Chapter Fourteen

It started with a tingling that erupted where their lips met, like a sparkler spitting out little flames of heat. Then Marcus's arms slid around her back, pulling her closer, and his mouth opened over hers and the night exploded inside Divine's head. That was the only way to describe it; heat and light and color all seemed to explode behind her eyes, and fire licked up her body as his tongue slid out to spread her lips and plunge between them.

At first they clung to each other as if each were the other's lifeline in a stormy sea, but then Divine was left to cling to him alone as his hands began to move. Anywhere Marcus's fingers roamed, her body burst into flame . . . and his hands were everywhere, moving with a swiftness that was almost dizzying, as if he wanted to ensure she had all the necessary parts, or he wanted to touch all of her at once.

Divine gasped and moaned by turn, unconsciously thrusting her hips closer when his hands covered and squeezed her breasts, then tugging desperately at his shoulders and rising up on her toes when he dropped one hand to cup her between the legs and pressed upward, the thin material of her skirt and panties the only thing between them. That caress made her a little crazy and Divine began to suck almost viciously at his tongue, one of her own hands finally giving up its hold on his shoulder to scrape its way down his chest, clawing at the thin cloth of the tight T-shirt he wore. Already strained, the cloth gave way like film, the material spreading where it tore open and leaving a large opening over one side of his chest. Feeling the coarse hair under her palm, and the nub of a nipple, Divine tore her mouth from Marcus's and lowered her head to his chest instead, eager to taste his skin.

Her mind was filled with an insatiable hunger that had her licking his skin and then closing her lips around his nipple and drawing on it eagerly. She barely heard the startled curse Marcus uttered, but she felt his surprised pleasure wing its way from his body to hers.

Shared pleasure, another symptom of life mates, she recalled, and the thought was an electrifying one that gave her a boldness Divine hadn't known she possessed in this area. Even she was startled when she suddenly reached down and clasped the hardness pressing against his tight black jeans. The sensations that sent through both of them had her tearing her mouth from his chest and seeking out his mouth again for an almost violently demanding kiss.

Divine felt the material of her skirt moving against the backs of her legs, and then his hands were there, sliding upward and pushing the material ahead of them. Still, her eyes blinked open with surprise when he suddenly caught her by the backs of the thighs and pulled them up around his hips. Instinct kicked in and she crossed her ankles behind his back to keep from falling. She also withdrew her caressing hand from his trapped erection to clutch at his shoulders again. The moment she did, he suddenly turned with her.

Divine gasped into his mouth with surprise as her back slammed into the side of the RV.

Marcus immediately tore his mouth away then to mutter an apology against her cheek. He took several deep breaths as well, then pulled his head back to ask breathlessly, "Are you all right?"

His words were mumbled and slurred as if he'd been drinking when she knew he hadn't. Marcus was obviously as overcome by the passion as she was. Divine grunted in the affirmative for answer and then clasped his face and pulled it back so that she could cover his mouth with hers again.

Damn the man could kiss. At least she thought he could. She wasn't positive though. Maybe it was just the chemical reaction of life mate sex. It was supposed to be mind-blowing and that seemed a good description. Divine had never experienced anything like this. Even bloodlust had never been this all-consuming for her. She wanted him on her and in her and around her. She wanted it all and she wanted it right then, right there.

Much to her relief, Marcus's moment of concern passed quickly under the influence of her kiss and he began kissing and touching her again. He pressed her against the RV, holding her there with his lower body, and pulled back his upper body so that he could tug at her peasant blouse. It was a damned handy blouse for a situation like this and Divine grunted with relief when he tugged it down, revealing her breasts to the hot night air. She then groaned deeply with pleasure when he both raised her a little higher against the RV and lowered his head to claim one already erect nipple.

It was as if his lips were tugging on a fuse that ran from breast to groin and that contact with his mouth had set it alight. Gasping, she threw her head back, nearly knocking herself out when it crashed into the RV wall. Marcus's hand was immediately there, rubbing the spot on her head where she'd hit the wall, and then cupping her head to prevent her doing it again, but his mouth never left her breast, never stopped drawing and suckling, his tongue flicking the nipple the whole while.

It was enough to drive her crazy. Divine moaned and groaned, her hands caught in his hair and tugging, her hips moving and thrusting against his stomach now. And then she reached for her free breast with her own hand and began to squeeze and knead the excited flesh that was being neglected.

Everything he was doing was incredible, mind-numbingly exciting. Her entire body was humming with excitement and need. She was actually aching between her legs with it . . . and it wasn't enough. She wanted him inside her, wanted to feel his hot, hard body pressing into her. The thought made her reach down now, trying to find that hardness again. But he was holding her too high. She unhooked her ankles and kicked her feet in frustration, grunting with satisfaction when he lifted his mouth from her breast and let her slide down along the RV wall until her hand could find the top of his jeans. As he began to kiss her again, Divine pressed her palm to his stomach and then slid her hand down between the material and his skin until she could cup him without the material of his jeans or underwear in the way. Not that he appeared to be wearing any underwear. The man was commando, and she was grateful for it. She doubted her hand would have fit with the added material in the tight space.

Divine couldn't have got more reaction out of Marcus if she'd lit a match where her fingers clasped him. Excitement shot through him in a tsunami of sensation that damned near knocked Divine out when it vibrated across their connection and blew through her. When he then slid one hand under her skirt in response, and slid it along her thigh to slip beneath the edge of her panties to touch her, Divine was already wet for him, soaking in fact, her body weeping for him to fill it.

She moaned in protest when he broke their kiss, and really didn't understand what he was trying to say when he gasped, "We shouldn't—not here—but I can't—I need . . ."

Divine gasped and jerked in his arms as his touch became more intimate, his fingers sliding between her warm wet skin to find the center of her excitement. He strummed her once, twice, and then slid a finger inside her and Divine bit his shoulder to muffle the scream that tore from her as her body shuddered and shook with release. In the next moment, her teeth released him and a sigh was slipping from her lips as darkness rolled over her.

A shout followed by a drunken laugh stirred Marcus. He blinked his eyes open, confused at first as to where he was. It was the head resting on his chest and the warm body on his legs that brought his memory back to him. Damn . . . he'd just experienced his first bout with life mate sex . . . and it had been . . .

Damn, he thought. There was no way to describe it. He'd heard it called mind-blowing and incredible and it had certainly been both those things, but that was like calling a tornado a light breeze, or saying a tsunami was the tide coming in. What he'd experienced had been mind-bending and life altering and he definitely never wanted to let it go.

Another laugh, this one closer, claimed his attention again and Marcus glanced around, quickly taking in their situation. They'd passed out and were outside, lying on the ground next to her RV . . . and someone was coming, stumbling drunkenly toward them . . . more than one someone.

Marcus swept the area in both directions, but didn't yet see whoever was approaching. Marcus then briefly debated just waiting there and trying to control the person or people when they got close enough for him to see them. He could take control, ensure they didn't see him and Divine, and send them in another direction . . . if there weren't more than two. Two would be tricky, but more than that would be pretty much impossible.

He'd just had the thought when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye and glanced to the side and down. He was lying on his back between the two RVs with his feet toward the back of the RVs and the midway, and his head toward the front of the RVs and the back lot where the bunkhouses were. The movement he'd glimpsed was several pairs of feet, maybe a half a dozen, walking along the back of the RV. Within half a dozen steps the owners of those feet would be at the opening of the space between the two RVs and able to see them.

Marcus moved quickly then, shifting to the side to slide under the RV that Divine was supposed to use, and dragging her with him through the dirt. He tried not to think about what the action must be doing to her new clothes, more concerned with getting them both under the cover of the vehicle before they could be spotted. And they would have been spotted for certain, he thought grimly as the six pairs of feet turned down the row between the RVs to make their way to the back lot.

"These are new," someone said, the words slightly slurred.

A group of the young carnies returning from celebrating the end of a long workday, Marcus thought and didn't doubt that was the case. He didn't know where they got the energy though. They worked like dogs all day in the heat and should have been sacked out, exhausted in their beds when midnight came and the carnival closed.

"Maybe Divine got a new trailer and is back," another voice suggested. The first had been female. This one was male.

"That'd be awesome," another male voice said. "Divine's hot."

"Hot?" another female demanded in sulky tones. "She's old. She has to be at least twenty-five."

"Yeah? Well, I'm twenty-four, so I guess I'm old too. Too old for you at least. What are you anyway? Twelve?" he taunted as they passed the spot where Marcus and Divine lay.

"Eighteen," the girl snapped with irritation. "Bob and Madge would hardly hire a twelve-year-old."

"Whatever," the fellow laughed, his voice growing fainter.

Marcus tipped his head to watch the group reach the front of the RV and turn left to walk along the back lot. He waited a moment, and then glanced around, checking under the RVs in all directions to be sure no one else was approaching. Only then did he slide out from under the RV, taking Divine with him again. Once he had them both in the lane between vehicles, Marcus quickly stood and then stooped to scoop up Divine.

She wasn't sleeping. Divine didn't even stir. She was definitely unconscious, which was another sign of life mates; they usually passed out during or after life mate sex. The thought made him cuddle her closer against his chest. She was his. His life mate, his partner, the light that would stave off the darkness over the next two millennia or more of his life. She would be his reason for rising in the morning and she would be why he went to bed at night at peace with his world . . . so long as she wasn't Basha Argeneau.

That thought made Marcus frown. She couldn't be Basha. She was Divine.

"Divine," he murmured softly, tasting the name on his lips. She had certainly chosen the right name for herself. She was divine, in every way.

Marcus was still smiling at that thought as he carried her around the RV to the door halfway down the passenger side. This RV was not custom-made. It was your standard setup. Rather than a door at the back, the door was on the side and led directly into a combined kitchenette and lounge, though the kitchenette was on the left and the lounge on the right with a curtain that could be drawn between the two as it had been in Divine's RV. Beyond the kitchenette was where the bedroom was, and behind it, running from one side of the RV to the other, was the tiny bathroom with a shower at one end, the toilet at the other, and a sink in the middle.

Divine had parked the RV next to the fencing around a ride called the Zipper. She'd parked it with the back end a little farther out than the back end of Vincent's RV so that the side door was visible and easily accessible where the fence around the Zipper curved back.

Marcus stopped at the door and shifted Divine a bit to be able to open it, but paused and glanced around at the sound of footsteps rushing toward him.

"What happened?" Jackie gasped as she reached them. Her worried gaze slid over Divine. "Was she attacked again?"

Marcus grimaced. He supposed that depended on how you looked at it. He certainly hadn't been overly gentle or careful in what had passed between them. Although he didn't think it would be classified as an attack, unless you wanted to say she attacked him too. They'd both behaved like animals really . . . and it had been awesome! 

"She's fine," he assured her as Jackie pulled the screen door out of the way and reached to open the inner wooden door for him. "She just . . . fainted."

"Does she need blood?" Jackie asked with concern, following him as he carried Divine inside.

"No. She's fine," he repeated as she flipped on the lights. "A little rest and she'll be as right as rain."

"But what—?"

The way she stopped so abruptly made him glance her way to see that she was staring wide-eyed down at Divine. Marcus followed her gaze, biting his lip when he saw that Divine's peasant blouse was still pulled down from when he'd been lavishing her breasts with attention. They were on full view and her nipples were still erect. When Jackie then glanced to his ripped shirt and he switched his own gaze there to see that his own nipples were also still erect, he sighed with resignation.

"Oh," she said with sudden understanding and then arched an eyebrow as she looked them both over again more fully, taking in their filthy state. "Outside in the dirt?"

Marcus grimaced and merely said, "We're definitely life mates. One kiss and we both lost all sense."

"Yeah." Jackie sighed the word with a little smile and warned, "It's going to happen again and again, and don't think good intentions will stop it. One touch, a kiss . . ." She shrugged helplessly. "You two might as well just lock yourselves up in here for the next year and have fun, because you'll be useless for anything else."

"Somehow I don't think Divine would go for that," Marcus said dryly, carrying her through the RV to the bedroom at the back.

"No, perhaps not," Jackie agreed, following, flicking on lights as she went. She paused in the doorway to the bedroom, turned on that light as well, and then watched him set Divine on the bed before saying, "Okay, so . . . then you might want to avoid certain situations."

Marcus straightened next to the bed and raised an eyebrow. "What situations?"

Jackie pursed her lips and then began to list things off on her fingers. "Public elevators, movie theaters, moving vehicles unless someone else is driving—"

"You're kidding," Marcus interrupted with amusement. "Moving vehicles?"

"She's not kidding," Vincent said, appearing behind his wife. Slipping his arm around her waist, he tugged her back against his chest and kissed the top of her head before saying, "You haven't lived until you find yourself flying down the highway at top speed with your life mate bouncing around on your lap, shrieking with pleasure like a crazed baboon."

Jackie flushed with embarrassment and elbowed her husband in the stomach, making him release her as she muttered, "You were the one shrieking like a crazed baboon."

"Perhaps I was," Vincent agreed with a grin as Jackie pushed past him to get out of the confined space.

"I've seen your car," Marcus said dryly. "I wouldn't think there was enough room in that little Lexus to—"

"It's a convertible," Vincent interrupted. "The top was down."

"Dear God," Marcus muttered as he got the visual. He was surprised there hadn't been a pile-up, or a video caught and put on YouTube.

"It was the middle of the night," Vincent said with a shrug, and then added, "Thank God. I wasn't much good for steering, and I damned near passed out before I could pull over to the shoulder and get us stopped."

"You passed out on the side of the highway?" Marcus asked with disbelief. That seemed damned risky.

"Yeah. It was," Vincent said as if he'd spoken the thought aloud. "We got lucky, but I wouldn't recommend it."

Marcus shook his head and then turned to peer down at Divine, quickly tugging her blouse back into place when he realized she was still on view. Only then did Vincent leave the door to join him.

"How did she take finding out you're her life mate?"

Marcus grimaced. "She seemed a bit upset before I kissed her."

"Hmm." Vincent nodded, not appearing surprised. "Did she say anything useful before you two got too caught up?"

"Do grunts and moans count?" Marcus asked dryly. "It came over us pretty quickly."

"Yeah, it does," Vincent acknowledged. "Jackie wasn't kidding about places to stay away from. She's probably making a list as we speak."

They both chuckled at that, but then Vincent sobered and said, "But in case she forgets it, definitely stay away from any grocery shopping at night. And the store freezer is not a good spot to drag her to if things get hot and heavy."

When Marcus turned to peer at him with disbelief, he nodded solemnly. "I must have fallen off of her as I passed out. When I woke up three of the night crew were standing there gawking at us like idiots and my dick was frozen to a metal shelf." He winced at the memory and muttered, "Nasty."

Marcus shook his head with a sort of horror, and then grabbed him by the shoulders, turned Vincent toward the door and gave him a push to get him moving. "Get out of here. I don't want to hear any more of this."

"Just trying to give you some helpful advice," Vincent said with a shrug, but he did leave the room.

Marcus walked over and was about to close the door when Vincent appeared again and announced, "I ran a hose to the water supply while you two were making out between the RVs. Since you were busy I hooked you guys up too and then plugged both RVs into the power supply. You have power and water if you want to take a shower and wash away some of that dirt."

Marcus glanced down at himself, able to see just how filthy he was in the lit room. He was covered with a layer of dust so thick his black jeans looked almost beige.

"You're welcome," Vincent added as he turned and headed away.

"Thanks," Marcus called out belatedly, but was frowning as he did. What had Vincent meant when he'd said while you two were making out between the RVs? Had he actually seen them? Or was he just guessing?

Marcus sighed and closed the bedroom door. It didn't really matter what Vincent had meant. If the man had seen them . . . well, Marcus could hardly make him unsee what he'd witnessed, so he might as well just forget about it, Marcus told himself as he crossed the bedroom to the door to the bathroom.

He grimaced when he saw the size of the room. It was little better than an airplane bathroom with a shower on the end, Marcus thought, but knew that wasn't true. It was a little roomier than that, but would still be a bit confining for a man his size.

Shrugging, he turned on the water and quickly