Faith nodded and crossed to the couch. He looked around the room. Truth was, he had very little stuff that was his, but it was going to have to be moved into here. He hoped she wasn't territorial about her things.
"Your father is amazingly bold. Why are you all so different? I thought it was because of your mother's influence but now I'm thinking she wasn't a peach either."
Theo shrugged. "She did well by all of us. Whatever she was like when she was young, she loved us and would have walked through fire for us." He paused considering his words carefully. "I don't know that I'm so completely different from my Dad."
Standing up, she walked quickly to him wrapping her arms around his neck. "Really? Would I be doing this to someone I considered evil and disgusting?"
Her lips met his and once again he knew what it was to feel completely at ease. His groin hardened. The woman could distract him, that was for sure.
Chapter Ten
Faith pressed her body up against Theo's and sighed at the feel of his hard length touching her stomach. Funny, she never actually thought about how tall he was unless they were like this. She ached for him. Their small fight had gotten all of her juices going and her wolf was desperate to have them reconnect.
She was pretty desperate for it herself.
Pulling away, he rubbed his cheek on her hair and breathed. Not able to help herself, she smiled. All she could do was hope that she didn't smell as dingy as she felt. The growing bulge in Theo's pants told her that whatever he'd encountered when he sniffed her hadn't bothered him at all. Just the opposite.
"Do we have time for this?" His voice sounded husky and she reveled in the fact that she'd done that to him.
"We're making the time."
Nodding, he smoothed his hands up and down her back, shivers racing throughout her body. The man had great fingers. She closed her eyes, loving the relaxing sensations that ebbed with every stroke and push of his fingers. If she wasn't so completely turned on she could probably close her eyes and fall asleep leaning on him.
"You have knots in your back. I see now where you carry all of your stress."
Faith raised an eyebrow. "And you became a chiropractor when?"
Laughing, he scooped her up in his arms and walked to the bedroom laying her gently on the bed. "You don't live as long as I have without picking up a few things."
"Oh that's right." She nodded, like she agreed with him. "You're an old man. Maybe we should take it easy on you, not force you to handle such rigorous activity."
"I think that might be taking it a bit too far. I just meant I learned some things along the way, not that I couldn't keep up with my young, energetic bride."
"Bride? Did we get married and I missed it?" She wasn't going to let him get away with that one. Some of the wolves did marry and she didn't particularly care if they did or did not, but he didn't just get to start calling her his wife.
Leaning down he pressed his mouth to the edge of her neck and inhaled deeply. "You know for all intents and purposes you are my wife."
Faith shook her head. "Nope. I'm your mate, not your wife."
He lifted his head up, his eyebrows pressed down in a look of concern. "Is this really bothering you? Do you want to get married?"
Nodding, she grinned. "Yes, later. Right now I want to make love." She pulled his head down and devoured his lips, loving the feel of the scruff of his whiskers against her skin. Secretly, she hoped it marked her up a little bit so she could see it in the morning. She knew it was the wolf in her that wanted him to mark his territory and she forced herself to control her desire to mark in return.
I think he would like it.
As usual, her wolf was probably correct. Maybe she'd have to see how he took to a few bites that left marks. She could feel her canines extending at the thought. That was unusual for Faith. While certain members of the pack could partially shift or half-shift, she never had but as with everything involving Theo, it shouldn't surprise her that he brought out her shifter powers. Hell, he'd given her demon powers.
"Take off your shirt." Theo hadn't seemed to mind when she took control during their love play. Clearly an Alpha wolf, she had worried that he would be completely aggressive and not at all interested in sharing the fun, but in reality he seemed to be the polar opposite.
He has your soul. He knows who you are and what you need.
That was true, there were some clear benefits to the soul sharing business and she had to admit she could get used to them.
Theo pulled his shirt over his head and she was gifted with the sight of his sculpted chest. She sighed. If she could work with clay, this would be the image she would create. Hard lines crossed his skin starting below his abdomen and didn't end until they reached the top of his chest. Reaching out a hand, she stroked her hand over the ridge over his stomach and was rewarded by the jump of his skin under her fingers.
In her life, she'd never felt powerful. Not really. Tough maybe, but that was different than power. But here was this man--this shifter--who held tremendous responsibility and ability, the kind of man who had fought on his own to hold off a demon for a year without telling anyone of his plight and she could make him flinch with the mere touch of her fingertips. It was amazing.
She sat up so they faced each other, feeling the coarse hair on his chest under both of her hands now. His breathing increased and she bit her lower lip in excitement. This was the man she would fight side by side with to protect Westervelt; she would age with him and maybe someday have children with him. His breath felt warm on her cheek when he leaned over to press a gentle kiss under her eye.
"Do you mind that now we're both going to start to age?"
He smiled, his eyes glittering as he stared at her. "Are you asking if I mind if your brown and gold hair is going to start, someday, to grey or that you might someday have to wear glasses?"
Shaking her head she ran a hand down the side of his face. "You know what I'm asking you."
"No Faith, I don't mind. I wish we had met when we were babies and aged progressively since then. Time spent without you is wasted time. How about you? Do you mind that now you will grow old?"
"I didn't know I wasn't growing older until a year ago. Before that, I just thought I was really lucky that I never changed since I was thirty."
"Ha." His laughter was infectious and she grinned. "Just good genes, huh?"
"Something like that."
Theo kissed her chin and made his way down her neck. Pulling hard at her shirt, she helped him out by raising her arms so he could do it more efficiently. He stared bewildered at her beige bra.
She looked down to where he gazed. "What?"
"You're wearing a bra?" His mouth twisted into a crooked smile. "I've not seen you in one before."
"And?" She really had no idea where he was going with this.
Do you know what the issue is here?
Her wolf shook her head. No, sorry, this is human stuff.
"I'm not good at bras."
She wanted to crack up laughing but had a feeling his confession had cost him not a small bit of pride and she didn't want to make him even more anxious. Having thought that, however, she couldn't just let it go and remove it. No, that would be too easy and she knew that neither one of them liked anything they didn't have to work towards.
"What do you find difficult about them?"
He ran a hand through his black hair. "I guess it's the, what do you call those things, clasps?"
"Theo, never in a million years would I imagine a man who can see moving, invisible people and who I happen to know can disarm a bomb can't make a small little metal or plastic clasp function."
"How'd you know I can disarm a bomb?"
"Every member of the pack has told me bits and pieces about you since I got here," she replied, smiling.
"Well, I guess I could go practice on other women's bras if you'd like me to get better at it."
"No." She shrieked and he cracked up. Obviously, she'd known he joked bu
t still the very idea was enough to make her blanch. Pushing down on the clasp between her breasts, she quickly pulled the bra off and handed it to him. He held it up to his nose to take a quick whiff and grinned a tooth-filled smile.
She reached out and touched his teeth. Yep, just as she thought, his canines had changed as well. At least she wasn't in it alone. Unable to stop herself she lunged forward and bit down hard on his neck. He hissed but didn't pull away. If anything his groin, which was pushed up against her stomach grew harder. Her mouth felt locked against his neck. His skin, both sweet and salty was the greatest taste she'd ever experienced. If life was fair she'd never have to let go.
Finally, when some of the urgency had passed she released him. He moved backwards, his hand coming to the mark she had made. Moments later, she saw small drops of blood on his palm. Her eyes felt huge. How could she have bled him? It seemed so un-her. But Theo's eyes glistened with pleasure. He pushed her backwards against the bed looming over her.
"My little wolf, are you sure you aren't Alpha? Should we be worried you're going to challenge Tristan for the pack?"
"Will you hide it?" Her wolf paced restlessly inside. It would deeply wound the shifter part of her if he covered it up.
He shook his head. "Never."
"Good. Then I'll just keep biting it over and over again so it never heals."
He pushed all of his weight on top of her so he pinned her on the bed. "Promise?"
Theo tore at her pants, literally ripping them from her body. "Darling, I have to believe that there were better ways to do that."
"Probably, but not as much fun, that's for sure."
Reaching between them, she pulled the zipper down and tugged at the waist of his pants. He helped her pull them off before he slipped her panties down her legs. Taking her cue from him, she pulled off his boxer shorts and ran her hands down his legs reveling in the feel of his thick, dark hair. Everywhere she touched little goose bumps appeared covered his skin.
"Will it always be like this? Or is it just that it is so new?"
"I've never been mated before," Theo's voice sounded husky and deeper than usual. "But I can say with absolute certainty that I cannot imagine a time when you will walk in a room and I'm not totally smitten with you."
She ran a hand down his cheek. "Theo, you say the most romantic things." And the truth was she hadn't known he had that quality about him, which meant he hadn't known it about himself.
"If I say them Faith, it's only because you inspire me."
Inside her chest, her heart beat a frantic rhythm, she thought it might explode. Tears sprung to her eyes. As a child when she'd been alone and afraid in the dark convinced she'd made up stories of wolves and princes, children's fairy tales; she never could have imagined that someday she'd be living in a moment like this one.
"You're so beautiful."
She shook her head. "I'm not."
"You just can't see yourself as I see you, as everyone else sees you. The first time I ever laid eyes on you, I was struck with the color of your hair and the texture of your skin. I've only ever seen these things in artwork. I didn't think they existed in real life."
"The first time you saw me I was saving your ass from drowning in the lake. I doubt you were thinking about my hair."
"Black and gold, that's the color you are as a wolf and that's the colors in your hair, too."
Theo kissed her and before she knew it, she was caught up in a frenzy of sensation and love the likes of which she couldn't have predicted. Their first time together had been a swirl of mating instincts and need. This time it was just about the two of them loving each other and Faith couldn't be more ecstatic. She sighed, rubbing her hands up and down his back in a casual, yet hurried manner. Part of her was desperate to join with him while the other half needed their loving and foreplay to continue as long as it could.
"Tell me what you want, my love." The words spread through her already heated core like molten lava, filling her up and threatening to explode inside of her.
"I love you too, Theo." A tear slipped from her left eye and she blinked away the others not wanting to cry unable to stop herself because of the intensity of her feelings for him.
Slowly, he spread her legs and lowered himself inside of her. She could feel her body stretch to accommodate him and as she had been the first time was amazed by how perfectly they fit together. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to experience the moment more intensely. He reached out and she felt him brush some stray hair from her eyes.
"Faith, look at me."
She did as he asked and stared into the brown depths of a man she knew she'd live a lifetime with, share his soul, and never know completely. But she could be sure of one thing: he loved her and he was entirely hers. Together they moved in a rhythm that was their own each whispering promises of love and eternity. It wasn't long until Faith's climax claimed her and as she thought she might die from the sheer pleasure of it, Theo followed her into the abyss.
With her love still inside of her, Faith closed her eyes and drifted away on a breeze of happiness and contentment.
* * * *
When she woke up, she found herself floating on the ceiling. She shrieked and flung her arms around trying to get balance. What the hell was going on? She reached for her wolf and found her absent which meant only one thing: this was a demon problem again.
Below her, Theo slept soundly on his stomach. His face turned to the right, his breathing even, and she couldn't help but notice the top part of his very cute buttocks exposed from the sheet. Dear heaven, would she never get over her urge to check him out? She had bigger problems to handle here. Reaching her hand backwards, she felt the cool, slimy skin of a fire demon pushing out of her back. Yep, it was official--she had wings and she floated over the bed. Hell. Looking down at the front of her body was a slight relief. She still looked like herself, which meant that all that had happened was that she had gained the wings of a demon and not the look of the creature altogether.
She cleared her throat. "Theo."
He grunted and rubbed his nose. Of all times for him to become a deep sleeper, this was not one of them.
Faith tried flapping her wings to see if she could move and banged her head on the ceiling. For a moment, she literally saw stars. Rubbing her head, she tried again. If this was going to be a permanent change--and she certainly hoped it was not because she missed her wolf terribly--then she needed to figure out a way to handle this new part of her body and evidently her mate was not going to be any use in this manner as he snored on the bed.
She wanted to move straight not up and down, so she concentrated and visualized herself moving across the room and found this time it was easy to do. Like a hummingbird, if she flapped hard enough she could move up, down, left, right, and straight at will. But anytime she lost her concentration, boom, she whacked herself on the head. The last attempt had put her dangerously close to colliding with the light fixture and she knew that would be more of a problem than just hitting the ceiling.
There was just no choice; Theo was going to have to get up. "Damn it, Theo, wake up." She didn't like her own tone, it was getting pretty close to childish, but she had no connection to her wolf and she was stuck on the ceiling. If ever there was a time for regression it was that moment.
Her mate jumped and nearly fell off the bed. "Faith?" He called out, leaping from the mattress. He looked right and left seeking her, and as she watched from her position above, his eyes went wolf. Theo couldn't find her and she could tell he was about to go wolf in his worry.
"Up here, hot stuff."
His eyes jerked towards the sky and he gasped. "Holy shit, Faith."
She raised an eyebrow. "Language, mister suave."
He climbed on the bed, standing on the mattress as he continued to stare at her. "Sorry." Swallowing, he gathered himself. "I'm talking to you telepathically, can you not hear me?"
"No." She shook her head as she motioned to her wings. "Demon stuff negat
es the wolf, remember?"
Theo nodded as he considered this. "Why do you suppose that is?"
Not able to help the sigh that escaped her, she gritted her teeth. "I am not really in the mood for an intellectual discussion on this."
"Are you angry with me? Is this somehow my fault? I mean other than the fact that I infected you."
Faith opened her mouth to speak and closed it again. Was she? Truthfully, Faith could feel rage sprinting through veins consuming her body and she had no idea the source of it. Sure, she was stuck on the ceiling but why was she yelling at Theo?
"I am incredibly mad at the moment and I can't tell you why that is." The quiver in her voice alarmed her. She was either about to start ranting or crying, neither of which she particularly wanted to do nor would either option be helpful to her.
"It's the demon." Theo sighed. "I'm so sorry Faith. It's one of the reasons I hid in the woods. The demon's emotions are not normal for us, and that makes us dangerous."
Faith's hands started to shake of their own volition. Theo's explanation made sense and considering how off kilter she felt, she could easily see why he would have hid from this.
"So you're worried I'm about to go off the deep end then?"
Faith's mind whirled and a thousand different thoughts consumed her at once. At her core, she was a pragmatist. They'd been given this ability--whether they wanted it or not--and there had to be a way to use it.
"I am."
At least he was honest. She could see the worry lines starting to form next to his eyes. This was just what they didn't need, something else Theo could blame himself for. Like a light dawning in front of her eyes, Faith suddenly knew how they would catch the traitor.
It was brilliant, it would work, and it required her to stay like this, at least for a little while.
"Theo, my love, I know what we're going to do."
"To get you off of the ceiling?" His eyes lit up like he thought that was a great idea.
She shook her head. "No. I know how we're going to catch the traitor."