Page 57 of The Rebirth
He obliged on the first part until he was stark naked.
My gaze took a slow and sensual hike down the length of his body, and a low purr crawled out of me, sounding like a satisfied cat being scratched behind the ears.
With my eyes, I traced the thin line of hair down to his erect cock, my tongue darting out to lick my lips.
A growl like that of an aroused wolf rumbled deep in his throat. “I want to see your tits.” He widened his stance, his powerful thighs anchoring him as he slowly stroked himself, watching me watch him.
But that lustful feeling, the mood, and the moment that strung us together was obliterated when a fucking phone rang.
Sam ignored the incessant noise until the ringing stopped—only to start up again.
“Fuck,” he bit out, fishing in the pockets of his jeans until he found his phone.
I returned to sitting on the bed. “Something must’ve happened.”
It couldn’t be intruders on base because the sirens would’ve gone off. Jordyn came to mind. Maybe Dr. Vieira was trying to reach me. My phone was in my bag in the family room.
“It’s Tripp.” He sighed, his erection gone with the wind. “What is it, man? It’s eleven at night.” He paused to listen. “Fuck. I’ll be right there.” After he hung up, he threw on his jeans. “We’ve only been home less than an hour, and the shit has hit the fan already.”
My pulse skyrocketed. “Please tell me that we don’t have to flee again.”
He shrugged into a T-shirt. “It’s Dane. Cooper found a YouTube video of some fucking human who is holding Dane in his garage. Wolf Dane, that is. It seems he can’t shift for some reason.” He laced up his boots. “Greta is picking him up, and she’s on her way here. Apparently, he is in bad shape. That’s all I know so far.”
We knew something had happened to the alpha, but I wasn’t expecting this scenario. I didn’t even want to think about the reactions from humans, especially if the video went viral like Sam’s had. After those folks in the hospital parking lot had snapped photos of Sam with fangs, my husband’s handsome face was on every news station coast-to-coast.
I followed him out of the room. “I hope Dane is okay.”
He tied his hair in a low ponytail with a leather strap. “Me too. I’m sorry, baby doll. I’ll be back as soon as I can, then we can pick up where we left off.” He gave me a quick sloppy tongue kiss. “I love you.” Sam was definitely grumpy and worried.
After he left, I closed the door, leaned against it, and blew out a sexually frustrated breath. It was time for a drink, and I didn’t mean water. I recalled seeing a bottle of bourbon in the pantry when I’d been pregnant.
As I wound my way through the kitchen, a dozen things instantly sprang to mind.
Not only was I starting my new job tomorrow, but the week ahead was filled with a list of events. Zoey Thornton was flying in this week. Agnes had gotten in touch with the teacher from Sacred Flame Academy, and Zoey only had a small window of time before the fall semester started. I had loads of questions about the Mystic, and Jo and Webb wanted to chat with Zoey about the potential of Abbey attending the witch academy.
On top of that, Captain Greer of the Midnight Raiders had set up a meeting between Dr. Vieira and her resident scientist, who believed that a vampire couldn’t turn a witch. But the scientist hadn’t conducted any experiments combining a witch’s DNA with my children’s. Even when she had the opportunity to run tests, the Midnight Raider’s scientist was confident that the results would still confirm her original findings because of a dream she’d had.
I was anxious to see the results. Hell, I was praying that prophecy had no merit to it. It would be one less headache. More importantly, we wouldn’t have witches hunting our children.
I ducked into the small closet that housed mostly paper towels, canned goods, formula, dishes, cases of water, and a safe. The bourbon was on the top shelf next to a bag of coffee.
I snagged the bottle, twisted off the cap, and took a swig. No glass needed. The burn jolted me before warmth slid through my veins.
One day at a time, girl. One problem at a time.
I went over to the wall of windows, sipping the alcohol and hoping nothing was seriously wrong with Dane. The alpha was becoming family to me. He’d gone out of his way to help us rescue Orion and Luna. Plus, my heart hurt that Dane had just lost his brother Ross. On that note, I drank again, wincing from the sheer burn of the alcohol.
Darkness crawled through the courtyard below, broken only by the moon’s light casting an eerie glow on the sentry standing guard outside the prison building. Instantly, a sense of déjà vu enveloped me. The last time I stood in this spot, I’d spied Jordyn running through the courtyard in a failed attempt to get past the guard and inside to see Fred Emery. That asshole had affected my sister’s psyche more than I had realized. Not only had he smashed her face into a parked car that night I’d been kidnapped by Roman at the local hospital in Fall River, but Fred had also come onto her when she’d interviewed with Intech last February. To add to her hatred for the man, Fred had also confessed to murdering our father.
Tonight, I felt the same ominous chills that were skating down my spine, but this time that prickle had more to do with my other sister, Rianne. She was in one of those prison cells in the basement of the building. The magnitude of just how close she was suddenly clouded my excitement to be home.
As I drank from the bottle, I replayed what Steven had told me about Rianne in the underground garage.
“She’s changing, growing stronger. Her features are more pronounced, and she’s losing the ability to shift into human form. Dr. Vieira’s studies on both Noah and Rianne have produced very similar results despite Rianne’s supernatural bloodline. He suspects that Rianne will eventually not know who she is, just like Noah.”
I clung to the bourbon like it was my salvation when in fact I hoped it was Rianne’s. I wanted to turn the clock back and try for the hundredth time to knock some sense into her. I missed her despite how infuriating she could be. I also couldn’t forget all the wonderful times we had as sisters—laughing, teasing, partying, and loving each other. I wanted more of those days where we rode horses together or talked about her flying jets for the military. Her dreams were never to be realized, and that broke my damn heart.
I wished there was a cure or a way to reverse the genetic-altering process, but I was reaching for a miracle thinking that way. Now, I just didn’t want her to suffer, especially if she was in pain or didn’t know who she was.
