fingertips. With his right hand, he slowly traced the curve of her breast, pressing the living fire into her skin.
She felt the heat, dizzying as it spread across her chest, over her abdomen and then lower, settling in the very center of her. The heat became an ache and despite the situation she was in, Shea felt the stirrings of need whip through her again.
Torin had explained that once the mating began, they would feel a constant need. With every day that passed, their bond became stronger. The brand grew and spread across their skin. Their mental and physical link was defining itself anew at every moment.
It was as if they actually were two halves of a whole, finally coming together after an eternity apart.
All Shea knew was that she ached for him. Ached to feel his body pressing down onto hers. Until their thirty days were over, their mating would become more frenzied, more intimate, more vital. Though she couldn’t imagine it getting any better than it already was.
Torin continued his exploration of the curve and mound of her breast, forcing the flames and the power they sprung from to dig deep within her. To go beneath the skin and into the very muscles of her body and finally, he found what he sought.
“It’s there,” he said, voice tight with an anger he refused to release. “Magic found it, but I’ll have to cut it out as I did the last one. Rune told me one of the witches was a metal caller and pulled the tracker out of Terri’s body. I don’t have that magic.”
Shea nodded, tightening her fists over the headboard behind her. “It’s all right. I’m ready. Get it out of me, Torin.”
He straightened, held up one hand and his knife appeared, lamplight glinting off the long, wicked blade. Looking down at her, he held Shea’s gaze for a long moment.
“Do it, Torin.”
“This will hurt, but I will take as much of your pain as possible.”
She nodded and braced herself. The tip of his blade dug into her flesh at the base of her breast. She arched up off the bed and clenched her jaw tight at the sharp slap of pain. He was forced to dig for the tracker and before he was finished, Shea was whimpering. The muscles in her arms were locked in the death grip she had on the headboard. A single tear seeped from the corner of her eye and a relieved breath slid from her lungs as he held up the chip to show her.
“Is that it?” she asked. “Is that all of them?”
He stretched out his hand, laid the tracker on the bedside table and smashed it with the hilt of his knife. Frowning, he bent to her breast again and ordered, “Hold on to me so that I can seal your wound.”
She pried one hand off the headboard and laid it over Torin’s shoulder. An instant later, heat bloomed on her flesh as their combined powers linked to heal the slice beneath her breast.
When he was done, he bent his head and tenderly kissed the spot where his knife had cut her. His tongue traced the pattern of red flames branding her skin and followed the circular tattoo until he came to her nipple. Then he pulled it into his mouth and used his tongue and teeth to drive the last of the pain from her body and mind.
“Torin . . .”
He looked at her, lifted his head and whispered, “I will check your body myself. Every square inch, until we are sure you’re free of their traps.”
Shea lost herself in the passion between them. Pain was forgotten. Fear was quickly shelved for another time. She wanted, more than anything, to feel alive. Completely alive. And that was possible only when he was inside her.
“Maybe,” she said, rolling over onto her stomach and looking back at him over her shoulder, “you should start checking me now. If you’re going to be thorough, it could take a while.”
He gave her a slow, satisfied smile. “Perhaps you’re right,” he said, sliding the flat of his hands up her thighs to the curve of her behind. “I should be thorough.”
“Let me help,” she offered, going up on her knees as she grabbed hold of the headboard again. She wiggled her behind and parted her legs in invitation. “I don’t want you to miss anything, now do I?”
“I promise you,” he said softly, “no matter how long it takes, nothing will be