Helen’s POV Randy frowned and stared at Lisa. “Do you live with anyone?” he asked. She shook her head. “Do you have family or close friends around who can keep tabs on you?” She shook her head again. “Why? she asked. “I think you’d better stay with us,” Randy suggested. “I can’t see to your security if you go home alone. And you’ve been seen with us. The people who get close to us have a tendency to end up being used for bad purposes. I would hate to see you hurt in any way just for trying to help us out.” She looked frightened for a moment. Randy smiled at her. “Don’t worry. If you’re here, you’re under our protection. You’re safe. It’s only if you leave for home that it’s a problem.” “But what about my job?” she asked with a tremble in her voice. “I have tomorrow off, but if I have to stay with you for protection, it might take longer than one more day. I mean, clearly, it’s going to take longer than a day.” S

Helen’s POVWith that, he crouched over me, giving the full attention of his mouth to my nipples. He used his tongue to circle the hardened tip of my nipple, and my back arched, pressing my breast into his face.At the same time, the ache between my legs grew until I had to put something there. I slipped my own fingers down and began to stroke in time with his licking.“That’s okay with me,” he purred, moving from one breast to the other. He sucked my nipple between his lips, using his teeth to graze the tip, and then let go. “Get yourself off. I can watch that. And then, if you’ll let me, I’ll do the same.”The tightness between my legs built, and my hand sped up, trying to find a release for all of the pressure. Justin kept coaxing me with his mouth, tickling me with his warm breath and teasing me with his tongue and lips until finally, a moan tore from my throat, and my whole body arched against his. I pa

Russo’s POVLisa leaned to stretch and slump back in the chair beside me. “Where did your friend go?” she asked.My head jerked up in surprise, and I glanced around the room. Randy was nowhere to be seen.“I don’t know,” I said. “He must have gone next door to talk to Justin and Helen.“Really?” Lisa asked in surprise. She cocked her head and nodded in the direction of the clock.I followed her gaze, shocked to see that it said one in the morning.“Do you really think he went over there at this time of night?”I glanced at the door between our rooms. “Maybe. Do you have any idea how long he’s been gone?”Lisa shook her head. “I was so involved in the work that we were doing I don’t know what time he left.”“Me neither,” I agreed. “I think we can safely say he’s been gone a while.”I l

Russo’s POVSince there were now five of us, we ended up having to call for a van. I offered to take the middle row and sit next to the window so that Lisa was doubly hidden. Outwardly, I said it was for her safety, but inwardly, I was thrilled. Being in the seat together meant that we were virtually unobserved. And it allowed me the opportunity to take her hand and hold it between our legs where the others couldn’t see and give us a hard time about it.I rubbed our fingers together, enjoying the sensation of her skin against mine. And though we hadn’t talked about it, the little ways she was letting me touch her led me to believe that if I asked, she would be interested in something more with me.Could we end up having a relationship with one another?That idea made my stomach turn over and squeeze. I’d never had a relationship, so to speak. I was living with the witches and wizards before. I’d spent too much time drawing a hard line between them and me. I knew the Huntsman was out t

Helens POV The week before the full moon was jam-packed with activities. After we’d found the key of Solomon, I thought the two weeks leading up to the full moon were going to take forever. I wanted to act so badly.I had made arrangements with Freya for the spine, and I saw Justin when I could. But for the first time, I realized a flaw in Justin’s plan. Or maybe not so much a flaw because he’s been pretty upfront with me about the fact that he wanted me to do the research and then to sit back and let him in the warriors handle things.What I didn’t internalize when he said that was that once I had done the research, my job was pretty much over. And all I was left to do was worry.At first, I tried sitting in on the meetings that he and Randy had with the warriors. No one stopped me, and I got a little thrill from being what I felt was an active part of this until I realized that the strategy was beyond anything that I was capable of working on.Randy and Justin were setting up a per