“Should we stop and check on them?”

“It’s harder to get there than it looks because of the terrain. By design. If we go, we won’t make it to the crystals before dark.”

“Maybe on the way back, then?” He really didn’t like the idea of a bunch of women living alone with no Brenya to protect them, no matter how tough they were. He didn’t even know if they were aware of the threat the Hunters posed. If he could stop by, warn them, and see with his own eyes that they were safe, he’d feel a lot better.

“Sure. There’s a better way to reach them from the western side. I’ve gone that way a couple of times with Brenya, so I think I can find the trail.”

They headed east, down a steep, rocky slope. By the time they reached the bottom, the air was steamy from the heat of the twin suns. Even in the shade, humidity wrapped around him, pressing heavily on his chest.

A little stream ran through the valley, and they stopped at its edge. The clear water called to him, but he waited, keeping watch over the area while Grace cooled off in the water.

She unwrapped the leather strips from around her calves, letting the thick hide soles of her shoes fall away. Her feet bare, she stepped into the stream and knelt on the sandy bottom.

She scooped up water in her hands and splashed it over her face and neck. While her leather tunic was modest and opaque, when it was wet it conformed to her body, displaying every one of her tantalizing curves. Even her tight little nipples were visible beneath the thin leather, puckered against the cool water sluicing over them.

Torr’s mouth watered as desire heated his body further. Sweat trickled down his spine, warming the metal disk Grace had put on him. The narrow slit running down the back of her tunic showed him flickering glimpses of the matching disk she wore.

She’d said she could feel him through that disk. She didn’t know that it was him feeding her those emotions when they were worlds apart, but he wondered now just how much more of him trickled through now that he was close.

A compelling idea took over, tempting him beyond resistance.

He let go of his restraint, let himself feast on the sight of her, let himself imagine what it could be like if she were to turn to him and welcome him into her arms.

Her tunic would be little more than a fleeting nuisance. He’d studied the garment and knew that the only thing holding it closed was a single leather tie at the nape of her neck. Whatever lay beneath it wouldn’t stop him from reaching the bare flesh he so desperately craved.

He could have her naked, spread out in the shallow stream, feasting on her honeyed flesh while the water lapped around them to cool their fevered skin. In his fantasy she didn’t deny him anything, not even the sweet, clinging wetness of her body as he thrust deep within her.

A delicate shiver raced over Grace, shaking her frame. She crossed her arms over her chest as if to hug her aching breasts. Her head turned enough for him to see how slumberous her eyes had become, how flushed her skin had grown.

Her gaze caught his, and he knew she’d felt him—felt his lust as her own. The disk that connected them could transfer more to her than sadness and anger. It could give her pleasure, too.

There was nothing he wanted more in this moment than to please her.

The urge to grip his cock in his hand and see if he could make her come when he did was almost too much to bear. Only the thought of how scandalized she might be watching him jack off kept him in control. For now it was going to have to be enough to know what he could do to her without so much as a single graze of his finger across her skin.

Part of him felt cheated that he didn’t have the contact, but the smarter part of him realized the gift this was.

Torr could make her burn for him. He could make her feel good. That alone was enough power to make his head swell with feelings of conquest.

Grace was his. She always had been. And now he knew just how he could remind her of that without saying a single word.

His vow to Brenya might restrain what he said, but nothing else. Including his tongue. And the things he wanted to do with his tongue were enough to make his blood heat even more.

Before they left this stream, he was going to know exactly how every inch of Grace’s body tasted.

Some distant warning sounded in his head, but he no longer cared. He was going to possess the woman he loved. Now. If he didn’t, he knew he’d regret it for the rest of his life.

Torr took a step toward her. His boot sent out ripples at the edge of the stream. Her hands fell to her sides, revealing the puckered tips of her breasts beneath the wet leather. Her thighs clenched together in a movement he knew all too well. Feminine desire rolled off her in waves, shimmering in the air between them.

A thick fog billowed down the far hillside, muting the forest noises and hiding them from the world.

He took another step, forcing himself to move slowly and give her time to catch up with the need raging through his blood.

Her gaze slipped down his chest, lingering as it passed over his lifemark, visible between the edges of his open shirt. Then lower, her stare was caught by the sight of the bulge in his jeans.

He didn’t even try to hide it. Let her know what he intended, let her see what she did to him.

Grace’s breath misted out, forming a silvery cloud around her head.

Something about that was wrong, but he couldn’t figure out what. His mind was too focused on her to worry about a little bad weather.

She reached for him, her palm up, her hand outstretched in anticipation of his touch. He’d dreamed of a moment like this for far too long not to tremble under the sheer beauty of it.

A sound somewhere between a crack and a hiss rose up from the far bank of the stream. The water seemed to lighten, and a silvery gray cast began to spread across the surface.

The water was freezing. The air grew cold and brittle.

The languid, inviting smile Grace wore iced over, turning to terror.

The Hunters—the ones that froze everything around them—they were here.

Chapter 15

Grace realized the danger too late. She’d been so enthralled by the feelings singing through her body that she hadn’t been paying attention to her surroundings. She hadn’t seen the Hunter approach.

She saw it now.

It was perched on a rock outcropping only a few yards away. Its glossy black body sparkled, and its eyes moved one at a time until both were fixed on her.

Panic set in, solidifying the air in her lungs. Sweat froze along her skin, and she swore her heart was trying to beat its way free of her rib cage.