The Viper's Nest (Kit Davenport #4)(59)

The biker sped up, getting closer and aiming his gun at us, so I threw my fire at him. It missed, but so did he. His shot smacked into a tree by the side of the road, sending a shower of wood chips flying out as we sped past it at breakneck speed. Frustration clenched my jaw tight, but I forced myself to remain calm.

Patience, Kit. Deep breaths. Try again.

Holding my palm out and slightly behind Cole—so as not to blind him—I formed another fireball and bided my time. Waiting. My magic was not limitless, so it wasn’t in my best interest to be lobbing magic off left, right, and center and burning out before dealing with this fuckwit following us.

Rounding a corner, he came close once more, and I threw my fire, missing him again.

This guy had the reflexes of, well, of a dragon.

Deep breath. Try again. My fire reformed, and my side ached.

This time when the biker came close, I waited just a little longer. He was aiming his gun at us, but I wanted him closer to ensure I’d hit him this time.

The man squeezed off a shot right at the same moment that my fireball hit him, engulfing him in flames and incinerating him before his bike skidded to a stop against a tree beside the road.

Unfortunately, he had pretty good aim, and his shot burrowed a deep gash in my outer thigh where it was wrapped around Cole’s waist.

“Shit,” I hissed, feeling the burning pain and tensing up.

“Damn it, Vixen,” Cole growled, glancing down and seeing the bright red of my blood against the pale white of my skin.

“It wasn’t intentional,” I sulked, wrapping my arms around him to hold on, seeing as our pursuers were handled.

“Let me get a little further into the hills before we stop,” Cole told me, pressing a quick kiss to my neck, “just in case there was anyone else following.”

“Got it,” I nodded, clinging to his front like a spider monkey. Sitting on the front of a bike was far from comfortable, but given I was halfway into Cole’s lap, it wasn’t the worst place in the world to be. “It was just a flesh wound, anyway. I’ll be healed by the time we stop.”

“Just a flesh wound,” Cole snorted, not easing off his speed at all as we tore through the dark and winding roads which would carry us further into the hills and away from innocent bystanders.

We continued for a few minutes more before Cole finally slowed and then pulled into a little lookout. There was one other car parked in there, but as we turned off the road, they were just leaving, which meant we had total privacy.

Cole parked the bike overlooking the twinkling city lights and killed the engine before seizing my face between his huge hands and kissing me like I was oxygen and he was drowning.

“That was too close, Vixen,” he rumbled when he eventually freed me, and I leaned my forehead against his. Panting, I licked my lips and tried to make my brain focus on his words.

“Wasn’t close at all, Cutie,” I teased. “I had that totally under control.”

Liar, liar pants on fire, Kit.

My heart rate was thundering a million miles an hour, and I was lightheaded—from the magic used or from the adrenaline of the chase, I wasn’t totally sure. What I did know was that the magic zapping between Cole and I wherever our skin touched was pure ecstasy.

“Vixen,” he warned, as my hands trailed under his leather jacket and pushed it down off his shoulders. “We don’t know for sure how safe it is out here. We should get back to the rendezvous point before—”

“Can’t,” I sighed, teasing my hands under his dark gray T-shirt and pulling it off him without any resistance. “I used too much magic just now. I can’t relocate us until I refuel.”

The plan, worked out with the guys in advance, was that if something like this happened and we ended up separated, then I would use the same Ink Magic spell I’d accidentally performed on our way to the lake house in order to relocate us to a meeting point. Trouble was, as I’d learned in practice with Austin, relocating two people and a motorbike took a whole lot of juice. Juice I just didn’t have enough of left.

“How many times did you get shot?” Cole scowled at me, and I shrugged.

“Three. I think. But the one in my back was pretty deep, so it took a bit out of me.” I blinked up at him with my most innocent expression. “So I just need a tiny bit of a recharge before we can relocate.”

Cole cast a glance around us, checking that we were, indeed, alone, before cursing under his breath. “You, Vixen, are going to be the death of me, you know that?”

I snorted a laugh. “Except you’re immortal now.”

“Still,” he murmured running his broad hands down my sides until he reached the skirt of my dress, bunched up around my waist. “I might die of stress.”

Chuckling at his melodrama, I tugged his lips back to mine. Our mouths slanted together, and he kissed me deeply, his tongue caressing and tangling with mine in such a possessive way that it sent ripples of pleasure shooting through me.

Cole’s hands pushed my dress up further, exposing my black lace thong and trailing his fingers over the thin fabric. It wasn’t worth breaking our kiss to tell him not to tear my panties again; he was going to do it regardless. Instead, I just hitched a gasp as the fabric tore from my body, then moaned as his rough fingers met my heated flesh.

“Shit yes,” I groaned, arching my hips forward to meet his hand as he circled my clit with his thumb and sank two fingers deep inside me.