Edge of Moonlight (11 page)

He didn’t try to devour her. He just kissed her with a need so enticing, she felt like she was freefalling.

His lips moved on hers, brushing lightly then pressing harder.

He released her hand and her arms slid automatically around his shoulders. His hands curved under her arms, lifted her out of her chair and onto his. With their lips still sealed, her legs spread until her knees settled on the outside of his strong thighs.

She knelt above him, her head higher than his as she cupped his face in her hands and kissed him. His whiskers scratched at her palms, a delicate rasp that made her fight to get air into her lungs even while she refused to release his mouth.

Blessed Goddess, she wanted to eat him up.

His arms came around her waist, hands spreading on her back as if soaking in her heat. Or keeping her from getting away.

He let her control the kiss but he drove her crazy with each flick of his tongue against her lips. He wanted in and she let him have his way because she wanted the same.

His tongue invaded but only for a second because he encouraged her to do the same, to slip her tongue into his mouth and wrap around his.

She flashed hot, her nipples tightening into hard tips that she wanted to press against his hard chest. Or better yet, have him suck one into his mouth and bite.

A moan worked its way out of her chest and into her throat. That sound should have embarrassed her with its neediness. Instead, it made him answer with a deep growl that made her pussy clench and moisten.

She smelled her own arousal, wondered if he could, as well. She wanted him to know how much she desired him. How much she needed him.

But in the still-rational recesses of her brain, she heard the distant approach of a car.

She wished she could shut it out, wanted only to stay here in the moment with John.

But she knew the sound of that motor.

Kyle would be here in minutes. And he‘d have a heart attack if he found her sprawled all over John.

She broke away abruptly and scrambled off his lap, turning her back on him and heading for the other side of the porch.

Damn it. Gods damn it, why this man? Why now?

“Kaine.”

He rose from the chair and headed her way but stopped when she held up one hand.

“No. Kyle’s coming and I don’t…”

“What? Don’t want him to know about us?”

Fat chance of that happening. Kyle already knew she’d slept with John. And if she hadn’t told him, he’d be able to smell John all over her.

She knew she’d worried everyone who cared for her in the past few months. Nic, Duke, Tira, Kyle, Tamra. Even her dad, though he hadn’t been around to see how she was handling everything. He was off who-knew-where-doing-who-knew-what for the
lucani
king.

Par for the course, there.

“No,” she said. “He already knows.”

“Then what?”

“I don’t want him to go primeval on your ass, okay? He can be a little overprotective.”

“You’re a grown woman.”

“Yes. But he’s my commanding officer. He takes his responsibilities more than a little seriously. And I’m a responsibility.”

As she spoke, Kyle’s jeep came into sight down the road leading into the
streghe
’s village of New Tarquin.

In the haze of dawn, she could see Kyle in the front seat, as well as Dane Dimitriou.

And when the Jeep finally pulled to a stop, Kyle stepped out then reached into the back to help Tam.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to reach for just a little bit of peace, a tiny bit of calm in the face of Kyle’s take-no-shit attitude.

She straightened as he reached the porch, her chin lifting, her arms stiffening at her sides until Kyle had reached the bottom of the porch steps. Then she saluted with her right fist to her left shoulder.

She didn’t give his rank, knowing he wouldn’t want John to know anything more until Kyle decided on a course of action. And it would be Kyle’s decision how much to tell John and when.

She’d already fucked up enough.

Kyle just shook his head as he came up the steps. “Kaine, gods damn it, don’t—”

“Kyle, honey.” Tam none too gently elbowed her mate out of the way to get to the porch, linking her elbow through Kaine’s until they stood side by side. “I think you should take John and go with Dane to see Nica while Kaine and I have a little talk, okay?”

Tiny and fierce, with baby-fine blonde hair and an expression that could cow a grown man in seconds, Tam took shit from no one. Including her older, tattooed hard-ass of a mate.

With a sigh, Kyle held Kaine’s gaze for another few seconds before he motioned to the man waiting behind him.

“We’ve got our orders, Dane. Let’s go see what’s what. You and I,” he made sure she knew he was talking to her, “will talk later.”

She nodded. She knew this was only a brief reprieve.

“We’ll be in in a minute.” Tam shooed the men away with one hand as she tugged on Kaine’s arm and pulled her toward the other end of the porch. “I just want a few minutes.”

Kaine chanced a look over her shoulder at John, who was watching her with a steady gaze.

“He’ll be fine,” Tam whispered, knowing Kaine would be able to hear her. “He’s a big boy and Kyle doesn’t bite. At least not unless I ask. And then only if I can bite him back.”

A slight smile tugged at Kaine’s lips. “You know I really don’t want to have those images about my commanding officer in my head. And I know why you said it. I’m fine, Tam. Really.”

“Well, we can all use a time-out now and then. You looked a little, um, flustered.”

“Kyle told you I slept with John, didn’t he?”

Tam’s nose crinkled as she frowned. “Well, it was more like he started ranting about cutting off a particular appendage of John’s for daring to touch you. But yeah, I got the general idea.”

The men still stood on the other end of the porch and Kaine couldn’t help but hold her breath until Kyle stuck out his hand to re-introduce himself to John. Not that John remembered him.

Dane had already gone into the house.

“So,” Tam said. “How are you really?”

Kaine shook her head. “I have no fucking clue.”

* * * * *

Though not as strong as the first time he’d seen Kaine, John had that same sense of déjà vu with her commanding officer.

He hadn’t dreamed about this guy though so he didn’t have a clue what the fuck was going on.

The guy’s dark hair hung to his shoulders and the tattoos on his arm were like no script John had ever seen. He looked like he bench-pressed two-fifty easy and walked with a distinctly predatory stalk.

The man had the air of an officer and John straightened under his amber glare.

He almost didn’t expect the guy to put out his hand and introduce himself.

“Kyle Rossini.”

“John Simmons.” He bit back the “Sir” that automatically sprang to his lips as he shook the guy’s hand.

Kyle wasn’t his commanding officer. He didn’t have to take orders from this man.

And he really wanted to know what the hell was going on.

“Kaine updated me on the situation with your sister. Why don’t we go inside so we can talk to Dane and Nica? I’m sure you’ll want this taken care of as soon as possible.”
So you can get the hell away from Kaine that much faster.

Kyle didn’t have to say the words. His expression made it perfectly clear that’s what he meant.

John bit back the urge to tell the guy to mind his own damn business but he couldn’t fault Kyle for trying to protect one of his own.

A quick look across the porch and he found Kaine and the woman Kyle had arrived with huddled together. Kaine had her back to him so he couldn’t see her face but he could read her body language. Her shoulders had hunched again, her head was down and she was shaking it like she disagreed with whatever the other woman was saying.

God damn it.

With a sharp nod, he followed Kyle into the house and back to the bedroom, where the new doctor and Nica stood next to the bed.

John was actually a little surprised to see the doctor with a stethoscope in his hand as he listened to Evie’s heart.

“Dane,” Nica touched the man’s shoulder, “this is Evie’s brother, John. Maybe he knows the answers to your questions. John, this is Dr. Dane Dimitriou.” John took a good look at the doctor. The guy looked as clean-cut as any serviceman he’d ever met. At least six-two and a solid one-eighty, the guy was built like a swimmer. Strong upper body and arms. Long, lean torso and legs. Short brown hair barely brushed his ears and sharp gray eyes took John’s measure at the same time.

“Has your sister been having any muscle cramps? Nosebleeds? Convulsions?” For the next ten minutes, John answered as many of Dane’s questions as he could, feeling more and more useless every minute.

Had he ignored warning signs that there was something seriously wrong with her?

He remembered the incident two months ago when she’d blown out the light bulbs in the apartment. He’d tried to ignore it then.

Had he ignored it too well? What else had she been dealing with and hiding from him?

What if Evie had had her meltdown before he’d met Kaine? Would his sister still be alive?

That one really tore at his guts. And twisted his brain into knots.

A brain still trying to come to terms with magic.

When Dane finally stopped, John felt battered, like he’d gone a few rounds with a champion prize fighter. Too much information in his head to make sense of it all. Too many questions.

His eyes wanted to close, he was so damn tired. But he shook his head and tried to think.

“John, it’s going to take me a little while to consult with Nica and figure out a plan of action,” the doctor said. “Maybe you want to take some time and get some rest.”

“The house next door is empty right now,” Nica spoke up. “It’s quiet.” Quiet time. Right. Time to think. Christ, just what he didn’t need.

What he
did
need was a drink.

“I’ll take him.”

His head whipped around at the sound of her voice.

Kaine stood in the doorway, her gaze on Kyle. She looked to be standing at attention, her shoulders straight, expression stoic.

He didn’t have a clue what she was thinking now. Before, he’d gotten the impression she felt guilty for whatever role she’d played in Evie’s meltdown.

Now, she’d had time to hide.

“Kaine—”

“I’ll take him. Sir.”

Damn, the woman had claws. He liked that about her.

And Kyle understood exactly what she was saying, as well. The guy could have ordered her to step back. Instead, his jaw set and he nodded, just once.

“Fine. I’ll come get you when Dane and Nica have something to go on.” Then Kyle turned to John again with a warning look he couldn’t miss.

And couldn’t care less about, at the moment.

John turned to Nica. “If anything happens…if Evie wakes—”

“We’ll come get you right away,” she assured and John knew she would. He trusted Nica.

Just as he trusted Kaine.

She turned her gaze his way, but he could tell she wasn’t really looking at him. She was looking through him and that pissed him off. Which just meant he really did need time to get his head together.

With one last look at his sister, lying still and quiet on the bed, he followed Kaine out of the house and across the small lawn to the next house.

The sky had lightened and the sun was just about to break the horizon. A cool breeze blew past him but he barely noticed. His gaze focused solely on Kaine.

He ached to touch her, to hold her. To press her against him while he kissed her.

Wanted her to return his passion.

Which was ridiculous.

Reaching for the handle, Kaine pushed open the front door. Guess if they had magic at their fingertips, they didn’t need to bother with keys and locks.

Yeah, sure, whatever.

What would she do if he put his arms around her, pulled her against him and kissed the hell out of her?

Would she push him away? Could he get her to respond before she realized he was using her to avoid everything else? To avoid the situation with his sister? Or avoid the fact that he didn’t know exactly what Kaine was?

He barely noticed his surroundings, he was so intently focused on her.

His brain registered furniture, light-colored walls and wood floors. But nothing else mattered except Kaine.

Tracking her with his eyes, he watched her head directly toward the back of the house. The dark still lingered here but she moved without hesitation. As if she knew her way around.

Or she could see clearly.

He followed her to the kitchen, where she opened a cupboard and pulled out a bottle, which she held up to show him.

He hadn’t made a sound but she’d known exactly where he was.

How?

He couldn’t make out the words on the label so he just nodded and watched her turn to another cabinet for glasses.

“Is this your home?” he asked, unable to keep quiet any longer.

“No.” The sound of liquid spilling into a glass sounded loud in the quiet. “The women who live here are friends.”

“But you live in this village?”

“No.”

Okay, he could pull teeth with the best of them. “So where do you live?” She handed him a short glass filled nearly to the brim with a dark liquid. He lifted it to his nose. Jack Daniel’s. He knocked back half of it and watched her take a healthy sip.

“I can’t tell you that.”

“I know we’re in Oley Township. Do you live close?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t live alone and I can’t compromise my friends’ safety.” Well, shit. Who the hell did she live with? His eyes narrowed. “Are you telling me you have a lover or husband or mate or whatever the hell you call it?” Her expression showed no emotion at all. “No, I don’t. That’s not what I meant.” Blinding relief shot through him but frustration bit at its heels. He wanted to know more about her. Wanted to pick at her until he forgot everything else going on in the neighboring house.

But Kaine didn’t seem willing to help him.

“Then what the fuck do you mean? Jesus Christ, Kaine. Give me a break, will you?