Claws (28 page)

“Now I know you watched too much TV as
a child,” he murmured as he took her lips, cutting off her cries as
he continued to move within her.

She dug her heels into his buttocks as
slow, hungry waves of her orgasm spiraled out of control, the
landscape becoming a bubbling volcano around them. They lay amidst
burning lava, matching her movements as he rocked within
her.

Jericho kept up his pace, making her
crazed as the place around them changed to an amusement park, their
lovemaking becoming more charged as they rode the rollercoaster to
the top, him plunging deep as they made the slow descent and
inevitable drop.

Vivvie clawed at his back, her head
tossing as the images continued to change, distorting and falling
apart one by one. When she could breathe again; they lay on the
beach outside his house in Florida, a bomb fire crackling
nearby.

He looked around in pleased approval,
kissing her lips and easing away from her, drawing her against his
chest as they enjoyed the fire and peace of the beach.

“It was beautiful,” was all she could
manage, tears in her eyes to see such wonders.

“Now do you see what you can do,
Vivvie? He asked as he stroked her against his chest. “You can
create whatever you want with your mind and control everything here
around you just by thinking it.”

“Why did you insist we make love to
show me this?” she asked quietly, burrowing into his
chest.

“I knew it was the only way for you to
let go,” he told her and kissed her lingeringly. “Besides, I missed
you. I thought I’d get laid again for old time’s sake.”

She punched his shoulder, laughing at
him and knowing he was telling the truth. She relaxed and lie
against him as they watched the driftwood burn.

“She’s better at this than me, isn’t
she?”

Jericho moved away and sat looking into
the flames. “She has three hundred years on you, Vivvie. If she
gets to her dreamscape first; she will defeat you. You have to get
to yours first to have the control.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Think of it like the remote control
for a TV. Whoever has the clicker has the control. The dreamscape
is like the clicker. You need to get her into yours or she will
beat you,” he explained and shook his head. “I think of the risks
to you and I question why we do this.”

“How do you expect me to trap her there
if that’s the case?”

Jericho grinned with a naughty look in
his eyes. “You’re a quick learner. I have every faith in your
abilities. I plan to teach you all I know from her over the years.
By the time we part ways; you will have mastered this
place.”

“I will miss you, Jericho,” she told
him with a serious look. “I know you’re leaving when she sleeps
once more. Promise me you’ll stay with me here until
then?”

“Here we can be together, Vivvie,” he
told her sadly. “Back in our world you belong to another. When I
leave; my door shuts to you. It’s the way it has to be.”

Vivvie knew a fierce pain in her heart
to know Jericho would leave for good. He wouldn’t come back. What
happened between them made it impossible with every passing day.
The need for each other grew the longer they stayed within such
close proximity.

“A part of me loves you too, Jericho,”
she said softly and the elder smiled and drew her close again. “I
will always cherish this time with you.”

“You have to bring Eli here now,
Vivvie,” he told her. “You have to surrender to him as you have me.
You have to trust whatever you feel for him or you will be back
here with another. It is the way it has to be for you both to be
content.”

“That sounds too simple.”

“It is and when you see that you can
have the normal life you want.”

“What about this call to nature? His
straying in the future?” she pestered, still sore over his
attraction to Erin.

Jericho smiled. “Now I know you listen
to nothing I’ve ever said. The future isn’t ever set. You have the
means to keep Eli more than distracted. Look around you, Vivvie. Do
you think if you brought your mate here he would ever want anyone
but you? You might skip Munchkin Land though. He might eat the
props there and ruin it.”

She laughed and buried her face in his
chest, embarrassed by where her imagination took them. He probably
wondered why The Wizard of Oz came to mind at that
moment.

She grinned to think it was her
favorite movie of all time. She wanted to take Eli there at that
moment, share everything with him.

“I don’t know how to thank you,
Jericho,” she replied, voice thick with emotion. “You might have
just saved my marriage.”

Jericho chuckled and winked down at
her. “Just use this gift to your advantage and you will always have
him eating out of the palm of your hand.”

“Did Tania take you here?”

“She lacked your imagination and life
experiences, but yes, we came here often.”

“How can I think to beat her
here?”

Jericho sighed and drew her down to lay
next to him, his heart beating against her back like a drum, the
salt air soothing his troubles. He pushed her back into the sand,
his eyes filled with mischief.

“You have much to learn but you have
the advantage already.”

“I don’t understand you,” she said
breathlessly as his hands roamed over her, distracting her from
listening to him.

“You have more of an imagination than
she ever did,” he said as he eased her into the sand, coming to lie
atop of her and smiling down into her flushed features. “A volcano,
Vivvie? Really? Where will you take me next, I wonder?”

She drew his lips down to hers, already
having a place in mind. Jericho in her arms was a heady, powerful
thing. It made her feel secure to explore this new realm with him
there to guide her. By the time she returned him to Tania’s door,
he was gloating with satisfaction. He touched her cheek as he went
inside.

~ ~ ~

Tania arrived in her classroom without
warning that week. The elder was immaculate in her Dior black suit
dress, pearls gleaming at her throat. She shut the door with a
definite click while her class was at recess.

“My, don’t we recover quickly?” she
noted with a raised eyebrow. “I am puzzled. I can’t see your newest
child. That tells me it’s Jericho’s again. I can see you don’t take
my warnings to heart.”

Vivvie knew panic and refused to let
Tania get to her. “Ryken was my maker. He has Jericho’s traits.
He’s Eli’s son but doesn’t have his gift or mine. Back to the
drawing board. ”

“Come now, we both know your twin son
and daughter both have his gift, Vivvie. I know because I insisted
the demon lift the prophecy to ensure it get what it seeks. The
only reason those little brats are both alive is because I made it
happen.”

“I thought that was the demon’s doing?”
Vivvie asked and enjoyed Tania’s look of anger.

“It’s been months since I set you free
and all you have is Jericho’s little mistakes to show for it,” she
snapped. “I think you need some incentive, Vivvie. Jericho is my
lover again if you haven’t figured that out.”

Vivvie felt real disgust and jealousy.
Tania smiled as she sensed both, pleased to see her
expression.

“You’re lying! He would never go back
to you!”

“You really think you can take my place
with any of them after only a year here?” Tania asked and her eyes
narrowed to slits. “You aren’t even pretty and wear dungarees.
These Alphas have much higher standards, Vivvie.”

Vivvie knew allowing the rage she felt
was fuelling the elder’s arrogance now. “Can’t blame a girl for
trying,” she allowed with a feral smile.

“Jericho won’t be playing anymore
afterhours games with you,” Tania snarled and bore down on her,
fangs elongated. “I could rip out your heart right now and watch
you die!”

“Careful, we both know that won’t get
you off the hook with your demon pal,” Vivvie warned despite her
fear.

“Demons are such mercurial creatures,
Vivvie. If I have to start feeding your remaining children to it to
hurry up our little venture, I will.”

“Stay away from my children,” Vivvie
bit back with a low hiss, her eyes glowing with fury as her own
fangs elongated. She felt the shift coming on, wanting to rip the
elder to shreds with her threats against her young.

Tania chuckled and raised an eyebrow.
“My, you are protective of them. Be diligent watching over them,
Vivvie. Things do happen. Childhood accidents are so common with
our kind. With no souls to carry them over or immortality…,” she
let the rest trail off, her meaning clear.

Vivvie would have shifted and torn the
woman apart had the door to her class not opened and Elaina ran
inside, coming to her side.

“Mommy, something’s wrong with
Justice,” the little girl told her, looking at the elder with a
rude glance.

Tania hissed at the little girl and
Elaina smirked. The elder looked at Vivvie and her golden eyes
narrowed. “Remember what I said.” She left, leaving a trace of her
perfume and venom behind.

“Mommy, can I kill her in my dreams?”
Elaina asked hopefully and Vivvie stared at her in
horror.

“No, you can’t kill anyone in your
dreams! Don’t even say such things!”

“Mommy, I’d really like to,” Elaina
replied, her blue eyes glowing as her Father’s did when he was in a
rage.

“Well, just learn to control it, baby,”
her Mother fumed and shook her head. “She’s not worth
it.”

Elaina recalled her original errand as
she grabbed her Mother’s hand and pulled her with her to the
playground.

“What’s wrong with Justice?” Vivvie
asked in dismay as she followed her.

“Devon and the other boys hurt him bad,
Mommy,” she told her, her lip quivering then. “He’s not getting up
off the ground or healing. He won’t move.”

Vivvie heard that and took off in a
dead run, all her instincts on overdrive as she raced to the
playground. A crowd of children stood aside as she approached. She
cried out in alarm when she saw Justice.

He’d been attacked, covered in bites
and cuts and bleeding heavily. She was in near hysteria by now,
gazing at the other children in fury as she picked up her son,
stroking his bloodied fur.

“Where’s Devon?” she cried to Elaina
and her daughter bit her lip and looked down.

“He was afraid when Justice didn’t get
up. He got scared and ran away.”

Vivvie ran with Justice in her arms,
shouting and crying for Jericho. A crowd formed in the hallways as
she ran with her son; tears streaming down her face.

Jericho met her outside the education
office and looked ashen as he saw his son. He took him from her and
they made their way to the clinic. He made her sit outside as he
treated their son. Eli arrived and looked furious.

“Where’s Devon?” he asked in fury, his
eyes spewing rage.

“He ran away,” she said and sobbed
against his chest. “He hurt him bad, Eli.”

Eli went into the treatment room and
looked grim as he approached. Justice was bleeding from so many
wounds; he blanched to see it. He looked at Jericho with a tortured
look.

“He’s lost a lot of blood, Eli,”
Jericho told him with a forced restraint he was far from
feeling.

“Can you save him?” Eli asked in a
deceptively calm voice.

“I don’t know, Eli,” the elder said
tightly and opened up another package of bandages. “He’s got
several arteries severed, some internal injuries. I don’t
know.”

Eli turned on his heel and stormed out
of the treatment room, passing a white-faced Vivvie who saw his
look of fury.

“Stop, Eli! They’re just kids! They
didn’t know any better! They didn’t know he wouldn’t
heal!”

“That’s no excuse, Vivvie,” he shouted
and ripped off his jacket and tie as he went up top within the
direction of the playground. He removed his shirt as he approached
the group of children. “Which way did he go?” the leader demanded
and the children all pointed.

Vivvie knew the punishment her son had
coming was long overdue as she ran after her husband. His Father
walked away into the meadow and began peeling off his
clothes.

Vivvie watched him shift and sprint
across the field, following their oldest son’s scent. She went back
to hover near the door, waiting for word on Justice’s condition. It
seemed like hours she waited in the hall, refusing to go home. Her
other children stayed with her, looking sorrowful as they waited
for news of their brother.

Izzie and Margie slept in a chair,
curled up together. Elaina sat in her lap dozing. Seth was wide
awake, his blue eyes glowing, an intent expression on his face. He
hadn’t cried or demanded anything all afternoon and early evening.
He was quiet.

Jericho came out into the hallway and
Vivvie cringed from his sorrowful look.

“Vivvie, I did all I could. I’m keeping
him here overnight and we wait. That’s all we can do.”