AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’ll keep you safe.” His eyes met hers and she was struck by the warmth and confidence in his gaze. Yes, he really was going to keep her safe.
Slowly, he sank into the earth as if pulled by an unseen rope. She gasped when his head disappeared, but then hurried to sit on the side of the hole like he’d instructed. She gasped again when he wrapped his hands around her ankles, even though she’d expected it. This had to be the weirdest thing she’d ever done.
Macey took a deep breath, just in time because a moment later, Jared pulled on her legs and she slid off the ledge and into the dark, deep tunnel he’d created.
She closed her eyes to prevent any earth from getting into them, and tried to breathe as shallow as possible. The air in the tunnel smelled funny but not unpleasant. It reminded her of nutmeg and paprika powder.
There was a strange kind of buffer between her and the tunnel walls, like an air cushion, preventing her skin from chafing and her clothes from getting dirty. She had a newfound respect for Jared’s powers. This was incredible. Magical.
After a few minutes, when she was sure that no earth was going to hit her face, she dared to open her eyes – and grinned when she didn’t see anything but darkness. She should have known that. At least it was more comfortable to keep her eyes open.
Time passed slowly. She tried calling out to Jared, but it seemed that they couldn’t hear each other. It was completely silent in the tunnel; the only sound was her breath. The barrier surrounding her seemed to muffle all sounds, especially that of them rushing through the earth.
The darkness made her tired and she let her mind drift off into daydreams of her other men, on their way to fight the Orca. Strange how she counted all three of them as her men, even Rónán. He fit so well into their dynamic that she had trouble imagining that he’d only just joined them. She was so lucky to have such amazing guys.
She smiled. She really was one lucky kelpie.
“Remind me why we’ve never used this before?” she asked once they’d made the excruciatingly long journey.
“It wasn’t working before.”
“Right…and it’s safe now because…”
Jared didn’t respond im
mediately. Instead, he paced around where they’d landed.
Damn. She should have gone to the sea. At least there she’d know what she was up against. Water was her element after all. She could deal with it in her sleep. Past drowning experience notwithstanding.
“I didn’t have the energy before,” he admitted. “But being with you has recharged me enough.”
“Reassuring,” she muttered.
Jared chuckled and turned to her. Leaning down, he pressed his lips against hers and kissed her gently. Their lips moved in tandem, a warmth spreading through her body at the touch. Maybe whatever had caused the scales really had made it so she needed to devour men now. .
“Stop thinking about it, we got here safely,” Jared mumbled against her lips, his hot breath fanning against them and setting every nerve on fire.
“I can’t,” she replied as she stepped back and broke their kiss. “Something’s changed, Jared.”
He frowned at her. “And you think you’re turning into an incubus?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Wouldn’t it be like a succubus?” she prompted, genuinely curious.
“Technically not, we’re different in a couple of ways.” He shrugged as if it wasn’t all that important.
“Alright then.” She paused, trying to compose the thoughts in her head so she could actually express them. “I don’t think I’m turning into an incubus. But there does seem to be some kind of hunger I didn’t have before.”
“A sexual one?”
“I’m not sure.” She grimaced, not at all happy with the vagueness of her own words. “I don’t think so. But I’m also not sure what it is.”
“Could it be magic?”
“What?” she snapped.
“A hunger for magic and power,” he clarified.
“I…” She glanced away from him, unable to stand the empathy in his dark eyes.
