She’d never wanted to touch or kiss a man as badly as him before. She would give anything to push his jacket back from his shoulders while she ran her lips down the curve of his cheek to his neck. Making her way lower, she’d unbutton his shirt to expose the muscles etching his tall, chiseled body.
Willow shook her head to rid it of her completely inappropriate musings. Now wasn’t exactly the time to be fantasizing about one of her bosses. Actually,neverwas an appropriate time for that; she couldn’t control her dreams, but she wouldn’t do anything to risk her place in the Alliance.
She set her hand in her lap. “Did you go to the tunnel?”
Declan missed her touch as soon as it was gone. It had been centuries since he experienced any tenderness from another; he’d forgotten what it felt like. And now he craved more of it. He almost snatched her hand back and returned it to his face, but he couldn’t force from her what she’d freely given seconds ago.
“Yes,” Declan answered.
“What did you find there?”
“Blood, ashes, and burn marks from Savages, but no one from the Alliance. However, some of the blood might have been Lucien’s. We found a hunter’s body in the woods.”
“Was it Leonard?”
“Yes.”
“He’s the only one I know for sure is dead, but I heard screams from someone else…” Her voice trailed off as she recalled those awful sounds. “I don’t think they survived, but the Savages could have captured them.”
Willow focused on the shifting shadows created by the swaying trees. They danced like fairies in a garden, but these shadows were far more sinister than any fairy playing on a flower. These shadows held death in their midst.
“Why was my sister with you?” she asked.
“Because she refused to remain behind,” he said.
“And where was Nathan?”
“She told him to stay with Wyatt.”
Willow lowered her head and rubbed at her temples. “Stubborn idiot.”
“I bet, if you ask her, she feels the same way about you.”
Willow chuckled before lifting her head. “Probably, but it doesn’t matter if Vicky approves of my choices or not.”
“It seems you’re both stubborn.”
“Hmm,” Willow grunted. “She better go home. Wyatt needs her.”
“Believe me, Nathan reminded her of that before she left. But nothing was going to change her mind. If it makes you feel better, I don’t think any of them will follow us after the waterfall, or at least I hope they don’t. We were too far away for them to catch up, and they know it. I think they’ll continue to search for the others while waiting for us to make contact.”
“I hope they go back,” she whispered. “I have a bad feeling about all this. What were the Savages doing in the tunnel?”
“Digging.”
“For what?”
“I have no idea, but I think they found it.”
“That can’t be good.”
“No, it can’t. You were limping when we first left the river behind,” he said to change the subject. “What happened?”
“I broke my ankle the first night I was in the woods and spent two nights in a tree waiting for it to heal. They found me after I climbed down. When we hit the water, I tweaked it again, but it’s better now.”
“If it took that long to heal, then you must really need blood.”
“I do,” she admitted.
