Shadow Warrior (Shadow Riders 4)

The night breeze came off the lake, stealing through the open glass door to play over their bodies. Teasing his buttocks and back. Drifting over his head to ruffle his hair.

She lay very still, her sheath clamped around him. Very slowly, her small muscles began to ease their death grip around his cock. He couldn’t find the strength to move. Each little movement of her body sent ripples through both of them.

“If you weren’t so heavy, I could sleep here.” Her voice came out muffled and a little breathless.

“If I was a gentleman, I’d attempt to move, but I’m not. And I can’t.” He used what little air he had left in his lungs to separate from her, rolling as he did so, to get his weight off of her. She wasn’t asking, and it wasn’t exactly a complaint—he knew Grace would have let him lie on top of her until she really couldn’t take a breath.

He rolled over onto his back beside her, looking up at the ceiling. “You’re a fucking miracle, gattina.” He couldn’t tell her that enough. It was the truth.

“That was both of us, so I would have to say you’re the miracle. I don’t know what I’m doing, remember?” She rolled over onto her back and lay close to him, their thighs touching. Her red hair looked like gleaming silk in the firelight. Her body was covered in a fine sheen, and every breath she drew was a temptation to sin.

He threw one arm over his eyes. It was dark, the only light came from the flames of the fireplace dancing over them and the moon reflecting off the surface of the lake.

“That isn’t what I meant, Grace.” He forced himself to roll to his side and prop his head up in one hand. “You said you’d stay with me even after I told you what my family does.”

Her gaze flicked to the side, meeting his eyes, but she didn’t turn her head. “I do love you. I think you knew that before you told me. You didn’t have to. You could have kept it a secret. It’s not like too many people would believe you could travel through shadows. I’m still not clear on how.”

“I had no choice.” He couldn’t help but touch her. He laid his palm on her stomach, right over her belly button where he hoped their child would be nestled someday. “There are consequences if our shadows tangle together too much. We spent quite a lot of time together and I didn’t hold back my feelings at all. I didn’t even try.” He made the confession in a little rush.

“What consequences?”

“If we ripped apart our shadows, I would be unable to be a rider. I was born a rider and I trained all my life, it’s who I am; it would be the worst thing that could happen to me other than losing you. You wouldn’t remember we were in a relationship. You would have thought we were together in order for me to help you because you were shot in the parking lot of our nightclub.”

She went silent. He was used to her taking her time before her response, but he was very tuned to her and tension in her had gone up several degrees. He kept breathing. Stayed conscious of the air moving in and out of his lungs. He kept his energy low, nonthreatening. No fear. No anger. Just breathe. He kept the mantra going in his head. She had said she would stay and Grace Murphy was not the type of woman to go back on her word.

“You lead a difficult life, Vittorio.”

“I suppose that’s true. It’s the only one I really know, so for me it doesn’t feel difficult. Grace.” He turned her head toward him deliberately, forcing her to look at him. “I swear to you, you’ll be happy with me. I’m the same man you fell in love with. We talked, remember? I know what you like, and you know what my preferences are. We fit. You’ll be happy in my family. They’ll welcome you. Eloisa will back off. She snipes at all of us, but she’s also intensely loyal.”

“I’m not worried about Eloisa, Vittorio. I’m worried about you.”

He bent his head to brush a kiss across her mouth just because he detected a slight trembling of her lips. “I’m extremely good at what I do.”

“You live life on the edge all the time. You hunt and kill criminals.”

“I bring them to justice when no one else can.”

“It doesn’t matter how one words it, that’s what you do. There is excitement in that. It’s high adrenaline, right?”

He studied her face while he gave her a nod of confirmation. “Yes. It’s a rush. It takes a while for the adrenaline to recede and in the meantime, I’ll warn you now, the rush goes straight to my cock. I’m going to come home to you and want a day or two of constant sex every way I can get it. That’s a fact.”