“I promise I’ll remember I’m human. But trust me, love. There has not been a moment since Cupid brought me back to this flesh and bones body that I have forgotten it.”
That seemed to settle something in her, and she rested her hand on my hip again. “Has it been difficult?” she asked. “You haven’t talked about it.”
“Haven’t I? Feels like I’m constantly complaining.”
She shook her head. “Is it worse being human than you remember?”
“Worse than before we were attacked by Atë’s monster? That was so long ago, I don’t know. No, not worse. I think it’s better. Little things surprise me. I like that.”
“Little things?”
“How soft a bed can feel. The smell of dew as the sun rises. You.”
“Me?”
I hummed and brushed stray strands of her hair away from her face. “The silk of your hair. The scent of your perfume. Your lips.”
Her pupils were wide, nearly eclipsing the ring of golden amber glow. “What about my lips?”
I hummed again, as if trying to remember what I was going to say. “Let me see…” I leaned toward her, closing the space, angling my mouth toward hers.
She shifted upward, her eyes fluttering closed, her lips soft, inviting.
My blood thrummed a heavy beat. Heat coiled and bloomed outward, setting my nerves on fire. Every sensation was magnified, the air too hot, too cold, the distance between her body and mine finite, endless.
I slid my hand under her shirt, caressing the lean line of muscle down her back, then drew my hand forward, tracing the curve of her breast with the back of my thumb.
She shivered. “Brogan?”
“Yes?”
She swallowed, opened her mouth, swallowed again, wordless. Then she was there, her mouth against mine.
We didn’t need words, had never needed them to tell each other what we felt, what we wanted, what we needed.
I yawnedand scrubbed the back of my head, glad the moonlight was bright enough I could see our very black dog as she poked around in the dry grass and shadows outside the honky tonk.
I’d gotten a couple hours of sleep before Lu woke me to shower and change.
We’d both agreed Lorde would be staying behind with the witches. We hadn’t discussed our rescue plan, or how we intended to take out Dominick.
Lorde trotted over to me and bumped my hand with her nose. “Ready to go inside?” I asked.
She wagged her tail and started toward the front of the building. I followed behind.
The building was cooler inside than outside, but not by much.
They’d pulled back a false ceiling to reveal magic symbols painted on the wooden frame above the wall. An array of windows in the roof were formed in the stages of the moon cycle from new to full.
The moon wasn’t quite overhead yet, but it still shone bright enough to bathe the bar in silver light.
The place was filled with people, everyone moving from one area to the other, like this was another kind of dance, weaving energy with soft chants and gestures, setting out crystals and herbs, bones and blades, and other offerings in a circle around the dance floor.
I knew just how much power this coven could tap into on that floor when they all worked together.
This time their focus would be to keep their land and people safe from vampire attack and also to cloak us while we moved inside the vampires’ territory to find Rhianna.
I found an empty spot by the wall where I could watch, and parked myself and Lorde there.
