September Moon (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #8)(35)

Abandoning the food on the counter, I stepped out onto the patio, drinking in the sunlight even though it burned my eyes. Blood tears welled up, but I blinked them away.

“Fuck that,” I muttered to myself, feeling betrayed by my emotions. I was trying so hard to downplay the severity of what lay ahead for me. It wasn’t working. Standing there in the sun, terror shook me. I couldn’t bear the thought of never again feeling its warmth.

As I walked through the backyard, I tugged off my clothing and let it fall to the ground. Then I unleashed the wolf, finding freedom when my four paws touched the yellowing grass.

Leaving Arys trapped inside the house was just another way of testing his limits. It would make him crazy.

This was what I needed right now. Vampires and demons couldn’t touch me in the forest while the sun reigned in the sky. Nature called my name, and I answered.

My destination was the small but active pond, teeming with tiny creatures living in and around it. It was my happy place. The only place I could go to find solace that didn’t involve making someone bleed. I ran at full speed to the forest behind my house. Weaving through trees, bounding over fallen logs, and listening to the constant chatter of birds overhead, I was home.

I kept expecting Arys to touch my mind, to beckon me back to the house. He didn’t. My heart pained at our constant fighting. We needed to maintain a united front. Somehow. It wasn’t going to be easy, but when was it ever? If we allowed ourselves to be torn apart before facing our greatest challenge, we would never be able to conquer it.

Being wolf was necessary for my sanity. It wouldn’t be long before the vampire within me was fully manifested. As much as I’d like to pretend I was ready for that, I knew I never would be.

I found a nice patch of shade beneath some trees and curled up beside the pond. For a long time I lay there, wishing the human thoughts away, watching the birds hop around beside the water.

Shaz did a good job of staying downwind. He lurked far enough away that I couldn’t smell him. I could feel him though.

I wasn’t mad. If anything, I was reassured. The sun was high in the sky when at last slumber tugged at my eyelids. I gave in to the pull, happy to be among nature. Without the wolf to keep me balanced, I would have gone off the deep end long ago.

So much was yet to come. And despite the power I possessed and the reputation I had earned, I was afraid.

* * * *

It was mid-afternoon when I padded up to the house. I felt better. Calm and ready to go forward.

Shaz was on the couch with a blanket, as if he’d been there all day when in fact I knew better. He couldn’t have been there more than fifteen minutes. Already he breathed deep, his chest rising and falling in the steady rhythm of sleep. Couldn’t say I blamed him. I was tired too.

I clutched my clothing to my chest and with silent steps, made my way upstairs. My chances of running into Jenner were slim. The sunlight, which bathed the stairwell through an upper hall window, prevented that. I could sense him at the end of the hall, in the guest room. He’d be trapped there until sundown.

Arys looked up expectantly when I entered the bedroom. Leaning against the headboard, he held a sketchpad in one hand and a pencil in the other. He was nude from the waist up. The blanket pooled in his lap, hiding what lay beneath.

“Feel any better?” he asked. There was no sign of the tightly wound vampire he’d been earlier. He too seemed to be calmer though his was a solemn calm.

“A little. I needed to clear my head after a long night. The run helped.” I tossed my clothes into the laundry basket in the corner and hit the shower.

I rushed through shampooing and conditioning my long blonde locks. It was easier said than done. Sleeping in the forest had been nice, but it wasn’t the deep slumber I needed. First, Arys and I needed to talk. I emerged feeling both refreshed and exhausted. After towel drying my hair, I slid onto the bed facing Arys.

With his sketchpad forgotten, his gaze traveled over my body. He lingered on my thighs, my breasts, and the pulse beating in my neck. Then he dragged his gaze to mine. Our eyes locked, and my breath caught. Every damn time. Arys had only to look at me with that fire smoldering in the depths of his dark blues, and I came undone.

I took the sketchpad from him and set it aside. A detailed sketch of the fountain at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas graced the page. It made me do a double take. I was continuously impressed by Arys’s artistic side.

I slipped beneath the blanket and straddled him. Grabbing both of his hands, I leaned in for a kiss. It was tender and warm despite the slight chill to his skin. I wondered when he’d last fed.

A spark became a flame as our light and dark powers danced together. I wanted so badly to lose myself in him right then and there. With great difficulty, I broke off the kiss and leaned back so I could peer into his eyes.

“I’m sorry about what went on downstairs earlier.” I stroked a hand down his face. “I was taking my frustrations out on you and Jenner. I shouldn’t have.”

“Don’t apologize. We both deserve a good ass kicking anyway.” Arys chuckled, a low, sexy sound that sent a rush of heat to my groin. “I just wish I could keep you safe. But I know that’s not possible. None of us are ever safe.”

He pulled me against him in a tight hug. I breathed in his scent of cologne and hair products, finding it comforting and more than a little enticing. Our bodies touched in all the right places. His skin was smooth beneath my fingers as I explored his body. My senses were ablaze.