around another rut in the road; Jora was curled up against the passenger door sound asleep. Damn the woman, anyway. He’d had to half carry, half drag her all the way back to the truck. Clearly she’d overextended herself to get both of them out of the cavern safely. When she was rested and back up to full strength, the two of them were going to have a long talk.
If they were going to work together, it had to be as partners, meaning full disclosure. He needed to know what she could do and what she couldn’t, and the price she paid for even trying. Hell, had he been the one to trigger the barrier going . . . what had she called it? Feral. That was something he’d have to talk to Barak about. Maybe it was just another way of saying the barrier was failing, but maybe not.
Either way, there had to be a safe way to bring her back out of the trance she went into while manipulating the energy in the barrier and the surrounding rock. He’d been about to give up and yank her hands away from the side of the cave when she finally broke off contact herself.
He shuddered. If he hadn’t caught her, she’d have ended up in a heap on the floor of the cave. How long would she have lain there if she’d been alone? Worse yet, what if the bastards who were screwing around with the barrier had shown up while she was unconscious?
As the road finally smoothed out, he glanced at the woman sleeping so peacefully beside him. For such a little thing, she sure wielded a passel of power. He knew such gifts were rare; it would be interesting to see what Barak thought about what Jora had done today.
Once he reached the highway, he stopped and pulled out his phone. Sure enough, Devlin had left him a series of voice mails. Just as he feared, it had been too late to get Barak and Larem on today’s flight. It would be tomorrow afternoon before they landed in Bozeman, about a three-hour drive from the motel. He considered his options. His gut was telling him the motel wasn’t the best choice. Wolf Cave was barely a square mile in size, meaning strangers stuck out, especially if they stayed around for more than a day or two. He had enough stuff in his duffel to make it through the night, and Jora had her pack with her, so they should be fine. If they were missing anything, well, that’s what stores were for. They’d drive into Bozeman, get a room and some sleep.
He glanced at his sleeping companion, remembering that kiss they’d shared outside the cave. Hot damn, that had been flat-out amazing. If Jora hadn’t been acting punch drunk, he might have seen just how far she was willing to go. Sex alfresco had never been at the top of his fantasy list, but he was willing to be flexible. She might come after him with her father’s sword for thinking that way, but life was full of risks.
So, onward to Bozeman. His decision made, he turned on the radio and settled back to enjoy the drive.
Jora had barely stirred in the three hours they’d been driving. Penn didn’t know if she was always that pale, or if it was a side effect of bonding with the mountain, or whatever the hell she’d been doing in the cavern.
According to the sign he’d just passed, they’d be reaching the outskirts of Bozeman in the next few minutes. Once he spotted a likely motel, he’d try waking her up.
At they crossed the city limits, Jora stirred and sat up, going from groggy to alert in the blink of an eye.
She stared out the window with a frown. “Where exactly are we?”
“Bozeman. My friends will be arriving tomorrow, so I thought we’d wait for them here rather than back in Wolf Cave. Since someone’s looking for you, I figured we’d be better off not going back to that same motel room tonight.”
Jora studied him for a minute before nodding. “I’m sorry to be such a bother.”
“It’s not your fault. Besides, if you hadn’t called Devlin, we wouldn’t have known there was a problem until it was too late.” Penn smiled at her. “Now we’ve got a
If they were going to work together, it had to be as partners, meaning full disclosure. He needed to know what she could do and what she couldn’t, and the price she paid for even trying. Hell, had he been the one to trigger the barrier going . . . what had she called it? Feral. That was something he’d have to talk to Barak about. Maybe it was just another way of saying the barrier was failing, but maybe not.
Either way, there had to be a safe way to bring her back out of the trance she went into while manipulating the energy in the barrier and the surrounding rock. He’d been about to give up and yank her hands away from the side of the cave when she finally broke off contact herself.
He shuddered. If he hadn’t caught her, she’d have ended up in a heap on the floor of the cave. How long would she have lain there if she’d been alone? Worse yet, what if the bastards who were screwing around with the barrier had shown up while she was unconscious?
As the road finally smoothed out, he glanced at the woman sleeping so peacefully beside him. For such a little thing, she sure wielded a passel of power. He knew such gifts were rare; it would be interesting to see what Barak thought about what Jora had done today.
Once he reached the highway, he stopped and pulled out his phone. Sure enough, Devlin had left him a series of voice mails. Just as he feared, it had been too late to get Barak and Larem on today’s flight. It would be tomorrow afternoon before they landed in Bozeman, about a three-hour drive from the motel. He considered his options. His gut was telling him the motel wasn’t the best choice. Wolf Cave was barely a square mile in size, meaning strangers stuck out, especially if they stayed around for more than a day or two. He had enough stuff in his duffel to make it through the night, and Jora had her pack with her, so they should be fine. If they were missing anything, well, that’s what stores were for. They’d drive into Bozeman, get a room and some sleep.
He glanced at his sleeping companion, remembering that kiss they’d shared outside the cave. Hot damn, that had been flat-out amazing. If Jora hadn’t been acting punch drunk, he might have seen just how far she was willing to go. Sex alfresco had never been at the top of his fantasy list, but he was willing to be flexible. She might come after him with her father’s sword for thinking that way, but life was full of risks.
So, onward to Bozeman. His decision made, he turned on the radio and settled back to enjoy the drive.
Jora had barely stirred in the three hours they’d been driving. Penn didn’t know if she was always that pale, or if it was a side effect of bonding with the mountain, or whatever the hell she’d been doing in the cavern.
According to the sign he’d just passed, they’d be reaching the outskirts of Bozeman in the next few minutes. Once he spotted a likely motel, he’d try waking her up.
At they crossed the city limits, Jora stirred and sat up, going from groggy to alert in the blink of an eye.
She stared out the window with a frown. “Where exactly are we?”
“Bozeman. My friends will be arriving tomorrow, so I thought we’d wait for them here rather than back in Wolf Cave. Since someone’s looking for you, I figured we’d be better off not going back to that same motel room tonight.”
Jora studied him for a minute before nodding. “I’m sorry to be such a bother.”
“It’s not your fault. Besides, if you hadn’t called Devlin, we wouldn’t have known there was a problem until it was too late.” Penn smiled at her. “Now we’ve got a
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