Chasing Shadows(25)
Looking over at me, Mark said, “Oh, you’re gonna pay for that later.”
I grinned wickedly. “Why do you think I said it?”
*****
Back on the farm, Mark and I put the feed bags in the tack room of the barn. Juliette hadn’t returned with his truck yet, and since he hadn’t completed his check of the fences the day before, we saddled up Herugrim and Hadhafang and set out to ride around the perimeter of the property. Since we were walking at a leisurely pace it took about ninety minutes to complete the circuit; I was glad to see that there were no repairs needed any time soon. After our mounts were freed of their saddles and had rejoined their sons out in the pasture, the two of us started back toward the house.
Inside the barn, Mark startled me by grabbing me around the waist and spinning me around to kiss me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back, though I surprised even myself when I grabbed his hands to stop them pulling my shirt out of my jeans.
“Mark, what are you doing?” I said breathily as I stepped back.
He moved forward to grab hold of me again. “I want you,” he said simply, leaning down to kiss me.
I let him kiss me again, but only for so long. Somehow I had the presence of mind to push him away from me. “You want to make love in the barn?”
“Baby, I’d make love to you anywhere,” he replied, placing his hands firmly on my derriere and pulling me to him.
Desire flared through me. I knew that I wanted him, too, and was amazed that I was so ready for him yet again. When he brought his mouth to mine for another kiss, I let it linger on, probably longer than I should have. If I let it continue, I knew, I’d never be able to stop until we both had what we wanted.
“We should at least…go into the house…where there’s a nice…comfy bed,” I said when his mouth began to make its way along my jaw, my breath already coming in gasps. His lips continued their assault, moving down my neck now, his tongue darting out to lick me here and there. My grip on his upper arms tightened, and I squealed as he suddenly reached down and lifted me into his arms.
“But I want you now,” Mark told me, and kicked open the nearest stall.
Thank goodness there was clean hay.
*****
As I was preparing our lunch some time later, I found myself thanking God that Juliette had not returned while we were out in the barn—I had been quite vocal when exclaiming my pleasure, and Mark hadn’t exactly been shy about shouting his, either. I could not help but wonder how long this would—or even could—go on, this addictive, insane need for sex. And it was a need, I realized, not just a desire. No way simple desire led anyone to have as much sex as we’d already had.
Hell, just thinking about making love to Mark had little trills of desire fluttering in my belly.
Mark had gone into my office to check his email, and I was just about to call him to the kitchen to eat when there was a knock on the door. I walked into the living room warily, as I sensed it was a vampire that had come calling and was not sure who it could be. I wasn’t expecting Lochlan for another few hours.
But it was my brother on the other side of the door after all, and my face lit into a wide grin as I hurriedly moved aside so he could come in.
“Loch, what are you doing here at this time of day?” I asked.
He didn’t answer me. Lochlan’s eyes were darting around the room, and he was sniffing the air.
“Something’s different,” he said, walking around the room, still sniffing. When he came back to me, he leaned in close and took a deep whiff. “Are you wearing a new perfume?”
“Loch, I don’t wear perfume. You know that,” I said, a frown drawing my brows together before it dawned on me he was smelling Mark and Juliette. I swallowed hard.
Lochlan was peering at me closely, his eyes slightly narrowed, and then suddenly his face lit up. “Saphrona, you sly bloodsucker you!” he chided. “You’ve got a lover in the house, or have had one recently.”
I glanced toward the back of the house. “He’s, uh, still here,” I said slowly. “And Loch, there’s something you need to know about him, but I want something from you first.”
Lochlan was sniffing the air again. “Oh, bloody hell—is that shapeshifter I smell?” he asked, his faint Irish accent rolling off his tongue like music, a contrast to the slight sneer he now wore. When he looked at me he shook his head. “Honey, you can do better than some flea-bitten mongrel shapeshifter.”
“That flea-bitten mongrel shapeshifter would be my sister,” Mark snarled, suddenly appearing in the arched doorway to the kitchen.
Lochlan’s eyes and nostrils flared as he got his first full breath of Mark’s scent when the latter stepped further into the living room, and I could almost hear his mouth watering. I purposely stayed standing between them, praying I was not about to get into a fight with the one person in my family I still cared about.
“Well, well, well, my dear little sister,” Lochlan purred, his accent getting thicker with each word. “You’ve been holding out on me.”
“Mark, meet Lochlan Mackenna, my brother. Loch, this is Mark Singleton,” I said, catching his gaze as I added, “He’s my bondmate.”
Lochlan’s eyes widened even further, and though it was obviously with some effort, he tore his gaze from Mark and looked at me. “Are you serious? Your dream boat is this enticingly scented man?”
I nodded.
A grin slowly spread across his fine, pale features. “Well, Saphrona, that would certainly explain why you’re practically saturated with the smell of sex,” Lochlan remarked in a sly tone. “Been at each other almost non-stop from what I can tell. I suppose it also explains why he isn’t dead yet, as I’d have drained him dry by now. He smells so mouthwateringly delicious!”
Although I could feel a flush creeping its way up my neck, I refused to acknowledge his words. Lifting my head a little higher, I said, “He’s off limits, Loch.”
Lochlan closed his eyes for a moment and drew in another deep breath, holding it for several seconds before opening them again. “Damn…but then you have given up homo sapiens for barnyardus domesticus. What I wouldn’t give for but one taste—oh, you lucky sodding bitch, that you would pair-bond with perhaps the most delectable human I’ve smelled in all my three centuries! When did this happen?”
“Day before yesterday,” I replied. “After Vangie paid me a visit.”
I stepped forward to stand closer to my brother. “Lochlan, you have to promise me something.”
He waved off my words and turned away—probably to get some distance between Mark and himself. “Oh, don’t worry, Saphrona, I’m not going to drink from your bondmate. I would not go against your wishes in that manner, certainly you know that—although, I do admit that it is taking some strength of will to be this dedicated a brother. How can you stand being near him without tasting his blood?”
“She has,” Mark spoke up.
Lochlan turned back in surprise. “And yet you are still alive? Oh, sister, how marvelous—your willpower is much stronger than ever I realized. And how perfect is it that you have such strength to keep from killing the man you are bonded to. Well, I suppose that has something to do with it then, doesn’t it? Killing him would end up killing you.”
I barely restrained an exasperated groan. “Loch, try to get your mind off of food for a moment,” I said. “I need to tell you something, and I want your solemn promise that you won’t tell anyone.”
“Who cares if you’ve bonded? For that matter, Father will be pleased, although he’ll want the human turned so that the Ancients don’t think the Mackennas are breaking the law.”
“He’s not human,” I said.
Lochlan’s eyebrow rose. “Well he doesn’t smell like a shapeshifter, although that scent is still in the house,” he mused. “What the devil else could he possibly be, except…”
As realization dawned, my brother’s eyes once again widened to the size of dinner plates, and he took a step forward. I backed up three paces to stand directly in front of Mark with a hiss.
“Off limits,” I reminded him with a snarl. “If you have ever cared about me and my well-being, you will not touch him. And you have to promise me that you’re not going to tell anyone—and I mean anyone—that Mark is a dhunphyr. Promise me that.”
Lochlan licked his lips, his eyes still wide, his pupils dilated from increased thirst. I had to give him credit—although I could tell he very much wanted to go after Mark, he was restraining himself for my sake.
After a long, tense moment, Lochlan forced his gaze away from Mark and looked into my eyes. “I promise that no one will hear about it from me, love, but I don’t think you’re going to be able to keep this delectable morsel a secret for very long.”