Damn it. This was not the way it was supposed to be. Their bonding was supposed to be easy. Natural. Maybe it would be best if he took her to the compound and went with Thomas himself.

“No. I won’t let you go alone.”

Drake felt a little burst of excitement go through him. “You heard that thought?”

She frowned. “I don’t know if ‘heard’ is the right word, but yeah. I knew what you were thinking.”

“That’s good. Try to do it again, only this time, I’m going to show you what I need you to do, okay?”

She nodded and Drake closed his eyes, trying to picture in his mind what he needed from her. He pictured his power as a light, a glowing pool of energy inside him. He placed his hand on her throat so that his ring made firm contact with the necklace. Immediately, he felt the flow of energy rush out of him. That light poured into her through the luceria until her skin glowed with the force of it.

He heard her make a shocked sound, but didn’t open his eyes. Instead, he visualized taking her hand in his and stretching it out toward the rock. He sent the light streaking out from her hand until it engulfed the rock; then slowly, he lifted her hand, making the rock float up inside the light.

Drake opened his eyes to see if she understood. Not only did she understand, but she was doing it. There was no glowing light, but her hand was held out and the rock hovered three feet off the ground.

“You did it,” he whispered, not wanting to break her concentration. Her bottom lip was held tight between her teeth and she shook with effort. A fine sweat broke out along her hairline, and her chest—her lovely, womanly chest—was rising and falling in rapid succession, playing havoc with his concentration.

Her arm lowered until the rock returned to the ground, and even though she was out of breath, she looked at him with an excited light in her eyes. Her mouth curved in a proud smile and let out a giggly little laugh. “I can use magic!”

Between the happiness shining in her features and the warmth of her joy filling him through their link, Drake couldn’t help but laugh along with her. “You sure can.”

“That is the coolest thing ever.” She twirled around in a circle and for the first time since he’d met her, physical separation didn’t hurt. He no longer had to touch her to be free from his pain. The link of the luceria was apparently enough of a connection. He wasn’t sure whether he was relieved because it was a lot more convenient, or he missed having the excuse to touch her.

He’d just have to come up with another excuse because he sure wasn’t going to stop touching her.

“I want to try something else,” she said.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. What can I do?”

“I honestly have no idea. You’re going to have to figure that out for yourself. Each woman is different and has her own strengths and weaknesses.”

“How many more women like me are there?”

“Not many.”

“Can I meet them?’

“You’ll get to meet Gilda as soon as we go back to my home.”

That beautiful smile of hers made his breath catch in his throat. She was such a precious gift and he had no idea how to thank her for saving him.

“I know how,” she told him, as if answering his thoughts. She slid her hands over his shoulders and pulled his head down to hers. Her mouth settled over his in a tender kiss, and the gentle touch of her soft lips drove all other thoughts from his head.

Tender wasn’t enough for him. Not by a long shot. He wanted more. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close so that there was no space between them. The scent of lilac bubble bath filled his nose, and beneath that soothing smell was the much more exciting scent of warm, happy woman. He teased her lips open with his tongue until she granted him access to her mouth. Drake wasted no time claiming the space as his own, learning every slick contour and sharp edge. He tasted her sigh of pleasure and offered her one of his own.

His skin heated until the warm summer air felt cool brushing against him. His blood was pounding through him, hot and greedy for more of her. He let her feel his lust, forced it though the link so that she had no choice but to feel it. He wanted her to know how much he desired her. He wanted to let his own need magnify hers. He wanted her desperate for him. He craved it.

She let out a needy whimper and her whole body softened in his arms.

A heady rush of victory slammed into him, making him grip her harder to keep from being swept away by the force of it. Losing himself in her was so easy, felt so right. She was warm, willing, eager, and his for the taking. And taking was exactly what he had in mind.

He wanted to feel her naked in his arms again, only this time, he wanted to finish exploring her body and giving her pleasure. He wanted to taste every smooth inch of her until she was quivering in his arms, begging him for completion. The soft curve of her breasts against his chest teased him and the feel of her bottom filling his hands drove him wild.

He was hard, aching for her, arching against her so that she could feel just how hard she made him. He was ready to take her right there on the grass, under the stars. She would have let him, too, but some sliver of sanity held him back.

He pulled away from their kiss and sucked in a deep breath of midnight air. Crickets sang around them, heedless of the battle he waged to hold himself in check.

Her mouth moved on to new territory, leaving a hot line of kisses down his neck. Her fingers tangled in his hair and if he wasn’t careful, he was going to be bald trying to separate them.

As much as he wanted her, there wasn’t time for the kind of thorough loving he had in mind, and even if there was, both he and Thomas had bled giving her their oath. The scent of their blood would no doubt draw Synestryn from whichever dark holes they hid in.

“We have to stop before we can’t,” he told her. His breathing was harsh and his body shook in resentment that he had to let her go.

She went still and he realized too late that he’d let too much of his thoughts flow through their link. He knew the Synestryn would come for them and he hadn’t bothered to hide that knowledge from her. She’d felt his anxiety and it had doubled inside her, washing away all traces of lust.

Helen pushed away, but didn’t meet his gaze. “I can’t believe I’m doing this. Kissing you while we wait for monsters to show up. Wishing we’d do a lot more than just kissing while there’s a house full of people not twenty yards away. What was I thinking?”

“Neither of us was doing much thinking.”

“Yeah, well, at least you had enough sense to stop.” She pushed her hair away from her face with a trembling hand. “I’m sorry I got carried away.”

She was embarrassed. He didn’t need the link between them to figure that out. The fetching blush staining her cheeks was evidence enough. “Don’t ever be sorry for that. I love it that you got carried away. Makes me feel all manly.”

A hint of a grin played at the corner of her mouth and she glanced down at his groin where his erection was straining at the fly of his jeans. “If you were any manlier, you’d scare me away.”

“If you don’t stop talking about it, it won’t go away.”

“And that would be bad because . . . ?”

There was only one way this conversation could go and it was down to the grass with both of them naked and loving it. “We’d better get back to the van. I wouldn’t put it past Thomas to try to leave without us.”

“Where are we going?”

“We found a trail leading to the nest where we think the Synestryn took Kevin’s sword. It’s outside Spring Hill, not far from here.”

“And we’re going to follow it and take the sword back, right?”

“Exactly. If we’re lucky, the Synestryn will be out hunting and we won’t have to fight the whole nest of them to get the sword back.”

“You said it was invisible. How are you going to find it?”

“It’s only invisible when it’s being worn. Gilda imbued all our swords with that power so we could carry them without interference from human authorities.”

“Is that why it looks like your sword just appears out of nowhere?” she asked.

“Yeah. Want to feel it?”

She arched a dark brow. “Please tell me you did not just ask me to feel your sword.”

Drake let out a laugh. It felt good to laugh and he couldn’t remember the last time he’d enjoyed such a simple pleasure. Months, maybe years.

He caught her hand and laced his fingers through hers as they walked over the grass to the van. Thomas was helping load Miss Mabel into Slade’s beat-up pickup truck while Carmen was speaking in a quiet voice to Vance. He didn’t look happy, but he gave her a hard hug and watched her as she drove away in her own rattletrap.

“I’m going to say good-bye to Miss Mabel,” said Helen.

He almost told her to make it quick, but held back. It wouldn’t hurt them to wait an extra minute for Helen to reassure herself as well as the old woman that everything was going to be fine. She was going to need her mind free of distractions for the next few hours.

Drake followed Thomas back into the farmhouse, where he gathered up an armload of the gear they’d taken out of Logan’s van. His friend didn’t even meet his gaze when he said, “Change your shirt before you get us all killed.”

O-kay. So much for no hard feelings. “Don’t give up yet, Thomas. There’s still time for us to find another woman like Helen. She can’t be the only one.”

“I know how much you love to play cheerleader, but I’m not buying in to your shit. Just lay off.”

“So . . . what? I get lucky and you can’t even be my friend anymore? Is that it?”

Thomas stopped dead in his tracks and let everything in his arms fall to the ground. And the man could carry a lot in those huge arms of his.

He turned around slowly, wearing a look Drake had never seen on his face before. Hopelessness. Despair. “I want to be happy for you, Drake, but it’s too late for that.”

“The hell it is. We’re like brothers. As soon as we find Kevin’s sword, Helen and I will help you hunt for another female Theronai. I know she will want to do that for you.”

“What part of ‘it’s too late’ do you not get?” Thomas gritted his teeth in an obvious effort to control himself, and when he spoke again, Drake saw a glimpse of the man he remembered. Gentle. Kind. Patient. His voice was a quiet whisper of defeat and he pressed his hand over his lifemark as if it ached. “I’m out of time. I can already feel the change coming over me. It’s happening faster than I thought and I can’t control it.”

“No,” said Drake, refusing to believe it was true. “You can’t give up yet. Helen changes everything.”

“For you, yes. Not for me.”

“Promise me you’ll hold on until we can find your Helen.”

“No.”

“Damn it! Promise me!”

Thomas said nothing. He picked up the supplies he’d dropped and left the farmhouse in silence. With every angry step, Drake could see more of the gentle man Thomas had been slowly slipping away.