“I see,” he says thoughtfully. “Well, I will try my best to support you, but if it comes out, I fear there will be little I can do.”
“Oh, Linc. I do love you. You are the best friend a girl could have. You are my special secret-keeper,” I say it with a smile, and he twinkles at me.
“Secret-keeper? I think I like that. I like having secrets with you.”
“And you have more power than you give yourself credit for.”
He shrugs. “Maybe. I don’t like to throw my weight around. There is enough of that going on.”
“You can say that again,” I say dryly.
He stiffens and snaps his head to the side, pushing me off him as he sits up.
“What is it?” I ask softly, trying to sense what he is but coming up short.
“Don’t you feel that?” he asks.
“Feel what?”
“It’s like a cloying, stifling feeling. Don’t you feel it?” he asks again.
I shake my head. I put my hand on his shoulder and he relaxes. I get an awful prickling feeling down my arm, but it’s gone almost as quickly as it came.
“It’s gone. It was the strangest thing. I have never felt anything like it before.”
“It wasn’t The Thirteen, was it?” I ask, a bit terrified to be caught by it in the middle of the woods with my pants down – literally.
“No, something new, different. Powerful.” He shakes his head to clear it. “It’s gone. Come, we should get back,” he says, getting to his feet and pulling me up quickly. He looks down at himself and says, “Oh, yeah. My impromptu Shift kind of lost me my clothes.”
I chuckle and touch him, bringing a new set of jeans and t-shirt to him. “Thanks,” he says. “It’s such a neat trick, that. What will you wear?”
“Hm, something a little different, I think,” I say and twirl. His eyes light up at my long, black flowing dress with long sleeves and low-cut neckline.
“Very nice. You look like the Moon Goddess.” He snaps his fingers. “Hey, maybe you are? Another feather to your cap.”
“My cap is so full of feathers it looks like a peacock’s tail. I’ll pass if that’s okay.”
We trundle along, me preferring to be barefoot, enjoying the feel of the woods under my feet. We make it back to the tree where my phone is, as it is getting dark, and I pick it up, checking it. Nothing. Now that is bizarre. I shrug and we walk slowly hand in hand back to the house, climbing the steps to the terrace.
“One last kiss before we go inside?” he says as he turns me to face him and I tilt my head up, raising up to my tiptoes and bringing my hands around the back of his neck as he kisses me passionately. Trailing his hand over my breasts, he pops one out of the stretchy fabric of the dress and lowers his mouth to my nipple for a quick suck. He tugs sharply, nipping me. I make a small mewling sound, which has him tugging harder and then sucking me until I am breathless.
He raises his head with a wicked grin. “I maybe shouldn’t have done that, I am all turned on again now,” he says as he pops me back into my dress with a quick kiss. “I had better go take a cold shower.”
“Mm, me too,” I murmur as we turn back to the house. “Oh, can we go by the front? I want to see if the cars are back. The boys all seem to have left earlier and there has been no contact since.” I hold up my phone.
“Sure.”
We circle around and see that three cars are parked up in a haphazard manner, signifying the return of the errant errand-runners and Cade and Nico.
Lincoln disappears to get a drink, while I take the stairs two at a time to my bedroom. I am desperate for a bath after the Shift and the roll around the woodland floor. I find Cole waiting for me, bath already run with a drink in his hand.
“Have fun?” he asks as he shoves the drink at me, slopping it all over my hand.
“Cole? What’s wrong? You told me to go to him,” I say calmly, putting the drink down and wiping my hand on a towel.
“Yes, in private, while I was out. Not to be cavorting around on the terrace with his mouth all over you while everyone watches.”
I blink at him, surprised at this jealousy that has overcome him. “Err, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that everyone was watching. It was only a few kisses.”