Relaxing her stance, cocking her hip and putting her hand on it, Jess reached up to twirl a lock of her hair around the finger of her other hand. “Whew … for a minute I thought you were going to charge at me like that goliath.” She used her chin to indicate his partner. The male still hadn’t moved. “All I had to do was step out of his way and he cold-cocked himself.” She chuckled.
“Are you the Elusive?” He strode toward her again.
“Elusive?” She licked her lips suggestively. “Why would I want to be that? Have you looked in a mirror?”
Giving a slight subconscious shake of his perfectly wavy hair he gave her a slow, sexy smile. “Like what you see?” She nodded, licking her lips again. “Want to see more?” Again she nodded, flicking her head to indicate the empty shed standing open further away from the house. He raised his hand in the direction of the shed with a classic “after you” bow of his head, and his wings disappeared into his back.
As she passed where he stood, the male fell in line to walk behind her. Jess feigned a trip, and super-stud reached out to catch her. Jess used the distraction to drop into a low spin-kick, plowing the heel of her foot into his kneecap. Lightening fast, the male caught her ankle. Jess braced for the impact and landed hard on her shoulder. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she got some satisfaction when super stud timbered over like a sawed off tree, his knee giving out. Still holding the element of surprise, she dove at him rather than trying to get away, bringing her elbow down across the bridge of his nose. The bones crunched and he released her foot. His fist caught her squarely in her jaw, blurring her vision.
The bastard was fast, she’d give him that, and he hit hard. Her mind raced to formulate a new strategy. Predictable super-stud used his advantage to roll her on her back and straddle her, probably still thinking with his overblown ego, or his dick. Moaning, Jess rolled limply, allowing him to straddle her ribcage with her arms pinned to her sides. She waited till he swung his arm back in the beginning of a slapping motion.
Lurching her lower body upward, using her heels in the dirt for leverage, she pushed her pinned arms outward against the stud’s thighs. Super-stud plunged forward, his hands catching his weight in the dirt above her head. The crotch of his jeans was suspended directly above her. Rising up, she bit, clamped down onto the tender flesh of his testicles. Super-stud let out a long, drawn-out, high-pitched scream. He tried to lift off her clamped jaw, but she gave him another grind of her teeth, forcing him to drop his weight back onto his hands above her head or surrender his balls altogether.
Jess raised her legs, balanced on her upper back and shoulders, locking her feet at the male’s armpits. She ground her teeth one last time, and Super-stud let loose another scream. Releasing her jaw, she used all her leg strength to propel him backward to the hard ground, his body weight aiding her. Halfway down, her arms were freed from beneath him. She open-palm punched his already wounded manhood an instant before his head made contact with an exploding melon sound.
Kicking free of his limp form, Jess stood, leaning forward with her hands on her knees. The propulsion she put into slamming Super-stud to the ground had knocked the wind out of her, and her jaw throbbed. She spit out the blood that had pooled in her mouth. A shadow passed over her and she looked up, steeling herself for the next attack. Instead of an enemy hovering over her, she was greeted with a worried look on Shane’s face. Next to him Gil hovered, sporting an enormous shit-eating grin.
“He’s lucky you ain’t got dentes yet.” Pointing the index fingers of both hands at her, Gil exclaimed, “Lil Jess. You. Are. The. Shit!”
She couldn’t look away from Shane floating within a few feet over her head. A quick flap of his wings sent him soaring a few feet higher, then he gently floated downward again. Adrenaline and desire raced through her bloodstream. His powerful chest made her mouth water. Jess’s breath caught in her throat.
Shane landed beside her and pulled her to his chest. “Are you all right?” he whispered in her ear, spoken low enough not to compromise her hard-won pride. She nodded against him. Her nipples ached against his powerful body. “Aw, Jess.” His voice turned husky, quickly responding to her desire, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, tugging his unresisting head down into her kiss. Jess poured her pent-up passion and adrenaline into the only thing she could at the moment. She kissed him with everything inside of her, tangling her tongue against his, her hands exploring his neck, shoulders, upper back, and wing attachment. She didn’t even notice they had left the ground.
Breaking the kiss, they looked into each other’s eyes. Shane placed his forehead against hers, struggling to catch his breath, letting out a deep, growled sigh. “To be continued?” His eyes smoldered into hers.
Jess gave him a sexy grin. ”Absolutely.” She felt her toes touch down and realized Shane had lifted and pivoted them, utilizing his wings to give them some privacy. “You are so sexy when you fly.”
“Yeah?” He winked. “You’re sexy when you fight. Wanna spar later?” he teased.
“Like living dangerously, do you?” She rubbed her tongue across her teeth daringly before stepping onto her tiptoes and licking across the front of his clenched dentes with the tip of her tongue. She sucked his bottom lip into her mouth, grinning when he groaned.
“You are dangerous,” he whispered, bringing his hand up to capture her behind her head, crushing his lips into hers, a quick punishing kiss, before firmly setting her away from him. “We should be helping with clean up,” he stated, looking like that was the last thing he really wanted to do. Becoming aware of her surroundings, she felt her blush rising and bit her bottom lip. Shane chuckled. “I’m sure they understand,” he whispered.
Across the yard, she saw Nin, Enlil, Sargon, and the other male, Ediku. Sargon tossed the knocked-out wall slammer into a group of additional men and a few women in similar states. Gil was dragging Super-stud face down by his feet toward the growing number, zigzagging to ensure that Stud’s nuts continued to take a beating against whatever plant or rock poked out of the ground along the way. Several more people appeared. Under Gil’s direction, they had more than a dozen men and women contained by chaining them together to prevent them from porting.
“Where is Moira?” Jess asked, approaching the others.
Nin stepped up to her, placing her hand on Jess’s shoulder, and Jess felt a soft hum from the point of contact. Nin had also removed her shirt. Her chest was covered by a triangle-shaped halter tied behind her neck and her lower back, leaving her wing flaps free from encumbrance. The few female captives wore similar tops.
“We missed her.” Nin’s concern was genuine. “We know who took her; his name is Fualth. He couldn’t port with Moira’s blood. I don’t think she’s psychic. He had to tap into an iron-rich Hulven who was with him to port.” She was contemplative for a few moments before continuing. “He is going by the name James Dalton Mason. Sargon has an informant in Fualth’s organization. We’ll get her back.”
Enlil joined them, placing his hand on her other shoulder, and the hum became a soft vibration. “Do you know where Jorie went?” he asked.
“No. I told her to hide, but I know how to call her,” Jess replied. Some of the prisoners were waking up, and Jess didn’t want Jorie anywhere near them.
Ediku joined them, placing his hand on Enlil’s shoulder. Though the resemblance was subtler than hers to Enlil, seeing the two of them together left little doubt. Ediku eyes were a crystal shade of blue with star patterns a shade darker surrounding the pupil. Not as pale blue as Jorie’s, but just as pure a color. His hair was a dark, sandy blonde. Lifting one of her hands, she compared it to the one he had placed on Enlil’s shoulder. Was he her father?
The vibration got stronger. Sargon placed his hand on Nin’s shoulder, and Gil put his hands on both Nin and Sargon. She felt like she was standing on a jackhammer. Shane stood off to the side, watching. “Git in here. She may not carry yerr blood, my friend, but ya sure as hell carry ours,” Gil said. Shane stepped up and placed one hand on Ediku and one on Gil’s shoulder. Jess thought her teeth were going to rattle out of her head. Meeting her eyes, Shane smiled gently at her.
Nin’s voice was more soothing than Jess had heard it before. “I want you to call to Jorie, Jess. Tell her to stay where she is. Let her know we are coming to her. Then I want you to call to your bond you feel with her. Go to her the way you went to Shane earlier.”
“But I drained energy off you before.” Jess protested. “Besides, the connection with Jorie feels … different. Weaker. I’m not sure I can.”
Nin chuckled softly. “That is why we are connecting. You won’t drain us. You can’t take what we are giving freely to you; this is one of the powers of family blood. A direct bloodline once physically connected can be used to increase the psychic energy of the whole group or an individual. It only lasts for a short period, but once she is with us, Jorie will increase our energy too,” Nin reassured Jess. “Call to her.”
Closing her eyes, Jess reached to Jorie.
“Peaches, stay where you are, we are coming to you. Don’t be afraid, okay?”
She heard a sniffle then a soft,
“You said peaches, right?”
She felt a prickling under her skin like mini electrical shocks, then the spinning tunnel sensation again, and Jorie was standing directly in front of her. Instinctively Jess placed both of her hands on Jorie’s shoulders. They were inside a grain elevator.
Jorie looked over her shoulder from one face to another. She hesitated at Nin, her eyes narrowing before moving on. “Where’s my mom?” Meeting Jess’s gaze, accusation in her voice, Jorie tried to pull back only to find she was firmly held by Jess’s hands on her shoulders and the power of the cumulative energy of the family.
“They took her, Jorie,” Jess told her bluntly, wanting her to understand the importance of the next few minutes. “They took her, and these people here are her only hope of being rescued.” Frustrated when Jorie began to shake her head, Jess said, “Listen to me.” Rapidly breathing, Jorie continued to shake her head, her eyes glazing over. The power of the family bond was the only thing keeping the girl from fighting or possibly falling.
Nin spoke from behind Jorie. “Jorie, when did you last feed?”
Nearly hyperventilating, her teeth chattering, Jorie looked at Nin. “L-last n-night, d-dinner.” Looking from Jess to Nin, the child was terrified. “W-what’s h-happeenning t-to m-me?” Her dentes slid into view.
Nin smiled sweetly. “You’re just under stress, honey. It’s going to be okay. Your body has used more iron than normal.”
Ninli’s voice rose in Jess’s mind. “
Shanley, break off and go stand behind your mate. Sargon, Ediku, Gilgamesh, step out and make sure this location is secure and guarded. Jess, pull her into a hug as soon as the boys are out.”
How was she talking to all of them? “We’re going to help you, Jorie,” Ninlil continued to reassure the frightened child while directing her aid telepathically.
Feeling the heat of Shane’s body behind her, Jess let go of Jorie’s shoulder, pulling the collapsing child into her arms while she fell back into Shane. He caught both her and Jorie’s weight, gently easing himself and them into a sitting position
Jess settled between Shane’s legs, sitting cross-legged. Jorie sat in the crook of Jess’s legs, shivering uncontrollably. Her expression was one of agony rather than terror. Jess hugged her head to her breast. A painful moan emitted from between Jorie’s chattering teeth. Though Enlil and Nin had crouched, they’d retained contact on both of Jess’s shoulders.
“Good. That’s good.” Nin placed her free hand on Jorie’s shoulder and her face took on a pained expression. Jess watched in awe as Nin alleviated some of the child’s burden. Jorie let out a deep sigh from the partial relief. Some of the pain-induced glaze in her eyes clearing. Jess rubbed the mass of silky curls, whispering encouragements to the girl.
Sargon returned, his concern evident, from what Shane had told her Sargon must feel Nin’s pain, too. He lent his energy to the mix by taking his mates shoulders “All clear out there,” he whispered into the fray. “We are about two hundred yards away from the main house. There are easily fifty warriors on premise. Gil is getting the farm secured. Suena and Lugal just arrived with a few energy weavers. One of the SOSC’s informants is among the soldiers we just captured. He is in communication with the other who is with Moira. For now Moira is fine. The other informant will let us know if that changes.” He reached out with his free hand, tenderly tucking a curl behind Jorie’s ear. Jess’s appreciation grew for the gentle giant.
Nin looked at her mate intently. He gave a subtle nod, kissed Nin on the forehead, and headed off to do whatever she had privately instructed him. Enlil replaced Sargon’s hand on Nin’s shoulder with his own. She shrugged him off, scowling over at her brother. “You carry enough,” she snapped at him.
“Jorie, did you hear that sweetie? Your mother is okay.” Jorie turned her glazed eyes toward the sound of Nin’s voice. “Have you ever drunk from the vein?” A slight shake of her head nearly lost in the tremors going through her body.
“
Jess.”
Jess looked up to meet Nin’s gaze.
“Any of us can give her blood, but you are the only one iron-rich. Yours can heal her fastest. Are you willing … ”
“
Yes, yes of course.”
Jess answered immediately, before the complete question was issued.