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“I was thinking the exact same thing,” I laugh. “But the sooner we do this, the sooner we can stop worrying about it. And then…”
“Then what?” Tilda asks.
“Then I spend the rest of my life getting to know the gorgeous woman in my bed.”
She rolls her eyes, but she can’t suppress the smile that curves her lips. “You know, for a priest, you’re a bit of a hopeless romantic.”
“Always have been,” I murmur. I kiss her gently, my hand skimming over her side to rest on her hip. “I didn’t hurt you last night, did I?”
“No,” she says. “I feel…strong, actually. Refreshed. Ready for this, even if I don’t want to get out of bed.”
“Speaking of which, I think I’m going to look into getting a bigger bed,” I say.
“You don’t like being all cuddled up with me?” she teases.
I snort. “Not sure if you noticed, but I’m a big guy, and you’re close to six feet, right?Mi reina guerrera…that’s what I’ll call you.”
She furrows her brow. “Is it an insult?”
“No,” I laugh. “It means ‘warrior queen.’”
Tilda smiles in the dark, biting her lip. “I’m flattered.”
“And you should know I mean it,” I say. “You scare me a little.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment, too,” she says. “So we should get going, right?”
“Probably,” I say.
Her eyes sparkle as she hooks her leg over my hip, already wet between her thighs. “One more for the road?”
I groan and nestle my face in the crook of her neck, grinding myself against her. It takes almost nothing to get hard for her—the scent of my mate alone is enough to drive me crazy, and her teasing words just tip me over the edge. I slide inside her with the ease of practiced lovers, and we make love one more time before we go.
And I believe it won’t be the last. God wouldn’t have put us together only to tear us apart.
?
We leave the den as the sun rises, heading straight to the barn to saddle up the horses. Tilda takes her white mare, Annie, and I pull out the chestnut. None of the horses seem disturbed by my scent, to my relief, and they’re fully outfitted with gear as the man who shot Tilda left it all behind.
“I figured they would be more afraid of me—animals can normally scent lycan blood,” I say. “They’re trained for it?”
“Yeah,” Tilda murmurs, stroking Annie’s neck with clear affection. “All of our horses are desensitized to battle, lycanthropes, gunshots…otherwise, they would be useless to us. Especially when there are Heavenly Host ships flying overhead, the horses have to be calm by necessity. If they spook, it could literally mean life or death in a fight.”
“The horses were better trained than the man who shot you,” I say, a snarl creeping into my voice despite myself.
“David?” Tilda nods. “Yeah…he was only there as backup. I bet he was in a whole lot of trouble when he went back to Homestead sans four soldiers and four horses.”
I go quiet. “I never asked…did you know the men I killed?”
She frowns. “Not really. They were bounty hunters—came into town with an opportunity and they wanted supplies. I joined up for Enid’s sake. David, too. He has a thing for my sister.”
“But the horses belonged to your settlement.”
“Yeah, but we’re pretty renowned across the state for our livestock,” she says. “I’m surprised you hadn’t heard of us.”
I take a deep breath. “Before all this, I was…fairly shut off from the world. I was part of the rebellion years ago, right after the initial invasion, and the Angels kept me drugged up and subservient. I only got out because of Mateo, Will, and Kenji, and a couple of British agents.”
She quirks her brow. “Sounds like a story.”
