His strong hands caressed down her back, across her stomach, up her arms. His lips returned to hers, and once again she tasted that sweet, delicious taste and breathed in his intoxicating scent.
Swaying, he moved his hips against hers. Their pelvises pressed together, she could feel him, hot and erect, through his jeans. Turning her hips, she pressed against him, and he sighed with pleasure.
She breathed in deeply, his alluring aroma making her head sing and feel warm with desire. Had he smelled this good before? Something was so different… so incredibly alluring. She felt light, swept away, heady and almost swooning. Her body sang at his touch, longing for his hands to roam over her.
“Madeline,” he breathed between kisses, sighing her name. “You taste so good. Better than I imagined. Better than anything… this way.”
His hands ran down her sides to her hips, Madeline thrumming on a wave of desire. Her lips left his, and she kissed along his jawline to his neck, his skin tasting of something exotic she couldn’t quite place. Vanilla? He tasted incredible. She wanted to devour him. Gently she licked along his neck, then bit him gently, eliciting a moan from him. She released, then bit him gently again, lower, by his collarbone, and this time he growled, his fingers curling into her.
The growl was deep and throaty, and she wondered if he was changing again. But when she gazed up, he was the same Noah, piercing green eyes meeting her own.
“I’m on fire,” he said. “Kiss me.”
She did, and he lifted her up, hooking his hands under her thighs while she straddled him. He carried her over into the bedroom and threw her down on the bed, landing on his knees between her thighs. His strong hands stroked the length of her legs, and then he sprang forward, arms supporting him mere inches above her. She longed for their bodies to touch. He lowered his lips, kissing her deeply, and then lowered the rest of his body, pressing down on her, writhing sensually.
“Madeline,” she heard him say, though it felt as if he was saying it from some far-off place.
An intense, deep wave crashed over itself inside her belly. Though they were still fully clothed, she felt desire like she had never known, her lips tingling, burning; her stomach rolling in on powerful waves; her chest heaving; her eyes closing with pleasure. She breathed him in, savoring every sensation. Her heart pounded so loudly it felt like it reverberated about the room.
“You feel… different…” she breathed out.
He stopped kissing her and studied her intently. “Do I?”
She nodded.
He remained staring down at her, his green eyes flashing briefly. Something in those eyes was hauntingly familiar, and yet she couldn’t quite place it. He stared at her, intrigued, looking into her. It wasn’t the way Noah normally looked at her. His smell, his taste, his kiss, all of it was so different. He looked like Noah, but-
Inside, the waves of passion turned to ice. She pushed at him, rolling out from under him while he continued to watch her, transfixed. “It’s you,” she breathed.
He watched her move away. “I’ve traveled for so long,” he said, reaching his hand out to her. “You can see the journey I’ve had. You could know me. Without me saying a word.”
The pounding continued. She realized now, separated from him, that it wasn’t just her heart. It was the door. Someone was there, desperately wanting in.
“Madeline!” Her name. From far off. It hadn’t been uttered moments ago by the creature at all but by the real Noah on the other side of the door.
She leapt up, the creature propping himself up to watch her, looking so strikingly like Noah that suddenly she was uncertain again.
Quickly she reached the door, flung it open. Noah stood in the doorframe, chest heaving, face desperate and bruised.
“Thank the gods,” he said, drawing her into his arms. “I thought he’d got you!” She clutched him tightly, breathing in his scent. Yes. This was Noah. The hint of sun protection, the wisp of cinnamon.
Then, looking up over her shoulder, he breathed, “What in the hell?”
She spun around. The false Noah stood there, framed in the bedroom doorway.
Behind her, Noah gasped. “But… am I dead?”
“No!” she said, not taking her eyes off the creature. “He can become anyone. Noah, you were wrong.”
“Back so soon?” asked the false Noah.
Behind her, Noah shook with anger.
“After you tumbled into that ravine, I thought of sticking around to kill you, but,” he looked at Madeline, “I had better things to do with my time.” He sounded calm, assured, but his eyes held something else in their depths. Maybe sadness, she realized.
Noah was anything but calm. He stepped forward, neck veins bulging, “This is it! You die here!”
He pushed past her and launched into the air, colliding with the creature in the center of the room, a clumsy, rage-driven move that knocked the false Noah sprawling across the floor.
They tangled there violently as Madeline gawked, frozen. It was bizarre to see Noah and his doppelgänger roll across the floor, both wearing jeans and a black T-shirt. She moved in to help and suddenly realized she couldn’t tell them apart, had completely lost track of the real Noah. Both even had identical tears in their jeans and T-shirts.
Then one of the Noahs met with a violent kick in the gut and rolled off to the side, momentarily unable to breathe. The other Noah leapt to his feet and ran to Madeline. She steeled herself, ready to punch him in the face if she needed to. “Where’s the backpack?” he asked just as the other Noah rose from the floor and struck him in the head with an upraised fist. “Get the backpack!” he shrieked as he fell.
That had to be the real Noah. The creature wouldn’t need the weapon to kill, but Noah would. Without taking her eyes off the real Noah, she backed up quickly, groping behind her for the backpack, which she’d tossed down when she entered the cabin.
As Noah struggled and kicked at his doppelgänger, Madeline’s hand felt the wood of the chair, then the table, then the canvas of the pack. Desperately she grabbed it, unzipping it and shoving her hand inside. Her fingers closed around the cold metal of the dagger.
Dashing forward, knife in hand, she reached them just as the creature gained the advantage again and flipped Noah over on his back. She raised the knife and thrusting forward, drove it deeply into the creature’s kidneys. Howling in agony, he twisted and sprang up, trying to grab at the blade there, wrenching it out of Madeline’s grasp as he stood.
But Noah was too fast. In an instant he was on his feet, grabbing the handle of the dagger. With a sharp tug, he slid it out of his twin’s back and then brought it forward again as the creature dodged. The blade connected with Stefan’s cheekbone. A red gash opened in his face, streaming with blood.
Staggering backward, Stefan brought a hand to his slashed face, eyes bewildered. And there was something else, too: fear, Madeline realized. For the first time, he was afraid.
“So this is what you meant earlier by the ‘knife,’ ” he gasped. “I can see why you were so eager to have it.” And then he started changing, Noah’s features melting away into the visage of the same olive-skinned man she’d seen him take on before. Long black hair sprouted, taking the place of Noah’s blond color, and fiendish claws replaced the fingernails on his hands.
Noah didn’t stop, advancing on Stefan with clenched teeth and wild eyes. He struck out once, missed as the creature ducked, and then scored a hit just below Stefan’s rib cage, ripping open a hole there as big as a football.
With his right arm, Stefan swung out, connecting with Noah’s throat and sending him spiraling back into the wall.
Hacking and gasping, Noah bounced off and surged right back, swinging the knife, darting it in and out like a striking cobra. She’d never seen him move so fast. He must have practiced this scene a thousand times, picturing his moment of triumph.