Up in Smoke - Katie MacAlister [67]
“The Wulaign rangers in this area stay out in the bush and monitor wildlife, including those that are endangered or threatened.” We jounced over a couple of deep ruts and chugged our way up the side of the dried riverbed, avoiding a mammoth spiky rock formation as we headed for an area rich with trees. One last ray from the dying sun burst with glorious color at a spot between the trees. “That’s the river up there. We’ll likely have to spend the night.” He slid me a curious glance. “I never asked whether you liked roughing it. I suppose now would be a good time, eh?”
“Cyrene wouldn’t be caught dead camping, not for the largest lake in the world, but I have nothing against nature.” A large cicada flew in through the window and smacked me on the face. Startled, I instantly shadowed and batted frantically at my face. It buzzed upward, into my hair. I shrieked and tried to cram my upper half out of the window in an attempt to dislodge the beastly thing.
Gabriel drove with one hand while plucking the large bug off the top of my head. He held it in front of me, one eyebrow raised as I deshadowed.
“All right, perhaps I would have never made it as a Girl Scout, but you can’t judge me by my reaction to being assaulted by a large, hairy bug. I like animals. On the whole. And they like me. I just don’t like them flying into my face intent on making me look bad in front of you.”
The cicada made an odd little chirping sound, just as if it was agreeing with me. Gabriel laughed and tossed it out of the window. “You’re not nervous, are you?”
“Oh, goodness, no. What do I have to be nervous about?” I looked out of the window again. Dusk was falling quickly, the horizon still streaked with orange and red, but above it, deeper colors were starting to claim the sky, indigo and navy and a velvety blackness that felt to me just like a warm blanket of safety. “The man to whom I have sworn my eternal devotion has just informed me that I now hold one of five priceless dragon artifacts, which means I’m fair game to every unattached wyvern who would like to get his—or her—hands on it. My temporarily absent employer is doing who-knows-what out in the mortal world. My twin is tangled up in all sorts of messes that evidently only I can unravel, and, oh, yes, I’m going to meet the mother of the aforementioned mate, a woman so knowledgeable about dragon lore that she attracts visitors from the world over. Nervous? Don’t make me laugh.”
There was a definite grim note in my voice that I regretted but was unable to eliminate. Gabriel cast another sidelong glance toward me, his eyes bright even in the dimming light.
Suddenly the most overwhelming emotion filled me. I looked at him and saw not just an incredibly handsome man, but my man, my mate, silver eyed, velvet throated, and as sexy as hell. He was mine, and I was filled with the most incredible cocktail of need, lust, desire, want—it all swirled around in a blaze within me, building until I thought my skin would burst into flame.
“Stop the car,” I said in a low voice that I barely recognized as mine. “Stop now.”
He shot me a startled look as I lunged for him. Luckily, he got the car stopped before I got my hand down the side of the seat, finding the lever that moved the seat back. “Mayling? What—”
I jerked the lever upward. The seat back crashed downward, Gabriel falling with it. I was over him in a flash, writhing with the sensation of his body between my legs. “So hot,” I murmured, ripping off the thin cotton shirt I wore. “Your fire burns me, Gabriel. It makes me want to do things to you. Wicked things. With my tongue.”
“I can see that,” he said, his gaze molten, but not nearly as hot as the fire that raged within me. “I have no objection to putting out your fire, little bird, but I’m not sure this is the best place for such an act.”
“Too much talking,” I said, leaning down over him and licking