Page 5 of Devoted in the Midlife

His hands roamed over my body, each touch sparking heat beneath my skin. "Beautiful," he murmured against my lips. "So damn beautiful."

His hands caressed every inch of newly exposed skin, his touch reverent as if I were something precious and fragile. He laid me back on the bed, his lips trailing fire down my throat, across my collarbones, lower still until he closed his mouth over the peak of my breast.

I arched into him, my fingers tangling in his hair as he lavished attention on my sensitive flesh. Each pull of his lips, each flick of his clever tongue, sent sparks racing down my spine to pool in molten heat at my core.

"Jax..." His name fell from my lips on a sigh, part plea, part prayer.

He hummed against my skin, the vibration making me gasp. Slowly, torturously, he kissed his way down the plane of my stomach, pausing to dip his tongue into my navel.

And then his fingers were there, parting my slick folds to delve into the heart of me. I cried out, my hips bucking into his touch as he stroked and caressed, each pass of his fingers winding the coil of tension tighter in my belly.

He brought me to the edge once, twice, only to gentle his touch and bring me back down. My thighs trembled, my breath coming in panting gasps as he worked me higher and higher.

When the wave finally broke, it crashed over me in a rush of blinding pleasure. Jax's name tore from my throat as I shuddered and clenched around his fingers, the intensity of my release leaving me boneless and gasping.

Jax gathered me close, his arms banding around me as he settled his weight over me. I could feel the hard length of him pressing against my thigh, the heat of his skin searing into mine.

With a groan, he buried himself inside me, my body welcoming him like he'd been made to fit there. We moved together, our rhythm as familiar and necessary as breathing. Each slow drag of his hips stoked the embers of my pleasure back to a roaring flame.

I locked my legs around his waist, drawing him impossibly deeper. Our lips met again, the kiss messy and desperate as we chased our shared peak. Tension coiled tighter and tighter, our movements growing frantic with need.

When we shattered, we came together, twin cries of ecstasy swallowed by the press of our mouths. Pleasure whited out my senses, my vision sparking behind my closed lids as Jax's fangs sank into the junction of my neck and shoulder. I answered in kind, tasting the coppery tang of his blood on my tongue, the bond between us flaring bright and strong.

We collapsed together, our limbs tangled and chests heaving. Jax's weight pressed me into the mattress, solid and grounding. I ran my fingers through his hair, feeling the last tremors of bliss shiver through him.

In the hazy aftermath, wrapped in each other's arms, the troubles of the world felt very far away. Whatever tomorrow held, whatever dangers we'd face, we'd face them together. In this moment, that certainty was enough. It had to be. It was all we had.

3

LUKE

The autumn eveningwrapped around me like a chilly shroud as I made my way down the lamp-lit sidewalk to Wade's house. Multicolored, dried leaves crunched under my boots. I was hunting Janice down because I wanted to know if she wanted to go to the gallery with me. A new artist was hosting a show tonight. Janice loved art as much as I did. We were friends, good friends, but sometimes I still felt that mortal hesitancy, that fear of overstepping invisible bounds. The vampire in me scoffed at such human worries.

Wade's house was a dark silhouette against the deep blue dusk. The windows glowed with warm light. I climbed the porch steps and knocked, the sound startling in the stillness.

The door opened and Janice stood there, a welcoming smile on her face. I opened my mouth to greet her, but my tongue stilled in confusion. Janice's smile had not changed but something in her eyes made my skin prickle with goosebumps. They were Janice's warm brown eyes, crinkled at the corners just like always. But the longer I stared, the more my instincts screamed that something was wrong.

"Luke, what a nice surprise," Janice said, in a perfect imitation of her usual wry tone. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Her affectionate sarcasm sounded so normal, so Janice. Maybe I was just being paranoid. Letting my worries about the increasing supernatural threats get the better of me. I tried to relax my stance and return her smile.

"Hey, Janice. I was wondering if you'd like to go to this gallery show with me tonight. That new artist I was telling you about is being featured and I thought we could go check it out."

As I waited for her to reply, the back of my neck burned, and I realized with chilling certainty that I could feel the tingle of a charm power, a seductive pull trying to fog my thoughts. But not Janice's familiar calm that could soothe even my most agitated states. This was something else, something that raised all the hairs on my body to attention.

Janice's eyes sharpened. The air between us thickened with tension as we stared at each other, and my dawning realization met with a predatory stillness from the thing wearing my friend's face.

"That sounds great, Luke." Not-Janice's tone remained pleasantly neutral even as her gaze stripped me bare, trying to determine how much I knew. "Why don't you come in for a minute and we can-"

"Actually, I just remembered I forgot something at home," I interrupted, marveling at the steadiness of my own voice. "I better run back and get it."

Not-Janice paused a few seconds too long before nodding. "Sure, see ya."

I turned away before she could see the panic rising in my eyes. My steps remained even until I heard the click of the door closing. Then I ran, an all-out sprint fueled by terror and confusion. The pavement blurred beneath me as I raced to Jax and Hailey's, my mind whirling with horrible possibilities.

What had happened to the real Janice? And who, or what, had taken her place? The charm power I felt was far stronger than anything I'd ever encountered, strong enough to batter past my considerable defenses. If I hadn't been so attuned to Janice's energy, I might not have noticed the difference at all.

Reaching my sister’s house, I pounded up the steps, my breath coming in ragged gasps. I didn't bother knocking, just barged through the door with Hailey's name already tearing from my throat.