Heat

Hopefully it would be several hours before either of the brothers would come up for air again. She silently wondered who Micah’s guardian angel was and where she could get one. Once the hallway was empty, she glanced back at Micah’s door one more time before making her way out of the club.

*****

Alicia felt his hand on her shoulder caressing her bare skin and she rolled toward him seeing the heated look in Damon’s amethyst eyes as he touched her. He was fully clothed … wearing all black. His hair was mussed and had never looked so sexy. She reached up and ran her fingers through the dark locks. His lips followed the action, kissing the vulnerable area of her wrist then smiling devilishly, letting her catch a glimpse of his fangs.

She inhaled deeply and rolled away from him… only to be caught in Michael's embrace. As she parted her lips in dazed surprise, Michael descended for a demanding kiss, stealing what little breath she had left. His hands were locked with hers as he pressed them into the soft mattress and hovered over her, making love to her with the deep kiss.

She felt a hot hand on her thigh… slowly drifting upwards under the long t-shirt. She knew it wasn’t Michael because his hands were on hers. When Michael released her from the kiss and whispered a path down to her neck, she turned her face to the side to find Damon still there… watching them with those unnerving eyes and touching her so intimately as if Michael didn’t matter.

As Damon’s fingers drew closer to her core, Michael’s passion also increased, making Alicia whither under him at the same time she strained toward Damon… wanting him to reach his goal. Just as the tips of Damon’s fingers swept their fleeting touch across her nether lips, Michael breathed his hot breath into her ear and Alicia felt the quick downward spiral of tingling spasms as she came hard.

Jerking up from the bed she blinked, at first seeing the silhouette of someone looking in her balcony doors. As her vision cleared, the image vanished. She sat there for a moment trying to catch her breath from the dream while staring out at the sun that was now pretty high in the sky.

Wrapping her arms around herself, Alicia noticed how hot her skin was and the way the cover felt against her as it flowed with her movements. It felt like a caress on her overly sensitive skin and she had a sudden flashback of the dream, making her quickly crawl out of the cover and stand beside the bed.

She looked down at the innocent blanket as if it had lost its mind then tried reasoning with herself.

Maybe she was wrong about going into heat and was just running a small fever from the injuries she’d suffered the other night behind Moon Dance and that had caused the erotic dream. She blew her bangs out of her eyes wishing it was easier to lie to herself. Either way, it didn’t matter right now because she didn’t have time to deal with it.

She glanced back out the glass door wondering how she could have slept this late when she hadn’t even seen Micah yet. Grabbing some clothes out of her suitcase, she snuck out of her room praying she didn’t run into anyone as she crossed the hall to the huge bathroom she’d found last night.

*****

Micah opened his eyes feeling like he’d been asleep for years. His first instinct was to not move knowing it would cause pain if he did but the memory of last night gave him a fight or flight reaction and before he could stop himself, he was sitting up. Looking around the room, his gaze stopped on his own image staring back at him in the mirror. The bandages were gone… so was the pain.

Sliding from the bed, Micah walked toward the mirror scrubbing at his eyes and wondering if he was hallucinating. As he lowered his hand to the dresser, it came down on a picture frame making it teeter and fall over. With quick reflexes, he caught it before it could hit the floor and brought it up to eye level.

He gazed at the girl staring back at him with bright blue eyes. She wasn’t smiling but it didn’t distract from her beauty. Her long blonde hair hung in abstract waves around her melancholy expression.

He could hear others in the rooms around him but he could only think of one person he wanted to see… Alicia. And she was at Michael’s. He wasn’t sure how he knew but he did. Michael was the reason no one remembered her being at the mansion last night.

Setting the picture back on the dresser, Micah silently got dressed then opened the window. Landing on the hard packed ground outside he felt his muscles take the impact with ease and paused, wondering how it was that he felt better now than he’d felt before he’d been thrown into Anthony’s little torture chamber. Figuring he’d find out soon enough, he headed toward Michael’s to make sure Alicia was okay.

*****

Michael opened his eyes seeing nothing but blue sky and blinked. He’d fallen asleep on the roof of the church again. Sitting up he gazed across the street just in time to see Micah approaching the front door. Michael froze. The cougar was walking with the stealthy grace most were-animals only wished they possessed. He closed his eyes and thanked whatever god was listening, then flinched when a voice came from directly behind him.

“The shows over there… why are we over here?” Kane said with a smirk.

*****

Damon shrugged on a black shirt not bothering to button it. Pushing his fingers through his hair, he opened his bedroom door and leaned against the frame to stare across the hall. He could hear every sound she was making from within the spraying water, but that didn’t intrigue him half as much as the sounds she’d been making in her sleep a little while ago. He wondered if she had any idea their beds were only separated by a thin layer of sheet rock.

He growled at the interruption of his thoughts when he heard the knock down stairs. Pushing away from the doorway, he made up his mind to get rid of the unwanted guest as quick as possible. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d scared someone into not sticking around.

Jerking the door open, Damon cocked an eyebrow at the stranger. “What?”

“You’re not Michael,” Micah frowned recognizing the man who had been with his sister last night. He thought Michael lived alone. Seeing the man standing there half-dressed and blocking the doorway made Micah want to make sure he hadn’t just left the same bed his sister was in.

“Okay, neither are you.” Damon said in a deadpan voice.

Micah felt the beast within him try to raise its head. “Where’s Alicia?”

The way the man said Alicia’s name made it dawn on Damon just who was darkening his doorstep. Last night the cougar’s face had been swollen, bruised and bloody… nothing like the rival he was now going to slam the door on.

Damon looked Micah up and down with a critical gaze deciding he didn’t need this kind of headache. “She’s indisposed. Come back tomorrow.” He tried to shut the door but the bigger man was quicker than he’d expected and was inside the room by the time the door closed.

“I can smell her.” Micah growled becoming annoyed. “Alicia!” he called out not liking this man more and more by the minute. He knew the guy had been part of the rescue last night, but that wasn’t going to get him very far if he didn’t tell him where Alicia was.

Micah started up the stairs but suddenly, Damon was standing on one of the higher steps staring down at him. Their eyes locked and Micah felt a moment of unwelcome fear… that is until the towel-clad girl come running down the stairs toward him.

Alicia had heard Micah yell her name and being so excited, she didn’t take time to dress but just grabbed the towel closest to her and took off toward his voice. As she rounded the corner, her eyes lit up when she saw him standing there looking like he always had… perfect.

“Micah,” she whispered feeling like she was going to cry. At first her steps were slow, but the closer she got, the faster she ran until she fearlessly threw herself on him, almost causing both of them to topple backwards down the steps.

Damon turned the moment he’d seen Micah’s eyes widen on something behind him. He’d been speechless seeing her standing there clutching the towel around her… her hair soaking wet with sparkles of water dripping to the hardwood floor. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the wall as his gaze followed her past him then toward the man she loved.

Damon lowered his head, letting his bangs fall down to shadow his eyes. His gaze turned into a glare when she wrapped her arms around Micah, giving a new meaning to jumping a guy’s bones. The gods must have had mercy on him when she didn’t wrap her legs around the man’s waist… though the image of that towel riding up would have been priceless.

Micah wrapped his arms around Alicia and lifted her up against him for a bear hug. He closed his eyes and just held her for a moment. The first thing he noticed was that her skin was hotter than his. He pressed his face into the crook of her neck wondering why her temperature was so high.

This was just another thing to blame Quinn for. He’d only been gone two weeks and they had let her get sick. Micah frowned, not remembering Alicia ever getting sick.

“Are you running a fever?” he asked as he let her slide back to her feet. He smiled seeing she was still shorter than him, even though she was now standing on a higher step, but then his eyes were drawn to the still healing bite mark on her neck. He brushed her hair to the side to get a better look but before he could say anything about it, she cut him off.

“Are you crazy,” Alicia wiped at the tears blurring her vision. “Last night I thought you were dying… and now?” she cupped his cheek with her hand wanting so much to kiss him. “How are you standing here bigger than life?”

The front door opened and Micah looked over his shoulder seeing Michael and a blond-haired man staring up at them.

Alicia wondered if the gods were making fun of her when she chose that moment to remember she was more naked than not. Shifters usually didn’t worry about things like that as much as humans did, but she could still feel the lingering effect of the dream she’d had only a few minutes ago.

Locking eyes with Michael, she could see the instant heat in his gaze then held her breath as his eyes lowered to her breast.

Micah moved his sister more in line with his body so she was hidden from the men below. That’s when he glanced up the stairs toward Damon. His view was now better than anyone else’s. To his surprise, Damon wasn’t staring at Alicia. Instead, his angry gaze was directed straight at Micah’s hands where he was still holding her.

Feeling the silent threat, gold flared within Micah’s pupils as they enlarged. He had a feeling he was looking at the owner of the bite mark Alicia was wearing.

Leave it to Kane to notice the fact that Michael was frozen to the spot and Damon was about to commit murder. Kane quickly thought of a way to break the ice. “Alicia honey… I think you forgot something important upstairs.” He smirked.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Micah said keeping his eyes on Damon, “Go get dressed while I talk to Michael.”

Alicia quickly kissed him on the cheek then turned to run back up the stairs. She almost missed a step when she saw Damon only a couple feet from her. His shirt was open and his pants were zipped but not buttoned, causing them to ride dangerously low on his hips. She felt her cheeks flame even hotter as the dream came back like a dirty thought in a nice clean mind.

The look in his eyes as their gazes met was dark and dangerous… soaked in sexual tension. She hoped she was imagining it as she felt that gaze follow her past him and the rest of the way up the stairs.

Micah wasn’t the only one who watched the exchange between Alicia and Damon. It took Kane elbowing him in the back before Michael finally turned his attention to the man coming down the stairs. Clasping hands with the cougar, he nodded toward the living room, “I’m sure you have questions.”

“If he doesn’t then I do,” Kane announced wanting to make matters worse. He’d complained before about hearing other people’s thoughts, but it was times like this that made it all worthwhile.