As the last of my strength leaves me and I submit to my fate, a tremendous roar breaks out behind me, making the air ring with its power. A massive brown wolf leaps over me, landing between Sakesh and me. It crouches before me, lips peeled back as it snarls at the great spirit.
Dan?
Sakesh rises up, his laughter ringing all around us. Dan barks and charges, and Sakesh sends out a wave of heat that singes Dan’s fur. He yelps, staggering backwards as his human shape takes over.
To my astonishment, he gets straight back up and runs at Sakesh, roaring like a lion. I can’t believe my eyes. My chest feels like it’s splitting open from desperate fear.
He’s trying to protect me.
Sakesh laughs even louder, fire blooming around us as the trees catch alight. Tongues of fire flicker out, crackling as they dance on Dan’s skin, and he screams, falling to his knees.
“No!” I yell, scrambling to my feet and running to him without a thought for my own safety. I can smell the burned flesh, the hot tang of blood, and when I reach his side, I can see his blackened skin peeling back from his bones. His face is unrecognizable, his eyelids burned away, and his nose nothing but a spike of bone.
Without thinking, I grab his hand.
The shock that usually passes between us explodes, shattering through my body like a clap of insanely powerful thunder. I tighten my grip on him, feeling the power vibrating through me as I struggle to stay on my feet.
When I finally open my eyes, Dan is standing next to me, looking down at his body in complete shock.
He’s healed!
Sakesh roars, his voice like an approaching wildfire. I turn back towards him, clinging to Dan as I put my other hand up and point it at the snake.
Power rings through me, coming from somewhere deep inside the earth, through the soles of my feet. It seems to pour down through the top of my head as well, joining into a single flow that pours from my hand. Dan’s fingers wrap around mine, keeping me grounded and fully aware of what’s happening so I don’t lose myself in the wave of power.
Screaming, I step forward, my hand raised to focus the energy. The two currents meet in my core and pour through my heart, down my arm, and straight into the snake. He howls, twisting away from me, the fiery glow dying as his form becomes less solid. Before the golden haze can completely dissipate, Sakesh turns upon himself and slithers away, leaving a blackened trail in his wake.
My heart is pounding so hard, I can’t hear anything else, and the heaving of my breath feels like it will break my ribs. My hand clasped in Dan’s feels like we’re fused together, and we can never, ever let go of each other.
I don’t want to. My God, oh my fucking God, what was that?
“Grace!” he yells, his face full of wonder.
“Dan,” I moan, power and emotion raging through me as I reach for him.
Our bodies come together, the electric shock exploding through me, rippling pleasure across my skin. I wrap my arms around him, running my hands over his smooth, newly healed skin, squeezing him with all my strength to make sure he’s really whole.
His lips touch mine, and this time, the heat doesn’t scare me. I lean into him, kissing him deeply, begging for his touch, and giving in to the waves of pleasure that surge in my body, breaking down all my defenses.
Dan runs his hands down my arms, and I lean back, closing my eyes. I feel his lips moving down my throat, and waves of light flow through the blackness behind my eyes. With my sight shut off, my sense of touch is heightened, and I can feel his lips and tongue moving across my skin with searing intensity.
He wraps one arm around my waist and yanks me upright, slamming our bodies together again. I writhe against him, my eyes snapping open and looking into those fathomless dark blue pools that are beginning to captivate me with hints at what lies beneath.
Dan kisses me again, slowly this time, and my skin comes alive as if his hands are suddenly everywhere at once. Gasping between kisses, I cling to his shoulders, trembling under waves of desire.
With a sharp growl, he grabs the front of my dress and rips it in two. The tattered pieces fall away, and I reach for him, desperate to feel my body against his, skin to skin.
Dan tackles me, and a cry of shock bursts through my throat as we hit the ground hard. As his weight falls on me and our bodies finally come together, Dan groans as if he’s in pain, bracing his hands on the ground as his hips thrust towards me.
I wrap my arms around his waist, moaning as I clamp my legs around him, writhing desperately. He shudders, gasping as all the muscles in his body tense up.
I lean back so I can see his face. His eyes look dark, shimmering with hints of blue. His lips are drawn back, showing his teeth in a glimmering snarl.
Stop fighting it.
“Yes, Dan,” I whisper against his mouth. “Take me.”
He gasps, shudders, running through his body. For another second, he fights it, then he growls, the sound ripping out of him with primal force, ringing in my ears and right through me, making me collapse on the ground as I let go of him.
