Page 70 of The Shop on Hidden Lane

“You’re wrong.” He took the edge of her ear between his teeth and nipped lightly. “I’m afraid of losing you.”

“You won’t. Not today. I’m not going anywhere.”

He sucked in a harsh breath, unfastened her jeans, slid one hand inside her panties, and cupped her with his palm.

“Wet,” he said. “Soaking wet. For me. I need to be inside you.”

“Yes.Yes.”

She moved against his hand, seeking more. No failed experiment had ever brought her to this level of desire. Everything inside her ached for the joining.

Somewhere a wolf howled, an ancient song that needed no words.

Not a wolf, she thought. Bruce.

She was vaguely aware that the note she had struck on the chimes was no longer resonating. It had disappeared into the dawn but she was still clinging to Luke and he was using his hand, bringing her to the edge of a very high cliff.

She went over so quickly and so intensely, she could no longer stand. She gripped his shoulders in a desperate effort to keep from falling.

“I won’t let you go,” he vowed.

He held her close, one finger sliding inside her as the tension in her lower body continued to release in waves.

“Yes,” he said into her hair. “Just like that. But next time I’ll be inside.”

She half collapsed against him.

Slowly, reluctantly, he withdrew his hand and held it close to his mouth and nose. He inhaled deeply. “You make me so hungry.”

Reality slammed back with the force of the fast-rising sun.

She held her breath, waiting for him to say,My turn.He had every right. She owed him an orgasm. She did not want to be in debt to a Wells, not for anything—especially not sex.

But he released her and absently wiped his hand on his pants. “Let’s go back to the compound.”

Right. He wanted to find a bed for the second act. That made sense. He probably assumed that they would be having sex on a regular basis for however long they were together.

She had to make him understand that the kiss was a mistake. It was, wasn’t it?

Maybe she should apologize?Hey, I accidentally tapped into the forces of the vortex when I fooled around with my chimes and we both got a rushdidn’t sound quite right.

“I’ve got a plan for taking a look around the gallery tonight,” Luke said.

Talk about whiplash. He was working on a plan to search the gallery while she was still trying to catch her breath and deal with the fallout of the kiss.

He had evidently decided to put the scorching embrace behind them and act as though it had never happened. That was the smart thing to do. The mature thing. The sensible thing.

It was also the logical thing to do, because the incident had been a complete aberration. Their senses had been influenced by the powerful natural forces in the vicinity. She understood that, and apparently Luke did, too. He was moving on. She needed to do the same.

They were halfway back to the compound when she could not stand the suspense any longer.

“Just to be clear,” she said, “what happened back there when I made the mistake of running my little experiment with the chimes wasn’t real.”

“Felt real.”

“Well, maybe it felt real, but it was artificially induced, if you see what I mean. For a brief time our senses were overcome by the heavy energy in the area. It could happen to anyone.”

“Maybe, but it happened to us.”