by Nicole Hall
Safe in Aiden’s embrace, Maddie didn’t care what Keris’ motivation had been. Not long ago, she couldn’t have imagined sharing herself with another person, but times had changed. She’d changed. Maddie rested her forehead against Aiden’s chest and waited for the next surprise coming her way.
She didn’t have to wait long.
12
MADDIE
I should’ve known Keris would take advantage when I sent you here. Seth’s voice whispered across her mind, and Maddie felt Aiden tense. He must have heard it too. She searched his face, but other than the muscle twitch, he didn’t reveal that his exiled cousin was somehow talking to them.
Keris still looked smug. She can’t hear me. Or see me. Contrary to what they think, they don’t know everything about magic. Maddie coughed to cover her laugh. She didn’t know how to respond to him without talking out loud, and Keris hadn’t left them alone yet.
“I’ll give you some time, but I suggest you don’t linger here too long.” Keris gave her a knowing look. “I removed the mark he was using to track you. You have a lot more power at your disposal now. Use it wisely.” She reached up to kiss Aiden’s cheek, then walked back toward the house where they’d found her. A second later, she casually called over her shoulder, “Tell your cousin I said hello.”
Dammit. The soft curse floated out, and an orange tabby appeared in the shade of one of the buildings away from where the people had spread. Maddie narrowed her eyes. He hadn’t been there before. The cat meowed at them, and she wondered if she’d ever get to see Seth’s true form. Talking to a cat wasn’t all that weird, but curiosity ate at her. The appearance of the rest of the clan implied that his people were humanoid, but who knew at this point? Was Aiden’s true form the human one…or something else? Maddie pushed that disturbing idea to the back of her mind.
Seth walked around the back of the building, and Aiden pulled her along with him. Once out of sight of the rest of his clan, Aiden spoke in a low voice. “How’d you get here?”
The cat’s tail twitched. No worry for my health? I’ll keep that in mind the next time I save your ass.
Aiden rolled his eyes. “I knew you’d be fine. Though if anyone here catches you, I’m going to deny everything.”
That’s fair. I came to tell you I’ve fixed your wards, and it’s safe to return to your bubble.
Maddie stiffened. “It’s not a bubble. It’s a home.”
Aiden sent her sidelong glance, but didn’t add anything.
Fine. It’s safe to return to your home. Torix and his puppet have left.
Maddie shivered. “Torix was actually there?”
Yes. He followed something to the cabin, then targeted your hack job on the wards. But thanks to my skillful intervention, he never penetrated them. He’s unaware of the cabin, but he’ll be back.
Seth stuck out a leg and started bathing himself. Maddie looked down at her now healed arm. Keris had said he’d been tracking her through the mark. The answer seemed so simple that she felt stupid for not thinking of it.
A loud clatter came from the other side of the building, and Aiden shifted so she was pressed against him with her back to the wall. She thought the cat snorted, but the warmth of Aiden’s hands at her waist distracted her. One touch and he churned her hormones into a frenzy. His hair tickled her cheek as his head came down to speak quietly in her ear.
“No one will question us finding a bit of solitude after the challenge ring, but they’ll be suspicious if we’re speaking to a cat.”
Maddie understood his point, but it seemed a shame to waste the solitude. She ran her fingertips down the planes of his chest, over soft cloth and hard muscle, and stopped at the waistband of his pants. His grip on her hips tightened.
“Maddie…” The warning growled into her ear sent shivers racing down her back.
Should I come back at a more convenient time? Seth’s sarcastic tone penetrated the haze of desire that had descended. Maddie blew out a breath and closed her hands into fists against Aiden’s stomach. She’d be good. So good. Seth was right. He risked… something to be here, and they should pay attention. Aiden tucked his thumb under her shirt to brush her bare stomach, and Maddie almost lost it again. Focus.
“Why is this so hard all of a sudden?” she asked. Both man and cat snickered. She hadn’t known a cat could snicker. “You know what I mean.”
Aiden loosened his grip and put a sliver of space between them. “It’s the ritual from the challenge ring. Sharing our magics is intimate, and it temporarily amplifies our other needs.”
“So it’ll go away?”
“Yes.”
That depends.
Maddie looked down at the cat sitting nearly under their feet. “You’d better hope it’s soon or you’re going to get a show.”
He blinked at her slowly. Wouldn’t be the first time.
Aiden’s shoulders shook with laughter. “He’s teasing you. Neither Seth nor I have ever been bound by the challenge ring before.”
“Not even with Lexi?”
Aiden sobered, and Maddie regretted her question. She’d spoken without thinking. He’d married Lexi, surely they’d been connected this closely.
“No. Not even with Lexi.”
Heat spread through Maddie, and her heart swelled, doubly glad she’d accepted his claim. He’d offered her something he’d given to no one else, and she’d damn well cherish it.
If we’re all done getting emotional, I was trying to tell you that Torix knows you were at the cabin, even if he doesn’t know the cabin exists. I sensed something when he was probing. Something powerful that wasn’t Fae, and it’s growing. Even with my wards protecting you, I’m not sure how long it will be safe.
“We should head back.” Aiden’s voice strained with the words, but Maddie understood. The longer they stood there, the harder it became to maintain logical thought. He turned his head slightly to breathe in deep against her neck. Her center tightened at the sensation, and Maddie had to focus on multiplication tables to keep her grabby hands to herself.
I’ll see you on the other side then. The cat scampered away toward the trees, and Maddie realized he’d never told them how he’d gotten through the portal in the first place. Aiden pressed a kiss to the sensitive spot below her ear, and the thought floated away.
Now that they were alone, he was free game. Maddie pulled his shirt free from his pants and flattened her palms against his bare skin.
With a groan, Aiden dropped his restraint and palmed her ass so he could lift her into a better position. Maddie wrapped her legs around his waist and pressed against him, trying to relieve the ache. The intoxicating pressure wasn’t nearly enough. More.
Maddie tipped her head to the side, searching blindly for his mouth. He pressed her more firmly into the wall to prop her up and plunged his hand into her hair. She locked her hands behind his neck for leverage, meeting his demand with her own.
The kiss burned wild and hungry, but Maddie couldn’t get close enough. More. The slide of his tongue against hers. The pull of his hand fisted in her hair. The pent-up desire for him to touch her right there.
None of it was enough. Maddie needed all of him, needed to be naked against him, inside and out.
She tore at her shields, desperate to have nothing between them. One by one they came down, until there was only the core of her open to him.
His magic filled her, and hers reached for him. They intertwined in a tangle of power that left Maddie gasping. Aiden sucked in a breath and pulled back enough to touch his forehead to hers. A calm moment in the storm.
She’d been mistaken before. This bound them.
Aiden lifted his head and gazed at her with blazing eyes. “You’re mine, marenkya.” Yes. She couldn’t vocalize the words, but he knew. He leaned in, stopping just shy of her lips. “And I’m yours.”
Her heart turned over, and she grinned, finding her voice. “Damn straight.” Fire raged through her, but he kissed her softly. His hand gentled in her h
air. Maddie lost herself in the tender moment. Her body quivered, but she wouldn’t rush this.
In the quiet, a bird screeched above them, and Maddie belatedly remembered they were outside, only a few short steps from the rest of his clan. The magics inside of her urged her to finish it, to hell with who might see them, but Aiden pulled back.
“I want you in my bed, but on our terms. Not because I underestimated the strength of the binding.”
Maddie let her head thunk back against the wall. “I’m not complaining, but maybe we could do both?”
Aiden kissed the hollow of her throat, then grazed his teeth along her skin. Maddie whimpered when he stopped and pressed into her. It wouldn’t take much to send her over the edge.
His hand left her hair and slipped between them, delving into her leggings to stroke her slick opening. Maddie cried out, and he caught the sound in his mouth. She moved against him, helpless to stop the spiraling pleasure. His fingers pushed into her, matching her rhythm, while he circled with his thumb.
“Come for me.” His rough voice sent her over the edge.
Maddie clung to him as she let go with a long, low moan. Aiden didn’t release her right away. He held her tight between his body and the wall as he pulled his hand free. His golden eyes, bright with passion, met hers, and he licked his fingers. The fire that had ebbed with her climax roared back to life.
She pulled his mouth down to hers, and he traced her jawline with his knuckles.
Her taste on him fed the ravenous magic inside her. She finally realized she felt his hunger as well as hers through the connection. With him rock hard against her, Maddie was ready and willing to keep going.
Aiden brushed his lips over hers, then lowered her legs to the ground and set her away from him. “We need to get back.”
Maddie sighed heavily. “Are you sure?”
His hands clenched into fists. “It’s taking everything in me to keep my hands off you right now, but we can’t stay here. My mother is up to her old tricks, and the longer we wait, the more likely she’ll find a way to keep us here.” His eyes traveled the length of her, as if memorizing the moment. “You need to put your shields back up.”
Maddie’s heart already pounded in her throat, and the magic inside her revolted at the prospect of locking him out again. She wasn’t even sure she could with his magic so entangled with hers. As a test, she raised a couple of layers, and Aiden winced from several feet away. The raw overwhelming hunger muted a tiny bit.
His power swirled inside her, but her shields cut off most of the connection. Maddie took a step forward, but he moved back, keeping the distance between them.
She clenched her jaw. There had to be a way to protect herself without excluding him. The night with Zee and the wards came back to her, and she remembered Aiden saying she’d extended her abilities outside herself.
Well, if she could do it for Zee, she could do it for Aiden. Maddie felt for the magic that connected them and tried to twist her shields to fit around it. A few seconds of effort caused her to sweat and pant. The effort required too much magic to encompass both of them.
“Raise them, Maddie. I’ll be fine. I want you protected.”
She shook her head. “I’m not going to hurt you to protect myself. Seth said the wards would hold for a while. We have time to come up with a plan. Besides, there’s no guarantee my shields will keep Torix out if he really wants in.”
He smiled. “They will. If they can keep me out, they can keep anything out.”
“Fine.” But instead of raising the rest of her shields, she released what few she had up. Both of them sighed in relief at the free flow of magic again, but the urge to jump him returned with a vengeance. “I’ll raise them when we leave the wards around your cabin. Until then, you’ll just have to resist the allure.”
Aiden’s smile turned wicked, and a fresh wave of need jolted through her. “I have no intention of resisting once we’re somewhere safe.” He gestured for her to precede him into the woods.
AIDEN
The image of Maddie with her face flushed from his touch and her lips swollen from his kisses wouldn’t leave him. He kept replaying the noise she’d made as she came around him, driving himself insane. His body wanted to join his magic inside her.
She stepped around a fallen tree, and he felt her answering longing. The truth hit him hard. The claim from the challenge ring had locked into place as a mate bond. He had a mate, a once in a lifetime connection that his clan revered.
No one had warned him about the intense magic from the challenge ring, though from what he understood, it didn’t usually result in a mate bond. Even more reason that his mother should have given him a heads up since she’d most likely set up the entire scenario. Had she recognized Maddie as his mate?
He’d been gone a long time, but he’d only heard of one other instance of a warrior claiming a mate as a prize. When a young Keris had claimed his father.
Aiden couldn’t take his eyes off Maddie’s lithe body ahead of him, and he shook his head. He didn’t know why his mother had orchestrated the challenge ring that way, but then she’d been a mystery to him even before he’d left for Terra. She probably expected him to thank her. He scoffed quietly. Maddie glanced at him over her shoulder, and Aiden’s heart stuttered. Maybe thanks were in order after all.
They reached the doorway without incident, and Aiden replaced the power stone. The shimmer returned, and he walked through it without a backward glance. Unlike the last time when he’d gone through with his ex-wife, nothing attacked them on the far side.
Maddie appeared a moment later, and Aiden removed the second power stone. The cabin and the surrounding woods looked unchanged. Before, the warding circles had given off a hint of magic, but now with Seth’s tinkering, they blazed with power. Aiden walked closer and shook his head. Subtle job, cousin.
At least the wards provided Maddie safety while her shields remained down. He crouched and trailed his hand along the white stones, feeling the magic ripple. Seth had done as he’d promised. It would take time to get through them without a keystone, so Maddie would be able to rebuild her shields if something attacked.
He stood and started back toward the cabin. Maddie had gone ahead of him, leaning against the open doorframe with her arms crossed. The magnetic pull of her had subsided a little as they crossed back into Terra, but he could still taste her on his tongue. Seth had given them a reprieve, time to make a plan of attack, but more, time to let the binding settle.
Tomorrow would be soon enough to start hunting Torix.
Maddie watched him with hooded eyes as he climbed the stairs, but moved into the cabin before he could reach for her. Inside, Seth the cat curled up on the couch.
It took you long enough.
Aiden sighed. “Are you ever going to tell me how you do that? You’re not supposed to be able to use the doorway.” His hands itched to gather Maddie close to him, but with Seth watching, he chose to keep his distance.
The cat stretched and sat up. Not today. I’ve been keeping an eye out, and Torix is nowhere near here. He’s been spending time skulking around that little town nearby, but mostly it’s his minion doing all the work.
Maddie perked up. “What work is Will doing in Mulligan?”
Before today, he was harassing your brother’s wife. First, he tried to grab her, but she damn near broke his wrist and tossed him on his ass. After that, he kept his distance and just stared menacingly. Honestly, I’m not even sure that part is Torix’s bidding. They seemed to be waiting on something, until this morning. Torix summoned his minion, and I followed them here.
Maddie had tensed when Seth mentioned Sera, and her fear had rushed through him, but she’d relaxed again by the end of the report. “Thanks for your help, Seth.”
My pleasure. The smugness in his voice made Aiden nervous. Seth’s ear twitched, and he tilted his head toward Aiden. It looks like your plan is coming along well. She’s all primed as bait. I’ll take my leave so you can compl
ete the binding. Just don’t take too long, even I don’t know what Torix is hiding.
Aiden took an angry step forward, but the cat flashed past him and through the open door. A wave of turmoil came from Maddie, and he shifted his attention to her. She stared at him with narrowed, hurt eyes. Damn his conniving cousin.
“Complete the binding?”
He held up his hands. “I don’t know. My knowledge here is limited, and Seth likes to cause trouble. This constant need for you does stem from our magics, but none of this was intentional.”
She stalked toward him. He could feel the anger and hunger coursing through her in equal parts. Her eyes searched his, and she nodded. “I believe you, but we have another issue to deal with.”
Aiden took a careful breath. She stood close enough that his control was already slipping. “I don’t want to fight with you.”
“That’s too bad because we’ve already started. What did he mean about the plan? What plan?”
Aiden rubbed a hand down his face. Seth just couldn’t leave without stirring up trouble. “It wasn’t a coincidence that I found you in the Wood.”
Maddie snorted. “No shit. You followed me there. I figured out that much, but the why was a little hazy.”
“Torix called you back, and you came. I wanted to know what side you were on.”
She leaned forward. “And…”
Aiden clenched his hands at his sides to keep from reaching for her. “Then the salamander attacked, and I was busy trying to save your life.”
“For which I’ve thanked you, but that doesn’t explain why.”
Aiden paused, knowing her frosty attitude would only get worse. “I needed you for bait.”
She nodded, and scorn erupted from her. “You wanted to use me to get to Torix. Or more accurately, to get Torix to come to you. Except he showed up a little too soon right? You weren’t ready for him yet, but you did a great job of convincing me to stick with you. The sex was a huge bonus.” She struck out with her words in an effort to push him away, but she hadn’t raised her shields. The futile attempt didn’t hide the pain he felt in her. Pain he’d caused.
