Star Blessed

Insomnia

LINCOLN

He'd been standing outside of her door for what felt like hours. Each time he'd reach for the knob, he'd jerk his hand back and curse. It didn't matter that he had a good reason for visiting her; she made his confidence tremble which equal parts irritated and excited him. Not to mention, his wolf didn't calm down the entire time she was around, making him feel like a horny, adolescent boy again. A crooked grin graced his face, and he shrugged. Okay, he always acted like a horny, adolescent boy, but at least it was a choice.

Opening the door before someone caught him looking like a complete asshole in the hallway, he stepped inside. Thorne's room was drizzled in the milky moonlight that poured through the open window, the soft sighs of her sleep joining the summer serenade of cicadas and crickets. Lincoln wasn't really the romantic type-that was for soft hearts like Raff-but even he couldn't deny that he felt something stir within him as he approached her bedside and let his eyes linger on the woman's satin draped curves.

The mattress dipped beneath his weight as he propped on the edge of the bed, the slight motion disturbing her. Plump lips opened in exhale as she stretched, her slender rib cage arching and pressing her breasts against the sheets, before melting back into the bed and resuming her deep sleep. Dark curls she normally kept restrained fanned about her face, the soft, brown ochre color of her skin cast in a pearlescent sheen beneath heaven's light.

He thought of the first time he'd met her. She was just a pretty face, off limits because of her humanity, but that never stopped him from appreciating beautiful things. He abided by Raff's decree-hell, he believed in it just as much as his Alpha did- but he'd long ago learned that two people could enjoy each other in many ways. Thorne's body had echoed his own interest that night, exciting him further. Women rarely shared his sexual appetites, but her scent and racing pulse declared her interest to anyone with heightened senses.

But once again, Meribella had ruined a good thing. He ran his hand through his beachy hair and smirked. It was probably why he delighted in pestering her so- no it was definitely why he pestered her. He'd written Thorne off as a lost cause then and there, but that all changed after running into her the night their friends finally gave into the sexual tension clouding every room they occupied.

He'd told Raff he didn't do repeats, but he couldn't shake his desire for her. They'd spent the evening laughing and drinking, appreciating the other's wit and sass. She knew and he knew that boundaries had to be set, but one taste-one- and he was a man wandering the desert. And she was an oasis. Never could he admit it outloud, but if the fire burning within him was even half of what consumed Raff, he didn't know how the man functioned.

Lincoln's hands itched to move under the covers and glide across her skin, but not to delight her or satisfy the hunger within him. He wanted to find the marks the selkie had described, to feel for himself that she'd truly been healed. It had been so hard to act like the report of Thorne's attack had been nothing but an update in the ongoing war, but panic had boiled his blood. She'd actually died just hours after he'd worshipped every inch of her and then left her alone because he was a cursed man. For the first time in his long life, the ghost of a wish gripped him. The wish to be a man and nothing more.

A small hand pushed under his and he curled his fingers around it, turning to face Thorne who watched him through slitted eyes. "Are you feeling okay?" he asked, wincing at the harshness of his tone in the peaceful room.

"Getting better every second," she answered, drawing him to her side. "I can feel your emotions-they're all over the place."

He laid on his side and pulled her into the curve of his body, relishing the perfect fit. Inhaling deeply, the familiar rose scent of her skin calmed him. "You should go back to sleep. I can ask you questions in the morning."

"Oh, that's the only reason you came in here?"

"Go to sleep Thorne."

"I'm only going to do that because I want to, not because you told me to."

He dropped a kiss on the shell of her ear. "Hmm, that's not how I'll remember this, but I'll let you get away with it tonight."

Her breathing shifted again, and he knew she'd fallen asleep. Outside, his pack began to howl as one by one they shifted to run patrols or simply stretch their lupine legs. The mournful wails reminded him that there was work to be done, reports to be followed up on, and a mystery to solve.

Tomorrow, he would let her go. She was human. Off limits. But for now, he was content to do nothing but hold the witch who'd captivated him, whether it was by magic or some other force he refused to give name to.

*****************************************

MERIBELLA

Meribella wrapped a blanket around her body as she stepped out of the bed she'd been sharing with Raff. Aurora yipped in annoyance, but she settled back onto the pillow and resumed her slumber. She still found it strange how quickly the wolf pup had bonded to her, as if she'd recognized her attempt to save her mother. Even now, she could almost catch glimmers of what seemed like thoughts coming from the wolf, and she wondered if the traumatic experience of ending a life had addled her brain.

One wall of Raff's bedroom was glass, giving him an unobstructed view of the night sky. She'd asked him about it, and he'd explained that many werewolves struggled with confined spaces. The windows created the illusion of freedom and kept his wolf calm. With the cool glass pressed against her bare skin, the moon full and bright in the sky, she could feel it too. The peace she'd once only associated with the ocean washed over her in waves.

Holding out her palms in front of her, she examined them. Nothing was different, and yet nothing was the same. The power that flooded her when she swam in the ocean buzzed in her blood, and she closed her eyes, searching for its core, knowing when she opened them again, water would be hovering above her hand. Not water she pulled and shaped from the ocean, but water she created.

Whatever magic she'd called upon to save Thorne had transformed her. Before she'd felt like a battery that only charged when in contact with salt water, but it drained as soon as she was away from the source. Now... she tugged on the core and the water churned and grew, but she knew there was something more to it.

Curling her fingers closed and extinguishing the water, she dropped her head. As grateful as she was for the miracle of Thorne's life, she couldn't help but fear that this power was going to make things worse for her and everyone around her. Even now, she was afraid to sleep, terrified she would become a slave to this magic and wake up somewhere else, this time with a gun aimed at a less deserving victim.

Pressing her palm against the glass, she closed her eyes and tried to draw in more of the serene light. Tomorrow would be for facing demons and solving mysteries. Tonight, she would take the comfort from the heavens and in the arms of a man she thought she might love.