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  Regan didn’t want any confusion. “I am,” she responded firmly.

  “I apologize.” She offered a sheepish smile. “I’m just so used to having free rein with Mastyr Ian.” Her gaze lingered on him for a moment after which she turned to Regan and spoke in a low voice. “Has he taken you to his cave yet? If he hasn’t, make him. It’s beautiful. I think it would suit you.” She then wished them both well and rejoined her friends waiting for her at the entrance to the restaurant.

  She watched Janice go, but suddenly grew aware of how Ian’s forest-fern scent now filled the air. She turned toward him. “Ian? What’s going on?”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Everything with Regan was different this time around, including her aggression. He’d never seen her attack another Realm-person, especially not a powerful a shifter like Janice.

  Where had this new boldness come from? Was it their shared tattoos, or because Regan had the blood rose phenomenon working in her?

  Whatever it was, her intrusion into Janice’s attentions had done more to fire up his blood than anything else could have.

  He leaned close and sniffed her throat above her vein. I can smell your blood. You’ve built a new supply for me, haven’t you?

  Yes. Her voice, even inside his mind, sounded breathy. She’d begun to shed her mating scent as well, rich with jasmine and lime.

  “Ian,” she said quietly. “You should take me into the air. I think we have an audience.”

  He glanced around and saw she was right. At least three different knots of pedestrians were watching them.

  He acted in one swift movement, dragging her against him and rising swiftly at the same time. He heard the small group of nearby Realm-folk issue a unison, ‘Oh-h-h,’ as he disappeared into the night sky.

  Ian, did you settle things with Stone? Because I’m feeling the need for some alone time. I mean, really alone.

  Stone is already getting things set up, bringing in his troops from Tannisford. I sent him the coordinates you prepared. He’s following my protocol and keeping everything quiet. So, the answer is yes.

  Because he held her tight against him, she had hold of each of his bare arms and dug in her nails. He groaned.

  Can we go to the cave? The one Janice talked about?

  Right now, I have something else in mind, something I think you’ll love.

  She slid an arm around his neck, pressing her body against him as he flew. He felt her lips on his cheek, his jaw, then lower as she half suckled, half kissed his throat. I’d love to go lower, Ian. Really low.

  He grunted, the only sound he could make. He was hard as a rock and his brain kept rolling the images of Regan taking on Janice, then subduing the shifter female with a hand placed on her head.

  Regan had staked a claim and he needed to respond in a way she would love and in a place he was sure she’d appreciate.

  When he saw the gold gleam of the Camberlaune Fae Guild tower, he began his descent. He didn’t aim for the building however, but deep into the grounds on the far side of the lake.

  Your Guild, she pathed. I haven’t been here in ages. He heard her quick intake of breath. What a beautiful garden. And I remember now, the land was a gift.

  That’s right. One of the wealthy fae leaders donated what was her family’s quarry and surrounding property, as well as the money to fund the garden.

  Very generous.

  He scanned the area for Realm-folk of any kind, including Invictus, but all that returned was a cool December breeze. He dropped down beside a weeping willow.

  A few months ago, he’d seen the tree from across the lake and knew it had possibilities for a hidden hook-up. He’d never imagined, however, that one night he’d be bringing Regan here.

  He parted several drooping branches, revealing a private grassy space. He moved inside, taking her with him.

  She turned in a circle. “You’re right. I love it.”

  “I thought you would.” He kissed her. She cooed in response, her arms snaking around his neck once more and holding him tight.

  Her scent was heavy in the air, letting him know he was on the right track.

  Ian, this is perfect. Exactly what I need. Watching Janice fondle you got my blood all worked up. I can’t explain it, but my desire for you exploded.

  Mine, too.

  He lifted her off her feet, carrying her to the tree trunk, settling her against it. “Are you comfortable? Because I’m thinking this should be hard and fast.” He released her enough so that her feet once more touched the ground.

  She shivered then wiggled her back against the tree. “This will work.” She glanced from one side to the other, whispering, “Is anyone out there? I mean, is there a chance we’ll be seen or overheard?”

  “I saw very few in the garden and none as far out as this tree. We’re good.” He dropped to unzip her ankle boots, then took off her jeans. He was pretty sure her thong got lost somewhere down one of her jean leg-holes.

  He let his Guard coat fall to the grass then unzipped. He didn’t bother with his boots, not for what he meant to do. He leaned in and kissed her again, plunging his tongue in and out.

  She crossed her arms over the back of his neck, holding him tight as soft moans sounded in her throat.

  With his hips connected to hers, he rubbed his cock down her cleft. Her hips arched into him, begging for more.

  He then lifted one of her legs to his waist, afterward raising the other and getting her settled in.

  He drew back so he could look at her. Her dark eyes glittered with desire and her lips were swollen. “Ian.” She arched her hips.

  “What do you want, Regan? You have to tell me.”

  A soft smile curved her lips. “Your cock, plunging deep.”

  He’d always loved how direct she was with him.

  When she locked her legs around his waist, he dipped his hand between their bodies and guided his cock to her well. The sweet scent of her sex wafted up as he continued to kiss her.

  He thrust in a long slow glide. She was so wet, so ready for him. He groaned. You feel amazing, Regan.

  And I could worship you on my knees, Ian.

  His body jerked in response at the image her words conjured, of her mouth surrounding his cock, of her tongue licking, hands fondling.

  Tell me what you’d do, Regan, only whisper it out loud.

  He drew back, thrusting steadily now.

  “I’d be on my knees without anything on. I’d tease your cock until it stood straight out, then swipe the tip with my tongue over and over. But you’d have to beg me to do more. Would you beg me, Ian?”

  “Hell, yeah.” He nodded, moving his hips faster. “And after I begged?”

  “I’d get down to business. I’d take you in my mouth and suck for as long as you wanted me to.”

  He moved faster now. “What else would you do?”

  “Ian,” she cried. “Oh, God.”

  Seeing she was almost ready to come, he slowed the tempo, easing her back a little. “I want to hear it all, Regan. I want to feel like I’m coming in your mouth as I release. Will you do that for me? Talk to me while I come?”

  She gripped his arms, stroking him, her hips matching his in hard, responsive pulses to each of his thrusts. “I’d take as much of you in my mouth as I could, and I’d beg you to mouth-fuck me. Would you do that, Ian? Would you fuck my mouth with your dick?”

  “Yes.” His voice was low and hoarse, his balls getting tight. He drove into her faster still.

  She was breathing hard as she continued, “With each thrust, I’d suck, then drag my lips in a tight circle as you pulled back. I’d keep sucking and dragging, catching the head each time. You’d go faster and faster, like you are now, only in my mouth.”

  “I’m so hard for you. Are you close?”

  “Right on the edge.”

  “Then let’s do this.” He went faster, his cock pistoning.

  “And one more thing, Ian. I’d take your come in my mouth, all of it.”
/>   He gave a shout and his seed flew like lightning through his cock. When she started to scream, he covered her mouth with his hand. Her body jerked and writhed beneath his as he plundered her sex.

  He kept driving into her until the last bit of pleasure pulsed through him. Still connected, he smiled at the satisfied look in her eye, even though she breathed in gasps against his hand. He was taking in deep gulps himself.

  When he could trust her, he uncovered her mouth and chuckled softly. “Hope I didn’t distress you with my hand, but I didn’t want anyone to think a woman was being murdered in here.”

  She laughed in response then rested her arms on his shoulders. With a smile, she leaned up to kiss him. “It was perfect, beginning to end.” However, her brows rose. “There’s only one problem.” She glanced down at where they were still connected. “You leave a lot behind, you know. And I didn’t exactly come prepared.”

  He reached into his back pocket and took out a kerchief. “Thought we might need this.” Pulling out of her, he tucked the square of linen between her legs, holding it in place as she lowered her legs.

  “Thank goodness you had this kind of foresight.”

  He chuckled again. “Let’s put it this way, I’ve been in a constant aroused state since I caught your blood rose scent. I figured this would happen sooner or later.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Regan didn’t know what to make of their current situation. He’d been right to plan ahead and he’d been really right about their mutual lust for each other. She couldn’t have refused him even if she’d wanted to.

  Which she didn’t.

  She’d been without a man for a long time now and wherever this led, she appreciated the sex. There, she’d admitted it to herself. She’d missed romping in bed with him, or on ottomans, or beneath weeping willows. She wondered if Ian had ever thought about doing it in the air.

  “You’re smiling. No, I’d call that a grin. What are you thinking?”

  “You don’t want to know.”

  “Tell me. Now.”

  Having found her thong halfway down the right leg of her pants, she put it on then pulled up her jeans and zipped. “Have you ever had sex while levitating or even flying?”

  He threw his head back and laughed. “Honey, I’m game if you are. But no, I’ve never done that before.”

  “We might have to give it a shot.” She pulled her sweater down, then dropped to the grass and slid on her ankle boots, zipping up each in turn.

  “I’ll say this again. For such a spiritual being, you’re very physical.”

  “The two aren’t mutually exclusive.”

  He nodded, smiling once more.

  When she stood up, she saw he’d turned his back to her and was using a couple of fingers to part the draped willow branches.

  “Looking for Invictus sign?”

  “Always. The skies look clear, though. No sign of a red wind. And I’ve been thinking. We should head to Grasmer then Clarefield to make an appearance. I’ll contact Ben and Stone again to let them know where we’ll be.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  He turned toward her, looking her up and down. “The kerchief?”

  She felt a blush climb her cheeks. “Um, I’m keeping it with me for the time being.”

  “Shit. I’m not thinking. Let me fly you to my home near Gasmer. We can both clean up.”

  “Now that does sound like a plan.”

  He flew her swiftly in the direction of the north-central plain city. From what she knew, Gasmer now had a population of fifty-thousand Realm-folk, though she remembered it as a village of only a couple hundred.

  Just as he passed over a well-lit street, however, he veered sharply left.

  She didn’t know why until she saw the cause; two shifters had fought and killed an Invictus pair right beneath a streetlight. Several Realm-folk stood back, watching.

  When he touched down, Regan had to hold her nose. The smell was awful.

  “Mastyr Ian.” The taller of the two shifters with blood spatter across his face, chest and arms, nodded to Ian, then to Regan. “Apologies for the mess.” He swiped his cheek with his sleeve.

  Ian kept his arm around her waist. “Just checking to see if you needed help.”

  The shifter offered a wry grin. “Nope. But these two have been around a long time and were hard to take down.”

  “Really hard,” the other shifter said, a deep frown between his brows. “But we got ‘em.”

  “Then there was no way to save them for rehab.”

  “Sorry, Mastyr, but no. We would have needed a few more shifters for that.”

  Ian waved a hand. “We all do what we can.”

  The taller of the two scratched his forehead. Something was on his mind. Lowering his voice, he said, “We’re looking forward to the recon foray later. But … ”

  “What is it? Don’t hold back.”

  “Mastyr Ben was here earlier, asking questions. Didn’t feel right to lie to him.”

  “Sorry to put you in that position, but I need you to keep your mission a complete secret. I’ll explain everything to Ben later. He’ll understand.”

  Regan had long since looked away from the Invictus pair on the ground and was grateful when Ian took to the skies once more. She drew a deep breath. “The smell surprised me.”

  “Gut wounds are the worst. The intestines open up.”

  She forced her stomach to settle down, swallowing hard a few times.

  “I need to contact Ben, see if he’s getting suspicious.” Regan sensed when Ian began pathing with his second-in-command.

  She turned her attention to the lights in the town below. So much had changed in Camberlaune over the centuries, she hardly recognized any of the places she’d seen so far.

  She felt Ian grow tense as he began his descent. She knew he’d disconnected his telepathic conversation with Ben. “Everything okay?”

  “Just feeling guilty. I really hate keeping Ben in the dark. He asked if I’d been setting up some kind of mission into the mountains, so I told him a half-truth that I was sending three or four teams on recon work. He said I should have told him.”

  “What did you say to that?”

  Ian crossed a small range of rolling hills, then descended into the backyard of a modern dwelling. “I lied. I said I thought I had.”

  “Did he believe you?”

  “Nope, but he let it go.”

  Regan looked around. “This is a lovely home. By the way, exactly how many places do you have?”

  “Five. Six including the lake cave.”

  “I really have to see that cave.”

  “At some point, I’m sure you will.” He was smiling as he set her down on the lawn.

  When she hopped off his boot, he led her into the house by way of the backdoor. She glanced up and saw the steel shutters ready to come down near dawn against so much glass.

  The house was single story and he walked her to the master bedroom. Once there, he gestured to the bathroom. “The hamper’s right outside the door.”

  “Perfect.” She’d had plenty of sex over the years, but sometimes the logistics afterward could be crazily embarrassing.

  After cleaning up, she put the kerchief in the hamper. Ian stood near the foot of the bed, waiting for her. He’d donned a black tank, fresh leathers and even wore a different pair of thigh boots that had skulls running down the outside seams.

  She couldn’t help but smile. “Zane would love those.”

  Ian laughed. “They were a gift from him. I don’t wear them often, but given what we’re be heading into, I liked the idea.”

  She glanced at his rings. “When did you start wearing so much hardware? You never used to.”

  “About the same time I got the tattoo.” He patted his chest. “A couple decades ago, I’d been in a close up battle with three Invictus pair and one of the vampires wore rings. Damn, they hurt when he fought. Afterward, I was bruised like I’d never been before. I made the decision then and there to
add them to my uniform.”

  She looked him up and down. “It’s pretty intimidating.” And other things she didn’t need to mention or she’d end up in his arms again.

  Checking her internal clock, she could tell it was almost two-thirty. Her heartrate jumped. “We should probably head to the Dauphaires.”

  “Yep. You still feel confident about the de-spelling process?”

  She drew in a ragged breath, more from excitement than anything else. “I do, but I’ll need to be in a meditative state. Will you have Guardsmen nearby for protection? Because I’m thinking you’ll need to be guarded if you’re supporting me.”

  “Already thought of that. I’ll have a dozen of my most powerful warriors standing watch.”

  “Then we’re ready.”

  “We are.”

  Now that the time had come, Regan felt tense and jumpy as though electricity flowed through her veins, but in a really good way. Angus was right; taking charge rocked.

  ~ ~ ~

  Ian flew Regan directly to the granite outcrop that overlooked Dark Gorge. The mist closest to them had the same disrupted appearance from Regan’s earlier efforts. The rest looked intact, but he couldn’t help but wonder if Margetta had inadvertently discovered this disturbed part of her spell.

  Whatever the case, the die was cast and there was nothing more to do than to let the plan unfold.

  Just past 2:30, with his plans in place, he saw no reason not to involve Ben. He pathed him then gave a quick rundown on what was happening.

  He expected Ben to be pissed at him for not including him, but Ben responded, I totally get your need for secrecy. I’d suspected for a long time someone was leaking information to the Ancient Fae, but I had the worst time thinking it was any of our Guardsmen.

  Same here. He and Ben had always had similar attitudes and views, one reason he trusted Ben as he did. Why don’t you head out here? We’re about to engage the enemy.

  You know there’s nowhere else I want to be.

  Ian gave him his position. Ben was a quick flyer and it wouldn’t take him but a few minutes to join Ian.

  And the offensive starts at three?

  Yes.

  Is Regan with you right now?

  For the moment. But once she’s destroyed Margetta’s spell, I’m planning to move her to the south side of Dark Gorge. I’ll have a couple of our warriors guarding her.