Page 27 of A Touch of Flame
And still he held onto her neck.
When another orgasm struck her, he suddenly released her neck and rose up. His scent filled the air and he roared as he came.
Pleasure streaked through her yet again and flooded her veins with lightning pulses. She felt a profound impetus to use her magic.
She lifted one hand and pictured a forest. Suddenly they were both flying, though joined as they were, through pine trees at full-dark. He clamped an arm around her waist and held her tight.
She wanted to do this for him, for the man who had just taken her to Paradise.
~ ~ ~
Braden accepted the moment for what it was, a fantasy- journey Maeve had created with her witchcraft. He didn’t know how she’d done it, only that he was flying with her just above the treetops of an expansive forest. Stars shone overhead and the deep pine scent of the trees had his inner-wolf thrilling to the run.
He’d come hard within the witch and he’d given her a ride. Now she was returning the favor, giving back and then some.
He was still connected to her and whatever spell she’d cast spoke to hisalterwolf, to the creature he’d become ten years ago. He was fully acclimated to shifting, to his fur, to the call of the wolf pack. What she had designed for him, suited him perfectly.
He could smell the pines and the dusty dry air that tasted of the earth. He had a deep burrow from his early days as a wolf that he went to often. That’s what the fantasy-spell smelled like, his habitat well below the surface streets of Savage.
He’d carved out the place the first few months of hisalterlife. It was sacred, a burrow he and his wife used to go to often.
He felt the wind on his face as he flew through the forest. The experience was so otherworldly, his soul became drenched in sensation, just as his body was.
The spell didn’t last long, however, yet long enough.
When he came back to himself he was still buried deep inside Maeve, both arms now wrapped around her. She was limp and satisfied against him.I’m going to move us.
Okay.Her voice was almost groggy inside his head.
Using his levitation and careful placement of his arms on her body, he turned them sideways and eased them down onto the bed. He didn’t want to disconnect from her.
He’d needed this. He hadn’t been with a woman since his wife died. He petted her hair, the curls tight beneath his fingers. She had beautiful red hair, like flames. “You’re the first. Since my wife, I mean.” He wanted her to know. It seemed important.
He felt her huff a sigh. She was fully relaxed beside him. “Same here. I honestly thought I’d never have sex again. It seemed as distant to me as the stars.”
“Why is your home underground?”
He felt her chuckle against him. “I can’t explain it. After my failed induction, I needed to be here. I think it was about healing first, then safety. I feel safe underground, though I never thought I’d say that.”
“I have a burrow I still use. I figured it was only a wolf thing.”
“I think it’s a Five Bridges thing. We have limited space here and we get newaltersin every night. We either build up, or we dig in the earth.”
She leaned away from him and grabbed some tissues. The movement was enough for him to glide out of her. As she took care of herself without the smallest hint of embarrassment, she rolled to face him, her hands settling beneath her cheek. “You’ve been here a long time. Are you happy here? Or maybe I mean, were you happy before Laura’s death?”
“Are you asking if it’s possible to make peace with what you’ve become, yes, absolutely. It took time, of course. I was so angry when my wife and I first arrived. We’d had a good life. We were trying for a family. Then suddenly, it was all over. Somealtersbear children, but it’s rare. It didn’t happen for us.
“Our life in Scottsdale now seems like it never happened. It’s hard to remember when I wasn’t a wolf.”
She touched his shoulder, rubbing her fingers over the dips between the muscles. “Do you shift often?” Her gaze flitted to his, but she kept her hand on his shoulder. He liked the contact. It eased him.
“Every wolf’s experience is different. I find shifting is not only pleasurable, it’s necessary. There’s a longing to run I can’t explain. When you took me for a forest ride just now, in the spell you created, you can’t imagine how much it pleased my wolfness. But how did you know to do that?”
Her arched, reddish-brown eyebrows rose. “I didn’t know I could even do something like that. But the image that came into my head was of a forest and the rest flowed from there.
“It’s amazing, by the way, that there’s a forest now in Five Bridges, in the middle of the desert.” It had taken two decades for the Savage forest to reach maturity. He was grateful to his predecessors for planting it. He’d had full access from the time he’d arrived.
He pursed his lips then frowned. “Wolves need a forest to run in. The men and women who first arrived asaltershifters said there was more fighting among the packs than I could ever believe possible. A lot of it was because of a lack of proper running space.
