Page 62 of Incubus with Benefits
I reached for Lily, but she stared at me, confused.
“Gina?”
Right. I was still wearing Gina’s form. The asshole probably thought he was being beaten by a woman. Which shouldn’t be seen as a bad thing; I’d known some pretty fucking strong women in my lifetime.
“It’s me, Vixen,” I said. I shifted just my face back, keeping the rest of my body cloaked in Gina’s illusion.
Her eyes went wide. “Julian!”
She wrapped her arms around me, and I held on tight. For a moment, the portal, the spells, the chaos around us faded to background noise. I felt her heartbeat against my chest, steady and real, as I moved my hands over her body, trying to make sure that she truly was in my arms again.
She one-upped me and plastered kisses all over my face.
“You came for me.”
“Of course I did. You’re mine, Vixen.”
The look on her face was unreadable. Worried that she’d remind me that we were just friends, I kissed her. We had so much to talk about, but we’d do that later when we didn’t have an audience, because the distant sound of sirens was coming from the edge of the woods.
I pulled back, shifting fully into Gina again. “I’m supposed to be at home,” I explained.
She grinned. “I know.”
Shadow, who’d been hanging out on a branch until now, sidled over to rub up against Lily’s leg as if to say she found her first.
“Shadow!” Lily scooped her up. “You’re alright! Did you know she attacked that asshole? Scratched up his arm real good.”
“She helped me find you. Brought me the bracelet.”
The next few minutes passed by like hours. All I wanted to do was get my mate home and tell her how I felt. Then I’d spend the rest of the day and all of tonight, and possibly tomorrow too, convincing myself that she was alright. There’d be a lot of moaning and screaming, and a whole lot of magic-making.
After way too long, Officer Cooley finally said, “We’ll come by your place tomorrow morning to take all the information. You get home and get some rest.”
“Make that my place,” I said. “I’m above the club; just ring the bell.”
She frowned.
Oh shit. I’d given myself away.
“Uh… I mean Julian’s place…”
Officer Cooley raised her brow, and Hayes guffawed.
“Recorder’s off,” Hayes said. “You’re fine. Just keep her safe.”
I turned to the most precious thing I’d ever had in my arms. “Come on, let’s get you home.”
Chapter 28
Lily
BythetimeIstepped through a portal into Julian’s place with Shadow in my arms, I was exhausted. My body ached, my head was spinning, and all I wanted was to collapse into something soft and forget the last few hours. But I couldn’t yet.
Gina was waiting there with a big honking ankle monitor strapped to her leg. “Oh good, you found her. Now get this fucking thing off me!”
The two traded spots and I watched as Gina phased right out of the device as it latched back onto Julian. She turned to me. “I’m glad you’re safe. Now go make my friend deliriously happy.” With a wave, she was gone.
Back in the cave, in the middle of all that chaos, Julian had said I was his. I hadn’t had time to process it then, but now it echoed in my head. Did he mean it? Or had he just blurted it out by accident because of the adrenaline and relief of finding me?
