel.

“How do you see any of this working? We’re going to grab Allie and run?”

“I’ll come up with a plan.” I just had to think of one.

“But then what? We can’t bring everyone to Norco.”

“Levi could help us with Norco.” They had to let him on the Island. I wasn’t looking forward to seeing Gareth’s reaction to Levi, but we didn’t have much of a choice. Hopefully we’d erase the veil, and he’d never remember it.

“Norco could help us with Allie.”

“You mean erase what Tiffany did?” I was still pissed at myself for letting that happen. I should have protected her.

“Exactly. Hopefully then she can fall for Levi and make everything right.”

“But her thing with Levi was anything but love at first sight.” It had been much more complicated. And dangerous. Levi had tricked her, and she’d ended up with the cougars. He’d also had to re-do everything in order to save her life. That felt like a lifetime away. Hopefully we wouldn’t be reliving it.

“Still, it will be easier if she isn’t pining over Toby.”

“True. Very True.” Getting her feelings for Toby back in line would help.

“Do you feel different than you did?” She brushed her lips against the sensitive skin of my neck.

“Well, my shifted form is normal.”

“That’s not what I mean.” She lifted her head and locked eyes with mine.

“Are you asking me whether I feel differently about you?” I ran my fingers through her long brown hair.

She nodded, her stare unflinching.

“No. My physical self is different, but my mental side isn’t.”

“But feelings aren’t mental.”

“They’re emotional… and that’s the same.” Then I thought of something. “Why are you asking? Are your feelings different?” I hadn’t considered that. Not that it would matter much unless we got stuck…

“They’re the same for me, but you’ve been cracking less sexual innuendos than usual.”

I laughed. “I’m in over my head.”

“So am I. We’re in this together.”

“We are.” I ran my hand down her arm, eliciting goosebumps in the process. The night was warm, so it was from my touch and not the cold.

“Let’s find out if the physical feelings are different.” She leaned over and pressed her lips against mine.

I didn’t hesitate before responding and taking control. I deepened the kiss, pushing for access to her mouth. The small taste she was giving me wasn’t enough.

She moved onto my lap, straddling me while we continued the kiss. I couldn’t get enough of her taste. I slipped my hand underneath the bottom of her tank top, needing to feel her skin. I wanted more. I needed more. Just as all sense of control left me, I remembered where we were and broke the kiss.

“Everyone’s safe inside.” Her eyes were heated.

“I know, but your parents are in there. They hate me already in this veil. I don’t feel like having your dad find us out here.”

“Come with me.” She crawled off my lap and tugged down on her tank top.

“Where are we going?” My head was still foggy from the intensity of the kiss.

“Upstairs.”

“You want to sneak me into your bedroom?” I laughed.

“I need you. You need me. We’re both adults. I don’t see why there’s a problem.”

“You did select me as your mate.” I grinned.

“Exactly.” She watched me impatiently.

“You want me to fly you up there or something?”

“Ideally. I know how to climb it, but you know how much I love those wings of yours.”

I pulled off my t-shirt and released my wings. “Which room is yours?”

“You mean you didn’t figure that out in all your research?” she teased.

“No… it wasn’t as essential to your intel.”

“It should have been.”

“But you weren’t sleeping in there anymore…” If she had been I would have known.

“I’m not going to be sleeping in there tonight, but it’s still important.”

“Which room?” It was my turn to be impatient. I could still taste her on my tongue, and I wanted more.

“That one.” She pointed to the highest windows. “It’s a converted attic.”

“Perfect.”

She laughed. “You’re afraid of Chris.”

“Not afraid as much as I’d like to avoid him.”

“We’ll avoid him.”

I wrapped my arms around her waist and took off, landing on the roof right outside her window. I pushed open the sliding glass pane, and we moved inside. I closed the window behind us.

I turned around to find her completely naked. I instantly hardened. “Didn’t want to wait for me to do that?”

She unbuttoned my jeans and pulled them down. She followed with my boxers. “I’m in a hurry.”

“Really?” I ran my hands down her arms, forcing myself to stay in control. I wanted her so badly it hurt.

“And hell that’s hot.”

“What?”

“That.” She pointed at me, and I realized I hadn’t retracted my wings.

“You really like them?”

“I love them.” She ran her hands over my wings. I closed my eyes, enjoying the surprisingly intimate feel. There was something sexually charged about the touch, and coupled with the lack of clothes we were wearing made it even more intense.

“Please keep them out,” she whispered against my neck as she continued to stroke my wing. Her other hand moved down between our bodies. She took me in her hand.

I groaned, more turned on than I’d ever been in my life. The dual sensations of her hands were driving me wild. I pulled myself together and slipped my own hand between us.

She moaned, as I slipped two fingers inside and returned the pleasure she was giving me. I could tell she was struggling to stay standing, but so was I.

“I need you.” She leaned her head back, and my lips attacked her neck, quickly finding her most sensitive spot.

She moaned again, and I couldn’t make her wait. I picked her up and laid her down on her bed after pulling back the covers.

She looked up at me with eyes full of want.

I didn’t want to make her wait a moment more, but even in my transformed state I had to be smart. I reluctantly left the bed long enough to retrieve my wallet and pull out a condom before returning to her.

I lowered my head to one of her breasts, teasing her nipple while my hand slid back down between her legs.

She closed her eyes and relaxed back into her bed. “Jared,” She moaned my name softly.

I moved over her, unsure of how much longer I could wait.

“I’m ready for you.” She opened her eyes and stared into mine.

“I’m ready for you.” I thrust into her and was hit by a wave of ecstasy. Our bodies melded together as I moved inside her.

“More,” she demanded, digging her nails into my back beside my wings.

I responded by moving harder and faster. I was out of control, lost in a haze of adrenalin and pleasure as I buried myself inside of her.

She thrust her body up against mine, urging me to move inside deeper than I thought possible. She stroked my wing again, setting off a new blaze of fire. I moved off her, staying inside her as I pulled her to the edge of the bed. I needed better access and more control as I continued to give her exactly what both of us needed.

She gasped as I thrust harder now that I was standing. I knew my eyes were completely black, and I could barely feel my human side. My energy was endless, and so was hers as she held onto my hips urging me on.

She moaned and yelled out, but I couldn’t let her release stop me yet. I wanted more. I needed more. I turned us again. Sitting down on the bed and letting her straddle me. She grinned, clearly enjoying the new position. Her arms wrapped around me, as she took over this time. She pushed me down on the bed, riding me harder and harder. Finally I reached for my human side and embraced my release. It was euphoria, pure and simple.

“Fuck.” She remained on top of me as I lay there panting, trying to make sense of the pleasure we’d felt. I retracted my wings, needing to fully regain my human side before we did anything more.

“That’s one way to describe it, but it was more than that.”

She smiled. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

“I do.” I reached up and cupped her breasts.

“The lower half of my body feels numb.”

“Did I hurt you?” I hadn’t even thought of it. She’d been as rough as I had been. It was one of the best parts of being with another shifter. I didn’t have to worry.

“Not at all. I’d be more concerned I hurt you.”

I laughed. “No. Not in the slightest.”

“Good.” She ran her hand over the edge of my wing. “You’re going to be keeping those out every time now.”

“Even in my new form if we get out of here? That might be kind of crazy.” That form was bigger and stronger in every way.

“Especially in your new form.” She leaned over me and brushed her lips against mine. “And don’t forget you owe me flying sex.”

“We’re going to have to do that in a much less populated area.” Sometimes Vera was too much. It was impossible to know if she was joking or not.

She laughed. “Afraid of traumatizing people?”

“Something like that.”

“I don’t want to get dressed.”

“You’d have to get off of me before you did that.”

“You don’t want me to get off of you?”

“Nope.” I grinned. “I’d like to have you here all day.”

“I can tell.” She raised an eyebrow.

“I guess it’s impossible to hide that when I’m still inside you.”

“What I don’t understand is why you aren’t doing anything about it.”

“You okay with me keeping my wings in? I think it’s going to get too intense if we do that twice in a row.”

“I’m okay with it this time.”

“Good.” I rolled her over and moved above her. “And this is why I’m glad I used to carry multiple condoms with me.”

“Just so you know, you should start carrying multiple again.”

“Thanks for the tip.” I lowered my mouth to her breast, ready to enjoy her in my human form this time.