Her face lit up in a brilliant scarlet. “We were sleeping.” An eyebrow lifted as if to dare him to say otherwise.
He frowned. “But we were sleeping. I’d woken up because I felt the change.”
“So something must have triggered the change then,” Drew said. He turned to Alice. “What about before that, right before you went to sleep? What were you—oh. Never mind.”
The look mowing him down should have shriveled Drew’s balls. Bast laughed. It took a moment for the amusement to subside, but then he thought about it. “You know, Alice, every time I’m feeling ill, it’s you who pulls me out of it. It started with your blood. Then all it took was a kiss.”
She pushed away from Drew, leaving him behind like a fading dream. Her steps were slow and seductive as she sauntered forward. “Is that your way of asking for another?”
Bast moved toward her, a new appetite growing. “I wouldn’t turn it down. Not ever.”
“You two are worse than a couple of horny teenagers. I’m going to find a Snickers. Call me when it’s over.” He was still grumbling as he walked into the hallway leading to the kitchen.
“I shouldn’t encourage you,” she murmured when he pulled her closer, seconds after the room cleared. “But those wings...”
“I know. Sexy.” He grinned before lowering his lips to hers.
Could he possibly ever get tired of this? Of tasting this woman and inhaling her rainwater scent? Of threading his fingers through a mass of tangles and curls, holding her close to him as he plunged his tongue into the sweet taste of her mouth?
She let out this amazing sound, one that called to him. It was part whimper, part moan. A beacon for his lust. And when she held him tighter, pressing her soft breasts against him, holding him as if her world began and ended with him, it was a love for her that responded.
There was a brief moment when her hand caressed the muscle where back met wing, but at the realization, a flare of pain rippled over him. As quickly as it had arisen, it faded. His balance shifted, and Bast almost stumbled, taking Alice with him. How quickly he’d grown accustomed to the wings’ weight. Now that they were gone again, his body worked to remember life without them.
She drew back, immediately noticing the change. “How did you do it?”
“Later,” he mumbled and ravaged her lips again. He had an idea of what just happened, but it would hold. To hell with the Council and their summons. Right now, he needed her.
Greedy hands slipped beneath her tee, pushing up until skin met skin. He couldn’t get over the delicate softness beneath his palms. The way her skin rippled with goose bumps in waves of feminine delight. His thumbs stole higher, brushing against the curve of her bare breasts.
“Drew,” she gasped. A question of the warrior’s location and potential intrusion.
“Will not bother us,” Bast confidently reassured. “I just...I just need to be inside you.”
She looked into his eyes with compassionate understanding. As if she knew the fierce ache in the center of his chest as he touched her now. The way his cock strained against denim. The call of his nature and his masculinity.
Alice placed delicate kisses along his chest, the ache turning into a wonderful tightening of want as he pulled her shirt off. Her nipples were already tight beads, tipped upward, and made his mouth water. She released a soft sigh as he lowered his head to the first one, pulling it into his mouth on a groan. His tongue flicked the hardening tip, teeth nibbling. Tasting her.
A burst of the cleanness of soap filled the back of his throat. Becoming all he breathed. He inhaled deeply, wanting more of her to fill him. It wasn’t enough to flick his thumb over the other nipple, teasing it to a point. A compulsion rode him. One that demanded he fill her with his cock, cover and protect her with his body, fill her with his seed.
He had to mark her. Claim her. Declare that she was his and forever would be. Christ, even his teeth elongated and pulsed with blatant sexual need.
A groan rumbled from his throat, his hand dropping to slide between her stomach and the shorts hindering him from his prize. His sweet, sweet Alice helped him. A quick flick of a button, the dry rasp of a zipper and his fingertips met moist heat.