Our mouths fused together passionately with an intensity that weakened my knees. We both knew whatever lay ahead was going to be tough, and there never seemed to be enough time to bond with him the way I craved.
“You taste incredibly good,” he said into my mouth as his tongue stroked my bottom lip. “But I hear something in the distance, so we have to make this shorter than I’d like. All the adrenaline from the change is making me crazy with need, and you standing naked so near is a dangerous combination. I need to back away from you now so I can calm myself down. I don’t want to flash my bounding enthusiasm for my beautiful mate to the world.”
“Ha,” I said, glancing downward and licking my lips. “Would being naked and horny embarrass you?”
He leveled a hooded gaze on me. “Hell no, but I know it would embarrass you. You had me disrobe behind the plane so I wouldn’t shock Naomi.” He raised a single eyebrow in a very sexy way, laced with intent. “If you had less of a human nature, I’d already have you on the ground right now.”
I shivered. “Well, as much as I would love that, we’d be caught in the act.” On cue, a truck honked in the distance. Rourke maneuvered himself behind the small tree as best he could and I ducked down behind a single scrubby bush.
Before the truck arrived, which I saw was a souped-up pickup with huge tires that almost looked as though they could float, Naomi landed in front of me. Her cheeks were a little pink, indicating a blush, which made me think she’d been near enough to overhear our sexy banter.
“It is of no consequence, Ma Reine,” Naomi stated, addressing my discomfort as she deftly tossed me my backpack. Then she turned and threw Rourke a bag of clothes. “Your mate is correct. Supernaturals don’t have the same issues as humans when it comes to our bodies and… other personal things. But, you are my superior, and I would show you respect by not interrupting until I was sure you were not going to… interact. But in the future you don’t need to be so shy.”
“I think my shyness will be sticking around, Naomi,” I muttered as I pulled my clothes out of the pack. “I’m new to all this, but I’m still a firm believer that some things are better left private. I don’t see that changing any time soon.”
The truck raced up as I yanked on my spandex.
“Come on, Hannon,” Ray yelled out the window, laying on the horn. “Get your ass covered. We’re wasting time here.”
I pulled on my shirt and stood, making my way over to the vehicle—one that was only slightly less jacked-up than the Hummer we’d been forced to drive to Canada. The truck was bright orange with flames painted over the wheels. “Where in the world did you get this?” I asked.
“From the airboat guy.” Ray chuckled from the open window. Then he thumbed his hand at Marcy, who was situated in the passenger seat. “She threatened him within an inch of his life. You should’ve seen it. And this was after she bought his goddamn airboat right out from under him.”
4
Rourke came out from behind the tree fully clothed in brand-new jeans and a black T-shirt. Naomi did well. “How’d you know we’d need an airboat?” Rourke asked, nodding his head in appreciation for the commandeered vehicle.
Marcy stuck her head out of the passenger window. “The first thing I did when I de-boarded my awful flight on Vamp Air was purchase a new cell phone. James told me we’d need one and where the closest ones were. There’s a bunch of places to rent them about thirty miles north of here, all clustered along the highway. We picked the most run-down operation we could see from the road, and knowing we couldn’t bring along any company where we’re going, I offered the owner more than he made in a year, and voilà, the boat was ours. Then I had to sign a bunch of safety waivers”—she dismissed their importance with a flick of her wrist—“but who cares. Get in.”
Rourke and I made our way to the bed of the truck. There was no room for us inside. “You can’t leave out the part about forcing him to lend us this truck to pick up our friends or you’d make sure his balls would ache for a week.” Ray chuckled appreciatively. “That stuff never gets old.”
“I didn’t say balls, I said groin.”
“Then she wound up for a fake punch and the guy nearly wet himself,” Ray howled out the window. “Funniest thing I’ve witnessed in a long time.”
I nodded as I sat down near the cab. The small partition in the back was open. “Did he hand this prize over immediately?” I leaned in to ask Marcy and smiled.
“Nah,” Ray answered first, turning around. “I had to pull out my badge and tell him we were investigating drug smuggling in these parts and may have mentioned the moonshine operation they had in the back as extra incentive. The guy was caught off guard, and if he hadn’t wet himself when Marcy feigned the punch, he did then. I couldn’t tell him my supernatural sense of smell picked up on his illegal activities, but I was clear enough about the implications and he finally let us take the truck. But, honestly, I haven’t had this much fun in a long time. Humans are so easy to manipulate.” Ray gunned the engine for effect. “Like taking candy from a baby.”
“How’d you get your badge?” I asked as Rourke and Naomi settled in beside me.
“I was buck-ass naked after that portal ripped every stitch of clothing off my body, so I went home to get new ones. My badge was sitting on the table where I left it, so I grabbed it. I thought it might come in handy, though not this soon, but turns out it did.” Ray hit the gas and spun out, racing over the marshlands at high speed, bouncing us around like kids on a hayride, hooting like a kid with a new toy.
The huge tires, which appeared to be more like inflated donuts than actual tires, sprayed up an array of grasses and swamp water as we went. I scuttled to the middle of the truck bed to avoid being sprayed, but it was a losing battle.
“Too bad we don’t have demon showers here,” I muttered to my mate as he wrapped his arm around me. In the Underworld they had a formula that ate the dirt right off of you. “We’re going to smell like dank swamp until we can wash off, and I can guarantee there won’t be any decent showers where we’re going.”
We pounded along the bumpy terrain for a good twenty minutes.
My teeth rattled around until we finally evened out onto a small paved road. “Almost there,” Ray yelled. “We got lucky with our directions. This direction is close to civilization. Any farther west and it would’ve been more complicated. Naomi tracked you before we went off-road, so we knew where you’d be.”
Naomi nodded, her face amused by Ray’s antics. Then she glanced over at Rourke appreciatively. “Your beast is fierce,” she said to him. “I have not seen an equal to it in all my years. The rumors of your strength are renowned in the vampire world, and clearly they weren’t exaggerated.”
Rourke nodded once, accepting her praise, but didn’t comment.
“I will not tell a soul,” Naomi said. “My allegiance is to Jessica, and by proxy to you, and I won’t risk putting us in jeopardy, nor will I ever talk of anything that would compromise us.”
“There’s no need to keep it quiet anymore, Naomi,” Rourke said. “The game has changed for me forever and my old ways won’t work any longer. If I don’t adapt, I’ll be the one who ultimately places us in jeopardy. And who knows? Maybe if supernaturals know what I am, and what I’m capable of, they’ll think twice about pursuing us. Keeping Jessica safe is my number one priority, so it doesn’t matter if anyone knows what I am.”