Her full lips opened slightly, as if she couldn’t drag in enough air. “Yes.”
He ran his finger around the outline of one pebbled nipple. Saw the tremor run through her. “You sure about that?”
“Yes. It’s just sex with us. You said that yourself.”
That he had. But he’d been lying, and they both knew it. What they had went beyond just sex. How far beyond, he didn’t know and would probably never find out. But one thing he did know. He’d never experienced this level of desire and need before. Not in all the long years and many lovers he’d had since Jacinta.
Maybe not even with Jacinta.
He tugged the blanket loose until it fell to her waist and allowed her wonderful breasts to spill free. He cupped one, brushing his thumb across her nipple.
She shuddered, but her gaze darted to the door. “They come.”
“Can they see what we’re doing?”
“Not with this type of circle, no. They’ll just feel its presence when they try to get in here.”
“And as long as we’re touching we’re safe?”
She nodded. “I think we’d better keep one hand joined, though, just so it doesn’t venture too far into sex magic territory.”
He smiled. He had no intention of going that far, but he did have every intention of exploring what he could one-handed. He leaned forward and captured her lips. It became a long and tender exploration that did strange things to the rhythm of his heart and made him want her more fiercely than he’d ever dreamed possible.
He kept kissing her, kept touching her, all the while aware of the noise beyond their haven and the constant rise and fall of the energy that pulsed around them. Through them.
The fever in his blood burned as fiercely as the air itself, but an awareness of the danger that waited beyond their orb of safety was just as fierce. He wasn’t about to risk her safety to sate his own needs.
After a while, silence fell and the trembling force of energy grew calm. They’d gone. The silence ticked away.
Alarm ran through him.
Silence didn’t tick.
He opened his eyes and glanced toward the door. A small parcel sat in the doorway. “The bastards have left a bomb.”
She grabbed him, stopping him from rising. “Don’t break the circle. It could be a trap.”
“It’s not.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know I can’t feel them anymore. Can you?”
She shook her head. “But that doesn’t mean you can simply walk out of the circle. We have to close it first.”
“We might not have the time—”
“Then we find it. Believe me, breaking this circle right now could be more dangerous that that damn bomb.”
He took a deep breath and tried to calm the urge to ignore her advice and run her out of the danger he sensed was slipping ever closer. “What do we do?”
She grabbed his other hand again. “Imagine that misty field of energy again. Draw it back into your fingers and down into your body. Relax with it, loosening the muscles as you work back down to your toes.”
He took a deep breath and did as she directed. The energy that pulsed around them swirled across his fingertips and slithered up his arms, easing the tension riding his shoulders before trickling down. But long before the sense of relaxation reached his toes, he heard the ticking stop.
Time had run out.
He flung himself over the top of her as the bathroom exploded into flame.