Wild and Free (The Three #3)(133)

Yuri pressed the pads of his fingers deeper, bent his neck, and took her mouth, demanding and receiving access inside by gliding the tip of his tongue along the crease.

When he had her, she tasted better than he imagined—of honey, moonlight, and fear.

He ended the kiss moments after he started it, his cock already beginning to harden, opening his eyes to see hers closed, her lovely face dreamy, her breaths escalated, feeling her fingers clenched into his sweater at his back and her breasts pressed tight to his chest.

And his cock continued to harden.

“That, my sweet,” he whispered, “is why I didn’t kiss you.”

Slowly, her eyes opened and the dreamy was still there, as was the moonlight and fear.

Enchanting.

She didn’t move away and he knew why when she breathed, “That was the best kiss I’ve ever had.”

Unfortunately, in their current situation and as short as it was, he could say the same and he’d had vast amounts more experience than her.

“Do you want more?” he asked, knowing the answer. He could see it, feel it, and smell it.

“Absolutely,” she answered.

“Again, Aurora, that’s why I didn’t kiss you.”

Confusion glided into her features as she peered up at him. “I don’t understand.”

“A kiss like that leads to other things. We need to focus our minds elsewhere. Now, you need to be very good; leave me and go back to your mother. As arranged, I’ll join you in half an hour.”

“Why can’t you just take me to go get Mom and the others when it’s time to leave?”

He dipped closer and slid his hand at her jaw back into her hair, against her scalp, under her soft, thick bun.

He also pressed his now-swollen shaft into her belly.

“Because,” he whispered, watching her eyes widen, knowing he need say no more. “Now, go,” he ordered.

She studied his face for long moments before she nodded and said, “Okay, Yuri.”

As he loosened his arms, she pulled from them, and he felt a curious sensation of loss when she did. He ignored it and turned to watch her walk to the door.

When she had her hand on the knob, he called, “Aurora.”

She turned back to him, and finally, Yuri addressed the real reason she came to him.

“I die before you,” he vowed, but he wasn’t done. “And I do not die tonight.”

Her entire demeanor calmed right before his eyes, and as he watched it, he felt another curious sensation, this being an odd mixture of pleasure and relief.

He felt something else curious (and wonderful) when she replied, “Right back at you,” before she disappeared behind the door.

*

Thirty minutes later, Yuri walked into Aurora’s charming bungalow and stopped dead.

“Bloody hell,” he muttered at what he saw.

Primarily, Aurora standing amongst a bevy of women, and gone was the delightful chignon at the nape of her neck. Gone also were the lovely garments she’d been wearing.

In their place were black jeans, a black turtleneck, her hair shoved under a black knit cap, and she even had black smudges marring the rose and cream of her face.

Her witch sisters were similarly attired.

Yuri, too, had on much the same outfit—a black V-neck sweater and black slacks—however, he’d donned them that morning as a matter of course.

“Are we approaching a coven or a terrorist cell?” he drawled, shutting the door behind him.

Aurora giggled, a sound that had a pleasant effect in two very different places in his body.

“This operation is covert,” one of the witches hissed at him. Yuri vaguely recalled her name was Jane.

“Indeed,” he murmured but decided to say no more.

“Right, let’s start this,” another witch, named Jordana, stated and looked to Yuri. “Remember, we get the protections down before you approach. We may need your speed and strength and we don’t need you going up in a ball of flame before that.”

Yuri wholeheartedly agreed with any plan that included him not going up in a ball of flame.

“As we finalized plans not twenty-four hours ago, I do recall them,” he assured her.

She sniffed and did it with her eyes on him as if she smelled something foul and it was emanating from him.

He sighed, walked further in, and pinpointed Barb with his gaze.

It was time to share what he’d decided between Aurora’s visit to his suite and his arrival at the bungalow.

“Aurora stays with me and doesn’t approach until it’s safe.”

“Yuri!” Aurora cried.

“Agreed,” Barb stated over her daughter’s cry.

Aurora turned sharply to her mother. “Mom!”

Barb turned calm eyes to her daughter. “Leave this to your elders.”

“I’ve got juice,” Aurora snapped. “I can help. I want to help.”

Barb completely ignored her and looked to Yuri. “If something happens to me, you’ll see to her.”

Yuri gave one short nod. “Until she dies.”

Barb immediately looked relieved and this was an expression Yuri didn’t much care for considering it told the tale of how uncertain she was about the outcome of that evening’s events.

“Yuri,” Aurora whispered, taking his mind off Barb and onto her.