Chapter 63

Asher planted hot, open-mouth kisses up and down the column of my neck. Both of his arms were solid around my waist, keeping me firmly locked against the hard lines of his body.

I clutched at his shoulders, bunching his shirt in my fists. I was grateful to have something to hold onto, and for him to hold so tightly onto me. If not, I would have collapsed with the sudden weakness in my knees.

His mouth was wet, and his lips were soft. I tilted my head away, giving him more access as he kissed his way up to the corner of my jaw. He licked the shell of my ear, before taking my earlobe between his teeth.

I gasped. My hips twitched forward, searching

“Asher,” I said, overwhelmed. I wanted him so badly I felt like I might burst into flames.

One of his hands traced up the line of my spine to grip at my hair. He moved me how he wanted me, so that he could reach my other ear.

“I’ve got you,” he whispered, his voice deep and rough.

I shivered.

His other hand slid down over the curve of my ass. He squeezed, urging me closer. Against me, his hardness swelled in his pants.

I pressed closer, wanting to feel it. A deep sense of satisfaction rooted within me. This was for me. I was doing this to him.

He wanted me.

“Cyn,” he breathed into the skin at the base of my throat.

I nearly burst. God, how I wanted him to rip my clothes off and take me right here…

Right here near the sidewalk…?

As if emerging from a fog, my thoughts slowly cleared, and I remembered everything.

Brent. The stakeout. Following him.

Asher was only with me like this to provide us with a cover so we wouldn’t be caught.

The thought made my lust evaporate.

“Asher,” I said again, much differently this time. Stern. A little hurt.

He stopped at once, lifting his head to peer at me with cloudy, hooded eyes. A moment, he blinked, then his entire body tensed. His hand was still on my backside!

He dropped his arms at once. Without the security of his hold, I stumbled back but he reached out again, snatching me by the elbow to help steady me. Once I could stand on my own, he fully released me.

We glanced up the sidewalk, but Brent was long gone. How long had Asher and I held each other in the shadow of that tree?

“Sorry,” Asher grumbled. “I got carried away.”

I could hardly accept his apology, when I had done the same. “Yeah. Me, too.”

“I’ll walk you home,” Asher said.

We stopped on the way to recover Asher’s backpack on top of the wall. Then we continued back to my dorm.

I was disappointed. I supposed there was a likely chance that Brent wasn’t on his way to do anything nefarious, so the night would have ended much the same anyway. But I still felt like I had failed somehow.

I started dragging my feet.

Asher lightly knocked his shoulder into mine. “Don’t give up.”

“I’m not,” I said. “But I’m running out of time.”

“You’ll think of something.” He made it sound so simple.

Still, his easy confidence in me lifted my spirits. I found myself taking longer, confident strides.

Teasing, I nudged my shoulder back into him. He veered sideways like I had hit him with more force than I was even capable. Laughing, I reached out, grabbed him arm, and yanked him back beside me.

We fell into step for a while. I didn’t realize until we reached my doorway that I was still holding his arm with mine. I hesitated to let him go.

“Thank you for tonight,” I said to him. “He would have caught us without your quick thinking.”

“Anything for you,” he said.

I looked up into his face, expecting a teasing glint in his eye. But he looked gentle and earnest. His usual mask wasn’t anywhere in sight.

Too soon, he said goodnight, and I watched him walk away.

In my bedroom alone, without the comforting warmth Asher radiated while beside me, the self-doubt began to creep back in.

We could try following him again, but that took a lot of time without much guarantee for success. And just talking to Aimee more was sure to never work.

I was running out of options, out of time.

Was there truly nothing I could do to help Aimee?

If I couldn’t save Aimee, then how would I ever save myself when the time came?

I plopped down onto the edge of my bed. Fists in my lap, I looked at my helpless hands.

Think, Cynthia. There has to be some way.

“There is,” Lilith replied in my mind.

I startled. “There is?”

“You have spent all your time trying to convince Aimee that she is wrong for loving Brent,” Lilith said. “You have not considered that the one you should convince is Brent.”

Brent? Why would I waste my time worrying about the one who abandoned Aimee over Aimee herself?

“If Brent understands he did wrong, if he admits it and apologizes… it may help Aimee see reason, and help her begin to repair her shattered heart.”

Oh. I hadn’t considered that angle. Though… it seemed impossible.

“I met Brent,” I said. “He wasn’t exactly open for any heartfelt discussions, especially about Aimee.”

“He might not speak to you, but we may be able to convince him to speak to another.”

Another? Who? “You can’t mean Asher.”

“No,” Lilith said. “With each passing day, my power grows. I am protecting the baby and you with my strength, but strength is not my only ability.”

I wasn’t sure what she meant. I knew some wolves had special abilities, but it was unusual to see those abilities in action. Most had super strength or speed, or could jump really high.

Other abilities were much rarer, like a singing voice that could lure others, or a kind of telepathic connection that had been useful for long-distance communication before the invention of the telephone.

I couldn’t fathom what ability Lilith could be manifesting that would help us in this situation.

“I don’t understand,” I admitted.

Lilith spread a soothing sense of comfort through me. “I will show you. Think of Asher.”

Asher? I didn’t see how this would help, but I trusted Lilith. And thinking of Asher was not difficult.

Like the way he had held me tonight. I had been entirely wrapped up in his warmth and body. His arms had been strong as steel, caging me in. As if I ever wanted to break free!

He’d marked me with hot kisses. I could still smell leather and pine all around me. Pleasure surged as I realized his scent was on me, on my skin where he’d left those kisses.

And the way he’d said my name, whispered like a prayer, in reverence. “Cyn.”

Want flared along my nerves. If he was here, I’d brush my fingers through his hair, instead of just grabbing onto his shoulders. I’d kiss along his neck, leaving my own scent on his skin as he had done for me.

Then I’d kiss him properly.

“Good,” Lilith said. “Open your eyes.”

I hadn’t realized I’d closed them, so I did as she asked.

I gasped, startled.

Standing before me was a translucent, glowing apparition, like a ghost.

And it looked just like Asher.