I wouldnt change it for the world. I tried to . . . I wrote a reverse fantasy in the Doomsday Diary to see if your feelings for me were all magically manufactured.
Theyre not. I swear.
She sent him an impish smile. I know. The diary told me.
With a growl, he pulled her against him. Dont you have an answer for me? Do you know the words?
She nodded. Bram and Sabelle have a great library. Happiness broke over her face, like the sun from behind storm clouds, illuminating everything in joy. As I become a part of you, you become a part of me. I will be honest, good, and true. I heed your call. Tis you I seek. From this moment on, there is no other for me but you.
A powerful jolt slammed into Cadens body, and his sense of Sydney as his mate jumped into the foreground of his consciousness, fusing into his heart. She had been important; now she was his everything. She gasped, clearly feeling it as well.
But with the sealing of their bond came another crashing needto test her, taste her, claim herall of her.
Without a thought, he dragged the baggy shirt off one shoulder to reveal a bare breast, then he cupped it.
Caden! Theyre going to come back. We should focus on
He cut her speech off with a kiss, deep, blistering, the kind that sent sizzle all the way through his body. Slowly, she melted against him.
Caden eased back until he sat on the rooms lone bed, bringing her down to straddle his lap. Narrow and squat, the little bed wasnt the haven he wanted the first time he loved his mate, but he wasnt going to quibble. She was in his arms. The future was coming, he knew. But hed face it stronger if he joined with her first.
This might be our last chance, he whispered against her mouth. Our only chance. Let me love you.
Sydney didnt hesitate. She grabbed Cadens sweater, tugging and pulling until she managed to yank it over his head. Rapaciously, she ran her hands over his hands and shoulders, and he thanked his years of daily running and training in the Marines and beyond that kept him in shape.
But he wasnt content to just have her hands on him; he wanted her open to him. Lifting her off his lap, he dragged the large sweatpants down one thigh. Another adjustment, and his own pants rested south of his hips.
As he brought her back to his lap, he captured her mouth again, brushed his knuckles over her collarbone, across her nipple, skipped the shirt covering her abdomen, then delved into the red curls between her pale thighs. Slick, steamy ready. Hed missed her so, so much, trying to separate her from him, and thus from danger. Keep himself safe from the whims of magic. But hed been foolish, wasting time. If they managed to escape this place in one piece, hed never waste another second together. If they didnt . . . he didnt regret their mating in the least.
Raking his fingertips over her clit, he basked in her sighs and moans. She melted, all delicious and sweet, around his hand as he plunged his fingers inside her and rubbed her sweet spot.
Her fingernails found their way into his shoulders, and he smiled when she dusted his neck with urgent kisses. The smile turned to desperate hunger when she caught his mouth in a searing kiss, grabbed his aching erection, and pushed her hips down to it.
Slowly, she sank over him, and the tight clasp of her body was both a homecoming and a pleasure unlike any hed ever known. His mate. His. No matter what.
Their time was short, but their love unlimited. Grabbing her hips, he tutored her in a long, slow stroke as he brushed his lips over hers again, then settled deep, mating with her body, her mouthher heart.
Gripping his biceps, she stroked her way up and down his cock, and the inferno-hot pleasure singed him. She tightened around him. Her cheeks grew pink, then flushed a darker rose. Her nipples swelled, her head tipped back, and she looked like the ultimate goddess of pleasure. Smart, brave, loving. His.
Cadens heart swelled with need, with love. His body did the same. Grimacing, he tried to stave off the orgasm about to overwhelm. But Sydneys pace quickened. She dug her fingers deeper into him as she bounced on him, chanting his name. Caden curled his arms around her and fused his mouth to hers as her sex clamped down on him. He swallowed her scream of pleasure and joined her over the abyss, in an ecstasy that not only suffused him with a warm satiationbut a jolt of power so intense, it nearly overpowered his system. And love. God, so much of it. That love gave him a new dimension of strength. He was determined that, while that may have been their first time making love as mates, it damn well wouldnt be their last.
Quietly, they dressed, pausing to kiss. He touched her, wrapped her in his embrace to reassure her, then sat on the bed to cuddle her in his lap.
Caden? she turned worried brown eyes on him.
He knew everything on her mind. It was on his too. But damn it, he hadnt come this far, been born with the sort of magic that his mother, as a good seer, had praised, and found this amazing woman, only to have her ripped from him.
Time to fight.
Shh. Its not over.
Your time alone is. A mans voice intruded on their intimate cocoon. Shock. Then he opened the cell and motioned to Sydney. Come with me.
CHAPTER TWENTY
SYDNEY TREMBLED AS SHOCK HELD her by the elbow and dragged her toward the middle of the house. Where are you taking me?
Where Mathias asked me to.
His complete lack of inflection, of guilt, incensed her. Rage bottled up inside her, then she wondered why she was keeping a cork on it. She was going to die, regardless. Why not tell Shock what toilet scum she thought he was?
So you enjoy watching innocent people be tortured to death? Or you just dont care?
He glared down his shoulder at her, his expression unreadable. Youre playing games you dont understand.
Youre betraying people who count on you.
More than you know, he muttered, then tugged on her elbow and dragged her behind him.
As she feared, Shock lugged her back to the cold sitting room of black, glass, and chrome in which shed been earlier. There, Mathias sat, waiting, his expression cool but impatient. She had the distinct impression he was concealing the depth of his rage. And it scared the hell out of her. The Doomsday Diary sat on the table in front of him. The half-dressed witch whod taken the book from Sydney slept in a corner. At least she hoped the woman was asleep.
Shock shoved her into a chair across from Mathias.
These meetings are too frequent, my dear, he said.
Rhea is unable to use the book. Everything she writes disappears. I cannot see the words at all. Care to explain?
Sydney glanced at Shock. As long as the traitor was here, she stood no chance of keeping her thoughts to herself. I just wrote what I wanted in the book and . . . poof.
It came true immediately?
No. It took a few days.
Mathias glanced at Shock.
Shes telling the truth as she knows it. Shock supplied.
Mathias relaxed against the back of the sofa. Its possible that larger magic takes time to collect and organize.