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They made it to the kitchen before they dived at each other Pressed against the back door, she let her systeain, stroked by hard hands so foreign and faushed into her, flooded away questions, worries, doubts To be wanted like this again, devoured by desperation To have her own needs matched by equally insatiable ones She pulled his tattered shirt aside and filled her own hands with hot, s herself on it, she whispered half-crazed de fell, a lass, as they bumped a table in the hall Little shards of what had been a crystal faerie&039;s wings were crushed to glittery dust under his feet She couldn&039;t breathe, couldn&039;t think Her lips skimmed over the wounds on his shoulder Neither of them noticed when theme"
He&039;d have cheerfully died first
He filled his hands with her - curves, slender lines, felt his own pried, a priht, then released on a lorious length of theathered around the witch ht of finesse, he tugged impatiently at the thin barrier of silk
"I have to - " And plunged his fingers into her "Oh, God Sweet God" His face was buried in her hair when she erupted "Again, again, again" Savagery took over so that he fixed his teeth on her throat, driving her while her body bucked and shuddered
Iloriously soft He found her ed each other up the stairs With fast and urgent fingers, he fued down the back of her dress Snapped threads, exposed flesh
"I need to see you To see you"
The dress slithered to the floor and was left behind At the top of the steps, he started to pull her to the right
"No, no" Nearly sobbing with desperation, she dragged at the button of his jeans "This way now"
She circled hi when he snapped open the clasp of her bra When he filled his hands with her breasts Soon his ry, replaced his hands
"Let me Just let me" Half mad with her, he pulled her arms over her head Feasted Mia let her head fall back and relished the helpless and heavy sensation of being ravished Alive - she was so brutally alive Even as her heart raged against his greedy ripped her hips, her arms locked around him in taut, possessive ropes The bed was steps away, but it reen, burned into the dark smoke of hers For an instant it seemed the world went still
"Yes," she said "Yes"
Then he drove himself into her
They took each other where they stood, and took hard and fast The race through pleasure, toward bliss, stole breath and reason as they mated with a kind of willful violence Her nails scored his back, his fingers dug bruises on her skin, and still they pushed each other for , and their bodies plunged relentlessly
The clih her systeainst it, she surrendered And felt hi, they held each other up They swayed there, slick, bruised flesh to flesh Lowering his forehead to hers, Saled to draw in air His body felt as if it had fallen off a old
"I&039;ed
"Me, too Let&039;s see if we can get to the bed"
They stuh the haze and fell on Mia&039;s ancient four-poster together Lying flat on their backs, they both stared, dazed, at the ceiling
It wasn&039;t, he realized, precisely the sexual reunion he&039;d envisioned for thereat deal more finesse on his part
"I was in a little bit of a hurry," he told her
"No probleht I mentioned you&039;d put on?"
"H
"It really works for h to skim the side of her breast "I mean, it really works"
"You filled out a bit yourself"
He let hiht sky, stars glowed and faeries flew "YouI didn&039;t follow the iht"
Because the ihts he&039;d done just that, she sighed It had been a long ti time, since her body had felt so loose, so usedIt made her want to curl up like a cat and purr
She would have done so once with hiether, would have slept like kittens after a roht But as roet back to work," she said
"So do I"
They turned their heads, looked at each other, and grinned "Do you know the beauty of owning your own business?" she asked him
"Yeah" He rolled over until his mouth hovered a breath from hers "Nobody can dock our pay"
But that didn&039;t ot off scot-free
When Mia strolled back into the bookstore, Lulu took one look at her and knew "You did it with hi, Mia scanned the area for custo to show, and people aren&039;t going to gab about it, then sex gave you instant brain da to stand here and discuss it at the cash register" With her head high, she started toward the stairs and was immediately waylaid by Gladys Macey
"Hello, there, Mia Don&039;t you look pretty today?"
"Hello, Mrs Macey" Mia angled her head to read the titles of the books Gladys had picked up "You&039;ll have to let ainst a current bestseller "I haven&039;t read it yet"
"I&039;ll be sure to do that I heard you had dinner over at the hotel" Gladys beaes over there, I&039;ood as ever?"
"Yes, I enjoyed it"
Then Mia looked over her shoulder at Lulu Considering Lulu&039;s voice and Gladys&039;s ears, there was no doubt the opening coested
"Would you like to know if Sam and I had sex?" she asked pleasantly
"Now, honey" Gladys gave Mia a et all dandered up Besides, it&039;s hard to look at you and not see right off you&039;ve got a nice, healthy glow about you He&039;s a handsome boy"
"Troublemaker," Lulu muttered under her breath, and proved that Gladys&039;s ears ell tuned
"Oh, now, Lu, that boy never caused any more trouble than any of the others around here, and less than soirl"
"Well, they certainly did" Gladys shook her head, calling back to Lulu as if Mia was invisible - or deaf
"There wasn&039;t a boy on the island who didn&039;t sniff around her Fact is, Saht they er "I&039;d like to reirl who did the sniffing are now full-grown adults"
"But you stillup, Mia leaned over, brushed her lips over Gladys&039;s cheek "You have a sweet heart"
And a wagging tongue, she thought as she walked up to her office Word would spread like a rash over the island that Saain
Since she didn&039;t kno she felt about that, but could do nothing to circumvent it, Mia put the matter in a corner of her noring the stares, she sailed across the street and into the hotel, where she dropped the envelope containing her proposal at the lobby desk, with a request that it be delivered to Mr Logan as soon as possible Then she sailed out again
To make up for the time she&039;d lost, she closed herself in the stockrooed, and put together a list of inventory that needed replenishing The solstice always brought a flood of tourists to the island It paid to be ready for theain as a wave of dizziness swamped her Foolish, she berated herself Careless She&039;d had nothing but a half ashe&039;d pick up a bowl of soup in the cafe And an iton stood by a barred , s And his eyes were as empty as a doll&039;s But he turned his head, slowly, so slowly, and those eyes began to glow red and filled with so that wasn&039;t human
She had to force herself not to run, to pull her cale faded, she left her work behind
"I have an errand," she told Lulu as she breezed out of the store "I&039;ll be back when I can"
"Going and coht down to the station house, pausing when she had to exchange a ith an acquaintance The streets, she noted, were already full of tourists They strolled and shopped, cruised the island looking for the perfect picnic spot, a new vista They would crowd into the restaurants at night or go back to their rental houses to cook up fish brought fresh fro-into-sus with the purchase of a second large pie She watched Pete Stubens drive past in his pickup with his beloved dog riding shotgun
Ripley&039;s young cousin Dennis flashed by on the opposite sidewalk, hanging ten on his skateboard His Red Sox jersey flapped like a flag
It was all so nor to do everything in her power to keep it that way
Zack was at his desk when she walked in, and ian
"I&039;m not here to pin your ears back"
"That&039;s a relief Nell already took care of that" To prove it, he rubbed the behind your backs We were just looking into a situation It&039;s my job to deal with trouble on the island"
"We can debate that later Can you check on Evan Reton?"
"Check on?"
"Make sure he&039;s where he&039;s supposed to be What the progress of his treatnosis, his recent behavioral patterns"
He started to ask her why, but the look on her face told him to answer first, then ask questions "First I can tell you he&039;s still locked up and he&039;s going to stay that way I make it my business to call a couple of contacts of led his head "I assume you don&039;t consider that little chore out of ress reports?"
"I don&039;t have access to his medical records, if that&039;s what you mean I&039;d need a warrant, and cause to request one What&039;s the problem?"
"He&039;s still part of this, padded cell or not"
Zack was around the desk in two strides, and had his hand wrapped firm on Mia&039;s arm "Is he a threat to Nell?"
"No" What was it like to be loved so utterly? she wondered Once, she&039;d thought she knew "Not directly Not like before But he&039;s being used I wonder if he knows it?"
It was essential to find out
"Where&039;s Ripley?"
"Out doing her job" His grip tightened "Is she in trouble?"
"Zack, both Nell and Ripley have done what they were meant to do But I need to talk to theht? By seven if they can"
Now Zack&039;s grip lightened to a caress and ran up to her shoulder "You&039;re in trouble"
"No" Her voice was clear and calm "I&039;m in control"
She believed it absolutely Just as she understood the value of that faith, and that sense of self Doubts, questions, fears would only diminish pohen she needed it most The vision had come unbidden, and with sohtly She prepared carefully It was not a tih she often appreciated the flash and the flare
It seemed now that much of what had happened that day had been , the fasting, and yes, the sex Ridding the body of frustration and celebrating one of its more joyful purposes would only aid her in as to come
The herbs and oils for her ritual bath were chosen with deliberation Rose for psychic power and divination Carnation for protection Iris for wisdoht of candles inscribed for her quest, she i hercreams she&039;d , loose robe of white She selected her charate for protection in travel, a athered her tools, her divination ith moonstone at the tip Incense and candles, bowls and sea salt Knowing that she y Then she went into her garden, to gather peace and wait for her sisters They ca on a stone bench beside a bed of nodding columbine
"I need your help," she said "I&039;ll tell you on the way to the clearing"
They were barely into the forest, the light di with dusk, when Ripley stopped "You shouldn&039;t be the one to do this A flight leaves you too open, too vulnerable"
"Which is why I need my circle," Mia countered
"I should do it" Nell touched Mia&039;s arm "Evan&039;s most directly connected to me"
"Which is exactly why you shouldn&039;t do it," Ripley argued "The connection&039;s too close I&039;ve already done this once, so I should do it again"
"You fleithout preparation, without protection, and you were har herself that there was patience in reason, Mia continued to walk "The vision came to me, unbidden This is for me to do, and I&039;h control as yet," she said to Ripley "And you, little sister, not enough experience Even disregarding both those facts, this is for me We all know it, so let&039;s not waste any more time"
"I don&039;t like it," Ripley said "Especially after what happened to Saht"
"Unlike some men, I don&039;t have to prove my herois down in the clearing and began to cast the circle Nell lit the candles She was caloes wrong"
"Nothing will," Mia assured her
"If"
"If, then You pull low in the trees as the in"
She disrobed, standing in the ar out her hands for her sisters&039;, she began the chant that would free her consciousness from the shell of her body And let her fly
"Open , open door I seek to see, I seek to soar Over sea and into sky, ift of power to co no harm to them or me As I will, so htlessness, of lifting out of the shell that held the spirit bound to the earth She floated free of it, a bird rising on the wing And, for a lory of it
Such a gift was golden, but she knew the ribbons that tethered her to the earth could be carelessly snapped Even for the thrill of flight, she wouldn&039;t trade her reality She beaht was reflected like bits of sparkling glass scattered on black velvet Fro, and the music carried her to the far shore The buzz of traffic, conversations within houses, the scent of trees and of dinners cooking all swirled below her as life drove forward
She heard the outraged cry of a newborn pushed into life And the last sigh of the dying The quick, soft brush as souls passed on their way She kept the light of theht the dark He had such hate in him The breadth of it was infinite, and layered, and not, she realized as she drew closer, all his own What was in Evan Reton was a rancid mix, one that offended the senses But she could see as she watched the orderlies, the guards, the doctors ton was i stench She let the thoughts, the voices of the others bleed away, and focused on Reht, a cell far res he&039;d once coht in the woods when Nell had defeated hiinning to sag beneath deep, sharp lines of dissipation No longer handsoun to mirror what he&039;d hidden inside hie coveralls and paced his cell like a soldier on sentry duty
"They can&039;t keep oing to miss my plane Where is that bitch?" He spun away from his cell door, and his pale eyes searched the small space His ain I&039;ll have to punish her She leaves me no choice"
Someone from outside shouted at him to shut the fuck up, but he continued to pace, continued to rant
"Can&039;t she see I have business? I have responsibilities? She&039;s not going to get aith it Who the hell does she think she is! Whores, every one of the, his head jerked up, and his eyes were low red
"Don&039;t you know I see you, whore-bitch? I&039;ll kill you before it&039;s done"
The blast of power slammed into her, a fist in the belly She felt herself waver, then bore down "You&039;re pathetic You use a madman to horde your power I need only myself"